Today's Off-Year Election Raises Concerns

Today, the first Tuesday in November, 2025, is a traditional election day in an off-year sense.  It's not a presidential election year and US Senate and state governor races are held in even-numbered years, not this one.  Yet in many localities, mine included, there was at least one measure on the ballot left to the voters to decide.  The results of the question of returning Gainesville's local utility, GRU, to management by its elected commission, will be revealed in a little while.  Meanwhile, there is the election of New York City's mayor to consider.  Andrew Cuomo, who I think should really be president right now, is struggling to catch up with upstart left wing radical Muslim sympathizer Zohran Mamdani, darling of the current opinion polls.  Mamdani, smug and arrogant, always seems to be wearing one of those smiles that never reaches his eyes: his viciousness creeps me out.  Even Trump, in my opinion the worst failure of a president I have experienced, was right when he endorsed Cuomo over Mamdani. But I expect the latter to be voted in to office as the results pour in.  In any event, I have little faith in my own governor in reaction to the Gainesville referendum: government in America is broken and DeSantis will stonewall the results with his own brand of arrogance.  Now for me it's on to life and living it...I'm off the clock with the elections...

Early Voting on GRU Control Today

Today represented the final day in Florida for early voting before this coming Tuesday's election day.  The only matter up for a vote on my part is the question of whether the locally elected Gainesville city government can regain operational and financial control of Gainesville Regional Utilities.  In his shameless plot to defame opposition Democratic Party officeholders as being irresponsible and corrupt, our dictator/governor Ron DeSantis removed GRU from local control and gave it to a purely Republican hand-picked committee.  When they tried putting this measure on the ballot, he sued to stop the vote (and lost)...DeSantis is a dyed-in-the-wool anti-democratic demogogue who should have been thrown out of office for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21...I believe many in Florida died of this pandemic because of his incompetence.  He doesn't want you or me voting, and I predict that this question, which I predict will easily pass, will garner his focus as he will do whatever he can to sabotage it.  This dude does not represent me or my interests in any way, shape or form.  Melissa drove us to our public library branch building for the early voting, which went off very smoothly with all the workers demonstrating competence and politeness toward us.  If the Republicans hadn't been so deadset against people getting to vote on something, this might have been a reasonable issue to discuss on its merits.  Well, I got up early this morning and exercised a bit.  Now I'm tired and still have a lap around the block to walk.  Still, I'm glad I voted, for what it was worth...

Skipping Today's Parkrun 5K

Last night my sleep was fitful, with my FitBit watch registering the experience at a "poor" 53.  Had Melissa and I arisen at the same general, normally-early time and concurred on attending this morning's Depot Parkrun 5K...just a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville...we'd have suited up and walked the event's four laps, getting our barcodes scanned and finishing (walking) times posted online...to view them click HERE.  To be sure, I was already outspokenly confident that I could easily cover the 3.1 miles...it was just a matter of "how fast".  Well, we skipped it and enjoyed breakfast together at home.  Later I checked the posted results, noting how similar they were to previous trends even with today's much cooler temperatures in the forties.  We just came back from our neighborhood walk: 2 laps totaling 1.4 miles in 26:23 (not that I was racing).  Earlier today a registered nurse doing physical therapy visited our home and we sorted out the facts of my ongoing condition.  Hopefully, by early Saturday morning on the 8th, Melissa and I will be ready to resume our weekly Parkrun adventures.  In the meantime, I'm stuck with overhyped college football games on TV: I don't care who wins or loses, but I'm sick and tired of the loud, overemotional hype and stupid commercials presented in hip-hop.  This evening, baseball's World Series finishes with the deciding Game Seven between the LA Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.  I have nothing at stake with the outcome, so whatever. Later on this coming week, my scalp's staples should be removed, allowing for a tighter sealing of my skin on my head.  My appetite's good, digestion seems to be working, and I'm very happy to NOT be expected anytime soon at work. I would just like to enter a phase in my life in which I can establish some regular routines without "special events" imposing themselves on me and interrupting my initiative and actions. Oh, one other thing.  The Democrats in my Gainesville area installed a ballot initiative for voters to decide on whether the local public utility should be locally-run instead of by the dictator-DeSantis-controlled state government.  The fascists sued to keep it off the ballot (they don't want my vote to count for anything), but this Tuesday we can go down and vote on the measure, for all the good that will do if it passes.  When I walk into the voting room, I expect to be thoroughly scrutinized and harassed by hostile, partisan poll workers...

