THE SECOND DAY, 30 Days Has September
I could not believe I was flying into my first field experience wearing crummy Korean War utilities. I wished fervently that I’d brought my own from training. At least they would have been green instead of whatever color I now wore. Being colorblind as a Marine...
To stop, to reflect, to think…and to rest…
What can we do to feel better about ourselves and about life going on around us, no matter who we are and where we are or what is happening to us? A rare thing to do is thought. Isolated, individual, lonely and very necessary private thought. You can do it anywhere...
NO NEWS BECAUSE THERE IS NO NEWS
The blithering drooling and vapid delivery of American television pounds most of us into some sort of lumpy grumpy submission. News bastions from Fox, to CNN and on into MSNBC and the networks bombard us with solid right hooks from Trump and dancing jabs from Clinton until we all feel like either battered survivors
THE FIRST NIGHT
I followed the Buck Sergeant down through the dark muddy aisle of the Da Nang Hilton. The aisle was strewn with back packs and other field equipment I could not help running into. My flight bag was tucked under the bunk, for whatever security that might provide.
WATCH OUT FOR THE KRILL
I get tired of it. The constant drone about the human over population of our world and how our actions are bringing it to an end. Has most of the world forgotten about basic math and geometry? Or didn’t most of the world go to school? Most of the world I experience...
THE FIRST DAY, 30 Days Has September
The door opened. It was a steel door about six inches thick, or so it seemed. It hit with a jarring thud when its heavy flat surface pivoted down and smacked upon the mud. Sunlight shot in like a wave of heat, followed by a wave of real heat, the air-conditioned...
BOUND TO THE STAKE
What is the Alt-right, anyway? The alternative right wing, once known as neocons but alt-right sounds mysteriously better. They are republicans, the most fearful of all republicans. Republicans have a single commonality about them that extends to the alt-right, as...
ALPHA
Back when I had to get up in the morning. Now I get up in the morning because I can’t even remember what it was that I got out of sleeping in.
Back then my brilliant wife was in control of the stereo, a stereo capable of blowing anyone and anything out of our small one story home
WITHOUT BARS
There will be no getting together. Of all social fears that exist on the planet, for cultural leaders, people getting together is their greatest fear. Today, with the advent of such magnificent electronic media inventions…..
Chemical Theory
The hall outside the St. Norbert Chemistry Department classroom door saw a lot of traffic. The dark, near ebony, wood and solid stone floor that ran the length of the narrow passage exuded age and class. Student’s passing all did so in silence, carrying piles of...
Monsignor
Fifth grade at Sacred Heart Academy in Duluth, Minnesota wasn’t much different than other Catholic Elementary Schools of its time, except for its location high atop a hill above one of the coldest developed areas in the United States. Other places in Minnesota might...
Clueless
It’s all about the money. Obamacare. Oh, the idea was great and the law well written, except for one part. That part was the part that made no demands whatever on what insurer’s could charge or increase or anything else financially. Expecting American...
“Thank the Living Christ”
They hadn’t told me that I was going to make it yet, when my brother came by to visit on his way home. We’d been hit only two weeks apart. The telegram came to me about his injuries, dropped in by a supply chopper late in the day on a place called Ganoi Island in Vietnam…..
Obamacare, Success or Failure?
It’s all about the money. Obamacare. Oh, the idea was great and the law well written, except for one part. That part was the part that made no demands whatever on what insurer’s could charge or increase or anything else financially…
Ajinomoto
Ajinomoto To be stuck in Hawaii without any money was a horrible thing for any kid, particularly three white Haole kids, coming from a military family and living in a downtown local area on the fringe of downtown Waikiki. Kapuhulu was what the district was called. I...
Observations of a Global Nature
Dateline: Lake Geneva, WI August 20, 2016 The Olympics are tailing down…… I will miss them. I absolutely love the shots, few as they’ve been of the aerial scenes of that city. Rio is stunning in location. I did’t know, before these games, that...
Starfish Prime, 1962
The July of 1962, on Oahu, was oppressive in more ways than I, and my friends atop Diamond Head, could count. The Sundays came and went, Sunday being the only day of the week that our parents would let us run off and climb the crater wall above Fort Ruger…….
It’s Only Captain Crunch…….
“The cat’s name is Pushkin,” the eight-year-old said. “He’s named after a great Russian who did something a long time ago.” The boy stroked the Russian Blue between his ears, as the cat leaned his head down to pick away at his Fancy Feast…..
Back Dive… the 2016 Olympics Effect?
