Update on the third book
2013-03-18
Posted by: badanov
I started my third novel last November with a goal of having the novel ready for release by August, 2013.
Unfortunately, I have terrible work habits and I tend to be very lazy at times, coupled with the ambitious goal of writing and finishing the story in nine months, I may not be able to make the August deadline. So far, a tiny bit over a third of the book has been written.
Part of my work habits, however, include rushing like a madman as the deadline approaches, which is a habit I developed in school. The added benefit is that as bad a habit as that is, I tend to do my best work.
I will have a much better idea of whether I will reach the August deadline by the end of May.
You should visit this blog every day, but if you want news about the third book, please visit in May for the next update.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
Adventures in Facebook
2013-03-09
Posted by:
I received a friend request on Facebook and a twitter follower.
The person requesting those claimed to be part of the Catholic Worker movement. Now, I am no longer a part of that community, which was 25 years ago, but I have known a few of those folks.
Consider: they're pacifist, followers of Christ, believing that Good Works helping the poor is the work of the Lord. What's not to like, right?
Consider also I moved past that many, many years ago abandoning most of those precepts, such as non-violence as a means of making peace, the concept itself of social justice, only to later learn that while looking good and sounding good on paper, those concepts are both potential social calamities for the poor.
But I am a sentimental human being, and I thought it was good to maybe reconnect to see where individuals such as the requester were, or how far they had gone down those roads. The people I knew sure as hell knew how to throw a party, besides.
Only a day or two later, around the the time of the anniversary of Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision, the guy posts this missive in which he said that antiabortionists were actually warmongers because they wanted to suppress womens rights enough so that women could spawn cannon fodder for the wars of the plutocracy.
Squeezing those concepts through your brain is a little like trying to look out of one skull socket with both eyes.
Unlike the great massive majority of conservatives, I know how to deal with crazy people. You really have two choices.
You can chuck them out of your life summarily and without debate and never make contact with them again. In this method, you get all the safety you desire and nearly zero personal cost. But on the downside you don't get to look into the face or hear the voice of madness.
Or you can listen to them, consider the ideas they have, perhaps even debate them at some moment. An intelligent individual can do this all without even fearing whether such contact will taint them, or that their ideas could overwhelm your own good sense.
Then you tell them they are out of their minds and to either start drinking heavily or to get help.
I have nothing against crazy people. They exist and they have as much right as anyone to express their views. The same with the majority of the population, crazy people are harmless, probably less than one percent of them represent a threat to others or even to themselves.
Unfortunately, mentally ill people are about to become victims of the political class as discussions become more focused on making mental health issues a matter of public record for the purpose of purchasing a gun. I read Saturday morning an opinion piece by a Soviet immigrant now residing in Florida that gun registration is bad but mental health background checks are good. All of which has been proposed and advanced in some states in an effort to prevent tragedies such as the Sandi Hook school massacre last December.
Criminal background checks, for warrants and the like make sense, but the rest of it, protective orders, misdemeanor convictions for assaults going back a lifetime do not.
By the way, I am a prohibited person, not permitted to buy a gun through a federal firearms dealer because of a now 19 year old protective order. Getting the order lifted would cost me a month's pay, and the cooperation of the other party. Only one of those two conditions are insurmountable. My rights have been taken away from me forever for something that isn't even a crime.
Does anyone think that mental health background checks would not be abused the way the law is now with gun buying? Do you really want the same people who interpret law to impose a lifetime ban for misdemeanors to make the same decisions with regard to your mental health? But it is law now, the court have endorsed this madness repeatedly to the degree that the only way real justice can be served is from the barrel of a gun.
And we have friends who agree that it is a good thing I can't protect myself. To those, I say: wait until the state or a pissed off ex-wife and her lawyer in a divorce declares you as mentally ill. I'll be laughing my ass off.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 2
Cluster of conservative stars in Malaysian public relations scandal
2013-03-03
Posted by:
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
We often accuse the leftist media of being whores in service to their masters such as Media Matters and Think Progress.
With that in mind Rantburg proudly presents a group of conservative writers who contracted out their journalistic services for positive coverage of the Malaysian government and collected fat payments in return.