Country Deserves Incoming CCC-in-Chief

The incoming CCC-in Chief (Convict, Conman, Clown) is up to his old tricks, deliberately saying anything he can to steal the media spotlight from other people and events, in this case the solemn observance honoring former president Jimmy Carter, who recently passed away at the age of 100.  CCC is working mass and social media up into a frenzy, making hints of annexing Greenland, the Panama Canal...even Canada,,,along with renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America".  The latter gesture, I'm guessing, was aimed at the hard-core voters who supported him from the start and thought twenty years ago that the old "change" from French fries to "Freedom" fries was a good idea.  When I went to school many decades ago, we had a bus stop bully who practiced the same kind of manipulation, threatening and deriding others he felt he could intimidate and always talking loudly about random subjects with outrageous statements abounding...just to keep attention on himself.  Now this dude, at an advanced age, is plaguing my high school reunion website...probably the same old narcissist he always was...sound familiar?  So, returning to our current collective problem, my country knew all about CCC yet elected him, even giving the degenerate a popular vote victory.  So this coming presidential term is on America, a country that has abandoned its sense of reason and decency in favor of self-brainwashing and fascism.  If you want to frequent Facebook (which has just abandoned its fact-checking policy after pressure from you-know-who) or those obnoxious cable news and opinion channels to get your news input, be my guest...all we're going to get in the next four years is more of the same constant, deliberately outrageous crap.  And my country deserves it for what they did on Election Day.  Enjoy...

Book Sale, Early Voting Yesterday

After our charity fundraiser walk at Celebration Pointe for the fight against breast cancer, Melissa and I decided to attend the opening day in Gainesville's twice-a-year Friends of the Library used book and media sale, on the 400 block of North Main Street.  Arriving only a couple of hours after its opening, we were taken a little aback at the still-long lines of people waiting to enter the sale's warehouse site...but we persevered and made it inside.  The sale was as it usually was...some things change little over the years.  What was different is that I didn't buy anything, although Melissa did pick up three 50-cent paperbacks.  The browsing was fun, though, and I'm glad we went.  After parking a few blocks away from the sale, we had walked through the half-empty parking lot of the county elections office, where they were holding early voting for the general election.  One thing led to another and before you knew it, the two of us were in there, casting our votes.  Whew, glad that's over, now I can just forget about all that political crap, right? Wrong, sigh...this country's hopelessly hooked on it, and my workplace by its very nature throws it in my face whether I like it or not.  I do care who wins, along with the referendum questions.  But beyond my vote, which represents just a drop in the ocean of the final results, I resolve to be at peace with it all and deal with the things in my life I actually have some modicum of control over.  But all in all, I'm glad we voted...

Local Library Now a Crowded Early Voting Site

This morning Melissa and I were driving down NW 43rd Street here in Gainesville when we passed our nearest public library, the Millhopper Branch.  I had wondered when they would begin to pepper the surrounding landscape with campaign signs, for this place is a designated early voting site.  Sure enough, with today marking the beginning of early voting in the 2024 general election, there they all were, along with accompanying campaign volunteers waving at us and the other passing vehicles.  The parking lot for the library was packed with what I assumed were voters, cars circling within it looking fruitlessly for empty spots.  I'm not sure what the deal with these folks was other than maybe it's like the opening day of the local Friends of the Library book sale when lines stretching a city block attend this (also) multi-day event's opening moments.  Friends, there's going to be plenty of time to get your votes in...for what it's going to be worth...in the next few days.  Or, if you're like me, you'll just wait until Tuesday, November 5th, and visit your local precinct...for what that's worth.  For me, no way am I suggesting how you should vote, but sure, I've left a few of my own opinions in past articles.  In the final analysis, one thing is certain: power seekers will win their power, and dress it all up as public service...

Pretty Much Ignored the Political Conventions in 2024

Have you been following the political conventions this year? The Democratic version is just finishing up and, as with the Republicans a few weeks before, I thoroughly ignored it other than happenstance momentarily hitting up on a station covering it while surfing the radio or TV.  When I did run across the convention, inevitably someone would be up there giving an insanely giddy and emotional speech, doubtless (accurately) assessing the susceptibility of the general population to manipulation.  Cynics like the late comedian George Carlin have expressed the futility of even voting, period.  I'm not at that point...I still vote...but beyond giving upcoming elections a brief-but-reasonable piece of my attention, I just let it go and let the fools freak out on Facebook, Fox and the other propaganda outlets.  And, as I am more and more getting accustomed to say, believe whatever you want to believe...

Went to Vote in Primary Election This Morning

This morning Melissa and I went down to our local precinct's polling place...at the Senior Recreation Center across the street from Wal-Mart in far northern Gainesville..and cast our August 20 Primary ballot.  There were five races on the sheet for us: US Senate, US House (District 3), two school board seats and a city commission spot.  The Senate and House contests were to nominate the party's candidate for the November general election and the others were straight elections to office.  No need to tell how I voted or which (if any) party the two of us belong to...we just did our civic duty and left.  But not before being subjected to what I think is overkill with regard to security.  Our votes after more than 4 hours of the polling station having been open only amounted to votes #53 and #54, but the hoops we had to jump through just to get our meager little ballots to fill out were far and beyond anything I had ever experienced with an election.  And to boot, the little room was packed with election workers eyeballing everything: yes, I think overkill pretty much describes it.  

About the Upcoming August Primary Election

Before the general election in November, my state of Florida is holding a primary election on August 20th.  I opted out of the vote-by-mail system and plan to cast my ballot in person that Tuesday morning.  In partisan nominating contests, the US Senate seat currently held by Republican Rick Scott is being contested, although I doubt his GOP challengers will garner many votes.  On the Democratic side four candidates are vying to replace Scott next January when the new term begins. US representative, state representative and Alachua County sheriff constitute the other partisan contests on the August ballot.  Then we go on to the county school board, with two incumbents being challenged.  And there is one county commission race and one city commission race there as well.  I'm not sure what good my one vote will do with each of the available races, it being just a drop in the bucket, as the cliche goes. But as with other elements of my life, I've grown to consider consistent, reasoned voting whenever the opportunity arises to be a worthwhile personal discipline that ties me in...no matter how tenuously...with the society around me.  May the best candidates win, and may all the eventual winners perform their duties conscientiously and ethically while I wish them success regardless of whether I voted for them...

Popular Vote Winners in Last Eight Presidential Elections

Here are the popular vote winners in the American presidential elections since 1992.  Since we're supposedly a republic governed by the people's voice in democratic elections and a fair, unbiased system of laws, you might think that our policies and government would reflect the below trend...but you'd be wrong...

1992    DEMOCRAT

1996    DEMOCRAT

2000    DEMOCRAT

2004    REPUBLICAN

2008    DEMOCRAT

2012    DEMOCRAT

2016    DEMOCRAT

2020    DEMOCRAT

Now in 2024, do you think anyone really cares about what is going on in this campaign except within a small number of swing states like Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania?  Because of our electoral college system, if you live in California, Texas, Florida or New York...our country's most populous states...no one cares about your opinion.  A losing president can call the chief elections officer of a state he closely lost and ask him to manufacture nonexistent votes to turn the results around, or the losing party can maneuver in states they lost...but legislatively control...to have those legislatures overturn those results.  Who cares what the rest of the country thinks, as long as they get their power.  Of course, as an individual my degree of influence is strictly limited, which is why I haven't been ranting and raving on this blog like others do on their social media outlets.  After all, we now have a Supreme Court that treats one side as its client interest: even if the doddering and incoherent incumbent nobody had a voice in choosing this year as the nominee wins those swing states, will they turn around and negate the results? Democracy is an illusion, both in Russia and now, sadly, here in America.  I have my own life, with the choices I can make that actually have effects on myself and my loved ones...electoral politics provide no hope in that regard...

