I was in the mood to listen to some live performances from a couple of singers have admired over the years. Some critics consider Sinatra at the Sands one of his best performances. It’s surprising because this 1966 performance was Sinatra’s first live recording for Reprise Records.

In addition to the Count Basie Orchestra with Quincy Jones arranging and conducting, Sinatra delivers some of his best songs: “I’ve Got a Crush on You”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” ,“Street of Dreams”, “The Shadow of Your Smile”, “One For My Baby”, “Fly Me to the Moon”, and wrapping up the set with “My Kind of Town.”

Sinatra was at the top of his game on this album!

Lou Rawls Live at the Century Plaza was released in 1973. Some critics view this album as a progression of Rawls moving from his gritty 1960s Capitol Records style toward his smoother 1970s Philadelphia International sound. 

I enjoyed the dynamic covers of Beatles songs like “Something” and “Golden Slumbers,” along with a four-part blues medley, and electric versions of Rawls’ classic hits like “Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing”, “A Natural Man”, and “Tobacco Road”.

Both Sinatra at the Sands and Lou Rawls Live at the Century Plaza show Sinatra and Rawls at their best. Do you have a favorite Sinatra and/or Rawls song? GRADE: A (for both)

TRACK LIST: SINATRA AT THE SANDS

TRACK LIST: LOU RAWLS LIVE AT THE CENTURY PLAZA

Jeff Vorzimmer’s brilliant Introduction “Jack Ritchie By the Numbers” (p. 7-8) opens the new Stark House collection of 38 stories by the master short story writer, Jack Ritchie. Vorzimmer provides some eye-popping numbers that illustrate the success of Ritchie’s writing career. Ritchie published 345 short stories. Vorzimmer says 85 of those stories were reprinted in 142 anthologies. Amazing!

Vorzimmer supplies more astonishing Ritchie numbers: 117 stories published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, 31 stories published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 19 stories published in Mike Shayne Mastery Magazine, and 23 stories published in Manhunt. Ritchie was prolific but the quality of his stories is consistently high.

Of the 38 stories in The Crime Machine, 16 have never been reprinted. That’s a bonanza for Jack Ritchie fans!

At the end of The Crime Machine you’ll find this blurb: “Jackie Ritchie died in 1983 but his stories live on. This STARK HOUSE edition brings some of Richie’s best stories to a new audience. It you’re a fan of well crafted short stories, The Best of Manhunt 4: The Jack Ritchie Stories should be high your your list of books to read. GRADE: A“.

Those words might ring a bell because I wrote them here.

The Crime Machine: The Jack Ritchie Stories From Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (1957-1961 is the best reprint collection of the year. GRADE: A+

Jill Lepore, Harvard professor, warns that Artificial Intelligence is going to impact our Government…in a negative way. She notes that currently, we have no guard rails to protect us from rogue AI. We are building massive Data Centers that will increase the cost of electricity and water. And the impact on the Job Market will be…devastating!

My favorite chapter in The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State is Chapter 11, “I, Robot.” Lepore explores the early Science Fiction stories about Artificial Intelligence and Robots. She especially focuses on Isaac Asimov’s series about robots and his Three Laws of Robotics. It would be nice if those Laws existed in AI today.

If you’re interested in the current State of the Art of AI, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State will orient you to what is happening today…and tomorrow. Are you ready for The Terminators? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PREFACE — xiii

PART ONE: GOVERNMENT BY MACHINES –1

1. The Book of Numbers — 17
2. Technocracy Inc. — 26
3. Machines That Think — 37
4. Computopia — 52
5. The Twitter Revolution — 72
6. AI.gov — 93

PART TWO: WHAT ROBOTS WANT –– 117

7. La Bete-Machine — 131

8. Darwin Among the Machines — 140

9. Man and Nature — 149

10. War With the Newts — 165

11. I, Robot — 184

12. Murderbot — 205

EPILOGUE: THE LAST DAYS OF THE ARTIFICIAL STATE — 225

Acknowledgements — 229

Notes — 231

Index — 259

Theo Baker’s experience as a freshman at Stanford University was not what he expected: “Over the course of my freshman year, people I got to know in the tech world would admit to me to tax evasion and tax fraud, research misconduct, embezzlement and misappropriation of funds, securities fraud, insider trading, academic dishonesty, operating slush funds and shell companies, hacking, reckless endangerment, and and abetting foreign dictators.” (p. 6)

If you’re a fan of Scott Turow’s classic One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School you’ll enjoy Theo Baker’s incredible first year at Stanford. Initially, Theo’s plan was to become a computer science major. But, while Theo was the best computer geek at his High School, he was just average at the elite Stanford.

