Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution by Stephen L. Hardin, Gary S. Zaboly (Illustrator)

The first complete history of the nineteenth-century revolt, drawing on original Texan and Mexican sources and on-site inspections of almost every battlefield.

Hardly were the last shots fired at the Alamo before the Texas Revolution entered the realm of myth and controversy. French visitor Frederic Gaillardet called it a “Texian Iliad” in 1839, while American Theodore Sedgwick pronounced the war and its resulting legends “almost burlesque.”

In this highly readable history, Stephen L. Hardin discovers more than a little truth in both of those views. Drawing on many original Texan and Mexican sources and on-site inspections of almost every battlefield, he offers the first complete military history of the Revolution. From the war’s opening in the “Come and Take It” incident at Gonzales to the capture of General Santa Anna at San Jacinto, Hardin clearly describes the strategy and tactics of each side. His research yields new knowledge of the actions of famous Texan and Mexican leaders, as well as fascinating descriptions of battle and camp life from the ordinary soldier’s point of view.

This award-winning book belongs on the bookshelf of everyone interested in Texas or military history.

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I was always interested in the Battle of the Alamo and its ramifications ever since I first saw Jahn Wayne as Davy Crocket & Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie. While just a fictional account of the incident, this book truly fills in many of the holes and calls out a great number of fallacious claims of the fictional accounts. This was a great book if you desire to know the true accounts of the liberation of Texas from Mexico and the ravaging tyranny of General Santa Anna and his ultimate capture.

Godspeed & Good Reads!

Doc Murf

Podcasting for Dummies

New tools have made it easier to create a podcast. The second edition of Podcasting For Dummies shows you how you can create and distribute your own online recordings using tools you already have. This edition also covers what you need to build a top-notch podcasting studio. Expert podcasters Tee Morris and Evo Terra are joined on this edition by a fellow podcasting guru, Chuck Tomasi, to walk you through recording, editing, posting, and promoting a podcast.

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While this was an older version of the book, it was helpful and a great aid in understanding many of the things that we need to know to wage a war with the podcasting venue. I am thinking of starting one and making my way through the book assisted me in understanding many of the basics for podcasting and all of the associated products (free and cost) that will be of great help in this endeavor.

Godspeed & Good Reads!

Doc Murf

They Lied to Us Too: The Forgotten Fathers – Men and Abortion by Victoria Robinson

A compilation of stories from men who chose abortion, or were part of an abortion, and the emotional & mental effects they endured.

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A powerful set of stories with heart wrenching affects from which men came back from. The emotional and mental effects of abortion can be long reaching in one’s life. This would be an excellent book to aid men in their understanding of abortion and who consider an abortion; perhaps they may change their minds just from the effects these women experienced. Well worth the time to read, even if just to gain a background on this subject.

Godspeed & Good Reads!

Doc Murf

They Lied to Us: This book provides safe passage for the millions of anonymous women, men and family members who endure the life-long physical and/or psychological trauma of abortion by Victoria Robinson

A compilation of stories from women who chose abortion.

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A powerful set of stories with heart wrenching affects from which women came back from. The emotional and mental effects of abortion can be long reaching in one’s life. This would be an excellent book to aid women who consider an abortion; perhaps they may change their minds just from the effects these women experienced. Well worth the time to read, even if just to gain a background on this subject.

Godspeed & Good Reads!

Doc Murf

Sound of Freedom | Angel Studios

Sound of Freedom, based on the incredible true story, shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.

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On July 5th I took my wife, my kids, and several of my grandchildren to see this movie. While this movie was long, necessarily so in order to paint the bigger picture for all to see with eyes wide open, it was an outstanding movie that all should see. Of course, this is my opinion. It is a powerful story, based upon true facts of a Homeland Security Agent (Tim Ballard, played by Jim Caviezel).

