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I am currently reading Forever Peace, by Joe Haldeman. It is science-fiction, centered on an interface technology, surgically installed in the brain, that enables users to communicate mentally with machines and with each other. An effect of this technology is that users who “jack in” together are able to know each other fully. There are […]
I debate with myself about whether “progress” is a real phenomenon or an illusion. As much as our culture may seem to progress, it is at least partly nailed down by human nature, which is genetic and does not change, except at the much slower pace of evolution. The competing forces of cultural progress and […]
When Russia invaded Ukraine, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Russia would have its way. A Goliath pushing around a little nation. However, Ukraine’s resistance has been surprisingly effective, and Russia is revealing the limits of its power. Russia rebounded after the cold war, and it again considered a “super power” in the world. Russia […]
My understanding of Taiwan has been fairly simple. My understanding was that, during China’s communist revolution, those fighting against communism were pushed back so far that they retreated to the island of Taiwan, and they have been at stalemate ever since. China claims Taiwan as part of their territory, and they coerce other nations not […]
I have been 50 years old for a while now, and it has been a turning point for me regarding the way I think about life. Most importantly, I have been thinking about things and prioritizing things on the basis of how much of my life remains. I don’t know how long I will live, […]
If I ever put out a successful piece of fiction that includes a strong female character or highlights the oppression of women, I sure hope that the world doesn’t place me on a pedestal and then tear me down when they discover I haven’t lived a perfect life.
I’ve been using reddit for some years. For a while, I was convinced that reddit’s system of karma was a good thing. It discourages and prevents a lot of crap. I wished that YouTube or even Facebook would adopt such a system, because there’s a lot of useless and harmful junk there. However, I have […]
I’ve been experimenting with grow lights. I have been growing peppers for several years, and each year is an improvement over the way I had done things previously. This year, I decided to start the pepper species that are not capsicum annuum very early, since they seem to need a longer growing season. Then, almost […]
I have finally made sense of this contradiction — and it’s all thanks to the Taliban. I was at a burlesque show, one of many shows I have attended. Also attending were a couple, mutual friends of mine and a few of the performers. It came up that this was the first burlesque show they […]
Here’s a glimpse into just how cynical I am. Among the new COVID-19* cases coming in, most of which are of the Delta variant, only a small portion involve vaccinated individuals. Additionally, the cases among vaccinated individuals are mostly proving to be mild and not life-threatening. Thus, the COVID-19 deaths we are seeing are somewhere […]