New article on Beethoven
My first article on the Online Library of Liberty has been published!
Fidelio: Beethoven’s Hymn to Freedom
Yearly Archives: 2022
Amazon employees demand book banning
Some employees of a huge corporation demanded it should decide which books are acceptable for customers. They engaged in what’s called a “die-in,” which consists of lying on the ground while issuing demands. They demanded that Amazon decide which books it approves of and not make others available to customers.
This is small stuff, but it’s weird that anyone would demand that a mega-corporation which is the world’s largest bookseller should have an Index of Prohibited Books that it won’t sell. The protesters fantasize that they’ll get to call the shots. They imagine that they’ll decide what’s on the Index; probably they all think they’ll be promoted to the new position that compiles the Index.
(more…)
A turning point in fannish bullying? 1
This past weekend saw an unusual event in science fiction fandom. The con chair of Balticon apologized for the convention’s treatment of a guest, removing her from a panel in progress. This follows the blowback SFWA received for removing Mercedes Lackey from the Nebula conference after naming her a Grand Master. Could the era of bullying of convention volunteers and program participants be coming to an end?
(more…)
A writer’s guide to freedom of speech and press in America
People in the United States enjoy some of the strongest legal protections on their speech and writing in the world. Saying some things is illegal, though, and others open you to getting sued. There’s a lot of misinformation around on what is and isn’t considered free speech. Here’s a quick rundown of some common claims. 
Standard disclaimer: This isn’t legal advice. It’s my best understanding. See a lawyer when in doubt. In some cases, I’ve cited court cases you can look up and study.
(more…)
SFWA, Mercedes Lackey, and taboo words 3
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) named Mercedes Lackey a Grand Master at the Nebula Awards ceremony, then almost immediately turned around and removed her from the Nebula Conference. The stated reason was that she “used a racial slur” while on a panel.
English has long had taboo words. At one time, the strongest ones dealt with religion. Later on, ones relating to bodily functions headed the list. It’s still illegal to tell people on broadcast television what the Supreme Court’s seven dirty words are. How do you avoid breaking the law when you can’t be told what the law forbids?
The Lackey situation is similar. The File 770 article doesn’t tell us what the alleged racial slur was. Readers are likely to imagine the worst words possible (which I won’t mention, since they may lower my search engine visibility). In fact, the word she used was “colored.” If that’s a slur, then the NAACP commits it every time it gives its full name, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
(more…)
Book discussion: To Kill a Mockingbird 1
I thought I had read To Kill a Mockingbird before, but I must have been mistaken. I couldn’t have forgotten so much of so powerful a book.
It must have been the movie that confused my memory. It’s an excellent adaptation of the book, but it focuses more on the Tom Robinson trial. The trial is an important part of Harper Lee’s novel, but the canvas is broader.
The novel presents the experiences of a girl growing up in a small Alabama town in the 1930s. Her father is Atticus Finch, an attorney of impeccable integrity. It presents what seems to me like an honest picture of people’s attitudes in that place and time.
(more…)
Dissecting clickbait stories
When you report or comment on a news story, the first step is to understand what it says. Low-quality websites have ways of appearing to say more than they do. They aim to create a panic and attract links. A careful reading may show there isn’t much substance to what happened.
Let’s look at a Daily Mail article claiming that an application called “New Profile Pic” “hoovers up your details.” A careful reading shows that doesn’t mean much.
(more…)
Words banned from Wordle, the sequel
A while back I wrote about how the New York Times excluded certain words from Wordle. It wouldn’t recognize “slave,” “lynch,” and “COVID,” though other potentially alarming words were allowed.
Now “fetus” has joined the list of banned words. The Times changed the puzzle in the middle of the day and apologized. It’s not clear what it was apologizing for, but its statement said, “We want Wordle to remain distinct from the news.” This is a hopeless goal. The Times’ news stories and Wordle draw on the same vocabulary.
People who didn’t refresh their browsers might have seen the earlier puzzle even after it was withdrawn.
A new review of Spells of War
Monica Cellio has posted a review of Spells of War.
Spells of War tells an interesting story with characters I cared about. In both books, the author made me care about, and understand the inner struggles of, people who are on the “other side” — the inquisitor in the first book and Petros and his peers in the second. Spells of War shows the devastation that war causes on all involved.
As she notes, Monica was a beta reader and got a free copy in return for her useful advice. There was no quid pro quo beyond that.
Here’s the information on ordering Spells of War.
Trigger warnings with fiction
A Reddit group lets people announce their novels and asks the authors to include any appropriate trigger warnings. The implied assumption is that fiction routinely contains passages that will trigger anxiety attacks or PTSD and that readers ought to be warned. It’s part of a trend calling for trigger warnings everywhere.
This approach has a couple of problems. A trigger warning is a spoiler. Shocking events in a novel aren’t as effective if the reader knows about them in advance, even in general terms. Imagine “Bambi Meets Godzilla” with a trigger warning. Second, it’s not clear whether they help. Psychologists have argued that treating people as fragile may only make them more fragile.
(more…)