Will Shetterly's Blog, page 69
January 19, 2017
We're making it possible for anyone to use the shared world of Liavek—under many conditions, for free
Our goal is to make Liavek as easy for anyone to use for low-paying projects as it would be if it was in the public domain while protecting the rights in case a company wants to use Liavek for something like a TV show, movie, or game. The Liavek Independent Creator’s License does that. If a major commercial project happens because of something an independent creator makes, the license
Was Obama so awful that he turned 4 million of his voters into racists?
In 2008, Obama got 69,498,516 votes. In 2012, he got 65,915,795 votes. In 2016, Hillary Clinton got 65,844,954 votes. Did Obama make four million voters racist? For more perspective, here are the Republican numbers: 2008: McCain got 59,948,323 votes. 2012: Romney got 60,933,504 votes. 2016: Trump got 62,979,879 votes. Some of Obama's 2008 voters stayed home in 2012 and 2016, and some voted
January 16, 2017
Dear Clinton Democrats, respectfully, this is why I'll no longer engage with you
I understand you are committed to your support for Hillary Clinton. Humans cling to theirbeliefs for as long as they can. Admitting you're wrong is one of the hardest things we can do. But you're wrong about many things. You tell yourselves the polls were wrong, but they were not. I followed RealClearPolitics and knew Clinton was expected to win the popular vote by about 2%, which meant she
Furious at Martin Luther King, President Johnson says why he matters so much
After King publicly opposed the Vietnam War: President Johnson stopped taking meetings withKing. “What is that goddamned nigger preacher doing to me?” Johnson reportedly remarked after the speech. “We gave him the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we gave him the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we gave him the War on Poverty. What more does he want?” FromWhat the “Santa Clausification” of Martin Luther
January 15, 2017
Why Martin Luther King would have supported Bernie Sanders: four facts
On Twitter, I said, From Martin Luther King's writing, it's clear he wouldn't have supported the same candidate that Lewis did. When someone objected, I explained why: ...you seem to be forgetting that King was also a democratic socialist whose focus was on poverty. His Dream speech was given at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He was killed while he was planning the Poor
January 9, 2017
Why it's right to reserve judgment on the claim Russia hacked the US election, a mini linkfest
The argument that Russia hacked the US election is backed by17 intelligence agencies.The problem with assuming they're right?Colin Powell explained his support for the claim there were new WMDs in Iraq by saying: "16 intelligence agencies had agreed to it, with footnotes. None of the footnotes took away their agreement." The US has a long history of blaming Russia without hard evidence:
January 8, 2017
I am the man that trolls ban
On Facebook, a Clintonite troll showed up on one of my posts to argue about whether Russia is unequivocally behind the leaks, and specifically about whether this article should be dismissed out of hand because it was published by RT:‘Clinton quite effective at discreditingherself,doesn’t need Putin’s help’ -ex CIAanalyst — RT Op-Edge. The ex-CIA analyst is Larry Johnson. The quick google
January 6, 2017
quick take on Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom
Emma and I are big fans of Sorkin's Sports Night and The West Wing.Our politics became more radical than Sorkin's, which may be why we stopped following his work. Or not. A friend said she loved The Newsroom, so we decided to catch it on Amazon. We liked it a lot. Sorkin's politics are still a sweetly naive version of liberalism in which the only problem with capitalism is that some rich
Liavek 8! Longest collection of all, only $3.99!
In the City of Luck, luck runs wildest in Festival Week. "Consequences" by Walter Jon Williams "As Bright as New Coppers" by Bradley Denton "A Hot Night at Cheeky's" by Steven Brust "A Prudent Obedience" by Kara Dalkey "The True Tale of Count Dashif's Demise" by Jane Yolen "Six Days Outside the Year" by Will Shetterly and six Festival Week poems by John M. Ford "Liavek is a place worth
January 5, 2017
Will no one confront the growing toddler threat?
On Facebook, I sharedWith 2016 over, a toddler has now shot a person every week in the US for two years straightand said, I blame toddler ideology. We have always been at war with toddlerism, but toddlerism is still winning. Handy Zee noted, If you run the numbers on percent of toddlers in the general population against toddlers in prison, you can easily make some assumptions about