Did I mention that none of the listed writers disclosed their paydays when their work was published?
Whew!
Good thing I mentioned that because in fact they failed to make mention of that nexus in opinion articles which appeared in a number of US media.
I found out about this from a blog post at theothermaccain.com, when the proprietor, Stacy McCain waxed sarcastic about the revelations, at the same time failing to name some of the others involved in the racket. I know at least one of the writers is a friend of McCain's, thus the sarcasm.
Among the publications which included the bought and paid for positive coverage were the Huffington Post, the San Francisco Examiner, Redstate.com and National Review. Names included are some writers you may recognize such as Ben Domenech (USD $36,000), Rachel Ehrenfeld (USD $30,000), Seth Mandel (USD $5,000) and Brad Jackson who cleared USD $24,700.
Josh Trevino was the paymaster who collected USD $389,724.70, and who farmed out some of the work to other writers.
The PDF of the federal filing required of lobbyists is here. The document was filed in 2013, almost three years after Trevino's media company which contracted for the positive news articles was dissolved, five years after it was formed and two years after Trevino had apparently vehemently denied the nexus between his work and pay for play in a UK Guardian piece in 2011.
The most interesting thing about this story is Ben Domenech. He had been hired by the Washington Post to be their star conservative writer in 2006 when liberals from the news outlets as well as from Media matters complained about he was too conservative.
He went to Redstate.com, from which I know of him, and then to Human Events and the Washington Times. He was fired from the Washington Times when he apparently disclosed the new relationship and he lost his column with the UK Guardian. At the time he lied about his relationship in an article about him. I have no idea if Human Events has made a decision on his employment fate with them. The Washington Post incident was one of the incidents which brought me to Redstate.com.
I have zero problem with a person who goes into public relations. It can be good money, and all you have to do if you are beautifying an individual or organization who wants to look better in the public eye, is to place your personal feelings aside and write the damn article.
The way public relations is supposed to work is that a firm will go to an editor of a news outlet, someone he knows socially, may have had dinner with and pitch an idea for an article which sounds interesting enough to be pitched. If the editor thinks it's something his or her readers wants to see, a writer is tasked with the story. The firm or PR guy never figures into the work. They are ready to state their case in a "news" article.
But this is something different. The Malaysian government blew right past PR firms and editors and went straight to the writers and dumped a butt load of cash on them, and told them to get busy. And no one thought that maybe something might be a little askew enough that maybe they should disclose the source of their income to the news outlets that published them.
And we see all the time how easily news outlets such as the New York Times moves political people between the President Barak Obama administration and the newsroom. Other examples probably exist right now that have not been disclosed. Those moves are to bring writers into the newsroom who can get access to government officials and have the kind of access that other news outlets can't afford. It is the state of modern journalism.
But this is something completely different and it has a sinister air about it. I do not believe that the whole story has been disclosed, not even the seediest element. Just the parts they could disclose still feel not quite bad about it were anyone to find out about it.
And to think. Myself and others at BorderlandBeat.com who write constantly without compensation about the Mexican Drug War must be driving Mexican PR firms batty. A lot of those people on the ground in Mexico proper, what I call in the shooting gallery, get the additional bonus of being in nearly constant fear for their very lives from the drug cartels. I have never even had an offer of money to write something good about drug traffickers or even of anyone in the Mexican government.
Saturday morning a Pajamas Media writer, Steven Crowder wrote a piece complaining about men who complain about their wives; this as yet another political issue to beat other conservatives over the head with. The poster at theothermccain, someone named Smitty chimed in that maybe men who complain about their spouses should stop being so immature.
So, I can just hear this echo of similar disdain of former fans who hear that their once favorite author is now a media whore no better than the worst conservatives believe is happening in the current American leftist government.
"Grow up, sweetheart."
"This is how the world works."
"I'm no worse than anyone else."
But what I have heard since the election of 2012 is how the media has never held conservative's enemies to account for their crimes.
And now we know why.
The conservative media were too busy collecting fat paychecks from elsewhere.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderland Beat.com
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
On Civil War II
2013-02-17
Posted by: badanov
I have been reading lot of talk on survivalist and militia blogs and boards about waiting for the first overt act that sends the US into civil war.
