4 AM Thoughts

Violence is not speech and speech is not violence. If you conflate the two, you will invariably use violence to quell the speech that you most need to hear. This is because the thing you need the most is usually in the place you least want to look. With regards to Jordan Peterson.

This is why Meta is going to fail

So while Mrs. Vasicek and I were in the theater for the first time since the pandemic, watching the trailers before Dune, we saw this commercial for Facebook’s new Meta rebrand: Since the theater was almost completely empty, we were already having fun by making snarky commentary. And when this commercial came on, it was… Continue reading This is why Meta is going to fail

DUNE!

So Mrs. Vasicek and I saw the new Dune movie in theaters last weekend, and let me just say, it was awesome in every sense of the word! Speaking as someone who’s read the novel three times and fervently believes it to be the most perfect science fiction book ever written, this movie did not… Continue reading DUNE!

Navigating Woke SF, Part 4: Götterdämmerung

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation today, after his sexual harrassment scandal that has seen an overwhelming number of women come forward. As tempted as I am to dive into the politics of this story, I bring it up only to provide context for this: Yeah, I’m cringing too. For the last several years—arguably, since… Continue reading Navigating Woke SF, Part 4: Götterdämmerung

Navigating Woke SF, Part 1: Short Story Markets and Author Blacklists

Last year, I had a short story published in the anthology Again, Hazardous Imaginings: More Politically Incorrect Science Fiction. Not only was it one of my highest paying short story sales to date, but it also made it onto the Tangent Online 2020 Recommended Reading List with a *** rating, their highest tier. Only 13… Continue reading Navigating Woke SF, Part 1: Short Story Markets and Author Blacklists

So… what now? Where do we go from here?

For the last several months, I’ve struggled to put my thoughts together into something that I felt was appropriate for this blog. Even though I allow myself to be political here, I’m also keenly aware that I have many readers who might enjoy my books and yet disagree with my politics. I don’t want my… Continue reading So… what now? Where do we go from here?

A letter to my 2019 self from my 2020 self

First off, before you read anything else in this letter, go and buy the following items: A couple hundred N95 masks. A box of 100 buckshot shells. A Costco sized jar of vitamin C. A Costco sized jar of vitamin D3 (50 micrograms). Got that? Okay, good. Second, don’t panic. You are (mostly) already prepared… Continue reading A letter to my 2019 self from my 2020 self

Marxism is the new Black

The 21st century disciples of Karl Marx have a problem: all of Marx’s theories have been debunked, and all of his predictions have failed. The workers of the world never rose up. Capitalism never gave way to communism. The class wars ended because extreme poverty ceased to be a global issue. The labor theory of… Continue reading Marxism is the new Black

What have we learned from the BLM riots?

The driving forces of Antifa, the BLM movement itself, and most of the violence on the ground are far-left Marxists who seek to bring a Bolshevik-style revolution to the United States. Having failed to start a class war in the most prosperous country in the world, they are now substituting race for class in their… Continue reading What have we learned from the BLM riots?