Shaun Duke

Shaun Duke is an aspiring writer, a reviewer, and an academic. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Digital Rhetoric and Writing at Bemidji State University. He received his PhD in English from the University of Florida and studies science fiction, postcolonialism, digital fan cultures, and digital rhetoric.

World in the Satin Bag

Wonderful

So, Sanders decides to be an *sshat and charge authors $40 to remove their stories from the Helix archives and now he’s apparently made the gloriously generous announcement that all bets are off: All right, that’s it. It’s been long enough; there’s been ample opportunityfor anyone else who felt soiled by the contact with Helix to step up and speakup and pay up. I don’t believe there are going to be any others (the imposition of cash chargesseems to have had a distinctly damping effect) but if there are, tough shit.You had your chance and you didn’t take it. Nasgi fucking nusdi. Because it never occurred to Mr. Sanders that being a douchenozzle in the first place by charging authors might have deterred them from asking to remove their work because, oh, just maybe such authors didn’t have $40 to spare. Not to mention that if the people who maintain Helix had built the site properly it wouldn’t take them an hour to remove the stories (maybe two minutes).This is all just more of Mr. Sanders shoving his foot into his mouth. I’m sure he’s up to his ankle at this point, maybe his calf. I wasn’t aware that someone could shove that much of their body down their own throat. Amazing. Perhaps we should nominate Mr. Sanders for the Guinness Book of World Records.If more of this moronic nonsense shows up, I won’t be the least bit surprised. I don’t think he’s truly finished proving himself to be the insensitive, bigoted nutjob that he is. He’s kind of like that drunk guy at a party who screams and insults people, only not nearly as entertaining.Anywho.

World in the Satin Bag

Tweets for Today

Here’s my random twitter nonsense for the day: 12:11 Searching for flights from England to the U.S. is ridiculous…trust me… # Thanks for not exploding. Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

It’s Official, All Politicians Suck

…and should have their jobs taken away from them and given to people who are not politicians. The President also should be an impartial party who does not hold ties to any industry, particularly companies with a significant amount of power as it is (like, oh, I don’t know, oil companies).President Bush has gone off and done what all Republicans and Democrats do: blame someone else for what plagues the country. Rather than accepting responsibility for the fact that he and his party have done practically nothing to alleviate the economic stress forced upon the average American by oil companies who refuse, for some reason, to make significant leaps into the reusable fuel infrastructure, he has gone one step into stupid land and declared the following: “It’s time for members of Congress to address the pain that high gas prices are causing our citizens,” the president said. “Every extra dollar that American families spend because of high gas prices is one less dollar they can use to put food on the table or send a child to college. The American people deserve better.” And: Bush said that Democrats are at fault and that “Americans are increasingly frustrated with Congress’ failure to take action.” No, what Americans are frustrated with is a government that doesn’t give a flying f*ck about them. We’re tired of fuel costing us $4+ a gallon. We’re tired of there not being economically viable alternatives. We’re tired of the government’s and this administration’s failure to put adequate pressure on oil companies or on the industry itself to provide these alternatives. We’re tired of hearing about how you want to drill in Alaska and ruin beautiful, vital natural habitats that maybe some of us would like to get to see without having to look at those ugly oil rigs. We’re tired of getting screwed in the butt because you and your lackeys are more concerned with lining your pockets with more money or spending your time dealing with what you perceive to be moral issues of society when you could be spending your time helping the country become better (as opposed to driving it into the ground and not giving a fig about it). We’re tired of our politicians bickering all the time (yes, that means you too Democrats) rather than doing what they’re supposed to do: compromise when reasonable.Mostly, we’re tired of you and your administration and everyone else who claims to represent the public’s interest because you aren’t doing what we hired you for. We’re paying your salary and you have failed us repeatedly. The fact that the United States is not in a state of civil war (or, at the very least, a conflict of proportions akin to the protests during Vietnam) shows that Americans have considerable restraint. We’re being extraordinarily patient and lenient right now.All we want from you is the following: Stop fighting. Seriously, just stop it. I don’t care if someone is a Democrat or a Republican. You all suck. Yes, I’ve said it. Every single one of you suck. There may be good Dems or Reps, but in the end, it’s the same old yarn over and over and Dems doing this and Reps doing that and both hating each other for virtually no reason anyway. You are hired to do a job. DO IT. Bickering is wasting our taxes and we’re sick of it. Stop telling us that it’s someone else’s fault that you failed to do something (like, oh, I don’t know, driving the cost of oil down). Bush, I’m talking to you. Get out of your fantasy world where the Democrats are evil and you can blame them for everything. You are just as bad. Stop trying to push for drilling in pristine locations like Alaska. I don’t care if there is oil there. Seriously, I don’t. Just because there’s something there that you want doesn’t mean I want you drilling there. Leave it alone. We already destroyed the Native Americans and stole their land. Leave some for nature please. Contrary to what you might think, Mr. Bush, Americans actually do like pretty scenery. Stop violating our civil rights to make you feel better. I don’t feel safer. I feel violated when you make new laws that toss the Constitution out the window. I’d rather live in the dark without intelligence agencies, because the fear of being spied on for essentially no valid reason is more terrifying than getting bombed. Stop cramming moral garbage down our throats. I don’t care if someone is gay and neither should you. If you don’t like gays, don’t associate with them. Stop trying to make laws that turn them into second class citizens just cause you get the hee bee gee bees. The Bible belongs in Church and, if you’re one of those types, in the home. It doesn’t belong in politics. Use common sense instead. Should we kill people with our bare hands? Probably not. Should we violate young children or do nasty things to innocent people? No. Common sense wins. Stop being an *sshole. That goes for all of you politicians. Stop it. There are more important things than your ego. Here are a few very valid and good examples: education, immigration, the economy, the wars (yes, plural, I know, you didn’t know Afghanistan was still going on did you?), civil rights, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and even the Special Olympics, because all of those things are more important than your petty personal opinions about things. It’s okay, really. In fifty years you’ll likely only be remembered for being a jack*ss anyway. Stop doing things for your personal interests or the interests of business. Start doing things for the people, because that’s your job. Stop halting research into science because you don’t understand it. Just because you’re an uneducated moron who doesn’t know what gravity is doesn’t mean you should ban something from happening. If you don’t want to educate yourself on science, then you have no

