Prequel, the First

In 2011, my publisher Litsam, Inc. released Nothing In Reserve, a group of stories surrounding my deployment to Iraq in 2004-’05.  The following events and observations preceded the span covered by that book; some by a lot, some by less.  These are some of the triggers that launched my personal bullet, one which will seem … [more]

Pit Stop

This is who he was… He became a friend to me within a week after we moved into the decaying edifice across from his house. He was a journeyman carpenter; proud of his work, but humble about his life.  He would tell me which tools I needed – then loan them to me. He didn’t … [more]

Dream Boyz

When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had dreams, they were visions of a better future for all humankind. When I have dreams, they’re just very strange narratives that leave me lying awake, wondering who it is that lives in my head at night. Last night’s entry in the annual Academy Awards for Political Unconciousness went … [more]

Dear Snotty Kid…

I didn’t ask whether you opened the door. I told you to close it. I don’t care if they’re your favorite pants. I care whether they cover your butt. That’s what pants are for, actually. It doesn’t matter if your homework is stupid. It matters that you do it. If you’re not hungry enough to … [more]

Real Americans

Real Americans don’t beat each other down. We help each other up. If someone else needs a beatdown, real Americans stand ready to administer it — and then offer the same hand up that we offer each other. Real Americans don’t break up American companies for a living and call ourselves “job creators.” We found … [more]

“G-D Was Busy”

Here’s a parable that confuses me a bit. You can find it all over the place, not just on Christian web sites and socially conservative blogs but sprinkled around Facebook and MySpace and really, wherever glib ideations go to spawn. It goes like this: A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments.  … [more]

On the day of the Dear Leader’s departure

In the picture, you can’t tell he’s dead. If any picture says a thousand words, 900 of them turn to lies as the facts change. We might have toasted him back then, the chubby scion of the Great Leader. From across the DMZ from Radar Site 7 on Soi San Mountain, through the cavalry’s ship-to-shore … [more]

Like Mohammed, I had a dream (mine was shorter)

The Revelation which God gave, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant Jack: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of the LORD, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he … [more]