THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXXI

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXXI

The staff sergeant and I made small talk all the way to El Toro. It was normally a half hour drive, but the sergeant took his time, staying in the slow lane. His background was embassy duty, so he talked on and on about the different embassies and consulates he’d been...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXX

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXX

Marion Smoak was the head of protocol for the White House, or so the printed message delivered to my home by one of the compound Lincolns indicated. The time of the event, to be held at the San Clemente Inn, located not more than a mile from the Nixon residence...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Five

From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Five

From The Wilderness WE ARE LITERALLY STANDING ON THE THRESHOLD By James Strauss The study of physics is the study of the way things are. Those questions we occasionally tussle over when left to contemplate life and its meaning, such as “how did we come to be here?”...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two Chapter XXIX

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two Chapter XXIX

My wife’s comment reverberated through me to the core. The last thing I wanted or needed was for her to be exposed in any way to what was developing regarding my work with the people at the compound or what had become the Seven, now Eight Dwarfs. Richard’s unexpected...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXVII

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXVII

The ride back into the harbor entrance at Dana Point went smoothly, the wind and waves were at our back and there was no traffic of boats or lines of fisherman along the sea walls to impede our progress. The sound of the dual MTU diesels, thrumming away underneath me,...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Four

From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Four

FROM THE WILDERNESS Selective Application By James Strauss   The human condition of high civilization coupled with hugely successful population increases is based upon selection and application.  Nature is responsible for some of this choosing, while beyond genetics...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXVI

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXVI

The open sea beckoned us toward it, as I stared at the ever greater rise and fall of the bow. It seemed to be whispering “come my pretties,” as if somehow tied right into the wicked witch’s delivery from the Wizard of Oz. Gularte made it up from the main cabin, just...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXV

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXV

The lifeguard boat ran with the wind after making the turn to round the end of the San Clemente Pier, the only thing standing between the fast moving craft and the harbor opening into Dana Point’s yacht basin. The helicopters, Coast Guard boats and the yacht itself,...
My Country Tis of Thee, From The Wilderness

My Country Tis of Thee, From The Wilderness

FROM THE WILDERNESS My Country Tis of Thee by James Strauss   We’ve come upon hard times.  The perspective of almost every human being at any time through all of the species’ history indicates that this psychological position is the one most commonly held no...
My Country Tis of Thee, From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred-Two

FROM THE WILDERNESS My Country Tis of Thee by James Strauss   We’ve come upon hard times.  The perspective of almost every human being at any time through all of the species’ history indicates that this psychological position is the one most commonly held no...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXIV

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXIV

Gularte and I struggled in attempting to do anything but hang on to the sturdy, but very slippery chrome railing. There was nothing else to hold onto as the boat was being continuously beaten all along the port side of its hull by the pounding surf. “Down,” I yelled...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXIII

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXIII

I tried to sleep in the morning following my meeting with first Haldeman and Ehrlichman, and then Chief Cliff Murray. I was troubled, yet it was too early to get up because my getting up would awaken my wife, and then Julie, both of whom deserved to sleep in because...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred-Two

From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred-Two

FROM THE WILDERNESS Newsreel By James Strauss   Ken Burns and Lynn Novick have made a ten part series about the Vietnam War, and it’s been making headlines for its truthful veracity.  These two “Hollywood-style” historians present that war, as they have presented...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book II, Chapter XXII

THE COWARDLY LION, Book II, Chapter XXII

I left the Seven Dwarfs at the restaurant, wondering if a group having so much fun forming up to play private investigators, could possibly be at all effective. Gularte drove, while I prepared myself for the coming meeting. I had little doubt that Haldeman was going...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred-One

From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred-One

FROM THE WILDERNESS Ukraine War Newsreel   The war moves slowly on toward its coming conclusion.  China meets with Putin, not to confirm that they support one another, as that’s already a given and has been so for some time.  China meets with Putin to figure out what...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred

From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred

FROM THE WILDERNESS Newsreel By James Strauss   Neither American political party, not the republicans nor the democrats, can release themselves from the secure steely grasp of old people running almost everything.  Biden is likely to be the candidate for president...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXI

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XXI

In the morning I got up early.  My Marine green alpha uniform was all laid out in the other bedroom, the other bedroom that wasn’t Julie’s.  All that was missing was the rows of ribbons I’d removed after being on the base over a month in the past.  I went back into my...
From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Nine

