Author: ianrandalstrock

James Gunn (1923-2020)

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

I’ve just learned of the death of James Gunn (that is, the original James Gunn) at the age of 97. I’ve known him since I got into the science fiction field, and was thrilled to be able to republish several of his earlier books as some of the first titles published by Fantastic Books. It was a regular occurrence at science fiction conventions, at the Fantastic Books table in the dealers’ room, people would browse, and then turn to me to ask, “is this THE James Gunn?” Of course I said yes, the science fiction grand master himself. It was only after six months or a year of that that I realized they were talking about some johnny-come-lately film maker using the same name.

The James Gunn, our James Gunn, was born July 12, 1923, in Kansas City, Missouri, into a publishing family (printers, pressmen, editors). He served in the Navy during World War II, then earned his college degrees and worked as an editor.

His writing career also began in the 1940s, with a play produced in 1947, and his first science fiction published in Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1949. We was a professor emeritus of English, and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, at the University of Kansas. He served as the president of the Science Fiction Writers of America (1971-72), and received SFWA’s Grand Master Award in 2007.

Is Donald Trump working for Russia?

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Apparently everyone who knows—including, surprisingly, the Secretary of State—says that Russia has perpetrated (and is continuing to do so) a massive intrusion into the computer systems of multiple departments of the US government. (Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “…we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity.”)

Finally, President Donald Trump chose to tweet about it just a few hours ago. He wrote “The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!). There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupted embarrassment for the USA.”

Why?

After four years of his presidency, this is not Trump’s first attempt to deflect American attention from bad actions perpetrated by Russia.

Why?

Donald Trump never released his tax returns, never provided any financial information, either as a candidate or president.

Why?

The questions I am now asking are:

1. How much money did Donald Trump owe to Russia or Russian entities when he was elected president?

2. How much has he paid on those debts during his term as president?

3. How much money does he currently owe on those debts?

4. Do those numbers show that the amount he owes has decreased more than the amount he has paid?

A postal problem

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday, I emailed the following letter to my Representative and Senators. If you agree, more voices could only help.

Several times, I’ve tried raising this issue directly with the United States Postal Service, but not only can I not find anyone there who can help, I can’t even find someone who can direct me to someone who might have a clue. So perhaps you, as a member of Congress, can access the upper echelons of postal management, to suggest that this is a small piece of standard procedure that really needs to be changed.

The issue is the touch screen at each clerk’s window. Every time I go to the window to mail a package, the clerk asks “is there anything liquid, fragile, hazardous, etc., in this package?” But they can not accept me responding to them; I have to touch the screen to say “no.” The same screen that the previous customer was drooling on, and the customer before sneezed at, and I have no idea when last the screen was washed.

Everything else in the post office recognizes the current pandemic: the clerks wear masks and gloves, there are decals on the floor marking six-foot distances between customers, there’s a sign on the door saying “no more than 10 people in the lobby at one time; if you’re #11, please wait outside.” But there’s this touch screen that they insist—for no good reason except that the system requires it—every single customer must touch. Touching the screen to say “no,” and then again to say “yes, give me a printed receipt,” adds nothing to the postal experience. It doesn’t make anything more secure, doesn’t make anything more efficient, but it surely does help spread germs and virus.

Can you please look into having the USPS change this useless, and potentially dangerous, customer experience?

When did inflation become good?

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Are there any other financial geeks out there with long memories?

I was watching Fed Chairman Jay Powell’s press conference today (after the release of the Fed statement), and kept experiencing cognitive dissonance each time he said something like “we want to get inflation up to two percent or a bit more.”

I think (think) I understand the need for inflation, but one of my earliest political/economic memories is Gerald Ford’s WIN campaign. It wasn’t about electoral victory; it stood for “Whip Inflation Now.” All through those years, the constant struggle was to get inflation down. That it was way too high.

And I guess, without consciously thinking about it, I subconsciously assumed that inflation is bad, and straight-line value, year to year, is good.

Now, listening to the Fed, I’m assuming the need for a little inflation is to justify annual salary raises, to justify low-level price increases, to justify paying interest, and so on. If a dollar today was worth precisely what a dollar was worth ten years ago, any company paying its employees raises would be losing money every year.

