Writing: The Hook

While studying the craft of writing I’ve been trying to discern what constitutes a good hook. For those who are unfamiliar with the term this is the first paragraph or so of a fictional piece (or a news or history piece) that serves to grab the reader’s interest.

I have come to the conclusion that if I can encapsulate the why of the story properly then I will have a good hook. Why what will happen in the story is important to the protagonist. And make it emotionally gripping to the audience. Thus is the good hook.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 24 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

When you set out to punish the rich the poor get hurt.
Whenever I see a short statement such as this the first question I ask is this: Is this true?

My answer for this one remains yes.

Therefore I think that I will try to explain what I have seen that makes me believe this to be true. As I examine the world the first thing I notice is that I have never worked for a poor man. The reason for this is simple; a poor man cannot pay me. Or at best he can only pay for a limited amount of my time. Therefore if I want steady work (and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t) I must either be ambitious enough to continually win small pieces of work from many poor people or find one rich person to work for continuously.

© 2010 Vic Jones

What art Thou

What art Thou


Art thou

             A convenient Christian

Hiding away

              Away hiding your face

Unknown

              A Christian

When ’tis

              Convenient for thee

Is that

             What ye be

A Christian of convenience

              Hiding

                          Hiding

Lest someone see

                         That you are

A Christian

                   Making the accusation

Do you remain safe

                    No danger brave

To prove

                   That

A very inconvenient

                    Christian ye’ll be!

© 2010 Vic jones

Lesson 23 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

If you want to help someone you need to be sure that what you do for, or to them doesn’t hurt them.
Is it possible to harm someone when you intend to help them? Absolutely! So then you ask: how is this possible? Suppose a parent wishing to protect their child keeps him in a padded cage and carries him everywhere the child wants to go; will the child not be crippled despite the parent’s intention to help the child? And what of the man who is given a fish by the government; is he not harmed as well? Yet the intention is that he not be hungry.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 22 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Money is neither good nor evil; it is simply a tool. The mind that employs a tool may be good or evil, but the tool itself has no moral value.
I originally wrote this statement to clarify the idea that greed is a human problem not money lest anyone not be able to understand the previous lesson that greed is at the heart of all evil. I do not believe at all that any tool or thing which has no self-will can be evil. That leaves the question of semi-sentient creatures like apes, cats, dogs and whales. For those I don’t know but I have my reservations about cats. I do believe that cats can be evil. Maybe cats are not as evil as people but still they display a great deal of pleasure in torture.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 21 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Greed is at the root of all evil.

I find it hard to enlarge on the simple truth of this statement. I will however say that it is not really my work but a distillation of St Paul’s instruction to early Christendom to the effect that the love of money is the root of all evil.

I will also state that nothing in my life experience has made me doubt this truth. There may be other presenting issues that seem to be driving evil but in the end if you dig very far beneath them you will find greed. Or at least that has been my experience.

© 2010 Vic Jones

FUCKED

Wham bam thank you ma’am,

Fucked up the arse again,

’Tis a new law,

Made in haste,

’Cause it’s an emergency,

Never mind that the old laws aren’t bein’ enforced,

We just gotta pass some more laws,

To make sure all the people are confused,

And so the advent of a tyrant!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 20 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Practice gratitude you will improve yourself and the world.
Have you ever noticed how misery seems to accompany lack of gratitude? For example many people are born in the USA and inherit money yet seem to never be satisfied that the USA is a fairly decent place to live. No they want to live somewhere perfect (never realizing that if such a place existed the moment they entered it perfection would cease to exist) and so the current system must be destroyed so that a newer and better system can be emplaced. Never mind the chaos that the destruction of the current system will cause, it is necessary for progress.

I ask sincerely: progress toward what? More ungrateful people who make the whole world worse?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 19 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

The reason negative thinking works more often than positive thinking is that we are more apt to act on our negative thoughts than on our positive thoughts.


A fine example of acting (or not acting) on negative thinking is saying, ‘I can’t,’ when you (or I) say, ‘I can’t,’ we immediately act on that thought and simply refuse to try what ever it is that we said we could not do.


Wise people have told me (though I don’t do well at following their advice) that in order to overcome the tendency to say, ‘I can’t,’ I should look closely at one action that I’m avoiding by saying, ‘I can’t,’ and do that action to the best of my ability even if I don’t do well.


© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 18 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

It is neither thoughts nor intentions that matter but actions and results. It does not matter how noble your thought or intention is; if what you do harms someone then your action is wrong!
As with many of the statements I make to add much to this would be to hide its profound simplicity. Yet I’ve been asked how can such a short simple statement possibly be profound?

Only a person who was purposefully looking for complications would insist that a simple concept naturally lacks depth.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 17 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

If you concentrate on what is wrong in your life without seeking a solution you will never discover what could be right in your life.
Complaining never solves any problems. Concentration on problems rather than solutions always magnifies the problem rather than providing any way to overcome the problem.

In life you are faced with multiple choices every instant and each choice whether you acknowledge having made it or not affects the rest of your life.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 16 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Both the sun and the rain are necessary for life. Therefore don't complain when either arrives in your life.
The lesson here is to remember not to complain about those things that are beyond your control. Then also it is wise to remember that most of the happenings that affect your life are beyond your control. It is also wise to remember that many things that seem at the time to be terrible are later found to have been good as they helped us grow.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Soaring

Soaring


Free

Flying

Going

!

Looking

Learning

Searching

Hearing

?

Finding

Helping

Doing

Keeping….

© 2010 Vic Jones

Colors

Colors


My skin,

Does it matter what color it is?

Why do you care so much?

About my skin,

Rather than what is within?

What is your answer?

Shall we another generation birth,

To hate one another,

And carry forth the ancient war?

Or will we really learn not to hate,

Just ’cause you’re black and I’m not?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 15 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

It is easier to be a slave than it is to be free.
I’m sure there are people who will look at this statement and say that it is absolutely false. If you are one of those people I challenge you with this question: Do you love the work you are doing? If you don’t love the work you are doing why are you still doing it?

And finally how long have you been doing work that you don’t love?

The answers to these questions will tell you whether you are free or a slave.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 14 from The Hard Knocks School of life

Change is inevitable; how you react to change will either make you a success or a failure. The first and most important attitude that anyone must have in the face of change is that change represents opportunity.
Success is always a function of how well you deal with unexpected opportunities.

A good question to ask yourself is: How are you doing at dealing with the opportunities that life has handed you?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 13 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

If you want to change the world start with yourself; ask this simple question: how can I be a better person. When you learn the answer to that question implement it and you will have changed the world for the better.
It is often said but not acted upon that you are the only person whom you control completely. Therefore you are the only person you can be sure of improving.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 12 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Find someone who needs help and help them. Do this personally and you will improve yourself and the world!
If you feel bad about the way someone is treated or is living it is your responsibility to help them. If you try to browbeat someone else into doing what you think is helpful rather than doing it personally you are a tyrant.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 11 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Keep your eyes on your goal and remember your plan... this is the essence of success. Without a plan and goal very few people succeed after they learn to walk and talk....
Or in other words learning to walk and talk are driven by necessity and do not require a set plan. But other activities beyond walking and talking are not always driven by necessity and therefore do require a plan and consistent work toward a goal in order to achieve success.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 10 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

In order to be happy you will have to lower your expectations. If you expect people to make you happy or things to make you happy you won’t be happy because your expectations will keep you from being happy.
I think that learning to accept that there will be much misery in my life that is neither my fault nor within my ability to do more than limit the pain I have been caused was one of the most difficult lessons I ever had to learn. When I stopped being miserable and feeling like I was the only person with a miserable life I began to look for what I could find joy in. In all I must say that fun has very little to do with joy or happiness.

