A Song of Ice and Fire being made... by HBO

There are a lot of scary things about this (Halo and Troy!) and lot of promising things (cable television series format)...

HBO Acquires A Song of Fire and Ice
Source: Variety (January 17, 2007)

HBO has acquired the rights to turn George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series "A Song of Fire and Ice" into a dramatic series to be written and executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, reports Variety.

"Fire" is the first TV project for Benioff (Troy) and Weiss (Halo) and will shoot in Europe or New Zealand. Benioff and Weiss will write every episode of each season together save one, which the author (a former TV writer) will script.

The series will begin with the 1996 first book, "A Game of Thrones," and the intention is for each novel (they average 1,000 pages each) to fuel a season's worth of episodes. Martin has nearly finished the fifth installment, but won't complete the seven-book cycle until 2011.

The author will co-executive produce the series along with Management 360's Guymon Casady and Created By's Vince Gerardis.

Gloria Steinem on Condi

Why Being a Feminist Does Not Mean Backing All Women
By Gloria Steinem, Women's Media Center, AlterNet, January 16, 2007

There is still a false idea out there that feminists back every woman, regardless of how she behaves. Let's leave that behind right along with 2006.

In fact, feminism is just the belief that all people have the full circle of human qualities combined in a unique way in each of us. The simplistic labels of "feminine" and "masculine" are mostly about what society wants us to do: submerge our unique humanity in care giving and reproducing if we're women, and trade our unique humanity for power if we're men.

So yes, I believe that women have the right to be wrong, with no double standard of criticism. But when we have the power to make a choice, we also have responsibility. Biology isn't destiny, and it isn't a free pass either.
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