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Nine

FROM THE WILDERNESS Newsreel By James Strauss   Where did meritorious service, talent and expression go to die?  It didn’t’ go anywhere. It stayed right where it was, a giant target for the steamroller of advancing communication technology.  Instead of advancing...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XX

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XX

I waited patiently for Gularte, sitting in the afternoon sun, rubbing my useless government pen with the fingers of my left hand. The pen wasn’t totally useless I knew, as its presence where it was found was very likely a valuable clue. Was the person who lost it not...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XIX

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XIX

The beach was abandoned, at the point where it preceded south from the state beach but not yet a part of the Trestles Beach portion. There the point stuck out into the ocean to create the conflicting broken sea environment that led to sometimes legendary surf, which...
SIMULTANEITY, SUPERPOSITION, ENTANGLEMENT, From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Eight

SIMULTANEITY, SUPERPOSITION & ENTANGLEMENT From the Wilderness By James Strauss The advanced societies and cultures of the earth have been studying and using the results of those studied in physics to make great technological advances in almost every area of...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XVIII

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XVIII

  Detective Hoodoo instructed Gularte and I to depart the beach scene, as he and the ‘team’ of lifeguards would handle the situation from then on. He’d already given that order but neither Gularte nor I had moved. Instead of re-issuing the earlier command he...
From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Eight

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Eight

WE’LL TAKE ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING Newsreel By James Strauss   I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the mass media and why the entirety of the near united but not tied and bound outlets is reporting what it has got to have as a motivational factor.  Waiting for some...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XVII

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XVII

I finished the shift with Herberich and Gularte. Nobody got shot, and they sort of bonded in that single time together. Not with me, but with each other. I understood, in the back seat, that I wasn’t really bondable material. I had my wife and daughter and that was...
From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Seven

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Seven

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? Newsreel By James Strauss           FREEDOM, that word used to describe a state of being that doesn’t exist but seems to exist in some future time or even the present if we can just get over to where the conditions are ripe for its appearance or...
Electrocution, From The Wilderness

Electrocution, From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness ELECTROCUTION Newsreel By James Strauss   The Ford Motor Company, on this day, February 16, 2023, terminated the production of its highly funded, touted and unworkable EF150 pickup truck.  What happened?  Was it terminated because of the reasons...
Electrocution, From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Six

From The Wilderness ELECTROCUTION Newsreel By James Strauss   The Ford Motor Company, on this day, February 16, 2023, terminated the production of its highly funded, touted and unworkable EF150 pickup truck.  What happened?  Was it terminated because of the reasons...
From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Five

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Five

GOOD VIBRATIONS Newsreel By James Strauss   In the 1800’s physics had come far enough to determine just how the sensory system of humans, and most other animals on the planet, really worked.  There has been little dispute about what was discovered.  We have five...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XVI

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XVI

I left Mardian at the pool, since I’d given him everything I had about whatever it was I was supposed to know, but really didn’t. The money was invisibly held into the middle of the clamshell holster meant to hold and conceal a Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum, 4 inch...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XV

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, Chapter XV

Gularte was waiting at the beach unit when I arrived at the city parking lot, my Volkswagen’s engine knocking a bit, which had me worried, but not unduly so. The thing was still under warranty, although I had no replacement if it might be in the dealership shop for...
From the Wilderness, Article Ninety-Four

From the Wilderness, Article Ninety-Four

IT’S DA BALLOON BOSS, DA BALLOON! Newsreel By James Strauss   Just how accidentally dumb is the American public, and how deliberately dumb the mass media?  Well, try the biggest balloon story occupying national attention since the ‘Balloon Boy’ story created back in...
THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, CHAPTER XIV

THE COWARDLY LION, Book Two, CHAPTER XIV

  I drove the Marauder to the pier in silence, neither Gularte nor I saying a word, even as the vehicle, much heavier than the Bronco built for the off-road job of patrolling the beach and incidental structures, made a smooth surface out of the rough wooden slat...
The Gas, Oil and Coal War – From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Three

THE GAS, OIL, AND COAL WAR Newsreel By James Strauss   They are lying, all of them.  Natural gas cost one-sixth the price to burn by home and business owners across the land in stoves, heaters or any other way.  That cost amount is not hard to figure out.  Just...
From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Two

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-Two

THE MODERN BATTLE TANK Newsreel By James Strauss   The modern combat tank used in actual combat, is an advanced derivative of the first tanks to ever be used in combat (that was in WWI in the battle of the Somme during 1916).  Tanks have evolved over time and been...
From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-One