© 2010 Vic Jones

WAR!

War is about the stupidest activity that humans engage in yet I believe it is absolutely necessary. The reason I believe this is that I believe that we must have both conflict and even combat in order to stay where we are (which is the top predator on earth) and be prepared to meet any external threat.
The reason I say war is stupid though is this; war tends to kill the young, the brilliant and the stupid without regard to what they may provide except sacrifices to that insatiable monster war!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Cooperation Vs Compulsion

One of the big issues we as humans have in life is the line between compulsion and cooperation. We almost know instinctively that we must cooperate or die. Yet when we try to compel someone to cooperate with us we get rebellion or something worse. Still it seems that in every generation there are those who will say that the only way to achieve cooperation is to compel people to cooperate! It seems to me that cooperation is the exact opposite of compulsion and that if one tries to obtain cooperation by force (which is the definition of compulsion) then cooperation disappears.


© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 9 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

When you fail it is an opportunity to learn. If you refuse to learn from your failures then you have refused to accept the facts of life.
I of course must admit that my most common failure is my refusal to accept the facts of life. I. E. I’ve been known to make the same mistake many times before deciding that what I have been attempting will not work.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 8 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Learning how to channel my anger in constructive ways is one of the most difficult lessons I have ever tried to learn. In fact I'm not sure I have actually learned it yet.
Difficult lessons are always the ones you want to avoid, but often the ones you need to learn the most!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 7 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

The essence of positive thinking is belief, if you believe that something is possible you will do it. Negative thinking is belief too; it is the belief that you can’t do something. Choose what you are going to do and succeed or fail according to your beliefs.
There is a flow of consequences from thought to belief to action. In other words your thoughts control your beliefs and your beliefs control your actions.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 6 from The Hard knocks School of Life

People are more important than things, concentrate on having good relationships and you will have a happier life.
It seems to me that the greatest difficulties and conflicts in human relationships are created when a greater emphasis is placed on possessions rather than upon caring for one another.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 5 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Life is hard. This is a fact; what you do about the fact that life is hard will make the difference in whether or not your life is successful. Money is not a good measure of success, happiness is a fair measure of success, how many people whom you have helped be better people is an excellent measure of success.
© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 4 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

The reason negative thinking works more often than positive thinking is that we are more apt to act on our negative thoughts than on our positive thoughts.
In my experience I have seen much to indicate that most people are willing to say that will never work before something is tried. I know that doesn’t mean that there are not things and ideas that should not be tried, just that history is filled with people who did go against the tide so to speak so that we have all sorts of convenient luxuries like electric lights and automobiles!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 3 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Courage is being willing to tell the truth when everyone around you says, 'don't say that!' or, 'if you say that about me I will kill you!'
Of late I’ve noticed that courage has become a slippery concept, but I don’t believe that should be true. Then again I think the tyrants of the world are working hard to keep as many people as possible ignorant of true courage.

© 2010 Vic Jones

An open letter to President Obama

Dear President Obama,


I don’t suppose that you have heard that the borrower is the servant of the lender? I want to know for what purpose you are borrowing money? I especially want to know, since you have essentially charged that money to my children and grandchildren as if you were the master of all identity thieves. Therefore the question becomes: What sort of man are you that you would in all probability condemn many future generations of children to abuse?

Sincerely a concerned peasant.

Lesson 2 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Sometimes the truth hurts; sometimes this is necessary, sometimes it is not, knowing the difference is tact. Trying to enforce a no pain caused standard is political correctness and encourages lying at best.

It has come to me that often the truth is offensive because it is like light is to cockroaches. When the light comes on cockroaches head for places to hide at full speed. When people who are doing evil hear the truth about what they are doing they react with violence and hatred against the person who has told the truth about their behavior

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lessons from The Hard Knocks School of Life

This is Lesson 1

People say keep a good attitude, I say just be able to keep on living. Because if you give up living how can you change?

A great many people give in to  the roaring voice of despair when confronted by some great failure. Or when simply confronted by the difficulty of life. Therefore the first lesson of life that is hard is keep living.

School Reformation

I think that one thing that could be done to improve our schools is that at the end of each term a teacher should be evaluated by the class. This should be done in a manner such that the anonymity of the students could be maintained. If a teacher received an evaluation of boring from more than half of their class for more than two terms they should be fired. Why? Because they are wasting the time of our most valuable assets as a society. After all if our children are not educated (and let’s face facts if they are bored they are not being educated) then they will not grow up to be able to reach for the stars or even to be able to simply find the sort of work that will give them joy and prosperity.


© 2010 Vic Jones

The Easy Life

Searching

Seeking….

              Always seeking

                            Looking for the easy way

Never wondering why

            Life is tasteless

                      When you don’t earn what you have

When everything is just there

              When you don’t work at all

                            When you always take the easy way

When you won’t accept a challenge

                ’Cause you want everything to be easy

And now what

              You are bored

                           Life is meaningless

© 2010 Vic Jones

The Coward’s Way

Cowardice is easy,

’Til you find,

That trying to stay out of sight,

Just doesn’t work,

’Cause there is always someone,

Who is petty enough,

To take pleasure in your fear,

Sure mice tend to live longer than lions,

But unless all us mice learn to work together,

We’re still just cat food!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Dark Thoughts

Where do you Live?


Is there no room for joy?

No place for laughter?

No easing of care?

Better to never live,

Than have no room to relax,

No place where you can play,

Certainly play is not all of life,

But if you try to eliminate it,

Have you not killed the spirit,

Made dull slavery,

Of all that is done?

Turned duty into a grinding stone,

Made living a short trip to hell,

Where maybe things are better,

’Cause surely with all the people there,

There won’t be a demon to torture just you.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Reasons for Singularity

AIDS

Chlamydia

Gonorrhea

Hepatitis

Herpes

HPV

Mononucleosis

NSU

Pregnancy

Syphilis

Warts!

Some I missed I’m sure!

© 2010 Vic Jones

What To Do

Livin’ in a haze,
Drugged through our daze,

Reds and yellows and blues,

Black beauties and whites too,

Blue diamonds make superman,

Hash, pot or weed,

Horse, opium or heroin,

Coke will make you high,

LSD will send you on a trip,

Or go on a magic mushroom ride…

Then one day we find,

Chains of sharp wire,

Binding us tight,

We are slaves,

And no drug will change,

That hard cold fact!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Scary Stuff

The truth my friends, is often so frightening that we refuse to believe it. At other times it seems to be insulting. Barak Obama decries the fact that the government can’t be moved as fast as he wants it to be. Yet as I study the history of the USA I find that the founders wanted a small government. Granted they didn’t really trust big business either as there is some truth in the idea that the larger a business gets the more aspects of a government it takes on. So now we have a president who is consolidating all the businesses in the country allowing the big banks to crowd out the little banks, buying car companies and consolidating health care so you have no choice as to where or from whom you get care (if you can get care soon [after all contrary to what he said it will still cost more {or there will be fewer doctors, after all who would go into medicine if they have to spend 24 or more years in school then be relegated to slavery?}]) from… and how many of BHO’s fellow travelers have intimated that they would like to kill those who criticize the Scary Stuff
The truth my friends, is often so frightening that we refuse to believe it. At other times it seems to be insulting. Barak Obama decries the fact that the government can’t be moved as fast as he wants it to be. Yet as I study the history of the USA I find that the founders wanted a small government. Granted they didn’t really trust big business either as there is some truth in the idea that the larger a business gets the more aspects of a government it takes on. So now we have a president who is consolidating all the businesses in the country allowing the big banks to crowd out the little banks, buying car companies and consolidating health care so you have no choice as to where or from whom you get care (if you can get care soon [after all contrary to what he said it will still cost more {or there will be fewer doctors, after all who would go into medicine if they have to spend 24 or more years in school then be relegated to slavery?}]) from… and how many of BHO’s fellow travelers have intimated that they would like to kill those who criticize them?

http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2010/10/20/leftists,_progressives_and_socialists/page/full/

another look at the ground zero mosque

There should be no mosque at ground zero in NY. It doesn’t matter that it is part of a ‘Muslim American friendship’ effort or not since in all that I can discern from the actions of Muslims throughout the world they consider everyone who is not a Muslim to be an enemy worthy of death.

