Charles Sheehan-MilesCharles Sheehan-MilesBlog and website of author and activist Charles Sheehan-Miles. Podcast of his latest book, ruminations on politics, war, autism, publishing and whatever else comes to mind. Articles
Audio Podcast: Prayer At Rumayla; A Novel of the Gulf War
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Over the next few weeks, I'll be reading Prayer at Rumayla: A Novel of the Gulf War in (most likely) nine episodes, one for each chapter plus the epilogue. It's a pretty short book, all in all, I'd anticipate about 4 hours (we'll see). About Prayer at Rumayla:Nineteen year-old Chet Brown arrived home from the Gulf War in the spring of 1991 and found that, for him, the war was only beginning. Betrayed by his friends and lover, ignored by his family, Brown travels across the country in search of meaning behind the horrors of his war.?Bleak and disturbing... dead-on-target ...This first novel is a work of pure psychological conflict.? ? Pulitzer Prize winning reporter John Hanchette, Reno Gazette-Journal?Brutally honest, direct, and meaningful, Prayer At Rumayla is a compelling novel of coming to terms not only with dangers and traumas of the battlefront, but with its aftermath upon the lives of the surviving combatants.? ? Midwest Book Review Get Prayer At Rumayla: A Novel of t... More About: Pod , Audio , Audi , Podcast
Comments fixed
2007-03-07 14:35:03 A couple people have sent me emails saying they were unable to leave a comment. Even though I love programming, I didn't say I was any good at it. Should be fixed now, please send me a note if you have any trouble. More About: Men , Comments , Comment , Comm , Fixed
Chapter Two of Prayer at Rumayla Podcast now online
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Thanks for stopping by to check out chapter two. Please note -- this chapter is not safe for children. It may not be safe for adults. It's been a couple years (more like five) since I've read it, and clearly I was, well.... Let's just say it's very explicit. There were about a hundred downloads of the first chapter in the last few days, but alas, the comments section of the website was broken. It's fixed now. Listen. Leave a comment. Tell a friend. That's all I ask. And I hope you enjoy this one, or at least don't turn it off vomiting in horror. About Prayer at Rumayla:Nineteen year-old Chet Brown arrived home from the Gulf War in the spring of 1991 and found that, for him, the war was only beginning. Betrayed by his friends and lover, ignored by his family, Brown travels across the country in search of meaning behind the horrors of his war.?Bleak and disturbing... dead-on-target ...This first novel is a work of pure psychological conflict.? ? Pulitzer Prize winning re... More About: Pod , Podcast , Online , Cast
Finally, something I can agree on with Michelle Malkin
2007-03-07 14:35:03 I think I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge fan of Michelle Malkin . However, I'm sad to report that not only one, but two items on her blog recently caught my attention and I agreed with them. Maybe I'm getting older and more conservative (or older and slower) but it is important to keep an open mind.First, on the subject of Ann Coulter, who as a rule I'd prefer not to mention. Malkin rightly takes her to task for her comments at the CPAC conference: Would you want your children hearing the word "faggot" spoken in such a casual and senseless manner? Would you like your first-grader or three-year-old running around the halls of CPAC singing "faggot, faggot, faggot?" Not me. Not anymore than I'd like my toddler singing "gook, gook, gook" or "sambo, sambo, sambo"--favored epithets hurled at conservative minorities by leftist haters groping around in their empty intellectual quivers. There were hundreds of ... More About: With , Methi , Elle , Final
Remembering
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the day to day crap of life. Then something comes along and I remember that, well, it could all end tomorrow. I ask myself -- did I do everythind I could today for my children, my wife, my world? Or did I too sucked up in the trivial stuff to remember what's really important? Anyway, this post brought that home for me tonight. It's a bit of a tearjerker, but incredibly worth reading. More About: Ring , Remembering , Erin
Sattelite photos
2007-03-07 14:35:03 These are from Google Earth -- one is relatively low altitude, the other one zoomed out. Here's the zoomed out one, which shows just how close the camp was to Nagasaki, which raised a whole lot of questions. More About: Photo , Photos , Lite , Elite
Cover art feedback
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Hello friends. Looking for some feedback on potential cover art for Murphy's War. Here's one of the possible covers. Please send some comments! More About: Back , Feedback , Cover , Feed , Over
XLibris, POD and more publishing headaches
2007-03-07 14:35:03 I haven't mentioned it yet, but I'm sure you are all jumping up and down with excitement to learn that I'm launching my own publishing venture, Cincinnatus Press. For those of you who aren't complete history geeks like I am, Cincinnatus was a roman farmer who was appointed dictator by the Senate of Rome fended off an army of barbarians, then promptly laid down his dictatorship in order to get back into the field plowing tomatoes, or whatever the hell it was Roman farmers did twenty-five hundred years ago. General George Washington, so the story goes, turned down an opportunity to become king of America, citing Cincinnatus as his model.Anyway, to the point I was trying to make before I got sidetracked with ancient history. I pulled Prayer at Rumayla from Xlibris two weeks ago, and they still have not updated books in print, so its still showing as available from all the online retailers. Of course, I'm well aware that BIP is only updated once a month, so this sh... More About: Pod , Publishing , Publish , More , Head
Day 2 and 3
2007-03-07 14:35:03 So, today was day 3. I'll run through some of the details of what happened ... the good news, Khalil dealt with yesterday and today much better. We'll have to see how things continue to develop, since they say tomorrow is the day things will start to get rocky.Day 2At the end of Monday, they said its okay if Khalil brings some sort of toy with him, if it will help keep him occupied. Stipulations -- he still has to lay, or at least recline, on his back, with the toy in his lap.So, Tuesday morning on the way to the appointment we stopped at the store and got Khalil a mongo glow in the dark Bionicle with about ten thousand pieces. The rest of the drive, he rested the glowing pieces on the dash of the car so they could absorb what little natural light was available.On arrival, we set him up so he was half reclining, at something like a 30 degree angle off the table, with the light above his head. Headphones on, lights went out. I should point out that we're not talking...
Aerial photo of Ohashi camp
2007-03-07 14:35:03 I'm certain now I found the right camp -- the photo quotes a George McCandless, who is also listed on the cable from the Red Cross. Photo courtesy of Roger Mansell, Oakland CA. http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camp lists/sendai/sendai_4/Ohashi01.jpg http://www.mansell.com More About: Camp , Rial
That's right. Fundraising sucks.
2007-03-07 14:35:03 I’m going to tell you a secret here that you won’t find any where else. It’s a secret that is well kept within the nonprofit community, and one that you need to understand right up front when you get into this business. Fun draising sucks.Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. Some authors I’ve read spend a great deal of time talking about how wonderful fundraising is: it gives you an opportunity to make people happy and for them to feel fulfilled. It’s nothing to be afraid of.Don’t believe them. Just remember: fundraising sucks. That said, if you want to be successful in your mission, it has to be done. You can’t pay the rent, staff and run programs without money. How much depends a lot on your willingness to get out there and make a complete ass of yourself asking for money. If you really want to do this, then you must have that willingness to step through your absolute fear of asking others for money. There’s no... More About: Fundraising , Raisin , Hat , Sing
Sensory Learning
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Not long ago, Veronica and I saw an interesting special on television about a new treatment for children with autism and aspergers called sensory learning. I've not written about it here before, but our son has Aspergers. He's a wonderful, brilliant child, eleven years old now, but he also has all of the classic Aspergers characteristics, and both school and life in general has been a struggle for him.Consequently, over the years we've worked through a number of programs with him. I'm not going to get into details about that -- the story has been told over and over by thousands of parents, but suffice to say that current science has little of use to say about autism, and it's been a struggle to help our son get what he needs to be successful in life. We don't want to "cure" or change him, but we do want him to be able to work around the deficits, build his strengths, and especially be able to develop the kind of relationships... More About: Earn , Learning , Learn , Sens , Sensor
Day 1 of Sensory Learning Program
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Today was day 1.We were up early (me at 5, Khalil at 6:30) so we'd have time to grab some breakfast and get ourselves together before an 8:15 appointment to get have the hearing profile done. Khalil was in a good enough mood on the way to the appointment, though a little anxious. On the way there he talked nonstop about Yu-gi-oh. Normally when he's conducting a long monologue I'll interrupt and stop him, but decided to let it go today given that he was nervous enough. I did ask him if he was nervous, and he said, "Yeah, and I guess I'm monologuing to calm down." I said, "That's okay." Before we left the hotel, I asked him if wanted to bring along Bill the Rabbit (he's has Bill since he was a baby) and he said, no thanks. Just in case, I stuffed Bill in my backpack.We got there at at 8:15 and the place was dark and empty, but the front door opened. They finally got us started about 8:45, and did Khalil... More About: Earn , Prog , Learning , Program , Learn
Days 4 & 5 & 6
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Took me a couple days to get around to posting updates, so I'm going to briefly post about Thursday, Friday and Saturday.On the fourth day they added a red light to the violet one. Thursday went okay, but they warned me that after adding the red light, I'd likely see unusual emotional responses. That was right on target. Friday morning they increased the red light, and all day Friday Khalil was a bit of an emotional basket case. Crying fit over not much; he was very delicate. Got really angry because I asked him to wear a sweater when it was thirty degrees out.Khalil's also been complaining much more than usual of stomach and headaches. He got himself pretty much under control by Friday afternoon, but before that we did another hearing and eye test.The first test on Monday looked roughly like this: In that test, the left ear was completely dominant. In the new test: You can see from the diagram that during the second test, the left and right ears had crossed o... More About: Days
Anxiety
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Tuesday ... day 8. We went for the morning appointment, and they added a deep blue/violet color. Khalil burst out that he loved the color, then immediately started asking, "Are we done yet?"For the next ten minutes he was squirming, playing with the headphones, rolling around, and every sixty seconds or so asking "How much longer?" Driving back to the hotel, he launched into a non-stop monologue on the in depth details of his latest Yu-gi-oh book. I literally could not get him to stop, no matter what I did. Oh my god. The main time he talks like that is when he's undergoing significant anxiety.We got back to the hotel at 9:45 and played a game, and he's calmed down and is now doing homework (and I have to get back to work). We'll have to see how this afternoon plays out. More About: Anxiety
Saving the World on $30 a day
2007-03-07 14:35:03 I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the experiences I've had in the past few years. I've written little about it here, but I've spent much of the last fifteen years as what you could call a serial entrepreneur, but in an unusual way -- starting up nonprofit and advocacy organizations.One of the biggest needs I see is for a resource for brand new organizers: how do you get started? How do you organize? How do you raise money?Thus: Saving the World on $30 a Day.Please check it out. Feedback is welcome. More About: The World , Ving
Saving the World on $30 a day
2007-03-07 14:35:03 I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the experiences I've had in the past few years. I've written little about it here, but I've spent much of the last fifteen years as what you could call a serial entrepreneur, but in an unusual way -- starting up nonprofit and advocacy organizations. In the summer of 1994, while on the road with my new wife as we moved to Boston, I read the Senate Banking Committee’s report on Gulf War illnesses and found myself overcome with anger. Why? Because they lied. The Pentagon had sent various officials to testify before the committee who claimed, bizarrely enough, that Iraq had no chemical weapons anywhere south of Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War. I knew for a fact that this was a lie. Buried in my bag was a copy of my battalion’s operations log from the 1991 ground war, including the reports that scouts had discovered chemical weapons during one of their missions. A few days after we arrived in Boston, ... More About: World , The World , Saving , Ving
Crazy bastards, religion and extremism
2007-03-07 14:35:03 I read a post over on Shadowscope earlier today that got me thinking (full disclosure -- Shadowscope is my big brother's blog. He was writing a story that came by way of Michelle Malkin, who I'm not a big fan of. The story was of a hideous crime -- a father, distressed that his family was apparently too western in their outlook, poured gasoline all over them and his house and set it on fire, killing his entire family.Where I differ with my brother on this is the whole issue of it being about Islam. Extremism and horrible crimes are horrible no matter what. It brought to mind two things, one in the news today, and one I wrote about a few months ago.First, earlier this year, a group of U.S. soldiers allegedly left their post, raped a 14 year old girl, then murdered her and her entire family. The first guilty plea came in at Fort Campbell just this morning. This is horrible stuff, on more than one level. The first and obvious, that it was just a horrible crime, I'm not ... More About: Religion , Crazy , Star , Ligi
Mission statement resources
2007-03-07 14:35:03 More and more on mission statements. Here are some good resources to read up on how and why to do it. Idealist.orgIdealist.org is a great website, with not only lots of useful information on how to run nonprofit organizations, but also with job boards, places to post volunteer and job opportunities, and a lot of other useful resources. Check out the Nonprofit FAQ and its section on charter documents and mission statements:http://www.nonprofit-info.org/ npofaq/03/21.htmlNonprofit.about.comAbout .com has a lot of useful guides for getting started with running a nonprofit. Take a look at Joanne Fritz’ guide, Miss ion Impossible: How to Write Your Mission State menthttp://nonprofit.about.com/od/no nprofitbasics/a/mission.htmTexas Homeless NetworkTexas Homeless Network’s Best Practices Manual provides a great guide for thinking about mission statements:http://www.thn.org/bpm/mission .htm More About: Resources , Men , Source
More on mission statements: How are you going to do it?
