Interesting News - 1/10/2021

Hookay...so I haven't done one of these in a while.  Here we go.

Apparently, California is going to levy the highest tax in the nation on solar power generated by homeowners and other small entities.  This is just another example of why climate change isn't as much of an issue as some suggest.  Solar power in California, unlike in other states, is cheap and reasonably reliable.  And the state government is making it more expensive to install and operate your own system to "save the planet".

Leftists have a continuing case of the vapors over the 1/6/2021 riot at the Capitol building in Washington D.C.  Yet they very little about the many other instances where federal facilities were assaulted by rioters.  Oh...that's right...those were Chekas doing the assaulting.  Leftists never criticize anyone to their left.

While we are talking about rampaging American Chekas, let us recall the disparate treatment being given to rioters by prosecutors.  American Chekas are rarely punished, any punishments are light, and they are tried in a prompt manner as befits their rights as American citizens.  Most of the right-wing 1/6 rioters, also American citizens, are still sitting in jail awaiting trial one year after their event and those that pled guilty were given quite stiff sentences.  Equality before the law matters if one is intent on preserving our great Republic.  Leftist prosecutors apparently aren't interested in that objective.

James O'Keefe's Project Veritas has another bombshell.  It turns out that the proposal to fund gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was first submitted to DARPA.  DARPA is the research wing of America's military agencies.  DARPA noped right out of that proposal and pointed out the many flaws.  Those flaws have been eerily appropriate since January of 2020.  The project proposal was then submitted to the NAIAD.  It was approved.  Our esteemed Dr. Fauci is/was the head of the NAIAD at the time.

Courtesy of our outstanding private pharmaceutical companies, we have a couple of new anti-virals that are effective in limiting the impact of Covid.  True to form, the federal government is micromanaging doctors by placing questionable restrictions on when these effective treatments may be prescribed.  It's like Covid isn't a threat or something.

The hits keep on coming.  Even the EU isn't serious about CO2 emissions.  They appear poised to exempt CO2 emissions from private planes and yachts.  I'll take the issue far more seriously when the rich and powerful are being inconvenienced more than the common person.

Review: A Bright Shore

A Bright Shore by S.M. Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a 4-star review.

I'm only reviewing the first book as the rest of the series (total 4 books as of this moment) but the rest are just fantastic. They continue the story that begins here.

Scientists have discovered the existence of alternate Earths via something akin to string theory. They can only access adjacent "Earths" on the string. But from each successive "Earth" they think they can access ever further iterations of Earth.

The one they can access immediately is like our Earth except humanity never evolved on the new Earth. Some of the animals are a little different. Geographically there are some modest differences as well.

Coincidentally, the governments of our Earth are driving civilization into the ground. Rather than acknowledging reality, they pursue an ever-spiraling round of regulation and taxes to create opportunities to give away "free" stuff.

The authorial motivation to retell Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" renders the narrative paper-thin - excuse the pun. This is one of two weaknesses of the book. You can read the lines of "Atlas Shrugged" through the pages of "A Bright Shore".

People that value liberty gather like-minded people to their cause. They intend a mass exodus to the new Earth that will leave those that support ever-expanding government behind. Naturally, a few ne'er-do-wells make it through. More on that later.

The settlers expand out across North America. They eventually come in contact with an armed force from the next "Earth" along the string. These humans are not quite as technologically advanced, but they are ruthless in battle. Their means of traveling to this new Earth is more based on understanding where the versions of Earth almost touch so they can (more or less) just walk from one to the other.

They want this New Earth as much as our band of intrepid settlers. War ensues. Elements of the warrior band eventually learn a bit about what makes our settler tick; philosophically speaking. They flip to our side based on our promise of freedom. It seems that the political structure of the warrior band is inherently violent and authoritarian.

At the end of the book, our settlers and their new allies win the day.

Back at the new seat of government, one of those ne'er-do-wells has acquired control of the government and is using it to re-insert some of the collectivist ideas that ruined the Old Earth. The settlers, now an expanded group of military veterans, remove the government's access to the more valuable resources that allow it to control people and issue a threat to the ne'er-do-well that they do not enjoy the "consent of the governed" to introduce a large level of government control.

Yet, apparently, the ne'er-do-well did have "consent of the governed". They acquired it via deceptive politics and other acts of demagoguery, but they did get people to support them.

The idea that the endorsement of the military is needed to confirm the "consent of the governed" is the first step down a perilous road.

That step down that road and the tissue-thin cover over the ideas expressed in "Atlas Shrugged" are the only weak points in this book. Neither is an issue in the later books.

The other books will all get 5-stars from me without any additional review. Go read the entire series. It is well worth your money and your time.

