No apology for repeating, not for the first time or, probably, the last, one of Thomas Sowell's insights which I think is particularly powerful in a whole host of spheres, not just economics and politics. It is very rare indeed- though when such an opportunity does come along, it should be grabbed with both hands - that you can improve something with no negative consequences at all. Most opportunities to improve one thing come with a cost in terms of something else. The challenge is to ensure that you pick the trade-offs where the benefits outweigh the costs - and do your best to limit the damage in those areas where you lose out.

A 2024 video with footage of Obi-Wan Kenobi live action scenes and Bonnie Langford singing "I need a hero." There is an older, and much watched YouTube video which has a mix of live action clips of Euan MacGregor and Alec Guinness playing Obi-Wan in the films mixed with scenes from the animated series "The Clone Wars" and "Rebels"    

"The Lords of Creation" is the third and latest book in an alternative universe Science Fiction series which has been retrospectively named after this third book. The series to date consists of "The Sky People" (2006) set on Venus (Link:   The Sky People Amazon page ) "In the courts of the Crimson Kings" (2008) set on Mars (Link:   Second book Amazon page ) "The Lords of Creation" (2025) This book (Link:  The Lords of Creation Amazon page ) I cannot think of another instance where a series has been retrospectively named for the final book published nearly twenty years after the first one,  I suspect there may be arguments among readers about whether this is an appropriate name for the book and the series, but I cannot really explain where I think SM Stirling and his publishers are coming from without a pretty big spoiler giving away the final line of this book. What S.M. Stirling has done with this series is imagine a universe in which there is l...

At one level this is a reference to characters in Sir Terry Pratchett's book "I shall wear midnight" but at another level it is a tribute to the much missed author.

Performed by Steeleye Span, and the reason this is appropriate to post on a Scinece fiction and Fantasy review site is that this was inspired by the works of the one and only the late Sir Terry Pratchett.

An Alternate History novel of the occupation of Paris "City in Chains" is Harry Turtledove's latest novel exploring the dilemmas of real history through the medium of alternative history.  It opens in a city called "Lutesse" which very, very obviously represents Paris occupied by the Nazis at a time roughly analogous to the winter of 1943/44. It explores the dilemmas posed by foreign occupation to residents of the city through the eyes of two viewpoint characters.  The first viewpoint character is a junk dealer called Malk Malkovici who is a follower of the "Old Gods" and had migrated to Lutesse before the war from "Nistria." In other words, he is analogous to a Jew from Eastern Europe, probably from Romania (though Bulgaria or Finland would also work.) He faces all the horrible choices someone in that position would face in Nazi occupied Europe - he desperately wants the Nazi occupiers (sorry, Chleuh occupants) to lose the war, but has to ma...