They're trolls, and the usual debate is going on whether it's better to mock them or ignore them. We know that neither approach works very well. Where is my RL disemvoweler?
@Debra Doyle #139: Community POV seems like a good description. I was thinking "consensus POV" which is essentially the same thing. It doesn't presume omniscience, but it is allowed to make reasonable assumptions and draw conclusions.
... what I suspect is an unavoidable problem with literary criticism: without meaning to, it gives pride of place to those texts which are productive of analysis. There's a lot more that can be said about something complex, knotty, and variously flawed than can be said about something clear and simple and damn-near perfect.
But clear and simple doesn't necessarily mean shallow or empty. Texts which are easily productive of analysis are like places with especially fertile soil. Cities rise up on them. Texts that are harder to crack may yet contain gems of great value.
If I step on a rake, I think that makes me the top. Hopefully the rake likes it.
If you don't mind, here's something I've been wondering about an actual book:
About ten years ago I was reading the Penguin Sagas of Icelanders and enjoying it not just for the stories but for the style in which they were told. What struck me was the way they would say, matter of fact, what they thought motivated a character's actions. This violates what I think is a modern rule of good storytelling, "show, don't tell", but it worked. Maybe because they tell, then show. Maybe because the rough and fractious society of the sagas is the kind of place where you'd be talking about and thinking a lot about the motivations of powerful people. Whatever it was it made a powerful impression on me.
I just started reading the Tales of the Heike and I'm getting the same kind of feeling. The culture is different. People score points by composing poems packed with punning references to ancient literature. (Which is beyond ancient for me; I am thankful for footnotes.) But there is an undercurrent of ruthlessness and wariness; people intently observing each other and trying to take each other's measure.
Serge at 135: No particular evening. The only issue for me is traffic. Thanks
Assemble at the PCB? Yes, I'm interested. Whether I can make it depends on timing -- it takes me an hour to drive there, longer if it's rush hour.
The insurance companies are not winning. They make a lot of money off of us. They make a lot of noise. But they are not gaining anything new. They successfully fought a rearguard action against the Clinton health care reform. They are trying to do the same thing again. But they are not going to hold out this time, because it has become much more clear how their system is unsustainable for everyone from individuals to the big auto companies.
Correction Notice - Department of Military Metaphors
(It points that way)
The insurance companies and the remnants of the Republican party are fighting a desperate rearguard action. We need to keep pressing the attack. Victory is almost within reach.
My cousin was a small business owner -- he had a small but really wonderful Italian restaurant. It was not easy financially, and one of the things he skimped on was health insurance for himself. Then he had a massive heart attack and died. He was young, there were plenty of warning signs, and I have no doubt that he'd be alive today if we had universal coverage. Sure, he'd have had to pay for coverage, but so would all the other restauranteurs in the area and it would be a level playing field. And maybe some of them are type 'A' personalities and they should be watching their blood pressure too. What really got me was going to the funeral and seeing all the locals who were so shocked and saddened to see him go. He lived in a very well to do area, which was good for his restaurant business, but I had to wonder how many of them were conservatives who had opposed earlier attempts at health care reform.
I was never close to him personally. For some reason he never figured out I was close geographically and could have helped collate. But I started reading Locus as soon as I got in fandom and found out about it. Paraphrasing Patrick, there is a very real sense in which modern science fiction can be defined as "the set of things covered in Locus." And I don't know of anyone else who was so good at what he did, we had to create a Hugo Award category just for him.
I don't think hubris is limited to people in power. We just track the affairs of the powerful more closely. Some of it is because they're in power, and what they do affects us. Another part of it is it's reassuring to see just how ordinary and tawdry they are when they screw up.
He's cracking up. It's sad to see. Based on his political statements, I think his ideology is sincere but crazy. Normally it would not be so obvious, but now it's really not working for the people of his state, and he's getting a lot of rejection. Hd didn't have to make it worse by having an affair but people do stuff like that without thinking of the consequences and then the consequences happen anyway. The affair is absolutely perfect for pissing off the last few of his supporters. He could not have done it better if he had tried.
Joel Polowin @60: Oooh shiny. Now I wants one.
Lynn @55: You're right. The people we should worry about buying guns are the ones where there is a reasonable fear they may become violent in the near future. I don't believe in taking away people's rights unless we really have to, so the restraining order should be temporary, but it should be real, including a hold on gun purchases. That doesn't take care of the case where the guy already has a gun, but in a lot of cases it could help keep a guy from doing something he'd regret for the rest of his life.
I don't want a terrorist watch. My credit card company said I could buy an atomic watch for $24.95 but it looked really cheap and the glowing hands are not reassuring, especially for a watch that says "atomic" on it. I bet a terrorist watch would be even cheaper and scarier. It isn't like you could wear it on the plane. "Oh yes, sir, this is my terrorist watch. I ordered it over the internet from Afghanistan. See the band is made with real goat hide." Not a good way to make your flight. And what does this have to do with guns? Is it a collect the set thing, where you get your AK-47 and your watch and your black T-shirt all with matching terrorist logos? I could understand some people being concerned about it, but these things pass. Just wait and giant LED digital watches will come back in style (along with bell bottoms) and folks will not want to be seen in their terrorist watches unless it's Halloween and then you can easily find junk terrorist watches for fifty cents at the thrift shop, unless you're crafty and make your own out of construction paper.
I'm hoping the Iranian government will decide to hold a runoff election. There would have been a runoff anyway if there hadn't been a majority winner (or the claim of one). It might work as a face saving compromise.
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