A Secular Overlord Needs Religion

As a Galactic Overlord, I’m not the Overlord–not yet at least, I have to govern as a secular because I represent many religions. However, I cannot be secular. Trust me, there is a difference.

Look at Terra’s (that’s Earth for the archaic population) notorious secular dictators like Hitler, Lenin/Stalin and Mao. They didn’t simply govern in a secular manner they were secular; i.e. in their cases atheists. There was no one above them, no God, no power, no spirit. They worshiped themselves and their utopian systems. There was no one to hold them accountable. So, when they killed somewhere around 150 million non-combatant people–give or take a few tens of millions–there was no one to hold them accountable for their crimes.

As a religious man governing an empire in a secular manner–that is, not playing favorite among the religious–I am held accountable for my actions. Alexander Galaxus cannot wipe out planets without being called on the carpet for it–it’s a sobering fact. Even when I ran into the Methuselans, the poster boys (actually they are androgynous) for the secular ideologues we see today, I couldn’t in good conscience commit genocide. I therefore left them to their own devices but without galactic power–I can live with that. Whether they can survive without the support of a galaxy enslaved on their behalf remains to be seen.

I think a similar situation exists here. I am not afraid of religiously devoted candidates so long as they do not impose their faith on me or mine. Most religions do not have a political arm that finds such a concept untenable, the obvious exception being Islam, but a man or woman of faith should not be discounted because of their faith. Usually, that faith will rein in the tendency for megalomania.  Unfortunately for the Godless, it tends to aggravate it.

Don’t believe me, believe history. People may lie but the truth–never.

February 10, 2012 – 2:36 pm Categories: Fiction | Post a comment

Obama and the Catholics, What an Overlord learned from a T-Rex

When you are the Overlord of a galactic empire you not only have to be a student of history you have to actually learn something from it. I’ve found in my career that you have to pick your fights, your conquests and where you make your stand. Contrary to popular belief and galactic legend I haven’t always won–things didn’t always look so great.

When the Methuselans invaded the empire a second time I wasn’t caught celebrating the first time I beat them back, I was getting ready for their worst–and I got it. When Terra was attacked a second time in ten years I felt true despair, but I had studied history and a good friend taught me an important lesson. That friend was Attila.

Not the Hun.

Attila the T-Rex.

You all know the story. I was sent to Pantrixnia for the entertainment of the Galactics by my wife. Attila was one of the many beasts on the prison planet who had the chance to eat me–he didn’t. Attila learned something about me from observing me. It’s true that a two hundred and thirty pound man doesn’t pose much of a threat to a nine ton carnivore with teeth the size of bananas–that is unless the man carries a level three blaster rifle on him. Attila learned that under that chewy pink exterior was a bang stick that burned. He’d seen it burn through the hides of animals as large and tough as himself. I wasn’t worth the risk. Attila knew the risk reward game instinctively–not to say he was dumb–that gorilla sized brain became apparent when he looked you in the eye. He said, “You’re not worth the pain. The victory could cost me the war.”

Your President Obama could learn a thing or two from Attila. Oh, as Galactic Overlord is see the gambit he’s using: if you bring down the Catholics you’ve won; no one else can put up that kind of money and solidarity against you. What I would ask the president is this: is it worth it? Even if he wins, the Catholics have made this fight not about a mandate on health care–the administration line–but on freedom of religion and the Constitution. Mark my words Mr. President, this is turning into a Constitutional battle that you cannot win. This boils down to the Government invading the Citizen’s home, the Citizen’s morals and the Citizen’s freedoms. Even if Obama wins–perhaps more importantly if he wins–he will alienate a far bigger constituency than the Catholics, which is big enough. This will affect how government can control the Citizens–period. If the president can by edict tell the Catholics that their morality and their principles will not be respected then he will just as easily tell the Protestants, Mormons, Jews and–gasp–atheists that they will not be respected. Yes, this is about the small but important number of atheists as well. You are Citizens. You have rights that should not be trampled on.

As an Overlord I had enough to worry about concerning extra-galactic empires like the Golkos and the Methuselans. I didn’t have the time to make enemies of my own Citizens. If the president pushes forward on this course of confrontation it will be a Pyrrhic victory at best. He may get his mandate temporarily, because if he wins–or even if he simply fights–he won’t have to worry about who his foe is in November. Whether it’s Romney, Gingrich or Santorum it won’t matter because his real foe will be his own Citizens.

February 9, 2012 – 4:47 pm Categories: Fiction | Post a comment

Bill Maher bashing Christians and rendering onto Caesar

Bill Maher loves to bash Christians. He thinks they’re bloodthirsty, they like war, missiles, guns and Bibles; he even informs us that evangelical Christians support torture more than any other group of people. What, more than the Taliban or anyone else under Sharia law or communism? Wow, we must be bad!

