Project Savior

Writing Post

2012-02-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

My latest post on writing.

Here.

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

Same Sex Marriage Poll, Part 2

2012-01-31T11:07:00.000-08:00

My last poll asked what legal thing you would plead the 5th to rather than having your family and friends find out that about.

Half the voters would rather go to trial for murder than admit they were a member of congress. I can't say I blame them.

A quarter wouldn't want people to know they were at a Carrot Top concert, so Carrot Top is twice as popular as Congress. According to this poll if Congress were to star in a movie it wouldn't be anywhere near as successful as Chairman of the Board which ranked 63 in the all time bottom of movies rankings, being beat by such classics as Mitchel and Laserblast.

No one was ashamed to be at a transvestite bar. For the record I've never actual been to one, not because I'd be embarrassed, but during my bar hopping days I didn't live near any.

So on to my next poll:

An earlier poll showed most of my readers think Same-Sex marriages “Are Fabulous”. When I came across this little article on questions not to ask a Same-Sex couple getting married. I thought of a poll.

I'm a Unitarian so Same-Sex marriages are something I grew up with, so most of those questions I wouldn't even think to ask. But I have found a few questions that are sort of Faux-pas. I'm wondering which ones you think shouldn't be asked.

On the honeymoon, can I watch?

Why not an unhappy, mournful wedding?

Will it be fabulous?

Will you have separate Bachelor/Bachelorette parties?

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: Fly me to the Moon

2012-01-29T10:44:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm defending Newt Gingrich, sort of, but I am.

Newt has proposed having an American base on the Moon by 2021. All over the media people are mocking the idea as ridiculous. The idea is doable. The way Newt wants to do it is stupid, but the idea isn't. The Crux has goes into details in this article.

The one thing Newt isn't willing to commit to, and the reality based community knows is unlikely to happen, is putting forth a budget for the plan. Newt's plan without a budget is just completely gutting NASA to build an unsustainable Moon base that would be abandoned in 2022.

For a real Moon Base it would take the kind of money the US spent on air conditioning in Iraq during the war. The money is now there, we are out of Iraq, but getting the government to shift it to something useful is the hard part.

Just for the hell of it, let's say the government were to shift the $20 billion a year we used to spend on AC in Iraq towards setting up a Moon Base.

An important part of setting up a Moon Base is the ability to get there. The canceled Constellation program had this ability but lack of funding killed it when it was halfway. $8 billion was spent building the components and a lot of the project has been salvaged for continued research. Let's shoot for the Moon and give NASA $8 billion dollars a year more dedicated towards the launch hardware. By 2016 we could have a Ares V heavy lift launcher up and running carrying 188 metric tons to orbit.

Part of the Constellation Program is now unnecessary, the Ares I a vehicle designed to get humans into orbit. Newt spoke the truth when he said:

We will have commercial near-Earth activities that include science, tourism, and manufacturing, and are designed to create a robust industry precisely on the model of the development of the airlines in the 1930s, because it is in our interest to acquire so much experience in space that we clearly have a capacity that the Chinese and the Russians will never come anywhere close to matching.

This will happen no matter who is in the White House. Three companies plan on having human rated rockets flying by 2016. With an additional $2 Billion from my fantasy budget given out in contracts to do more Near Earth Orbital work, these companies could pursue a robust launch schedule.

I've used up half my fantasy budget now. The rest can be used on ground operations. Space Operations need power. $2 Billion dollars a year could be spent on Solar Energy Research. This would be about the same amount as the private US Solar Energy Industries makes in exports. With that kind of money the US would become the leader in Solar Energy systems and Solar panels would be at least one quarter the weight and cost they are now.

This would also free the US from our reliance on foreign oil as the amount of energy we would get from Solar Energy would be huge.

Any Moon Base would also need to be self-sustaining so I'll give another $2 Billion towards research in self-sustaining technologies. Advanced recycling, energy efficiency, low energy material processing. All these technologies could be used on Earth as well giving our economy a boost.

Finally, to have a robust space program you need a very well educated workforce. I'd give the remaining $6 Billion out in Pell Grants, giving students a third more money towards college. So cost wouldn't be the major factor in pursuing a degree.

Given this extra budget, by 2020 when it comes time to build the Lunar Base we would have a robust Near Earth Orbit infrastructure, the technology for a sustainable Moon Base and an educated workforce. The $5 Billion per year it would take to keep the base operational in its first couple of decades would come from the $8 Billion a year I used to build the original hardware.

All it takes is the same amount of commitment that we had towards keeping our troops cool so they could go out and kill brown people.

So to the people who laugh at Newt Gingrich's idea of a Moon Base, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, don't laugh at the idea as being impossible because it isn't. All it takes is a level of commitment and an approach that helps all the people of this country. So you should laugh at Gingrich as commitment and helping the people of this country are not things he has ever shown he was willing or able to do.”

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

Discount Tire Direct

2012-01-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

Wow!

A marketing buzz phrase is, “Wow the Customer.” Most places say it but don't do it. I had to become a customer for Discount Tire Direct and here is what I have to say: “Wow!”

We had a ice and snow storm a few weeks ago. I learned to drive on the Canadian Border so I didn't think much of it. Then I made a stupid mistake.

I was pulling out on to the road and turned my tires too sharp, the car snowplowed and went straight into the curb at 5mph. It was a solid hit on the front passenger rim. I continued to drive and the car started shaking violently at 5 mph.

As a former Network Engineer I looked at this as an Engineering problem, so I turned the car off for 20 seconds and turned it back on. Amazingly that didn't fix it. So did what I would do if a network slowed down, I got out of the car and got back in. That didn't work either.

I drove home at 40 mph, the car would shake off the road if I went faster. The next morning, I took it to my mechanic at Precision Auto and they swapped the rear tire with the front and put the spare on the rear. That worked but I need a rim.

They searched for a week and finally found one at a junkyard 60 miles away. I took it to my tire shop and found it didn't fit.

After all this I searched for some answers and went online. It turns out that the Nissan Sentra uses a 4x114.3 mm (4x4.5") bolt pattern, if you have this bolt pattern it means that in a former life you committed a crime against nature so heinous that hell has no punishment great enough for proper justice.

While online I noticed a link to Discount Tire Direct I figured it couldn't hurt to try.

My salesman was Wyatt, and at first I worried as he was so confident the rim he recommended would fit. After my week of bad luck I thought he might be overconfident. But he shipped out the tire and it arrived the next day. Discount Tire Direct has an awesome shipping dept. It cost me $70 for the super cool looking rim, a used steel one would cost over half that, if I could find one. After over a week of searching I was pretty sure I couldn't.

Sure enough the tire fit like he said it would, but there was a problem. My lugs didn't fit the smaller holes in the rim. It took special lugs.

I called Wyatt back in a panic, he told me to calm down and he sent out the lugs and the special socket for it, free of charge.

Now I have great looking rim, that really makes my Sentra look snazzy. If I ever have this problem again I know it can be fixed in a day, and life is wonderful thanks to Wyatt and Discount Tire Direct.

As soon as I save up a little money I'll get a matching rim. But I wondered what the Sentra would look like with all four tires on good rims. A quick session in Photoshop showed it would look pretty cool.

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

Pleading the Fifth Poll

2012-01-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

My Martin Luther King Jr. poll showed that a great slogan for a MLK sale would be, “High prices anywhere, are a threat to savings everywhere!” Advertisers can thank me anytime.

On to my next Poll:

Pleading the fifth is basically staying silent so you don't incriminate yourself of a crime. But it can be used so you don't incriminate yourself of something that is legal, but would damage your reputation if it got out.

What alibi would make you plead the fifth to a murder charge:

You were having an affair.

You were at a Transvestite Bar

Your Family doesn't know you are a congressperson

You were at a Carrot Top concert.

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: Money-Grubbing Cowards

2012-01-22T12:22:00.000-08:00

I'm not naïve, I know that in a battle between the 1% and the 99%, the 1% is going to outspend the person standing up for the working people 1,000 to 1. They will do everything possible to make it an unfair battle. But at least it is a battle.

Every once in awhile the working class manages to elect someone that gives them a voice. So against the odds someone can at least say something against the money-grubbing influence. You would think that one vote against 37 members of the State Senate who are bought and paid for by the people who remove our beautiful Smokey Mountains and poison our drinking water wouldn't be a threat.

But the Kentucky state government, the Democratic House, the Republican Senate and the Democratic Governor all joined together to rid the State Senate of Kathy Stein by moving her district over an hour away from her home in Kentucky's 2nd largest city.

First off that is 90,000 people who will be represented for the next four year (when the seat comes up for election again) by someone they have never heard of who lives three hours away. Second this wasn't about her votes, 1 against 37 is no threat.

