(1) SLOWER THAN EMPIRES AND HALF VAST. It all seems to obvious now. CheatSheet explains: “’Star Wars’: Why Delaying ‘Episode VIII: The Last Jedi’ Was the Right Call”.
From there, the plan was to release Episode VIII (now officially titled The Last Jedi) a quick five months later, with each subsequent sequel and spinoff releasing in May of their respective years. Recent events though have put that schedule in jeopardy, culminating in a massive seven-month delay. Our first hint at this possibility came courtesy of Meet the Movie Press, with host Jeff Sneider reporting on rewrites for Rian Johnson’s script that pushed the beginning of production out to February (initial plans had production scheduled to begin in September 2015). Already under the gun with the minuscule five-month gap between Rogue One and Episode VIII, the call was made official by Lucasfilm: The sequel to The Force Awakens will now release December 17, 2017.
…More than anything, the May release of Episode VIII would have been a nightmare from the marketing side. The Force Awakens released its first teaser almost exactly a year before its premiere. To follow a similar plan, Episode VIII would need a teaser by May of this year, all while Rogue One tries to get itself heard above the din of the main trilogy ahead of its own December release. The end result would have drowned out Rogue One and kept everyone’s eyes fixed on May 2017. With a year of spacing now between the two films, Lucasfilm no longer runs the risk of making people feel inundated by a revived franchise that’s already permeating every facet of our pop culture.
(2) KICKSTARTER SUCCESSS. Matt Godwin’s crowdfunded Latin@ Rising gets favorable notice from a San Antonio news outlet — “Anthology gathers best Latino sci-fi stories” in MySA.com.
Matt Goodwin compares “Latin@ Rising,” the new anthology of science fiction from San Antonio’s Wings Press, to an eclectic literary mix tape or playlist “in which there is an ebb and flow as you move through the loud and the brash, the quiet and the thoughtful.”
The latter might be Carmen Maria Machado’s “Difficult at Parties,” a first-person, present-tense story told as if through a camera lens about a woman struggling to return to some semblance of normal life after a sexual assault. As tension builds, she discovers she has developed a disturbing new psychic power.
On the other hand, Giannina Braschi’s “Death of a Businessman” is the cacophonous opening to a novel titled “The United States of Banana,” which is the author’s response to 9/11: “I saw the wife of the businessman enter the shop of Stanley, the cobbler, with a pink ticket in her hand. The wife had come to claim the shoes of the businessman. After all, they had found the feet, and she wanted to bury the feet with the shoes.”
(3) BOYCOTT WHEN CONVENIENT. Charles Stross says he’s canceling GoH appearance at Fencon XIV and won’t be making any other US appearances after that — “Policy change: future US visits”. However, he’s not cancelling a business trip to New York or attendance at Boskone because that would cost him money.
…Consequently I’m revising my plans for future visits to the United States.
I’ll be in New York and Boston for business meetings and Boskone in mid-February (I unwisely booked non-refundable flights and hotel nights before the election), but I am cancelling all subsequent visits for now. In particular, this means that I will no longer be appearing as guest of honor at Fencon XIV in Texas in September.
…As for why I’m cancelling this appearance … I have two fears.
Firstly, at this point it is clear that things are going to get worse. The Muslim ban is only the start; in view of the Administration’s actions on Holocaust Memorial Day and the anti-semitism of his base, I think it highly likely that Jews and Lefists will be in his sights as well. (As a foreign national of Jewish extraction and a member of a left wing political party, that’s me in that corner.)
Secondly, I don’t want to do anything that might be appear to be an endorsement of any actions the Trump administration might take between now and September. While it’s possible that there won’t be any more bad things between now and then (in which case I will apologize again to the Fencon committee), I find that hard to believe; equally possibly, there might well be a fresh outrage of even larger dimensions right before my trip, in which case my presence would be seen by onlookers as tacit acceptance or even collaboration.
As for my worst case nightmare scenario? Given the reshuffle on the National Security Council and the prominence of white supremacists and neo-nazis in this Administration I can’t help wondering if the ground isn’t being laid for a Reichstag Fire by way of something like Operation Northwoods. In which case, for me to continue to plan to travel to the United States in eight months time would be as unwise as it would have been to plan in February 1933 to travel to Germany in September of that year: it might be survivable, but it would nevertheless be hazardous….
