Frank Schatzing's The Swarm

I am 84 years old and have read thousands of books of all sorts including masses of science fiction. Schatzing's 'The Swarm' is by all odds the most tendentious and boring book I have ever had the misfortune to pick up. I have to blame the University book shop manager who pulled it off the shelf and recommended it, knowing that I was a fan of science fiction and a writer of fiction myself. Since it only cost $5 I shouldn't complain except for the enormous waste of time, little of which I have to spare at my age. There may be a story plot buried in there someplace but mostly it is filled with long tiresome explanations being made by each of the scientists to other scientists who apparently haven't a clue about the details of the field being explained. The rampant excesses of killings and death add nothing to the story and actually tend to hide whatever meaning is supposed to be conveyed. I don't know anything about Mr. Schatzing but I had an unpleasant feeling about young German writers. I was even more disturbed by the fact that this book was apparently a best seller in Germany for two years! I have Germans in my family background and so does my wife but I couldn't help but think - Germany and we were on opposite sides in two world wars. I wonder if the national psyche of Germany has really been healed.
My Book site:
http://www.filedby.com/author/johnny_mack_hood/397584/

Use The Nuclear Waste

A Scientific American Article (2006) clearly explains how current technology can be supplemented to produce power reactors that can essentially burn over 90% of what is currently designated as "waste." The advantages of the proposed system include the following: (1) new facilities can use the current sites with the waste stream now being generated by the boiling water reactors going directly into the new fast neutron devices, (2) no weapons grade materials are produced, (3) the remaining wastes decay in hundreds, not thousands, of years and are only about 5% the size of the current waste stream. Employing these new technologies will be an act of political will. Current vested interests will have to be won over. The citizens of Nevada should be willing allies. I noted these facts in letters to Al Gore and our local legislators without any meaningful response from anyone. It is a tragedy if any politician takes a position against Nuclear as a major part of our energy problem or global warming without knowing about and acknowledging these new tools. We could run this country on our current store of nuclear waste for maybe five million years without burnng a pound of coal or a gallon of oil. I invite serious comment - particular negative ones.

My Friends and the "Other" Party

A majority of my friends (not my relatives) belong to the "other" political party. I have a gripe with them and with casual acquaintances who don't, as a rule, have a clue about my political views. Why do people, who have a perfect right to be passionate about their views, feel they have to convert me to their side. I have always felt that my friends have a right to disagree with me and, as a result, need not keep telling me to see the light and how to think. I take care not to bludgeon them with all the neat nasty things I could say about their candidate. Everyday life is more pleasant when we steer clear of religion and politics unless we are very sure of the company we are keeping. I feel the same way about bumper stickers. Consider this: when driving down the highway you see a sticker ahead of you that is exhorting you to vote for Joe Blow, the guy you despise. Are you going to seek out that driver as a new friend? Probably not. Bumper stickers stand between the displayer and about fifty percent of the strangers on the road, many of whom might have become good and valuable friends - aside from their politics. A more mundane reason exists for not pasting them on. When the election is over- whoever wins - the sticker comes off - or comes off with difficulty. Some times it never comes off. I saw a Ross Perot sticker the other day. Before I became heir to this profound bit of wisdom I had actually scratched the chrome on my bumper trying to get rid of a no longer relevant sticker.

The Island of Point Loma

Tomorrow I address the local Kiwanis club. Basically my message is, "Get to high ground." Earlier this year the Union Tribune carried a science article describing how the rising sea level would affect the city of San Diego. Aaron Steckleberg, a talented artist employed by the paper, prepared an illustrative map showing San Diego after a ten foot rise ins sea level - not an impossibility in the next 5o years. I had already written the story, "Adam's Isle." This art was perfect for the cover to my novel and the paper kindly allowed me to use the material for the first edition of the book. Check out the book site for details.
http://JOHNNYMACKHOOD.com

You Be The Judge

About three days ago Brian Williams had a puff piece on his evening news about the CERN, Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Without divulging any useful or interesting information He remarked on the wingnuts that opined the Earth, and maybe the whole universe, would be eaten up by a man made black hole. He closed with the instruction to the viewing audience - "You be the judge." This kind of reporting promotes the continuing ignorance of the American viewing public about science. For god's sake how could any individual of the American viewing public have an informed opinion on the operation of the LHC? Even physicists (and I are one) are in general not educated and informed on the intricacies of particle theory. The LHC is the product of decades of effort by more than 10,000 PhDs. To make matters worse the report failed to note that the lighting off of this machine that night would not include any energetic collisions. That would not come until late next fall. For some of the average viewing public the report may have caused some real anxiety. In India a young girl actually committed suicide fearing that the end of the world was near.