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A list of conventions that have banned science fiction authors - including some they'd put on panels - and the history of what is going on.

It's couched in oh so delicate terms, as pretty much everyone mourns the death of the great Tom Wolfe: Tom Wolfe was a reporter, Tom Wolfe was an observer. Tom Wolfe eyed status-seeking. Tom Wolfe skewered the establishment. And through his incredible mastery of words, he entertained the hell out of us. Yes, true enough. But somehow he never got a Nobel prize in literature, despite vastly outranking almost everyone else who has. So I guess I am corrupting things a little when I state the obvious about Wolfe: He did write, he did observe, he did skewer, and by...

Sentinel (Penguin/Random House) has just authorized a new edition (4th) of "A Patriot's History of the United States" written by Larry Schweikart (LS) and Mike Allen. This will be the 30th printing of the book since 2004 with a half-million copies in print. The new edition, expanding on the 10th Anniversary Edition in 2014, will cover all of US history from Columbus's discovery of the New World to the end of Trump's second year. That means all of Zero's useless presidency will be included. Since Trump is erasing it as fast as possible, there may not be much to cover...

Almost six years ago, former Navy Seal and fighter against the Deep State, Matt Bracken, wrote this short story in the form of "confession" by an operative of a coup. This story was written in 2012, shortly before Obama's reelection, and the events of the story are consistent with the era and the events that unfolded in that time period. The name of the story is called "What I Saw at the Coup." This is the BEST story I've ever read that translates the VITAL ROLE of our 2nd Amendment rights to bear arms, particularly to arms such as AR-15's...

Roughly 60 years after the abolition of slavery, anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston made an incredible connection: She located the last surviving captive of the last slave ship to bring Africans to the United States. ... In fact, they are only now being released to the public in a book called Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” that comes out on May 8, 2018... he was only 19 years old when members of the neighboring Dahomian tribe captured him and took him to the coast. There, he and about 120 others were sold into slavery and crammed onto the...

Chelsea Clinton has locked down her next book. The best-selling children’s author has reteamed with Penguin Young Readers to publish Start Now! You Can Make a Difference this fall, EW can exclusively announce. The book —featuring facts, stories, and tips on how to change the world — will be aimed at readers ages 7-10 years old. Clinton will use her platform to break down issues relating to health, hunger, climate change, endangered species, and bullying for young readers to understand, and see how they can make a difference in their own lives, as well as in their communities and the...

============================================================================== In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". ab·struse abˈstro͞os,əbˈstro͞os/ adjective: abstruse difficult to understand; obscure. "an abstruse philosophical inquiry" synonyms: obscure, arcane, esoteric, little known, recherché, rarefied, recondite, difficult, hard, puzzling, perplexing, cryptic, enigmatic, Delphic, complex, complicated, involved, over/above one's head, incomprehensible, unfathomable, impenetrable, mysterious "her abstruse arguments were hard to follow" Origin: late 16th century: from Latin abstrusus ‘put away, hidden,’ from abstrudere ‘conceal,’ from ab- ‘from’ + trudere ‘to push.’

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". diabolic (daɪəbɒlɪk ) 1. adjective Diabolic is used to describe things that people think are caused by or belong to the Devil. [formal] ...the diabolic forces which lurk in all violence. 2. adjective If you describe something as diabolic, you are emphasizing that it is very bad, extreme, or unpleasant. [mainly US, emphasis] Pitt's smile returned, and it was hideously diabolic.

I was reading a short story by the author known as O. Henry and at the end of the story aristocracy versus hash there is the following an ending sentence stating ""Ten minutes later the slate in the Blue Ruin saloon bore two additional characters: 10." Out of which I cannot figure out any plausible meaning. would anybody know the meaning of that phrase?

Here's one that definitely influenced me: "Red Planet" by Robert A. Heinlein. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Planet_(novel) It's the first novel I can recall reading, around age 8 or so. It was the start of a lifelong love of speculative fiction, and Heinlein's Libertarian(ish) philosophy certainly put its imprint on me. (The main chsracter's father discusses getting a pistol permit for his daughter. The grandfather chimes in:) "That a free citizen should have to go before a committee, hat in hand, and pray for permission to bear arms - fantastic! Arm your daughter, sir, and pay no attention to petty bureaucrats."

Facing down an aggressive brain tumor that's kept him out of Washington for months, John McCain appears to be taking a hard look at his own mortality vis-a-vis his forthcoming book, The Restless Wave. "This is my last term," he writes in excerpts out now, via NPR and the Daily Beast. "If I hadn't admitted that to myself before this summer, a stage 4 cancer diagnosis acts as ungentle persuasion. I'm freer than colleagues who will face the voters again. I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much." On President Trump: "He has declined to distinguish the actions...

[Tapper] settled into an era more familiar and one he thought had been overlooked and misunderstood. 'The '50s get romanticized so much and depicted as serene so often when there's so much lurking beneath the surface," he says, "whether it's anti-communism and McCarthy, the Cold War, the atomic race or racism.'

Thousands of goths have descended on a quiet seaside town to celebrate the art of darkness. Steampunk, Cybergoth, Romanticism or Victoriana fans travelled over the moors to Whitby, which has become their spiritual home twice a year, for the Whitby Goth Weekend. Steampunk comes from science fiction and celebrates both Victorian fashion and industry, combining top hats with brass goggles and elaborate guns.

putsch po͝oCH/ noun noun: putsch; plural noun: putsches a violent attempt to overthrow a government. Origin early 20th century: from Swiss German, literally ‘thrust, blow.’ Noun putsch (plural putsches) A coup; an illegal effort to forcibly overthrow the current government. quotations ▼ Synonyms: coup, coup d'état Afterward, the ringleaders of the failed putsch were publicly executed.

Everyone likes to bash millennials. We’re spoiled, entitled, and hopelessly glued to our smartphones. We demand participation trophies, can’t find jobs, and live with our parents until we’re 30. But is the millennial hate justified? Have we dropped the generational baton, or was it a previous generation, the so-called baby boomers, who actually ruined everything? That’s the argument Bruce Gibney makes in his book A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America. The boomers, according to Gibney, have committed “generational plunder,” pillaging the nation’s economy, repeatedly cutting their own taxes, financing two wars with deficits, ignoring climate change,...

Lots of people who study K-12 education end up looking for a metaphor, a parallel, to explain the unnecessary stupidity of our public schools. Don't bother. Ayn Rand has run ahead and done the job. In 1970, Rand published a long [17k words] essay titled "The Comprachicos" (which roughly translates to the child-buyers). It lovingly examines a bit of history mentioned in a Victor Hugo novel. He wrote about vicious exploiters who mutilate and transform children into all sorts of freaks, dwarfs, gymnasts, and novelties. The techniques are analogous to those used by bonsai masters. You cut, twist, break, deprive...

I like both Star Wars and Star Trek. I’ve seen all of the Star Wars and Star Trek movies, and while watching the kids, even saw a number of Clone Wars cartoon episodes. I’ve seen most episodes of Star Trek, every series, though I’ve barely been able to watch Star Trek: Discovery except the Mirror Universe episodes. I say this so that my criticism is not mistaken for “you just don’t like the franchises.” And I think modern politics and shifts in storytelling are hurting both science fiction universes.

The Bible isn't required reading -- according to GQ. The magazine is facing criticism after it included The Good Book in its list of "21 Books You Don't Have to Read" last week. Compiled by GQ editors, the post laments that "the Great Books" aren't all they're cracked up to be: "Some are racist and some are sexist, but most are just really, really boring." "Census" author Jesse Ball says the Bible (No. 12 on the list) is highly rated by people who claim to live by it but haven't actually read the tome. "Those who have read it know...

If we valued black art, Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer would have been for literature. When will the education system wake up to black creativity? I can’t help thinking that the Pulitzer prize committee missed a trick in their award to the rapper Kendrick Lamar this week. If they had given him the Pulitzer for literature rather than for music it would have elevated his artform and sent a message that would have resonated around the world: that rap is a legitimate form of poetry and should be put on a par with, and treated with the same deference as, Shakespeare and...

Rush Limbaugh had a caller that said that he couldn't give a bad review (one-star) on the Amazon site for James Comey's ghostwritten piece of excrement, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership," based upon substance. He is a verified buyer of the book, so it wasn't a spam posting. Limbaugh's staff went ahead and tried to post, each having purchased the book, but weren't allowed to post either. The only reviews are 4- and 5-star reviews (though there's one or two 1-star reviews that must have sneaked through the algorithm). Go ahead and try this. If you have Kindle,...