(4) DICKINSON OBIT. Andrew Porter reports —
Originally from Leeds, England, fan Mike Dickinson, 69, died from cancer on January 20th. He had been in poor health for a year since being hit by a car, and then was diagnosed with lung cancer.
With David Pringle, he co-chaired Yorcon, the 1979 Eastercon, in Leeds, and was toastmaster of Yorcon II in 1981..
Among fanzines he published were the one-off fanzine Adsum in 1978; with Alan Dorey the one-off Sirius; three issues of Bar Trek with Lee Montgomerie; in 1979, the 95-97th issue of Vector for the British SF Association; and, in 1984, Spaghetti Junction.
David Pringle writes, “He was a mainstay of the Leeds SF group which met every Friday evening from some time in 1974 onwards, initially in a pub called The Victoria and later in one called the West Riding. That petered out in the 1980s — after I’d left Leeds in 1982, and after Mike and his partner Jackie went abroad for a couple of years, teaching English as a foreign language in Italy.”
(5) TODAY IN HISTORY
- January 29, 1845 — Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “The Raven,” beginning “Once upon a midnight dreary,” is published on this day in the New York Evening Mirror.
- January 29, 1924 — Carl Taylor’s ice cream cone-rolling machine patented.
- January 29, 1964 – Stanley Kubrck’s timeless Dr. Strangelove opens simultaneously in the UK and USA. It was James Earl Jones’ first movie role.
(6) QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” ~ George Orwell
(7) ALL THE ROAD RAGE. My daughter liked playing on Wii, but I drove off the road so many times in one of those Mario Bros. games I would never be the kind of customer for this platform that this collector is — “Guy completes entire Wii library, and it’s massive”
Your stack of old Wii games pales in comparison to this guy’s collection. Nintendo Age forum user Aaron Norton, who goes by Nintendo Twizer, has posted pictures of his entire Wii library collection, and it’s ridiculous.
According to Norton, the Wii had 1,262 game releases in North America. His collection doesn’t include variants, like different cover arts, collector’s editions, or Nintendo Selects, which were discounted re-releases of popular games. It also doesn’t include demo discs or games that were released in two-packs later on, like the Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy bundle.
(8) JUST DROPPING IN. What would it be like to actually land on Pluto? NASA’s video “A Colorful ‘Landing’ on Pluto” simulates the ride down.
This movie was made from more than 100 images taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft over six weeks of approach and close flyby in the summer of 2015. The video offers a trip down onto the surface of Pluto — starting with a distant view of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon — and leading up to an eventual ride in for a “landing” on the shoreline of Pluto’s informally named Sputnik Planitia.
To create a movie that makes viewers feel as if they’re diving into Pluto, mission scientists had to interpolate some of the panchromatic (black and white) frames based on what they know Pluto looks like to make it as smooth and seamless as possible. Low-resolution color from the Ralph color camera aboard New Horizons was then draped over the frames to give the best available, actual color simulation of what it would look like to descend from high altitude to Pluto’s surface.
After a 9.5-year voyage covering more than three billion miles, New Horizons flew through the Pluto system on July 14, 2015, coming within 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) of Pluto. Carrying powerful telescopic cameras that could spot features smaller than a football field, New Horizons sent back hundreds of images of Pluto and its moons that show how dynamic and fascinating their surfaces are.
(9) RHYME AND REASON. The Science Fiction Poetry Association has started a blog, SPECPO, with a flurry of interesting posts. SFPA President Bryan Thao Worra introduced it on Facebook:
Some of you may have noticed we had a soft-launch of the new blog for the Science Fiction Poetry Association, SPECPO. This will be where we hope to share and archive more member news, interviews, reviews, readings, announcements, and shareable items with one another in a more timely and entertaining way.
To keep it clear: From an organization standpoint, SPECPO does NOT replace Star*Line as the official newsletter of the SFPA for more formal matters that require members atte…ntion, such as voting or other issues outlined in our bylaws and constitution. But SPECPO can serve as a space to post reminders and clarifying commentary and frequently unofficial viewpoints, particularly from guest posters (which will be clearly marked as such when appropriate).
The hope is that this will facilitate conversations on speculative poetry for those who aren’t actively on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media, and to provide diverse content that’s reasonably easy to search back for, given the often overwhelming flurry of items that can come up on our list-serv and other forums. This is a work in progress, but I hope you enjoy what we’re putting together and that many of you will volunteer to be guest contributors! 🙂
Keep inspired and keep creating!
