Book Review of The Dansing Star by Kirby Jonas

This my review of the only book I own which is signed by the author himself. This book is a Western novel entitled The Dansing Star by Kirby Jonas.
The novel starts out with a short Prologue--taking place in the autumn of 1879--in which Odio de Caballos' feelings of inner anger toward the white man and the Mexicans who had both lied to him is expressed. He is known by the white man as Horse Hate and we get to learn a little more about him later. Chapter 1 starts out with our main character Mort Dansing being awoken by the local Puma County, Arizona sheriff with the exclamation of: "We've been robbed! Get out of bed! They robbed the bank!" After which the rugged main character Mort Dansing gruffy and groggily responds to the Sheriff who needs him to gather a posse to try to catch the robbers. It begins to become apparent that Dansing and the sheriff don't get along too well and the sheriff is not the most sympathetic or likeable human being. He doesn't care much for the fact that Dansing was raised by Apaches.
It turns out the only reason the sheriff needs Dansing's help is due to the fact that he was trained by the Apaches to be an excellent tracker. So, our main character sets out with his horse Gent and a posse of men to track to the thieves.
After returning with little success, Dansing later goes out to lunch with Janice Hart and it seems the two have a pretty good friendship going. But when Janice is murdered it's but to Mort Dansing to seek retribution. Along the way many revelations begin to unravel and Mort begins to understand more concerning his friend's death among other things. There's also a showdown between Mort Dansing and a seemingly invincible, but cruel, Apache medicine man. Who is this man? Well, you'll have to buy the book to find out. It's a Western full of twists and turns. Whether you're a huge fan of Westerns or not, I recommend it as a good read.
For more book reviews and other content visit my blog at fantasywriter4.blogspot.com.

Published and Self Published Book Recommendations

I've started reading a book entitled The Code Book by Simon Singh. It's a national bestseller on cracking codes. It has a lot of interesting history in it. The first part of the book talks about the Cipher of Mary Queen of Scots and gives the history of the codes used by the ancient Greeks such as the sender's scytale which was used by the Greeks as code to defeat the Persians. The ancient Greeks were geniuses.
We also learn a little about the Navajo Code Talkers toward the end of the book.
Another book I'd like to recommend is a self published fantasy novel called Soul Hosts by Joseph Isaacs. It's a teen and young adult fantasy novel about a fifteen-year-old boy named Wayden who lives in a world where one can be arrested for being a wizard. It has a voice in Wayden's head which is supposedly a sorcerer and starts out with Wayden feeling as if he is being followed by someone. We have surreal narcotic type magic scenes and meet various strange, churlish, and mysterious characters along the way.
It leaves the reader in suspense and hooks you from the every beginning. I highly recommend it to fans of fantasy fiction.
Keep reading my blog. More to come!

Stagnant Wages + Inflation = A Stagnant Economy

I'd like to blog about a topic I've been thinking about for some time now. There's a problem in this country with stagnant wages for the working class even in the midst of rising cost of living and inflation. We have record poverty, especially among people under the age of 35 in this country--the highest poverty rate since the Great Depression. This is a topic that can't keep being swept under the rug as if it isn't happening. It must be addressed. It's important.
With rising rate of poverty, not only do we have more economic woes but more socioeconomic problems as well such as the rise of theft, robbery, and crime in general. If you're a person who believes that the minimum wage and other wages should remain stagnant on a federal level as they have for almost a decade now, you support the rise of crime caused by such socioeconomic problems.
It's time for folks to pull their heads out of the sand and realize that this is a problem in America. It's time to write our lawmakers and tell them to raise the minimum wage to at least $10.00 an hour. This will stimulate spending and spur competition among employers to pay their workers a living wage. The notion that this will somehow hurt the economy is a myth perpetrated by the large corporation and their greedy heads.
According to the Department of Labor, if we adjust minimum wage for inflation when it was at its highest during 1968 it would be $11.91 today.
If you don't believe poverty leads to crime, take a good look at the high crime rates of third world countries and the drug cartels that run Mexico and many other Latin American countries. Take a look at the gangs and drug wars in the impoverished ghettos of the inner cities in this country.
Low wage workers can no longer sustain themselves in this economy. A $12.00 an hour factory job is no longer a living wage. It's time to stop ignoring this problem or believing that it is not a legitimate problem. It's time to stop worrying about unfounded consequences of raising the minimum wage. Write your state governors and legislators and let them know that this has become a problem that needs to be resolved.
So, do what Jesus Christ would do and help solve this problem. Write to our U.S. Senators and state leaders and tell them to raise the minimum wage. Or we could just allow wages to remain stagnant, so that we poverty, crime, and rate of homelessness go up. It's our call.
Source: www.doi.gov

Good news! New book on Amazon!

Good news! My full length novel The Jewels of the Ishamah is now available for the low price of $2.99 on Amazon.com. Hope you find it entertaining. For anybody interested I hope you enjoy reading it even more than I enjoyed writing it. And I did enjoy writing it.
Peace to all. PEACE OUT! I'll write on the progress of my book later. Catch you next time, blog people.

Opinion Blog: Are Some Talk Show Hosts Narcissistic?

Here's a random observation to write about today:
Hey! I'd like to discuss something I've observed. Many talk show hosts seem to be insanely narcissistic. Listen to an ad for Rush Limbaugh on the radio and notice how self assured he is about his opinions and views. Also, listen to the number of time he uses the word 'I.'
Every other word out of his mouth is I. I noticed this is true and I noticed that! I, I, I. It's like nobody is right except them. These people are so funny and yet so sad. HA! HA! HA!
Society likes people who appear to be shamelessly confident. Especially our culture. In Japan, on the other hand, the nail that stands out sometimes gets pounded down.
You'd think that these people were the most talented singers, musicians, athletes, and geniuses in the world the way they brag on themselves. Wow! Amazing! NOT!
Beware of the I monster or I monsters. Those people are scary! Just an observation. And good material for a comedy act too.

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Hannibal of Carthage and the Carthaginian People: The Most Probable Ethnicity of the Carthaginians

The Carthaginians were originally Phoenician, the name the Greeks gave to the seafaring inhabitants of northern Canaan. As a Canaanite, Hannibal would have spoken a Canaanite language closely related to ancient Phoenician and Hebrew otherwise known as the Carthaginian tongue. The Carthaginian alphabet was basically Phoenician, the oldest alphabet in the world.
He wasn't black. He would have been closer related to modern native Lebanese people and Jews than blacks. Being from Africa does not equal being black. He was probably Near Eastern. Indigenous North Africans, the Berbers and others, aren't even what you'd call black.
Hannibal was one of the greatest generals of ancient times. His army was the first to cross the Alps on elephants in order to invade Rome in the Punic Wars. Even the Romans seem to have admired him as a worthy adversary although he was defeated and Carthage burned. We have Roman busts of General Hannibal that may suggest this.
In conclusion, Hannibal was a ruthless warmonger who probably shouldn't be admired by people who wish for peace in the world. But he was most definitely of Canaanite/Phoenician lineage.
Agree? Disagree? Weigh the evidence and decide for yourself. It's an interesting historical subject to consider.