I've been out dealing with my non-blogging life, so today's set of links is going to be somewhat shorter than usual. Here then, are a few things going on (with my own $0.02 thrown in):
From the Express, the Irish flag will be banned from this year's St. Patrick's day parade in Strabane, Northern Ireland because it might (gasp!) offend some people. (It's Northern Ireland, not Ireland itself, but this is a departure from tradition.)
From The Telegraph, a review commissioned by Prime Minister Theresa May recommends that sharia marriage be recognized in British law. (You'll have to register or log in to read the entire article.)
From the Daily Star, gang violence erupts among migrants in Calais, France.
From France24, more on the violence in Calais.
From Deutsche Welle, three jailed Catalan leaders take their case to a UN panel.
From the NL Times, a hand grenade was found tied to the door of a sisha lounge in Amsterdam.
From Russia Today, the European Union is saddled with lots of "secret" debt.
From Arutz Sheva, "how the Muslim Brotherhood" is taking over France".
From The Star, Canadian MPs sing the new gender-neutral version of their anthem, but their Speaker is not impressed.
From The Daily Signal, what we lose by removing statues of people like Columbus.
From Breitbart Jerusalem, Israel builds a wall, and it works.
From the Mirror, the Chinese have a nickname for the above-mentioned Theresa May.
From Newsweek, Melania Trump (or more precisely, an actress portraying her) quacks like a duck.
From The Incline, the weird history of Groundhog Day.
From the New York Post, a pervert is banned from every farm in Britain.
And from The Babylon Bee, a blogger condemns himself as a heretic.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Reaction To The SOTU, And Other Stories
First up, a bit of reaction to President Trump's first State of the Union address:
From National Review, "the fever of partisan hatred might be breaking".
From FrontpageMag, Trump's speech is divisive, but not in the way Democrats believe.
From Townhall, the DNC was trying to bury something during the SOTU.
From Politico, the president gave a rather conventional speech. (via HotAir)
From CBS News, most Americans approve of the president's speech.
And from Red State, by their behavior at the SOTU, Democrats got some Republicans elected.
****
Some other things going on include:
From Voice Of Europe, a German candy advertisement goes into sharia mode.
From the Express, the real reason Angela Merkel opened the borders. (via Voice Of Europe)
From Deutsche Welle, the E.U. promises €42.5 million to the Palestinians for "state-building efforts". (How much of that money will really go to "state-building", and how much will go into rockets aimed at Israeli civilian areas is anybody's guess.)
From Reuters, German police arrest three in connection with alleged human trafficking.
From The Telegraph, an Oxford professor is detained in Paris over accusations of rape.
From Total Croatia News, Croatian police denied asylum for Syrians who were later taken to Montenegro.
From Flanders News, the Belgian and Russian prime ministers meet in Moscow.
From The Local AT, Austria's chancellor meets with Hungary's prime minister.
From The Local SE, the chief of Sweden's national police has resigned.
From the NL Times, the Netherlands prepares for a nuclear disaster.
From The Daily Wire, the NFL's commissioner defends the league's decision against running an ad from AMVETS during the Super Bowl. (H/T Tapp into the Truth for the Tweet)
From the Washington Examiner, the FBI claims to have "grave concerns" about the accuracy of the Nunes memo.
From CNN, Representative Trey Gowdy (R-SC) will not seek reelection this year.
From ABC News, a train carrying members of Congress collides with a truck in Virginia.
From the Daily News, a Jewish boy in France is beaten for wearing a kippa.
From Jewish News Syndicate, the U.S. State Department designates the leader of Hamas and two others as "specially designated global terrorists".
From Al Arabiya, an Iranian-American dual citizen and his wife are sentenced to long prison terms.
From DNA, Indian authorities arrest nine people over an alleged plot to sell a woman to ISIS.
From The Blast, the brother of a former president goes briefly to jail for DUI. (via The Daily Caller)
And from the New York Post, Ferry McFerryface gets a new name.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Links Before SOTU And The Lunar Eclipse
On the second last day of the month, and the eve of the Super Blue Blood Moon, and the day of the State of the Union address, here are some things going on:
From Space(dot)com, how to see the lunar eclipse.
From BBC News, Ireland will hold a referendum on abortion. (via LifeNews)
From The Daily Wire, The New York Times defends U.S. Ambassador the U.N. Nikki Haley.
