Boundary Crossed: Book Review

Here goes with my first book review, Boundary Crossed. Author Melissa F. Olson, Publisher 47North, Seattle, Washington.

There are two challenges inherent for an author working in the Urban Fantasy subgenre, which is a narrowing of the vast fantasy category and a refreshing change from the medieval world and errant knights that dominate the class of fantasy offerings. Lovers of the urban-type story don’t miss the dragons, thank you very much.

Without the normal props, the urban fantasy author must create a gritty world of realism that causes the reader to wonder whether such a world actually exists around them and provide a fresh presentation of the stock types that populate these stories: vampires, werewolves, witches.

Melissa Olson hits those marks for the most part in this awakening or coming-of-age story of a young witch not aware of her power until one night she catches a couple shoplifting diapers from the all-night store she works at and by the way, they are also kidnapping her niece.

Lex, our young heroine, launches into action and a series of events unfolds as she fiercely acts to save her niece at all costs from all threats, which the author is only beginning to unfold in the first chapters. Told from a first person perspective, the author skillfully holds us in the dark and speculating about the story as we only learn about the plot surrounding the niece as Lex does.

This could have been a superficial comic book story told in a few pages with drawings, but Olson is a better writer. She takes us deep into Lex’s psyche so we can see the impulses that motivate her to make the decisions that she does. Ultimately, we are left wondering if we would be the same: protective to a fault, willing to put our life on hold for the sake of our family.

We see her past relationships, and are given but a hint of her complicated and devoted relationship with her twin sister that lays the groundwork for future stories in the series. We learn that Lex is not only a witch, but one with a specialized power (and not good at anything else): SPOILERS, close your eyes and scoll … Lex can suck the life out of anything she chooses. She gets high on it.

A+ for the fresh presentation. In fact, we should be revolted, but by the time we learn the extent of that special power, we are in sympathy with the character who has already stated her objections many times to the harming of living creatures, then is appalled by what she can do.

The vampires are also given a unique governing structure by the loyalty they pledge that they cannot break.

B for the world. Olson uses the “must stay hidden” rule, but as readers, we do wonder why. It makes sense for the vampires, whose feeding stock (us) will remain complacent in our ignorance that they are around us, but the witches? What could ordinary mortals do against their powers? Why should they bother?

To be fair, I thought this was also a weakness of the Statute of Secrecy J.K. Rowling used. She gave the lame explanation that if the Muggles knew witches existed, they would pester them unendlessly for solutions to their trivial problems. Really? A good banishing charm would take care of that. Maybe Voldemort had the right idea after all. Let them taste the magical power and they will obey for fear of their lives.

I digress. But those who work in the fantasy genre and want their magical people to be hidden from the rest of humanity need to devise a better explanation.

Aside from that quibble, the world works. It is our world, the world of city life, coffee shops, convenience stores, and suburban housing. Olson keeps it true to that and we have no problem believing that the story is taking place just down the street.

Overall, the story is great. In a few places, the plot is obvious where it is going, but give credit to Olson, she doesn’t create unrealistic twists to keep us guessing. Yes, I figured out early on who the ultimate villain was, but she doesn’t try to evade her clever readers by bringing in some 11^th hour figure to take the rap for the sake of surprise. The result is a consistent story and a good read. For fans of the genre, I recommend it.

--Boundary Crossed is available on Amazon Kindle May 1, 2015.

Iran and the Negotiations

Why does Iran want a nuclear weapon? We are focused on shutting down their development of atomic technology because we feel threatened by Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism, hatred of Israel, and antipathy for the United States that was born of our sponsorship of the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

I’m not in favor of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. I am sure they will not stop, framework for an eventual agreement or not, trying to construct nuclear weapons until they have them. But I am thinking about the issue in a new way.

We think they want to develop the technology to bomb Israel to eradicate its existence and to threaten us with terrorist attacks within our borders. But that’s a self-centered view.

Maybe it’s not about us.

In the West, we don’t appreciate the deep fissure that lies between the Sunni and Shi’ite branches of Islam. The feud between Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity doesn’t come close. The days of Protestant heretics being burned at the stake are five centuries past. Religious wars among Christians flared and died out long ago. Christians of differing sects might think others are going to hell, but the time is long past when we thought we had a role in sending them there.

Maybe Iran sees the Sunni/Al Quaida/Islamic State threat, has seen it coming for far longer than we have, and feels the need to protect itself. That could be a defensive reason for their wanting—to put it crassly—a bomb.

Ever since the U.S. detonated two bombs over Japan in 1945, everyone has understood the devastation of such weapons. There is no need to use them, but peoples have felt a need to have them, so no one dares to attack them.

Seriously, a nuclear weapon is an ace in the hole.

Pakistan has a bomb. But they are not in the confluence of the Middle East. They are a split part of the Indian subcontinent that the British mistakenly thought would bring peace to South Asia when they cut their crown jewel colony loose. Pakistan developed a bomb because India did so first. That is not relevant to this issue.

Iran may want a nuclear weapon as a deterrent to Sunni terrorism (and that does not in any way imply that all Sunnis are terrorists), but having a bomb would also enhance their prestige as the leader of the Shi’ite branch in the Middle East.

Are you catching on that the whole issue may rest within a regional struggle for influence and power that only marginally involves the West and Israel?

Look at the proxy war in Yemen between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Damn, it reminds one of the proxy wars that took place between the Soviet Union and the United States in places like Korea, Vietnam, and Angola.

Iran plays the long game as does most of the world. Sadly, we do not. 20 years is nothing to them if the sanctions lift, their economy recovers, and domestic pressures for change ease. They can wait.

We might be able to slow it down, but we will not stop any government determined to develop nuclear weaponry. This is indeed the brave new world we inhabit. Let’s not lose our perspective while we deal with these emerging threats.

Overlooked Education Stories in 2014

Five Top Stories Overlooked by the Media

The Jacksonville Public Education Fund named their top 5 education stories for 2014:

1.       Testing and accountability.

2.       Violence in Jacksonville (involving youth).

3.       Quality Education for All Fund.

4.       Marketing, school choice and middle school reform.

5.       Rise in graduation rate.

(http://jaxpef.org/news/2014/12/the-top-stories-of-2014.aspx)

But here are 5 stories that have been overlooked but should not have been:

1.       Large swelling of class sizes in core classes along with no effort to reduce excessive elective class sizes. A law took effect July 1, 2014 that negated penalties for excessive class sizes. The constitutional amendment remains in effect but schools and districts will no longer suffer penalties for non-compliance. This year, the state will determine penalties according to school-wide averages rather than a class by class measurement, which by the way, is what the amendment prescribes. In response, districts have increased class sizes dramatically: core mathematics classes in middle school have 33 students and no one blinks an eye as long as the average is met or within the district’s predetermined tolerance. The real scandal is in elective classes which now average in the 40s because there’s no penalty. District leaders have abandoned the pretense of caring.

2.       Tepid response to violence in the schools. Every time students are caught bringing guns to schools, we are promised an increase in random searches of classrooms and buses. Duval County, know the truth: it doesn’t happen. Three guns were found within a 30 day stretch in my school. The number of random searches taking place after that: ZERO. Perhaps the people in charge don’t know the meaning of the word random. Random means there was no tip, no reason to suspect a weapon, but a class was selected and a search was performed.

3.       The failure of the new Code of Conduct. This one bothers me because the new Code has not been given a fair chance. It cannot stand on its own, but that is what schools are trying to do. Initiatives like Restorative Justice and Positive Behavior Support are half-hearted or non-existent. That is why Class 2 and 3 violations have dramatically increased. There is little encouragement for students to act right and the consequences of acting wrong are gone. The District may protest with statistics that show violations are down, but people, get real. District statistics are based on what schools enter into the information systems. The old game of not entering referrals to show good numbers goes on.

4.       The collapse of Westside schools. As the QEA initiative draws the best teachers and lion’s share of resources into the district’s most challenged schools, the Westside continues to be ignored or come last in the district’s priorities. As a result, the district is replicating the failing conditions of the Northwest corridor on the Westside. The media stories are already written: rerun the stories of the last 15 to 20 years but replace Ribault and Raines with Westside High, Ed White, Jefferson Davis, and Jeb Stuart. Don’t be fooled by Middle School reform: if you go through the plan carefully, you will understand the lack of thought that went into themes for the Westside schools. Lots of school received information and communications technology, aerospace engineering, or the like. Schools like Jeb Stuart: technology, with a little T. That could mean anything. Pencil manufacturing is technology, low tech indeed, but still technology.

5.       Revolt of School Boards against privatization: Admittedly, we have not seen this in Duval County. But in South Florida, School Boards are beginning to question the need for charter schools that open next to successful public schools and to examine the history of applicants for past failures, and are turning down the applicants. Since we are experiencing a perfect storm of wealthy businesspeople, non-profit foundations that push charter schools, and a compliant school board, don’t look for this story to appear anytime soon.

On Guns

I’ve been reading a Facebook debate about the right to bear arms, that is, to carry a concealed weapon and what restrictions could be or should be placed upon that Second Amendment right.

Let’s start with that amendment: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Unlike the other amendments, the Founding Fathers who created the Bill of Rights thought it necessary to give a reason for the right being protected. We could speculate endlessly on why that was the case, but it really is immaterial to the arguments that rage in our times. The language, as written, plainly guarantees that people may own and carry guns.

The odd thing is that the writers got it wrong. Citizen militias have never been able to maintain the security of a free state. Think about it: millions of people gather together to stare down an army. They bring squirrel guns, antique firearms bequeathed down generations, assault rifles, and on and on. They are unable to carry out any effective military maneuvers because they have never trained for such. They would be easy pickings for a real army.

George Washington did not defeat Cornwallis with citizen soldiers. His victory at Yorktown was won with a trained army, one he fashioned with the assistance of the French General Lafayette and Polish military officers Pulaski and Kosciuszko. It was a professional army that delivered independence from Great Britain (with assistance from the French navy that drove the British navy away from Virginia at the time of the crucial battle), not a citizen militia.

The Civil War (or War Between the States or the War of Northern Aggression, depending on your ancestry and location) called up state militias. But all were under the command of professional army officers, graduates of West Point. On both sides, the military was run by professional officers who undertook the great task of forming real armies. It was the only way they could hope to win the conflict.

Nevertheless, the Second Amendment grants the right to own and carry guns to ordinary citizens.

But no right, not even those guaranteed by these amendments, is absolute. The most famous example is given by Oliver Wendell Holmes in a Supreme Court opinion as the Court considered a case involving the most famous and cherished of rights: Free Speech:

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.

No right is absolute. So what reasonable restrictions might Congress place upon gun ownership and the right to carry?

I think our driver’s licenses is a good way to think about this. Automobiles can also be a deadly weapon, especially given the high number of hit and run fatalities my city seems to be experiencing at the moment.

In order to drive an automobile, a person has to be of a certain age, practice under a learner’s permit, and pass a test that demonstrates their knowledge of traffic laws and ability to control the vehicle.

Why not apply the same to gun ownership? Can we all agree that persons wishing to own guns should qualify through training and exams that they know the laws, what is allowed and what is not, and that they can handle a weapon appropriately?

This is not a restriction on gun ownership, but a regulation of gun ownership. Perhaps that militia reason suggests that the writers of the Bill of Rights knew that governments would have to be involved in the exercise of the right.

The right to gun ownership is not absolute. Convicted felons are not permitted to have firearms. But the right to gun ownership is protected by the Constitution.

One last word. The Facebook debate began with an essay that the Florida legislature is misguided in advancing a bill that would permit college students to carry guns on campus when college administrations have banned them. I support the right to own and carry guns. But that is in general society. The Constitution covers public areas, general arenas, and such. You do not have a right to carry a gun in my house or yard if I say no. Property owners have property rights and can make such rules. Businesses, like stores, can ban weapons if they choose. The same is true for schools and college campuses.

Or does someone want to argue that the three 14-year old students who brought guns into my school, in two cases loaded, have a right to do so?

Fresh Eggs for you

1.       When you first saw the initials LOL, did you think it meant ‘laughing out loud’ or ‘lots of love’?

2.       Regardless of your answer, it is falling into meaninglessness because people are using it as a punctuation mark for what they say on social media. Too many posts end LOL and I can’t help thinking, ‘Why are they laughing?’

3.       Watching Joyeux Noel, a dramatization of the time when German, French, and English troops held an impromptu truce Christmas Day 1914, I wonder what would have happened if they had laid down their arms and refused to fight any longer.

4.       But that is iron pyrite in the affairs of men—fool’s gold. When you can’t persuade people by the merit of your ideas or the power of your personality, you will enforce by … force.

5.       The most tragic conflicts in the world are taking place in Nigeria, South Sudan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

6.       Fresh water, so abundant upon the Earth, is a limited resource. I understand fracking and extracting oil from rock, but even so, it seems like we are using up something vital to our survival.

