Book Promos…

Three books by friends all hit in the last two days…

As always, click on the cover for the Amazon link.

Larry and Sarah- Monster Hunter Guardian

The blurb-

When Owen Pitt and the rest of the Monster Hunter International crew are called away to mount a month’s-long rescue mission in a monster-infested nightmare dimension, Julie Shackleford—Owen’s wife and descendant of MHI founder Bubba Shackleford—is left behind. Her task: hold down the fort and take care of her new baby son Ray. Julie’s devoted to the little guy, but the slow pace of office work and maternity leave are starting to get to her. But when a routine field call brings her face-to-face with an unspeakable evil calling itself Brother Death, she’ll get more excitement than she ever hoped for.

Julie is the Guardian of a powerful ancient artifact known as the Kamaresh Yar, and Brother Death wants it. In the wrong hands, it could destroy reality as we know it. Julie would die before giving it up.

Then Ray goes missing, taken by Brother Death. The price for his safe return: the Kamaresh Yar. If Julie doesn’t hand over the artifact it means death—or worse—for baby Ray. With no other choice left to her, Julie agrees to Brother Death’s demands. But when you’re dealing with an ancient evil, the devil is in the details.

To reclaim her son, Julie Shackleford will have to fight her way through necromantic death cults, child-stealing monsters, and worse. And she’ll have to do it all before Brother Death can unleash the Kamaresh Yar.

It’s one woman against an army of monsters. But Julie Shackleford is no ordinary woman—she’s one tough mother!

Next up, Tom Kratman’s anthology- Terra Nova, with stories by Tom, Kacey Ezell, Peter Grant, Monalisa Foster, and Mike Massa among others.

The blurb-

“Send us your tired, your poor,” says the inscription at the base of the great statue, “your huddled masses yearning to be free.”

But the future of the colony planet, Terra Nova, and its relations with Old Earth is far more a case of boot out your tired, your poor, your dissidents and troublemakers. Use us for a dumping ground for all your problems. Go ahead and abandon these here. This may have been fine, too, but for the UN and its corrupt bureaucracy insisting on maintaining control and milking the new world and its settlers, willing and unwilling both, bone dry.

Contained herein are tales of the history of Mankind’s future first colony, from the first failed attempt at colonization, to the rise in crime, to the rise in terrorism, to its descent into widespread civil war and rebellion…and ultimately liberation. As with most of human history, this history is messy, with good men and women turning bad, bad men and women inadvertently doing good, and blood flowing in the streets.

And last, but certainly not least, DJ Butler with the third book in the Witchy World Trilogy- Witchy Kingdom

The blurb-

SEASON OF THE WITCH

An encounter with her father’s goddess has not turned out to be the end for Sarah Elytharias Penn. Now, with the Imperial fist tightened around her city of Cahokia and the beastkind of the Heron King ravaging across the river, she must find a way to access the power of the Serpent Throne itself—a feat, she has learned, that her father never accomplished. To complicate her efforts, Cahokia’s Metropolitan, a beloved and charismatic priest who despises the goddess as a demon, returns from a long pilgrimage and attempts to finalize the Wisdom-eradicating reform that dogged Sarah’s father when he was king.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s brother Nathaniel and her brilliant but erratic servant Jacob Hop find their steps dogged by the Emperor’s Machiavel, Temple Franklin, as they hunt in New Amsterdam for the third Elytharias sibling. As Simon Sword’s destroying storm threatens from the south and west, and New Orleans is thrown into deadly turmoil when a vodoun priest and mameluke assassins contend for ultimate power and control of the Mississippi, the chance for a unified New World teeters on the brink. Sarah Penn understands she may face a hard fate in the final reckoning. But she also knows that only she can access the power of the Throne—if she can find the Wisdom inside to unlock it.

As a follower of all three series, and a friend of all the authors, this is a great week! Plenty of stuff to read, and a good reason to get back into the respective series! Now to figure out which one to read first… 🙂

72 hour rule…

I try my damnest to wait 72 hours before commenting on mass shootings so that I have some idea of actual facts, not media bloviation. The Texas shooter is in custody, and the Ohio shooter is dead (Yay LEOs). The gun in Texas was bought legally, and I believe the one in Ohio was too. No changes to background checks would prevent them from doing it…

The media is whipping up a frenzy against Trump and Republicans, putting all the blame for all of the shootings on them, as it appears the Texas shooter was a white supremacist, while it appears from some reports the Ohio shooter is actually a leftist and has been a problem child since Jr. Hi, including a kill list and rape list in school. Article HERE. Of note, Beto et al, don’t want Trump to come to El Paso, and some congresscritter in Ohio is frothing at the mouth about him going to Ohio. This rhetoric is ridiculously over the top. If it were true, then Bernie is guilty because one of ‘his’ people tried to kill the Pubs at the baseball practice.