From WSOC, cops seize 65 pounds of marijuana from the home of a police dispatcher. (via the New York Post)
From the Washington Examiner, one congresscritter wants any illegal aliens who attend the SOTU to walk out in handcuffs.
From Voice Of Europe, "Merkel has lost control".
From the Express, France's budget minister is ask to resign after being accused of rape.
From Reuters, a group of migrants is rescued by an Italian fishing boat and taken to Montenegro.
From NL Times, a diabetic man who drove into a crowd of pedestrians in Amsterdam won't be prosecuted.
From EuroNews, will Belgium get tougher on migrants?
From Euractiv, some Belgians say "no".
From Sputnik International, according to a British professor of politics says that European law will become U.K. law.
From Defend Europa, the head of Italy's Lega party promises to deport illegal aliens.
From the Daily Mail, an Uzbek who unsuccessfully sought asylum in Sweden took a picture just before he struck pedestrians with a stolen truck.
From Middle East Monitor, Spain calls for E.U. help anticipating more illegal migrants.
From FrontpageMag, some differences between past and present immigration.
From AhlulBayt News Agency, Syrian fighters fire warning shots at Turkish troops.
From National Review, five things President Trump should say in tonight's SOTU.
From Fox News, some prototypes for the border wall are testing very well. (via HotAir)
From TechSideline, Virginia Tech football coach gets a new contract.
And from Blabbermouth, guitarist Phil Collen says it's "a bit weird" that Def Leppard is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Monday Links
I've taken a day off from blogging. Now that I'm back, here are some things going on:
From the New York Post, Ambassador Nikki Haley gives her opinion of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's cameo appearance at the Grammy Awards. (Like yours truly, Ms. Haley does not appear to be a fan of the former Secretary of State.)
From National Review, another opinion of Hillary Clinton's Grammy appearance.
From CBS News, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe has resigned.
From Cleveland(dot)com, after this coming season, the Cleveland Indians will retire their Chief Wahoo logo.
From Townhall, for their role in the recent (and short-lived) shutdown, Democrats feel the Bern.
From Fox News, a professor claims that Americans who practice yoga "contribute to white supremacy". (By that "logic", I should stop eating Indian food.)
From Breitbart's National Security, in Colombia, FARC terrorists bomb a police station.
From CNS News, noted defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz would not have campaigned for then-Senator Barack Obama if he had seen the photograph of Obama with noted Jew-hater Louis Farrakhan.
From the Express, French police arrest 17 suspected immigrant smugglers. (I've written it before, and I will write it again. The "migrants" going into Europe are not simply migrating. They are being trafficked.)
From ABC News, according to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeyer, Syria is not yet ready for a return of their refugees. (It would be interesting to learn what his powers and duties are, in comparison to those of Chancellor Merkel.)
From Voice Of Europe, the Dutch deport a man born in the Netherlands to the United States. (If you read Dutch, read the story at RTL Nieuws.)
From WestMonster, the Czech prime minister trolls the head of the European commission.
From The Local FR, France will investigate the recent incident over Nutella.
From the NL Times, campaigners for the Forum voor Democratie party are attacked while handing out leaflets.
From Russia Today, Germany will no longer take asylum seekers from Italy and Greece.
From Deutsche Welle, "migrant relocations from Italy and Greece" are "drawing to a close".
From El País, former Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont could re-take his position, emphasis on the word "could".
From Flanders News, the Belgian home minister has created a plan to deal with migrants travelling through Belgium to the United Kingdom. (Or more precisely, migrants being trafficked through Belgium.)
From Reuters, German Chancellor Merkel and the SPD are still having difficulty forming a coalition.
From The Straits Times, Muslims in Singapore raise concerns about children's books imported from Saudi Arabia.
From UCA News, Indonesia's House speaker wants all gay sexual acts to be illegal. (I won't hold my breath waiting for LGBT advocates, who call Christian opposition to gay marriage "hate", to denounce the speaker's proposal.)
From FrontpageMag, whatever you think of Megyn Kelly, she's right about Jane Fonda.
From the Daily Mail, a man wearing an oxygen cylinder is killed when he is dragged into an MRI machine.
And from Boston(dot)com, although it won't be seen from much of the United States, this coming Wednesday there will be a super blue blood moon.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Holocaust Remembrance Day, And Today
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, when we commemorate one of history's most insidious atrocities, the mass murder of six million Jews and millions of other victims by Nazi Germany during World War II, in places known as concentration camps. Gypsies, Jehovah's witnesses, homosexuals, and people called "anti-social" (today known as "homeless") were also put into the camps. From what I understand, however, the first group so imprisoned were political dissidents. In other words, people who said things that the government didn't want to hear. It's something to think about for anyone who wants to limit the scope of public discourse.
