XXIII. So that even if you have any one who may appear able to cope in terms of advantage with the king's armies, still, unless he be also a man who can keep his hands, and eyes, and desires from the treasures of the allies, from their wives and children, from the ornaments of their temples and cities, from the gold and jewels of the king, he will not be a fit person to be sent to this Asiatic and royal war. Do you think that there is any city there peacefully inclined towards us which is rich? Do you think that there is any rich city there, which will appear to those men to be peacefully inclined towards us? The sea-coast, o Romans, begged for Cnaeus Pompeius, not only on account of his renown for military achievements, but also because of the moderation of his disposition. For it saw that it was not the Roman people that was enriched every year by the public money, but only a few individuals, and that we did nothing more by the name of our fleets beyond sustaining losses, and so covering ourselves with additional disgrace....
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
From a volume of Cicero's orations, opened at random:
Now reading....
The Sorrows of Empire, by Chalmers Johnson. For a quick overview of Johnson's views on the US's ever-expanding military "footprint", see this article.
The Sorrows of Empire, by Chalmers Johnson. For a quick overview of Johnson's views on the US's ever-expanding military "footprint", see this article.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Does the Emperor of Information Literacy have no clothes?
If I thought there were the smallest snowball's chance in hell that I would be able to go to the ACRL conference in New Orleans this summer, I would be interested in this debate. Perhaps someone with some professional-development support can fill me in. (Carlos?)
If I thought there were the smallest snowball's chance in hell that I would be able to go to the ACRL conference in New Orleans this summer, I would be interested in this debate. Perhaps someone with some professional-development support can fill me in. (Carlos?)
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Recent Read:
Califia's Daughters, by Leigh Richards
I admit it. I'm a sucker for postapocalyptic novels. Earth Abides; Alas Babylon; On the Beach; great stories all. Perhaps it's because I enjoy seeing how the characters overcome the difficulties of surviving in a world turned hostile, or how they try to preserve some semblance of civilization in the fact of savagery. Perhaps it's because I feel a kind of sentimental self-pity at seeing the great work of human society come to nothing. Or perhaps it's because I have some kind of mean-spirited resentment of most of the human race and would just as soon most of them went away and left the earth in the possession of a few surviving decent and intelligent people.
In Califia's Daughters, the wreck of the world has occurred many years ago, and the characters in the story are several generations into the process of survival and recovery. Nearly all of them are female, like the mythical Amazonian queen to which the title refers. One of the plagues that wrecked the world of "Before" was a virus which selectively wiped out men, leaving a ratio of ten or more women for every surviving man. Now in some puerile imaginations, this might create a world in which every man had a harem. Richards is more pragmatic than that. In her story, the women have taken over the functions of life and society, and the surviving men are relegated to the role of property to be carefully managed and hoarded. If they're lucky, they're cherished and guarded like prized breeding stock. If not, they're imprisoned and treated as slaves.
Both the author and her characters do good jobs of world-building. The world resented by the author is believable, and devoid of silly utopian theories about women being somehow morally superior to their male counterparts. The women in Califia's Daughters cover the full spectrum of human character from generous to ferociously greedy, from kindhearted to sadistic.
Recommended, especially for anyone who enjoyed any of the books I mentioned in the first paragraph.
Califia's Daughters, by Leigh Richards
I admit it. I'm a sucker for postapocalyptic novels. Earth Abides; Alas Babylon; On the Beach; great stories all. Perhaps it's because I enjoy seeing how the characters overcome the difficulties of surviving in a world turned hostile, or how they try to preserve some semblance of civilization in the fact of savagery. Perhaps it's because I feel a kind of sentimental self-pity at seeing the great work of human society come to nothing. Or perhaps it's because I have some kind of mean-spirited resentment of most of the human race and would just as soon most of them went away and left the earth in the possession of a few surviving decent and intelligent people.
