More about my plans for the Worldcon, and other preventable catastrophes. Gifts of Support are Acknowledged. Also, in the last minute of the show, I start talking about something far more interesting, and make a complete and total hash of it by saying “ninety” instead of “twenty”.
Tag: weekly post
ASFO 2022–08–13
Does electrification lead to moral laxity? Pinball machines are electric–powered, after all! I give my account of a California public hearing on the possible life extension of Diablo Canyon, and muse on what seems to me the similarity between the anti–nuclear movement and cults or thought–reform movements. Also, mail call! And an acknowledgement of gifts of support.
Supplementary ShowASFO 2022–08–06
My plans for the upcoming World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago, revealed! Also, two new films ; worries about the inexplicable Russian assault on the Zaporizhian Nuclear Power Plant, and the effect on world public opinion if something goes badly wrong there ; and a tiny bit of good news about the food supply.
2 Supplementary ShowsASFO 2022–07–30
Financialization, the scourge of the modern world ; a distinction between directed and undirected growth ; “lifestyle environmentalists” ; why the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” is unlikely to do anything useful ; a brief animadversion on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ; and a mention of the situation in France (will have to get back to that next week).
2 Supplementary ShowsASFO 2022–07–23
There’s a shortage of fresh water in the East Cape region of South Africa, and I (to employ a little contemporary argot) get salty about it. Also, the gas crisis continues, and the Europeans continue to avoid facing facts ; and I find myself working on something I call the Man and Atom Briefing Book.
2 Supplementary ShowsASFO 2022–07–16
Why do people listen to Alex Jones, and not to me? how come, when you give people what they say they want, they don’t like it? and some musings on the surprising ineffectiveness of trying to make democracy work by picking the right people to participate in it. Also, two new films : one in French from France, and one in Russian from the USSR. Up soon will be one in Italian from Germany! (Live transmission started a minute or two late, unfortunately, but I think I made the best of the remaining time.)
As a reminder, if you want stickers which you can slap over stickers or graffiti promoting other, lesser cranks, just send a self–addressed envelope (I’ll even cover the postage!) to “Man and Atom”, Post Office Box 1035, Fort Worth, Texas 76101, with some kind of note to indicate what you expect to receive in return, and I will happily send them to you. I’ll be even happier if you send money, but it’s not required.
Supplementary ShowASFO 2022–07–09
Report from the Westercon, and what I’m planning for the Worldcon (1―5 September, Chicago), including stickers, badges, and the Man and Atom Briefing Book. (This is the button machine that was recommended to me.) Also, the situation in France ― when will the Europeans learn that Germany is a source of bad ideas? You’d think the lesson would have sunk in by now! And I try to remind myself to be for rather than against, despite the excessively negative tone of last week’s show.
ASFO 2022–07–02
Live broadcast from Westercon 74. Not an especially tight show, for that reason, and also because of the Klondike Bar I was eating part of the time ― another blessing of the high energy society! The theme, such as it is, appears to be “our true enemies are habits of thought”. If you want to see pictures of the art I exhibited (although so far I have no pictures of the exhibit itself), you can find the Kelly Freas posters here, and the Interatom art prints here and here.
ASFO 2022–06–25
Westercon 74, here I come! Also, as you have come to expect from me, I state a Moral Imperative. And I have some commentary on current events, but it essentially dovetails with things I was planning to talk about anyway.
ASFO 2022–06–18
Have we built a society which is not oriented toward our needs as humans? This is a key question of our times, and I do little more than ask it, although in the process I get nauseated by a Starbucks corporate communication. Also “Back to Atomic Power!” in Germany ; antinuclearism on the rise in France despite all facts, logic, and common sense ; idiocy from Elon Musk and the Biden Administration ; the new Federal holiday ; and how LambdaAI is like the Impossible Burger, even though Bill Gates is probably not killing cows in Kansas. Also, I finally got around to finishing and uploading the pre–recorded shows for 23 October of last year and 4 June of this year, as part of the SDF 35th anniversary celebration.