I'm sorry, "Harsh Interrogation."

From the AP

Charges dropped against '20th' hijacker
U.S. officials have said Saudi was subjected to harsh treatment

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday.

the AP

How often do you get to praise the Wall Street Journal?

Check out my story today at Every Day Fiction: http://www.everydayfiction.com/...
The publisher, Jordan Lapp took a chance on a boxing story, remembering that many of the great writers, pulp and otherwise, wrote 'em. Now, as I am best known as a fantasy writer, this was a double chance on his part. Comment is greatly appreciated!

Charles de Gaulle once asked "how can you govern a country in which there are 246 kinds of cheese?" Well, the answer is, you can't. Up until now I was a firm supporter of Stilton, though as a life-long Democrat and a cornflake traditionalist I occasionly took a nibble at brie. I ignored the the consant hammering of supporters of other types of cheese, the Limburgerists with their mock-hair plugs, the Gruyere-supporters who cannot seem to get over the fact that their cheese has never been much more popular in the polls than toe fungus, and of course the pseudo-Nadarite feta favorers with their continual litany of claims of their cheese being the first to support an independant Curdish state, regardless of the whey we get there.

In the 1980’s science fiction went through one of its periodic transformations when cyberpunk burst onto the scene. Writers like William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and later Neal Stephenson brought us a less than bold new world based on then current trends in technology, social breakdown and economics, and the dystopian style changed entirely the direction that Science Fiction was going. Gone was the sterile utopia of the Star Trek Universe, with everyone trim and dressed in form-fitting lycra walking hospital-clean decks of the far future. The world of cyberpunk was just around the next graffiti-covered corner, waiting only the next mega-corp merger to unfold its high-tech with broken windows visions.

So yesterday we discussed what the really good stuff was in the Fantasy/Science fiction world. It was fun, so I thought we might venture into the realm of the scary-bad.

This is awards season--- I myself am in the running for some recognition for my fiction, which you are of course very welcome to participate in. (Details below the fold.)

But the truly nasty, cringe-worthy stuff many times goes unnoticed. We all have a favorite all time worst. What's yours?

I came home last night from RustyCon, a Scince Fiction and Fantasy Convention here in the Seattle area, where my pal Elizabeth Ann Scarborough is the Guest of Honor. During one of my panels I noticed that when most writers gave an example of something, they reached back to the classics, while most readers seemed a lot more grounded in the newest, hot freshness.

As of this morning my story "Stand, Stand Shall They Cry" is in 10th place in the Preditor and Editors Poll, and my book, Servant of the Manthycore is in 14th.

I have been honored again this year with nominations in the annual Preditors and Editors poll, one for Best Novel for Servant of the Manthycore, and for Best SF/F Short Story, "Stand, Stand Shall They Cry" which appeared in Flashing Swords, here: http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/...

Preditor and Editors Poll
I have been honored again this year with nominations in the annual Preditors and Editors poll, one for Best Novel for Servant of the Manthycore, and for Best SF/F Short Story, "Stand, Stand Shall They Cry" which appeared in Flashing Swords, here: http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/...

Last night my wife, Rose Ehart, was named the Warren G. Magnuson Washington State Democratic Rising Star of 2007 at the Maggie awards at Benaroya Hall (the opera house) in Seattle. Hillary Clinton was there, and over 1200 of the state party movers and shakers--- we didn't even know that she had been nominated until after we got there.

Ten questions to determine if you are a Scumbag Blogger

1. Do you exercise your first amendment rights without permission or guidance from Rupert Murdoch?

2. Do you spend much of your time arguing with fellow bloggers on the Great Orange Satan?

3. Do you get your news from a variety of sources other than television?

4. Have you ever eaten your dinner cold, or skipped it entirely to blog?

5. Do  you have conversations that start with "Meteor Blades says..."

From MSNBC today:

Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis defended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in the dog-fighting controversy, WAVY-TV reported.

"I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it's his property, it's his dog," Portis told WAVY-TV. "If that's what he wants to do, do it. I think people should mind their business."

Portis also told WAVY-TV that he knows "a lot of back roads that got the dog fight if you want to go see it" and that "if it's behind closed doors, it's OK."

From MSNBC today:

... but of course I would like to win!

My story "Servant of the Manthycore" has been nominated for the Preditors
and Editors poll for best Fantasy/SF Short Story of 2006. Pleeeease vote for
me! he whined.
Poll here: http://www.critters.org/...

Story here, if you haven't read it yet:
http://www.theswordreview.com/...

Thanks to all who have voted for me!

snippit below, to get you started:

My story "Servant of the Manthycore" has been nominated for the Preditors and Editors poll for best Fantasy/SF Short Story of 2006. Pleeeease vote for me! he whined.
Poll here: http://www.critters.org/...

Story here, for those of you who haven't read it yet: http://www.theswordreview.com/...

Voting ends January 14th.

Thanks!

A snippit below, to whet your appetite!

For now at least. Thanks to those who have read the story and voted!

My story "Servant of the Manthycore" has been nominated for the Preditors and Editors poll for best Fantasy/SF Short Story of 2006. Pleeeease vote for me! he whined.
Poll here: http://www.critters.org/...

Story here, for those of you who haven't read it yet: http://www.theswordreview.com/...

Voting ends January 14th.

Thanks!

A snippit below, to whet your appetite!

Tonight I was thrilled to watch as my wife, Rose Ehart, accepted the University Place Washington City Proclamation of Martin Luther King Jr. Month. She did a wonderful job delivering her speech, and at the request of several who attended, I am posting the text of the speech here:

Last day coming up. If we pull this off, we will have started the first steps to saving our country. Right now, I am hanging with my 6 year old while Mommy does some last minute phone banking. Earlier she was standing her shift with a sign in the middle of one of Washington State's worst rain storms in decades. If it weren't for the rain, we all three would have been there, but this time she gets the glory.

Thanks are due to everyone who has given so much this cycle.

Thank you candidates. When this started most people had pretty much written off the national party except in a few select districts. You stepped up to the plate, not knowing the wave would come to (hopefully!) lift you over the top.

Kerry just got a ton of free press talking reminding voters once more that there is a war in Iraq and it is a bad thing.

John was not my candidate, but Holy Moly, are there a ton of knee-jerk Kerry haters around.

Chill, y'all--- go wave some signs, make some GOTV calls, use some of that energy to sign up to drive old folks to the polls, do something a little less masturbatory.

Turn off this box, go down to the local campaign office and start working those lists! Your neanderthal neighbor next-door is already down at the Republican office, doing his best to completely eliminate everything that you have ever been proud of about your country. Don't let the fascist butthead win! He's never going to bring back your lawnmower, anyway--- he ruined it mowing for the Klan meeting and figured you were too spineless to complain.