In Califia's Daughters, the wreck of the world has occurred many years ago, and the characters in the story are several generations into the process of survival and recovery. Nearly all of them are female, like the mythical Amazonian queen to which the title refers. One of the plagues that wrecked the world of "Before" was a virus which selectively wiped out men, leaving a ratio of ten or more women for every surviving man. Now in some puerile imaginations, this might create a world in which every man had a harem. Richards is more pragmatic than that. In her story, the women have taken over the functions of life and society, and the surviving men are relegated to the role of property to be carefully managed and hoarded. If they're lucky, they're cherished and guarded like prized breeding stock. If not, they're imprisoned and treated as slaves.
Both the author and her characters do good jobs of world-building. The world resented by the author is believable, and devoid of silly utopian theories about women being somehow morally superior to their male counterparts. The women in Califia's Daughters cover the full spectrum of human character from generous to ferociously greedy, from kindhearted to sadistic.
Recommended, especially for anyone who enjoyed any of the books I mentioned in the first paragraph.
More losses to F/SF
John Moressey, best known for the chronicles of Kedrigern the cranky wizard.
And Jane Yolen's husband.
John Moressey, best known for the chronicles of Kedrigern the cranky wizard.
And Jane Yolen's husband.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
David Feintuch
Over and over again, I find out about good authors who live just down the road from me only after they've died. The latest one is David Feintuch, best known for his science-fictional series about Nicholas Seafort, a spacefaring naval officer.
Over and over again, I find out about good authors who live just down the road from me only after they've died. The latest one is David Feintuch, best known for his science-fictional series about Nicholas Seafort, a spacefaring naval officer.
Misplaced Priorities (again)
There's been much blood and thunder (not to mention thud and blunder) from the Bush Administration about the supposed need for the President and his minions to have unrestrained "unitary executive" power to spy on everybody, all the time. It's to fight the terra-ists, ya know.
Well. What kind of terra-ists are they fighting?
The Quakers.... the Raging Grannies... and, most recently, the Thomas Merton Center, a Catholic group that seeks to honor the life and spirit of its namesake by promoting peace.
Ya gotta watch out for them pacifists. They're a grave threat to... well, something or other.
There's been much blood and thunder (not to mention thud and blunder) from the Bush Administration about the supposed need for the President and his minions to have unrestrained "unitary executive" power to spy on everybody, all the time. It's to fight the terra-ists, ya know.
Well. What kind of terra-ists are they fighting?
The Quakers.... the Raging Grannies... and, most recently, the Thomas Merton Center, a Catholic group that seeks to honor the life and spirit of its namesake by promoting peace.
Ya gotta watch out for them pacifists. They're a grave threat to... well, something or other.
Words of Wisdom
Reference librarians at any library that offers any kind of computer access to the general public are constantly bombarded with the need to help out people who are completely clueless about computers. Phil Agre, of the UCLA Dept. of Information Studies, offers some useful reminders about how to help such people.
"Whenever they start to blame themselves, respond by blaming the computer...."
Why, that's almost as cynical and useful as blaming everything on the great god Policy! But, speaking pragmatically, it is good advice, especially considering the befuddling and nonintuitive way that most user interfaces are organized.
Reference librarians at any library that offers any kind of computer access to the general public are constantly bombarded with the need to help out people who are completely clueless about computers. Phil Agre, of the UCLA Dept. of Information Studies, offers some useful reminders about how to help such people.
"Whenever they start to blame themselves, respond by blaming the computer...."
Why, that's almost as cynical and useful as blaming everything on the great god Policy! But, speaking pragmatically, it is good advice, especially considering the befuddling and nonintuitive way that most user interfaces are organized.
News from inside the Bush Reality-Distortion Bubble:
From the BBC: Bush denies that Iraq is in civil war.
In other news, President Bush declared that Up is Down, Straight Ahead is Sideways, and his economic policy involved hiring illegal aliens to pick money off of trees.
From the BBC: Bush denies that Iraq is in civil war.
In other news, President Bush declared that Up is Down, Straight Ahead is Sideways, and his economic policy involved hiring illegal aliens to pick money off of trees.
Billions for Halliburton, but not one cent for....
FBI can't afford e'mail accounts for its agents
Does this mean that someone with a Hotmail account who claims to be an FBI agent might be telling the truth?
