PROJECT MILLIONAIRE

2010-01-22T09:34:00.001-06:00

Well I have finally done it. I have decided to realese my novel as an ebook. and it is available thru lulu.com please click on the link to go check it out and purchase it.

The Eagle Has Landed

2009-07-20T17:02:00.002-05:00

40 years ago Americans celebrated the lunar landing, a feat that crowned us as a true Superpower. We put a man on the moon, and we did with less technology then resides in your cell phone, infact your cell phone is a direct result of the space program... think about it for a minute. Your home computer has more computing power then the entire mainframe system used to put a man not only on the moon, but brought them back safely not once but multiple times.
It is this American Spirit that we need to recapture, reharness and reapply. We Americans have achieved greatness, and we need to continue to strive for even greater glory. We dare not sit back and rest on our luarels of pat achievement. We must look forward to the next horizon the next mountain and conquer it.
As we tend to do we think that the previous generation had it easier, they had a better chance at the American Dream. We must find in ourselves the motivation to go out and become great. We talk about the cost being to high, and it will be expensive. Greatness always has a cost, be it physical, financial, or otherwise. We must spend the capital, and not just the the money, but expend the energy, and time and focus on what must be done to achieve new found greatness. I am not talking of the simple; going to Mars is simply a matter of national will, and spending hundreds of billions of taxpayers dollars. Yes we would find rewards and most likely the endeavor would pay for itself over the long hual. But what this Nation, what this planet need to do is look at what is a higher achievement and how to go about achieving it.
I think a higher goal we ought to look at is showing others how to be free. Free in the most basic of ways. Free from tyrany, freedom from suffering, free to persue whatever goals an individual wants to achieve and free to make a living at what will reward themselve the most. rewards, including financial freedom, and the ability to have a personal fulfillment. The ability to make decisions that directly impact thier own future.
We have this ability in America, it needs to be accessible to all. I am not for a one world government, or a planetary coalition that dictates from an oligarchy of a priviliged few. Nor am I asking the US to go into the 3rd world contries and set up satelite nation-states. Freedom must come from within and start at the bottom and spread throughout the organism It must consume those who believe in it enough to die for it. We need to support this where-ever it starts but we must defend ours with jealously, we must fight and oppose any who would try to steal what we so painfully and so dearly paid for.
We have to go and reach for further and brighter stars and find a way to grasp them and hold them. We can do this easier, and cheaper with allies then with enemies. I also believe the future of mankind is the stars, we must look to the future with hope and not fear, we must look at the opportunity with clarity. Our planet is getting to small to hold us, our technology and aspirations, and simple human nature demands we explore whats out there. we need more room for our children and grandchildren to spread out and be free.

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T09:18:00.002-05:00

Have a safe and happy Independence day, as its officially named

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ETrr-XHBjE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J13dbF2FCSsWe Americans take for granted the freedoms we have, we forget too soon the sacrifices that were made to give them to us. We ridicule and reject the efforts by those who risk their liberty and life to preserve ours. Today I would like everyone to sit for a brief time and pause and reflect on what it means to be an American, the freedom we as a nation, and enjoy. Consider for a moment what was required to bring it about, and what will be required to keep it. We need to thank God for His mercy on this nation. We need to pray for the leader of this nation. Pray for wisdom, pray for strength and guidance, and above all pray for God to do His work through them. I know I haven't made a big effort to bring religion into this blog before. I admit I believe a persons religion is his/her own private affair. So please indulge me for a moment, while I have the soapbox. This country was built on the premise of finding a place to establish as a homeland for religious expression of all kinds. This is unique in the human experience, most countries have a religion most may tolerate a minority of people following another, few will be easy with any and all. We as Americans not only tolerate any/all we encourage and allow this minorities flourish and grow, even if they seem weird to the mainstream. Yes we can all cite examples of persecution ( Waco and David Koresh come to mind.) But as whole this country allows any form of expression including those who would try to ban all references to God.This county allows individuals to realize their dreams, all you have to do is go out and work hard. Success is easy in this country just go out and try it, work hard and use common sense success will happen. This nation doesn't care if you were born with the richest parents in the world, or to the poorest single mother in the inner city. All have an equal chance to make a success of themselves. You are not regulated to the station you were born into, upward mobility and the freedom to achieve greatness is why we still have millions trying to get into our country every year. Immigration (legal) is the backbone of our society. Ask anyone who has been in this country less then 3 years why they came to America, they always give the same answers: Freedom, Opportunity, the chance to make a better life for my children ,freedom from oppression and tyranny. So as you eat your BBQ and watch the fireworks, as you listen to the Freedom Fest concerts. stop and think of the Great blessings we as Americas enjoy. Then sit and consider that those freedoms were bought and paid for my everyday citizens like yourself, who decided to commit to the welfare of their families,friends and neighbors and fought and died for this great nation we call the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.

Watch and listen to this It will make you smile

2009-07-01T17:04:00.004-05:00

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741

If the link doesn't work copy and paste it into your browser address line..

Project Millionaire Update .... I have reached Step 7 I now have 65.00
I am now looking at what investments will get me to step 8 130.00

I am thinking of investing in Penny Stocks. Penny stocks, actually are listed on the OTC ( over the counter) because of their volatility (swings between extreme highs, and extreme lows) are not for the faint of heart. They have an inherently high risk factor. Having said they they can be a good vehicle for quick stock profits. The downside risk of losing your entire investment when weighed against the entry into the stock at low costs, mean that even if you do lose everything, the loss is usually minimal. However when these stocks go up the gains they post is generally quite good, sometimes allowing for for double or triple you initial investment.. You should keep very close attention to these stocks and sell when the opportunity presents itself, in general I would not recommend these in a buy and hold strategy. They generally take a long time to become consistent and stable producers of long term growth. But for simple stock flips they can be fun to play with, and losing your shirt is not going to ruin you financially.
For all of these reasons, I find penny stocks very exciting and I enjoy watching them go up and down and calculating the what if's game. So now I will attempt to do it with real money and see if i am as good as I keep telling myself I am. I will see if I can turn What if into I did. so in the upcoming week or so I Will create an account on one of the flat fee trading sites and deposit my Project Millionaire money into it and start looking for a couple of good stocks and see what happens.
Disclaimer: the above is for informational and educational, and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as, either an offer for nor qualified financial advice, I am not giving, nor do i offer qualified financial advise or services. Before making any investment you should seek the advise of a qualified, licensed financial consultant. and should talk to them concerning your personal financial situation as well as your goals and strategies, as well as risks and benefits that are inherent to stocks and other investments.

My lawyer made me say this. he worries, that if I continue with this blog, and do the impossible; ( his words) others may try to emulate me. If they try the same things that worked for me, and the same thing doesn't work for them, I might be sued. Personally I am not to worried about that. But I agree it is better to be safe rather then sorry . So I will give you another bit of advice. Find a good attorney and make them a friend, then they will give you unsolicited advice as well. When they casually tell you "you could be sued." answer with complete shock why, and then follow the advice even if you think its dumb.

Wow lots of changes.

2009-06-24T10:03:00.003-05:00

Well as you can see I have changed the Title and the look and feel of the blog, hopefully this will make it easier to navigate and participate. I have a new links section entitled Millionaires Club. If you decide to follow the ch allege of turning found money into a million dollars and would like to link your blog to mine email me the link and I will add you to the list. As for an update on Project Millionaire, I have 30.00 USD, and approximately 30.00 in inventory: cheap items I bought that I am trying to resell at a fair markup. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that my investment will double this time. But I am not going to give up. I have an AFFILIATE PROGRAM you can join and make RESIDUAL INCOME. Which is today's term. Residual income is the ability to make money, whether you are present or not, the most common type of residual income is a rental property. It produces a monthly income every month. The beauty of residual income is you make a purchase once, but continue to receive payments as long as you hold the property. Well this affiliate program allows you make income off of the work of others, simply by directing traffic to a website and facilitating a purchase, for this you get a commission and you will receive a commission on every sale that is made by click-thru links and ads you put up on your website. This I hope will be an additional source of revenue for Project Millionaire. if you would like more information click here http://www.replicadollars.com/affiliate_program/afflink.php?id=201
This will explain everything. AS for me I am currently looking for my next deal and am eagerly awaiting some auctions to close to see if I can enlarge my stake and make it to the 6th step. Please come back often to check for updates...

A LIST OF NEW TAXES SINCE JAN 20 2009

2009-06-12T10:18:00.009-05:00

US government to tax company cell phones at 25% for personal use. (Unless user can prove no personal use occurred while on company time:THIS HAS JUST BEEN INTRODUCED)
Read this passage in the Wall Street Journal. www.online.wsj.com/article/SB124473141538306335.html

Obama wants to limit the ability of high income earners and the amount they can give to charity, and still receive a tax deduction for. This will hurt many non-profits as they get the majority of their donations from those with higher incomes.

Read this article from the Heritage Foundation
www.heritage.org/Research/Religion/bg2258.cfm

AMMO TAX conflicting reports but estimated to be at 500 % increase in the cost of ammo, plus the big brother component of serializing each round and linking them to buyer and determining how much and in what calibers you own( ie the ability to determine what types of firearm you have that may not already be on federal registries somehow. (NO YET PASSED BUT IS SERIOUSLY BEING STUDIED) This may not be real, but the effect is many areas are reporting shortages of ammo due to the perceived threat of an increase to the price of ammunition. so now it costs more to buy due the law of supply and demand. in essence a DE FACTO TAX on ammo

TAX Health care Benefits as income: Take your company provided health care and then declare it DE FACTO income even if you can't spend it, you get it now you must pay taxes on it(NOTE HASN'T PASSED YET)

www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/politics/15health.html

Carbon Tax tax the carbon dioxide emissions.
www.my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/planetEarth/CGxhF Barack Obama's own words

Warrens Buffets rebuttal
read here for more information
www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_01/010604.php

OBAMA/WAXMAN FAST TRACK CARBON TAX
www.politics.com/news/10802/obamawaxman-fast-track-carbon-tax

EXCESSIVE AND OVERLY PENALIZING ACCOUNTING MEASURES
Business would have to verify Taxpayer Information Numbers (TINs) of contractors and withhold taxes when they can't be verified. This is a stunner. Let's go through the steps of this new proposal from Treasury, which applies to all businesses. 1) Jane's Nursery, a small business, has to determine whether or not a contractor--say the mulch supplier--was paid more than $600. (Presumably Jane will not have to determine whether or not the mulch supplier is a corporation because of the other changes in law discussed above.) Alternatively, if the small business can't get a valid TIN from the contractor, then 3b) Jane now withholds payments at a flat-rate percentage. 4b) Jane's accountant has to establish an accounting for this withholding. 5b) Jane remits these funds to the IRS. Of course, if there is no TIN provided, the IRS will not be able to associate the payment it receives with the taxpayer. In addition, the mulch supplier, if he has trouble putting aside money for his tax payments, can demand Jane set up withholding for him.

Quite frankly, this burdensome TIN proposal must have been dreamed up by someone whose only involvement and knowledge of small business comes from buying their soy latte in the morning. I find it difficult to believe that the burden on small business (not to mention the cost of the IRS to administer) is justified by the roughly $80 million dollars per year that Treasury optimistically claims this will raise in revenues. Congress needs to sharpen its pencils and do its own cost-benefit analysis on this and all the information proposals. Proposed start date for TIN verification: Jan. 1, 2010.

2) Jane next demands/receives the TIN of the mulch supplier. If Jane gets a TIN and a name, then 3a) Jane (or more likely her accountant) contacts the IRS to verify the contractor's TIN. 4a) The IRS discloses to Jane's accountant whether the TIN and name match. 5a) If the TIN and name match, Jane can make a payment for the mulch. 6a) Jane or her accountant issues a 1099 to the IRS.

All this to say this we need to start to take the government of the people for the people back and put it in control by the people. Join me and support your local tea party on JULY 4, 2009 and lets take back the government and it's out of control spending wasteful policies and excessive taxes. We need to start now or we will lose it all we have a very good chance to make those in congress and in leadership listen to our demands, but that time will slip away if we stand on the sideline and do nothing. Get involved get motivated get busy and then lets get it done. go to this link for more information about your area and where you can attend a local TEA PARTY. http://www.teapartyday.com/

YES SOMEONE IN CONGRESS GETS IT

2009-06-08T21:18:00.002-05:00

Its about time we get someone with some guts, and honesty in the Congress. I hope that this continues to bring about REAL CHANGE to the way the government goes about its business.

Project Millionaire Update

2009-06-07T16:41:00.004-05:00

Okay I have made two significant milestones in the Project Millionaire journey.
(for more information see my previous posts on this subject)
The first is that I doubled my stake to 32.00 dollars. The second is i have made a purchase that I hope to be able to resell for a bit better then double my money, not to be greedy, but to better utillize my earnings. This purchase required my entire stake, so I am a bit nervous and apprehensive, about its outcome. I do believe I will be able to turn it into a successful transaction. I decided against the used book idea, mainly because I did not see anything i thought would have significant resale value. This current venture holds more promise, seeing as the low price per unit versus the expected ROI (return on investment) ROI, rate of profit or sometimes just return, is the ratio of money gained or lost (whether realized or unrealized) on an investment relative to the amount of money invested. The amount of money gained or lost may be referred to as interest, profit/loss, gain/loss, or net income/loss. The money invested may be referred to as the asset, capital, principal, or the cost basis of the investment. ROI is usually expressed as a percentage rather than a fraction. To simpify ROI is a financial term meaning what you recieve compared to what you spend. I am going to try to put in a financial term in each new Project millionaire Update for two reasons: 1st is it is important to know that the investment and financial world has its own language, and if you don't know it you can't play thier game. I will always give you the common accepted definition and then make a plain english version that will be easy to understand. (this way you can have both terms and play the game. The 2ndreason is because, remember when we get to ever higher increases in dollar amounts the complexities of investing our stake will increase. Wth that increased difficulty the amount of financial jargon terms that will need to be understood can become daunting to those who don't have experience in this arena. The reason I chose ROI is because it is the most important in any venture, the expected profit must be greater then all costs of doing business and taxes and other issues to make the investment, or expenditure worthwhile. If you know that item X will sell for 3 times what you buy it for then you can determine if it is a good investment of your money. But if you know that you will have to pay shipping and handling and you may have to pay customs fees and other tax, you may have to decide that 3 times is not high enough you may have to a) increase the selling price. or B) see if a bulk discount is available usually the cost of an object will go down with an increase in the number of items purchased. Or C) decide that this is not the right choice at this time to invest into. This can be the most important decision you make. Sometimes the decision not to make a purchase is just as important as the the one to go ahead and spend the money.

watch this

2009-06-04T09:08:00.004-05:00

Watch this Clip of the Speech.

Do we really believe that the US and the Muslim nations of the world truly overlap in our beliefs? Is Islam a tolerant religion, let me think .... the Qua'ran says that you should KILL any infidel ( read unbeliever. . That doesn't sound tolerant... Osama Bin Ladin masterminded the September 11, attack on the world trade center. Because he believes the United States was a morally corrupt nation, and spread its corrupt values the world over. Saddam Hussein killed millions of Kurds because they didn't believe as he thought they should, so lets throw tolerant right out the window.
Justice? Iran, a nation based completely on Sharia law ( they use the Qua'ran as the onlybasis for law) has publicly stated its goals to destroy the west (US) and to remove from the face of the earth the Nation of Israel, which Abidjan has stated has no right to exist. Sharia Law has some extreme notions of justice. It states that the female victim of rape must be punished, for she obviously acted inappropriately. Is that a system of justice we should emulate? we know all about public executions, and the removal of hands for theft and such, so think do these practices sound like a system of justice you want to be a party too? Lets look at mutual interest and respect and dignity of all human beings. Mutual interest, oh he's talking about OIL So is he saying we still are willing to be dependant on foreign oil, or that oil is important to the Middle East. Mutual respect for all human beings, as long as they aren't Jewish. He said that the middle east has to accept the fact the Israel is there, and then he says that Israel has to accept a Palestinian State. Why? why must Israel give up its security and its land to give people, that even the rest of the middle eastern states will allow to emigrate to their countries, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Cypress, Lebanon and even Iran have stated they don't want these people coming to live in their back yard. So why must Israel make the concession of losing its lands to create a state for these traditionally nomadic and stateless peoples who propigate terrorism world wide? Thats NOT SO RESPECTFUL if you ask me.

Islam is a part of America ?
maybe it is.... a very small part. I know there is an estimates 6 or 7 million Muslims in the US(http://www.blackvoices.com/black_news/muslims-in-america/articles/_a/who-are-americas-black-muslims/20061017155709990002) (source cited)
but this is not even enough to begin to quantify America as a large Muslim country as President Obama went on to say in his speech. Over 224 million people claim to be christian in the US.
http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html (source cited.) if you look at the graph on the site you will see that Muslim is not too well represented. I think that proves our president to be misinformed at best and a pandering mouthpiece at worst.
What he says about the United States at the end of this clip, is true, of the us, but we will never get a reciprocal response from any Muslim nation. The reason is simplicity itself, they don't hold to the beliefs the we hold to self evident; "THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL AND ENDOWED BY THIER CREATOR UNALIABLE RIGHTS AND AMONG THESE ARE THE RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS."

