The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

Author: mongreldogs

  • Lunacon (1)

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    mongreldogs
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    This past weekend, I attended Lunacon 50, a science fiction convention held annually in Rye, New York by the New York Science Fiction Society. I wanted to attend “a con” this year and I chose Lunacon because, of the Northeast conventions I could find online, it seemed the most writer-friendly and writer-centric. Appropriately, for the…

  • Health of the Republic down, 4% to 25%

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    mongreldogs
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    The Health of the Republic bar has dropped another 4% in recent weeks. This is largely due to the unfolding three scandals at the Department of Justice: The blatantly-political firing of eight US prosecutors The new revelations about presidential interference in the internal DOJ audit of the warrantless wiretapping program The rampant abuse of National…

  • Quickie: Accidentally-hilarious writing

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    mongreldogs
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    I was flipping through the channels and came across FX’s presentation of The Day After Tomorrow. I’d never seen it before — movies like this make my teeth hurt, because the science is just so bad. But I decided to give it a go. My full opinion on the movie would likely bore you but…

  • Marc Cohn in Carnegie Hall

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    I am not really much of a “joiner” and I don’t have many entertainment things about which I get passionate. Long ago, however, I decided that I would pick an artist and follow them closely. I chose Marc Cohn, whom you might remember from a 1991 hit “Walking in Memphis”, which still gets significant airplay,…

  • Review: Echelon

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    mongreldogs
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    Echelon a novel by Josh Conviser InstaRating: 2 out of 5 This book\’s title caught my interest because I keep up with surveillance tech and its social implications, and ECHELON — the alleged US NSA electronic sifting program — is the monster of all surveillance programs. Although I knew this was a spy thriller, I…

  • Snow Day!

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    The sweetest two words to any teacher’s ears (well, other than “summer vacation” :)), and the only good reason to receive a phone call at 5 in the morning. 🙂

  • Testing stats

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    Today I found a plugin called Lightstats that compiles some WordPress statistics.

  • Health of the Republic down, 1% to 29%

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    mongreldogs
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    The Health of the Republic bar has shifted downward another percentage point. This follows the promulgation of a presidential decree that gives the White House a greater say over the issuance of policy guidelines by agencies. Previously most such documents were crafted by civil servants but now, they must pass through a politically-appointed gatekeeper (a…

  • Review: World War Z

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    World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks InstaRating: 5 out of 5 After the debacle that was The Stonehenge Gate, I was looking for something good to read, to wash the taste of failed prose from my mouth. Happily I picked up this piece of psuedo-history. Written by the…

  • Review: The Stonehenge Gate

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    mongreldogs
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    The Stonehenge Gate a novel by Jack Williamson InstaRating: 1 out of 5 … maybe less During those moments when I delude myself that I’m a writer, I pursue an odd oscillation in my reading. I like to read great works of fiction, to have something towards which to aspire. But I like to leaven…