This Ain T No Shit

The collection of life experiences enclosed herein are true incidents that I witnessed or actively participated in. In many of them, I narrowly evaded some dire consequences of military justice via avenues of quick thinking, slick talking, or just plain dumb luck! I discovered a couple of best kept secrets that helped me skate through these adventures. Those secrets being, know what is in the Bureau of Personnel manual; have a good understanding of the grievance procedures (under the right circumstances, an enlisted dude can put the Commanding Officer on report; but you had better do your homework!); and lastly, tie in with a mentor who will show you the "ropes" about the Navy! Now this is in no way a sailor's guide to misbehaving. It is simply a comical look at one sailor that may well have proven himself to be a "magnificent bastard" as he advanced from Seaman Recruit to Senior Chief!

This collection of short stories is intended to illustrate a more humorous glimpse of a soldier's life in Vietnam. It's of the times when boredom and a fertile imagination often lead to amusing situations, rather than the "blood and guts" of combat. All the narratives in this book, saves one, are true, or at least were presented to the author as fact. Some are without a doubt true, as they happened to the author. Other Vietnam veterans related the remainder of the yarns, swearing that each and every detail was unquestioningly genuine. We all know that combat veterans do not lie but their memories may, nevertheless recall their experiences slightly altered from actual events. Perusing these stories the reader might logically conclude that ego or passing years might, just possibly, influence a few of the bone-chilling tales. GI's live through numerous happenstances that are not heroic but are embarrassing or mundane. No matter how cynical a GI becomes, some events, maybe only in retrospect, are viewed as ironic or downright funny. These random experiences are what the book are about.

Entry includes attestations of the head word's or phrase's usage, usually in the form of a quotation. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

This classic text addresses one of the most important issues in modern social theory and policy: how social inequality is reproduced from one generation to the next. With the original 1987 publication of Ain't No Makin' It, Jay MacLeod brought us to the Clarendon Heights housing project where we met the 'Brothers' and the 'Hallway Hangers'. Their story of poverty, race, and defeatism moved readers and challenged ethnic stereotypes. MacLeod's return eight years later, and the resulting 1995 revision, revealed little improvement in the lives of these men as they struggled in the labor market and crime-ridden underground economy. The third edition of this classic ethnography of social reproduction brings the story of inequality and social mobility into today's dialogue. Now fully updated with thirteen new interviews from the original Hallway Hangers and Brothers, as well as new theoretical analysis and comparison to the original conclusions, Ain't No Makin' It remains an admired and invaluable text.

The story of a Colorado rancher in the 1880's and his desire to build a railroad.

Not your usual poetry. Not for the faint of heart. This book gives raw voice to, and exposes the destructive lifestyle of, all too many young Hispanic Angelenos. Gangs attract kids who lack effective families, and the gang becomes the family. Kids become the parents and teachers to their peers. Result? All grow up to be kids. Unfortunately these grown up kids play cops and robbers with real cops and real guns. These kids have more kids who, left without effective families, become the new gangsters, and so it all degenerates. Everyone gets caught in the vicious circle: police, parents, schools, and so on and on. Many finally end up in prison (the real cool school). Many end up dead. So who's to blame? Nobody. Who's got the answers? Nobody. Who cares? The final canto of this book is modeled after Kahlil Gibran's book THE PROPHET. By turning his ideas inside out, the twisted, involuted, reality of the gangster life is exposed. Not all of these fragments are doom and gloom. Most are funny, and many came from different periods on the author's life. After you've read this book, you'll know why the Pirata is crazy. Folked out, broked out, loc't out, one eye poked out, Pirata has spent the last decade trying to help young Hispanic gangsters make choices to build better lives. A graduate of Chaffey College in Alta Loma, and CSUB. He lives with his wife and son in Southern California.