Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Oil Spill

This is the first posting to my Blog in quite some time. I have given thought to what I want to write about on a daily basis. And here it is. I am going to write about current events from a Judaeo-Christian point of view. I am going to research each issue carefully. For example: there are thousands of words already written about the great oil spill. Ninety percent (if not 100 percent) are based on nothing but politics. The right wing conservative nut cases talk not from any knowledge of science and the left wing crazies are even worse. They see this issue as one more weapon to attack everybody from Ms. Palin to the oil companies to Rush Lim., to George Bush and his former Vice President. By the way, Mr. President (Bush), have you taken up scuba diving? I certainly hope not because the mayor of New York will blame you for the exploding oil well.

Anyway, tomorrow, perhaps I can throw out some words that make sense. I will try.
Arnie Daner -- it's about what is moral and ethical --

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Today's fiction: Unbelievable characters.

Have you read Vince Flynn...lately. I have read all of his material; every single page. And while I admire the man's abilities and work ethic, I have come to the end of my rope regarding "Mitch Rapp," the author's SUPER-SUPER HERO. Come on, Vince, Rapp is simply not believable. How about developing a real hero; someone who must live with the emotional baggage of our times. Someone who questions his actions, decides issues with a sense of reality and morality, and is forced by circumstances to resolve conflicts with courage and vision.

Vince, check out the hero of my novel "Fall From Grace" -- His name is Ben Brice. He is real.

Monday, March 8, 2010

TEXAS BORDER SHERIFF -- EXCERPT

CHAPTER ELEVEN

NO MATTER HOW many pain pills John Novak ate, the throbbing in his hand wouldn't quit. Nor could he rid himself of the well of fear that was eating through the bottom of his stomach, day in and day out.

And now the fear was in his conversation with Angelo Rizzo, inside his elegant beachfront office. Novak realized how helpless he was in dealing with the situation he himself had created. The smell of fear rose from his armpits and permeated the space around his desk. He couldn't believe that only three weeks ago Reverend Cooper had been a name without a face, the mention of which would cause him to yawn.

"Cooper wants a half million from you," Angelo said, slumped comfortably in a white leather chair. He was dressed in golf slacks, a print shirt and sandals.

"He blames me for the loss of his soul," Novak said.

"Cooper doesn't have one. How can he blame you for losing it?"

"Because he's crazy."

Angelo studied the back of his hands. "You just sat there and let Cooper cut off your finger? That's hard to believe, John."

Warmth of the Sun

On March 16, 2010 I plan to leave for an extended trip to Arizona and New Mexico. Into the warmth of beautiful early morning sunrises and even more beautiful sunsets. When I watch the sun drop behind the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, my inner self changes. You see, these mountains were named hundreds of years ago; Sangre de Cristo means" The Blood of Christ."

I have lived with depression, loneliness and emotional pain for decades. However, in recent years I have turned my life over to a higher power. I choose to call that Higher Power--God. And I have come to understand and appreciate the power of God's Love and unconditional forgiveness.

I view my upcoming journey as a spiritual quest. An extended period of time to read, pray, and enter some of the most incredible land on earth. I will begin a second novel; one that will be set in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, and the desert surrounding Sliprock Arizona. It will center around one man's journey from darkness to light. Perhaps it will even mimic my own travels and those of others who have been born again in the light of the Lord...washed in the Blood of the Lamb.

I ask my readers to say a tiny prayer that God will protect me and that the Holy Spirit will guide my words. I will post my daily writing on this site.

Arnold H. Daner

TEXAS BORDER SHERIFF -- EXCERPT

SCENE CONTINUED-CHAPTER TEN-IN MOTEL ROOM--SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

She was on her knees, her eyes welling with tears. She felt his (professional killer) hand grasp hers and lift her arm into the air. Her fingernails bit into her palm. She had heard stories of people who did it in a warm bathtub and supposedly felt no pain. They just went to sleep as the water turned red around them. She wondered if it would be like that. Then she felt his thumb dig into her palm and peel back her fingers.

"What are you doing?" she said.

"You go into the brightness of the sun. You go into its whiteness and warmth and let it consume you. When you come out you will be pure of spirit. You will never have to be afraid again."

She tried to pull her hand from his, but he held on to it.

"Did you here me?" he said.

"Yes, sir."

He placed five hundred-dollar bills across her palm and folded her fingers on them. "The Greyhound for Los Angeles leaves in the morning. In no time you'll be in Albuquerque, and you'll see what I mean. You'll go west into the sun across a beautiful countryside, a place that's like the world was on the day God created light. The person you were when you walked into this room won't exist anymore."

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she lost a shoe. But she did not stop to pick it up.

END OF SCENE

Sunday, March 7, 2010

TEXAS BORDER SHERIFF -- EXCERPT

PREFACE CONTINUE -- In December, 1846, the Congress of the Republic of Texas passed a law providing that then President Sam Houston raise a battalion of 380 riflemen to enable the Rangers to expand their operations and enforce the law throughout the border area, including the counties of: Gonzalez, Bastrop, Robertson, and Milan. A year later the force was again expanded; to 500 men and their protection now included San Patricio, Goliad and Refugio counties.

It was in 1841 that the Brice family established their place in the Texas Rangers.


IN THE YEAR of our Lord, 2010, several characters were running amok and creating mayhem in South Central Texas. These people would have done well to understand that they were about to confront a tall man in his seventies. A man who carried a Samuel Colt .45 revolver on his hip and wore a gold badge on his uniform shirt.

The man's name was Ben Brice. That they knew nothing of this man resulted in their ultimate destruction.

END OF PREFACE

TEXAS BORDER SHERIFF -- EXCERPT

"Come closer," he said. ("He" being a professional killer)

"I don't want to."

"You need to, Janet. We don't get to choose the moment of our births or the hour of our deaths. There are few junctures in life when we actually make decisions that mean anything. The real challenge is accepting our fate."

"Please," she said. "Please, please, please."

"Get on your knees if you want. It's all right. But don't beg. No matter what else you do in this world, don't beg."

"Not in the face, sir. Please."

TEXAS BORDER SHERIFF

Beginning today, I will post small excerpts from my novel, "Texas Border Sheriff" to be published in e-format by Amazon.Com in approximately three months. Hardcover copies will be available by Labor Day, 2010.



This is a complex story involving complex characters, controversial themes and different points of view. However, like all novels, hopefully, you will regard it as entertaining.



I welcome your comments. Positive or negative. I have a thick skin (born in "da Bronx."



PREFACE

October 17, 1835

Stephen Austin returned from his imprisonment in Mexico on a hot, humid day in South Texas. He was in pain; a severe pain that tore at his lower stomach muscles and his lower back. A weaker man would have found this pain to be unbearable. But Austin was Texan to the core. So he drank strong whiskey and went about performing the tasks he believed the Good Lord had cut out for him.

There were almost one thousand families living in South Central Texas with no protection. Their lives were at risk daily, from Apache Indians, vicious outlaws like John Wesley Hardin and Wild Bill Longley and roving bands of Mexican soldiers.

It was a bad situation that needed fixing.

Austin secured a small amount of funding, some strong and well-bred horses, forty-five brave men and the services of Silas J. Parker, a retired U.S. Army Cavalry officer. The Texas Rangers were born.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Piracy Off Coast of Somalia

An ongoing debate is taking place in the Obama Administration over Naval Piracy off the coast of Africa. Let's set the record straight.

Pirates who prey on international shipping along the Horn of Africa and even more distant waters have claimed that their actions are motivated by illegal fishing in Somalia waters. This is a spurious justification for criminal behavior. Pirates continue to conduct violent attacks using the latest in military weapons; attacks on private yachts, passenger cruise ships and commercial container ships more than 1000 miles from Somalia fishing grounds.

Their criminality is financed by private individuals who share the monetary profits. The CIA and the DIA are currently hot on the trail of the pirate organizations using techniques developed by the IRS--"Follow The Money." This is great, but more is needed. NOW!!!

Our Naval Response to the actual attacks must be quick; strong; and deadly. The State Department approach (as usual) are non-violent negotiations and long-term strategic policies such as fishery management, climate/economic conservation, and fighting poverty in Africa.

WHAT BULL SHIT!! THE SAME CRAP FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SPEWING FORTH SINCE THE END OF WW II. HILLARY--GO TAKE A HOT BATH AND LET OUR MILITARY DEAL WITH THE PIRATES.

The only language that a pirate criminal holding a knife to the throat of a hostage after the bastard has already killed innocent mariners are lines of tracer fire from a U. S. Marine Recon Team or Navy Seal snipers.

Sorry folks for my language -- I just can't take it anymore!

Happy New Year

Sunday, January 3, 2010

There is hope.

A lesson to be learned from the health care debate is that Howard Dean and Moveon.org are as crazy as ever. Can you imagine -- Obama's Reform legislation is not enough; not for these people. They will never be satisfied until the Democratic Party is totally committed to socialism. That the president played by the Washington political rules in wheeling and dealing to obtain the 60 votes needed in the Senate has dismayed Dean and the ultra-left-liberals to such an extent that a bona fide split in the Democratic Part is very possible.

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and one of Obama's leading critics from the left, stated that Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan, the absence of the public option in health care reform, the President's move to the center in matters of national security will all work against the Democrats in the 2010 elections. "These issues have sapped the energy out of the Democratic base," said Green. "It will cause real problems in 2010 particularly given how energetic the Republican opposition is."

Let's hope Mr. Green is on target with these views. Hopefully, the Republicans will provide genuine opposition leadership and programs that will appeal to moderates, conservatives and independent voters.

If they do, the Republican Party just may put America back on a steady and straight road for the future.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Modern Tyranny Under "Environmentalists"

James Madison bluntly put it in The Federalist, No. 47: "The preservation of liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct." The accumulation "of all powers, executive, legislative and judicial, in the same hands ...may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.

California: The Westlands. The "environmentalists," (the executive branch--Department of the Interior) say Los Angeles should never have been built because of lack of water; and the Westlands should never have been farmed for the same reason. But Los Angeles is here to stay and the Westlands contribute several billion dollars a year to California's economy.

Or they used to until the executive branch worked with the judicial branch to dry the land up.

The Cohelo family have farmed 6,500 acres in the Central Valley since 1900. They have grown everything from tomatoes to almonds, to garlic, alfalfa, wheat, sugar beets and cotton. In 2009 their production was cut 50% because of water diversion to the smelt, a tiny fish.

It's not just the farmers affected by the forced "smelt" dry up. In Medota, California, unemployment is up to 40 %. Joseph Riofiro, a grocery store owner says that his store has become nothing but a bill payment center. The people have no electricity, no telephone service, no hot water--they are desperate.

Peter Gleck, an environmentalist with the Department of the Interior shrugs his shoulders. "We need to protect the overall environment; that's just reality."

So what can these people of the Central Valley do? The executive branch under Obama prefers the smelt to human beings; the Federal Court in California feels the same way. The legislative branch, however, could help. The California Senators headed by Barbara Boxer and the California Representatives in the House, headed by Nancy Pelosi, have the influence to overcome the Court and the Department of Interior and pass legislation which would be fair to the farmers and the people who love fish. Obama would have to sign the bill with these two powerful politicians behind it.

But they do nothing. They prefer TYRANNY.