Showing that free expression remains elusive in certain areas of the world, a Qatar poet recently was sentenced to life in prison for his poetry, which apparently insulted rulers.
Author: Anders Monsen (Page 31 of 83)
Usually a Constitution enshrines liberty, or ensures protection for minority groups and individuals. Not so Egypt’s new Constitution under Morsi, where apparently God’s hand is with the majority. That sentiment usually implies a fist.
On the one hand, stand beside Obama and wax about shared sacrifice. In reality, award yourself millions as Costco’s board declares dividend payouts right before tax rates rise steeply. Glad I don’t shop there.
From guns to aircraft, 3D printing has come a long way.
Yes, because nothing fixes a bad 37-year old law than adding new layers on top of it.
Here is the New Statesman interview with author Terry Pratchett, where he talks about what will happen when he no longer is able to write. We all know death lies ahead in the future, but in Pratchett’s case he has acknowledged the disease that affects what he does for a living. It’s cruel when writers lose the ability to write, much like H.L. Mencken’s stroke that left him unable to read or write, or Jack Vance’s fading eyesight. Thankfully Pratchett has a support environment, and other options such as dictation software. I think when Pratchett finally hears that voice in all caps, we all shall wear midnight.
F. Paul Wilson interviewed at the The Quillery about his most recent novel, Cold City, which opens a trilogy exploring the adult origins of Repairman Jack (we already had a trilogy that covered the teenage Jack). The new trilogy covers “two-and-a-half year period from late 1990 to early 1993” (since the books were updated the timeline switched from the original 1980s of The Tomb to more recent years). If you think you know Jack from the regular series, according to Wilson “he was full of surprises in Cold City, mainly because he was a different guy.” For more details on what Wilson’s up to next click on the link and read the interview.
Samuel Sattin at Salon argues that science fiction have never been more apocalyptic than now, with the focus on end of the world movies and books. Memories are short, as I remember countless novels in the 1980s and early 1990s just as grim or grimmer than the current zombie focus. Stephen King’s The Stand, Robert R. McCammon’s Swan Song, various Joe R. Lansdale stories and his two Drive-In books, a host of Cyberpunk novels and stories, and the original zombie phase with books like Dead in the West, and the Book of the Dead anthologies. The “now” is always foremost in our minds. My theory is they are tied to recessionary times, and the current trend will fade at some point.
Interesting article at io9 about early 20th century science fiction in Germany, mainly under Nazi rule. Some highlights:
In 1935, the government passed a strict preventative censorship law which required that all magazines be submitted to the government for approval before publication. The pulp publishers’ response was to try their trick of twenty years’ previous: change the names of the pulps but not the content of the pulps. The government’s censors were not fooled, and the government, angered, put much greater pressure on the publishers. And then the government proclaimed 1936 to be “the Year of the German Jungvolk,” with the aims that all of the German children and teenagers who were not already part of Hitler Youth would join it, and that all youth dissidence and all causes of youth dissidence would be eliminated.
and
Not every German pulp with fantastic content turned fascist. Up until their end, in 1939, both Tom Shark and John Kling remained as free as realistically possible of fascist content. (The lack of pro-Nazi ideology is what got Tom Shark cancelled, in fact–the German government ordered its cancellation on those grounds).
This is part one of an article, and the next one will look at the USSR.
Write-up about a history museum in Bonn about various science fiction highlights from the 20th century. Who knew that East Germany frowned upon the term “science fiction”?
