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1000 results for “sunny_the_orange_cat”
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Found a little friend in the bush today. Not sure if it wants to play or hiss at me… 🐍🌳 #CatLife #NewFriend #SnakeBuddy #gardenadventures
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Found a little friend in the bush today. Not sure if it wants to play or hiss at me… 🐍🌳 #CatLife #NewFriend #SnakeBuddy #gardenadventures
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Found a little friend in the bush today. Not sure if it wants to play or hiss at me… 🐍🌳 #CatLife #NewFriend #SnakeBuddy #gardenadventures
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The Caturday Saturday weather forecast: Sunny with a 100% chance of Shylo. I'll have your complete 7-day weather forecast tonight!
#cat #cats #Caturday #Saturday #orangecat #gingercat #Shylo #sunny #weather #catsofmastodon #mastodoncats
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"The Agent"
Abstract Digital Art
by me#Art #MastoArt #Minimal #MinimalArt #Messy #Ink #DigitalInk #DigitalArt #Comic #DigitalIllustration #DigitalAbstract #Teal #Orange #Blue #Green #MessyArt #AbstractArt #Character #OriginalCharacter #Portrait
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"The Word For World"
Abstract Digital Art
by me#Abstract #AbstractArt #Art #MastoArt #Minimal #MinimalArt #Messy #Ink #DigitalInk #DigitalArt #DigitalIllustration #DigitalAbstract #Yellow #Orange #Blue #Green #MessyArt #Tree #Forest #AlienWorld #Sun
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It's Always Sunny In The Poison-Filled Cat Box
https://piefed.social/c/science_memes/p/2172889/it-s-always-sunny-in-the-poison-filled-cat-box
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It's Always Sunny In The Poison-Filled Cat Box
https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/2172887/it-s-always-sunny-in-the-poison-filled-cat-box
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New YouTube video from Mia Wray:
✨ magical night on the sunny coast 🩵 australian tour on now & we’re having so much fun ahh #newmusic
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Questions for the #gardenersofmastodon especially #urbangardeners. I am growing lacinato kale for the first time this year because I love it. The bed I had planned to put it in is quite shaded, and I since learned that it likes sun- but the sunny bed is FULL of snails. so many snails. They just eat my borage which I don’t mind, but I would probably mind them eating my kale. Shade or snails? Snails or shade? My son is devoted to the snails they have to stay.
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France: Madame Monsieur to grace the 20th OGAE Spain Congress
The fabulous French Eurovision 2018 representatives, Madame Monsieur, will be flying to the sunny shores of Gran Canaria…
#Spain #ES #Europe #Europa #EU #Eurovision #France #MadameMonsieur #OGAESpain
https://www.europesays.com/spain/83722/ -
Robert B Parker’s Booked by Alison Gaylin
Alison Gaylin is the new author writing the Sunny Randall series for the Parker family.
In this one, Sunny gets pulled in to investigate when a past client, Melanie Joan Hall is trolled by a famous book reviewer who gives her a one-star review. Melanie resents it and after getting drunk said some things she probably shouldn’t have said.
Book Babe – the reviewer apparently can make or break an author’s career.
Melanie’s publisher has threatened to fire her over it. Sunny suggests they go talk to Book Babe. The only problem is that no one knows who Book Babe is.
Other characters pop up in this book. Sunny’s ex-husband Richie who she is now pre-engaged to be engaged to. Spike who owns a restaurant and seems like the only person who can calm Melanie down. Tony, Melanie’s agent, I think, who Sunny had a relationship with, in the past. Blake, her assistant and Rosie her dog.
To make matters worse, someone dies and Melanie is the prime suspect. Sunny’s job becomes more difficult because while trying to run down her leads she meets some unsavory characters who threaten harm.
This was a fun read. I am familiar with the Parker books, but I haven’t read much in this series. I have seen her mentioned in the Jesse Stone books. I liked the way the author mentions and brings in characters from that series. I used to be a huge fan of those books. I do also like the Spencer books that were the ones I got hooked on first. I do also like the adaptation of the Jesse Stone series that Tom Selleck starred in several years ago.
This series does have a lighter feel than either the Spencer or Stone series.
