prior probability

That is the title of this new book-length defense of space exploration, which I have also added to my ever-expanding Thanksgiving week reading list! (I had the honor of meeting the author, the legendary space activist Rick Tumlinson, at a book-signing event on day two of this year’s National Space Society’s “Space Settlement Summit” at the University of Central Florida.)

That is the title of this paper by Namrata Goswami, a professor of space security at the USSF-Johns Hopkins University. I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Goswami at the National Space Society’s 2025 “Space Settlement Summit“, which is meeting at my home institution, the University of Central Florida. Suffice it to say that I have added Dr Goswami paper to my Thanksgiving-week reading list!

I will begin posting a new series on “the paradox of politics” in the next day or two; in the meantime, enjoy!

Let’s take a moment to celebrate the memory of our dearly departed loved ones. Or better yet, let’s build them an ofrenda (see here)!

Today (11/1) is All Saints Day. The painting pictured below (“All Saints Day I”) is one of four works created by the great Russian avant garde artist Wassily Kandinsky in 1911 to commemorate this solemn occasion. More details here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poème_sur_le_désastre_de_Lisbonne

Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in south-western Jamaica as the strongest storm to ever hit the Caribbean island nation in modern history, brought to mind Voltaire’s poem on the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.

See also: “The Dialogue between Voltaire and Rousseau on the Lisbon Earthquake: The Emergence of a Social Science View“.

Among the luminaries I met during my recent visit to Puerto Rico was my old colleague and friend Daniel Nina. (Thanks to the good efforts of Orlando Martinez-Garcia, we met at Professor Nina’s home office in Santurce on Thursday afternoon and had dinner at the popular Costa Azul in Manati on Saturday night.) Among other accolades, it is no exaggeration to say that Prof Nina is the island’s most prolific author; pictured below, for example, are just some of the books he has published over the years! Also, he has played a pivotal role in my own intellectual development: it was Nina who introduced me to the late Carlitos del Valle and to two cult classics, Blade Runner (the director’s cut) and The Battle of Algiers.

My wife Sydjia and I were going to spend this past weekend at the tropical Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but our close friends Orlando and Mireya invited us to stay with them at their home in the magical town of Manatí, where we explored many beautiful beaches and shared many memorable meals together. (Special shout out to the cozy Restaurante Merced in the quaint little town of Barceloneta, where we dined on Friday night.)