Help Camille Decide On A Book Cover For Her Latest Novel

This is the opening chapter to help in judging cover suitability. More covers to come soon. Leave comment below please.
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The Yellow Cab drew up in front of the Foxworth Apartment complex in Annandale, Virginia. The driver shut down the meter and turned to the man in the back seat for payment. Dr. Mahmoud Jassim pulled the fare out of his wallet and placed it in the outstretched hand. Now the driver pressed the automatic trunk opener and motioned his passenger out. The doctor stepped down to the sidewalk and removed his three pieces of luggage from the trunk. The cab drove away.
The British-born Pakistani was bedraggled, exhausted by airport hopping from country to country, beginning in Karachi, to Riyahd’s King Khalid International Airport, to London’s Heathrow where he’d spent several days in meetings, ending at Dulles International. Those moments, as he presented his visa to immigration officials, had been tense and emotionally draining. His passport was in order; still, suspicion was imprinted on the faces of the men at the immigration booth and behind the baggage search counter, leaving his tongue thick and unresponsive.

Now, baggage at his feet, he looked up at the six-story apartment complex, all brick with jutting balconies, surrounded by green lawns. On the third level, Apartment 3-606, his adopted brothers awaited.
At Mahmoud’s knock, the door opened.
"As sala'amu alaikum. Peace be upon you,” Richard Yost greeted him. Just behind him, Dr. Khalid Amin echoed the greeting. “Walaikum as sala'am. And unto you also, peace.
Richard Yost, a recent British immigrant to the United States, ushered him into the two-bedroom apartment. The three men embraced.
“Allah’s blessing and salutations be upon you,” Richard said. “I have prepared for you.”
It was sparse, with just the minimal rented furniture – a wrap-around couch long past its factory issue, single folding chair; long, badly scratched coffee table; two desks, each outfitted with computer and telephone. The doctors’ assigned bedroom held a bunk-bed and single.
“This is temporary,” Richard explained.
In the small kitchen, his Pakistani wife, Shamshad, was preparing their meal – a meatless curry dish combined with eggplant, okra and potatoes. Slim and willowy, she wore a long tunic and baggy pants with a colorful scarf draped around her neck. She nodded a timid greeting to her husband’s new guest. Khalid Amin had arrived ten days earlier.
“Brothers,” Richard said to the two men. “Finally, we are gathered as one. Rest, recompose yourselves. Tonight we will eat and pray. Tomorrow we will talk.
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MY SECOND POST - NO MARTINI

Many nice comments and a few questions on my first blog. First, indeed I'm very open to questions. The novel I'm working on ( little hope of publication but it just plain fun) is called The Enemy. One question was why would I undertake something like this. Having finished a simple little pet novel, I was floundering around for a new plot. There was so much "hate Bush" diatribe in the media and among far left liberal thinkers which both offended and hurt me that I was determined to go as deep as I could to satisfy my own thinking. The idea of terrorist plot fiction just seemed to pop into my head at the same time. Perfect match.

Right now I'm working through Bob Woodward's Plan of Attack which is perhaps where I should have begun, but Amazon.com didn't have it in stock. Thanks for responding. It's nice to be here and I'm enjoying my 2-3 hours of writing each day.

After My Second Martini,.. My Very First Blog.

"I'm writing a novel called 'The Enemy.' It's a story about 3 terrorists who enter the United States as medical doctors (a play-off on the recent London and Glasgow bombings -- unsuccesful as they might have been.)

You, dearest brother-in-law, asked me why I insisted on writing something about which I knew nothing. Don't know. Still, I persevered. Almost 3/4's through the book. In order to write it, however, I had to do a great deal of research. I've read everything from 'Inside the CIA,' (Ronald Kessler) to 'Middle East Illusions,' (Naom Chomsky) to 'The Soldier' (about Colin Powell), and many, many more in between. I refused to denigrate the Bush administration without garnering as much understanding as possible.

