Private Mars Rocket II

Stupid is as stupid does, part whatever

2026-04-21T15:19:12Z

It's very easy to lie to people who want to be lied to. Case in point - This Scammer Used an AI-Generated MAGA Girl to Grift ‘Super Dumb’ Men. A med student says he’s made thousands of dollars selling photos and videos of a young conservative woman he created using generative tools. He’s not alone.

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Review of The Night Prophet

2026-04-20T20:15:25Z

The Night Prophet by Joanne E. Zienty

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I purchased my copy of this book from the author at a book fair. I've read the previous book in the series so I was very interested in seeing where she took the story next.

The book opens with Angel and her toddler, Lark, on the run in a future version of rural Wisconsin. Angel is approached by a stranger offering that which she does not want, namely to expand on her act of rebellion against the Galt Corporation. She's eventually persuaded, and well, things get interesting.

Zienty's prose is dense, but maybe I'm getting used to it because this was a quicker read. Overall, a very strong second entry in the series.

View all my reviews

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Review of Sunshine Man

2026-04-14T16:07:39Z

The Sunshine Man by Emma Stonex

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm pretty sure I found this book because Goodreads suggested I sign up for a giveaway. I didn't get a free book so I bought it and finally got around to reading it.

It's a tense book with a great opening line: "The week I shot a man clean through the head began like any other." Most of the action is set in January 1989, but we get lengthy flashbacks to fill us in. The book is very British and I had to Google several bits of British slang, but overall I really enjoyed it.

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Frankenstein in Iran

2026-04-11T16:20:21Z

Much like ole' Doc Frankenstein, we've created a monster: A long read - the short version is that we (the US) repeatedly stuck our nose into Iran's domestic affairs, thus creating the monster we now face.

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TACO Tuesday, Iran Edition

2026-04-08T13:36:49Z

Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad Trump TACO-ed out in Iran. This is, however, a clear defeat for the US - a defeat that is ENTIRELY on Trump. The US lost 13 soldiers killed, an unreported number of wounded, a dozen or so planes destroyed, and various (expensive) bits and bobs of military infrastructure blown to bits.

Iran, on the other hand, gets to keep it's uranium and enrich same, PLUS is allowed to levee tolls on ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. As a reminder, before the war, passage through the strait was free. Oh, and the current regime stays in power. Clearly, just blowing shit up does not mean you win a war.

The reason we lost is because Trump and his dipshit "Secretary of War" failed to plan. Iran closing the strait was always their go-to card in the event of war. We did not have assets in place to effectively contest that closure and so, pants around our ankles, we got spanked. (See also this: On the Military Failures of Fascism.)

Part of this failure is due to the decision to park the USS Ford carrier battle group in the Caribbean. Simply put, anything we wanted to do in that region, including remove Maduro, could have been done without the Ford's help. Now we've got a battlegroup in desperate need of a refit and a whole bunch of sailors who are going to exit the Navy as soon as possible. Good job Trump! /sarcasm

* TACO = Trump Always Chickens Out

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Review of Bixby Bluebottle & The Wizards' Bane

2026-04-02T17:59:20Z

Here's a quick review of Bixby Bluebottle & The Wizards' Bane:

Full disclosure: I am a member of the author's writing group and read this in draft. Having said that, I found this a delightful book. It's YA and aimed at the age group 10 to 16, but kids at heart can enjoy it too!

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Star Trek Thoughts - Part 8

2026-03-27T20:36:44Z

I am continuing my ongoing (semi-) rewatch of Star Trek: The Original Series. This post will cover season 2, episodes 18 to 21.

Overall, I found this batch decidedly mediocre. "Immunity Syndrome" was a semi-remake of "The Doomsday Machine" which aired earlier that season. "A Private Little War" was okay, but again very derivative of "Friday's Child" in the same season. I found "Return to Tomorrow" questionable - Kirk's decision to let aliens take over his body just did not work for me.