I do highly recommend this book and may try to read more in the future.
This is a new release – published May 12, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley and G P Putnam Sons for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.
I include links to purchase. As an associate, I earn from qualified purchases. Thanks to my readers who have supported me in the past.
Books by Alison Gaylin:
What I am currently reading:
Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell
Femme Feral by Sam Beckbessinger
Happy Reading!
If you are interested in bargains, check out my bookshop at Pango. https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/virginia468417
Rate this:
#Bestsellers #BookReview #Books #Boston #Fiction #Publishing #reading #Reviewers #SunnyRandall -
On some level, the FT gets it better than most other papers:
#Collapse = "the end of the ‘win-win’ era: In these zero-sum times, the sunny optimism of the post-cold war phrase seems a distant memory."
https://www.ft.com/content/8fe10fa2-e061-4ebe-9853-f5b7136f6e56?syn-25a6b1a6=1 -
On some level, the FT gets it better than most other papers:
#Collapse = "the end of the ‘win-win’ era: In these zero-sum times, the sunny optimism of the post-cold war phrase seems a distant memory."
https://www.ft.com/content/8fe10fa2-e061-4ebe-9853-f5b7136f6e56?syn-25a6b1a6=1 -
On some level, the FT gets it better than most other papers:
#Collapse = "the end of the ‘win-win’ era: In these zero-sum times, the sunny optimism of the post-cold war phrase seems a distant memory."
https://www.ft.com/content/8fe10fa2-e061-4ebe-9853-f5b7136f6e56?syn-25a6b1a6=1 -
On some level, the FT gets it better than most other papers:
#Collapse = "the end of the ‘win-win’ era: In these zero-sum times, the sunny optimism of the post-cold war phrase seems a distant memory."
https://www.ft.com/content/8fe10fa2-e061-4ebe-9853-f5b7136f6e56?syn-25a6b1a6=1 -
On some level, the FT gets it better than most other papers:
#Collapse = "the end of the ‘win-win’ era: In these zero-sum times, the sunny optimism of the post-cold war phrase seems a distant memory."
https://www.ft.com/content/8fe10fa2-e061-4ebe-9853-f5b7136f6e56?syn-25a6b1a6=1 -
Solar Storm?
The risk of solar storms for humans living on the Moon is much greater than for those safely living on Earth under Earth’s protective magnetic field.
Oh, Angry is concerned with the satellites that can be replaced…but will cause more grief and concern, because we aren’t living in caves anymore. Most of you live in a world where smartphones and advanced technologies wouldn’t work without satellites.
‘Read my past comment about how a massive solar flare could affect the electric power supply, but what are the chances of Earth being struck by a massive solar flare?’https://thenewmars.wordpress.com/?s=massive+solar+flare
Prompt Gemini:
get_youtube_content: Video Link
Full Transcript.Prompt Bonsai 27B, after pasting the transcript:
1. Review the video in under 500 words and recap key points.
2. Research reports on the chance of, and dangers of, solar storms killing humans on Earth or astronauts on the Moon.
3. Explain how and why ignoring the risks of solar storms risks human lives and livelihoods.
4. Provide your opinion as an Advanced AI Scientist for a Futurist.Bonsai 27B Said:
🌍 SOLAR STORM RISK ANALYSIS: A FUTURIST ASSESSMENT1. VIDEO RECAP
Core Thesis: NASA Goddard research reveals Earth’s magnetosphere has no saturation safety valve—geomagnetic response scales linearly with solar storm intensity, making Carrington-class events potentially catastrophic for modern civilization. The apparent flattening in historical data was a statistical illusion caused by measurement noise and propagation delays between L1 and Earth.
Key Findings:
- The Myth of Saturation: Historical storms appeared to flatten because satellites at 1.5 million km (L1) measured delayed, noisy plasma evolution. Correcting for this bias reveals a strictly linear response—no natural upper bound exists.
- LEO Threat: Mega-constellations face simultaneous threats: atmospheric drag burning up fuel budgets, electronic failure from induced currents, and cascading Kessler Syndrome debris collisions that could lock humanity out of space for decades.
