The day got away from me, so here is a track from the Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. It’s oddly suitable to current events. – The Spirit of Man.

What is intolerable will not be tolerated. This is the truth of our age and of all ages. I wish I could say I was surprised by recent events, both the shooting of citizens by the police and the shooting of police officers, but I am not surprised. Shocked, horrified, roiled with grief yes, but not surprised.

I will not drag out all the arguments and evidence but it is clear to me that we have a system issue with police forces acting with lethal impunity. Racial Bias is a major factor in that – if you do not think that is true I doubt that there are any arguments or data I could deploy to persuade you. Prosecutorial deference is a major factor, the occupation mentality of metropolitan police forces is a major factor, the crime waves from the 1960s through the 1990s are major factors, police forces becoming a major source of income for cities is a factor, how much or how little you assign to each of those and other factors is more likely to speak more to your bias than to objective reality. (And yes, that apples to me as well.)

Political finger points and point scoring will not make any of this better only worse. The root cause, police conduct, must be addressed and all the factors appraised as objectively as possible.

Nothing excuses last night’s terrorism, and that is the applicable term just as it was with Oklahoma City and 9/11. Nothing excuses the police forces in unjustified killings. We must move beyond seeking excuses and seeking solutions which are not the same thing at all.

I am not going to get into the politics of the atrocity. Not because this is not the time, but because there are many many others acting as excellent advocates for their positions and my voice is unneeded.

These thoughts of mine are of no particular importance but they are mine.

First, I dislike the use of the word ‘tragedy.’ Tragedy often suggests something passive, earthquakes, tidal waves, hurricanes, and diseases are tragic. This vile evil event was an atrocity. Atrocities are always active, there is an agency to them happen. A cowardly, evil man made this happen.

The details of the cowards life are still coming to light and often early details are erroneous, but the picture painted is a complex one. Yes, he was Islamic, though apparently not very devout. He claimed allegiance to ISIS during the event, but also a number of people reports he had been to the club often and was often rejected. He was born in the US and raised here, but at least his father seems much more of the old country.

There is enough here for nearly everyone to shove him and his actions into a predefined bucket. One that will no doubt fit a preconceived narrative and not challenge that person’s already held notions. The truth as it seems to me is far more complex and simple answers are likely to be wrong.

I think here in the United States we are experiencing a cultural pathology and I have no idea how to cure it.

This morning my sweetie-wife and I went out and saw Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and the film is lacking. Some mild spoilers follow.

It looks like the decision was made over at Warner Brothers that the DC cinematic Universe had to catch up right away with the gains made by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Where Marvel used 5 films to build up to their big team picture. The Avengers, WB is trying to take a shortcut and get there with only two films for the build up. (Despite the subtitle Dawn of Justice, the forming of the Justice League is not part of the movie.)

This movie follows on directly from the events in Man of Steel and using new angles and footage to place Bruce Wayne aka Batman in the chaos of the metropolis fight at the conclusion of that film. Due to Superman’s massive abilities and the carnage caused by the Kryptonian fights Batman has gone utterly paranoid, quoting Ex-VP Dick Cheeney that even a 1 percent chance of danger from Superman requires his elimination.

The overall and crippling flaw in this film is the script and its lack of any coherent plot. There really is no story here at all, and characters act wildly at odds with their established natures. Batman, though a gifted fighter and technologically capable person is, at heart, a detective. He follows clues and figures crap out, but not in in this film. This Batman is led by the nose, makes flagrant assumptions, and engages in mindless cruelty.

Superman has been DC’s boy scout to Marvels’ Captain America and as such that make him a double hard character to write. He possesses near limitless power and is utterly good. The writers here solve this problem by simply throwing out his character. Superman man is sullen and broody, hardly sparing a thought other than for himself and how terrible is his burden.

The plot – such as it is – turns on incomprehensible events. For example after a number of armed baddies or killed in a far away land, by bullets, shot to death, Superman is suspected of their murders, Really? Not scorched to a crisp or crushed into itty bitty diamonds, but simply shot and we’re expected to think that lots of people are going to buy that Superman did that? Including the world’s greatest detective? Give me a break.

The best of part the film is Gal Gadot as Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. She doesn’t have a lot to do, but what she does is nice, the actor is very good, and her story isn’t messed up, but perhaps that is a function of little screentime. Maybe if they tried to write more for her they would muck it up.

I can not recommend the move on any level. There are tons of action scenes, lots and lots of action, that makes no sense and have no emotional
meaning because of the lack of a story.

It boils down to – who cares?

In addition to learning patience as I wait for word on my manuscript’s fate at the publishers, I have also embarked on a mission to lose weight.

I am not doing anything wild, erratic, or even especially interesting. Just counting the calories, walking three miles a day, and logging it all. (Myfitness pal on my iPhone is really making this work for me.)

Here is my weight logged every two days for the last five months. I am about half way to my goal so all in all I don’t feel too bad.

I think that this is perhaps my favorite photograph I have taken of downtown San Diego.

This past Saturday I had a few friends over ordered pizza, and we enjoyed an afternoon of classic horror films from Universal Studios.

This is actually the second Monster Marathon we’ve done in this fashion. Marathon I we watched Frankenstein, The Mummy, and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

For Monster Marathon II the selection, based upon votes from the participants, were: The Invisible Man, The Wolf-Man, and The Phantom of the Opera (1943).

The Invisible Man is of course based up the novel by H.G. Wells. Wells had been unhappy with another studio’s adaptation of his novel The Island of Dr. Moreau into the film The Island of Lost Souls and Universal tried to stay closer to the source material the make the author happy. In the film, it is the invisibility serum that drives Jack Griffith mad, turning him into a megalomaniac and a murderer. Wells’ original concept revolved around the idea that power corrupts and that an invisible man, freed from the consequences of his action because he cannot be brought to justice, will surrender to his base drives and rages that are only kept in check by the iron rule of society. It is really a rather cynical theme. The 1933 film is well made and wastes no time in getting to the action and the character. James Whale knew to not bore the audience with dready set-up and exposition, something following horror filmmakers too often forget.

The Wolf-Man I have written on in another essay, but it bears repeating the central thing to know about this movie; nearly everything you think you know about werewolves can be traced to this script, this production. It is not as deftly made as The Invisible Man, concepts are repeated needlessly and there is too much set-up before we get into the meat of the plot. because there is too much set-up the plot resolves too quickly leaving the movie feeling rushed and unfinished.

Phantom of the Opera is the only movie of the marathon filme in color, and it was glorious technicolor. taking liberties with the source material, as Hollywood often does, this film also spends an elaborate about of screentime setting up Erique Claudin as the tragic violinist who when dismissed from hos post in the orchestra and murders a man he believes has stolen his composition (May I state that lawyers are a much better course of action in suspected I.P. theft cases than murder.) flees to the Opera house and becomes the phantom. This film is better made than The Wolf-Man, but the comedic aspect between Christine’s two suitors, and the missing mystery resolution as to why Erique is so invested in Christine’s future, damage the over-all movie.

All in all it proved to be an enjoybale Saturday afternoon followed by an evening of board and ard games. I hope everyone had a weekend as pleasant.

Hello everyone;

Life has been quite busy these last two weeks or so. I flew across the continent with my sweetie-wife to attended a family reunion that my sister had organized. That required flying San Diego to Orlando (and discovering my new favorite airline — Alaska Air), staying overnight in Orlando, then driving to the Tampa area to visit with my sweetie-wife’s relations, from there we drove across the state to the Vero beach/Fort Pierce for my relations and reunion. (during this time I discovered I really like the rental car a 2015 Chevy Sonic – it was a very decent car.) Then driving back to Orlando for the flight home, all with a five day time frame. The last day had plenty of stress, slow service at lunch, poorly selected routes, schedules missed, rough air all the way across the country, but in the end it was a good trip and good to see family again.

(Though Florida cooperated with high humidity to remind me why I live in San Diego.)

This past weekend was Conjecture 2014, a local SF convention. I participated as a panelist on four panels and had a real blast. Saw old friends, had good conversations, learned new researching skills. All in all a good, but slightly tiring weekend.

Now at work the busy season has started up and I’m expecting lots of overtime hours between now and sometime around March 2015.

A few weeks ago I signed up for an on-line college course in Macroeconomics. I am not taking the course for credit, but rather my own enlightenment. Economics is one of those fields of study where I do not have the sort of grounding I would like have, and as an SF author it has also bedeviled me in world-building.

The course has been very interesting and I do not doubt that some of my ignorance is being shaved away. As I have been going over the material I had an idea occur to me. Now I am sure brighter minds than I have already plowed this ground, but it is virgin territory to me and it is certainly something that has captured my attention.

First a re-cap on the Tragedy of the Commons.

Imagine you have a common – a pasture of grass that is owned by no particular individual. A group of people graze their sheep on the common, 2 sheep per person and every sells the wool from their sheep. As long as the number of sheep is not so high as to overgraze the common and kill the crass everything is fine. The trouble comes from the individual’s incentive. Each person can make more money for themselves by grazing more sheep, it cost that person nothing and gains them more wool to sell. If all the people do this, the common is destroyed and all are destitute. The idea of the Tragedy of the Commons is that individual incentives can work against both the common and individual good.

Now out modern economy is driven by a supply of goods and services which are purchased by consumers. The consumption by regular individuals is the largest factor in the equation. As people have greater incomes and more wealth they consumer more, causing greater production and the economy expands. It works best when all person have the greatest possible income that does not endanger production. All is well and good, until we consider the incentives of the individual producers; those who employ and distribute income.

Their twin motivations are to sell their goods and services for the highest possible price and to make the greatest possible profit from their production. In addition to seeking greater efficiencies, and lower cost materials, the producers have an incentive to lower the wage as far down as they can and keep the difference as increased profit. The Tragedy of the Commons rears its head in that if all or even most producers do this, then income falls, consumption falls, and in the end their sales and profit falls. Like the overgrazed common, it becomes a disaster for all.

This brings me to the concept and setting of a minimum wage. Like restriction on how many sheep can be grazed, a minimum wage, as I see it, could be used to stave off a contracting spiral in an unregulated economy. The best argument for a minimum isn’t justice, or fairness, or what kind of apartment can people earning it afford, it is what is the effect on aggregate consumption? When does having it too low become a drag by strangling consumption and when does having it too high choke production? Those, in my mind, are the truly critical questions.