To understand how this works in the world read the following article.
http://townhall.com/columnists/RobertSpencer/2010/10/22/a_closer_look_at_cair/page/full/

Advertiser recommendation

I see that there is an ad on my blog for the company groupon www.groupon.com/ While I don’t use this company it comes with high recommendations and it is one that I will recommend that you try.

Anger

Anger


Are you angry?

What is the problem?

Don’t look at the anger,

Nor even what is in front of you now,

Will you look deeply,

And find,

Why you are angry?

Search out your hurt,

Search out your fear,

Face them,

Heal,

And beg forgiveness,

From those you have harmed.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Sanctuary

Sanctuary


Where is it you think of sanctuary?

Do you trust in your money?

What happens when the government prints more money?

Do you trust in your land?

What happens when the government seizes your land?

Do you trust the government?

What happens when evil men bear rule?

Everything on earth will either decay or be subject to theft,

Therefore trust in God.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Writing Poetry

Writing Poetry


Words grumble,

And rumble.

Some tumble,

About in my mind,

A confusing jumble,

Meaning communication,

Ideas,

Or just random noise,

Do I say something,

Or am I just mouthing nonsense,

I know what this is,

And say so now,

Nonsense!

Just words flung,

In random directions,

Prating itself as poetry.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Walking in Fear

Walking in Fear


I walk into the valley of fear,

Ague and trembling beset me,

My knees are as a wind shivered leaf,

My fear knows no bounds,

I drop and hide my face,

Feeling the cold clamp of shackles on my body,

There is no comfort anywhere,

I’ve become a slave!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Vote aginst incumbents especially Democrats

One of the issues that affect everyone is the 'health care' legislation passed by congress this year.  Here is a website or rather an article that I think will educate many. Of course there are those who will continue to insist that socialism will work this time since we (or rather they) have the correct administrators. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

Quiet as a Mouse

Quiet as a Mouse


If you sit in a corner,

Quiet as a mouse,

’Tis certain no one will notice you,

Yet if that is your desire,

I’ll not say you nay,

Still,

Don’t complain to me,

If you are unnoticed,

When you choose,

To sit quietly in a corner!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Don't Wait up for Me

Don’t Wait up for Me


Oh I’ve gone out to play,

With all the people I call friends,

So no, don’t wait up for me,

I won’t be home tonight,

And maybe even not tomorrow,

’Cause I’ve gone out to play,

In the dark,

Oh no what has happened to me?

Who has captured me?

’Tis that foul monster addiction,

Honey, will you let me in,

Oh no, move over you,

AHHHHHHHHH!

A corpse is found….

© 2010 Vic Jones

Poetry

Poetry


So you expect fluff,

Or words rhyming,

Like bells chiming,

When someone says poetry,

But it isn’t always that way,

For poetry is a mirror,

Upon our soul,

A reflection of both beauty,

And the awe inspiring,

But even that,

Is a poor description of poetry,

Which is the vain attempt,

To capture the flame,

Of passion,

And reduce it to words!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Courage is

 

Courage is facing your fears,

No matter what they are,

Courage is not just on the battlefield of war,

Though that is surly one of its most prominent places of display,

Courage is the child who faces the dark,

And the woman who leaves an abusive relationship,

(Or the man who leaves an abusive relationship),

Courage is the quiet man who sees evil and does what he can to overcome it,

Courage is knowing you have to change,

And knowing that change hurts,

But choosing to change because it makes you a better person,

Because the whole world is better when one person is better,

Courage is denying the crabs who say it is impossible,

And learning what is possible.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Truth and Hatred

Truth and Hatred


The truth I suspect inspires hatred in many people because it is too accurate in its revelation of their flaws. What shall we do when faced with our own flaws but hate that which reveals them? I hope every day, indeed work every day to change what I see as my flaws… But that doesn’t mean I like the people who show them to me!

© 2010 Vic Jones

The Bird

The Bird


I watched a crow fly,

It was a beautiful sight,

As it soared,

So free,

I would not have known,

That it was a crow,

But I saw it land,

And so I ask,

Is it not true,

That some things are more beautiful from a distance?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Writer's Block

Writer’s Block


Words like mountains,

Obdurate—obstacles,

Refuse to flow,

Onto the page,

Or in my mind,

So I sit,

And think,

Wondering where yon muse has gone,

And hoping she will return soon!

© 2010 Vic Jones

9-11-10

Since it is September 11th, 2010 I would like to ask if there as many people as I think there are who are insulted that there is a 7 story deep hole where the world trade center towers used to be? Then next I'd like to know why St Steven's Greek Orthodox Church is having trouble getting rebuilt but some agent  provocateur can get plans for a mosque in the same area rushed through city hall?

This may be all I write today

(c) 2010 Vic Jones

Solitary Dreams

Solitary Dreams


When alone,

With my imagination,

It is possible to be,

Anything I want to be,

To be with anyone I want to be with,

And then I think,

How can I be good?

And I remember,

That I have to concentrate on being good,

Or more than likely,

I will be bad!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Tomorrow

Tomorrow


Oh you say,

I’ll do it tomorrow,

Why do you think,

That you will have tomorrow,

Don’t you know,

That tomorrow never comes,

You only have today,

If you have something,

That should be done,

Don’t wait,

Do it as soon as you are able,

’Cause you never know,

When you’ll stop having today!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Dark Dreams

Dark Dreams


Your skin like ebony silk,

Your lips like dark cherries so sweet,

Your hair like the finest wool in the world,

Your breasts so fine and firm,

Tipped with nipples like black plums,

Your kiss is fire,

Upon my lips,

Stirring my blood to magma,

Oh how I want to see you again!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Confusion

Confusion…

’Tis easy to sea,

English does confuse,

Simply wright a word,

Or is it right a word?

Or rite a word?

Write there are four words,

All sound the same,

But used incorrectly,

Confusion results.

Now let’s see,

Wright is a given name,

And of old described a profession that today we name mechanic,

But still in use today,

Do you know a millwright?

And right is a direction or used to express correctness,

Write? Well that’s what we do with a pen or more often of late a computer,

Rite is what we practice in religion,

Especially when we don’t really believe,

Or getting a drivers license is an American rite of passage.

Ah there are more that I could tell,

Words that confuse and confound,

If I did no other work would I do!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Being alone

Being alone



Being alone is a choice,

I have made

            this I know,

If I don’t want to be alone,

             I have a different choice to make

To change

            to be different,

           ’Tis not enough to want to be different,

I have to take action

To take a chance,

to be hurt

       Or to hurt someone

                  Oh how frightening!

