Massive Explosion in Oslo, Norway

One dead and several injured according to early reports. My suspicions is that it will be found to be Islamist terrorists behind the blast which appears at first glance to have been a car bomb.

Such is the fate of those who appease. Norway and Sweden have ceded control of large urban areas to Muslim militants for years now with no entry orders to their police forces. For all the politically correct teachings out there, the simple reality is that only strength is respected. That is a sad truth about human beings that can’t be ignored for long. So showing weakness will always be taken advantage of.

I expect more of these attacks to ramp up by the end of the year across the world. Why? The debacle in Libya has exposed just how weak the West really is. Meanwhile, President Obama has a lower approval rating in the Middle East than President Bush did. Only the “strong horse” is given respect and the current administration is viewed as being very weak.

Interesting times, interesting times…

UPDATED

The body count is rising as an apparently related shooting at a socialist youth group camp associated with Norway's Labor Party happened several hours after the bombing. Initial reports are confused (the usual with this kind of event) and the shooter may be blond and blue eyed. If true, that could indicate a home grown jihadi, or worse yet, the beginnings of reactionary violence by white supremacist types.

Science Fiction Matters

Over at Salon, Robert J. Sawyer has a nice little piece up on science fiction and how it helps us prepare for the future. I agree with what he has written and it makes me flash back to some arguments I’ve had with friends. Those arguments were over which had greater value, science fiction or fantasy works.

Fantasy works simply don’t address potential problems that humanity will face and tend to regurgitate old stories in minor variations. While greatly entertaining, that’s all they really are. Occasionally moral lessons will be taught but most are pure entertainment. Essentially, fantasy is backwards looking.

Science fiction is all about possibilities, good and bad. The past is neither ignored or neglected, but referenced often as the authors seek reoccurring patterns in how humanity deals with change. Change is at the heart of all real science fiction.

Given how many people fear change, maybe they should be reading science fiction classics at schools. All I know is that I don’t fear change the way most I know do. It never occurred to me that it was due to my love of that literary genre!

Thank you to Instapundit for putting up the link to the article.

 

P.S. Space opera such as Star Wars is not true science fiction, by the way. It is fantasy with unexplainable technology replacing magic. Sorry, Star Wars fans. Please go read Foundation or Dune!

State Shutdown Ends

Governor Dayton signed the new budget so the shutdown is officially over.

So ends one bad political miscalculation, much to the relief of state employees and bar flies. It would be darkly amusing if the beer cutoff was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Major Tom

Forty two years ago the Apollo 11 Moon landing took place. It was the first of six manned landings with the last one in 1972.  That makes it nearly thirty nine years since a human last set foot on the Moon. There are no concrete plans to ever return.

This induces a feeling of melancholy in me, since I’ve been reading classic science fiction the last few years. Those wonderful books of adventure, especially those aimed at teens, predicted a vast new frontier to be conquered.  Most authors expected us to have large functional space stations and a lunar colony before the year 2000 rolled around.

But somewhere along the line we lost the spirit of adventure and exploration. Most likely it is the extreme wealth that has been generated in the West and developing parts of the globe that has ironically hampered this impulse. If we had really wanted to, those predicted things would have been made into reality.

I’ll concede that relying on governments to implement space programs is a huge culprit. Wasteful and always subject to the political whims of the moment, these bloated bureaucracies are rife with incompetence and  corruption. Perhaps if private corporations had been allowed to pioneer in the starry skies things would have been different.

Instead, man has to be content looking at the Moon through a telescope with no hope of touching its dusty surface. Our dreams have fled, drowned out in a cacophony of cellphones, Twitter, video games, and all the myriads of distractions of our day. We are too content and lazy to dare anymore.

This actually bothers me more than the financial doom that looms overhead.

Purple Haze

Okay, it isn’t purple out, but it is hazy.

Blogging for me is primarily about knocking the rust out of my writing skills and developing a routine where I pound out words on the keyboard every day or something close to it. With that much typing, a good keyboard is a must to have. While it took me to the middle of this year to get going again, preparation was done starting in November when I purchased a mechanical keyboard. Multiple Microsoft ergonomic and Logitech keyboards had died on me with replacements becoming an annual event.