Sinister Trend Shifting My Political Allegiances

I don't know whether others are feeling as I do, but I'm starting to feel a shift...a fundamental one...in my political leanings.  Not that the so-called "leaders" and candidates that I'm starting to lean toward are themselves worthy of following, any more than those I've preferred up until now...they're full of their own flaws and demagoguery.  And the chief one among them is, sorry to say, a complete buffoon who defines the word narcissism.  But I see something sinister and foreboding going on in my society, and it's being pushed primarily from the end of the political spectrum that I have been supporting for many years.  Comedian/commentator Bill Maher has covered this phenomenon extensively in his monologues on Real Time with Bill Maher, and I see it all around me in the media and corporate environment.  So that buffoon I mentioned notwithstanding, where I go this November 2024 election is up in the air.  But I'm realistic about it all, knowing that my one vote is just a drop in the ocean, and I don't pretend to tell you or anyone else what to think or do... 

Weekly Short Stories: 1996 Science Fiction, Part 3

It's Wednesday, so time again for another retrospective look at science fiction short stories.  We're currently examining material from 1996, selected by editor (and sci-fi writer) Gardner Dozois for his anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Fourteenth Annual Collection.  In 1996 Bill Clinton ran for his reelection as U.S. President against Republican Bob Dole, then the Senate Majority Leader, and independent candidate H. Ross Perot. A surging American economy pretty much helped glide Clinton to easy victory...although truth be told, I kind of liked Dole, along with his VP running mate Jack Kemp, and voted for them instead.  I still think Dole would have been a good president.  But back to those stories...

THIRTEEN PHANTASMS by James P. Blaylock

The closing scene in the great old Disney movie Pinocchio, in which Jiminy Cricket goes on vacation by jumping into a matchbox and mailing himself off to an exotic locale, somehow comes to mind with this wistful tale of a man who finds a strange, but tenuous link to the past, some fifty years earlier but with some very interesting people.  A thoroughly enjoyable read...

PRIMROSE AND THORN by Bud Sparhawk

Having read Herman Melville's classic whaling novel Moby Dick, I've already experienced detail overload about sailing with stuff I had no idea of what the author was talking about.  Ditto for this story about sailing competitors on a long race, except that their ships have been modified for the fluid-but-greatly-different conditions on the planet Jupiter's surface.  In spite of feeling over my head about the technical details, the author spun a very exciting tale about peril and rescue on the high "seas"...

THE MIRACLE OF IVAR AVENUE by John Kessel

After a Hollywood producer's corpse is fished out of the water, the investigator is surprised to discover that, even with the body convincingly identified, the producer himself is still alive and thriving.  Two identical bodies, the same person, what a mystery!  Well, it's solved of course, and as with today's other two stories, this one reminded me of something else: that comeback 2009 Star Trek movie starring Chris Pine...and the two Spocks...

Next week I will continue looking back at the year 1996 in short science fiction...

Meaningless Florida Primary Ongoing with Early Voting

This has to be by far the deadest presidential primary season I've ever experienced since following them in 1968...both major political parties have pretty much folded up and closed shop with their anointed candidates, fascist Donald Trump as the clear consensus choice for Republicans and incumbent Joe "Not Trump" Biden for the Democrats.  And now early voting is underway in the Florida Primary...at least on the Republican side as Biden has no listed opposition.  But all of the major GOP candidates running against Trump have ended their campaigns without ever gaining any traction among the adoring masses enthralled with their orange personality cult idol.  I am currently a registered Republican and still plan to vote in the primary on "election day" March 19, for what it's worth.  Since former New Jersey governor Chris Christie spoke out the most vehemently against Trump during his brief campaign, I'm planning to vote for him...holding my breath in the process, not exactly being a Christie fan either.  And then it'll be on to the conventions where the parties will crown their dubious choices, with anti-vaccine conspiracy nut Robert F. "Neither-Trump-Nor-Biden" Kennedy, Jr. waiting in the wings as an independent option for voters looking for an even worse candidate.  So this is liberty and democracy...are you telling me that these three are the best my country could come up with?  Biden's my reluctant choice in November, but I won't waste my writing time trying to convince anyone to go out there and join me, much less dissuade those inclined to push one of the other major candidates into office.  Be my guest and do as you will, for all I care... 

