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It began normally. I woke up yet one more time after a night's sleep---"sleep:" the little brother of death. I'm seventy, so, I'm always surprised anymore when I actually wake up alive. I confirmed I was still alive. I farted, long and loud. It went on forever; I felt my body shrink; I thought I might deflate like a balloon. It was an old man's relief. But, yes, it proved I was still alive: I fart; therefore I am. I managed to haul myself in a kind of situp onto the edge of the bed using both arms and my...

August 5, 2015The Bookstore - By Jethro by Big Fur Hat So, I was walking through the mall and I saw that there was a Muslim bookstore. I was wondering what exactly was in a Muslim bookstore so I went in. As I was wandering around taking a look, the clerk stopped me and asked if he could help me. I asked, “Do you have a copy of Donald Trump’s book on his U.S. Immigration Policy regarding Muslims and illegal Mexicans?” The clerk said, “F— off, get out and stay out!” I said, “Yes, that’s the one. Do you have...

A presidential primary race that features a front-runner whose self-reported assets are worth more than $10 billion dollars also features a candidate who owes thousands of dollars on a credit card with an interest rate above 27 percent. In new financial disclosure forms released Monday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker declares assets of between $36,000 and $190,000 and liabilities of at least $120,000, including a credit card with between $10,001 and $15,000 on it and an interest rate of 27.24 percent. The debt was incurred in 2014, according to the statement. Walker also reports having between $100,001 and $500,000 in student...

While Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama do their best to paper over the brutality of the Iranian regime and force through a nuclear agreement, Iran’s religious leader has another issue on his mind: The destruction of Israel. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has published a new book called “Palestine,” a 416-page screed against the Jewish state. A blurb on the back cover credits Khamenei as “The flagbearer of Jihad to liberate Jerusalem.” A friend sent me a copy from Iran, the only place the book is currently available, though an Arabic translation is promised soon. Obama administration officials likely...

Foote's narrative is such a breath of fresh air when compared to much of the politically motivated and agenda driven Civil War history of recent years. That alone would make it bad enough but, in addition, much of what is being written is not only poor history, it is poor literature. (Foote remains of the few adults in a room of Civil War historians populated by juveniles.)

The latest New York Times bestseller list has Ted Cruz's A Time for Truth at number 8. Just above him is former President Jimmy Carter's A Full Life, coming in at 7. The strange thing, however, is that Cruz sold almost 60 percent more copies of his book last week than Carter. According to Bookscan, which tracks the number of books sold, Cruz sold 8,814 last week. Carter sold only 5,147. The New York Times list does not indicate either author's books were purchased in bulk orders. Cruz was left off the list the first week his book came out...

I'm looking for printable charts that show how compound interest works to show young relatives the effects of saving and compare starting sooner rather than later and how having time on your side works. It would be helpful if it could be changed to various rates and ages to play with the numbers.

The Day John McCain Got Shot Down Did He Show the Right Stuff? By Zalin Grant John McCain received mixed reviews from fellow pilots when he arrived on the USS Oriskany in 1967, a month before he was shot down and captured. Cal Swanson, commander of fighter squadron VF-162, was enthusiastic. Swanson thought McCain proved he had the right stuff by getting himself assigned to the Oriskany, an aircraft carrier sailing off the coast of North Vietnam in the South China Sea. The Oriskany had seen more combat and suffered heavier casualties than any ship in the Vietnam War. McCain’s...

LONDON — In April 1945, code-breakers at Bletchley Park, England, intercepted the following telegram from Adolf Hitler, who was then under siege in his bunker in Berlin: “The Führer attaches importance to the President of the Red Cross, the Duke of Coburg, on no account falling into enemy hands.” Karina Urbach, a German historian, believes that whatever information Hitler shared with Carl Edward, the Duke of Coburg — who was a grandson of Queen Victoria, and a close blood relative to the current British monarchy — it was damning enough to warrant an assassination request. Coburg, though, would manage to...

“Then arose that do or die expression, that maniacal maelstrom of sound; that penetrating, rasping, shrieking, blood curdling noise that could be heard for miles and whose volume reached the heavens such an expression as never yet came from the throats of sane men, but from men whom the seething blast of an imaginary hell would not check while the sound lasted.” ~ Confederate Colonel Keller Anderson of Kentucky's Orphan Brigade There are few aspects of the Civil War which have been engrained in American culture and remembrance more than the Confederate soldiers’ Rebel Yell . . ."

Meghan McCain, the political scion who has won public fame as a blogger, commentator and TV-show host, will join Fox News Channel as a contributor, Variety has learned. A spokesperson for the network confirmed the hire. McCain is expected to contribute to the network’s primetime and daytime programming. McCain, the oldest daughter of U.S. Senator John McCain, a Republican, joins as Fox News Channel, like other news outlets, heads into a frenzied pre-season for the 2016 election for U.S. president. Already, more than a dozen different candidates for the Republican nomination have thrown their hat into the ring. McCain, who...

On the Occasion of the Release of Harper Lee's Second Book youtube.com/watch?v=-x6njs-cGUE[Scout (Harper Lee) and Dill (Truman Capote) return to court after Dill became emotionally overcome at the trial's mockery of justice; they have missed part of Atticus' summation.] "Gentlemen," he was saying, "I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this...

Last Thursday, The New York Times made a very serious allegation against a sitting Senator and presidential candidate. When asked by Politico’s Dylan Byers why Ted Cruz’s bestselling book “A Time for Truth” was kept of its bestsellers list, they alleged that “the overwhelming preponderance of evidence” was that someone (read: someone hired by Cruz) made “strategic bulk purchases” of the book. Essentially, Cruz was accused of using dirty tricks to try to get his book to the top of the bestsellers list. The next day, Cruz’s publisher HarperCollins has spoken out, saying they reviewed sales data and found “no...

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz will not see his book “A Time For Truth” on The New York Times bestseller list. Even though the book sold 11,854 copies in its first week, ranking higher than 18 of the 20 books on the latest list, the Times told Cruz’s publisher HarperCollins that his book “didn’t meet that standard” to get recognized. The Times, which previously blocked Dinesh D’Souza’s bestseller “America” from getting on the list, later told Politico that they found evidence that “sales [for Cruz’s book] were limited to strategic bulk purchases.” While the Times has yet to show anyone...

The publisher HarperCollins is disputing the New York Times' claim that Ted Cruz’s new book was disqualified from its bestseller list because its sales had been driven by "strategic bulk purchases." The On Media blog reported Thursday that the Times was keeping Cruz's "A Time For Truth" off of its forthcoming bestsellers list, despite the fact that the book has sold more copies in its first week than all but two of the Times' bestselling titles. In an email, Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy attributed that decision to an "overwhelming preponderance of evidence... that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases."...

I think you'll be shocked by what you are about to read. If you believe we are heading for any number of wide-spread emergencies in the near future you may be making plans. Believe it or not, many people are making a fatal mistake by overlooking a serious component of their preparation. You may have plenty of stockpiled firearms and ammunition. But what will you do if you are under attack and can't get to your firearms? Whether you are planning for Armageddon, trying to win back control of your hijacked airliner from radical extremists, or just trying to stay...

He hoped to emulate Barack Obama's memoir 'Dreams from My Father', which left a lasting impression. With his new book out this week, Ted Cruz is doing what he does best: getting a lot of attention by attacking … just about everyone. But the political memoir that he’s calling A Time for Truth wasn’t really the book Cruz started out wanting to write, says a source close to the Texas senator and presidential candidate. In fact, Cruz was hoping to emulate the writing of a man he has called “lawless” and “an apologist for radical Islamic terrorists” (among other fine...

Much of the annual 4-day event will focus on the black lives matter movement.Civil rights leaders will join survivors of tragedy for a frank discussion on the black lives matter movement in New Orleans this week. The 21st annual Essence Music Festival, hosted every Fourth of July weekend, will take on a more serious tone during a series of daytime events at the Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. At the festival’s Empowerment Series, Rev. Al Sharpton will share a stage with Sybrina Fulton, mother of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin, in conversations on injustices facing the black community....

Presidential candidate Ted Cruz will be at FoxTale Book Shoppe in downtown Woodstock on July 3 to promote his new book “A Time for Truth: Reigniting The Promise To America.”Admission is $30 and includes a first edition copy of the book. The book-signing event begins at 10 a.m., and the store, located at 105 E. Main St., will open to the public after the event concludes. “The event ticket includes you and a guest,” said Ellen Ward, co-owner of FoxTale Book Shoppe. “You will have an opportunity to meet Sen. Ted Cruz and get your book signed.” As the son...

Sometimes the rigors of daily life just get too overwhelming, causing me to turn to other less stressful items of interest. So I am now reading, “Benjamin Franklin — An American Life,” by famed biographer, Walter Isaacson. Ben Franklin It is already an amazing story about an amazing man, and I am not half way through its 586 pages — small type, no pictures! Benjamin Franklin: author, inventor, scientist, politician, raconteur. But he considered himself, first and foremost, to be a printer. And would generally sign his name, “Benjamin Franklin, printer.” For in that Colonial period, a printer was a...