Week or so of hell

I haven’t posted in a while, because I’ve been having the weirdest month.

The powersupply on my wife’s computer went out. So I replaced it with mine, I thought I’d just drive over to the big city of Danville and get a new one.

Danville has two computer stores, Office Depot and a small computer repair place that sells some computer parts. Never the part I need but it was worth a shot.

Neither had a SLI powersupply so I figured I’d be offline while I ordered one online. I figured if I had to order something online I’d go all out and get the computer that used to power the home entertainment system running again.

So I ordered a new motherboard/CPU (non SLI so if I had a problem it could be easily fixed).

I got the new motherboard and it gave me an error it needed to be flashed with a floppy.

It turned out I had a floppy drive on a computer I bought 10 years ago. It was the only part on that computer that hadn’t been replaced in the first six months. (CompUSA’s TAP program really, really paid off on that one.) I found some old floppies and planned on using the computers at work put the program on them.

The 13 plus year-old floppy didn’t work.

No problem I’d drive to Danville to get new ones. My car didn’t start.

The distributor was burned out, a problem that normally would take a couple of days to fix. With the holidays it added four more days to the process.

While I was waiting, I rebuilt my old computer 3.5 gig that only has one SATA port. I figured it would work while I tried to get the new slower one going. Unfortunately I can’t get the USB ports working so I would need two keyboards and mice, and there is just not enough room on my desk for that.

That was when I found out that the 10 year-old floppy drive I had didn’t work. I doubt the all fifty old floppies were bad. I tried them all.

So I rummaged through my old electronics and found the floppy drive from a ’97 Dell PC it looked to be in good condition. Then I found out Dell made proprietary floppy drives. Wouldn’t want someone using it on a non-Dell computer. The only other computer I ever had with a floppy was a ’96 Compaq and even if I kept the floppy drive from it I really doubt it will work.

Newegg has a great return policy, and I’ve got a good mechanic so in the beginning of the year all this will be worked out, but for now I can’t post much.

On the bright side having computer problems means I found out I have this thing called a family. Turns out I can call up my mom and talk to her in real time.

I also had a chance to talk to my 101 year-old grandma.

My wife is probably getting sick of my pestering her by now but she is being a good sport about it.


By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Rhetorical Rambling

Right now I'm struggling with one of my character's dialog. It is kind of long. There is an easy way to fix this; break it up with interruptions. Something I got good at writing AN EXTRA TOPPING OF HORROR. There is another way that is much harder, fill the dialog with passion and conviction so the reader can't put it down. Great political speeches are examples of that.

So dear blog reader, I shall practice on you.

Now some may ask, why would I take the hard path when there is an easy road available?

I don't write novels, short stories, this, that and, the other thing, because they are easy. I write them because they are hard! I write them because that is a challenge I am willing to accept, and one which I am unwilling to postpone, and one which I intend to win.

I willingly enter this arena, my face marred by dust, blood, and sweat. I will strive valiantly, knowing in my heart that I shall err, that I shall come up short time and time again, because there is no effort without errors and shortcomings. But in striving to actually do the deeds, I shall know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, of setting myself to a worthy cause. At best I shall know the triumph of high achievement. At worst, if I fail, at least I shall fail while daring greatly, not joining those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

In this challenge I can only offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. Is that enough to face the thousand slings and arrows of the nameless critics that seek to tear down anyone with a high and noble purpose? I shall face their laughter as it denotes not only a vacant mind, but a heart in which high emotions have been choked before they could grow to fruition.

I say boldly and loudly to those critics, the only thing I have to fear is the nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror that causes some writers to retreat, when they should advance. To fall back on the skills they are comfortable with, when they should be honing new skills. Sitting on the rung that they have gotten comfortable on and not bravely advancing to the next level.

Writing with passion and conviction offers pleasures from the gross to sublime, but it is not for the fainthearted. For nothing worthwhile has ever been achieved by respecting the status quo.

While the naysayers will mock, disagree, and vilify anyone who takes bold action, the one thing that they can never do is ignore them.

In this battle to win the hearts and minds of my readers. My commitment is strong and my resolution unwavering. This is a battle that not only can I win, but it is a battle that I will win.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Porn and Violence

This is a myth I thought had gone the way of the Moon being made out of Green Cheese. But I've been running across it again recently, even from people who should know better. So I thought I'd comment on it.

THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC STUDY SHOWING ANY LINK BETWEEN PORN AND VIOLENCE!

I really don't know how to make that anymore clear. But I still hear people claiming that some scientific study shows there is. When pressed they either can't find it, or make some vague statement about the Presidential Commission's Study.

There have been two Presidential Commissions that studied the effects of Porn on Society.

The first, President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography in 1970 found:

1. That there was "no evidence to date that exposure to explicit sexual materials plays a significant role in the causation of delinquent or criminal behavior among youths or adults."
2. That "a majority of American adults believe that adults should be allowed to read or see any sexual materials they wish."
3. That "there is no reason to suppose that elimination of governmental prohibitions upon the sexual materials which may be made available to adults would adversely affect the availability to the public of other books, magazines, or films."
4. That there was no "evidence that exposure to explicit sexual materials adversely affects character or moral attitudes regarding sex and sexual conduct."
5. That "Federal, State, and Local legislation prohibiting the sale, exhibition, or distribution of sexual materials to consenting adults should be repealed."

The second, The Meese Report came out in 1986 which was very anti-porn, however two little details were buried in it.

This little nugget:
"There are no scientific studies that show that exposure to nonviolent sexual material causes a person to commit a sexual crime or become more sexually aggressive."

And its statement that it is not in anyway a scientific study.

So the “Scientific Study” that people point to is not a scientific study and states that no link has been found between porn and violence.

Some will point out that absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence, and in this case they would be correct.

Try and think of a way to study any link between porn and violence. You could go to the emergency room find women who come in repeatedly with black eyes and bruises. Give half their spouses unlimited access to porn and make sure the other half don't have any porn. Then see which ones show up more often in the emergency room. You would have to do your studies from your jail cell as you would be withholding evidence of a crime.

You could look after the fact and find that 1% of heavy porn watchers are violent, slightly less than the general population. You could look at areas where porn viewing is high and compare the rape stats to where porn viewing is low, and find that in places with heavy porn viewing there are fewer rapes.

So there is a correlation between Porn and decreased violence towards women, but correlation does not mean causation. So you need to break it down farther.

The underlying premises of the link between porn and violence are that, men who watch porn are hornier making them “think with their dicks” and it makes men look at women as sex objects. These can be tested.

Studies have found that watching porn decreases men's libido. They become less horny in daily life.

