Discussion Dept. Vol 3: Military SF + Politics and Publishing Privileges the West

I've decided to rename the Complaint Dept. feature to Discussion Dept.  Why?  Because half the time I'm not really complaining about anything, and it seems silly to label something so negatively when really all I'm trying to do is open a bunch of topics to discussion.  So, from now on, this feature will be knowing as Discussion Dept., to which I hope you all will contribute.

The two discussion points begin below:

Discussion #1 -- Political:  What does it mean?
Jason Sanford recently had a column posted at SF Signal about the political controversy associated with Military SF.  Some of what he talks about is old news, but if you're unfamiliar with Military SF and its history, the article is well worth reading.

What I'm curious about, however, is Aliette de Bodard's response to Sanford's use of the term "political":

Discussion Dept. Vol. 2: Reviewing Yourself and GRRM is Not a Punk

(I should probably change the name for this feature...)

Only two things are "bothering" me this week -- at least, only two things I can talk publicly about.  Let's get right to it:

Complaint #1:  I Give Myself Four Out of Five
It recently came to my attention that a number of authors, small and large, leave reviews on websites like Goodreads of their work.  These aren't self-published hacks (not that all SPers are hacks, just that a lot of the jackasses who do these kinds of activities happen to be SPers), but traditionally published authors.

Even if the "reviews" involve little more than giving oneself a 4-star rating on Goodreads, it is still unethical and borderline immoral.  Rating your own work, even if you claim that you are "being honest," skews the numbers and misrepresents your work to potential readers.  Not only is it not

Discussion Dept Vol. 1: Heinlein, Vietnam Drinking Games, Sony, and Stupid Arguments About SF

Every once in a while I feel like complaining about a few things instead of engaging the issues in a more sustained manner.  Usually I don't blog about such complaints (which sometimes aren't complaints so much as confusions or general "mehness").

And that's why I've created the Complaint Department Discussion Department feature:  to give me a little space to complain or babble about a few things without sustained thought (or to point out stupid things people say and do in the SF/F community).

Here goes: