DagwoodIII

To paraphrase “A Canticle For Leibowitz”

Humans like to think they are a race of rational tool makers, actually we’re a race of impassioned after dinner speakers.

Arguing about religion and politics is what we do best

Realistically, the world could have had Star Trek style post scarcity as early as 1950.

Well, Gaul was taken over by the Romans and Britania was invaded by, well, everybody, so I guess that’s true.

You could argue that most pre-agricultural societies were ‘true communism.’

Silly me!

https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=brzrkr&bkshp-astro=t

Bookshop.org is the ethical alternative to Amazon

[off topic?]

BRZRKR by Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt. Immortal warrior fighting evil in the modern world.

At one point he’s talking to a scientist and says that it’s hard for him to remember everything that’s happened over thousands and thousands of years, but he remembers learning calculus a dozen times.

Hah!

Even I, a mere American, know the fame of Karl May, who wrote of rooting - tooting cowboys and savage Natives in German back in the day!

To say nothing of Sergio Leone and Bud Spenser.

No cowboys?

Native americans?

Bruce Lee?

Check the local art schools. They often have shows. You’ll get out of the house and meet new people

Lupe Velez has entered the chat.

Lupe was a glamourous Hollywood actress known as The Mexican Spitfire.

She had a meticulously planned suicide; a great party with music, dancing, and merriment followed by a dignified death. She did her hair and makeup, got into her prettiest nightgown, downed a bottle of pills and went to sleep.

Pills and Mexican food had her rushing to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Instead of being found in bed looking desirable, she looked like a junkie who choked on their own vomit. There was a long held belief that she drowned in her toilet

British agents would encourage secession talk with Southerners. They hoped that a split would make the US less powerful. Kind of backfired, because the war left the Union much stronger.

Russian history in five words.

…and then, it got worse.

He was a genius politician

One trick he had was to pretend to be undecided on an issue. He’d invite over people he was trying to influence for a nice dinner and have two of his cronies stage a debate on the issue as an ‘entertainment.’

After hearing the faked debate, Washington would ‘reluctantly’ agree with the issue.

[off topic?]

Pretty good movie.

Quest For Fire.

https://youtu.be/2pcGGKtPpSE

https://bookshop.org/p/books/flashman-at-the-charge-george-macdonald-fraser/af0e8f98b48522e2

Can a slave trader, rapist, murderer who fights fixed duels be all bad?

General Sir Harry Flashman is the worst human who ever lived, but he is honest in his diaries. In this this book he dishes the dirt on Lord Cardigan and explains how an ardent coward ended up in the middle of the biggest military disaster any country was ever proud of.

Also, smokeless powder made armies go from brightly colored uniforms that could be seen through clouds of gunsmoke to dull uniforms that blended with the terrain.

[off topic?]

https://bookshop.org/p/books/stand-on-zanzibar-the-hugo-award-winning-novel-john-brunner/e3302202ddb6578d

Stand On Zanzibar won the 1969 Hugo award for best science fiction novel. It was set in the early 21st century.

Some of the predictions were thrill killing mass shooters, artificial intelligence, music videos, personalized advertising, legal marijuana, and widespread homelessness in rich countries.

I saw the remake mentioned when I went looking for the trailer.

2017[?] Obviously it didn’t make much of an impact.

[off topic]

H.G. Welles versus Jack the Ripper.

Welles is about to test his Time Machine when Jack arrives and absconds with it.

Welles is forced to travel to the far off year of 1979 AD.

Great acting, supersmart script, and wild twists.

https://youtu.be/GyM_8Al0_yw

Ignore the inferior remake

Apparently, Henry loved to joust.

He probably took a lot of concussions.

Might explain a lot.

https://www.webmd.com/brain/ss/slideshow-concussions-brain-injuries

Blame Reagan.

A big part of deregulating banks back in the 1980s was shifting away from expensive manufacturing to cheap financial services. Instead of investing in bringing US factories back, Reagan’s polices sent the actual work overseas and left management here.