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety-One

GOVERNMENTAL GARBAGE Newsreel By James Strauss   I seldom turn off the news or cast aside my daily delivered issue of the New York Times.  I have been doing so lately.  Streaming has its benefits, as the fiction shows and movies located on those premium sites are, by...
From The Wilderness, Article Ninety

From The Wilderness, Article Ninety

UKRAINE Newsreel By James Strauss   The war in Ukraine grinds on, ever deeper into a cold hard winter, as predicted earlier in these newsreels.  Zelensky came to the United States to attempt to sell his case for continued support, while under cover of secrecy he was...
From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Nine

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Nine

A.I. Newsreel By James Strauss   At one time, a long while ago, I worked in Hawaii, part-time, with an organization called Dragon. Dragon was the name of a hastily put together company trying to create a writing program that would allow people to speak into a computer...
The Quietude, Winter 2023, From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Eight

THE QUIETUDE IN THE WINTER OF 2023 Newsreel By James Strauss A great prevailing and little broken silence has taken over the world. The war in Ukraine goes on but, in a snow, and ice muted form, with Putin still threatening to blow up the world and Zelensky keeping...
Revelations, From The Wilderness

Revelations, From The Wilderness

REVELATIONS Newsreel By James Strauss   Quite likely now, the most important, and possibly devastating, revelations about the current republican party are all being revealed in this current political ‘log jam’ set right in the middle of the great American political...
Revelations, From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness. Article Eighty-Seven

REVELATIONS Newsreel By James Strauss   Quite likely now, the most important, and possibly devastating, revelations about the current republican party are all being revealed in this current political ‘log jam’ set right in the middle of the great American political...
From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Six

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Six

UKRAINE Newsreel by James Strauss   The Ukraine foreign minister signaled yesterday that the Ukrainians, following the recent visit by Zelensky to Washington, are now ready to have a peace conference in February with Russia, supposedly to be chaired or moderated by...
From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Five

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Five

THEY ARE ALL DOING IT Newsreel By James Strauss   Rupert Murdoch brought the London tabloid style of reporting the news to the United States, creating Fox in the process and so much more, as news changed from a form of informational transfer (from reporters to the...
From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Four

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Four

WHAT’S NOT COVERED Newsreel By James Strauss   As the news business expresses itself, day after day and night after night, it becomes revealing about what the media in general, both print and televised (as well as video, radio, podcasts and social media) don’t bother...
Zelensky arrives in Washington, From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Three

UKRAINE Newsreel By James Strauss   Zelensky has come to the United States and will make his appearance at the White House on this day, the shortest day and longest night of the year.  How fitting this meeting is, what with a blizzard bearing down, the tilt of the...
From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Two

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-Two

STREAMING HELL Newsreel By James Strauss   The New York Times reported this week that the huge streaming services, providing television shows and movies to so many today, as opposed to the ‘old days’ when everyone waited week by week for new installments for...
From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-One

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty-One

THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS GIFT OF ALL Newsreel By James Strauss   You are not reading or seeing very much at all about this great Christmas gift in the papers, on television or even the Internet.  The greatest present of all is God’s delivery of fusion power to humanity...
From The Wilderness, Article Eighty

From The Wilderness, Article Eighty

UKRAINE Newsreel By James Strauss   Once more, the seemingly disorganized mess of the Ukraine winter in combat, or waiting for combat, or just out of the field of combat, moves coldly and deceptively forward.  During this last week, the European Union got together and...
Fusion II, From The Wilderness

Fusion II, From The Wilderness

FUSION II Newsreel By James Strauss   The announcement yesterday about the first real experiment in laser fusion that produce more energy than was spent in producing it was made with no fanfare at all.  The enormity of this scientific achievement was played down at...
Fusion II, From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness, Article Seventy-Nine

FUSION II Newsreel By James Strauss   The announcement yesterday about the first real experiment in laser fusion produce more energy than was spent in producing it was made with no fanfare at all.  The enormity of this scientific achievement was played down at every...
Fusion, From The Wilderness

Fusion, From The Wilderness

FUSION Newsreel By James Strauss   Back, way back in the 1980’s I worked for a bit at Los Alamos National Laboratories in Los Alamos, New Mexico.  The project I worked on, headed up by Einstein’s follow up grand intellect, named Hans Bethe, was called Project Antares,...