Today, there are people who deny that the Holocaust happened. I'll be happy to show them my pictures of the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps, located near Oświęcim, Poland, which I visited in 2000. Although these and other camps were built in Poland, please do not refer to them as being "Polish". Ja jestem polski także. (I'm Polish, too.)
****
Some things going on today include:
From the Olean Times Herald, an illegal alien gets a three-year sentence for sexual assault against a teenage victim. He had previously been arrested after overstaying his work visa, but had been released. (via Illegal Alien Crime Report)
From Voice Of Europe, a march against violence by migrants toward women will be held tomorrow in Germany. (In other words, it will be, as VOE puts it, the "real Women's March".)
From Gatestone Institute, a report on "the Islamization of Germany in 2017: Part II".
From Russia Today, the improved Russian economy under President Putin. (Can a Russian source such as RT be trusted to cover Putin without any bias?)
From Radio Praha, Czech President Miloš Zeman wins reelection. (via Voice Of Europe)
From the Express, Slovenia fines Croatian fisherman for fishing in disputed waters.
From Sputnik International, thousands of Kurds in Europe protest Turkey's invasion of Syria's Afrin region.
From Radio Poland, the four Visegrad countries discuss immigration and economy in Budapest.
From The Spectator, the new battle for Europe is between east and west.
From The Local FR, the Seine is expected to reach flood level in Paris.
From Breitbart London, five takeaways from George Soros's speech at Davos.
From National Review, a reaction to President Trump's speech at Davos.
From Red State, a little perspective on Trump being "divinely appointed".
From Townhall, Senator Schumer (D-NY) sounds like former Speaker Pelosi (D-Cal) when it comes to tax cuts.
From the New York Post, a teenage pregnant Christian escapes from Boko Haram. (In my not-so-humble opinion, this a woman worth marching for.)
From Westword, one reader says "Marilyn Manson is as scary as the Easter Bunny".
And from Buzz(dot)ie, the sequel to The Shining will be creepy and weird, just like the original.
Today, there are people who deny that the Holocaust happened. I'll be happy to show them my pictures of the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps, located near Oświęcim, Poland, which I visited in 2000. Although these and other camps were built in Poland, please do not refer to them as being "Polish". Ja jestem polski także. (I'm Polish, too.)
****
Some things going on today include:
From the Olean Times Herald, an illegal alien gets a three-year sentence for sexual assault against a teenage victim. He had previously been arrested after overstaying his work visa, but had been released. (via Illegal Alien Crime Report)
From Voice Of Europe, a march against violence by migrants toward women will be held tomorrow in Germany. (In other words, it will be, as VOE puts it, the "real Women's March".)
From Gatestone Institute, a report on "the Islamization of Germany in 2017: Part II".
From Russia Today, the improved Russian economy under President Putin. (Can a Russian source such as RT be trusted to cover Putin without any bias?)
From Radio Praha, Czech President Miloš Zeman wins reelection. (via Voice Of Europe)
From the Express, Slovenia fines Croatian fisherman for fishing in disputed waters.
From Sputnik International, thousands of Kurds in Europe protest Turkey's invasion of Syria's Afrin region.
From Radio Poland, the four Visegrad countries discuss immigration and economy in Budapest.
From The Spectator, the new battle for Europe is between east and west.
From The Local FR, the Seine is expected to reach flood level in Paris.
From Breitbart London, five takeaways from George Soros's speech at Davos.
From National Review, a reaction to President Trump's speech at Davos.
From Red State, a little perspective on Trump being "divinely appointed".
From Townhall, Senator Schumer (D-NY) sounds like former Speaker Pelosi (D-Cal) when it comes to tax cuts.
From the New York Post, a teenage pregnant Christian escapes from Boko Haram. (In my not-so-humble opinion, this a woman worth marching for.)
From Westword, one reader says "Marilyn Manson is as scary as the Easter Bunny".
And from Buzz(dot)ie, the sequel to The Shining will be creepy and weird, just like the original.