Now a reasonable person, faced with a serious cash shortage, would look for ways to increase their cashflow. Unfortunately, the Bush administration just can't seem to find the time to collect the $35 billion that is owed to the nation by their corporate cronies.
Just one more case of the Bush administration's priorities in action. Effective terrorism-fighting on the one hand; handouts to corporate cronies on the other hand. No contest.
"Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." -- George W. Bush
FBI can't afford e'mail accounts for its agents
Does this mean that someone with a Hotmail account who claims to be an FBI agent might be telling the truth?
Now a reasonable person, faced with a serious cash shortage, would look for ways to increase their cashflow. Unfortunately, the Bush administration just can't seem to find the time to collect the $35 billion that is owed to the nation by their corporate cronies.
Just one more case of the Bush administration's priorities in action. Effective terrorism-fighting on the one hand; handouts to corporate cronies on the other hand. No contest.
"Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." -- George W. Bush
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Random updates
It's been busy in Felix's World lately. For anybody who's fallen out of the loop and still remembered to check this obscure little blog, I'm still living in southeastern Michigan and working two jobs, at places I choose to call Suburban Public Library and Busy Bee College, neither one of which is willing to staff its library with full time professionals.
I recently returned from a perfectly lovely trip to the Great White North, where Fiend and I managed to go cross-country skiing without inflicting any self-injuries graver that bruised dignities.
Tomorrow I'm headed off to a symposium at the University of Michigan which I hope will cast some light on the perplexing world of mass digitization projects such as the ones that Google and Yahoo have famously undertaken. After which I'll abscond across the border like a 1920s bootlegger goin' back for more of what keeps him goin'.
It's been busy in Felix's World lately. For anybody who's fallen out of the loop and still remembered to check this obscure little blog, I'm still living in southeastern Michigan and working two jobs, at places I choose to call Suburban Public Library and Busy Bee College, neither one of which is willing to staff its library with full time professionals.
I recently returned from a perfectly lovely trip to the Great White North, where Fiend and I managed to go cross-country skiing without inflicting any self-injuries graver that bruised dignities.
Tomorrow I'm headed off to a symposium at the University of Michigan which I hope will cast some light on the perplexing world of mass digitization projects such as the ones that Google and Yahoo have famously undertaken. After which I'll abscond across the border like a 1920s bootlegger goin' back for more of what keeps him goin'.
I'm a published ... indexer.
Today marks my first contribution to Bill Contento's and Phil Stephenson-Payne's admirable FictionMags Index. Now perhaps all those old issues of Railroad Magazine that clutter up my humble abode will become useful.
Today marks my first contribution to Bill Contento's and Phil Stephenson-Payne's admirable FictionMags Index. Now perhaps all those old issues of Railroad Magazine that clutter up my humble abode will become useful.
Over the Transom
Miscellaneous news stories that have caught my attention lately:
Phyllis Chesler discusses The Failure of Feminism in a Chronicle excerpt from her recent book.
The title of this upcoming action movie is about as straightforward as they come: Snakes on a Plane. I guarantee you, people will still ask what it's about.
Meanwhile, Canadian customs officials are warned by this CBC story: "[A]nyone who handles imported goods should call the authorities if they spot anything slithery."
Crunchy Cons, a book-length followup by Rod Dreher to an earlier article in National Review, seems to be arousing some discussion both on the NRO website and from local blogger Dave of Suds & Soliloquies. I'm not going to comment until I get a chance to read the book, but it seems likely that I'll find something to agree with.
Jonah Goldberg, naturally, wants to excommunicate Dreher from the One True Church... er, I mean, the Bushite Republican party.
Miscellaneous news stories that have caught my attention lately:
Phyllis Chesler discusses The Failure of Feminism in a Chronicle excerpt from her recent book.
Because feminist academics and journalists are now so heavily influenced by left ways of thinking, many now believe that speaking out against head scarves, face veils, the chador, arranged marriages, polygamy, forced pregnancies, or female genital mutilation is either "imperialist" or "crusade-ist." Postmodernist ways of thinking have also led feminists to believe that confronting narratives on the academic page is as important and world-shattering as confronting jihadists in the flesh and rescuing living beings from captivity....