This is common sense, back when I was in college it was tough to view porn, VCR's cost more than TVs and even I wasn't bold enough to pop a tape into the one in the lounge and start wacking off. So when I met a girl and she wouldn't go back to my room. As I kissed her goodnight I was usually thinking, “Please, at least let me make out with you until I jizz in my pants.” (oddly that line does work.)

Today, Guys have access to all the porn they want. They can pull out phone and watch whatever turns them on. So kiss goodnight is more like, 'If she doesn't put out, I'll just have to go watch the 16 girl lesbian orgy on my phone, and maybe...' Well see you later. They run back to their room leaving the girl frustrated.

Porn is a poor substitute for the real thing, but it is a substitute. So a normal male will be less aggressive.

Do men look at women as sex objects after watching porn. A duh! The real question is do men look at women as sex objects without watching porn? Yes they do.

However porn desensitizes guys to sex.

I grew up where we had 5 months of winter. I mean real winter months where it didn't get above 0 F. Needless to say in those months seeing flesh wasn't common. As cocky as I am, in the spring it became hard to talk to girls as my mind would go, “That is a really good point and... cleavage... Sorry what were you saying?”

By fall I was able to admire the cleavage without losing my train of thought.

Being exposed to porn desensitizes men's sexual urges so a flash of skin doesn't destroy their thought process. So men can really talk to women while the thoughts of sex take lower priority. It is multi tasking we can look at women as both sex objects and human beings at the same time.

Basically the assumptions that make people think porn could lead to violence are wrong.

So to everyone who says there is a link between porn and violence, I say, “Shut-up Stupid. There are no scientific studies that show that. Every study about porn points the opposite way, that porn makes men less sexually aggressive and less violent.”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Verbose Villains

In my latest writing post I look villains long ass speeches.
HERE

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

From Bullshit to Cheesy

I seem to have a cow theme going on today.

Last week I asked what was more of a vegetable than Pizza.

One person voted for Bullshit. So Bullshit wins.

This week I am looking at dialog. Good dialog advances the plot in ways that stick in your mind. Then there is dialog that sticks in your mind for other reasons.

Which of these classic movie lines sticks in your head for better or worse:

This man's been murdered, and someone's responsible – Plan 9 from Outer Space.

It's a pressure valve. It won't open unless there's pressure – Poseidon

There is no spoon. - The Matrix

As always vote on the upper left hand side of the page.
By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: SOPA

According RIAA illegal sharing costs them more than the money supply of the entire world. Where did they come up with this figure? They made it up. The FBI, using the same technique, pulled the figure of $200 to $300 billion out of their ass.

It wouldn't even matter if they used actual measurements to come up with a number, it would miss the point. Entertainment isn't a zero sum game.

It isn't a matter of people buying content or not buying content, it's looking at the content vs. doing something else.

My free book I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE is about to break the 3,000 copies downloaded mark. If I calculated how much money I would make if it sold for $2.99 that would be in the thousands. Except if it were at that price I would only sell one or two copies.

It's the same with songs and TV shows, it's not a matter of if I could buy a Madonna song or watch a Youtube video of some teenage girl jumping on her bed while lip-syncing the lyrics. I watch those because they are funny as hell. BTW I've already purchased all of Madonna's music some of which I've got in multiple formats.

The Stop Online Piracy Act makes it so those teenagers that put those videos up could face three years in jail and Google could face huge fines for posting them.

This act makes most American Citizens criminals. This blog is totally illegal as I grab images off the web to make my point and don't share the $10 a year profit this site makes. Although I feel I handle spammers fairly well, my way of dealing with them is to either ignore them or make fun of them, I don't check their entire site for links to filesharing sites. Under SOPA that makes me a criminal.

Another activity that would become illegal birthday parties. The song “Happy Birthday” is copyright. Filming a birthday party where that song is sung and emailing it or posting it on Youtube would be a criminal act. If you think the ASCAP would never go after someone for that, think again. They sued the girl scouts.

Even with the actual pirates this act takes the wrong approach. I've ranted before about how the networks are driving away people that would watch their shows with commercials and forcing them onto the illegal networks.

Being a content provider myself, I like to think I have a contract with my readers. If someone forks out their hard earned money for my work they deserve to be entertained. On the flip side, if someone is entertained by my work I would hope they pay me. My business model is to put out free books of short stories, and charge for longer novels. The people who buy my novels must have liked the short stories enough to pay for the novels. I've already entertained them enough with the free stuff so they feel it is worth it to pay for more. Hopefully they like what they pay for, but if not I can't feel too bad as they liked my free stuff and I will try to get out more free stuff to make up for it.

So to the supporters of SOPA that are trying to make all Americans criminals, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, entertainment is a contract between the producer and the consumer. If a consumer likes what the producer makes they will find was to pay the producers back. The teenagers who put up funny videos of Madonna songs aren't trying to hurt Madonna they are helping spread her music and get her more fans. If I watch a Twilight Zone episode on an illegal site, it isn't because I want to hurt Rod Serling's heirs, it's because it isn't offered on a site that pays them. SOPA is a bad idea as it goes against the very contract between the producer and consumer.”

Please help stop SOPA by clicking here. http://americancensorship.org/

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Latest Writing Wednesday

My latest writing post is up.

Here

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

CGI Vegetable

In my last poll by a two to one margin, people thought that Micheal Bay committed worse Crimes against Humanity than Hitler. Torquemada got off Scott free. I have a feeling that this is due to the recentness of the Abomination that is Transformers III and that Torquemada's crimes were so far in the past that people don't have any emotions about them.

But that doesn't excuse the brain director that only knows how to stuff CGI into movies for all the misery he has caused.

Speaking of Vegetables congress has ruled that Pizza is a vegetable, because the sauce is made from tomatoes which are fruits. The logic behind that escapes me. So I was wondering what should they declare a vegetable next?

Coal: Coal is made from plant matter, probably a few real vegetables in there, that has been compressed for millions of years until everything but the carbon has been squeezed out of it. (Ultra simplified explanation) since it is made from plant matter it is as much a vegetable as pizza.

Meat: Most meat that humans eat come from herbivores, animals that eat plants. In the case of modern farm raised chickens their diet is mostly corn. Since they are made from plants they are as much a vegetable as pizza.

Bourbon: Bourbon is made from corn mash. Corn is a vegetable, Bourbon is more of a vegetable than pizza.

Bullshit: Bulls eat corn and turn it in to crap. It is more of a vegetable than pizza and congress should be familiar with bullshit as they produce enough of it.

As always vote at the upper left hand corner of the page.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Change

Back in what some readers consider the dawn of time, 1997, I worked on project designed to change the world.

