Intel Gathering of Your Internet Use

Check out this article on how the public is being tracked.

Tuesday, 19 March 2013 12:17

The Internet is a surveillance state - March 19

http://www.olivetreeviews.org/news/headlines/item/3015-the-internet-is-a-surveillance-state-march-19

Recently finished The Perfect Assassin (Ward, 2008)

I bought the Kindle version of The Perfect Assassin by Ward Larsen.  It's in my favorite genre.  Turned out to be excellent.  Really like it.  Larsen does an excellent job of pulling the reader in, making the characters likeable and interesting, and he moves the plot forward in leaps, changing the pace with the story, and finally pushing it right through to the end.  Among the best action-espionage novels I've read, and I'd have to say he does a better job of it than Patrick Robinson.  Certainly on par with Brad Taylor. 

Here is the Amazon summary of the book:
One perfect shot will change the course of history. Christine Palmer, a young American doctor sailing solo across the Atlantic, makes an incredible discovery - a man narrowly clinging to his life in the frigid waters. But there is much more to this desperate survivor than meets the eye.David Slaton is a Kidon - a highly-trained, highly-precise, and highly-dangerous assassin. The Kidon is both the hunter and the hunted, and he and Christine are in grave danger. Will they win in this race against time?With the precision of a sharpshooter, author Ward Larsen weaves an intricate tale of espionage and intrigue.

And Larsen's bio from Amazon:
Bestselling author Ward Larsen is a two-time winner of the Florida Book Award. His first thriller, The Perfect Assassin, is currently being adapted into a major motion picture by Amber Entertainment. His work has been nominated for both the Edgar and Macavity Awards. A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Larsen flew over twenty missions in Operation Desert Storm. He has also served as a federal law enforcement officer, airline captain, and is a trained aircraft accident investigator.

These are two newer novels of his, both about flight.  Don't think I'll read them as I'm not into aviation, but I'll check them out for sure.  I'll post their ads.

Reading for pleasure, to learn, to improve one's craft

Reading... goes with writing.  

I really like reading, and wish I did more of it.  It seems to come down to the number of available hours in a day.  Sadly, my reading often gets pushed out of the way by other things.  

(I like this recent photo I found... it communicates the theme of loving the written word, the power of words, the experience of reading.)

Over the past couple years I've been reading through three different books on writing.  These authors have become my writing instructors.  Stephen King, Larry Beinhart, and the pair, Irwin & Eyerly.

The books include: Stephen King's On Writing (2010), Larry Beinhart's How to Write a Mystery (1996), and Hadley Irwin & Jeanette Eyerly's 25-year-old Writing Young Adult Novels (1988).  Each of them recommend lots of reading.  Clive Cussler is another whom I pay attention to whenever I hear snippets of his method; he reads quite a bit as well.  

Breaks from writing...

Enough of this means one needs to take a break.

So that's what I've been doing recently.  

Some Espionage Museums

A lipstick pistol, on display at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.







Museums
Some museums where visitors can learn more about the art of espionage:
International Spy Museum, Washington, D.C.
Checkpoint Charlie museum, Berlin, Germany
National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, Md.
Cold War Museum (traveling exhibit)
U-234, Russian spy sub, Hamburg, Germany
Lubyanka KGB Headquarters, Moscow

Recent Exhibit at the International Spy Museum

Here is an interesting espionage topic featured at the International Spy Museum. 

It's an exhibit that deals with the issues and tensions in fear that we face by terrorism and the freedoms we risk losing, either giving in to terrorism or over-stepping our governmental programs. 

Title:  Spies Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America

July 15, 2012–January 6, 2013

How should the United States balance civil liberties and individual rights during times of conflict, crisis and fear? Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America, a creation of the International Spy Museum, explores this vital question through video, film, interactive displays and artifacts, offering an unprecedented perspective into the stories of espionage, treason, and deception that Americans have contended with since the founding days of the republic—a subject once again at the nation’s forefront since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

This provocative exhibition explores and raises questions about key events of America’s past—dramatic moments of action, often frightening, and destabilizing—when Americans have felt threatened within their own borders. Visitors will discover the governmental and public reaction, and sometimes over-reaction, that these events have prompted—the development of counterintelligence, the passing of restrictive legislation, and other internal security measures—in order to identify the enemy and keep the nation safe. At interactive stations following the themes of the exhibition—revolution, sabotage, hate, radicalism, world war, subversion, protest, extremism, and terrorism—visitors are able to record their opinions on issues of national security and civil liberties and compare their reactions to those of past Gallup polling results. Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs both sheds light on these crucial questions and prompts visitors to challenge and discover their own beliefs and assumptions.

