All SF should be oceanic » « What? Responsible, intelligent youtubers? INCONCEIVABLE!

I think the SFWA might just be awesome

Vox-Day

Not only are they committed to preventing harassment, but they just gkicked Theodore Beale out of their guild. I think they got tired of having to constantly dodge that flaming sword. And where do you put a flaming sword anyway? It’s not as if you can just stash it in the closet, and it’s constantly igniting the drapes and singeing the sofa cushions.

All SF should be oceanic » « What? Responsible, intelligent youtubers? INCONCEIVABLE!

Comments

  2. whiskeyjack says

    Huh. One of the commenters on his site is complaining about a split infinitive in the official letter.

    That’s… really something.

  4. thepint says

    Speaking as someone who actually does work with flaming swords: WHOO-HOO YEAH BABY!!!! *throws confetti & glitter & rainbows everywhere* Thank you for doing the right thing, SFWA!

  5. anuran says

    The SFWA has had a long and not always pleasant history with sexism and racism. They’ve been slowly de-lousing for the past few decades, and now they have shown they are really serious about it. Their last election was in part a referendum on the subject with Beale as unapologetic harassing sexist douche-canoe and Gould representing, well, decency.

  6. sbuh says

    Hm…I actually didn’t know about Lem’s being kicked out, although apparently what actually happened was that they yanked his honorary membership when he became eligible for a full membership because of some criticism he’d directed at the organization.

    Glad to see they’ve come a ways since then.

  8. lumi says

    I checked @scalzi on twitter to see if he commented – his commentary is in the form of amusing youtube links. Literally lol.

  9. Brother Yam says

    I certainly hope that he doesn’t think that his and Lem’s ouster from the Guild should be construed as anything more. I mean, Einstein had a penis and so do I…

  10. doubter says

    I am as happy as he rest of you that Mister Beale was punted from SFWA. I must say, however, that he has started to perform one useful service for the SF/F fan community.

    There’s a new category on his blog called the “Lions’ Den” (I’m surprised he didn’t call it the Awesome Alpha Mancave of Awesomeness, but I digress). It’s his version of John Scalzi’s “Big Idea” posts, where invited authors do a post about their latest published work.

    I find it useful in that anyone who agrees with Beale enough to be featured on his cesspool of a blog will never get a dime of my money. It’s great that he has provided an easy method for these people to self-identify, thus creating an instant boycott list for my perusal.

  12. hotshoe, now with more boltcutters says

    Out of perverted curiosity: does anyone know where Vox/his followers came up with their in-word “rabbits” to describe the sane people at SFWA?

    I mean, the Slymers have “baboons” but that makes at least some sort of sense: tribal, aggressive, semi-intelligent.

    “Rabbits”? That’s just dumb. And I’m not going fishing through Vox’s blog to find out, but if someone knows the backstory …

  13. Goodbye Enemy Janine says

    The Lion’s Den?

    Don’t the lioness do most of the hunting?

    “KILL ME A SAMMICH!”

  14. Becca Stareyes says

    You keep it in the oven. That way you can make toast, flame grilled meat, and s’mores whenever you want them.

    It’s not fun on your AC bills, though it does make up for it in winter. And you need good ventilation.

  16. Louis says

    I confess, I am an unpleasant bastard. Things that cause Beale (moderate, ego related, non-harmful, well earned) pain amuse the shit out of me. Schadenfreude is an ugly emotion, but I am experiencing it.

    I feel a little bit ashamed about that, but I’m human, a work in progress, and I’ll lose no sleep over this. May his next turd be a hedgehog, may his earholes turn to arseholes and he shits all over his pullover.

    Louis

  19. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    #10 doubter

    I am as happy as he rest of you that Mister Beale was punted from SFWA. I must say, however, that he has started to perform one useful service for the SF/F fan community.

    There’s a new category on his blog called the “Lions’ Den” (I’m surprised he didn’t call it the Awesome Alpha Mancave of Awesomeness, but I digress). It’s his version of John Scalzi’s “Big Idea” posts, where invited authors do a post about their latest published work.

    I find it useful in that anyone who agrees with Beale enough to be featured on his cesspool of a blog will never get a dime of my money. It’s great that he has provided an easy method for these people to self-identify, thus creating an instant boycott list for my perusal.

    Oh, man is that useful! Thanks for letting me know. I’m going to have to go browsing through that.

  20. great1american1satan says

    Hotshoe@12 – It must be because the penis-having progressive SWFA members have balls in front of their dicks. Lagomorphs like Scalzi are very weird animals.

