A view from Australia

Australian hawk and Iraq-war apologist Greg Sheridan has torn into the Bush Administration policy toward Asia in a blog post about the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney. I normally find Sheridan completely deranged, so it was interesting to see these comments. He quotes "former senior Pentagon official Kurt Campbell":

``I think it’s good that the President is going to APEC and to visit John Howard. However, I think (the President) leaving a day in advance at a time when there is a wide perception that the United States is preoccupied away from Asia during an absolutely historic period of China’s rise, India’s emergence as a great power, Japan rethinking its options in the Asia-Pacific region, it sends exactly the wrong message. I think the biggest concern that Asians have is that the US is really not engaged in the drama that is playing out in Asia today.’’

Sheridan goes on to call Rice a failure as Secretary of State (implicitly comparing her unfavorably to Colin Powell). Anyway, an interesting view from the Pacific, where Asia is always the big story.

The Hugo has landed

Thanks to the brilliant and resourceful marykaykare, I have possession of my Hugo much earlier than I expected. As far as I knew, it was going to be shipped to me, but I received e-mail from Mary Kay out of the blue this afternoon telling me she had brought it back with her. What?! She had convinced the Hugo administrators in Yokohama that she was a trustworthy courier (not a hard sale, I expect), and she hauled the danged thing back in her luggage! And it's a big box it was packed in, too! ("It was a big suitcase," she allowed.)

Thanks, Mary Kay, for fannish service far above and beyond the call of duty!

And Geri, as I accepted the statue from Mary Kay, I felt a Hugo-wave pass over my head, traveling East to you and Gary. It's on its way, and it's just as beautiful as you're thinking it is. The base, by the way, is 8" by 10".

And yes, we got a nominee present from Denvention, too -- a fan (a cooling fan, not an SF fan) with an image by Rick Sternbach. Woohoo!

Two-Fisted Ultraman Fuji Rocket!!!! Un-fricking-believable.