BACK DIVE…1960 With all of the focus on Olympics 2016 in Rio de Janeiro the past weeks my memory banks are rejuvenated. I reached the pinnacle of one meter diving in 1960, as a graduating sophomore at Thornton Fractional North Township High School in South...
Paris, late 1990’s
I hate Paris. Oh, not the restaurants, the food vendors on the streets or the Louvre. Even the Eiffel Tower and the river are pretty terrific, when it’s not raining or foggy or any of that other French stuff. No, I hate Paris because of how shitty the airport is, how...
Coming Home, 1965
The 1965 pledge class of the ADG Fraternity at St. Norbert College rejected a young man because of a disagreement the fraternity had regarding a pyramid scheme it was conducting all over the campus. In order to prove his point, that the fraternity was doing something federally illegal….
More on The Olympics in Rio…..
The Russians are there, but it’s like they aren’t at all. They finally got in after a huge doping scandal but then couldn’t qualify for anything because, well, they were no longer on dope….
Art in the Park, Lake Geneva, WI, August 14
A stroll through Flat Iron Park and the Art in The Park Festival is a great way to spend a warm Sunday in Lake Geneva, home of my newspaper. Lake Geneva WI How are these events received in your...
Flowers in Your Hair………..
“Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…….” Publishing a local weekly newspaper offers me the opportunity to write and Opinion/Editorial each week. Most focus on very current events and we all know 2015 and 2016 have provided tons of...
The News Media, Good Bad or Just Plain Ugly?
How they handle the news. Being in the newspaper business at The Geneva Shore Report I am now much more aware of the ‘slant’ that mass media takes and how it seems to take it all together although, for the most part, I cannot see linkage demanding that….
2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fun in the sun at Rio de Janeiro? Dateline: Rio de Janeiro, Friday August 8, 2106 The Olympics in Rio is underway, in spite of how miserably the mass media has tried to kill it. From the slums of the downtown Rio area, the foul water and bad food. Russian team...
Watching the world pass by, near Bellows Beach, Hawaii
Some short film clips along and near Bellows Beach and Mana Kai, Hawaii. This “vacation ” back to the Islands has been restful….. More later with some action with the small boys! Outrigger Canoeing along the Coast The long paddle home Thanks...
Polling numbers…..do they mean anything?
Polling numbers seem to be all over the place in this contentious Election 2016 How deep into West Virginia, Alabama and Arizona can the pollsters go to hold up Donald Trump’s numbers?
Observation on Ryan-Trump
It is entertaining to sit back and watch Paul Ryan twist and squirm under the punishing thumb of Trump. Ryan has to stick to his endorsement of Trump while Trump refuses to endorse him in return….
Trump and Cowardice.
Note that Donald Trump, man who would not go into the military, continues to insult and demean the integrity of those who not only served but also went into harm’s way and were either captured, wounded, or killed, or all three. Donald Trump hates that simple...
Today’s Reflection-Veterans
It is truly sad that no ex-military will be represented in the White House once again.
How can there be so many veterans who served in foreign wars overlooked when there is so much fear today
Mass Media and the Lies
I want you to pay attention to the glaring fact that the mass media is taking the orange-topped human maggot of a republican candidate and elevating him to being the equal of, or greater, than Clinton in popularity…..
Has the Royal Hawaiian Hotel Gone to the Birds?
For the past 50 years the Hawaiian Islands have been a magnet to me. This week, July 30th through August 8th, finds us enjoying the natural beauty and wonderful people again. Excuse for the trip is really scouting locations for the filming of my new Arch Patton...
Unwelcome, A Harvey Adventure, Short Story by James Strauss
Every day of spring was a day of changing development and disorder met with directed management efforts. The life of the forest’s top predator was filled with one crisis after another…..
More reflection of 1993……
1993 just can’t seem to leave my memory bank. Other events of note in 1993: January 20: Bill Clinton is sworn is as the 42cd President of the United States. January 31: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills 52 to 17 in Super Bowl XXVII. February 26: Six...
Reflections of 1993……….
1993 Yearly Inflation Rate USA 2.96% Year End, Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 3654 Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 6.00% Average Cost of new house$113,200.00 Average Income per year $31,230.00 Events: include Brady bill signed into law, World Trade Center...
Alive in the Forest, A Harvey Adventure, Short Story by James Strauss
The change in weather was abrupt. One night it was full winter with blowing snow and hanging ice and the next there was only melting everything, with water and mud abounding everywhere……..