  21. Vicki says

    Meanwhile, Scalzi reiterates that he is, by policy, not commenting on any SFWA-related issues for a year. But “by coincidence” he noticed today that he hadn’t renewed his SFWA membership, and has just done so.

  22. hogeyegrex says

    I was blissfully unaware of Mr. Beale’s existence, so I read some of his blog.
    My takeaway is: “Flaming sword? Hell. More like Flaming asshole.”

  23. Tsu Dho Nimh says

    And where do you put a flaming sword anyway?

    If you know Beale, it’s an easy question to answer.

    and the plexiglas viewing plate near his navel makes a nice fireplace effect.

  24. says

    What’s that internet? A nice, steaming hot cup of sweet schadenfreude? Oh, you shouldn’t have. I’ll just have this with my cackling-like-a-fiend cookies.

    And yes, I am not a very nice person. I am completely okay with this.

  25. doubter says

    Out of perverted curiosity: does anyone know where Vox/his followers came up with their in-word “rabbits” to describe the sane people at SFWA?

    Pervert! ;-)

    I don’t know if there is a specific backstory. I suspect it comes from Beale’s other loathesome hobby, wherein men are classified according to a dubious alpha/beta/gamma pack hierarchy, and advised on which cheat codes to use in the Game of Women (or something like that).

    Rock-ribbed libertarians like Beale are alpha predators, you see. Actually, he classes himself as a Sigma, which is a superduper special category that looks down on the others from an Olympian height or something, but I digress. People who don’t treat women as a combination video game/object of scorn and condescension/sextoy are classed at or near the bottom of the hierarchy. And if you’re not a predator, you’re prey. Like a rabbit, for instance. Since he’s a libertarian, and despises cooperation and collectivism of any kind, he also riffs off the fact that rabbits are social animals that live together in a warren.

  27. dukeofomnium says

    It looks like everyone’s happy … Beale’s happy as a martyr for his noble cause of reason and decency; while genuinely reasonable and decent people get to exclude him

  28. David Marjanović says

    Huh. One of the commenters on his site is complaining about a split infinitive in the official letter.

    That’s… really something.

    TSIB.

  29. says

    I’m looking at the pdf Beale helpfully provided for perusal of his fanbois. All the actual evidence seems to be absent, replaced with white space.

    Wow. Just wow. That’s a breathtaking act of both chutzpah and sheer cowardice. Between this and all the comment-threads about ZOMG UPPITY WIMMIN DESTROYING IMPORTANT MENZ, it looks like International Piece of Work Day here at FtB.

  33. UnknownEric the Apostate says

    Congratulations to the SFWA for proving its a way better organization that any of the shit ones we have to deal with.

    /increasingly bitter

  34. Gen, Uppity Ingrate. says

    Wow, his “reply” to the SFWA is one long weaseling whine of “but they were mean to me too!” Dreary and dull stuff, dahling. I expected better from published author. Well done SFWA.

    You know, recently at the university where I work, there’s been talk about not allowing admission to people who are known to belong to racist political groups (the AWB, specifically) since our campus has huge issues with racism and discrimination against POC. So of course, cue the “freedom of expression! freedom of speech! freedom of association!” cries of the oh-so-very-downtrodden white south african male.

    Like Mr. Beal, what they fail to understand is that no organization has the DUTY to accept you and your bigotry, just like “freeze peaches” doesn’t mean “say whatever you want on any platform, anywhere without repurcussions”. Invoking the state laws and trying to fit SFWA under them to prevent them from suspending him? Pretty desperate move, dood.

  36. b. - Order of Lagomorpha says

    Thank you, SFWA! Vox Day (Beale) is a vicious little shit-stain on the pages of history and I’m glad they decided to cut him loose. I think this calls for a nice glass of wine, some good music and a deeply satisfying chuckle or three.

    I’ve always held that people that feel the need to pose with a weapon to show their toughness are actually inversely tough (if you will) to the type of weapon they display. Stand there with a pocket knife? You’re probably okay. Gun? You’re a marshmallow. Flaming sword? You are actually the opposite of tough. You’re the anti-tough. If you ran into actual tough, you’d explode on contact. And as far as rabbits go, my house-rabbit could take him two falls out of three, easily. Odds are good for a sweep.

  37. dean says

    One of the commenters on his site is complaining about a split infinitive in the official letter.