This was a move against reality. The other Senators could easily ignore reality as they stayed surrounded by lobbyists and heard only what their bosses paid them to hear, but then they had to hear that maybe poisoning our citizens wasn't such a great idea. Maybe letting companies rape our land wasn't the best thing they could do for the state.

The Democrats and Republicans alike couldn't stand voice from the working people and got together and in a blindly fast 48 hours passed a plan to get rid of her.

The moneyed elite talk about class warfare, well this is an outright assault on the working class telling them that their votes don't count.

These money-grubbing cowards know that no matter how unfairly they stack the deck by outspending on ads, using Corporate controlled media to lie to citizens, bus in uninformed people from outside the state, spread fear and hatred throughout our nation, reality will still be there. And in a democracy sometimes people will look at reality and elect someone who isn't a tool of big business. When that happens they will stop pretending we are a democracy and ignore the people's vote and get rid of the Senator they elected.

So to the money-grubbing cowards that bought our state government so they could prevent the people's voice from being heard, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, if you can't win a fight that you have made so unfair in your favor, you might want to look at what you are doing to get the people mad at you. There is only so long you can go around killing poor people and stealing from the middle class before it catches up with you. You may have removed a voice of reality from the Senate by destroying the very concept of democracy, but you haven't silenced her. You also won't silence others, Kathy Stein's district has the longest continuous protest by the Occupy Movement in the World. Those who you outraged by this action will organize, and we are coming for you.”

If you are like me, after hearing about this attack on the foundation of what made this country great, you need a hug. Here is a place you can go. The Nicest Place on the Internet

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

Pirates

2012-01-19T11:05:00.000-08:00

I was on strike yesterday to protest SOPA and PIP, that means I should post today. So I will talk about Internet Piracy.

As an artist I'm told I should be concerned if someone steals a copy of my book, I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE and not give me my $0.00 in royalties. Then I remember I am giving it away free.

By giving it away for free, thousands of people have downloaded it and I assume some of them have read it. Being at the bottom rung, or at most the 1st rung, of the publishing ladder just being read is nice. But what about books I'm actually selling.

I've sold a few books to followers of this blog, thank you very much, but most sales were at times that I wasn't talking about my books here. I assume those sales weren't from my blog and were from people that read I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE and liked my writing well enough to fork over their hard earned $0.99. I hope I didn't disappoint them.

That's the thing about entertainment. People set aside a certain amount of money for entertainment, they will spend that amount on a good value. The money is almost a side issue to people, time spent is far more valuable.

If someone pays $0.99 for one of my books and thinks it trash. Their first thought isn't going to be, “That bastard robbed me of my dollar!” it's more likely to be, “Well, there's a few hours of my life I'll never get back.”

When they complain about me stealing a few hours of their life, I shall let out an evil laugh and say, “You fell for my evil scheme to steal a few hours from thousands of victims so that I shall have all the time in the world!”

Actually I would feel bad and try to do better next time.

I didn't come up with the concept of giving away content in order to reach the small percentage of people who will pay for it. I stole it from Metallica, the very band that started the “sue your fans” craze. When Metallica was starting out they couldn't get even indie labels to listen to them. They were considered way too extreme. They started recording their gigs in bars and giving the tapes to everyone who came in. People started sharing the tapes and they started making there way on to college radio stations. Record labels started hearing these awful recordings and figured people would pay money for “clean” versions and Metallica became a major metal band.

My solution to Piracy is to have a looser definition of “Fair Use”. Have 20% of the work be the standard. If a major portion of a work is being passed around, the people who pay for content, Most people, will see, hear, read it. People will look for it. The places where you pay for content will be the easiest to find and people will pay for it. Even if 90% of the people grab illegal copies that is a bigger audience and some of those people will eventually pay.

This model helps the artists on the lower rung most, when exposure is hardest. But it also helps the general public as the “midlist”, non-bestsellers who still make a living, is growing. This means a greater variety in all forms of entertainment.

For those of you who don't think this model will work. After you watched the video I put up, if you saw AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON in the past you probably thought about watching it again. That keeps it in circulation with demand for it. If it sells one copy for every hundred websites it is put up on that is an income stream for the makers that they wouldn't have if it weren't posted. Most copyright laws now consider my posting of that little segment illegal.

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

On Strike

2012-01-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill - PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House - to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity. We need internet companies to follow Reddit's lead and stand up for the web, as we internet users are doing every day.

President Obama has vowed to veto it, right now both bills are dead in the water but that doesn't mean victory. It will come up again and we will need to fight it once more. Over and over again.

I will not post tomorrow, in protest of these bills.

If you want to read any blogs, not just mine, in the future please go here and stand up against censorship. http://sopastrike.com/

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

MLK Day

2012-01-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

My last poll asked which politician benefited the most from voters thinking they were someone else.

It was a tie between Mitch McConnell who is mistaken for Admiral Ackbar from THE RETURN OF THE JEDI and Santorum with people not knowing they are voting for Rick Santorum and think they are voting for something much less disgusting.

This week's poll falls on Martin Luther King Day. This holiday has come along way in my lifetime. I can remember when the only business that celebrated it was Macy's who had their “Martin Luther King White Sale”. As bad as that was it was a start. Now businesses are getting in on the act and honoring him with sales. They are putting him in with Washington and Jefferson which I think is great.

So I ask you, dear reader, what is the best slogan for a Martin Luther King Day sale.

Come see a Mountain Top of Savings

Free shipping, Free shipping, Free shipping at last.

High prices anywhere, are a threat to savings everywhere.

MLK White Sale.

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: Mormons

2012-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

A recent survey found that most Mormons feel they have been discriminated against. This result was greeted by the response, “Uh Duh” by most of the nation.

Anyone who has read this blog more than a few times is probably aware of how I feel about any form of discrimination. I simply can't understand how anyone can hate someone they don't know based on what group they belong to, when if you take the time to get to know someone as a person you will find so many real and nuanced things to hate about them.

While I would like to sympathize with the “mainstream” Mormons, it is hard get passed the fact that they support a church that does everything it can to discriminate against gays. I definitely sympathize with the Mormons in the Affirmation movement but the others, not so much.

I know how it feels to face discrimination because of my religion. Some bloggers have done several posts attacking me personally because I am a Unitarian. The way I deal with this is to not discriminate against others.

In the words Gandhi, “Be the change you seek in others”. If you feel you've been discriminated against, remember that feeling when you see others being discriminated against. If you are a Mormon when your church starts spewing out hatred against gays, remember how you felt when someone said hateful things about Mormons. Use those feelings to speak out against against the hate. Remember that the hate being said is directed at living breathing humans with feelings and emotions.

I know a few Mormons and most of them don't agree with their church's stance on gays. While it is tough to speak out against a group, a funny thing happens when you do stand up to blind hatred. You see that the person spewing the hatred is really just a scared little bully. Then when you experience the same hatred it loses its power over you.

So to the Mormons who complain about being discriminated against and feel they should be able to discriminate, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, if you stop discriminating, you can be the change you seek in others. When people see it is not alright to spew out blind hatred against any group the discrimination will stop and people will start seeing each other as human beings.”

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

Looking forward

2012-01-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

My latest writing post is up.

It is about looking where you are going.

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

Mistaken Identity Poll

2012-01-09T10:50:00.000-08:00

My last poll looked at how well people were sticking to their New Years Eve resolutions after one day. Petty good actually half the respondents kept them, a quarter didn't know and one quarter broke them completely. I'm sure that has changed by now.

On to the next poll:

In politics many politicians get a bump by being mistaken for someone else. Here in Kentucky Senator Mich McConnell is only in office because people have seen his picture and thought he was Admiral Ackbar from RETURN OF THE JEDI.

Looking at the pictures it is hard to tell them apart, but Admiral Ackbar was played by Tim Rose and had a special mask that made him look like Mich McConnell.

Rick Perry has a double bump, which is good as if there three he wouldn't be able to count that high. Some people think he was the lead singer of Journey and some think he was the gay cowboy in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.

Neither of those is true.

Rick Santorum gets a bump because people think he is a frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex. They don't realize they are voting for something truly disgusting.

So this week I ask:

Who gets the biggest bump from mistaken identity?

McConnell/ Adm. Ackbar

Rick Perry/ Steve Perry

Rick Santorum/ Santorum

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

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Seeking God

2012-01-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

It's a New Year so that means new attacks on science. In New Hampshire there is a proposed law that wants science teachers to say that we believe Uranium has more protons than Carbon, but hey, who knows.

They would also have to say, and I'm not making this up, “evolution to be taught in the public schools of this state as a theory, including the theorists' political and ideological viewpoints and their position on the concept of atheism."

Here's a news flash. Science is not in any way atheist.

What science is at its very core is the quest to understand how the universe works. If that includes god so be it.

Every time an astronomer glances at the sky, they ask, “How did this happen? Can this be proof of god? If so how do I test it?”

Every time a biologist looks at a bacterium, they look for gods signature.

Every time physicists smash particles together they look to see if the smaller particles have a little stamp saying, “Made by God, Copyright 13,000,000,000 BC.”

If a scientist were to find the proof of God's hand in the universe it would be the greatest discovery ever. That scientist would be the most famous human being ever. The world of science would explode and scientists would have trouble dealing with the amount of funds that would go towards research.

So far no proof of God has been found, but to scientists and skeptics that doesn't mean we stop looking. To a scientist or a skeptic the existence of God can never be disproved, only proved or be uncertain. However the closest thing to disproving God would be to stop looking and say, “We've looked and didn't find God.”

So I ask you, who believes in God more? The scientist and skeptics who look for God's hand in the universe and even though they haven't found it keep looking, and will accept it and rejoice at the greatest discovery ever if they do find it? Or, the Creationists who want to stop them from looking for any evidence of God?

It's my view that those who want to stop the search must be afraid that evidence of God will never be found. Therefore they are the true Atheists.

The scientists and skeptics, who believe in what can be proven, and if evidence of God is discovered would embrace it as the greatest scientific breakthrough ever, are the ones seeking God.

So to all those “believers” that want us to stop using science to understand how the universe works, I say, “Shut-up Stupid. Just because you are convinced that proof of God will never be found, it doesn't give you the right to stop other from seeking evidence of God's hand.”

Disclaimer:

People have taken offense to this series thinking that I am saying that they have diminished mental capacity. In this series I use the term “Stupid”, for lack of a better term, for the total lack of Intellectual curiosity and the insistence to deny any and all facts that contradict their pre-conceived beliefs that these groups display.

I hope that makes them feel better.

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

I Tried

2012-01-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

I tried to resist, but I have to comment on the Iowa Caucuses.

According to the news Santorum surged from the rear. In the last few days before the caucuses Santorum was all over the state. In the end, Romney squeezed out Santorum, winning the caucus.

Santorum came out number two.

There are those who say that making fun of Santorum in this way is juvenile and gross.

To those critics I loudly and boldly declare, that while spreading the definition of Santorum is indeed juvenile and gross. The one thing that is more juvenile and gross is the man himself.

This is a man who has a stated goal of tearing loving families apart. A man who blames the financial meltdown on people's sexual orientation. Then plays the victim when people call him a bigot. What kind of world is it where just because you group loving homosexual relationships and bestiality together you are called a bigot?

This is a man who wants to ban all abortions for women who aren't part of his family. He wants all abortions, even to save the life of the mother, banned. But his wife's own abortion, “That was different.”

This is a man who wants to outlaw birth control. Because having a woman in control of the birthing process is unnatural, that's the government's job.

This is a man that wants to end food stamps because the nations obesity rate is so high.

This is a man that thinks people facing multi-million dollar medical bills should just pay less for their cell phones.

This is a man that thinks health insurance companies should have the right to refuse people with per-existing conditions so that the insurance companies can continue to make huge profits.

Yes, the definition that I and other people have been spreading is juvenile and gross. But not as gross as the actual candidate.

If you read this and are wondering what I am talking about, “GOOGLE SANTORUM” and it will all make sense.

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

First Writing Post of the Year

2012-01-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here is my very first writing post of 2012.

ENJOY

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

Poll: New Years Resolutions

2012-01-02T09:08:00.000-08:00

It's the second day of the New Year. I was wondering how everyone was doing with their resolutions.

1)Barely keeping up.
2)Broke them completely yesterday
3)My Resolution was to break all my Resolutions, so I don't know.

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

Week or so of hell

2011-12-28T10:57:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-12T10:46:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

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:

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."
That "a majority of American adults believe that adults should be allowed to read or see any sexual materials they wish."
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."
That there was no "evidence that exposure to explicit sexual materials adversely affects character or moral attitudes regarding sex and sexual conduct."
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

2011-12-07T11:22:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-05T11:18:00.003-08:00

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

2011-12-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

My latest writing post is up.

Here

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

CGI Vegetable

2011-11-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-24T07:19:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-11-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-10-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-27T07:48:00.001-07:00

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

2011-10-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-10-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

"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%

2011-10-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

“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

2011-10-05T11:21:00.001-07:00

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

2011-10-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-09-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-09-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-20T13:13:00.001-07:00

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

2011-09-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: 9/11

2011-09-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

It's been 10 years. 10 of the worst years in American History.

If there is something worth remembering about 9/11 it is not that we were attacked, but that the attack brought out the worst in us.

At the time of the attacks we were at the tail end of prosperity brought on by the “Peace Dividend” to continue that we would need to stop our endless meddling in other countries to secure resources like oil. We were in the perfect position to do that.

The Internet boom had burst and we needed something new. The attacks could have been a call to arms for peace. We could have invested in a green revolution that would free us from foreign oil. We could stop the blood money we pay for oil from getting funneled into the hands of the very people that attacked us. We could have funded a huge drive to get off foreign oil. That funding would have paid for itself as we wouldn't need as many troops overseas securing our access to oil.

We could have used the attacks to restructure our military, more highly trained tactical strike forces like SEAL team six, that are most effective against terrorist cells.

We could have doubled down on our ideals, done everything we could to make America the land of opportunity, made sure every American could get a quality education, insure that we had a strong middle class in this country, and done everything to make sure that those who were victims of bad luck weren't victims for long.

We could have shouted, “This is America! You can destroy our buildings and kill innocents, but you can never destroy our spirit and ideals. We will overpower tyranny through the force of freedom. We will set an example of how our way of life, granting opportunity and freedom to our citizens is a greater force than terrorism funded by our oil addiction.”

We could have done all that, but instead we gave into our most primal instincts.

Lashing out in blind rage, wanting an eye for an eye, letting our bloodlust for revenge turn our backs to our most prized ideals. Torture, imprisoning people without a trial, turning our own citizens into suspects. That is what we became.

We turned over the handling of our economy to multi-national corporations that have no stake in the health of our country, we let the fear-mongers turn us against our neighbors when they want to build a place of worship.

We have let ourselves become the same type of evil empire that we despised in the 20th century.

So to everyone who says, “Never Forget.” I say, “Never forget how we let blind fear and bloodlust for revenge make us abandon all the spirit and ideals that made America the envy of the world.”

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

Writing post a day late.

2011-09-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

My latest post on writing is up a day late. Life sometimes gets in the way of my plans.

Here it is: George Lucas- Finish Already

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

Poll: What has the Government ever done for us?

2011-09-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

In my last poll it turns out that my readers are polar opposites of our leaders in Washington and 100% use reality to base their decisions.

So on to my next poll, and my first video poll.

The following clip is what would happen if a bunch of reality based people attended a tea party meeting:

Substitute the word “Romans” with “Government” and it is pretty much what the teabaggers talk about. So I am wondering what is the top thing the Government does that you like?

Infrastructure:

Roads, Clean Air and Water, Police, Fire Depts, Education, and all the other things that make modern life possible.

Technological Investments:

Things made by Governments Investments: Jet Airplanes, Microchips, Duck Tape, the Internet, Telecommunication Network, GPS, Cell Phone Technology, Fuel Efficient Cars (Japanese Government Funded Research) pretty much every new technology.

Military:

I like not being invaded.

Social Safety Net:

Not having Seniors die in the street, Not turning the poor into disease incubation factories, ect.

Like 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: Mark Burnett

2011-09-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

In 2000 Mark Burnett aired “Survivor” which changed the way game shows were played. Formerly a contestant would win a game show by having the most skill at whatever task the game required. “Survivor” changed that, in “Survivor” the winner didn't have to have any skills in surviving, or even win the challenges. They just had to convince the rest of the people to not vote them off.

It was a novel idea, and if it had stayed in just one TV show it would have been fine. However, Mark Burnett pushed the concept onto a dozen other TV shows. It is now the standard for Reality TV. If it stayed there we would just have horrible TV and more and more people would tune out until a new model of TV shows came along. But Fox News picked up that model and applied it to politics, and the other networks followed along.

The candidates for President aren't being covered on what they want do as President, but how their campaign strategy is working.

If a candidate like Rick Perry, P-Rick, takes a pants crapping insane stance on an issue, like saying Climate Change is a conspiracy of scientists, the news reports on how the issue is working for his campaign and if it will help his run. They don't report on the fact that 97% of climate scientists believe global warming is man made, the other 3% argue over how much is natural vs. man-made, and 98 (not percent, 98 people) that are in a field relevant to climate science believe it is all due to nature.

If the news reported on how batshit crazy the P-Rick's stance is, they would report that the roughly 50,000 living scientists in fields related to climate science is nearly four times the amount of people that had direct knowledge of the Manhattan Project the biggest secret project ever carried out. If you add in all the scientist that have been studying it for the last 60 years that's well over 100,000 scientists.

