So, How's It Going?

     The U. S. joined with Russia, North Korea and a rogue's gallery of nations in voting against a UN amendment that condemned Russia for invading Ukraine and told 'em to withdraw their troops.  Our NATO allies voted the other way.  Are we still the good guys?

     Uncle Sam is spamming Federal workers with "justify your existence" emails that they could be either required to respond to, prohibited from responding to, or in receipt of evidence of Federally-prohibited unfair labor practices.

     Farmers who use water from the Colorado River had been getting Federal grant money to scale back crops, so the reservoirs could retain enough to spin the generators at places like Hoover Dam.  Those grants are now "under review" and nobody knows when the review will be complete -- but lacking the funds, they'll need to start planting or go broke, so....

     Yeah, how's it going?  Meanwhile, the price of eggs is high and rising.

Judicial Review

     Yesterday was an important anniversary.  I'd never heard of it.

     Hylton v. United States was argued before the U. S. Supreme Court on February 23, 1796.  The Court decided it on March 8 of that year.

     The particulars of the case are unremarkable.  Congress passed a law that levied a yearly tax on carriages.  The law was challenged on the basis of being a direct tax and therefore Constitutionally prohibited.  The Court disagreed, in a ruling that stood until 1895.

     But it set up the notion that the Supreme Court could review the Constitutionality of laws passed by Congress and by implication, the Constitutionality of official acts of the Federal government, paving the way for Marbury v. Madison in 1803, the first time the Court threw out a law on such a basis.

Nope

     A commenter recently suggested one of the online, black-market (masquerading as gray) digital archives as a source of the out-of-print Andre Norton books I had mentioned.  I'm not going to publish his comment, nor the name of the archive.

     While it's perfectly okay to share works in the public domain -- the Library of Congress has plenty -- and there's a (weak) argument to be made for doing the same with out of print books that are unlikely to be republished, those archives also host copyrighted works and it is, simply, theft to share them without payment to the copyright holder.  Just as bad, in my opinion, is that these lawless collections are used to train "AI," stealing from the writers now and using the input to create soulless crap afterward.

     I won't support them.  I encourage you to not support them, too.  The only thing that ought to be fed into "AI" engines is a wooden shoe.

     Writing pays starvation wages to most writers.  Don't make it worse.

Saturday

     Saturday, I once again chaired the writer's critique group, an activity I enjoy but which leaves me exhausted.  Unless you're an introvert, it's difficult to explain how draining social activity can be, especially if you're running the show.  Fortunately, it's a well-disciplined group of talented writers.  I count myself lucky to be able to spend time with them.

     The same Saturdays always (or nearly always) include a general meeting of a local writer's group.  Their guest speaker yesterday was Charlotte Halsema Ottinger, who has written the definitive biography of Madge Oberholtzer, a young Hoosier woman who kneecapped the 1920s Ku Klux Klan.  I'd like to tell you she was a crusading reformer, but she wasn't.  She was a victim of the brutal D. C. Stephenson, political power-broker, Klan leader, murderer and rapist.  Abducted and abused by Stephenson, Ms. Oberholtzer attempted suicide and died a slow and agonizing death -- but not before supplying testimony that led to her attacker's arrest, conviction and imprisonment.

     Indiana's Governor at the time, the Klan-endorsed Edward L. Jackson, refused to grant clemency and in retaliation, Stephenson spilled all he knew, releasing previously-secret lists of paid-off officials and prompting extensive investigations by the Indianapolis Times that resulted in charges against the then-Mayor of Indianapolis, the Chairman of the Marion County Republican Party and others.  It was the beginning of the end of the second incarnation of the KKK in the United States.

     Authoritarians are often brutes, hiding behind a facade of old-fashioned respectability.  Stephenson, who liked to boast "I am the law in Indiana," had promoted the Klan as stalwart defenders of sobriety and the purity of American womanhood while drinking and womanizing with abandon in private.  It is a pattern that has repeated itself throughout history, and appears to be repeating yet again.

     You can find the book Madge at the link above or via Amazon, who are also selling a digital version for substantially less.

Reading Is...Too Much?

     It's looking like Dolly Parton's Imagination Library won't get matching funds in Indiana's next state budget, putting the effort at risk of having to shut down in Indiana.

     The charity sends kids one free book a month from birth until age five.  All parents have to do is sign up.  The hope is that, in a world of screens and clicks, if you get kids around books even a little, they'll start to find out just how interesting they are.  The Indiana Legislature has been able to find spare change for it in the past, but times, apparently, are tight.  Or perhaps they're not as concerned about illiteracy these days.  I don't know.

     You can pitch in; it appears some of their funding is through United Way, and you can earmark your donation.  I'm not finding a "Donate" button on the Imagination Library website, but you can email and ask; they're a 501(c)(3) non-profit and I doubt they'll turn down gifts.

Skipped

     Yesterday was a wipeout due to a migraine, and the migraine came in with the wave of colder weather and snow.  Better now, especially since I made a point of avoiding the news.

     Catching up is its own kind of headache.

Found It

     Space Service, the book I was after, showed up at a well-known online auction site for slightly more than the dust jacket I almost bought.  It's on the way to me now.

