I’ve waited for a while after the terrible events that occurred in Boston to record my thoughts here. I’m just unable to grasp what was in the mind of those two youths that possessed them to brutally explode bombs meant to kill and maim people only out to observe a sporting event.

In my youth, as now, I felt passionately about causes, but was never led to take my passion out on people I didn’t know. These two young men, apparently mad at our government for it’s perceived actions against their homeland and their religion, chose to vent this anger on innocent members of our society. For the last few days I’ve tried to fathom their motives and have had to face the fact that sometimes motives are simply impossible to determine. Call it insanity, religeous fanaticism, evil, or just murder. Whatever you call it, I believe that we will never know what led these men to commit such an atrocity and will have to be satisfied to try to understand the act only, not the motivation.

Most important to me is what we do to prevent such occurances in the future. Cameras and good investigative work only seek to punish the crime. Threat of punishment will in no way prevent these individuals from perfoming their acts, as they are not threatened by earthly penalties. If we cannot threaten them into stopping, what recourse do we have? These two men were legal immigrants, welcomed to our country as political refugees, seemingly happy with our way of life, and still they did this act of terrorism.

I don’t purport to have answers to this dilemma, merely an observation. In the eyes of the world, I believe that we sometimes come across as meddling, perhaps even threatening, to other societies that are different. Should we consider tempering our urges to make their society a reflection of our own and simply allow them to grow to maturity in their own manner? We’d create fewer enemies that way, I believe.

To illustrate the point, history shows that the US was responsible for putting Saddam Hussein into power in Iraq or, at a minimum, supporting his rise to power. Ultimately, we were forced to remove him from power with force when he and his regime turned on its own people. Is that country significantly different today due to our involvement or would it have arrived at the same place down a different path?

Should we have simply let this country grow up in it’s own way?  This situation is, of course, more complicated than I’m expressing, but the gist of what I say is true. Unfortunately, as is always the case, hindsight is 20-20!

If I appear to be an isolationist, there is good reason!

TO A BETTER WORLD!

As I sit here looking out on a dreary, dark spring day I am moved by watching the birds at our feeders happily eating the seeds we provide them. There are too many to count, of a variety of species, some small, some large, brown, red, blue, most colors of the rainbow.

This scene has been repeated for countless years all over the world each spring providing reassurance that all is well. These beautiful animals are not concerned with the myriad of worries that occupy human minds. They are simply happy to have an abundance of food, clean water, and a hole in a tree or a fancy bird house to live in. We “superior beings” dwell on nuclear armed terrorists, unpaid national debts, gas prices, all the things that make us superior, and forget the simple joys of spring. New growth, a new beginning to life, pretty flowers, baby animals, all the things that spring brings, should be in our minds. We need to worry about the bad things in our world, but not to the exclusion of considering the good, even great, things happening around us.

I know that tomorrow will be a warm, sunny day that will quickly make me forget about this cold, dark, spring day. At least that’s what Weather.com says and as we all know, they’re never wrong. These birds outside my window don’t have that reassurance but still choose to sing, fly around joyfully, build nests, and generally enjoy life.

Just for today, let’s ignore North Korea, Al Qaeda, Sequestration, all those things and simply enjoy the spring.

Comments welcome!

Just a little politics on this auspicious occasion. .Back to last summer when a last minute deal was made to raise the debt ceiling that involved mandatory spending cuts to take effect today. Among others, cuts to social programs that the Democrats love and cuts to defense that the Republicans love. Sounds pretty straight forward, doesn’t it?

It was a  deal that was supposed to scare each side so much that they would surely reach an agreement rather than let these cuts go into effect. Let’s look at some numbers. We have a national debt of around 16 TRILLION dollars. The cuts are 85 BILLION dollars.. Annual budget of around 3.6 TRILLION dollars. This frightening cut represents cutting the annual spending by a whopping 2.4%. If your annual household budget is 50 Thousand dollars this would represent a cut of 1200 dollars. Your debt equivalent to the national debt would be 220 Thousand dollars. Let’s call this credit card debt.

So, the question in its simplist form. Would you be willing to cut your expenses by $1200 a year to pay off your CC debt rather than leave it for the kids to pay? I believe that most of us would say “Absolutely” to that question.

Of course this scenario is ridiculous on its face. Simple math indicates that even without taking into account interest, it would take 183 years to pay off this debt if we only reduce spending by 2.4%.  Obviously MUCH MORE SEVERE cuts would be necessary and/or you’d need to increase your annual income. In the case of a government that means taxes or depending, as we often do, on economic growth to increase the tax revenue, a chancy proposition at best.  Logically, both severe cuts and real tax increases are  necessary to get this problem under control. This is so obvious to most of us but the folks in our government just don’t seem to get it.