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Review: Forgotten Ruin

Forgotten Ruin by Jason Anspach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a 4-star review. It is not a strong 4-star review. This book is definitely better than 3-stars, but not by a lot.

The premise of this book is that some sort of nano-virus has been released into the world. The virus causes technology to break down and humans to experience unexplained mutations. The news reports of the spreading virus are sparse, cryptic, and a bit scary.

The response is to use some technology located at the US military Area 51 to send teams into the future to restart civilization after the nano-virus has passed. Each team includes various flavors of US special forces along with a 3D replicator that has been hardened against the nano-virus. Our specific team of heroes has a couple of civilians along for the ride. One is to run the 3D replicator. One is a vaguely defined scientist. One is a politician/administrator who is just as demonstrably useful as one might expect.

It turns out that the time travel technology isn't very precise and the teams "land" anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand years in the future.

Our heroes are about 10,000 years downstream from their departure point. They discover a world that has transformed into some flavor of Tolkien-esque/Dungeons and Dragons reality that includes orcs, trolls, dragons, elves, and magic.

Conceptually, this is an interesting book. The characters and action certainly held my attention all the way to the end.

But....

The setting is largely derivative of Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons with a smattering of Stephen King tossed in for good measure. The setting doesn't seek to carve any new genre paths and instead overlays the narrative onto the existing understanding of the fantasy genre.

The narrative includes a fair amount of gun porn - rhetorically stroking the barrel, so to speak. Most of this is done early on and the later sections of the book are better once the fondling of various gun calibers has been concluded. As this is MilSF, one expects a bit of focus on guns, but perhaps a little less would leave more room for the story and characters.

The narrative includes a bit of Ranger porn - stroking the Ranger ego with Rangers doing Ranger stuff while Rangering. Eventually, the Ranger porn gets out of the way and we develop a relationship with the individual Rangers which improves the story in the later sections.

The narrative doesn't really reach for much in terms of plot or character development. I am a fan of Nick Cole's earlier solo works where he did reach for something extra. This new series seems to be coming from the Anspach/Cole MilSF Amalagamated Factory, Inc. - entertaining fiction cranked out for you!

It is a fine book that is reasonably entertaining. Worth the money you will spend. But it isn't really much more than utilitarian entertainment. I might return to the series, later on, to see how things shake out.

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Review: 11,000 Years

11,000 Years by Mark Roth-Whitworth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a 2-star review. It would have been a 1-star review but for the dearth of spelling and grammar errors.

This book was sold to me by the author under the premise that it contained all of the elements that made golden-age speculative fiction great. It does not include those elements.

Instead, the book leaves the reader with the feeling that a fan gets when going to see their favorite author/singer/actor live and gets stuck looking at a cardboard cutout displaying the author/singer/actor's likeness.

The early sections of the book are indeed populated by cardboard characters. They are flying on the Spaceship Cardboard. Their leader is Captain Cardboard. One of the crew is Frenchie Cardboard (no relation to the captain). Frenchie is French. She is the only character that speaks in an accent to let you know that she is French. Just in case you missed it, she wears a beret later in the book.

The Captain is a stoic and heroic figure who everyone admires even after he purposefully avoids dealing with events that will drive his ship close to a black hole in a maneuver that throws his ship a titular 11,000 years in the future. All he had to do was point the ship in a different direction a couple of days early and the rest of the story need not happen.

There are religious people on the ship. A few. The only overtly Christian character ends up sodomizing his gay roommate to death and then killing himself.

Ah, the nuance. That's probably the only word this author cannot spell.

We learn that even though the ship is in the middle of a crisis, the crew has a union that must be consulted before the captain can do anything. All great explorations involved union labor or something.

After the ship is heading off to discover what has happened to humanity in the intervening millennia, we switch to one of the main human multi-system civilizations. Essentially, all of humanity's major religions have been homogenized and combined to create a massive theocracy that oppresses everyone in service to no particular diety whatsoever.

At this point, the book cribs notes from the vastly superior work of Robert A. Heinlein. In particular, the book picks up some plot points from Revolt in 2100; where a young man of faith seeks to save a young woman of faith and then ends up finding out that their religion is a sham. Except, in this case, they keep believing in the religion and work to make it better.

The author seems to think that the sole purpose of religion is to engage in hypocrisy.

We return to the SS Cardboard which manages to fight off an attack from the pseudo-religious civilization. They run for the shelter provided by a second civilization.

With those two civilizations in conflict, a diplomatic meeting is arranged. The crew from the SS Cardboard is brought in to help observe and moderate.

A crew that is missing 11,000 years worth of knowledge, understanding, and context about the development of current human civilizations is deemed to be appropriate moderators for a diplomatic meeting.

