Category Archives: Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils

FREE Kindle eBook: “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats”

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book_cvr3D_sm_pngMany of you have either read the original online version (which is no longer available) or downloaded the pre-publication PDF version of An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats: Urban Myths Debunked. And special thanks to a sizable number of you who have purchased the Paperback version of the book from Amazon.

My original purpose in writing An Insider’s View… was to provide an accurate biographical account of the Rocky Flats story to as broad an audience as possible.

Consistent with that objective, I’m now offering the Kindle version of the An Insider’s View… FREE for 3 days beginning March 6, 2015. I encourage you to take advantage of this FREE ebook offer even if you purchased the paperback or downloaded the pre-publication PDF book from the RockyFlatsFacts.com website. That’s because – unlike the paperback and PDF which are text-only documents – the Kindle ebook contains the added bonus of over 2 dozen full-color (unclassified) photos that I think you’ll find memorable including one of burning plutonium (in a glovebox!) and two photos of plutonium ingots.

Don’t be put off if you don’t already own a Kindle reader: you don’t need one. You can download an entirely FREE Kindle ebook reader app to your PC, Mac, or mobile device by clicking here. (Clicking link will take you to Kindle reader app installer webpage.) Trust me, it is easy and it works just fine.

I do have a couple of requests to go along with this free Kindle ebook offer. First, I know that I’ve only a small fraction of email addresses for people interested in Rocky Flats news and information. Please forward this message to anyone you think might want to get the FREE An Insider’s View Kindle ebook with its cool photos. And if you enjoy the Kindle ebook version of An Insider’s View, please consider writing a short review of the ebook at Amazon.com.

Yes, A Second FREE Kindle eBook…

FIM_3D_Cover_341pxMy second request is that you take a look at my two more recent fiction books. I published these as collaborative efforts with my grandchildren who served as “Creative Staff and Illustrators.” The first book in the series is Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils: The Farmer Island War, and the more recent sequel is Farmer Island Magic.

To entice you further, I’m offering the Kindle ebook version of Farmer Island Magic FREE for the 3-day period beginning March 6, 2015. Of course, I’m hoping that you will eventually consider purchasing one or both of these books in paperback.

And once again, if you read one of my Farmer Island books and enjoy it, please consider writing a short review on Amazon.com and/or refer the book(s) to a friend, relative, or colleague.

Farmer Island Magic

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FIM_3D_Cover_341pxFrequent visitors to this web site know that the books reviewed tend to be non-fiction. I’m making an exception this week because I’ve published Farmer Island Magic, the sequel to my 2012 book, Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils: The Farmer Island War. Both of those books were crafted based on character and plot suggestions offered by my four grandchildren who are credited as the “Creative Staff and Illustrators.”

Farmer Island Magic begins where Angry Pigs… left off and the truce that ended The Farmer Island War has held without incident. The farm animals, including the intelligent pigs, and their allies, are living peacefully with the gerbils that had been the enemies in the war. There are as yet no humans on the farm, so the animals must work together to plant, tend, and harvest the food for their survival. All appears well, but pigeon scouts and rat spies remain ever vigilant for dangers to the farm. The serenity of life on the farm is broken when a pigeon scout brings troubling news that humans are approaching. He reports that four humans are traveling toward the farm in a covered wagon and that one of them — a young woman — is probably the daughter of the original settlers that first cleared the farm from what was then wilderness. She is traveling with a husband and two children.

The arriving family is surprised to find a prosperous farm with well-tended crops yet no evidence of humans. They also notice many other mysteries, such as the farm pigs appearing intensely alert and watchful when the young farm wife is nearby. Nevertheless, the human family begins to settle into the farm and enjoy the frontier. The animals notice the human adults seem a bit careless with the children, perhaps not realizing there are real dangers on the frontier.

However, everything changes when the children are pursued by a viscous wolf pack and the farm pigs intervene to rescue the children. The humans begin to understand there is something remarkable about the farms pigs that seem to be able to understand what the young farm wife is saying. The family continues to uncover many mystical things about Farmer Island. The farm wife is led to a magic book and a letter from her mother that explains she has inherited powers from an ancient ancestor.

There are more mysteries and excitement ahead. The farm family is threatened by a band of marauders, but they are saved first by the bravery of the pig herd that defends them and then warriors from the Native American village who have been alerted by animals that the family is in danger.

This will be one of the shortest reviews posted on this web site, but I tell you that there are many other adventures and magical events to be enjoyed in Farmer Island Magic. I hope you are intrigued enough to buy the Farmer Island Magic Kindle ebook for $2.99 or the paperback for $9.95 (or even less). We also hope those of you who decide to enjoy the book or ebook will consider posting a favorable review at the Farmer Island Magic webpage at Amazon.com.