World in the Satin Bag

Death of a Good Friend

Discovered this over a Wil Wheaton’s lovely blog. If you don’t know who he is then learn. You’ve likely seen him before. In any case, I love you Mr. Wheaton. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

More Sanders Bologna

I’m just going to post links, because right now I’m getting exhausted by how far into the idiot hole this guy is going. Anyone still considering Helix for the publication of their work should probably get their head checked. So, here is what Sanders has been saying about the people wanting to have their work removed from Helix because he’s a bigoted wacko. Make sure to read through the replies by him too; they’re priceless. And if you want to see Tobias S. Buckell’s take, go here. Yeah. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

Professionalism Out the Window

Not too long ago I talked about the explosion of crap that is Mr. Sanders’ rather bigoted and, well, disturbing rejection letter. Now it comes to my attention that Mr. Sanders is actually mentally handicapped in a way that most of us aren’t. We all have an inner editor, that little person that sometimes goes “yeah, you probably shouldn’t say that” or “that sentence looks like crap”. I have it (most of the time it works, though occasionally something moronic slips through, usually as a failed attempt at a joke). Well, Mr. Sanders doesn’t have an internal editor. Rather than attempting to do what any intelligent person would do at this point (what with bloggers and authors alike throwing the Book of Dumb*ss at him), he has made the glorious decision to open his big mouth once again and shove his foot all the way to the back. I’m surprised he hasn’t choked himself yet.Recently some authors have taken offense at his recent heavy-handed approach in a rejection letter and have since requested he remove their work from Helix’s archives. One such author is Yoon Ha Lee, someone that I’ve never heard of, but apparently is a good writer. She sent a notice to Mr. Sanders requesting that her work be removed from the archives. It’s a very professional letter and one I think anyone with some integrity might treat with some respect. Not Sanders. Oh no, professionalism and integrity have apparently left Mr. Sanders’ building. Here’s what Sanders should have said: Dear Ms. Lee,I have decided to remove your work from our archives per request and must give you my humble apology for my poor behavior. I have been a very bad boy and hope that we can move past this in a later date, and after some therapy. Sincerely,William Sanders And what Sanders actually wrote (this is taken from Lee’s post, so her writing is in here too): Sanders flounced off in a huff, stating that the story “never did make any sense” and that he only accepted it to “please those who admire your work”–what altruism!–“and also because (notorious bigot that I am) I was trying to get more work by non-Caucasian writers.” If I were a writer currently submitting to Helix, I would kind of worry about that bit–all things considered, if a story really does suck, I’d rather have it rejected so I can fix it. He then played psychic and claimed that I only asked for the story to be withdrawn “because, let’s get real here, you feel the need to distance yourself from someone who is in disfavor with the kind of babbling PC waterheads whose good opinion is so important to you, and whom you seem to be trying to impress with this little grandstand play.” He closed with: “There was a suggestion I was going to make, but it is probably not physically practicable.” A note here: just because you publish work by non-caucasian writers (which is interesting, because I wonder how he knows who is white and not and whether he was making a very general assertion that her name meant she was asian) doesn’t mean you can’t be a bigot. You know, when blacks started showing up on TV I bet a lot of the folks working for those stations didn’t like it one bit, but didn’t have much of a choice if they wanted to stay in the market.Just keep putting that foot in your mouth, Mr. Sanders. Seriously. You’re not making yourself look good one bit. I’d be surprised if any authors with any integrity are still sending you work. Look, it’s entirely possible that you didn’t mean what you said that way people are taking it, but right now it doesn’t look like it. All we see is an angry, grumpy old codger attempting to put people down for not wanting to work with someone who hasn’t done anything to prove they aren’t a bigoted nutjob in the first place.Sanders has also taken it a step further by posting on the Helix webpage for her story the following phrase: Story deleted at author’s pantiwadulous request. Really? This is the make of a professional quality magazine? Are you sure? Good luck with that buddy. Seriously. You’re going to need all the luck you can get, because at this point you’ve gone from trying to be the innocent victim of a misunderstanding to full-blown wacko with a grudge. For those who want to offer a little support to Lee you can find the story that she asked to be removed here as well as some other work here and here. Maybe another magazine will pick her up. I certainly hope so. Anywho.

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