It was good to see Colin Powell endorse Barack Obama this morning on Meet the Press.

I've always liked Powell, not only because he was born in the Bronx and attended City College (two of my proudest accomplishments), but because he always has had a way of cutting through the hype and… Read full post »

I just saw Sarah Palin in the Saturday Night Live opener.

Palin's skit revolved around the indistinguishability of her and Tina Fey's impression of her. The highpoint was a bit in which Alec Baldwin - Fey's co-star on 30 Rock - mistakes Palin for Fey.

And Palin was excellent. And that's the… Read full post »

The second episode last night of Life of Mars - American style - provided a few more clues as to what is really going.

Sam puts up a list of explanations about how he got from 2008 to 1973. Coma is at top of the list, ahead of time travel. The others… Read full post »

The Republicans are making a big deal about Barack Obama's words to Joe the Plumber that he wants to "spread the wealth".

This looks like it may be on the verge of becoming a new Republican tic.

Let's look at what it really means: Obama's tax plan would increase taxes for all people… Read full post »

My wife came across this story this morning on ABC. It was also reported a few days ago on CBS. Videos of both are at the end of this post.

Mother Cecelia Gaudette still puts in a few hours of work a day, at her typewriter, at her convent in Rome. She's… Read full post »

The last Presidential debate of this election, which I just saw on CSPAN, televised from Hofstra University, where I once taught a few courses, was the best so far. Best for Barack Obama, best for the moderator, but mixed for John McCain.

Obama looked the most Presidential he's been so far. He… Read full post »

Amidst all the heat and abrasion of this Presidential campaign, and Sarah Palin bald-facedly lying yet again just today that Obama wants to "raise taxes," it was uplifting and conducive to civilization indeed to learn that author Christopher Buckley (son of William F. Buckley) had endorsed Obama, ten… Read full post »

I posted my blog about Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman and Isaac Asimov in several other venues last night, including the Daily Kos, where a good discussion emerged about the impact of Asimov and his Foundation series. In the course of that discussion, a commentator - under the name of "thatvision… Read full post »

A great moment on the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer tonight, when new Nobel Laureate in Economics Paul Krugman was asked by Lehrer what inspired him to become an economist. Krugman replied it was reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation series as a teenager, and seeing how social scientists saved galactic ci… Read full post »

I just saw Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton give inspiring speeches on CSPAN at a campaign rally for Obama in Scranton, PA.

Inspiring - literally - as in uplifting, appealing to our better instincts. Joe Biden ending his speech with a call for Americans to "get up" and reclaim the… Read full post »

Did you see the Rachel Maddow Show tonight?

Talk about gall - and poor logic. Former Bush speechwriter David Frum, invited on the show to talk about his criticism of the McCain campaign for stirring up "fury" in the populace, took Maddow to task for contributing to the problem with her own… Read full post »

Fine start of Life on Mars on ABC tonight, and you know that I'm going to review this American version of the British series here, since I watch everything I can get my hands on regarding time travel, including Journeyman, relevant episodes of Lost and Heroes, and Deja Vu, too.

Here's the… Read full post »

A mind-reeling Episode 2.11 of Mad Men tonight - I can't recall if I've said that about Mad Men before - in which-

Well, let's get to the most important development first:

1. Don's out in Los Angeles (with Pete). He gets picked up a 21-year old bright beauty, Joy - and skips… Read full post »

America was founded amidst sharply different views of the democratic process. All of our Founding Fathers agreed with that we should be free of the British crown. But one group of Founding Fathers, led variously by John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, wanted to limit the people's po… Read full post »

For all you science fiction devotees out there, a little diversion before (or during) the debates...

 The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2.5: Unpacking the Future

Another prime Episode - 2.5 - of The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night, in which we get to see Kyle Reese in the future.

Kyle, of course, is… Read full post »

John McCain did ok in tonight's debate. Barack Obama did better. McCain needed to score a knock-out punch in the debate in order to reverse his skid in the polls. Given that he only did ok, and Obama did better, I'd say tonight's debate was a significant defeat for McCain, and… Read full post »

I just saw Bill Gates interviewed by Fareed Zakaria on his new CNN Sunday  show.

I've always been a supporter of Gates and how he changed America and the world with his vision. Indeed, I opposed the U.S. government's anti-monopoly campaign against Microsoft to the point of publishing "Leave Micro… Read full post »

Mad Men 2.10 began tonight with a mention of Ray Bradbury as an attraction for Paul in Pasadena and ended with the Tornados' 1962 instrumental hit "Telstar" playing on the plane as Don and Pete fly to Pasadena...

And in between, let's see ...

 1. Betty's father suffers a stroke and is… Read full post »

Science fiction author Mike Brotherton re-posted this today, with some new text commentary: my 6+ minutes on the Evolution of Science Fiction from the 2002 History Channel special ... a whirlwind from Mary Shelley through the Golden Age through cyberpunk to the present ...  novels, movies, pulps… Read full post »

Just saw the two-hour premier of the Sci Fi Channel's new series, Sanctuary, and very much enjoyed it. It began as a series of webisodes which I didn't see last year, so tonight was my first immersion in the series.

The show has a style and storyline all its own,… Read full post »

Not to worry, I'm not going to burden you with a complete or even partial Field Guide to Republican Tics here. But I thought I would shine a light on a few of them - and from time to time add more - and perhaps, someday, I'll put all of these… Read full post »

Sarah Palin definitely exceeded the low expectations that came from her embarrassing responses to Katie Couric earlier this week. But Palin avoided answering some of the questions, and a few of her answers verged on gibberish (as with Katie Couric).

In contrast, I thought Biden was fine, especially in… Read full post »

Some people are up in arms about the fact that Gwen Ifill, who will be moderating tonight's debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, has written a book about Obama - The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama - to be published on Inauguration Day.

Here, as a professor… Read full post »

In case you missed it in the New York Post:  my brief defense of Andrea Mitchell covering the bailout story on MSNBC, even though her husband is former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, who is being blamed in part for the crisis.

I disagree with the Columbia Journalism Review - always… Read full post »