The title of this upcoming action movie is about as straightforward as they come: Snakes on a Plane. I guarantee you, people will still ask what it's about.
Meanwhile, Canadian customs officials are warned by this CBC story: "[A]nyone who handles imported goods should call the authorities if they spot anything slithery."
Crunchy Cons, a book-length followup by Rod Dreher to an earlier article in National Review, seems to be arousing some discussion both on the NRO website and from local blogger Dave of Suds & Soliloquies. I'm not going to comment until I get a chance to read the book, but it seems likely that I'll find something to agree with.
Jonah Goldberg, naturally, wants to excommunicate Dreher from the One True Church... er, I mean, the Bushite Republican party.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Huzzah for Mad Science!
Avigon : Gods and Demons, by Che Gilson and Jimmie Robinson. Several years ago, I browsed through a comic book store in a suburb of North Dallas. I was looking for the hardbound collections of Will Eisner's The Spirit which had recently been reviewed in library trade journals, but something else caught my eye while I was there. It was a slim, dark graphic novel titled Avigon, by Che Gilson and Jimmie Robinson. The style of the artwork was unique and strange, with a kind of surreally playful Gothic style to it. (Robinson, in an afterword, refers to the style of the book as "the Tim Burton thing".) More importantly, the story was considerably more subtle and morally complex than one usually finds in this type of publication. When I looked for further information on the web, I found reference to an upcoming expanded version of Avigon's tale, to be published under the title Avigon : Gods and Demons.
I waited for it. And waited. And then waited some more. At one point I even looked up the telephone number of the publisher and called them. No information.
Finally, in 2005, the expanded book appeared. I have some mixed reactions to it, but I'm glad that I can enjoy it and try to get it into a library or two for other people to enjoy.
The titular character, Avigon, is a "clockwork" -- a mechanical being who possesses no rights, but does possess the ability to think. She also possesses the ability to wonder why she has no rights and whether she would be better off escaping from her circumscribed life in the mansion of her creator, the serenely egotistical "clockworker" Pulsifer. Outside the doors of that mansion lies a world of baronial indulgence for the privileged aristocrats, of Machiavellian patronage-games for the most skilled artisans, and industrial chaos for everyone else. A world in which "clockworks" are treated as disposable chattels, the lowest of the low, who can be used and degraded shamelessly or set to destroy each other in gladiatorial combats for the amusement of their "betters". After all, they have no feelings and no souls. Or that's what all the authorities say, anyway.
I won't reveal the twists and turns of Avigon's tale, nor the outcome of her curiosity. But it's an intriguing and atmospheric tale with a number of surprising twists in it. The original publication of Avigon left the story hanging after a critical moment in Avigon's quest, a bitter disappointment that left everything about her nature and her future in doubt. The expanded version provides both more background and a continuation of her tale that leads to a resolution of sorts. It's something of a disquieting resolution, but it can be read as a kind of redemption.
Disquietude notwithstanding, it's highly recommended for anyone who enjoys atmospheric, moody graphic novels.
Girl Genius : Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank (A Gaslamp Fantasy with Adventure, Romance & Mad Science, by Phil & Kaja Foglio).
Poor Agatha Clay. She's a poor student, in both senses of the word, at Transylvania Polygnostic University. The University's motto -- "Know Enough to Be Afraid" -- suggests that its curriculum involves something more menacing than calculus and Renaissance poetry. That suggestion is right, for Agatha lives in a world ruled by Mad Science, in the person of eccentric and megalomaniac inventors possessed of "the Spark", or the ability to create robotic creatures called "clanks".
Old-time readers of Dragon magazine will no doubt remember Phil Foglio's long-running cartoon feature, What's New with Phil & Dixie. Since leaving Dragon, it appears that Foglio has worked a spell doing similar cartoons for the company that produced Magic : The Gathering, done covers for books, and embarked upon several comic and graphic-novel ventures. One of those ventures -- the "Xxxenophile" series -- appears to be, shall we say, a Very Graphic Novel indeed.
