Charles Sheehan-Miles

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Is this what we swore to defend?
2007-06-26 00:49:00
I’ll never forget the day I took the oath of enlistment.  It was April of 1990, and I was preparing to leave for Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training.  Little did I know that in a little less than a year, I’d be keeping that oath for real, on a battlefield in Iraq. I enlisted because I’m a believer in democracy.  An idealist, if you will.  I grew up knowing that my father had served in Vietnam, and that his father had spent more than three years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.  And, though there was no war on the horizon on the date I enlisted, I knew that the possibility was there that I would one day be called to arms to defend those principles I believed in. That’s one of the reasons I find it so difficult to accept where I believe our country is headed today. As a longtime activist and novelist very concerned about the future of our country, I keep asking myself, how did we get where we are? Here are just a few of the thing...

Videotape a traffic stop? Get charged with a felony
2007-06-25 19:24:00
An eighteen year old from Carlisle, Pennsylvania made the mistake of turning on his video camera when his friend was pulled over for a routine traffic stop.  The driver got a ticket.  The guy with the camera had his camera and film seized and was arrested for felony wiretapping.I don't know about you, but it seems reasonable to me that police can expect to be recorded when dealing with the public.  Period.  Seizing a camera from an eighteen year old, throwing them in jail overnight, requiring their parents to put their house up as collaterral for bond -- oh, no. I don't think so.  
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DailyKos Review
2007-06-25 07:36:00
This morning TeacherKen over at Dail yKos posted one hell of a review of Republic: A Novel of America's Future. For those of you who aren't aware of it, Kos is the powerhouse of blogs, with more than 100,000 daily visitors. The exiting news? By the end of the night, the book had jumped to the top ten new releases on Amazon, with a sales rank in the low 2000s. Wow.Of course, we know that will drop -- temporary peaks like that are pretty cool, but I'm in this for the long haul, and that means growing my audience one reader at a time. Starting with you: if you haven't picked up your copy yet, now is the time. I'm only going to quote a couple of paragraphs here, you can check out the full review (and the many, many comments) here.We live in a time where we have seen people resort to domestic violence because of their grievances. We have had the assassination of abortion providers, the bombing of clinics. We have seen groups establish themselves as "militia...
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Wednesday Hero: Lance Corporal Hatak Yuka Keyu Martin
2007-06-21 14:36:00
Lance Cpl. Hatak Yuka Keyu M. Yearby21 years old from Overbrook, Oklahoma3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary ForceMay 14, 2006 Hatak Yuka Keyu Martin Yearby was remembered in funeral services as a small town boy who balanced his Choctaw tribal heritage and his military life.He did traditional American Indian dances with grace, compassion, discipline and free spirit — "the way he lived his life," the Rev. Timm Emmons said Monday."He had a desire to be in the military since he was a young boy. And he believed in what he was doing. He was a warrior, and he was a hero and he finished the course."Yearby was killed by a roadside bomb, along with fellow Lance Cpl. Jose S. MarinDominguez Jr., in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, two months after he arrived in that country.Friends and family, fellow American Indians, teachers and classmates filed past his open casket for an hour after the funeral while a U.S. Marine Corps ...
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Missing soldier's wife faces deportation
2007-06-21 14:20:00
Specialist Alex Jimenez, along with two other soldiers, was kidnapped by al-Qaeda in May. One of his fellow soldiers was later found dead, the other is still missing. In a video posted on the internet, AQ claims all three soldiers are dead. Here's the kicker: Jimenez's wife, Yaderlin, is facing deportation from the United States.This particular soldier is a U.S. citizen, served two tours in Iraq. He came home from his first tour with a Purple Heart. He may not make it home from the second, though there is still some hope. According to the media reports, his wife entered the U.S. illegally from the Dominican Republic in 2001. They couple married in 2004, and they applied for a green card after the marriage. In doing so, they did the right thing, but they also brought her to the attention of the Department of Homeland Security. Following that, the DHS, which I've pointed out before is my favorite government agency, proceeded with deportation proceedings. It seems tha...
More About: Wife , Faces , Missing , Sold , Deportation