’Tis not my wish to harm,

             Nor to be harmed

But-

       Relationships carry that risk

That’s the way life works,

          I have to accept that

                    And choose to take the risk

To not be alone anymore!



© 2009 Vic Jones

Addiction

Addiction is like a monster,

I’ve invited to dine,

It consumes a bit of me,

Yet brings exquisite pleasure,

To offset the pain,

Oh willingly have I fed myself to this monster,

Trading moments of pleasure for hours of pain,

When will I stop?

When I DIE?

I hope not,

I want to stop but that is pain too,

With no promise of pleasure before,

Still I shall find a bit of courage now,

And face the pain for one moment longer because,

I don’t want to feed the monster any more,

After all it is eating me!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Changing the World

Changing the World

So you want to make the world better,

Have you looked at your life,

Have you started to tell the truth,

Have you helped your neighbor,

Have you done service,

Will you do something,

Will you stop complaining,

Will you stand for the weak,

Will you stand against the wicked,

Will you accept criticism for doing good,

Are you ready to get up,

To invest your treasure,

To make the world better,

Even when it is not appreciated.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Positive Thinking

Positive Thinking


If you believe it you will do it,

Yes it is true,

If you believe you deserve it,

You will be more likely to get it,

Are you in pain?

Do you think that disbelieving your pain will change it?

Somehow I don’t have that much faith,

Yes I know that action follows belief,

So be careful what you believe,

Lest you believe a lie,

And end up doing evil,

While intending to do good!

© 2010 Vic Jones

In the Morning

In the Morning


When the day is cool,

And the Lord paints the sky,

With a wondrous beauty,

When the birds break out in song,

Declaring their ownership of one corner or another,

And making a wonderful song,

As if the Lord were saying.

Remember Me!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Making Love

Making Love


Soft sweet caress,

Slow deep kiss,

Sure those are part of it,

How about an hour of getting acquainted,

Learning to listen to one another,

Hearing,

Paying attention,

Or time spent,

Just holding hands,

A long walk through,

The beauty of a park,

Or playing a game,

Not to win,

But because it is fun,

Is there less to that,

Than to the heat of desire?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Owed To Quicken ®

Owed To Quicken ®

Oh I now know,

Thanks to Quicken ®,

What I owe!

That I must find more work,

Or work that pays more money,

Or a starving artist I'll be!

© 2010 Vic Jones

The Children of Men and Eagles

The Children of Men and Eagles

Oh the children of eagles must fly,

But what about the children of men?

Sons of Adam,

And daughters of Eve?

What must they do?

Must they leave hearth and home?

Go out on their own?

Into the world so harsh,

Indeed they must,

As surely as eagles must fly,

So must our children leave our hearths and homes.

And face the world,

Its dangers and snares,

Pray you’ve trained them well,

Those sons and daughters,

Whom you send forth,

Because will you or nil you,

They will go!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Begin

Begin


Take a step,

Write a line,

Tell a story,

Take a journey,

Make a change,

Become something new,

Be a better person,

Don’t depend on rules,

But live out love,

That transforms the world.

© 2010 Vic Jones

A Beautiful Day

A Beautiful Day

The sun shines on my head,

The grass is green,

The sky is blue,

We all know this,

And take it for granted,

That our neighbor can see it,

That he can walk,

And that he doesn’t have a problem,

That we can help with,

All because we take what we see,

And what we hear for granted.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Justice?

One of the great calumnies that is perpetrated by Marxists and socialists against the USA is that the experience of the negro in America (USA) is unique. This is untrue. Racism is endemic to humanity (this does not make any instance of it right) and therefore no race has a unique experience with racism.
However one of the ideas that has been put forward as an amelioration of the past injustice done to black people in the United States of America is reparations. Or in smaller doses racial quotas. It was reported the other day that Louis Farakahn said, ‘that only when Black men had the same amount of stuff as white men would justice have been met.’ Perhaps Michael Jackson will then donate some of his stuff to me?

Oh I forgot that in the vernacular of the American Negro having a white skin makes you an oppressor!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Keep looking up

Keep looking up


It is my obligation,

To warn you,

When you are in danger,

If that offends you,

That is not my problem,

I still must warn you,

Jesus has called us all,

But if you will not accept him,

You will go to hell,

You have been warned!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Weeping

Weeping


That is what I feel like doing,

Just sitting down and crying,

I don’t know why,

Or even if it would help me,

Since I don’t know why,

I feel this way today.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Smile

Smile


So many people forget,

To smile when they see one another,

Will you join them?

Or will you break the mold,

And smile at the people you meet,

Helping to add friendship,

And beauty to the world,

By giving the world a smile.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Disconnected

DISCONNECTED


Living in cotton wool…

That is how I feel lately,

As if nothing makes me feel anything,

Except when my body is in pain,

But I feel so disconnected from the world,

That sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever connect again.

Sure I chose to be alone,

But still there are days,

When I miss having someone to talk to,

To share my discoveries, and to laugh, and cry with….

© 2010 Vic Jones

Building

Building


Ex nihilo nihil fit : from nothing nothing is produced,

Making things takes effort,

And raw material,

And perhaps most of all,

It requires understanding,

That as each man goes his way,

He must keep most of what he produces,

Lest he stop producing,

Since he has nothing left,

After the tax man has visited like a hoard of locusts!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Making the Connection

Making the Connection


Shall I touch you?

Shall I let you touch me?

Is one touch enough,

Or will we become lovers,

Should we become lovers?

Tenderly caressing,

Enticing,

Exciting,

Or will we end in ashes,

Grieving what has gone by?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Hope for Today

Hope for Today


How shall I hope?

I can only hope,

If I believe the future will be better,

Still shall I give in to despair?

I shall not,

I shall emulate the tortoise,

Perhaps I shall not win my race,

But I shall hope,

For I have not given up!

© 2010 Vic Jones

A Muse Visits

A Muse Visits


Erato’s come to visit,

That naughty wench,

I guess she was feeling ignored,

But now she’s here for a visit,

How long she’ll stay,

I’ve no idea,

But I always enjoy her visits,

I hope you do too!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Erotica for Idiots

Erotica for Idiots


I sit in the howling darkness,

Writing erotica for idiots,

Wondering what became of my dreams,

Did they die an unheard and unheralded death,

While I wandered this wilderness,

Of barren bones,

Or are they here somewhere,

Just hiding behind the erotica?

© 2010 Vic Jones

The End

The End


Red roses run along the top of the fence,

Dripping petals like blood,

           A lonely old farm house stands,

                        Hidden by the trees,

Planted there to shelter it,

         No children run,

                  No dogs play,

The pasture is empty,

        A bulldozer sits there,

                A yellow menace,

Tomorrow progress happens.

© 2010 Vic Jones

I love You

I love You


How do you use words,

To express such a thing as love,

For no matter what I say,

Love,

Desire,

Longing,

Aching,

Seems to me,

To be inadequate,

To express,

How I feel,

You are my world!