At that time this new thing called a CD burner was causing a huge problem for the music industry. With a CD burner on their computer a person could make unlimited copies of their favorite music and share it with friends. To make matters worse, if 12 CDs came out with only one good song on each a person with good computer skills could take out those 12 songs and make one CD that was as enjoyable as if they had all $300 worth of CDs.

The project I worked on was based on two simple principals. One, people will pay for things they believe has value to them. Two, people like convenience.

Our project let people go on the Internet, look through a list of songs and buy the ones they liked. In those days we were working with 33 baud modems so downloading them would take all day. So we would burn them to a CD and mail them to the people.

The idea was that people who didn't like spending $300 for 12 songs would pay $30 for 12 songs. The music industry would make money as the volume of purchases increased even if they weren't getting money for songs no one wanted.

A major label saw our idea and bought the rights at a low price and gave us huge royalties for each CD sold as long as they had control over content.

They then forbid any content on the site, effectively killing the idea. Five years later Steve Jobs took the same concept and made iTunes, and everyone who buys music buys it off iTunes.

To make it clear, iTunes has a much better interface and is easier to use than our early model did, but what made it a success was that he convinced the major labels to give up their old business model.

Now, 14 years later, I'm looking at the publishing industry and hearing the same complaints that the music industry had back then.

Just like the music industry back then people are working around the old model and people in power fear this.

Here are the facts about books.

People are reading more than ever, that's amazing! With more things to distract them people are turning back to books.

The Young Adult Market exploded over the last few years. The primary readers of Young Adult fiction is (betcha don't see this coming) Young Adults.

Young Adults grow up, they are weird that way. So not only are there still lots of Young Adult readers, there are lots of former young adults that still like to read.

In other words demand for books has never been higher.

Here is a little opinion, take it for that.

Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series was badly written (again that is just opinion). I believe they sold so well because they were badly written. Way too many books have been over polished and reworked so the raw spark that made them interesting looks too commercial and mass produced. One thing about the Twilight books is they don't look over polished. There is still a raw quirkiness to them that would be lost if the “bad” writing were taken away.

So while the demand for books is higher than ever and readers want (opinion) raw quirkiness. The publishing industry buying fewer books that they want polished to a higher standard than ever before. Then they complain that Amazon and Smashwords are killing them through sear volume.

So to all the people in traditional industries who see demand up but profits down, I say, “Change is not the enemy, new ways of reaching the market is not something to be feared. This is the new face of competition. Either embrace change and work to take advantage of it or find yourself irrelevant in the new marketplace.”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm thankful to all the crazy ones out there. All the people that feel good enough is not enough. The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world. If it weren't for the crazy ones we'd still be living in caves.

That and evil minions!
By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Crimes against Humanity Poll

In my last poll AN EXTRA TOPPING OF HORROR won as the my best book cover.
I personally like the bottom skull on the left. He looks a little “special”.

On to my next poll:

If you had a time machine and could take one bullet back in time with you so you could stop one person from committing their crimes against humanity who would you kill?

Hitler if it would prevent the holocaust, and WWII saving over 60 million people.

Torquemada of Spain if it would prevent the Spanish Inquisition stopping the torture of 150,000 people.

Micheal Bay if it would prevent, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, The Island, Transformers as well stopped him from desecrating the memory of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Hitcher, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm St. Saving millions from having to watch those horrible films.

As always vote on the upper left hand corner of the page.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

(Don't) Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Violence doesn't prove anything

Two men got in an argument over the idea that violence doesn't prove anything. One man got so mad that he slugged the other across the chin knocking him down. He screamed, “Now do you see my point?”

The other man looked up and said, “Hell no.”

The first man smiled and said, “Exactly!”

In cities across the nation, police supervisors (not the actual beat cops who have to deal with citizens on a daily basis) are beating up the OWS protesters. In Berkley a police supervisor walked back and forth pepper-spraying sitting protesters until they were taken to the hospital.

In Oakland, a 94 year old was pepper sprayed and a Iraq war vet was given a concussion and is now unable to speak.

In New York City a man was beaten and when a former supreme court judge who was acting as a legal observer told the cop to cuff him or let him go she was pinned against the wall and threatened.

In Chapel Hill the SWAT team raided the support camp for the occupy movement, threatening them with assault rifles.

In Tampa the police rolled out a Tank, actually a 12 ton armored personal carrier, to remove protesters. The Chinese government tried this tactic in the 90s on protesters in Tiananmen Square.

The response from government officials has been to say that, “the unwashed peasants and drugged up hippies are starting class warfare by calling the 1% names.” and that the Union members should, “Get a job.”

For some reason this message isn't catching on.

This violent response to the OWS movement has to stop. During the Tiananmen Square protests the US condemned the Chinese Government for sending Tanks to stop a peaceful movement. When the Egyptian Government used force against the protesters in Tahrir Square the US condemned the violence even while not taking a side.

By remaining silent as the police are sending the protesters to the hospital our leaders, even the ones who claim to be progressive, are showing exactly whose side they are on.

So to the politicians who claim that they are in favor of free speech but say nothing about the spreading violent response to the protesters, I say, “By staying silent you are complicit in the violence. If this sort of government sponsored violence were happening anywhere else in the world, you would be quick to condemn it. But here in America when city governments violently abuse their citizens the silence is deafening. I call on anyone who calls themselves a Government Official and a Human Being to stand up and say: The violence against the protesters must stop!”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

An Extra Topping of Horror

Today is the day: I officially release my Comedic Urban Fantasy Novel AN EXTRA TOPPING OF HORROR.

Here's the blurb:

Brian is perfectly happy delivering pizza to incompetent devil worshipers, lustful demons, show tune singing vampires, possessed little girls who love riddles, and over-affectionate houseplants. His life gets even better when a time traveling babe he rescues tells him they will be lovers in the future.

But his carefree life is destroyed when aliens bent on taking over the Earth open a rival pizza place in town and he discovers exactly what their secret ingredient is. Now he must use all the secrets he knows about his hometown and its inhabitants to stop aliens from taking over the Earth and more importantly, keep his job.

It is available at Smashwords and Amazon for $0.99

With AN EXTRA TOPPING OF HORROR, I have a simple goal. I want to entertain the reader for a several hours or days (depending on reading speed) and give them a something worth the buck that could have rented a movie that would keep them entertained for two hours.
At both Smashwords and Amazon you can download the first 20% of the novel and sample it before you buy it.
The best sales pitch for a book is the book itself so enjoy the first chapter:

An Extra Topping of Horror

Chapter 1

The Root of Affection

Brian was a little taken aback by the note that the customer handed him. The customer was female but he couldn’t make out much else as she was wearing a wide brimmed leather hat pulled down to almost touch her dark sunglasses. She was a full half a foot shorter than Brian's even six feet, so the hat hid her face from his view. She had the collar of her heavy leather jacket pulled up hiding her jaw. Brian thought that odd, as it was a warm summer night. But she had given him a dollar tip just for handing the pizza to her so he opened her note gladly.