I don't remember ever seeing any of these episodes before - I think they tended to drift off of the rerun schedule. The only episode I remember, "Patterns of Force" (Starfleet interference recreates Nazi Germany) did not age well. The plot itself seemed original but full of holes that Adult Me saw and Kid Me didn't. Kirk as womanizer is getting established here - in two of the four episodes, Kirk gets handsy with a Hot Chick (and the romantic music plays).

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On To Mars, Part Whatever

2026-03-26T20:08:54Z

I'm not obsessed about Mars - I can stop thinking about it at any time. I just don't want to. (umm) An interesting article on a potential problem - low level radiation. (Posted here so I can find it later.)

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Two Links on War

2026-03-25T20:55:57Z

Two links on war, posted here so I can find them later.

1) why the war on Iran is a disaster for both the US and Israel. It's a long read but worth it.

2) On the Military Failures of Fascism. A post which points out that, for various internal reasons, fascist regimes are bad at winning wars.

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Stuck on Stupid, Friday Edition

2026-03-20T17:58:26Z

MAGA remains stuck on stupid. Herewith, two examples.

1) Greenland:

Comes news today that Denmark sent troops to Greenland in January with orders to (among other things) blow up runways to prevent an American invasion. The idiots in MAGA (but I repeat myself) said "Denmark is telling us they don’t understand how aircraft carriers work." My reply. "it’s extremely obvious who’s operated (or tried to operate) ships in the North Atlantic in January and who has not.

I was part of a carrier battlegroup operating off of the coast of Maine in January. During a 5-day exercise, the carrier was only able to launch and recover planes twice due to weather. Both times, the cruiser escorts were not able to keep station due to weather. (Carrier would turn into the wind, slow to 5 knots, and the cruisers had to break off.) The carrier spent a full day just de-icing the deck after sitting out the storm.

The coast of Greenland in January is ice-bound. No way for amphibs to make a landing and again due to weather flight ops are challenging."

2) ICE Concentration Warehouses:

ICE was in the news recently trying to buy warehouses to use as concentration camps for illegal immigrants. A lot of local (conservative, Republican) governments are pushing back. The reason? A warehouse may have physical room for a thousand or so prisoners, but the water and sewer supply were sized to support the bathroom breaks of a dozen or so workers. There's simply not enough water in or sewer out to support the daily living needs of a large population.

We are being ruled by stupid people.

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A follow-up

2026-03-18T02:37:12Z

A quick follow-up to my previous post: The State of Israel, the current government of that state, and the Jewish people are separate things. One can (and I do) have separate opinions on each.

The current government of Israel: The current government of Israel is led by Bibi Netanyahu. He is a corrupt man who thinks chaos which only he can "control" will ensure he stays in power and will not be imprisoned for corruption. The only time his policies are good for anybody other than him is by accident.

The State of Israel: I am in favor of the existence of the State of Israel and do not think it should have to be constantly under attack or threat thereof by its neighbors. I also think that the long-standing policies it follows in the Occupied Territories (at best) create more problems than they solve and (at worst) are actively self-destructive. However, the citizens of Israel must sort this out for themselves. All I can do is give (free) advice.

The Jewish people: I wish the Jewish people only the best, and recognize that they have been persecuted for a long time and are owed much by the world as a result.

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Object Permanence, the development of it, or, slow learners

2026-03-17T21:05:24Z

Object permanence is the understanding that whether an object can be sensed has no effect on whether it continues to exist. In humans, at least, it's something we have to learn - we're not born with it.

Evidence that MAGA has not yet developed object permanence:

1) Whatever happened to that hospital ship Trump was going to send to Greenland? (Answer: One's in drydock and the other's on the way to a drydock on the US west coast.)

2) Epstein files anybody?

3) Didn't we like totally destroy Iran's military twice now? If so, why do we need NATO to help open the Straits of Hormuz?

4) Regarding item #3, wasn't Trump telling everybody how weak and useless NATO was just a month ago?

Evidence that MAGA (or individual MAGA-tians) MAY yet develop object permanence:

1) Joe Kent, the former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He's no prize, but he's a Trump appointee who resigned because he (correctly) noted that the current war with Iran was at the behest of and for the benefit of Israel, not the US.

