First of all, a belated Happy New Year to all of you who might be reading this. To explain my not writing anything for months, I blame a combination of winter writing malaise, real life and there being just so many stories to potentially write about – so many in fact that one ends up not writing anything at all.

2013 begins with a silly story coming from Austria – or rather a group that calls itself The Turkish Cultural Community of Austria (Die Türkische Kulturgemeinde in Österreich) – where toy manufacturer Lego has been accused of “inciting racial hatred and insulting human dignity” (yes, that old chestnut) with its release of a Star Wars series model of Jabba the Hutt’s palace. Read the rest of this entry »