Apr 062016
 

Does the headline seem like it might be a bit hyperbolic? Consider:

HUD Seeks to End Housing Discrimination Against Ex-Offenders

In short… if you are planning on selling or renting, it is now up to you to prove your case that the criminal who wants the place shouldn’t be allowed in. A history of rape, murder of talking in theaters is no longer prima facia evidence that the prospective renter is someone you should not do business with.

What’s the reason for this? Because certain ethnic groups are over-represented in prison, they are over-represented in the “ex-offender” community, and are thus over-represented in the “hell no, I don’t want a rapist living in my building” community. And thus, the geniuses at the HUD have determined that refusal to rent to criminals is racist.

If this seems good and logical to you… well, there’s no accounting for crazy, I suppose.

 

As for the term “Ex Offender:” while I will grant that in many cases, a criminal conviction need not necessarily imply that the person is and always will be a criminal thuggish threat at heart… at what point is a “murderer” no longer a “murderer?” When is a “rapist” no longer a “rapist?”

 Posted by at 2:46 pm
Apr 042016
 

Promptly upon finishing the sci-fi story “Mass Disappearance,” I began work on followups starring the same characters. One such story fell by the wayside, but another continued on. “Going to Gimli” – which I acknowledge is a lame title – is the one that survived. Given that I released “Mass Disappearance” almost two years ago, it should be reasonably obvious that I’m not up to Steven King’s class when it comes to banging out prose in a hurry.

I’m going to release “Gimli” in bite-sized chunks in PDF and EPUB format. While I have no doubt that a good editor would take a chainsaw to this, perhaps cutting half of it out… well, since there’s essentially zero chance of it ever getting published, I’m happy just putting it out there as-is. I write these particular yarns because I want to. There are scenes, images, visions, whatever, that I see from time to time and, lacking the ability to paint or otherwise create visual works of art, enscribblating the visuals down in prose form is the best I can do.

“Gimli” features the same Sarah, Zane, Loff and George characters from “Mass Disappearance,” again flying between worlds in their hyperdrive cargo ship. The plot is otherwise quite unlike that of “Mass Disappearance.” There is no charge for these. But if you read them and like them, feel free to tell your friends… and putting a little something in the tip jar would not be unappreciated.

Any comments, critiques, criticisms, suggestions or praise are welcome in the comments section.

 

 

EPUB version

PDF version

 


Fiction Tip Jar



 Posted by at 8:17 pm
Apr 042016
 

Neato:

Discovery Could Rewrite History of Vikings in New World

In short: satellite imagery of the Point Rosee peninsula on Newfoundland indicated a possible archeological site; and when archeologists got there they found what appears to be a millenium-old Norse iron-working hearth, complete with slag.

In the 1960’s, a Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland was confirmed. But that was on the northeast of the sizable island; this new site is on the southwest. This indicates a more substantial colonization/exploration effort than was previously accepted.

The Norse sagas describe several of these efforts, and point out that the local “skraelings” drove them out via violence. Given the current political climate of hating on anyone who wants to deport illegal aliens, I think a case can be made that what happened a thousand years ago was a genocide against the Norse; I think those of us with Scandinavian heritage have a case for demanding reparations. I’m thinking a 50% share of the gross take from Indian casinos would be fair.

Amidoinitrite?

 Posted by at 11:38 am
Apr 022016
 

Not so fast, heretic!

Edinburgh University Student Threatened With Removal From Council Meeting After Violating Safe Space Policy

And what was this violation? She raised her hands.

Section 6c of the Student’s Association’s safe space policy says that council members should be respectful and considerate.

This is defined as: “Refraining from hand gestures which denote disagreement or in any other way indicating disagreement with a point or points being made. Disagreements should only be evident through the normal course of debate.”

This Sinner against the Safe Space only compounded her error when:

Wilson later shook her head whilst someone was speaking, and was threatened with another safe space complaint.

Boy are these losers in for a shock when they graduate and discover that the real world doesn’t care about not offending them.

 

 Posted by at 7:53 pm
Apr 012016
 

This image was passed along to me; it came from an ebay auction from some time in the past. No further info than this illustration, but it is clearly a Boeing “control configured vehicle” bomber concept.

!Bi+v4wQB2k~$(KGrHqEH-CsEs7rLkOZNBLRo+vL!bw~~_3

I know it’s a Boeing design because a year and a half ago I lost out on an ebay auction for another piece of concept art showing the same aircraft, this time with “Boeing” clearly visible on the engine nacelle:

2014-08-03 ebay 1

And I know it’s a Controlled Configured Vehicle because in the early 1970’s, Boeing studied a bomber that was very similar in configuration to this, known as the “CCV-100-2.” There are some obvious differences, such as the cockpit canopies and the engine inlets, but the overall configurations are very similar. The CCV-100-2 received a tiny bit of press in Aviation Week, and was granted a design patent for the overall shape. Sadly, I do not have anything on performance or dimensions; if anyone *does* know more about this, please let me know.

1972-10-16-24

USD231094_Page_2 USD231094_Page_1

 Posted by at 12:16 pm