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The Long View 2008-02-06: Ash Wednesday

Something I hadn’t remembered about John J. Reilly’s musings on politics was that he saw in the policies of the George W. Bush administration a failed attempt to move the Republican Party in a populist direction. Much of the received wisdom of political commentators in the intervening decade

Pelicans in Tim Powers' Dinner at Deviant's Palace

Aaron Irber asked me yesterday on Twitter whether Gregorio Rivas’ violin-like pelican in Dinner at Deviant’s Palace is a reference to the medieval representation of the Passion of Christ by means of a pelican feeding its young by piercing its own breast and allowing them to drink the blood,

Alan Dean Foster is in a Copyright Dispute with Disney

#DearMickey #DisneyMustPay According to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, author Alan Dean Foster is in a copyright dispute with Disney. Disney seems to be making the rather bold claim that they only purchased the rights to distribute the works in the Star Wars universe, not the liability

Linkfest 2020-11-20: Metahistorical Models

Peak Oil Never Went Away Peak Oil is something I’ve often had cause to discuss on With Both Hands. It is of the class of theories that John J. Reilly loved, metahistorical theories using simplified assumptions like Henry Adam’s energy predictions, Moore’s Law, Eroom’s Law, and

The Long View 2008-02-02: Better the Sultan's Turban than the Pope's Tiara

Much like Ogier the Dane, Last Emperor of the East Constantine XI Palailogos is considered a Man in the Mountain, destined to return in an hour of great need. There is also this fascinating comment by John J. Reilly, which correctly anticipated the turn from factional politics that reflect institutional

Janissaries: Storms of Victory by Jerry Pournelle and Roland Green Book Review

Janissaries: Storms of Victory [Amazon link] by Roland Green and Jerry Pournelle is the third volume in the Janissaries series. At least until this year, it was also the last. I think Jerry and Roland did a pretty good job wrapping things up in the original three, but clearly there

The Long View 2008-01-31: Protean Robotics; Deposit insurance & Health Insurance; The Resurrection of McCain

The Disney adaption of Big Hero 6 [Amazon link] did in fact feature protean microbots, but also did not use that term. There is a bit of meat here on John J. Reilly’s idea for turning American healthcare into a public utility. Not a right, but a public good.