Rick McBee's Writings
Explore the magic of new ideas and books to read as well as see what books I have written, my favorite photos, my opinions on may subjects, including Science, Africa, the Caribbean, the Civil War, my Book Reviews, and Much More!
American Choice: Vaccintation Methodology
Americans are lucky in having a choice with Vaccination Methodology for COVID-19!
We get to do it one of two ways:
A. By Modern Medicine or B. By COVID
OR 
A great time for a chance to think about the different ways we view the world around us!.
A. I’ll take a sore arm and fever for 5 days. or B. I’ll risk being flat on my back for 2-6 weeks+ death.
A. I’ll put my faith in modern medicine. or B. I’ll put my faith in my inherited DNA.
A. I can outwit Natural Selection. or B. I want to test myself against Mother Nature.
A. I think COVID-19 is killing many people or B. I think people are just dying from other causes.
A. I got vaccinated for the common good. or B. Nobody can make me get vaccinated.
Most of the rest of the world doesn’t have these same choices they only get the COVID-19 option.
They are really lucky if they get this and not this
Make the right choice for the world and our Community
This is not the time for us to Be me — me — me centered and selfish!
CHOOSE THIS OVER THIS
Book Review: “With These Hands” by Louis L’Amour
With These Hands: Stories
by Louis L’Amour
Richard Jr.‘s review Jun 08, 2021 · edit
it was amazing bookshelves: human-interest, short-stories
A refreshing set of short stories from an author whom I had stereotyped as a writer of Westerns. Now I find that his life included work as a seafarer, WW2 veteran, world traveler, boxer and much more. The man draws on his experiences world-wide to create these glimpses of life, adventure, trials and tribulations and war in short stories that will keep you entranced for many and evening. i fond it best to read and absorb one story at a time, rather than binging on the whole book all at once. My favorite in this compendium is “Voyage to Tobalai” a true to life story of a tranp steamer and her cargo braving the East Indies as the Japanese surge through the area and attempt to pull an ambush on American warships. This is a book to read—set down—cogitate—read—set down—cogitate— in order to feel the fullness of L’Amour’s amazing skills and powers as a writer.
Book review! – “The Sentinel” by Lee and Andrew Child
http://goodreads.com/book/show/51053653-the-sentinel(opens in a new tab)
The Sentinel by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed the whole book! A new twist for Jack Reacher! Getting into the Technological Age! Well…. Maybe only a little bit…… It’s a great theme – Ransom Ware – against corporations and towns, a good old Jack is still capable of taking on 4 guys in a rough and tumble and come out on top. That old fashioned MP training must be pretty danged good! This is the kind of stuff that modern Americans need to be fearful of a lot more than we imagined. No reason to buy a gun, just getting that computer into a virus and hacker free status and keeping it there can be a full-time job for a lot of people. They still call me occasionally with the old “Is that Mr. Richard?” “This is Microsoft and I see you have a computer problem that I can help you fix” Hmmm, says I, “I’m out working in the garden and the computer hasn’t been on for hours” – Click! Read it, you’ll enjoy the whole book! Nice to see Lee Child’s younger brother getting into the same line of writing!
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Mr. Trump! – Quit the Robo-callS!
DUMP ——————————————TRUMP’s ————————————ROBO-CALLS!
The phone rings!
A familiar loud ex-presidential voice starts in: The Wall! ……, The Election!….. Etc., Etc., Etc
Hanging up won’t cut off the RANT!
It comes sometimes 2-3 times a day!
WHY ME? ……….A DEMOCRAT! ……..I would NEVER vote for you!
I’M THE GUY WHO WROTE YOU LETTERS OF HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR PRESIDENCY……………..
………………………………WHICH YOU NEVER FOLLOWED!
I hit *69 – the operator gives me the telephone # 541-313-9832– “Press “1” to call this number!”
It’s always busy!
NO WAY TO STOP THE HARASSMENT!
SO – I’ll cut off my land line! – At least My cell can BLOCK every number you use to me.
Ahhhh! ——————–Sweet Satisfaction!
Book Review: The Winter Fortress, by Neal Bascomb – Stopping Hitler’s A-Bomb
Read My rating: 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars[ 5 of 5 stars ]Preview
The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb
Neal Bascomb, author of Hunting Eichmann and The Perfect Mile, details explicitly an epic adventure and spy story of Norway’s sabotage of the World War II production of Heavy Water and the defeat of Hitler’s attempts to produce nuclear reactors and an atomic bomb
What an amazing description of the wartime lives and the feats of sheer survival that humans fighting for their freedom can endure. Even the ‘Epilogue’ is amazing to read in the end as it summarizes how the survivors of the Kompani Linge viewed their own participation in the war, and lived through the years of post-war trauma through sharing the experiences that they alone could fully understand while trying to reach some form of a reconciliation in peaceful life with the deeds of the war. This is a book best read chapter by chapter with time for the reader to absorb the immensity of the secret small war to prevent the German’s from obtaining sufficient deuterium to make a breeder reactor to produce Plutonium and thus an atomic bomb. From the cod liver oil contamination of the heavy water to the descriptions of the over-wintering in the arctic conditions of Norway, to the biographies of the men in Kompani Linge and the struggles of their families to survive the Nazi occupation, the book is an education for all of us on the fragility of freedoms we cherish and holding on by a thread to those values and truths during the worst of times. The book helps us also understand the tenacity with which the Norwegian peoples held to their values of truth, independence and social community and why they continue to do so today.