(10) DEFINE SPECULATIVE. Just like defining science fiction gives rise to controversies, so does the effort to define speculative poetry. SFPA’s Shannon Connor Winward asked people what is and isn’t “speculative” in a poll on her website. Now the results are in.
In November 2016, the SFPA officers published an informal online survey entitled “What Is Speculative Poetry”. The main purpose of this survey was to determine whether there is an overall consensus among the membership regarding what genres or sub-genres of poetry belong under the heading “speculative”, assuming no other genre elements are present. The results are posted below.
Survey Results
As indicated in the graph and table below, the results of the “What Is Speculative Poetry” survey represent a wide spectrum of opinion regarding what counts as “speculative”. On the upper end of consensus, we find categories that are understood across the literary landscape as falling within the speculative umbrella, including Science Fiction, Space science & exploration, Fantasy, Magic, Supernatural Horror, Myth and Folklore, Fairy Tales, Alternative History, SF&F pop culture, Superheroes, Surrealism, Slipstream, Fabulism, and Weird and “What If”.
Genres that fell more towards the middle of the spectrum—that is, those receiving support by 40-65% of responders, included Science (physics, chemistry, biology, etc), Domestic Fabulism, Dinosaurs, “Interstitial” works, biographies of speculative poets, and poems in which traditional SF&F tropes as literary device (analogy, simile).
On the lower end of the spectrum—those genres that are most controversial, according to responders—we find Bizzaro, SF&F tropes as metaphor (bit of inconsistency there), biographies of scientists and (non-speculative) poets, Mundane Horror, Nature, Religion, Gender, Real history, Cowboy & Western, and Romance.
… Based on the results, the answer to that question is clear as mud–yes, there is consensus, and no, there really isn’t. Are we surprised? Not really!
Nevertheless, it is the consensus of the SFPA executive committee that this survey was, at least, an interesting experiment. We feel that you, our members and colleagues, will also find it interesting, and that, in regards to eligibility for our awards and publications, this survey can also be a useful tool to future SFPA editors and award Chairs, who are tasked with answering the practical question, “What is speculative poetry?”
(11) HOUSE DIVIDED. Shannon Connor Winward has also released the results of a poll about a more specific question – “SFPA ‘Rhysling Maximum Length’ Survey Report” . Despite the narrower question, there was even sharper division.
One such discussion pertained to the Rhysling award “Long Poem” category – specifically, what, if anything, should be done with especially long poems that are nominated for the award. Several members voiced concerns that poems above a certain length might strain the budget for the Rhysling anthology by adding in extra pages and printing costs. Others expressed the idea that particularly long poems might be better considered as a distinct genre, rather than competing against poems of a more easily-consumed length.
In response to these concerns, the SFPA officers published an online survey entitled “Rhysling Maximum Length”, in November 2016.
Question #1: Should there be an upper line limit to long length Rhysling nominated poems?
While not every participant responded to all six questions; this fundamental question received exactly 100 responses, revealing a pure 50/50 split in member opinion:
No – 50 (50%)
Yes – 50 (50%)
Question #2: If yes, what should the upper limit be?
Assuming the membership voted in favor of an upper line limit for poems in the “Long Poem” Rhysling category, it would be necessary to define said limit.
The first option, “9 pages / 5K words / 500 lines” was designed to dovetail upper length limit for Rhysling “Long Poems” with the minimum length requirements for the SFPA’s Elgin Award for book-length works. Out of 51 responses, this option received a majority vote.
9 pages / 5K words / 500 lines – 30 (59%)
Other – 21 (41%)
(12) TRADING PRICES. If you already ordered this Gauntlet Press at the original $150 price you saved $50. Maybe more
When we priced the lettered edition of John Russo’s Night of the Living Dead we were told that George Romero would not be signing the lettered edition (even though we had a preface he wrote). Now Romero has agreed to sign that edition. His signing makes this an event book, therefore we are increasing the price of the lettered edition to $200. The only reason we would increase the price of a book is if we had someone sign our lettered edition we hadn’t expected; someone truly collectible. The good news is that anyone who has already purchased the lettered edition for $150 won’t have to pay a penny more. We don’t believe we should make those who pre-ordered a book pay more if we increase its price. Those who pre-ordered get the same lettered edition, signed by Russo and Romero, as anyone who orders now. And, a word to the wise…we are trying to get other major names to sign the book so the price might increase again. Order now and you get the book for $200 regardless whomever else we get to sign.