They would also report that those 100,000 scientists need the support of colleges and universities around the world to carry out this “hoax”. The research done on non-secret science in universities is made to be super redundant to catch errors, so it would take several million people to be in on this “hoax”.

In the last century you could get away with just a few million people to carry this out, but now the evidence of global warming is easily noticeable in most areas. Plants that could barely survive as they were at the edge of their cold tolerance are blooming and growing like weeds.

The amount of people that it would take to sneak into everyones gardens and flower beds to warm these plants up so they bloomed unnaturally would be in the billions.

Some the effects of global warming could be achieved by just paying off the people involved. The western ranchers could be paid to make it look like they are suffering billions of dollars in damage from the drought for an amount two or three times that.

The news could also report on P-Rick's reason why they are doing it, to get that sweet, sweet, grant money so they can travel to exotic locations like Antarctica and go out in small research boats to the north Atlantic in the winter. With that type of reward it is no wonder they would get billions of people involved and spend trillions of dollars.

But instead of reporting on how a conspiracy that the people who think NASA faked the moon landing would shake their heads at and say, “That's f-ing crazy”, the news talks about if this is a good issue for Rick Perry to run with.

So to Mark Burnett, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, by expanding your concept of making a game show where the focus is not on the results but how the contestants play the game far beyond where it should ever go, you have made it so the most pants crapping insane, batshit crazy, loony conspiracy theory can be looked at as a legitimate political issue.”

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

Hiding in the shadows

2011-08-31T09:36:00.001-07:00

see more This is Photobomb

The couple in the foreground of this picture are having fun, but not as much fun as their shadows. Look again you'll see what I mean.

I write a little different than most writers as on my first draft the plot and dangers are subdued and other things are pushed to the front. I believe this is because of my education as an English major. We poured over books and stories to find the deeper meanings. Often times concentrating on one line so long we lost the plot of the story.

I like to give the reader stuff to dig in to.

The problem is if I bury it to deep there is a good chance that the reader will miss it. Just like at first glance that photo just looks like a couple playing a game.

I find myself having to go through and emphasize the major plot points to make them clear. Risking the chance that I'm beating the points on the readers head.

It is always a tricky thing finding the right balance.
By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Hiding in the shadows

2011-08-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

Super Space Battles

2011-08-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

In my last poll I asked which ship(s) would win in a fight?

Enterprise A

Starbug

All the Tie Fighters

As far as the poll Enterprise A and Starbug were evenly matched with two votes each. The Tie Fighters got half as many votes with 1. So it would be an epic space battle if those two ships were to go at it.

On to the next poll.

A lot of people are talking about how the Republican candidates are trying to out do each other in denying science and reality. So here is the question:

How do you respond to reality?

I base all my decisions on it

I take the bits I like.

Ignore it, what could happen?

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: Kentucky Farm Bureau

2011-08-28T11:35:00.001-07:00

Kentucky Farm Bureau (An insurance company that specializes in small farms) revealed in their 2009 Polices manual that they hate gay people. They also support forced labor, the belief that the unborn are entitled to special privileges while saying that, “We are opposed to granting special privileges to anyone.” and they support the death penalty.

The big problem with Kentucky Farm Bureau taking these homophobic and hateful stances is the very nature of how insurance works. The fundamental rule of insurance is “The law of large numbers”. If there is a 1 out of 1,000 chance that your house will be destroyed in a year it really sucks if you're the one whose $100,000 house is destroyed. But if everyone pays $100 that year to pay for the person whose house is destroyed it's not bad.

With home and auto insurance it is easy to have enough clients that to make the law of large numbers work. With niche markets like Classic Autos, Malpractice, and Farms there isn't a large enough base to have multiple companies. That's where specialty insurance companies like Kentucky Farm Bureau come in.

If the big insurance companies, like Allstate, Progressive, and Shelter started carving up those niche markets they would fall below the large numbers and rates would skyrocket. So they refer farmers to Kentucky Farm Bureau.

Just like any other profession there are gay farmers. Since woman have been given the right to own property there are woman farmers. A lot of small farmers don't earn enough farming to live on so they have jobs off the farm.

So Kentucky Farm Bureau is discriminating against their own customers.

Kentucky Farm Bureau needs to follow the lead of the other insurance companies and recognize gay customers. The company I worked for, Allstate, treated gay couples in Kentucky the exact same way they treated unmarried couples. In states that allow gay marriage they allow agents to click the “Married” button and make life easier for the agents.

In the insurance world Allstate and State Farm are like the Bloods and the Crips, so it is tough for a former Allstate rep to say this, but if you are a farmer in Kentucky and you don't hate gay people I really recommend switching to State Farm.

State Farm has the same policy toward gay marriage as Allstate and has gone to court to fight California's ban on gay marriage where it forces insurance companies not to recognize those marriages.

So to Kentucky Farm Bureau, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, your hateful discriminating policies are targeted against your own customers. If you weren't in a niche market you wouldn't be able to stick with your agenda of hate. I hope State Farm takes advantage of this and crushes you.”

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

Star Trek vs. Red Dwarf

2011-08-24T11:03:00.001-07:00

So far my latest poll is tied between The Trekies and the Dwarfers. No body thinks the Star Wars Tie Fighters are much of a threat. To join the battle click on my poll at the upper left hand side of the page.

In other news my latest thoughts on writing are up on my other site. HERE.

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

Sci Fi Poll

2011-08-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

My last poll asked: Which do you prefer?

A tax increase on the top 1%

Free Beer

Puppy kisses.

It turns out people unanimously prefer increasing the tax rate on the top 1%, over Free Beer and Puppy Kisses. Poor Puppy.

In light of this poll and many other the Republicans want to increase the tax on the bottom 49% of Americans. How come whenever a poll shows Americans want something, Republicans do the exact opposite?

On to the next poll:

Sci Fi fans like to speculate about who would win in battles between the most powerful star ships in fiction. Enterprise vs. Battlestar Galactica, Defiant vs. Babylon Five ect. But what about the not so powerful starships? What about the one that can barely get out of their own way. So I wonder who would win in a fight?

Enterprise A:

This great starship was the last of the Constitution class of starships. Its construction ran so far over schedule that the others in the Constitution class where 30 years old and being used as training ships for Starfleet Academy. Not being up to that task it was given to James T Kirk to keep him out of trouble. Scotty pieced it together so that it had CRT Monitors (Really in 1998 it had CTRs), Crewmembers would have to put down stairs for the shuttle craft, even though all other versions of the shuttle crafts had their own retractable stairs, and little else.

Somewhere in its full 7 year history it had a total rebuild, but was still no match for a Klingon Bird of Prey.

Over thirty years being built and it was in service for seven.

Starbug:

The landing vehicle for Jupiter Mining Corp's RED DWARF. This one has its pros and cons. As far as technology when Kryten mentioned that a ship had, “technology far in advanced to our own.” Lister replied, “The Albanian National Washing Machine Co. has technology far in advanced to our own.”

As far as the hull it is made of the same material that the little dolls that always survives plane crashes are made of. So it is quite tough.

Tie Fighters:

In the original version of RETURN OF THE JEDI, Lando flew the Falcon through a swarm of a dozen Tie Fighters and wasn't hit by a single one. That is some bad targeting computers. In the remastered version Lucas upped it to about 100 Tie Fighters. How they all missed is baffling. They even managed to miss each other. So the Tie Fighters can miss their targets with pin point inaccuracy.

Throughout the Trilogy they proved that 100s of Tie Fighters were no match for an old broken down freighter.

So I ask:

Which Starship would win in a fight?

Enterprise-A

Starbug

All the Tie Fighters

Vote on the poll at the top left side of the page.

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Mitch McConnell

2011-08-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Senior Senator from my state, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), recently said, “We need to make America work more like Texas." Well Mitch, that is a really low bar to hit. Why not shoot a little higher and look to have it perform as well our home state.

Since the recovery began, Kentucky's unemployment rate fell by 1.6%, not great but at least it is falling.

During the same time Texas's unemployment rate went up by 0.3%.

Mitch are you embarrassed that Kentucky is recovering at roughly the same pace as the rest of the country, instead of getting worse like Texas.

Also every major city in Kentucky is recovering with revenues growing, in Texas several major cities have shrinking revenues and are financially at risk. Do you really wish that more cities in the US were insolvent?

Comparing poverty rates: Kentucky is at 14.8% (slightly above the national average), Texas is at 16.2% (only four states are worse).

So to Mitch McConnell, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, if you are looking for an economic model for the US you could at least look at the State of Kentucky, you know that state you visit once every six years. It is not the best model, it scores right around average in most economic measures. At least it isn't getting worse and scoring at the bottom. Or is that your idea for America a place where unemployment and poverty are on the rise?”

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

Three Elements a good story needs

2011-08-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

My latest writing post is up:

Three Elements a good story needs

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

We're Doomed

2011-08-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

In my last poll I asked,

When do you fight the good fight.
1 person fights it in the morning while drinking coffee.
2 people have been meaning to get around to that.

According to this poll if evil doers work in the afternoon or evening, we will be doomed.

On to the next poll.

Which would you prefer?

A) A tax increase on the top 1%

B) Free Beer

C)Puppy kisses.

Like always you can vote on the upper left side of this page.

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Corporations are People

2011-08-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

Mittens Romney was in Iowa explaining his ideas on raiding the Social Security $2.5 Trillion surplus, and stealing an average of $60,000 from every American, in order to make sure the top 1% of income earners can continue to pay less in taxes than middle class Americans. After doing his normal talking points of saying, having the rich pay as much in taxes as the middle class is punishing success (let's punish hard work instead). Someone asked, “What about Corporations?”

Mittens responded, “Corporations are people too.”

If corporations were people they would be locked up.

Corporations are by law, amoral. They HAVE to place profits over everything else. That doesn't make them immoral, or evil, it just makes them devoid of any morals whatsoever.

People balance their self-interests with the interests of their community, Corporations just look at their balance sheets.

People are judged more by their character than their credit scores, Corporations are (and should be) rated by their assets.

People spend a limited time on Earth, they die, Corporations only die through mismanagement.

If a person breaks the law, they go to jail, Corporation don't.

People pay taxes, the largest and most profitable Corporations don't.

Finally I will blatantly steal from Addicting Info:

People generally don’t refer to multinational, lifeless, amorphous engines of soul-sucking greed whose sole purpose is to downsize and shed hard-earned American jobs in order to tear apart the earth in the Third World and enslave its local populations as, well, people. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/08/13/10-reasons-corporations-arent-people/

So to all those like Mittens who say, “Corporations are People”, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, laws protect people on the assumption that people are generally moral. Corporate Regulations are in place knowing that Corporations are completely amoral. If you extend the protections that are given to moral people to amoral Corporations, you make a amoral society.”

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

Society Building in Fiction

2011-08-10T11:14:00.001-07:00

My latest writing post is up. HERE

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

The most useful poll results ever!

2011-08-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last week I exposed my poll to ask an incredibly useful question:

In most Internet discussions someone will eventually point to a non-scientific poll that says that their side is right. I hate to make them go through all the work of googling a non-scientific poll so we can solve problem this with a totally non-scientific poll.

Who's side do you think is right?

A) My side
B) The other side
C) It is a complex issue in which both sides have some merit.

With this poll we can finally find out who is right and who is wrong.

The results are in

100% of the respondents said that, My Side is Right!
0% thought that the other side was right.
0% thought that both sides have merit.

So whenever you are in an Internet discussion you can honestly point to this poll and say, “A poll absolutely confirms that my side is right!”

How much more useful can a poll be.

On to flashing my new poll:

The band RUSH has said that you should, “Fight the good fight every moment, every minute every day.”

It is good advice, however most of us have to do things like sleep, work, and household stuff. With our busy lives it's hard to fight the good fight all the time. So with this poll I was wondering:

When do you fight the good fight?

A) Every minute, Every Day
B) In the morning while I'm having coffee
C) After work
D) I've been meaning to do that

The poll is 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: Contraceptives

2011-08-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

In a win for sanity, under the Affordable Health Care Act, women's basic healthcare now must be covered by their insurance, the millions without insurance are still out of luck. This includes breast exams, contraceptives, pap smears and preventive care on women's internal plumbing. There are still millions of women who this doesn't cover so volunteers, like myself, can still offer free breast exams for women that don't do them themselves.

This policy, being applied universally, will in the short term cost pennies to the insurance policy holders, not enough to pay for a separate rate increase, but save millions in the long run as health problems will be caught earlier and it will decrease abortions.

Naturally with any sane policy the totally insane people have to comment on it.

Bill O'Reilly had to hit the airwaves to say that “Women will be too drunk to use the birth control pill.” Besides showing his total ignorance as to how the birth control pill works, it also shows a little something about Bill's sex life. This might be a shocker to Bill, but women do enjoy sex when they aren't so smashed that they can't control simple motor skills. They just don't have sex when they are sober with Bill O'Reilly. I can't blame them.

Just because Bill O'Reilly has never had sex with a woman that was sober enough to know what she was doing, doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Here is another shocker for Bill, sex is a lot better for both partners when sober.

In college I much preferred girls to be sober for sex. I was one of those sneaky guys that would switch a girl's screwdriver with plain orange juice at a party, keeping them sober for fun afterwards.

So Bill you should really try sex with a sober woman, I realize you might have to pay her for it, but trust me once you try sex with a sober woman, vs one that is so out of it that they can't do anything but lie there, you will be amazed.

Another insane person to comment on this was Rep. Steve King of Iowa who believes that free contraceptives will mean the end of society as women won't voluntarily have kids. Here is a shocker for Steve King; Sometimes women want to have kids, if the time is right in their lives and they have someone with good genes that they would like to pass on. They just don't want to have kids with men that have a serious genetic defect, like stupidity. That is why Steve King has never met a woman that voluntarily wants to have his kids.

So to all the people who believe that women can't responsibly have sex and then have kids when they choose, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, letting women take charge of their bodies doesn't mean that the human race will stop reproducing because they only have kids by accident. It just means they won't pass on the stupid gene that Bill O'Reilly and Steve King seem to possess, which will be a good thing.”

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

Worlds of Writing

2011-08-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

My latest writing post is up, HERE

Sorry I am temporarily out of puns.

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

The most useful poll ever.

2011-08-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last week, I tried to put my poll into a 35 year old... mystery. In Thin Lizzy's song Jailbreak they said that:
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak,
Somewhere in this town.

As to where the Jailbreak might happen it was an even split between Bob's Place and the Five and Dime. We did rule out, the deepest, darkest recesses of the human soul.

Even though we couldn't solve this mystery, we have given Bob a reason to be nervous.

Now I want to make my poll useful.

In most Internet discussions someone will eventually point to a non-scientific poll that says that their side is right. I hate to make them go through all the work of googling a non-scientific poll so we can solve problem this with a totally non-scientific poll.

Who's side do you think is right?

A) My side
B) The other side
C) It is a complex issue in which both sides have some merit.

With this poll we can finally find out who is right and who is wrong.

Vote on the upper left hand part of the page.

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: 10%

2011-07-31T11:44:00.000-07:00

Polls show that 10% of the American people approve of the way the republicans are handling the debt crisis that they created. Who the hell are these 10%?

To show my bias here, I can understand the 40% who approve of the way Obama is handling it. I don't agree but I understand.

This crisis could go away if Obama made a speech and said, “F-you bitches, I killed Bin Laden and I'm invoking the powers of the 14th amendment to solve this. Got a problem with that?”

So to anyone who approves of the job that any one involved in the negotiations on this insane theater of the absurd is doing, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, everyone involved is showing their highest levels of incompetence.”

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

Another Review

2011-07-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

My free ebook I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE got another review.

This time at Shark's Short Story Review.

Check it out.

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

Fantastic Future Friday: Dawn

2011-07-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

Lost in the reporting about the Space Shuttle retirement the Dawn mission went under reported. The Dawn spacecraft is investigating the two largest asteroids in the Solar System. Vesta and Ceres. Last week it went into orbit around Vesta. NASA is holding a press conference on August 1 to explain the findings in detail.

These two asteroids have a special place in my heart as they were the setting for my book THE SETTING EARTH which is free to download this weekend.

The real work of the Dawn Spacecraft won't begin until she settles into orbit and can start taking readings, but she has already discovered some mysteries.

Vesta is one of the shiniest objects in the Solar System. It was thought that its shininess was because it is primarily composed of Iron-Nickel, a very tough metal. However the impact craters on its surface are much shallower than one would expect if is was all Iron-Nickel, so there is something about its surface composition that we don't know that makes the impacts shallower than predicted.

It also has some huge grooves that go completely around the proto-planet. We can speculate how those were formed but until we get more information that speculation is pretty meaningless. Some of the smaller grooves were expected. Those little lines are most likely formed as giant boulders shook loose and started rolling across the surface. In the very low gravity they continue to roll for quite a long time.

Over the coming months Dawn will make more and more discoveries. As she settles into orbit we will be able to determine the exact mass and density of Vesta. We will get a much better look at her surface and find out what caused these mysterious features.

One thing I do expect from the Dawn Mission is the unexpected. Whenever we explore new worlds we always find things that fill us with awe. The Voyager probes revealed that Jupiter has a system of moons that are worlds in their own right with liquid oceans under the ice that not only will make them good places for colonization but might harbor life of their own.

Revisiting the Earth's Moon we discovered that the Apollo Missions landed on the driest parts of the lunar surface. That probably wasn't a coincidence, safety engineers like to have people land on the flattest, most boring surfaces just because landing in craters and on the sides of mountains increases the dangers exponentially.

Dawn is the first spacecraft to orbit a large asteroid and she sure to make some amazing discoveries. Soon Vesta will show herself to be a unique world with strange properties that no one imagined. As we learn about these we can figure out uses for this new world and that will lead to a fantastic future.

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

Author Photo

2011-07-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

Just wondering which Author photo is better:

1)Cats Eye

2) Galaxy

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

Act Now!!! (Shameless self promotion)

2011-07-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

My newest writing post is up HERE.

Now on to my Shameless Self Promotion. Some writers say that you should stop just short of grabbing people in a headlock and screaming at them, “BUY MY BOOK!”

Doing that is hard over the Internet but I will try, so I'll need some help:

You must pretend that I am grabbing you in a headlock and screaming, “BUY MY BOOK!”

Because you are pretending that it is only fair that you can use pretend money to pay for it. So go to Smashwords and pick out any or all of my books. Enter the coupon code: SSWSF and it will be free of charge. Then pretend you paid for it so I can release my pretend headlock.

This sale ends at the end of the month.

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

Feeding my Poll

2011-07-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

Great news is my poll has increased in size by 50%. I always get excited when my poll grows, or is it the other way around.

Last week I did a political poll with the same question that most of the polls ask:

If the US Presidential Election were held today, I would...

A) Be very surprised
B) Vote
C) Think it was a trap and stock up on Aluminum Foil

I'm sure that both parties must looking at these results and using them to form their strategies, here are the results:

Half the people who took the poll said “If the Election were held today, I would think it was a trap and stock up on Aluminum Foil”

One-Third would be very surprised.

And only one-sixth would vote.

So changing Election Day to a totally random day has risks for both sides. The GOP does better when voter turn-out is low, however they would lose their base of Paranoid Schizophrenics.

On to the new poll, this one has to do with song lyrics:

In 1976 Thin Lizzy released their hit song Jailbreak. In that song they were very unsure about something according to these lyrics:

Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak,
Somewhere in this town,

It is a very puzzling question, where in this town would the JAILbreak happen?

So that is my new poll question:

Where in this town will the there be a jailbreak?

A) The deepest, darkest recesses of the human soul
B) Bob's Place
C)The five and dime.

I together we can answer this 35 year old mystery.

Like always the poll is 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: Pro-Slavery

2011-07-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke (maybe)

This is like a case study of how a truly insane ranting when gone unchecked can become accepted as fact.

The religious right in this country has its own religious right, guys that the religious right is as ashamed of as much as most Americans are ashamed of the religious right. One of these guys is Douglas Wilson.

Wilson teaches history from a “Biblical Worldview”, the bible allows for slavery therefore slavery must be good. So he teaches how Blacks were better under slavery than they are now being free.

The leaders of the Religious Right used to do an embarrassed cough and turn the other way when asked about Wilson. Whenever he made the news he was rightfully laughed at.

With all the craziness in the news, people have been laughing at other things and Wilson's insane rantings went unchecked. Now the GOP Presidential front-runner Michele Bachmann and Santorum have signed a pledge that blacks were better under slavery. This should be where this craziness stops. But no, the crazy train is just gaining momentum.

Of all people, President Obama had to allow this to keep going on by advertising a talk he had with some college students where he praised President Lincoln for allowing states like Kentucky to keep slavery after the civil war. He used it as an example a the art of compromise, but rather than place it in the context of being a necessary evil, he held it up as a good thing.

Lincoln's writings seem to show he viewed it as a necessary evil as he said that he hoped to have God on his side, but he had to have Kentucky. Lincoln didn't compromise on that for the sake of compromise, he did it because he believed it was the only way to win the war.

The time as come to draw the line on this lunatic notion that slavery was anything more than a barbaric system that exploited people for the sake of a few bucks. Most sane people are rightfully appalled by the fact that it was allowed to go on for so long and consider it a dark chapter in this country's history.

I can tolerate most ideas even if I think they are insane, but to say that slavery was any but truly evil goes beyond the line.

So to everyone, from the insane people that are pro-slavery to people who even tolerate the idea and don't state that slavery was the most evil, vile economic system ever, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, once you say that slavery had any positive impact on the slave your argument is invalid.”

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

My Writing Post is up.

2011-07-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

I've got a few things taking up space on the web to announce:

My latest Writing Wednesday Post is up.

And I was runner up in a writing contest.

Enjoy and don't forget to vote in my latest poll on the top left of the page.

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

Looking at my Poll

2011-07-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I flashed my poll on this site. Unfortunately it was a small poll and nobody noticed so I had raise attention to my poll on Wednesday. Now the results are in:

When asked, Which of these things is the paramount contributer to human misery at the moment.
2 people said Religion
0 people said Windows Vista
2 people said Bank of America

If I remember my stats 101 correctly the margin of error on this poll is larger than the results making it invalid but I still found it interesting.

Those things are on the opposite ends of society:

Organized Religion is society's Love and Hate emotion.
Bank of America is simply indifferent to the needs and concerns of people.
Windows Vista is just incompetence on a grand scale.

People were split between what is worse: Emotions that can overpower rational thinking, or the total indifference to the suffering caused by materialistic actions. I guess incompetence can be tolerated.

Or maybe I'm looking at my poll to much.

So it's time to whip out a new poll for everyone to look at.

Political Poll:

If the US Presidential Election were held today, I would...

A) Be very surprised
B) Vote
C) Think it was a trap and stock up on Aluminum Foil

The poll is up on the upper left side of the page.

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Bristol Palin

2011-07-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

It seems every generation has to have a stupid media whore begging for attention by claiming she she was raped. This generation has Bristol Palin making the claim so that she can get tens of people to buy her ghost written book.

In the 80s we had Jessica Hahn whose claim to fame was she said, she was raped by Jim Bakker and another preacher for about 15 minutes. According to her after they left she took a nap, showered, and waited for them to come back for another 15 minute session.

After making the news for being a victim she got a boob job, posed for Playboy, and appeared in a Sam Kinison video. As her fame started fading she said that while she and Kinison were alone for 5 minutes he raped her.

Sex in 5 minutes is possible something I know as when my wife and I were newlyweds I jokingly talked about a second round before work, she said I had to leave for work in 5 minutes. Challenge Accepted.

However, the whole Hahn/Kinison story was just absurd.

Then in the 90s we got Paula Jones who said that while Clinton was governor he had state troopers ask her if she would like to meet him in his hotel room, Clinton asked her if she'd like to have sex and she turned him down. Although it was totally inappropriate behavior for the Governor to act so crudely it was not anything illegal. So she said he then whipped out his penis. To describe it she said it leaned to the left. That would be a good guess as 85% of penises do lean that way. But Clinton was left handed and the 15% of men who are left handed have their penises lean to the right.*

This happens because men use their dominant hand to aim while using the toilet. When they finish, with one movement they can push it the opposite direction of their handedness. To make it go the other way they would have to release it and change grips. That would be awkward.

Now Bristol Palin had a book, ghost written for her, that accuses Levi Johnston, the father of her child, of getting her drunk on wine coolers and “stealing her virginity”. She liked it so much she continued to sleep with him. Levi's sister Sadie has quite a different version that she details on her blog.

Even discounting Mercede's account of the morning before, accusing Levi of raping her and that made her go out with him is absurd.

The problem I have with these Media Whores screaming rape to get attention is they demean the real victims of rape. It is a traumatic experience for a woman and when someone says it just to get attention it trivializes it for everyone.

It is bad enough that there are women who for mental reasons or because of personal circumstances falsely accuse men of rape. Authorities are pretty good at determining who these women are and getting them counseling. The media doesn't have to put a spotlight on women who claim it just for Media attention.

So to Bristol Palin when she goes on news programs and claims, “I was raped, tee hee.” I say, “Shut-up Stupid. You are trivializing a serious crime and making the lives of real victims much harder.”

*When I mentioned that lefties lean to the right, and righties lean to the left, how many guys looked down. And how many girls stopped to check their memories?

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

My Poll is up, so is my latest post

2011-07-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

In my last post I asked a question and put a poll on the side of my blog. I forgot to mention the poll was there so everyone ignored it.

I have also posted my latest Writing Wednesday HERE

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

The paramount contributer to human misery

2011-07-11T12:47:00.001-07:00

I've heard it said that religion is the paramount contributer to human misery. I'm not so sure that this is true so I'm taking a poll:

Which of these things is the paramount contributer to human misery at the moment. (Disregard history as religion has been around so much longer it wins by default) :

A) Religion
B) Windows Vista
C) Bank of America

I look forward to the answers.

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Bob Vander Plaats

2011-07-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

One of these is Bachmann, looking at the eyes I can't tell which one.

Both GOP frontrunner Michele Bachmann and Santorum have signed a pledge written by Iowa ultra-conservative Bob Vander Plaats in which they vow to ban pornography and has a list of anti-gay, anti-Muslim and anti pretty much everything statements.

First and foremost I want to say, “You can take my porn when you pry it out of my wet, sticky hands.” Moving beyond the assault on the First Amendment the pledge gets worse. It praises slavery:

Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born in to slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African- American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President.

This is totally insane, under slavery the people were treated as property and constantly traded and sold at the owner's will. So the father or mother of a child might suddenly be traded to a plantation in another state. The child might be sold on reaching puberty or the owner could just get the hots for the mom start raping her and get rid of the father. Any one who thinks that living under slavery was in any form better than living now is insane.

It attacks gays:

Vigorous opposition to any redefinition of the Institution of Marriage – faithful monogamy between one man and one woman – through statutory-, bureaucratic-, or court-imposed recognition of intimate unions which are bigamous, polygamous, polyandrous, same-sex, etc.

Just a note here, besides attacking gays the language of this also attacks the traditional southern marriage style of serial polygamous, polyandrous marriage. Multiple divorce and remarrying.

Of course it wouldn't be a GOP pledge without an imaginary bogeyman:

Rejection of Sharia Islam and all other anti-woman, anti-human rights forms of totalitarian control.

There is no such thing as Sharia Islam outside the GOP's imagination.

So to Bachmann, Santorum, Vander Plaats, and anyone else who think it's okay to pledge to do racist, discriminatory, unconstitutional things, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, people should have the right to live anyway they want as long they aren't hurting another soul. Thinking anyone is better off in any way as slave rather than a free person is crazy to the point that you should have your head examined.”

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

Fantastic Future Friday: Goodbye Shuttle

2011-07-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

Today, hopefully, Atlantis will launch and it will be the final mission for the Space Shuttle Program.

The biggest problem with the Space Shuttle was it worked good enough.

When it was originally conceived there was supposed to be 20 shuttles that would rotate through with a launch every two weeks. This would lower the cost per launch dramatically as their would always be a shuttle in space, one being prepped, one being reconditioned after the mission. So even though NASA would have a much bigger workforce, there would be no downtime.

Two things killed that plan. Budget cuts forced NASA to only have 4 shuttles. So they hoped for a launch every month.

Unfortunately, the shuttle wasn't quite reliable enough for that schedule. However it was reliable enough to ensure the space program could go on. If it were a little less reliable it would have been scrapped earlier and replaced with something more reliable. If it were reliable enough to hold the once a month schedule America could have built its own space station in the 90s and open up new markets in space. That would force congress to give space exploration a bigger budget and NASA would have to build a new space craft.

Since the Space Shuttle was “good enough” all our space missions revolved around a few launches every year.

It also wasn't the safest design. Placing the crew next to the engines, instead of on top of them, was riskier but not so risky to stop the program.

2 out of roughly 100 missions ended in disaster, 2%. That is good enough odds for most people wanting to go in space. I'd take those odds. But it meant huge redesigns to try and give better odds. If it had been less safe, a safer replacement would have been made. If it were safer there would have been more missions per year. The Space Shuttle was “Safe Enough” to keep flying.

It was also expensive, half a billion dollars per launch. If it were more expensive it would be worth going back to the drawing board and coming up with a new one. If it were less expensive there would be more launches and more things done in space giving NASA a powerful reason to build a successor.

In the end it was “Cheap Enough” to keep the program going.

The problem of having the Space Shuttle being “Good Enough” at everything is in building a replacement its hard to justify taking the next small step in improvement. If the Space Shuttle can do 4 to 8 missions a year, it's tough to justify spending billions to replace it with one that can do 8 to 12 missions a year. So any replacement had to have a two week turnaround time. That would be a remarkable feat.

Having the Space Shuttle being “Safe Enough” meant a replacement needed to be as safe as an airplane. Something that is probably impossible.

Having the Shuttle being “Cheap Enough” to fly meant it was hard to justify building a new craft that had a 20% saving or $100 million per launch. So any replacement needed to have huge cost savings.

The Space Shuttle was a remarkable machine, but it was cursed by being good enough not to justify building a replacement but not so great that a true successor could be built.

With the end of the Space Shuttle program new spacecraft can be built that are slightly better, not so much better that they are impossible.

Getting the odds of disaster down to 1 in 100 is doable and insurable. $150,000 per flight per passenger in insurance.

One launch per month is doable.

Getting launch costs down 20% per ton. Is doable.

Perfect is the enemy of good as perfect is impossible. With the end of the Space Shuttle program we can look to build a better spacecraft instead of trying the impossible and building the perfect spacecraft.

So goodbye Space Shuttle, if you were a little better or a little worse you would have been replaced years ago. If congress is willing your retirement will lead to a slightly better replacement and that will lead to a fantastic future.

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

My Book was reviewed.

2011-07-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

My book I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE was reviewed on A Book and A Dish, which is possibly the largest combination Recipe and Book Review site in the World.
Check it out.
By Darrell B. Nelson author of I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE

Catspiracy Purrsday

2011-07-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

The horror!

Evil Minions have taken over my work bench.

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

Writing Wednesday: Major Announcement

2011-07-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

For the month of July Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/ is holding a huge sale, every ebook must go.

I am doing my part help in this sale by offering all three of my ebooks for free. Just click on the links below:

THE SETTING EARTH: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/45951

What would you do if you held in your hands the power to wipe out all forms of human poverty, but doing so would place the fate of the human race in the hands of your enemies?

All his life Sam has been told the people of Ganymede were an enemy bent on destroying all the values he holds dear. Getting to know them he starts sympathizing with their idealistic goals, but he isn’t sure if he can trust them. When an interplanetary war between Earth and Ganymede breaks out, Sam finds his actions will determine the fate of humanity, however he is unsure which side to believe.

“The Setting Earth” is a tale of romance that shows that even after humanity has the technology to transform the Solar System; the most powerful force in the universe is the power of friendship.

ALIEN THOUGHTS: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/33254

Simon Yar has been always ashamed of his extreme Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and has gone to extreme measures to hide it, including losing the only woman he had ever loved rather than reveal his secret. When he discovers that an extra-terrestrial virus is turning the people into slaves, he must come to terms with his inner demons or lose everyone he has ever loved.

I KILLED THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/46093

Four Short Stories that blend science fiction and horror.

I KILLED THE MAN THAT WASN'T THERE:
A man decides to to keep his friends close and his enemies closer until he can remove them from space-time.

I NEVER MEANT TO HURT YOU:
A childish prank dooms mankind to slavery.

CONJUNCTION:
An astronaut believes that his crewmates have had their minds taken over by an alien microbe.

CURSED SHIP:
The Commander of a Moon shuttle doesn't believe in curses, until his career is ruined by one.

Or click on the any of the book covers in the sidebar of this site.

Hopefully by having this sale in July it will give everyone a good chance to read some of my works before my big announcement that I hope to make in August.

Please download my books and enjoy reading them.

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Independence Day

2011-07-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

I really can't think of anything more to add.

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

Fantastic Future Friday: Canada Edition

2011-07-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Canada Day, Eh.

Since it both a Friday and Canada Day I thought I'd highlight the Canadian contributions to the space program.

The Canadians have managed to contribute a lot to space exploration with a comparatively small budget. The most complex tasks that the Space Shuttle did, launching the Hubble telescope and building the ISS, couldn't have been done without the Robot arm or Canadarm built in Canada to mimic the human arm on a huge scale.

They also built the MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars or Microvariabilit et Oscillations Stellaire) Telescope, not only a powerful inexpensive space telescope but they managed to get the abbreviation to work in both languages. The MOST is a tiny telescope 2' x 2' x 1' and weighs 124 lbs. It cost $7 million dollars.

The nice thing about (pronounced “Aboot”) the MOST is it can stare at one star for up to two months at a time and can detect tiny changes in the brightness.

Canada has also built science equipment that has been placed on the ISS the Phoenix Mars Lander and the James Webb Space Telescope.

So to CSA (Canadian Space Agency) I'd like to say, “Happy Canada and keep up the good work.” It the Canadians can keep adding to our understanding of the universe with innovative scientific equipment made at comparatively low cost it will lead to a fantastic future.

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

My latest writing post is up

2011-06-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

The best time to use first person POV Here

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Object Permanence

2011-06-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

Ken Ham the guy who is behind Northern Kentucky's Creationist Museum where kids can learn that 6,000 years ago men rode on dinosaurs just like in the Flintstones posted on his blog how proud he was that a 9 year-old followed his brain washing techniques.

Here is his post.

I received a letter from a nine-year-old girl who has been brought up on AiG resources. She wrote to me the following:

I went to a NASA display of a moon rock and a lady said, “This Moon-rock is 3.75 billion years old!” Guess what I asked for the first time ever?