    Hmmmm, the earliest “rule” against split infinitives comes from the early 1800s:

    I am not conscious, that any rule has been heretofore given in relation to this point […] The practice, however, of not separating the particle from its verb, is so general and uniform among good authors, and the exceptions are so rare, that the rule which I am about to propose will, I believe, prove to be as accurate as most rules, and may be found beneficial to inexperienced writers. It is this :—The particle, TO, which comes before the verb in the infinitive mode, must not be separated from it by the intervention of an adverb or any other word or phrase; but the adverb should immediately precede the particle, or immediately follow the verb.

    Fowler is probability the most famous person advocating for this rule, but that is also roughly a century ago.

    It is, of course, not against the “rules” of English to split infinitives, but the fact that the aforementioned commenters is railing against a rule that exists mostly in his (I assume) mind doesn’t seem to be an out of the ordinary event for those folks.

  38. buggi says

    I think I have spotted a new Meme!

    Lemme see if I get it right.

    *clears his throat*

    Um… *checks his facts*

    Hedge hogs gonna hedge hog

    Giraffes gonna giraffe

    Hey, this is rather fun!

    Small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri gonna small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri!

  40. WharGarbl says

    @b
    #36

    Stand there with a pocket knife? You’re probably okay. Gun? You’re a marshmallow. Flaming sword? You are actually the opposite of tough. You’re the anti-tough. If you ran into actual tough, you’d explode on contact. And as far as rabbits go, my house-rabbit could take him two falls out of three, easily. Odds are good for a sweep.

    Or standing there with nothing but a smile.

  41. jakc says

    I had no idea who this guy was before I clicked on this link.

    Why did you link to his website? I would have been happy to never know who this guy was.

  42. Goodbye Enemy Janine says

    Just a like background, jakc. PZ used to post more about the religious and sexist bigotry of Vox Day. And Vox Day used to send his flying monkeys over here in order to blather their master’s lines and to challenge PZ to a debate with VD.

    Good times were had by all. *snark*

  43. tim rowledge, Ersatz Haderach says

    . And as far as rabbits go, my house-rabbit could take him two falls out of three, easily. Odds are good for a sweep.

    Just let Bun-Bun at’im! Run Away!

  44. Louis says

    I would like to second the notion that Mr Beale is tough. Really really tough. With his flaming sword.

    {Snicker} {Giggle}

    Oh yeah. That’s a macho man for sure. Lemme think, small….penis? Nah, that’s just toxic masculinity bullshit. Small….man syndrome? Nah, that’s just fictional bullshit. Small….just….small. And frightened.

    Oh fuck now I feel sorry for him. EW EW!!!! Get it off!!!! Get this sympathy off me! I FEEL DIRTY!!!!! I CANNOT UNFEEL THE SYMPATHY I HAVE FELT!!!! CLEASE ME OH VOLCANIC FIRES!!!! I MUST SELF IMMOLATE TO FREE MYSELF FROM THIS TAINT!!!!!!

    Speaking of taints….oh, I was.

    Louis

  46. Rey Fox says

    Regarding “rabbits”: I decided to pursue the matter with a little Googling, and it would appear that it’s an incredibly strained bit of pseudo-evolutionary wankery from this web site: http://www.anonymousconservative.com/, having to do with r vs. K selection. Don’t read too much, your brain will attempt to escape through your ear canal.

    Why is Teddy co-opting evolutionary biology, you may wonder? Because it’s a pompous way to insult liberals, of course. “A useful metaphor doesn’t depend on its literal truth, much less the current scientific popularity of the theory from which it derives.”

    Cruising through that site as well as checking up on the Sigma Male thing mentioned earlier reveals that these are people desperately obsessed with categorizations and hierarchy. I can’t imagine living like that.

  47. The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge says

    Since Vox Day has decided to “correct” the “errors” in George R. R. Martin’s fiction, perhaps someone should head over to Amazon and “correct” the 4.3-out-of-5-star rating on 109 reviews. Pharyngulate this sucker!

  48. Louis says

    Since Vox Day has decided to “correct” the “errors” in George R. R. Martin’s fiction

    YOU FUCKING WHAT!!!!!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?

    This is hubris at a pathological level.

    Louis

  50. says

    Wait, that fuck’s VD? …oh HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO

    Invoking the state laws and trying to fit SFWA under them to prevent them from suspending him? Pretty desperate move, dood.

    I’m confused, I thought it was us liberals who were trying to get the state in on everything, and conservatives were tough individualists.