Lynyrd Skynyrd To Call It Quits
Lynyrd Skynyrd, the legendary southern rock band, has decided to put on a farewell tour and afterwards call it a career. They first rose to prominence in the mid-1970's with songs such as Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird. For their first two albums, their lineup included lead singer Ronnie van Zant, guitarists Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ed King (formerly of Strawberry Alarm Clock), keyboard player Billy Powell, bassist Leon Wilkeson, and drummer Bob Burns. Later, Burns left and was replaced by Artimus Pyle. King also quit, leaving the band with two guitarists, but was later replaced by Steve Gaines, whose older sister Cassie had already become one of the Honkettes, a trio of female backing vocalists, the other two being Leslie Hawkins and JoJo Billingsley. In 1977, the plane on which they (other than Billingsley) were flying to Louisiana crashed into a forest, killing van Zant, both Gaines siblings, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, and the plane's two pilots.
For ten years, Lynyrd Skynyrd was put on hiatus, with some of the survivors taking part in other musical projects. One of the most notable was the Rossington Collins band, which included Rossington, Collins, Powell and Wilkeson, along with drummer Derek Hess, guitarist Barry Harwood, and a female singer named Dale Krantz. In 1987, the band was revived by Rossington, Powell, Wilkeson and Pyle, who brought back former guitarist King, and tapped Johnny van Zant, Ronnie's younger brother, to be the lead singer. Collins was unable to participate due to paralysis caused by a car accident, and chose Randall Hall to be his replacement. Since the revival, the band has had numerous personnel changes, and has endured the deaths of Powell, Wilkeson, and Ian Evans, who replaced Wilkeson. Krantz later married Rossington, and is currently one of two backup singers for the band. Today, of the pre-crash members, only Rossington is still in Lynyrd Skynyrd, while only he, King and Pyle are still alive.
Read more at The Florida Times-Union, Mass Live, Big Frog 104 and Live For Live Music.
For ten years, Lynyrd Skynyrd was put on hiatus, with some of the survivors taking part in other musical projects. One of the most notable was the Rossington Collins band, which included Rossington, Collins, Powell and Wilkeson, along with drummer Derek Hess, guitarist Barry Harwood, and a female singer named Dale Krantz. In 1987, the band was revived by Rossington, Powell, Wilkeson and Pyle, who brought back former guitarist King, and tapped Johnny van Zant, Ronnie's younger brother, to be the lead singer. Collins was unable to participate due to paralysis caused by a car accident, and chose Randall Hall to be his replacement. Since the revival, the band has had numerous personnel changes, and has endured the deaths of Powell, Wilkeson, and Ian Evans, who replaced Wilkeson. Krantz later married Rossington, and is currently one of two backup singers for the band. Today, of the pre-crash members, only Rossington is still in Lynyrd Skynyrd, while only he, King and Pyle are still alive.
Read more at The Florida Times-Union, Mass Live, Big Frog 104 and Live For Live Music.
Friday, January 26, 2018
Friday Links
It will soon be the last weekend of the first month of this year. As it approaches, here are some things going on (with some of my own commentary):
From The Washington Times, the crime rate of illegal aliens in Arizona is twice that of the native population.
From The Daily Caller, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists that bonuses resulting from the recent tax cuts are crumbs.
From the California Political Review, the IRS can easily block California Democrats' plan to increase tax deductions. (H/T luchadora for the Tweet)
From Behind The News, a Boko Haram terrorist is arrested in Germany. (All those people who insist that the migrants entering Europe are not dangerous might wish to reconsider. Again, the H/T goes to lunchadora for the Tweet.)
From the Independent, food from the Western Midlands of England is found in an ISIS-controlled part of Syria.
From PC Games, how the game Minecraft helped save Poland's Białowieża forest.
From the Tampa Bay Times, lawmakers in Utah advance a bill to prevent abortions based on Down syndrome. (via LifeNews)
From The Verge, ICE will start tracking license plates.
From Fox News, the Voynich manuscript is being deciphered.
From CNS News, a Catholic archbishop calls for a "ceremony to bless homosexual couples".
From Voice Of Europe, there are now seven anti-immigration countries in the E.U. (Perhaps a better way to put it might be that seven countries in the E.U. want to decide immigration policy for themselves instead of having those policies dictated by the E.U.)
From the Express, some of its members tell the E.U. to leave Poland alone.
From Radio Poland, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki defends his country's immigration policy. (via Voice Of Europe)
From The Local DE, a German town wants a pause in refugee arrivals. (via the Daily Mail)
From France24, French Guiana deals with migration and drug smuggling. (French Guiana is in South America, and is the only territory on either American continental mainland that is still politically connected to the European country which colonized it.)