Dorothy Parker's ghost had been impatiently tapping her foot for some time. This book was heaved across the room with great relish.

Run away from this book and go find something good to read. Like a grocery store coupon circular.

View all my reviews

-----

The author came in contact with me regarding this review.  And after a bit of retrospection, I think that an update is in order.

The 2-star rating is going to stay.  That is how good this book is.

But, I do think it is worthwhile to boil down my criticisms.

1.  Cardboard characters.

The author spent a lot of time making sure that the characters are diverse.  He described their color, gender, and nation of origin in great detail.  But he didn't do anything to differentiate their characters.  Except for the French lady.  She had an accent.  And a beret.

2.  The captain is well respected even though his leadership directly results in the ship traveling perilously close to the event horizon and tossing it 11,000 years in the future.  The crew still looks up to him after that massive screwup.

3.  This is an exploratory ship and not a cruise ship.  It travels into hazardous regions where quick decisions have to be made.  Yet the captain must get permission from the union before setting a course.  Never in the course of human history has such a thing happened.  

Private sector unions are great organizations under most circumstances.  A ship on an expedition to a remote location isn't one of those circumstances.  Save the virtue signaling for another time.

4.  The middle section of the book was actually pretty interesting.  The two main characters were going places, doing things, and revealing the fictional world in an entertaining way.  Unfortunately, the entire arrangement seemed heavily cribbed from Heinlein's "Revolt in 2100".

At least in "Revolt in 2100", the characters realized that their theocratic state was bad/evil/destructive and then left it.  In this book, our heroes identify the problem and...stay the course.  It just doesn't make any sense.

5.  The theocracy is presented as an amalgamation of all of humanity's religions.  The author seems not to understand that beyond the belief in a "higher power", religions simply are not the same.  You cannot unplug Buddhism and insert Hoahaoism despite the latter being an offshoot of the former.  Small differences become very important to believers.  Belief in one conception of "God" is not the same as all other belief systems.  Just ask the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics.

6.  Later on, the crew that was tossed forward in time by 11,000 years gets asked to serve as arbitrators for a diplomatic meeting.  People who have missed out on 11,000 years of human history and evolution are then expected to navigate and negotiate the differences between two conflicting empires.  That would be worse than asking Gilgamesh to facilitate negotiations between North Korea and Japan in 2023.

Quite frankly, the author does not appear to know how people relate to one another.  He knows how he imagines that people relate to one another.  But he's got no clue about how the real world works.  And it shows.

Review: The Postman

The Postman by David Brin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a 5-star review.

The primary problem with reading this book after seeing the movie is that the movie has altered your perception of how the story should unfold. It took a little while to undo that influence.

The Postman is an outstanding rumination on the application of personal morals; particularly absent a larger framework that encourages us to be better citizens. The book also provides some interesting opportunities to think about how technology can be used, how it can be abused, and how it influences our lives.

Well worth the read.

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Review: Son of a Liche

Son of a Liche by J. Zachary Pike
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a 5-star review.

The book continues The Dark Profit Saga with our heroes now outcasts. Their actions in Book 1 have now made them villains as far as the government is concerned. The government is inept as there is a genuine threat coming on the horizon; the Liche in the book's title. The government does nothing, but our heroes do.

Layered onto the story is a recounting of the chicanery associated with the derivative financial investments that ultimately caused the recession of 2008/2009. There is a werebear named "Sterns" for Pete's sake! The criticism being levied towards the financial industry are on point.

If you don't want to read about the actual disaster, read this book instead!

Can our heroes save the world and salvage their own reputation at the same time? You have to finish the book to find out.

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Review: Outcast: Mountain Warriors Book 1

Outcast: Mountain Warriors Book 1 by R.J. Burle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a 3-star review. That is an accurate estimate of my experience with this book.

The premise of this book is that our protagonist lives in a world where zombies have taken over. There is a narrow area on the east coast where "civilization" survives. The area is fenced off and the zombies are monitored via drones.

The protagonist irritates the wrong people and gets shuffled outside of the fenceline with a mission to contact a non-infected group that is living out in the wild areas of the country. There is a bit of intrigue as there hints of groups/people back in the civilized area working with individuals out in the wild. Also...vampires.

The book suffers from one primary issue.

The fighters in the wild are martial arts students. All of them. Survival living doesn't lend itself to martial arts studios.

Also, all of the fighters are near martial arts masters.

The lack of differentiation routinely took me out of the story.

The bones of the book were pretty good. The concept was interesting. The execution was a bit lacking.

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Review: The Forever King

The Forever King by Ben Galley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a 3-star review. That is an accurate estimate of my experience with this book.

The writing and general story structure were pretty good. However, the book had two significant flaws that were hard to overlook.

- there really wasn't much effort put into creating an emotional connection with any of the characters. The protagonists get victimized early on in the book with only a middling amount of character development to form the basis for an emotional connection.

- there is an inconsistent representation of power. On a related note, the balance of power is also inconsistent.

The magic users have lots of power, but they still work with ordinary fighters. Towards the end of the book, the fighters seem to be largely irrelevant to the ongoing fight while the magic users do all the heavy lifting. Equally, the protagonists have dragons that are quite powerful. There really doesn't seem to be that much of a need for normal infantry.

The first half of the book was really good, but the back half was a bit of a chore to finish. I don't have any plans to continue this series.

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Justice - Ahmaud Arbery

While others are crowing about the convictions for Ahmaus Arbery's murderers, you won't find me among them.  The case went through two local prosecutors before the state took over.  Arguably, the first prosecutor actively tampered with the case to prevent these men from standing trial.

For my friends on the right that are using this case to suggest that racism doesn't exist - please stop.  This trial might never have happened if the video had not been leaked.

For my friends on the left that maintain that America is a racist nation - please stop.  When given a chance, a jury of mostly white jurors convicted these men based on the evidence at hand  This is not the exception, it is the rule.

Settled Science?

 Found...and shared...

Interesting News - 11/21/2021

A pro-CRT parent recently threatened to bring over 1,000 armed soldiers to act against a school board and fellow parents during a recent school board meeting.  Does anyone want to bet about how quickly Attorney General Merrick Garland will tell the Justice Department to investigate?

As I have pointed out Hunter Biden's use/abuse of his family connections in the past, it is only fair to point out that Neil Bush is doing the same thing to play footsie with a Chinese company that is on an official US government list of banned companies.  If these are our elites, we need a better group of elites.

I take NYTimes writer Paul Krugman's pronouncements with a huge grain of salt.  He has a bad habit of selecting facts to fit his dogma rather than the other way around.  Case in point.

Rent control is a losing proposition.  It hurts the poor more than everyone else each and every time it is tried.  St. Paul, MN is just the latest example.

Capping the SALT tax deduction was one of those actions from the President Trump era that I supported 100%.  I can't imagine a better choice.  Allowing for the dedication of SALT taxes ends up making lower-income areas subsidize higher-income areas.  Yet the Democrats want to repeal it and give a tax cut to the super-rich.  It's pretty bad when even the Washington Post has figured that out.

Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges.  Turns out that self-defense is still possible in Kenosha, WI.  However, MSNBC's first story on the trial verdict was to run down all of the theoretically possible ways that the federal government could charge Rittenhouse with other felonies.  They eventually conclude that there isn't any other way to get at Mr. Rittenhouse.  They could have saved themselves the trouble and just covered the story straight.  Nope.  Instead, they keep introducing theories and fantasies that are unrelated to reality.

A news reporter who is close friends with Democrat politicians writes a story about how the Democrats are seeing a disconnect with rural voters.  In other news, water is wet.  Maybe going all-in on identitarian politics wasn't the best approach?

Veteran Of The Year

I had the humbling experience of being named the "Jackson County Veteran of the Year" on Veterans Day this year.  These things don't happen in a vacuum.  While I'm sure I'm missing some folks, I do have some people that need to be thanked.

First and foremost, thank you to my beloved bride.  Sugarbear, the good things that happen in my life are all the result of the support that you continue to give me.  Being a military spouse is the second hardest job in the military and you do it so very well.  Being the spouse of a veteran is even harder.

Jackson used to have a Veterans of Foreign Wars Post - Donald L. Wheeler Jr. VFW 823 closed many years ago.  Those veterans welcomed me into their organization, made me a friend, and fostered my interest in being an active veteran.  They helped to raise our kids; I ran the bingo on Saturday nights and our kids helped to run the kitchen with a bunch of crusty vets.  I love and miss you all.

Thanks also go to the veterans of American Legion Post 252 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10194 in Grass Lake.  When I was looking for a new group of active veterans, you also welcomed me into your midst.  You lead by example by being active...and I mean really active...in the community.

Special thanks to two members of the Grass Lake veterans community.  While we don't see him very often these days, Bud Freysinger remains the heart and soul of our group; service, love, and unity in all we do.  Rex Murdock is the engine that powers our efforts.  He is the commander of both Posts and is involved in almost every community project that I can think of.  Thank you both for what you have done and what you continue to do.

Thanks to the Jackson County community of veterans organizations in Jackson County.  You provide the framework that allows individuals to go further and accomplish more.  