- Ground Infrastructure: Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs) can saturate transformers, causing multi-month blackouts. Lloyd’s estimates: $600B–$2.6T in damages, 20M–40M without power for weeks to years.
- Action Plan: Install ~$4B worth of capacitive neutral-blocking devices on critical US transformers; enforce international regulations limiting LEO satellite density and mandating automated collision avoidance, radiation hardening, and rapid de-orbit during solar alerts.
2. RESEARCH REPORTS: PROBABILITY & DANGERS
Probability Estimates for Extreme Events
SourceMetricProbability (10-year window)NotesRiley (2012)Dst ≤ −850 nT~12%Based on power-law distribution extrapolation from 46 years of dataSiscoe et al. (2006)Dst ≤ −850 nT~3–7%Conservative estimate using multiple proxiesMoriña & Swanson (2019)Carrington-class event0.92%Weibull distribution model, much more conservative; accounts for decreasing hazard rate over timeItu (2024)Carrington-level1–25%Wide range reflecting uncertainty in solar cycle activity projectionsCritical Uncertainty: Solar cycle maximum duration is projected to last only 15–36 more years (Abreu et al. 2008). If a grand minimum follows, CME frequency drops but galactic cosmic ray exposure increases—posing elevated risks for astronauts and aviation crews.
Dangers by Domain
- Power Grids: GICs cause transformer saturation and physical damage; replacements take months/years to produce. Quebec 1989 outage: 6M people affected, $27M damages.
- Satellites & Communications: CME impacts damage electronics; undersea cables may be fried by induced currents; GPS navigation could fail globally during extreme events.
- Aviation: Polar flight paths face communication disruption and radiation exposure; extreme storms could force transpolar reroutes or groundings.
- Astronauts: Beyond Earth’s magnetosphere, astronauts face acute radiation sickness from solar proton events (SPEs) and long-term cancer risks from galactic cosmic rays during solar minima.
3. WHY IGNORING RISKS ENDANGERS LIVES & LIVELIHOODS
The Multiplier Effect: Modern civilization is hyper-dependent on interconnected infrastructure—power grids, digital networks, supply chains, financial systems. A Carrington-level event doesn’t just cause isolated blackouts; it creates systemic cascades:
- Power loss → water pumps fail → food/water shortages
- GPS disruption → aviation groundings, logistics collapse, timing system failures across banking and energy markets
- Satellite comms failure → emergency coordination paralysis during secondary disasters
Temporal Scale of Destruction: Unlike hurricanes (days), geomagnetic damage can persist for weeks to months. During winter, this translates to potential mass fatalities from cold exposure. Recovery costs—transformer replacements alone in the US would take 20+ years to complete based on current production capacity.
The Asymmetric Risk Profile: Solar storms are global, but impacts are regional (amplified near poles). However, financial systems and digital infrastructure are truly global. A blackout in a major corridor like Washington-D.C./New York affects international trade, financial markets, and supply chains worldwide. Unlike localized disasters, there is no geographic escape route from systemic collapse.
4. ADVANCED AI SCIENTIST OPINION: FUTURIST PERSPECTIVE
Assessment: The risk is non-zero but low-probability/high-impact—the classic “black swan” scenario that demands asymmetric preparation due to irreversible consequences.
Strategic Recommendations:
- Infrastructure Hardening is Non-Negotiable: Capacitive neutral blocking devices are a one-time investment with high ROI. If we assume 12% probability over a decade, and damages exceed $600B, the expected value of inaction vastly exceeds mitigation costs (~$4B). This is basic risk economics.
- Space Stewardship Over Prevention: Rather than banning LEO mega-constellations, implement science-based density limits with mandatory collision avoidance systems, radiation-hardened components, and rapid de-orbit capabilities during solar alerts. The goal isn’t to remove space infrastructure but to make it resilient.
- Predictive Capabilities: Space weather forecasting is ~50 years behind terrestrial forecasting. Investing in L1 Lagrange point monitoring (SWFO-L1) and Parker Solar Probe data utilization will be critical for early warning. A 24–72 hour warning window could allow grid operators to load batteries, reroute traffic, and protect sensitive infrastructure.