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Book review: “The Last Refuge” by Ben Coes
The Last Refuge (Dewey Andreas, #3)
by Ben Coes (Goodreads Author)
Richard H. McBee Jr.‘s review Apr 27, 2021 ·
it was amazing bookshelves: thriller, novel, politics
Revenge! That’s the way the Middle East still seems to operate when it comes to the game of tit-for-tat assassinations and murder carried out for some seventy years between Israel and the neighboring Arab world countries! How delicious would that revenge be if you could punish a deceased Prime Minister of Israel for events over 50 years ago by taking out a grandson of that person, who happens to be the Israeli national hero who rescued Dewey Andreas from certain death at the end of “Coup D’etat”? Author Ben Coes pits two new nuclear powers, Iran and Israel against one another in a secretive game of cat-and -mouse as the hero is kidnapped and a plot hatched to smuggle a nuclear time-bomb into one of Israel’s coastal harbors to bring about a final solution to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Dewey Andreas, driven by his quest to pay back his rescue, is called back to action in unofficial capacity to enter Iran, steal the nuclear weapon and lead the hard-ball negotiations for the release of Israel’s national hero. From the streets of New York to the towers of Dubai, and consulates in Portugal, Shanghai and Peking, the violence is spreading! Time is running out as the bomb is assembled and begins its fateful journey. Will Dewey Andreas be able to finish his greatest challenge to date? This well written story of intrigue and clandestine operations keeps you on the edge of your seat for the full 400+ pages.
Book Review: “Coup D’etat” by Ben Coes
Coup d’Etat (Dewey Andreas, #2)
by Ben Coes (Goodreads Author)
Richard H. McBee Jr.‘s review Apr 27, 2021
Author Coes again keeps us thinking and entertained with the fast moving plot that brings Dewey Andreas out of hiding in Australia to thwart a brewing nuclear conflagration as India and Pakistan go head to head on the disputed border of no-man’s land high in the Hindu Kush. From the start it is Dewey all the way as he outwits and removes the assassins sent from the Middle East to take revenge for his actions against jihadists as told in Coes’ previous novel “Power Down”, then enters Pakistan on a clandestine mission to take out the power hungry leader of Pakistan who is about to set the world on fire because of a border incident purposely caused by his own army. Great Descriptions, great action and a variety of scenarios that show off author Coes’ skills as a writer of adventure/thriller books. I hope you like it as much as I did!
??Vaccination Card a Hot Button?? we’ve had them Since the 60’s!
or 
I read the Headline this AM – Vaccine Passports Hot Button with GOP – WHAT ARE WE STILL IDIOTS? Here’s the article: https://www.yahoo.com/news/vaccine-passports-hot-button-issue-083127591.html
Wait a minute! I voted Republican back in the 60’s – THAT’s WHEN I GOT MY FIRST VACCINATION CARD!
My Travel to Europe, Africa, in U.S. Military: During the 60’s everyone gave them out and you were expected to have it when you went through immigration into any country including getting back into the U.S. of A !
Were you vaccinated for: Smallpox? Yellow Fever? Cholera? Hepatitis? Tetanus? Diphtheria? Measles? Rubella? ,,,
Here’s what we carried! 8 page yellow Certificate of Vaccination! At the top of the page is what we carried! Hand it to Immigration with your passport or “Go through that “DOOR” to see the Dr.!” QUARANTINE!! Do it year after year whether you think you ought to carry a dang card or not! Right up into the 2000’s!
Outbreak of “Cholera” in Chile in “88“! Just when i’m headed to Easter Island, Santiago, and Puerto Montt! – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1842997/ – You really want to travel to Chile? Better have your vaccination card with the shot in the last 6 months!
Another outbeak of “Yellow Fever” in Venezuela in 2007? Gee, my vaccination hasn’t been updated in the last 10 years! Better get a shot down the street if you want to keep working here!” 
Just staple it into your great big World Health yellow pages!
Just Carry the danged thing with all the other cards you carry in your wallet or purse and GET OVER IT!
What do the Simple Folk Do #6? They Cross Country or Downhill Ski!
