About Bloody Time

I haven't been able to post in some time due to a mix up with Javascript.
I've published three short stories, three anthologies and one novel at Amazon.com, Barnesandnobles.com and smashwords.com.
Optimus is now at Amazon for $9.99 and at publishamerica.com for $27.99. I don't think PA wants to sell many e-books.
The other books are under Patrick Prescott:
Human Sacrifices $8.99 e-book only
A story about a young woman confronting a demon that feeds on the pain and suffering all around her. She's facing an abusive fundamentalist husband that fights to keep her from divorcing him, starting a teaching career and getting on with her life trying to reach her students and keep them out of the mouth of Mal, the demon she sees in the trees outside her window.
This story has the three things you should never talk about at a party: Sex, religion and politics.
Short Stories:
Bona Dea $.99 at Kindle and Nook, Bona Dea Redux at smashwords (long story)
A lonely security guard's spirit touches the spirit of a goddess that has been trapped in an eagle for hundreds of years. The goddess slowly comes back to life through Steve and his friends to start providing the world with love and happiness again.
Wife Quest $.99 e-book available at the sites listed above.
John Fletcher is a young knight helping escort is leige lord on a tour of his estates stopping at numerous other castles to find the Lord's son and daughters spouses. Set in 1190 England this story explores the different social classes and marriage customs of the middle ages.
Woman on the Beach $.99 e-book
A woman is distraught on a beach and lets her cover slip exposing her to all present. A family with small children and the man who has told her he's taken employment out of state. This story lets the reader understand the viewpoint of all involved in a chance encounter.
Anthologies:
For years I would select a picture from the internet at first describing it in exact detail as an exercise for my summer writing. Quickly the description turned into flash stories (1,000 words or less) telling a story about the picture. The three short stories above started off as flash stories and the story grew. The remaing stories have been compiled into three anthologies.
Flash Stories: Married Love $4.99 e-book
All of these stories deal with marriage in all it's stages from newly weds to divorce, remarriage, mature marriages, loss and grief, fights, making up and many more phases.
Flash Stories: Erotica $4.99 e-book
My stories here are discriptions of the people involved and how they wind up in bed and it's aftermath. Nudity is described, but not the sex act itself. I leave that up to the reader's experience and imagination. Erotica not pornography got it?
Erotic Flash Stories 3 e-book $3.99

Sad State of Glorieta

There is one place in New Mexico that has a special place in my heart it's the Baptist Encampment at Glorieta. I can remember trips up there from age 10 on. I met my wife there on a church retreat. Penni was married there and her ashes are strewn there around her memorial bench in the prayer gardens.
When I was in high school in summers the place would be wall to wall kids all summer long. The chuck wagon had waits of thirty minutes or more. The huge dining hall was always full. The chapel was standing room only.
When we went to spread Penni's ashes in June we were the only ones in the chuck wagon at noon. The place was a ghost town. There was a wedding taking place in the prayer garden, but it was a Catholic wedding. I've seen more nuns at New Mexico hall the last few times I've been there than preachers. It's truly sad.
To me this is holy ground. There's something peculiar when humans get tied to land. They get rather proprietary. Look at all the fighting in a small sliver of land between Egypt and Turkey for thousands of years with everyone claiming it as holy ground.
This recalls a time where I thought Glorieta had been violated.
I was teaching in a middle school. APS set aside money for teacher collaborations from their training budget. The principle let those who wanted meet for a Friday night and all day Saturday meeting at Glorieta. When we got up there and in our rooms that evening everyone immediately decided to drive to Santa Fe for a drink. No problem. I had no illusions about them being good Baptists. It was the next day as we were in conference rooms and most of them started smoking.
There is no smoking at Glorieta period. Not even outdoors. This was in the early 80's and I wasn't tenured so I bit my tongue and didn't say anything, but it still rankles to this day that they would defile a building built, maintained and owned through the tithes of Baptists. You'd think teachers would have better respect than that.
I remember that every time I hear on the news Native Americans claiming certain mountains here as sacred grounds to keep development out. Even I have sacred ground that I feel touchy about even if the Southern Baptist Convention has all but abandoned it.

Got One

Since I now have my novel available for Kindle I bought one today. I'm sure glad they've brought the price down.
I'll hold off on getting a Sony or B&N reader.
I found a really good digital camera on close-out so start expecting lots and lots of pictures.

