ASFO 2024–11–16

In which my motivations for reading selections from an annotated version of the Treaty of Versailles are, perhaps, revealed, and the vexed question of German War Guilt is examined ; along with an attempt to introduce some of the basic concepts of banking and currency, with the intention of eventually explaining the various things that might be meant by a person referring to “the gold standard”, and the contexts in which these meanings arise.

Supplementary Show

2024–11–19 More from the annotated Treaty of Versailles, and specifically the Covenant of the League of Nations.

ASFO 2024–11–09

What is good in life? (wrong answers only) — oaths of fealty, and the question of how far self–interest actually predicts human motivations — immigration, and what it has to do with Don Quixote. And the Preamble and Chapter I of the Charter of the United Nations, for those requiring a refresher.

Supplementary Show

  • 2024–11–12 Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen ; the Preamble and Chapter I of the Charter of the United Nations ; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ; and some material from a US Government publication entitled The Treaty of Versailles and After, including the resolution of 18 April 1946 for the dissolution of the League of Nations.
  • 2024–11–15 More from the annotated Treaty of Versailles, specifically the Covenant of the League of Nations.

ASFO 2024–11–02

Mail Call! A plea to my fellow Americans — “Iowasolation” — a reassurance for those who hope to escape to the last place uncontaminated by capitalism — and the problem of argot and specialized symbology.

Supplementary Show

  • 2024–11–05 Three editorials from Analog magazine — from Ben Bova, who strove to carry on the provoking and insightful tradition of John W Campbell. “The Mystic West” on the supposed conflict between the empirical sciences and the humanities, and the role and character of mythology in the modern world (1972 June) ; “Life Cycles” on astrobiology and urban renewal (1972 May) ; and “Man in Space”, 1972 December, which I did not quite get to the end of.
  • 2024–11–08 What Supports Apollo? by Ben Bova and photographer J Russel Seitz, from the 1970 January Analog magazine ; most of a John W Campbell editorial from the same issue, on “Racial” Tensions ; and at the beginning, some poetry to express my frustration with the state of the world and reaffirm my belief in the inherent nobility of mankind, which is sorely tested at the moment.

ASFO 2024–10–26

Too much of my attention lately is on mundane politics. Alas, it is a topic which has a direct effect on how I live and what I am able to do, and on the shape of the future that it is feasible to build. Also, Mail Call! leads me to speculate on the resemblance between Chinese Hell Money and the securities markets.

Supplementary Shows

  • 2024–10–29 Skylab (part 1 of 2) by Joseph Green, science–fact article from the 1972 March Analog magazine. Did not archive properly.
  • 2024–11–01 Skylab (part 2 of 2), Analog magazine, 1972 April.

ASFO 2024–10–19

Chicago! Stacker of wheat, butcher of hogs, et cetera, and also one of the most nuclear–powered places in the USA. Incidentally it is also the place where I arrived in the USA from Iceland after my sea voyage, and where I will board my train home to Texas. This show was phoned in from a hotel room.