Genrewonk

The Obligitory Moderation Post

September 4th, 2008

Just had to kill the first flame war on my blog, which leads inevitably to the post that will appear sooner or later on every single blog that allows commentary. *drumroll*

The Official Moderation Policy

Things that will probably get me to pull your comments:

Going off-topic in any way I don’t find entertaining or enlightening.
POSTING IN ALL CAPS.
Any personal attack on another commenter.
Anything that pisses me off.
Flame Wars in any way shape or form. Any. My sandbox, don’t crap in it. To avoid this, here are some signs you’re engaging in one:
- That person is wrong, and you have to point it out.
- Writing, “No, you’re not reading what I said,” more than once in succession about the same point.
- If you believe some broad generality posted by someone is a personal attack directed at you.
- You post a long tirade attacking someone while saying how unfairly you’re being attacked.
Lastly, I reserve the right to pull anything off this blog for any reason without explanation. This isn’t a democracy, it’s a semi-benign despotism. However, I promise only to use my powers for good.

A final point, you all may know I’m married. My wife, Michelle, is lively, spirited, and comments here a lot. I do not expect you to agree with her, any more than I expect you to agree with me. However, while I might find personal attacks on me somewhat amusing, you don’t want to attack my wife. No, it’s not fair. My blog, you deal.

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A message for Democrats

September 3rd, 2008

Ok, I get it, everyone was surprised, and you all are a little freaked out. I understand that. But since a lot of my friends are Democrats I thought I’d offer some advice so you don’t join the collective stupid which is the interwebs and argue your points with a modicum of sense.

Advice the first: Do not say “Palin is a stupid play for Hillary supporters.” That little bit of rhetoric displays a particularly large missing of point: Palin is a play for the Republican base, precisely where the McCain campaign was hemorrhaging, directly away from Hillary. It’s also such a patently stupid idea that it shows the speaker believes Identity politics trump any and all other political considerations.

Advice the second: It may be legit to bring up the issue of Palin’s experience. But it is also probably not in the interest of the Democratic candidate to have experience become a dominant issue in the campaign. Obama supporters complaining about the Republican VP’s lack of experience is akin to McCain supporters complaining about the Democratic VP being an old white guy who’s been in Washington forever. Not a great idea to constantly remind everyone of your own candidate’s primary weakness.

Advice the third: “OMG she’s an anti-abortion conservative!” Uh, people, can anyone tell me the last pro-choice liberal that was nominated on the Republican presidential ticket? I thought so.

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We officially have a kick-ass cover

August 27th, 2008

Well Eleanor just got the Prophets cover from DAW, and it’s all full of crunchy SF goodness. This will be hitting the shelves March 2009.

UPDATE: I should let you all know who the artist is behind this great cover, the 2008 winner of the Hugo for best artist, Stephan Martiniere. Which is just seven flavors of cool.

Oh, and a little bonus for the Moreau fans out there, there’s this little detail: