WQ173 + Manna-X #FREE...yes....

Second blog post today, for WQ173, really, but I might as well mention that 'Manna-X' is free...again...today...it's good, that's what they tell me...

..and now...WQ173...you can see all other contributors as well as my own here...
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-173/
...and here's mine...

WQ173 - image above, self depreciation, intuition, "Just the ticket"

Another year, another anniversary. She handed him a gift.
"But... but we said no gifts," he stuttered, taking the box from her.
"Well, it is our anniversary," she smiled. He looked at the box and gave her his 'Bambie' eyes.
"I'm such a brute, the worst partner in the world," he whimpered. "I haven't got you anything."
"That's okay. Open it," she said. With another 'I'm-such-a-shit' look over to her, he reluctantly opened the box.
"Wow! 'Shrek, the Musical'! Really? That's just the ticket I wanted! How did you...hang on." He looked closer. "That was two days ago. The performance was two days ago. This IS 'just the ticket'."
"Yes, it is. It was really good, too. See? Fifth row, middle seat, a few kids in front of me, so I had a clear view of the stage. It was sooooo good." She gave a little leap of joy, bouncing her curvature before him.
"Uh-huh," he sighed.
"It gave you a thrill, though, didn't it? isn't that what counts? Besides, my intuition told me you wouldn't get me anything." She smiled and walked away. He took out his phone and called.
"Del Frisco's? I'd like to cancel my reservation..."

NEW BOOK (story) OUT! + Manna-X #FREE + 2016 Winter Open Finals!

 Without a word...No.62 in General Humor! #free "Manna-X" ...come and help it break the Top 50! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D94CWF0
...and...
Yep! My story, "Afterlife is a Bitch", is now available in the anthology "One Star Reviews of the Afterlife" Cool, huh? I even got paid for it...well, I WILL get paid for it...some time...yep! Paid! http://www.amazon.com/Star-Reviews-Afterlife-Alternate-Hilarities-ebook/dp/B01DOUI7YS

And YES, I'm yet again in an Iron Writer Open Preliminary Round (2016 Winter)...please come and read my 500 words "The Blow Up Prank"...you can even vote...:-)
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-151-2016-winter-equinox-preliminary-round-moby-dick-bcracket/


AND....today's Saturday! Which means it's an 'Iron Writer Weekend Quickie Day', 200 words of absolute tripe, linking 3 elements and a picture together...later...

Excelsior! Out now! #JasperTScott

Jasper T. Scott's new book is out! New book, new series!
I also get a mention in the acknowledgements :-)
"Also special credit goes to [...] Dani J. Caile, who has eyes like an eagle when it comes
to typos."
Get it here! It's a great sci-fi thriller! Cheap too!
http://www.amazon.com/Excelsior-Jasper-T-Scott-ebook/dp/B01BDVAX6K

WQ172 + MARTIAL LAW + SECRETS

A busy week or two... thanks to those idiot suicide bombers in Brussels, we now have armed policemen everywhere. Any excuse to show some force and scare the citizens of this little country..."You see! We are under attack! Run to your homes! Support the Megalomaniac who runs your country!"
AND they passed that law which allows the PM and the President to spend the citizens money any which way they please IN SECRET.
The place is falling apart. Walk out in the street and you'd think nothing has changed, except for a few machine guns. Everything has changed.
Anyway...yes, the Iron Writer Weekend Quickie 172 in up!
I'm also in the 2016 Iron Writer Winter Open...later...
Here's WQ 172 up on the website....

And here is my 'take'...

WQ172 - image above, infatuation, a mechanical failure, windfall

"Stop your incessant infatuation with Manhatten, alright?" screamed XC23567, poking her finger into the map.
"But I love the greenness, look at it, it's so, so GREEN!" said FB45235. "I want it, I want it so much!"
"In your dreams, FB45235. Now, go back to planning the destruction of California and forget the Big Apple!" XC23567 pushed FB45235 away from the board.
"The Big Apple? I'm not hungry," said FB45235, confused and eating his pencil.
"You want Manhatten but you don't know they call New York 'the Big Apple'? You don't deserve Manhatten! Get back to work!" She pushed him again, only for him to turn around and give a knowing grin.
"But I can pay for it, see?" FB45235 pulled out a crate of EE457 circuits from under his desk.
"On my cables! Where did you get those?" XC23567 had never seen so many all in one place.
"A windfall, from my mother's side."
"What? the FB4 or the 235? I...I don't understand. Mother?" XC23567 began to smoke.
"You will understand very soon," said FB45235, grabbing an EE457 circuit and giving it to XC23567, causing her to have a mechanical failure. "At last! Manhatten is mine!" he laughed.