And as usual, the left was dancing the blood within an hour, and the typical calls for AWB, gun ban, gun confiscation, etc. are being pushed in conjunction with the MSM. I heard one quote last night that ‘Now is the time to KILL the NRA.’

Really? THAT is the language you want to use? Now???

Here are some thoughts for the “reasonable gun law” crowd.

It’s illegal for kids under 18 to smoke. Kids under 18 still smoke.

It’s illegal for kids under 21 to drink alcohol. Kids under 21 still drink.

It’s illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol. People still drink and drive.

It’s illegal for convicted felons to,possess firearms. Convicted felons still possess firearms.

It’s illegal to take firearms into “gun free” zones and shoot people. People still take firearms into “gun free” zones and kill people.

It’s illegal to break into other peoples homes and steal stuff, including firearms. People still break into other people’s homes and steal stuff, including firearms.

What additional laws, restricting law abiding citizens rights, will prevent mass shootings?

Crickets…

There are estimated to be 300,000,000 guns in the USA, and something approaching 1,000,000,000 rounds of ammunition. ‘Most’ of these are in the hands of law abiding people. Do you really think they are going to give them up voluntarily? Look at what happened with compliance with the CT and NY laws… Or is the goal to turn EVERY gun owner into a criminal?

Although the left/MSM don’t want to admit it, there have been a number of shooting stopped by CCW holders.

The other thing I find interesting is the ongoing gun violence/deaths in places like Chicago, NYC, Baltimore, Detroit, etc. are getting NO COVERAGE… Anywhere… And the congresscritters are blowing it off.

I would have a different proposal, do away with gun laws! Train everyone how to use them, once they pass a mental evaluation and background check, they are allowed to buy and carry whatever their heart desires. Constitutional carry…

Edit- And HERE is Lawdog’s gun rights cake analogy…

Meh…

Looks like I set off the bots once again… But this time it’s Russia, and the Chinese both… Don’t know if that is an improvement or not…

IP: 95.128.163.99
Decimal: 1602265955
Hostname: 95.128.163.99
ASN: 8439
ISP: JSC AIST
Organization: JSC AIST
Services: Recently reported forum spam source. (182)
Type: Broadband
Assignment: Likely Static IP
Blacklist:
Continent: Europe
Country: Russia ru flag
State/Region: Samara Oblast
City: Samara
Latitude: 53.1813  (53° 10′ 52.68″ N)
Longitude: 50.1218  (50° 7′ 18.48″ E)
Postal Code: 404146

 

IP: 183.30.186.75
Decimal: 3072244299
Hostname: 183.30.186.75
ASN: 4134
ISP: China Telecom Guangdong
Organization: China Telecom Guangdong
Services: None detected
Type: Broadband
Assignment: Likely Static IP
Blacklist:
Continent: Asia
Country: China cn flag
State/Region: Guangdong
City: Guangzhou
Latitude: 23.1167  (23° 7′ 0.12″ N)
Longitude: 113.25  (113° 15′ 0.00″ E)

Strangely, this all started Tuesday, and ramped up to over 100 by Saturday morning. So far yesterday as of 2100, there were an additional 67.

Now I usually get two to five a DAY…

Anybody else seeing a significant ramp up in bots?

YGTBSM!!!

Apparently in ‘some’ circles, being white is a fireable offense…

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ powerful campaign arm, has just abruptly purged half a dozen staffers. Why? Because they are white.

Full article, HERE from the Washington Examiner.

This…leaves me without words…

Even more interesting is the tap dancing being done by the Dems talking heads trying to downplay this, ‘Oh, just normal business, nothing to see here, move along.’ And when they get pressed on it, they shift to Trump and ‘racist’ tweets against Cummings.

I said a prayer for those who were shot in El Paso yesterday, this is truly a sad situation, but what PISSES ME OFF is the Dems dancing in the blood less than a hour later… And Warren when immediately to the gun ban. Grrr…

What about the PEOPLE who were shot and those who died? What about all those family members impacted? Where the hell is the concern for them??? Zip, nada, zero…

And of course Chuck U and Nancy were out there quickly…

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said they were praying with the friends and families of the victims and thanked first responders. They both called for action to stop gun violence. 

“Too many families in too many communities have been forced to endure the daily horror of gun violence. Enough is enough,” Pelosi said. “The Republican Senate’s continued inaction dishonors our solemn duty to protect innocent men, women and children and end this epidemic once and for all.”

Full article, HERE.  Along with twits from the dem twits…

And I hope nobody names this POS in the media, he doesn’t deserve the publicity, but I know damn well CNN/PMSNBC/others will trumpet it.