Maher loves to throw snippets of the Bible at Christians at their own expense, especially citing that Christians refuse to “turn the other cheek” when faced with aggression. We are–as Christians–accused of not being very Christian. Maher’s even boasted of being more of a Christian than most Christian’s because he doesn’t believe in the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq. Does he have a point?

After enduring his offenses again and again, running out of cheeks to turn so that he can make a joke at the expense of Christ and all his followers, I would answer that his observations are superficial and show a very shallow understanding of the scripture Maher (and his writers) pretend to understand better than anyone else.

First I would say that in enduring Maher and his attacks we are in fact doing exactly what as Christians is asked of us. Jesus taught during his sermon on the mount that we should endure offenses patiently–not physical attacks–offenses. In modern terms, this is the basis for our society; i.e. free speech. Ironically and certainly unconsciously, Maher is counting on all of us in this country to act like Christians when bearing the brunt of his jokes. We endure them patiently without seeking revenge; revenge is God’s province, not ours. That’s a Judeo-Christian value that he’s hiding behind; he wouldn’t dare bash an Islamic audience or a communist audience.

Still, does he have a point about the wars and the violence? Christ didn’t preach war, that much is obvious. I agree with him there. Certainly wars of aggression are not Christian, but what about wars of self-defense? When we went into Afghanistan after 9-11 were we becoming what we hated in our enemies? No. For to allow Al-Qaeda to operate with impunity, with no repercussions, would be to allow them to plan and carry out more mayhem and murder. That would make us complicit in their crimes, for we would have had the power to prevent their crimes and have done nothing about it. It would have been a sin of omission.

Make it more personal. If I as a Catholic am faced with a home invasion can I take out my .44 and shoot the invaders in order to protect my family? First, should I even have a .44? Bill Maher might say I’m a hypocrite for owning a weapon, but Peter carried a sword for protection from thieves, so I think I’m safe there.  There are two outcomes: 1) I do nothing and my family is slaughtered. 2) I shoot the intruders. In case 1) I am guilty of being complicit in my family’s deaths because I could have prevented them. I am also complicit in any other crimes the intruders would commit in the future because again I could have stopped them. In case 2) I have the sin of killing another man on my head, but not of murdering another man, an important distinction in Mosaic Law. Hmmm, I think I’ll take case 2). I can live with that and so can my family.

Still, what about our armies and our wars. Would Jesus have supported that? Bill Maher goes on and on about our war machine and he has a point. We have the most expensive and powerful war machine on the planet. So did the Romans. Christ knew that, and yet when asked by the Pharisees about paying taxes to Rome he answered, Render onto Caesar what is Caesar’s, render onto God what is God’s. The taxes paid to Rome maintained the legions and the legions maintained Pax Romana, the Roman peace. It was was this very peace which allowed a handful of disciples to evangelize throughout the Roman empire and thereby change the world.

Similarly, our taxes support our military, without which the world would be a vastly different place. I hear you, no more wars like Afghanistan and Iraq–really? Without us, the Taliban would still be executing women and children in their soccer stadium. Who would’ve stopped Saddam? Who would have stopped the Soviets from expanding the iron curtain to the Atlantic? Who would have stopped the Chinese from taking over all of Asia and the Indian Ocean? Etc. Actually, we’ve avoided more wars through strength and restraint than we’ve taken part in, and the wars we’ve fought have been small in comparison.

What Bill Maher doesn’t understand when he attacks Christians, especially in the  War on Terror, is that he’s actually making the point that we are acting like Christians. We are acting with faith, mercy and restraint. If we were not then there would be no discussions about Afghanistan, Iraq or the War on Terror. There would be no debate. We have the might to enforce our will. If we didn’t fear the moral retribution of our Judeo-Christian values we would have leveled any country that harbored the terrorists. We would never have put our most precious resources–our sons and daughters–in harm’s way against a cowardly, vicious and intractable enemy; to sift through the innocents and find the guilty. No, if we were as bad as Bill Maher makes us we’d declare our own “Holy War” and wipe out the enemy from afar with impunity.

We’re not that way though Mr. Maher. Christians, and the Judeo-Christian values of this nation seek justice not revenge, and more importantly we seek to end the threat against our civilization. We seek to protect and defend the very laws and safeguards you depend on to make your fortune. If we’re so bad, Mr. Maher, try taking your show on the road to Saudi Arabia, communist China or even go make fun of the left’s new best friend Hugo Chavez. Let’s see how well you do then.