After watching and reading all about how much of a hard on liberals have for weapons that do not belong to them, I would say the civil war has already begun.
If you are waiting for a Fort Sumter moment, you'll be waiting for a while.
The left has been spoiling for a stand up fight since 2000 when their girlfriend, Al Gore failed to make the cut to be US president. First with approving the Use of Force Authorization in Iraq and then, after forces have been committed, to immediately fighting the best efforts to liberate Iraq.
Then continuing on with their newest girlfriend Barky, the spending spree and now the gun grab.
On the patriot blogs I have read several times the sentiment that patriots are waiting for the government to cross some line in the sand before they act. But if you understand the left as I do, you know they have already crossed the line in the sand and are pushing forward as hard, as far and as fast as they can with their latest agenda.
The left acts like a Mexican drug gang. The left is willing to push and encourage violence against the right as long as they can goad the government into action. Mexican drug gangs do this all the time. They call it "heating up the plaza". Push into an opponent's territory, kidnap a few innocents, butcher them in the most brutal way possible, then blame the group they are attacking.
Then comes the heat: cops and army to do what they do best, take away the rights of the innocent despite the protests that the victimized group hasn't done anything.
It is working like a charm right now. New Yorkers just lost more of their God given rights and by next year they will be criminals if they don't disarm, all because some pencil dick decided to turn his mom's guns on innocents. What a boon for crime and criminals, all brought to you by the left and their governmental sympathizers.
I suspect the new civil war will not be like the one 150 years ago. No lines. No shoulder to shoulder advances. No massive firefights. No cannonades. No crossing of lines. The front lines will be your front door, your supply lines will be whatever road you and your friends can keep open, and victory will be determined not by governments coming to terms with either side, but just how badly one side wants to win against the other.
The left relies on the government staffed with bad shots, malingerers and jack booted thugs who will fail to learn that while power can come from the barrel of a gun, it really comes from a heart dedicated to victory. The left just has its personal pleasures, its narcissism and reliance on the government. Their enemy is just about everyone else who believes that our government's basic, and just power is derived from the consent of the governed, not derived from a cowed opposition.
It will suck to be the left when the lesson becomes real.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
Transcribing the next book
2012-11-24
Posted by: badanov
On the eve of the last sales campaign for "Newtonville", I got a notification that "The Sunday War" was rejected because of a lack of a proper table of contents.
The problem was that The Sunday War has footnotes, which Smashword's conversion program rejected. Originally I used the automatic footnote generating feature in Libre Office, but it was rejected. So I had to take all 40 notes and redo them. I then submitted the book and waited.
Subsequently, I did a number of changes to the book after a resubmission was rejected no fewer than seven times. Among those seven times I assumed, since Smashwords automatic conversion program doesn't always notify you as to why it rejects a manuscript, that a non-standard font was at least one of the reasons for rejection.
In my home, I have a FreeBSD central server, which I use the Linux laptop and the Windows desktop to access. On the laptop is Libre Office Writer, in a Fedora operating system. Fedora is one of those operating systems that disallows the use of some software if that software has legal encumbrances such as restrictive licenses. So, I am left without an acceptable font.
After searching on line I found a times new roman font to download. The process was easy. The font set, which is a True Type font, was installed using a program called kfontview. The font was downloaded, I opened kfontview and installed the times new roman font.
Now I can access the manuscript for my next book from either machine.
Why transcribing?
"Newtonville" was written in longhand. Much of it was written while I was unemployed, some of it while on vacation. Can't take the old Commodore 64 with you to write, so I bought a couple of legal pads and started writing. It;s just an added editorial layer. I write in longhand, then transcribe it and can edit it as I go along.
I don't do this for everything I write, so the joke I made two years ago about getting writer's cramp really is funny, since I didn't write any of those Mexican Drug War stories in longhand.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
"Newtonville" now available for sale at Amazon.com
2012-11-21
Posted by: badanov
And has been since early November. I wanted to wait until the other book, "The Sunday War" was available as well.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
Robin Trower's Album gets released early 2013
2012-11-10
Posted by: badanov
Just got the tweet. Click on the link to see the new cover art.
