Monthly Archives: August 2022

Quick Infrastructure Note

Posted on Saturday 20 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

No substantial post today; the afternoon got away from me, then we had a birthday dinner in Alameda for Y. However I did spend part of the day reformatting and updating the Short fiction reviews page, and will continue with … Continue reading →

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Conservatives Against Change, Even as the Planet Burns

Posted on Friday 19 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT, Paul Krugman, 15 Aug 2022: Why Republicans Turned Against the Environment In 1990 Congress passed an amendment to the Clean Air Act of 1970, among other things taking action against acid rain, urban smog and ozone. The legislation was … Continue reading →

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Governance v. Scripture

Posted on Thursday 18 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

John Scalzi is a popular science fiction writer (though alas one of those writers who remains most famous for their first book, in his case Old Man’s War from 2005, though I’m sure he, and critics, would say he’s written … Continue reading →

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Those Who Would Return Us to the Dark Ages

Posted on Wednesday 17 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

The theme of my post two days ago — about the similarity, albeit to differing degrees, between the attack on Salman Rushdie, and the attacks on education and democracy by today’s political right in the US — is the theme … Continue reading →

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Sfadb.com on Wikipedia

Posted on Tuesday 16 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve been pondering (by request) the future of Locus (magazine and website) in recent weeks, as well as my sfadb.com site. And in browsing around the web for research today, checking Wikipedia’s entry on Locus Magazine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locus_(magazine)) I saw references … Continue reading →

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Matters of Degree

Posted on Monday 15 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Between the attack on Salman Rushdie, and book banners in the US. Both motivated by religion and ideology to suppress the thoughts of others.

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Joe Haldeman’s “The Hemingway Hoax” + 3

Posted on Sunday 14 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

“The Hemingway Hoax,” by Joe Haldeman, first published in April 1990, is the third story in the big Gardner Dozois anthology being perused by the Facebook reading group I’m following. (See previous Sundays’ posts.)

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Non-representative Legislatures

Posted on Saturday 13 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Ten days ago in this post, in the aftermath of the Kansas vote supporting protections for abortion, I wondered this: So what are the justifications of Republican politicians who keep passing or trying to pass restrictions on abortion, when the … Continue reading →

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Today’s Headlines and Backlogged Links

Posted on Friday 12 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

The Atlantic, Tom McTague, 12 Aug 2022: What America’s Great Unwinding Would Mean for the World, subtitled, “The conundrum facing America’s allies is how to cope with a great imperial power in decline that is still a great imperial power.” … Continue reading →

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Two Essays About Current Events: by Connie Willis and Heather Cox Richardson

Posted on Thursday 11 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Connie Willis is one of the most beloved science fiction writers of the past 40 years. As a writer she’s won many awards, for works often humorous but at times tragic, at times building human stories based on the weirdness … Continue reading →

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