January 7, 2012 – 12:22 pm Categories: 9-11, Bill Maher Christian bashing, communism, Islam, jihad, jihad, Muslim terrorists, War on Terror, You against the world | Post a comment

Cyborgs, pipelines, the OIC and the Gingrich who “stole” Christmas

Alex Wolfe, Captain SS Thermopylae, DSC, Rangers

Merry Christmas, yes CHRISTMAS! Not Happy Holidays. If I’m sending seasons greetings to a friend of the Jewish faith I say Happy Hanukkah. Say what you mean; mean what you say. It’s not just a freedom written in our Bill of Rights, it’s a freedom that is constantly under attack.

Let me explain. I have a friend who is a cyborg. Yes, he’s a cyborg–probably a quarter man now and three-quarters machine. He was my best friend through my tumultuous years at the Academy and throughout my career in the Rangers. I was his best man. I am the Godfather of his two girls–he’s a cyborg now and I have to kill him.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have to kill him because he’s a cyborg. I have to kill him because he’s changed. He’s become arrogant in his super-human power, he’s become ruthless, he’s become dangerous to the citizens of the federation I’m sworn to protect. I see him the same way the Republicans saw Newt Gingrich when he was the Speaker–not like Nancy Pelosi was speaker mind you–Newt was much more iconic and effective. Still, his peers saw him as arrogant and dangerous. So they killed him politically–or so they thought. That’s the same reason I have to stop my friend.

Mt friend, the one who became a cyborg, has become as arrogant as Gingrich was perceived to be–and may have been–when he was Speaker of the House. However, Gingrich the presidential candidate has become like my friend was before he became a cyborg–he’s found humility. He’s found God. Hey, take it from me, for a man who once told anybody and everybody “I have to do this on my own,” this meaning life, that is humility. He’s a grandfather-that helped. For me it took some good caring friends, Pope John Paul II, the right woman and becoming a father. The world opens up after that. It’s not about me. I can therefore concentrate on the world being about someone else other than me–that’s where I see Newt.

That’s important. For my friend the cyborg, everything is about him. He’s like Obama. Take the Keystone Pipeline. President Obama isn’t thinking of the people who might benefit because of jobs, he isn’t thinking about the country that could benefit from energy independence from belligerent suppliers–he’s thinking $$$ from environmental extremists–he’s thinking of his re-election; i.e.  himself. Don’t believe me? Do the environmental extremists have a point?

Listen, we built the Alaskan pipeline in ALASKA! I’ve been there. There’s no harsher climate for construction, and yet there was no environmental disaster. These same environmental extremists said the poor caribou would be wiped out–due to regulations imposing environmentally responsible construction and maintenance practices the caribou are–gasp!–flourishing. I think therefore, we can handle Montana, the Dakotas etc. Obama is thinking of himself–just like my cyborg friend.

That’s just one example. I can’t hang my hat on one example or I’ll have to track down every rogue cyborg out there–right? Ok, what about the OIC? Hey, there’s a subject for Gingrich to expound on. Obama is in talks with the Organization for Islamic Cooperation to make criticism of Islam or even citing Islamic history in a non flattering way a crime. Now this restriction on the First Amendment is supposed to promote religious tolerance. Wait a minute, that means I can’t write a historical fact: the Prophet Muhammad personally executed prisoners of war. Someone might take that the wrong way. Or this: the Prophet Muhammad “married ‘Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consummated that marriage when she was nine years old.” Bukhari vol.5 book 58 ch.43 no.236 p.153. Even though I quote a sacred Islamic text I couldn’t say anything about it–it might be construed that, well, you think for yourself.

Unfortunately, Obama doesn’t give the same credence to arguably the largest charity in the world, the Catholic Church. He still hasn’t “made up his mind” whether Catholic organizations will have to fund abortions for their employees–a strict violation of their religious beliefs. Obama would rather impose his own beliefs on the original Christian Church–that’s just a bit narcissistic.

President Obama, like my friend the cyborg, doesn’t have the ability to think of others. He’s the classic narcissist who believes whatever works for him will work for us all–no matter how it hurts. Think that’s to harsh? Don’t talk to me, rather I challenge you to ask one of the thousands of men or women who would be working on that pipeline for the New Year if the President would just approve it. The environmental regulations are already in place. What’s the problem? Obama is thinking of himself and his re-election and not his constituents–us.

Gingrich has found that humility that’s necessary to serve the people. That’s what the Presidency is all about. You serve us Mr. President, not the other way around–that’s the essential point to our nations survival.

Gingrich the historian would tell you that Rome fell when the empire served the emperor; Rome was the light of the world when the government and its officers served Rome. We are an ideal. We are the new Rome. We should cherish that–it’s special. There is a reason for American exceptional-ism–freedom. There is a source of freedom–when the government serves the people, not the other way as Obama seems to think.

I pray for my friend the cyborg. I pray for Obama. I pray for Christopher Hitchins–Lord don’t hold his arrogance against him–after all, he’s only human. May he find peace in the place he refused to believe in–heaven.