Later on in his speech President Obama went on to talk about how America is going to continue to initiate measure to go green and use less oil and through technology advances help other countries do the same thing... well in speaking to the middle east and telling them " Oh and by the way, we are going to stop buying your products, and we are going to help other nations do the same thing, is like saying we are going to bankrupt you.... (You got to love this, talk about commen intrests now...) but wait it gets better. In a domestic move Obama and the Democratic leaders in congress are trying to put a halt to all offshore drilling and, substantially reducing the area that can be drilled onshore, this move which is part of the Clean Energy Bill Of 2009, if passed will bring back 5.00 a gallon gasoline prices ( or higher) . It will send your energy bills for heating and cooling, and lighting into orbit. don't live in MN WS IA in the winter don't live in TX, CO, NM, AZ in the summer. You won't be able to afford it.
Drilling for oil is a dirty word to the Liberals of this country. They believe that energy should be saved ( not conserved, they want it stopped being used period, it creates global disorder.) instead they want electric cars, forgetting of course that most electricty comes from coal fired natrual gas generation units. This is because these are the most effecient and effective, and surprissingly the cheapest, way to create electricty ( although I would like to see nuclear power plants) I think they can be even more effecient and effective if some commen sense would be utilized. ( but that is a story for another day.)

I Want a Free Home Please!!!!

2009-06-03T13:20:00.003-05:00

President Obama is going to virtually give away homes, for the incredibly low price of 5.00 that's right a picture of honest Abe will buy you a home in New Orleans.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060203897.html?g=0 He has decided that this is the only way to treat the problems and ensure that everyone is treated fairly. saying that no one will be thrown out into the street.
Now if memory serves me, aren't these the same homes that were uninhabitable under the Bush administration, weren't these considered to be substandard by the the highly vocal critics of President Bush, and they were not even allowed to be moved into by many, because of formaldehyde levels that exceeded OSHA's levels of safety(an issue for another day, this is a chemicle by-product of the manufacturing process, as anyone who as ever own a mobile home or RV will attest to.) But now these same condemned homes are perfectly suitable to be given away to the residents of New Orleans, to be used as political payoff to make us all think that Obama is solving a large need for those people.
I don't understand it, why do these people deserve free houses? Why do they get the benifit( however slightly) of a government payoff because a hurricane came through and nearly wiped them off the face of the map? Please... due to the ineptness of the state and local officials in Louisanna, which had plenty of time to do the intelligent thing, but decided to do nothing, then expected the federal government to simply step in and take the risk and blame for a physical inability to evacute the now flooded population, the city suffered, the citizens suffered and yes the were tragically deaths that resulted for this behavior. But where does the Constitution state the government now must provide ( for life) free housing? Why must I struggle and pinch and cut my budget so I can have a house and now the government decides one class of individuals need not do anything, they will get essentially a free home.
Now I know many of you are saying that these are "trailer homes" and manufactured homes, are nothing to brag about. and you may have a point. But lets go to the next step of this scenario. What if the federal government decided that all foreclosed properties, no matter the reason for forfeiture or the actual value of the property, were now going to be given to homeless individuals, on a first come first serve basis. How many people would become homeless to get a free home? How many people would find a way to get in line for this idea? How many politicians would expand the program to include section 8 housing? After all, they would argue, many of the section 8 housing is substandard living, and then they would blame greedy property owners and property managers for not spending enough on repairs and maintenance. (Leave aside any arguments for residents who destroy the dwelling, due to not reporting problems in a timely manner, and letting issues escalate until they become excessively expensive, Or simply don't care.) This scenario is not too far fetched given the decision made today by the president. I caution people looking for a free hand out, many times the hand reaching out, especially when it is the government, is looking to shackle the hand reaching back. In this case the Obama "giverment" is giving a free FEMA home. Tomorrow it maybe your home or your neighbor's home, who after driven by a bad economy was forced into foreclosure. Why would the banks be willing to help when they know the government will guarantee the note? I hope we don't allow our sense of wanting to help those who are less fortunate they we, to cloud our judgement and accept that governement is the answer to every problem big or small there is plenty of ways to help, but this is unfair to everyone who has ever worked to buy a home.

Project Millionaire Update!!

2009-06-02T18:48:00.002-05:00

I have amassed 20 dollars which means iam at step 4. I am now trying to get to step 5 which is 32 dollars and am close to closing in on that goal 12 dollars away... I am going to go to my local library, they are having a book sale, where they sell thier older books to raise money to buy new books. I intend to find a couple of bargins and resell them on ebay. Wish me luck, or better yet buy a couple of books

V.A.T (Value Added Tax) or a National Sales Tax

2009-05-29T08:02:00.005-05:00

Wow, talk about something we don't need. The idea of having to pay an additional 10 or 20 percent on top the price of everything you buy, is now being thrown about in Washington. It's being touted as the answer to the burgeoning debt, and as a cure-all to finance a socialized health care plan, like those found in Canada and Europe. What will we get from this new tax? Imagine having a monthly budget for food and utilities and gasoline. All of these will be impacted by this new tax. Not only will this VAT be paid at every level throughout the production, and retail cycle, it will especially hurt the end user( read consumer)This tax will be on food, gasoline, tobacco products, automobiles, and it would include any services provide, ( think lawyers, or service industry, think airline tickets.) It would even be included into the purchase price of the home you want to buy. This type of tax if it were to be implemented as a stand alone tax, could have had an argument made for it. But as an additional tax to your income, state, county, local and school tax will instead end up further hurting any economic recovery that we are/will experience in the near future. There is no guarantee that there will be a ceiling on this tax, and just like the income tax it could end up skyrocketing. Long term it will cause even more people to find ways around paying taxes. They will try to sell goods without declaring sales. It will create an underground for products and goods, creating a new class of criminal. click here for an opposing view go here http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/26/AR2009052602909.html

Project Millionaire: update

2009-05-28T17:40:00.001-05:00

I have reached step 2 . I have doubled my dollar and now have two dollars. So now I am working on step 3. I have 2.50 and would like ideas for how I could double this amount any ideas will be evaluated. Please leave comments, and let's start a discussion.

Million Dollar Idea

2009-05-26T10:26:00.001-05:00

I got this idea from http://www.milliondollardime.com/ you can go there for complete rules and whatnot. I found a dollar in change. 2 quarters and 5 dimes, so this will be my seed money

The premise of this idea is basically to change change into a million dollars.... crazy, unthinkable.... a wonderful challange...
basically you must double your seed money at every step until you have a million dollars.

step one find your seed money any coin you find. I was lucky and found a dollar to start my seed money with..

Step 2 $2.00 step 3 $4.00 step 4 $8.00 step 5 $16.00 step 6 $32.00 step 7 $64.00 step 8 $128 step 9 $256 step 10 $512 step 11 $1,024 step12 $2,04 8 step 13 $4,096 step 14 $8,192 step 15 $16,384. step 16 $3,2768 step 17 $65,536 step 18 131,072 step 19 $262,144 step 20 $524,288

step 21 $1,048,576.00 this is my goal....... 21 steps to becoming a millionaire..... I will keep you informed and I will tell you how I was able to make each step goal a reality....
I hope this challenges you to try the same...
but there are some rules to go with this challenge

The Rules: Our Wealth Building Program

2009-03-05T23:41:00.000-06:00

Boy I wish I'd wrote this but I didn't... But I agree with it totally.

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists et al:We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.
Here is a model separation agreement:Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.
You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them).
We'll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .
You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N.. but we will no longer be paying the bill.
We'll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find. You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right.
We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute Imagine, I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World.
We'll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag. Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 15 years..

Sincerely, John J. WallLaw Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Barbara Streisand & Jane Fonda with you.

This is something I would support

2009-02-25T16:09:00.000-06:00

I am a conservative, notice I did not say REPUBLICAN, nor did I say LIBERTARIAN, I am simply a conservative, who believes that the constitution is the law of the land. I believe in limits the powers of the federal government; and by way of the 10th admedment, gives all unspecified rights to the states ( and by proxy the people of the those several states) so check out this linkhttp://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h25/text and discuss how this would help our bottom lines...

Eagle in The Wind

2009-02-25T16:01:00.000-06:00

This is a story I started to write before 9/11 2001. After the tragic events of that day I decided I could not continue on with the story, I will finish this at some point, in fact I have actually looked at going back and doing this recently. I guess I am waiting for the proper inspiration ( or at least that's what I keep telling myself... enjoy and tell me what you think.

Chapter One

Asad was looking out the window, thinking of his duties, both his normal every day on the job ones, if you can

consider being a secret service agent a regular job. But his thoughts were more centered on his duties to Allah

and in turn to The Organization, that’s how he thought of the terrorist group known as ريح مقدّسة which is translated roughly as the Divine Wind, or Allah’s Divine Wind. He was sworn to secrecy, he could never reveal who his associates within the organization are, to do so would mean death. They even went so far as to place a post hypnotic suggestion that if he ever revealed the name of the organization it would trigger him to commit suicide. If all went as planned tonight, it would trigger the end of the arrogant infidels, the United States would crumble and fall into the abyss of history. That would be the result and if all went as planned… anarchy that was the ultimate desire. It would be over in an instant, but the effects would last forever. Everything was in place everything checked and double checked and every contingency had been thought of and a counter had been devised. Nothing would go wrong, for if it did more then his career or his life was in jeopardy, indeed his own eternal soul would be forfeit. Alas not being rewarded for his efforts would be bad enough, but to be denied entry into Paradise would mean eternal death.