  51. says

    The SFWA didn’t have much of a choice. If he had only posted that pile of racist bilge he wrote about N.K. Jemisin without using the SFWA twitter feed, it would’ve just been catalogued as yet another pissy RSHD rant. But he couldn’t.

    Seriously, just what the hell is wrong with him?

  52. b. - Order of Lagomorpha says

    Whargarbl

    Or standing there with nothing but a smile.

    There you go. Maybe not optimal for human survival in general, but… :D I am reminded of a numpty that used to post back in the Usenet days. He was fond of pictures of himself sans shirt, in various “manly” poses whilst flourishing some large, cheaply made, fantasy sword. He liked to bluster about his manliness and the “obvious” superiority of men a lot, too. The usual response he got was something along the lines of, “Put the shirt back on!” and accusations of causing vision loss.

  53. Pierce R. Butler says

    … they just gkicked Theodore Beale out …

    Apparently a kick at a force of 1 g sufficed, but I consider it inadequate.

  54. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    #49 anuran

    @47 TVRBoK,
    I’ve given it a more appropriate review

    Careful. With this comment he’ll be able to know which is your review. I don’t expect good things. But that’s your decision, with my situation the first thought was the risk involved.

    And can someone point where he says he decided to correct Song of Fire and Ice? Because I’m not seeing it, unless it’s just the title. Maybe he’s just jumping on the bandwagon of what’s popular now like other authors did after Twilight.

    I loathe defending the fucker on anything but I’m just not getting it. Of course, I’m never going to read any of his work either. There’s plenty of other amazing authors out there that I can support who aren’t giant assholes. Like C.J. Redwine and Jim Hines.

  55. The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge says

    And can someone point where he says he decided to correct Song of Fire and Ice? Because I’m not seeing it, unless it’s just the title. Maybe he’s just jumping on the bandwagon of what’s popular now like other authors did after Twilight.

    I should probably withdraw that since I can’t verify it. I got it from a commenter I trust on another blog—apparently the “correcting” commentary is from VD’s site, but I’m not about to sift through there to verify it, so consider it withdrawn.

  56. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Man, having issues today. My “I don’t expect good things. But that’s your decision, with my situation the first thought was the risk involved. ” should read “I don’t expect good things but that’s your decision. With my situation the first thought was the risk involved so I won’t be joining in. ”

    Major brain fart.

    (And I just spelt that Majore Brian fart at first. Good lord, I need to get some sleep.)

  57. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    #55 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

    I should probably withdraw that since I can’t verify it. I got it from a commenter I trust on another blog—apparently the “correcting” commentary is from VD’s site, but I’m not about to sift through there to verify it, so consider it withdrawn.

    Ah, ok. Now, I’m torn between curiosity and self-interest.

  58. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Yeah, you don’t have to take it back. My inability to sleep for the last 24+ (fucking flashbacks and triggers *grrr*) overrode my senses and I went looking. When someone reviewed and brought up Martin, he blog posted this:

    Walker is entirely correct to say that ATOB is very much the same sort of thing as AGOT. It was intended that way from the start. However, I did not write Arts of Dark and Light to imitate A Song of Ice and Fire, but rather, to create a fantasy epic of similar scope that not only improves upon Martin’s series in terms of characterization, intellectual depth, and storytelling, but also demonstrates the way in which the utilization of a more traditional and historically coherent perspective can permit a less-talented writer to create works capable of surpassing the well-written, but empty, soulless literary edifices constructed by the betrayers of the fantasy tradition created by George MacDonald and so firmly established by JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis.

    Contra the superficial assumptions of those who look only at the rhyming names and the similar heft of the two books, A THRONE OF BONES is not an imitation of A GAME OF THRONES. To the extent that it is relevant to compare the two books, it would be considerably more accurate to describe it as literary criticism in action. I find it a little ironic that while people often ask critics if they can do any better, on the rare occasion one actually attempts to do so, one is accused of wishing to imitate the object of criticism.

    And he does follow his reviews and post about them on his blog. It’s as awful as you would expect.

  59. screechymonkey says

    Is there some way to introduce Beale to that other self-proclaimed genius, Scott Adams, and let them argue over who’s the geniusist?

  60. hotshoe, now with more boltcutters says

    Louis –

    I would like to second the notion that Mr Beale is tough. Really really tough. With his flaming sword.

    {Snicker} {Giggle}

    Oh yeah. That’s a macho man for sure. Lemme think, small….penis? Nah, that’s just toxic masculinity bullshit. Small….man syndrome? Nah, that’s just fictional bullshit. Small….just….small. And frightened.