Alex Wolfe, Capt. SS Thermopylae, DSC, Ranger

P.S. If you’ve come this far, go to http://www.dragons-and-dreadnoughts.com to check out my new cyborg banner–creepy Christmas!

December 17, 2011 – 8:15 am Categories: Fiction | Post a comment

A Galactic Overlord and the “Occupiers”

Alexander Galaxus was on his way to stop the Methuselan invasion when he took a gentle dig at his parents. Even Overlords think twice when they do that, even if it wasn’t really a dig at his parents so much as it was a dig at some of their old hippie friends.

There are those in the media who say that the Occupiers have something in common with the Tea Party.  As Overlord I beg to differ. I invite the Tea Party to come to any of my planets and speak your mind. I know I’ll get your honest opinion and I know you’ll leave my parks, sidewalks and city streets cleaner than you found them. I also know that when you’ve had your say you are going to leave and return to your jobs, your families and your lives. How do I know this? Because that’s what you’ve “demonstrated” time after time.

500,000 of you in the national mall and you didn’t trash it like the mob did at the inauguration–I was impressed.

Oh, I may have to have some burly legionaries there, veterans of many planetary engagements with F’lhurg’s, Chem rebels or Terran pirates. However, the legionaries will be there to protect you from the Black Panthers, the white supremacists, the jihadists and yes, the hippies.

The Occupiers. Well that’s another thing entirely. Hippies, anarchists, communists, socialists–those are your supporters. Even Iran’s Achmadinawhackjob supports you. You people come and you spout anti-Semitic slurs. You interrupt our businesses, not the big corporations you rail about, but the Mom and Pop stores and department stores downtown. You create  health hazards by refusing to act like civilized human beings. You call cops “pigs,”  and yet you prey on yourselves, raping and robbing each other blind. You people are a blight, and it’s too bad, because some of you–some of you–had a message that was worth hearing.

How can any of us ignore the growing disparity between the rich and the rest of us? I write books, but I also fly as an airline pilot. My profession has been devastated by corporate greed. Controlled bankruptcies forced our pay to be cut in half and our pensions to be liquidated. Last year my garbage man made $20 grand more than I did, but our old CEO and our new CEO made tens of millions of dollars. That fits in perfectly with what the Occupiers should be saying. The problem is, you can’t hear the message over the blasted drums!

An Overlord has to be concerned with all of his people, not just the one’s who are yelling. I’d be willing to listen guys, but every time I ask one of you why is it you didn’t get a permit? Why do you have to destroy our public park? Why are you talking hate? Why are you talking about revolution and violence? Why don’t you even clean up after yourselves? Every time I ask a question like that I get met with the same hostile stare I endured at Macalester College. When I as an up and coming Overlord wore an ROTC uniform there were hippies there still. They refusing to even register for the draft, and they made sure everyone knew that as far as they were concerned anyone who would enter the military or serve our country was evil–pure and simple. They railed against the repressive government that would dare ask its citizens to sign up to protect the country. Yet these same kids, who hated the very idea of our government, were more than willing to take student loans so they could go to school. I wonder how many of them paid off the loans you and I as taxpayers funded.

That’s the kicker folks. The government isn’t some machine. The government is you and I. These kids wanted all the benefits to the government and the country: free speech, student loans, unemployment, food stamps, etc. However, none of these kids was willing to listen to JFK and ask themselves what they would be willing to do for their country.

I endured you guys then, but I never forgot you. Nor am I likely to.

Occupiers, you gave up the possibility that I would listen to your message when you took away my right to disagree with you. You’ve abused the privilege this nation gave you. Like the hippies of the 60’s you shown one thing: you have nothing to offer.

I will add this, however. Get a permit and march peacefully in front of a bank that took bailout money but didn’t help people who were upside-down on their mortgage–then I’ll listen.

Kids, don’t get sucked in by the radical 60’s hippies;the hatred of the Black Panthers, white supremacists (all 7 of them) or the jihadists; the militant atheists or tenured academics who hate the very people and systems that employ them. Don’t listen to Bill Ayers, Van Jones or Francis Fox Piven–they’re dangerous idiots.

If you have a grievance or something productive to add to the conversation then do it, but do it in a way that you can tell your kids about. Sorry, Occupiers I’d have had the legions on you the first night you squatted.

November 19, 2011 – 7:29 am Categories: Fiction | Comments (1)

Hypocrisy, Media, Environmentalist Emoters and The Great Red Spot

In bringing mankind–yes I still use the politically incorrect phrase–to the stars, Alexander Galaxus dealt with a plethora of hypocrisy from his detractors. After saving mankind and serving two terms as the President of the young Terran Empire he stepped down just as George Washington did to set the example for a peaceful transition of government. It was a noble deed for which his successor promptly exiled him back to the prison planet of Pantrixnia where his career started.