Theo Baker’s parents are two superstars of reporting: Peter Baker of the New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker. So it comes as no surprise that Theo starts spending time writing for The Stanford Daily (it’s in his genes!) and discovers a story that could rock Stanford University to its core!

Marc Teasier-Lavigne, the famed neuroscientist and multi-millionaire biotech executive, is the President of Stanford University. But Theo finds evidence that Tester-Lavigne tampered with key research studies over two decades. Could Theo bring down the President of Stanford?

Not only does Theo Baker deliver a real-life thriller, but he shows how an investigative reporter works. This story of a teenager shaking up Stanford (yearly tuition: $95,000) is an exciting page-turner! GRADE: A

CODA: Although Theo Baker achieves fame and glory with his incredible reporting, he finds out he has to Pay a Price: “By spring of my sophomore year, I couldn’t leave my dorm room without being harassed. I received numerous death threats, had events canceled over nebulous ‘security concerns,’ and eventually had to leave campus altogether for a spell. Someone threatened to waterboard me, but with gasoline, and then set me on fire; another threaten to gas me like my relatives who died in the Holocaust.” (p. 318-319)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

YOUR STANFORD POCKET DICT IONARY — xi

Prologue: Fear the tree — 1

Drafted to the war on fun — 15

The impostor — 35

Coupa circuit — 53

Binary bomb — 73

A fucking menace — 99

Rule — 119

Duck syndrome — 141

Harriet the spy — 155

[[NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION]] — 173

The good paper — 197

TreeHacks — 215

Solve for people — 229

Free to speak — 243

No room for error — 257

Money is a rush — 265

Finis origine pendet –279

Coda — 295

Acknowledgements — 303

Notes — 309

Trump’s decision to escalate a tariff brawl with Canada makes no economic or political sense.

By The Editorial Board

Aug. 23, 2026 at 3:19 pm ET

President Trump took exception last year when we called his tariffs against Canada and Mexico the dumbest trade war in history. It got dumber this weekend as Mr. Trump escalated with another round of border taxes on Canadian imports, a mere 10 weeks before midterm elections.

Mr. Trump issued his latest tariff threat against Canada last month under Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act. The law lets the President impose tariffs up to 50% on countries that discriminate against “commerce of the United States, directly or indirectly” in relation to foreign countries. No previous President has used this power.

Mr. Trump set a deadline of midnight on Friday for Canada to reach a deal to avert 50% tariffs on $20 billion of goods. The countries were close to an agreement until, poof, the cease-fire blew up at the last minute with each side blaming the other.

The result: Mr. Trump’s threatened tariffs took effect Saturday morning. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney threatened to retaliate dollar-for-dollar starting Sept. 8. Both sides could still walk back from the ledge, though Mr. Trump’s escalation could make this harder for Mr. Carney politically since Canadians don’t like being bullied by Washington. 

To justify his new tariffs, Mr. Trump said Canada discriminated against the U.S. by retaliating against his national-security tariffs on autos. He also claimed that Canadian provinces had restricted sales of U.S. alcoholic beverages in response to his “emergency” tariffs last year. Yet U.S. distillers begged Mr. Trump to hold off on his Section 338 tariffs. They know the longer Canada locks out American booze, the tougher it will be to regain market share.

The President also cited longstanding grievances over how Canada treats U.S. dairy. Press reports say the Trump team raised other issues during recent negotiations, including Canada’s treatment of U.S. tech companies and digital taxes. Most of these issues could have been addressed as part of a renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. 

But Mr. Trump doesn’t want to update the deal. He wants to rewrite it unilaterally. As Mr. Carney noted Saturday, the President has contrived an array of pretexts—from fentanyl trafficking to trade deficits—to bludgeon Canada with tariffs.

Mr. Trump’s complaint about the U.S. trade deficit with Canada is particularly ironic since the latter owes entirely to imports of heavy crude oil that is especially well-suited for U.S. refineries. Exclude Canadian oil, and the U.S. would have a trade surplus. But U.S. refineries would also operate at lower capacity. 