Lastly, while I doubt they will ever see this, I owe a great debt to my employers.  They have supported my efforts to serve veterans and promote veterans programs in ways both large and small.  My hope for every veteran is to have an employer that supports veteran employees; time off on Veterans Day to mark the day, making copies/printouts for veteran-related projects, donating to projects when asked.  This is the quiet sort of patriotism that our nation will always need.

On this occasion, I have a challenge for my fellow veterans.

If you are already involved with a veterans organization, then get busy looking for veterans that are not plugged into a veterans organization.  We lose roughly 22 veterans a day to suicide.  Our nation's veterans disproportionately suffer from homelessness.  The single most effective thing we can do is to create a connection that will allow us to reach out at the right time.  That same connection offers our fellow veterans a sense of purpose that can carry them through times where life seems purposeless.  Y'all did that for me.  Now do it for them.  Welcome those new members into your group.  Accept that they might want to do something other than "the way we've always done it".  

If you are a veteran that isn't involved in a veterans organization, then find one that suits your personality/life and dive in.  My oath of service to our nation didn't include an expiration date.  Neither did yours.  The time required is small, the rewards are huge.  Even if you only make a few meetings and march in a parade or two, your presence and participation are wanted.  Your time in the military made American a better country.  Your time spent in your local veteran organization will make your community better as well.  If you have never been asked before, then I'm asking now.

There are so many outstanding individuals that have received this award in years past.  Bud Freysinger, Rex Murdock, Dave Welihan, Reinold Yahnka...the list goes on and on.  I'm humbled to find myself in your number.

Thank you Jackson County for this honor.

click to embiggen the embiggeded dude

Interesting News - 11/7/2021

There is no such thing as choice without a downside.  People consider solar energy to have no negatives.  That isn't quite true.  To generate enough power for the US, you would need to cover most of a large, southwestern state.  And even in those desert areas, there is still enough ecology that large solar farms will have a negative impact.

But technology is still a good thing.  Consider how they are now using lasers to kill weeds instead of using herbicides.  The 21st century is a marvelous place where free minds can enter the free market with better ideas that improve everyone's lives.

It seems that the American approach to cutting CO₂ emissions works better than anything being proposed by various climate activists.  I'm sure they will be acknowledging our progress presently.

This is the kind of thing that drives normal people nuts.  For those of a certain age, the phrase "Jane you ignorant slut" has a certain context/meaning that supersedes the language being used.  For the uninitiated, check out some early seasons of Saturday Night Live.  You know...when it was still funny.  Here is the story of when one of our humorless technological "betters" responds to obvious humor.

Earlier this year, the USS Bonhomme Richard was in port for major repairs.  A small fire turned into a large fire.  The US Navy was unable to fight the fire and now the ship will be scrapped.  This after-action report is just sad.  I shudder to think of how our sailors are prepared (or unprepared) to fight an onboard fire.

I'm not a fan of the "let's go Brandon" chant.  I also wasn't a fan of Robert DeNiro's act of incivility towards Mr. Trump - or those that emulated him.  Rich Lowry's reminder of the past is worthwhile for anyone that wants to push the nation back towards a more civil practice of politics.

When “tax the rich” really means “let’s write catchy slogans on dresses but actually give the rich a $36,000 tax cut.”

Yes, this is what Democrats want to put in the reconciliation bill. No, this is not a joke.

Price hikes for you, tax cuts for rich New Yorkers. pic.twitter.com/bgGXLL4XWK

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 4, 2021

While I have areas of disagreement with Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I wouldn't follow her into a restroom to continue to harass her into accepting my position.  Nor would I disrupt someone's wedding to do the same thing.  These protesters either lack shame or maturity.  In either case, their perspective should be discounted accordingly.

I've long hoped that the Democrat party would seek to limit the influence of the progressive/socialist wing.  I hope this is a sign of progress on that front.  New York City's newly elected mayor certainly seems more committed to a functioning government that wants to reduce crime and allow businesses to operate effectively.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz laid into Attorney General Merrick Garland over he sicced federal agents on parents exercising their First Amendment rights to protest at school board meetings.  Professor Glenn Reynolds follows up with a piece that says it all.  Thank goodness that Merrick Garland isn't on the Supreme Court.  He is unfit to serve as either a Justice of the Supreme Court or, quite frankly, as Attorney General of the United States.

Lampreys with teeth.

Click to embiggen.

Nope-nope-nopity-nope-nope-nope

In case you missed last week's most idiotic political stunt, the grifters of the Lincoln Project paid Democrat operatives with tiki torches to stand near Glenn Youngkin's bus and pretend to be racists that supported him.  The first detail that the MSM missed is that one of these "racists" was a black guy holding a tiki torch.  Unless the Klan has established some sort of new affirmative action program, it was pretty clear to most normal people that this was a false flag operation.