2) Marjorie Taylor Green - again no prize, but she resigned after correctly noting that Trump did not give a damn about Epstein and was letting Israel run US foreign policy to their benefit, not ours.

There's a clip making the rounds in which Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones) says, "I'm a slow learner, it's true. But I learn." Hopefully, MAGA can take a note from Sansa Stark.

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Book Marketing Scams, Part Whatever

2026-03-10T16:22:13Z

I got an interesting call yesterday from a book "marketer." So normally I don't answer spam calls, but I was distracted so when the phone rang I answered it.

The caller on the other end, clearly not a native speaker of English (I think he was Filipino) asked if I was the author of Strawberry Gold. Well, yes I was, and I said I don't want to change marketing firms.

He then launched into a pitch about how his firm could help self-published authors "get the results they desire" and, apparently looking at Google, said that "I see World Castle LLC helped you with the book. How much did you pay them?"

Well, said I, I didn't pay them anything. They paid me. This baffled the guy. After I restated that fact, he quietly hung up. I guess I got a trainee at the digital sweatshop.

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Exhausting

2026-03-09T20:57:00Z

I find Trump to be exhausting. The constant twists and turns of "policy" drive me nuts. Example:

1) Go to war with Iran, apparently because Israel thinks it's a good idea.
2) Iran starts blowing our shit up because that's what you do when you're at war.
3) Oil prices spike because some of that shit what's blowing up is oil or the infrastructure needed to move it.
4) Trump says "we'll protect oil" (from the threat we created).
5) Oil money-people call bullshit, largely because they know how hard it would be to provide said protection.
6) Gas prices go up.
7) Now Trump is hinting that he'll just declare victory and go home. I guess that's easy if you have no idea why you went to war in the first damn place.

The problem is that Iran is now being led by the son of the guy we killed. Oh, we also killed his wife and a son. So now your gas prices depend on his charity.

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Star Trek Thoughts - Part 7

2026-03-06T19:07:17Z

I am continuing my ongoing (semi-) rewatch of Star Trek: The Original Series. This post will cover season 2, episodes 10 to 17.

The Good: This batch of episodes has "The Trouble With Tribbles" in it, which is in the Top 10 for the series. The only weird thing to me was the bit with Kirk trying to get Scotty to take shore leave. Since this aired originally after "Wolf in the Fold" (AKA "Jack the Ripper in Spaaace!!!") I'm surprised they didn't just let Scotty cool his heels on the ship. I also enjoyed "A Piece of the Action" largely because it let Shatner overact to his heart's content.

Of Note: This season seems to be where we build the foundation of "Kirk as womanizer." It seems like in every episode he's either hitting on some Space Chick or dealing with an ex-girlfriend. Also of note - the "noble savages" of "Friday's Child" doesn't age well.

The Bad: The aforementioned "Wolf in the Fold." I think any time Star Trek tries to do a themed episode it goes wrong. Honorable (?) mention goes to "The Gamesters of Triskelion." It feels like a "we need to get Kirk's shirt off" and why would Kirk think the Providers would honor their bet?

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Torpedo in the water, or tank destroyer at sea

2026-03-04T21:31:33Z

Here's a quick thought on the sinking of the Iranian frigate Dena as it relates to the US Navy's frigate program. One of the drivers of the latest plan to Get More Ships Yesterday is the FF(X), which is basically a modestly-up-gunned Coast Guard cutter. The theory is that these ships can go operate in "low threat" environments, freeing up more-capable ships to operate in "high threat" environments.

Well, from the perspective of what's left of the Iranian Navy, IRIS Dena was operating in a very low-threat environment, namely the east coast of India, returning from an exercise hosted by India. I'll leave others to argue about the legality of the US attack (I could argue either way) but clearly, "low threat" environments can quickly become "high threat." Or, if you paint it gray, somebody may just take a shot at it.

