• (Chengdu) The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Thu Feb 15 02:52:06 2024
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779


    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Ahasuerus@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Thu Feb 15 10:38:45 2024
    On 2/14/2024 9:52 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779

    Very informative. I note a few things of particular interest:

    McCarty responded on June 5 [2023] at 7:18 pm saying "At the moment, the
    best guidance I have is ‘mentions of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, negatives
    of China’. I will try to get better guidance when I have a chance to dig
    into this deeper with the Chinese folks on the committee."

    And:

    In both Diane Lacey’s apology letter and an interview, she said some of
    these Chinese works were removed due to "collusion in a Chinese
    publication that had published a nominations list, a slate as it were,
    and so those ballots were identified and eliminated."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Thu Feb 15 18:02:53 2024
    In article <l371jdF62koU1@mid.individual.net>,
    Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
    In article <uqlis1$3dm6e$1@dont-email.me>,
    Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 15/02/2024 02:52, James Nicoll wrote:
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779

    also, there's some BBC coverage here.
    Nearer to the end of a 45 minute radio show. >><https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w8cd>

    And incidentally, celebrity book club
    "A Good Read" picked up _The Hitchhiker's
    Guide to the Galaxy_, today.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w73r>


    So, can 2023 be opened for "Retrospective Hugo Awards"?

    That is an amusing suggestion. Unfortunately, we will have to wait
    until 2073 before it can be implemented.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ted Nolan @21:1/5 to rja.carnegie@gmail.com on Thu Feb 15 17:57:02 2024
    In article <uqlis1$3dm6e$1@dont-email.me>,
    Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 15/02/2024 02:52, James Nicoll wrote:
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779

    also, there's some BBC coverage here.
    Nearer to the end of a 45 minute radio show. ><https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w8cd>

    And incidentally, celebrity book club
    "A Good Read" picked up _The Hitchhiker's
    Guide to the Galaxy_, today.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w73r>


    So, can 2023 be opened for "Retrospective Hugo Awards"?
    --
    columbiaclosings.com
    What's not in Columbia anymore..

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From WolfFan@21:1/5 to Ted Nolan on Thu Feb 15 15:51:48 2024
    On Feb 15, 2024, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan wrote
    (in article <l371jdF62koU1@mid.individual.net>):

    In article<uqlis1$3dm6e$1@dont-email.me>,
    Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 15/02/2024 02:52, James Nicoll wrote:
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779

    also, there's some BBC coverage here.
    Nearer to the end of a 45 minute radio show. <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w8cd>

    And incidentally, celebrity book club
    "A Good Read" picked up _The Hitchhiker's
    Guide to the Galaxy_, today.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w73r>

    So, can 2023 be opened for "Retrospective Hugo Awards"?

    Doubt it.

    Just do whatever is necessary to never, ever, let a Worldcon be awarded to
    the likes of the People’s Republic again.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dimensional Traveler@21:1/5 to WolfFan on Thu Feb 15 16:41:19 2024
    On 2/15/2024 12:51 PM, WolfFan wrote:
    On Feb 15, 2024, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan wrote
    (in article <l371jdF62koU1@mid.individual.net>):

    In article<uqlis1$3dm6e$1@dont-email.me>,
    Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 15/02/2024 02:52, James Nicoll wrote:
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779

    also, there's some BBC coverage here.
    Nearer to the end of a 45 minute radio show.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w8cd>

    And incidentally, celebrity book club
    "A Good Read" picked up _The Hitchhiker's
    Guide to the Galaxy_, today.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w73r>

    So, can 2023 be opened for "Retrospective Hugo Awards"?

    Doubt it.

    Just do whatever is necessary to never, ever, let a Worldcon be awarded to the likes of the People’s Republic again.

    The REAL cause of WWIII! :P

    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Chris Buckley@21:1/5 to WolfFan on Fri Feb 16 03:39:19 2024
    On 2024-02-15, WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> wrote:
    On Feb 15, 2024, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan wrote
    (in article <l371jdF62koU1@mid.individual.net>):

    In article<uqlis1$3dm6e$1@dont-email.me>,
    Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 15/02/2024 02:52, James Nicoll wrote:
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779

    also, there's some BBC coverage here.
    Nearer to the end of a 45 minute radio show.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w8cd>

    And incidentally, celebrity book club
    "A Good Read" picked up _The Hitchhiker's
    Guide to the Galaxy_, today.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w73r>

    So, can 2023 be opened for "Retrospective Hugo Awards"?