Having women give him their phone number after getting their pizza wasn’t unheard of but when they did they didn’t try to hide themselves from him, quite the opposite in fact. He always ignored notes that women gave him, but he was still flattered by them. The mysterious woman who handed him the note was somehow different even though he couldn’t see what she looked like he thought it might be worth following up.

He opened the note expecting a name and a phone number but instead there were two sentences written in male handwriting. “Believe in yourself. Don’t trust Dr. Hyams.”

That left him confused; he didn’t know a Dr. Hyams. He looked closer at the note and recognized the handwriting; it was his. He wondered why someone would go through the trouble to make this elaborate prank, carefully learning to forge his handwriting in order to pass him a note that made no sense.

Since the woman who passed him the note had already left, Brian looked over at the man who had become his best friend over the last three years. He didn’t like the look on Bernie’s face when he hung up the phone. Brian knew from the night manager’s expression that he was about to give him bad news. He had been hoping to start cleaning up the carryout/delivery restaurant for the night as it had slowed down enough for Bernie to let the two insiders and one of the delivery drivers go home for the night. He knew from the look on Bernie’s face that his plans for getting out early weren’t going to happen. All thoughts about the strange note were pushed out of Brian’s head.

“I’ve got a delivery for you.” Bernie forced a smile as he hit the finish button on the computer making the labels for the pizzas print out.

“Strange customer or out of our delivery area?” Brian asked throwing away the note and automatically doing the insider job of placing the labels on the pizza boxes. He knew from the expression of the younger man that it was one of the two.

“Both.” Bernie walked over to slap out the dough for the pizzas, “It’s out to the Brandon Estate. The place is owned by Edwin Brandon, the brother of the former mayor, he still has a lot of power on the City Council so when he orders we kind of have to go. You know how it is with small town politics.”

“Brandon?” Brian asked hesitantly after hearing the last name.

“Not the Police Chief, Reggie Brandon, his uncle Edwin, the old mayor’s brother,” Bernie said. “Is that a problem?”

“No, it was a long time ago,” Brian said. “I doubt he’ll remember me.”

“That’s good, Brandon lives several miles outside of town and orders pizzas from time to time, I’m surprised you haven’t had to go out there yet.” Bernie continued as he put the sauce on the pizzas, “The other drivers say he’s a bit strange…”

“Us, get a strange customer?” Brian laughed, “That’s unheard of.”

“Well, he might not be the strangest customer, but he’s right up there.” Bernie laughed with Brian before continuing, “Anyway, if his instructions aren’t carried out to the letter he doesn’t tip. He’s real anal about that.”

“That’s an image I didn’t need in my head,” Brian said.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Bernie said. “No tip would be worth that.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Seriously though, this time he wants you to go all the way back to the greenhouse rather than the main house. Who the hell knows how far back that is? So when you add the two together it’s a bit of a time waster, but if we don’t deliver he tells Chief Brandon and then Brandon starts pulling over our drivers out of spite.”

“You’d think the City Police would be like the Sheriff and Troopers and like the Delivery Drivers.” Brian commented, “Just think of all the drunks with munchies we keep off the streets.”

“Chief Brandon doesn’t look at it like that. To him we’re just one more group he can kick around. That guy must have been seriously tormented in school or something to get his kicks off abusing his power against delivery drivers.”

“Yeah, he was for a year.” Brian got in position to place the pepperonis on the pizza.

“You went to school with him?” Bernie threw the cheese on the pizza slid it over to Brian.

“Yep.” Brian put the pepperonis on the customer’s pizza.

“But you’re not going to talk about it, right?” Bernie asked knowingly as he started slapping out the crust for the next Pizza.

“Well, I could, but it makes me look like a total dick.” Brian finished up the pizza and put it in the oven before Bernie could ask more questions.

“You couldn’t have been that evil before you started here.” Bernie started putting the toppings on the second pizza. “With all the stuff you won’t talk about someone would think you were an evil mastermind before giving up your criminal empire to deliver pizzas.”

“It wasn’t that exciting, more like a vengeful administrator than a fully accredited evil mastermind, most of the time anyway.” Brian joked in order to avoid his best friend’s probing, “but it’s better to stand in silence and let people think you’re a fool than open your mouth and prove it.”

“Okay, suit yourself.” Bernie smiled then got back to business, “You should be back right a little after closing time. I’ll have Kyle stay late and clean up for you. Hopefully he won’t be too mad, he told me he has a quest party for one of his video games at midnight, but I’ll help him and hopefully get him out of here in time for it. Unless you think going on this run is a problem in which case I can have Kyle take it, but then he will definitely miss his quest party.”

“That's okay.” Brian took a deep breath. “I doubt he'll recognize me in my uniform and I know how Kyle is about his video games.”

“It's bad enough I'm going to have to listen to him complain about not having time to get ready for his quest party,” Bernie said. “If he missed it he'd be moping for the next week.”

“Thanks, tell him I’ll make it up to him.” Brian said even though it was unnecessary as the delivery drivers always backed each other up.

#

The customer lived pretty far out of town and even taking some of the shortcuts that he had learned over the past three years of delivering pizzas it still took Brian 20 minutes to get out to the large mansion.

“An exquisite pre-war mansion with definite curb appeal.” Brian couldn’t help evaluating in his old real estate vulture mode when he pulled up the circular driveway and stopped in front of the wrap around porch, which had an elegant second story balcony.

In the dark it was hard to evaluate the property, but Brian’s trained eye could make out how the windows had low profile storm windows over the old leaded glass windows and he had spotted the large cable and telephone lines on the pole outside the mansion. It had decent Internet inside that would make quite literally a million dollar difference on the value of a mansion like this.

If the inside were as well maintained as the outside the place could easily flip for over $10 million. If Brian were still in the game he’d run a soft hit on the owners credit to see if it was possible to force him to sell. He had worked deals that size in the past, but not often.

Brian put aside all his old real estate thoughts and looked around for the greenhouse. He spotted a lit path going to the back of the house and saw the greenhouse a few hundred feet behind the main house. The outside was well lit, but oddly all the inside lights were out. It didn’t feel quite right but Brian thought about all the trouble this family could cause for the Pizza Joint and headed down the path anyway. When he got to the greenhouse he knocked on the glass door and tried to look in but could only see vague shapes.

“Come right in, boy.” Brian heard a voice come from inside the glass structure.

Normally Brian would just yell, “Pizza” and wait for the customer to come out, but tonight his mind was on how Bernie told him the customer was very strict about drivers following instructions, so he went into the dark building. He walked about five paces when the lights came on blinding him.