     Better still (but to the detriment of my lunch money), the suggested purchases included another anthology edited by Andre Norton, Space Pioneers.  The same publisher, cover art very similar in theme and style -- and another case of collector rather than reader prices.  A check of Alibris and AbeBooks found better deals, and why not order it now?  I'll be skipping the expensive vending machine treats at work for a while to make it up.

     I'm curious to find out more about the series.  There was a third, Space Police, but I'm not finding any others.  The books don't seem to be very well known.

Nice Of Him

     The other day, I almost bought an obscure anthology edited by the late Andre Norton* that I wanted to read.  Space Service is long out of print.  I recognized most of the authors and a few of the stories.  Norton's judgement of what make a good SF story is trustworthy† and it looked like the kind of good old stuff I'd enjoy.

     The book was never published in paperback as far as I can tell, and the print runs might not have been very large.  Used copies are expensive -- but a seller at one of the big aggregators listed it for $10.00.  I ordered it on sight.

     Five minutes later, an email arrived directly from the seller: "Did you notice that you ordered a dust jacket, no book?"

     I had not.  It was there in the description, if I'd read that far.  I told him so and he helped arrange cancellation of the order.  The guy was even gracious about it.

     Of course, I'm still looking.  The cheapest copies are almost within reach of my somewhat skinflint sensibilities, but I can't justify it until payday.  If then.  Who knows, maybe one will turn up at a better price in the meantime.

     And if it doesn't have a dust jacket, I'll know where to go to buy one.
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* Andre Alice Norton, changed from Alice Mary Norton...so she could cash the checks for her first few novels, published under her pen name!  Starting with fantasy books, by the time her first magazine SF story was published, she was using "Andrew North" as her byline but getting checks with her right name on them.  Why all the names?  The past was a different country even in SF, and it took a long time for women writers to get much traction.  See also C. L. Moore and C. J. Cherryh.
 
† Her story sense in general was outstanding.  She turned out a number of engrossing and entirely credible Westerns, sagebrush, horse sweat, six-shooters and all, which is particularly impressive for a librarian from Cleveland, Ohio who was of somewhat fragile health.

Oh, Goodness!

     The day is almost over and I haven't posted anything!

     Look, we warmed up to temperatures in the teens today and there's three inches of snow on the ground, over a layer of ice.  I think I did well to get out of the house.

Omelette-Topped

     Corned beef hash is a favorite of mine, though presently available canned versions fall short of the mark in my opinion.

     The best kind is home made, with fresh potatoes and left-over corned beef brisket, both of them diced and fried together.  Next-best is served at SoBro's Good Morning Mama's, with their hash browns, onions and shredded corned beef brisket.

     But my quick home version has been evolving.  Mary Kitchen brand over a breadcrumb (Panko) and/or cornmeal* crust is pretty good.  Mixed with diced onions and/or fresh or canned peppers is even better, and I like to top it with an egg or two.

     Tam's no fan of the eggs, which, in fairness, can be a little thick and rubbery.  So this morning, I was thinking about brunch, and that she does like omelettes, and how would it work out to top the canned hash with omelette batter?

     I started with the usual, a heavy sprinkling of cornmeal with some onion powder and Italian-mix seasoning, and spread the hash over it and turned the burner on, medium heat.  Next, I made basic omelette batter: mashed a couple of saltines in a measuring cup, added a little water, let it sit a bit and then stirred in a couple of large eggs (egg$?)† slowly: you want to get them very well mixed without beating a lot of air into the batter, at least if you don't want it to come out fluffy.  (Not that fluffy topping would be bad -- I'll have to try that sometime, with three eggs and a lot of fork work.)

     With the corned beef hash starting to sizzle, I poured the omelette batter over it and snipped a Pippara pepper into rings scattered across the surface.  I covered it and gave it five minutes, then alternated stretches of three minutes uncovered with five minutes covered until the bottom crust was browned.  After the first 5-3-5, it should be firm enough to lift up with a spatula and check.

     How did it turn out?  I liked it; Tam didn't want to try.  Maybe next time.  (She's holding out to walk over for slow-cooked ribs at Fat Dan's, one of her favorite lunch choices. The sidewalks and streets have a few inches of wet snow over a glaze of ice and it's plenty cold, so that's not a walk I'll risk, not with two bad knees.)
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* Masarepa cornmeal is my preference. It is pre-cooked, and browns to a nice crunch.
 
† Y'know, I'm starting to think neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Musk's "DOGE" cares about or can do anything about the price of eggs.  Gee, thanks.  But we've got 'em now and it's not like you can stuff 'em in the mattress to save for later.  Eggs, I mean.

Yeech

     Today was a miserable cold, wet day, and tonight all that dampness is going to freeze.  The rain will turn to snow and Sunday with stay below freezing all day.

     And there's no one to blame for it.  It's just plain old winter weather, in an especially inconvenient form.  It's kind of a relief, really.

Keyboard: Back

     Taking my coffee-splashed keyboard as far apart as possible without prying at the switches uncovered pockets of coffee and gave me a chance to scrub the chassis and keycaps.  After drying overnight, I put it back together yesterday morning and tested it last night.

     So far, so good.