David Dvorkin @DavidDvorkin@qoto.org

#introduction
Before retiring, I was an aerospace engineer (Apollo, Viking Mars lander), software developer, and tech writer. But that was to pay the bills. I think of myself as a writer -- mostly sf, some horror, some mystery, some (yet unpublished) fantasy. Lots of details at www.dvorkin.com

My wife and I also help writers self-publish. You can find out more at www.dldbooks.com

In theory, I should be writing much more now that I'm retired. In practice, that's not happening. I blame the Internet.

Spare me your secular solstice celebration.

https://eyeblister.blogspot.com/2025/12/spare-me-your-secular-solstice.html

Dementident Dump will address the nation tonight. He will state plainly that the nation's troubles are his fault, not Biden's, and he will humbly apologize for his stupidity, incompetence, and general nastiness, and he will promise to do bett-- Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Assuming Trump is still alive and babbling during the 2028 presidential campaign, it will be amusing to see the GOP presidential nominee desperately trying to avoid Trump's endorsement.

We have a demented president who spews drek from his oral sphincter, which his acolytes lap up eagerly while normal Americans and the rest of the world look on in horror and wonder when Mother Nature will do her damn job.

Whatever you think of the Democrats, you should vote for them instead of that shithole party.

Good news, if this study is accurate.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251205054736.htm

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial institution in Jerusalem has a searchable database of Holocaust victims. They just passed 5,000,000 names and have some hope of being able to recover 250,000 of the remaining one million. I searched the database and found the names of my mother's mother and teenage sister:
https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/9151952
https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/names/9151953

During the Dubya administration, I published a darkly comic novel titled Business Secrets from the Stars which involved a near-future right-wing-religious takeover of the US. I thought it was probably far-fetched. It wasn't, although the reality isn't comic, but it is dark.

Did the MAGAts finally give up trying to pretend that Charlie Kirk's assassin was not one of their own? I haven't seen that for a while.

Maybe soon call centers will be replaced by AI that I'll be able to understand on the phone.

My speculation about a loyalty oath and disappearances was off the mark, but I had the end result right: a military transformed into a super-Gestapo eager to do Der Fuehrer's bidding.

It's easy to be either alarmist or dismissive. It's often not clear which one is appropriate. In the current atmosphere, I think it's wise to err on the side of alarmism.

Here's one possible explanation for Hegseth calling so many top generals and admirals to a meeting on September 30th. I hope this is far fetched, but here's my hypothetical scenario.

The officers will be met by thousands of heavily armed ICE goons who will immediately arrest and disappear them. They will then be replaced by junior officers loyal to Trump. In other words, an even larger scale, and possibly less bloody, Night of the Long Knives.

When the Republican whackadoodles are finally ousted and depart Washington leaving behind a giant Trump statue, it will soon be discovered that the statue is Styrofoam with sprayed-on cheap gold paint.

It's no longer even newsworthy when Trump embarrasses us in front of the world. We cringe, roll our eyes, and go on. He has lowered the bar to the ground.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that historical facts are far less entertaining than self-righteous indignation.

It would be amusing if there were an afterlife and MAGAts, after dying, found themselves being treated there as unwelcome immigrants.

I'm so excited for the Rapture. I can't wait for Trump and his followers to get sucked down to Hell. That is the way it works, right?

Karoline Leavitt is the worst one yet. It's disturbing to think what vile thing will take her place once she inevitably leaves for Fox So-Called News.

MAGA is a core of stupid, ignorant people filled with anger and resentment, led by opportunistic demagogues and catered to by amoral plutocrats. It's a deadly combination we've seen throughout history. Our institutions weren't designed to protect us against it, and I don't see how they can be modified to do so.