Author: J.J. Probasco

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.

— John F. Kennedy

One hundred years ago today, the echoes of the artillery faded away at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, and World War I was over.  It was called the War To End All Wars, and that turned out to be overly optimistic.  We’ve come to understand there will always be a need for patriotic men and women to come forward and stand between our country and all the threats that face it.  And someone has always come forward.  Some of them were drafted, some joined because of a desire to give something back, and some really just wanted a way to pay for college.  But each of them – every single one – has sacrificed something for their country.  Some in small ways…some in huge ways.  Some in ways that you cannot imagine if you haven’t been in their boots.  A lot of those sacrifices didn’t happen because someone decided to be brave or went out looking for a chance to be a hero…they happened because someone decided to put the needs of their families and friends and countrymen ahead of their own, and did whatever they needed to do so that our nation would remain the land of the free.  To have known these people, work beside them, and wear the same uniform has been an honor and privilege.  To our brothers and sisters in arms…we salute you.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

— Plato

It’s wrong to hate.  It always has been wrong and it always will be wrong.  It’s wrong in America, it’s wrong in Germany, it’s wrong in Russia, it’s wrong in China.  It was wrong in 2000 B.C., and it’s wrong in 1954 A.D.  It always has been wrong, and it always will be wrong.

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Every day, man is making bigger and better foolproof things, and every day, nature is making bigger and better fools.  So far, I think nature is winning.

Okay, I’ll confess I found out already, but I had to ask the question when Sugar Babe saw the new cover photo posted by her niece on Facebook, showing her daughter dressed in a princess outfit.

“Looks like she’s sittin’ on a croker sack,” Sugar Babe opined.

“That doesn’t look like a Kroger sack,” sez I.  “Those are plastic and have handles.  This looks like a gunny sack.”  I looked askance at her, as I am wont to do.  She grew up in Georgia and they talk funny down there.  Being a normal person who grew up in Iowa, it takes me some doin’ to figger out their weird turns of speech sometimes.

“Not ‘Kroger’,” said she.  “Croker!”

“What the heck’s a croker sack??” I asked.  See?  I had to ask, just like I said.

We discussed it all up and down, and I finally pestered her into researching the origin of that term.  She burned up the Googleways until she found an opinion that felt really authoritative, so I accept that I’ve actually learned something today and had to pass it on to anybody who might find themselves bored enough to read this.  It’s from the Word Detective website, which I’ll link here, and paste the meat of it below for easier finding.  And I have to point out that the person asking the question came up with it after moving to. . .you guessed it. . .Georgia.

I rest my case.

Make mine extra-crispy.

Dear Word Detective: When I moved to Georgia I heard a number of people refer to a burlap feed sack as a “croker sack,” but never got the origin of that name. Finally, while coon hunting with a good ole boy who referred to the southern sack, I asked for and got his take on “croker sack.” He told me that he and others who frog gig, or frog grab, carry burlap feed sacks to put the frogs in and thus the name. Since frogs may be called “croakers,” I suppose that it is actually then “croaker sack.” Somehow I am not convinced that this is the only origin of the “croker/croaker sack,” and I’d like to know if you’ve ever heard of this name for burlap feed sacks. — Catherine Symanowski.

Bags of frogs, huh? Sounds like fun. I was planning on eventually moving to someplace with bookstores and decent restaurants and maybe even a symphony orchestra, but I now have a new criterion for my ideal abode. I saved a snake the other day, incidentally. It was crossing our road and a truck was coming, so I jumped up and down in front of it until it turned around and slithered to safety. I know the truck wouldn’t have stopped for the snake because it didn’t even slow down for me. We gotta get out of this place.

It’s true that “croaker” is slang for a frog in many places in the U.S., as well as a term used to denote a wide variety of fish species, some of which apparently actually make a croaking sound. “Croaker” has also been used at various times to mean a person who complains or speaks in a depressing manner, a person or animal close to death (about to “croak”), and, especially in U.S. prisons, a doctor.

But none of these senses of “croaker” underlie “croaker sack.” The forms “croaker sack” and “croker sack” are both variants of “crocus sack,” the coarse burlap bags used to ship crocus. The crocus, known to most of us as a colorful flowering plant, is, more importantly from an economic standpoint, also the source of saffron, an orange-red powder used in flavoring and coloring food. (This saffron differs from “Indian saffron,” which is the spice turmeric.) While “croker sack” is primarily heard in the American South today, “croker” as a term for a crocus merchant dates all the way back to 16th century England.

The mystery of government is not how Washington works, but how to make it stop.

— P.J. O’Rourke

Always remember you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.

Well, this is fascinating. I just found my book (published 3 1/2 months ago) available as a used (but in very good condition) paperback on Amazon for $15.88 + $3.99 shipping, from a seller in Connecticut.  Right next to where you can buy it new for $9.99, with 2-day free shipping if you have Prime.

Another interesting aspect, to me at least, is that I haven’t sold thousands of books — I know that’s hard to believe, but so very true — and the market for used books written by me isn’t particularly huge.  And, actually, most of my sales have been pretty much to friends or friends of friends, and I don’t know anybody in Connecticut.

A lot of authors have noticed similar things happening with their books, and the consensus seems to be that the people selling books like this will get orders from buyers who accidentally click the wrong thing and end up buying that more expensive book.  Or perhaps someone will think it’s somehow a special edition, or something, and buy it just because it’s more expensive.  The seller gets the order, orders a new (and therefore in very good condition indeed) one themselves from Amazon with Prime shipping (it’s print-on-demand so there’s no inventory to mess with) and then mails it to their customer in a few days, and makes about six bucks profit.

Upon pondering this for a few minutes…they’re pretty smart.  They’re making more money per book than the author gets in royalties without having to do anything more than place an order and put a book in the mail.  Wish I’d thought of that, except for the part about it being unscrupulous…but there’s no law against it.  I do wonder how many people actually buy things from these scammers, though.

I’d sure love to hear from anybody who does, so they can explain why.  ‘Cause that would be even more fascinating.

If you’d like help finding it, here ya go…

New Used Book For Sale 

OOPS!  Gotta do an update now.  Checking the Amazon listing on 10/13/18, I see that the used book is no longer offered.  Gee…it must have been sold!  Or the seller was discouraged.  In any case, the situation still exists with other books and may again with mine, so now you know how this works.  Or might.

This country has gotten where it is in spite of politics, not by the aid of it. That we have carried as much political bunk as we have and still survived shows we are a super nation.

–Will Rogers