Hypocrisy doesn’t die whether it’s in science fiction or modern day fact. Watching the press report on Herman Cain’s “sexual harassment” has been painfully hypocritical. Why? Well, think for a moment about the charges (charges that a CEO made someone uncomfortable? What man hasn’t unintentionally made a woman uncomfortable, and women, well they intentionally make men uncomfortable !). Give me a break, first there’s no sexual contact, no threat of sex or termination–nothing. What if, for the sake of argument the charges were leveled at President or even candidate Obama? The same media mouths crowing about this would be shouting “racism!” at the top of their lungs. I know this because they’re still using the race card anytime someone opposes the president. Why won’t the media use that sordid defense for Mr. Cain? Is it because he’s not ‘black’ enough? It’s not that he’s the wrong color, it’s that he’s the wrong party. Hypocrisy at its worst.

You environmentalists, yes you know who you are, are just as bad. Environmentalists blind themselves to their cause so thoroughly that they are actually killing the environment over it. Don’t get me wrong, I am an outdoorsman. I grew up in the woods of Minnesota and the mountains of Idaho. However, I take a practical approach to the enormous balancing act between being stewards of the environment and making a living.

One example–OIL. Oh yes, I can hear the gnashing of teeth, but the reality is that we need oil. You cannot turn off the Internal Combustion Engine and “go green” without killing millions of people through starvation alone. You environmentalists–and yes I am one–you can only promote your cause if you stop Emoting and start Thinking! The environmentalists who want us to stop all of our offshore drilling and halt any drilling in the US, especially Alaska need to face reality; their hypocrisy here is staggering. Any sane individual will admit that we need the oil, that’s what society uses to keep the cogs of civilization going. Without it–catastrophe. The refusal of environmentalist–well meaning though they are–to drill both in the ocean and in our country is the greatest environmental disaster currently facing the world. Because of this refusal we have to get our oil from Canada, Mexico, the Middle East, etc. The problem is that no one, not even our good friends the Canadians have as tough a set of regulations for environmentally responsible drilling as we do. With the exceptions of the Canadians and the Brits none of the other sources care about the environment or what they’re doing to it. Do you really think that Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria or Iraq care about what they do to the environment in order to get at their oil? Now the Chinese are entering the fray, with plans to drill on the continental shelf in international waters around Florida. They won’t have any safeguards to protect our citizens, not when they’re busy poisoning their own! We’ve leased our deep drilling equipment to the Brazilians so that they can drill deeper than we were. Does anyone really think Brazil will have safeguards or environmental regulations to protect the South Atlantic; I hope they care more about the ocean than they do about the rain forests!

Do you want to save the environment? Good, so do I. Then follow the old American phrase, “If you want it done right; you have to do it yourself!”

The only way we can control drilling and oil production to ensure that it is being done responsibly is to do it ourselves. The added benefit would be that it would create jobs, return us to low cost energy independence and provide a revenue flow through corporate taxes that could be used in part to continue research into fuel cell technology, solar tech and other renewable energy resources.

In my latest sci fi novel the antagonists seed storms with organic pollutants to create crisis on earth. The inspiration for this comes from the enormous hurricane on Jupiter we all know as The Great Red Spot. In the scenario scientists who are there to study The Great Red Spot for the benefit of mankind end up using the knowledge to further their own agendas, to the detriment of the very people they’re trying to help–hypocrisy. Environmentalists, you’re doing the same thing. You hate oil so much that you’re willing to let someone else ruin their environment (actually I mean OUR environment, we’re all stuck here for the time being) so that you don’t have an ugly, environmentally responsible, regulated rig in your back yard. Don’t talk to me about evil oil when you’re willing to sluff the responsibility off to someone else; no, it’s not perfect, but no oil industry in the world is more environmentally responsible or more environmentally regulated than our own–to use anyone else for our energy needs is to accept a greater level of pollution than necessary!

Be environmentally

responsible, drill baby drill!

November 3, 2011 – 6:37 pm Categories: Environmentalism, Fiction, You against the world | Post a comment

What would a Galactic Overlord do about the Occupy Wall Street Protesters?

What would Alexander Galaxus do about the Occupy Wall Street, Seattle, San Fran, etc. etc. etc . . . movement?

First, I’d ask myself are they protesters or are they something else? Protesters, as a rule, want to protest something, solve a problem and thereby make things better. Take the Tea Party. They had a very clear message: cut spending, reduce the size of government and get back to the Constitution. Agree, disagree, don’t care–whatever–their message was clear and they backed it up. They showed up to protest, said what they had to say, and went back home to their families and jobs. Ok, that’s what protests are supposed to be. That’s our right as free thinking people. As Galactic Overlord Alexander Galaxus would be fine with that.He’d also be fine with the mass marches across the South and in Washington D.C. of Dr. Martin Luther King, although he’d be shamed to realize how necessary they were.