(13) MARTIAN CHRONICLER. In 2009, Ray Bradbury made his last visit to JPL to celebrate the success of the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Andew Porter, and Mark-kitteh for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]
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@microtherion
I also doubt that Stross, who I believe lives in a flat rather then a McMansion, is making mad money either.
Leaving Stross aside to look at the wider issue, I certainly wouldn’t commit to the expenditure for a US visit right this minute due to the exact scenario you outline – I wouldn’t risk the cost of getting turned around due to the scratch of a pen mid-flight. That’s not a political judgement just a pragmatic one about how much money I could risk.
It may well be that it all calms down, but while the prospect of US entry rules changing unilaterally at short notice exists I think a lot of people may consider holding onto their wallets.
(Incidentally, I should acknowledge that UK customs, visas, etc are just as capable of being awkward as US ones; this isn’t a dig at the US per se, just that it’s the current situation we’re discussing)
Random SF/F News: Steven Brust’s latest Vlad Taltos novel (Vallista) can be digitally pre-ordered in the US now and it will be available October 17, 2017. I believe print can also be pre-ordered and will be available on that day as well.
The customs people in Wales were so polite and nice I didn’t realize at first that they were customs. I thought they were unusually solicitous Welsh people.
Mostly the US border is staffed by people resentful they’ve never had the chance to take part in a lynching but the one really notable exception is Hawaii, where all of the security people were cheerful and welcoming. But Hawaii doesn’t feel American: people don’t have that look of tension and fear I expect in the US.
The scroll title earwormed me with this.
@Rob Thornton
Excellent news, and also in the UK. A new Vlad book is a red-letter day.
Unfortunately the kindle/calibre situation is making my pre-order finger hang fire.
(I haven’t picked up the sequel to The Incrementalists yet, if anyone happens to have read it…)
@airboy
You’re right about how convenient Global Entry is. My husband is Canadian, and we live in Seattle, so we pay for a special “Nexus” pass that gives us access to an express line at the border. That automatically gets us Global Entry and TSA Precheck. There’s something awfully satisfying about walking around the long line at customs, scanning your card at a machine, waving at the guards, and walking right out.
FWIW, it’s good to make it known when your decision not to visit a place is based on criteria that place has some control over. Travel boycotts are something state governments look at when it’s costing them money.
Often cries go up of “virtue signaling!” when people are public about behavior, which seems like another one of those terms designed to discourage something that maybe shouldn’t be discouraged. You can call it that, or you can call it setting a good example or even showing how they’re walking the walk along with talking the talk.
In the case of Stross specifically – man, if I’d bought airline tickets, I’d probably make the same choice. Cons are expensive and very few of us have the luxury necessary to make grandiose financial gestures.
@Chip Hitchcock, there were major demonstrations in Texas as well:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/donald-trump-1/2017/01/28/trumps-order-slamming-borders-shut-airports-immigrants-scrambling
In fact, between the Dallas Stars attendance figures joke and San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban speaking out against Trump every opportunity they get, it seems to me that the assumption that Texans would automatically be loyal to a Republican president is anything but warranted.
@James Davis Nicoll, I had the opportunity of seeing Lisa Simone live at a small Jazz festival in France a few years ago. I must admit that I did not have high expectations in advance, but oh, was I ever wrong! Amazing vocal technique, impressive presence, and fierce performance.
I have decided the appropriate reaction to Stross’ F.U.D. about the American future is to stop reading his books — except for the two I already own, because why should I take the financial loss?
Musicality does run in families! For example, the Nicolls:
Ilia Nicoll
Jake Nicoll
Annoyingly, I can’t seem to find William Nicoll’s music online. I am a terrible uncle.
Those look like invented “nuances” to me. In the first place, if you read his post, he made his decision to keep the two trips based on the nonrefundable tickets. In the second place, he’s flying into New York, which is neither of the states you’re talking about. In fact, it’s Trump’s home town, isn’t it.
I’m not sure I want to be there when the officials find out that I read File 770.
“Mostly the US border is staffed by people resentful they’ve never had the chance to take part in a lynching” That was nasty.