Most people now know that the news reporting about the content of Hunter Biden's laptop was factual and relevant.  The media's suppression of that information influenced the outcome of the 2016 election.

Periodically, I say something pretty radical.  Today, my radical statement is that people should not be pressed to have sex with people that do not "do it" for them.  Part of that "do it" factor is the genitalia that one will encounter in that prospective...ummm...encounter.  If one is fumbling beneath the sheets expecting to find sausage, one should find that sausage.  Alternatively, if one is fishing for clams, then a clam is what one should find.  Yet there are some that aren't sympathetic with that perspective and are bullying clam fishers to accept sausage as a suitable substitute.  As is frequently the case, women are the first and biggest losers.

The space continues apace.  As it has been with all other technology, the leap from government-centered projects to private enterprise will mark the single most important shift in space exploration and space colonization.  Elon Musk is serving the interests of future generations of humanity.

It seems that we have some new anti-viral meds that will be useful in the fight against Covid.  The more viable tools in our medical toolbox, the better.

Thread.

This is Ryan Ferguson. When he was 17 years old, a man in his Missouri home town was murdered. pic.twitter.com/f3eendf1WN

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) November 6, 2021

With a podcast version of the story for those that like audio.  Why that former prosecutor is not in jail (instead of sitting on the bench as a judge) is beyond me.

News for some - The USSR really was an evil empire.

Interesting News - 10/31/2021

Halloween Edition!!

America's lawyers rose to the occasion to preserve our tradition of ensuring that even the worst of defendants enjoys competent legal representation when it came to the terrorists that were being held at the  US Navy's base at Guantanamo.  Offers of pro bono legal support freely flowed south to ensure that those murderers were properly represented.

By comparison, the thousands of people accused of rioting in Washington D.C. on January 6th have not received similar offers of legal assistance.  

I'm not sure what to make of this.  The federal government has a well-documented history of having agents infiltrate groups and then use their infiltration to lead those groups to conduct operations that they were not natively inspired to pursue.  In legal parlance, this is known as "entrapment" and government agents are not allowed to entrap people by asking them to commit an illegal act.  It seems like one individual at the January 6th riot is closely associated with the federal government.  He is, sadly, a No-LOAD US Marine.  He also, equally sadly, spent the days preceding the incursion against Congress persuading people to go to the Capitol building.  A real inquisitive media would spend more time investigating.  And I don't know enough about this source to know how credible their coverage might be.

Interesting News 10-24-2021

Many people will recall the years when we were lectured about how it is important to keep religion out of politics while Mr. Trump was being supported by some Christians.  It was suggested that the IRS ought to review the non-profit status of any churches making political statements.

Our Vice President, Kamala Harris, recently recorded a political message to be rebroadcast in 300 churches in Virginia.  Predictably, we get crickets from the same people that were previously concerned about mixing religion and politics.

I rarely agree with former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when it comes to the law.  I have found myself in agreement with her several times when she was speaking outside of her role as a Justice.

Katie Couric recently acknowledged censoring Justice Ginsburg for the Justice's own good in Ms. Couric's recent memoir.  As it stands, I largely agree with Justice Ginsburg's comments on the topic of people kneeling at sporting events.

Ginsburg went on to say that such protests show a 'contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.' She said: 'Which they probably could not have lived in the places they came from ... as they became older they realize that this was youthful folly. And that's why education is important.'

...

'Would I arrest them for doing it? No,' she told Couric. 'I think it's dumb and disrespectful. I would have the same answer if you asked me about flag burning.' She added: 'I think it's a terrible thing to do, but I wouldn't lock a person up for doing it. I would point out how ridiculous it seems to me to do such an act.'

When Couric pushed further, asking if she believes athletes are 'within their rights to exercise those actions,' Ginsburg replied: 'Yes. If they want to be stupid, there's no law that should be preventive.'

'If they want to be arrogant, there's no law that prevents them from that. What I would do is strongly take issue with the point of view that they are expressing when they do that,' she added.

Indeed.

Good news for those interested in effective technologies that reduce carbon emissions.  Nuclear power is the only productive path forward, in my opinion.  These microreactors will allow smaller communities to maintain the productivity caused by cheap power.  Faster, please!

Reason number 494,623 to not trust the American mainstream media.  Dude shows up to say "I like Dave Chappelle".  He does not use foul language.  He does not physically abuse anyone.  People protesting Netflix do use foul language towards him and physically assault someone that was with him.  The MSM makes it sound like the dude was the problem.  He wasn't.  But clearly the MSM still is.