Asad Ahmad Massoud , born Joseph Anderson, had been planning for this day and working toward this goal for half a lifetime. He grew up in a middle class family in a middle class neighborhood. With a Protestant up bringing, learning about Jesus and heaven and Satan and hell in Sunday School. He played baseball in the summer and ice hockey in the winter. Just like all the other kids. Everything was fine until high school. It was there he learned about the Muslim faith of Islam, it was in sociology class. He became very interested in the subject, later he took philosophy and religious studies, a course that claimed to give an unbiased look at the major religions of the world. Islam spoke to his need for physical outlet, and his nature of strength, versus weakness. He had always thought forgiveness was given to easily to be useful. He wanted more information and soon found a mosque nearby to his city; he invented a reason to be in the area one day, and dropped in. He was 16 and a junior in high school, looking like many others his age, what would he do with his life what would he become. The questions did not have answers, at first.

It was while attending this mosque, that he converted to Islam, and changed his name. Because this decision finally got a negative reaction from his parents, he was even more determined to go through with it. This made him even more determined to do it. Asad was a good student and a gifted athlete; he was popular and respected by both his peers and instructors alike. He decided he needed more instruction in Islam, so he joined the student exchange program, and went to Saudi Arabia his senior year, this was arranged through his local mosque along with a threat of a lawsuit from the ACLU, which insured the cooperation of the local school district. This was a victory for the liberal educators and the NEA. That is how he met and joined a secret fundamentalist splinter group of The Organization. He immersed himself in the Muslim way of life and studied the Koran, the only approved reading outside of his schooling.

He was also taught in the arts of war, it started simple, such as the proper use and care of a weapon, but by the end of his training, he could mold and make shaped explosive bombs. His favorite charge was plastic, or C-4 explosives. He also was schooled in biological terrorism and how make and distribute deadly bacteria, viruses, or nerve gases, to cripple an entire population. He accomplished all of this in only a year abroad. He wanted to join The Organization but was convinced by the leaders that he could be more useful to the cause by going back home and joining the military.

Each step along his career, his handlers had advised and approved of which path to take always exhorting that this was the will of Allah, or that this was the truest path to Paradise. Asad believed completely and without question, and in turn rewarded very well for holding to his new convictions. When he completed Annapolis Navel Academy, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the Navy. The Organization bought him a new Corvette, for this great milestone. He was able to explain this by simply attributing it as a gift from his family for his achievements. When he completed SEAL training, he received 150,000 in gold deposited in a Swiss bank account. When he left the Navy and was selected to join the Secret Service, they bought him a house. The gold was still there it was worth about a half -million dollars, and after this evening he would be a muti-millionaire, if he lived. That is why nothing must go wrong. He kept saying it wasn’t for the money, it was for the cause. Nevertheless, he liked the money. He liked it a lot.

Raymond Harrison had been up since 5 am. It was now 8:00 am and was going toward his office; it really was not his he kept reminding himself it belongs to the people. “Like Hell it does, I earned it. I slaved for it. Its mine by proxy at the very least!” Harrison thought aloud.

“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t quite catch that, what was it you wanted?” asked one of his many staffers.

“Oh nothing, just thinking out loud. On second thought there is one thing you can do, get Jason on the line for me, I need to see about tonight’s State of the Union Address. I need to know if the final draft is ready.”

“Yes sir, right away sir.”

Harrison entered the Oval Office and slumped into his chair behind the massive desk., He hated mornings and he hated speeches, especially the State of the Union Address. Hated it because it was all political hogwash and just the beginning of the arguments and arm twisting, to get any legislation through a congress controlled by the opposition party. He was elected to office by a clear majority, unfortunately the people decided that they were going to turn congress upside down. They elected 35 new senators and 204 new members of the house., kicking out nearly 50 percent of the incumbents This gave the Republicans control over both arms of congress, something that hadn’t happened in nearly thirty years. Jason Jefferys walked into the office and started to speak, but was broad-sided by Harrison.

“So is it done yet.” He boomed.

“We’re putting the finishing touches on as we speak sir.” Jason answered casually.

“Good I want the final draft on my desk by ten, so we can have any last minute changes completed by Noon. This is going to be one of my toughest speeches to date. It is going to be delivered to a hostile majority and an indifferent populace. This has got to be a wake up call, to get my budget approved. If this doesn’t do it, I might as well forget about a second term, and you will have to find a job in the real world Jason. So lets not strike out. Okay? Besides you have been in my employ since you were a college student ten years ago, you wouldn’t be able to get a job using my name as reference.”

“Don’t worry Chief we have a spectacular speech planned, and a very enthusiastic rally cry for the people to get behind remember a chicken in every pot? Well we have satellite internet connection for every child, a wonderful phrase, we can exploit for most any reason, including education, reducing teen pregnancy and even getting teens of the streets, reducing drug use and crime. All in all, a good ploy, and the Republicans have to go along with it. They already want to expand the rights of the people to get information and create sources to get training for new jobs, which this will do it will also help adult illiteracy by giving adults a way to go online and join online reading classes.”

“Okay but that’s only one point what about the rest? And remember the entire thing can not go more than 35 minutes long, the people get bored after that and change channels, I would rather have 35 minutes of attentive listeners, then an hour with no one tuning in.

“Yes sir we have taken that into account. But we still asked for a one hour block of time from the networks, taking account for applause and such.”

“wishful thinking.” Harrison replied.

Harrison looked at the stacks of paperwork on his desk, and then at the clock , 9:00 am already he thought.

“You may leave Jason, but remember 10: 00 am on my desk.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir.” And Jason walked out and closed the door behind him.

Harrison put is head on the desk and hands on his head and just thought about nothing for 15 minutes. Officially this was his busiest time of the day, from nine till noon he was supposed to be getting valuable work done in the name of the people. But recently more often then not he accomplished very little, it seemed he lacked the energy to do the peoples work, and wished the People did more of themselves. He secretly hoped he lost his re-election, after 3 years in office he had gained 35 pounds and lost about a third of his hair, and the hair that remained, was quickly going gray. He had liver spots on his hands, that he constantly was using blemish crème to make them less noticeable to the camera. Plus he hadn’t had a good nights sleep since before he started on the campaign trail. He hated being the President. But he loved the perks and the privileges of office. Just one more year, he could make it one more year, then maybe claim ill health as an excuse not to run. Only he had to run, the problems that would result from one party in control of all three branches would be catastrophic. He would be blamed. Some how they would find a way to blame him. That is why he had to win tonight. His budget would mean new jobs, better schools and more programs to help the elderly, and the poor. It would also solidify his bid for a second term, keeping them out for at least another four years and maybe the people would come to their senses, and sweep the democrats into at least a majority into one of the wings of congress.

Johanna Lennon was in her office bright and early, it was going to be a short day on the Hill. After all the State of the Union was going to be delivered by The Savior of the Democratic Party, she detested the man personally, but admired him professionally. He embodied everything she aspired to be in politics, but he was weakening, politically anyhow. He was already being called a Lame Duck by the more conservative members in congress, so new to their regaining of the reigns of power, they thought themselves unbeatable and maybe they were, but she was still here. Yes she remained a wild eyed, left- winged feminist, an environmental wacko. That’s what they called her. Secretly she agreed with them. She needed to be those things because so few remained. She was true to the cause of women’s rights issues, the cleaning of the environment, and the working poor in America. She stood up for those who could not stand up for themselves. She was one of a small number of Democrat incumbents still left on hill. She wanted to think it was because she was so effective at bringing the pork back home to California, or because she was Vice –Chairman(Chair-person) of the House ways and Means Committee. But whatever the reason she was still here and there was work to be done.
She got to her office and started to answer the messages that were left for her overnight, and then went over her acceptance speech for the award ceremony that was being given in her honor. She wanted to get a full days work done in half a day. She, as well as most of her staff had been coming down with the flu, that once again seemed to be making the rounds. Every year about this time at least 3 or 4 representatives offices were affected, mostly due to the close quarters and lack of adequate office space. This forced staffers to suffer from the quick spreading flu bug. This year it was her office, even she was experiencing the effects: nausea, elevated fever, a slight loss of appetite. She wanted to get some work done go home and rest until this evening. Then she would come back for the speech. Everything was going smoothly until about 9 am. It was then that announcement went over the public address system, “All personnel within the sound of this warning please evacuate the building. Please leave in an orderly fashion by using the emergency exits, this is not a drill. Repeat this is not a drill, please evacuate the building.”

