What hath God wrought?

With those words the Pony Express would fade into History, the electric communications revolution had begun. At the time of the telegraph, most people in America could read and write, letters were welcome, speeches and sermons could be very long, words have meaning.

Over a hundred and fifty years later, the communications are faster, the words have less meaning, not much effort in basic grammar, spelling or offensive content seems needed. The language is still English. In many ways the professionals have gone to geek speak in their fields. Soon only experts are sought to fix things that, once upon a time, everyone could handle.

I was thinking about this as I finished the Enemies Trilogy by Matthew Bracken. I liked all three books, but was reminded of George R. R. Martin in that people, characters you started to care about died suddenly, but then that happens in real life, too. But all the hot issues of the current mess the Americans find themselves in were addressed one by one. Which, unfortunately means when the final story ended kind of happily, I am still stuck being a fat Rockwell Relic in a world I have difficulty understanding at all.

I was introduced to some new stuff in the book, most of the dynamics of frightened incompetent governments with too much power are historical, some truths not worth mentioning are also, they are real but we don't talk about them, still to the people that know those truths it adds to the realism of the tale. I once tried to explain how important it was in Gates of Fire, that the author wrote that the tired warriors stopped being heroic as their spirit became worn. Later they would become brave again as they had nothing but spirit left. In combat there is no time out, no halftime show, no chance to rest and renew.

I recommend the set of books, but I also say to read it as entertainment, if you want to resist and deflect the coming uncivil war in the United States you had better be speaking up and out now, because 'they' have the pulpit and aren't about to give up the microphone. Watching how important the wedding planning, and event seems to be (expensive?) is never going to be as important as how well the marriage goes - is it working? fruitful? a blessing to all?

Case in point: the Sandy Hook school shootings. They already had laws against murder, having a gun in a school zone. That didn't protect any of the children from the shooter. And none of my guns were used in the crime, but for some reason - after they failed to keep people from drinking and driving, texting while flying or driving, abusing drugs and alcohol, and having millions of the unborn killed in sacrifice to irresponsible reproductive acts. for momentary happiness  -- they think that changing the meaning of the 2nd Amendment will make anything better.

Living in the land of the LOST, that isn't some far away place, just down the street. I understand that MSNBC, which I don't watch, thinks that it is our shared community responsibility to raise the children, which sounds nice, until I mention I would like to take them shooting. Then there seems to be a problem. Take them shooting. Read:

Gun Digest Shooter's Guide to Rifle Marksmanship

Yes, take them shooting since it is a community responsibility to raise them properly.

Oh, and Morse didn't get an answer - God wasn't impressed with the telegraph, He already had his masterwork and it wasn't noted enough. Live in His Love.