Recent Articles

Grandpa Jack’s Mexican Beans (recipe)

Grandpa Jack’s Mexican Beans (recipe)

| January 12, 2020 | Reply

I get asked on a regular basis for the recipe for my Grandpa Jack’s Mexican Beans. I have it buried in a 2006 blog post on this site, but have decided to copy it here as well, just to make it easier to point to. Much of the text is lifted verbatim from that earlier […]

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Veterans Day 2019

Veterans Day 2019

| November 11, 2019 | Reply

Bruce Henderson as a newly-minted Marine ========== Here is our annual Veterans Day post listing the veterans, living and passed on, in our respective families: Bruce Henderson: Andy Henderson, USN (former) — [nephew] Bruce Henderson, USMC (former) — Yes, I was a Jar Head Peter Anderson, USMC — My dear departed uncle Peter served with […]

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SECRET LUNAR WARS: update #1

SECRET LUNAR WARS: update #1

| June 13, 2019 | Reply

A few stories have come in, and I’m quite pleased with them. I think this is going to be a great, entertaining anthology. In the meantime, someone posted this item over on FB, and I suspect some of you could work it into your stories: The fastest object ever launched was a manhole cover — […]

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THE SECRET LUNAR WARS [closed]

THE SECRET LUNAR WARS [closed]

| May 3, 2019 | Reply

The myth of the US-USSR space race was that it was done for scientific prestige. Behind that is the deeper myth that it was done for nuclear superiority and counterbalance. The truth is that it was done to save humanity. Immortal Works (editor Bruce F. Webster) hereby calls for submission for an anthology of SPACE-THEMED […]

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The Vance Integral Edition: A (New) Review

The Vance Integral Edition: A (New) Review

| February 8, 2019 | Reply

Back in 2006, I started what was intended to be a review of all 44 volumes of the Vance Integral Edition. I didn’t get beyond my introductory post, which I have largely reproduced below, with some updates. Over the past year, I have re-read (for the third time, now) all 44 volumes, and I intended […]

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Personal Preparedness — another resource

Personal Preparedness — another resource

| February 8, 2019 | Reply

Yes, I’m posting back here. Yes, it’s been a while. So, shoot me. Got a nice email from Heather at the National Home Security Alliance, pointing out a dead link in one of my older posts. In return, I thought I’d plug their website: How to Prepare Yourself and Your Community for Natural Disasters I’m […]

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In memoriam: Jerry Pournelle (1933 – 2017)

In memoriam: Jerry Pournelle (1933 – 2017)

| September 9, 2017 | Reply

I met and got to know Jerry Pournelle — and his sweet wife Roberta — over 30 years ago, when I started writing for BYTE Magazine. I already knew of Jerry because of his SF novels (“Lucifer’s Hammer” by him and Larry Niven remains my favorite end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it book) and his writings in BYTE. What I […]

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“Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign”: a brief review (w/spoilers)

“Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign”: a brief review (w/spoilers)

| April 22, 2017 | Reply

In architecting a new system, all the important mistakes are made in the first day. — Spinrad (1998) This book is destined to be a classic in American political literature. As has been reported already, the authors — Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes — made an early arrangement with dozens of sources inside and outside […]

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Infographics On Possible Oroville Dam Failure

Infographics On Possible Oroville Dam Failure

| February 13, 2017 | Reply

Two graphics that forecast the level of flooding and time of inundation from a possible Oroville dam collapse. Graphic showing flood levels from a possible Oroville dam collapse Courtesy of the hive mind that is twitter.

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What’s happening at Lake Oroville?

What’s happening at Lake Oroville?

| February 12, 2017 | 2 Replies

No, I don’t mean — at least, not directly — the current problems with the concrete and emergency spillways, nor the evacuation. I mean the chart above. Look at that chart. The solid color represents the historical average of the amount of water in Lake Oroville. The sharply rising blue line represents the current (2016-2017) […]

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