“Dinner, Audrey!” He heard the man yell.

Brian looked to his right to see an enormous orchid with a stem over 6 feet tall, the flower bulb on top was larger than Brian’s head.

Brian was too shocked to move as the orchid wrapped a root around his shoulders and the enormous flower bulb shot towards his head. It moved towards him too quickly for him to react and all he could think was that becoming plant food was a fitting end to his strange life.

To find out what happens to Brian, go to Smashwords or Amazon and download the free sample.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Self-Serving Poll

I've neglected my blog for the last week, opps. So I'll look at the poll from two weeks ago today.

I asked what Halloween costume was the scariest to the 1%. The answer overwhelmingly was reality. For people that believe that money can beat reality a true look at the real world is terrifying.

Today's poll, a sneak peek at what I am preparing for this week. Can you figure it out?

Which of my book covers do you like the best?

AN EXTRA TOPPING OF HORROR:

I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE:

SETTING EARTH:

ALIEN THOUGHTS:

As always vote on the upper left hand corner of the page.

Any personal feedback on why you like a cover would be totally appreciated.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: My Body

This past week has been horrible for me. Not in any specific way, that would almost be better. I'm trying to adjust to the time change. I picked up some sort of stomach bug, not enough to be ill but really annoying making my stomach complain while I exercise and making me need an extra hour of sleep at night. On top of all that after a beautiful October and first week of November the weather turned nasty.

It all adds up and makes me feel totally unmotivated to do anything.

So to my body I say, “Shut-up Stupid, I understand you need to adjust to all these things, but leaving me miserable for an entire week is ridiculous. Get over it and let me get back to work.”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Is greed good?

The core belief of Conservatives can be summed up by Gordon Gekko's speech in Wall St.:

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.

It's a mantra that is repeated over and over as a solution to every problem, that the greed of the “Widows and Idiot sons” of people who made money will fix what ever, because they want more. The greed for more money will solve other problems somehow.

Gekko's speech was focused at the shareholders of Teldar Paper, in the narrowest interpretation of that speech it would imply that “Greed” would make more money for the shareholders. So let's look at the real world and see if “Greed” makes shareholders money.

Of the top three companies as far as Market Capitalization, two are oil companies. Exxon Mobile and PetroChina. From experience as the Vice-President of an oil company I know the oil game is all based on luck. In the case of those two they are subsidized by the two largest governments in the world so the rules are in their favor. But it is still based on luck.

The third company in the top of Market Capitalization is Apple. How did Steve Jobs explain Apple's success:

"[We want to] get new products out there and have new ways to buy them. I think if we manage the top line, the bottom line will follow. I don't know what the future will bring, but we're working as fast as we can,"

That is the opposite of running a company by greed. Instead of focusing on making more money Apple focuses on making better products. Smaller, faster and easier to use. By putting their energy into making a better world they have in turn beaten the companies that are ruled by “Greed” at their own game.

If greed and the lust for money, can't beat the vision of making a better world in making money, how can it beat it in making a better world.

The idea that the lust for money money will lead to a better world is backwards. The desire for a better world and the commitment to see it through will lead to making more money.

So to all the people who say greed is good, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, the world isn't a zero-sum game. Making money isn't always about beating someone else. If you look at your top line, how your business helps people, what you want your business to do in the world, and you focus on achieving that, money will follow. Wanting more money isn't going to make a better world, but wanting a better world will make more money.”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Writing Wednesday: The sixth novel

I thought I'd do something a little different and do my Writing Wednesday on a Wednesday. Here it is:

The dreaded Sixth Novel

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Halloween Poll

My last poll was about at what point do you turn to cannibalism, it was evenly divided for waiting until lunchtime, waiting until all food supplies ran out, and never. Nobody thought it was a good idea to start early and take a bite out of the nearest passenger as soon as the plane lands.

Hopefully you will never find yourself in this situation but if you reach a point where you think cannibalism is your only means of survival, or if you think your fellow passengers might turn to cannibalism. Ask the stewardess you can have one of those bags of peanuts. Being the sole survivor of a 35 minute delay is a major social faux-pas.

On to our next poll:

A law firm, that specializes in robo-signing Foreclosures, had all their employees dress up as Hobos to mock the people they kicked out onto the street. To get back at them this Halloween people could dress up as the things that scare the top 1% the most. Which costume do you think is the scariest to them?

Illegal Campers.

The city of Oakland sent over 100 police armed with tear gas and flash grenades to clear out protesters they accused of “Illegal Camping”. Dozens were wounded and an Iraqi Veteran suffered a concussion. Judging the intensity of the response, Illegal Camping must be as big a fear to the 1% as Godzilla is to the Japanese.

Math

Not to get off on a tangent, but in a lawsuit I am in, the Plaintiffs lawyer, James P Dady (502) 587-5400, (I can give out his number as he is too much of a coward to return his phone calls) asked this brilliant question:

The computations by which the principal balance claimed by Plaintiff were computed are accurate as detailed on the statements of account attached hereto as Exhibit “A”.

Needless to say Exhibit “A” had no math.

I've seen a trend on comments where people defending the current inequality call math a, “condescending tone”. Mostly because the current economic policies can't be defended against simple math.

Reality

A large part of the 2008 Meltdown was because the major banks pumped up the derivatives market to $75 Trillion, 1.5 times the Global Domestic Product. Now they are at it again. Bank of America is gambling their customers accounts on derivatives they say are worth the same as the Earth's GDP. Altogether the major banks have leveraged the derivatives market to be 3 times the Net Worth of the planet Earth.

If the investments pay more than 3 times the Net Worth of the Planet everything is okay, if not... well nobody really knows what a crash that big means, it's never happened before.

They believe that money has nothing to do with reality. Unfortunately every time someone bets against reality, Reality wins.

So, which costume is the scariest to the 1%

Illegal Campers
Math
Reality

As always vote on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Science Reporting

Dr. X said, “On Earth an object falls at 32 feet per second squared.”

The Dr. X part of that sentence is unnecessary. But in the MSM it is always reported that way.

Tested scientific theories are not opinions, I would say they were facts but a theory is more than just a fact. That an object falls in gravity is a fact. The Newtonian Physics, is a theory that predicts how fast an object will fall. The Theory of Relativity shows why it falls that way.

So to anyone in the MSM who reports on science, I say, “Shut-up Stupid. It is nice to give scientist quotes, but quoting them saying the results of a tested theory gives the impression that it is opinion when it is not. Everyone is can have a valid opinion, but only one set of facts is true.”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

A book by any other name.

When does a book by an other name, not smell as sweet.

A few thoughts on book titles and taglines.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Irony

One of the things the Occupy Wall St. movement is protesting is the House and Senate blocking Obama's job bill. A bill which would give local governments like Oakland money to pay their police force.