On This Presidents' Day

On this Presidents' Day, which seems to have been de-emphasized as a national holiday, I'd like to make the point that while people can and should discern the best candidates during election years while holding the ongoing president accountable while their tenure is going on, they should respect the office even if the current occupant doesn't meet up to their standards of what a president should be or what policies he or she should support or oppose.  When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, I recognized the results promptly and wished him success as president although I didn't vote for him.  But in 2020 this same individual, having lost that election, refused to recognize the result, filed more than 60 lawsuits challenging it, and even called one state's election official to ask him to manufacture more than 11 thousand nonexistent votes to give him that state...and it's out there on audio for anyone to hear.  Yet instead of being in prison for this attempted fraud, he is leading in the polls over his incumbent rival.  Can you imagine the haughty outrage from Trump's supporters had President Obama or losing candidate Hillary Clinton behaved likewise in 2016?  Yet both of them graciously accepted the election results then and Obama expedited a smooth transition period between administrations, something Trump spitefully held up with incoming president Biden. So while I want to honor all of our presidents, past and present, please forgive me when I can see what is going on right now in my country, which seems to be on a path to end its treasured tradition of free and fair elections to determine its political leaders...

Weekly Short Stories: 1992 Science Fiction, Part 2

Today I continue my look at short stories from 1992 as they appeared in Gardner Dozois' anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Tenth Annual Collection.  1992 was a presidential election, and just a year earlier it looked as if incumbent George H.W. Bush (known back then as just George Bush) would glide to an easy reelection, his poll numbers being so high after the successful Persian Gulf War.  But the economy tanked into a recession, and the entry of populist businessman H. Ross Perot most likely took away more votes from Bush than from his Democratic Party opponent Bill Clinton...the later easily won election although he only garnered some 43% of the popular vote.  But back to more of those stories from that year...

TWO GUYS FROM THE FUTURE by Terry Bisson

The security guard at an art museum has no idea of her destiny until "two guys from the future", as they call themselves, suddenly materialize one night in her presence...just like on Star Trek.  This is a funny satire on time travel stories...yes, they're overripe for satire if not outright ridicule...

THE MOUNTAIN TO MOHAMMED by Nancy Kress

This story, even from 31 years ago, is an apt indictment of the deplorable state of health care in this country, showing the potential nightmare scenario of society split between the insurable and unisurable, depending on one's gene scan.  One physician with a conscience decides to buck the system and treat those refused insurance...in this case no good deed goes unpunished.  Yet the ending reveals an underlying logic to his suffering... 

THE COMING OF VERTUMNUS by Ian Watson

A struggling young art critic and author, living in a near-future when envionmentalism threatens to curb technological and industrial development, is offered a chance by a Texas magnate to enter an incredibly contrived conspiracy involving discoveries of pornographic paintings from the Austrian Hapsburg late sixteenth century.  I learned quite a bit of history here, unless of course the author made it all up.  The story also delves into counter-conspiracies, false flag actions, and the effects of mind-alterning drugs on people's perspectives.  Very disturbing but wonderfully written...

Next week: more from '92...

Follow-Up on Tuesday's Political Article

I thought I'd follow up on Tuesday's venture into politics on this blog to clarify where I stand in an area that causes so much confusion, fear and rage among some folks.  For one, I neither campaign for nor "endorse" any candidate or referendum issue stance...you're all big boys and girls, figure it out for yourselves.  But this blog IS a major outlet of free speech in which I can lay out my views on this thing or that...politics just happens to be a (minor) facet of my life and what I'm interested in.  As for my leanings, I tend to be an "old school" Democrat...albeit currently registered as Republican...who believes in equal opportunity for all regardless of whatever demographic category happens to be hung on them...but I'm also averse to people getting carried away by identity politics and the various "groups" they see themselves belonging to.  I am very skeptical of the media as it stands today, with the figures both in front of and behind the camera and microphone often with hidden (and some brazenly clear) agendas and biases. My preferences tend to be in the political center...conservative with national defense and security and liberal with civil rights and social safety nets like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  I believe that there is a strong role for government to play when it concerns public health (including pandemics), the environment, and the building and maintenance of transportation and communications infrastructures.  But government should do whatever it can to encourage the development of a free-market economy...sometimes the best way for that is to back off and do little.  I used to watch a lot of the floor debates of the US Senate in recent years, and whenever a speaker (from either party) enunciated the above points, I have agreed with them.  Two days ago, I wrote that I was supporting Tim Scott for the Republican presidential nomination, but here again another factor comes into play: for all practical purposes, Senator Scott is a stranger although I like his demeanor and positive attitude...I still could be totally wrong about him.  Well, I guess I could string this article along further about politics, but I'm sure I'll get plenty of chances in the upcoming weeks and months as the 2024 presidential election approaches...  

