I need your help
I have an idea for a new book, but it is written by you. Okay not you alone and not the entire book, just a chapter or so. You choose a combination of  three books from the 129,864,880 published books in the world, then write a thousand words or so defending each choice.
Sounds easy, right? Well, maybe not that easy. So, allow me to explain what is I am attempting to do here.
I read and write science fiction. This new book involves the genre, but not in a way which limits your contribution if science fiction is not your “cup of tea.”
In 1895 H.G. Wells published The Time Machine, the story takes place in 1899 London, well it starts there, but his adventure moves to the year 802,701, where his protagonist finds love in a beautiful Eloi woman name Weena and her people. The Morlocks are raising the Eloi as sheep for consumption. The Time Traveler destroys the Morlocks. However, in destroying the Morlocks, he leaves the Eloi without any means of food production, shelter or other means of survival.
H.G Wells, ends his tale with the Time Traveler presumably returning to the year 802,701 to gather proof of his adventure and to help the Eloi.
In 1960 George Pal directed the movie The Time Machine, based on Well’s story. As with all book to movie ventures, changes were made. Mr. Pal wrote and filmed an ending H.G. didn’t write. Yet it is intriguing, and that is where you and maybe your friends can contribute to the effort.
Mr. Pal’s last scene is a conversation between Filby and the Time Traveler’s House Keeper. The Time Traveler has departed back to the far future at this point. The House Keeper remarks to Filby that three books are missing from the Time Traveler’s library. “Which three?” asks Filby. “I don’t know,” responds the House Keeper.
So, imagine yourself the Time Traveler, your love is lost, alone, without means to survive more than a few days, more than 800,000 years in the future. You are despite to return to your love and help the Eloi build a civilization. 
Which three books do you take with you, and why?
That is your assignment, chose three books. The books can be pre-1899, the date the original story starts, or you can choose any book up to today. And if you are really adventurous, you can pick three pre-1899 and three modern. 
Start with a bio of yourself, nothing fancy, but enough that the reader gets an idea of who you are, then choose your three books and defend your choice. No upper word limit, but try to write at least a thousand words for each choice.
Then send it to me. I will collect all the stories, edit them, then put them into one book and publish it. The working title for now is Which Three Books. Feel free to also give your thoughts on the title.
Email me at Greggmacklin@comcast.net

​We are not known for getting out much. Well, I thought that was the case until COVID-19 came along, and we found ourselves ordered not to travel into town unless we needed to go for food or going to see the doctor.
 
The stay at home order has been in effect for more than a week and we’ve been out once to the store and the Post Office. We have a PO Box in town, so we don’t have much choice. Mail to the house is iffy as the kids get bored and play smash the mail box at times. Sadly, the law takes a dim view of the obvious cure for such uncouth behavior.
 
When we did go out we found ourselves looking at all the things we never noticed over the years. I love Dogwood trees in bloom. We have two on our property, and a Crabapple tree, all in bloom. But we never noticed before, all the Dogwood tree between our home and town. We never noticed how many were in town either. 
 
We take so much for granted in our everyday lives. So much so, that we have gone blind to God’s daily gifts to us. Dare I say they were until now, mundane? It was our loss.
 
COVID-19, has inflamed our fears, yet it has made us look beyond ourselves. People, though needing to keep a safe distance from others, are saying hi and waving to one another. We are finding in this age of wireless communication, a deep human need for real contact with our fellow man. 
 
People are setting aside time to hunt bear in neighborhood windows, wave at people we don’t know, pray for family and strangers alike. Even use a drone to meet new people. People are taking to the sidewalks for a group sing along each afternoon. We cheer doctors, nurses, EMTs even the person keeping the shelves stalked at the store. 
 
We are finding life’s joys in a time that scares us all. 
 
We are finding ourselves, we are finding our humanity, we are finding our need for each other and for God.
 
We as as nation, as a world, as humankind, must take hold of this and never let go. Shun the petty and revel in the kindness, and love we see.
 
Pray for those we lost and we will lose. Pray for the over worked nurse that took the time to hold the hand of the dying so they did not die alone. They are Angles sent by God to do a job, only an Angel can do.
 
May God Bless you, and keep you, and yours safe, and may you ever see His hand in your life.

​If we learn anything from COVID-19, it is that people revel in fear, and there those that will make billions selling it while governments use it to take more power.
 
Listen to radio and it’s about COVID-19. Watch the news and it’s about COVID-19. Watch entertainment news and it’s about, you guessed it, COVID-19. 
 
Facebook is flooded with posts about COVID-19.
 
The common thread with all is the threat of the virus is to everyone with numbers and charts to prove their point. 
 
Curiously absent are those doctors reporting that this not as bad as the fears being peddled. God help you if you have the stones to point this out to the true believers of the COVID-19 Church of the Apocalypse.
 
Yes, I know that last sentence is a bit sarcastic, but you know there is far too much truth in it.
 
A few days ago, someone called me out for presenting facts not in accordance with the COVID-19 Church. We had a back and forth about the numbers reported on confirmed deaths inflating the mortality rates overall, when even the CDC says from 80% to 83% of the total cases are under reported. When I posted a link, she agreed, then said it was too early to tell if the 80% would start to lower later. She needed to be fearful and found a way to make it happen even in the face of the facts.
 
Another person insisted some experts claim COVID-19 will persistently give those that recover breathing problems. What she was saying is the “some” experts were “most” experts All her links managed to carefully parse their words and phrases with the likes of it could, might, we think, it seems, it is possible, etc. Pointing this out, well, that is a sin deserving of death. 
 
Again, she needs to fear, and she like so many others, feels the need to propagate their fears to others. They research for the phrases and fears they want to validate and take extreme offense to anything and anyone who presents a logical counter to their fear.
 
Yet, I’m not surprised at all this. Fear sells, it gets clicks online, and makes even kids rich and famous.  In a few months, the fear will something else. I’m betting it goes back to the doom and gloom of the environment “crisis.”

​There are a few things in my life which I not only lived the change taking place but felt it in my soul.
I felt the world change on July 20th, 1969 when we did what was thought a few short years before by most people as impossible. We put men on the Moon. I felt the world change again on Dec 19th, 1972, when we came back from the Moon for the last time, having lost our will to reach beyond our grasp.
I felt the world change on 9/11. Then over the years saw our resolve to face our enemies' change to capitulation. 
But I didn't feel this new change, not even when our group tour to the East Coast was postponed over the Coronavirus. I expected it, having watched the media stir this into mass hysteria. 
The first suggestion a world change had arrived was a visit to Walmart for our weekly shopping.
There was no toilet paper. The insanity had spread faster than COVID19, arriving in the little towns of the Midwest, where just a few short days prior, common sense seemed to still have a foothold. The good news was the shelves still had bread, beans, and rice. The meat counters still had a selection of beef, pork, and chicken. The pharmacy shelves were a bit bare, but no need to panic.
I stood in awe of the stupidity of what I saw. The store was full of food and quite a bit of medications but devoid of paper goods. Had people become that kid in 3rd grade that would also eat the paper sack his mom packed his lunch in?
Then Trump placed a travel ban and announced national testing. Smart move. Our state limited events that would mean large gatherings. I question the 250-people limit. Does COVID19 count people before deciding to infect? Still, it is better than doing nothing.
I felt the change the next day. We got up early and hit Walmart and Sam's Club. I knew Trump's announcement would have an impact. I underestimated how fast people would react and start buying smart. The meat counter at Sam's Club had a few beef briskets available. Nice when smoked and you have a lot of friends over. The was still a lot of chicken, but we didn't need any so we passed.
At Walmart, I slipped over to the outdoor section to see what backpacking foods were available. Pancakes and three ice cream bars. All the rest was gone. At least a few people knew what to get. These meals keep for up to 50 years if kept at 60 degrees of lower and they taste great… Well at least on the trail after a long hard hike they do.
Fear sells. We like to panic and when we do, we toss our intelligence aside. We run in circles, scream and shout and wave our arms and hand all about.
Now I see a mayor in Illinois granting herself the power to ban the sale of guns, ammo, booze, and gas to help battle COVID19. Counties in California restricting local travel. What is next? I am afraid ask. 
We take on the whole, everything we hear and see at face value and are angry with people who present facts in opposition to our fears. We are told this is much worse than the flu and will bite the head off anyone who dares to challenge the lie.
There, I did it. I called the fear a lie. I challenged the media's fear-mongering. The fact is the reported number of cases and the actual number of cases are very different. Even the CDC says their catching from 17% to 20% of the total. Those 20%, are the ones most affected by COVID19. The other 80% with COVID19 range from asymptomatic to mild symptoms. The flu, on the other hand, sees about 66% of those infected needing medical help.
Anyone who passed middle school math can see when it comes to COVID19, that the actual cases are under-reported at a rate of about 4 to 1. Given that an under-reporting of cases and that 80% of all cases are at worse mild, the mortality rate is overstated by 80%. The 3.4% mortality rate is more like 0.33%.
Take care and God bless

I don’t know why I am surprised at the number of people enamored with the fantasies of Bernie Sanders, but I am. I don’t why I am surprised at the reaction to the latest health scare with the Coronavirus, but the panic undeserved as it is, is real and the media is racking in the money.
 
The DNC let Bernie Sanders run twice now under their umbrella, but only now seem worried he might gain enough delegates to be their nominee. They opened the door for him, what did they expect would happen? The DNC has worked hard to dumb down the average voter for decades so they can sell their pie in the sky for votes. Low and behold, along comes Sanders who is more of a con artist than those in the party that set this up and he is running with it. Running well enough, they’re scared of him.
 
The DNCs’ praise and defense of “The Squad,” was the final setting of the stage for Sanders. It gave Sanders political cover to take the lead.
 
What I don’t understand is the number of voters that swoon over his fantasies of free stuff. Has our educational system failed that much in so little time? 
 
I’ve laid out that we spend more than we take in, and what our spending percentage of the GDP is. I’ve shown in Sander’s own words how his plan is to add more spending to the tune of 2,965% of our GDP. I’ve then asked the believers to refute the math. Raise taxes on the rich they say, not understanding the rich are not some separate entity from the GDP. No matter how many pumps you add to the well, the well can produce only that which is available. 
 
We as a nation are flooded 24/7 with news, and those that are flooding us need to keep us hooked. Fear sells.
 
We see hour after hour the doom and gloom of the Coronavirus. People are dying and numbers are getting higher each day. Then just so they can say they are honest about it all, they slip in an interview with someone which says 80% of the cases are so mild most don’t even know they were sick. 
 
But it is the 20% which are the bad cases that gets the most coverage, the most clicks, and most panic. 
 
CNN said to panic, so, we did. 
 
Does anyone actually use their brain for more than something to hold their ears apart anymore?
 
Seems the answer is no. 

It starts before Halloween when the stores put out their Thanksgiving decorations and sales ads for hams, turkeys, stuffing, and pies. 

​I am reminded of the TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” as he bemoans the commercialization of the birth of Christ starting with Thanksgiving and who can set the most elaborate table followed by the most lit up house and front yard. 
 
I grew up in a time when these holidays were about family and our Christian roots and ongoing faith.
 
Today, well, today it is not about any those things anymore. We use Facebook to send greetings and attempt to present a Christian face to family and friends, but, that is all it is, a face. No, we are out buying the biggest tree, the most lights, a bigger spread and forgetting our faith and our family. And those that do come to our tables are not being blessed in the body and spirit of Christ, but, in the latest gossip and trash talk. There is no forgiveness, no attempts to reach out in the name of Christ to find truth and heal real and imagined wounds.
 
We are bitter and angry over things we can’t or won’t put into words. We hold grudges because of gossip and rumors. And God help those who challenge the gossip and rumors.
 
So, here we are, ignoring the most important event since creation, reveling in self-righteousness unable to learn the lessons Scrooge and the Grinch did on just one Christmas.
 
Our thankfulness is unbelieved and hollow. Our hate is real and soul crushing. 
 
There was a question I heared in my youth” “If you’re not as close to God as you were two weeks ago, guess who moved?”  
 
Let us all use this Christmas to move back to God and His Son.
 
Have a Merry Christmas and may God Bless you and your family in the joy of His Son.
 

​True or false, the AR in AR 15 is for Assault Rifle?
 
False. It stands for Armalite Rifle. The company that invented the basic platform of the firearm.
 
True or false, the AR 15 is a weapon that causes massive fatal wounds in humans?
 
True?, well, no. Okay, it depends.
 
Clear as mud, right? Despite the preaching of the media and the lies of those Democrats running for office, there is no definitive one size fits all answer to the question, though they preach a one size fits all none criminals solution
 
First, the AR-15 is not some magical civilian version of a weapon of war. The AR 15 cannot select fire, that is, it cannot fire full auto or in 3 round bursts. The AR 15 is limited to one shot per pull of the trigger. The faster you pull the trigger the faster it fires, and the faster you start missing targets.
 
Second, the AR 15 comes in a variety of different calibers, from the lowly .22 Long Rifle Rimfire, to the massive .50 Beowulf. The most popular caliber is the 5.56NATO/223 Rem. Which is a supped up .22 caliber bullet. The 7.62NATO, another popular caliber for the platform is also known as the .308 Winchester, a popular big game hunting round. 
 
Third, while caliber gives some indication of effectiveness, there is more to it than how big it is. Is the bullet full military jacketed? These rounds tend to go through the target with little damage. Unless it hits the heart or major artery, you’ll live. A soft point will expand when it hits, but how much depends on what tissue it contacts. The weight of the bullet plays a part in this too. Using hollow points with handgun rounds can cause massive wounds, but in rifle rounds not so much. A lot of hollow point rifle rounds are not recommended for hunting. Seems odd, right? There are reasons for this and large sections of books on ballistics have been dedicated to explaining those reasons. 
 
I have of course, oversimplified this. Those same books discuss in mathematical detail the pros and cons of caliber, velocity, weight, boat tail vs non-boat tail. Spire point vs full jacket. Lead core vs a hosts of non lead core types. Crimp bonded core vs no crimp. What primer is best, what case is best and why one combination works in the S&W AR 15 but not so well the DPMS AR 15. The last will end in a discussion of why one maker has a 10 inch twist and another a 9 inch, which will start an argument about what load combination is better for what twist. 
 
One more thing about twist. The original story about the 5.56NATO and the first M-16 still makes the news. The original specification called for a slow twist, as in 12 inches or more. This twist caused the long 55 grain 5.56 boat tail round to wobble in flight. This wobble caused it at times to tumble in the body which resulted in massive damage. The problem was the wobble caused a lot missed shots. Like throwing a knuckle ball from center field to home plate.  To correct this huge problem, the twist was changed to 9 inches. The bullet stopped wobbling resulting in not tumbling and no massive wound track. But the story continues to be told as if it were still true today.
 
So, when you hear some vote whore telling you the AR 15 is a weapon of war that kills anything that moves, keep in mind this person has no idea what he or she is talking about. And if you get the chance to ask them specifics, be ready to be shouted down. 
 
Know this too. They say AR 15 now, but if you listen, they really want all your guns.  Note that in the attached link, the candidate didn’t correct his supporter when the supporter shouted out the lady should have her Glock.
 
https://www.facebook.com/NationalRifleAssociation/videos/999279233736919/UzpfSTY2NTM0NTQ4MzQ4MzQ4NjozMzExODE3NzkyMTY5NTYy/?comment_id=3311832655501409

​On our way to our cruise ship, we passed over Portage Creek to Portage Lake, which is glacier fed complete with large chunks of glacier ice floating along the shoreline. 
It is our first close encounter with glacier ice. The blue is light, bright, and beautiful to see. The glacier that feeds Portage Lake is out of sight around an arm of the mountain. A tease of what is to come.
We also met up with the Alaskan Rail Road here, and got in line to travel the tunnel to Whitter. The tunnel is a one lane road that shares the rail road track. You get in line and wait for the green light when it is your turn. The light spaces everyone out. Then you straddle the rail road track and enter the 2 and a half-mile tunnel going under the mountain to Whitter where those leaving Whitter are lined up waiting for their turn. 
After boarding the Island Princesses, we set sail for Yakuiat Bay arriving about 1 pm the following day. Hubbard Glacier is at the end of the bay. The weather there can be a problem, meaning a lot of times it is fogged in. If that happens, there is nothing to see and ship moves on. This time the weather was clear and water calm, and view breathtaking.
  On our way into the bay we pass two large chunks of ice a few miles from the entrance to the bay. By large I mean 30 or 40 feet long and standing 10 feet out of the water. The closer we get the more ice we encounter in the fiord. Soon there is ice everywhere and we are bouncing large chunks off the hull of the ship, not to worry, we have slowed down, and avoid the larger chunks of ice. The water is clouded gray with glacier silt the further in we go.  
Hubbard Glacier is more than 70 miles long and 6 miles wide where it meets the sea, towering as much as 400 feet above the water line. It is a healthy glacier in that is not melting away. At times it surges into the bay. 
Because of the ice under the waterline we can’t get much closer than half a mile, but even at that distance the view is magnificent. We spend 30 minutes portside and another 30 minutes starboard, so everyone gets a good view.
As fantastic as the view is here, it is at our stop at Glacier Bay that you feel and hear the power of the rivers of ice. 
At Glacier Bay we view three  separate glaciers. And what views they are. We take on Park Rangers as we approach the town of Gustavus at Bartlett Cove at the mouth of the bay. 
 The Tlingit tell of a village at the base of the glacier, which the Tlingit called S'e Shuyee or "edge of the glacial silt."
Maps indicate this village was far inland from what is today the Icy Strait. There was land all the way to Icy Strait and all inhabited by the Tlingit people. 
There was just the one glacier then while today there are some 14 glaciers emptying into the bay and no silt edge anywhere.
The glacier which terminated at the “edge of the glacial silt” was The Grand Pacific Glacier.
The Tlingit tell of a maiden that disrespected the glacier which responded by surging foreword, destroying their villages and forcing them to leave. 
Science has backed up the oral history. The glacier started to advance around 1680, by 1750 it had pushed miles into the Icy Strait before retreating almost as fast as it advanced.
The once land bound glacier moved far enough to become a tidal glacier, where the warmer water did its work and carved out the glacial silt under the growing ice. 
The Little Ice Age had ended, and not even the 166 feet of snow they get each year today is enough to advance most of the ice. As the sea undercut the silt it meant there was nothing but water to support the weight of the ice. Today the ice that makes the Margerie Glacier is 250 feet above the waterline and 300 feet below it and moving 6 feet a day. 
In 1966 The Grand Pacific Glacier had retreated into Canada, but today it is miles inside the US once again and almost butts up against the Margerie. But, as the sea beat back the massive glacier the ice gauged out a deep valley that is today’s bay. Now it was known as Sit' Eeti Gheeyi or "the bay in place of the glacier."
We encounter ice miles from Margerie Glacier at the far end of Glacier Bay, in Tarr Inlet. The ice in the water is getting more plentiful and larger the further up the bay we travel. Though we are moving slowly into the bay it is still a bit unnerving hearing it hit the hull of the ship.
The water is cloudy with silt from the glaciers, and the seals take advantage of it. The Killer Whales don’t like silt clouded water and stay away.
On the land part of our adventure we saw clear rivers and gray rivers which told you which was fed by snow melt and which were fed my glacier melt, it works here too. Silt gray sea water means there is at least one glacier emptying into the bay.
The weather is overcast making the blue ice stand out. We are within a few hundred yards of this wall of ice. It is 21 miles long and a mile wide were it juts into the bay. The massive wall of ice is impressive up close, but what gets your attention, something you will never forget, is the sound of the ice, the long rumbling sound of millions of tons of 15,000-year-old ice moving towards you and crack as the ice breaks free and splashes into the sea.
The ice is a living river, growing and dying as it sheds huge chunks for ice before your eyes. You listen, you feel and you see this and wonder at the splendor of the power before you. 
This glacier is heathy, so is The Grand Pacific Glacier  a few hundred feet away and at a right angle next to the Margerie, but you have to look to see the Grand Pacific Glacier is there at all. It appears to be a wall of land at first, second and third glance. There have been landslides above the glacier which hides most of the ice face in black dirt. However, a closer look shows places were the ice is exposed. It is quite a contrast to all the other glaciers within the park.
Should the climate swing back, and someday it will, the bay could be covered in glacial ice in a surprisingly short time. 
On the way back out of the bay we sail past the Lamplugh Glacier. This one is not moving as fast and we don’t come as close. We couldn’t hear the ice, which was a shame. The sound of moving ice moves you too. Like an Elk Bugle once heard can bring you to cry when heard again.