“There is one question alone that you must ask yourself in order to establish whether the serious novel will still retain cultural primacy and centrality in another 20 years. This is the question: if you accept that by then the…
Blog Posts
Tiananmen at 25: Selective Amnesia
European courts ruled recently that people have the “right to be forgotten.” What about the right not to be forgotten? Does that not apply to Tiananmen Square, where thousands of unarmed protesters were killed 25 years ago by their nation’s…
Total Recall
Can anyone recall a car manufacturer having a tougher time than GM is having right now? Oh yes, there was that dust up Ford faced in 1978 over the tinderbox it named after a bean—the Pinto. But as notorious as…
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the ISS
As Vladimir Putin tightens his grip on Crimea and masses troops along the Ukraine border, it’s a good time to remember that U.S. astronauts are entirely dependent on Russia for transportation to and from the International Space Station. NASA astronaut…
Identity Heft: Why I Got an ‘F’
A friend asked me why I started using my middle initial in bylines. I answered, “Because some guy in prison named Eric Frazier ranks higher in Google searches than I do.” If you have never searched your own name online,…
A Writer’s Resolution: Start New Word Diet
Starting a new diet is among the most common of New Year’s resolutions; it’s also a good time for writers to consider a diet of new words. This occurred to me while reading a recent newspaper piece by a nationally…
Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!
My preoccupation with the vagaries of language sent me searching this morning for the reason we say “Merry Christmas.” After all, we use the word happy to convey our best wishes for most other holidays, including the New Year, Easter,…
GPS Turns 40
December 2013 brought two important anniversaries for GPS, a technology that has changed the world, yet both milestones have gone unnoticed in the media. The Pentagon authorized GPS development 40 years ago on Dec. 17, 1973. If GPS were a…
Big(ger) Government
Conservative Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has found an issue on which he favors bigger government–or at least taller government. Issa, who chairs the House committee that oversees the District of Columbia, wants to relax the Height Act of 1910, which…
Thanksgiving Day Shoppers Should Go Cold Turkey
Black Friday’s days are numbered. It had a nice run before having to share the spotlight with Cyber Monday. But surely we all saw this coming. For years, the “official kickoff of Christmas shopping,” “the busiest retail day of the…