R.W. Ridley's Blog, page 21

Under the weather

I’m not feeling 100% today.  I had a simple little procedure on my eye that included some old school torture techniques, and as a result I find myself getting headaches when I read or sit in front of the computer for too long.  I have to be really selfish and not post a entry from Lou’s diary today.  Next week, I’ll post a reading of more from Book Six of the Oz Chronicles as a makeup.

I’m busy wrestling bears today

So, there will be no entry from Lou’s Diary this week.  In fact, we may be looking at a permanent shift in my schedule.  Things are tightening up for me time-wise, so I may go to a bi-monthly posting of Lou’s Diary.  It’s a necessary change so I can pick up the pace on Book Six and get it out the door and into your hands.

He totally misunderstood me when I questioned his right to bear arms.

Lou’s Diary – Entry 25

Heavens to murgatroyd! No Lou’s diary today.

I’m having too much fun writing to interrupt the flow.  So, I won’t be posting Lou’s Diary today.  It’s possible I’ll have an entry tomorrow.  As my self-imposed punishment, here’s what it would look like if I called up my inner-Snagglepuss. (Ha- auto-correct tried to make that inner-snuggles).

Exit stage left!

Stop with the ridiculous false flag conspiracy theories!!!

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This man’s name is “Eugene” Rosen. He lives in Newtown, CT. He is not an actor. He’s a man who stepped up and did the right thing, and now he’s being harassed for it by “red flag truthers.”

Unfortunately, the Sandy Hook tragedy has uncovered an ugly side of America that is shameful and disheartening, and goes beyond the actual shooting.  It is the rise of the “false flag” brigade of “truthers,” a group filled with sociopaths and assault weapons apologists.  For those that don’t know, “false flag” is a term used by conspiracy theorists that identifies an event as being orchestrated by the US government in order to take rights away from American citizens.  And, “Truthers” are those people who think they’re smarter than the facts.

I get that some people don’t support any kind of gun control because they think it violates the 2nd Amendment.  I don’t necessarily agree, but at least it’s something we can discuss intelligently.  But, to latch on to this ridiculous “false flag” conspiracy theory because you don’t want to give the opposition any kind of leverage in the debate and you hate President Obama, is disgusting.  Normally I wouldn’t be so blunt, but this diseased theory is becoming a movement that is victimizing the Sandy Hook community all over again.

I’ve seen the “Sandy Hook Truther” videos. They are laughable.  The only thing they prove is that – surprise, surprise – there was a lot of confusion immediately following the shooting and the media reported a lot of erroneous information.  That’s it.  When you tell a father how to grieve, or you can’t accept the fact that a little girl is wearing her murdered sister’s dress, you do nothing but showcase you’re own delusions.

Can we please back away from the fantasies and have a real discussion?

Yahoo News has an excellent article about the damage and impact these theories are starting to have.  Why Sandy Hook Massacre Spawned Conspiracy Theories 

Stop with the ridiculous red flag conspiracy theories!!!

[image error]

This man’s name is “Eugene” Rosen. He lives in Newtown, CT. He is not an actor. He’s a man who stepped up and did the right thing, and now he’s being harassed for it by “red flag truthers.”

Unfortunately, the Sandy Hook tragedy has uncovered an ugly side of America that is shameful and disheartening, and goes beyond the actual shooting.  It is the rise of the “red flag” brigade of “truthers,” a group filled with sociopaths and assault weapons apologists.  For those that don’t know, “red flag” is a term used by conspiracy theorists that identifies an event as being orchestrated by the US government in order to take rights away from American citizens.  And, “Truthers” are those people who think they’re smarter than the facts.

I get that some people don’t support any kind of gun control because they think it violates the 2nd Amendment.  I don’t necessarily agree, but at least it’s something we can discuss intelligently.  But, to latch on to this ridiculous “red flag” conspiracy theory because you don’t want to give the opposition any kind of leverage in the debate and you hate President Obama, is disgusting.  Normally I wouldn’t be so blunt, but this diseased theory is becoming a movement that is victimizing the Sandy Hook community all over again.

I’ve seen the “Sandy Hook Truther” videos. They are laughable.  The only thing they prove is that – surprise, surprise – there was a lot of confusion immediately following the shooting and the media reported a lot of erroneous information.  That’s it.  When you tell a father how to grieve, or you can’t accept the fact that a little girl is wearing her murdered sister’s dress, you do nothing but showcase you’re own delusions.

Can we please back away from the fantasies and have a real discussion?

Yahoo News has an excellent article about the damage and impact these theories are starting to have.  Why Sandy Hook Massacre Spawned Conspiracy Theories 

Book Six of the Oz Chronicles – First two chapters read by R. W. Ridley

Here is the video.  Hopefully you will see how Lou’s diary comes into play here and why I’ve spent so much time on it.  Let me know what you think!

Book Six video read is coming

I’m uploading the video now, and Youtube is under the impression it will take about 8.33 hours to upload.  It’s 13 minutes long.   Sooooo, it looks like the video will be on the blog after midnight.

Sorry for the delay.

Change-up for tomorrow’s diary read – Book Six instead

I’m not going to be reading from Lou’s diary tomorrow.  Instead, I will be reading a sample from Book Six of the Oz Chronicles.  I won’t be releasing a text version on Sunday because it’s likely to change from now until publication, and I am not entirely sure when that publication will be at this point. Sorry, I wish I had a more precise timeline.

So, book it (so to speak).  Tomorrow.  Book Six sample.  Read by the author.

Russell Wilson gets away with block in the back to help beat Redskins

The day John Riggins retired from the Washington Redskins I stopped being a Redskins fan.  In fact, in last nights playoff game I was pulling for the Seattle Seahawks, and they were clearly the better team.  But that doesn’t change the fact that the Seahawks benefited from a blown call in route to a 24-14 victory over Washington.

Marshawn Lynch ran for a 27-yard score with 7:08 remaining in the game.  It was a fantastic run that was made even more compelling because Lynch’s quarterback, Russell Wilson, threw a key block that allowed the running back to score.  TV announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were duly impressed by the rookie QBs gutsy play.  And, it was gutsy.  It was also a penalty.  Missed in the excitement of the score and the unusual lead blocker was the fact that Russell Wilson committed a “block in the back” penalty that should have negated the score and moved the Seahawks back 10 yards from the spot of the foul, the six-yard line.

Russell Wilson leads the way with an illegal block in the back!

By my calculations, that means the Seahawks should have had it first and ten at the 16-yard line instead of a touchdown.   It’s a fairly significant non-call because the Seahawks were behind 14-13 when they scored.

What does all this mean?  Nothing except that it may demonstrate further that the Seahawks are a team of destiny this year.  They benefited from a bad call by replacement refs earlier in the year in  a game against the Packers.  Green Bay intercepted a ball in the end zone with no time left on the clock only to have a replacement referee inexplicably call it a touchdown for the Seahawks.  Without that win, it’s possible the Seahawks wouldn’t make the playoffs.

I happen to think Seattle is the team with the most momentum remaining in the playoffs, and I’m predicting they will beat the Falcons next week, but it’s still fun to piss off the Seahawks faithful with speculations of what could have been had the referees not missed that call.