Sippy cup terrorism
2007-06-20 15:16:00
If you've ever been foolish enough to travel with a toddler in tow, you know what a pain it can be.  Imagine how much worse if you get stopped by the TSA, have your sippy confiscated, get kicked out of the security area, accidentally spill it, then have to clean it up while a ring of agents surround you yucking it up.Go TSA!  Isn't it great we're doing such an awesome job protecting our nation from those evil terrorists?
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Autism and families
2007-06-19 14:23:00
Sometimes the stress of having a child with autism is enough to make you roll over and die. I just read this article in the NY Times about one of the families involved with running Autism Speaks, one of the biggest charitable and research organizations out there. The conclusion: it's just too much to deal with sometimes.In our case, it's not the typical autism you think of -- unresponsive, unable to communicate.  Our son is eleven, and is remarkable articulate for a child his age. Articulate, and completely unable to decode the social rules that govern our lives, and that govern interactions especially between boys his age.  Consequently, here we are, its summer vacation, and he has virtually no one to play with in the neighborhood after a year in which his relationships with his classmates and most of the neighbors were marked with unpleasantness and anger.When I read the article it struck me that I could care less whether we're talking about genetics or env...
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My nephew is off to the Marine Corps
2007-06-15 06:33:00
Just a quick link to this post over at my brother's website. His son is heading off for boot camp in just a couple more days. 
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Chris Gerrib Review of Republic
2007-06-14 04:31:00
Chris Gerrib (author of The Mars Run) has written a wonderful review of Republic . Excellent news! I've posted some excerpts, or you can go check out the full review.Republic is Charles Sheehan-Miles’ second novel, and it’s an outstanding read. The book opens with a short prologue, and then puts us into the main action, three years later. Ken Murphy is a widowed single parent and middle manager at Saturn Microsystem’s plant in Highview, West Virginia. The plant, recently acquired by a corporate raider, is suddenly shut down, despite being profitable. The factory is by far the largest employer in town, and several hundred people are suddenly laid off with no notice, little recourse and no sympathy. Most people discover that the plant is closed when they pull up to a newly-installed fence, guarded by an armed state trooper. Chapter 1 ends with Murphy thinking that “desperate people do desperate things.”This is immediately followed by a devastating ter...
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Presentation on autism
2007-06-09 21:31:00
I haven't written much about this since some entries earlier this year on the sensory learning program. No sign that sensory learning had any positive or negative impact at all (except that it cost a ton of money). Ah, well. Anyway, this is a video of Marty Murphy talking about autism. Take a look. Let me know what you think of this one.
More About: Autism , Presentation , Resent

Prayer at Rumayla podcast reaches 1000 listeners
2007-06-09 18:42:00
A milestone of sorts.  I was checking my stats this morning, and the individual episodes of Pray er at Ruma yla have now reached or passed 1000 downloads for each episode.  Nice to know folks are listening! 
More About: Podcast , Raye

Better late than never - Episode 4 is now online
2007-06-09 06:49:00
So, my schedule has been crazy, what with server crashes, elementary school graduations (congratulations to the boy!) and other assorted stuff, so I'm behind on recording Republic. Nevertheless, I just finished cutting episide 4 and it is now online.You can get the latest chapter here. Even better -- if you are a listener, please consider supporting free audiobooks like this by BUYING A COPY. Not convinced yet? Check out what Chris Gerrib, author of The Mars Run, had to say about it in his blog: I received a review copy of Charles Sheehan-Miles' new book Republic last night. I sat down after work and decided to read "just a few chapters."Silly me. Republic is a gripping thriller that I couldn't put down. It's not just literary popcorn either - you'll be thinking about it the next day. I owe all concerned a more detailed review, which I shall get out after Duckon, but in the meantime, go buy this book! Perhaps not a lot of detail yet, but nice to he...
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Republic - Chapter Ten
2007-06-08 23:19:00
Republic Charles Sheehan-MilesChapter Nine    Order from Amazon.com    Back to Table of Contents | Listen to the Podcast CHAPTER TENJUNE 17A week after the events at the plant, Murphy was still reeling in shock. Somehow he’d never expected the violent response, the ready deployment of paramilitary forces. He moved through his days, mailing resumes, filling out job applications, playing with his son, feeling something akin to grief. He’d spent his life in the military. He never thought he’d see its agents used against their own people.The town was as quiet as a funeral. The plant employees had been released, but the streets were still hushed, some businesses closed. Nine people had died by violence in two days, unheard of in a town only a few thousand people. Murphy and others from the town had driven a convoy to Charleston to bring back the workers who’d been arrested; they returned with horror stories of being crowded into both the coun...
More About: Republic