There is no substitute for a good mechanical key switch in my opinion. Since I learned to type (not “keyboard”) on a manual typewriter a good amount of travel and tactile feedback is something I appreciated greatly. Then there is the delightful clicky sound they make which really helps in touch typing. Back in the 1990’s all my keyboards were mechanical and I lost a rare ergonomic one that served me for ten years due to a water spill . After much research, I decided I needed something based on Cherry blue switches and fortunately for me an affordable keyboard came along.

The Rosewill RK-9000 came out in two limited batches and was based on a Filco design, if I remember correctly. I missed the first batch at Newegg but got in on the second. The construction is nice and heavy, but it manages to not take up excessive real estate. The fingers fly on it and while I won’t set any speed typing records, it has been wonderful to type on.

One bad thing about having a mechanical keyboard is it spoils you. I find that I really don’t like modern membrane switch based keyboards now and that they tire my hands.

My Rosewill was worth every penny and even has the added benefit of full anti-ghosting while using the PS2 port. That is something in gaming that can be an issue especially in first person shooters. It seems like I do better at running and gunning.

I’ll never go back to non-mechanical keyboards and regret the money I spent on the comfortable but fragile ergonomic ones.

The World and Thorinn (Book Review)

Damon Knight’s tale of a teenager forced on a journey downward through a well into underground worlds that are both dangerous and exotic makes for an entertaining read. Blending science fiction and fantasy with boy scout level survivalism, it gradually unfolds a story much bigger than Thorinn’s personal adventures.

UPDATE: The World and Thorinn is available again in ebook or paperback on demand from ReAnimus Press!

The Story

The central star of The World and Thorinn is named Thorinn. Or is the world itself the main character? An argument could be made for either so I will settle on them being costars like the title implies.

Thorinn, which means “flea,” is young human living on the surface of his world in a giant basin with a huge cylindrical formation that reaches to the top of the sky. Having been raised by an adoptive father, the lame orphan hops around on his one good leg – hence his name. Life is quiet and pastoral until one day when the well runs dry.

Even sacrificing the best horse in the herd fails to appease the angry god they worship named Snorri. So like Joseph, his brothers want to sacrifice something him and a reluctant father agrees despite being under oath to protect him. So the boy is lowered into the well under false pretenses and sealed there. But not before his father puts a geas, or magical compulsion, to “go down” on a suspicious Thorinn.

Come and Get It

A rather large scandal has hit Rupert Murdoch over in the United Kingdom. While there might be those like The Wall Street Journal who think this can be downplayed, it is bad. Very bad. In a nutshell, employees of one of News Corporations tabloids, News of the World, was found to have hacked cellphones of various people including politicians. Check out the Daily Telegraph’s live page for all the latest details.

I despise tabloids for they are utter trash and the embodiment of the worst aspects of yellow journalism. Sleaze merchants publish them and I’ve always disliked Rupert Murdoch for making his money from them. Far too many conservatives defend him simply because he owns Fox News with the rather uncomplicated view that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But the truth is the man doesn’t appear to have any values other than the desire for money and took advantage of the need for a “conservative” alternative to the monolithic news media in the States. Those quotation marks are there for a reason. Most employees at Fox News are Democrats, no joke – the donation records make that clear.

The scandal has been a classic example of how they happen in England, with things rapidly spiraling out of control when fed by a tabloid based news system. That means people who don’t deserve blame will get it too. But the heads of those responsible are guaranteed to fall, unlike here where you can tough it out much more easily. Already arrested and out on bail is Murdoch’s number two in the corporation, Rebekah Brooks. One of his sons has been implicated as well.

Sadly, this sordid tale of breaking into cellphones for information has also led to the discovery of police officials being bribed for information by News Corporation’s rags. Sometimes I think the thing bringing the world down today isn’t massive debt, but pervasive corruption through all walks of life. Not a cheery thought, is it?

As scandals go, it isn’t impressive in the damage done in reality. The gun walking scandal here in North America has resulted in multiple deaths, for contrast. But it is already having a bigger political effect, proving that perception is reality for far too many people.

I’m trying not to enjoy seeing Murdoch’s tabloid empire coming apart. It helps that there is concern over whether Fox News will end up in trouble of some kind due to a ripple effect. While I’m not a huge fan of the channel, it is needed as a counter to an extremely leftist media. There must always be countering views available to the populace for them to be able to make decisions on serious issues. Though with television, I have to wonder just how much depth can be given on anything.

At least News of the World is no more.