At least, that’s my assumption. Anyone else out there have a better explanation for why the Fed thinks we need to have some low level of inflation?

Help inflate my economic knowledge. Donations accepted at paypal.me/IanRandalStrock .

An editorial unendorsement

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

In the world of political endorsements, especially those emanating from newspapers’ editorial boards, it’s fairly rare to see an unendorsement. But the Orlando Sentinel just did, and they did it with class and style. “Our bad,” “a fairly dismal candidate,” and “juvenile lapse in judgment” are not phrases one often reads in a serious newspaper’s editorial. But they are entirely appropriate in this one (even if that second one actually referred to his opponent).

Give it a read: “We apologize for endorsing U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, who wants to overturn the election”

Where are the Republicans who want to run for president in 2024?

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

I’m surprised no Republican leader has taken what seems to be a very obvious opportunity to take control of the party. I would think that any legitimate Republican could publicly announce that this year’s election is over, and Donald Trump lost, and that it’s time for the party to return to rational, good leadership that cares about the people. I should think any Senator doing that, heck, even most of the Representatives or Governors, would automatically become the party’s front-runner for the next Presidential nomination.

The pundits keep talking about President Trump’s hold on the voters, pointing to the 74 million people who voted for him. But how many of those voters, when given the choice between some other non-Trump Republican and any Democrat, would vote for the Republican? Most of them, I’d wager.

Donald Trump is a loud, rampaging bully, but he’s over. He lost the election, and in 2024, he’ll have been a fuming, bloviating, irrelevant ex-president for four years; not the least bit appealing to voters. Imagine a rational candidate standing up and saying “okay, we tried an experiment. Now we know what happens when a plutocrat with no governmental experience gets elected. We know it’s not for the best. So let’s instead elect a rational Republican, someone who can work with the other branches of government—rather than trying to ignore or dominate them—and someone who can work with other countries around the world.”

This is the United States of America. We know the government should not be a cult of personality. And at home, behind closed doors, I’m sure every would-be Republican leader knows the same thing. I guess they’re waiting until after Inauguration Day to start showing their mettle, but in the meantime, the country continues to suffer from the buffonery emanating from the White House. Showing true leadership, breaking with Donald Trump now, before he is an ex-president, could be an incredible boost for the party’s fortunes, as well as the personal political fortunes of whoever steps up to take the lead.

Donate to Ian Randal Strock’s very much tongue-in-cheek 2024 presidential campaign fund at paypal.me/ianrandalstrock .

Failed Wartime President Trump

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

On March 18, referring to the then-brand new Covid-19 pandemic just sweeping the country and the planet, President Donald Trump called himself “a wartime president” (https://www.npr.org/2020/03/22/819672681/trump-tries-on-the-mantle-of-wartime-president).

It’s nearly nine months later. Lame duck President Donald Trump has given up doing his job as President (though he’s still rampaging all over the place claiming he won re-election). Should we hang the mantle (shackle?) of “wartime president” around his neck? As of December 2, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 249,570 Americans have died of Covid-19 (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm).

For comparison, the Department of Veterans Affairs lists Battle Deaths in America’s Wars (https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf):
World War II (1941-45): 291,557
Civil War (1861-65): 214,938 (Union and Confederate combined)
World War I (1917-18): 53,402
Vietnam War (1964-75): 47,434
Korean War (1950-53): 33,739
American Revolution (1775-83): 4,435
War of 1812 (1812-15): 2,260
Mexican War (1846-48): 1,733
Indian Wars (1817-98): 1,000
Spanish-American War (1898-1902): 385
Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-91): 148

In other words, of all American wars, more soldiers died on the field of battle only in World War II than people have died in nine months of Covid-19. More people have died this year of Covid-19 than our number of war dead in every other war in which the United States was involved. More of us have died in 2020 of this virus than the number of American soldiers who died on the field of battle in all the wars we fought, combined, except World War II and the Civil War.

