Author: D. J. Moore

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Measles cases in southeast Asia declined by 92% between 2002 and 2020, and the death rate decreased by 97% – saving an estimated 9.3 million lives. WHO (PDF link).
  • Maternal mortality rates in Zimbabwe declined from 657 deaths per 100,000 births in 2007, to 217 per 100,000 births in 2019. Significant improvements in maternal, neonatal and child health as well as interventions to reduce HIV, malaria and TB are working. BMJ (PDF link).
  • Trials showed new malaria vaccine provides up to 80% protection against the deadly disease. BBC.
  • Iran close to eradicating illiteracy. Tehran Times.
  • The average life expectancy in India in 1947 was around 32 years and now it has increased to 70 years. Times Now.
  • More people now work in clean energy than in fossil fuels. Quartz.
  • In the US, child poverty fell by 59 percent from 1993 to 2019. The New York Times.
  • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released its Goalkeepers Report on global progress. Since 1990, poverty and hunger have declined dramatically while life spans have increased on every continent. The share of global smokers has declined by about 20 percent; children are roughly 30 percent less likely to be malnourished or stunted; rates of tuberculosis have declined by about one-third; maternal deaths per live births have declined by 40 percent; the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases such as dengue and leprosy has declined by roughly 70 percent; and the share of the global population with access to toilets and safe plumbing has increased by 100 percent. The Atlantic.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Cooperation among strangers has increased for the past 60 years. SciTech Daily.
  • China’s CO2 emissions fall by record 8% in second quarter of 2022. CarbonBrief.
  • By 2020, the number of violent crime arrests involving youth reached a new low, 78% below the 1994 peak, and half the number 10 years earlier. US Department of Justice (PDF link).
  • The worldwide suicide rate has went down 40% since 1990. Our World in Data.
  • Chinese researchers create the first successful, living mammals with a fully-reconfigured genome. ZME Science.
  • California passes bill banning long-term solitary confinement in prisons and jails. KTVU.
  • 11,000 federal inmates were sent home during the pandemic. Only 17 were arrested for new crimes. Reason.
  • 3 ways our work-life balance and education have gotten better – in data. Euronews.
  • Labor market added 315,000 jobs in August, a bright spot in the economy. The Washington Post.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

Westworld Season 4

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“Sometimes the things that feel the most real are stories.”


Season 4 of Westworld isn’t interested in the big riot that was the finale of season 3. Instead, we get a reset. It’s now years later and the riot apparently didn’t change anything.

Prohibition Town has replaced West World, but as Maeve tells us, it’s the same story, just like in Shogun World. Wouldn’t people want something new? Would you play a video game sequel if it was exactly the same as the original? Call-back culture has gone too far into the realm of toxic nostalgia. I know it’s easier to keep repeating the same thing over and over, but please try a little harder and give us something new.

It is interesting that they’re reversing the robot/human dynamic. Humans appear to be the ones who are programmable this time around with their stories being written by others, while the robots amuse themselves by mistreating the humans. Robots are now all too human, struggling with boredom, becoming what they hate. The moral of the story for season 4 seems to be that two wrongs don’t make a right, which you’d think the robots would be advanced enough to figure out without the world coming to an end yet again.

Apparently when a human mind is put in a robot body, the robot body dies soon, except when it doesn’t. The robot version of The Man in Black doesn’t have this limitation. There’s no doubt some hand-wavey explanation for why. He’s a copy of a human mind instead of an actual human mind or something. The Man in Black claims every man for himself is survival of the fittest, but that’s not how evolution works in social species. Survival of the fittest includes strength in numbers and groups working together. He seems to have confused humans with racoons or something.

I did like a lot about season 4. They do another surprise reveal that was similar to the Man in Black reveal in the first season, but even though it was done before, it felt new to me. Bernard has spent years running countless simulations and has realized, much like Dr. Strange in Infinity War, there’s only a slight chance of saving humans. It’s fun that he knows what’s going to happen before it happens.

The hero of season 3 is the villain of season 4. We get another reversal with outliers now being the saviors of humanity rather than the destroyers. It’s interesting that Dolores grows as a character by reverting to her original character. Giving us another riot at the end felt like a repeat of season 3’s finale, though.

It looks like they’re planning at least one more season. Many characters seem to permanently die during the season, but that’s never stopped them from coming back to life before, so who will be in the cast is still wide open. Roman World was featured as an easter egg, so maybe we’ll see that? Hopefully it won’t just have the same plot as Westworld, Shogun World, and Prohibition Town.

Presidents’ Body Counts by Al Carroll Part 4

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What If

Carroll includes a fascinating section hypothesizing what would happen if different people had become president. Any of these scenarios would make for a fascinating alternate history novel.

For example, Jackson was nearly killed in the Creek War, but a Cherokee warrior named Junaluska saved his life. Had this not happened, John Quincy Adams would have been president instead and the Trail of Tears would not have happened.

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Dead Stars and Stone Arches Book Signing

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I should have posted about this sooner, but last week, I participated in a book signing for Dead Stars and Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror at the grand opening of the Legendarium bookstore and café! Several of the authors and poets were there. We each read a paragraph or two from our stories and poems, then signed about 20-30 books. It was fun to chat with other Utah writers and horror fans.

Since I’m an introvert, I was nervous about doing the reading and thought about backing out, but I’m glad I went. Since there were several other writers there, there wasn’t that much pressure on me and everyone was really supportive of everyone else. I received positive comments about my story from someone who’d already read it and people who liked my reading. It was exciting to talk to a fan in person.

The fact Legendarium is within walking distance of my house was icing on the cake. It’s a really cool place with stained glass depictions of Star Wars and Good Omens characters in the windows and the café has a sign saying they serve breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, and so forth. I’m definitely going to be going back there again.

My story, “Fog of Sand”, takes place in Salt Lake City in the not-too-distant future after the Great Salt Lake has dried up and become a dust bowl. Unfortunately, the Great Salt Lake actually is drying up and has already started becoming a dust bowl.

Someone commented that my story would be hard to read because it’s too real. Not to worry! My story also features a weird cult and the ancient god Erra, so there’s some escapism in there too. If you’re interested, you can ready my story, as well as several other great stories and poems, in Dead Stars and Stone Arches from Timber Ghost Press.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • When Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an ambitious programme to put piped water in all of India’s roughly 192 million rural households by 2024, only about one-sixth had the luxury of doorstep-water supply. Now, 52% have it. Hindustan Times.
  • Togo achieves major feat of eliminating four neglected tropical diseases. The Guardian.
  • Hearing aids can now be bought over the counter. Slate.
  • The USDA is sprinkling fish-flavored vaccines from the sky to fight rabies. CNN.
  • Wind, solar provide 67% of new US electrical generating capacity in first half of 2022. Electrek.
  • The expanded child tax credit kept 4 million kids out of poverty. Vox.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

Presidents’ Body Counts by Al Carroll Part 3

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Franklin Roosevelt

Franklin Roosevelt did not allow Jewish refugees to the US, condemning many to death in the Holocaust. He also could have lessened the atrocity by attacking Germany sooner than he did. (Incidentally, Henry Ford owned the best selling newspaper in the country and used it to spread anti-Semitism. Ford Auto company was also a haven for Nazis and he promoted their views on company grounds. Ford even received a special award from Hitler.)

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