As has become my custom whenever receiving something worthy through my email urging me to “pass it on” – rather than jamming my friends’ inboxes, I will post it in the blog. This one is worthy and worth reading. Feel free to copy it and post it to your own blogs, or however you wish to share it. Providing you feel, as I do, this man is spot-on! (I’ve checked it’s validity. According to snopes.com this is accurate and properly attributed.) Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes?  He's now 82 years old and has a new book, 'Where Have All The Leaders Gone?'. Lee Iacocca Says: 'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder! We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course..' Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned, 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!' You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.. The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs.. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions.. That's not the promise of the ' America ' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you? I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. (Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis being the first. I won’t post the entire content of that, but you can read the rest of his list HERE.) The Biggest “C” is CRISIS. Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. On September 11, 2001, we needed a  strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes [...] A hell of a mess So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership. But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the  point. Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened. Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time. Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it? Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry. I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on NBC news or CNN news will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change? Had Enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here.  I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I believe in America . In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: The 'Great Depression,' 'World War  II,' the 'Korean War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,' the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970's oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: 'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a "Call to Action" for people who, like me, believe in America '. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had 'enough.' SNCC Note: If you want to read the entire excerpt from Iacocca’s book and the Snopes.com comments, GO HERE.  PS: Be sure to check out the current Christmas Contest Giveaway that ends next Saturday, November 28. Just click on the white banner with the holy below the header to find out how to enter and win some great prizes.

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I’ve been contemplating starting up a new blog, separate from this, to talk about writing genres. I’d invite authors to sign up as “posters” and give them an opportunity to talk about their particular genre.

I’ve reserved a Blogger (blogspot.com) name and designed a page & header. If you want to take a look, click on this minimized header image:

Beneath the header is a definition of the word genre and a brief overview of what I have in mind.

Now that you’ve looked it over, what do you think? If you’re just a reader would something like this interest you?

As a writer, would you be interested in participating?

I have no idea if this will fly or not. I’m just putting out feelers, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Let’s talk about it!

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A man stood near a park bench in Central Park on a busy Friday afternoon in New York City.
Oblivious to the pedestrian traffic and the comments he heard through the day, he stood there, at or near the same bench, day after day, left arm crooked as if holding a basket, right hand reaching into the air, fingers snatching at nothing then lowering his hand and opening his fingers into the hooked arm.
Every day, day after day, the man performed the same routine.
Oh, he heard the comments. Crazy. Totally out of it. Hey, somebody call the men in the white coats!
One day a young man had the temerity to approach the strange man on the sidewalk.
“Tell me, sir,” he said. “What are you doing?”
Unperturbed, the man kept reaching, grasping, and thrusting his right hand into the curve of his left arm.
After a moment the younger man carefully stepped a bit closer to the elder.
“Tell me, sir. What are you doing?”
“I am catching butterflies.”
“And why are you catching butterflies/”
“To chase the elephants away.”
The younger man looked around and everywhere.
“I don’t see any elephants.”
“Of course not!” And the old man continued catching butterflies.
Okay, y’all know I’m doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), a crazy, chaotic frenzy of writing practically non-stop for 30 days. It is a time of free writing where you pack up your internal editor and send her to Tahiti for a vacation because your goal is 50,000 words written by midnight on November 30. And that’s not going to happen with that annoying, insidious nag leaning over your shoulders and whispering in your ear.
Today is Day 17, two days past mid-point and I’m at 26,317 words, also past mid-point and pretty much right where I should be.
I’m rather proud of my progress. I’m collecting butterflies (words) and have—so far—managed to keep the elephant (that infernal, internal editor)away.
So, if you’re doing NaNo, too, keep collecting those butterflies so your elephant will stay in Tahiti—or wherever you sent it.

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During the past week the Sips ‘n Cups Cafe and Reading Room has been bombarded with spam comments on one or two particular posts from earlier this year. I have no idea how those posts were found by the “bots” but needless to say that will not be tolerated.