My point? My point is: yes, he’s leaving office in seven weeks, but he’s not doing his job now. He seems to be unable to carry out the duties of President. The Vice President and the Cabinet should activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment, and try to show a little leadership, a little class, on their way out the door; try to help us survive the next few months, which CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said will be among “the most difficult in the public health history of this nation.”

I spent the last twelve years, since the publication of my book, The Presidential Book of Lists, trying to avoid one word in the subtitle. Every time someone looked at that book, they saw the one word, “worst,” and asked me who the worst President was. And every time, I would demur, avoid answering, and turn the conversation to another point. No longer. We now have a clear “winner”: Donald John Trump is clearly the worst President in American history.

Speaking Electronically

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

I gave another lecture today, again on the Presidents. It’s similar to the talk I gave a few weeks ago (though I’ve modified and updated it; as I always do, to keep it current, and because I always want to say something else). I think it went well; most of the people watching had very complimentary things to say about it. But it’s still an awkward feeling for me: I spent an hour sitting here talking to my computer. I very much miss—and am so looking forward to—doing these things in person, with an audience in the same room, so I can judge their reactions, expanding on pieces that interest them, and eliding sections when their attention drifts. On the computer, with everyone simply a muted black box on the side of my screen, while large on the screen are my slides, I have no way to judge the audience, no ability to feed off their enthusiasm, no ability to interact with them. Sure, I take questions at the end, but I’ve gotten so used to the free-form version, taking questions as I go, that it’s just not comfortable doing it this way.

On the other hand, the electronic-only communication forced on us by the pandemic means that I am speaking to more groups farther away; groups that couldn’t afford to have me travel to them, and groups too small for me to ever consider traveling to them at my own expense. So it is expanding my audience. But still, I am eagerly anticipating returning to doing this stuff live, in-person.

However, I am available, and even with the minor discomfort, the reviews I’ve seen of my recent talks tell me that I’m doing a good job. So if your group is looking for a speaker, I’m available. My two main topics are the US Presidency, and writing and publishing. Reach out; maybe we can connect.

Writer’s tip jar (speaker’s tip jar) is always available, and donations are gratefully accepted, at paypal.me/ianrandalstrock .

Virtual Convention Weekend

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Virtual convention weekend: Philcon has moved most of the con online, and I’m doing four panels for them (the most I’ve had at any virtual convention this year). One of them was already this evening, but the two tomorrow and one Sunday I thought I had are actually three on Saturday (November 21):

10am: “Heinlein’s Third Rule of Writing” with Barbara Barnett, Lawrence M. Schoen, Michael Swanwick, and Elektra Hammond.

2:30pm: “Kickstarting Your Next Project” with Keith DeCandido, Danielle Ackley-Mcphail, Neil Clarke, and Alex Shvartsman.

8:30pm: “What Else Might Have Changed?” with Simone Zelitch, Miriam Scheiber Seidel, and Tom Doyle.

The panels are on Zoom, with after-panel discussions on Discord. Details on the Philcon web site.

Presidential Numbers

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

A couple of numbers you haven’t heard much of, regarding this year’s presidential election.

The 2020 election of Joe Biden to the presidency is the 59th election in US history (is, not was, because it’s ongoing; the electoral college has yet to cast its ballots, which will be counted by Congress on January 6, 2021, to determine the winners of the election).

On Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021, Biden take office as the 46th president in US history (since the State Department has told us that Grover Cleveland’s two non-consecutive terms mean we should count him as both the 22nd and 24th presidents).

Biden’s first term will be the 68th presidential administration (since each president’s term counts as a separate administration). January 3, 2021, will mark the end of the 116th Congress and beginning of the 117th Congress.

At the moment, Biden is the 37th president-elect in US history. The term “president-elect” doesn’t appear in the Constitution, and is relatively new (historically speaking). The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (Public Law 88-277) says “The terms ‘President-elect’ and ‘Vice-President-elect’ as used in this Act shall mean such persons as are the apparent successful candidates for the office of the President and Vice President, respectively, as ascertained by the Administrator following the general elections held to determine the electors of the President and Vice-President in accordance with title 3, United States code, sections 1 and 2.”

Tips gratefully appreciate: www.paypal.me/IanRandalStrock .