@airboy
Yes, that was unnecessary.
@Cat
As someone that is willing to “go there”, this doesn’t scream “virtue signaling” to me. He’s making a choice that is related to the issue about which he is concerned.
The bit about not want to appear to be endorsing Mr. Trump aside, and given* that his assumptions come to fruition, he seems reasonable. Simply avoiding excess bureaucratic nonsense** is enough to alter one’s travel plans, IMHO. It’s been influencing mine for over a decade.
Hope you have a good time on the Grimtidings Podcast. Or had….whichever. Philip and Rob are a lot of fun.
Regards,
Dann
*Sadly, we’ll have to wait and see on that one.
**Which seems more likely at this point.
MG : And I’m entitled to be unimpressed by how his trumpeted decision about the U.S. now being too risky to visit doesn’t require him to forego the trips that immediately follow this announcement.
Are you unable to actually read his words “Firstly, at this point it is clear that things are going to get worse” or are you just ignoring them because your feelings are hurt?
Stross didn’t say that the US was now too risky to visit. He said it might get risky for him in the future.
NYC is “Trump’s home town,” and he’s hated there. Has been for years. It’s not a place where the Orange Troll has support.
He’s going, early in Trump’s time as Presid ed nt, to places thar are very, very blue, where there is no support for Trump’s antics. And places where his scheduled travel is sufficiently imminent that it could cause real problems to cancel. Whereas his GoH gig is quite a few months from now. They have plenty of time to plan around his cancellation. And it’s a much redder location, more likely to support Trump’s evil actions.
I’m hardly Stross’s biggest fan, but what he’s doing looks like anew attempt at reasonable compromise on safety, risk, and inconvenience to others.
RDF: Wow, the old “reading comprehension” and “your-poor-fee-fees” gambits BOTH in the same lazy sentence. No appertainment for you…
Not only did I read his “firstly” point, I read his “secondly” point —
That’s right — anybody who goes to a science fiction convention in the U.S. is at risk of being suspected of accepting the state of affairs wrought by the Trump administration, and cannot guard his Pharisaical purity closely enough. Eh, maybe not.
In the second place, he’s flying into New York, which is neither of the states you’re talking about. In fact, it’s Trump’s home town, isn’t it.
In fairness, Mike, NY absolutely *hates* Trump – possibly because they’ve had so much time with him.
@RDF. I lived in NYC the first 31 years of my life. Trump was always in the papers, and “Familiarity breeds contempt” is definitely the phrase that pays. I was over him and sick of his bombasticity back in the 80’s…
@Jack Lint
Ask them to check your prostate while they’re there.
ETA an epetition against Trump’s proposed state visit to the U.K. has now reached nearly 1.5 million signatures.
Given the uncertainty at the moment, I’d be wary of visiting the US, so I’d cut Stross a fair amount of slack for his concerns, especially as…
“Loss of international mobility killed about half my blood relatives a generation ago, in 1939-42 — the side of my family that didn’t make it out of Poland in time.”
And:
“Please note that I fall into no less than, and possibly more than, three groups that Trump/Pence and Trump’s neo-Nazi followers dislike intensely, namely out-of-the-closet LGBT, of Jewish ethnicity, Atheist, member of a by-US-standards hard left political party (the Scottish Green Party, i.e. center-left social democrats with environmental and civil liberties interests)…”
Also: Remember Peter Watts?
Trump is probing. My prediction is that there will be a new decree, a bit less in tone. Say: Not issuing new visas and greencards, instead of revoking existing ones. Since its “backpaddling” on his part, this will be klmet with less resistance then if he would have done so right away.
I can also imagine tries to lessen the influence of courts, for example due slowing down the process.
As a german, I find this all eeriely familiar. I am deeply concerned.
Instead of the usual pixel-pun my favorite quote:
@Mr. Glyer “his Pharisaical purity”
Must applaud the creative insult.
I’ve only had one priest who would have thrown that one out.
PS “Trump is probing”
See the article “Trial balloon for s coup?” at medium.com
I wonder what Mike thinks of us US citizens who are trying to balance leaving before it’s too late, with career/family/home. And that timeframe is probably on a scale of months. I have friends in vulnerable populations who will probably wait too long.
@ airboy
You join members of my family who extol the Global One program.