    Oh fuck now I feel sorry for him. EW EW!!!! Get it off!!!! Get this sympathy off me! I FEEL DIRTY!!!!! I CANNOT UNFEEL THE SYMPATHY I HAVE FELT!!!! CLEASE ME OH VOLCANIC FIRES!!!! I MUST SELF IMMOLATE TO FREE MYSELF FROM THIS TAINT!!!!!!

    Speaking of taints….oh, I was.

    quoted the entire comment for goddamn awesome
    – but especially that last line!

  61. The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge says

    Thanks, JAL: You’re a gentleman and a scholar for putting yourself through that. For a variety of reasons I’m so overdosed on crap the last week or so I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  63. says

    Rutee:

    I’m confused, I thought it was us liberals who were trying to get the state in on everything, and conservatives were tough individualists.

    No no no no no.

    “The State” exists to protect those who truly need protecting– well known, white, straight, cis-men– and everyone else is a liar and a thief. See, if you expect The State to help you out (welfare, marriage equality, laws guaranteeing reproductive choice, equal access laws, whathaveyou), then you’re a parasite. Using the courts to bully your criticstake on the Evil Man Hating Feminazis Of The Radical Leftist Agenda is the American Way™.

    *eagle tears*

  64. Cyranothe2nd, ladyporn afficianado says

    Vox Day has decided to “correct” the “errors” in George R. R. Martin’s fiction

    So…he’s writing Game of Thrones fan fic?

  65. says

    For those who would like to see Scalzi’s Gamma Rabbit: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/293546_Say_Hello_to_Gamma_Rabbit!

    Yes, Gamma Rabbit, who likes people as they are, fears no one no matter how they live their lives, and who is comfortable with himself and his own personal values of kindness, tolerance and diversity. Sure, there are some who look down on him and his ways, but you know what? Gamma Rabbit knows that those people are kooky, silly, wacky racist sexist homophobic dipshits, and aside from looking forward to the day when they might pull their heads out and join the rest of the human race, lets them alone to do their own thing. Because Gamma Rabbit has other, better people and things to think about.

    Rev. Battleaxe:

    Thanks, JAL: You’re a gentleman and a scholar

    That would be gentlewoman and a scholar in this case. :)

  66. Space Monster says

    NK Jemisin has an excellent post up now: http://nkjemisin.com/2013/08/time-to-pick-a-side/
    While specifically about the SFWA it applies to a far, far wider group of organizations. I wonder if I can think of any relevant ones?

    But there is one bit in there that will certainly detract from the glow of awesomeness that some are feeling about the SFWA. One SFWA officer sat one her letter to the board for five days before passing it on because they were “concerned” that it was sent in anger and argued with her how she should change the wording.

  67. The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge says

    That would be gentlewoman and a scholar in this case. :)

    My sincere apologies to JAL. AssUMe strikes again.

  68. Scr... Archivist says

    Space Monster @66,

    Thank you so much for that link to the N.K. Jemisin post. It really does resonate with what’s been happening in our little corner of the universe.

    I especially noticed these lines:

    There is no neutrality when bigotry is the status quo.

    and

    You don’t negotiate with a certain kind of terrorist unless you want to encourage more of the same, and you don’t pay the compliment of reasoned, adult discourse to a certain kind of bigot for the same reason.

  69. hotshoe, now with more boltcutters says

    For those who would like to see Scalzi’s Gamma Rabbit: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/293546_Say_Hello_to_Gamma_Rabbit!

    Yes, Gamma Rabbit, who likes people as they are, fears no one no matter how they live their lives, and who is comfortable with himself and his own personal values of kindness, tolerance and diversity. Sure, there are some who look down on him and his ways, but you know what? Gamma Rabbit knows that those people are kooky, silly, wacky racist sexist homophobic dipshits, and aside from looking forward to the day when they might pull their heads out and join the rest of the human race, lets them alone to do their own thing. Because Gamma Rabbit has other, better people and things to think about.

    Cool, thanks for linking that, Caine.

  70. says

    Space Monster:
    Thanks for that link.
    I followed one of Ms Jemisin’s links and found an account of a convention that handled a harassment claim properly. Additionally, there were some guidelines by the author on how to make an official complaint. It was insightful and hopeful.

    How To Report Sexual Harassment, by Elise Matthesen.