So She got up grabbed her cell phone and a stack of papers, put them into her briefcase and headed out of the building. She followed the others coming from their offices and went out of the nearest emergency exit, fortunately it was merely down the hall from her office. When she got outside she saw the capitol police officers, they were instructing everyone to leave the area. And would not answer any questions concerning the reason for the evacuation. At that moment the Bomb squad and SWAT teams started to arrive on site. She knew it must be a bomb scare.

It was a toss up as to who arrived on the scene first, the press or the Bomb Disposal Team. Each was trying to do its job. The bomb squad won the day enforcing a perimeter that ensured no pictures were going to be taken of the area. Thus regulating the press to mere conjecture. It was pitiful really, watching all of the network anchors, asking the same questions as many different ways as they could think of, hoping to get a glimmer of a solid fact. There was nothing to be seen, except for the procession of poor young journalists in front of the cameras with the Capitol Building as a backdrop. They were unable to shed any more light on the story and giving the same tired gossip that was being parceled out by aides and low level staffers. They were left to face the lions. Some important members of congress, seeing this as an opportunity to stick it to the president on the morning of his State of the Union Address, were making their faces ready for the cameras, until the announcement came that there was a genuine explosive device found. That changed many of the minds and prompted the closing of the Capitol Building. Then everything started going crazy.
Asad was on his way into the office. He was sitting in early morning traffic and was going to be late. He prided himself on punctuality, but an unforeseen flat tire had sidelined him. Luckily, he noticed it while still in the driveway. He changed the tire in about ten minutes but had to clean up and change shirts.
His cell phone rang and the Caller ID told him it was his section chief. He thought about letting it go to voice mail, but only for a brief moment, then he answered.

“This is Asad. What’s up chief?”

“Asad, I need you to go to the Capitol Building. It looks like we have a bomb and I need an expert to check it out before the local cops destroy any evidence by tampering with the site.”

“Yes, sir. I am almost there as we speak.”

Well, they found the dummy and are worried like good little secret service agents should be, he thought.

“Damn Sunday drivers!” Asad yelled as he plugged in his portable emergency flasher and started the siren. He was able to get to the site in 10 minutes that way.

When he got to the site, the Capitol Police Department and the Washington D.C Police were there as well as various other agencies including the F.B.I and the Secret Service. All this for a bomb scare, there were more cops than there were press agents in the media feeding frenzy that the incident created. Police and federal agencies were clamoring for jurisdiction, and the press was clamoring for answers to untold numbers of questions, “Is it real? Where was the bomb planted? Are there any suspects in the case?”
Asad walked by without looking or even pretending that an answer would be forthcoming.

“Who’s in charge here?” he asked a local police Sargent who pointed to the highest ranking official. Asad walked over and informed him that he had jurisdiction.
“

These orders came from the top,” he said. Then he produced a piece of paper from his briefcase backing him up with a signature from the Director of the Secret Service. It was a standard issue form letter giving instructions that the holder was acting on behalf of the nation’s security and that whoever was reading it was to give all aid necessary to complete his task.
“Fine by me,” the Police Captain said, “but you may want to show that piece of paper those FBI agents. They seem to think the same thing. Even produced a similar piece of paper, but I’m sure we can all collaborate on this one, right?”

“No, we can’t. You see, this is a threat against the President of The United States, and that is where everyone else’s jurisdiction ends and mine begins and it will remain so until I say otherwise. Now where is this bomb located and has anyone touched it yet?”

“Uh no sir. That is to say, it is in the men’s restroom on the gallery level. And no sir, the Bomb Squad hasn’t removed it yet but they have examined it where it sits, they have determined that it is real. That is why no one’s still inside.”

So he went up to the entrance, showed his badge, and entered the Capitol Building. Once inside, he called his superiors, reported in, and asked for an investigative team to be sent to the site. He was informed that they were already en route. So he took command of the crew and told them to show him the bomb. They led him to the bathroom and once there he studied the bomb. It was a shaped charge, attached to the back of a commode. It was approximately six inches long and about 3 inches wide and about an inch thick. That was a lot of C-4. The trouble was that the primer and timing devise were crude. Two wires, one red and other one blue. They were attached to a battery and a digital clock counting down from 10 hours and 23 minutes. Simplistic but lethal. That much C-4 would take out half of the dome. He stood up and asked the Sargent in charge if they had touched or attempted to move it.

“No sir. When we arrived at the scene it was in the same condition as it is now.”

“What did the timer read?” Asad asked.
The Sargent consulted his notebook and read aloud from it. “The counter read 10 hours and 43 minutes sir, and no one has touched it since that time. We were told to wait for orders from higher up.”

“That’s understandable.” Asad silently muttered to himself . Then asked “Who found it?”
Again the officer consulted his note pad. “Name was listed as Jeremy Webber, says he works for Senator Hodges office, which is just down the corridor. Claims he was in here using the facilities, when he happened to drop a pen, seems he was working the daily crossword in The Post, anyway he bends over to pick up the pen. That is when he sees the bomb.”

“Scared the shit out of him” Another officer joked.

Both Asad and the Sargent gave the offending officer a glaring look, and the Sargent continued.

“He claims he immediately got up and called 911 from his cell phone, then notified a capitol police officer. This occurred at 8:56 AM.”

“very good Sargent.”

“Thank you sir”

“Well, we need to remove it now. Do you realize how much of this building would be destroyed if this were to blow right now?” asked the Sargent.

“Yes sir, most of the dome and a good portion of the building itself. Being where it is, if it would have remained undetected it could have killed alot of people. That’s why it is so important not to talk to anyone about the specific location of the device,” remarked Asad, knowing that would be the catalyst to spring a leak directly to CNN. The bomb’s location would be common knowledge before the end of the hour. Every American would know where it was placed and its terrible implications. He would love to see the reports of television anchors talking to so called experts speculating just how much damage a bomb that size in that location could do, and whether or not the State of the Union Address should continue as planned. However, he had other duties to attend to.

“Tell the BDT they can take care of it now, but first I want photographs taken of it as looks right now.”

“Yes sir, we have a police photographer standing ready for just that reason, he’ll only need a couple of minutes.”
“See to it ” and with those words walked out. He was met by the investigative team for the Secret Service. He gave detailed report of the bomb, and told them that the BDT was going to dispose of it. Then he told them to get group put together too completely comb the building to make sure that there any more surprises.
The early morning sunshine turned to snow as a front moved in and the mercury slowly inched its way towards the freezing point. The snow started as a gentle flurry at first and before the end of hour a thin, new blanket of snow covered the city. As the day wore on the snow came down heavier and by noon the forecasters started issuing winter storm warnings. Already 3 inches had accumulated and the winds were picking up. Drifts were beginning to develop and the snow removal trucks were on the streets. People were leaving D.C. The members of congress left at 10:00 the bomb scare had convinced them that it was pointless, there wouldn’t be any work done today. The only people left on the hill were the janitorial staff, the security team, and of course the Secret Service. They were going over the last minute preparations for the Presidents arrival.

Juan Valdez a janitor, was looking at himself in the mirror, when he noticed a glint of light behind him. He had noticed the man come into the restroom, but he was used to seeing the men in dark glasses and all black suits, Secret Service, they all looked the same. What Juan didn’t notice until it was too late was the large knife. Fear gripped him, and paralyzed him, he tried to make a scream for help, but was not able to make any sound come out of his mouth. It was over quickly, one quick thrust between the ribs from behind. A vicious twist of the blade and Juan Valdez was dead.

Then the gruesome task began, he undressed the man putting the overalls and shoes in a plastic bag. Next Asad cut off the right index finger, and then he gently removed the right eye. Then he laughed a distorted maniacal laugh, and cut off the dead man’s right ear.

Quickly Asad washed the blood off the blade, and the severed body parts. Then he took a bar of lye soap out of his jacket, unwrapped it, and then proceeded to wash his hands all the way up to his elbows. He took out a handkerchief. Proceeded to wrap up the finger and ear, then took a small plastic film container, and dropped the eye into it, sealed it with the cover. Then put it into his pocket. Asad leaned over the body and took Valdez’s keys, ID badge , and removed his wallet, looked through it, a saw the various pictures of wife and children, and noticed that there was only $47.00 in cash. He left the cash and pictures. Took the security key card he had been searching for, and placed the wallet in with the coveralls. Next he took the bar of lye soap and the wrapper, wrapped them in a paper towel and stuffed them as far down into the trash as he could. He turned around and looked for any small signs of evidence, seeing that nothing looked amiss, he started the next phase of his plan.

By this time blood was all over the floor so, Asad pulled off the corpse’s shoes. He then removed his own shoes and placed them with Valdez’s belongings. He walked out of the restroom and intentionally left clear prints leading out the door. He stopped just short of the door removed the shoes and looked up, over head was a drop ceiling, and a panel was slightly ajar. He removed the panel, carefully placed the victim’s shoes up inside the ceiling then replaced the panel properly, keeping the dead mans overalls and walked out of the restroom.

