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A Tragedy Averted This is a true short-short story. Give it a read. In 1945, there was no email or electronic communications. High level military orders were written on paper and passed down the chain of command. There also was no policy for who had the authority to order dropping a nuclear bomb. The first bomb’s written order came from Acting Chief of Staff Thomas T. Handy. [See attached copy] Things were happening fast, really fast in a time of slow communications. July 16th, - successful test for the bomb in New Mexico. July 25th- Handy’s order with four cities identified as targets. August 6th -Hiroshima bombing August 9th – Nagasaki Bombing August 10th – Written Order for the next bomb. The third bomb. Yes, see the attached copy. According to several historical accounts, a cabinet meeting was held in the White House the same day. President Truman told the cabinet that he ordered the bombings to be stopped. There is no written order to that effect. But George Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, must have gotten the order, either face to face or on the phone. That is his handwritten note at the bottom of the August 10th order, “It is not to be released over Japan without express authority from the President.” Can you imagine the confusion if the timing might have been different by a few days? That classifed written order sliding through the chain of command and the President's verbal order chasing behind it |
| I didn't know some of these details, thanks for sharing. |
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| Yeah - there's a scary thought. |
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Daily Views and Statistical Insights One of the functions that I appreciate here on WDC, one of many. Is the daily views function, particularly because I use my portfolio page as my author website. I think it benefits me and hopefully WDC, you can find my link to WDC on publishers who have my author bio. In 2024, I used EXCEL to trend my daily views, below you can see the raw data for total views and a moving seven-day average. My insights, you might ask, from this exercise. I’m still analyzing.  Yes, of course I’m still trending. No comments from the peanut gallery. (old American idiom) |
Exciting News The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here! (From an old classic The Jerk starring Steve Martin) Sorry, that's not it. The new issue of Tales from the Cross Timbers just issued. See Max Griffin 🏳️🌈   Announcement. "Note: The spring issue of Tales from the Crosstimbers i..." |
Coverup? Mark Your Calendars Dec 2032 Two days after Christmas, asteroid trackers identified a new near earth asteroid labeled as 2024YR4. The initial reports were not to worry about it, it had no chance of hitting earth. It’s not a small one, about 300 feet in diameter on the high end. The kind that can level a large city. Then in February of this year the probability of an earth strike on the next orbit starting climbing, less than one percent, then two percent, then three percent. Then radio silence for about two weeks and the all clear was given again. Are we getting the straight scoop or are they making plans in the backrooms of government space and defense departments? If in a few years they say don't panic when they mention 2024YR4. That really means you should panic, but they don't want you to do so. |
Ned  - On the other hand, the dictionary definition fallacy can get people in trouble. I used to pull dictionary definitions into my debate points but have come to realize it's a good way to end up embracing rigid thinking. Likewise, the term conspiracy theory is a unique idiom (and it's own dictionary definition) that adds some layers to how theories can be regarded by the human brain. |
| Ned - It is indeed a good thing to have ideas outside the official narrative. It's important. It's also important to examine those ideas with the same level of skepticism, or greater, than the original idea. It's not the idea that's the problem; it's holding on to one in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, as we see with anti-vaxxers, flat-Earthers, and Holocaust deniers. For every Copernicus, there are a hundred crackpots insisting that they'd be the next Copernicus if only someone would listen. Many heterodox thinkers were eventually proven right: Copernicus, Einstein, Galileo, etc. Many, many more turn out to be incorrect. On the other talon, the "official" line is very often the correct one. In other words, just because your closely-held belief contradicts the accepted facts doesn't mean it's right. The problem with conspiracy "theories" is that they're closed systems. Any contradiction of the concept becomes part of the holder's evidence against it. Like right now, some might read what I'm saying here and dismissing it because I'm "obviously" part of the conspiracy and can't be trusted. |
Beholden  - Very well said comrade. Please ignore the group gathering outside your home, they are just street cleaners. |
A Class Act in Publishing is Gone Writers have it tough, it’s competitive and you better have thick skin if you want to be published. Publishers also face a difficult and competitive world. First, they have to deal with writers. I just found out that Mystery Magazine folded this past September. After nearly ten years of publishing hundreds of authors, in this classic genre. They were one of the first publications I submitted to when I was starting out writing short stories. I was quite sure they would be enamored at my work. They rejected everything I sent them; I think it was four stories in four months. I asked for feedback and the editor took the time to respond each time I asked. Professional and balanced, it was tough but fair. A busy editor took the time to give me feedback without complaint. It made an impression on me and I’m disappointed they are gone. |
The Peculiar Story of Zero A child asks for an explanation about the mathematical operation of division. You have six pieces of candy in a pile on the table. You separate them into two groups, “I divided them by two. Each pile has three pieces.” You write down 6/2 = 3. The child stares at the piles and asks a curious question, “Is zero a real number?” “Well, yes it’s a number.” He puts the pieces all back into a pile. “So, if I divide it zero times, I still have six.” He writes. 6/0=6 The child adds, “According to your example. But my uncle told me dividing by zero is infinity.” You query, “Did he explain why?” “Sure,” the child writes down a series. 1/1 = 1, 1/0.1=10 1/0.0001=10,000 The child smirks, “As the number on the bottom goes to zero, the answer grows all the way to infinity, right? What is the correct answer, six or infinity?” “Neither is correct.” You pause, “Division by zero is . . . well it’s undefined.” The child sighs, “Doesn’t sound like a real number to me, or a rational one for that matter.” |
How Old Am I - How Old Are You Not a polite question in many cultures. I won’t tell you and don’t do any research. Here is a fun way to get an idea. Post a picture of a car model from the year you were born. Goodness how cars have changed. See mine. |
Notification of Two Book Launches in Same Day! I got emails from two publishers today about book launches with two of my stories. Yes, an everyday occurence around here. Not! The first was in my note "Note: Amazon Presale Anthology by Burial Books ..." The second is an anthology titled Suburban Nightmares with my story Crab Grass.
