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Brian Aldiss, the “grand old man” of science fiction whose writing has shaped the genre since he was first published in the 1950s, has died at the age of 92. Aldiss’s agent, Curtis Brown, and his son, Tim Aldiss, have announced that the author, artist, poet and memoirist died at home in Oxford in the early hours of 19 August. “Brian had celebrated his birthday with close friends and family and spoken to many close to him,” wrote Tim on Twitter as he announced the death of “our beloved father and grandfather”. Aldiss was the author of science fiction classics...

WORD FOR THE DAY: desideratum [dih-sid-uh-rey-tuh m, -rah-, -zid-] noun, plural: desiderata 1. something wanted or needed. Origin of desideratum 1645-55; < Latin, noun use of neuter past participle of dēsīder�re; see desiderate Synonyms: essentials, necessities, requisites, sine qua nons. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day........

He called it it just took 30 more years than he expected. “The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.”― George Orwell, 1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyTcYR5O904

The Trump Administration is making Christian history! For the first time in over 100 years, weekly Bible studies are meeting at the White House, and the leader of these meetings says that the Trump cabinet members who attend the study are the best he's ever had. Ralph Dollinger, of Capitol Ministries, is the leader of the Bible study that is making headlines. The former NBA player founded his ministry with the hopes of guiding policy-makers on how to let their faith dictate their leadership. "These are godly individuals that God has risen to a position of prominence in our culture,"...

We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community which books need to be turned into TV Shows. Here are some of the best responses...

Horror novelist Stephen King took to Twitter Friday to call for President Donald Trump to be “removed” from office. “Donald Trump is unfit for office. Needs to be removed,” the author wrote. The social media missive was just the latest attack King has lodged at President Trump in recent months. Last month, the 69-year-old Dark Tower author called Trump “fake” in a Twitter post that went viral online. “The news is real. The president is fake.” he wrote. King, however, wasn’t the only celebrity to call for Trump’s removal from office Friday. Comedian Chelsea Handler urged the president’s generals to...

My shed is like a lot of other sheds. ItÂ’s an old shed, flirting with almost 25 years now. ThereÂ’s some rust in parts, it has some dents, but so do I. ThereÂ’s tools galore that assisted in building, fixing, destroying and defending our tiny corner of the world. TheyÂ’re proud of a job well done. Strewn are pieces of memories that beg for momentum to be remembered. Raising their hand to answer the question of glory past. In the corner is a shovel splintered with half the handle cut off. The narrowing part that comes to form a rounded...

Yes, many people want to travel to other stars....Yet making preparations and doing judicious planning is the aim of this book. Wisely though, this book isn’t technical. It has no mention of specific impulse calculations or ion shields. Rather, this book takes a very liberal view of space travel and ponders deep questions such as whether the cosmos is an ecosystem. Does our species have an appropriate culture for space travel? What exactly is a human? These concerns get raised in some very thought provoking sections. And given that the editor is an architect and one who apparently considers the...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of “Word for the Day”. execrate [ek-si-kreyt] verb (used with object), execrated, execrating. 1. to detest utterly; abhor; abominate. 2. to curse; imprecate evil upon; damn; denounce: He execrated all who opposed him. verb (used without object), execrated, execrating. 3. to utter curses. 1555-65; < Latin ex(s)ecr�tus (past participle of ex(s)ecr�rī to curse), equivalent to ex- ex-1+ secr- (combining form of sacr�re to consecrate; see sacrament ) + -�tus -ate Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word...

People will “resort to mob violence” when they “are finally aware of the fact that they’ve been tricked by their society, and that no matter how hard they work as middle class people” they are denied.“That is what’s going to happen in this country,” Savage said. “You have not yet seen mob violence in this country. You’ve seen some mob violence instigated by George Soros’ mobs. … But you haven’t seen the thing I’m telling you is coming in this country. You haven’t seen the ‘Day of the Locust’ yet.”