© 2010 Vic Jones

People

People

The ink is black,

And the page is white,

Or so it was once upon a time,

At least for the most part,

After all,

Black is the easiest color of ink to make,

The page might be pale yellow,

For that is easier to obtain than true white,

But pale enough all along,

For a stark contrast,

And contrast is necessary,

In many things,

Lest we not be able to understand,

Or see what is there to see,

Or miss some grave danger,

Like a tiger hidden in the shadows,

So when someone says,

Be quiet,

Don't say that you see,

A contrast between people,

I say,

How can I not say what is obvious,

That some people lie more than others,

And some cheat,

All are prone to evil,

And all are capable of much good,

But we must always watch one another,

For among men, tigers are not the problem,

But men who prey on one another.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Who is a Racist

A great many people, whenever they hear P. Obama criticized jump to the conclusion that the criticism is based on the fact that he is black. I had great hopes for the man before I learned that he went to the church pastored by J. Wright. That was enough for me to realize that he would be a black racist. I must say that I dislike people who tattoo themselves with swastikas; I think we ought to hang them from the nearest lamp post. And the same goes with anyone who tattoos a black panther or ace of spades on himself. That means they have engaged in dangerous group think. And if they went so far as to tattoo themselves there is little chance that they will look up and see anyone who does not look the same as them as human.
I happen to have a review of Saul Alynsky’s book and find it telling that he dedicated it to Satan. Now you can say what you want about P. Obama but in his books he says that Saul Alynsky is one of the people he admires most. With those facts in mind I also point out that a real leader (which I am not) doesn’t mention himself in every line he speaks.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Caution

People need three things in order to live or perhaps four, these are the basic survival level needs you have heard them stated various ways but they boil down to food, water, shelter and security. It is the final need for security that all tyrants prey upon. Because people will accept almost any condition to avoid chaos which is the opposite of security. This is the reason that some people (including myself) suspect that at heart P. Obama is a tyrant. It seems that every time things start to settle down he stirs up a new sort of chaos. And it can be seen from history that other tyrants used the stirring of chaos to distract the populace from the creeping strangulation of tyranny.


© 2010 Vic Jones

Bad Dreams

Bad Dreams


Sometimes as we grow up,

We have to watch our dreams die,

And we mourn them,

As our children,

For when dreams die,

The whole world is a bit poorer,

But then…

Some dreams,

Were never meant to live,

And—

Some dreams would kill us,

Should they ever come true…..

© 2010 Vic Jones

Please follow the link

If you read the piece I posted before this one I want to point you to an article that is far more articulate than I have yet learned to be on this subject.


http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidLimbaugh/2010/08/03/on_demagoguing,_obama_should_look_in_the_mirror/page/full

I hope you will read and contemplate this.

Vic

Question for July 29, 2010

If the government fails to enforce one law either by design or by negligence does that not in essence negate all laws?

I’m sure that there are people who believe exactly that and that they are not so very wrong. For when the government fails to enforce even one law that is on the books the net result is an increase in chaos. Now I’m a firm believer that the fewer laws there are the better off we all are, after all simple laws are easier to understand and harder for sneaky lawyers to hide in as if they were a thicket where they can wait for the unwary passerby.

So why do you suppose the Obama administration is selectively not enforcing our immigration laws when we know that people with Farsi tattoos have been captured entering the nation from Mexico?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Interview with a Zebra

“Hey, what are you running from?”


“I thought I saw a lion.”

“Why would that make you run?”

“Don’t you know anything?”

“Well I’m not from around here so no I don’t know much about what is going on here. So why are you running if you thought you saw a lion?”

“If I don’t run from lions they will eat me!”

“Why don’t you stand and fight them?”

“Do I look like I could fight with something that is nearly the same size as me and has sharp teeth and claws? And that is not the worst, there are almost always several lions when you see or smell one!”

“Still it seems you should maybe negotiate with them.”

“If I don’t run I’m lunch!”

“Well you certainly do run fast…”

“I just wish lions didn’t chase us. I gotta go!”

© 2010 Vic Jones

Summer

Summer


Oh the sun is beating on my head,

’Til I think I’m mostly dead!

The temperature is 110 in the shade,

And brother, there ain’t no shade!

Not in Redding any way,

Ok there is,

But I was walking across a parking lot,

When it struck me,

That living here in the summer,

Is quite a challenge!



© 2010 Vic Jones

California

An experimental poem.

California


The land of fruits and nuts,

As one wag put it,

Sometimes I think,

That everyone imagines,

That California is,

Just the city of lost angels…

Or San Francisco…

By the ocean,

Where the stars of movies play,

Or where the people who never grew up in 1960 still live,

But California is more than that,

It is the place I call home,

A small town,

Lost in the roar of all the other bigger places,

And so not noticed much,

But sometimes I like it that way!



© 2010 Vic Jones

On government

Government is necessary; therefore taxes are necessary. Some people may ask why government is necessary but if you ask that you have never had someone cut your bicycle loose from where you locked it!


Now since it is obvious that government is necessary the question is: How much government and how much should that government cost?

I’m of the firm opinion that government should be as small as possible and cost the least amount possible and still maintain order. Indeed it may well be that the larger the government gets the more it is apt to foster chaos in order to enlarge itself.

© 2010 Vic Jones

What happened to me

Author nation www.authornation.com/ a site run by infinity www.infinitypublishing.com/ (a vanity press) the website where I have blogged the longest and most consistently for most of the last three years is back up and running. I am not going to post as often here as I did while they were down even though this site has the potential to make me money even if I never finish the proverbial novel that like all fictioneers I am writing. Still I have a limited amount of time and chose for reasons that I can’t define to stick with Author nation. Perhaps the best reason I can give is that it is a social networking site and while I think it is possible to do social networking through a blog I believe that my social networking has actually driven traffic here.


Therefore it behooves me to expend some effort there every day and attempt to get something more substantial up here on a weekly basis. I can I think though see a time when this blog will be the place where I spend my greatest effort.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Daily Question 12

What is the weakness of telling the truth? One weakness of telling the truth is that it is the truth, not a lie. And because people tend to lie quite freely they disbelieve the truth yet believe lies! Because people who lie don’t care whether or not they tell the truth they can lie about you.
All this may make it seem that I’m advocating becoming a liar but what I really want to learn to do is be as harmless as a dove and as subtle as a serpent as the bible recommends. Why would the bible make a recommendation that we become as subtle as a serpent (often seen as an avatar for evil)?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Daily Question 11

What do we worship? Why does it matter what we worship? A simple answer to this is that you worship what you value. Take an inventory of how you spend your life (rather your time) certainly you must spend a certain amount of your time on winning the means of your survival, but if you spend so much time on work that there is no time left to do anything else then are you not worshiping money?
Next there is youth (but not childhood) do we deny that we will get older by every means possible? Do you not visit your aged parents or aunts and uncles? Do you know anyone more than thirty years older than you (if you’re not over seventy)? Why have we not continued to honor the old man or woman whose grey hair tells us that he or she has experienced life and survived it?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Daily Question 10

Is the constant bombardment of crises (even the apparent inability to govern) that we see emanating from the Whitehouse intentional? Maybe a better question to ask is this: Who is Saul Alinsky, and what is he to Barak Obama? When you can find the answer to that question then you will have a better idea of how to view the news that is presented by the Whitehouse.
Who did Saul Alinsky dedicate his last book to and what does it bode for us? What can we do about this besides ask one another questions? Or are questions the most effective way of dealing with deception?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Daily Question 9

If you intend to do good but the results of your action is the increase of human suffering (or evil) then can you not see that you have done evil?
The only time that you (or I) can be certain that we have done good is when the results of our actions matches the intention of our hearts. In fact the disconnect between our intentions and the result of our action is something we must always examine. If the end result of our action does not match our intention then when will we become honest and change our actions until the results we desire are met?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Daily Question 8

What sets a successful person apart from an unsuccessful person? Is it money? That seems to be one measure of success but is it a true measure of success? Perhaps a better measure of success would be whether or not a person could maintain relationships with other people.