From Breitbart London, some Muslim groups in the U.K. don't want a female anti-terror leader.
From the Birmingham Mail, a British teenager who wanted to be a nurse for ISIS gets a jail sentence.
From The Times Of Israel, ISIS reportedly planned a Paris-style attack for Barcelona.
From Russia Today, men in France could be fined for certain behaviors toward women.
From The Express Tribune, two human rights activists get jail sentences in Saudi Arabia.
From the Metro, drivers who stop along the road to pray could be fined in Abu Dhabi.
From The Guardian, French shoppers brawl over discounted Nutella.
From the New York Post, Michigan State's AD steps down.
From Page Six, the latest incarnation of Colonel Sanders is female (and very talented).
From Wired, how to understand microbes, by using math.
And from Digital Spy, 11 weird shows that, believe it or not, were put on TV. (I plead guilty to having watched nos. 2, 3, and 6.)
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Some Stuff For Thursday
The stuff keeps coming around, so here are some of the stuff:
From Reason, in California, unsolicited straws will be illegal.
From Fox News, the DOJ has recovered some of the missing text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
From Accuracy In Media, KFC uses a Tweet by President Trump to humorously promote its brand.
From Sputnik International, Turkey claims to have killed 300 terrorists in its operation in Syria's Afrin region.
From Breitbart London, "Mohammed" is on course to becoming the most popular baby name in Germany. (How many Arab and Turkish babies are being named Ludwig or Johann these days? If you read German, read more at Die Welt.)
From Voice Of Europe, a poll shows that Belgians aren't too fond of Islam.
From Deutsche Welle, a "last hope" round of peace talks starts in Vienna.
From the NL Times, a Dutch broadcaster wants to change which word they use for "white".
From Reuters, the E.U. interior ministers "clash" as they try to reform the bloc's immigration policy.
From the Express, France and Ireland clash over Brexit.
From Russia Today, a German judge removes the crucifix from his courtroom during the trial of an Afghan defendant.
From the Evening Standard, supporters of Hezbollah allegedly "run drugs on London's streets".
From Gatestone Institute, are the Stasi back?
From BBC News, an E.U. court rules against psychological tests for gay asylum seekers.
From ZeroHedge, in Sweden, young migrants roam around with Kalashnikovs.
From Flanders New, a "Little Calais" arises on the outskirts of Brussels, Belgium.
From National Review, unfinished railroad bridges could become "California's Stonehenge".
From Townhall, the demographic trend that Democrats should worry about, other than any decline in illegal immigration.
From ESPN, will there be another XFL?
From the New York Post, the doomsday clock moves closer than ever to midnight.
From Science Alert, previously unknown viruses have been found in ocean water.
From Austin360, six weird facts about avocados. (Eat your guacamole, everyone.)
And from The Coast News Group, some "news of the weird".
From Reason, in California, unsolicited straws will be illegal.
From Fox News, the DOJ has recovered some of the missing text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
From Accuracy In Media, KFC uses a Tweet by President Trump to humorously promote its brand.
From Sputnik International, Turkey claims to have killed 300 terrorists in its operation in Syria's Afrin region.
From Breitbart London, "Mohammed" is on course to becoming the most popular baby name in Germany. (How many Arab and Turkish babies are being named Ludwig or Johann these days? If you read German, read more at Die Welt.)
From Voice Of Europe, a poll shows that Belgians aren't too fond of Islam.
From Deutsche Welle, a "last hope" round of peace talks starts in Vienna.
From the NL Times, a Dutch broadcaster wants to change which word they use for "white".
From Reuters, the E.U. interior ministers "clash" as they try to reform the bloc's immigration policy.
From the Express, France and Ireland clash over Brexit.
From Russia Today, a German judge removes the crucifix from his courtroom during the trial of an Afghan defendant.
From the Evening Standard, supporters of Hezbollah allegedly "run drugs on London's streets".
From Gatestone Institute, are the Stasi back?
From BBC News, an E.U. court rules against psychological tests for gay asylum seekers.
From ZeroHedge, in Sweden, young migrants roam around with Kalashnikovs.
From Flanders New, a "Little Calais" arises on the outskirts of Brussels, Belgium.
From National Review, unfinished railroad bridges could become "California's Stonehenge".
From Townhall, the demographic trend that Democrats should worry about, other than any decline in illegal immigration.