Not a Fan of DeSantis, But At Least He's Not Trump

The other day, a friend of mine from work Facebook-messaged me about a supposed bill a Florida legislator is filing which stipulates that any blogger who mentions Governor Ron DeSantis would have to be registered, whatever that's supposed to mean.  I replied that this sounded like the last Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, in which anyone simply saying out loud the Dark Lord's name, Voldemort, would instantly prompt a visit from his Death Eaters.  Maybe if this legislation...and I can't imagine anyone to regard it as anything more than a foolish political stunt...passes, I'll just say "Voldemort" when referring to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named instead. But that's the Internet for you and, for all I know, this is just a hoax.  I've found that, although DeSantis has been heavy-handed with his decrees and criticisms in various areas, most particularly his conveniently one-sided interpretation of "woke" culture, his interference with university and public school curricula, his callousness in busing undocumented immigrants to out-of-state "sanctuary cities" and opposition to effective public health measures to prevent the spread of Covid, I never detected in him the narcissistic hypersensitivity to criticism that is so characteristic of his former political ally and now presidential rival, Donald Trump. In fact, DeSantis has always been politically savvy enough to recognize that it comes with the job to expect criticism from those in the opposition Democratic Party...it's the Trump wing of his own party that seems to be beside themselves with irrational anger and hatred toward the governor in spite of his attempts to appeal to the basest elements of that base.  For the last election, I switched my party affiliation to Republican in order to help to nominate principled conservatives who believe in respecting election results. DeSantis, although some may not like the new more restrictive voter/election law he signed, has not been an active participant in the election denial lunacy we saw after Joe Biden was legitimately elected U.S. president over sore loser denier Donald Trump, and unlike the former president he has shown a sense of responsibility when dealing with hurricane threats, displaying a spirit of bipartisan cooperation with our current Democratic president.  Also, I have never heard DeSantis speak ill of Trump, although the reverse is plainly true. Were the Republican Primary for president held today with Ron DeSantis on the ballot, I would vote against Trump and for DeSantis in a heartbeat. Our governor bravely served our country in the military and is articulate and persuasive, educated and well-informed on a number of issues...can't say any of this about the Orange Man. Although I have never voted for DeSantis in his two gubernatorial races and likely wouldn't support him nationally in a general election, at least I can see him, if eventually elected, as a serious president seeking to do America's bidding (although I may many times disagree with him) and, unlike Trump, not holding everything and everyone hostage, including our country's best interests, to his own ego gratification. As far as whom you and everybody else support or oppose, I guess that's your own business to figure out: be my guest and vote (or not vote) however it suits you...I never endorse or campaign for (or against) anyone, just expressing my opinions on the subject every now and then...

McCarthy Having Difficulty Becoming House Speaker...Not My Problem

The paper-thin majority in the United States House of Representatives that Republican caucus leader Kevin McCarthy is "leading" has left him short of receiving the votes needed to become Speaker, which Democrat Nancy Pelosi had occupied for the previous four years.  It's all about the extreme wing of a party leveraging their power out of proportion to their numerical strength...well, that's politics!  No fan of McCarthy, I felt he let the country down in the hours immediately following the insurrection on the Capitol building on 1/6/21 when he and two thirds of his caucus took the dangerous, undemocratic...and, frankly, fascist step of refusing to officially acknowledge the counted Pennsylvania 2020 presidential election votes that gave the state to Joe Biden over election-denying sore loser Donald Trump.  This guy has to be the slimiest politician on Earth...and that's saying a lot.  No doubt when whoever does finally take the gavel, the Republicans will resume their endless pointless investigations that nobody believes worth the effort and expense...other than their hardcore, unquestioning FoxNews followers, that is.  Hillary's e-mails will soon morph into Hunter's laptop as a continuous Fox/Republican headline...and there will probably be payback attempts to impeach President Biden as well.  If you want to follow all that crap, you're welcome to it.  But as Soundgarden's late front man Chris Cornell once sang, "Keep it off my wave"...

