Sunday, August 14, 2016

60 Days


Published


Sixty Days To the
End of the USA
As We Know
IT



A Psychological Warfare Interpretation
Of 2016 Primaries



                                                                                                 ©roylmurry 8/14/16

Insight
     I am going to give you a little insight as to where I am coming from, before explaining my opinions of the United States' Presidential Election of 2016, using a journal format.
     I am a novice at political endeavors, so my vocabulary will be non-political. I will try to be informative, sometimes funny, and as evenhanded as my personal bias will allow me to be.
     Having never participated in the election process nor ever supporting any candidate for president, I voted only in the general election. As an independent or non-declared party member, I could not vote in the primaries. When voting in the general election, I flipped a coin – heads Republican tails Democrat and then voted based on the result.
     The process worked for me because I believed it didn't matter since to me all politicians were liars, who spouted platitudes that in the end never came to fruition. The other reason was the Congress was packed with these same types of politicians from other States, who were so diverse, that they couldn't agree on most things important to the country. 
     This time around I am looking at the Presidential primaries in a different way.  Using my training in psychological warfare, I will evaluate the primary elections through a different magnifying glass.
     Having graduated from John F. Kennedy Psychological Warfare Center, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, while serving in the US Army, I became one of our military's finest – a Green Beret in 1969. My MOS, Military Occupational Specialty, was 11F25VS or Infantry Operations and Intelligence Specialist.
     In Vietnam, I worked for the last nine months at 5th Special Forces Group, Headquarters, Nha Trang. What I did my first four months in the country can only be described as super psychological warfare – top secret. I dropped my dog tags and went on a mission.
    For my service to my country, I received a Bronze Star for Meritorious Achievement in intelligence work by setting up operations that psychologically affected the enemy. I am not going into detail because we lost that endeavor, but because I don't feel comfortable telling you what we did. The enemy did worse than what we attempted or completed, and they were victorious.
     The lessons we learn when we are young and having lived through war tend to stay with us. In my case, the study of operations and intelligence about psychological warfare became part of my mental fiber. Those techniques I have used thought-out my life. I graduated from college after Nam; working for my local government of Lowell, Massachusetts for a short period; becoming involved in a major crime, and later put on the witness protection program because of my choice, and participating on many levels of international business before I retired.
     I will write in my journals what I think about the Presidential candidates' actions, using what I believe are the turning points in the primaries from a psychological warfare point of view. My opinions will not be pretty and will offend many on both sides of the aisle. However, I will try to be fair.
     I have been sitting here in our home/office for the last two month's working and watching the political repartees on CNN TV of those who want to rule the United States of American as President. It's not my normal behavior, but I share the office with my friend and supervisor, who love politics.
     I prefer to listen to soft music while performing my job as social media director of a non-profit. I won't name her or give her opinion because these are my words, ideas, and interpretation of the events surrounding an important part of our history.
     I am a US Citizen, living in the State of Florida. My supervisor is also;, and we conversed about the ongoings of the Republicans and Democrats. Her words and opinions will not use in this journal.

     Here we go…   Buy for $ 0.99 http://amzn.to/2b0SO2e

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Review of INESCAPABLE

INESCAPABLE
By

Zee Monodee and Natalie G. Owens

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Vampires, wares, and all other combinations of same a is the backbone of this fast-paced novel that leans towards being a novella but is book one in a series. The characters are developed; and when you come to the end of this book’s story, the reader will care to know what will happen in their lives.

The power over the current world situation in the conflict between non-human factions is interesting and intriguing. The plot is well put together, leading to the validation of the unique mystic beings roaming the earth.

Vampires etc. are not my genre, but I found myself fascinated by the diversity of the paranormal character’s background, which seems unlikely but help the flow of the prose. Those who enjoy this genre will be pleased and continue reading the series.

I was just dabbling and enjoyed the diversion. Recommend for non-dabblers.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Review of Flying Leaves Glowing Tadpoles

Flying Leaves Glowing Tadpoles

GIOK PING ANG

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

This short story collection is snippets of human relations of loves, living and dead. In her tales of life, death, and the hereafter, Ms. Giok Ping Ang explores emotions we all have in our search of why we exist - our attachments and the loss of them, whether they are human or material.

Without going into each distinct episode in her prose, I got the feeling that there is a universal presence involved in directing our being. That there is a reason for enjoying the physical structure, we have been allowed to occupy in our earthly journey.