I always figure that the easy ride I get at US border control makes up for the rough ones I get in the “All other passports” line everywhere else. US border officials are generally nice, as I’m USian, and many are bilingual (!), so I’m usually impressed by them. I have a US friend, however, who gets grilled and searched every time. She’s African American and I’m not. Don’t know whether this is related to race.
@ Mike Glyer
Of course you are free to make and describe the results of your own analysis. After the equanimity you usually show, even when personally insulted, however, the strength of your anger in the case of Stross seems surprising. And I can’t see any resemblance between Stross’ behavior and that of a slaveholder, even when he was also the father of his country. Buying a ticket is quite different from attempting to keep a person as property.
Maura McHugh reviewed the graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred on the Irish radio arts show Arena earlier tonight. You can listen back to the whole show at this page, Maura’s on near the end, or it should be up as a podcast tomorrow.
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/arena/#2386879
Rose Embolism: During the Vietnam War I wasn’t trying to leave the country — had I been drafted I would have served — but I knew someone who was and he found it difficult to get into Canada. I’ve also known a couple of people who wanted to move to Canada or Australia in connection with their love life, and that was tough, too. All to the point, my personal experience hasn’t left me thinking that leaving the country is something most people can choose to do. Is it really as hard as I think? I don’t know, but that’s why I don’t criticize people who feel their safety dictates doing such a difficult thing.
In fact, I find it quite easy to separate my thoughts about people in that situation from Charles Stross and his pompous pronouncement that equates attending a U.S. convention with endorsing the policies of the Trump administration. (Does he also stay home from British conventions because he doesn’t want to be associated with the party in power there?)
@rdf,
You’re referring to this article by Yonatan Zunger? It is absolutely worth a read; Yonatan Zunger’s analysis is often very insightful, as it is here.
I for one am happy that Worldcon 75 is not in the USA, or I would have to look into canceling my tickets.
@Mike Glyer,
People who travel to certain countries are often, rightly or wrongly, presumed to be supporting the regime in power in those countries – after all, a visit to a foreign country requires a deliberate choice, and when there are so many possible destinations, the choice of a particular one can certainly be seen as some kind of endorsement.
Conversely, someone who stays in their home country is generally not considered to have made such a deliberate choice since they are just staying where they are already living – the default option, which is for many people the only readily available one – and thus there don’t tend to be such conclusions of active support. Also, people in their home countries tend to be much better able to work within their home country’s political system and attempt to bring about change, which is of course the opposite of an endorsement.
There isn’t a frowny face big enough.
No. What happens is that travelling to the US – for whatever reasons – might be seen as endorsing american policies. People in Europe do not tend to separate the current administration from the country as such. And if Trump goes all the way with the muslim ban or other policies like that, travelling to the US will be like sticking your hand in a wasps nest. People of left leanings will be expected to not go there to show solidarity with those that aren’t allowed.
Travelling to US has been politicized several times. During the Iraq war, during the Vietnam war and so on. And it is happening now. One of our travel bureaus looked at what trips Swedes searched for. Searches for trips to US had been halved after Trump was sworn in. This at a time when they usually increase.
Just today there were some tweets that indicate an anti-LGBTQ EO is being drafted and will be signed soon. The SCOTUS nominee will also send a strong signal.
I have to agree with Mr. Stoss — the people “inconvenienced” (Spicer’s words, not mine) included PERMANENT US RESIDENTS and US citizens (people with dual citizenship and little kids born in the USA to green card parents.)(One five-year-old was put in handcuffs, Spicer tried to justify it when questioned.)
These are not ISIL fighters sneaking through a tunnel in Tijuana.
We do not know how far this regime is willing to go. We DO know they have instructed their minions to defy court orders. And said minions are doing so willingly and without apology.
If I were a US Citizen or Green Card holder, I’m not sure I would be making travel plans for Helsinki — right now, who knows if I would be allowed to return to my country?
“Just today there were some tweets that indicate an anti-LGBTQ EO is being drafted and will be signed soon.”
I doubt that, but time will tell.
I fail to see where the “no” part comes in when, as you say, people do not distinguish between American and Trump policies. That makes them synonymous, does it not?
3) I can’t say I blame him, and (as has been pointed out upthread) whether he makes the Boston trip or not, that money has already been spent — the argument that “he just doesn’t want to lose money” is specious. Frankly, I’m taking a wait-and-see attitude about my intended trip to NASFIC at this point, and I’m a white American citizen who would be visiting what’s supposed to be domestic territory. You can bet that I won’t be making any non-refundable reservations, though.