    Doubt it.

    Just do whatever is necessary to never, ever, let a Worldcon be awarded to the likes of the People’s Republic again.

    Pretty much everybody agrees with this, but exactly what is to be done is
    much more problematic.

    1. It's going to take time. Changes need to be approved by two consecutive WorldCon business meetings. So we're talking about 3 years from now.

    2. There's going to be a large debate just considering site selection.
    Eg, there's a quite large contingent that wants to eliminate Uganda because
    of its strong anti-gay laws (Uganda has been organizing a bid for the
    first African WorldCon). There's another contingent lobbying against
    several Eastern European countries like Hungary for both anti-gay and repression reasons. There's another contingent that wants to make sure
    Texas and Florida can never get a WorldCon.

    3. Then there's the entire debate about whether and how much to
    separate the WorldCon and Hugo Awards. Deep philosophical divisions
    here.

    If they try to do something minimal in Glasgow (this year's WorldCon)
    like just adopting the voluntary actions that Glasgow has already
    announced, then that should get adopted for the third year. But with
    all the more ambitious proposals, we have the potential to cause
    schisms which are a very dangerous in a 99% amateur volunteer
    community!

    Chris

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From WolfFan@21:1/5 to Chris Buckley on Fri Feb 16 09:40:23 2024
    On Feb 15, 2024, Chris Buckley wrote
    (in article <l383n7Fbrv0U1@mid.individual.net>):

    On 2024-02-15, WolfFan<akwolffan@zoho.com> wrote:
    On Feb 15, 2024, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan wrote
    (in article <l371jdF62koU1@mid.individual.net>):

    In article<uqlis1$3dm6e$1@dont-email.me>,
    Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 15/02/2024 02:52, James Nicoll wrote:
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779

    also, there's some BBC coverage here.
    Nearer to the end of a 45 minute radio show. <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w8cd>

    And incidentally, celebrity book club
    "A Good Read" picked up _The Hitchhiker's
    Guide to the Galaxy_, today. <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w73r>

    So, can 2023 be opened for "Retrospective Hugo Awards"?

    Doubt it.

    Just do whatever is necessary to never, ever, let a Worldcon be awarded to the likes of the People’s Republic again.

    Pretty much everybody agrees with this, but exactly what is to be done is much more problematic.

    1. It's going to take time. Changes need to be approved by two consecutive WorldCon business meetings. So we're talking about 3 years from now.

    2. There's going to be a large debate just considering site selection.
    Eg, there's a quite large contingent that wants to eliminate Uganda because of its strong anti-gay laws (Uganda has been organizing a bid for the
    first African WorldCon). There's another contingent lobbying against
    several Eastern European countries like Hungary for both anti-gay and repression reasons. There's another contingent that wants to make sure
    Texas and Florida can never get a WorldCon.

    Good luck with any of that. Pretty much all of English-speaking Africa (and
    the Caribbean) has ’strong’ anti-gay laws, thanks to HM Gov in London. French-speaking Africa (and the Caribbean) has similar laws, thanks to French colonialism... except for the bits which are now ‘Overseas Departments’
    of France, which have current French law. If Britain had gone the ‘overseas department’ route, the way France and the Netherlands did, the law would be different. As it is, for quite some time the final court of appeals in much
    of the ex-Empire were the Law Lords of HM’s Privy Council. The Privy
    Council has been kicked out of most of the ex-Empire for several reasons, including a desire to apply current British law, making it difficult when ex-colonies wanted to hang miscreants. The screaming from Jamaica when the
    Law Lords declard chunks of the Gun Court Act to be unconstitutional could be heard in London, without need for radio or telephone, and the Caribbean Court of Appeal was set up as a direct response. If Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad,
    etc. had been overseas departments of Britain, complete with the ability to vote in UK general elections and to send reps to Parliament in Britain,
    things might have been different. If Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, etc. had been overseas departments, things would have been very different.

    As for Texas and Florida... I don’t know about Abbot in Texas, but Ron DeSatan’s days are numbered. He has Offended The Mouse. The Mouse does not forgive. The Mouse does not forget. Hell waits for thee.


    3. Then there's the entire debate about whether and how much to
    separate the WorldCon and Hugo Awards. Deep philosophical divisions
    here.

    should have been done decades ago.


