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No Award (Part One)

Posted March 17, 2022 By John C Wright

The following is a guest column by Chris Chan,  the first of eight parts, to be published in this space over the next few weeks. The topic is a tidbit of inglorious Science Fiction fandom history in which I played a small part, known of old as the Sad Puppies Kerfuffle, and hence might be of interest to my readers.

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This article first appeared on the now-defunct NerdHQ blog.

“No Award”

The Hugo Awards, Sad Puppies, and Sci-Fi/Fantasy Literature
Part I: What’s Happening with the Hugos?

By Chris Chan

 

Introduction

This is the first of a series of articles, serving as an overview of one of the biggest controversies to divide fans of science fiction and fantasy in recent years.  It’s the story of clashing perspectives and strong opinions, and how literature and fandom can both unite and divide.  It is the hope of this author that these articles can serve as a means of building bridges and mending fences.  However, given the vitriolic emotions in some quarters, this may be too optimistic a hope.

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MB on Ukraine

Posted February 28, 2022 By John C Wright

Part of an ongoing conversation. A reader with the abbreviated name of MB made a comment so worth study that I repost it here as its own guest column. The words below are his:

Long time reader, first time commenter. Full disclosure: I am Romanian and have lived in the US for more than 20 years, but am not American.

I really dislike Disqus, for the same reasons as Facebook (websites that keep track of me), but this is the first time I read something I strongly disagreed with here so I unblocked Disqus on my computer in order to comment.

Everyone knows that Ukraine is not about to become a NATO member, Putin included. At most, it is going to become an ally, like Israel and Sweden are right now. The reason is that a country cannot become a NATO member, since NATO started enlarging, without first solving all territorial disputes with its neighbors first. It is an official condition for NATO membership. Due to the situations in Crimea and Donbas, this will not happen in the foreseeable future for Ukraine. So no NATO membership, at most NATO partnership. Same for Georgia and Moldova.

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Review: Coco and Book of Life

Posted August 26, 2021 By John C Wright

A reader with the chesslike yet faithful name of Pawn4King wrote a brief comparison or review in the comments, which I thought merited emphasis. I reprint it here as a guest post. 

Note that, like all good reviewers, Pawn4King here shows compassion and insight toward the real people whom the fiction being reviewed reflect. His remarks illustrate the difference between an artist who uses a source material for some ulterior purpose, and an artist who loves his source material. 

The words below are his.

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Guest Column by Milo Yiannopoulos 

Posted July 15, 2021 By John C Wright
I wanted to share this column by my old boss with my readers, only to discover that it seems to have vanished from its original spot (which, for the record, is here: https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/milo-it-was-always-about-the-kids).
At the risk of a breach of Internet etiquette, I here reproduce the whole, unedited, to preserve a copy, just in case. If it reappears on Church Militant, read it there, along with the illos, and peruse their other offerings.

It Was Always About the Kids

by Milo Yiannopoulos  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  July 8, 2021

“You think that we’ll corrupt your kids if our agenda goes unchecked. Just this once … you’re correct. We’ll convert your children, happens bit by bit, quietly and subtly. We’ll convert your children, reaching one and all. There’s really no escaping it. We’re coming for your children! We’re coming for your children! We’re coming for your children!”

Creepy or what? You’re probably wondering where I found this terrifying threat. An early episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? The trailer to Blumhouse Productions’ latest horror blockbuster, perhaps? A dream journal lifted from an insane asylum?

Nope. These are song lyrics from an organization more sinister and frightening than any scary movie you had in mind: the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC), a crying circle for Bay Area pederasts.

It’s what happens when clerical sexual abuse meets soullessness, joylessness and tunelessness.

The song, which keeps disappearing from YouTube because even leftists are shocked by its accidental truthfulness, cannot be unseen.

Musically, it is terrible, and of course boring — because ideas this ugly cannot be expressed in beautiful words or melodies. The singers look haunted — because they are. The message is unvarnished, explicit, unequivocal: It was always about the kids.

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The Thin Blue Line (a Guest Post)

Posted June 13, 2020 By John's Web Support

[This is a guest post by the webmaster. This column is from the Loyal Opposition, a fellow Catholic and a conservative. Please answer with more courtesy and forbearance than social media usually provokes.]

I’ve been thinking about the “Thin Blue Line” for a month now, even before all this. For any who have seen the flags but never heard the meaning defined beyond “showing support for the police”, it is the assertion that police are “the thin blue line” between society and violent chaos. It is the mindset that police are a noble minority (a *thin* line of blue) confronting hostile savages and keeping them at bay.

There is nothing noble about viewing the community which you are supposed to protect and serve as savages. That mindset is an anathema to good policing. How do you assist and de-escalate when you view the people you are policing as sub-human? It doesn’t work, and we see that in a myriad of ways (such as the number of POC that, taking the police at their word that they’re there for their protection, call them for help only to have the police show up and arrest — or, worse yet, shoot — them).

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More from Publius: On Tories

Posted July 24, 2017 By John C Wright

Another short column from Publius:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

 These words are the birth cry, the first breath, of America. Everything before this was rendered null and void by the Revolution. Everything after rests on this concept.

America is the only country in history that is defined by ideals instead of by race or tribe. This nation is under attack. It needs our devotion and support.

If you reject the idea of all men being created equal before God and wish to support an English country, you are not an American.

You are a Tory.

This might be the time for you to return across the Atlantic and support your homeland of England. Looks like they may need your help.

Just ask George Clooney.

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