Whether

   Decisions are based on whether to do one thing or another. A simplistic definition, certainly, but one that has kept me off this page recently. Instead, I have been writing fiction, a very satisfying effort, and the results are posted on the Amazon site.

   It certainly is more satisfying than sending samples to traditional publishers, then waiting months for a rejection note so the text can be sent to another.

   Instead, a book goes worldwide overnight, sales are immediately recorded and royalties paid monthly. It's not enough to finance retirement, but it does encourage more writing.

   My latest effort is titled "The Druid Cat," and deals with a feline effort to help his human partner, a journalist writing on the conflict between a hard-nosed redemptionist and those who want to follow their own spiritual path. It's the latest in a series.

   But my favorite is one titled "The Wolf Who Came Back," and tells of a leader taking his pack to resolve issues that humans destroyed.

   Meanwhile, enjoy the stories while I dig up more commentary on current events.

Gun Violence

    More than 400 people have been shot to death in the city of Philadelphia so far this year. At this rate, the city is likely to pass last year's record of some 500 gun deaths in Philadelphia.

   Nationally, 20,000 Americans died of gun violence last year, according to statistics. Yet the National Rifle Association has not been mentioned in any of the news reports of the soaring death rate.

  Why? The NRA supported the national gun control program when it was initiated in 1934, when the organization was sponsored by the U.S. military. But when that association was ended, the NRA became active in supporting gun ownership by the many, citing the Second Amendment to the Constitution and calling for near universal gun ownership by all Americans.

   Coincidentally, the NRA became a not-so-secret arm of the gun industry, and its program ignored the first phrase of the Second Amendment, which specifies that "A well regulated militia" is essential "to the security of a free state," and therefore gun ownership must not be limited. But the rash of shootings in major American cities cannot be attributed to members of any organized militia, well regulated or otherwise.

  Compare gun violence in America to other major nations such as Canada, Britain or France. So the question remains: Where is the NRA in all this?

Cancel Voting

    News media report there have been threats made against local and state voting officials, warning them of personal harm to them and to their families if Trump supporters lose.

  This during the few days before the coming off-year election next week. Typically, voter turnout is slim for such years, since many districts have only local offices at stake.

  But this could be a sign of things to come, a precursor to next year, when almost all seats in the House of Representatives will be open, and a third of the Senate seats.

 Separately, Donald Trump has called on supporters to ignore voting. Put the two together, and there is suspicion of a ploy to disrupt major elections in America to make it easier for the ex-president to "prove" the falsity of his loss in 2020 and to arbitrarily claim victory next time.

  Worse, if local and state election officials and poll workers refuse to risk their lives at polling places, that could mean they would be replaced by supporters of a given candidate, who would manipulate the vote count in favor of their candidate.

  If that sounds like the efforts made last year to overturn the vote counts that evicted Trump from the White House and now change the system to guarantee a return to power for the ex-president, then perhaps poll workers and election officials will have to be on guard to protect not only themselves and their families, but the Constitution itself, and replace it with someone who wants to dictate how the country shall conduct its elections.

Corona Blues

      The big virus is still keeping many folks home, and the death toll remains high. But despite that reality, many Americans insist the story is a Democrat plot meant only to harm Donald Trump and his campaign to return to the White House. Perhaps even before the official next re-election year in 2024.

    And have you noticed that Republican politicians refer to their opposition as the Democrat Party, and not by the official name "Democratic" Party? That can only be because they want to imply that members of that party are not really "democratic." This ploy on words has been going on for several years. One would think that eventually they might realize that the ploy is not working. But repetition is the guideline employed by propagandists for many decades.

Word Warriors

   Watch for the Republican Party to accelerate its campaign to persuade the world that the events of Jan. 6 were a peaceful demonstration by Trump supporters, and whatever incidents of unruly behavior did occur were perpetrated by minority civil rights protestors and Democratic supporters of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
   TV programs now show a split screen of a Republican defender of the Trumpistas on one side and video of the riotous attack on the Capitol on the other side.
   None of this, however, stops Trump supporters from pointing to problems involving civil rights demonstrators, no matter now minor. As if protesting, "They did it first," excuses the behavior of the rioters.

Word Play

    "Biomedical security state." That's the phrase used by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to attack the federal plan encouraging an anti-virus injection mandate.
   As if preventive medicine is a bad thing.
   One primary function of government is to secure the safety of the people. So why would the governor attack the idea as representing something to be avoided because it endangers American liberty and the freedom of choice?
   The term "security state" has encountered negative connotations, implying that government oversteps its legitimate responsibilities. But there is a long history of governments around the world mandating health measures to bring health and safety to its citizens.
   Even the ex-president, for all his ranting about the foolishness of virus warnings during the covid pandemic, was inoculated early on, but said nothing about it, instead continuing his attack.
   Now, his supporters on the Faux News network praise him for allegedly bringing the covid vaccine to the public.
   Contrast that with state officials in some parts of the country who insist that mandating the vaccine is a civil rights violation.
   People have a responsibility to care for their own health, but they also have an obligation not to spread sickness to others.

Denial Pandemic

 Your civil rights end where my nose begins. -- Pug Mahoney

   It's no surprise that the death toll from virus infections has tripled as people deny the existence of covid and its recent variant.
   However, the good news is that Americans are now rushing to get vaccinated.
   The bad news is that for many of them, it's too late.
   Even so, governors in several states refuse to mandate mask wearing to help reduce infections. Others assail requirements that inoculations are necessary to help protect others.
   "It's an assault on civil liberties," they say.
   But for many decades, there have been government requirements that people be inoculated against diseases. These included measles, mumps, polio and many others. In addition, government has passed many laws to regulate people's actions as a way to prevent disease and death, not least of which is a ban on driving while intoxicated.
   The idea of civil liberties is crucial in maintaining American democracy. But there are limits to dangerous behavior, and government is right to enforce these limits.