That all you got, punk?

Posted on Monday, 2005 July 11 by Anton

Dean Ing’s first novel Soft Targets (1979) suggested that against terrorists the most effective weapon is mockery. Since the London bombs I’ve seen hints of such an approach.

Arthur Silber (2006: that link is gone bad, here’s another) gets in a dig at another faction that favors indiscriminate violence:

. . . one has the sense that this kind of hawk (which is most of them now) can’t grasp the nature of a convincing argument. It is as if they believe that by shouting, over and over again, “But terrorists are really, really, really, REALLY evil!,” they will finally convince everyone who doubts or criticizes Bush’s foreign adventures that Bush is entirely right about everything. . . .

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blowing up a star, and afterward

Posted on Monday, 2005 July 11 by Anton

(This post was previously part of another one, severed for what now seems to me greater convenience.)

Charlie Stross‘s recent novel Iron Sunrise has a surprising number of minor errors. The distance between Moscow Prime and Old Newfie is stated as 1393 light-days, one parsec (1191 d·c, close enough), one light-year (365 d·c). Someone mentioned in conversation is “he” then “she” then “Otto”. A garment is white when bought and black when worn.

Iron Sunrise is a sequel to, but plotwise independent of, Singularity Sky. It’s generally more coherent and less whizbang.

I’ve spotted two personal references in the first half. An empress is named Ayse, presumably after Ayse Sercan who, like Charlie, is or was a regular in alt.peeves. One of the quotations from which another Edinburgh writer takes the title of his blog is, er, quoted.

Posted in prose | Leave a comment

scifi

Posted on Sunday, 2005 July 10 by Anton

The last book I finished was Charlie Stross’s The Family Trade. Spoilers: Continue reading →

Posted in prose | 3 Comments

language peeve of the day

Posted on Thursday, 2005 July 07 by Anton

A set comprises its members; a set consists of its members; a set is composed of its members — but a set is not comprised of anything.

“Thank you for observing all safety precautions.”

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protecting the public

Posted on Wednesday, 2005 July 06 by Anton

Argh! No traffic tickets for twenty years, and now two in 16 months – both from BART police. Two more months and I could have cleared both by the curious device of “traffic school”.

Posted in California, me!me!me! | Leave a comment

nothing to hide

Posted on Monday, 2005 July 04 by Anton

“Lady Liberty” says it well:

So rest peacefully in your assumption that none of the invasive new laws or procedures applies to you because you don’t have anything to hide. You’ll be just fine as long as the police never make a mistake. You won’t be a target of an investigation as long as you don’t want to do anything to generate suspicion, like drive, work, open a bank account, or rent an apartment. . . .

From the Boston Globe last week:

The top US military commander in the Middle East warned yesterday that troops are questioning whether the American public supports the Iraq war and implored political leaders to engage in a frank discussion about how to keep the country behind a mission that the armed forces believe is ”a war worth fighting.”

Does this strike anyone else as putting the cart before the horse?

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æsthetics

Posted on Saturday, 2005 July 02 by Anton

Ah, phooey: I’ve carelessly deleted my preferred “theme”. May as well leave it for now while I go learn how to write one properly.

Posted in blogdom, me!me!me! | Leave a comment