The police force that the Occupiers want the Government to pay was ordered to attack them.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Cannibalism Poll

Last week I asked how the fed's decision to monitor Social Media in order to muzzle opposition to their policies would effect your use of Social Media. In a two to one ratio people said they didn't give a damn. The others plan on criticizing current economic policies more aggressively.

The simple truth is too many people are hurt by our current economic policies, 90% of America are really hurt by them and 9% would do better under a worker friendly economic policy. So it is impossible to silence all the critics.

On to the next poll:

Cannibalism is taboo in society. For good reasons. If you do decide to become a cannibal here is a quick guide on starting out.

However, in some situations it can be excused. Like if your plane goes down in the Andes and rescue is impossible for months. The question is how long do you wait. Here is what happens to less experienced cannibals:



So the question for today is when do you turn to Cannibalism:

As soon as the plane stops.

Wait until Lunchtime.

Wait until all other food sources are gone.

Never.

Like always you can vote on the upper left hand corner of the page.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Defending Mitt Romney

I've long believed that it is stupid to hate a whole group of people, because if you get to know them as individuals you can find so many better reasons to hate them. So if someone comes under attack from bigots for being a minority, no matter how much I might hate the person, I feel I need to speak out.

Mitt Romney is a Mormon, the other Republican candidates have been asked if they feel Mormons are Christians. The answer should be, “Who cares.”

Here's a little fact that the members of “God's Own Party” might get embarrassed about, half of Republican Presidents over the last century belonged to faiths that most present Republicans wouldn't consider to be “Christian”.

Taft was a Unitarian, if you scroll through the comments on this blog you will see how modern Republicans feel about Unitarians.

Hoover was a Quaker, another religion that rejects the Trinity, all the attacks on Unitarians apply to Quakers. Except they have been associated with oatmeal for some reason.

Dwight D Eisenhower was Mennonite when elected.

Nixon was a Quaker.

So in the 20th century, four of the eight Republican Presidents belonged to faiths that some feel aren't Christian.

Going further back the first Republican President, Lincoln, was an atheist before he got into politics. As President he did include “God” in his speeches, but historians have pointed out that even while pointing at the bible he didn't say “Jesus”.

He was followed by Andrew Johnson, who had no religious affiliation.

So as to the question if a person that is part of a faith that isn't considered Christian can be a Republican President history shows they can.

As far as the bigger question; does a President's faith matter for the job of President? I really don't see how it does.

Religions focus on the individual. As an individual not killing someone else is a good thing. That vow has to go out the door as President.

Only one President in the last century never had orders to kill enemies carried out, Jimmy Carter. He did order the assault on the Embassy in Iran, but that was stopped by a sandstorm. So even he tried to break the commandment, Thou shall not kill.

You can pick apart all the commandments and teaching in the bible and easily show those things that might make a great individual would make a lousy President.

So to all those who are attacking Mitt Romney's religion, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, Which religion that Romney belongs to is totally unimportant to his running for President. What is important is that he is a bought and paid for employee of the financial elite, who will destroy what little remains of the American middle class, so that the top 1% of the international bankers who own 40% of the world's wealth can carve into the 17% that the bottom 90% have for a few extra bucks. What religion he belongs to doesn't matter, his agenda is to turn the United States into a third world country owned by the international financial elite.”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

My writing post is up.

I've posted the follow up to my Corvette Scene Post.

So here is Corvette Scene II.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Change the World

I want a national holiday to honor those who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world. Because they are the ones that end up doing it.

My viewers have picked “Change the World Day” as the name. And it is fitting.

New Poll:

The Federal Reserve has announced that they will be monitoring Social Media: Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and so forth to see peoples reactions to their policies. I guess they don't feel people have been letting them know their feelings about the Fed's policies:

Maybe this picture will help:

The real reason they are monitoring Social Media is to find the most vocal protesters and find ways to shut them up. Know the fed will be monitoring you, will you:

Stop using Social Media

Not give a damn

Be more aggressive

Vote on the top left corner of the page.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Citibank and Bank of America

In New York two dozen Citibank customers tried to close their accounts at the same time and Citibank had them arrested for trespassing.

In California two women who were part of Occupy Santa Cruz went into a Bank of America branch to close their accounts and the manager threatened to have them arrested, they were not allowed to close their accounts.

When an organization charges people money to avoid a problem that the organization sets up it is called racketeering. Citibank and Bank of America charge their customers fees. By having them arrested for trying to close their accounts and avoid these fees they are engaging in racketeering.

Besides the fact that what Citibank and Bank of America did was illegal (hopefully lawsuits will be filed) it shows exactly why the 99% are protesting. The 99% movement is a response to the Banks feeling they own the government. Telling the police to arrest people for closing their accounts shows that the Banks feel that the police work for them not the people. The fact that the customers were arrested shows they are right.

I have made my views on Bank of America clear: I pile upon the Bank of America the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by my whole race from Adam down; and if my chest were a mortar, I would burst my hot heart’s shell upon it. To the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned bank!

I thought they couldn't hit any new lows. I was wrong.

Citibank and Bank of America have shown that they do in fact own the government and now they striking down all who dare oppose them.

For thirty years the banks have played on mankind's darker nature, preying on the citizens while turning people against each other. Shrinking the wages of the middle class while pointing the finger at those least fortunate among society. Crashing the economy and blaming the victims. Those who opposed them are dealt with by the very people who are supposed to protect the weak. That has been the plan.

So to Citibank, Bank of America, and all the other banks that will use the power of the government to arrest those who oppose them, I say, “Shut-up Stupid. For all your planning and scheming to oppress the American people, for all your belief that you can steal peoples houses and arrest people who dare not do business with you, For all your years of theft and bribery that makes you believe you are untouchable, you forgot one element! Humanity! Any plan, any organization, any system that fails to take into account the dignity and worth of every individual, well that plan is doomed to fail. We are the 99% arrest one of us and two more will step in to take their place.”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Exposing Myself by writing smut

My latest writing post is up, I talk about the trouble of exposing insights into your characters during sex scenes. Writing Smut

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Crazy Poll

"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!"

In my last poll Melville won. So when the time comes that your mortal enemy has outwitted your plans to unfurl your vengeance and you feel death's icy grip upon your soul. Just pull up your ebook of Moby Dick, or your paper copy, and read any line that relates to obsession or revenge. Which is any line after “Just call me Ishmael”.

Although if your final words were “Just call me Ishmael” it would leave your mortal enemy baffled and unable to savor victory.