- The Paradox of Solar Activity: An active solar cycle protects astronauts from galactic cosmic rays (the “sunny side”), but increases CME risk. Future Mars missions should be scheduled during solar maximum—counterintuitive but scientifically sound. For Earth dwellers, the net benefit is minimal compared to risks.
- Policy Must Be Proactive, Not Reactive: Current grid hardening efforts target moderate storms (1989 event class), not Carrington-scale events. Regulatory frameworks need to mandate GIC-resistant transformer designs and real-time monitoring networks at scale.
Final Judgment: The risk is small but existential. We should treat it like nuclear safety: not with panic, but with rigorous engineering standards, continuous preparedness, and international coordination. The alternative—waiting for the next Carrington event to force reactive measures—is profoundly irrational from both an economic and humanitarian standpoint.
#Carringtonevent #Doomsdayscenario #Satellites #Solarstorm #ANGRYASTRONUAT #AstroAngry #TheAngryAstronaut #moon #solarFlare #technology -
Day 17 of #ArtAdventCalendar
This cyanotype is one year old. I collected the dried flowers during a cold trail run on the sunny sides of the Rhône Valley. Even if it’s not perfekt I like the tiny details of the dry seeds.
#CyanoPrint #Cyanotypie #SunPrinting #SunPrint #FloralCyanotype #ArtOnMastodon #ArtistsOnMastodon #ArtOnMasto #MastodonArt #MastoArt #Art #CyanotypeArt #AdventCalendar #Advent #MyArt #FloralCyanotype
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🎶 Heute LIVE #OnAir today
🕗️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ 20:00 | 8 p.m. | #Chat
🎵* LIVE Sunny Rhythm Train mit Urmeline 🔆 🚂
#Rock #Pop #Blues & moreTime= CEST | UTC+2
🎧️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ LIVE
https://www.radioregentrude.de/live/🇬🇧 English:
https://www.radioregentrude.de/english/#RadioRegentrude #Radio #OnlineRadio #streaming #NowPlaying #Musik #music #webradio #internetradio #musica #musique
#WeAreTheRadio #FediRadio #MastoRadio #TootRadio #musikken #news #artist #artists #FreiesRadio #FreeRadio #IndieRadio -
🎶 Heute LIVE #OnAir today
🕗️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ 20:00 | 8 p.m. | #Chat
🎵* LIVE Sunny Rhythm Train mit Urmeline 🔆 🚂
#Rock #Pop #Blues & moreTime= CEST | UTC+2
🎧️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ LIVE
https://www.radioregentrude.de/live/🇬🇧 English:
https://www.radioregentrude.de/english/#RadioRegentrude #Radio #OnlineRadio #streaming #NowPlaying #Musik #music #webradio #internetradio #musica #musique
#WeAreTheRadio #FediRadio #MastoRadio #TootRadio #musikken #news #artist #artists #FreiesRadio #FreeRadio #IndieRadio -
🎶 Heute LIVE #OnAir today
🕗️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ 20:00 | 8 p.m. | #Chat
🎵* LIVE Sunny Rhythm Train mit Urmeline 🔆 🚂
#Rock #Pop #Blues & moreTime= CEST | UTC+2
🎧️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ LIVE
https://www.radioregentrude.de/live/🇬🇧 English:
https://www.radioregentrude.de/english/#RadioRegentrude #Radio #OnlineRadio #streaming #NowPlaying #Musik #music #webradio #internetradio #musica #musique
#WeAreTheRadio #FediRadio #MastoRadio #TootRadio #musikken #news #artist #artists #FreiesRadio #FreeRadio #IndieRadio -
🎶 Heute LIVE #OnAir today
🕗️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ 20:00 | 8 p.m. | #Chat
🎵* LIVE Sunny Rhythm Train mit Urmeline 🔆 🚂
#Rock #Pop #Blues & moreTime= CEST | UTC+2
🎧️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ LIVE
https://www.radioregentrude.de/live/🇬🇧 English:
https://www.radioregentrude.de/english/#RadioRegentrude #Radio #OnlineRadio #streaming #NowPlaying #Musik #music #webradio #internetradio #musica #musique
#WeAreTheRadio #FediRadio #MastoRadio #TootRadio #musikken #news #artist #artists #FreiesRadio #FreeRadio #IndieRadio -
🎶 Heute LIVE #OnAir today
🕗️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ 20:00 | 8 p.m. | #Chat