Yes, Mr. Trower is in his late 60s, but before you judge, you should listen to his last album, The Playful Heart
Here is one of the tracks from that record:
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 1
"The Sunday War" copyright registered
2012-11-05
Posted by: badanov
Just completed registering the copyright to "The Sunday War" this evening.
This newest story is set in WWII in Russia, but traces the lives of two families, German and Russian starting in 1933, ending in December, 1941 near Moscow.
This manuscript was actually completed even farther back than "Newtonville, if I recall correctly, in 1992, or so.
Assuming my new cover art is ready by then, "The Sunday War" will be available at Smashwords.com and their affiliates as well as Amazon.com no later than November 12th.
As with "Newtonville" the cover art will be done by Matt Mernin, my son in law, but unlike "Newtonville", I do not plan to market this novel very much.
Before I forget, my third novel will be ready by next summer. I have already started writing.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 2
"Newtonville" now available at Kobo Books
2012-10-30
Posted by: badanov
Seven total outlets offer "Newtonville" through Smashwords. In a few weeks it will be uploaded to Amazon separately, which will entail one more announcement.
You can see a list of outlets here.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
"Newtonville" now available at Baker & Taylor Blio
2012-10-25
Posted by: badanov
See here for a concurrent list of all book sellers carrying "Newtonville".
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
"Newtonville" now available at Diesel Books
2012-10-06
Posted by: badanov
See here for a concurrent list of all book sellers carrying "Newtonville".
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
"Newtonville" now available at Sony Books
2012-10-03
Posted by: badanov
See here for a list of all concurrent sellers carrying "Newtonville."
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 1
Update on Newtonville
2012-09-06
Posted by: badanov
"Newtonville" is now listed at Barnes and Noble as well as Apple I Tunes.
Of the other five online ebook retailers, Kobo, Sony, Diesel and Page Foundry all have indicated they have the book, but I have been unable to find "Newtonville" in any of them.
The Big Kahuna, Amazon, appears to be giving Smashwords the run around, but promises to have a mass upload facility ready soon, although they do not say when.
It may well wind up being that I will be compelled to register "Newtonville" as a separate product on Amazon, but not now. Getting this second novel ready is taking every waking moment I do not have writing Mexican Drug War news.
When the second novel is ready, tentatively scheduled for November 19th, and if "Newtonville" is not listed there through Smashwords, I will register both books at Amazon, manually
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
"Newtonville" goes premium
2012-08-13
Posted by: badanov
"Newtonville" is now available is Smashwords Premium catalog. By next week the ebook will be available at other booksellers such as Barnes and Nobles, and Apple.
Amazon is a bit more selective in that sales much be very high before they will accept.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
Newtonville now available
2012-08-05
Posted by: badanov
Long time coming, but "Newtonville" is now finally available for purchase. Click the link in the title to see.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
LSU and Bama top the ESPN Preseason Top 25
2012-08-03
Posted by:
Top ten:
LSU
Alabama
Southern California
Oklahoma
Oregon
Georgia
Florida State
Michigan
South Carolina
Arkansas
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
Newtonville copyrighted
2012-07-21
Posted by: badanov
Just finished copyrighting "Newtonville", my first novel to be released next month.
The electronic process was very smooth.
Through the process I sat and wondered why the journalism school never explained what copyright actually, is and how you can independently copyright your own work.
I guess I was never meant to get this far.
Anyway, "Newtonville" is scheduled to be released no earlier than 4 August, 2012.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 2
I should have written this...
2012-07-17
Posted by:
Riiiiiggghhtt...royalty. Chris Matthews is sauced every time he's on air, and his kid is marrying Ethel Kennedy's progeny. This'll turn out well. Stay off the roads, everyone, Kennedy trash tend to kill innocent people when they're in motorized vehicles.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
The campaign begins
2012-07-16
Posted by: badanov
You'll see the new ad I put up on the main page and the complete article display page for my first novel, Newtonville.
The e-book is not yet available, as I am putting the finishing touches of the work. At the moment this ad only appears here and on Rantburg as paid advertising.
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
Kerry Kennedy holds her post accident press conference
2012-07-14
Posted by: badanov
Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0