National Archives uncovers handwritten note from Lincoln
2007-06-08 04:11:00
The National Archives discovered in its stacks a handwritten note from Abraham Lincoln to General Henry Halleck four days after the battle of Gettysburg. What an incredible find, and it raises the question of what other kinds of really incredibly interesting stuff can be found in the archives. I wrote a couple of years ago about my search through the archives for information about my grandfather, who was captured on Java at the beginning of World War II along with his entire battalion. It was fascinating spending the time there digging up those documents, which included an affadavit he wrote for a war crimes trial, photos of the camp he spent most of the war in, as well as all kinds of other interesting stuff.Here's what Lincoln had to day, courtesy a post over at Knee Deep In Mud:Major Genl HalleckWe have certain information that Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant on the 4th of July. Now, if Gen. Meade can complete his work so gloriously prosecuted thus far, by the litter...
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Road workers attacked by angry commuters
2007-06-08 03:49:00
Those crazy Californians.  At least as crazy as the rest of the country anyway.  I took a glance at the headlines in LA Times today, and was greeted with the news that the California legislature was trying to outlaw spanking of children, voted down an assisted suicide provision, and that angry commuters were running down and shooting construction workers.Seriously.  On the first two topics.  Assisted suicide is one of those so-called debates I just don't get.  What's the bottom line.  People getting in other people's business. Worse, people using the state to get in other people's business.  If someone is dying of a terminal disease, well, that sucks.  And if they are a responsible adult, whose business is it whether or not they have Dr. Death come along and do them in, or, for that matter, if they stick a  gun in their mouth.  Okay, maybe not that, because someone would have to clean up after them, and that would suc...
More About: Workers , Angry , Road , Comm , Attacked

First review of Republic now in
2007-06-07 23:28:00
The first review of Republic is now in, from the Podler Book Review ! Here's some excerpts: ...a frightening portrayal of a future America ... where civil liberties are virtually nonexistent and federal power overreaches in the name of antiterrorism. The writing is vital, gripping, and convincing; the voice true and rooted in the world it creates and its populist characters. The characters are real, and the vision offered by Miles is compelling enough to make you fear that you’re doing something subversive simply by reading the book. This is an engrossing read.

Republic video: your feedback requested
2007-06-05 16:10:00
Hello! Another way a lot of authors and publishers are promoting books now is the use of video trailers. Here's a draft of one for Republic : looking for your feedback, and, if you think it's good, please forward it on to friends! The live action comes from some recent US Army productions. Sadly I don't have the budget to produce cool stuff like that. Good news is that government product is public domain. Nice.
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Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction
2007-06-04 21:43:00
Ok, so here's the deal. The biggest, most difficult idea to swallow in Republic is the idea that in the modern day, an actual secessionist movement from the United States could gain any adherents at all. I spent a lot of time in the book trying to make that concept both believable and realistic. Turns out, some folks in Vermont beat me to it.Take a look at this article in the Boston Globe, which describes the nascent secessionist movement in Vermont.But the idea has found plenty of sympathetic ears in Vermont, a left-leaning state that said yes to civil unions, no to slavery (before any other) and last year elected a socialist to the U.S. Senate.About 300 people turned out for a 2005 secession convention in the Statehouse, and plans for a second one are in the works. A poll this year by the University of Vermont's Center for Rural Studies found that 13 percent of those surveyed support secession, up from 8 percent a year before."The argument for secession is that the...
More About: Truth , Fiction , Stra , Really , Range

