Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
“Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” Starring Jack Reynor as Charlie Cannon, Laia Costa as Larissa Cannon, May Calamawy as Detective Dalia Zaki, Natalie Grace as Katie, and others. Directed by Lee Cronin. Two hours, 14 minutes. Rated R. Theatrical release. Spoilers:… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Pickpik by way of a Creative Commons search.
INTRODUCTION I’m trying to think back to the first moment I experienced a fear of heights. It has something to do with my father. Lest you believe this sounds like a therapy session, I mean, quite literally my father. I… READ MORE
I joined the ROTC program at Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in August 1970 and remained with it until graduation in May 1973. I made lots of friends in ROTC, and we did some interesting things, like… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Vertigo Films.
“Kill Command” Starring Vanessa Kirby as singularity Mills, Thure Lindhart as somewhat unlikeable Bukes, David Ajala as whoa-I-didn’t-expect-him-to-die-so-early Drifter, Mike Noble as hick Goodwin, Bentley Kalu as man-I-wish-I-had-those-biceps Robinson, and others. Directed by Steven Gomez. 1 hour, 39 minutes. Not… READ MORE
Machinery gear close up image, public domain CC0 photo. More: View public domain image source here
INTRODUCTION As I was writing “I Feed the Machine” I did not envision a future America where political criminals and religious fundamentalists might rule the land. Yet here we are, in the summer of 2024. The corrupt Supreme Court has… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
“Ready or Not 2 Here I Come” Starring Samara Weaving as Grace MacCaullay, Kathryn Newton as Faith MacCaullay, Elijah Wood as the lawyer, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Ursula Danforth, Shawn Hatosy as Titus Danforth, David Cronenberg as Chester Danforth and… READ MORE
Image courtesy of A24.
“Undertone” Starring Nina Kiri as Evy, Michèle Duquet as Mama, and Adam DiMarco as Justin. Written and directed by Ian Tuason. 1 hour, 34 minutes. Rated R. Theatrical release. Plot summary: A podcaster who is caring for her terminally ill… READ MORE
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INTRODUCTION This story is about a hypocrite. A particular kind of hypocrite. The Republican kind of hypocrite. Full disclosure: For most of my life I was registered as a Republican. The Republican Party was the party of reason. It was… READ MORE
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“Project Hail Mary” Starring Ryan Gosling as an insufficiently curious xenobiologist Ryland Grace; James Oritz as (eventually) the voice of Rocky the alien; Sandra Huller as the stone‑cold yet bewilderingly attractive Project Hail Mary program manager Eva Stratt; and others…. READ MORE
Oh my God, I just made the mistake of looking at my IRA.
It’s down $35,000 over the past month.
That’s more money than I make in a year. That money is part of my life’s savings.
I know it can come back, but that won’t happen any time soon. We’re just now beginning to see the negative impacts of Donald Trump’s “excursion” into Iran. Gas prices are up locally over a dollar a gallon, and when the price of fuel increases, so does the price of everything else. Inflation rose again last month, and that’s not including any of the price increases caused by this new forever war.
The cost of Trump’s “excursion” is running about a billion dollars a day. So far, it’s cost Americans $23 billion. Keep in mind the U.S. debt just crossed the $39 TRILLION mark. One of the planks to Trump’s campaign platform, if it can be called that, was to start paying down the debt. Not one penny has been committed to paying down the debt. Instead, he’s made it worse.
Iran isn’t fighting the American military. It’s fighting the global economy, and so far, with disruptions to shipping, increases in insurance costs and damage to infrastructure, it’s winning. And the disruptions won’t end any time soon, so hair-brained memes by Republicans of “short-term pain for long-term gain” hold no water. This will be a long, drawn-out conflict that could plunge the world into recession.
But just as Trump was unconcerned about the possibility of American servicemen being killed in his ill-considered venture – 13 and counting so far – and just as he was unconcerned about the prospect of American civilians being killed in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, he’s also unconcerned about Americans who were already struggling financially now being clobbered with astronomical prices on food, fuel and housing.
Virtually none of the election promises Trump made have come to pass – quite the opposite – yet the MAGAt orcs continue to blindly defend and follow Herr Trump. There’s a word for that.
C-U-L-T.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone's stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra's Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year's Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone's comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled "December" for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman's Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone's novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild's award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida's best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn't look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Oh my God, I just made the mistake of looking at my IRA. It’s down $35,000 over the past month. That’s more money than I make in a year. That money is part of my life’s savings. I know it… READ MORE