Of course I have deleted them from the posts and are no longer there.

Now I am left with two choices to prevent this from happening again:

1. Turn on “comment verification” which requires anyone wanting to leave a comment to enter a randomly generated group of letters. Since that is done manually by you, these automatic spammers will not be able to get their junk through.

2. I can turn on “moderation” which basically means you can make your comments without having to enter any code words, but your comment will not appear until after I approve it.

I really don’t want to do this at all, but I can’t allow the spam to continue. As a personal preference I would opt for moderation. I don’t do well with those goofy word verification thingy’s because sometimes they arranged in such a way I cannot decipher them.

So, for starters, I am enabling moderation. Since I’m almost always at my computer, most of your comments will be approved immediately. Those that are of the yucky nature will be zapped before they can get through. This has one added advantage: I’ll see your comments first and can respond to them with comments of my own, if called for, as soon as I approve them. This may make the comment section a bit more interactive. We’ll see.

I would like your opinions, though. Understanding that one of the two options above is the way its going to be, which would YOU prefer?

Word verification or Comment moderation? Just click on one or the other and it will send me an email with your preference. Feel free to add any thoughts in the body of the email if you’d like.

Thanks for being a reader and follower of the Sips ‘n Cups Cafe and Reading Room.

OH! Don’t forget to check out my Christmas Giveaway that’s going on now through November 28. Some really nice prizes to one lucky winner. Click on the white banner with the holly at the top of the page for details. Lots of ways to win!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

In her deep plowing of the heart, moving from tears one moment to laughter the next, Golden will touch your heart with her dynamic Bible teaching, combined with her vivid personal examples, moving from tears one moment, to laughter the next, all the while communicating the message that God is faithful--keep trusting Him. She has a passion to communicate the Word of God in such a manner that will lead to godly living.

Golden, and her husband, Blaine, have just retired as pastors at Faith Mountain Fellowship Church in Red River, NM. They have three grown daughters and eight grandchildren. Her testimony and myriad of life experiences lend a touch of authenticity to her teaching. She loves to speak for women's conferences, seminars, luncheons, retreats and Mother/Daughter events.

If deep Bible teaching that brings the Scriptures alive is what you want, Golden is the speaker you need.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Madeleine's faith puts her at odds with an intimidating rival: King Louis XIV.

Having fled their homeland of France because of the persecution by Louis XIV, the Clavell family seeks refuge in Switzerland. However, the king is not about to let the recently widowed Madeleine, his childhood sweetheart, escape that easily. He sends musketeers to kidnap her and her oldest son, Philippe, holding them captive in his opulent palace. King Louis is suspicious that Philippe could be his son, and he's enraged by the growing affection of one of his courtiers for Madeleine.

Will Madeleine escape the king with her life or lose everything that she's fought so hard to keep?

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Prisoner of Versaille , go HERE

If you would like your own copy, go HERE

Golden can be reached through the Contact link on her Website

SNCC Review:

I eagerly looked forward to the release of this book, having been thoroughly captivated by In the Shadow of the Sun King, Book One in this series by Golden Keyes Parsons. And I have to say this sequel is as strong and compelling as the first.

Madeleine is a heroine who faces unimaginable obstacles in her struggle to remain faithful to her Huguenot beliefs. And her childhood sweetheart, Louis IV, the Sun King, wants her back at court . . . with him . . . as his official mistress. And when Louis uses Madeleine’s oldest son, Philippe, as a pawn to force her to do his will, for the first time her strong faith threatens to desert her.

This time period is fascinating to me, and, through all my years of reading historical fiction, I don’t recall coming across much that is written about the struggles of being Huguenot in Catholic France. That makes this series extra intriguing to me.

And Golden Keyes Parsons, to my thinking, has done an exceptional job of painting a vivid picture of the awesomeness and beauty of Versailles as well as the rot and decadence behind the outward glamour and excitement of being part of Louis IV’s court.

For reading lovers of historical fiction, this is a must read.

SNCC Rating:

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