Sadly, today, I recognize that a party of ideologues (neocons Cheney and his accolytes, perhaps Rumsfeld) insisted of developing a case for the war in Iraq, rather than responding to a direct threat. Colin Powell was the one dissenting voice in the first four years of Bush's presidency. Powell fought a good battle but, as a soldier, ultimately bowed to the his superior's wishes, believing in the 'facts' provided to him by the CIA. I've found him to be a good and honest man, one with an unbeatable record of service to our country. Someone I would have thankfully supported for President. But he was destroyed, asked to resign as Bush went into his second term, as were any of those with dissenting voices.

I am an American (ex-Canadian for 40 years); I love and am intensely loyal to my country. I am a Republican, resistant to a welfare and high tax state. Over and over again, I thank the young men and women who are sacrificing their blood in this Iraqi warfront. You don't think it's a war? Tell it to our soldiers.

How do we get out of this ugliness? To date, my vote will be for Mitt Romney, who has proven himself to be a superb financier and business leader. Someone I believe will not be deluded by special interest/far left ideologies.

P.S. If you're one of those who espouses a 9/11 conspiracy by the American government, go take a deep dip in the fires of hell.

Nikki's Musical DNA - Grandpa Theo 1887-1918

Nikki's and her mother's musical DNA come from this tall handsome music professor, cut short by a newly mechanized war. Just think, in the single battle of Marne, a million men on both sides fell to machine gun fire and poison gas just to gain a half-mile in 3 days.
Theo rests in the French Dury Cemetery, and since the last word of this great 1900 French martial song is 'Immortalité', the least we could do is put him on this blog . Who knows, it might just outlive us. Theodore Ernest Sunbury (click here) died when Nikki was minus 31 and her mother was plus 2. Is it not fitting that the DNA carried through till today ? Nikki is highly musical and her mother was a star on the piano, the perfect daughter.
Incidently, 'Le Regiment de Meuse et Loire' was chosen as the theme song of the Ohio State University ; you can listen to their peppy rendition here. Let's wish that these college kids stick to their wonderful marching band and avoid marching to some useless combat. There's too much spilled blood already and certainly not enough gutsy music like this tune.
Through Nikki , professor Theo is still a little bit with us. Through this blog he will remain so a little bit longer. His war diaries will be published here soon.

Ahmadinejad Speaks At The University Of Sherbrooke

This came a surprise to me, the fact that back in 83-84 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had studied for his Masters Degree at l'Université de Sherbrooke, From this recent video one can notice that he speaks a credible French-Canadian 'slang', not mincing his words about the Holocaust ( he compares it to Halloween!) and about Bush (he uses a swear word). I know the bad sync is probably an interpreter talking, though I have no idea who made this clip. real or phony for that matter. Notice the generous applause he gets. If you watch carefully, he even gets an encouraging wink from the foxy mascot of the Green & Gold University Club where he was speaking. By the way , just like in Iran, there are no gays or nuclear weapons in Québec. But it's damn cold in winter!

Why Is This Not Picked Up By The Liberal Press?

Of course we all knew about BLOOD for OIL from an earlier very 'funny' blog, but this is documented to the 'nth power' if you follow all the leads given. Copy of the contracts are all over the Web. Meanwhile at the pump we pay $3.75
My answer: We have 'chickenShit' press. Shame shame shame. YouTube is a saving grace. Give your differing opinion.

Greenspan...did you watch 60-minutes tonight?

OK... so a while after he is out of his Fed Reserve job, Greespan spills the beans on the Bush administration's wastefull and dangerous ways, saying out loud what we all knew to be true: OIL WAS THE BASIC OUTSPOKEN REASON to go to war, as expressed within the walls of the White House. We all knew that ( see this earlier blog)
. So... NOW, six years later he's talking. The SPAN of the GREEN could have hinted before to the incompetence of that President. But he chose to do it just before the release of his BOOK, propelling it to millions more in profit. And we pay over $3 at the pump!
Same with Colin Powell. In a recent interview by none other than GQ (Gentlemen's Quaterly, a fashion magazine), he hints that he regrets having taken up the distortions leading to war in Iraq, presenting then to the UN Security Council with a straight face. This confession comes way too late, six years too late. Does he have a book too? Oh yes...I think he does. Those public servants sure know who to serve first, don't they? Makes you want to live in Switzerland where all public servants are chosen for their competence and there is no elections based on megamillions of influence peddling by lobbies. But then Switzerland does not go to war. Ah shucks...! There is always something wrong with these other countries! Humvees vs cuckoo clocks. I'll take the Humvee anytime...to Wall-Mart, where just maybe I'll buy a cuckoo clock for good measure.