The administration adamantly wants to limit cuts to most programs. The Republicans are adamant that there can be no tax increases on anyone, wealthy or not. Something as simple as our defense budget is central to the argument about what cuts we can make. We spend more than the rest of the world combined on our defense, about 700 BILLION annually. One example of our bad policy is an aircraft called the F35 which was to be the fighter that would protect us in the event of another war. So far it has cost $400 Billlion in development and while some are in the field it is not yet operational as a fighter. Each plane, when finally operational, will cost around $100 million to build. With the advent of unmanned Drones it is likely that the F35 will die before it gets fully deployed. Oh yes, it’s usless against terrrorists or ICBM’s carrying nuclear weapons (N. Korea). The only good news is that part of the cost of this plane was spent here in the US providing jobs to our own citizens.

Completely eliminating social programs such as Head Start, WIC, and the like would not create enough revenue to pay for the F35 program. Which of these programs potentially being reduced represents what we want to separate us from the rest of the world? I hope we would like to be known as a country that values its citizens above all else. We denegrate the North Koreans for spending all their money on their army while their people go hungry!   Would eliminating such defense programs as this make us more vulnerable to the current threats? See the comment re ICBM’s and terrorists above.

Comments welcome. Thanks for reading.

The story that follows is just over a year old but today seems an appropriate day to share it with my friends. It appeared today in the Stanly News and Press, the Albemarle local newspaper, with other similar stories. This one of course is about my beautiful wife and me and was the first step in my trip to this Web page and the writing I am enjoying so very much. I hope you enjoy it, as well.

Another event of note. Those of you that enjoyed my short story The Egg Gathering Incident will be pleased to know that it won first prize in a Short Story contest and will appear this summer in a ebook and print book anthology of short stories. I will let you know where you can get a copy when it becomes available.

AT LAST A CRUISE

At long last, after nearly thirty five years of debate, we were headed toward Charleston to depart on a Caribbean Cruise, headed to Key West followed by two days in the Bahamas. I have to admit I was the reluctant member of this family, having always felt that boats were for fishing and knowing I had no rods long enough to fish off such a high deck as this cruise ship promised to have. As we approached the dock I reflected, thinking back on how we had arrived at this point in our lives.

Several months before, I’d started working part time in anticipation of my impending retirement and had quickly realized that being home four days a week was better than being home two days a week, at least for me. I did, however, realize that everything was not one hundred percent perfect. My wife and I had found, over thirty five years of marriage, that we’d drifted further and further apart, as I believe most couples do. Without expressing it aloud, we both feared that if I retired completely we might find that we’d be unable to enjoy constantly being together. We found ourselves spending every evening in separate  rooms, hypnotized by the ever present television while enjoying no intimacy at all. We were simply going through the motions of marriage, waiting for whatever was to happen. I’d finally agreed to go on the cruise in hopes that it would rekindle our feelings and clarify what the next step in our lives was to be.

We walked up the ramp boarding the ship side by side without touching, both anxious to see what this short trip would bring for us. We were soon settled into the stateroom and after that decided to check out the food that cruise ships are so famous for. After a great meal, eaten mostly in silence, we returned to our room and retired for the night.

Our first port of call was Key West where we were scheduled to take an excursion bus on a tour of the area, visiting the local sites. We passed Ernest Hemingway’s home complete with six toed cats, Margaritaville without Jimmy Buffet but with lots of tequila, walked past million dollar homes that were at best shacks, in short we saw the whole of Key West that a tourist sees. Knowing no one on the bus we found it convenient to talk to each other and before long we were conversing more openly than we had in years. That evening we returned to the ship tired but happy, as I recall.

Morning comes beautifully on a cruise ship and this one was no disappointment. We woke up early and went to the deck railing to watch as the ship arrived in Freeport.  Again we were scheduled to take a bus ride about the island, visit the typical tourist spots and to shop, of course. As the day progressed I began to realize that this lovely woman walking beside me was not only beautiful but full of insightful comments about our surroundings. She entertained me all day with her observations of the scenery and the unusual people in the crowds we were with.

By the time we returned to the ship I was feeling a bounce in my step that had been missing for too long and beginning to see my lovely bride of so many years ago resurrected in this woman I was with.

That was the evening of the dress up meal scheduled periodically on a cruise ship but we’d decided to forgo this because I had no real dress clothes with me as I’d conveniently forgotten to bring them. To my surprise my bride suggested that we go dressed as we had each evening in very casual clothes and brazen our way into the dining room. You’d have to know her to realize how very out of character this was and I was thrilled that she suggested it and immediately agreed, after all, as she’d said, “What could they do but say no?”