7.       For instance, the Chinese divert so much water from the Yellow River it rarely deposits anything into the sea. Don’t sneer, we Americans and Mexicans do the same thing to the Colorado.

8.       For the second time in his Presidency, I can give unrestrained kudos to President Obama. The first was the courage he displayed in authorizing the mission to go for bin Laden. The second, his opening of relations with Cuba. The Castros won’t last forever. Everyone realized that when they passed from the scene, a new era in relations would open between the two countries. Obama is positioning the U. S. to be in a better position when that happens.

9.       Stop quoting MLK, Jr. at me. If he was still alive, you wouldn’t like what he would be saying now, white people or black people. We can’t move forward when we live in the past.

10.   The greatest sermon I ever heard was by a preacher named Ken Young, who talked about four types of churches: mausoleum churches, museum churches, merry-go-round churches, and mission churches.

a.       Mausoleum churches are dead. They enshrine the past and exist only as a monument to those past glories. “It will never be the same.”

b.      Museum churches aren’t dead, but they live on past memories. “Remember when so-and-so was live?” or “When such-and –such happened?”

c.       Merry-go-round churches exist for the current membership. They are all about social events and having fun. The pot-luck is their high ceremony. As a result, they never see the need that exists around them.

d.      Mission churches are those that embrace the great commandment to go out and make disciples of all people.

11.   The gloomy skies hanging over Florida remind me of why we have festivals this time of year. Face it, Christians, there is no historical evidence that Christ was born at this time of the year. But at the Winter Solstice, when sunlight is at its least strength (Northern hemisphere), it is a depressing time. We had to invent something to keep from going mad. Christianity took over because … the Romans had too much fun … ‘nough said.

12.   Whoo, boy, did I just step in it?

Fresh Eggs

I haven't posted in a while, too busy writing stories and helping friends. But here's another collection of fresh eggs, random and unrelated thoughts that don't merit a full post:

1.        There are 38 college football bowl games this year. That's 76 teams getting in out of 129 total, or 59%. Somehow, it doesn't seem impressive that a team has a better chance of getting into a bowl game than winning the coin flip that will start it.
2.        Over the last two decades, there has been movement among the college conferences as schools sought the best place. Six to eight team conferences are history. The only way forward is to join a two-division, title game playing conference. Consolidation is taking place. Within the next ten years, probably sooner, there will be three major conferences: Pacific, Southeast, and Big 10. The Atlantic Coast, Big 12, and others will compete to be the fourth. Then it will be easy to set up championship playoffs.
3.        Once colleges have collapsed into four major conferences, they will get together and form their own overarching governing body. The NCAA will pass away, irrelevant and unmourned.
4.        A collapse of the United States is nowhere as close as much of the world thinks.
5.       North Korea is wasting its time attacking Sony Entertainment. The premise of the movie is dumb and that never fails to produce a flop. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/12/06/sony-cyber-attack-maybe-kim-jong-un-didnt-get-joke
6.      Tigers are cool.
7.      The casual racism of classic Looney Tunes/Warner Brothers cartoons of the 30s, 40s, and 50s is such that I can never be amused by the antics of Bugs Bunny and his pals again.
8.      There is a reason venture capitalists are called vultures. The latest casualty, the operators of Edgewood Bakery, probably have no idea what they signed over to Shad Khan through his firm, Stache Investements, in order to receive funding. Neither did Steve Jobs the first time around when he was forced to leave Apple Computers.
9.      Shad Khan will sell the Jaguars in a few years when the tax write-offs run out if the team does not start winning.
10.   150 years ago, we were five months away from wrapping up the conflict that forged our national identity, whose ensuing consequences still marks our life today. Yet there has been almost no notice of the sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, the Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression. What you call it depends upon your ancestry.
11.   Really, with Obama in office, you would think the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation would have been celebrated loud and long. At least used as a moment to mark our progress as a nation, a moment of reflection, and an opportunity to move forward.
12.   Kids will always read books when they get books they want to read.

Parent Halloween Prank

I have not watched the video. I didn’t see it originally. I’m not going to link to it. This will be a short post.

I’m talking about the parent prank on children, “I ate all your Halloween candy.”

Cruel: teasing children to video their immature reactions, after all, they are children, for laughs on TV and YouTube.

And doing it to your own children?

Not funny.