Atkisson Snow Trails, Washington: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/eKvInzxpA96rRwQxfyBnk9V3
Check out our Route on the link above! A great Classic ski area near Mt. Adams in Washington, with separate trail systems by snow mobile and XC skiers. The cross country trails are groomed frequently and the signage is goo so you won’t get lost. Toilets are available and you pass the Trout Lake Ranger station on the road into the trails and parking so you can buy your snow-park permit right there if you don’t have one. 
Parking sign, Trail map to photograph and take with your route, forest trail, Buddy Ken at Natural Arch
Old Man Pass Snow Trails, Washington : https://www.gaiagps.com/public/ToFJt1WZTf4qjYiMMDUvPVvk
Check out this route on the link above: Trails at the top of Old Man Pass which is North of Carson, Washington.This is a bit more of a back-country break your own trail area as any grooming is done more infrequently on the Classic XC ski trails which go everywhere. Signs are not as well marked, so you will want to take your picture of the trail routes ahead of time. With our trip we had figures about a 6 mile trip and because of ice jams on the creeks or bridges washed out, we ended up doing over 8 miles with alternative routes. Take your backpack with the requisites for an emergency overnight if something goes belly-up on routes like this. 
Map of the Area, Meadows stop, half-way, (we thought), Ken & David snack before long road back
Mount Hood Meadows Nordic Trails: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/H2OEA3Mt5e0piBTCct03QGTU
Oregon XC – Check out one of my routes at Meadows on the link above: Oregon’s Mount Hood Meadows has an excellent Hood River Meadows Nordic set of groomed trails that can give you an XC ski workout either Skating or Classic style on wide trails for over 8 miles with good elevation changes that give opportunities for Green, Blue, and Black Diamond challenges for everyone. Mid-week it’s got plenty of space and open trails which is very different from the Teacup Lake XC area (see: https://teacupnordic.org ) only a mile away on the other side of Highway 35 out of Hood River, Oregon. Meadows also has a whole line-up of ski, boot and pole rentals as well as instructional classes for beginners and advanced skiers at their Hut with toilets and snacks as well as snow-park passes if you need one. Just South of Meadows and across the road off Highway 35 is Bennett Pass trailhead which again is a back country type not groomed set of old logging roads and trials for the hardy adventurer. This set of trails also connects into the Teacup Lake set of trails several miles away to the North on the same side of the road. Be prepared to break your own trails. Here are some pics from the Bennett Pass day with buddies Ken and David, 
Buddy David (front) and me, David crossing avalanche chute me waiting, Buddy Ken near big drifts
Mt. Hood Meadows Downhill Skiing: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/bc05OtB70pjj8NXyIeRNZiQ2
Check out a particular day’s routes on the Downhill at link above: Mt. Hood Meadows is a destination type resort: link – https://www.facebook.com/MtHoodMeadows/ . We go up as often as we can and ski most of the whole mountain depending on wind, snow conditions and our own 70+ energy level on particular days.
My wife, Jill @ Top of Shooting star, Looking N, @ top of Cascade, and S. @ Cascade, Ice on Texas Trail.
Have a great Day!
What do the Simple folk do #5? They Go hiking for Flowers!
Even as some persons get the COVD-19 Vaccine shots, there will still be a need to distance from others until we have a giant chunk of the US population protected from the Virus. So, those of us in the 65+ age bracket in Oregon are continuing to take to the hills during the spring weather and get out to see the blooming newly sprouted spring flowers. Hikes of 3 – 5 miles can take you off the beaten track or through some great cross country in the Columbia Gorge to see some of these beauties. Here are a couple of my favorites from the past couple of weeks near Hood River, Oregon!
Memaloose/ Marsh Hills area, Oregon: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/Yvgwj1yvA3EMUij8rnYfGjZn
This is a great hiking area which can be easily started from the East bound Interstate 84 Rest Stop just 3 – 4 miles past the Mosier, Oregon Exit, or, you can go off at the Mosier exit, and take old Highway 30 East out of Mosier up to a viewpoint about 2 miles east and park your car there and walk on the trail which takes off just across the road heading south through the hills. (See my post on the Bat House Hike from earlier in the year for other sites in the area as well. Lots of great flowers to see this time of year!
A Chilly Day, but flowers don’t mind! Yellow Bells, Buttercups, Grass Widows (purple and white) Or, on the Washington side of the Columbia there is another great place to see Spring in action.
Catherine Creek, Washington: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/JXq0zOxOrraOodx9PoZ9icAe
Trails and maps, cliffs and vistas, desert parsley, and shooting stars!
If you like hiking, and get to this part of the USA, then you should definitely visit the Columbia Gorge and bring a good reference book. I recommend:
Gerry Frank’s “Oregon” ISBN: 978-1-879333-23-9
and Rhonda and George Ostertag’s book: 100 Hikes in Oregon ISBN: 0-89886-298-1
Enjoy!
South Africa Book Group on Goodreads
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Rick McBee's Writings 