When we arrived at the dining room entrance the maître d listened intently as my wife explained our dilemma and immediately escorted us to a secluded table passing by all the tuxedos and ball gowns, all the while smiling down at her with a mischievous gleam in his eye. I followed proudly.

The next day we arrived at our last port of call, Nassau, and departed early for an island tour followed by several hours of free time for shopping. Hand in hand we walked down the ramp into town and for the entire morning we walked, talked, basically enjoying each other, until after a meal in a local bistro we decided that we’d seen enough of Nassau. As we walked slowly back I turned and asked this woman I’d been with constantly for the last several days the question that was burning in my mind.

“Do you think we could stand this togetherness full time for the rest of our lives?”

She raised her head slowly, looked me in the eyes, nodded, kissed me, and putting her hand in mine led me down the hall to our stateroom.

You know what they always say about cruise ships being romantic. Well, it’s very true.  By the way, as soon as I went back to work I gave my boss notice of my impending retirement and am now pursuing a career from home and enjoying the company of the love of my life. I’m writing novels, but that’s another story.

Ten years ago today the world was reminded of the basic fact that exploration outside this thin envelope of an atmosphere on Earth is a very dangerous thing. STS 107 was the 113th expedition of an American Space Shuttle into outer space. Of course we all know that it was not the first tragedy in space. Our own Shuttle Challenger and at least several Soviet vehicles had encountered tragedy while exploring the near earth part of space.

I feel  rather strongly about out space program because I had the privilige of being involved in the Apollo Program in 1968 through 1970 in a peripheral role. I and many other GI’s were trained and held responsible  for maintaining the ground tracking equipment  that allowed the Apollo spacecraft to communicate data and voice to the Houston gound control site. Just working at Cape Kennedy and being involved on the support team at Patrick Air Force Base was a wonderful experience.  What a thrill for a 20 year old to hear the astronauts voices live as they talked back and forth to the ground. Standing at our Lab and watching the Saturn 5 rocket climb slowly into the sky was one of the thrills of my life. Being there was so much more than seeing pictures on the TV. On a more somber note I also experienced the panic the world felt during Apollo 13 and its near disaster, but in that case being there meant I was much more fearful and aware of the tremendous danger as the event unfolded.

I feel for the many folks involved in the Columbia flight as their reminisces must be as painful as mine are thrilling. Let’s all consider how dangerous and also how thrilling and valuable space exploration can be as we think of the seven brave astronauts who died ten years ago today. Their contribution MUST never be forgotten.

Welcome to the year 2013. I had vowed not to get too much into politics and will try to hold that line but I just have to make a couple of observations about this new year. I am no expert by any means and choose only to logically discuss what happened at the last minute to prevent us going over a “fiscal cliff”.  Everyone knows by now that the part of the 2% making over $400K per year had an income tax rate increase (or removal of a tax reduction, not much difference I can see) and were thus asked to sacrifice a bit for the common good, something I feel is in the best interest of the country as a whole. Less affluent folks will have a bit more money and as usual will spend it thus boosting our economy as well as that of the folks who make most of what we buy including among many others, China and Japan.

But not as much is being made by the media, at least as far as I can see, about the Social Security tax being raised back to the level it was before 2011. For the last two years the income of folks was taxed at a 2% lower rate for the first $110K of their income. This of course affected everyone who receives a salary but the effect is obviously more on a person making $110k as compared to someone making $1,100,000 as a percentage of their total income.  Simple math says both idividuals would see the same increase in their Fica tax.

Without being too socialist, is it fair, as we try to dig our way out  of this debt crisis, that a person earning $55K per year have an increase of $1100 to Social Security and a person earning $1,100,000 or 20 times as much only has an increase of  $2,200? If we were in a sinking ship no one would hesitate to ask the stronger individuals to help more, sacrifice more, contribute more. In this situation those individuals who are stronger would not hesitate to meet the needs of the weaker. Sadly, it appears not the case for now in our country.

Briefly on spending. WE MUST REDUCE SPENDING. Tax breaks to big business, farm subsidies, unearned federal support such as false disability claims, Medicaid and medicare fraud, Social Security payments to very wealthy older folks, and so forth must be dealt with but we MUST also consider reducing the size of our military and making what remains more efficient. NUFF SAID!!

Off the Soap Box: You will notice a new short story on the short story page. I hope you enjoy it. Also the E book is now available on Barnes and Noble. Please just search Larry Hunter on their site and enjoy the book as well.  Thanks for reading and your comments are welcome.

