MJ Paxton | Unusual Velocity

Blog

  • Get ready to live in Mistborn

    Listening to a podcast episode discussion McConnell’s judges, and it made me think of the premise of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn.

    In the world’s backstory, a group of heroes went on a quest to defeat the Dark Lord ™. They told the world that they succeeded, and the world celebrated and went back to “normal life.” The evil continued to rule the world for generations and everything kinda sucked, until a new set of thieves/heroes said “this sucks, let’s make it better.”

    Whether President Trump leaves office in 2021 or 2025, we’re gonna be dealing with his evil malaise in the courts for a generation. We can’t afford to cheer “we won!” and go back to “normal life.” This is just the beginning of the fight, not the end.

  • Treating the symptom

    I’ve been saying for years, one of the things that scares me most about President Trump is when liberals focus on him as the problem, rather than the symptom.

    His presidency is enabling and committing countless harms, and getting him out of office (whether in 2021 or 2025) will curtail that somewhat.

    But I’m scared that this will be when white liberals hang the “Mission Accomplished” banner and stop pushing in a flurry of self-congratulation.

    (Incidentally, I still think liberals need to stop calling regressives & reactionaries “conservatives,” & moderates “liberal,” just because that’s what the GOP and Dem parties have branded themselves as. Words mean things for one’s own side, too.)

  • Stepping away from Warren Ellis

    h/t to Stina Leicht’s Feminist Monday patreon for this link – Warren Ellis Accused Of Sexual Coercion

    Since I’ve often referenced his blog and recommended his books, I feel obliged to say that abusing a power dynamic and grooming younger creatives in your field is unacceptable.

    (Not going to purge mentions of him from my internet history, bc that would be dishonest. But this will change what I say about him going forward.)

  • 7 Word Reviews: The Lovebirds

    Much laughter, much cute, you must watch.

  • Wanted: central site where workers can publicize their strike information

    On Wednesday, I learned that McDonald’s employees had been striking for hazard pay and better working conditions.

    After the strike was over.

    I hadn’t ordered McDonald’s that day, but it make me think – there should be a site where worker groups post when they’re striking (the picket line version of https://isitajewishholidaytoday.com) so that we’re not dependent on stumbling across a tweet to know that ___ is on strike, don’t order there today.

    Before COVID-19, you could at least see the picket line (unless you were ordering from Amazon, or your particular franchise wasn’t striking, or any number of other complications – but you get the point). Today, how are you going to know that a warehouse or restaurant is on the other side of a picket line? I hate being dependent on social media for that, especially when social media owners have often demonstrated hostility towards unions.

    I don’t have the time-bandwidth or know-how to do the backend, but I’d happily pay for domain registration if someone is inspired to make this a thing.

  • Requesting a ballot

    Dropped my absentee ballot request form in the mail today. If you live in Indiana and want to vote by mail for the primary or local questions/elections, don’t forget that this is a step you need to do.

    (And think of this extra step as a nudge towards “gee, doesn’t automatic voter registration and vote by mail make more sense?”

  • Indiana – start asking now for Absentee-by-mail in May

    In Indiana, absentee voting by mail is limited to a portion of the population – and requiring large numbers of people to stand in a cramped location for hours seems like a bad idea right now.

    As we’re all changing our day-to-day lives in response to COVID-19, we should start pushing now for the state to expand this to all Hoosiers for the May local elections and primaries. Ohio had to reschedule their voting day; we have an opportunity to show our ability to prepare.

    I believe that state legislative employees are currently working remotely, so calling in may not be the best option (it will probably go to voicemail). I sent emails to the Indiana Election Division (elections@iec.in.gov), and my state senator and representative.

    If you’re not sure who your state legislators are, there’s a tool you can use to find them at https://www.in.gov/sos/elections/2681.htm. If available it will also give you a link to their website, which should have contact info.

    Edited 2020-03-22 to add: The voting date has been pushed back to June 2, and it sounds like everyone will be eligible to vote absentee-by-mail (but confirm this elsewhere).

  • Ok. What’s next?

    It’s dangerous to be a fan of a politician, but Sen. Warren is the kind of administrator & negotiator I want in my executive branch, and listened & responded to marginalized groups in a way that’s rare.

    She made the race to be nominee a better one, and she still gives me hope.

    Most days I skimmed the notifications (and ignored the trolls) from the Warren app. Now it’s cathartic watching them go through as people say goodbye.

  • 7 Word Reviews: Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

    Harley is John Wick, pass it on.

  • My 2020 Hugo nominations are in

    I love nominating for the Hugos – it makes me feel like a part of the community, and gives me a chance to support the authors/storytellers whose work I love. The next month and change is going to be rather hectic (at least it looks that way on the calendar), so I put in my nominations this afternoon. Short Story was hard this year – my short list had more than 3x as many titles as voters are allowed to nominate in the category.

    Highlights/for your consideration:

    • Novel
      • A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
      • Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
      • Avatar, The Last Airbender: The Rise of Kyoshi, by F.C. Yee (also my Lodestar nom)
      • Edges, by Linda Nagata
    • Novella
      • Wireless, by Alex Acks
      • Glass Cannon, by Yoon Ha Lee
    • Novelette
      • While Dragons Claim The Sky, by Jen Brown
      • The Rat King of Spanish Harlem, by Nicky Drayden
    • Dramatic Presentation: Long Form
      • Watchmen (honestly I’ll be surprised/disappointed if this doesn’t walk away with the category)
      • The Mandalorian
      • The Expanse s4
      • Captain Marvel
      • Us
    • Dramatic Presentation: Short Form
      • Cibola Burn (The Expanse)
      • Chapter 8: Redemption (The Mandalorian)
      • This Extraordinary Being (Watchmen)
      • A God Walks Into A Bar (Watchmen)
      • See How They Fly (Watchmen)
    • Short Story
      • Embrace Diversity, by Malka Older (from Orphan Black: The Next Chapter)
      • The Foreign Mischief, by Malka Older (from Ninth Step Station)
      • The Devil Squid Apocalypse, by Alex Acks
      • The Visible Frontier, by Grace Seybold
      • Eater of Worlds, by Jamie Seybold