He went directly across the hall to the locker room, for the janitorial and other members of the capitol building, maintenance services department. Found a clean uniform put the soiled one down the incinerator shoot . Then went to the back of the locker room and found an empty locker. He took off his coat and tie, and his dress slacks and shirt, carefully putting them on hangers to avoid wrinkles. He placed them into the locker. Then put on a set of coveralls, looked at the ID card decided he needed a ball cap to disguise his hair, added a fake mustache and brown contact lenses for his eyes, it was fortunate that Mr. Valdez did not have a dark complexion. He then got a cart, with cleaning supplies and broom with a mop and a bucket. He added to this, his black bag and went up the service elevator. He could have used his own badge but, he could not risk it. He did not want to have to explain why his ID showed up in a sector he was not assigned to. He had tried to get on the sweep team, But after his initial investigation of this morning, someone else was assigned to it now. Besides he could not carry out his mission completely if he were on the team. That is why he needed the diversion of the fake bomb scare. Only it had to be believable, thus the large amount of C-4. He hoped that the chief would remember, that he was a specialist in explosives and would be asked to investigate it. indeed he did, he also took the opportunity to get rid of the only link to the crime, he had befriended Mr. Valdez about a month ago, and had been able to find out where his specific route took him in a typical day. He was one of five who were on the cleaning staff who actually went into the House Chambers and cleaned them. He also told him that the bomb was a prop, and that it was a test device used in an upcoming drill. He instructed Mr. Valdez on the exact location and time to place it, but now he had to get the real one in place.

He entered the chamber from behind the speakers podium there to the right of the podium was a flag stand, and in it the National Ensign. He carefully removed a similar looking flag stand from his black bag, gently placed it on the platform, He took one last look at his watch before setting the timer on the bottom of the base, before completing the switch. His watch read 10:59 a.m., then he switched on the timer. Countdown was for nine hours and 5 minutes. This was a hi-impact, “mini nuclear” explosive, it was really the propellant for a sidewinder missile along and its warhead, and a combination of his own mixture, of Nitroglycerine and C-4 packed inside a heavily shielded metallic base. When it exploded, it would create a huge fire ball effect, with all of the power of a nuclear explosion, but with out the radiation. It should however create a mushroom cloud, more importantly this mixture, took up one half of the space that the dummy bomb, but more powerful by a factor of ten. Asad completed the switch and polished the base with a cleaning agent, until it shined as brightly as the one it was replacing. It was too bad he would not be here to see the results in person, but he had other places to be. He left being very careful to make sure he reversed his steps and passed the security checkpoints, thus ensuring the path led directly back to the staff locker room. Then he changed back into his own clothes, and left the building.

Lt. Jake Raines, of the Washington D.C Police Department, Homicide Division, arrived at the Capitol Building and was escorted to the staff locker room men’s restroom. He had seen alot of murder cases but this one was probably the most gruesome in recent memory. This was disturbing because of its location and its implications.

This was going to be a very busy day in D.C. That is of course not to say he hadn’t seen worse cases of murder, he had. Many were much more disturbing then this.
He had also been a party to some that would give even the most demented killer nightmares, but they were not simply murder. They happened, because it was a different place and different rules existed, or at least for him and those with him. He had been involved in a clandestine operation while in the military. Those people died because they were going to kill many more innocent civilians, so he and his team of seals were sent to make sure they did not survive to carry out their plan. They also died in such a manner as to send a message to anyone else who might think of such a plot. They were a vivid, clear message, “Don’t even think about it… We’ll rock your world, then take your life, and in an instant you will not exist.” The message needed to be repeated Jake thought to himself as he looked at the body of Valdez on the floor of the restroom.
He kneeled next the body and started a cursory exam of it. He found the right index finger missing, the right eye, had been plucked out. These were obvious issues. The questions that they arose were much more complicated. Why are there no shoes, no clothes, and no wallet. On the surface these were simple questions the answers obvious, the killer intended to rob the victim, then got messy, so stripped the corpse and left the man just like he lays. But if that were true why the charades, why mutilate the body? He then answered his internal question. To make identification more difficult. But surely there were only a limited number of people, that would fit this body type, and with DNA they would have an ID within a few hours at least.

It wasn’t until he examined the body closer that Jake noticed the right ear was missing. He had seen that before too, and he didn’t like what that meant. He had heard about, read about, and personally witnessed many instances of mutilation, after a killer had committed the initial murder of the victim. In almost every case it was because the killer knew or had regular dealings with the victim. The only time it was not the case was in military situations, then it came down to the fact that the killer, did for more complex reasons, usually because it put fear in the enemy . The other was simply sometimes a soldier snapped and went insane, he simply wasn’t any longer in control.

The questions in Jake’s head changed, and so did the ramifications. No longer were they of the nature of who the victim was. They became, who was the victim to the perpetrator? And why the murder took place at all.
Jake took out a notebook and a pen, he listed all of his observations, and then a list of questions. Next, he the followed the footsteps from the body, to the door, and back to the body. They didn’t add up, you commit a heinous act, presumably undetected. And then and leave the scene, so why leave such clear and obvious prints? He wrote a few more comments in his notebook and then turned to the capitol police Sargent.

“Does anyone know who this man is?” he asked the Sargent

“Well sir a positive ID has yet to be made, we haven’t taken prints or done anything that may have disturbed the crime scene. We simply cordoned off the area and kept everyone away.”

“That is very fortunate for me.” Jake replied almost automatically “It makes my job a little easier,” he continued. Jake took one more look around the restroom.

“I am going to need too get the department photographer down here to take a few pictures, he is probably en route as we speak.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, Sir.”

Then Jake asked a final question before leaving the area, he asked “What do you make of these prints, leading to the door.”

“The capitol Sargent responded “Maybe the killer was in a hurry, to leave the scene of the crime, or maybe he didn’t realize he was leaving a trail. Either way it lucky for us he did”

“Lucky, you say?”

“They are a nice set of prints, should be able to make an estimate of size weight from them and maybe even get lucky with the type of shoe he was wearing.” The capitol cop responded.

“I doubt it but you can try. Don’t you find it just a bit odd that they are so clear, even and crisp?” Jake asked, pointing to the prints on the floor.

“I think that it is also very odd the body does not have shoes? Is it mere coincidence, where are his shoes?”

“What else is odd about all this, is the timing, we need to find out the time of death, when did this poor man die today? Was it before the bomb scare? Or was it after, and does it make any difference one way or another?”

“Certainly sir, you don’t think you are going to be a part of the investigation to the incident that occurred earlier?” The Sargent asked forcefully.

“The earlier case is being handled internally along with the help from the Secret Service, and whatever other agencies that are trying to claim jurisdiction. Damn Feds think they can just come in and relegate us to the back seat, even though it happened on our watch. Even having to outsource this one hurts, but at least it you don’t rub it in our faces. ” The Sargent said sarcastically

“I know the feeling, believe me there have been a few time that the feds have taken over a case from me in the past. You recall Senator Williams death a couple years back?”

“Yeah matter of fact I do, the FBI said he committed suicide, something about there being an alleged underage boyfriend, and his wife found out.”

“Well I was the responding officer on the scene, it wasn’t suicide, it was plain old murder. So we need to keep the Feds out of this case as long as we can, which means we need to show some quick results.”

Noon at the White House was always a little chaotic but today was overly so, The Secret Service wanted to have a security Briefing and Harrison already had three other meetings scheduled. His press secretary was already giving a press conference over the bomb scare from earlier. But to top it all off he was really hungry. The Directors of the CIA, The FBI and the Secret Service, along with the head of the NSA, were all sitting in a semi-circle around his desk. All of them were pointing fingers and laying the blame at each others’ feet. The noise was deafening.

“Everybody, be quiet!” Harrison finally shouted above the voices to be heard.
Immediately the three men stop talking and looked towards the president.

“That’s better.” Harrison said in a much calmer tone.

“Lets try this again, only one person at a time please.” Harrison nearly snarled, but then recovered by smiling a thin fatherly type smile, and looked toward Geoff Grant the Director of the Secret Service.

Mr. Grant started by handing over a report to the president.
“As you can see the device was plenty real, even if crude. It would have made a spectacular blast, It would have blown the restroom to bits, but whoever put it there was not a pro. A pro would know for example that behind that commode was a blast-proof wall, because it abutted the House Chamber itself. So knowing that no damage would be done to the intended target. But we can’t conclude it was a just a crackpot, who somehow got his hands on a large quantity of C-4. Sir we have just conducted, a very through search of the Capitol Building, and there is no sign of another threat of this nature, indeed there was no sign of any type of threat at all. However we still would recommend an alternative means of giving the State of the Union Address, It could be done with total security right here for the Oval Office, and broadcast to the Capitol Building, and carried live on television.
Harrison thought about that a moment, but was already rejecting it as an option, “I’ll think about that.” he answered.

