From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Sixteen
FROM THE WILDERNESS If One Would Dance, One Must Expect to Pay the Piper by James Strauss The third Russian news organization report coming out of Moscow would seem to indicated that the rumors about Putin’s collapse on October 22nd, are true: “Reports indicate that...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Fifteen
FROM THE WILDERNESS Death From Above By James Strauss The Internet can be a terribly accurate but often unresearched data base for things many people never think to research. One of those things involves death by pilot suicide. For example, between 2011 and 2021,...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XXIII
I made no attempt to rise to my feet, as I lay next to the lapping water on the slanted ramp. The reddish dirty bag rope dangled from my right hand. When I’d been out in the pier-end restaurant with Shawna, neither she nor any of the members of the Dwarfs, really had...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Fourteen
FROM THE WILDERNESS WE WILL NOT GO GENTLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT James Strauss “He who has no target, hits same,” is an old Chinese proverb. It applies to such things as shooting, game playing, and life itself. We are currently living inside an American culture that...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XXII
I realized just how different Bob Elwell was, as I sat out at the end of the pier considering the coming dive. The simplicity of his plan, versus the overwhelming complexity of my own, amazed me. I’d given my plan only about a fifty percent chance of succeeding since...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XXI
The cat, Bozo, sat at the double doors, almost always open, as it was the morning, the cool breeze wafting in across his short, scarred by still strangely soft body fur. He looked out, although, what with the solid wood railing between him and the more distant outside...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XX
There was nobody at the Galloway restaurant when I showed up, half an hour before it was supposed to open. There were certain advantages and disadvantages I presumed in owning or running a restaurant and living in attached quarters. Lorraine was indefatigable, and Tom...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XIX
The three of us sat on the bench, our backs to Cobb’s smaller, but expensive yacht, and facing Richard’s larger and much more expensive yacht. It was readily apparent that the two boats were so closely slipped near one another out of deliberation rather than ignorance...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XVIII
I sat still inside the idling Bronco, my mind twisting and turning about the call that had come in and the mission Gularte and I had just finished, except we hadn’t finished it. The call was beyond strange, as Chiefs of Staff for presidents of the country were about...
From the Wilderness, Article One Hundred Thirteen
FROM THE WILDERNESS Kneeling in Prayer By James Strauss Nine-eleven. Those two words will forever resound with a strength they should never have been given. With a body of fearfulness, self-blame and loathing we should never have allowed to escape from our body...
THE COWARDLY LION Volume Three, Chapter XVII
Gularte and I worked back and forth across our interconnected plots of sand, rolling over the state beach area without stopping, as the state guards didn’t much appreciate the beach patrol’s existence much less the mostly reserve officers that manned it. “It’s a turf...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XVI
Gularte was there when I arrived. Ideas about how to do what I now felt compelled to do circulated around my brain, my tiredness from having not slept well at National Airport or being able to settle down once I got back as if I had never been there. Gularte and I...
The Star on The Cape, From The Wilderness
THE STAR ON THE CAPE The world of me. The time of me. The expression of me. And the reflections by mass media that our entire consciousness is being overwhelmed by this intense and burning need by everyone to have the focus placed upon them and only them. This has...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Twelve
From The Wilderness THE STAR ON THE CAPE The world of me. The time of me. The expression of me. And the reflections by mass media that our entire consciousness is being overwhelmed by this intense and burning need by everyone to have the focus placed upon them and...
FromThe Wilderness, Article One Hundred Eleven
FROM THE WILDERNESS Heat Also Rises By James Strauss I hold advanced degrees in both anthropology and physics. I think I have studied enough and traveled enough (122 countries) and dived deep enough (in every ocean and ‘sea’ on earth) to have some idea about what’s...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XV
I sat facing both Haldeman and Ehrlichman, as I had in our previous session. They sat on the couch while I was in an overstuffed easy chair ninety degrees off the view of the ocean that they were facing. I didn’t make any effort to enjoy the stunning view, my full...Sitemap
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THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XIV
My wife told me that I had to let the incident between Gates and me go, or I might potentially ruin everything. My argument against that was simply one of trying to live in a state of helplessness. Following Vietnam, I was being made to feel like an important man by...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XIII
As soon as Bob was done talking the meeting turned into bedlam. “What kind of conclusion is that to come to?” Hoodoo asked into the maelstrom of everyone talking at the same time. “You have no basis in fact for any of your conclusions leading to that. We don’t know...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Ten
FROM THE WILDERNESS Billionaire Bastards By James Strauss What are all the American courts, criminal, federal, state and civil trying not to tell the public? They are not only lying out of passively failing to discuss things of merit and fact, but they are also...
The Rise of Truth and The Death of Humanity, From The Wilderness
Opinion/Editorial THE RISE OF TRUTH AND THE DEATH OF HUMANITY We try to live in secret. We hope to spend a good portion of our life with the general public not knowing what we are doing or where and when we are doing it. Until we become fully involved with a social...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XII
We stood outside in the rain and wind, Butch and I staring at the replaced aluminum doors on the side of his Airstream. It was as if they had never been gone. Butch walked forward the few feet to the two steps leading up. He opened the screen door, and then the main...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter XI
The day grew ever darker and more threatening. I knew the storm wasn’t going to miss San Clemente, as it sometimes did. Living right on the shore wasn’t the best place on the planet to make weather predictions about I’d learned over time. I had little time to get to...