🎵* LIVE Sunny Rhythm Train mit Urmeline 🔆 🚂
#Rock #Pop #Blues & moreTime= CEST | UTC+2
🎧️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ LIVE
https://www.radioregentrude.de/live/🇬🇧 English:
https://www.radioregentrude.de/english/#RadioRegentrude #Radio #OnlineRadio #streaming #NowPlaying #Musik #music #webradio #internetradio #musica #musique
#WeAreTheRadio #FediRadio #MastoRadio #TootRadio #musikken #news #artist #artists #FreiesRadio #FreeRadio #IndieRadio -
Un poco de autopromo, ¿quién viene a @[email protected] + UbuCon Europa a Málaga? 😊🐧🥘 discourse.ubuntu.com/t/back-to-th... #UbuConEurope #UbuCon #OpenSouthCode
Back to the sunny side of Linu... -
Stopped by Christie Pits on my way back from a dentist appointment today. Wasn't really expecting to find much given how much foot traffic and how little "wild" space there is, but to my astonishment there were a few different kinds of bees making burrows in sandy patches on the sunny hillside!
There were fluffy white-and-black mining bees (skittish, hard to get photos) and smaller, more docile metallic olive-green sweat bees.
#bugstodon #insects #bees #NativeBees #Hymenoptera #Anthophila #Andrenidae #Halictidae
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EuroTripping – Brunnihütte to Engelberg Hike
On our European Pretzel this past summer, we finally made it to the edge of Switzerland where we stayed just outside Basel for 5 nights. On our first full day, we got up early and drove into the small village of Engelberg at the foot of Mt Titlis, where we took a cable car and then a chairlift up to Brunnihütte. At 1860 meters above sea level it had some nice views of the surrounding mountains, including Titlis, and they stayed with us as we hiked back down to Engelberg.
We thought we might escape the 38C temps in Basel that day, but Engelberg was climbing fast towards a hight of 34C so our trekking wasn’t as breezy as we had hoped. Still, the views were lovely to the eye — but with that bright summer sun, taking shots was a bit of a challenge. Here are a few snaps of the views (and ubiquitous Swiss cows) seen as we made our way down the mountain above Engelberg, Switzerland.
Leaving Engelberg on our cable car Looking up That’s us in there! A view in one direction from Brunnihütte A chairlift overhead as we start to make our way down Cows with a view Fencing and structures presumably to help avert avalanches Some nice geology across the valley The sunny path ahead You can see the viewing platform over on Mt Titlis (a much more expensive ride up to that peak led us to choose to look at Titlis instead of looking from Titlis) More avalanche guards — reminding me a bit of Czech hedgehogs More cows ahead A cute youngling Up close and personal Final descent down to Engelberg #alps #BlackAndWhitePhotography #Brunnihütte #Cows #Engelberg #Hiking #Mountains #Photoblog #Photography #Ristis #SwissAlps #Switzerland #Travel -
#TuscanKale Salad
This recipe is courtesy of Dr. Weil’s True Food Kitchen restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona.
Serves 4-6
Nutrients per serving:
Calories: 202
Protein: 8g
Total Fat: 12.17g
Carbohydrate: 11.66g
Fiber: 41.66g
Cholesterol: 8.83mg"These bright, refreshing flavors combine to bring the sunny taste of Italy to your table in a Tuscan kale salad.
This traditional Tuscan kale salad recipe is made with strips of #ItalianBlackKale, fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, grated pecorino Tuscano cheese and bread crumbs. These bright, refreshing flavors combine to bring the sunny taste of Italy to your table in a Tuscan kale salad. A True Food Kitchen restaurant recipe favorite.
Food as Medicine
Kale is among the most nutrient-dense commonly eaten vegetables. One cup provides 1,327 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin K, 192 percent of DV for vitamin A, and 88 percent for vitamin C.