From Freedom to Fascism
2007-06-04 05:59:00
Okay. I don't typically strongly recommend anything to anyone. But I'm going to tonight. Clear two hours from your schedule. Do it soon. Then site down, and watch Aaron Russo's From Freedom to Fascism .Topics: IRS, Property seizure, electronic voting, RFID cards, national IDs. And more. It's the world I've been writing about, coming here soon. Scary stuff. Check it out on Google video here.Some of it may be a little kooky. But there's a lot to think about there. 

Question for my 3 readers
2007-06-03 18:40:00
Hello, and a thank you to the loyal 3 readers of my website. I'm considering an experiment, and would like your opinion. I'm currently writing the first draft of two planned sequels to Republic. I'm considering blogging my drafts for your feedback.Here is the brief concepts for both novels. Titles, details, and even the basic story may change, but here's the basics:Insurgent - Three months after the end of the failed revolution in West Virginia, an insurgent campaign against the occupation troops begins. Former Congressman Al Clark, recently appointed governer by the West Virginia legislature following the suicide of Frank Slagter, must work with occupation forces to suppress the insurrection. P@tri0t - In 2025, several years after the events of Republic, America has changed radically. Bobby Wright, nephew of former West Virginia National Guard General Ken Murphy, is a college student and programmer on Freenet, a network designed to both encrypt and anonymize int...
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What happens when the dollar goes bust?
2007-06-01 14:25:00
I came across an article this morning on LewRockrell.com which made some interesting points about the state of the economy and particularly the massive, probably unsustainable mountain of debt our country is steadily building.The salient quote: A few pessimistic economists are convinced that a devastating economic cataclysm lies ahead. They usually point to three threats that may have a serious impact on the American economy. There is the burgeoning tower of public and private debt resting on a foundation of greed and overindulgence. There are a multimillion-dollar list of promises to a retirement system and a vast building of government guarantees and promises that are bound to be unkept. There even is a world of complex derivatives, the value of which depends on something else, such as stocks, bonds, futures, options, loans, and even promises. They...
More About: Dollar , Bust , The D , Doll , Goes

Prayer at Rumayla selected as book of the month
2007-06-01 06:53:00
The Podler Book Review today selected Prayer at Ruma yla as the book of the month!Thank you! 
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Cost of war
2007-06-01 06:25:00
Cody Lyon has written a nice piece on the cost of war. Make sure you read down the bottom.Concentrating on simple questions, during a sunset along the Hudson in New York City overcame earlier observations of urban life. Questions about the fate of the around 25 thousand seriously injured military members coming home from Iraq begin to puncture the relative calm of an evening by the river. How many limbs have been lost, how many bones crushed, how many skulls shattered, how many bills not paid, how many minds damaged? Why? This one was forwarded to me by a friend, but I'll be checking him out more. Above the bit I quoted, he did a super job just capturing a bit of New York, and our country, in these days when a fraction of us are overseas dying on our behalf while the rest of us shop and bitch about traffic.
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Plan B In Iraq - A recommendation for the way forward
2007-06-01 05:30:00
Major Fernando Lujan over at Small Wars Journal has posted both an interesting analysis of the current situation both in Iraq and politically at home, and made some recommendations for a way forward.The bottom line in his piece,which will be published next month in the Kennedy School Review:The real danger of the Iraq war going forward is that the United States will emerge from its aftermath learning the wrong lessons -- “Never intervene, and if we must—do so with more troops and more firepower. Nation building is nearly impossible. The military’s only job is to fight wars.” But such conclusions are misguided, and ignore the reality that non-state actors and asymmetric threats continue to grow. For all the policy debate and fiery accusations that will continue to rage over the invasion, we must not stop asking how things can be done better.
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Prayer at Rumayla Podcast now complete
2007-05-31 04:45:00
Just a quick note to let folks know that I've just uploaded the final episode of Prayer at Ruma yla: A Novel of the Gulf War. You can check it out here or at Podiobooks.com
More About: Podcast , Complete , Raye