According to this report, Target is set to close a major Target store in downtown San Francisco due to losses associated with shoplifting.  I saw a later story where Target said the location was not closing.  That doesn't change the massive shoplifting that is being created by the policies of the San Francisco mayor and prosecutor.  The abuse being heaped upon those Target employees and the city police is unconscionable.

Abortion - A Quick Legal Comparison

 I enjoy the r/dataisbeautiful group over on Reddit.  Some of the visualizations that people come up with are fantastic.

I recently came across this visualization that compares the laws governing "on-demand" abortion.  There are other laws that speak to issues such as the endangerment of the mother's life and the viability of the child when discussing late-term abortions.  This visualization is focused on when the law permits a woman to seek an abortion "on-demand" with no other factors coming into play.

Click to embiggen - credit to Reddit user u/maps_us_eu/

Mostly, I'm saving this here for future reference.  I run into many Americans that claim to want a European-style legal framework for abortion.  Such people routinely advocate for fewer legal restrictions on abortion.  

Ironic, no?

Interesting News 10/10/2021

This week's Interesting News includes things that are new and things that I just came across.

For example, the Missouri department that manages foster children has managed to lose over 900 kids.  Their absence was not reported to the federal government as mandated by law.  They have even discovered that dozens of these children were found by child traffickers who were exploiting them for prostitution purposes.  The GOP holds all of the important cards in the Missouri state government, yet the official responsible for this tragedy is still on the state's payroll.  

While not really a surprise, I did unearth this article about how armed citizens fare when it comes to limiting or preventing active shooter events.  94% isn't a bad batting average.

Big tech's lack of interest in promoting free speech and diverse viewpoints should be abundantly clear at this point.

• The band Five for Fighting had a song about our retreat from Afghanistan censored by Facebook.
• Google banned all ads from the pro-life group Live Action.

The many problems with the media and the government investigation of the Trump/Russia hoax were made manifest once again.  A lower-level figure involved with misleading the federal government was indicted.  The NY Times lede was dismayingly inaccurate.  About the only encouraging point is that the investigation will continue.  Putting some senior-level FBI agents in jail for malfeasance would be nice.  Seeing Hillary one cell over would be better.

An Astounding Campbell!

We are a few years removed from the major WorldCon kerfuffles.  The most recent issue associated with WorldCon was the decision to rename the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Author  Effective in 2020, the award was renamed asthe Astounding Award for Best New Author.  For clarity, there is also a John W. Campbell Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. 

At the time, the argument in favor of changing the name is that it was perceived that Mr. Campbell would not have approved of the identity (largely based on race) of many recent nominees. It was argued that it was wrong to give an award to a person that would have been viewed negatively by Mr. Campbell.

And let's be honest, John W. Campbell had more than a few questionable positions. Yes, "questionable" is an understatement.

The counterargument was that Mr. Campbell was not being memorialized in the naming of the award due to his opinions about race. He was memorialized for his outsized influence in the development of the speculative fiction genre. The counterargument continued by asserting that the effort to remove Mr. Campbell's name from the award was an act of "cancellation"; an attempt to remove him from history.

Those arguing in favor of the change said that such a complaint was nonsense. Mr. Campbell's place in genre history was settled and no one would attempt to rhetorically undo the past.

And yet people are doing precisely that. Jeannete Ng was the final recipient of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. That is how the award she received in 2019 reads. Yet on her website she claims to be a recipient of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.  John Scalzi also claims to be an Astounding Award recipient.

While my mild case of OCD is telling me to check author bios/websites for John W. Campbell Award recipients (and what the hell, nominees as well) from the last twenty years, the more reasonable side of my brain is telling me something else.

I routinely encounter people (some authors, some fans, some both!) who will misname the award given to recipients prior to 2020 by calling them Astounding Award recipients. That is false.

They are recipients of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. That is the name engraved on the award that they received. That was the name printed in the program when the award was presented and the name used by the presenter at the time. Should complete context be desired, people might refer to those authors as recipients of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (later re-named the Astounding Award). Conversely, the complete context from 2020 forward should refer to authors as recipients of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer (formerly named the John W. Campbell Award).

In any case, proclaiming recipients of the John W. Campbell Award to be something else is inaccurate and an attempt to erase a part of Campbell's productive history in creating and promoting the speculative fiction genre. What critics of the name change predicted is actually happening.

Tom Parsons would be proud.

[Updated to include the missing first paragraph plus a little light editing.]

They Blinded Me With Science!

Science is the process of developing a more accurate understanding of our world.  Observations generate theories to explain those observations.  The theories are tested/observed to find inaccuracies in the theories.  Those observations generate updated theories and the process rolls on until theories have been refined to the point where they accurately describe our world.