Happily, the Girl Genius graphic novel series doesn't fit that definition. It's an enjoyable and adventurous romp through a strange, steampunk-ish world in which the grim reality of murderous realpolitik mingles with the bizarre whimsy that characterizes all of Foglio's work. Agatha, of course, is more than she appears to be, and the conclusion of the first volume points toward all kinds of interesting complications. I'm looking forward to the subsequent volumes.
Recommended for anyone who enjoys whimsical adventures.
Avigon : Gods and Demons, by Che Gilson and Jimmie Robinson. Several years ago, I browsed through a comic book store in a suburb of North Dallas. I was looking for the hardbound collections of Will Eisner's The Spirit which had recently been reviewed in library trade journals, but something else caught my eye while I was there. It was a slim, dark graphic novel titled Avigon, by Che Gilson and Jimmie Robinson. The style of the artwork was unique and strange, with a kind of surreally playful Gothic style to it. (Robinson, in an afterword, refers to the style of the book as "the Tim Burton thing".) More importantly, the story was considerably more subtle and morally complex than one usually finds in this type of publication. When I looked for further information on the web, I found reference to an upcoming expanded version of Avigon's tale, to be published under the title Avigon : Gods and Demons.
I waited for it. And waited. And then waited some more. At one point I even looked up the telephone number of the publisher and called them. No information.
Finally, in 2005, the expanded book appeared. I have some mixed reactions to it, but I'm glad that I can enjoy it and try to get it into a library or two for other people to enjoy.
The titular character, Avigon, is a "clockwork" -- a mechanical being who possesses no rights, but does possess the ability to think. She also possesses the ability to wonder why she has no rights and whether she would be better off escaping from her circumscribed life in the mansion of her creator, the serenely egotistical "clockworker" Pulsifer. Outside the doors of that mansion lies a world of baronial indulgence for the privileged aristocrats, of Machiavellian patronage-games for the most skilled artisans, and industrial chaos for everyone else. A world in which "clockworks" are treated as disposable chattels, the lowest of the low, who can be used and degraded shamelessly or set to destroy each other in gladiatorial combats for the amusement of their "betters". After all, they have no feelings and no souls. Or that's what all the authorities say, anyway.
I won't reveal the twists and turns of Avigon's tale, nor the outcome of her curiosity. But it's an intriguing and atmospheric tale with a number of surprising twists in it. The original publication of Avigon left the story hanging after a critical moment in Avigon's quest, a bitter disappointment that left everything about her nature and her future in doubt. The expanded version provides both more background and a continuation of her tale that leads to a resolution of sorts. It's something of a disquieting resolution, but it can be read as a kind of redemption.
Disquietude notwithstanding, it's highly recommended for anyone who enjoys atmospheric, moody graphic novels.
Girl Genius : Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank (A Gaslamp Fantasy with Adventure, Romance & Mad Science, by Phil & Kaja Foglio).
Poor Agatha Clay. She's a poor student, in both senses of the word, at Transylvania Polygnostic University. The University's motto -- "Know Enough to Be Afraid" -- suggests that its curriculum involves something more menacing than calculus and Renaissance poetry. That suggestion is right, for Agatha lives in a world ruled by Mad Science, in the person of eccentric and megalomaniac inventors possessed of "the Spark", or the ability to create robotic creatures called "clanks".
Old-time readers of Dragon magazine will no doubt remember Phil Foglio's long-running cartoon feature, What's New with Phil & Dixie. Since leaving Dragon, it appears that Foglio has worked a spell doing similar cartoons for the company that produced Magic : The Gathering, done covers for books, and embarked upon several comic and graphic-novel ventures. One of those ventures -- the "Xxxenophile" series -- appears to be, shall we say, a Very Graphic Novel indeed.
Happily, the Girl Genius graphic novel series doesn't fit that definition. It's an enjoyable and adventurous romp through a strange, steampunk-ish world in which the grim reality of murderous realpolitik mingles with the bizarre whimsy that characterizes all of Foglio's work. Agatha, of course, is more than she appears to be, and the conclusion of the first volume points toward all kinds of interesting complications. I'm looking forward to the subsequent volumes.
Recommended for anyone who enjoys whimsical adventures.
Monday, March 06, 2006
You can't take the sky from me
Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in?
Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in?
Shiny. Thanks to the Itinerant Librarian for the link.
You scored as Serenity (Firefly).
You like to live your own way and don’t enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you.
Serenity (Firefly) 88%
FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 69%
Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 69%
Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 69%
Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 69%
Enterprise D (Star Trek) 69%
Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 63%
Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 63%
Moya (Farscape) 63%
SG-1 (Stargate) 56%
Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 56%
Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 3%
Thursday, March 02, 2006
The Future Is Now
If anyone wants to outfit their apartment to resemble 10-Forward, give this guy a call. Better do it quickly, though. An unconfirmed listserv report indicated that his interior-design company has declared bankruptcy and the STNG-themed flat is up for sale.
If anyone wants to outfit their apartment to resemble 10-Forward, give this guy a call. Better do it quickly, though. An unconfirmed listserv report indicated that his interior-design company has declared bankruptcy and the STNG-themed flat is up for sale.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Censorship and censorship
There's been much discussion in the news and on the web about the famous/infamous Danish cartoons and the mob violence of fanatical Islamists who demand worldwide censorship powers over them and all other publications in all nations everywhere in the world.
Whether the cartoons are any good, in terms of artistic or humorous merit, is entirely beside the point. The demands for censorship, and the mob violence, are the only political issues here. There are several theories about the reason for these riots.
One: Muslims (or at least the ones involved in rioting or instigating riots) believe that they have the right to censor any idea, anywhere, that they dislike because Muslims are divinely ordained to rule the world. It goes without saying that anyone who wishes to live in any other type of society than a Taliban-style theocracy must categorically reject such demands just as they must reject similar claims coming from self-styled "Christian" theocrats and all other would-be absolute dictators.
Two: Radical Islamist imams and cynical politicos in Islamic countries have deliberately whipped up a demagogic frenzy in order to promote themselves and keep the attention of the discontented mob focused on something other than the dismal social, intellectual and economic failures of Islamist societies. As Eric Hoffer argued in the True Believer, mass movements can arise without belief in God, but never without a belief in a Devil. Hatred is a great unifier. "And slime had they for mortar...."
Three: The Islamist mindset is simply incapable of understanding the concept of intellectual freedom. Like the dogmatic Marxists of the twentieth century or the Inquisitors of the medieval Christian church, they can see only whether a particular publication is useful to their party or not, and assume that anything that is published must represent the political agenda of some kind of ruling class. This theory is supported by the actions of Islamic governments in condemning the Danish government. They appear to be completely ignorant of the possibility that anything could be published which does not represent the views of the government in power. Islam's historical insistence on religious control of government, like the old-style Communist insistence on the worship of the Party to the exclusion of all other religions, may create a mindset which is simply incapable of understanding that freedom can exist in other cultures. (Those who wish to apply this dismal analysis to the Bush Administration's foreign policy are free to do so, but that's just too depressing for me to address at the moment.)
Those who know me will not be surprised that I'm no more inclined to give Islamist demagogues veto power over my mind, or anyone else's mind, than I'm inclined to give such power to purportedly "Christian" demagogues or to secular censors.
Quite simply, a civilized society that wishes to have any intellectual freedom or tolerance of any kind cannot afford to surrender to thuggery. Rewarding thuggery leads to more of the same. And more. And more. And more. If fanatical Islamists can successfully silence newspapers or cartoonists by threatening mob violence, why shouldn't fanatical "Christian" fundamentalists do the same? Or fanatical devotees of any other sect or political faction? Or, for that matter, political parties or business corporations that find certain facts or ideas to be contrary to their interests? After all, they'll be left behind in the war for absolute supremacy if they fail to use every weapon at their disposal.
This is not a hypothetical question. There are any number of individuals and groups that would happily use such power to intimidate and silence others. Consider the Eric Rudolphs of the world, as well as the Osama Bin Ladens. Consider all the potential Unabomers and EarthFirsters and Operation Rescue-ers and Weathermen and Timothy McVeighs and Fred Phelpses out there.
Does anyone, other than bloodthirsty fanatics and would-be dictators, really want a society in which anyone who threatens to incite violence is rewarded with the power of censorship? A world in which the most violent fanatics set the rules for everybody else?