2007-03-07 14:35:03 Describing your goal requires specifics. Stop the war. End the killing of spotted chickens. Whatever.It’s just as important to describe how you are going to accomplish that goal, but it’s not always as easy to define. This is where your group of volunteers or board members will run into disagreements and dissension. If so, you may find its best to be less specific in describing the means. However, in doing so, you must recognize that you are laying the groundwork for future schisms within the organization if the disagreements are strong.One of the clearest and easy to define differences is between direct action and public education. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you are working to stop the exploitation of natural resource in your home state.Some in your group will argue for direct action as the best way to accomplish such a thing. They’ll want to picket the opposing companies, chain themselves to trees, and hold outrageous demonstrations in ... More About: Men , Miss , State , More , Sion
Making martial law easier
2007-03-07 14:35:03 When I started working on Murphy’s War about two years after the Oklahoma City bombing, I was imagining a future America where an intrusive federal government was spying on citizens, listening in on people’s phone calls, suspending habeas corpus, and using the military in ways that violated posse comitatus. Little did I imagine then that virtually every thing I thought of, we would see worse in the months and years after September 11.Originally I was just playing with an idea – what series of events, in this day and age, could drive a state to try to secede from the United States. Impossible. But as much as possible, I was trying to lay the groundwork for a credible story that would lead to civil war.Well, when it comes out later this year, we’ll see if it’s credible or not. In the meantime, a friend forwarded me this New York Times editorial (with the subject line “This is TRULY fucked”) tonight. The short version – in the dead of ... More About: Mart , King , Martial Law , Maki , Makin
Mission Statements
2007-03-07 14:35:03 A couple of years ago, I downloaded for my Palm a small shareware program called “Dilbert’s Miss ion State ment Generator.” At the click of a button, it would spit out an utterly incomprehensible mission statement, much like the ones I’ve seen generated over the years by corporate offices and nonprofit boards. A good example: “The customer can count on us to synergistically engineer market-driven intellectual capital for 100% customer satisfaction.”You can generate your own at www.dilbert.com.One organization where I was an employee spent thousands of dollars on consultants, and many months tying up staff time, trying to determine its mission statement. Ironically, by the end of the process, it ended up with a new mission statement that departed from the original one by about eight words. Needless to say, this was a bit of a frustrating process for everyone involved. Also needless to say, you don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars t... More About: Men , Sion , Mission
Fundraising, relationships and trust
2007-03-04 02:33:03 The thing to know about fundraising is that it’s all about relationships and trust. Before you can successfully raise funds for a nonprofit organization, you have to develop the relationship with your constituents, and consistently prove that you will deliver on your commitments. Consistent communication is key. If you are operating primarily on the internet, that means a regular newsletter that goes to your subscribers on a predictable basis and keeps them primed for your topic. Fun damentally, donors are your partner in this enterprise. Most people who fully believe in your mission don’t have the time or resources to commit the time and effort you are to this effort. That does not mean they are not as fully committed – it simply means that they will give of their own resource in a different way. That, however, is not one way street. Whether major donors or small ones, ... More About: Relationships , Relationship , Fundraising , Raisin
That's right. Fundraising sucks.