“Um, may I ask a question?”

And she said, “Of course.”

I said, in my most polite voice, “Were you there?”

Love, Emma B

When she got home her older sister said, “Mom's birthday is coming up.” Guess what she asked for the second time ever?

“Um, may I ask a question?”

The sister said, “Of course.”

She said, in her most polite voice, “Were you there?”

For a thoughtful and respectful response to Emma B. I refer you to Blue in the Bluegrass

On this site I don't do respectful very well so here is my response to Ken Ham.

Ken,

You might not be aware of this but between the ages of three and a half months and two years old children develop something called Object Permanence.

I guess you never developed this skill, Ken, so let me describe it to you. At some point a child realizes that if they see something and it is taken away so they can no longer see or hear it, the object still exists. Have I blown your mind yet Ken?

Knowing an object still exists when you can't see it is a very useful skill as it means if you search for it there is a chance you can find it.

Now building on this concept of Object Permanence it is logical to assume that the object may have existed BEFORE you saw it! Now Ken I'm sure that the concept that things have existed in the past has your mind rattled, so take a deep breath before reading on because here is where it really gets mind blowing.

If you accept that something existed before you saw it, then there is a chance that that there are other things that you haven't seen yet, and that they exist! Imagine that places like oceans and cities and pastures that you have never seen actually exist.

Now Ken I realize this is a lot of information to process, but here is the really wild part. If you know how something happens you don't actually have to witness it for it to have occurred. So in Emma's case the fact that she or her sister didn't see her mom being born doesn't mean that it didn't happen. In fact I will wager any amount of money that her mom was actually born.

Now Ken, I realize that your head must be hurting realizing that there is a whole world out there that exists even if you have never seen it. You'll want to reject this whole concept of Object Permanence and say that everything was created by God at the exact moment you saw it. In that case since you have never seen me or this post before feel free to assume I don't exist and it is God telling you to, “Shut-up Stupid.”

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

Forgot Something

2011-06-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I put up my latest Writing Wednesday but forgot to post the link.
HERE IT IS

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

Temper Tantrum Tuesday: The Victim

2011-06-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Jon Stewart appeared on Fox for an interview with Chris Wallace. Even after heavy editing Wallace looked ridiculous in trying to say that Fox balances out the rest of the mainstream media's “liberal bias”. His claim was that conservative views automatically get attacked.

Echoing Wallace's theme that conservative views get attacked, Rick Santorum did an interview to explain his stance on same sex marriage and he talked about how horrible it was that people have labeled him a bigot. He looks forward to a time in America when someone can be free to compare two people in a loving relationship to bestiality and not be called prejudice. To prove that he is not a bigot Santorum mentioned he has had gay people under him, and he recently went out with a gay friend and you should see the things they did together.

I feel so bad now for all the conservatives I've talked about in the past, I didn't realize they were the victims.

Just as Santorum is a victim by being called a bigot for saying same sex marriage is the same as incest, many others are victims of liberal bias.

The poor hedge fund managers who say that teachers who work at 80% of what private sector employees with the same education level earn should take huge pay cuts, so they can keep their tax cuts that allow them to pay a smaller percentage in taxes than the teachers, are the true victims. For some reason people call them greedy.

Companies that lobby to keep tax breaks for shipping American jobs overseas are victims when they are called Unamerican for doing that.

The teabaggers are victims of being called racists just because they hold up signs calling Obama a n*gger.

And of course when the Gulf of Mexico ran into British Petroleum's oil slick they were the victims of that powerful liberal bias when people saying they should look into their safety procedures.

After hearing Chris Wallace and Rick Santorum talking about how they are standing up for the victims that are being called names just because they are greedy, homophobic, bigots who scapegoat minorities so they can plunder the wealth that the United States has accumulated over centuries of hard work, I feel so bad that I might have hurt their feelings by calling them a bad name or two.

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

Fantastic Future Friday: Interstellar Travel

2011-06-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

DARPA has announced a contest where they will offer half a million in seed money to a private company that can come up with a blueprint to travel to another star in the next hundred years.

This is a huge undertaking, and I don't see how it can be done in only one hundred years. I do realize one hundred years is a long time for scientific progress. A hundred years ago Godard was just starting to experiment with rockets and IBM was selling the first of the Tabulating Machines. Now private companies are going into space and computers are everywhere. However traveling to the nearest stars seems like too big of a leap.

Our current space ships only have the power to break Earth's orbit. There are designs for Magnetic Field Oscillating Amplified Thrusters, using fluctuating magnetic fields to induce density waves in electric conductive media, that could allow a spaceship to reach speeds of 260 Kilometers per second or nearly 1/1,000th of the speed of light. These ships that are more advanced than anything we can build right now would take 4,000 years to reach the nearest star. Knowing my luck there would be an annoying kid kicking the back of my seat for the whole 4,000 year trip.

These ships would open up the inner solar system but would still leave the outer solar system where all the good stuff is isolated.

I've talked before about a giant space based solar power plant in Mercury's orbit to create antimatter to power ships at speeds of up to 6% of the speed of light. But even with real research and development budgets (3 to 5% of Earth's GDP) I really don't see that happening in the next hundred years.

A faster way to get something up to the speeds necessary to cross Interstellar space, at least 1/10 the speed of light so the nearest stars are only 40 years away, is with lasers and mirrors.

You could launch a lot of small craft, if you consider the largest spacecraft we've ever launched small, that are just solar power platforms with huge lasers into low orbits around the Sun. You could then have a ship that had a huge mirror on its back and the lasers around the Sun could aim at it speeding it up to the necessary speeds. This could get a ship to the nearest stars by 2100, however I've got no idea how you would stop the ship once it got there. This would work great for sending a probe to the nearest stars, as it would spend a good 5 hours in the inner solar system of that star, but it's not such a great idea for humans.

It would be possible to send a lot of small probes, weighing couple of pounds each, with a mirror made of buckypaper a mile wide so it could use it as a solar brake as it got near the star. This would work best with Alpha Centuri as you could use it's three stars to slow down. Then use the huge mirrors to concentrate the star's light to a solar panel to power a laser to slow the probes coming from Earth until you had enough lasers around Alpha Centuri to slow down a spaceship carrying humans. But getting all that in place in the next 60 years in order to hit the DARPA deadline of one hundred years, taking into account the 40 year voyage, seems a little far fetched.

The final option for reaching the nearest stars within a hundred years is something that is at the same stage as computers or controlled fusion were a hundred years ago. It might work or be a pipe dream. The Neutrino Drive. The idea is if you could find a way to store Neutrinos you could use them to power a space ship. Neutrinos have no mass or charge, so your fuel would weigh nothing. You could take as much fuel as you needed and you wouldn't have to use fuel to accelerate it. A ship with Neutrino drive could get near the speed of light and still be able to slow down. The question is can a method of storing Neutrinos ever work.

If it can it will lead to a fantastic future within the next hundred years.

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

It's up (I'm not talking about new Anthony Wiener Photos)

2011-06-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

My latest Writing Wednesday is up: HERE

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

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Political Sex Scandals

2011-06-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to touch Weiner's penis, but the MSM had to take this small soft news story and stroke it over and over again and make it a huge hard news story and then ram it down everyone's throat. The whole thing is becoming a big pain in the ass.

It's like the old saying, “If you think sex is a pain in the ass, you're doing it wrong.”

I enjoy a good sex scandal as much as the next guy, but Weiner twittering photos of his penis is a small story. Worthy of a quick mention and chuckle and then moving on, not two weeks of round the clock coverage.

I feel the same about other recent sex scandals, Mike Lee sending a chick a beefcake photo and then it was revealed he liked to swap photos with She-males, Arnold knocking up his housekeeper, I'm sure I could find other non-stories that were given way more coverage than they deserve.

I personally think politicians should be held to the same standards as other professionals. Would you care more if your accountant sent pictures of their junk over twitter, or if they were incompetent? If your Lawyer liked She-males, would that matter more than their ability to file a prelimb? If your doctor knocked up his housekeeper, would that matter more than his experience?

There are sex scandals that are worth covering, like when laws are broken.

Larry Craig got a ticket for soliciting sex in a guys bathroom, worthy of a small mention.

David Vitter had prostitutes pamper him where it was illegal, worth the press following to see that he doesn't use his influence to get off, so to speak.

Then there are the real sex scandals where the politicians do despicable things and break laws to cover them up, John Edwards and Newt Gingrich. Those are actual news stories. If my accountant had an affair while his wife was on her deathbed and used his firms money, or a related company's money to cover it up it would make me seek a different accountant.

So to all the people in the media that are treating the Weiner, Lee, and Schwarzenegger stories like they are real news stories, I say, “Shut-up Stupid if no laws were broken then these sex scandals don't deserve more than a passing mention.”

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