    If they try to do something minimal in Glasgow (this year's WorldCon)
    like just adopting the voluntary actions that Glasgow has already
    announced, then that should get adopted for the third year. But with
    all the more ambitious proposals, we have the potential to cause
    schisms which are a very dangerous in a 99% amateur volunteer
    community!

    storm in a teacup. Most fans don’t care. if they cared, something would
    have been done about the Hugos a long time ago.


    Chris

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dimensional Traveler@21:1/5 to WolfFan on Fri Feb 16 08:41:12 2024
    On 2/16/2024 6:40 AM, WolfFan wrote:
    On Feb 15, 2024, Chris Buckley wrote
    (in article <l383n7Fbrv0U1@mid.individual.net>):

    On 2024-02-15, WolfFan<akwolffan@zoho.com> wrote:
    On Feb 15, 2024, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan wrote
    (in article <l371jdF62koU1@mid.individual.net>):

    In article<uqlis1$3dm6e$1@dont-email.me>,
    Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 15/02/2024 02:52, James Nicoll wrote:
    The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/98498779

    also, there's some BBC coverage here.
    Nearer to the end of a 45 minute radio show.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w8cd>

    And incidentally, celebrity book club
    "A Good Read" picked up _The Hitchhiker's
    Guide to the Galaxy_, today.
    <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w73r>

    So, can 2023 be opened for "Retrospective Hugo Awards"?

    Doubt it.

    Just do whatever is necessary to never, ever, let a Worldcon be awarded to >>> the likes of the People’s Republic again.

    Pretty much everybody agrees with this, but exactly what is to be done is
    much more problematic.

    1. It's going to take time. Changes need to be approved by two consecutive >> WorldCon business meetings. So we're talking about 3 years from now.

    2. There's going to be a large debate just considering site selection.
    Eg, there's a quite large contingent that wants to eliminate Uganda because >> of its strong anti-gay laws (Uganda has been organizing a bid for the
    first African WorldCon). There's another contingent lobbying against
    several Eastern European countries like Hungary for both anti-gay and
    repression reasons. There's another contingent that wants to make sure
    Texas and Florida can never get a WorldCon.

    Good luck with any of that. Pretty much all of English-speaking Africa (and the Caribbean) has ’strong’ anti-gay laws, thanks to HM Gov in London. French-speaking Africa (and the Caribbean) has similar laws, thanks to French colonialism... except for the bits which are now ‘Overseas Departments’ of France, which have current French law. If Britain had gone the ‘overseas department’ route, the way France and the Netherlands did, the law would be different. As it is, for quite some time the final court of appeals in much of the ex-Empire were the Law Lords of HM’s Privy Council. The Privy Council has been kicked out of most of the ex-Empire for several reasons, including a desire to apply current British law, making it difficult when ex-colonies wanted to hang miscreants. The screaming from Jamaica when the Law Lords declard chunks of the Gun Court Act to be unconstitutional could be heard in London, without need for radio or telephone, and the Caribbean Court of Appeal was set up as a direct response. If Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, etc. had been overseas departments of Britain, complete with the ability to vote in UK general elections and to send reps to Parliament in Britain, things might have been different. If Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, etc. had been overseas departments, things would have been very different.

    As for Texas and Florida... I don’t know about Abbot in Texas, but Ron DeSatan’s days are numbered. He has Offended The Mouse. The Mouse does not forgive. The Mouse does not forget. Hell waits for thee.

    Worse than offending The Mouse, he challenged The Almighty Orange One.
    He likely has some Red Hats hunting him now.


    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Paul S Person@21:1/5 to Chris Buckley on Fri Feb 16 08:59:39 2024
    On 16 Feb 2024 03:39:19 GMT, Chris Buckley <alan@sabir.com> wrote:

    <snippo>

    1. It's going to take time. Changes need to be approved by two consecutive >WorldCon business meetings. So we're talking about 3 years from now.

    2. There's going to be a large debate just considering site selection.
    Eg, there's a quite large contingent that wants to eliminate Uganda because >of its strong anti-gay laws (Uganda has been organizing a bid for the
    first African WorldCon). There's another contingent lobbying against
    several Eastern European countries like Hungary for both anti-gay and >repression reasons. There's another contingent that wants to make sure
    Texas and Florida can never get a WorldCon.

    That's the problem with a /World/Con -- excluding countries makes it
    less than what it claims to be.

    OTOH, awarding it to countries that behave badly produces bad optics.

    And "behave badly" can have different definitions to different people.