Certainly in my opinion people are more important than things, yet we must have the necessities of life and in order to get them we must have money which means that for the most part we must spend our time earning money. Therefore it is easy to come to the conclusion that having more money or the ability to earn more money than other people is a measure of success. After all the only question that defines success in the end is: do you have what you need to survive?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Daily Question 7

Is a lottery fair or unfair? As I view a state or national lottery as a voluntary tax on people who are either stupid or bad at math I tend to think that a lottery is very fair. It also has the justice (if you want to call it that) of being blind, everyone who buys a chance in the lottery has an equal chance of winning. Indeed even buying multiple chances doesn’t really enhance the odds of winning in your favor. Yet as with all of life the moment the numbers fall there is a single winner (Unless more than one person chose the winning numbers to wager on) and all other players are losers. So then if a lottery is an example of fairness that results in unequal outcomes how come some people still insist that for life to be fair we ought to have equal outcomes?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Daily Question 6

Do you want the world to become a better fairer place? Then why do you accept that some people don’t have to follow the rules?

When we are speaking of fairness among people then the first issue seems to me to be that everyone has to follow the same set of rules. Of course that does leave the question of who will enforce the rules. And how do we be sure that the person or group enforcing the rules doesn’t favor one person, or group over another?

Fairness is difficult because no matter how hard we try to achieve it we cannot be perfectly fair. But if we wait for perfection or try to achieve perfection by destroying the current system that will certainly result in much more unfairness.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Question 5

What is the purpose of keeping and studying history?


I hate to answer this question but I shall give my view of the purpose of keeping a history. The first reason that a history is kept is to know who is related to whom. But there is a great deal more that can and is passed down in history. If you know history you can for example recognize a tyrant when he emerges. It is always easier to keep a tyrant from gaining power than to depose him after he has gained power.

There is also the fact that as craftsmen keep history they can more easily pass their techniques to their children or apprentices. So why don’t we pay more attention to history? Could it be because those who would be tyrants have set out to make us believe that the study of history is unimportant?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Question 4

Is the praise (almost, indeed truly worship) that is given to actors and some politicians unhealthy?


Of course we can see that it is unhealthy after all if the divorce rate is 50% in the populace at large the divorce rate in Hollywood is nearly 100% and could be said to actually be higher than that if you count the number of actors and actresses who seem to have a spouse a month or more.

A greater question though is how negative is it to the people who are giving the worship?

There the effects are a bit more subtle: Yet is there any doubt that the things that those we hold in high esteem do influence us? Of course not!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Question 3

If the world is unfair, and I think it is, what can I do about it?


I know that the application of force to coerce ‘fairness’ results in more unfairness if that is possible. So what can I personally do about the unfairness of the world? Not much after all I am a small person. Yet there is one thing I can do that will help. I will treat others as fairly as I know how. I will not cheat; indeed I will make sure that even when someone makes a mistake in my favor that I not allow it to stand.

The question for the rest of the world is this: what are you going to do to make the world a more fair place?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Question 2

Why is it I wonder that many people consider the truth to be offensive? There are gentle ways and not so gentle ways to tell the truth, this I know but in the end if we are not willing to tell and hear the truth what does it say about us? That we prefer lies? Are not lies the currency of tyrants?


I’m committing myself to asking questions that may be uncomfortable in order to learn the truth and then to the defense of the truth since it seems to me that when lies abound from the highest places in the world to the lowest places in the world it is high time that people stood and said this is the truth and I will not be moved from telling it even at the cost of my life.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Today's questions

In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell


Today’s question is this: are we living in a time of universal deceit? And if we are living in a time of universal deceit what can we as individuals do about it?

Perhaps the single most transformative thing we can do is concentrate on telling as much of the truth as possible. But let us remember that at any time to be a revolutionary for the truth carries extreme consequences. Are we willing to face those consequences?

© 2010 Vic Jones

Math and money

Math and money


Here is a math lesson. $1.00 will buy some sort of junk at a dollar store. Now here is some math for you 10x10=100; 10x100=1000; 1000x1000=1,000,000 (one million if you are keeping track) many of us would consider ourselves quite wealthy if we were the owner of a cash position of $1,000,000. Now for some government sized numbers. 1000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000 (that is one billion) an amount of dollars our government is always talking about as if it is not very much at all. Now another number: 1000 x 1,000,000,000 = 1,000,000,000,000 (that is one trillion if you didn’t figure it out yet) That is enough money to make you sick thinking about it. Our government owes more than 13 trillion dollars. 1% of that is 130 billion dollars.

© 2010 Vic Jones

For all my writing friends

The pen,


In my hand,

Writing,

Drawing,

Communicating!

What a wonder,

What glory,

What tales to tell!

Dreams fulfilled,

Worlds changed,

All with,

The pen,

In my hand!



© 2010 Vic Jones

The Price of Life

The Price of Life


Everything has a price,

So I’m told,

Though often we don’t know,

What the price will be,

’Til the tune is done.

And the piper’s gone away,

To play another gig,

Why don’t we ask,

Ere he sets the pipe to his lips,

What will this dance cost?

Some things ’tis true,

Must be done,

But others we choose,

Though they cost us all we own,

And gain not but pain and sorrow,

In the end!



© 2010 Vic Jones

Human sexuality

Is homosexuality a choice? There are those who say that it is not, yet profess to believe in evolution. Let me say this, pure homosexuality is anti survival. Not necessarily for the individual but for the species. If some type of creature existed at some time in the past that was exclusively attached to those of the same sex then it long ago went extinct because it didn’t reproduce.


Bisexuality on the other hand is extremely adaptable and makes for a very survivable species. If men bond to men but not exclusively then it is possible to build tribes, villages, and nations. For then men will both work together and still mate with women often enough to engender the next generation.

On a historical side note; what do you know about Sparta?

© 2010 Vic Jones

The Space Race

The space race


We need a place to go. That is the main reason to continue to explore space. The question I have is this: why have we stopped looking outward? Do we not realize how close we are to creating some sort of disaster that will cause the human race to become extinct? Even though I don’t necessarily accept the conclusion that human activity is the cause of global warming (though I do think that the climate of the earth is changing) I think that the answer to human activity causing global warming is to have a pressure relief valve as it were.

A large scale shift to space exploration might even reduce the tendency of people to make war on one another (although I doubt that will happen) and even if it doesn’t reduce our warring on one another it does give us the possibility of having a seed left somewhere to reclaim the earth if we haven’t managed to reduce the earth to an asteroid belt.

Yes there is wealth out there that right now no one is using and I think we should be working on getting it. A good set of talks on this subject begins here: http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/space-exploration-part-1-planning-our-next-steps-in-space/3c5cff24453979954f973c5cff24453979954f97-60066300036 I am an admirer of David Brin and recommend his thoughtful books on the possibilities of the future.

The Events of The Day

Some people may take offence at my saying that we are at war with Islam but in this case I feel that those who see something must speak forth the truth. And the truth is that Islam has attacked us. We did not attack them although I think that if we had been wise (rather than being ruled by bigots) at the end of World War two we would have said to the Jewish people that while we supported the concept of a Jewish homeland such an event occurring would cause no end to trouble and therefore we invite you to come here and live. Spend your money send your children to school become doctors, lawyers, bankers, soldiers, or astronauts. Practice your religion the way you want to practice it, we don’t mind as long as you don’t cause chaos in your neighborhood.