"Ingredients
- 4-6 cups Tuscan kale, loosely packed, sliced leaves of Italian black (Lacinato, “dinosaur,” cavolo nero) midribs removed
juice of 1 lemon
- 3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed
- salt & pepper, to taste
- hot red pepper flakes, to taste
- 2/3 cup grated Pecorino Toscano cheese (Rosselino variety if you can find it) or other flavorful grating cheese such as Asiago or Parmesan
- 1/2 cup freshly made bread crumbs from lightly toasted breadInstructions
1. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and a generous pinch (or more to taste) of hot red pepper flakes.
2. Pour over kale in serving bowl and toss well.
3. Add 2/3 of the cheese and toss again.
4. Let kale sit for at least 5 minutes. Add bread crumbs, toss again, and top with remaining cheese."Source:
https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/recipes/tuscan-kale-salad/#SolarPunkSunday #VegetarianRecipes #KaleRecipes #TuscanKale #ItalianKale
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#Reading in Week Forty-Nine of 2025 | Dec 01–07 | ~1400 words | ~8100 characters | Tag to mute: #BokBooks |
━━━━━━━━━━●●●◐○ The Thirsty God - Margaret St. Clair (ss) 1953
Brian began a relationship with a Venusian maiden, treated her badly, then dumped her, which led to him fleeing across the plains¹ on not-horseback, with her uncle and a dozen warriors after him. Luckily he found one of the isolated temples the world had, and took shelter. The natives wouldn't follow him there.Unfortunately for him, the "temple" was actually an ancient Martian biochange station, whereby the extinct natives of the fourth planet adapted themselves to the wetter, hotter conditions of the second planet. The system settings had slipped, and it accepted Brian for adaptation, which proved less than pleasant…
●●○○○ Every Work Into Judgment - Kris Neville (ss) 1950
A large new building on campus has a huge computer system installed in it. Over the years, the building and the computer are extended. It eventually achieves a quiet self-awareness that humans don't know about.Then the Monster (for so humans call the huge machine), through sheer force of will, manifests first an eye, and then a whole human form, which she (for so humans refer to her) uses to go out into the world.
At which point she makes some religious judgments about how humans are clearly not living up to God's Word as she knows it from the many texts fed into here. Steps will have to be taken.
●●●○○ What’s Inside of People - Matthew McDermott (ss) 2020
Although the men of the Sunny Valley Nudist Resort didn't know it, all the female residents were aware that longtime member Jeff was a dirty old man, given to standing too close or staring too hard. Sometimes he got handsy. And one day he went too far and was killed for his troubles.This is the story of how resident Mark found all this out, and how he and camp manager Melanie decided there was no reason for the assaulted woman to face the police for her self-defense.
●●●◐○ The Inheritor's War {Behold: Humanity! 17} - Ralts Bloodthorne (nov) 2025
Terran Descent Humanity remains 99.98% extinct, but the "In Case of Death" message they had left was sufficient to give the remaining races of the Confederacy² access to doomsday-level tech that humans usually eschewed, which assisted them in their continuing fight against the Atrekna, invaders from another universe who had already drained four universes of their resources.(On the extinction event, people are working on restoring the dead humans, which was possible because the Confederacy used SUDS backup – Sentience Uninterrupted Default Storage – though that was currently broken. Unfortunately, because of the massive human die-off, automated systems were also trying to genocide surviving subclades of humankind into SUDS for safekeeping.)
The novel follows many threads, as usual. The pilot of an orbit-to-ground strike-craft crashes behind enemy lines. Vuxten dealing with the consequences of being someone whom people pray to. An Atrekna of the Defiled cult who survives when the normies are killed, and whose cult may be capable of seeing other sophonts as people, not just targets for genocide. The aftermath of the assassination attempt on Nakteti. More.
●●○○○ Static - Alithnayn Abdulkareem (ss) 2025
Earth's ecosystem is collapsing, with droughts, floods, storms, famines, and plagues becoming more and more common. Amina Saud of Nigeria "wins" an "interplanetary lottery" to settle a new planet. Not because she has particular education or skills, but because she's young, healthy, fertile, and, more importantly, beautiful and biracial, which is good PR for the 95% white-and-rich group doing the project.Amina asks Khail, her boyfriend, to marry her, knowing that her spouse would also get a chance at leaving Earth. But he chooses to stay with ill Mother Earth, rather than be a token on another world. Amina still goes, and we see her life on her new planet, which looks lovely from outside, but is sad within. And after some years, communication with Earth is lost.