On to the next poll:

Yesterday was Columbus Day, and after seeing all the furniture store ads saying that you can, “Discover a New World of Savings!” I thought about all the people who have had holidays in their honor. Add to that Steve Jobs passed away last week which reminded me off my favorite Apple ad quote:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Those two things gave me an idea. Absolutely everyone who has a holiday named after them could be called crazy. Columbus was crazy to believe the map he bought could take him around the world. Washington was crazy to think he could defeat the most powerful military in the world. MLK was crazy to believe that equality could be won through non-violent resistance.

They were the crazy ones, and they changed the world.

But there simply aren't enough days in the year to honor all the crazies. The people who look at the world and say, “I can better.” The people that when someone says something can't be done, look over their shoulder and say, “Watch me!”

Call me crazy, but I believe the people who believe that “good enough” is never, enough deserve recognition.

Those crazy fools that don't think the world can be better, they know it can.

Those who look at half a glass of water, and fill it the rest of the way.

We need a National Crazy Day!

Here are some ideas as to the name for that day.

Different Day.

Loony Love Day.

Not Good Enough Day.

Change the World Day.

If you have an idea for what this day should be called leave it in the comments and I'll add it to the poll.

As always you can vote on the top left of the page.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Mocking the 99%

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Gandhi.

The Occupy Wall St movement has now gotten past its first phase. It has grown so big that it can't be ignored.

So it is on to the mocking/fighting phase.

Erin Burnett, former CNBC Wall St. correspondent or “Money Honey” used her new show on CNN to mock the 99%, saying, “Seriously” about a million times as she “reported” that the protesters have no specific demands.

Seriously, Erin? The signs saying, “Ban OTC Derivatives Trading” aren't specific enough? As former “Money Honey” do you expect us to believe you are too dumb to know that the OTC Derivatives played a huge part of the financial meltdown and Banning them isn't a specific course of action?

Seriously, Erin? The signs saying, “Restore the Glass-Steagall Act” isn't specific? The people who have been robbed by the banks know that from 1933 to 1980 when the Act was in place the top 1% weren't allowed to rob people with no recourse. While the act was in place the middle class saw its greatest gains, after the Act was repealed the middle class has been losing ground.

Seriously, Erin? You expect us to believe that in all the years you spent covering Wall St as CNBC's “Money Honey” you didn't learn what these financial terms meant? Seriously?

Eric Cantor (R-VA) called the 99%, “mobs” and “Some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans”. After fighting tooth and nail to try and get the congress to continue DOMA which no lawyer will touch as it is blatantly discriminating against one group of Americans, you have the gall to worry about pitting Americans against Americans?

Herman Cain said the unemployed only have themselves to blame if they are not rich. The fact that for the last decade there has been no net increase in jobs and the financial meltdown in 2008 destroyed millions of jobs has nothing to do with it?

Then there are the political pundits that say the protesters don't know what they are talking about by wanting Wall St to be better regulated, and say that deregulation is the answer. It worked for the middle class so well over the last 30 years by decreasing middle class wages we just need to do more of it.

So to everyone in the Media that mocks us 99% of Americans, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, confronting real anger over reality with fake stupidity and denial shows you aren't doing the wrong thing because you are so stupid, if you were they wouldn't allow you out on the streets, it shows you are bought and paid for by the people who have been stealing from us 99% of Americans. Stop pretending to be stupid and that fair and balanced means the stupidest rantings have a greater say than intelligent discourse.”
By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

My last few days

see more WIN - Epic Win Photos and Videos

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Occupy Wall St Coverage

For two weeks now thousands of protesters have camped out at Liberty Park to protest (what else would protesters do) this country being ruled by Bankers, who have no loyalty to this country.

For the first week it was ignored in the MSM and the protesters were arrested under silly laws, like it is illegal in New York to wear a mask to a demonstration, even if you wear it on the back of your head.

When the crowd didn't leave after a week, one police officer Anthony “Tony Baloney” Bologna started doing walk-by pepperspraying of the protesters that were roped in to designated areas and the protests finally got media attention.

I need to mention this was one officer out of 3,400. His actions reflect badly on the other 3,399 officers that are doing their job.

There have been over 800 arrests of demonstrators, not one arrest of the bankers that crashed the economy.

Very few have covered why the demonstrators are there.

A lot of them are recent grads, entering the job market with $80,000 to $100,000 in student debt and if they do land a job they will be paying a larger percentage of their income in taxes than the bankers who hold their loans.

Some of them like having a post office, and are protesting the government bailing out the banks to a tune of over $3 trillion while the post office is begging for money because a law signed by Bush states that they have to fund their retirees fully for 75 years into the future.

Some have lost their homes from robo-forclosures.

One thing they all have in common is they believe in this country, and aren't going to sit by as the wages for 99% of Americans drop like a stone and basic services are being cut so the top 0.1% can enjoy record earning.

What little attention these demonstrators have gotten in the media doesn't show that they are there to protest the injustice of making 99% of citizens pay for the greed and crimes of the top 0.1%.

If they reported on why the demonstrators were there, others might see their point and join them.

So to the MSM, I say, “This is a NEWS event, your job as reporters is to cover the NEWS and let the viewer see what the story is about. The story is why the demonstrators are there. Cover that!”

If you would like to learn more about the Occupy Wall St movement go to occupywallst.org.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

My Writing Post is up.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow creeps in this petty pace.

Some examples of successful fiction that creeps in this petty pace. Pacing

Also more than 500 people have downloaded I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Fabulous!

Last week's poll was about Gay Marriages, 2/3s agree, “They're Fabuulouus!”. It is impossible to disagree on that. In fact I might actually watch a gay celebrity marriage if they go all out. I avoid hetro celebrity marriages because they bore me to tears.

On to the next poll:

One really hard part of action writing is the bad guy's final words. In just one sentence you have to express all the passion that the bad guy had for doing his evil deeds. To make it worse Shakespeare and Melville really covered revenge and obsession masterfully.

So in the Star Trek movies they took three approaches to the final words.

Melville in Wrath of Khan

Khan: From Hell's heart I stab at thee.

Shakespeare in Undiscovered Country

Chang: I am as constant as the northern star.

Then they went with a totally original line in Star Trek 2009.

Nero: Egah!

Each of these final lines has pros and cons, but I'm wondering, which final words really summed up the bad guy the best.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Support our Troops

It isn't easy being in the military in the best of times, and these are far from the best of times for the military. We are occupying two countries in the worst way possible, something that most Americans want ended.

But men and women still volunteer, mostly because the military serves a vital role outside those wars. The Navy makes sure overseas trade can be carried out without pirates roaming the seas. The large standing Army means that if a country has a problem with the US it has to try diplomatic channels. The national guard is ready if disaster strikes.

Many progressives like myself don't like how the military is currently being used, but still appreciate the role that the men and women in uniform play in society.