Fourth Anniversary of RockyFlatsFacts.com

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It has been an interesting four years since we launched this site to provide the book titled, “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats:  Urban Myths Debunked.” Several hundred people have elected to hold the actual book or to read the Kindle version, which has several interesting pictures. Some think the pictures of two types of plutonium ingots make the Kindle version worthwhile.

Getting some statistics out of the way, the counters have indicated there have been over 1.3 million visitors. There will have been 654 postings when this one is added. Those postings have been just about equally divided between commentaries, book reviews, and expressions. Frequent readers know that there is no way to predict the subjects since we write about whatever attracts our interest on a given day. There was a series of Rocky Flats-related commentaries in mid-year when a three day event was held at the Arvada Center on an anniversary of the government raid on the plant (see “An Insider’s View, etc., above). There was another Rocky Flat’s series when the Department of Energy announced through a subcontractor that health insurance provided to retirees was changing.

Book reviews continued to be mostly non-fiction, but we will post a review about any book we think is interesting. We are still finding new expressions despite posting descriptions of the origin and meaning of over 200. Perhaps the day will come when we run out of new material, but we aren’t there yet.

The two frequent contributors also have been busy writing and publishing books. Ponderer (Kate Rauner) published a sequel to her book “Glitch.” This one is titled “Venture,” and I recommend it to anyone who has interest in space exploration. A sequel to “Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils:  The Farmer Island War,” is titled “Farmer Island Magic,” and should be published soon. The four grandchildren who once again served as “Creative Staff and Illustrators” are hoping to have a copy before Christmas. I’m also in the early stages of writing another Rocky Flats book that I think will be interesting to people who worked there and/or protested the place.  More about that later.

Alex & Me

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Reviewed by Kathy London

alex&meThis book by Irene M. Pepperberg is recommended to anyone who thinks science is dull. As Stephen Jay Gould wrote “science must be understood as a social phenomenon, a gutsy human enterprise, not the work of robots.” Irene Pepperberg’s book is subtitled “How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence – and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process.”

It describes a passionate researcher producing ground-breaking science against considerable odds.

While she has published many scientific papers, this short book is personal, an autobiography centered on her work with the Grey Parrot Alex. Pepperberg writes in an easily-read style.

I have one quibble: the first chapter of the book deals with the aftermath of Alex’s death. This may not make sense until you’ve read the rest of the book. I suggest you start at Chapter 2. Continue reading →

Second Anniversary for Rocky Flats Facts Web Site

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It has been two years since this web site was launched. Maintaining the site has required significant technology research and application, and I credit Keith Motyl for keeping the site up to date. My contribution has been generating the content, and all the reading and writing has been a good retirement project. I must think it is worthwhile, since I’ve added another web site.  FarmerIsland was launched to promote the book “Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils: The Farmer Island War.” The book was written based on the ideas of four grandchildren (listed as Creative Staff and Illustrators). Adults have been very complimentary and a third grade teacher who read the book to her class reports that the children enjoyed the “delightful book.”

There has been one major irritant. SiteBuilder has not provided us with a way to control comments that I call “graffiti.” The blog allows me to decide whether a comment is pertinent, and I can allow it to be posted or reject it as spam. The review and expression links on SiteBuilder do not give that option, and we have attracted hundreds or thousands of comments that seem to be directed at marketing luxury products and other items that have no connection with the content. We struggle with the daunting task of deleting all of this “graffiti” while leaving the legitimate comments that provide value. Continue reading →

Angry Pigs Ad

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Regular readers of this blog will notice that the first advertisement has been included as a “skyscraper” ad for the book “Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils: The Farmer Island War for a simple reason. We are promoting the book I authored based on the ideas and illustrations of our four grandchildren (listed as “Creative Staff and Illustrators.”) I think the way this book was developed by a grandfather teamed with grandchildren is unique, or at least I’m unaware of anything similar.

We’ve had enough feedback from readers of all ages to be confident that you will be pleased if you decide to buy the book either as a paperback or Kindle. Readers have called the book creative, fun, interesting, and intriguing. We’ve also been complimented about the positive messages. One of those is how the pig soldiers develop heartwarming respect for their comrades as they stand bravely together during the battles. They learn compassion is a more rewarding emotion than anger.

I selected the book to be discussed at the Denver Read and Feed book club October meeting held at our home, and have posted the comments by members on the review link of this web site. There were some very positive and interesting comments in that posting that might help you decide whether you are interested in the book.

We have a website that contains even more information. One of the links is “Continuing Adventures,” where ideas for a sequel are being created by the grandchildren and readers. Readers of the web site are encouraged to submit ideas about what happens next on Farmer Island.

We suggest you consider buying the book for your personal entertainment and that you consider it as a “stocking stuffer” for the upcoming holiday season.