Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
My wife came in, sighed, and gave a book report. She reads a lot — over one hundred novels in 2025. I read but not nearly as much, in large part because I write fiction.
I often hear two or three book reports a day from her. Today’s report launched from a familiar sore spot for her.
“Well, I’m enjoying this book, but. I have nine pages left. I know that they’re not going to wrap this story up in nine pages. Not if it’s going to make sense. That means there’s a sequel, a book two, maybe more. Why do they do this? It should be illegal. It should be a crime. If you write a book, it should have an ending, not another thousand book to read.”
Report finished, she stalked back out. A minute later, I heard her singing and cleaning the kitchen. She gets angry about it but at this point, she’s resigned to the situation. I don’t think it’ll be much longer before she begins confirming that the book has an ending before she begins reading it.
We all have our limits.
Last week, Trump ordered the attack of Venezuela to kidnap their president. This strategy has been pulled lifted from dusty history books.
Trump is claiming this is a ‘law enforcement’ action and not a military action. Not only is this not original, but it’s been used before, with extended, problematic results.
Looking back at history, early involvement in Korea was called a ‘police action’. President Truman was playing with the truth to avoid the need for Congress to declare war before sending in troops.
Tens of thousands of American soldiers were killed. A heavy U.S. military presence in Korea began in the 1950s and continues in 2026.
Vietnam is another place where early U.S. military involvement was categorized as a ‘police action’. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed during that police action. Environmentally, the war wreaked wholesale destruction on Vietnam and its people.
Politically, the Vietnam War became a catalyst for the emerging generation gap. Cultural and moral splits arose across the United States as demonstrators took over streets and campuses to protest the draft, deaths, and war. Our involvement in that war created a symbolic battlefield in the United States as involvement was argued.
As a person born in 1956 in the United States, I vividly remember the news reports of these demonstrations I read about as a teen or saw on television. As a retired military member, I heard too many horror stories of Vietnam. Films of the bombing campaigns such as Operation Rolling Thunder and Linebacker I and II were shown to us, including the violent destruction.
I remember the My Lai massacre, a scandal that shocked us, and young John Kerry’s testimony. I recall photographs of children burned with napalm. The vivid imagery of Operation Babylift and the fall of Saigon are seared into memory.
I imagine that Trump and his advisors are madly spinning that this is nothing like either of those wars. Glances back to early newspaper articles reveal slow, soft involvement in them, just as we see unfolding for us today.
Trump’s Administration has revealed confusion about what’s intended in Venezuela at this point. Trump informs We the People that the United States will ‘run Venezuela’. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has taken over as interim President to manage the country.
Much as you would expect if another nation attacked the United States and kidnapped Donald Trump, acting President Rodríguez made a defiant speech against allowing any nation to run them or treat them like a colony.
Trump responded as a bully, threatening acting President Rodríguez she’ll pay a bigger price if she doesn’t comply with his demands. The messages and mannerism of Trump’s response don’t project an early or peaceful resolution, as he included threats to send more military into Venezuela.
Attacking Venezuela aligns with Trump’s practice of making and breaking promises. Trump campaigned against getting involved in other nations militarily.
Yet, Trump has continually employed the military as a baseball bat during his second term’s first year in office. He’s suggested annexing Greenland is a good idea, and has implied using military action against Mexico and other nations is possible while recently adding Cuba to the conversation.
My last concern goes back to ‘exit strategies’. Trump complained mightily that exit strategies for U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan didn’t exist. He then established a clumsy exit strategy for removing troops from Afghanistan (the Doha Agreement) which President Biden executed.
*An important side note to Trump’s approach to the Doha Agreement is that he didn’t include the Afghani government in the negotiations. This is the same approach he’s trying to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, not including Ukraine in the negotiations.
During his first term, Trump also directly answered reporters’ questions with the response, “I don’t do exit strategies.” That doesn’t bode well for the United States now.
We know from Trump’s business practices and marriages, his business strategies are bankruptcy, divorce, or cheating on his businesses and partners. But in those endeavors, he lacked the U.S. Treasury’s resources and U.S. military power.
It feels to me, Trump is making the same historic mistakes the United States made in the past, repeating his own patterns of impulsive errors. But now, the stakes and consequences are much, much higher.
Munda, January 5, 2026. Fog imposes a grey, wet-looking wall beyond the houses and trees across the street. 37 F is shown on the thermometer and forecasts call for rain and snow, with a ceiling of 38 F forecast. Looks like winter is finally taking an interest in Ashlandia.
I will note that a friend in Alaska was raving about her weather, displaying a thermometer that said it was -2 degrees F. That was the high. She insisted that she prefers it when it stays cold and frozen. According to her, the cycle of warming, melting, and re-freezing is much worse than a steady, consistent freeze. I’ll take her word on that.
My wife and I have been concerned about weather. Videos of king waves slashing the coast and heavy rains and flooding up north and down south worry us. People have been enduring so much foul weather. We’ve been spared but watching the situation, it feels like the storms were slowly pinching in around us. My conspiratorial mind, where I go to harvest ideas, whispers, maybe somebody is controlling the weather.
As we slink into 2026’s first Munda, we’re coping with news that another friend suddenly passed from cancer. More details aren’t yet known. Like Steve, who passed last year, this was another individual we saw at the lake with friends last summer. He seemed fine at the time and didn’t mention any health issues. Just another shock to the system in a cascade of shocks.
As I perused news and texted Mom and Dad’s widow about matters, I told myself to try to be more upbeat and optimistic this week. Weather and the general news tone levels a heavy burden, though.
Considering the weather, I find myself reflecting about Dad more. Born in the 1930s, Dad lived and worked in multiple states and every region. Dad was born in Pennsylvania. Mom was from Iowa, and he met her in either Minnesota or Nebraska.
After my parents married, they lived in Virginia, Texas, and California. He and I lived in West Virginia and Ohio. He was also stationed in the south and in New York and Indiana. Then he moved to Texas and met his third wife, and stayed in Texas.
A poker and pool fan, Dad enjoyed renting an RV and driving from San Antonio in Texas to Laughlin, Reno, and Las Vegas, Nevada. He also rented an RV to visit his other son in Utah. Then the RV was turned east and Dad visited his brother in Kentucky. The next leg was a drive to Georgia so Dad could visit his daughter and grand- and great-grandchildren.
Dad’s wife didn’t go with him. She’d fly to each place and return home! Oh, it’s all so funny to me, and remembering lifts my spirits.
While trying to adjust my mood today, The Neuron suggested a song called “Old Time Rock and Roll”. Bob Seger recorded and released it in 1978. Nothing particularly called me specifically from the lyrics. I appreciate the song’s beat and energy. It’s a good rhythm in the morning music mental stream to kickstart my energy. I’ll also drink some coffee, which will also help.
Hope your day is brighter and warmer than mine. May peace and grace lift your spirits and give us all a shot of optimism. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 