In any event, last week the two sides were close to an agreement that would reduce the U.S. auto tariffs on Canada to 15% (the same rate as South Korea and Japan) from 25%, and on steel and aluminum to 25% from 50%. These tariff reductions would help U.S. manufacturers, which have integrated cross-border supply chains. 

Prices for steel and aluminum mill products have surged 22.5% and 40.5%, respectively, over the past year. General Motors last month projected a $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion hit this year from tariffs. U.S. auto makers have been lobbying the Administration to reach a truce with Canada. 

Mr. Carney said Saturday that a major reason the deal blew up is that the Trump team refused to ease tariffs on heavy and medium duty trucks, including those made at Ford’s plant in Ontario. Why is Mr. Trump punishing Ford, America’s largest auto producer?

Mr. Trump’s latest round of border taxes will hit an array of consumer goods, construction materials and manufacturing components. Republicans are already getting pounded on the campaign trail over his tariffs and inflation. One reason for Mr. Trump’s frigid approval rating is that voters believe Mr. Trump is waging blunderbuss wars without a strategy, and on trade they’re right.

I completely agree with the WSJ on this matter. I’ve lived next the Canada for most of my Life and have visited it hundreds of times. The Canadians are friendly neighbors and allies. Why Trump is “warring” with Canada makes no sense and damages our economy and security. What do you think?

Signora Volpe (Mrs Fox) is a British mystery crime television series, produced by Route 24, of which season 1 was broadcast on Acorn TV in 2022.  The series was created by Rachel Cuperman and Sally Griffiths, and stars Emilia Fox in the title role.

Former British spy Sylvia Fox tries to settle down in a new life in picturesque Panicale, Italy. However, she soon becomes involved in solving local crimes.

Diane and I like Sylvia Fox (aka, Emilia Fox) and the beautiful Italian scenery in this mystery series. Once again, a tiny village seems to harbor a lot of crime…and dead bodies.

A second series premiered on Monday, 29 July 2024, on both Acorn TV and BBC America, and ran through to 12 August. A third three-episode series began production in September 2025. Our local PBS station started running Signora Volpe late at night–like 3 A.M.–so we DVRed them. GRADE: B+

I read my first Peter Tremayne (aka, Peter Berresford Ellis) mystery in 2014. It was Absolution by Murder (you can read my review here). I enjoy medieval mysteries like the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters (aka, Edith Pargeter). But Sister Fidelma is very different.

Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma series is set seven hundred years before the Brother Cadfael series. It’s been my intention to get ALL the Sister Fidelma books on my shelves and read the entire series in order. There are 36 books in the Sister Fidelma series so far. I own most of them so it’s just a matter of tracking down the handful of books I lack.

As you might expect of such a long-running series, Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma has a lot of fans. David Robert Wooten asked Peter Tremayne if he could put up a Sister Fidelma web site and Tremayne agreed. In addition, there’s The International Sister Fidelma Society (https://sisterfidelma.com/fidelma-related-books/) where fans can interact and buy merchandise!

If you haven’t read any of Peter Tremayne’s wonderful Sister Fidelma mysteries, you’re missing out on one of the most entertaining series in the medieval mystery genre. This compendium supplies plenty of information and answers a lot of questions. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Foreword by Peter Tremayne
• Introduction by David Robert Wooten
• The Sister Fidelma Phenomenon
• Fidelmania! – Livres Hebdo
• Was Sister Fidelma a Real Historical Person?
• The History We Weren’t Told
• Why Fidelma is Not a Nun: A Review of Fidelma’s Character
• Whence Cometh Brother Eadulf?
• Brehon Law: The Background to The Sister Fidelma Mysteries
• About Peter Tremayne
• The Novels – Synopses (including Principal Character listings for each title)
• Sister Fidelma Short Stories
• Peter Tremayne: Master of the Short Story
• Chronology of The Sister Fidelma Mysteries
• Fidelma – A Life in Dedications
• Sister Fidelma in “Alternate” Editions – (International/Non-English Language, Large Print, Graphic Novels, AudioBooks)
• Fidelma Goes Graphic
• Why Cashel?
• Historic Cashel
• Fidelma’s Rock? Wait an Ostint. Not Quite…
• Tremayne is NOT a Druid!
• The Fascination for Sister Fidelma
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Peter Tremayne: Murderer–Detective–Defendant–Judge–Jury–Executioner
• Is There an Historical Model for Fidelma?
• Fidelma and Flann Fína
• A Reflection on Princes, Chiefs, and Chieftains
• Reading Fidelma (including an interview with “The Voice of Fidelma,” actress Caroline Lennon)
• A Succinct Review of the Series
• Pronunciation Guide
• An Interview with Peter Tremayne
• The Sister Fidelma Mysteries: What’s the Agenda?
• Successful Time Travel – Peter Berresford Ellis and Writing Historical Detective Stories
• Fidelma: A Model Lawyer
• Smoke in the Wind and the Kingdom of Dyfed
• What the Press Has to Say About Peter Tremayne and the Sister Fidelma Mysteries
• Fidelma: The Critics Chime In
• Sister Fidelma: A Study of a Clerical Detective including Reviews of Each Fidelma Novel
• A Checklist of the Works of Peter Berresford Ellis
• The International Sister Fidelma Society
• Addenda
• Fidelma’s World (Map of the novels’ locales – Ireland & abroad)
• Towards A Bibliography of Books Relating to Cashel and by Cashel People
• The Sister Fidelma Mysteries: Essays on the Historical Novels of Peter Tremayne, Edward J. Rielly and David Robert Wooten, Eds. – Review – Elizabeth Blakesley
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments

Back in August 1976, I was strolling down the main aisle of my favorite record store in Madison, Wisconsin when I saw this really cool Science Fiction cover on a new album. I had never heard of the band Boston, hadn’t read any reviews of their first album, Boston, but I bought the album, took it home, and listened to it. It was a bit uneven, but the album had some hit songs on it like “More Than a Feeling.”

“Boston” reached No. 3 on the Billboard album chart, and by October 1976 the record had sold a half million copies, with another half million added by November. It remained in the Top 10 for 30 weeks, powered by the hit single “More Than a Feeling,” which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a hard-rock anthem. (Mike Meyers, Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2026)

Over the years, I bought. all the Boston albums with their signature SF cover artwork. In 1997, Boston brought out their Greatest Hits album. Some people like Boston, some people can’t stand the band and their songs. Are you a Boston fan? GRADE: B+ (for both)

TRACK LIST:

TRACK LIST:

World famous Robert E. Howard expert, Fred Blosser, sent me Swords of Havoc. It’s a homage to Solomon Kane and  Robert E. Howard‘s character Red Sonya of Rogatino. A warrior from the Hyborian Age of Earth-616, she was often partnered with Conan the Barbarian. But in Swords of Havoc “Szolia” pairs up with another swordsman, Karl Von Ganz. The Solomon Kane character, Macaiah Iron, plays an essential role in Swords of Havoc in a battle over a payment in silver complete with demons.

Macaiah Iron and Szolia show up again in “Whispers in the Skull” where a haunted castle holds Lovecraftian horrors.

If you’re in the mood for a Robert E. Howard pastiche with a bit of Lovecraft mixed in, give Swords of Havoc a try. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

AUTHOR’S NOTE — 1

Swords of Havoc — 2

Whispers in the Skull — 46

Two Faces of Solomon Kane — 63

Essay on Robert E. Howard’s Immortal Hero:

Solomon on the Spanish Main — 64

Solomon and the Devils of the Black Forest — 67

Scourge of the Iron Vulture: A Glossary of Who’s Who in “Shadow of the Vulture” — 73

About the Author — 77

“The Madame Blanc Mysteries is a British cosy crime comedy drama television series, produced by Saffron Cherry Productions, which is broadcast on Channel 5 and Acorn TV. The series, written by and starring Sally Lindsay and Sue Vincent, concerns an antiques dealer, Jean White, originally from Cheshire, who helps solve an array of mysteries in the fictional village of Sainte Victoire in the south of France,” (Wikipedia)

Our local PBS station runs plenty of mystery series in the evening and well into the night. Diane and I sample them and either accept or reject them. We had never heard of The Madame Blanc Mysteries but after watching a couple episodes, we were hooked.

The Madame Blanc Mysteries is definitely a “cozy” series. Everyone seems to be a senior citizen. And the fictional village of Sainte Victoire seems to have a murder every week! I like Sally Lindsay who plays Jean White (aka, BLANC) whose vast knowledge of antiques, history, literature, and the world in general come into play as she solves all sorts of crimes–but mostly murders.

If you’re in the mood for a low-key mystery series with beautiful views of France, give The Madame Blanc Mysteries a try. GRADE: B