Orson Scott Card - Terrorist?

Orson Scott Card has a history of writing pretty hateful things - here is the latest example, where he literaly calls for an overthrow of the government of the US if gay marriage is legalized (does this make him a terrorist?).

This blog post at SF Diplomat points out the long history of Card's hateful speak, and points to the Feminist SF Blog reaction (I highly recommend reading this). There are plenty of other reactions around and I just don't have the time to search them all out.

Anyway, this is just another example of why I choose not to support OSC in anyway I know of. It makes you wonder what other SFF authors out there think this way - particularly those among the Mormon faith.

The Conservative Freaks Get All the Press

The SFF genre seems to be suffering a real image problem right now, and we have the likes of Orson Scott Card and Michael Crichton to thank for it. Is this how the genre is really perceived by the general public? Is this image really out there? Correct me if I’m wrong, but what I would consider the best the genre has to offer to have a ‘liberal’ slant to it if you had to label it.

I’m not trying to have a political discussion, though anyone who has read enough of what I post here or at various message boards likely has a good idea about where I fall on the political spectrum, BUT I find this disturbing. Look at this article in the LA Times, or at the bullshit that Crichton has pulled lately, this essay by Card, and who can forget the objectivist ranting of Terry Goodkind (you’ll have to search that out on your own).

My gut reaction to all this: horrified, saddened, angry, darkly amused, nauseous, speechless.

Very Short Stories

A recent Wired article features a bunch of 6-word stories in the spirit of Hemingway’s famous: For sale: baby shoes, never worn. The writers of these stories are well-known writers and the like, and they range from serious to funny to stupid, to lazy. It’s a great read. Contributors include Robert Jordan, Neil Gaiman, Kevin Smith, Josh Whedon, and many more. A few of my favorites are copied below.

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore

The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.
- Orson Scott Card

To save humankind he died again.
- Ben Bova

Batman Sues Batsignal: Demands Trademark Royalties.
- Cory Doctorow

Metrosexuals notwithstanding, quiche still lacks something.
- David Brin


Of course the message board where I originally saw this suggested that I give it a try. I came up with two.

Internet...addicted. Lost job, wife, sanity.

And because the first is way too serious...

Pee burns. Can't remember. Drunk. Female?