    Also, "never" is a very long time. As Babu might say.
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Paul S Person@21:1/5 to All on Fri Feb 16 09:07:13 2024
    On Fri, 16 Feb 2024 09:40:23 -0500, WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com>
    wrote:

    On Feb 15, 2024, Chris Buckley wrote
    (in article <l383n7Fbrv0U1@mid.individual.net>):

    <snippo>

    1. It's going to take time. Changes need to be approved by two consecutive >> WorldCon business meetings. So we're talking about 3 years from now.

    2. There's going to be a large debate just considering site selection.
    Eg, there's a quite large contingent that wants to eliminate Uganda because >> of its strong anti-gay laws (Uganda has been organizing a bid for the
    first African WorldCon). There's another contingent lobbying against
    several Eastern European countries like Hungary for both anti-gay and
    repression reasons. There's another contingent that wants to make sure
    Texas and Florida can never get a WorldCon.

    Good luck with any of that. Pretty much all of English-speaking Africa (and >the Caribbean) has ’strong’ anti-gay laws, thanks to HM Gov in London. >French-speaking Africa (and the Caribbean) has similar laws, thanks to French >colonialism... except for the bits which are now ‘Overseas Departments’
    of France, which have current French law. If Britain had gone the ‘overseas >department’ route, the way France and the Netherlands did, the law would be >different. As it is, for quite some time the final court of appeals in much >of the ex-Empire were the Law Lords of HM’s Privy Council. The Privy
    Council has been kicked out of most of the ex-Empire for several reasons, >including a desire to apply current British law, making it difficult when >ex-colonies wanted to hang miscreants. The screaming from Jamaica when the >Law Lords declard chunks of the Gun Court Act to be unconstitutional could be >heard in London, without need for radio or telephone, and the Caribbean Court >of Appeal was set up as a direct response. If Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, >etc. had been overseas departments of Britain, complete with the ability to >vote in UK general elections and to send reps to Parliament in Britain, >things might have been different. If Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, etc. had been >overseas departments, things would have been very different.

    Articles I have read have suggested that the anti-gay laws are partly
    based on religion and partly on local tradition. The people claiming
    this were trying to debunk the claim that Evangelical speakers who
    recommended such measures were reponsible, but I don't think they
    would be any happier with being told that they were doing what the
    colonialists had wanted when they were in charge.

    As for Texas and Florida... I don’t know about Abbot in Texas, but Ron >DeSatan’s days are numbered. He has Offended The Mouse. The Mouse does not >forgive. The Mouse does not forget. Hell waits for thee.

    Adams is one shot at Fort Sumter (metaphorically speaking) from
    finding out that Texas does /not/ have full control of its own
    destiny, never mind anyone else's.

    DeSantis' Mussolini act is, indeed, wearing thin. He is apparently on
    the Primary ballot for Washington; I guess he withdrew too late to
    change the lineup here.
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dimensional Traveler@21:1/5 to Paul S Person on Fri Feb 16 11:28:17 2024
    On 2/16/2024 9:07 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
    On Fri, 16 Feb 2024 09:40:23 -0500, WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com>
    wrote:

    On Feb 15, 2024, Chris Buckley wrote
    (in article <l383n7Fbrv0U1@mid.individual.net>):

    <snippo>

    1. It's going to take time. Changes need to be approved by two consecutive >>> WorldCon business meetings. So we're talking about 3 years from now.

    2. There's going to be a large debate just considering site selection.
    Eg, there's a quite large contingent that wants to eliminate Uganda because >>> of its strong anti-gay laws (Uganda has been organizing a bid for the
    first African WorldCon). There's another contingent lobbying against
    several Eastern European countries like Hungary for both anti-gay and
    repression reasons. There's another contingent that wants to make sure
    Texas and Florida can never get a WorldCon.

    Good luck with any of that. Pretty much all of English-speaking Africa (and >> the Caribbean) has ’strong’ anti-gay laws, thanks to HM Gov in London. >> French-speaking Africa (and the Caribbean) has similar laws, thanks to French
    colonialism... except for the bits which are now ‘Overseas Departments’ >> of France, which have current French law. If Britain had gone the ‘overseas
    department’ route, the way France and the Netherlands did, the law would be
    different. As it is, for quite some time the final court of appeals in much >> of the ex-Empire were the Law Lords of HM’s Privy Council. The Privy
    Council has been kicked out of most of the ex-Empire for several reasons,
    including a desire to apply current British law, making it difficult when
    ex-colonies wanted to hang miscreants. The screaming from Jamaica when the >> Law Lords declard chunks of the Gun Court Act to be unconstitutional could be
    heard in London, without need for radio or telephone, and the Caribbean Court
    of Appeal was set up as a direct response. If Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, >> etc. had been overseas departments of Britain, complete with the ability to >> vote in UK general elections and to send reps to Parliament in Britain,
    things might have been different. If Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, etc. had been >> overseas departments, things would have been very different.

