Mike’s Blog Round-Up

“Drowning people/ Sometimes die/ Fighting their rescuers.” -- Octavia Butler
By driftglass — June 22, 2026

On this day in 1947, the late, great Octavia E. Butler was born. If you have never read her, do so now. Kindred. Parable of the Sower. Parable of the Talents. Any of her shorts. I got the chance to hear her read aloud at a Chicago branch library years ago and, well, no one did better justice to her words than the author herself. My eldest stepdaughter is now a fan so my work here is done. Here is a clip of Octavia being interviewed on "Democracy Now" 21 years ago. The whole thing is excellent, but around the 6:10 mark she reads from Parable of the Talents. She wrote it in the early 1990s, and hearing those words today will make your hair stand on end.

Pass it on.

emptywheel: The Reflecting Pool Arrests Are an Attempt to Cover Up Trump’s Corruption.

driftglass: The Dogmas of the Quiet Past.

Blog For Iowa: Tom Wieck For Iowa Senate – District 41.

Attention space nerds! A mysterious gamma-ray stream comes from the Milky Way's center. Could dark matter have something to do with it?

Round Up by driftglass of the Professional Left Podcast and Science Fiction University

Send tips to mbru (AT) crooksandliars (DOT) com

Can you help us out?

For over 22 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but social media is limiting our ability to attract new readers. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Become a subscriber:
 
Make a donation:

If you don't mind the ads and would rather donate, please select one of the options below:

Kindest
Donate via PayPal
Via Snail Mail
payable to: Crooksandliars
2708 Wilshire Blvd. #148
Santa Monica, CA 90403

Explore more

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon