No, not my compilation of 9/11 related links. Nor Trent's piece re: North Korea's coming nuclear test (and indirectly Iran's if he turns out to be right, with all of the implications that carries).
Instead, I recommend "The Time Traveler," from Dan Simmons. And its outstanding May 2006 follow up, discussing the piece, the thinking behind it, and the nature of Dan's craft. Mr. Simmons, you see, is a science fiction writer, and The Time Traveler is very much a standard story within that genre - albeit one that's closer than most to current situations and trends.
I've written about our darkening sky vis-a-vis Iran, and a related Postcards from the Edge piece looked at trends within our own society as well as Iran...
A recent melange of noteworthy items from all points is simmering into a 3rd post, but the bottom line is that they amount to a slide toward something much larger than our current global skirmishes. I also believe that the opportunities to stop it are dwindling fast - and that Dan's fictional world has a rising chance of looking a lot like our very real future.
I could be wrong. I hope I am. But let's put aside the "right" and "wrong" for a minute and let the future take care of that. It will anyway, right?
So read Dan's story, and ask yourself, as every science fiction reader does - "What if that IS the future? How would we know it was coming? What would it be like to live there?" Then read his follow-up, and think.
The future is not yet fixed, but the hour grows short. Meanwhile, intelligent thought as the citizen of a free society is both our responsibility to each other, and the one inalienable privilege each of us brings to the unfolding drama of our world.
"I tell you naught for your comfort,
Yea, naught for your desire,
Save that the sky grows darker yet
And the sea rises higher."
Excellent referral, Joe. Dan's first piece wasn't that great (reminded me of a dark fantasy version of Scrooge) but his follow-up was bang-on.
We've had Islamic cultures for hundreds of years, so it's not like they are something new or mysterious. A good reading of the history of those cultures does show various degrees of tolerence and intolerence -- far more of the latter than the former.
unfortunatly, altho time travel is theoretically possible in an einsteinian universe (as opposed to a newtonian one), travel TO the future has greater potential. =)
read me too.
oops!
try this
lolol! i always mess up the linx here!
joe!
u did that on purpose!
improved linkage
oldskool--serves u right if it breaks your page!
=)