Short Story published

Submitted a short story to Amazon and it will be available Monday for Kindle at only $.99.

Anne is working on the cover art for Human Sacrifices. When that's done I haven't made up my mind if I want it done in hard copy through Create Space. It's print on demand like PA, but they're much cheaper on the price of books. What I don't like is that their e-book price is the same as hard copy. I might keep it only as an e-book.

Wisconsin's shame

I hope the great mass of average people out there are waking up to the brutality of the Republican party. When they can steal basic rights from teachers, state employees, police and firefighters what's to stop them from even more violations of citizen rights?

At Last

Click here to find Optimus: Praetorian Guard for your Kindle.

Supreme Court Ruling

Today the supremes ruled 8-1 against a father who sued a baptist church and won a 5 million dollar judgement against the protesters that have been harassing soldiers funerals for the last ten years. The supremes overturned the civil court decision on the basis of free speech. Is standing outside a cemetery with signs that read God Hates Fags, God Hates America, and other offensive slogans truly free speech?

1. Can the government charge the protestors with a crime?

The Supreme court ruled in the case of Skokie Ill, that the American Nazi Party could hold a rally in a town with a large population of Holocaust survivors and give speeches. The citizens of Skokie, however had the option of not going to the rally. At a funeral that is not an option. Arizona passed an ordinance before the funerals of those killed in that senseless attack last month that any protests would be held in a separate location away from the grieving families. They used the same law Bush set up so that he would not have to see any war protestors. Protests of this nature have not been outlawed, but are now regulated depending on state or city.

2. Can the family sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Obviously the supremes ruled today that you cannot bring a civil action against protestors of this nature. Why?

This is the law on Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress:

Cause of Action for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Eric M. Larsson, J.D.

COA2d ACTION GUIDE

PRIMA FACIE CASE

• A prima facie case in an action for intentional infliction of emotional distress requires proof that:

1. the defendant's conduct was extreme or outrageous;

2. the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly;

3. the plaintiff suffered severe emotional distress; and

4. the defendant's conduct was the proximate cause of the emotional distress suffered by the plaintiff .

PERSONS ENTITLED TO RECOVER

• Action may be brought by the person toward whom the defendant's conduct was directed and, under certain circumstances, by a person who was not the object of the defendant's conduct but who witnessed the conduct.

PERSONS LIABLE

• Primary liability will be imposed against the person whose conduct caused the plaintiff to suffer severe emotional distress.

• Other persons may be vicariously liable.

JURISDICTION

• Action may be brought in state court, or in federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction.

LIMITATIONS

• Action usually will be subject to limitations statutes that apply to personal injury actions.

RECOVERY

• Compensatory damages are recoverable for the emotional distress suffered, bodily harm which results from the emotional distress, economic losses which result from the emotional distress or its physical consequences, and loss of consortium.

• Plaintiff may be entitled to punitive damages.

By this ruling the supremes have nullified this major part of defamation law. If this case does not fall into the category of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress what does?

The reason for civil suits of this nature is to maintain order in society. Instead of duels to defend a person's honor there are now lawsuits to settle the matter. It's not about free speech, it's about keeping people from killing each other when offended by the other persons speech.

On the CBS evening news the father who brought the lawsuit expressed this point very well. He said if the government won't protect the grieving families then they will and the blood will be on the hands of the Supreme Court.

There is a legal defense called "Fighting words." If someone says something to you that is so offensive that you can't control your anger and you resort to violence. It's justified and is considered self defense.

The Power of a Teacher

In the debate linked to in my last post Bruce repeatedly quotes from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The two writers of our nation's most important documents. Jefferson, Madison and James Monroe, three of our earliest presidents had a teacher in common. The Reverend James Maury. While they were students. Maury brought a lawsuit against Virginia concerning his salary provided by the state. What a case! It's known as the Parson's Case. Patrick Henry's father was the judge, Patrick Henry represented the state. To sum up the case Anglican preachers were paid in tobacco set at 16,000 pounds which under normal conditions sold for two pence a pound. In 1757 there was a drought and the price of tobacco increased to six pence per pound. The colonial legislature passed a law known as the Two Pence Act basically taking away their windfall. The King, being head of the Church of England overturned Virginia's law. Maury sued for the full market value. It is in this case that Patrick Henry lays the foundation for the Declaration of Independence Jefferson would write 19 years later. Henry argued in substance "that a King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and forfeits all right to his subjects' obedience." (Ann Maury, "Memoirs of a Huguenot Family," G.P. Putnam & Sons, 1872, letter at pages 418-424, quote at page 421). The jury found in favor of Maury, but awarded only one pence per pound effectively cutting his salary in half instead of tripling it. I wonder if this case that all three men witnessed first hand laid the seeds of our first ammendment separating church and state.

