2012 – Page 54 – Wis[s]e Words

sigh

Published on March 20, 20121 Comment

Incidents like this, where a young Black man is shot dead when out on a grocery run by a paranoid wannabe cop who is not even arrested because he claimed it was in self defence, are why I said yesterday I’m actually more pessimistic than I was at the time the War on Iraq got started. It’s just depressing to realise these can still happen in 2012 and even more so to realise there some people — liberal, well meaning, smart — are willing and even eager to minimise the outrageousness of this murder. For the first time I’m glad Sandra isn’t here to see this; this sort of thing would’ve broken her heart.

As would’ve the dismantlement of the NHS int he final teardown of the welfare state, something she has fought again her whole life. We thought New Labour was bad, but she knew that the Tories would be even worse and she was right.

Sandra was worried that chances were no longer possible without serious violence; I’m more and more convinced she was right and wondering why more explosions of outrage like the London riots haven’t happened yet.

Oi!

Published on March 19, 2012Leave a comment

London 2012:

Another perspective, more optimistic, same message:

Last Summer’s riots were a warning, but nobody has learned anything from it yet. I don’t think I ever thought I could get less optimistic than I was in 2002-2003 when I saw the world slide into war against Iraq, but my fear is that the only lesson the politicians took out of that debacle is that you can ignore popular discontent as long as you got parliament and the Westminster press bubble on your side. They’re wrong, but a lot of people are going to suffer before these fsckers get their just desserts.

Keeping it Real — Justina Robson

Published on March 18, 2012Leave a comment

Cover of Keeping it Real

Keeping it Real
Justina Robson
279 pages
published in 2006

Justina Robson is one of those writers I’ve known about for years, but have never read anything by so far. One of the new breed of British science fiction writers who popped up around the turn of the millennium, her first couple of novels found critical acclaim, each being nominated for the Clarke or BSFA Award. Unfortunately popular success seemed to elude her however, until she started the Quantum Gravity series, of which Keeping it Real is the first novel.

It is also the first novel of hers I’ve read. A high concept description of it would be urban fantasy meets cyberpunk, a bit like the old Shadowrun role playing game but much less naff. Personally I’ve always thought cyberpunk was urban fantasy’s science fiction’s mirror counterpart anyway, so the combination seems logical. As Robson explains it in the prologue, an unknown “quantum catastrophe” in the Superconducting Superconductor in Texas in 2015 had torn reality into six realms: Earth, now called Otopia, Zoomenon, the realm of Elementals, Alfheim (elves country), Demonia, home of demons, Faery, home of fairies and finally Thanatopia, supposedly the realm of the dead though no human being has ever visited. The catastrophe was quickly dubbed the “Quantum Bomb” on Otopia, with the big question that keeps human philsophers and scientists awake at night being whether the Bomb really recreated reality or just made it visible to Otopia.

Grand Slam!

Published on March 17, 2012Leave a comment

Welsh grand slam

I don’t quite know why I started watching the 2008 England v Wales Six Nations match that one Saturday, but I became hooked immediately. Since no decent person can root for England in any sport, I chose the Welsh to cheer on, which turned out to be a good choice as they won the Grand Slam that year, winning all five their matches, conceding only two tries. Since that high point Wales has been a bit disappointing until today, as they won another Grand Slam. It wasn’t as magnificent as 2008, but it has been incredibly tense these past weeks, as no Welsh win was won easily.

I’ve come to enjoying spectator sports only lately, partially as distraction from you know what and Six Nations rugby has always been good. It’s even better when your chosen team wins…

Ymere is pissing me off

Published on March 16, 2012Leave a comment

For the priviledge of belonging to the mandatory owners association, I pay them about sixty euros a month, which I always pay at the end of the month, with all the other bills. The owners association is run by Ymere Beheer, who’ve just sent me a reminder that I haven’t paid my March dues yet, with another fifteen euros in “cost” for sending me this reminder. This is seriously pissing me off. Especially because for some reason best known to themselves, the fsckers are only available to be argued with from 8:30 to 11:00 AM on workdays which is when I, like most people with a job, am at work.

A while back on Unfogged, during yet another discussion about the stupid hoops American health care insurers have their clients jump through, somebody made the brilliant observation that any company big enough is able to send you a bill for some arbitrary amount and there’s little you can about it to fight it that it’s easier just to pay up. Insurers, public utilities and other big necessary evils are particularly able to do this, but I never thought this would happen to me…