Troop Reduction In Iraq

The Hate Between The Shiites and The Sunnis

Oh the mistrust, the hate
and the dangers! Our three dogs, Sesame, Sheila and Amélie (the 'Shiites' in our little comparison...) watch with baited breath a pair of Sunnis across the street, elegant and street smart. They feel that these two cats ought to be fenced in or put on a leash. The mischiefs of these bums showing off on roofs and fence tops... And the way they taunt us from behind our American green zone screen daddy bought at Home Depot.
But we have oil and they don't, so screw the bastards and let them eat fish. We have steak and potatoes and spaghetti, stuff they can't handle with their fussy ways and superior attitude. Down with Sunnis and may the fleas of one thousand camels bite them in places where they cannot scratch.

The Brains of a Two-Year Old.

This PBS report on Iraq was too gruesome for this family-oriented blog, so I substituted other pictures that also reflect very "young brains'. The courageous sergeant is actually referring to the brains of...oh well! I'll leave you the pleasure. It's a short video that won't prevent us from having HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND, right? Hmm!

BushWackers Anonymous ...No More

Iran and the Jews

I was in Iran too and I agree with the article. That writer refers to a much more recent study, though, one done by a well-known Jewish Organization.

There is a lot of concern about Iran having nuclear
power and how they could convert to nuclear weaponry.
A number of Christian leaders in the United States are
calling for preemptive military action against Iran
because for one thing, they would destroy Israel, even
if it meant knowingly destroying themselves This
charge most notably came again two weeks ago by Pastor
John Hagee of the Cornerstone megachurch in San
Antonio who is urging the US to go to war with Iran
immediately, and was praised by Senator Joseph
Lieberman, and former congressman Tom Delay, among
others, for this stand.

There is so much speculation about how Muslims hate
Jews, and particularly what Iran is likely to do if
their insane fanaticism isn't stopped cold in its
tracks. For some insightful details of what they
might do, we could, of course, look at what they are
already doing to Jews inside their own country as
indicated in a report entitled "The Life of Jews
Living in Iran." This report was just released by none
other than... the Jewish Foundation for the
Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture.

The report states among other things, that
anti-Semitism is far worse in western countries than
in Iran, where 35,000 Jews live peacefully without
harassment. Iran in fact has the largest Jewish
population in the Muslim world. Jewish citizens are
free to stay, leave or return to Iran as they choose.
There are Jewish synagogues with complete freedom of
worship in every major city in Iran. There are 11
synagogues in Teheran. There are kosher restaurants,
Jewish hospitals, Jewish cemeteries and mausoleums,
Hebrew schools, Jewish libraries, Jewish old age
homes, Jewish social clubs, and a Jewish member of the
Iranian national parliament. Under Iranian law,
fashioned after a fatwa issued by the Ayatollah
Khomeini in 1979 following the Iranian revolution
(which only incidentally overthrew the US installed
torture-puppet Shah), protection of the Jewish
population is mandated.

There is however one law that Iran passed a long time
ago which still exists and it is unfairly applied only
to its Jewish population. In a country where all
alcohol is forbidden, the Jews are the one group
permitted to buy, sell, posses and drink wine.

Perhaps with enough pressure from the outside world we
can force this oppressive regime to immediately repeal
this terribly unjust, racially biased law which
affects only its Jewish minority, and thus avoid World
War Three.

In the Belly of the Green Bird; The triumph of the Martyrs in Iraq.

Nir Rosen provides the most credible, fair and balanced (sorry Fox, you've seemed to have blown it again!) report on the evolution of thought across the critical spectrum of players in Iraq. His middle-eastern looks, his fluency in Arabic, his respect of the culture, his persistent curiosity, and his unwaivering nerve gave him confidential audience to the major figures in the post-invasion Iraq. He details the Iraqi perspective of the American forces from greeted liberator to hated occupier as countless US strategic blunders and cultural disrespect allowed the insurgency to take control of what is now a failed state in the early stages of civil war. Most importantly Rosen digs out the fact, reports accurately from the field, and leaves the spin to Fox and the American Enterprise Institute. the war crazies like Kristol, Krauthammer and Kagan, also their biggest drum-beater-consultants. They would NEVER invite this guy because of his opposite point of view, and they would never admit that Iraq is a business move. Check out this video if you haven't seen it already. A must-have book for anyone seeking the truth on this sad period in American history. M. Briggs, NH

A must read you can buy at Amazon at this page, where you can also read the 14 rave reviews

In Today's NY Times, 7 brave soldiers speak about Iraq with their heart and brains.

To read the whole article, go here This is only their conclusion. Thanks fellas!
J.
................
Political reconciliation in Iraq will occur, but not at our insistence or in ways that meet our benchmarks. It will happen on Iraqi terms when the reality on the battlefield is congruent with that in the political sphere. There will be no magnanimous solutions that please every party the way we expect, and there will be winners and losers. The choice we have left is to decide which side we will take. Trying to please every party in the conflict — as we do now — will only ensure we are hated by all in the long run.

At the same time, the most important front in the counterinsurgency, improving basic social and economic conditions, is the one on which we have failed most miserably. Two million Iraqis are in refugee camps in bordering countries. Close to two million more are internally displaced and now fill many urban slums. Cities lack regular electricity, telephone services and sanitation. “Lucky” Iraqis live in gated communities barricaded with concrete blast walls that provide them with a sense of communal claustrophobia rather than any sense of security we would consider normal.

In a lawless environment where men with guns rule the streets, engaging in the banalities of life has become a death-defying act. Four years into our occupation, we have failed on every promise, while we have substituted Baath Party tyranny with a tyranny of Islamist, militia and criminal violence. When the primary preoccupation of average Iraqis is when and how they are likely to be killed, we can hardly feel smug as we hand out care packages. As an Iraqi man told us a few days ago with deep resignation, “We need security, not free food.”

In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal.

Until that happens, it would be prudent for us to increasingly let Iraqis take center stage in all matters, to come up with a nuanced policy in which we assist them from the margins but let them resolve their differences as they see fit. This suggestion is not meant to be defeatist, but rather to highlight our pursuit of incompatible policies to absurd ends without recognizing the incongruities.

We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.
.............

Buddhika Jayamaha is an Army specialist.
Wesley D. Smith is a sergeant.
Jeremy Roebuck is a sergeant.
Omar Mora is a sergeant.
Edward Sandmeier is a sergeant.
Yance T. Gray is a staff sergeant.
Jeremy A. Murphy is a staff sergeant.

We like war (Carlin)

Wish I had the entire monologue, but this will satisfy you.

The Real Bush, smart and humble

What the hell happened? 9/11? Dick Cheney? The NeoCons? Archangel Gabriel? An epiphany? Who do we impeach?

Hard to disagree with Dick Cheney

In 1994, Dick had all the good arguments NOT to have invaded Bagdad in 1991. What happened? Side-effects of his pacemaker? When he says that US soldier's life were too high a price to pay for the capture of Saddam, we sense a true humanist. He was actually deploring the lives of 146 US soldiers taken by the first Gulf War. I think that aging turns the heart into rock and I'm warning others that this can happen to us too. If that does happen to you, please refrain from running for public office or even going hunting with your pals!

Who Has What Right To What Land????

Gee, it hard to tell who has the right to own what. Maybe we should just eliminate borders altogether and pay all our taxes through the Internet to someone who can redistribute with fairness, compassion and accuracy. I would trust Bill Gates for that and Warren Buffet to manage the quadrillions of dollars. Then I would ban all arms and ammunitions, passports, armies, generals, reassigning them as tax collectors and border demolition duties if they are physically inclined. The Supreme Court would be on the Internet and voting done there also, as well as water and oil redistribution on a quota basis. But I forgot something...oh yeah! universal health care and access to the Internet. That would create jobs. English the only official languages and Windows the only platform, with Google the only database, Wikepedia the only mandatory schoolbook...Boy that was good grass I was smoking!

We Are Not In Iraq For Oil

Please vote with to tell us who, in your opinion, won this "debate".

Voting procedure: Just click on "post comments" at the bottom and write "X won with 65%" or something like that.