The right-wing attempt to take over the Hugo awards by bloc voting has failed.

I hope they will give it up rather than continue ruining the Hugo awards.

I must acknowledge, even though I disagree with his politics, that John C Wright has written some great science fiction.

We who condemn Israel's occupation of Palestine must strongly condemn antisemitism too.

In addition to being the right thing to do, because all bigotries are unjust, it also refutes the nasty claim that condemnation of the occupation is antisemitism itself.

To distinguish them clearly is why I speak of AIPAC as the "Israeli hawks' lobby". Not all Israelis support that position, and most American Jews do not support it any more.

By the way, when I condemn bigotry against gays, I do not call it by the tendentious term "homophobia". I call it "bigotry against gays". We should accuse bigots of bigotry, not a hypothetical fear.

Comparing publication of two books by dead authors: the last Discworld book written by Terry Pratchett, and a Lisbeth Salander book written by someone other than Stieg Larsson.

I urge you to resist the marketing hype associated with these books. You might want to get them, but hype should not be rewarded.

I am mostly not a fan of Pratchett. I thought Small Gods was very good, but the other few Pratchett books I've read did not especially impress me. However, I am impressed by the stance of Pratchett's daughter towards honoring his memory.

By contrast, Stieg Larsson's family seems to be behaving in a sleazy manner. It seems that his mate really loved him but his relatives love his money-making potential more.

This illustrates the important difference between works of practical use, such as software, and works of art. It is a very good thing that others now continue the development of the GNU programs that I initially wrote. Their work is useful; they add features and fix problems. Whether their style is similar to mine is hardly worth thinking about.

But it is foolish to hope that someone else, even someone talented and skilled, can continue the work of a dead author of fiction.

Thugs of the United Arab Emirates tortured Ahmad Zeidan into confessing to possession of drugs, which were in the glove compartment of the car he was riding in. He signed a confession in Arabic that he could not read. Everyone in the car was convicted together.

All the others, who were not British, have been pardoned and released. He thinks the UK government is more interested in selling arms to the UAE than in pleading for unjustly imprisoned Britons.

I don't intend to visit the UAE, because no one is safe there from wild accusations and torture. Zeidan says he doesn't blame the emir whose thugs did this — he probably fears to criticize — but I am safe outside the UAE and I do blame the emir.

US citizens: Call on Democratic presidential candidates to pledge to choose a VP candidate that supports diplomacy with Iran.