Themes that Go Together; Nonexistent Gods

Posted on Tuesday 13 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT, Paul Krugman, 12 Sept 2022: Ukraine Deflates MAGA Macho Myths

Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Themes that Go Together; Nonexistent Gods

The Opposite of Education

Posted on Monday 12 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Sunday’s New York Times had this front-page investigative article (i.e. not a piece about breaking news, but one involving investigation over a period of time — as it says, “Over more than a year, the reporters interviewed more than 275 people, translated dozens of Yiddish-language documents and analyzed millions of rows of data on failing private schools in the Hasidic Jewish community.”)

NYT, Eliza Shapiro and Brian M. Rosenthal, 11 Sept 2022: In Hasidic Enclaves, Failing Private Schools Flush With Public Money

Subtitle: “New York’s Hasidic Jewish religious schools have benefited from $1 billion in government funding in the last four years but are unaccountable to outside oversight.”
Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Religion | Comments Off on The Opposite of Education

Frederik Pohl’s “Outnumbering the Dead”

Posted on Sunday 11 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This week’s novella covered by the Facebook Group reading Gardner Dozois’s big anthology first discussed here is “Outnumbering the Dead” by Frederik Pohl. Coincidentally, it was first published as a chapbook, in December 1992, in the same UK publisher’s line as last week’s story, Michael Swanwick’s “Griffin’s Egg.” Both were later published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Pohl’s story in the November 1992 issue.

Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, science fiction, Short Fiction | Comments Off on Frederik Pohl’s “Outnumbering the Dead”

Steveioe

Posted on Saturday 10 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s an online comedian, Steven Ho, who goes by Steveioe, who was once an ER nurse (at UCLA), who began doing Tik Tok videos of himself acting out situations in the ER (in which he would play all of several roles), and has since become a stand-up comedian. He’s quit good playing various kinds of roles off each other. He can be vulgar though.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Steveioe

Today’s Features and Headlines, 9 Sept 2022

Posted on Friday 9 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Ursula K. Le Guin, Ian McEwan; that Hunter Biden movie; Republicans taking credit; proof of Trump’s threat; D.C. welcomes immigrants; Doug Mastriano’s personal prophet, who speaks with God.

Continue reading →

Posted in Links & Comments, Lunacy, Politics, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Today’s Features and Headlines, 9 Sept 2022

Today’s Headlines, 8 Sept 2022

Posted on Thursday 8 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Queen and empire; Religious employers against health care; Republicans making fun of sick people; Lebanon as America’s future under Trumpers; MAGA invokes 1st century BC; Another lame right-wing movie; Why American lives are getting shorter; The indefensible claims of “2,000 Mules”; xkcd on Universe Price Tiers.

Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Links & Comments, Movies, Politics, The Gays | Comments Off on Today’s Headlines, 8 Sept 2022

Recent Headlines, 7 Sept 2022

Posted on Wednesday 7 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Busy with things including the heat. For now headlines from the past few days, lightly commented. I’ve skimmed them at best; some I will revisit and comment further.

About not following your gut; the past 150 years of human history; anti-Obama conspiracies; political obnoxiousness; school is for building citizens, and learning to read; exchanging Arizona for more tolerant NYC.

Ponder this image.

Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Education, Human Progress, Links & Comments, Narrative, Psychology, Social Progress | Comments Off on Recent Headlines, 7 Sept 2022

Another Hot Day

Posted on Tuesday 6 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Not quite as hot today as yesterday, but still very hot for this region. 97 F at our place in the Oakland Hills, maybe higher; I didn’t check all afternoon.

San Francisco Chronicle, 5/6 Sep 2022: California heat wave: Bay Area records its highest-ever temperature

Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history | Comments Off on Another Hot Day

102 ℉, and Comments About Hugo Awards Demographics

Posted on Monday 5 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Today at 4pm or so.

Last night we streamed the Hugo Awards ceremony, Continue reading →

Posted in Conventions, science fiction | Comments Off on 102 ℉, and Comments About Hugo Awards Demographics

Michael Swanwick’s “Griffin’s Egg” + 4

Posted on Sunday 4 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This week’s novella covered by the Facebook Group reading Gardner Dozois’s big anthology first discussed here is “Griffin’s Egg” by Michael Swanwick. It was first published as a “chapbook,” a smallish, thin book in a UK publisher’s series of such books, in 1991, and was reprinted in Asimov’s SF magazine’s May 1992 issue. Among other places, it’s also included in The Best of Michael Swanwick from 2008; the other four stories reviewed below are in this book as well.

Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction, Short Fiction | Comments Off on Michael Swanwick’s “Griffin’s Egg” + 4