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I Have a Dream! That we as a nation rouse our sleeping common sense and shout at the top of our lungs, "No more. No more." No more of the incompetent political juggernaut which is destroying the hope which gave birth to this great country. No more political acquiescence to the lies and hatred emanating from what should be a bright and shining light beckoning the rest of the world to follow our path to freedom and tolerance. No more threats to any who would question a would be god who dresses in self glorification demanding loyalty when none is due or given in return. No more ....

Take care. Vern

Who's the boss? Okay, all the body parts got into an argument one day about which was the most important and thus should be the boss and in charge of the rest. Of course the brain said it should be in charge because it knew everything. The eyes said they should be in charge because they could see everything. The legs said they should be in charge because they carried the load everywhere. And so it went with all the body parts until the rectum spoke up and said he should be in charge which caused laughter from all the other body parts. So the rectum simply snapped shut.

After a few days the brain got groggy, the eyes got foggy, the legs got wobbly and on down the line with all the other body parts. So, the rectum was elected boss which goes to show you don't have to be important to be boss, just an ass hole. Take care. Vern

America's Got Talent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUTtQPMuA1Y

Crazy eights

Hack job

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

I agree with that statement up to a point. While there is no excuse for being rude or obnoxious in a review, we all give our "opinions" on how to perhaps make the writing/story better or at least offer an alternative way of saying something. Most authors on this site understand that the review is to offer suggestions for possible improvement, but there are some who enter the domain who apparently become upset if their work is not praised up one side and down the other which of course is not conducive to learning more about the craft.

I do think an author can learn from basically one sided reviews (what might be construed as negative), but the best reviews cover what is good and what could be improved in the opinion of the reviewer. All we offer is our honest opinions, hopefully. It is up to the author to decide if any suggestions should be incorporated into their work; that is part of the learning process also, but can't be learned if only pats on the back are presented by the reviewer. That "great gob, you're ready for publishing" to me is a disservice to the author even if it is all they are looking for.

Please understand I'm not arguing against what MJ has said, merely expanding the thought process a bit in much the way MJ does in her own excellent reviews. Take care. Vern

Do sales == good? It's all subjective of course, but let me give one simple real life example which should end the discussion for most that have read the book.
"A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey sold millions of copies after exposure pm Opray's Book Club. It was later ridiculed because he presented it as a memoir when if fact it was mostly fabricated. Now I was gullible enough to obtain a copy and read a large portion before finally realizing I was never going to get to the "good" part because there wasn't any. Of course there were obviously "professionals" who gave it glowing reviews so I'm guessing they really enjoyed reading a single curse word taking up an entire page -- yes, one word on a page is what you read at times and I suppose I should have lingered over it for the amount of time it would normally take to read a whole page, but I didn't have enough sense to do that and maybe that influenced my overall perception that it was a piece of CRAP -- I would put that in other terms on a page by itself if I could master that technique here and I'm sure that would place this whole discussion on a higher plane.

Okay, as stated at the beginning, I understand that "good" is subjective, but if that piece of garbage (I'm being nice here) is "good" writing merely because it sold millions of copies, then I for one hope I never write anything "good" to be published. I'll save all the "good" stuff for my less than favorite acquaintances. My opinion, good or bad or saleable. Take care. Vern

Tangerine marijuana

Alternative facts

Not true. They can be changed individually. Take care. Vern

Welcome aboard. The ship only sinks if you drill holes in it. Don't do that. Take care. Vern