Lebanon: Current Protests & the Glorious Past

When I think of Lebanon, I cannot help but think about tall cedars and free commerce and Phoenicians and the Land of Canaan. I think of Tyre and Sidon, but also of those who left. Often when I think about the Phoenicians, I also think of Carthage. A recent discussion with Julia Hanna on a livestream brought up both the past and the present.

I had been drawing Hannibal as part of the Inktober art challenge.

I also recently dined at That Lebanese Place, a restaurant whose name is self-explanatory.

When I was looking for the menus to use in my review, I came across a Facebook video depicting the recent protests in Lebanon that was posted by the owner of the restaurant. I shared that video with Julia, and she shared a video she had found of Nassim Taleb speaking in Arabic about current events in Lebanon. Julia and I decided to share this information with our viewers.

Watching the protesters enjoying barbecue and dancing in the streets to protest taxation, centralized banking and crushing national debt, I felt suddenly hopeful. Are these people more libertarian than we are?

Lebanese Protests

Related

Vote on Water Fluoridation in Houston, Missouri

May has been an active month for us here in Missouri. The news is full of political outcomes every day. Today, for instance, we heard that Governor Greitens would be resigning.

Only last month he was here in person at the Texas County Lincoln Day event. But for those of us following local developments, the biggest news is that the City Council of Houston, Missouri voted to place on the November ballot the issue of whether fluoride should be taken out of the water supply for the City of Houston, Missouri. 

https://www.facebook.com/CityOfHoustonMissouri/videos/1033541156795378/

This has come about due to the activism of Marie Lasater, who brought Dr. Paul Connett to Texas County, Missouri to speak to this issue.

Julia Hanna and I were able to interview Dr. Connett earlier this month. 

The Interview with Julia Hanna about Vacuum County with Kelly Clear

Julia Hanna recently interviewed Kelly Clear and me about Vacuum County. It was via livestream, and each of us were live on our own channels. Here is the finished interview.

One of the insights from this interview: If you enjoy science fiction, there's a good chance you will like Vacuum County. For more insights, watch the entire interview. And here's a tip: the closed captioning on YouTube is really good. So if you are having trouble hearing any one of us while we talk or cannot understand something because were are interrupting each other, you can always turn on the cc and get a written version of what was said.

Kelly Clear: "[If you] enjoy sci-fi there's a good chance you will like Vacuum County."

To order the Audible version of Vaccuum County follow this link.  Or go to Audible.com and search for Vacuum County.

Vacuum County on Audible -- Get it now

Recent Reviews of "The War Against Spain"

Because "Theodosia and the Pirates: The War Against Spain" is the continuation of the story begun in "Theodosia and the Pirates: The Battle Against Britain", I often refer to it simply as "The War Against Spain." In some ways, it is a separate novel, but in others it is just the last third of the story. It is less of a canonical romance, as those are usually about the beginning of a relationship, but it's still a love story. It is  very much grounded in history, even though there are elements that are not based on strict historical fact.

As with every other book, different people react to it in different ways. Today, I will just share a few of the recent critical reactions to the book.

From Eye on Life Magazine, we have Jerilee Wei's review:

Alternative History in Fiction

From the Amazon review section, Pam Keyes' review:

A Gulf Coast Romance with a Twist

From the LeslieBard blog, Leslie Fish's review:

Book Review: "Theodosia and the Pirates: The War Against Spain", by Aya Katz

And from her My Stories and Musings, Julia Hanna's chapter by chapter reading guide:

Theodosia and the Pirates: A Reading Guide

Each person approaches the story from a very different perspective, so it helps to compare and contrast the reviews in order to be able to see the full picture. After reading the book and the reviews, ask yourself which description is more nearly like what you got out of the book. Or, alternatively, if your view is not represented here, write one of your own.