The reader will go through all the emotions during this written pilgrimage, looking for the meaning of life. Interwoven in each trip, the author has produced a unique insight into a profound and honest way, which will have you start to self-evaluate your existence.

Any book that has me thinking is a great read. These stories, told by Author Giok Ping Ang, are well worth the purchase. They make you think and wonder if only…You still have time.




Saturday, July 23, 2016

Review of The Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice: Enchanted

K.K. Allen

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry


Enchanted is the beginning of a ‘Fantasy world’ series of a young lady who is becoming of age in an unconventional way. She moves in with her estranged grandmother after the death of her mother, who kept her from any engagement with her wealthy and locally popular stepmother.

Katrina, the young lady, has much in common with her grandmother Rose. They were both born on the date of the Summer Solstice, and mysterious abilities, which are now developing in Katrina.

The Solstice is a day of change in Greek Mythology, one of Rose’s questionable linchpins; and is the day that Katrina finds distinct concerning changes in her being. Her mind and body are coming of age, which is not unusual for a sixteen-year-old, but the changes that she is having are not typical of a young woman. They are powerful and consuming.

Ms. Allen’s Young Adult novel grips you and doesn’t let you go. Once you enter the world of The Summer Solstice, your enchanted by its developing fantasy and love story. A story many young adults should follow.



Sunday, July 17, 2016

Review of Lucy Stands on Her Principal

Lucy Stands on Her Principal

The “Lucy” Series, Book One

Bethie Gold

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry


I found this first book in the Lucy series an enjoyable venture into the world of teaching. The detail into how a teacher navigates through the complicated day to day routine of dealing with children and the administration was intensified by a murder.

Lucy walks into the aftermath and gets involved unintentionally. Her demeanor changes from one who is introverted to an outgoing person who takes charge of her life. This conversion comes after her association with a new teacher friend and her changing love life.

The characters are well developed and move the investigation into the murder of one of their wretched cohorts forward. The ebbs and tides of the storyline keep the reader involved to the end of that endeavor.

When the reader reaches the end, he or she will be asking for another Lucy story. I think I’ll put it on my reading list.



Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Review of Pursued

PURSUED

Jeff Joseph

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Boy meets girl, and the sparks fly. Neither was looking for love, but they found it through an endearing courtship. Romance is in the air.

Kat and Collin’s love affair reach heights that they thought was not possible. They became one in all respects, other than Kat being upfront about her paternal background. Because of his infatuation with Kat, Collin lets it be. It is what it is, as they say in today’s colloquialism.

All this changes when Kat, for Collin’s sake, breaks off the relationship; and she moves to what she considers safety from another person in her life. It is a threat that is looming, because of her parent’s unfortunate history with one unstable man, who is in a killing mood for revenge.

The story brings up many aspects of how we love one another and how we may become overly possessive. Where that line is drawn and when people cross it, is what leads to the conflicts in this adventure that may or may not go on blissfully, because the story doesn’t seem to be over.

That, of course, is up to author Jeff Joseph.  I’ll be watching to see what happens because I enjoyed the characters.
     
Although this is the second book in a novel series and having read book one, A Novel Obsession, in late 2014, PURSUED read like a new adventure to me. In reading it, the connections between the two were interwoven smoothly. Each can be read solely based on its content.



Sunday, July 10, 2016

Review of Between the Vines

Between the Vines
     a memoir

E.B. Sullivan

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Being a wine drinker, I found the production of it, as a backdrop of a love story fascinating. The planting of embryo vines, taking them to fruition, and then developing a particular type of wine, is a love affair only a few can understand.

Ms. Sullivan’s main character, Lucia, has an Italian immigrant mother and father, whose love is captured in the way they live in producing the fruit of the vine into wine. Lucia tells her story, her memoir, of how their love for her, her brother Marco, and of their devotion in living Between the Vines.

Telling her story, she explains how her parent’s commitment helped develop her character and the decisions she made in route to maturity like the vines that produce on their precious Vino Baci Vineyard. Like the vines’ production, Lucia’s life has difficulties that must be overcome to produce a loving conclusion within her family.

Lucia’s trials and errors in her personal life do co-inside with her new understanding of winemaking. Devoted to the family’s vineyard, she comes close to losing her husband, whose allegiance is to her and to another profession that takes him away from the vineyard on long business trips.

Between the Vines has its highs and lows, but it's even-keeled in the story’s flow. This memoir is a well worth read on many levels, especially if you are a wine drinking romantic like me.