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Review of Chester's Moonscape

2026-03-03T21:43:04Z

Chester's Moonscape by Eric T Reynolds

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The novel is set in the late 1940s and frankly it feels like it was written in that same era. Chester Brache, a painter, is asked to paint some extremely realistic space landscapes. The novel is effectively a mystery, which makes a plot summary difficult. The pace is a bit leisurely, and the stakes (appear to be) low, which in a conventional mystery would put it as "cozy."

There are a number of interesting historical tidbits in the book. For example, Chester takes a flight from Washington DC to Los Angeles on a new and high-tech Lockheed Constellation. It's 18 hours with three refueling stops. There's also several scenes set at early science fiction conventions.

Overall, I found the book interesting if a bit too nostalgic for my tastes.

Note: I was provided an electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews

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Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran - Take Whatever

2026-03-02T14:05:39Z

On the occasion of yet another episode of "let's bomb Iran" I have thoughts.

* Iran is a bad actor (to say the least) and a general problem for the world.

* The late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a wart on the ass of progress and will not be missed.

* This war is illegal. Back in the day, kings used to start wars for their own gain and then demand that their people support said wars.

* We have no apparent plan for how to end it.

* I have no confidence in the current leadership to not fuck things up.

* I hope that casualties, especially on our side, are light.

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WTAF??? (Lasers and drones edition)

2026-02-27T16:39:47Z

Look, I'm a Certified* Science Fiction Geek, so I do like me some lasers. But comes news today that the DOD was out playing with their laser again and this time they shot down a Border Patrol drone!

What The Actual Fuck? One would think that the previous incident, the Attack of the Party Balloons, would lead to people thinking maybe we look twice and shoot once. Apparently thinking is in short supply at the moment.

So in looking through my blog, I see I've spoken in the past of the need to visually identify targets. Much like "on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog," on radar, all flying objects look the same.

*Or certifiable, you pick.

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On Cranks

2026-02-24T17:37:05Z

Shared here and elsewhere so I can find it later - the making of cranks. Money quote:

1) Cranks tend to be isolated from the scientific community.
2) Cranks tend to be paranoids with delusions of grandeur.
3) Cranks almost never settle for a single eccentric belief.

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Friday Thoughts, or Tired

2026-02-20T16:24:54Z

We had a February thaw here in Chicago - mid-sixties on Wednesday. The thaw is over - we just had a (brief) snow flurry. It's been a busy week for me with two days of off-site and in-person meetings so not much posting. I do have one thought, below.

Comes news that the Chicago Bears say that their "main focus" is on a new stadium in Hammond Indiana. The Bears are upset that Illinois is not bending over backwards with cash incentives for them to stay here. I've been put in mind of a somewhat sexist statement, "for every beautiful woman there's somebody who's tired of her shit." I think a lot of us in Illinois are tired of every pro sports team coming to the taxpayers looking for a handout.

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Star Trek Thoughts - Part 6

2026-02-17T15:57:39Z

I am continuing my ongoing (semi-) rewatch of Star Trek: The Original Series. This post will cover season 2, episodes 6 to 9.

Technical: I think the remastered version uses the same shuttle bay footage that the CGI-ed for "Galileo Seven" in season 1.

Story: This batch is wildly uneven! Episode 6, "The Doomsday Machine" is truly a masterpiece and holds up well today. Then the following episode, "Catspaw" which aired a mere 7 days later is truly shitty. (They tried to make a Halloween-themed Star Trek which originally aired on October 27. They failed.)

The next two episodes, "I, Mudd" and "Metamorphosis" are both breathtakingly sexist to a modern viewer. As a story, "I, Mudd" works, largely because Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd is written as a sexist scoundrel, even by the standards of the time. "Metamorphosis" kind of doesn't. For those not remembering, this is the episode where we meet Zefram Cochrane. It's also where the sole female character, Assistant Commissioner Nancy Hedford, goes gaga over ole' Zef and his alien flying jellyfish.

Fandom frequently mourns the early cancellation of The Original Series. I think we forget sometimes how uneven the various episodes were.

