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The writings in this book started as a way to frame letters to friends, expressing thoughts about a particular moment. But as I became more alone over the ten-year span, it was as if I had to talk to myself. Its interesting how one becomes. One form of this is by talking to yourself as you write about them. These Writings covers the ups and downs of the years, the risks taken, the winnings and losings, and other memories. It is a collection of thoughts in solitude about becoming an island that nearly washed away but has reformed, has recovered, and has moved forward.

The former Chinese assassin, Ya Ying, a.k.a. Erika Lee, now a former American agent, hunted by the Chinese, banned from the United States and Taiwan, has migrated to Russia and has been welcomed to live and work for the Russian Federation. She assumed the role of language instructor at St. Petersburg State University and became an officer of the SVR and of the Spetsnaz. Here she proves her value to the government in combatting regional insurgencies. But her Chinese enemies continue the pursuit, determined to get revenge for her interference in their plans for the South China Sea and a high-level assassination. Her adventures in Russia result in high favor and position, but the Chinese persist until a violent final showdown ensues to bring closure.

Getting to know yourself can be painful but useful and fun at times. Here, the reader will discover how life interferes with success and success interferes with life. The insights to how government agencies really work is both funny and scary to read about. But there are many very useful ideas and opinions that are, in the authors opinion, quite worthwhile. Enjoy this authors roller-coaster adventure and learn!

In Northeast Asia, continued unrest has brought the regional allies of South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States to near the brink of was with China over hegemonic moves in the South and East China Seas. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the allies, the Supreme Leader of North Korea has conceived and initiated a complex plan to cripple the United states by natural disaster. As the threat materializes, numerous incidents bring inevitable encounters that uncover and cause correlating threats that require extraordinary measures by the antagonists to attempt to reach a new normal in the region. What that will be depends on ingenuity, timing, and ruthlessness. Agents on both sides have dangerous missions that will force the combatants to do the unthinkable to force a new normal. New technologies will play important roles in the outcome of the fight for peace in the region.

China's hegemonic actions in the South and East China Seas have alarmed Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. Together, they conceive of a strategy that will contain the PRC. But China's leader has devised a different space weapon to coerce the allies. Further, a beautiful, extremely skilled spy/assassin has been placed in America. The outcomes for China and its antagonists depend on strategies, resourcefulness, and ruthlessness as events unfold in a troubled region.

Russian Spetsnaz Officer Vanya Volchitza leaves the Russian Federation on good terms after achieving successful careers as a university instructor, special agent, and chief executive of Baron Oil and after losing her lover and a number of near-fatal encounters with Chinese assassins sent to kill her for former actions against the PRC, including assassinations of high-level Chinese state security ministers. She lands in Israel intent on finding peace and security but becomes involved with Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, in combatting terrorists from the nearby Gaza territory attempting to smuggle operators into Israel through a forgotten utilities tunnel. Meantime, China's new Belt and Road initiative has led them to make substantial investments in Gaza's infrastructure. A special team is sent to oversee the investments and learns that the long-sought assassin Ya Ying is thought to be located in nearby Israel. China's huge standing reward for her, dead or alive, prompts the Gaza team of Chinese agents to relentlessly pursue her, involving covert operations through the tunnel and by sea to kill her.

This story begins with insights into secret schemes that have a basis in the Caspian Sea, but also have far-reaching consequences in Central and Northern Europe. Iran is plotting to become a nuclear power in the Middle East. Russia wants to help, but for another reason. Egos of leaders are responsible for plans of hegemony and revenge that result in violation of international law and norms that, if unchecked, will redraw state boundaries and result in terrible losses for all antagonists drawn into these events.

This is a history of the land and the landowners along Germanna Road and connecting roads, from the Rapidan River to Wilderness Run. The chapters that follow provide the history of the lower end of Orange County, especially the Alexandria Tract, with particular attention to the land in and around Lake of the Woods. My brother asked me, "Why should I care about the Alexandria Tract?" My simple answer was, "Because we are descendants of Alexander Spotswood." He got me to thinking about what motivates anyone to write and especially to research and record one's findings for posterity. When the English settler came to Virginia, he brought his law and his library. The concept of land boundaries and personal ownership were foreign until then, as was the concept of written records. The land records, journals and family records of the five generations of Spotswoods, their relatives and neighbors that lived on and near the Lake of the Woods area have been preserved, but their story has not previously been written. Similarly, the modern pioneers that came in the late 1960s and later to form the community of Lake of the Woods should have their story preserved. Of all the places within a few hours of Washington, D.C., why pick the Wilderness to develop a large lake recreational community? The answer to this question cannot be found in any published history of Orange County. Why would families sell their home of generations including the family cemetery? The simple answer of “for the right price” is not the only explanation.

Illustrated with 9 figures and 11 maps of the campaign and engagements at Perryville. The battle of Perryville symbolized the high-water mark of the Confederacy in the western theater of operations. In Aug. 1862 General Braxton Bragg and Major General (MG) Edmund Kirby Smith led separate armies into Kentucky to wrest the state from the Union and install a Confederate governor. They initially met success and captured the state capital, simultaneously shifting the war in the west from northern Mississippi and Alabama to Kentucky. In response the North raised additional forces to protect Cincinnati and Louisville while MG Don Carlos Buell halted his offensive against Chattanooga and marched his Army of the Ohio back to Kentucky. On 8 Oct. 1862 Buell’s army clashed with Bragg’s at Perryville. The Confederates achieved a tactical success in a hard-fought engagement that generated more than 7,000 casualties. Of the regiments engaged, 10 suffered losses between 40 and 60 percent. However, outnumbered by three to one, Bragg’s army could not sustain its victory and withdrew. Within days of the battle, all of the invading Southern forces retired from the state. Kentucky remained firmly in the Union and secure from Confederate invasion for the war’s duration. Despite its importance to the course of the war in the west, Perryville does not benefit from the high visibility accorded the better-known Civil War sites such as Manassas, Gettysburg, Antietam, and Chickamauga. Although more than 70,000 Union and Confederate soldiers deployed in and around Perryville, understanding of the battle and its significance to the overall course of the war remains poor. For staff ride purposes this unfamiliarity can be a benefit. It forces the participants to study and think about the situation facing their Civil War counterparts without the preconceived notions that surround the more popular sites.

We are continually being inundated by propaganda from capitalists and their captive legislators. Some propaganda is true, but the majority is lies, fake news, and rationalizations. We need to be able to see through the falsity, and find the truth!