Over at the Infinite Matrix, Eileen Gunn’s editorial #36 has some comments from various SF writers about the election of the ludicrous Governor of California. Mr. Schwartzenegger is still shocking me, and it’s been a few days. I think I mostly agree with Ursula K. LeGuin, though I lament the coming collapse a little less than she does; I don’t understand Womack’s comment… but Terry Bisson and Pat Cadigan are right on the money. Maybe I should read their stuff, huh? Thanks to Melissa of Use Your Words for the link, even if she got it at Bookslut…
Tag: politics
Politics and Religion
I was browsing on Arts & Letters Daily (again, as I do daily) when I found an article about the so-called “Brights” and the politics facing them. A snippet: What do you call someone who is not religious? Is there a need for a new name for such people? And should not politicians acknowledge them? Well, I have two thoughts on this. First, the term “Brights” to mean nonreligious people was just a stupid choice. It’s far too like to push too many sensitive buttons. I’ve met a number of really obnoxious atheists who think they are atheist because they …
Total Recall, Like, Totally
Yes. They made the Terminator a Governor. I thought people would have learned after that whole Reagan thing. This puts it more clearly than anything else I can imagine: Voters traded a career Democratic politician who became one of the state’s most despised chief executives for a moderate Republican megastar who had never before run for office. Davis became the first California governor pried from office and only the second nationwide to be recalled. What’s next? Van Damme takes over the Pentagon? Traci Lords for President? I thought a WWF wrestler as governor of Minnesota was as ridiculous as things …
Watchblog
Gee, I seem to be posting a lot about political stuff. Well, anyway, here’s one more, called WatchBlog. It’s a great multi-author blog that presents news and opinions on American politics from three different perspectives: Republican, Democrat, and Third-Party. While the scope of perspectives in American politics is rather limited in my opinion, it’s nice (and sometimes rather illuminating) to find examples and commentary on all three in the same venue. Personally, I think the whole left vs. right thing is pretty damaging to the public’s ability to reason about political issues. But it’s what America has to work with …
Korean Sweatshops, Sweatshops Abroad
In this article, Chinese Girls’ Toil Brings Pain, Not Riches, I found something that got me thinking: She and her friend Wei Qi, also 16 and also a Chinese farm girl barely out of junior high school, had been lured here by a South Korean boss who said he was prepared to pay $120 a month, a princely sum for unskilled peasants, to make false eyelashes. I sometimes hear from friends here how their siblings are starting businesses in China, and how it’s the land of opportunity for young Koreans who want to make a lot of money. But I …