He’d have a different take on the Occupiers.

He’d find it fascinating that most of the protesters appeared without having any coherent message whatsoever. In the Wall Street group one of the “Organizers” told a national TV audience, “We’re not here to solve the problems, we want the problems, we’re here for revolution!” In Portland the spokesman for the Occupiers told the media that they’d formed a committee to put together the reasoning behind their presence.

There’s a red flag. So if the protesters won’t tell you what the message is how do you decipher what they’re all about and what they want. Two ways really: their behavior and who comes out in support of them.

Their behavior speaks for itself. They are confrontational, they are interrupting business, traffic–everyday life for anyone who is in their area. They’re not concerned with such things as sanitation or common decency. The very liberal Mayor of Seattle had to move the Occupiers from one park to another with restrooms because “protesters” were defecating on the grounds–nice way to spread your “message” guys. Let me ask you, I mean even an Overlord is a father, would you be proud of watching your offspring crapping out in the open, having sex out in the open, destroying public property or openly shouting racial slurs and blaming the corruption of Wall Street (which does sadly exist) on Jewish bankers? How does behavior like that make anyone sympathetic to your cause?

That leads us to the second point: who is supporting them. Who has lined up to support these Occupiers? The American Nazi Party, the Communist Party and the Anarchists–a veritable who’s who of nice guys, (Remember the Nazis and the Commies? Between starvation, gas chambers, gallows and bullets to the head they were responsible for over 100 million deaths, give or take a few million, in the 20th century; but I’m sure they’re just misunderstood). That should seal the deal shouldn’t it?

It doesn’t because they have other backers, including George Soros (who is funding their paper), Nancy Pelosi ( blesses them) and our President Barack Obama.

I was talking to my father about this, yes Overlord’s have fathers to and they even listen to them on occasion. He supports the President. This Overlord would love to support him but he can’t. His view of right and wrong is so very different. You see, this Overlord wants to fix this country. I agree, I think it’s worth fixing. After all, the United States and it’s free market is responsible for the greatest increase in wealth and prosperity throughout the WORLD than at any time since the Roman Empire. The United States gives more aide to the needy of the world than the rest of the world combined. What would have happened in the World had the US lost the Cold War? Think about it. Stalinist and Maoist Communism would have overcome Europe and then the world for starters . . . No, we’re worth fixing. I don’t want to change our traditions, our history or our Constitution. Those three pillars of the United States have given the world more freedom, prosperity and yes peace than any single nation has ever accomplished in the history of the world. Therefore I say tweak it, don’t trash it.

Certainly we don’t want to turn the US into what the Occupiers want. That won’t benefit anybody. Should they be mad at the rich? Some of them maybe. But at least now, the very people who are Occupying Wall Street can become wealthy themselves if they so desire just by working hard–they have the opportunity–it’s up to them.

One last thought. The Occupiers view the US as “oppressive,” but under their visions of government they wouldn’t be able to do what they’re doing now. They’d disappear in a Gulag or Chinese labor camp.

What would I as Overlord do? If they want to protest and improve the Empire, I’d listen. Get your permits, speak your piece and go home to voice your opinion at the ballot box. If you’re in it for the revolution, Ok, you can start your revolution by occupying Pantrixnia.

October 17, 2011 – 7:12 pm Categories: communism, Fiction, jihad, You against the world | Post a comment

A Space Cadet pulls a Herman Cain

As you should know by now I am an author of many different genres and series, but an author with consistent opinions. Now reviews are a dangerous thing for anyone who puts their work out there for the world to see. As a military pilot and even as a commercial pilot my mistakes, and indeed the mistakes of most pilots, are either covered by six feet of earth (assuming there are enough pieces to bury) or by the fact that you and your fellow pilot are the only ones who knew you screwed up.

This is completely different.

It’s feast or famine. They love the book or they hate it. The haters are usually O.k., I mean listen, I’m a picky reader. That’s the reason I got into writing in the first place–because I ran out of things I wanted to read. Still, this last review  of The Methuselan Circuit threw me for a loop. For some people it only takes a single word to ruin the book. This was one of those people.

Merwinna complained, There is no science fact at its base. Only right wing, Catholic dogma. Our hero is Catholic, as are his friends. Only villains do not subscribe to this.

Right wing Catholic dogma. I thought about it. Then I went back to the manuscript and counted the number of times I mentioned the word “Catholic”–only once. I didn’t mention JC a single time. That’s not much dogma, oh wait, I think I mentioned that Alex (our thirteen year old hero) went to mass–once. No one else is Catholic in the book except his family. It was strange that the reader had this reaction, especially because religion played such a minor-minor role in the book. It had no place at all except to flesh out charcacters.