Aside Scott Horton today on his No Comment Blog has an article on the historical use of jury nullification.

I'm currently writing a novelized life of Matthew Fontaine Maury, the father of Oceanography and Meteorology, reverend James Maury's grandson. My father-in-law was a descendant of reverend's fourth son Lt. Abraham Maury. Matthew Fontaine Maury was the son of Richard Lancelot Maury, the reverend's seventh son.

My point in this post is that Jefferson, Madison and Monroe didn't dream up the blue print for our country in a vacuum. They were grounded in the classics, that meant knowing Latin, Greek and reading classical literature. Most importantly Polybius. Who wrote about the need for monarchial equilibrius which Montesquieu used to for the idea of separation of powers that Madison incorporated in the Constitution. How much of Reverend James Maury's teachings rubbed off on these men? BTW Matthew Fontaine Maury is buried between Madison and Monroe.

The Reverend James Maury (1719–1769), Unfortunately no picture available.

Was a son Matthew Maury, a French Huguenot, who came shortly after his birth to Virginia from Castel Mauron, in Gascony. His mother was Mary Anne Fontaine, daughter of Rev. James Fontaine and Anne Elizabeth Boursiquot, his wife. He attended The College of William and Mary, and on July 31, 1742, was appointed usher of the grammar school. In February, 1742, he went to England and was ordained a minister. Returning to Virginia he became minister for one year of a parish in King William county and then went to Louisa to Fredericksville parish, which was afterwards in Albemarle county. As a minister he was highly regarded for his piety and learning. He opposed the Two Penny Act of 1757 and brought suit against the collectors of the parish for the full amount of his salary in tobacco. This suit, known in American history as The Parson's Cause was an important legal and political dispute in the Colony of Virginia often viewed as an important event leading up to the American Revolution involving the question of taxation. It was defended by Peter Lyons, afterwards president of the state supreme court, and opposed by Patrick Henry, who denounced the interference of the King in setting aside the law as treason to the people of Virginia. Mr. Maury won the law suit for only a small amount. He continued to hold the esteem of the people of Virginia. Afterwards the Rev. James Maury wrote a letter in reply with and explanation of the event that was later termed as "The Parson's Opinion of 'The Parson's Cause'" by a writer, a copy of which is located on wikisource s:Maury, Reverend James vs Henry, Patrick -- "The Parson's Opinion Of The Parson's Cause". Maury was still minister of his parish when he died, June 9, 1769. He had married Mary Walker, daughter of Captain James Walker and Anne, his wife. source: Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Volume II; VIII—Prominent Persons

The Reverend James Maury taught instruction in classics, manners and morals, mathematics, literature, history and geography (Dabney 110), and also Latin and Greek. Most of Reverend Maury's pupils boarded at his school, as home was too far away to leave school and return the next morning. (Writings of Thomas Jefferson) Therefore the boys knew another well as young adults and as adults they (Jefferson & "Counsul James Maury) worked to make this nation great.

Thomas Jefferson lived with Rev James Maury's family for two years while he was being educated. Jefferson and others naturally went home on special holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas and sometimes on the week ends. Jefferson was enrolled in Rev. Maury's Classical School for Boys immediately after his father, Peter Jefferson, died.

Family Pride

Bruce has a video on the Mainstream Baptist blog of a debate he was in on the resolve: The U.S. Constitution is not a Christian document. The video is of excellent clearness and volume, depending on your speakers. Warning: It is a full debate and takes over an hour to watch all of it.

He has six posts under the video writing out his introduction, questions, conclusion and answers to questions asked.

Overall it's an enlightening video and series of posts. Naturally I side with Bruce's position. Debates never change minds, if anything they reinforce the beliefs each person holds before it begins. Curmudgeons and other readers who want to weigh in on the topic I welcome your comments.

We teach revolutions

The wingnuts have bullied America for years. They've attacked the poor and the oppressed calling them wellfare queens and have gotten away with it because the poor don't vote. They've nearly killed all trade unions by sending those jobs overseas.
I could go on and on about what's happened for the last thirty years, but now they've stepped over the line.
Education has been under attack since 1986. They've badmouthed teachers and their unions (there are two AFT and NEA) and finally thought they could outlaw public employee unions. The last bastion of unionism left. Finally someone has decided to stand up and protest the impoverishment of America by our politicians and corporations.
The governor of Wisconsin wants to keep the unions from collective bargaining except for salaries claiming it's a way to ballance the budget. Collective bargaining on salaries is the only part of the negotiation process that impacts the budget. Benefits like health care and retirement are part and parcel to salaries and are taxed as such by the IRS. Other aspects of collective bargaining have to do with non budget items like hours, working conditions, grievance proceedures, hiring and firing, stuff like that. So why do they not want public employees, not just teachers, but state and city workers, firefighters and police, to negotiate these items. They want to hire and fire without due process. Mainly to fire anyone who belongs to the union.
Protesting in the streets will only do so much, but it is getting the attention of voters to see what's really happening and at the next election things might change, for a couple of years at least.

Back to normal

Starting to recover from long drives on the trip. 2,000 miles in four days took alot out of us, but we needed to get away from home, enjoy the beautiful scenery of Northern New Mexico and Colorado, spend time with friends. We got to pet and spend time with Anne and Daryl's horses, dogs and cats. Everything was white with snow, but the roads were clear. I took her a carepackage of green chile and more copies of Friends Forever, her children's book I desktop publish for her. We had good food and pleasant conversation ending way too soon. They're wanting us to go back up this summer to go horseback riding. There's still a lot of water under the bridge between now and then, but it would be nice, if not this summer then the next. Driving up to Denver from Gunnison was spectacular. Anne said it started snowing right after we left, but it stayed on the other side of Monarch Pass. It was nice and clear on the side we were on.

In Nebraska we visited Linda's brother and mom. Time is getting short for Rose so the little time we spent was important. She's in an excellent nursing home; Bob and Glenda check on her and she's eating three good meals a day and at the last check-up with the doctor her heart is still strong and lungs are clear. She can't wait for it to warm up and spend time outdoors. Driving home across Kansas was rather dreary after the snow topped mountains of Colorado. Between Clayton, NM and Springer we stopped at Gladstone general store. Talk about in the middle of nowhere! It had nice tourist type stuff with horses on everything and different types of homemade flavored honey and jam.

We had planned on staying home in our jammies Saturday to recover and it was a good thing. We had up to 77mph winds all day long. A real good day to stay inside.
I spent yesterday getting malware cleaned off my computer. I cost a hundred bucks through McAfee and three hours for one of their online technicians to go through everything and clean it up, but that's a lot cheaper than the tech companies around here that want $200 just to look at it.

On The Road

Going up to see Anne, if the roads are clear, then over to Nebraska to spend some time with Mother-in-Law.

Tragic Actresses

On Christmas day 1970 we went to see the movie Paint Your Wagon at the Sunshine theater. Mom and Dad had the broadway play album and we grew up listening to the songs: Wandering Star, I Still See Elisa, They Call the Wind Mariah, Hand Me Down Them Can of Beans. Mom couldn't wait to see the movie. To an extent she was disappointed. Her favorite song on the broadway album was What's Going On Here, and they left it out of the movie. Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin mangled their songs something awful. Harve Presnell did a fantastic rendition of They Call the Wind Mariah. In the movie's story a Mormon comes into an all male gold mining camp with two wives. They auction off one wife and Lee Marvin's character Ben Rumpson bids the highest.

The movie does have some great lines and one of the best is when the auction proposal has been made someone says, "You can't buy a woman for money."

Ray Weston's character, Mad Jack says, "You just try to get one without it."

There's an interesting legal point that the marriage is based on mining law, and that she is Ben's legal claim entitled to all her mineral rights. After a humorous marriage ceremony sung to Ben's Wedding Day the couple enter a tent. Ben rips open Elizabeth's boddice exposing only the top half of her ample bosom. I was 16 and that was the most exposed woman flesh I'd seen in a movie up to that time. My eyes nearly popped out. Even today this scene is erotic. Jean Seberg is that beautiful.

The movie grows on you and I enjoy it on both Video and DVD.