It's freedom, or censorship. A pretty simple choice. The only real question is whether the civilized part of the world has the guts to stand up to the fanatics who demand censorship of all thoughts other than their own.
Meanwhile, in Austria....
Unfortunately, it's not only would-be Islamist censors that have made the news lately. Consider David Irving, who was recently sentenced to three years in an Austrian prison for stating in 1989 that the Nazis did not murder Jews at Auschwitz. (Note: Irving has since changed his position, according to the current version of Wikipedia's entry about him. He apparently continues to claim that the Holocaust was exaggerated. He's widely regarded as a racist loon, although some more generous interpreters think he just wants attention.)
Censorship of dingbat conspiracy theories is just as misguided as censorship based on religious fanaticism. Worse, it gives ammunition to the slippery-tongued apologists for Islamist demagoguery, who argue that European censorship of Holocaust-deniers justifes Islamist censorship of anything and everything else.
A bad show all 'round, except for the saving grace that European governments have, so far, refused to cave in to the would-be Islamist bullies. Let's hope that Europe someday manages to embrace intellectual freedom consistently. Letting the loons have their say, and be openly debunked, is healthier than letting them fester in secret and cultivate an insular, self-referential sense of apocalyptic, "righteous" martyrdom.
Another flavor of censorship
... may be on its way to your Internet connection if your freindly telecom conglomerates get their way and eradicate the principle of "net neutrality". It'll be interesting to see how this works out. Will the telecom conglomerates succeed in holding Internet content hostage for ransom payments? Will the mega-corporations succeed in using a pay-for-play Internet to block everybody else's content but their own? Wait and see. Or not, if you're so inclined.
There's been much discussion in the news and on the web about the famous/infamous Danish cartoons and the mob violence of fanatical Islamists who demand worldwide censorship powers over them and all other publications in all nations everywhere in the world.
Whether the cartoons are any good, in terms of artistic or humorous merit, is entirely beside the point. The demands for censorship, and the mob violence, are the only political issues here. There are several theories about the reason for these riots.
One: Muslims (or at least the ones involved in rioting or instigating riots) believe that they have the right to censor any idea, anywhere, that they dislike because Muslims are divinely ordained to rule the world. It goes without saying that anyone who wishes to live in any other type of society than a Taliban-style theocracy must categorically reject such demands just as they must reject similar claims coming from self-styled "Christian" theocrats and all other would-be absolute dictators.
Two: Radical Islamist imams and cynical politicos in Islamic countries have deliberately whipped up a demagogic frenzy in order to promote themselves and keep the attention of the discontented mob focused on something other than the dismal social, intellectual and economic failures of Islamist societies. As Eric Hoffer argued in the True Believer, mass movements can arise without belief in God, but never without a belief in a Devil. Hatred is a great unifier. "And slime had they for mortar...."
Three: The Islamist mindset is simply incapable of understanding the concept of intellectual freedom. Like the dogmatic Marxists of the twentieth century or the Inquisitors of the medieval Christian church, they can see only whether a particular publication is useful to their party or not, and assume that anything that is published must represent the political agenda of some kind of ruling class. This theory is supported by the actions of Islamic governments in condemning the Danish government. They appear to be completely ignorant of the possibility that anything could be published which does not represent the views of the government in power. Islam's historical insistence on religious control of government, like the old-style Communist insistence on the worship of the Party to the exclusion of all other religions, may create a mindset which is simply incapable of understanding that freedom can exist in other cultures. (Those who wish to apply this dismal analysis to the Bush Administration's foreign policy are free to do so, but that's just too depressing for me to address at the moment.)
Those who know me will not be surprised that I'm no more inclined to give Islamist demagogues veto power over my mind, or anyone else's mind, than I'm inclined to give such power to purportedly "Christian" demagogues or to secular censors.
