SoylentNews

Most people don't celebrate St. Martin's Day, but we make it a family holiday. Martin of Tours is one of our family heroes, even though we come from a church that typically doesn't honor saints of ages past. We honor Martin for his pacifism, and we also honor Martin for his belief that secular authorities should not enforce religious laws, certainly not with execution! You can read more about Martin here if you are interested.

It's nice that Martin's day occurs on Armistice Day, which used to be a day for celebrating the one thing about war worth celebrating: when it ends.

So, our annual family Remember the Fifth of November fireworks have been delayed two nights in a row due to rain. So what do we wind up doing? The kids come over while I'm washing dishes, look at my laptop on the counter, and see a tab opened to keep track of Bitcoin's current price. They start watching it change and asking questions and before I know it I've explained how a commodities exchange works, along with a lot about supply and demand.

Boy we are a bunch of geeks! (And I love it.)

[A]narchy is in fact the only political position that is actually possible. I believe that all other political states are in fact variations or outgrowths of a basic state of anarchy; after all, when you mention the idea of anarchy to most people they will tell you what a bad idea it is because the biggest gang would just take over. Which is pretty much how I see contemporary society. We live in a badly developed anarchist situation in which the biggest gang has taken over and have declared that it is not an anarchist situation—that it is a capitalist or a communist situation. But I tend to think that anarchy is the most natural form of politics for a human being to actually practice. All it means, the word, is no leaders. An-archon. No leaders.

-- Alan Moore

Thanks, Alan.

I got an update for Star Trek Continues from Kickstarter saying they've finished their engine room! There's only one picture, but it looks pretty cool. They say their newsletter will have some updates later this year for production of episode 6. I submitted a story about Star Trek Continues when they released episode 5, and tried to include a lot of good information and links for those who haven't encountered it before.

Ordered yet another book series for my ten year old son today. I am having a blast being unable to keep up with what all he is reading.

For anyone interested, it's the Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander. This is a marvelous time of year to read them, too.

Woke up today to find that my paycheck was down by 10%. That'll certainly give you a good jolt in the morning!

Contacted HR, hoping to hear that it will be rectified today.

One hopes that this isn't what's happening!

Didn't watch this time. Ben Carson sure is popular isn't he?

Wikipedia
Fireworks Fly In Unruly Third GOP Presidential Debate
Four Republicans Battle For Attention At Undercard Debate
PolitiFact

Bizarre, campy song explains China's 13th 5-year plan
Song (low information content)

Five-year plans of China
Timeline