    Articles I have read have suggested that the anti-gay laws are partly
    based on religion and partly on local tradition. The people claiming
    this were trying to debunk the claim that Evangelical speakers who recommended such measures were reponsible, but I don't think they
    would be any happier with being told that they were doing what the colonialists had wanted when they were in charge.

    As for Texas and Florida... I don’t know about Abbot in Texas, but Ron
    DeSatan’s days are numbered. He has Offended The Mouse. The Mouse does not >> forgive. The Mouse does not forget. Hell waits for thee.

    Adams is one shot at Fort Sumter (metaphorically speaking) from
    finding out that Texas does /not/ have full control of its own
    destiny, never mind anyone else's.

    Did you mean Abbott, as in the governor of Texas?

    DeSantis' Mussolini act is, indeed, wearing thin. He is apparently on
    the Primary ballot for Washington; I guess he withdrew too late to
    change the lineup here.

    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Paul S Person@21:1/5 to dtravel@sonic.net on Sat Feb 17 09:03:00 2024
    On Fri, 16 Feb 2024 11:28:17 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
    <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

    On 2/16/2024 9:07 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
    On Fri, 16 Feb 2024 09:40:23 -0500, WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com>
    wrote:

    On Feb 15, 2024, Chris Buckley wrote
    (in article <l383n7Fbrv0U1@mid.individual.net>):

    <snippo>

    1. It's going to take time. Changes need to be approved by two consecutive >>>> WorldCon business meetings. So we're talking about 3 years from now.

    2. There's going to be a large debate just considering site selection. >>>> Eg, there's a quite large contingent that wants to eliminate Uganda because
    of its strong anti-gay laws (Uganda has been organizing a bid for the
    first African WorldCon). There's another contingent lobbying against
    several Eastern European countries like Hungary for both anti-gay and
    repression reasons. There's another contingent that wants to make sure >>>> Texas and Florida can never get a WorldCon.

    Good luck with any of that. Pretty much all of English-speaking Africa (and >>> the Caribbean) has ’strong’ anti-gay laws, thanks to HM Gov in London.
    French-speaking Africa (and the Caribbean) has similar laws, thanks to French
    colonialism... except for the bits which are now ‘Overseas Departments’
    of France, which have current French law. If Britain had gone the ‘overseas >>> department’ route, the way France and the Netherlands did, the law would be >>> different. As it is, for quite some time the final court of appeals in much >>> of the ex-Empire were the Law Lords of HM’s Privy Council. The Privy
    Council has been kicked out of most of the ex-Empire for several reasons, >>> including a desire to apply current British law, making it difficult when >>> ex-colonies wanted to hang miscreants. The screaming from Jamaica when the >>> Law Lords declard chunks of the Gun Court Act to be unconstitutional could be
    heard in London, without need for radio or telephone, and the Caribbean Court
    of Appeal was set up as a direct response. If Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, >>> etc. had been overseas departments of Britain, complete with the ability to >>> vote in UK general elections and to send reps to Parliament in Britain,
    things might have been different. If Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, etc. had been >>> overseas departments, things would have been very different.

    Articles I have read have suggested that the anti-gay laws are partly
    based on religion and partly on local tradition. The people claiming
    this were trying to debunk the claim that Evangelical speakers who
    recommended such measures were reponsible, but I don't think they
    would be any happier with being told that they were doing what the
    colonialists had wanted when they were in charge.

    As for Texas and Florida... I don’t know about Abbot in Texas, but Ron
    DeSatan’s days are numbered. He has Offended The Mouse. The Mouse does not >>> forgive. The Mouse does not forget. Hell waits for thee.

    Adams is one shot at Fort Sumter (metaphorically speaking) from
    finding out that Texas does /not/ have full control of its own
    destiny, never mind anyone else's.

    Did you mean Abbott, as in the governor of Texas?

    I did. Sorry for the confusion.

    DeSantis' Mussolini act is, indeed, wearing thin. He is apparently on
    the Primary ballot for Washington; I guess he withdrew too late to
    change the lineup here.
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)