From ESPN, will there be another XFL?
From the New York Post, the doomsday clock moves closer than ever to midnight.
From Science Alert, previously unknown viruses have been found in ocean water.
From Austin360, six weird facts about avocados. (Eat your guacamole, everyone.)
And from The Coast News Group, some "news of the weird".
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Wednesday Links
Here are some things going on, other than the passing of sci-fi novelist Ursula K. Le Guin:
From the Express, according to the WHO, failing to find a sexual partner is now to be regarded as a disability.
From The Daily Caller, musician Erykah Badu finds something good about both Hitler and Bill Cosby. (When will the Antifa movement, which calls people "nazi" and "fascist" for nothing more than having political views to the right of themselves, call Badu a "nazi"? Will the #MeToo movement fault her for saying something positive about Cosby? I won't hold my breath waiting for either answer. You can read her comments at Vulture.)
From The Daily Signal, "homeschooling is not a crime". (That's true in the United States, but not in Germany, which has banned the practice since the days of the real Nazis.)
From the Washington Examiner, the DOJ threatens to subpoena 23 jurisdictions over their sanctuary policies.
From Assyrian International News Agency, Turkey promises more action against the Syrian Kurds.
From Yeni Şafak, Pakistani students pray for a Turkish victory in Syria.
From Breitbart London, the Davos conference will include some major climate change hypocrisy.
From Voice Of Europe, the leader of Italy's Northern League party sounds like President Trump.
From the Metro, the Lancashire Council repeals its ban on halal meat in schools.
From Euronews, a member of Germany's AfD party converts to Islam.
From Russia Today, Facebook is hypocritically pretending to be concerned about democracy (op-ed).
From Ekathimerini, Greece's prime minister tells the Davos conference that his country has managed the migrant crisis with "dignity".
From The Local ES, Spanish authorities seized over twice as much cocaine in 2017 as they did the previous year.
From the NL Times, a suspected Dutch jihadist has been arrested in Turkey.
From Euractiv, Panama and seven other countries have been removed from the E.U.'s tax haven blacklist.
From Gatestone Institute, why do western LGBT activists not care about LGBT people in the Muslim world? (In the west, people who don't support gay marriage are often accused of "hate" and "homophobia". Where in any Muslim-majority country is gay marriage legally permitted?)
From BBC News, in Afghanistan, terrorists attack a Save the Children office.
From AhlulBayt News Agency, Palestinians go on strike to protest U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Israel.
From National Review, there is no right against being offended.
From the New York Post, a convicted sex offender gets his just desserts.
From Page Six, the TV show Dancing With The Stars is trying to recruit an Olympic gold medalist.
From SB Nation, what Herm Edwards said about college football recruiting isn't really that weird.
And from Bloody Disgusting, visiting the set of Eerie, Indiana is indeed weird.
Ursula K. Le Guin 1929-2018
This past Monday, science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin passed away at the age of 88. Her family announced her death yesterday. She was known for her "groundbreaking" novels and has been called "legendary".
Ursula Kroeber was born to Alfred Kroeber, an anthropologist at U.C. Berkeley, and Theodora Kracaw, a writer most noted for her accounts of Ishi, the last of the Yahi tribe. She obtained her BA and MA in French and Italian literature, and afterwards won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in France. While there, she met the man she would marry, historian Charles Le Guin. After they wed, she discontinued her academic career. They moved to the United States and had three children.
Although she started writing during her childhood, Le Guin was unable to have anything published until 1964, starting with collections of short stories. In 1966, she published Rocannon's World, the first of the Hainish Cycle. In 1968, she published A Wizard Of Earthsea, which started the Earthsea series. Le Guin was influenced by anthropology, feminism, environmentalism, anarchism and Taoism, which she claimed to have practiced since she learned what it was.
During my own time in college, I read two of Le Guin's novels for a science fiction class. As a result, I would think back to one of them whenever someone says anything about "gender fluidity". This is because The Left Hand Of Darkness, one of the Hainish Cycle novels, is set on a planet where the natives are gender fluid. Each person becomes either male or female during two days of a 28-day cycle, and then reverts back to androgyny for the other 26 days. The sex each person becomes from one cycle to the next is completely random. Thus, while I regard "gender fluidity", at least among humans in real life, as complete male bovine solid waste, I can cite the setting of The Left Hand Of Darkness as the only place I know of where gender is truly fluid.
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