2007-03-04 02:33:03 I’m going to tell you a secret here that you won’t find any where else. It’s a secret that is well kept within the nonprofit community, and one that you need to understand right up front when you get into this business. Fun draising sucks.Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. Some authors I’ve read spend a great deal of time talking about how wonderful fundraising is: it gives you an opportunity to make people happy and for them to feel fulfilled. It’s nothing to be afraid of.Don’t believe them. Just remember: fundraising sucks. That said, if you want to be successful in your mission, it has to be done. You can’t pay the rent, staff and run programs without money. How much depends a lot on your willingness to get out there and make a complete ass of yourself asking for money. If you really want to do this, then you must have that willingness to step through your absolute fear of asking others for money. There’s no... More About: Fundraising , Raisin , Hat , Sing
Mission statement resources
2007-03-04 02:33:03 More and more on mission statements. Here are some good resources to read up on how and why to do it. Idealist.orgIdealist.org is a great website, with not only lots of useful information on how to run nonprofit organizations, but also with job boards, places to post volunteer and job opportunities, and a lot of other useful resources. Check out the Nonprofit FAQ and its section on charter documents and mission statements:http://www.nonprofit-info.org/ npofaq/03/21.htmlNonprofit.about.comAbout .com has a lot of useful guides for getting started with running a nonprofit. Take a look at Joanne Fritz’ guide, Miss ion Impossible: How to Write Your Mission State menthttp://nonprofit.about.com/od/no nprofitbasics/a/mission.htmTexas Homeless NetworkTexas Homeless Network’s Best Practices Manual provides a great guide for thinking about mission statements:http://www.thn.org/bpm/mission .htm More About: Resources , Men , Source
Mission Statements
2007-03-04 02:33:03 A couple of years ago, I downloaded for my Palm a small shareware program called “Dilbert’s Miss ion State ment Generator.” At the click of a button, it would spit out an utterly incomprehensible mission statement, much like the ones I’ve seen generated over the years by corporate offices and nonprofit boards. A good example: “The customer can count on us to synergistically engineer market-driven intellectual capital for 100% customer satisfaction.”You can generate your own at www.dilbert.com.One organization where I was an employee spent thousands of dollars on consultants, and many months tying up staff time, trying to determine its mission statement. Ironically, by the end of the process, it ended up with a new mission statement that departed from the original one by about eight words. Needless to say, this was a bit of a frustrating process for everyone involved. Also needless to say, you don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars t... More About: Men , Sion , Mission
Saving the World on $30 a day
2007-03-04 02:33:03 I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the experiences I've had in the past few years. I've written little about it here, but I've spent much of the last fifteen years as what you could call a serial entrepreneur, but in an unusual way -- starting up nonprofit and advocacy organizations. In the summer of 1994, while on the road with my new wife as we moved to Boston, I read the Senate Banking Committee’s report on Gulf War illnesses and found myself overcome with anger. Why? Because they lied. The Pentagon had sent various officials to testify before the committee who claimed, bizarrely enough, that Iraq had no chemical weapons anywhere south of Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War. I knew for a fact that this was a lie. Buried in my bag was a copy of my battalion’s operations log from the 1991 ground war, including the reports that scouts had discovered chemical weapons during one of their missions. A few days after we arrived in Boston, ... More About: World , The World , Saving , Ving
More on mission statements: How are you going to do it?
2007-03-04 02:33:03 Describing your goal requires specifics. Stop the war. End the killing of spotted chickens. Whatever.It’s just as important to describe how you are going to accomplish that goal, but it’s not always as easy to define. This is where your group of volunteers or board members will run into disagreements and dissension. If so, you may find its best to be less specific in describing the means. However, in doing so, you must recognize that you are laying the groundwork for future schisms within the organization if the disagreements are strong.One of the clearest and easy to define differences is between direct action and public education. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you are working to stop the exploitation of natural resource in your home state.Some in your group will argue for direct action as the best way to accomplish such a thing. They’ll want to picket the opposing companies, chain themselves to trees, and hold outrageous demonstrations in ... More About: Men , Miss , State , More , Sion
Making martial law easier
2007-03-02 14:32:03 When I started working on Murphy’s War about two years after the Oklahoma City bombing, I was imagining a future America where an intrusive federal government was spying on citizens, listening in on people’s phone calls, suspending habeas corpus, and using the military in ways that violated posse comitatus. Little did I imagine then that virtually every thing I thought of, we would see worse in the months and years after September 11.Originally I was just playing with an idea – what series of events, in this day and age, could drive a state to try to secede from the United States. Impossible. But as much as possible, I was trying to lay the groundwork for a credible story that would lead to civil war.Well, when it comes out later this year, we’ll see if it’s credible or not. In the meantime, a friend forwarded me this New York Times editorial (with the subject line “This is TRULY fucked”) tonight. The short version – in the dead of ... More About: Mart , King , Martial Law , Maki , Makin
Crazy bastards, religion and extremism
More articles from this author:2007-03-02 14:32:03 I read a post over on Shadowscope earlier today that got me thinking (full disclosure -- Shadowscope is my big brother's blog. He was writing a story that came by way of Michelle Malkin, who I'm not a big fan of. The story was of a hideous crime -- a father, distressed that his family was apparently too western in their outlook, poured gasoline all over them and his house and set it on fire, killing his entire family.Where I differ with my brother on this is the whole issue of it being about Islam. Extremism and horrible crimes are horrible no matter what. It brought to mind two things, one in the news today, and one I wrote about a few months ago.First, earlier this year, a group of U.S. soldiers allegedly left their post, raped a 14 year old girl, then murdered her and her entire family. The first guilty plea came in at Fort Campbell just this morning. This is horrible stuff, on more than one level. The first and obvious, that it was just a horrible crime, I'm not ... More About: Religion , Crazy , Star , Ligi 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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