@ Chip: There have been demonstrations in Texas as well — I was at one yesterday — but the real difference here is that Massachusetts’ state government is standing in opposition to this bullshit, while Texas’ is not.
@ microtherion: Unfortunately, sports figures (no matter how popular) don’t make government decisions. Texas’ state government is backing Trump to the hilt, and they don’t give a rat’s ass that over half of their citizens are pissed.
@ Mike: For someone who claims to have read Stross’ post, you’re not doing a very good job of demonstrating it. Stross didn’t say a thing about Americans who attend American conventions. He said he would not want to be seen as possibly endorsing Trump; the most extrapolation that can reasonably be made from that is that he might have intended it to apply to other non-Americans as well, but he didn’t actually SAY that — or even imply it.
I honestly don’t understand why you have such a bee up your butt about this. It’s not like you.
Regarding the infamous rudeness of US immigration and border control personnel, I know that they’re understaffed and likely underpaid, but border control personnel elsewhere is working in a high stress job as well and somehow manages to remain civil, even in the face of e.g. US passengers who frequently manage to stand in the “EU passports” line at Amsterdam airport and who are still treated politely and not sent back to wait in the correct line. Meanwhile, entering the US is about as pleasant as entering a Communist country pre-1990.
Though not all US border personnel is rude and it really depends on the airport. Boston is usually the best (and note that’s where Stross is going) and Atlanta the worst. BTW, my worst ever US immigration experience was at Atlanta where an immigration officer pretty much drove me to tears as a fifteen-year-old travelling alone to visit relatives. I suspect there was a racial background to this, since all the officers working the lines were black, while the supervisor was a white woman who had just yelled at them to work faster, so the officer took out his frustration on the next white person in line, who just happened to be me. I understand his frustration (and the white supervisor was really awful, putting down the staff in front of dozens of passengers), but I still think he shouldn’t have taken it out on a fifteen-year-old kid.
As for a trip to a country being viewed as an endorsement of said country’s politics, entry stamps from Cuba or several Muslim countries (and pre-1990 from Communist countries) in your passport will get you some unpleasant questions, if you try to enter the US. Pre-1990, it was common among people who travelled a lot like business people, journalists, etc… to have two passports, an East and a West passport, to avoid such issues. It’s rarer nowadays, but some people who travel a lot to Muslim countries as well as to the US and/or Israel still have two passports.
BTW, I’m not even a fan of Charles Stross and his work.
Lee: If you can find that bee, feel free to remove it.
In the meantime, let me tell you about the day-long exhibition of logical fallacies I’ve been treated to, and how tired I am of being expected to take that at face value.
Well, it’s Stross’ argument, not mine, isn’t it. The thing he said separated the trips he’s going to make from the ones he’s not. Because he can’t go to a convention in the U.S. six months from now lest he be accused of endorsing Trump’s policies, but he can go to one next month.
Stross does not live in a vacuum — where do you think he got the idea someone might impute a Trump endorsement to him if he came to a convention here? From other people he’s afraid will hold him to that standard, whoever they may be. And whoever they are will not be applying it to him alone. What’s absurd is that — depending on what convention we’re talking about — a con is likely to be a hotbed of fans and writers who share Stross’ opinion of Trump.
He’s not willing to pay a financial price, or endure a hit on his reputation. How heroic.
In my experience (having gone through US immigration about 30 times in the past 20 years, mostly in San Francisco), the experience improved quite a bit when the INS was replaced by DHS/CPB. Still not all that pleasant, but even on the two occasions where I made legal mistakes and could, with some bad will, have been deported, officers were professional with me.
My experiences with British immigration were considerably worse (among them an officer who went through my luggage item by item, providing running commentary on stockings, chocolate, and prophylactics).
It you enter NZ on a E-passport from an accepted country, you almost certainly won’t speak to immigration & customs (unless you have been flagged for interest, but you probably wouldn’t have been let on the airplane in the first place). You will speak to bio-security, if you have ticked a box they they can’t handle then you are directed to the single I&C person who sits behind the row of bio-security people. They do a good job of not looking bored!