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Amazon Presale Anthology by Burial Books
You might particularly like Silent Servants, by Damon Nomad | ||||||
Petracide Not a word, bit it should be. For example, to describe when your cat drops one of your pet goldfish at your feet as you work on a new story. You can’t get angry at him, he’s just doing what he was born to do. |
| Sorry for the petricide victim. If it helps- I'm now saddled with a steadily growing goldfish I did not want that you'd be more than welcome to. It was bought as a meal for my spotted green puffer (Spotty), but survived and is now bigger than the puffer in the space of a month. I'm hoping I can find someone in the area that wants a goldfish for a pond or something. And either the puffer or the determined goldfish I've now named Indi (short for indomitable) ate Foxy (the 6 inch long flying fox fish) that disappeared while we were on vacation and my son swears he has no clue what happened to it. On a related note- I acknowledge my fish names show zero originality. LOL |
Basic Science or the Work of The Devil? A new story that explores this question. I would be happy to get any comments or reviews. Just under 2000 words.
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| Why attribute to the Devil that which can be explained by the sheer stupidity and animal nature of mankind? Interesting story; I can see why people would think that considering what they unleashed. But there is no Devil; there is only humanity being humanity. (I'll need to be more awake to review it properly for you.) |
A Plug for A WDC Colleague One of our colleagues has gone all in for the world of writing and publishing. Beyond just writing, editing, and seeking commercial traditional publication. He has become a publisher working with a group of real-world colleagues of his. Amazing. This is a plug for Max Griffin 🏳️🌈 if you haven’t seen his newsfeed posting "Note: The Spring 2025 issue of Tales from the Crosstimbe...". The cover here below of his upcoming release. I have no hidden agenda or motives for plugging this issue. Nothing hidden. |
| Get Short Story Collection Free Before Publisher's Launch Would you like to be an Advanced Reader Copy for an upcoming Horror Anthology? Get the book for free and give the publisher your unbiased review with atleast 30 days to read and review. I have read one of the stories, I think it is quite good. I might not be unbiased. If you send me a message with your real-world name and an email by Feb 28, I will provide your contact information to the publisher. |
Racey Nixon Slogan, Fake or Real? Recently I was watching an episode of the X-files, I can’t remember which season. I think it was one of the reboot seasons. There was a vintage-looking Nixon poster on the wall with a saying: They Can’t Lick Our Nickname for Richard I’m sure you can guess which nickname, a limericky match for lick. I didn’t want to repeat it explicitly on the Newsfeed. My immediate thought is that it was a prop, created for the show. Then I started searching on the Internet. You can buy buttons and posters with the phrase, some say they are authentic memorabilia from the late sixties or early seventies. There are claims they were sponsored by the campaign or tacitly endorsed as an informally used slogan. A few sites claim these were created years after Nixon resigned from office as a sort of satirical jab. This seems to be one of those quirky things that is difficult to prove to someone who believes differently. What do you think, modern satire or presidential memorabilia? |
| A version of that seems to be true: The 7 most awkward campaign songs used by US presidential candidates  |
Anyone Use Pubshare for Recieving Payment I came across an anthology call for submissions. It requires signing up for Pubshare to get paid and is supposedly free. I don't have any experience with the platform and soem basic research it seems to be legitimate but I can't be sure. Anyone use the site as an author? Do you have to give credit card information? Is it really free? |
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