by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 24, 2010 | Blog
My friend, Sage Walker, sent this to me. I have no idea of the actual origin, but it’s a lot of fun. Enjoy. On her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger ( A popular conservative radio talk show host in the USA) said that homosexuality is an abomination according to the Bible , Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident, which was posted on the...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 23, 2010 | Blog
Here is quote from Newt Gingrich shortly after health care reform had passed: If Democrats pass health reform, “They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years” by passing civil rights legislation. I had read this as the cynical analysis of a cynical pol who cares nothing about...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 23, 2010 | Blog
Even though the most critical part of the new health care bill will not aid me for four years — insurance companies will not be banned from denying adults with pre-existing conditions until 2014 — I am still so grateful that the Democrats found their courage and stepped up to tackle a big issue, a big problem. This bill is timid, but it’s a first step, and more steps can be taken and I’m confident they will be taken. There have been other times when...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 11, 2010 | Blog
I’ve been musing on family over the past week because of the sudden illness of an old friend. As many of us tend to do he assumed it was a really bad cold or the flu. Finally he got a friend to take him to the hospital where they discovered no less than three life threatening illnesses. Any one of them would have been detected with a simple checkup, but he has no insurance, money is at a premium and he couldn’t pay the doctor’s bill so he didn’t...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 28, 2010 | Blog
You have to check out this article about a ancient temple complex in Turkey. The site is dated to 11,500 B.C. which sort of drives a spike through the idiotic fundamentalist notion that the world is 6000 years old. (As if dinosaurs didn’t do that already, but hey, nobody said these people were rigorous thinkers.) I’m coming up on the one year anniversary of my amazing trip to Turkey and now I want to go back _right now_. I would love to tour this site. The...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 27, 2010 | Blog
I had just read this chilling article this morning, and then I heard a friend was in the hospital. I hope he has insurance. I hope it’s better than catastrophic. I talked with my former mother-in-law today, and her Crohn’s medication runs $2500 a _month_. I’m grateful I can control my disease with a cheap, old fashioned sulfa drug. All of this got me thinking again about health care reform. How the Repubs have scared everyone into being against...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 26, 2010 | Blog
Walter Jon found this wonderful article in the Guardian where writers talk about techniques that work, and thing that don’t. Check it out. I’ll immodestly add my own list: Write every day. This is a job. Do something physical each day. Your brain will work better. Torture your characters and give them flaws. Find a few virtues in your bad guys(s) grey is...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 24, 2010 | Blog
Carrie Vaughn has requested help planning her Australia trip. I think this is such a stunningly good idea that I’m going to steal it. So, what should I see? What should I not miss? I’ve got three weeks after the con in Melbourne. I love animals, hiking, breathtaking landscapes. Help please.
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 23, 2010 | Blog
Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan’s blog here’s a little thought experiment. Mark Shea does a thought experiment: Although she said that act was “inappropriate”, she hopes that “now maybe people will listen.” Charles Krauthammer has instructed us that if you have the “slightest belief” that torture will save a *single* life then you are morally bound to do it. Surely, there is at least the *chance* that this woman is linked to other extremists and...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 23, 2010 | Blog
Let me bring your attention to the following exchange between Bush DoJ lawyer John Yoo and a questioner . Q: I guess the question I’s raising is, does this particular law really affect the President’s war-making abilities….Yoo: Yes, certainly.Q. What is your authority for that?Yoo: Because this is an option the President might use in war.Q: What about ordering a village of resistants to be massacred? … Is that a power that the president could legally-Yoo: Yeah....
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 21, 2010 | Blog
I’m working on a short story set in the Edge universe. It features Cross, and it’s set in 1935. I wrote a scene where a man approaches Cross for help, and Cross asks if there is a bar in this berg in Oklahoma. Well, I knew prohibition had been repealed in December 1933, but I figured I better dig a bit deeper. Turned out the states could remain dry. Next thought, Oh hell, this story is set is Oklahoma. So, I check out Oklahoma. They...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 20, 2010 | Blog
As I’ve indicated I really enjoy watching the Olympics. So I’ve been following the figure skating spat that has arisen. Last night I watched Evan Lysachek give the most elegant, diplomatic and nuanced response to an interviewer last night. Plushenko, the Russian who won the gold last time in Torino, and won a silver at these games has been giving snarky interviews to anyone who will listen which basically amounts to — “I did a quadruple jump so I should have...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 18, 2010 | Blog
I’ve been watching and enjoying the Olympic competitions. I enjoy both summer and winter, but I think I like the winter Olympics a bit better. I love the downhill racing, the speed skating and the men’s figure skating, and this is going to be a very exciting final tonight. But that got me thinking about how much things have changed in fifty plus years. Apparently it was a big damn deal when Dick Button executed the first double axel jump in competition. Now...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 18, 2010 | Blog
Here is a link to a NASA photo of the shuttle that reminds us why we love science fiction, and how much we all want to get off the planet. It’s just beautiful.
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 17, 2010 | Blog
I’ve been reading a lot lately (which has been a lot of fun), and I wanted to mention a few more books that are well worth your time. I’ve already raved about the Larsson books now I want to talk about three books in our genre. I had the good fortune to read BLACKOUT before the actual publication date, and it was lovely. A terrific evocation of those dark and terrifying days during the Blitz and the evacuation from Dunkirk. Connie Willis creates such great and...
