HSU IT Department

If you like yogurt, and if your store carries a brand from New York called Chobani, please consider buying it.

The owner is a Turkish immigrant, Mr. Ulukaya. He bought a defunct yogurt factory in central New York a few years back, revived it using a yogurt recipe from his homeland, and it's now a billion-dollar business with a second location in Twin Falls, ID. He's instituted profit sharing for his employees, gives paid paternity leave, has created more than 2,000 jobs, and keeps dozens of New York dairy farmers in business because he buys as much milk as they can produce. He actively employs legal immigrants who have been resettled in the area, recently founded the Tent Foundation which works to help immigrants find work (so, y'know, they can pay taxes!), and spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on how corporations can help with the refugee crisis.

So: A hardworking immigrant achieves the American Dream, creates thousands of jobs, treats his employees generously, does his bit to help solve a serious world crisis, and is "walking the walk" about turning immigrants into productive tax-paying citizens. Sounds like the right wing's dream guy, right?

Nope. Breitbart and others in the far-right conspiracy-sphere are spreading lies about the company, suggesting a boycott of the product, and encouraging death threats against Mr. Ulukaya personally.

I'm really starting to believe that there is a small but loud segment of the far right that is quite literally insane.

God I can't wait for this election to be over. Every single particle of it has depressed me unutterably.

Ah, cozy mysteries -- those wonderful oh-so-English mysteries, where tea and toast are sipped and nibbled, there's a cameo by a vicar, and the corpses are as neat and tidy as the gardens. Such fun to read and so satisfying, since the guilty party is generally someone who richly deserves being caught and convicted.

Ah, but have you ever written one? If so, now's your chance to get published! Minotaur Books is holding a best first mystery competition. Hop on over and give it a shot.

(Note: If I didn't know better, I'd suspect shiv5468 of having authored that book shown on the left under a nom de plume, because hey, peacocks!)

My quadruplet of Hogwarts-House octopods, made by the talented drinkingcocoa, protecting our incredibly valuable and constantly growing accumulation of wine corks. Note how the Slytherin one is pointedly ignoring the Gryffindor behind it, while the Ravenclaw appears typically deep in thought. And of course the loyal little Hufflepuff is wondering why, with all that wine, everyone can't just get along and be happy :)

(click to embiggen)

Tor is opening to fantasy novella submissions set in worlds not modeled on European cultures, starting October 12th. They will be open for 3 months.

"...Tor.com will only be considering novellas of between 20,000 and 40,000 words that fit the epic fantasy, sword and sorcery, high fantasy, or quest fantasy genres, whether set on Earth or on an original fantasy world. However, we will only be considering novellas that inhabit worlds that are not modeled on European cultures. We are seeking worlds that take their influences from African, Asian, indigenous American, or Pacific cultures, or any diasporic culture from one of those sources. To qualify, novellas should center the experiences of characters from non-European-inspired cultures...." [emphasis theirs, not mine]

Read more ===>

So I've started roughing out various ideas for my sshg_giftfest recipient, thinking about the different prompts, how they might be fleshed out, where they might go, how I can work in various elements. And I'm in so much trouble. Because I want to write All The Things. In fact multiple versions of All The Things. Seriously, I have at least seven different stories that are all tugging at my sleeve and whining, "Write me!" "No, write me!!" "Shut up, she's going to write ME!!"

This is a good thing, right? Right??

I can't help it, I just had to use all three banners :)

So excited! Go sign up, you know you want to :)

Because it's never too soon to start thinking about the holidays :)



Art by sanrodri, used with permission. <3

And it sings itself "Happy birthday," all alone on Mars, which kind of makes me cry.

Still super cool, though :)

Tweeted during Trump's speech accepting the nomination. First I laughed, then I got depressed.



(N.B.: It was actually Kennedy who used the "city on a hill" quote, taking it from the writings of early Massachusetts Bay Colonist John Winthrop, 1630. Reagan's slogan was "Morning in America." Nevertheless, damn funny.)

More good tweets ===>