Food…

My turn to cook for the crowd last night…

Shrimp and grits, ‘Tasso’ gravy, and seasoned green beans. 4lbs of shrimp gone ‘snap’ just like that… LOL

Trying to finish up the Cronin novella this weekend so I can get it out to alpha readers, so commenting will be light.

TBT…

57 years…

And in a couple of months, the last active duty P-3 squadron will transition, ended an era. The reserve squadrons will keep flying them for a couple of more years, but sunset is here…

When I first got in P-3s it was to operate these systems…

Acoustics- Listening to sonobouys…

Non- Acoustics… Radar, MAD, ESM (No, that’s not me in the seat)

And today it’s all computerized…

Hours and hours at those stations, chasing subs all over the Pacific and Atlantic… And part of the reason I’m as deaf as I am, but I wouldn’t trade it, or the shipmates I flew with for the world.

We’re dinosaurs…

Book Promo…

Peter Grant has a new book out! Taghri’s Prize.

The blurb-

Taghri has left the Sultan’s army to seek his fortune – and he seizes opportunity when it knocks. In the confusion of a pirate raid on a trading caravan, he kills their leader and captures their ship. The vessel is now his prize of war… but some prizes may be more trouble than they’re worth!

Nestled among the gold coins in the captain’s cabin is a stolen Temple sacrificial knife, whose Goddess is now paying close attention – too close! – to its new owner. Among the slaves he’s freed is a princess, formerly being held for ransom, who comes with political and personal intrigues all her own. Even if he survives the attention of both, there’s also a pirate lord out there, hell-bent on avenging the death of his son.

It’s going to take all of Taghri’s skill, experience and cunning to survive winning this prize!

I was happy to be an alpha reader on this one, and I’ll tell you it’s a good one!

Sigh…

Yesterday was Monday, ALL (*&(&# day…

Friends were passing through from out of town, so we wanted to take them to lunch at our favorite BBQ place.  Except it was closed…

Alternatives? Hey, good Mexican. Sure, sounds good…

So, off we go to the Mexican place. Annddd… find out the wife thinks ketchup is spicy…

But we’re there. So she searches through the menu to find the least spicy thing (ended up with street tacos which were pretty good, according to her). We had already warned the hubby to watch the salsa. And it was a ‘bit’ spicy… (matter of fact it was a distinct shade of green, which means they had more jalapenos than tomatoes in it). It only took 2 bites to start sweating, which was better than last time!

But all in all, it was a great lunch (for most of us), and great times chatting. They’re headed west, so checked in with some other folks and got them recommendations for restaurants and ‘things’ to do on their trip.

Headed back home and it started sprinkling rain. We could use the rain… Get about 10 drops and that’s it. And the humidity went up. And it’s 101 yesterday…

In other news, it seems that Obama and Bernie can make comments about Bawl’more that are ‘whitewashed’ by the media, but Trump can’t…

And crap like this…

Photo Telegraph.co.uk

Is what they are ‘proud’ of???

Really?

Oh, and lastly, I was talking to one of my high school classmates yesterday afternoon. She remembered a road trip a bunch of us did back in 1969 during spring break to go up and play on the river. Including who rode with who, what people wore, and how much trouble she got in for getting back late, since we went to a party when we got back in town… Sigh… I ‘kinda’ remember the trip… vaguely…

This routine by Mark Gugnor had me laughing a shaking my head in agreement…

Hopefully the week improves… HOPEFULLY!!!

News for disabled veterans…

While not great, consider this a PSA for those who are disabled and on a very limited income.

Some veterans and family members don’t know that all non-reimbursed medical costs are deductible in calculating their income. For veterans who served during wartime and later became disabled and require aid either at home or in an institution, VA can provide a pension supplement to bring net annual income up to $20,795 for a single veteran or
$24,652 for a veteran and spouse.

If you are a veteran 65 and older, or permanently and totally disabled you may be eligible for the VA Non-Service Connected Disability Pension (NSC). The pension provides financial support to wartime veterans with a limited income. The amount payable under this program depends on the type and amount of income the veteran and his/her family members receive from other sources. Monthly payments are made to bring a veteran’s total annual income (including other retirement and Social Security income) to an established level.

You may be eligible for a NSC pension if you were discharged under other than dishonorable conditions, and you served 90 days or more of active duty with at least 1 day during a period of war time*, and your countable family income is below a yearly limit set by law, and you are permanently and totally disabled, OR you are age 65 or
older.
*Note: Anyone who enlisted after September 7, 1980, generally must have served at least 24 months or the full period for which called or ordered to active duty. Service from August 2, 1990 to present is considered to be a period of war.