The Referendum Run update - CORRUPTION

The evidence of corruption at the highest levels is building up every day.
Remember the 'Referendum Run' on the 23rd February 2016? The main Opposition Party wanted to hand in a question to the National Election Commitee to create a referendum to get the shops back open on Sundays.
Note: Life is hard without Sunday opening. As a parent, I find little time to go shopping, working through the week, getting the children to their separate extra-curriculum activities, and Saturday can be filled with many other things, like events, family gatherings, college, whatever. Sunday would give a 'breather' to an already hectic life. But no, the Government decided to close them to allow us all to go to church...WTF? I don't give a shit about religion, I think....OK, tangent there...
Anyway, thanks to Camera 5 and Camera 7 on the street of that fateful morning, EVERYONE can see that about 15 thugs, all working together, stopped the Opposition Party members from entering the building to hand in their question before the 'old lady who just happens to be the wife of a pro-Government Town Mayor' (see Camera 7 here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Gp0bAz8sc&feature=youtu.be
In fact, the thugs begin collecting at 4.10am...surely the Police driving by could see something was happening...the Opp. Party members arrive at 5:55am, while the 'white-haired old lady' arrives at 6:45am, 15 minutes before the office opens.
Budapest Beacon has a good rundown about the times...
http://budapestbeacon.com/featured-articles/videos-shows-skinheads-prevented-nyako-from-being-first-to-submit-referendum-proposal/33303
They also mention that these videos were NOT ALLOWED to be SEEN in the meeting when the National Election Committee approved the 'old lady''s "keep the shops closed" question.
Why?
Because they blantantly show that these thugs allowed the 'old lady' to push in front of them and blocked the Opp. Party members?
The video shows that these thugs had no intention of doing anything other than acting as a wall...imagine the scene, you've been waiting behind about 15 big guys for 50 minutes, along comes an 'old lady' with another guy, who's pushed behind the group of big guys BUT is still in front of you, THEN when the office opens, the 'old lady' sneaks in and the big guys don't scream and shout about the fact that she pushed in front of them? Then, only after the 'old lady' has given in her paperwork, you can enter the building... to find you cannot hand it in.
Corruption. On a large scale.
1. The group of thugs (security guards at Fradi football stadium) and their boss (pro-Government) should be imprisoned for obstruction.
2. The Opposition Party should be allowed to hold a referendum on whether shops should be open on Sundays.
THAT is democratic. Of course, this little country hasn't got a democratic bone in its body, but there you go...

Maher for President + WQ171

Bill Maher hit the nail on the head.
https://youtu.be/xSSExfcD2cM
We are now living with "The Trophy Syndrome". For example, the year behind us in school had the 'all brand new' GCSE, with its project work and 'end exam meaning only a small proportion of the whole'. It's not surprising that a ton of stupid kids left school with double the qualifications than us.
And everyone praises for nothing. Judo competitions are the best, everyone wins.

Anyway, rant, rant...how about a little 200 word Weekend Quickie?...171!

See it here at the website...http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-171
Or see it here :-)

WQ171 - image above, a brief encounter, Melancholy, expectations

"That looks like a wig," said the spectacled gentlemen in the tweed jacket.
"What does?" Geoffrey was surprised and taken aback by this odd man's remark. He'd spent eight years at the Littleborough University of Fine Arts and Design studying Contemporary Art and Papier Mâché Handicraft only for some snotty 'know-it-all' to come along and debase his latest masterpiece?
"Those clouds. Tell me, sir, are you suffering from melancholy?" The man pressed his spectacles to the top of the bridge of his nose.
"Well, no, not really, but maybe I do feel a bit under the weather," replied Geoffrey: How was he to deal with such a man? Should he agree with the buffoon or stand up to him? "I say, may I inquire your name?" He crossed his arms and took a step back. The man merely huffed and gave the picture on the wall one more glance.
"I did so have great expectations when I entered, but now..."
"Excuse me?" asked Geoffrey. Who was this barbarian who knew nothing of Contemporary Art?
"No matter, it was but a brief encounter. The briefest, I add."
And he was gone, out of the gallery and down the street. The philistine!

History is about remembering why!

Why do we continue to spiral on, doing the same things over and over again?
Education.
Education of our history.
History isn't about dates and places, it's about people and who said what and who did what and the most important thing is WHY?
For example, WHY did Hitler do what he did? (this picture is from the holocaust of WWII)
WHY have millions of people been killed throughout history in the name of 'whatever it was', be it country, religion, a god?
Because we don't learn. History.
Life is a spiral but we must move UP the spiral and the only way is to look back at our history and try to understand the reasons WHY...and THEN NOT REPEAT THEM!
Unfortunately, the USA hasn't learnt their lesson...look at Trump.
And then there's my little host country....I wonder when the holocaust will begin here?