Republic: Chapter Nine
2007-05-31 01:03:00
Republic Charles Sheehan-MilesChapter Nine Order from Amazon.com Order from Amazon.comBack to Table of Contents | Listen to the Podcast CHAPTER NINEJUNE 9When Murphy awoke and rolled out of bed early the next morning, the unseasonable chill startled him. His breath appeared in a mist, and he hurried to dress in stout jeans and heavy flannel shirt. Half a dozen old, ignored pieces of wood lay in the steel basket next to the cast-iron wood stove in the living room. He hadn?t used it in almost two months. He hurried to get a fire going. His leg ached below the knee; where by rights he shouldn?t feel anything at all. He wasn?t usually bothered by phantom pain, but sometimes, when it was cold, it was bad enough to wake him up in the middle of the night.After he had the fire going, he had his coffee alone at the kitchen table, and stared out the window into the darkness. As usual, he thought of Martha. Once, it would have been the two of them drinking coffee together before the ki...
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No blogging.... travel and server crashes
2007-05-31 00:48:00
Even though only about 3 people read this blog, I should apologize for my complete lack of posting for the last several days.  Over the weekend I took the kids to Atlanta for my nephew's high school graduation.  That (and my greying hair) is hard to stomach, given that I'm still only 24 years old (yeah, right).Then, of course, we had a server crash.  A serious one.  In my real life, I'm the IT director for Veterans for America, which has a pretty sizeable IT infrastructure for such a small organization. Accounting server crashed, hard,with the disk array completely destroyed.  Delightful.  24 hours later I was still working.  It's all better now. 
More About: Travel , Blogging , Server , Crash , Blogg

Podcast Updates
2007-05-25 02:44:00
Just a quick post to let folks know I've updated both podcasts this evening.  Chapter seven of Prayer at Rumayla is now complete, with only one episode left before completion.  Episode 2 of Republic is now online, along with a 60 second preview.Interested in helping promote either book?  You can download the previews below.  I'd be absolutely delighted to learn that anyone out there posted it to their website Prayer at Rumaylahttp://www.sheehanmiles.com/files/ miles/PB-PrayerAtRumayla-Promo.mp3Republi chttp://www.sheehanmiles.com/files/miles/ PB-Republic-Preview.mp3 
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Secret Plan for Iranian offensive in Iraq?
2007-05-24 15:35:00
According to The Guardian, Iran is quietly making moves for a major offensive in Iraq this summer, designed to force a speedy U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.On reading this, my first question was who are the U.S. officials, and what are the odds this is more drumbeating from the administration against Iran. After all, Shia Iran and al-Qaida are hardly allies. On the other hand, they say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The bad news: if Iran seriously worked to get us out of Iraq, they could challenge us in ways we haven't seen yet. Virtually all of the logistics for the U.S. presence in Iraq flows through Kuwait and the Persian Gulf -- surface traffic that thus far hasn't had any difficulty getting through. A real war with Iran cou...
More About: Secret , Plan , Iranian , Rani

What is happening in our country?
2007-05-24 14:52:00
Not too long ago I wrote about concerns that changes made in the Defense Authorization Act this year made it much easier for the President to declare an emergency and implement martial law. Setting aside my tin-foil hat for a moment, how likely is this? It might not be as distant a possibility as you think. Here's a quote from Ron Paul's speech at the House of Representatives on April 17: Some of the least-noticed and least-discussed changes in the law were the changes made to the Insurrection Act of 1807 and to posse comitatus by the Defense Authorization Act of 2007. These changes pose a threat to the survival of our Republic by giving the President the power to declare martial law for as little reason as to restore public order. The 1807 act severely restricted the President in his use of the military within the United States borders, and the Posse Comita...
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