I read Linda Nagata's fairly new book The Trials today. Linda's book is set in a future USA in which various rich people, collectively known as dragons, have subverted democracy and rule the US. Chuck Gannon uses multi-national corporations as a conduit for his Big Bad in his "Fire" trilogy. It sounds far-fetched ( Read more... )

Jim Wright, over at Stonekettle Station, has no use for the so-called 'militias' occupying wildlife refuges. Another blog I stumbled across says "They [groups of self-described libertarians] don’t favor liberty because it promotes the widest possible flourishing and self-actualization of human beings. They favor it because it gives local ( Read more... )

Three facts, which should matter but apparently don't.

Fact #1 - Government is not the only force of oppression.

In Ye Goode Olde Dayes, when workers got uppity about things like getting their pay cut, wealthy individuals hired private "investigators" to shoot workers.

Fact #2 - There is no "pause" in global warming

2015 was by far the hottest ( Read more... )

Today is my last regular Rotary meeting of the year. In honor of that, have a couple of links.

A) You may have heard of Airbnb, a service that allows you to rent out spare rooms via the Internet. Well, this guy's dad died because of an Airbnb rental, and he notes, " The irony is that amateur innkeepers who couldn’t be trusted with the banal task ( Read more... )

Monday UpdateOver the weekend I went downstate to visit the parents. Mom's PC needed a bit of attention from me and it was going to be Too Damned Hot to do anything in Chicago except sit in front of the air conditioning. So, since my parents and my car have air conditioning, a quick drive downstate seemed like a good idea ( Read more... )

It's been hot and rainy this week, but today dawned dry and cool. To celebrate, have some links:

A) An interesting article on dinosaur exhibits over time.

B) Tim Akers has an interesting thought on politics by way of Dungeons and Dragons.

C) A Fungus Among Us or St. Anthony's Fire. Ye Goode Olde Dayes weren't really very good ( Read more... )

I find I have some time, so you (lucky you) get some more wit and wisdom from me.

Thought The First

If a comment thread has devolved into personal barbs aimed at somebody, additional commenting is probably not worth anybody's time. See here, especially #7, #8 and #10.

Thought the Second

Utah found a brilliantly effective solution for ( Read more... )

On this 1st of May, have some links and commentary:

1) A lengthy article on the start of Gamergate. The ex-boyfriend sounds like a full-on sociopath.

2) In certain gun-owning circles, it is an article of faith that the Sandy Hook shootings didn't happen. Tim McGraw begs to differ, which shows how impossible these "conspiracies" are ( Read more... )

A) On the space front, growing food in shipping containers is exactly the kind of tech we'll need to settle in space.

B) Disordered thinking, or, thinking that Muslims have taken over a number of cities including Dearborn, MI and established "no go zones" wherein Sharia law is practiced, why does nobody check if perhaps his collar is a bit too ( Read more... )

I've always been a bit puzzled by some (many) of the positions taken by such noted "libertarians" as Rand Simberg. Then catsittingstill pointed me at this four-part article on last year's Sad Puppies eruption. See, if you think that "taxation is theft," logically any time the government (via police) or an individual kills somebody, you would expect to demand a ( Read more... )