An American Hero

Joe Conason writes about Matthew Diaz, "a truth teller who deserves justice," here, at Salon. Conason points out: "What his story shows, once again, is that the durable old stereotype of the military man who yearns for authoritarian rule and brutality is largely false...[Diaz] has proved that the most reliable defenders of the Constitution these days are not in the civilian ranks of government but among the senior military officers. It was the neoconservative law professors and political bureaucrats who authorized, encouraged and justified the worst depredations against human and constitutional rights, from Abu Ghraib to Gitmo. It was the men and women in uniform who warned against those policies and tried to amend them."

Well worth reading, especially after the declassification of John Yoo's evil memo.

What's Going on in Iraq?

Slate's Fred Kaplan discusses the battles in Basra, and Arianna Huffington talks about looking at Iraq through a "glass eye."

R.I.P. Arthur C. Clarke

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a great science fiction writer and visionary, was buried yesterday in Sri Lanka. Today, the New York Times offers an op-ed piece written by Sir Arthur in 1994 and still timely, with a warning we should all heed.

"A Novel Take on an Ending"

Richard Russo imagines Eliot Spitzer as a
fictional protagonist.

News About Farseed

My novel Farseed has been selected by the New York Public Library for their annual Books for the Teen Age list. An exhibition of all of the selected best books will be held at the Celeste Bartos Forum in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in New York City on Saturday, March 22nd, from 12:30 to 4:00 pm.