News

Chengdu Worldcon GoH gets Putin appointment

This entry was posted in Commentary News and tagged China fandom Russia science fiction on by

Congratulations to Sergei Lukianenko on being (probably) the first person ever to be both a guest of honor at a Worldcon and an appointee of Vladimir Putin. Putin appointed the loyal advocate of the war of aggression against Ukraine to Russia’s Civic Chamber. He’s also a guest of honor at the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon.

In an interview for the occasion he recommended “the establishment of some kind of federal structure that would publish books that are niche, but useful, educating the reader in the right values and the ability to think.” In other words, a government bureau to publish propaganda books. I’m sure he’d be glad to write some of them.

The Snow Forest cancelled because of review bombers

This entry was posted in Commentary News and tagged books Internet Russia Ukraine on by

War and Peace. Crime and Punishment. We the Living. Are all of these classic novels now unacceptable? Based on reactions to Elizabeth Gilbert’s no longer forthcoming The Snow Forest, it appears so. They’re set in Russia, and to a certain online mob such novels can’t be endured.

Elizabeth Gilbert was set to release her next novel, The Snow Forest. It has become, according to Time, “the target of review bombing, a practice where online users post multiple negative reviews on social media and review sites.” Faced with that reaction, she has pulled it from the publication schedule.

What was the problem? “The historical novel, which centers around a family in the 1930s that finds refuge from the Soviet government in the woods of Siberia, received backlash online from Ukrainian readers who criticized her for publishing a book set in Russia amid the Russian war in Ukraine.”
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Religious authoritarianism at San Francisco State

This entry was posted in Commentary News and tagged censorship education religion on by

It’s not just Hamline University. A professor at San Francisco State University is being investigated for failing to comply with the rules of some conservative branches of Islam. The Office of Equity Programs and Compliance has launched an investigation of him. 14th century Islamic art showing Muhammad receiving Quranic revelation from the angel Gabriel

San Francisco State University is, as the name implies, a government-run institution. It has no business requiring its faculty to comply with religious rules. Maybe the investigators think they can require compliance with a Muslim law because the professor was born in Tehran. It doesn’t work that way. The First Amendment protects him in the United States regardless of what country he came from or what ethnic group he belongs to.
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Signal boost: Shadiversity

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Shadiversity, a YouTube channel run by Shad Brooks, was helpful in my research for The Magic Battery. It covers old weapons, buildings, and daily life. It’s having trouble staying afloat, in large part thanks to Google’s unpredictability. I support the channel through SubscribeStar, which is like Patreon but (as far as I know) hasn’t done dubious things like trying to unilaterally increase the amount supporters pay.

If you haven’t watched Shadiversity but liked my novels, you may find the channel interesting. If you’re already a fan, please consider providing some financial support.

I have no association with Shadiversity and wasn’t asked or paid for this signal boost.
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Bowdlerizers on the march

This entry was posted in Commentary News and tagged bowdlerization publishing on by

As I noted last week, Penguin Random House partially backed off on sanitizing Roald Dahl’s books, promising authentic editions in addition to the expurgated ones. But it isn’t just kids’ books that are getting this treatment. The Spectre of bowdlerization is now haunting Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. Ian Fleming Publications has announced a new edition of the Bond novels that remove any suggestions that Bond was ever prejudiced against black people. If the Telegraph article is to be trusted, his prejudices against every other group, including East Asians, women, and gays, have been allowed to stand. In some cases, black people have just been erased. “Detail is also removed from Goldfinger, where the race of the drivers in the Second World War logistics unit, the Red Ball Express – which had many black servicemen – is not mentioned, instead referring only to ‘ex-drivers’.”

A disclaimer to be included in the books says, “A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set.” That’s nonsense. Keeping as close as possible to the original text means using the original text.
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Florida bill seeks to intimidate bloggers

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Politicians don’t like critical articles about them. Mike Masnick writes that Jason Brodeur, a Florida state senator, has introduced a bill to force bloggers to register if they write about DeSantis or other elected Florida officials and get any payment for it. They would then be ordered to file monthly reports on their blogging.

As Masnick notes, the bill is a blatant violation of the First Amendment. Its purpose is obviously to scare bloggers out of writing about DeSantis. The bill text is available on the Florida Senate’s website.
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Penguin Random House announces unbowdlerized Dahl books

This entry was posted in Commentary News Writing and tagged books bowdlerization censorship publishers on by

Penguin Random House, which holds the publishing rights to Roald Dahl’s books, had replaced Dahl’s texts with bowdlerized versions. They wanted to “make the books suitable for modern readers,” who evidently have reverted to the Victorian era. They discovered, though, that a lot of people today aren’t “modern readers” and can stand to read what an author actually wrote. As a result, Random Penguin has announced it will issue editions with the original text along with the sanitized versions.Stack of Roald Dahl books. Source: Wikimedia

Perhaps I should mention I’m not a fan of Dahl as a person. His reaction to Khomeini’s murder contract on Salman Rushdie was “This kind of sensationalism does indeed get an indifferent book on the top of the best-seller list — but to my mind it is a cheap way of doing so.” He characterized himself as antisemitic and said, “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity.” The portrayal of the Oompa Loompas is creepy, no matter how movie makers dress it up. For that matter, the punishments inflicted on the “bad” children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are rather horrible. They didn’t do anything that bad!
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The Dedham Library Christmas tree incident 2

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A branch of the Dedham, Massachusetts library decided not to put up a Christmas tree this year because it made some people “uncomfortable.” This has led to an acrimonious controversy which several news outlets have covered.

The situation goes to show how violently hostile people become over minor issues. More specific to this blog, it shows the kind of pressure libraries come under with increasing frequency.
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New York’s threat to free speech on the Web 1

This entry was posted in Censorship News and tagged censorship law liberty on by

A law recently passed by the New York State Legislature poses a serious threat to online speech. FIRE is already challenging this outrageous law, which I doubt can survive a legal battle, but in the meantime, it poses a threat to anyone running a site that’s read in New York and allows user input.

The law applies to the ill-defined category of “social media networks.” That doesn’t just mean Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It could apply to anyone who runs a Mastodon instance or even runs a blog that allows comments. FIRE says:
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