So it sickens me that they are now being attacked by conservatives.

Atheist Veterans were booed in the Annville Memorial Day Parade 2011 in Pennsylvania.

At the GOP debate an openly gay serviceman in Iraq asked a question and was booed by the crowd. Not one of the candidates said anything.

And recently Andrew Breitbart ranted to teapartiers that they should “fire the first shot” and start a civil war, like a real life recreation of the South Park episode, “Grey Dawn”. He continued to say that he wasn't joking when he called for Senior Citizens to start firing on the military.

To anyone with a brain the idea the teaparty, average age 71, arming their electric scooters and going head to head with a tank is ridiculous. But the level of contempt that these people have for the men and women who are ready to lay down their lives to protect the freedoms we enjoy in this country is shocking.

From cutting the budget for the Veteran's hospitals, and cutting veteran's benefits, to now openly booing veterans and active members of the military, conservatives are doing all they can to disrespect the hard work that our servicemen and women do to protect our country.

So to all those conservatives out there who think it is a great idea to boo at veterans and active servicemembers, who think sending dozens of senior citizens in their scooters and oxygen masks to attack them is a good idea, all while voting for more wars to get them killed in, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, those people that you are booing and threatening to attack have vowed to lay down their lives to protect the system of government that allows you say the hateful things you say about them. You might not like the reality's well known liberal bias that means that the military isn't full of cowardly chicken hawks like you and has members from all walks of life, but learn to live with it. These men and women are serving to protect you.”

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Fantastic Future Friday: I have a formula for my pain and it is E=MC2

One big pain in writing near future science fiction is the slow speed of light.

I have been struggling over a part in my WIP where the hero is traveling from Mercury at the speed that an electron moves through a computer chip and talks to the villainess on the way. But the speed of light is so slow that there is a half hour lag in their conversations.

Imagine Khan was talking to Kirk. “I've done far worse than kill you, I've hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her. Marooned for all eternity, at the center of a dead planet. Buried alive.”

Khan then walks around the bridge, chit-chats with the ten members of his crew that aren't doing anything. Plays computer solitaire for awhile until the signal returns so he can hear, “Khaaaaaaannnnnn!”

It loses it's dramatic touch a little.

However there is a possibility that the time lag could be shortened. At CERN they have reported that they may have gotten a neutrino to move faster than the speed of light. It will be years before this is confirmed. Only two other labs can test it and one was damaged by the earthquake in Japan. But if it is true it is great news for Science Fiction writers.

Oh, and the fact that once we figure out how it is done we will have a much greater understanding of the universe which will lead to breakthroughs in all areas of science giving us technology we can't even begin to imagine, will be nice as well.

I hope that they are on to something as Relativity is fine for making the Universe behave in an orderly fashion, but it really plays havoc with dialog in science fiction.

If CERN has found a way to break the light barrier, it will lead to a Fantastic Future.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Writing Gay Characters

My latest writing post is up, I talk about How to write Gay Characters.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Back to the 90s

In my poll as to the best Star Trek captain, it was split between Kirk – Shatner and Picard. These two have dominated that question since the late 80s and a lot has been written about why. So I give my ideas about it.

Those two represented their eras more than the other captains.

Kirk was the bold captain of the late 60s. A time when we were going to the Moon. The world was engaged in a new type of war. A war of ideals, with America pushing Democracy and well regulated capitalism as the way to help the most people and Soviet Union pushing planned economics and communism as an alternate way.

It was a time when new bold ideas were encouraged and Kirk personified that.

In the late 80s the war of ideals was over and no one cared about helping the most people. Picard represented the voice of stability. The Enterprise D wasn't going where no one had gone before, it was tying together the edges of the expansion made in Kirk's era. Just like how America wasn't boldly expanding into new markets and new research.

Sisko was a Captain that was aired too early. I watched DS9 when it first ran, then again in 2004 when the US was at the height of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. Watching the Federation rebuild a world that had been badly occupied for years took on a whole new meaning while we badly occupied two nations. DS9 wouldn't have been allowed on the air during that time.

Janeway was taken out of the Federation space and they didn't even try to have her reflect society of the time.

Archer, Enterprise didn't know what it wanted to be until the 4th season. By then it was too late. I never watched the last season until it was in reruns.

Kirk – Pine: The theme was fortune favors the bold, at a time when banks are stealing peoples homes, the social safety net is all but destroyed. A failure in a non-traditional industry is headline news and given as a reason to abandon the entire industry. Kirk- Pine was almost the exact opposite of today's society.

There are millions of other reasons TOS and TNG were the fan favorites but those are my reasons.

On to the next poll:

Today “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” ended.

I never saw the reason for it in the first place. I was 13 when two men that went to our church got married. When I was 14 my sister was shocked that two women that were friends of my mom only had one bed in their home. My reaction was, “So?”

So what do you think about Gay Marriage?

It's Fabulous!

The Decorators have their work cut out for them.

Damn, more wedding invitations.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Main Stream Media

Did you know that thousands of people marched on Wall St yesterday? Not if you watched or read any of the Main Stream Media.

You have to get coverage here http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/occupywallstreet

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Surprised by my Poll

When I raised my poll last week I really expected the results to be skewed. After all a lot that I talk about on this blog the value of government in as a engine for technological progress. The video I posted was about infrastructure. So I really expected the majority of votes to be for one of those.

The post I had expected to write has been done really well over at Truth Out, 9 Government Investments

It turns out the Social Safety net was by far (60%) more popular.

Let me say that I am a big fan of having a good social safety net, and not out the selfish reason that after being knocked down so many times I know I'll need it many more times in the future. Not even out of sympathy for the less fortunate in society, although that is a powerful reason.

One thing that a good social safety net does is encourage risk.

Would Steve Jobs have left Atari to form Apple if healthcare was as tough to get then as it is now?

Would Bill Gates use the money that his parents gave him to go to Harvard to start Microsoft if failure meant living on the street? Although in his case his parents could have supported him.

Small businesses are the backbone of this country, they are also risky to start. Most small business start ups fail. When they do take off they more than make up for the failures. Having a strong social safety net means those people that want to go out on limb, can without worrying about having to living on the street if they fail.

A strong social safety net fosters innovation and change by not only helping those less fortunate, but by allowing those who dream big to act on their dreams knowing if they fail they won't be out on the streets.

So I look at a strong social safety net as not only the right thing to do for our citizens, but an investment in the entrepreneurial spirit that makes this country great.


On to the next poll:

Can't really think of any Earth Shattering question today, so I'll totally geeky:

Who was the best STAR TREK Captain?

Kirk – Shatner

Kirk – Pine

Picard

Sisko

Janeway

Archer

Like always vote on the upper left corner of the page.

By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE