Other side of The Pond

Can Al Gore get back in the Race?

I am so disappointed in the prospect of an Obama or a McCain presidency, I'm going to Canada at the end of this month - at least to think about it. Is there some kind of obscure rule at the Democratic Convention that can take the nomination away from Obama and give it to Gore? Just asking. Unfortunately it looks like he's going to sweep. Pardon my lack of confidence, but McCain doesn't have a chance despite a quick reading of the polls. He does not have the "Camelot" factor.

Unfortunately this country is in such bad shape, Obama will not solve our problems. We desperately need experience - and he's a fast learner - but not that fast.

Al, won't you at least reconsider. I met your Daddy when I was 10. Does that help?

Burn the Town and Sack the Banks!

In a little over two weeks, I will be travelling to St. Albans, Vermont. This town was made famous by being the object of the furthermost northern raid of Confederate forces during the Civil War. I will have more to tell after I get there.

The raid is the subject of a book by Carolyn J. Prince entitled: Burn the town and sack the banks.

Also on this trip - if I can get to see him - I plan on meeting with the leader of Vermont's secession movement - Thomas H. Naylor, the leader of the 2nd Vermont Republic.

The Second Vermont Republic has been picking up steam for the past few years with over 13% of Vermont's population wishing to secede from the union.

There is something going on in Vermont and I intend to find out what it is.

To purchase book: Burn the town and sack the banks!

Second Vermont Republic

Obama Just Lost My Vote!

This video clip tells why:

Your child needs to learn Spanish

Secession, Rebellion, the literary genre of violent separation

First of all, please let me assure you, I am a peace loving guy that has a vivid imagination. I'm also interested in politics as it seems everyone is those days. I write fiction. Fiction, my friends, is not the truth. I've had to tell this to numerous people over the years.

For those who are interested, at my website Thomsontalks, I am writing a story about rebellion and secession. The views expressed in the story are not my own, but are borrowed from other people.

I've completed five chapters. If you have suggestions please send them to me. I will keep the book on the website(complete with constant revisions)until I've completed it. By the way, it's called The Southern Split.

Please enjoy!

The Changing Face of America

Most people don’t know how big the world is. They live out their lives in the communities they call home and don’t even think about the subject. This is true even if they are Chinese, Scottish, New Zealand coal miners, or Maine lobster fishermen.

I live in Northern Virginia. Two deer have ambled into my backyard. One casually grabs a bite of a leaf hanging from a branch close to the ground. The forty acre field on the west side of my house is ringed by thick trees that hint of a dense forest beyond.

It’s all an illusion. What are beyond are busy highways, schools, shops, airports, and more of the same repeating over again.

Last week I found myself in the rather slummy heart of Sterling, Virginia. Most neighborhoods have a definite ethnic character. This one was as mixed up as a tossed salad. After I made my donation to Goodwill, I wandered into an Asian market and purchased some hot sauce - red pepper and vinegar – as I like it. When I went to check out, the clerk – I have no idea whether she was Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean- indicated by pointing to a sign that I needed more items to total ten dollars which is the store’s minimum on charge purchases. No English was spoken – nor was it needed.

Outside on the sidewalk were a young black man and a pregnant white woman. Shouting at them from across the street was another young black man. The conversation went something like this:

“Hey my niggah! Where you been my niggah?

“I just got out of jail.”

“What you there for?”

“Not paying my support... not paying my damn support.”

The three joined together and turned into a Mexican restaurant/pool hall to talk over the situation. Nearby, two young Vietnamese were arguing about the properties of an ancient Volvo’s fuel injection system. I understood enough Vietnamese to follow the conversation. I even understood the part where one of them kicked the car.

Soon I was driving west out of Sterling back into America again. I waved to the El Salvadoran children living at the bottom of the hill from my house …

Refreshing the Tree of Liberty

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure."

Thomas Jefferson in letter to William S. Smith, November 13, 1787