Weekly Short Stories: 1988 Science Fiction, Part 2

Today I continue looking at 1988 science fiction short stories from the anthology Donald A. Wollheim Presents the 1989 Annual World's Best SF, with selections by the series' editor from the previous year.  1988, sadly, changed forever the way national presidential elections are conducted in America, with hateful and often false innuendoes openly promoted by major political parties against the others' candidates.  In this case Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, the pleasant enough and competent former governor of Massachusetts, who I genuinely liked, was torn apart during the final weeks of the campaign by the Republican political dirty tricks machine in scathing televised political ads...and the public bought it, easily electing George H.W. Bush in the election after Dukakis had an earlier large lead in the polls.  The lesson from this: wallow in the mud of defamation and lies if you want to get elected...Trumpism is a direct consequence of this campaign.  Sigh, back to the stories, which to me were equally disturbing...

THE FLIES OF MEMORY by Ian Watson

Novella-length, this story has the common theme of "aliens among us", ostensibly peacefully going about their business while the press and popular imagination run rampant with speculation about their motives.  But the walking "flies" have stated their aim: to "remember" as much of Earth as practicable.  The questions then are why, and what about the sections of reality that are suddenly disappearing?  The protagonists shift in this tale, from Charles, an expert on body language hired to determine the truthfulness of the flies' claims, to Olivia, who can see into the future.  I felt the story could have been a bit shorter without detracting from it.  On the other hand, maybe the author had intended it as a novel and cut it down to novella-size, who knows...

SKIN DEEP by Kristine Katherine Rusch

Humans have this terribly annoying trait of settling into an area inhabited by others and then treating the native people and animals as outsiders...this is the story of a shape-shifting native "boy" on a distant, recently colonized world, trying to survive in the midst of suspicion and prejudice.  This is the best kind of sci-fi, projected into the future in an otherworldly setting while providing allegorical themes about the shortcomings of our human nature at home in the present...

A MADONNA OF THE MACHINE by Tanith Lee

Reading this immediately reminded me of the old silent movie Metropolis, where workers are practically welded to the machines they work at.  In this story of the future, humanity has been reduced to working on "the" Machine, which assigns and regulates every...I mean every...facet of their lives, and their names have similarly been reduced to just uncapitalized first names.  But since peter and anna, the story's focus, have only known this life from birth, they see nothing amiss...that is, until a strange female apparition sporadically begins to appear to them and the others.  To me this read like a forerunner to The Matrix, with errors in the Machine's design and programming assigned to a special entity...in that movie's case it's the character Neo and here the "Madonna of the Machine".  Humanity's increasing dependence on technology gets the full treatment here...

Next week: more reviews from Wollheim's anthology covering 1988 sci-fi...

Miscellaneous Musings with Daisy This Morning

While Daisy the Wonder Dog stalwartly guards our home from squirrels, crows, other big birds...and FedEx trucks...I'm sitting here ruminating over a random assortment of stuff.  First of all, the 2022 general election came and went, yet six days later we still haven't confirmed that the Republicans will narrowly take control of the House of Representatives and several close elections are slow in determining the winners because of mail-in balloting.  Aside from this, Alaska and Georgia have runoff election provisions whenever no candidate achieves a majority in the general election...and that's just what happened there.  Yet the Democrats will remain in control of the Senate, helping President Biden with his various nominations for the next two years and offering a counterweight to whatever the House Republicans dish out on the other side of the Capitol building.  Our local area elections and referenda served up typically mixed results...I haven't gotten around to checking them all out yet.  As of this writing I haven't heard of anyone trying to overturn election results...I kind of have a feeling that this type of mischief is mainly a Donald Trump thing, and interest in doing it drops off precipitously when he isn't bullying people around for his own ambitions...we'll see what the future brings.  Yesterday, as a couch potato, I was treated to two great, close football games, Minnesota somehow managing to beat Buffalo in overtime (jettisoning the Dolphins into first place) and Green Bay socking it once again to Dallas in a nailbiter...the fact that I was rooting for both eventual winners didn't hurt, either.  As for my wavering running race plans for this upcoming Sunday morning, the long-range weather forecast doesn't bode well, with rain predicted for race time.  I'll wait a couple more days, but if it doesn't change, I think I'll just pass up on it...