Photo credit: Fragment of one of the planes used to attack the World Trade Center in 2001, courtesy of the International Spy Museum.

 The Golder Family Foundation is the lead sponsor for all Special Exhibitions at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. Additional support is provided by Rotarians for Peace.

An excerpt from TF, Chapter 3, "Sea Legs."

Here is a fun clip from the early interaction between Jake Sloan and US Coast Guard Petty Officer Charlie Beckwith.

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Standing at the railing outside the bridge, starboard side, he looked across a sea that went on and on. The sky was mostly clear, save for a few high-elevation clouds and a white condensation trail from a lone jet. Moisture hung close to the sea, making the horizon indistinct. He imagined the southern Alaskan coast just beyond the horizon, but knew it must be much farther away.

“It seems to go on forever, doesn’t it?” Charlie stepped through the door behind him, and leaned forward against the rail at his side. Jake’s insides gave a little flutter as her shoulder brushed against his. He could smell her perfume now; it surprised him, as he assumed no female sailor would wear perfume. Guess I was wrong.

“It does,” he said. “I was just imagining where the Alaskan coastline was beyond the horizon. How far do you think we can see from here?”

“My guess would be about ten to fifteen miles. That is, on a clear day.”

“So there are hundreds of miles between us and land in that direction,” he said, nodding toward the east.

“Yep. And if we go a little over three thousand miles south”—she pointed that direction—“it takes us very close to Hawaii.”

“I see,” said Jake, enjoying the view, briefly catching Charlie’s scent again. What is that perfume? Seems so familiar.

They were quiet for some time, looking out at the flowing sea. The white line of foam broke away from the side of the ship. The salty air blew past them. After a while Jake noticed Charlie staring at him, not smiling, not frowning. Just looking, contentedly.

“What?” he said, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. “Did I spill something?” looking at his shirt quickly.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” She looked away, then back again, as if not sure what to say. “I was just thinking.”

 “Ah, thinking. Uh-huh. But you were staring at me,” he said, still wondering what it meant.

“Well, it just occurred to me that you’re very peaceful.”

“Peaceful?”

“Yes. You don’t seem all tied up about … anything, really.”

“Am I supposed to be?” Jake asked, half laughing at the idea, trying to keep the mood light, because it suddenly felt rather serious.

“No. I mean, I’ve never met someone, a guy, who wasn’t uncomfortable with something, who wasn’t always after something, going somewhere.”

“You mean they’re driven to achieve?”

“No,” she said, sounding apologetic. “I don’t mean that at all. I’m just talking about being at peace where they are. Not many can do that, in my experience. But you seem to do it quite easily. It’s … calming. I find that I’m constantly at something, working on one problem or another.”

Charlie looked out across the blue-gray waves. “On the ship, especially, it’s rush to this, hurry to that. I thrive on it, actually. I’m just that way.” She paused. “But I miss relaxing, or stopping to see, to really see what’s around me. Like all this beauty out here.” She waved her hand toward the open ocean.

“It is beautiful,” he said, gazing out at the deep blue water beneath them. Jake thought about what she had said for a while, then noticed her furtively looking at him again.

“I’m sorry, Jake,” Charlie said quickly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine,” he said, “not a problem.” The two-year difference in their ages suddenly seemed much wider. He half-suspected that she was a little older than nineteen. Was she telling the truth? She wouldn’t have any reason to lie. It would take a mature person to do well in the military. And that’s obviously her gift.

Charlie straightened. “Hey, you want the rest of the tour?”

“Sure. We have yet to see the front half of the ship, right?”

“Right. Let’s head down from the bridge, to the lowest level, come up through each deck, then I’ll take you to the fo’c’sle. We can work our way backward from there.”

Jake followed her inside, past his father and the captain, who were in the middle of a conversation about tides. They climbed down the hatchway and walked forward. “What is a fo’c’sle?” he asked as they walked up the sloping deck toward the bow of the ship.

 

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Banner constructed from the first Trident's Flame book cover

This is made from my original cover for Trident's Flame, the one I would have used had NavPress not picked it up for publication. 

(I am re-posting it in here so that it will show up among the image options in Facebook.)

Music and writing... best friends.

Crafting Sanctum Threat (book 2)... I love it.

Writing is an enjoyable activity... and plenty of work all at the same time.

As interesting and dynamic as an action scene is, for instance, it still must conform to certain other criteria... such as realism, being in-sinc with the character's abilities, and something that communicates intentions all by itself... as combat is a form of communicative interaction between enemies. 

And between experienced combatants the "conversation" can become quite complex.  Writing that sort of thing is more difficult than it sounds.  But a fun challenge.