I thought about it some more, and I realized that this was a reader set in their ideals. She was reacting the same way I would if I read a novel glorifying dope smoking hippie commune life styles that celebrated Che Guevara as a prototypical leader,  (he ran Castro’s firing squads people!). So yes I’m opinionated, and after all they are my worlds.

Now constructive criticism I take very seriously. When she said there was no science fact at the base of the novel I really did think about it hard. I still don’t know exactly what she means, maybe other readers can enlighten me. There are the same laws of physics I learned for my BA and my MS in Space Studies, but I do admit that since this was a Young Adult book I toned down the tech aspects, there’s no Bernoulli’s equations or specific field theories discussed while cadets are zooting around the Tube, although they are applicable. Nor do I have thirteen year old cadets able to perform calculus–should I have?

The emotional rejections are often hardest to take, but what can you do? Like everything else in life if you let it beat you and quit trying then you are guaranteed to fail. Why on earth would Herman Cain think that he could go from Godfather’s Pizza to the Presidency? It’s insane, a waste of time, he’s not one of the GOP establishment people or even a successful Governor, but he’s in the lead in the polls today. Herman, I like your style. Maybe after the Presidency thing you can be an economic professor at the Space Academy, or maybe I’ll simply make you the next President of the Terran Empire. It’s my world, you just give me the word.

I won’t stop either until I run out of virtual ink, or if a Methuselan invasion does come and we take a step or two back, real ink. Either way, Space Cadet II: The Great Red Spot will get finished, and soon; whether Mr. Cain wins the Presidency or not he’ll get a free copy!

Deus Vult Merwinna!

 

 

October 2, 2011 – 5:06 am Categories: Fiction, flying, Parenting, You against the world | Comments (8)

Exiling an Overlord, Roll with it

I just fished the 4th book in my Alexander Galaxus series, titled Alexander, Out of Exile. That was a bit of a surprise. As most people who have seen my blog or website will tell you, that wasn’t the plan. I’ve been advertizing book 4 as Alexander the Protector for a while now, but when the book was done Alexander hadn’t spent any time as “Lord Protector of the Realm.” I simply hadn’t got there yet.

I know that sounds strange, but bear with me. I write my books like people read them; that is, as if I’m reading them for the first time. Oh, I have a rough idea about what’s going to happen down the road but really when I get my characters into spots, like say the Remvalix nest, I don’t anticipate it and I have got to work out a real time solution to the crisis as I’m writing because quite frankly I didn’t plan on it happening!

A case in point. Alexander Thorson, the main character in the Alexander Galaxus series was always meant to go to Pantrixnia, but I intended for him to die there on page 30. He was supposed to be a short story with a tragic point to make at the end. I never intended that he would survive through four books and counting or that he would become Overlord. Life throws strange twists at you, therefore,  I throw strange twists at my characters. It’s not so much a concerted plan to make things interesting as it is challenging myself. If I do this what is going to happen? Can I make it believable? Can I make it fun?

In Alexander, Out of Exile I knew that Rheeza was going to come back to haunt Alexander and Nazeera. I didn’t know she was going to end up dueling Nazeera by an ancient Chem tradition that was going to cause Nazeera to rethink her heritage. I knew the Methuselans were coming. I never knew that when Alexander tackled Lahora in the factory–I didn’t know there was going to be a factory–he was going to be teleported to the center of the Galaxy. Still,  that’s exactly what Lahora would have done so that’s what happened (I found out about it when I wrote it; it was one of those ‘what just happened?’ moments).

I’m a huge fan of the band Rush, not because of their songs but because of their songs and how they approach their craft. They push themselves musically. I respect that, especially when you have to get up and perform something before 20,000 people. There’s no chance to edit or to redo the take, if you blow it everyone knows it. To keep pushing yourself with that hanging over your head–well, I like the fact I can edit, let’s just leave it at that. Alex Lifeson once said, and I paraphrase, “You just need to get out of the way and let your talent take over.” That’s kind of what I do when I go off on these tangents. When that happens I don’t try and stop it or change it back to some grand plan, I roll with it.

That’s life. That’s why I exiled Alexander. It happened, don’t cry about it, go with it and press on. That’s where we are as a people, a nation, even a world. Alexander wouldn’t wring his hands over our present economic woes. He’d roll up his sleeves and say “Get out of the way and let me work!” That begs the question, is the book a reflection on the times? Whether an author intends to make their work a reflection on the times or not the work is always influenced by the environment–always. I won’t be so disingenuous as to say I can insulate myself from the world.

