tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2 2008-05-10T15:12:14Z Movable Type Publishing Platform 4.01 tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1652 2008-05-10T15:03:32Z 2008-05-10T15:12:14Z

Nick Bostrom hopes that the search for extraterrestrial life is unsuccessful. In the May/June 2008 issue of Technology Review, he writes: "What could be more fascinating than discovering life that had evolved entirely independently of life here on Earth? Many...

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com Nick Bostrom hopes that the search for extraterrestrial life is unsuccessful. In the May/June 2008 issue of Technology Review, he writes: "What could be more fascinating than discovering life that had evolved entirely independently of life here on Earth? Many people would also find it heartening to learn that we are not entirely alone in this vast, cold cosmos. "But I hope that our Mars probes discover nothing. It would be good news if we find Mars to be sterile. Dead rocks and lifeless sands would lift my spirit. "Conversely, if we discovered traces of some simple, extinct life-form--some bacteria, some algae--it would be bad news. If we found fossils of something more advanced, perhaps something that looked like the remnants of a trilobite or even the skeleton of a small mammal, it would be very bad news. The more complex the life-form we found, the more depressing the news would be. I would find it interesting, certainly--but a bad omen for the future of the human race." Find out why he thinks so here. ]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1651 2008-05-02T14:43:34Z 2008-05-02T14:47:42Z

Nebula Award winner Michael Chabon's eloquent February 4th op-ed piece on Barack Obama can be found here, and seems more relevant than ever....

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com Barack Obama can be found here, and seems more relevant than ever.]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1650 2008-04-25T13:11:25Z 2008-04-25T13:18:04Z

A new story by me, "The Rotator," featuring a couple of high-level miscreants, will be out in Future Americas, edited by John Helfers and Martin H. Greenberg for DAW and available for sale on June 3, 2008....

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com out in Future Americas, edited by John Helfers and Martin H. Greenberg for DAW and available for sale on June 3, 2008.]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1645 2008-04-16T14:45:03Z 2008-04-16T14:47:19Z

Barbara Fisher, at her food blog Tigers & Strawberries, writes about wasted food and what might be done to keep so much food from being wasted....

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com writes about wasted food and what might be done to keep so much food from being wasted. ]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1642 2008-04-05T14:09:27Z 2008-04-05T14:20:48Z

Joe Conason writes about Matthew Diaz, "a truth teller who deserves justice," here, at Salon. Conason points out: "What his story shows, once again, is that the durable old stereotype of the military man who yearns for authoritarian rule and...

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com here, at Salon. Conason points out: "What his story shows, once again, is that the durable old stereotype of the military man who yearns for authoritarian rule and brutality is largely false...[Diaz] has proved that the most reliable defenders of the Constitution these days are not in the civilian ranks of government but among the senior military officers. It was the neoconservative law professors and political bureaucrats who authorized, encouraged and justified the worst depredations against human and constitutional rights, from Abu Ghraib to Gitmo. It was the men and women in uniform who warned against those policies and tried to amend them." Well worth reading, especially after the declassification of John Yoo's evil memo. ]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1641 2008-03-28T14:22:01Z 2008-03-28T14:27:42Z

Slate's Fred Kaplan discusses the battles in Basra, and Arianna Huffington talks about looking at Iraq through a "glass eye."...

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com discusses the battles in Basra, and Arianna Huffington talks about looking at Iraq through a "glass eye." ]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1640 2008-03-23T15:29:08Z 2008-03-23T15:33:45Z

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a great science fiction writer and visionary, was buried yesterday in Sri Lanka. Today, the New York Times offers an op-ed piece written by Sir Arthur in 1994 and still timely, with a warning we should...

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com buried yesterday in Sri Lanka. Today, the New York Times offers an op-ed piece written by Sir Arthur in 1994 and still timely, with a warning we should all heed.]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1639 2008-03-16T16:37:14Z 2008-03-16T16:40:35Z

Richard Russo imagines Eliot Spitzer as a fictional protagonist....

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com Richard Russo imagines Eliot Spitzer as a fictional protagonist.]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1638 2008-03-16T14:23:04Z 2008-03-16T14:27:52Z

My novel Farseed has been selected by the New York Public Library for their annual Books for the Teen Age list. An exhibition of all of the selected best books will be held at the Celeste Bartos Forum in the...

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com Farseed has been selected by the New York Public Library for their annual Books for the Teen Age list. An exhibition of all of the selected best books will be held at the Celeste Bartos Forum in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in New York City on Saturday, March 22nd, from 12:30 to 4:00 pm.]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1637 2008-03-12T15:24:27Z 2008-03-12T19:09:31Z

So says Robert Scheer in words of wisdom that you can read here about recent events in my home town. Update: Glenn Greenwald has more....

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com here about recent events in my home town. Update: Glenn Greenwald has more.]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1631 2008-02-28T16:10:19Z 2008-02-28T16:22:52Z

Via Ezra Klein, I found this provocatively titled and subtitled piece by Ronald Bailey: Why Are People Having Fewer Kids? Perhaps it's because they don't like them very much." My thought is that it's because having kids is basically regarded...

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com Ezra Klein, I found this provocatively titled and subtitled piece by Ronald Bailey: Why Are People Having Fewer Kids? Perhaps it's because they don't like them very much." My thought is that it's because having kids is basically regarded as an extremely expensive hobby, at least in the U.S., with its lack of any real support for parents, but never mind. ]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1630 2008-02-27T14:12:23Z 2008-02-27T14:15:03Z

After enduring Tim "Pumpkinhead" Russert's inane "gotcha" questions on last night's Democratic debate, I was kind of in the mood for this piece by Garrison Keillor....

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com this piece by Garrison Keillor.]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1626 2008-02-03T20:34:03Z 2008-02-03T20:37:30Z

With George Zebrowski, I will be attending Boskone 45 on February 15-17, 2008, at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts....

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com George Zebrowski, I will be attending Boskone 45 on February 15-17, 2008, at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1624 2008-01-30T17:20:32Z 2008-02-01T15:55:46Z

My favorite candidate is dropping out of the presidential race, but as Ezra Klein points out here, "John Edwards' campaign...triumphed. The progressivism of the race, the focus on ideas, the courage of the Democrats -- all were products of his...

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com favorite candidate is dropping out of the presidential race, but as Ezra Klein points out here, "John Edwards' campaign...triumphed. The progressivism of the race, the focus on ideas, the courage of the Democrats -- all were products of his early example...his candidacy, even if it fails, will have been far more successful than most." Update: More from Ezra Klein here. ]]> tag:www.pamelasargent.com,2008://2.1623 2008-01-25T21:48:32Z 2008-01-25T21:59:18Z

At Slate, Fred Kaplan tells us some bad news about the Army's newer recruits. For more about losses among the officer corps, read Andrew Tilghman's article for the Washington Monthly, "The Army's Other Crisis," here....

Pamela Sargent http://www.pamelasargent.com Slate, Fred Kaplan tells us some bad news about the Army's newer recruits. For more about losses among the officer corps, read Andrew Tilghman's article for the Washington Monthly, "The Army's Other Crisis," here.]]>