Alternative Worlds Elvis and Others by Alan Vanneman Many scientists have advanced the concept of a “multiverse”, a near-infinite number of alternative realities that co-exist with our own, yet can never be observed by us. If this theory is true, then there are perforce a near-infinite number of Elvis Presleys, some differing only slightly from…
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Truffles To Die For
(Preface to Author’s Note: I originally posted this story last Monday, saying that, since it was so long, I’d be posting it in two parts. Well, fine, except that I forgot to make the partition and thus ended up posting the whole thing. If you read the story last week and were expecting further developments…
Truffles To Die For
(Author’s note: Some years ago I wrote three novellas in imitation of Rex Stout’s detective novels, featuring his rotund, orchid-fancying semi alter ego Nero Wolfe, as narrated by his wise-cracking assistant Archie Goodwin. They’re available, for free, if you click here and scroll down past all my “pay to read” books to Three Bullets. I…
Lauren Gussis’ “Insatiable”—let me count the clichés. Okay, I give up.
When word hit the street that Lauren Gussis, one of the “geniuses” behind the TV series devoted to heroic mass torturer/murderer Dexter, had come up with something even more shocking—a Netflix original about a fat teen-ager who became not fat and hence “Insatiable”, the howls of outrage among the easily outraged—those who seek to expel…
Alan Vanneman’s Mythbusters! Why the “myth” of upward mobility does and does not matter
Robert Samuelson, who is, frankly, rarely my favorite economics pundit, writes a not entirely terrible column, “Upward mobility is a myth”, largely pivoting off a recent study, “The Fading American Dream: Trends In Absolute Income Mobility Since 1940”, issued by the National Bureau Of Economic Research, put together back in March 2017 by a bunch…
Charles Krauthammer was a wonderful man and a shameless liar
If you want to read kind words about Charles Krauthammer, well, go ahead. By all accounts, in his private life Krauthammer was gracious and kind to everyone he met, regardless of their political convictions. But Charles isn’t famous for being a nice guy; he’s famous for being a political commentator, and as a political commentator…
How gay was Tom Wolfe? Well, pretty goddamn gay
Looking at the many pictures that have been published of Tom Wolfe in his white suit glory years, one has the strong sense of seeing something rare: a male anorexic. In what was surely his best book, The Right Stuff, Wolfe paid homage to “real men”, men who didn’t go the opera and couldn’t order…
The National Review, not always without honor
I read the National Review to find out what the opposition is up to, and it’s usually no good, but once in a while someone comes through with a piece that’s not only “not bad” but actually impressive. Such is the case with David French’s recent article, “The Schiff Memo Undermines Republican Claims of FISA…
Stakhanovite liberalism—It’s still a thing!
“Stakhanovite1 liberalism” was a labored term of abuse worked up by the late William F. Buckley to ridicule overproducing liberals. Coal miner Alexsei Grigoryevich Stakhanov was made a “Hero of the Soviet Union” by Joseph Stalin in recognition of his exploits with a jack hammer and his example was used to encourage others to overfulfill…
The Crown, Season 2: Yeah, Queen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME2umFQ_xBA Last year, I gave a severe thumb’s down to Netflix’s $100 million (seriously?) ode to Good Queen Bess II, aka The Crown, in a post wittily titled “Hey , Netflix! “The Crown” sucks!” and swore I’d never watch another episode. But then I came up with a head—viz, “Yeah, Queen!”—that was so damn funny—seriously,…