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Star Trek Thoughts - Part 5

2026-02-12T15:09:42Z

I am continuing my ongoing (semi-) rewatch of Star Trek: The Original Series. I've started on Season 2 and this post will cover stories from episode 1 ("Amok Time") to episode 5 ("The Apple").

Technical: Thanks to the improved video of the remastered edition, it remains obvious every time they swap out a stunt double for a lead actor in a fight scene. Also, any time an alien world is a soundstage it looks, well, sound-stagey. I'll list it here under technical: in the interests of getting more commercials in, the short scene where Mirror Kirk is tossed in the brig is cut out of the re-runs.

Story: Kind of a mixed bag. "Amok Time" is when Spock has to go to Vulcan to get his freak on. The more recent series "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" has made a hash of this episode. In the newer series, Chapel has *met* T'Pring (and presumably bumped ugly with Spock) where as in this episode all of Vulcan is strange and new. Even taking the episode at face value it's just okay. We also get the first Mirror Universe story which is good.

Then we get episode 5, "The Apple" which is the first appearance of space hippies. (Enough said.) However, this is an episode where we see some reversion away from the redshirt phenomenon - Kirk is visibly upset at the deaths of his crewmembers and concerned about loosing everybody on the ship. Additionally, the pattern of the three main characters cracking wise at the end of the episode is getting pretty firmly established.

Finally, I've found it interesting to look at the Wikipedia entries of the episodes. Every episode seems to have a new female character. Reading their Wikipedia biographies highlights the sexist nature of Hollywood at the time. Basically, almost all have ended their acting careers by the end of the 70s and gone onto other work.

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Ready, Fire, Aim

2026-02-11T18:52:34Z

Apologies for the long radio silence at Casa Gerrib Norte. I was heavily involved in running Capricon and then other Life happened. But relax - your silent suffering is at an end.

Comes news today that the FAA shut down the airspace over El Paso, Texas for 10 days on very short notice. Then, after a widespread round of WTF, they re-opened it. Well, the problem resulted from a spat between the FAA and DOD over using high-powered lasers to shoot down drug cartel drones. Apparently the DOD has been using these at Fort Bliss over FAA objections. Also at least one use of the laser was to shoot down errant party balloons. I have thoughts.

1) Dealing with low-and-slow drones over any urban area is tough. There's a lot of stuff flying around.

2) Especially in peacetime, you really should know what you're shooting at before firing.

3) The drone problem will require multiple solutions, to include sending up your own drones to eyeball a target before hitting it with your Mega Death Ray.

4) The (lack of) planning this incident exhibited is reason #3741 why you need competent people in government. Alas, in the current Administration, competency is actively discouraged.

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On "Heroes" and "The Narrative"

2026-01-30T20:20:27Z

Comes news that Alex Pretti, the person most recently murdered by ICE in Minneapolis, got in an altercation with ICE a week prior to his death. Said altercation (at least the video portion of it) seems to have started when Pretti kicked an ICE rental car and broke a tail light. I've seen on the ICE-apologizer sites claims that this "ruins the narrative."

Here's the thing - Pretti doesn't have to be a saint for me to be mad at his murder. Nothing he did at either of the incidents with ICE justifies him being killed. The tail light incident was at most a misdemeanor property damage* and the second event started with him standing on the sidewalk when ICE pushed another woman down.

This "no sainthood required" concept goes back with me at least to George Floyd. I am under no illusion that Floyd was a nice guy and I probably wouldn't have invited him to dinner. There's a few thousand miles between "not a nice guy" and "deserved to die in the street."

I also don't particularly want to hear about people (who seem to all be suspiciously white, blond and female) who were killed by illegal immigrants. Their killers were caught and punished. More importantly, my tax dollars were not being used to pay their killer's salaries. We give police guns and uniforms for a reason - we expect more from them than of J. Random Dude.

This whole mess started because Trump decided to punish Minneapolis for the crime of not voting for him. That's "the narrative" of this story.

ETA: a report from somebody who knew Pretti.

*The fact that ICE was able to subdue Pretti at the first event actually proves that they *can* subdue armed men if they want to.

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