Richard Dengrove, Alexandria, VA
Should I say anything about the cover of Challenger 22? Better not. Better comment on other things in your zine.
I can say something about the war in Iraq. I am going to be different too. It is always treated as all plus or a all minus. In fact, I believe the Bushies had convinced themselves, egged on by a cabal of Neocons, that it would be all plus, the panacea for all our ills in the Middle East. Anyone who suggested otherwise was not a team player, like those who suggested postwar planning.
On the other hand, the Iraqi War turns out to be both a minus and a plus. The big plus is of course is that an awful tyrant was deposed and there is a good chance for a democracy of sorts.
Alongside that are big minuses. One big minus is since our victory favored the Shiites and the Kurds, we have soured our relationship with most of our allies in the Middle East, who are Sunnis.
Another big minus is that, for now, we have provided a sanctuary for al Qaeda Iraq. Enough Iraqis are pissed off or convinced our invasion is the vanguard for a new Crusade. Why else can terrorists blow up Americans and our friends, and then fade into the population?
The Iraqi invasion is not the only two edged sword in Challenger James Hogan's "Decontamination Squad" is two edged too. If you change the extraterrestrial’s terminology, and make him an exterminator or developer, the object of the satire would change from left to right. You could do it even better if you had the extraterrestrial working for what sounded like a corporation.
A change in terminology does not change everything, though. I know Australian football is hyped as a family sport. However, your description and Dr. Hilton's of a real Australian “Footie” game makes it sound more like rowdy European soccer than a family sport. I notice the ladies went shopping while you guys watched.
Some things go farther and are based totally on hype. I get that impression of Y2K. I mean no offense to Jerry Proctor, but I have never known a computer that stopped no matter what happened to its clock.
When, in the early ’90s, I was being warned that if the clock went the computer went, I received ample proof this didn't happen. The clock went on all my early computers, but the computer itself never went.
After I told the scaremongers this, they said that it happened on earlier machines. In short, the belief was starting to resemble an urban legend. I guess ultimately it ballooned into the Y2K scare.
The opposite happens too some things believed fiction are fact. Mike Resnick doubted that Captain Nemo could be an India Indian like he was in the movie League of Extraordinary Men. I tried to make it into fact, but I did not go far enough. I said I thought he was in an unpublished draft of 20,000 Leagues. I would like to thank Joe Major for pointing out that Captain Nemo as an Indian Indian was in a published novel. He was Prince Dakkar of Bundelkund in Mysterious Island.
Of course we do not always care if something is factual or not. Greg Benford's novel Beyond Infinity, for instance. At least, the title can't be. Still, with a title like that, I wouldn't even care if it took place at 13 o'-clock on February 30th!
Sometimes, I require even less. Just showing up is sufficient. I would like to thank Joe Major and Robert Kennedy merely for commenting on my Moon Hoax essay. This does not mean that Joe's comment wasn't great and I didn't also love Robert's compliment.
I can say something about the war in Iraq. I am going to be different too. It is always treated as all plus or a all minus. In fact, I believe the Bushies had convinced themselves, egged on by a cabal of Neocons, that it would be all plus, the panacea for all our ills in the Middle East. Anyone who suggested otherwise was not a team player, like those who suggested postwar planning.
On the other hand, the Iraqi War turns out to be both a minus and a plus. The big plus is of course is that an awful tyrant was deposed and there is a good chance for a democracy of sorts.
Alongside that are big minuses. One big minus is since our victory favored the Shiites and the Kurds, we have soured our relationship with most of our allies in the Middle East, who are Sunnis.
Another big minus is that, for now, we have provided a sanctuary for al Qaeda Iraq. Enough Iraqis are pissed off or convinced our invasion is the vanguard for a new Crusade. Why else can terrorists blow up Americans and our friends, and then fade into the population?
The Iraqi invasion is not the only two edged sword in Challenger James Hogan's "Decontamination Squad" is two edged too. If you change the extraterrestrial’s terminology, and make him an exterminator or developer, the object of the satire would change from left to right. You could do it even better if you had the extraterrestrial working for what sounded like a corporation.
A change in terminology does not change everything, though. I know Australian football is hyped as a family sport. However, your description and Dr. Hilton's of a real Australian “Footie” game makes it sound more like rowdy European soccer than a family sport. I notice the ladies went shopping while you guys watched.
Some things go farther and are based totally on hype. I get that impression of Y2K. I mean no offense to Jerry Proctor, but I have never known a computer that stopped no matter what happened to its clock.
When, in the early ’90s, I was being warned that if the clock went the computer went, I received ample proof this didn't happen. The clock went on all my early computers, but the computer itself never went.
After I told the scaremongers this, they said that it happened on earlier machines. In short, the belief was starting to resemble an urban legend. I guess ultimately it ballooned into the Y2K scare.
The opposite happens too some things believed fiction are fact. Mike Resnick doubted that Captain Nemo could be an India Indian like he was in the movie League of Extraordinary Men. I tried to make it into fact, but I did not go far enough. I said I thought he was in an unpublished draft of 20,000 Leagues. I would like to thank Joe Major for pointing out that Captain Nemo as an Indian Indian was in a published novel. He was Prince Dakkar of Bundelkund in Mysterious Island.
Of course we do not always care if something is factual or not. Greg Benford's novel Beyond Infinity, for instance. At least, the title can't be. Still, with a title like that, I wouldn't even care if it took place at 13 o'-clock on February 30th!
Sometimes, I require even less. Just showing up is sufficient. I would like to thank Joe Major and Robert Kennedy merely for commenting on my Moon Hoax essay. This does not mean that Joe's comment wasn't great and I didn't also love Robert's compliment.
posted by ;-p at 12:44 AM
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