“Sir, If I may speak, I think it will make our point rather clear.” Replied Mr. Bradley, director of FBI. “About twenty minutes ago there was a murder victim discovered on Capitol Hill.”

“Why weren’t we notified about this” Grant exclaimed.

“It was just reported shortly before I reached the White House” Bradley continued ignoring the interruption. “So far there is little information available in the case, we know that the victim was murdered with a sharp object presumably a knife, rather large , we must conclude. He was stabbed only once from behind. But this is where the case goes weird.”

“What do you mean weird?” Harrison asked

“I’m getting to that. The body was one Mr. Juan Valdez, he worked as a janitor at the Capitol building. The body was discovered by another member of the cleaning staff. as I have been informed the body was found dressed only in underwear. No other clothing, not even shoes. The body is also minus the right index finger and the right eye, as well as the right ear. More importantly none of his keys or his security card key, was found on or near the body. We have to conclude that whoever killed this man has those items, and may have been able access other areas of the capitol building. The case was originally Washington D.C PD. But we are trying to get jurisdiction because it occurred in a federal building, unfortunately that’s all the information I have at this time.”

“What time was the death reported ?” Grant asked

“The Capitol Police Department called D.C PD at 11:45 a.m., which was as soon as they were notified. They are really not equipped to handle a murder case. The coroner said time of death could be as early as 9:00 am or as late as 11:00 am with a margin for error of 10-15 minutes either way, but thinks it was more closer to ten-ish”
“Which means the killer can not be the same man who planted the bomb, right” Replied Harrison.

“Well that would be our guess.” Mr. Bradley answered. “But, we have not ruled out anything yet.”

“So what are you saying Mr. Bradley, I am to believe that you cannot secure the Capitol Building by nine p.m. tonight?”

“No. What I am saying, is that you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks, Mr. President.” Bradley replied then sat down.

Mr. Boyles, of the CIA, looked at others and finally at the President, then started. “Sir we have not received rumors of any specific threats, nor have we any credible evidence that such a threat exists. However, we can not say we have positive proof that there are no dangers either. Sir we feel it would be fool-hearty to even step foot into the Capitol Building tonight. We strongly urge you to forgo the speech, and simply deliver the State of the Union to the Capitol Building via courier, or such. The Constitution does allow for it to be delivered in such a manner. A written document is all that the Constitution requires sir. No one could fault you for not going down there in person, after all your safety is of the prime importance.”

“Thank you all, for your concern gentlemen, But I am still going to go through with the speech, now if you will excuse me, I must leave to attend a luncheon in the Rose Garden.” And, with that Harrison stood up. The gentlemen took this as their cue to leave, stood up and shook hands with the President. Then they left. When they exited the office, Harrison left the office by one of the many secret panels within the Oval Office.

Secrets of Fathers and Empires

2009-02-25T15:41:00.001-06:00

Hello there,

I am an aspiring author, I have completed my first novel entitled "Secrets of Fathers and Empires. It is a Science Fiction with a romantic plot thrown in for good measure. It is an interesting read and has consumed many hours, days, weeks and years of my free time.
So without furthur ado here is the prologue.

Prologue: July 13, 2002

“Jebidiah, please be reasonable.” Very few people know J. Edwin Whitten's first name and even fewer people are able to address him by it. Harrison Clayton is one of these privileged few. He and Edwin’s friendship started in their college days, way back in the 70's.
They attended the University of Texas together. After graduation, Edwin went into banking. He soon grew bored and came to hate working at his father's bank. So he decided to strike out on his own. He now owns his own successful company, and is considered moderately wealthy by most standards.
Harry studied him, at a little over six foot tall and 225 pounds Jeb is not an individual who intimidates easily. His piercing blue eyes, give the impression that they can look straight into the inner depths of anyone he chooses to stare at. Harry had always thought Jeb could be a very successful lawyer. Whitten’s jet-black hair has started to show traces of silver starting at the temples, and hinted at a receding hairline. His forehead is developing a furrowed look, but over all, not bad looking for someone who had recently turned forty-nine
Harry, as his friends called him, became a lawyer. He started out in a big downtown law firm in Houston, as an associate. After about ten years in the practice of law, he was still a junior partner and moving more slowly up the career ladder then he had hoped. He decided that maybe politics was where he could achieve his goal of success. In his first bid at a political career he ran for a minor seat on the Texas House of Representatives; He failed at winning a seat in the state house of representatives for two consecutive elections. Next, he ran for county judge and then attorney general and lost both times.
In his first bid at a political career, his defeat came by his own inexperience; he debated, with a polished incumbent. As a result, he came across as an uninformed and rather dull individual. The debate came back to haunt him in the second attempt, although this time it was because he refused to debate the other candidate. The voters thought of him as aloof and not informed on the issues. Once again, he lost by an overwhelming majority.
He decided to go back to practicing law, and started a firm with a lawyer in who was much older then him, Mr. Raymond Robison. Mr. Robison became his mentor and took Harry under his wing. Together with Harry's enthusiasm and Raymond’s experience the firm prospered. Now with the retirement of Mr. Robison the firm was Harry's and he was succeeding at expanding his caseload, and expanding the firm, by hiring new associates and taking bigger cases.
Whitten finally answered. “I don't need to be reasonable. Just make the changes I've asked you to make for me.” He sat there in Harry's office looking at the dozens of photos and diplomas as well as various framed front-page articles hanging on the “glory wall”. He reflected on the change, in Harry’s surroundings, Harry had been what people nowadays call a disadvantaged youth, his parents died at an early age, and he was forced to move to Houston and live with his maternal grandparents. He did have one thing in his favor, he was quick to learn, and worked his pants off. He received a full scholarship for college, and he took full advantage of it.
“Jeb, as your lawyer and friend, I'm telling you that what you're proposing lacks planning, and in my opinion doesn't represent your best interests. How can you invest in a little no name company like Lunar Development Corporation? They show a very modest earning potential and their goal to colonize the moon is extremely ambitious, impossible is more like it. The company will be bankrupt if it fails at colonizing the moon. Why do you think its going public? It needs the cash. It is trying to keep the office furniture from repossession, as we speak. Why, are you willing to invest all the inheritance from your father on it?” Harrison asked.
“They will succeed. This public offering and the company's plan to market itself will work.” Stated, Mr. Whitten. “Besides LDC has been in business for a while already, and isn’t going broke any time soon. As for the office furniture being carted away, I know that it will never happen. This dream to colonize the moon is what really counts. Can you imagine the enormous profits that will be had, when they achieve that goal?” Whitten declared.
“Still, I'd be remiss in my duty to you, if I didn't point out the fact that some of these changes are a bit rash. Changing your will so all of your personal fortune goes to the Fertility Foundation, the Adopt a Child of America Foundation, and The Run-away Hot Line for Teens, is a bit out of the ordinary. As is turning your home and land into an orphanage for wayward youths, people will think you have gone mad. And are you forgetting Blaire, your daughter and only child? Don't you love her? Don't you want to provide some security for her in the event of your untimely demise?”
“Yes, of course I love Blaire; I'll never stop loving her. I'm not giving her a red cent until she comes to her senses, and forgets this Irish gold digger of hers.”
“Really Jeb, Ian appears to be a great gentleman, and he truly seems to love Blaire, I know Blaire really loves him. Besides, what would Maggie say about your behavior and the way you've been acting lately?”
“You let my wife's memory rest in peace!” Jeb interrupted, slamming his hand on the desk. Harry jumped at the noise.
“I'm sorry about that; I was only trying to get you to think about this some more. Come on, do you really believe that's all he wants, is just her money?”
“I believe he just wants to get money, and this way there's no money for him to get. Now make those changes immediately.”
“All right I'll make the changes to the will, and I'll look into LDC for you.”
“Do more than look at it. Buy it. I should be able to buy one million shares of LDC.”
“Oh, and Harry, buy it by using dummy corporations and offshore accounts. The last thing I want is a bunch of lawyers snooping around from the SEC and the IRS. I want this to be legal, but I certainly do not want to end up listed as a major stockholder. It may be useful later on down the road to be in control of a ten- percent block with voting privileges. Take care of the details and I make sure that I double my usual bonus I pay you.”
“Oh boy! Double of nothing, I'll be as rich as you are in no time at all.”
“I'll wire the money to you at 8:00 AM sharp tomorrow, wise guy. You still on for dinner as usual?”
“Of course! It's your turn to buy.”
#

Whitten was in the study having his customary drink of the evening. He drank only one thing scotch and soda. From 6:00 pm. until 7:00 pm. was Whitten's quiet time. No one who knew him well interrupted it.
He used this time to relax from the stress caused by running a multi-million dollar corporation. Whitten Avionics Inc. was very successful, less then twenty - five years in business and already it had sales in the five hundred million-dollar range. It had profits last year of 150 million, and he had a personal net worth of 200 million. All from a small factory, he had bought from an ex-air Force sergeant, who was going broke slowly, selling aviation electronics.
He thought back to the time he decided to try to acquire the business. Edwin went to his fathers' bank for a loan. He tried to convince his father that all the company needed to be profitable was, better leadership and a more disciplined approach to business. He also tried convincing his father that he could turn the company around in a short amount of time. His father decided not to give him the loan.
“It's too risky and you'll lose your shirt trying to make a living at it” He replied. “Besides I'm ready to retire and turn the bank over to you. Why take a chance on something that will never amount to anything?”
“Father, we've discussed this, I don't want to take over the bank, and I haven't even worked with you for years. Besides, I have a bank job now and I cannot stand it. I'm bored. What would I be if I ran a bank?”
“Secure and most likely rich like me. Why is it all the people of your generation are so set against doing anything that your fathers worked for?"
“Were not against everything you've worked for, and I want to be just as successful as you. I just want to do it on my own. Why can't you understand?”
Edwin got the loan from another bank. His father saw this as an act of rebellion. For the next twenty-four years, he never let Edwin hear the end of it. He constantly brought it up at every family gathering. Even after Whitten Avionics Incorporated was doing well, his father never recognized it for the success it was.
Edwin believed he would turn the company around. He did, in just three years it was in the black. He started by calling every aviation firm from Houston to Moscow. He succeeded by never taking a "no" for an answer.
Many times, he made personal appearances at the doorstep of every two-bit company in the area, just to scare up some sales.
On one such call, he came across a new company named Lunar Development Corporation, Incorporated. That was 10 years ago. Back then; it was just a small company that worked as an independent contractor for NASA. They did odd jobs ranging from simple charting and photography of the moon's surface, to the complex, such as designing the mock-up of their lunar colony.
The problem for them, however, was that their contract stated all outcomes were property of NASA. Now it was going public, and they were going to have a colony of their own on the moon by the year 2010. Something that if successful would be a real coup, considering NASA scraped its plans, citing various problems. The main problem of course was that the federal government would not approve the funding for reasons all of its own. In Whitten's opinion, the government was afraid to lose valuable tax dollars, because many legal experts thought that the US government could not have legal jurisdiction on the moon. No country on Earth could truly claim it until they colonized it, but how can any government maintain control of an essentially autonomous group of people.
Whitten Avionics was one of a few companies that still supplied Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Grumman, and Raytheon; it even does business with Airbus. On occasion, it supplies NASA. Whitten wanted more, a lot more. He wanted to eat at the table with the grown-ups at Thanksgiving. If, Whitten Avionics could get in on the ground floor, and supply the moon colony then it would really be the sky’s the limit he thought.
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice. Edwin felt like saying, "Go away, and wait until later." However, he knew that this situation eventually, must be dealt with and it might as well be taken care now.
“Daddy, can we talk?”
“Have you decided to take the money for the abortion, and stop seeing this Ian Mallory like I've asked you? All this guy wants is money; he does not really love you. Think about this logically and you will see him for the snake he really is. Just wait six months when you are all belly. And he is long gone, with no forwarding address. Then you’ll be stuck raising a child all by yourself. Is that what you want? Don’t you realize if you have a child very few men will want to even think about marrying you then?”
“Don't worry your money is safe, Ian Mallory couldn't care less about all of your millions. You know what? Neither could I. Another thing, I would never have an abortion. Ian will never stop seeing me. I can prove it, He has asked me to marry him, and I said yes. So see you aren’t the ruler of the entire universe”
“Well, if that's your choice, I think you should know what the consequences of your decision will be.” Mr. Whitten continued, “I will pay for the wedding, and a modest honeymoon, that is my responsibility and I'll not shirk it. But, that will be the last thing I do for you. Do you understand? This marriage should take place as soon as possible, which means a very small guest list. Second, I will not pay for your senior year at college. I will not give you another dollar of my money. You will have to find you own place to live, and fend for yourselves. Third, you should be ready to work your tail off, because raising a child today is going to be even tougher for you than it was for me. Lastly, I give your union a maximum of two years before it falls apart, I hope you prove me wrong, but I won't hold my breath.”
On July 28, 1982, the sun was shining and the birds were singing, as Ian Mallory and Blaire Whitten were wed. Whitten was not all that heartless however, he gave Blaire her mothers wedding gown, and it fit, barely. She looked radiant in the white gown, and secretly Whitten was overcome with shame for his actions. His daughter was a beautiful young woman now, and she had her own life to live, no matter how rough a road it was.
It was a small ceremony with Edwin and Harry in attendance for the bride and Ian's parents in attendance for the groom. It was the first and last time Edwin met them, and they did not impress him at all. The ceremony was presided over by a Justice of the Peace. Since, Blaire was pregnant; Edwin wouldn't ask a priest or minister to perform the ceremony, besides he couldn’t get a church on such short notice
The honeymoon was, as advertised, modest. It consisted of a weekend in Galveston, in a pleasant but inexpensive motel near the beach, with little or no amenities. Ian and Blaire couldn't have cared a bit; to them it was the greatest weekend of their young lives. They were together and they were married. No longer would they have to sneak around to see each other, they would be together for an eternity.
On March 17, 2003, Baby Boy Mallory was born at 8:05 in the morning. He was a healthy baby, and he weighed eight pounds, eleven, and a half ounces. Ian was beside himself with joy, a baby boy and on St. Patrick's Day no less! Surely, the luck of the Irish was upon him. Ian knew what he wanted to name him,
“Let’s name our son, Ian Sean Mallory, Jr.”
“No! I do not want two of you Ian. How about a compromise, we'll name him Sean W. Mallory.”
What's the 'W' stand for?” Asked Ian, fearing that he already knew.
“We'll let it stand for 'W' just like the 'S' in Harry S. Truman's name. If anyone wants to read more into it, then it will be they're doing.”
Ian knew that this was a battle that he could not win. Even if he prevailed with his argument, he would lose in the end. It was the same argument his father lost. His father had wanted to name him something completely different, he wanted Sean Patrick Mallory, his mother wanted to name him after both of the grandfathers, and she won. It really wasn't such a bad compromise to make, he thought. At that moment, he stared out the window and up into the evening sky and saw what looked like a shooting star. A sign of good luck, Ian thought. So, he agreed to Sean W. Mallory, and signed the birth certificate.
Edwin was proud; Very proud of his grandson and too proud to admit he was wrong, even slightly. So, he sent a card to the parents attached to a very big model airplane for his new grandson. That's not all he did though. The next day he went to the law offices of Clayton, Robison, & associates.
”Harry I want you to change my will.” Whitten boomed while stuffing a cigar into Harry's hand.
“What do you want it to say Edwin?” Harry did not light the cigar; he knew Whitten could not stand them. The simple act of giving one to him was a testament to Whitten's character, he followed perceived protocols, but only when it suited him to do so.
“I want you put my grandson's name on it. The only thing I want changed is this, now Sean W. Mallory is to be listed as the beneficiary of the Lunar Development Corporation, Inc. stock.”
“What about Blaire and...”
“Don't say it” Whitten interrupted.
“All I was going to ask is are you going to put a provision in the will in case you should die before Sean becomes of age?”
“No... I guess I won't be able to die until he becomes an adult. All right, put in this clause, he can not take control of this asset until either he has received a college degree, or until he reaches his 25th birthday whichever comes first.”
“If anyone can take control over when he dies it would be you Edwin. I will make the necessary changes and put them into legalese for you. It should be ready by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Tomorrow? Why should it take so long? It's just a simple little codicil.” Whitten complained. He always demanded that the results be immediate.
“Yes it is, but you're not my only client. Don't worry I'll take care of it first thing in the morning. I promise.” Harry said trying to placate him.
Harry watched Whitten get up and leave, and then started to think about his odd behavior. He always tried to make people do what he wanted them to do, Harry thought.
This was another example of Whitten following perceived protocols, if he could just give his grandson the money, he would, but that would raise too much suspicion.
Harry wondered though about Whitten's relationship with his daughter. Whitten was really hurt when she decided to marry Ian. Whitten still believed that all Ian wanted was a free ride, and that Blaire could give it to him. Never once did he realize they truly loved each other. Harry secretly wondered if that was because Margaret, or Maggie as everyone called her, died so young and Whitten had to be both mother and father to the child. Whitten didn't remarry because he was afraid of losing yet another person he cared for. Or at least that's how Harry reasoned it to be. Secretly, Harry wondered if that was the true reason behind Whitten's hatred of Ian. He hated him for the simple fact that he was taking his lifeline to his late wife. Then again, maybe it was because they would be happy together, and he didn't have a chance at happiness. Whatever the reason it appeared that, the hatred would not be carried over to his new grandson