As we sit here on the eve of  2013 I find myself reflecting on the year as many of us are. Lots of good things happened this year, not the least of which is that the world didn’t end as predicted. Middle eastern wars are diminishing, at least for the US, we may see the light at the end of the fiscal tunnel and the cliff we are about to go over appears to have a fairly safe path back up, if you believe the media.

I feel better personally for my peers because I see evidence of economic confidence in the little things.  My neighbors are painting their houses, getting new roofs, paving driveways, installing new appliances, and in general doing those things you do when you know you’re staying in your house a long time and not about to lose your job. Homes that have sat empty with For Sale signs out front are showing activity as new owners are taking over.  I believe that times are getting better, for now, and will continue to do so in the future if we all work at it.

Horrible events like the school shootings and other mass murders in this country remind us that we have a ways to go to match other industrialized nations in balancing personal freedom with the common welfare, but I believe that a big step will be taken soon. The outrage in this country is just too great to allow the status quo to continue.

I wish each of you a Happy New Year today and thank you for reading my musings.  Remember this. This great country we live in will make it in spite of the inept leaders we continuously put in charge because in the final analysis it is a country run by the people and for the people.

The Mayan’s must have gotten it wrong, or at least it appears so.  We’re still here this morning. With all the fury of the Y2K date, December 21st is here and we passed another doomsday date. I wonder how many out there will admit to a little trepidation when they retired last evening. Even the most cynical of us probably had just a tiny worry about waking this morning.  The pronouncement about this apocalypse brought the Mayan civilization into the forefront for a time and hopefully the world is improved by learning about those folks. However, let’s all remember that while we admire their scientific prowess and progressive civilization with huge architechural accomplishments, all this was built on the labor of slaves, much as the Egyptian civilization. Without slave labor there isn’t enough free time for speculation or study of non profitable endeavors.

In today’s world, we must substitute technology for slave labor in order to allow ourselves the freedom to invent calenders, create great art, build useless but beautiful wonders, and enjoy the lives we are fortunate enough to have. If we use our technology for profitable things only, then future generations will not have our apocalyptic pronouncements and huge monuments like pyramids to make them remember us and will only remember us as the last of humanity to have clean air, oil, and “the good life”. Technology can be our salvation or our doom…..Have a great day!

How the Santa Claus mystery was solved:  When I was 5 years old Santa Claus was a big factor in my life in December.  In the absence of Television, nosy neighbors, and siblings close to my age I retained my total belief in Santa Claus as a gift deliverer.  At that time our house was not quite large enough for everyone to have their own bedroom so I was assigned to sleep on a small bed located in the large hall so common in homes of the early 20^th Century.  Now this was not just a narrow passage through the house but in fact a rather wide open area (to a 5 year old) that could be entered from almost every room in the house so was quite active during times when we had company.  This Christmas the family was gathered at our house.  My oldest Sister was recently married so her and her husband were there as well as my two other siblings (one brother and one sister) to enjoy Christmas Eve with family as was tradition.   As the baby of the family I was or tried to be the center of attention.  Without TV to distract us and numb our minds we were all involved in conversation and enjoyed being together.  But as I was the baby I was of course expected to retire early to fall asleep so Santa could come and visit me and the others.  Back to the Hall Bedroom situation.  Since we were all together and I was restless waiting for Santa it was decided that I should be put in my parent’s bedroom so I could calm down and sleep before they would carry me to my hall bedroom when everyone else retired.

I was told to go to my parent’s bedroom and reluctantly I agreed after some awful whining. When I entered the bedroom I was somewhat surprised to find a cowboy suit and dual six guns arranged on the bed that were exactly the ones I had asked Santa for and were in my size. Initially I was amazed at my good fortune in knowing I would soon have two cowboy suits, one from Santa and one apparently from my parents.  As I dressed in the suit off the bed I began to ponder this really strange turn of events and it gradually dawned on me why the suit was there.  Needless to say my belief in Santa was staggered as I realized what was happening.  About that time my mother, realizing the mistake in sending me to her bedroom ran in but my childhood fantasy was already wrecked. The distraught look on her face was actually frightening to a child and certainly unforgettable.  I believe this was the end of the fairy tales for me.  In retrospect this was when I began to develop the cynicism that is the mainstay of my personality today.  Loving parents and family made that evening a positive life lesson so in the end this was a good event.

Hello all you out there.  This is Larry and I’m just learning to use this Blog thing. I have some time now and so I’m going to try to put some materials on this page that interest me and will perhaps interest someone out there as well.  Also I’ill use this to communicate with the world about some fiction I have written after thinking about it for many years.  I will get to that later as the stories and novels become available on line.  So for now, Hello World and keep looking here for more as I learn more about how it all works.