    We’re geeks. We learn things and share, right? Well, this year at WisCon I learned firsthand how to report sexual harassment. In case you ever need or want to know, here’s what I learned and how it went.

    Two editors I knew were throwing a book release party on Friday night at the convention. I was there, standing around with a drink talking about Babylon 5, the work of China Mieville, and Marxist theories of labor (like you do) when an editor from a different house joined the conversation briefly and decided to do the thing that I reported. A minute or two after he left, one of the hosts came over to check on me. I was lucky: my host was alert and aware. On hearing what had happened, he gave me the name of a mandated reporter at the company the harasser was representing at the convention.

    The mandated reporter was respectful and professional. Even though I knew them, reporting this stuff is scary, especially about someone who’s been with a company for a long time, so I was really glad to be listened to. Since the incident happened during Memorial Day weekend, I was told Human Resources would follow up with me on Tuesday.

    Much more at the link.
    http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/517984.html

  71. ogremeister says

    TVRBOK @ 47:

    Pharyngulate this sucker!

    Hmmm…and what will be your opinion should his followers decide to retaliate against PZ’s book?

  72. says

    Nora Jemisin has a new fan: me.
    After reading her Guest of Honor speech at Continuum in Australia I was blown away.

    (Excerpt):

    And here’s the thing: women have been in SFF from the very beginning. We might not always have been visible, hidden away behind initials and masculine-sounding pseudonyms, quietly running the conventions at which men ran around pinching women’s bottoms, but we were there. And people of color have been in SFF from the very beginning, hiding behind the racial anonymity of names and pseudonyms — and sometimes forcibly prevented from publishing our work by well-meaning editors, lest SFF audiences be troubled by the sight of a brown person in the protagonist’s role. Or a lesbian, or a poor person, or an old person, or a trans woman, or a person in a wheelchair. SFF has always been the literature of the human imagination, not just the imagination of a single demographic. Every culture on this planet produces it in some way, shape, or form. It thrives in video games and films and TV shows, and before that it lived in the oral histories kept by the griots, and the story circles of the Navajo, and the Dreamings of this country’s first peoples. People from every walk of life consume SFF, with relish, and that is because we have all, on some level, contributed to its inception and growth.

    We tread upon the mythic ground of religions and civilizations that far predate “Western” nations and Christianity; we dream of traveling amid stars that were named by Arab astronomers, using the numbers they devised to help us find our way; we retell the colonization stories that were life and death for the Irish and the English and the Inka and the Inuit; we find drama in the struggles of the marginalized and not-quite-assimilated of every society. Speculative fiction is at its core syncretic; this stuff doesn’t come out of nowhere. And it certainly didn’t spring solely from the imaginations of a bunch of beardy old middle-class middle-American guys in the 1950s.

    Sadly what the SFWA kerfuffle reveals — and MammothFail before that, and MoonFail, and RaceFail and the Great Cultural Appropriation Debates of Dooooom, and Slushbomb before that, and so on — what this reveals is that memories in SFF are short, and the misconceptions vast and deep.

    So I propose a solution — which I would like to appropriate, if you will allow, from Australia’s history and present. It is time for a Reconciliation within SFF.

    http://nkjemisin.com/2013/06/continuum-goh-speech/

    The whole thing is worth reading.

  77. Vicki says

    N. K. Jemisin’s recent post describes this as the bare minimum that would have been acceptable from SFWA. An unnamed SFWA officer sat on her letter to the board for five days because they thought she seemed “too angry” and hadn’t considered the consequences. “by which they meant alienating the Board and not, y’know, the death threats that concerned me. So since I plainly had no concept of the impact of my actions, this person had sat on my letter for five days without forwarding it to the rest of the Board per my request.”

    They have done the right thing, after a delay, and that is good, but I think our bar for “awesome” needs to be higher.

  80. davidrichardson says

    I’d never actually heard of him before (I just don’t have the energy to follow the ins and outs of the ‘thoughts’ of weird American religionists), but when I went to Rational Wiki and read about him, he didn’t half sound like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory. Are you sure it isn’t the same person, PZ?

  81. says

    What amazes me is that VD probably thinks that the following SFWA document actually makes him look good, somehow. If that’s the case, he must be raising miniature troglodytes in his basement in order to start a cult.

    (NOTE: The following was probably considered a confidential file by the SFWA, but – big surprise – that didn’t stop VD from reposting it. As a result, PZ can delete or alter thispost if he so chooses. I think it’s a fairly moot point by now, though.)

    http://www.voxday.net/mart/SFWA_report.pdf