I’m at the library, working on my book at the moment. (I just couldn’t stay in my apartment any longer). The guy sitting at the table with me is apparently concerned about hanging boogers, because he has been exhaling sharply ever 5-20 seconds.
And he’s been doing it for 45 minutes oh I am so not even joking. Time to get the hell out of here.
(NB: I had a productive day.)
First: Andrew Sullivan points out that Dick Cheney confessed to a war crime in a recent interview.
In fact, the attorney general of the United States is legally obliged to prosecute someone who has openly admitted such a war crime or be in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the UN Convention on Torture. For Eric Holder to ignore this duty subjects him too to prosecution. If the US government fails to enforce the provision against torture, the UN or a foreign court can initiate an investigation and prosecution.
These are not my opinions and they are not hyperbole. They are legal facts. Either this country is governed by the rule of law or it isn’t. Cheney’s clear admission of his central role in authorizing waterboarding and the clear evidence that such waterboarding did indeed take place means that prosecution must proceed.
Cheney himself just set in motion a chain of events that the civilized world must see to its conclusion or cease to be the civilized world. For such a high official to escape the clear letter of these treaties and conventions, and to openly brag of it, renders such treaties and conventions meaningless.
Not that anything will be done about it in this country. A former Republican can confess to war crimes on TV and nothing happens to him, but Obama administration has to respond to frivolous birther lawsuits.
Second: Here’s an essential breakdown of the insanity of the current American political situation. You can skip the lengthy analysis that comes after the five steps–it only reiterates the opening in more depth.
But I still find it astonishing that the DC media continue to insist that Democrats must do more to reach out to an opposition party that has refused to abandon discredited ideas and are determined to obstruct governance. I also find it hard to believe that the media keeps calling this a “center-right country” when it simply isn’t true.
1) Garry Marshal, keeping it classy: “But two things I’m sure audiences all over the world understand: prostitutes and love.”
2) [Broken link deleted]
4) I’m proud to say I fit within nine of the categories on this sign, or I would have in the past. How many can you claim?
5) Now for something equally stupid but much less hurtful, a thoughtful dissection of the infamous first edition Fiend Folio. Here’s part two. I have a bit of a D&D theme this week.
6) Real life is cooler than fiction could ever be.
7) Christopher Bird on the Captain America/Tea Party kerfuffle.
Things have been pretty busy lately. I’m finishing up the galleys for Game of Cages and itching to get back to Man Bites World. Not to mention coming up with a new title for the latter. (I came up with one I really, really liked, but it turns out to be the title of a pair of unrelated-to-each-other non-fiction books, one of which is forty years old and still in print. ::shrugs::)
So, busy. And that means I haven’t had time or mental energy to follow important news stories. I haven’t looked at a single image or video of the devastation in Haiti. I haven’t sat down and teased out the differing reasons Portugal, Spain and Greece are struggling with economic collapse. And I haven’t been following the renewed Green Movement protests in Iran.
I have had the emotional resources for more minor stories: The Amazon.com/Macmillan confrontation exploded all over my blog list, and I stuck with that story throughout the week. And yeah, it was important to the people involved, but not Haiti-important–the stakes in the conflict were not going to send me into a fit of misery. (And let’s not get started on the way Democrats, including Obama, have fucked up on health care reform.)
But still, we can’t shut our eyes to the rest of the world, which is why I wanted to post this: Marc Lynch on the latest Green Movement protests in Iran. It appears that regime change in Iran is a long, long shot at this point. The government has consolidated its hold on the country through force of arms and the shutdown of communications technology, and there’s not much we can do about it besides what we’re already doing.
Now that I’ve joined SFWA, I can follow the Nebula Awards nominations, tracking them as they pile up. It’s like a horse race, but the people involved move very slowly.
In case anyone asks, I’m not on there, of course, and I didn’t expect to be. I’m also not asking people to nominate my book or whatever. I’m not writing the sort of work that wins awards, and I won’t be any time soon. It’s not a concern. In fact, I posted my joke bio on the Campbell Award page. I won’t win and I don’t care.
One thing I *do* care about is that I haven’t nominated anyone yet. I’ve only read one new sf/f novel this year–I’ve bought a bunch, but only read one. It’s already near the front of the pack, but maybe my nom would do it some good.
But is that fair? My sample size is one–shouldn’t I keep out of the whole mess? There may be ten or twelve novels that deserve the award more, but how would I know? I’m still reading mystery novels from the sixties and Planet Hulk.
So, should a person nominate books for an award if they’re not well read in the field?
1) Anthony Bourdain schooled by 10-year-old.
2) MANBABIES!! I had nightmares because of that site, so you should, too.
3) Available at Booksellers Everywhere Except Amazon. Macmillan takes out a full page ad in the NY Times.
4) A defense of Elizabeth Gilbert. I loved reading this. I’m not someone looking to read Gilbert’s books, but I’m also not all that keen to hear her being held to a different standard than male authors, or to be cut down because she decided she was going to live a different sort of life.
5) The differences between indie authors and indie musicians. Related: The difference between the music industry and trade publishing.
6) Stop motion with shadow art. I’m torn between my admiration for the artistry and the cheesy anime subject matter. Also, did they have to countdown the filenames?
7) Jerry Pournelle remembers those who lost their lives in the Challenger disaster. I almost wish I read his books, so I could swear never again. Almost.
1) Darth Vader – James Earl Jones = David Prowse in a plastic mask reading Vader’s lines on set. I can’t help but laugh when I hear him say “I want those plans!” via Keith Calder
2) An officer shoots and kills a criminal, in the officer’s own words.
3) Every news report must be structured like this. via madrobins
4) Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist posts a promotional excerpt of a new GRRM story in an upcoming anthology, and the comments explode with butt-hurt Song of Ice and Fire fans complaining about the delay in the latest book. Normally I suggest skipping comments, but here the comments are delicious. I’m sure someone out there has already made a ASOIAF/DOWNFALL spoof, yeah?
5) The Scale of the Universe. It’s beautiful. It’s like church for atheists.
6) “Will they follow in the lusty steps of their forebears, the Golden Girls?” The nuttiest conservative Christian rant on gays I’ve seen in a while. The author, who apparently has a slight problem with gays who won’t read the articles he emails to them, thinks The Golden Girls sitcom turned a generation of young men into homosexuals, and it’s so wacky (and quotable! “Personally, I do not look forward to the day when we’re having moral debates about robot sex, gay jetpacks or houseplant marriage”) that there were points where I was sure it was satire. Or irrational hate. Or maybe satire again. No, that’s just more hate. Then I saw the link at the bottom to The Dark Underside of America’s Obsession with Cat Ownership and I swear I have no idea what to think (except: “Gay jetpacks?? I’ll take two!”) via Jay Lake.
7) More Macmillan vs. Amazon.com, discussed on Absolute Write. It’s an 8-page thread as of the time of this posting, but very informative. It’s also pretty easy to tell who are the knowledgeable voices and who aren’t. You even get to see an example of mansplaining with the wild (which is so incredibly rare, I know).
Now that the Macmillan/Amazon.com fight is over (supposedly, since none of the Tor novels I look at on their site are available) we can focus on the greatest, most hated holiday of all.
Valentine’s Day.
It’s only two weeks away, and it’s justifiably hated by single people. People in love can spend a couple of bucks (or even better, some time and thought) to come up with something nice for their loved ones–which they ought to be doing year round anyway, but never mind. For people who are single but don’t want to be, it can be the loneliest day of the year. Believe me. I remember.
For you singletons, happy or un-, I have a gift. Actually, I have a contest! Here’s how it will work: Post a story, either in the main blog or on LiveJournal (sorry, Facebook people, but you have to go to the blog to enter), of the worst, most pathetic true tale of dating hell you can come up with. Rape, murder and pedophilia are off limits–those stories are hard for me to bear. Everything else will be fair game. You an enter as many times as you like.
On, let’s say, Thursday, I’ll link to all the stories and choose my favorite three (assuming I get that many) and let you readers choose the winner.
The prize will be a copy of Child of Fire, of course. Single folks will be able to shut out the tawdry pink hearts and chocolates with the nasty cherries inside and read a romance-free book about shadowy killers, a disintegrating community, and cleansing rage. Yeah, you heard right. Cleansing, cleansing rage.
Of course, you don’t have to be single or lonely to enter. Everyone is welcome, although if you win the book and you already have someone in your life who will be treating you special on that day, maybe you can give it to someone else who might enjoy it (and I’ll leave it up to your judgement whether you tell them why or not.
Let the stories begin!
1) I’m not sure what to call this video clip: GUN FU HUSTLE (Bollywood version)? Whatever you call it, it’s delightfully absurd and inventive.
2) Cherie Priest: high priestess of steampunk.
3) Dear News Media: When reporting on polls, please keep in mind…
4) Louis CK — Being White. God, how I laughed.
5) UK government bans export of fake bomb detectors.
6) Ted Haggard’s wife Gayle stands by her husband/writes book. Ms. Haggard says that her husband confessed to a sexual encounter with another man early in their marriage. He asked for and received her forgiveness, sought counseling, and they moved on. Or that’s what she thought–later she discovered (along with everyone else) that he had been seeing men in secret. However, now he’s asked for and received her forgiveness, sought counseling and they’ve moved on. So that’s totally different from the previous time. (Actually, there is a difference: Ms. Haggard has a book with an Amazon.com sales ranking in three digits. I hope she’s squirreling that money away.)
7) Try to conceal your unbearable surprise, but the CIA agent who claimed in December of 2007 that waterboarding got worthwhile intelligence out of hard-core terrorists, disrupting dozens of attacks? Well, it turns out that he was lying. So much for the “It works. Period.” crowd.
I’d meant to post a quick update on the guy who body-slammed a moving bus Wednesday night (lacerations, broken wrist) but instead I’ve been distracted by http://www.peopleofwalmart.com and it’s endless parade of furry boots with hot pants, hateful T-shirt slogans, epic plumbers’ cracks, pimp outfits, too-short skirts with no underwear, cellulite, high heels with hot pants (on dudes), animal prints, hair cuts that make a mullet look like a ‘do from a 5th Ave Salon, costumes, bellies protruding from tiny shirts, schizophrenics who dress themselves, kids on leashes, clothes made from trash bags, people with monkeys (seriously, why so many monkeys?), cars with random shit glued to them, hair styles meant to look like a toupee, hair styles meant to look like animal parts, hair styles meant to look like obscene gestures, yellow go-go boots with hot pants (on dudes), and complete grownups walking around with fake animal tails.
I… I just don’t understand it. Is this my country? Are these my people?