So far, I’ve never had a bad experience with British immigration personnel, though they do love randomly going through every single item in your carry-on luggage and open everything, too, including emptying out your wallet. They were polite and professional about it, though, even the bearded Scottish guy who decided he really needed to open the plastic bag I told him contained “ladies’ sanitary supplies” and promptly found himself looking at spare underpants and sanitary pads.
I did once witness a British immigration officer telling a Swiss man in the “EU passports” lane to go back and stand in the correct line. But the Swiss guy was obnoxious and had been all through the flight, so I don’t blame him.
@microtherion: see @Lee.
@OGH: New York was also the site of major demonstrations — AFAICT, so much so that the MTA had to be ordered to restart trains when some jackass tried to keep natives from getting to the airport.
@Lee: just so; I may not have let reasonings blur. My thought is that a Texas judge is likely to declare that the rulings of other judges don’t apply in his jurisdiction; I expect someone could come up with an argument to support this.
Choices and consequences being at least somewhat the topic: all the blessings of the universe on former acting US Attorney-General Sally Yates. May her successors meet their test of conscience as well as she chose to.
@airboy–“Just today there were some tweets that indicate an anti-LGBTQ EO is being drafted and will be signed soon.”
I doubt that, but time will tell.
You may doubt it, but ask any gay person you know–especially over a certain age–and I’m sure you’ll find them waiting for the shoe to drop. Mike Pence and the rest of his Dominionist ilk ( I need an emoji for spitting on the ground) are orchestrating the decisions on the social aspect of the nominations so I fully expect something to come down. The man rumored to be the front-runner for Supreme Court is a big fan of sodomy laws, for one.
I expect an attempt to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.
Mike,
The part that you’re missing is the significance of Stross being, in the U.S., a foreigner. Since, as you noted, leaving your home country permanently is a more difficult thing than visiting another country, visiting a country tends to imply approval of it in a way that staying home doesn’t about home. So no, I don’t think he would say that an American attending an American con implies what he, a Scot, attending it would.
Nor is it well-chosen to mock his lack of heroism. He’s not trying to be heroic. He’s trying to express his political views. It’s up to him how fervently he wants to express them. Sarcasm about his principles really doesn’t look good on you.
He articulated two values that in his opinion called for action, and immediately granted himself exceptions to the required action because he was unwilling to forfeit the investment in his nonrefundable airline tickets. He wants to go to his business meeting in New York. Likewise he wants to go to a convention in Boston, despite expressing fears that his travel to the U.S. will be seen as some kind of Trumpian endorsement.
Evidently the Call of the Narrative on this subject is so overwhelmingly strong that not only are many unwilling to acknowledge how defective Stross’ expression of his political views is, but they must defend it by giving it an undeserved character.
Stross has been talking about this for a long time–months–and this is pretty much exactly what he said he was going to do. Honor obligations which he could not easily get out of, but beyond that, avoid the US until the situation is more clear. He has also specifically discussed the fact that he thinks the danger is likely to increase as time goes on, so he’s less unwilling to visit now than he will be soon.
Of course, if you really think this is all just his evil money-grubbing ways, well, sheesh, why not ask him, instead of taking one perhaps ill-judged comment and throwing the worst possible interpretation on it! I mean, I know it’s fun to pass judgment, but sometimes it’s good to get the facts as well.
Or don’t. I really don’t care. I enjoy this site, but I have a whole lot more respect for Mr. Stross than for you, Mike, if this is how you’re going to overreact to something like this. Stross’s position makes a whole lot of sense to me. Yours makes none. And your assumption that everyone else must be incorrect because you couldn’t possibly be is…disconcerting to say the least.
He didn’t say the action needed to be immediate – indeed, he described the danger as mostly potential and lying in a possible future, which is why you mocked it as “F.U.D.” – and he didn’t say it had to be absolute.
Evidently the Call of the Narrative on this subject is so overwhelmingly strong that not only are some unwilling to acknowledge that holding political views does not require one immediately to upend and overturn one’s entire personal life, but they must attack it by giving it an undeserved character.
Mike Glyer:
It is a matter of who you hold responsible. If you react against the Trump administration, you blame people who voter Trump. If you react against american policies, you blame all Americans as a whole. Yes, yes, semantics. But it gives different perspectives.
Cora:
Interestingly enough, I have travelled to US with stamps from Lebanon and Syris several times without unpleasant questions. Even once with stamps from Syria, Lebanon and Cuba. This around 2004-2006.