What really makes us different? A theoretical musing…

As I have been writing other pieces of fiction about one of my proxy characters, the proxy character of a woman he is in love with, and so forth, I have been doing what all good science fiction authors do. That is, I have been thinking about the message of the stories and how it relates to the world that inspired that message.

Shock, dismay, anger: An open letter to Tommy Hilfiger

Mr. Hilfiger,

In a post on Facebook recently, I read that you chose to appear in a public service announcement for Autism Speaks. One of your stated reasons was to “honour” your sixteen year old autistic daughter, Kathleen.

Hypothetical situation: Autism Speaks has just ceased to exist. Now what?

I find it difficult, if not impossible, to imagine an organisation that is allowed to call itself a charity being hated by the people it claims to be working for to a greater extent than is the case with Autism Speaks. In fact, Autism Speaks’ behaviour in general reminds me of one of the few moments in RoboCop 2 that even comes close to working. During the MediaBreak segment that opens the film, we are told that the police in Detroit have gone on strike once again. In the accompanying interview footage, an officer states that the company that has taken control of the police service in the city has cut the force’s salaries by forty percent and cancelled their pensions. And now, he says, said company will not even talk to them. “God knows why,” the officer opines, “but they want this strike.”