Can't wait.

Everyone's been linking to this, but it is tremendous news.

If you know anyone who actually reads the Daily Mail, get them to read this.

"They explained that we, as foreigners, are not allowed to speak with the local population. The more we asked about why that is not allowed, the angrier the police got."

I was rather impressed by the work of both Hamilton and Brackett when I sampled them recently in the Hartwell / Cramer _Space Opera Renaissance_ anthology. Now we have a chance to read the best of Hamilton for free, I shall gladly take it.

Don't call Angela, and she won't call you.

Brilliant piece by Levy, who was on Cambridge University Students Union's executive committee with me many years ago.

"The total literature of Iceland is under 50,000 books, which is easily scannable in 2 years by 12 people". This proposal is being put forward by the wonderfully named Þorsteinn Hallgrímsson. With a capital Þ.

What happened to Melissa Mia Hall.

Scary Jupiter!

Copernican or Tychonian?

The Mario theme, visualised

"Indeed, nowhere else across the spectrum of major foreign-policy issues -- not Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, or China -- has the Obama administration invested so much effort for so little. What killed the process was not a change in the Palestinian position, but in the Israeli one... The Obama administration could just wash its hands of the whole mess…

After all, why bother to look at the facts if you already know the Truth?

"In geopolitical terms, the US spends a lot more on its military than anyone else (in fact, more than everyone else put together) and (contrary to the beliefs of most Americans) hardly anything on development aid or other efforts at promoting global public goods. The amount of sustainable influence generated as a result appears pretty trivial. The…

Wow.

"How have the Wilkinsons achieved virtual martyrdom status in UK conservative evangelical circles in the space of about 12 hours since Archbishop Cranmer reheated the story? Either they are as naive as they are projecting, or alternatively they knew the law, knowingly broke the law, and have little to complain about if they are then subject to the…

Speaks for itself really.

"As his country begins the countdown to independence, legendary South Sudanese commander Gen. Joseph Lagu talks about days gone by, and of his people's secret ties with Israel."

"Five cups of tea are drunk on approximately two occasions over the course of The Day of the Triffids... Coffee appears sooner, but no more frequently... This book is chockful of alcohol in a very 50s way."

"Europeans should devise a better way forward, based more on terms of incentives for peace, and less on penalties for the lack of it. They should set out a European ‘roadmap’ for peace: a graduated series of incentives that they are willing to offer both sides for progress, culminating with the prospect of NATO and EU membership if and when they r…

My old friend Tim Waters: "the real danger to peace is not peoples’ desire to form new states. It is the willingness of the present powers in this world to resist that desire with violence. Chaos and death are not consequences of opening Pandora’s box – they *are* the box. We have stumbled onto that truth in Sudan, after 40 years and Niles of bloo…

Latest on the bizarre case of the Israeli academic using the French courts to sue the American editor who published a German professor's book review in an online law journal. Verdict expected in March.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it would have to review two weeks' worth of procedure after determining it had mistakenly based its last three rulings on a copy of the Belgian constitution left in the justices' chambers. "When I presented my case on legal citizenship status under proposed changes to immigration law, I wondered why the…

Belgacom strikes again!

Don't bother reading this one. Really, don't.

Tim Spalding sounds the alarm about the effect of ebooks on publishing.

A sad story with a mildly uplifting ending: Pepys' cousin is dying by his own hand, and his estate would therefore be forfeit to the Crown; Pepys personally appeals to the King, who assures him he will let the widow and children inherit.

Some of these are very gruesome, but some are also funny; bonus pictures from a children's book about robots.

I'm chairing a couple of sessions at this.