Islam will not stand for the Jews to be in their midst (and although this would not stop their wars on those who do not follow their teachings it would remove one of their favorite excuses for those actions) and so long as the Jews remain they will claim whether justly or unjustly that they are being attacked and persecuted. A true reading of history however tells a far different story: The followers of Islam have since the founding of their religion carried out wars of aggression against their neighbors.

© Vic Jones

Another short piece on the future

When I discussed the possibility of an asteroid heading toward the earth I didn’t discuss the end result if the object was not stopped from impacting the earth. This is in part because I just don’t know enough about the physics involved. However I can recommend that you read Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournell (IIRC), I do remember the title if you care to search it on http://www.amazon.com/ , to get a vision of what might happen (though the object in this book is a bit larger than the one I posit…) if we are struck by an asteroid.


I believe it is sufficient to say that such a strike would change the face of the earth enough to possibly eliminate the human race (though in truth people are as tough as cockroaches) and definitely would probably lead to the extinction of some of the life forms we know today.

© 2010 Vic Jones

About the Future

One if the huge concerns I have had since the advent of the current war with Islam is that we will take our focus off from building a better future that includes a colonization of space. Consider the following scenario: Suppose that we were told tomorrow that the earth would be struck by an asteroid just ¼ mile in diameter. Would the governments (especially the ones that are the most paranoid) put aside their suspicions of one another long enough to do something constructive like make sure that the asteroid swung into orbit around the earth?


Consider the wealth that such an object would have V=4/3πr^3 which translates to 220 yards cubed times pi times 4/3 or more iron than the whole world uses in several decades if the asteroid were (as most of them are) mostly iron. And that doesn’t get into the possibility of rare earths like gold and platinum or that the whole thing could be hollowed out and reinforced to be used to transport a large quantity of supplies for a mission to Mars.

To be honest the continued fight over this ball of mud is frightening to the max and I sometimes want to simply crawl back in a cave and say please leave me alone. But I cannot and neither should you. If you value your children’s future then somehow we must win this war by making Islam come into the century where they can no longer be a closed and xenophobic society. They too must see that fighting over Israel is counterproductive to their children’s future.

Because the longer we fight over the earth or any part thereof, the longer it takes us to reach space where there is room enough for everyone to live the way they want to live…

© 2010 Vic Jones

Wheels

Wheels


Rolling….

             Rolling…

Wheels keep the world rolling,

A wheel seems to be,

A simple thing,

Yet can you imagine,

A world without wheels?



© 2010 Vic Jones

Is Democracy a bad idea?

Those who tout the idea that democracy is desirable or leads to desirable results seem to like to sweep under the rug the fact that Hitler was elected by the democratic process. Therefore if democracy can result in evil men reaching the pinnacle of power in their nation what shall we say? That democracy is undesirable? Actually we can. The Greeks who were the first westerners to study such things as governments (so far as I know) considered democracy to be a degenerate form of government at best. They much preferred the idea of the republic though that has been corrupted a great many times to by not limiting the power of the government.


The founding fathers of the USA believed that any government was at best a necessary evil to be kept as small and as weak as possible and still maintain a relatively consistent society. The absence of government leads to chaos and the usual end of chaos is tyranny. The ever expanding and overreaching government today has but one end as well: Tyranny!

Indeed it is possible if one looks with an honest eye over the history of the human race to see that liberty and freedom is the anomaly not slavery and tyranny.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Thank you

To all the people who follow my blog and visit my blog.... I am rather new at this so I don't quite know how to reply to your comments. However let me assure you that your presence here is noted and appriciated!

Random thoughts

Every organization needs overseers to make sure that it doesn’t become corrupt. The moment any organization (this includes government) refuses to allow someone or anyone to see what it is doing it is on the way to becoming a corrupt organization. What is worse is that the more power an organization has (think government) the more opportunity exists for its members to be corrupt.


One thing that has worried me of late is the fact that the current administration of the United States of America has refused to let any light shine in on what it is actually doing. We can however see the results of their actions. And they tend to lead a person to believe that the current administration believes Marx’ theory of revolution for the sake of revolution. One thing that is certain is this, most people will demand an end to the chaos and the usual end of this sort of chaos it the rise of a tyrant.

Therefore it is worth asking: Who will emerge on top if we do not weather the chaos and refuse to be intimidated by the noisy and violent people who support the change that the current administration wants.

© 2010 Vic Jones

marketing...

So what do I do about internet marketing… by this I mean how do I drive traffic to my blog or web page if I market goods or services via the internet? That is a tough question to which I have no answers that are simple. Some things that anyone can do is study the tags and tag their posts to help bring in search engine hits.


Some people suggest paying a SEO company to help in getting to the top of search engines but to me and for a great number of people out there who are blogging or selling a product that is probably wasted money… if you use social networking like facebook or myspace there is a chance that if you have a large fan or friend base that you will begin to have larger numbers of hits on your commercial page if you keep plugging it there so that friend who visit your page will see the commercial venture as well.

© 2010 Vic Jones

a short weekly report

Well I had to step out and take care of the usual sort of end of month business… pay rent, shop for groceries etc. Oh and pay my cel phone bill… just to make the rest of you jealous I get my service through metroPCS http://www.metropcs.com/ where I pay one flat fee for all the calls I can make.


I didn’t stop at Office Depot http://www.officedepot.com/ today (even though I want a couple of items for my computer setup) because on Saturday I stopped at Lowe’s http://www.lowes.com/ to get some items so that I could set up a container garden as I live in an apartment.

Ads

So I went and did it… What you may ask have I done?


I decided that I would see if google ads could generate any income for me. I will continue to work to make my content interesting of course and do hope that if you see something you like that you will recommend my blog to your friends.

The End of The World

The End of The World


Some of the radio hosts I listen to are recommending that you buy gold as a hedge against inflation. For them I have a year in history 1933; I don’t recall the exact date but at that time the sitting president of the USA declared it illegal to own gold!

If you think the world is going to end your best bet for survival is to prepare to survive. Stock pile food but expect to have anti-hoarding laws be enacted. Therefore you should grow a garden and get to some place where you can keep a dozen chickens and a rooster. Do your best to live near water that you can drink and in general go back to the basics. Think about self defense and about how to convince your neighbors that you are generous to them. Because your community is always the people who you share with… to be honest you can’t very well share with the rest of the world just those who are nearest to you.