"Science" is a weapon; in turns a cudgel and a shield.  Something used to tell people to "shut up" and do as they are told by their betters.  In most cases, our "betters" are those that believe in "science" rather than science.

I frequently get into these discussions involving "science".  Rarely do such discussions involve much science.

As an example, many people got the vapors last summer as the delta variant of the Wuhan/Covid-19 virus became more prevalent.  This was at a time when people were more inclined to begin resuming a more normal lifestyle in the wake of the Trump Shots with summer in full swing.

The media was awash with stories about how there was a 300% growth in cases in just a few weeks. "300%" is a big, scary number.  But the reality is that cases across the United States were nearly at an all-time low.  We had a few hundred new cases every day instead of having thousands (if not tens of thousands) showing up every day.  While a 300% increase in near all-time low levels was certainly not pointed in the right direction, it also wasn't presaging an apocalypse.  

It was another marker in the process of a pandemic becoming endemic.  Without context, the alarmism about a 300% increase in cases was an example of semi-innumerate "science".

Another topic where I find myself arguing with the faithful believers in "science" is global warming.  There are a great many theories about global warming.  Some of them have science to back them up - at least partially. There is quite a bit of evidence that some of the theories need another few rounds of testing and revision before they will be useful for policymakers.

As an example, we are told that the number of hurricanes and the intensity of hurricanes will increase worse due to climate change.  One need only wait for the next hurricane story to receive that lecture.  Yet the long-term trend beginning early in the 20th century and continuing until today is for a slight decrease in the number of hurricanes and the severity of hurricanes in the Atlantic.  The last time I checked, typhoon frequency and strength showed a slightly increasing trend; certainly nothing to justify the hyperventilation being exhibited by the faithful.

There is a reasonable concern about warming on the peninsula of Antarctica.  There is a large volume of ice on the peninsula that could cause problems.  Studies have been published in the usually accepted journals indicating that Antarctica is currently in the midst of a decades-long cooling trend and it is accumulating snow and ice.  Will the faithful adjust their worldview in response to this scientific information?  Probably not.

The same journals also accepted an article written about the statistical methodology that has served as the basis for assigning the relative cause of global warming to either natural or human-induced causes.  Essentially, the model that was developed in the 1990s contains fundamental errors that render any results derived from it to be nearly useless.  Will the faithful pause to reassess their translation of that flawed information into policy?  It is unlikely at best.

Other studies have been published in the same journals indicating that project[ions]s of future environmental conditions underestimate the variability of various climatological factors.  They also underestimate the uncertainty that underlies the results from their models.

One would think that an accurate understanding of the scope of anthropogenic climate change relative to the change in climate due to natural cycles of the atmosphere and the heliosphere would be critical to crafting sound public policies.  The faithful seem to be incurious when it comes to relevant questions about the size and scope of climate change.

Switching back to the Wuhan/Covid-19 virus, I was a strong proponent of wearing masks.  Early in 2020, I made cotton/cloth masks at home that were donated to area nursing homes and other healthcare facilities.  There was even a study done by the University of Virginia that suggested that such masks could reduce virus transmission by 50-70%.

Earlier this year there was another study done that seemed to suggest that cotton masks were less effective at preventing transmission of the virus; closer to 20-40% effective.  Enough so that they are better than nothing, but not much better.

The difference in results may have something to do with the questions being asked.  If one is looking at droplet transmission rather than particulate transmission, then cloth masks certainly seem to be better at containing the droplets being emitted by a Covid patient with a cough.

In any case, I have upgraded to using N95 masks whenever I am in a situation that demands a mask.

The point I'm making is that those that espouse "science" demonstrate little interest in counterfactuals; those pesky bits of information that undermine their preferred public policies.

One can acknowledge that human activities have had some impact on the climate.  One can agree that the Wuhan/Covid-19 virus is dangerous and worthy of preventative steps.  One can agree that the various flavors of sexuality that exist between the poles of "male" and "female" are worthy of respect and dignity.

But questioning their "science" is not allowed.  Any deviation from their beliefs is cause for expulsion from their circle of faith; a heretic unworthy of forgiveness or redemption.  The disciples in this holy house demand only penance and Inquisition.

Interesting News - 9/13/2021 - 9/19/2021

So those of us with reasonable concerns about the integrity of our elections keep being told that our concerns are not reasonable.  The experiences of California voters are not very supportive of that perspective.

Ben Stein's YouTube channel has been suspended and they have declined to broadcast the most recent episode.  Why?  He and his guests discussed Covid-19 and the various vaccines.  They indicated that they had received the vaccines and would be getting the boosters once they are approved.  So why punish Ben?  Because they actually discussed the positives and negatives of the vaccines.  No deviation from the established narrative is allowed, apparently.