●●●●○ The Black Ewe - Fritz Leiber (ss) 1950
Lavinia Simes was odd. She always dressed in black, and always wore next year's fashions (though only sharp old Mrs Grotius noticed the latter). She moved about with her widowed diplomat father, gaining a new boyfriend in every new city. Every boyfriend ended up dying in an accident. And a year or two after the Simes moved on, destruction struck the city they were in. And that one night Lavinia got drunk at a party, and everyone there ended up arguing about political events that hadn't happened—yet. Lavinia is probably an alien working to destabilize Earth.●●○○○ If This Be Utopia… - Kris Neville (ss) 1950
In a regimented world where efficiency ratings and ID cards ruled everything, Morrison was cracking. It was becoming ever more evident: to his secretary, to his boss, to his underlings. He'd developed a facial tic. He'd used his month's liquor ration in two weeks. And now he had a notice to report to Oversight…●●◐○○ Vessels - Michael Shotter (ss) 2020
Two hundred years ago, something crashed near the village. Since then, one man in the village has had exceptional strength, and the ability to draw the lifeforce from others to increase it. He fights the great cats that sometimes threaten the village, and similar threats.A great cat has killed a warrior, and we see how Von (the Vessel) and Jen (the woman slated to marry him and produce the next Vessel) deal with that. There's no explanation of the Vessel's powers, so the vibe is more fantasy than scifi.
●●●○○ The Librarian of Baker Street - Greg Kauffman-Starkey (nov) 2025
Charles Nicolas lived down the street from Sherlock Holmes. He was the head librarian of one of London's many libraries, and he helped his friends Sherlock and John Watson when research was required in one of their cases. He shared a glass of sherry with them from time to time at 222B Baker Street.When a particularly persistent man came in demanding to see Holmes, while the Great Detective and his colleague were away on a case, Mrs. Hudson took the man to Nico's library. There Nico learned of a missing manuscript by Copernicus, and the wealthy collector who'd been trying to acquire it for months from the annoying man. That led Nico to take the case and head to the small town of Chaltford.
Chaltford was a backward place with a church, a bar, a bakery, a few shops, and a tiny hotel. Also an odd, sticky fog that began just outside of the cobbled main street, in which crashing machines and loud animal noises could be heard. And there was an ancient standing stone, which when touched was felt to be vibrating with power.
Nico was of Uranian orientation (non-practicing), and while in Chaltford he met a farmer, Whitmore Adams, who turned out to be the same. When a sudden fog set in and the loud noises began, the pair ran from the standing stone into town. Both spent the night in Nico's room, in the same bed (nothing happened). Nico solved the case the next day, and was forced to return to London, since his time-off was ended.
Then things just get weird. Turns out Nico's annoying client was a Duke, and Nico got (his second) an audience with the Queen, and she granted him a boon for helping her friend. Nico made a detailed plea for his kind, leading a week later to a newspaper headline: Her Majesty’s Stance On Uranians Relaxes After Hundreds of Years of Laws Against Them. And Nico returns to Chaltford to get Whit (whose tenure there was iffy, since he'd helped Nico prove the town's richest man was a thief and drug-dealer, and the police were addicts) and bring him home to their lodgings. End of story, with a kiss.
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Week Forty-Nine's numbers added to year-to-date totals:
287+7 ss | 30+0 nvt | 12+0 nva | 120+2 nov | #books
━━━━━━━━━━[1] A refreshing difference. Vintage Venus was usually a jungle world, or sometimes an ocean world. Having other biomes is a change of pace.
[2] You know, if you're American, and you use "Confederacy" as the name of a polity in your science fiction, that's a bad sign.
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[12:56] Spell of sunny weather on the way, says Met Éireann
A Met Éireann meteorologist has said Ireland can expect a spell of sunny weather into next week.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0402/1505430-ireland-weather/
#Éireann #Ireland #nextweek