When googled wikipedia lists quite a few movies that Jean Seberg starred in from 1957 to her death in 1979. Married three times, none happily, she overdosed on pills right before delivering a daughter that died two days after birth. She tried to commit suicide every year on the anniversary of her daughters death until she succeeded.

I don't know that there's a moral to these posts. I've just seem to have come across a number of actresses in movies that I have recently watched or are my favorites lately.

So Sad

Huffpo sold out to AOL. Most of her readers and I'm sure contributors are a little miffed.
I'm hoping that at least for a while it'll stay on the progressive side since there's not alot of voices out there, but it will eventually be made bland.
Daily Beast is talking about how the Huffpo followers are upset, but they sold out to Newsweek, talk about pot calling the kettle black!

Verboten

Huffpo has an article about fashion designers Duckie Brown denigrating Steve McQueen.
I grew up with the adage that you don't speak ill of the dead.
The designers are a little miffed by the perception in fashion that McQueen is concidered a real man. Then they start a character assassination. There no need for that thirty years after the man's dead. It riles up his fans and causes pain to his family for no reason at all.
Compared to celebrities today, whatever human failings McQueen had they are miniscule by comparison.
I have problems with Jane Fonda's politics, but she's a fantastic actress and I watch her movies like 9 to 5, Julia, Klute, Coming Home and Barbarella.
The same goes for Shirley McClain, Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Robert Downy Jr., Mel Gibson and others. When I watch a movie I enjoy it or hate it based on the performances and if it had a good story. Their personal lives don't bother me.
Steve McQueen was a great actor. He could communicate more with a look than most actors with a soliloquy. His movies still stand up, Pappillon, The Great Escape, Bullet, Junior Bonner, and many others. If he has a reputatin as being a real man these movies are proof. Would any other actor today shoot a chase scene at over 120 mph over the hills of San Fransisco and still be in one piece after the brakes failed?

Scripts

Watched a Real Time with Bill Maher a couple of weeks ago. He had a Republican from Georgia on his panel. After watching the show I was puzzled. For most of the panel discussion he was open, friendly, seemed human, even made sense, but when certain issues (evolution, climate change) came up his face closed up and he went into the party line.
Now I know those are the issues he uses to get votes, then it dawned on me, he didn't really believe what he was saying, he was reading from a script and it's just an act.

I wish just once when there's a debate on evolution that both sides knew what they were talking about. The argument is over MACRO evolution. The creationists are against all evolution which shows how silly they are over a stupid word. MICRO evolution is present all around us. Look at the different varieties of dogs and cats, mules, bacteria that become disease resistent. Micro is changes within a species. Macro is where a species develop into a new species.
If both sides understood that maybe the arguments wouldn't seem so silly.

Denial of climate change is just plain stupid.There is more than enough imperical evidence showing the melting of the ice caps to prove it exists. The argument should be what we can or cannot do about, not whether or not it exists. Then again there are people who still believe the world is flat, but their belief doesn't change reality.

Cold Snap

The sun is shining, but the flags are still standing straight out. The wind kept the snow clouds away from town last night, but black ice makes driving deadly. It's been nice to stay inside and look out at the weather. Son has to work and is driving in the mess.
It'll take a few days for everything to warm up around here, the rest of the country will take a little longer. In about a week or ten days I'll be back out on the golf course. There are some good things about living in a desert.

Classic Movies

Being retired I get to watch a bunch of classic movies. With AMC, TCM and Encore that's quite a few. Hollywood has always had an eye for beautiful women. I don't care that many of them when the movies were made were my grandmother's or mother's age. They're still great eye candy.

Watched Clint Eastwood's Hang 'Em High yesterday. Inger Stevens played a woman looking for the men who killed her husband and raped her. Naturally she heals Eastwood when he's shot and they fall in love. She had such a captivating look in this movie. Sometimes it's better not to know about their personal lives. She committed suicide in 1970 at age 36. So sad.

Snow

In December when grandson was flying in we had snow. Friday mother-in-law is flying in. We have snow. I guess it's not good to be a family member flying in to see us.

Go Figure

Jack LaLane passed away at age 96. I remember his fitness program on tv. Couldn't figure why people would watch on the idot box what we did in gym class.
The funny thing is, he worked out all his life and was fit as a fiddle to the day he died.
Remember George Burns the comedian? He smoked cigars, drank, played around with women. You might say the exact opposite of LaLane. He lived to the age of 100.