I have been deep into the archives of the State Library of South Australia, mostly looking at papers (magazines, newsletters etc) from the second half of the 1960s through the 1970s. No, I am not a strange strange man. Why do you ask? Anyway, this was the period, as the 'Great Acceleration' slowed slightly, where... Continue Reading →
Pilate-Lite –Frank Hardy, “The Dead are Many” and drowning in AI slop
John 18: 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. I did not buy a copy of Frank Hardy’s Power Without Glory (that’s a lie). I did not spend a... Continue Reading →
What am I even doing here?
I met up with an old friend recently. Right at the end she asked if I wanted feedback on blog posts I had sent her. I knew roughly what was coming, because I have heard it once or thrice before. The main problems (before you get to the content) are around even understanding what the... Continue Reading →
Policy entrepreneurs and giving the ideal speech community a nudge (a fictional example)
Thanks to a rather brilliant writer (Beejay Silcox, since you ask), I read an 'Outback Noir' novel, by Garry Disher. It involves a cop (bent? Seems not, but who can tell and what is bent anyway) exiled from the bright lights of the (checks notes) big "city," Adelaide to - as the Americans say -... Continue Reading →