Category: Commentary
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Why I Am a Christian
In a few weeks, I will, God willing, be baptized and chrismated into the Eastern Orthodox Church. It seems a good time to share this essay that I wrote years ago. Let me first make clear that my purpose is not to convert anybody, but rather to explain why I believe what I do. For…
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Machine Unlearning
I’m a SF writer and have participated in multiple SF conventions this summer. If you’re not familiar with the world of ‘Cons’, they are a ubiquitous practice where those formerly known as nerds and geeks gather and celebrate the culture of comic books, science fiction, fantasy, science, potential futures, etc., exchanging ideas in the hopes…
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Impressive Baseball Stats (or Not)
Now that the baseball season is in full swing, allow me to quote a couple of “impressive” achievements from early in 2025. According to Underdog Fantasy’s Justin Havens, Tatis is the seventh player in the Wild Card era to record at least four home runs, six stolen bases, nine RBIs and 13 runs in his…
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Shakespeare Is Not Dead, But Alive, For He has Risen
No blasphemy intended by the title, just borrowing a phrase. Allow me to share just a small sample of a single contemporary work set in America’s 1920s to make my point. Let me describe some scenes, so you can tell me what this work is all about. A young woman is a waitress on a…
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WonderCon 2025
This is my 3rd year attending WonderCon, for me the first Con of the season at the end of March, and somehow it just wasn’t as much fun this year. Not necessarily the Con’s fault, but that of my own attitude. One remarkable thing about this year’s Con was the simultaneous presence in the hotel…
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Wanted: The Hollywood Guide to New York City
I know this will come as a shock to the denizens of New York City and even nearby New Jersey, but 90% of the country has no idea how you live or even where you live. Yes, we all have vague ideas about New York City being a big port on the Northeast Coast, and…
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Hubris by Proxy
I’ve finally settled on a term for those who feel the need to hector others into “saving the planet”. We can’t save the planet. We can’t destroy the planet. The dinosaurs got wiped out due to a giant meteor strike. Did the planet care? Not a whit. The planet went on its merry way. “Matter…
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War or Diplomacy: Language Matters
I speak and write only one language fluently. I know about a hundred words of Spanish and can pronounce it flawlessly. I can read German with the occasional help of a dictionary and speak it perfectly but never learned to converse in it fluently having never mastered using my limited vocabulary to convey what I…
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The Russians are Stealing the North Pole!
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the British Geologic Survey have reported on the latest position of the magnetic north pole, and it’s quite disturbing. See News Now (SNN) anchor Ami Gonnacry, interviewed esteemed scientist August Peabody. Gonnacry: “Dr. Peabody could you give us some background on this latest threat to life…