The sf-writer universe today is full of links to the BoingBoing report on how Canadian sf writer Peter Watts was beaten by US border guards, arrested, his possessions impounded, and then dumped across the border in mid-December without even a coat. You can read Watts’s own account on his blog.
Now, I don’t have any actual knowledge of what happened. I hope there’ll turn out to be some impartial witnesses or some video of the occurrence. But in the absence of that, I find that I’m all too willing to assume that Watts’s account is true. The fact is, I don’t really expect better from anonymous border guards. I ought to be able to expect better, but I don’t.
If you want to donate to support his (sure to be large) legal expenses, you can contribute via his paypal account at <donate@rifters.com>.