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Signal Boost
Dec. 20th, 2010 08:31 amPeople periodically ask me what they can do to help Cheryl out of her situation with the bureaucratic finger-pointing of the US government* so that she might actually be allowed to visit the USA again someday. I say that it appears the best thing y'all can do is help make sure her SF/F-related business venture succeeds. (This is so that she can apply for a US visa in the way that the bureaucracy actually understands.) Of course, I think the venture is worthy in its own right, but I would, wouldn't I?
She's written today about some of the economics of the situation, including a query about how many people might be willing to sign up for an automatic subscription payment to Salon Futura. If slightly under $3/month or thereabouts sounds reasonable, I suggest you go comment and encourage this, and be prepared to sign up for such a subscription.
*Yes, the situation sounds absurd, particularly to Americans who have never been caught in the wheels of the hostile US system. But it's very real, no matter how ridiculous it seems when you lay out the facts about two US government agencies each claiming that it's the other agency's fault and that they can't do anything about it. She's been assured by independent legal advice that, as things currently stand, it would be absurdly expensive in legal fees to even try sorting things out right now, with no assurance at all of success. And given that the US Congress is highly unlikely to make the Byzantine US immigration system less hostile anytime soon, I wouldn't count on things getting better. Some of the worst elements are invisible to white, English-speaking, native-born Americans, that's all. And Americans should not be so surprised that even our country's theoretical friends think we're a bunch of nativist lunatics.
She's written today about some of the economics of the situation, including a query about how many people might be willing to sign up for an automatic subscription payment to Salon Futura. If slightly under $3/month or thereabouts sounds reasonable, I suggest you go comment and encourage this, and be prepared to sign up for such a subscription.
*Yes, the situation sounds absurd, particularly to Americans who have never been caught in the wheels of the hostile US system. But it's very real, no matter how ridiculous it seems when you lay out the facts about two US government agencies each claiming that it's the other agency's fault and that they can't do anything about it. She's been assured by independent legal advice that, as things currently stand, it would be absurdly expensive in legal fees to even try sorting things out right now, with no assurance at all of success. And given that the US Congress is highly unlikely to make the Byzantine US immigration system less hostile anytime soon, I wouldn't count on things getting better. Some of the worst elements are invisible to white, English-speaking, native-born Americans, that's all. And Americans should not be so surprised that even our country's theoretical friends think we're a bunch of nativist lunatics.