Alien Sense and Secrets, From the Wilderness
FROM THE WILDERNESS The Obvious Sense Behind Alien Secrets and UFOs By James Strauss As an important field operations member of the Central Intelligence Agency for seventeen years I can honestly report that I never saw in real life something that could be termed a...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Nine
FROM THE WILDERNESS The Obvious Sense Behind Alien Secrets By James Strauss As an important field operations member of the Central Intelligence Agency for seventeen years I can honestly report that I never saw in real life something that could be termed a current...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter X
Gularte, Richard and I gathered in the cabin of Richard’s luxury yacht. The interior was so well done in teak, stainless-steel and glass that it felt more like some exotic penthouse rather than the interior cabin of a medium-sized boat. Once again, I wondered where...
Veteran Priority, From The Wilderness
FROM THE WILDERNESS The Forgotten Soldiers By James Strauss The nation spends about $88,000 for each living veteran who qualifies for its services. Where does that money go? Almost all of it for administration, care givers of all kinds, and facilities. Direct...
FromThe Wilderness, Article One Hundred Eight
FROM THE WILDERNESS The Forgotten Soldiers By James Strauss The nation spends about $88,000 for each living veteran who qualifies for its services. Where does that money go? Almost all of it for administration, care givers of all kinds, and facilities. Direct...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter IX
I didn’t have an answer for the Staff Sergeant, but then I didn’t think he was expecting one. His response might have indicated that he was ready to be a part of whatever action he thought was going to go down but I didn’t know him and if there was...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter VIII
My first meeting with Paul, my shrink of questionable credentials and experience, had gone amazingly well. My first act of redemption, which he never truly defined, made me feel better about myself in spite of the fact that I wasn’t sure why. I’d bought in immediately...
The Plight of Reality, From The Wilderness
FROM THE WILDERNESS Plight of Reality by James Strauss The door into reality gapes open, swinging wide and then slamming shut, as pain and frightened alienation leave anyone left alive and standing…staring in paralyzed wonder at a closed surface once again veneered...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Seven
FROM THE WILDERNESS Plight by James Strauss The door into reality gapes open, swinging wide and then slamming shut, as pain and frightened alienation leave anyone left alive and standing…staring in paralyzed wonder at a closed surface once again veneered over with...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Six
FROM THE WILDERNESS Raider of the Lost Ark By J. Strauss Human beings have been trying to bore themselves to death all the way back in time. We know this from translating the oldest evidence of recorded pieces of history. What is it human’s, almost...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter VII
Richard and I spent an uncomfortable moment staring at one another. He probably wanted to ask me if I’d recognized his famous guest, but he didn’t. I wanted to ask where the U.S. Marshals that provide security and protection for the United States Secretary of State...
From the Wilderness, Article One Hundred Five
FROM THE WILDERNESS ‘Taco Supreme’ By James Strauss The Supreme Court of the United States moves and votes to support open prevarication. That’s correct, and everyone who reads this short article will understand that. From now on, those employees who...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter VI
Gularte and Manning walked into the restaurant, both laughing as they crossed the short distance to my table. I didn’t smile when they took the available chairs on both sides of me. Lorraine appeared with ‘bad tea’ for Manning and a cup of coffee for Gularte. Neither...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Five
SOSUS I is the acronym of the formerly top-secret array of ocean bottom sound sensing placements the U.S. has maintained during and following the cold war. These centers, many of them were manned, were built to find and follow Soviet submarines no matter where there...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter V
The ride on the freeway down toward and then through San Clemente was made in silence. I said nothing and neither of the women did either. I refused to look over at the Staff Sergeant as I felt that if I made the slightest wrong move the whole scene of which I had...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter IV
I walked on the cooling sand toward the Trestles railroad bridge, my mind clearing the web of fear the faux Claymore had brought down upon me. My thoughts were drawn back to a lesser fear. Richard. If Richard was the operative who had disposed of the troublesome...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter III
The quiet stillness in the restaurant was broken only by the regular ‘at sea’ noise coming in through the thin wooden walls and cheap sheet glass serving as spume covered windows. I took command of the group, as going any further, with respect to Richard’s loyalties,...
FromThe Wilderness, Article One Hundred Four
FROM THE WILDERNESS WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD By James Strauss Our studies of the universe cause us to cower inward, as if pulling back from the cold harshness of a raging blizzard just outside. We retreat to the warmth of our fireplaces, radiating with warmth and...
What a Wonderful World, From The Wilderness
FROM THE WILDERNESS WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD By James Strauss Our studies of the universe cause us to cower inward, as if pulling back from the cold harshness of a raging blizzard just outside. We retreat to the warmth of our fireplaces, radiating with warmth and...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume Three, Chapter II
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, Volume Three, Chapter I
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 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, Volume 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, Volume Two, Chapter XXVIII
The Dwarfs, including Richard, had broken up the evening before, and I sat to consider what I was going to do about everything. Hoodoo had gone as far as he could in trying to find anything about the Cobb woman but had come to a dead end with one single minor...
THE COWARDLY LION, Volume 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 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, Volume 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, Volume 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,...
From The Wilderness, Article One Hundred Three
FROM THE WILDERNESS Modern Survey Stupidity By James Strauss How is this one for a blaring blinking and outrageous example of where polling and ‘surveying’ the public has gone? The Health Research Group KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) just released the...
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...
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, Volume 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...Subscribe to FROM THE WILDERNESS
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