I stopped buying real books around a decade ago.  I have nevertheless continued reading, several of them/year, but to my iPhone, which also works on my iPad.  It is not the same.  Convenient, but different. Every so often, one enters a transition, as for example, leaving home to college, or retiring.  Recently, I finished  The Three Body Problem  ( a Chinese novel I'll report on soon ), and began reading  Eruption . ( a novel about a Hawaii volcano ).  Also during this period, I finished watching two Netflix series,  OA  and  Zero Day .   Next?  I have a problem, which I'll explain later. Michal Crichton passed away in 2008, but I noticed this  facebook comment by someone named Michael Crichton .  Another kind of transition? Crichton’s work often examines the dangers of advanced technology spiraling out of human control, a theme that aligns closely with Zero Day ’s premise. In Prey, Jurassic Park, Sphere, and The...

First, two comments about our president, Donald Trump.   Remember how I've been telling you that Trump failed in his 6January2021 coup attempt mostly because he had no real control of the Department of Defense? Well, he is acting more swiftly than I thought, for  yesterday he fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown , who has been in the military for over 40 years, whose term in this position was supposed to end in September of 2027.   Trump gave no explanation on why. Trump also replaced Admiral Lisa Franchetti, head of the U.S. Navy, as well as the Air Force Chief of Staff and the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force.  They ensure enforcement of military justice. Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the firings were "un-American, unpatriotic, and dangerous for our troops and our national security. This is the definition of politicizing our military," he said. President Trump now ha...