Besides, you can see how I feel through the books, and my characters feel the same way (the protagonists). My antagonists will always espouse failed ideas in brutally successful ways (temporarily). The Methuselan Lahora is an elitist, a communist and an absolute bugger. Yet Lahora believes in the system despite the absolute brutality of the consequences. Alexander is the opposite, a man who wants to accomplish great things but a man who is willing to accept exile rather than become a despot. His goal isn’t to destroy Lahora but Lahora’s entire philosophy of forcing people to conform to someone else’s (the Methuselan’s) ideology. It’s one thing to spread the Word–that’s fine. It’s another to say here is the Word, either accept it or you’re toast.

Alexander would agree with Alex Lifeson, even if Alex Lifeson wouldn’t agree with Alexander. Whatever problems we may have, we had the talent to get into them so we have to get out of our own way and trust our talents to get us out of them. That’s why Alexander is out of exile, and why in Book 5 he’ll be Alexander the Protector, maybe.

September 23, 2011 – 4:26 pm Categories: communism, Fiction, You against the world | Post a comment

9-11 and Flint Wolfe, Muslims need to be more German

You all know me as an author, but ten years ago I was a pilot for United Airlines getting ready to fly from San Francisco to Paris. I’d considered the possibility of hijacking before and it scared the crap out of me, but not for the reasons you might think–I was afraid I’d be the one going to jail. You see the FAA had always told pilots to go along with the hijackers, to just fly to Cuba and get everyone on the ground. Playing hero was going to get people killed.

I knew I couldn’t do that. If any son of a bitch tried to get in my cockpit I knew how I’d react. I’d try and kill them. The FAA would’ve thrown the book at me. The end result was enough doubt in eight pilots minds to get their throats slit. Is it the FAA’s fault–no, not really, they were simply acting on an outdated set of rules.

It’s happened all too many times in the past. The men who surrendered on Corregidor never imagined the Japanese would be brutal enough to shoot, bayonet, work to death, starve, behead and even dissect them. If they’d known what the Japanese did as a matter of policy, things would have been done differently.

I was mad after 9-11, and when I started the character Flint Wolfe and put him in a series called “Crusader” I was acting on that anger and that need for the gratification of revenge. But something soon began to happen as I wrote. Flint is a flesh and blood character, he’s not a stereotype, and therefore he had to react to real world problems. The first of which was Yasmina Orani. Orani is a Persian, and she’s a practicing Muslim; she’s also a mother, a good woman and a sympathetic character. Like many academics in Iran when the Shah fell, not all of Orani’s family made it out. Her Aunt and Uncle were murdered by the fundamentalists of Ayatollah Khomeini. Wolfe couldn’t help but react to her story and to her; it tempered him. His revenge turned into something else, into his service to defend God, Country and Family.

I still harbor anger, but revenge? No, as my Priest Father Mark said, “Revenge is like a cup of poison we mix for our enemies but drink ourselves.” Revenge serves no purpose, but we are fighting a war against people who would destroy us. We have a right to defend ourselves, but we, and Flint Wolfe, have to take the harder road. It is more dangerous to us, but there is where we hold our moral ground, not holding all Muslims responsible, but seeking out those that are for the good of all of us. The difference between revenge and defending our civilization boils down to using the Hydrogen bomb versus SEAL Team 6 or Flint Wolfe.

Simple? Solved? No! I still fight my anger and suspicion. Ten years ago when I rode the employee bus to work a third of the workers were Spanish speaking people from Central America. Now they are men and women from Somalia and Pakistan, wearing full beards or Burkas–these are the people who clean my airplane–your airplane. I cannot help but be suspicious. Did the women wearing Burkas on my bus today know that their refusal to adopt our customs is a slap in the face–especially today–I think they do, so the only conclusion I can come up with is that they do it with a purpose in mind. I probably wouldn’t be as suspicious as I am except that there is no accountability and no repentance in the Islamic community. We’re supposed to understand how they feel, not the other way around. They still celebrate the slaughter of the Knight Templar prisoners while at the same time they still condemn us for King Richard the Lionhearted executing prisoners of Acre in retaliation.

The Germans committed heinous atrocities in World War II, but to their credit they’ve taken responsibility and they’ve ensured that they, the Germans, will never forget what they did. Today’s Muslim immigrants and American Muslims act more like the Japanese, who to this day fight the reality of their own crimes, which were more heinous in sheer numbers and in the treatment of POW’s than the crimes of Germany. If our Muslim population wants our empathy they need to emulate Germany not Japan.

So Flint Wolfe fights the War on Terror, and he tries not to give in to the Devil’s offer of revenge, but the Muslim’s of today are not making it any easier. I have to remember what my Priest keeps telling me, and through me, Flint, “Revenge is a cup of poison we mix for our enemies but drink ourselves, cast it aside and the life you save may be your own.”

September 12, 2011 – 5:49 am Categories: 9-11, attacks on pilots, aviation, Fiction, Islam, jihad, jihad, Muslim terrorists, War on Terror, You against the world | Post a comment