I awoke this morning to a very pleasant surprise; I had received a review of my short story: "Journey Into Darkness" . In the very detailed review, the reviewer told me about her brother who had gone to war at the age of 17 and had never recovered. It was a moving and an all too familiar story, one I have heard from many people over the years.

Seventeen and eighteen are ages which, in civilian life, people are still considered children, at least here in America. If we allowed them to undergo horrendous mental trauma, or put them in physical danger, in civilian life we could be charged with child abuse and sent to prison. Yet, these are the very people we send off to fight our wars.

You know, there was a reason that the “Lost Boys” of that war use to refer to home as “The World”. America had become, for them, a shining oasis of normalcy which they each longed to be back within, but they knew, somehow, that returning would be as difficult as crossing the Milky Way and they were right. Those who died in battle were the lucky ones, the survivors were the ones faced with the almost insurmountable journey home...back to the world.

Yes, her story struck a chord with me. Every year now more and more of those lost boys succumb to age and self-inflected deceases brought about by the abuse of their bodies in an effort to ease their pain. In the not too distant future there will be none of them left as, one by one, they finally find the peace that has eluded them for so many years.

Now many of you who have read my other blogs know that I am a very conservative person and you may be laboring under the impression that I am not against war. You would be wrong. I hate war with a passion borne of seeing it up close and personal. The difference is, I do believe that, as much as I hate war, it is sometimes a necessary evil which we must employ.

There will always be “Lost Boys” in every war. Our responsibility is to make sure that the price THEY pay is worth it. So, my friends, if we must go once more into the breach, let us go with a heavy heart, and a knowledge that we do so only after all other avenues have been exhausted and we have no other choice. Go into the breach with the grim determination that this time will be the last time....do it right. Do that for the Lost Boys, they have earned at least that much.




 

Well you would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to be aware that NBC is well into its coverage of the Olympics. Personally, I have been under whelmed by this Olympiad. I think what really bothers me about these games is the way the Chinese are being almost deified by the gushing commentators.

Mel watched a lot of the opening ceremonies, I did not. Oh the TV was on and playing, behind me as I worked at the computer, but I rarely turned around to actually watch the thing. I did hear Bob Costas and Matt Lauer babbling on and on about what a wonderful show China was putting on for the world.

Well hell, you give me 300 million dollars, lend me 11,000 out of work performers and I can throw a pretty good shindig myself. What I am wondering is whether or not China will introduce some new games to the Olympics this year, like Tank Blocking....where they invite students to stand in front of the giant machines again and see how many can successfully stop them from advancing. How about Olympic crowd control...they could have their military take a large portion of the Olympic village and see how long it will take them to clear it of all humans...breathing that is.

Yes, I am joking, but the bottom line is a leopard can not change his spots. I would suggest that before you get to feeling all warm and fuzzy toward the 1.8 BILLION Chinese over there, maybe you should remember the old fable about the scorpion and the crocodile.

One day, long ago, a scorpion approached a crocodile who was laying on the banks of the Nile river. The river was wide and deep and the scorpion asked the croc if he would give him a ride across the river on his back.

“I am no fool,” the crocodile said. “You will sting me and I will die.”

“Oh no,” the scorpion replied, “if I did that, then I would drown too.”

The crocodile thought about it for a moment, then he agreed. The scorpion jumped onto the back of the crocodile and the beast waded into the swift, deep, water. About half way across the river, sure enough, the scorpion stung the crocodile.

As the large beast sank below the water, mortally wounded, he cried out, “WHY,” he said. “Why did you do it, now we will both die.”

The scorpion gave a shrug of his shoulders and said, even as he too began to sink. “I am a scorpion, after all, it is what I do.”

Over the past few months, I have noticed a trend in the media to paint only a good picture of China. Hell, now we even have some scientist arguing that it was the Chinese who actually discovered America. It seems that, on the coast of Oregon, they have discovered an ancient site that dates back a thousand years. They believe it to be one of the first Chinese laundries in the new world. Now as the local indigenous tribes in America did not have a written language, there are no surviving laundry receipts that would prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was a Chinese laundry. Did the Vikings do laundry?

 

WELCOME! How ya'll doing? Well come on in and have a look around, will ya. Please forgive the mess, I'm still kind of getting the place in order, so to speak. So I thought I would just kind of give you all a walking tour of "Tor's Place".

This is written at my desk, in our modest farm home in Southern Missouri. Mel has finally settled upon a name for our place...all ranches and farms need a name you know...she has chosen: "ALMOSTA RANCH".

She believes in truth in advertising, she said and because our place is ALMOST a ranch, she figured that was the perfect name for it.

Now for those who are first time visitors here I want to give you some idea as to what you will find in my place. Those who are acquainted with me will know that it will be business as usual, but you first timers will find....

1. Humor...First and foremost, I love humor and I will poke fun at myself more often than not.

2. Opinion....I am very opinionated and here is where I share those opinions. If you disagree with me, that's okay...leave a comment and tell me I'm crazy...you won't be the first to do so.

3. California-baiting....I love to rake the Left Coast over the coals. One note here: My big sister, Nada is exempt from any smart-assed remarks directed at Californians...she is definitely the exception to the rule.

4. Politics.....I am usually able to tie this topic in with the humor thing since politicians are such muses when it comes to humor.

5. Personal and serious musings....Yeah I get that way sometimes but don't worry, usually after taking a couple of aspirins and having a nap, I get over it.

So there you have it....that's what you will find in Tor's Place over the next year or so while I struggle to fill up this space. I really do look forward to seeing old friends in here and making some new ones along the way.

And now I would like to leave you with a joke that will tell you new readers volumes about the man behind the words here......

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her
altitude and spotted a man in a boat below.

She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot
air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude"

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, " everything you told me
is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Democrat."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it's my fault."