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Cover Page for Ender's Gospel!

8/28/2013

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Picture
The cover page is done for Ender's Gospel!  This should be how it looks like on Amazon and other electronic book outlets.  Check it out to the left and let me know what you think.  A big thank you to my sister-in-law Anica for her help using Photoshop.

The book is in the works, with an expected release date of October 1st, 2013 (movie comes out Nov. 1st) and a price of $2.99 - $.4.99 

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We Are Bradley (Chelsea) Manning

8/22/2013

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Bradley Manning was sentenced 35 years in prison yesterday.  Whether you think he was a traitor or a patriot, everyone should read the man in his own words (also posted below).  The response from human rights groups is also worth a read. 
The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We’ve been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we’ve had to alter our methods of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life.

I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time I realized in our efforts to meet this risk posed to us by the enemy, we have forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue human life both in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians, instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability.

In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached countless other acts in the name of our war on terror.

Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown our any logically based intentions [unclear], it is usually an American soldier that is ordered to carry out some ill-conceived mission.

Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy—the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism, the Japanese-American internment camps—to name a few. I am confident that many of our actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light.

As the late Howard Zinn once said, "There is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people."

I understand that my actions violated the law, and I regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intention to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and a sense of duty to others.

If you deny my request for a pardon, I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal.
It's important to note that Manning pleaded guilty for leaking information, yet the US government tried him above and beyond this charge, attempting to indict him on treason charges under the archaic Espionage Act of 1917 and seeking the death penalty.  This was clearly to make him an example, but where is the line between those who leak information in the public interest (think Pentagon Papers and Deep Throat from Watergate, for example) and those who are deemed traitors?  I think the person's intent should at least be part of the discussion.  

I'm concerned our nation is devolving into another alarming inequality (besides wealth): inequality of information. Secretive government programs are as opaque as ever while its citizens rights to privacy are practically non-existent.  Before too long, any of us might face a situation like Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden or Ben Franklin - to reveal or conceal information valuable for public debate - and thus change the course of history... and your life... or not.
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Where in the world am I?

8/22/2013

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View Road Trip Fall 2013 in a larger map
Dates:
Aug 18 - 26: Walloon Lake, MI
Aug 27 - 29: Madison, WI
Aug 30 - Sept 1: Minneapolis, MN
Sept 2 - 5: Boundary Waters / Canada
Sept 6 - 8: Toronto / Niagara Falls
Sept 9 - 13: Wilmington, DE
Sept 15 - 20: Washington, DC
Sept 21-28: Durham, NC
Sept 28: Charlotte, NC
Sept 29: Greenville, SC
Sept 30: Sumter, SC 
Oct 1-5: Naples, FL (flying)
Oct 6-12: Charleston, SC
Oct 12: Atlanta, GA
Oct 13-20: Birmingham, AL
Oct 21 - 29: Monroe, LA
Oct 30 - Nov 3: Bay Area (won't be driving!)
Nov 4 - Nov 18: Kaua'i
Nov 19 - 20: Bay Area
Nov 21 - Dec 20: Monroe, LA
Dec 21 - Dec 28: Houston, TX
Jan 1 - Hawai'i??
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    Evans McGowan

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