Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 138
January 20, 2016
Scientists and mathematicians #1…
[A new feature just for my readers, wee bits of popular science nostalgia.]
John Archibald Wheeler (7/9/1911—4/13/2008) might have received only popular recognition for his students if he hadn’t coined the term “black hole” (Hawking popularly comes to mind first as the scientist most associated with black holes, of course). His most famous student was Feynman, but Misner and Thorne were two others (the doorstop-sized tome Gravitation by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler, is one classic on the subje...
January 19, 2016
Irish Stew #47…
[All politics today, along the lines of “Did we deserve all these bad presidential candidates?” I’m seriously depressed….]
Item. Daughter Chelsea shows her stripes. It’s not enough that Hillary trots out old Bill to try to sell her brand of snake oil, but she also employs their daughter Chelsea. Apparently the couple has coached her well in the art of dirty politics. Her spin on Bernie Sanders’s healthcare plan? She said he wants to destroy Obamacare. Even Hillary had to backtrack on that one...
January 18, 2016
Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr…
The Oscar nominee list and many other horrific and egregious examples show we still have a long ways to go to realize Dr. King’s dream, so let’s resolve to continue working for equal opportunity and fair play for all Americans. That’s the best thing we can do to celebrate his birthday!
January 15, 2016
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #112…
Item. New plug-in. Amazon has just announced the “Kindle Instant Preview Widget.” It’s a plug-in to your website to allow visitors to view your writing samples (book excerpts, short stories, and so forth). If you’re an author with a website, you might like it, but I don’t see much use for it. First, I publish free short stories and book excerpts on my blog, and the “peek inside” on each Amazon book page allows readers to peruse my writing. I’d rather send readers there with links to the Amazo...
January 14, 2016
Watch out for the Clintons…
Readers of this blog know me as a progressive, so I usually lean toward Dems. Unlike some, though, I cherry pick ideas because reasoned conservatism has a place in American society (Tea Party candidates and Donald Trump are excluded from any discussion about reasoned conservatism, of course). Moreover, I can’t stand any politician who has the arrogance to think that her/his electability is her/his right. Readers of the blog also know I find political dynasties despicable. With Jeb! out of the...
January 13, 2016
An iconoclast examines fiction writing–lesson two of five…
[Many readers of this blog are familiar with my unconventional and acerbic opinions about the writing business—see the posts archived in the “Writing” category of this blog. I recently saw something about SkillShare, so I thought maybe it was time to distill some of those ideas into a short course on fiction writing for would-be authors. You’re in luck. A perusal of that site’s offerings about writing didn’t impress me at all. So, here’s my short and unconventional course—and it’s free!
Actua...
January 12, 2016
Dodge City v. a brighter future…
The nation is divided on gun control. The conservative point of view? NRA wants zero gun control and dictates the knuckle-headed GOP platform on the issue. Never mind that this specifically contradicts their pro-life stance on abortion. I guess the idea is that we need to bring more babies into this world so they can be killed by guns? The progressive point of view and that of most Dems? All military-style and large-magazine weapons should be banned and all other weapons should be licensed. T...
January 7, 2016
An iconoclast examines fiction writing-lesson one of five…
[Many readers of this blog are familiar with my unconventional and acerbic opinions about the writing business—see the posts archived in the “Writing” category of this blog. I recently saw something about SkillShare, so I thought maybe it was time to distill some of those ideas into a short course on fiction writing for would-be authors. You’re in luck. A perusal of that site’s offerings about writing didn’t impress me at all. So, here’s my short and unconventional course—and it’s free!
Actua...
January 6, 2016
Mini-Reviews #17…
[Authors, please don’t query. These are generally reviews for books that I buy for R&R—if I like them, I’ll review them here…maybe. If you want your book reviewed, query Bookpleasures.com—that site has many reviewers, including me.]
Magic Mirror (Georgia Lee Maxwell #1). Michaela Thompson, author (booksBnimble, 2013). This ebook proves a point that’s often made: when you discover an old book it can be a refreshing new read for the discoverer. Ms. Thompson originally published the paper versio...
January 5, 2016
Do we need another medieval regime?
The media, including myself, have pointed out many times that ISIS is a retrograde and evil regime that’s a throw-back to the Middle Ages. They want to return to a caliphate AKA fascist theocracy that allows no competition from other religions (or even other Muslim sects) and destroys all rights. But we already have examples of such medieval regimes that are doomed for failure. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia, one Shi’ite and the other Sunni, are examples. Israel is fast becoming one.
Saudi Arabia...