You may be able to get this benefit if you haven’t remarried after the Veteran’s death, if the deceased Veteran didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge, and if service meets at least one of the requirements listed below:
– Entered active duty on or before September 7, 1980, and served at least 90 days on active service, with at least 1 day during a wartime period, or
– Entered active duty after September 7, 1980, and served at least 24 months or the full period for which called or ordered to active duty (with some exceptions), with at least 1 day during a wartime period, or
– Was an officer and started on active duty after October 16, 1981, and hadn’t previously served on active duty for at least 24 months.

And this must be true: Your yearly family income and net worth meet certain set limits. Your net worth equals the value of everything you own (except your house, your car,
and most home furnishings), minus any debt you owe. The maximum survivor’s pension (assuming you had no income) is $9,078 without any children and $11,881 with one child. Net worth cannot exceed $127, 061. Survivors often experience shock and disappointment when they realize how much money the VA Survivor Pension actually pays.

BLUF- This is a helluva lot better than nothing! If you have questions, contact your counselor.

Kilroy…

He is engraved in stone in the National War Memorial in Washington, DC- back in a small alcove where very few people have seen it. (I actually have, it was pointed out to me at the military opening.)

kilroy6.jpg (600×400)

For the WWII generation, this will bring back memories. For you younger folks, it’s a bit of trivia that is a part of our American history. Anyone born in 1913 to about 1950, is familiar with Kilroy. No one knew why he was so well known-but everybody seemed to get into it.  So, who was Kilroy?

kilroy3.jpg (600×372)

In 1946 the American Transit Association, through its radio program, “Speak to America ,” sponsored a nationwide contest to find the real Kilroy, offering a prize of a real trolley car to the person who could prove himself to be the genuine article. Almost 40 men stepped forward to make that claim, but only James Kilroy from Halifax, Massachusetts, had evidence of his identity.

‘Kilroy’ was a 46-year old shipyard worker during the war who worked as a checker at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy. His job was to go around & check on the number of rivets completed. Riveters were on piecework  & got paid by the rivet. He would count a block of rivets & put a check mark in semi-waxed lumber chalk, so the rivets wouldn’t be counted twice. When Kilroy went off duty, the riveters would erase the mark.  Later on, an off-shift inspector would come through & count the rivets a second time, resulting in double pay for the riveters.

One day Kilroy’s boss called him into his office. The foreman was upset about all the wages being paid to riveters, & asked him to investigate. It was then he realized what had been going on. The tight spaces he had to crawl in to check the rivets didn’t lend themselves to lugging around a paint can & brush, so Kilroy decided to stick with the waxy chalk. He continued to put his check mark on each job he inspected, but added ‘KILROY WAS HERE’ in king-sized letters next to the check and eventually added the sketch of the chap with the long nose peering over the fence and became part of the Kilroy message.

Once he did that, the riveters stopped trying to wipe away his marks. Ordinarily the rivets & chalk marks would have been covered up with paint. With the war on, however, ships were leaving the Quincy Yard so fast that there wasn’t time to paint them. As a result, Kilroy’s inspection “trademark” was seen by thousands of servicemen who boarded the troopships the yard produced.

His message apparently rang a bell with the servicemen, because they picked it up & spread it all over Europe & the South Pacific.

kilroy7.jpg (600×398)

kilroy8.jpg (600×567)

Before war’s end, “Kilroy” had been here, there, & everywhere on the long hauls to Berlin & Tokyo. To the troops outbound in those ships, however, he was a complete mystery; all they knew for sure was that someone named Kilroy had “been there first.”

As a joke, U.S. servicemen began placing the graffiti wherever they landed, claiming it was already there when they arrived

Kilroy became the U.S. super-GI who had always “already been” wherever GIs went. It became a challenge to place the logo in the most unlikely places imaginable (it is said to be atop Mt. Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the underside of the Arc de Triomphe, & even scrawled in the dust on the moon.

 

As the war went on, the legend grew. Underwater demolition teams routinely sneaked ashore on Japanese-held islands in the Pacific to map the terrain for coming invasions by U.S. troops (& thus, presumably, were the first GI’s there). On one occasion, however, they reported seeing enemy troops painting over the Kilroy logo!

In 1945, an outhouse was built for the exclusive use of Roosevelt, Stalin, & Churchill at the Potsdam conference. Its first occupant was Stalin, who emerged & asked his aide (in Russian), “Who is Kilroy?”

To help prove his authenticity in 1946, James Kilroy brought along officials from the shipyard & some of the riveters. He won the trolley car, which he gave to his nine children as a Christmas gift & set it up as a playhouse in the Kilroy yard in Halifax, Massachusetts.

kilroy12.jpg (600×379)

Kilroy was still around in the 70s-90s when I was on active duty, saw a bunch of them all over the world. I ‘hope’ that tradition is continuing even today.

From reader Geoff- Look at the inside of the nose gear door, just in front of the nose gear.   Then look at the pilots name under the windscreen.  Either way, he’s the Canadian CF-18 Demonstration pilot for this season.