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.“

Matthew 18:6 KJV

This movie highlights the heartache of parents who are lied to and promised the brass ring, only to find out it was a ruse to steal their children for trafficking purposes. A truly sad movie that makes you feed the heart wrenching experience of the abduction of your child. Even though, in the end, those heartwarming moments do overtake you because of the happy ending. Sadly, though, not all stories have a happy ending.

Two million plus children are trafficked every year and that number is growing by an astounding number every year to the sinful desire of man and pedophilia urges. It has grown to and probably surpassed the $150 Billion annual income. These children are faceless, numberless, and meaningless to their captors and their abusers. They are but a sick desire to be used and discarded.

“What can we learn about child sexual abuse from statistics? Statistics are a way to communicate the seriousness and demonstrate how widespread sexual abuse is. Since secrecy and silence are fuel for sexual abuse to continue, it’s important that adults recognize how often sexual abuse happens. It is not an isolated incident. It does not happen only in impoverished areas or between specific types of people. It can happen anywhere, anytime to any child or teenager. Overall, it is difficult to gather statistics about the prevalence of sex abuse due to the lack of victim disclosure. It is difficult to measure what is kept secret. Additionally, different research resources use different data collection methods; often targeting specific age groups (i.e. teens) or subsets (those abused by a caregiver). And finally, to compound the difficulty in getting accurate statistics, there is no ongoing comprehensive national effort to document all CSA incidents in the US.[ii] For these reasons, we have collected only what we consider the most widely requested statistics. There are many other well researched statistic collections, such as Darkness2Light’s comprehensive listing(link is external), as well as CSOM’s (Center for Sex Offender Management) fact sheet on sex offenders(link is external).”

The Scope of Child Sexual Abuse Definition and Fact Sheet

I could say more on this, but I won’t in the hope that you will go to see this movie!

Godspeed & Veritable Views!

Doc Murf

Standing Up to Goliath: Battling State and National Teachers’ Unions for the Heart and Soul of Our Kids and Country by Rebecca Friedrichs

Rebecca Friedrichs tells real-life stories that expose state and national teachers’ unions as the money and muscle behind the degradation of America’s schools and culture.

In a book that’s both accessible and enlightening, Rebecca Friedrichs recounts her thirty-year odyssey as an elementary school teacher who comes face-to-face with the forces dividing and corrupting our schools and culture—state and national teachers’ unions. An exciting true story that features real life testimonies of teachers, parents, and kids, as well as political and social commentary, Rebecca’s journey leads her to the realization that the only hope for America’s schools and families is returning authority to parents and teachers while lessening the grip of state and national unions that:

• Promote a culture of fear and bully teachers and parents into silence.
• Undermine parents’ authority by sexually, socially, and politically indoctrinating kids.
• Use the apple-pie image of the PTA as a “front” to promote a partisan agenda.

These insights and more led Rebecca and nine other teachers to the US Supreme Court where their case, Friedrichs v California Teachers Association, et al., sought to restore the First Amendment rights of all teachers and government employees. They argued no one should be forced to pay fees to abusive, politically driven unions, and were poised to change the very landscape of American education—until tragedy struck.

Saddened but unbowed, Rebecca started a national movement, For Kids and Country, leading the charge of servant leaders who believe Judeo-Christian values (including kindness) and restoration of the teaching profession—possible only by rejecting state and national unions and forming “local only” associations—are the answers to America’s woes. She invites you to join them.

“America’s teachers, parents, and kids deserve better,” Rebecca writes. “If we want freedom, we’re going to have to fight for it.”

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This was an awesome book on the power of the teacher’s unions as a whole. It pushes its own agenda and the education of the children is not in the top tier of concerns! It is a sad truth about our nation that power structures that are representative of a group of people for their good and benefit usually goes off the rails in order to push for things that it believes to be of great importance and to hell with those who speak up against their agenda. I was a union member for 28 years; while not in a teacher’s union, I was a member of a rather large and powerful federal union…and after a number of years came to the realization that unions, as a whole, needed to be put in check and have their power reeled in!

Godspeed & Good Reads!

Doc Murf