© 2010 Vic Jones

Weather

This is a short weather report from Redding Ca. I work indoors and today was the first day I was able to wear shorts to work…. Thus a short weather report!!  :D

Cry freedom

I am strongly against totalitarians no matter what they call themselves. We hear P. Obama say that he is not a socialist. Fine sir, if you are not a socialist what are you? A communist? I refuse to accept the false dichotomy that only another totalitarian can oppose a particular brand of totalitarianism. Thus to oppose a Marxist or communist does not automatically make one a NAZI. Indeed all people who are and wish to remain free oppose NAZI’s, communists and all other totalitarians no matter what brand they wear. Even if it is the oh so good sounding brands of liberal or progressive that are being presented here in the USA. It is unfortunate that a good deal of those who oppose P. Obama would only institute their own vision of a totalitarian regime. This is one reason I say vote out the Republicans as well as the Democrats this year. And in 2012 until we get some people with the spine to say that the American people deserve to be free, and freedom carries only one guarantee: that is that you will have to take a risk to secure your future because no one else will.


http://townhall.com/columnists/LarryElder/2010/03/11/republican_collectivism

Another word for today

From Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary


Socialism

Main Entry: so●cial●ism

Pronunciation:*s*-sh*-*li-z*m

Function: noun

Date:1837



1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state

3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

A word for today

From Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
Socialist
Main Entry: socialist
Pronunciation:*s*-sh(*-)list
Function: noun
Date:1827

1 : one who advocates or practices socialism
2 capitalized : a member of a party or political group advocating socialism
–socialist adjective , often capitalized
–so£cial£is£tic \*s*-sh*-*lis-tik\ adjective
–so£cial£is£ti£cal£ly \-ti-k(*-)l*\ adverb

Today's word

From Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
Totalitarian
Main Entry:1to£tal£i£tar£i£an
Pronunciation:(*)t*-*ta-l*-*ter-*-*n
Function:adjective
Etymology:Italian totalitario, from totalit* totality
Date:1926

1 a : of or relating to centralized control by an autocratic leader or hierarchy : AUTHORITARIAN, DICTATORIAL; especially : DESPOTIC b : of or relating to a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation especially by coercive measures (as censorship and terrorism)
2 a : advocating or characteristic of totalitarianism b : completely regulated by the state especially as an aid to national mobilization in an emergency c : exercising autocratic powers : tending toward monopoly

Explanation

I decided to mirror the poem To my Son here as a memorium to my children.

To my Son

To my son

Sometimes the pain is still new,
Though you’ve been gone so long,
I think of you and the tears flow,
I still wonder; could anything have been changed?
I live but a part of me feels like it is with you,
Cold and lonely in a far away grave,
And with your sib wheree’re they’ve flown,
Yes the world still turns,
And none of us makes much difference,
But we can if we try change for the better,
And live to make life better for those near and dear,
’Cause we never know when they will be gone.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Random thoughts

Author nation is down www.authornation.com/ so I'm out and about reading and writing.

One of the most talked about commercials that was aired during the Super Bowl was by the Audi automobile company. They picture the ‘green police’ arresting a man for choosing a plastic bag for his groceries among other horrid infringements (I use the word ironically) of liberties by those who believe that we as people are destroying the planet.

This advertisement is hypocritical in many ways but the first is this: there is no modern automobile that can exist without the extensive use of plastics. Therefore to condemn one use of plastic as environmentally unsound but say theirs is better is at best the pot calling the kettle black.

I don’t know what we will do when we hunt the last ‘whale’ (or oil pool) but so far the anti whale hunting crowd has not come up with any cogent answer except to hunt ‘whales’ (or oil pools) slower. They don’t want to talk about nuclear fission and nuclear fusion for power is still a pipe dream that may never reach reality. Maybe when we run out of oil we will descend into some sort of preindustrial existence? I don’t know the answer to that but one the thing that is certain is that we need answers that are not being explored today. Solar power only works when the sun is out and it is the most inefficient of the sources of power the anti oil people tout. Wind power works when the wind blows and could I suspect be made more efficient but most people would not wish to have a wind farm in their neighborhood. Some power could be harvested from tidal motion along our coast lines but that is limited by the efficiency of the main method of power transmission that is in use today. What shall we do? Burn all the oil and coal we can find until there is no more, then live without? I believe this is shortsighted. I also believe the slow down approach is shortsighted. Most of the answers will not be cheap because we are looking to extract energy from sources that we haven’t had to look to before… in years past we let trees convert sunlight, water and nutrients from the soil into wood and burned it. Or hunted whales and burned the oil that was rendered from them… but there really are only so many whales and there really is only so much oil. We cannot quit cold turkey today but we must not say no to what we know will work in the interim; nuclear fission.

Beware!

To Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, et al, Republican talkers; tell me this: Where is the American Whig party?
I posit this; the handwriting is on the wall, if the Republican party doesn’t step up to the plate with some better and newer people they will be where the American Whig party is; a foot note in history books.
© 2010 Vic Jones

Get Busy

Get busy writing. That is always the advice I get when I visit with other authors. Don’t depend on one story or one novel or one poem to get you to success. Sure it is true that some few authors will be one hit wonders with a book like To Kill a Mockingbird, but most successful authors have enough rejection slips to hold their own private Chinese new year’s party with, because in the business of writing you have to put out a lot of work to get noticed.

Sure we can all have our own free blog and even have Google ads on it and say we are authors (and maybe make enough money to buy an ice-cream cone once a year) but the successful author is more than published, he has a following of readers.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Love

This is another poem about love and lust...

Love
Or lust,
Eros is a meddler,
Convincing us that desire is love,
It is exciting when you look up,
And see that other person,
Who you desire,
Looking at you with desire,
Still lust is easy,
It happens all the time,
But love?
That takes time,
And work,
And well it really isn’t exciting,
It doesn’t stir the blood,
The way a fresh bout of lust does.
© 2010 Vic Jones

Adult content notice

Adult content notice
Some of the people who visit here (though I don’t expect many do) may wonder why I’ve put up an adult content notice. I may never put up erotica or discussions of human sexuality but if I do I would not want someone to come here and not be warned.

Yes I know this limits my readership but I would rather forewarn people that it may happen than to surprise them.

WW

Writing is a Serious Business

Writing is a Serious Business
One of the issues of writing well is being able to communicate; after all that is what writing was invented to achieve. Therefore it behooves anyone who intends to communicate his ideas to observe most, if not all of the current conventions of writing for his language.

But that is silly I want to be original… I’ve heard some people say. Excuse me but are you sure you don’t intend to lie? Because if you use words but mean the opposite that is what you are doing. And if you refuse to use punctuation as required well that can change the meaning of what you write as well.

Sure I know that conventions change but imagine that you are trying to write to people of every level of ability. From the newest reader who has barely begun to decode written language to the dyslectic who struggles every day to keep straight the things which he reads.

Focus?

Focus?
I’m trying to decide what to focus this blog on… Local hot spots? Redding is a fairly small city and so there really aren’t very many wifi hotspots available… still there is the library (which I used for more than a year…) the connection at the library is clear and fast, there are plenty of plug ins so you aren’t limited to the life of your battery… there are comfortable chairs and lots of tables so most of the time you can choose where to sit and of course there are books! I being a bibliophile like the idea that I can go and sit among books that I can take home if only for a while…

The one thing I had hoped was to find a local critique group to help me develop my writing and while I enjoy the meetings of The Writer’s Forum at the library I found them to be less than helpful in some ways.

I do not think that I will focus on wifi hotspots but from time to time I may report on one that I have visited. Nor will I focus on writing or what I’m reading or politics… I may just continue my rambles here…

Current events cause me to recommend a donation to http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ in order to help the people of Haiti. If you have an organization that you prefer give (though I recommend against any government agency) as generously as you are able.

Update

What caused me to abandon this blog?

Several things, at the time I started it I was as close as I ever want to be to living on the street. During that period of time I was forced to make some choices, I made them and changed my life.

So now I’m back on the web (actually I never left entirely but was forced to choose carefully where I spent my effort) and want to revive this blog.

I’m thinking about what I want to put here; some of my poetry I’m sure and some of my commentary on life. But for the most part now I blog here, www.authornation.com/Thewordwright/ with that said you who come here may ask why another blog?

Several reasons, I am nearly ready to start the edit of a novel, and I would like a place beyond AN to showcase it. Also AN has been experiencing technical difficulties and I would like a stable platform from which to write to the world.

Therefore the question becomes here as anywhere else, how do I bring readers to my work?