Buck Hardcastle
Bio
Served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, 2005-07.
Viscount of Hyrkania and private cartographer to the house of Beifong.
Stories (86/0)
Return of the Iconic Swimsuits
Stars in swimsuits--there's never a wrong time for a list of those. Yes, push down that invasive voice telling you to write another political opinion piece about the decline of democracy and the loss of shared realities--nobody needs another one of those! Instead, bikinis!
By Buck Hardcastle7 months ago in Geeks
The Future of Invention in 1879
The Atlantic recently fully digitized their archive going back to 1857. This is an examination of one article from the August 1879 issue entitled The Future of Invention by W. H. Babcock to see the hopes and fears about technological change.
By Buck Hardcastle8 months ago in Futurism
Visions of 1991 from 1970
"The prophets, the messenger angels of the Gospels, Delphic oracles, Arab stargazers, Tibetan lamas, medieval astrologists, wandering Gypsies, saints, poets and charlatans--all have tried their hand at probing the future. Then came the science-fiction writers, plagues of them, and they are still coming. Is, then, another book devoted to this overworked subject worthy of special note? Yes, if it is unique."
By Buck Hardcastle9 months ago in Futurism
Tubal Ligation and Giving the Game Away
Tubal ligation is an elective surgery to permanently serialize a woman. It is low risk, can be done on an outpatient basis and can be done immediately after childbirth. Its availability recently became a topic on twitter.
By Buck Hardcastle9 months ago in The Swamp
We can't solve our domestic problems by abandoning Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine no longer dominates headlines in America. Gone are the days of Russia's rapid advance towards Kyiv only to be forcefully pushed back. Now the battle front has condensed to slower moving frontlines across Ukraine's Southeast. By concentrating their forces Russia has made itself more formidable. However, its war machine doesn't look suited for the long term. They've lost twice as many troops in the Spring of 2022 than they did in their nine year war in Afghanistan. Russia has expanded the age limits of soldiers and is sending in reservists. They've dug out antique T-62 tanks to send into battle.
By Buck Hardcastle9 months ago in The Swamp
Never Trump Republicans are not the friends of liberals
David French is a Never Trump Republican and journalist He is a regular contributor to The Atlantic, a mostly left wing outfit that seems compelled to include conservatives even though right wing outfits never feel compelled to include liberals. French regularly offers analysis on the news of the day, and since conservatives do so many horrible things, many of those news stories are about horrible conservatives.
By Buck Hardcastle10 months ago in The Swamp
Pastor, Nude Model, Con Artist
Nikole Mitchell’s story is low hanging fruit to a reporter. ‘My sexuality is sacred’: Bisexual pastor-turned-stripper has never been happier (New York Post). Pastor turned stripper says her 'dreams came true' in end of year Instagram post (Daily Star). Church pastor turned stripper left husband and rakes in cash selling explicit snaps (Mirror). Bisexual pastor turned stripper discovers true joy (Toronto Sun). Former church pastor now makes $100K a month as life-coaching stripper (New York Post, again).
By Buck Hardcastle10 months ago in Humans
The John Oliver Crypto Currency Bundle 2022
Last year did a piece on crypto currencies mentioned by John Oliver in a 2018 segment. In retrospect, the Last Week Tonight actually went to easy on crypto, describing them as hard to hack, which has shown to be untrue. Not only have thieves and conmen preyed on crypto bros, but the institutions that were supposed to be the bedrock of the industry have shown little regard for users.
By Buck Hardcastle10 months ago in The Chain
Reality Is An 18-Wheeler Barreling Towards The Russian People
Russian forces have been shooting each other over looting rights. Wartime infrastructure deep within Russia, such as a vital chemical plant, have gone up in suspicious fires. Russia's presumed ally China has put out a map of how Russian territory might be divided up.
By Buck Hardcastle11 months ago in The Swamp
The Enormous Frustration of THE BATMAN
Spoilers for The Batman (2022) follow. Good Batman stories have competing theories of justice. The villains have their theories of justice that put Batman's idea of justice to the test. In The Dark Knight (2008) this is explicitly stated: the Joker thinks justice is chaos, Two-Face thinks justice is chance. Everything they do is driven by these view points and it makes for a very compelling story.
By Buck Hardcastle11 months ago in Geeks
To seek the peace and security of a world without Russia
Russia has been wrong footed in Ukraine. Its invasion plans were in disarray before it even started--its military forces simply weren't suited for the job . Half their budget is being spent on useless prestige projects like submarines and the other half is being lost to corruption. Sometimes both these factors come together disastrously for them: their advanced Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers are being blown out of the sky because they don't have the right type of bombs to be used like they're supposed to.
By Buck Hardcastle12 months ago in The Swamp
