The ornery ramblings and occasional fiction of a former political science professor turned author
For some reason the question of “do parents have a right to know what their kids are being taught?” is highly contentious. It shouldn’t be. It should be a given no matter the political leanings of anybody that parents ALWAYS have a right to know what their children are being taught.
Continue reading “Parents, Kids, & Education”
For Week 3 of More Odds Than Ends prompts I received this on from Fiona Grey: The castle was filled with the friendliest vampires [character] had ever encountered. I had to let it rattle around for a while and then this snippet (?) piece (?) popped up. I really don’t know where it came from and I’m certainly not going to go looking in those corners of my brain! Anyway, here are the friendly vampires!
Continue reading “Friendly Vampires?”
Jack Dalish is a private investigator in San Antonio, Texas. His cases include the usual cheating spouses, or someone trying to find hidden or embezzled funds; cases that are not exciting or exotic but pay the bills. Jack is also one of the few humans who knows that monsters are real and are living among us, disguised as humans. He has a talisman that allows him to sense when one of the Filii Nox is, or has been, nearby. Because of that, his cases include those with supernatural victims and perpetrators.
Continue reading “Book Review: “Lost Souls” by Tim Rangnow”
I have a new series sort of floating through my brain and recently I’ve been getting prompts that are letting me explore this idea a bit more. It started with somebody speculating about being a veterinarian at a school for wizards. My More Odds Than Ends prompt for Week 2 came from AC Young: It was raining cats and dogs and it fit in very nicely I thought.
Continue reading “Raining Cats and Dogs”
The Biden/Xiden/FICUS administration issued an Executive Order (EO) a while back saying that OSHA would make a rule that required private businesses employing 100 or more people to require their employees get vaccinated or tested weekly and wear a mask. Another EO (or maybe the same one, they all run together at this point) additionally required all health care workers in hospitals and clinics accepting Medicare/Medicaid had to be vaccinated. These came in as two separate cases to the Court. Obviously, the genius club running the White House didn’t consider the constitutional issues accompanying such orders (I’m not even going to start on what I think about EOs). Plus, they’re still going off of the “everybody has to be vaccinated or the vaccine won’t work” fallacy.
Continue reading “Friday Thoughts: Mandates”
The right to vote is something that Americans consider almost sacred. We are a representative democracy, or a representative republic. We elect representatives to form a government on our behalf and as the principals, we give those representatives agency (permission) to act on our behalf. I am not going to go into whether those agents really do act on our behalf, or how to ensure that they do. What I want to talk about is who gets to vote for those representatives and how do those elections happen.
Continue reading “Voting Rights Hysteria”The first prompts of the new year. Year Three of the More Odds Than Ends prompts. I am still figuring out a work schedule that makes me as productive as possible. My goal this year is four books. Ambitious, maybe, but if this author thing is going to work, that’s how it has to be. And, I’m very happy that these prompts are helping me get more ideas for stories!
Continue reading “Notes on Wyverns”Read this. All of it. Then think about what he’s saying. Then go about your life like normal.
We’ve been living in Texas for just over a month now. And, for just over a month now, we’ve been living a normal life. Normal as in, the masks are no longer sitting in pockets, bags, or counters ready to be grabbed when leaving the house. Nope. They’ve been thrown away (except for the Mike Rowe ones). We don’t need them. They are not required anywhere. Going to the store? Just walk in. Restaurant? Walk in. It’s soooo refreshing.
Continue reading “Friday Thoughts: Normal Life”
Tomorrow I expect to hear and see much wailing, gnashing of teeth, sackcloth, ashes being strewn about, moaning about the “state of democracy”, calls for stronger gun control, calls for bringing back the “sedition” part of the Aliens and Seditions Act. All of which is designed to get the average “I just want to live my life” American to wring their hands, bemoan those awful racist Republican Trumpists, and vote straight Democrat tickets next election.
Continue reading “Insurrection or Astroturf?”