The movie Zuckerberg is a highly credible character, a computer genius located somewhere on the autistic spectrum with minimal to non-existent social skills. But that’s not what the man is really like. In real life, Zuckerberg was studying for a degree with a double concentration in computer science and – this is the part people tend to forget – psychology. People on the spectrum have a limited sense of how other people’s minds work; autists, it has been said, lack a ‘theory of mind’. Zuckerberg, not so much. He is very well aware of how people’s minds work and in...

Part II — As it may become As the rhythms of the seasons change, so also do the rhythms of human affairs. When culturally homogenous societies are destabilised by invasive parasites and predators, those societies swiftly atrophy and inevitably disappear into an encroaching darkness, where dawn remains but a hope beyond an unseen horizon, where the night people are well about and yet to be put to the sword. There is found the formative crucible within which men and women, bound by strength and tradition, gather together and stand firm against the onset of barbarism. But this response can only...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of “Word for the Day”. roorback or roorbach [roo r-bak] Word Origin U.S. noun 1. a false and more or less damaging report circulated for political effect, usually about a candidate seeking an office. Origin of roorback: 1844, Americanism; after a fictitious Baron von Roorback, in whose travelogue occurred an account of an incident damaging to the character of James K. Polk British: /ˈrʊəˌbæk/ noun 1. (US) a false or distorted report or account, used to obtain political advantage...

Judith Jones may not have been a household name, but without her, some of the world's most famous books may never have made it to many library and kitchen shelves. The editor died Wednesday at her home in Vermont, according to a statement from the publisher Knopf. She was 93. Her stepdaughter said the cause was complications from Alzheimer's disease. Jones worked at Knopf for more than five decades. She retired in 2011 as senior editor and vice president. It was 1950 when Jones at age 27 was working in Paris as an editorial assistant at Doubleday Publishing. She stumbled...

They aren't the same as your local reproductive health clinic. You’ve probably seen billboards saying: “Pregnant & Scared? We’re here to help.” However, the groups on the other end of the phone are deceptive organizations called Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs). As the number of compassionate and ethical reproductive health clinics across the country are rapidly closing their doors, CPCs, focused on convincing anyone contemplating abortion care to continue a pregnancy, are growing rapidly. Here are 6 things you need to know about Crisis Pregnancy Centers: CPCs masquerade as abortion clinics and healthcare providers—and lure pregnant women in the door with...

Hillary Clinton took to social media on Thursday to tell fans that it 'wasn't easy' to write her new memoir What Happened as she shared the link for fans to preorder it on Amazon for $22. 'I'll be honest: Writing “What Happened” wasn’t easy. Neither is witnessing what we see in the news every day. It’s never been more important to fight back and stand up for what we believe. I hope this book inspires you to keep going,' she said.

Berkeley Rep's play takes its title from The Octoroon, a 19th-century play about a person who is one-eighth Black.At the end of one entr’acte in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon, a slave from the antebellum South sweeps up balls of cotton strewn across the floor. As Dido (Jasmine Bracey) moved her broom around the stage, she whistled a few bars of “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” Those who caught the irony laughed nervously. Taken out of its original context — from the 1946 Disney film Song of the South — that immensely hummable, if damnable, tune epitomized the playwright’s repeated use of satiric assemblage and...

Teresa Tomeo interviewed Sharyl Atkisson the author of this book below in the last half of the stream at the link below. (starting around 27 minutes in); 'The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think and How You Vote' https://avemariaradio.net/audio-archive/catholic-connection-july-28-2017-hour-2/

FALMOUTH – It was an occasion that attracted generations. Mothers brought their mothers and their children to the Chelsea Clinton book-signing this morning at Eight Cousins Books in Falmouth.(snip) Over all, more than 1,000 copies were sold of “She Persisted” and an earlier Chelsea Clinton book, “It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going.” People began arriving for the signing before 8:30am, two hours before the 10:30 event, according to one attendee who was one of the first in line. Among the early arrivals were Kristin Bennett of East Falmouth with her three daughters, Grace, 5, Ellie, 7,...