Facts (f)or Doomsday Sci-Fi?

On November 13, I cut the segment below from a lengthier post on ZeroHedge.Com, a financial web site that monitors all things Wall Street. Since this topic is atypical for the organization, it caught my eye. Quotes within the article from Retired Major General Jerry Curry riveted my attention, particularly the last line of the portion pasted below.

Today, writing about the Apocalypse is popular. The form the end of time takes in a book plot is as varied as the authors writing on the topic. One of my readers has an indie book out in this genre, with a second book in the works. Book two is due to be released by the end of the year.

Given the high level of interest in doomsday matters, I had to share the following text. It is FACTUAL fodder for fictional stories. At this point, I normally sign off with something like “Enjoy, and happy writing,” but given the words you are about to read, I think I’ll pass on the cheery salutation.

Retired Major General Jerry Curry wrote Friday, November 9, 2012:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) confirms that it is purchasing 174 thousand rounds of hollow point bullets to be delivered to 41 locations in major cities across the U.S.

 

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Those against whom the hollow point bullets are to be used — those causing the civil unrest — must be American citizens; since the SSA has never been used overseas to help foreign countries maintain control of their citizens.

 

What would be the target of these 174, 000 rounds of hollow point bullets? It can’t simply be to control demonstrators or rioters. Hollow point bullets are so lethal that the Geneva Convention does not allow their use on the battle field in time of war. Hollow point bullets don’t just stop or hurt people, they penetrate the body, spread out, fragment and cause maximum damage to the body’s organs. Death often follows.

 

Potentially each hollow nose bullet represents a dead American. If so, why would the U.S. government want the SSA to kill 174,000 of our citizens, even during a time of civil unrest?

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If this were only a one time order of ammunition, it could easily be dismissed. But there is a pattern here. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has ordered 46,000 rounds of hollow point ammunition. Notice that all of these purchases are for the lethal hollow nose bullets.  These bullets are not being purchased and stored for squirrel or coyote hunting. This is serious ammunition manufactured to be used for serious purposes.

 

In the war in Iraq, our military forces expended approximately 70 million rounds per year. In March DHS ordered 750 million rounds of hollow point ammunition. It then turned around and ordered an additional 750 million rounds of miscellaneous bullets including some that are capable of penetrating walls. This is enough ammunition to empty five rounds into the body of every living American citizen. Is this something we and the Congress should be concerned about? What’s the plan that requires so many dead Americans, even during times of civil unrest? Has Congress and the Administration vetted the plan in public.

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All of these rounds of ammunition can only be used to kill American citizens, though there is enough ammunition being ordered to kill, in addition to every American citizen, also every Iranian, Syrian or Mexican. There is simply too much of it. And this much ammunition can’t be just for training, there aren’t that many weapons and “shooters” in the U.S. to fire it.

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We have enough military forces to maintain law and order in the U.S. even during times of civil unrest.

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This is a deadly serious business. I hope I’m wrong, but something smells rotten. And If the Congress isn’t going to do its duty and investigate this matter fully, the military will have to protect the Constitution, the nation, and our citizens.

The article on ZeroHedge.com ends with a 1987 quote from a United States Senator. That quote, which follows, when combined with the words of  Major General Curry is enough to make the hairs on my neck stand on end. The words of these powerful, knowledgeable men stimulate my imagination. How about yours?

Senator Daniel Inouye said in 1987:

There exists a shadowy Government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself.

 

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

As authors, we are always looking for unique ways to make our stories stand out. One way to achieve that is to weave weird facts into the story line. Here are a couple to show you what I mean.

First, persons with a go-getter personality — dominated by ambition, logic and decisiveness — are likely to have a ring finger that is longer than his or her index finger. Why? The long fourth finger is an indication that this person was exposed to a higher than average amount of testosterone en utero, according to author Dr. John T. Manning of Rutgers University. He covers the subject in his book Digit Ratio.

Second, women change their taste in men based on their hormone levels. Researcher Tony Little found that women taking birth control pills tend to choose men with pronounced masculine features. The manly traits indicate a higher testosterone level, which is also linked to aggressive behavior and a higher than average likelihood of divorce.

Finally, an adrenaline rush can make the sparks fly between partners. Research by Arthur Aron and Donald Dutton prove it. They found doing something daring together increases the odds of bonding with your date. In one study, male subjects were asked to cross either a shaky or sturdy bridge to speak to an attractive female “researcher”  who provided the male subject her phone number. Those men who met the female after the shaky bridge crossing were more likely to follow-up with a phone call and an invitation to go out together. The exhilaration of being in a risky situation together increases attraction.

Who knew?

The Photo-Essay and A Writer’s Mistake

When I was a little girl, my parents would take my sister and me to the D. A. R. Constitution Hall weekly for a narrated National Geographic film. I was riveted to the images of foreign peoples in foreign lands doing foreign things. Even though the travelogue ran long past my bedtime, I seldom went to sleep. My wanderlust took root while attending those lectures.

Back to the present.

A favorite blogger of mine is starting, as you read this, a trip to the Canadian Arctic. He will share his exploration via a photo-essay on-line. This is the modern day version of those travelogues of yore.

Springtime in the Arctic. My imagination conjures thunderous rivers fueled by spring thaws. Ice flows break up into bumper cars, slamming logjams and each other on the herky-jerky free float downstream. Wildflowers bewitch. Wildlife beckons. The shift of palette from winter’s monochrome to spring’s lusty plethora is blindingly vivid.  The landscape morphs from icy to lush.

I can’t wait to see the reality of my vision. If you want to follow along, click the link below. I dare you.

http://missluger.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/a-simple-plan

BULLETIN:  My euphoria overwhelmed my reason. I checked my facts — after the fact. Yes, Phil Kneen is preparing for the trip now, but the actual travel happens later. Smash. The sound you hear is my shattered vision of an arctic spring in photographs. Hmmmm. The timing may be better suited to summer rodeos in Calgary. I wonder if Phil can outrun a mad momma grizzly?

P. S. THE LESSON HERE IS CHECK YOUR FACTS FIRST, NOT AFTER YOU HAVE WRITTEN A PIECE.

Remark on C. J. Gorden’s On Reading and Being Read

URL: http://cjgorden.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/on-reading-and-being-read/

 

A murder mystery writer, of whom I am fond, advised me to get my facts straight in any story I write. If not, I will alienate my reader. The advice was repeated to me on three occasions, so I knew my friend felt strongly about the opinion.

 

Yesterday I read C. J. Gorden’s “On Reading and Being Read.” The link is above. She describes her own penchant to look up facts she reads in books. For example, an author mentioned a street in Melbourne, Australia in a novel, and Gorden used Google Maps to locate the street. Then she used an additional feature that allowed her to see the view from street level: she could tell what restaurants and merchants were actually in that location. She used Google Maps and verified what the author said about an abundance of ethnic restaurants on that particular street.

 

Gorden illustrates the savvy of today’s reader. Technology allows the curious reader to look up facts and maps almost instantly.

 

Reading Gorden’s post reinforced the advice of my mentor: Don’t wing it. Get your facts straight before committing words to the page.