Good thing I live where I do

You Are 8% American

You're as American as Key Lime Tofu Pie Otherwise known as un-American! You belong in Cairo or Paris... Get out fast - before you end up in Gitmo!

How American Are You?

DON'T MENTION THE WAR!

Altogether now, in impersonation of Basil Fawlty: DON'T MENTION THE WAR!!!

But - the G8 isn't a cause of poverty, surely? And here was I, all these years, under the impression that it was the Global Benevolent Fund

Blair apparently thinks it 'very odd' that anyone should actually want to, y'know, protest. I do, too. I mean, anyone would think we didn't trust them...(cue extreme sarcasm).


The war on dissent - Rachel Shabi Saturday July 2, 2005

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1519559,00.html#article_continue

"If you are attending the Make Poverty History rally in Edinburgh today, you need to be a "good" protester. The event is intended to lobby G8 leaders to do what the title suggests.

Demonstrators are asked to march alongside Gordon Brown, wearing white, and to stay on-message. Don't mention the war. Ditto for any critique of capitalism.

Suggestions that G8 policy, far from alleviating poverty, is a direct cause of it, are not welcome. That constitutes "bad" protest. Shut up. Disappear. Stay at home."

---

"The past few years have seen a steady removal of protest rights. In the run-up to the assault on Iraq, anti-war protesters were stopped and searched under terrorism laws - 995 times, according to a report from Liberty.

A party of 120 protesters in three coaches on their way to a demonstration against the war at Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire in 2003 was deemed illegal, under a different law, and escorted by police back to London.

Demonstrators at an arms fair in London that same year were also searched under anti-terrorism legislation. When this law was passed in 2000, we were assured it would not be used to limit protest."

Family pride dept

T's just told me that his nieces were part of one of the Live 8 backing acts. Unfortunately they had to support Mariah Carey, but still - on stage in front of 2 billion people isn't to be sniffed at if you're just starting out. I think it was something organised by their church, as they are evangelical Christians (yes, the family went in different directions, spiritually).

Batman

Just been to see this. From the accompanying trailers, my summer of movie going seems to be mapping out like this:

( Read more... )

SNAKE AGENT review

Well, half of it is, anyway! A slight headbanging moment when the bookshop is mentioned, but otherwise a big thank you to Jonathan Strahan.

I've only just caught up with it. I tend, for the sake of my health, not to go looking for reviews very often. Nor do I check the Amazon ratings very often (about every 3 months). That way madness lies.

http://notesfromcoodestreet.blogspot.com/2005/01/sidebar-aside.html

Also reviews of BANNER here:

http://coffeecrampreviews.tripod.com/id13.html

http://scifi.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/bannersoulsrev.htm

also from the New York Times:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407EED91038F93AA25755C0A9639C8B63

Gerald Jonas has reservations about the technology, but that's fair, I think, although the lack of an underpinning rationale was intentional.

I've also just found out that the Kansas City Star (USA) has just listed the top ten science fiction titles of 2004 and very kindly ranks Banner of Souls second (I think! I need to check the rating with them). It's also got a kind mention in the 'Best of' list of The SF Site:

http://www.sfsite.com/lists/greg2004.htm

And an interesting discussion of a STRANGE HORIZONS story here:

http://www.strangehorizons.com//ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=fiction&Number=2167&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1&PHPSESSID=

Thank you, folks. People ought to know - the trouble they take to read a novel and write a review is appreciated, whether the result is positive or negative.

THE SNAKE AGENT on Amazon

It's up for pre-order. Note, it's a hardback.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/159780018X/qid=1120417290/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-4689878-4771155?v=glance&s=books&n=507846