Seattle Experiences….. Boingo
Boingo, Legal robbery of Wi-Fi? Boingo seems to have circumvented and capitalized on loopholes, or is enforcement a thing of the past? Seattle Washington. Boingo Poison. Yes, Boingo. If you don’t know the WiFi company then you haven’t traveled. They are...
Audio of Harvey the Grey Cat Rules, Adventures of Harvey
Harvey, the Grey Cat, Rules his Forest Domain. Except when a interloper arrives and Harvey tries to enlist the aid of his Human to help rid this outsider. Results are a bit comical. Audio Version ...
Sleepless in Seattle, I Don’t Think So….
Dateline: Seattle Washington March 26, 2106 Seattle, Washington. The Bernie people are all over the downtown of Seattle, getting public hyped up to attend Bernie’s big presentation at Safeco Field tonight at seven. Washington is very much Bernie territory and...
Off to Seattle, March 2016
Journey to Seattle United Airlines. Up above some very republican state down below. Probably Wyoming, on the way to Seattle. Please don’t let me crash on Cheney’s ranch in Wyoming! United is United except for an exceptional crew today. The woman in front...
Holy Moly, A Harvey Adventure, Short Story by James Strauss
HOLY MOLY Short Story by James Strauss The forest abided. The spring fed the stream that gushed downhill toward the lake with the gurgling sounds of coming warmth penetrating everything on both sides of it. The stream was the winding arterial graft that wrapped...
The Clearing, A Harvey Adventure – Short Story by James Strauss
The winter storm took three days to pass and those days were anything but restful or relaxing. Bad Taffy spent the entire time running back and forth from the to inside of the house….
Preparing the Attack, Harvey Adventure, a Short Story by James Strauss
Harvey settled into his short-shouldered round bed set atop the couch, sitting in direct opposition to the fireplace. The stone fireplace was across the room……
The Online Banking Ripoff, 2016…….
I have been writing about some banking phenomenon going on across the country of late. I liken it to the luggage fees charged by the airlines. Outrageous? Absolutely, these luggage fees, but at least the airlines tell you what the fees are and what you are going to have to pay…..
Sanctuary, A Harvey Adventure, Short Story by James Strauss
Harvey rushed toward the small stand of pines set about twenty body-lengths back from the road. Right Claw, Left Eye and Nothing Crow sat on the black wire set up half way between the snow-bermed edge of the road and the nearest tree. ..
The Event Horizon, Harvey Adventure, Short Story by James Strauss
Sleep didn’t come that night for Harvey. His place, usually at the foot of his principal human’s bed snuggled into one ankle, was foregone to allow for tactical positioning. The heating vent near the front dining room window was not only covered by a billowing silk drape held back by some wall mounted tie……..
Harvey and Habits……keeping a marriage solid?
Harvey the Grey Cat. This morning. Harvey likes the end of the bed while I am in the shower, shaving and all that. He waits so he can approve of my attire for the day. He’s easy because he always approves.
Looking back Inside our Mind
What’s it like inside our minds? Oh, we all know that our cranial container has all this gray stuff composed of crisscrossing nerves and synaptic tissue.
Political Debates 2016……
Political Debates 2106 Dateline: Lake Geneva Wisconsin. February 11, 2016 Well, you may like Bernie, but in listening to the latest debate in Milwaukee earlier tonight, I found Bernie to be rather nasty in trying to make his point while running Hillary down. He used...Are You Being Bullied?
Is everyone being Bullied? Dateline: Lake Geneva Wisconsin. How does bullying work, anyway? A rational person would think that every big blustering bully would be turned away in every circumstance by the people witnessing obviously bullying behavior. If that was truth...
So what is this about a Cat Named Harvey?
Harvey. My cat of 14 years. There’s been some controversy over the ownership (if it can really be called that) of cats who live at home but also run in the wild upon occasion……
Sunday Morning at Geneva Java Coffee Shop
Dateline: Sunday, January 9, 2016 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Sometimes interesting people are just at the next table. Geneva Java Coffee Shop on Sunday morning. This guy and his female friend (Cal Tech graduate in physics) talking about Larry Niven’s first book about the Pak…….
Harvey, the Grey Cat Rules
Back over one shoulder a crouching human could be seen creeping through the wet soggy grass that led up to the edge of the forest. Harvey waited, standing upright, shifting his gaze from the ungainly man to the forest and back…….
Thumper, A Harvey Adventure, by James Strauss
Movement through the base of the forest isn’t difficult, not if you’re a thirteen-pound cat with fur the color of the darker flora. Harvey moved sinuously inside the brush next to the nearby flowing stream. By sticking close to the water, he could avoid the giant rabbit ………
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