Quite simply, a civilized society that wishes to have any intellectual freedom or tolerance of any kind cannot afford to surrender to thuggery. Rewarding thuggery leads to more of the same. And more. And more. And more. If fanatical Islamists can successfully silence newspapers or cartoonists by threatening mob violence, why shouldn't fanatical "Christian" fundamentalists do the same? Or fanatical devotees of any other sect or political faction? Or, for that matter, political parties or business corporations that find certain facts or ideas to be contrary to their interests? After all, they'll be left behind in the war for absolute supremacy if they fail to use every weapon at their disposal.
This is not a hypothetical question. There are any number of individuals and groups that would happily use such power to intimidate and silence others. Consider the Eric Rudolphs of the world, as well as the Osama Bin Ladens. Consider all the potential Unabomers and EarthFirsters and Operation Rescue-ers and Weathermen and Timothy McVeighs and Fred Phelpses out there.
Does anyone, other than bloodthirsty fanatics and would-be dictators, really want a society in which anyone who threatens to incite violence is rewarded with the power of censorship? A world in which the most violent fanatics set the rules for everybody else?
It's freedom, or censorship. A pretty simple choice. The only real question is whether the civilized part of the world has the guts to stand up to the fanatics who demand censorship of all thoughts other than their own.
Meanwhile, in Austria....
Unfortunately, it's not only would-be Islamist censors that have made the news lately. Consider David Irving, who was recently sentenced to three years in an Austrian prison for stating in 1989 that the Nazis did not murder Jews at Auschwitz. (Note: Irving has since changed his position, according to the current version of Wikipedia's entry about him. He apparently continues to claim that the Holocaust was exaggerated. He's widely regarded as a racist loon, although some more generous interpreters think he just wants attention.)
Censorship of dingbat conspiracy theories is just as misguided as censorship based on religious fanaticism. Worse, it gives ammunition to the slippery-tongued apologists for Islamist demagoguery, who argue that European censorship of Holocaust-deniers justifes Islamist censorship of anything and everything else.
A bad show all 'round, except for the saving grace that European governments have, so far, refused to cave in to the would-be Islamist bullies. Let's hope that Europe someday manages to embrace intellectual freedom consistently. Letting the loons have their say, and be openly debunked, is healthier than letting them fester in secret and cultivate an insular, self-referential sense of apocalyptic, "righteous" martyrdom.
Another flavor of censorship
... may be on its way to your Internet connection if your freindly telecom conglomerates get their way and eradicate the principle of "net neutrality". It'll be interesting to see how this works out. Will the telecom conglomerates succeed in holding Internet content hostage for ransom payments? Will the mega-corporations succeed in using a pay-for-play Internet to block everybody else's content but their own? Wait and see. Or not, if you're so inclined.
RefGrunting in retrospect
I was going to RefGrunt this morning at Suburban Public Library. Unfortunately, I haven't had enough time to sit down.
So far, in the first hour, we have:
8 requests for "temporary" internet passes
1 tax question
1 inquiry about a library program
1 relatively quick reference question ("how do birds fly?")
1 extensive reference question ("looking for average home heating costs for this county")
1 person who couldn't figure out how the printing system worked
1 person who first asked for an internet pass in the mistaken belief that the internet terminals were the only library catalog access
1 "where are the bathrooms"
2 complaints from library timesheet clerk who is processing last week's timesheets and objects to me working during hours when she thinks all decent people should be asleep
1 request for local newspaper's classified ads
Too much work to do to keep RefGrunting, unfortunately, so that will have to serve as a snapshot of my life.
I was going to RefGrunt this morning at Suburban Public Library. Unfortunately, I haven't had enough time to sit down.
So far, in the first hour, we have:
8 requests for "temporary" internet passes
1 tax question
1 inquiry about a library program
1 relatively quick reference question ("how do birds fly?")
1 extensive reference question ("looking for average home heating costs for this county")
1 person who couldn't figure out how the printing system worked
1 person who first asked for an internet pass in the mistaken belief that the internet terminals were the only library catalog access
1 "where are the bathrooms"
2 complaints from library timesheet clerk who is processing last week's timesheets and objects to me working during hours when she thinks all decent people should be asleep
1 request for local newspaper's classified ads
Too much work to do to keep RefGrunting, unfortunately, so that will have to serve as a snapshot of my life.
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