Category: Uncategorized

Promotion!

The prima squadra needed two wins in their last three games to secure promotion this season, and after scoring a 3-0 upset away last weekend, it was looking pretty good with one away game followed by a home game to end the season. But they were shut out in the penultimate game during the week, a game they had half-expected to win, which put the pressure on.

Half the village turned out for the game and it seemed to fire up the players as they came out and heavily dominated the game for the first 10 minutes. The ball barely made it into our half of the field. Then our captain got the ball halfway through midfield and the box, and despite not having position on the sweeper, he simply challenged the big guy’s speed, blew past him, and slipped a nice left-footed shot past the keeper. 1-0.

Not even five minutes later, one of our players was taken down just inside the box. The crowd was screaming for a penalty, but the referee reasonably gave us a free kick right on the line. No matter, our star striker stepped up and hit a soft, but perfectly positioned shot right in the upper corner. The keeper didn’t even move. 2-0.

The game was sealed within the first half-hour when a midfielder headed a half-cleared ball past the defense, the star striker jumped on it, pushed it past the keeper who had come out to try to get it, then casually passed the ball into the empty net. He was right in front of our group of veterans, so he dropped to one knee and threw his arms up theatrically as if accepting accolades while the crowd went wild. It was pretty funny.

Two crossbars in the second half was as close as we got to scoring again, so the game ended up 3-0, but perhaps the funniest moment was when the older striker who sometimes plays with us (and is joining us full-time this fall) went in as a substitute, got the ball, and couldn’t beat the two men on him or find anyone to pass to. He finally put it down the line and out of bounds, prompting one of my teammates to yell, “see, that’s why you’re playing with us next year!” It was a great game from a fan’s perspective, the guys were entirely in control throughout, and there were at least three genuinely spectacular exhibitions of skill that I can’t even properly describe.

All the teams were there, from the younger juniors to the vets, sporting the colors and cheering on the guys. I know all the players pretty well, having played with four of them and practicing twice with the squad, so it was a real pleasure to see them return the club to the highest level at which we’ve ever reached in our history. The players are even better acquainted with Ender, as he is being groomed to be one of their keepers of the future, so I was pleased, if a little surprised, to see him invited to join the team photo they took after the game.

It may be tough to stay up next year, but except in goal, the team is very young and I expect they will continue to improve. But promotion to this level is something that only happens perhaps once every ten or twenty years, so it was exciting to have the chance to be a part of it.

Mr. Feder fans the flames

Now Tor Books editor Moshe Feder calls Tor’s unhappy customers “idiots”:

As you may have heard, certain scoundrels have declared a boycott of Tor, starting today, to protest the efforts of some Tor employees to defend the Hugo Awards from attack. In response, some of our friends have declared today “Buy A Tor Book Day.”

I wouldn’t have the temerity to ask you to buy a book just because some idiots have declared war on us. But if there _is_ a Tor Book you’ve been meaning to get anyway, buying it today would be a a gesture I’d appreciate.

[As always here on Facebook, I’m speaking for myself and not the company.]

It’s got to be nice for Tor Books to know they’ve got so many imaginary friends defending them. As we have been repeatedly and reliably informed:

Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more.

And if Mr. Feder is only speaking for himself, who is this “us” to whom he refers? Whose friends are they? But it is nice of him to dial down the rhetoric from “racist neo-nazis” to mere “idiots” and “scoundrels”.

Meanwhile, Peter Grant points out that Feder is lying. Personally, I find Feder’s explanation of the boycott to be fascinating, as apparently Irene Gallo was merely defending the Hugo Awards from attack when she described Tor-published books as “bad-to-reprehensible”, attacked Tor’s customers as “racist” and “misogynistic” and “neo-nazi”. That’s an interesting priority. I was not hitherto aware that “defending the Hugo Awards” was a professional responsibility for employees at Tor Books.

It’s worth pointing out that we are not at war with Tor Books. We are merely asking Macmillan to save Tor Books from the observably self-destructive and unprofessional leadership of three of its senior employees, who have abused Tor’s authors and attacked Tor’s customers.

The Internet never forgets.

Holiday

And not the fun kind, in Greece:

Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus’s largest lender, is preparing for an extended bank holiday in Greece as continuing deposits outflows may force authorities to take this type of step and impose capital controls.

“We are preparing to facilitate our customers with operations in Greece with additional liquidity,” a Bank of Cyprus source with knowledge of the situation said on condition of anonymity. “This is something we don’t want to see happening”.

The source said that in recent days the bank saw an increase in deposits inflows, both from Cypriot and Greek depositors, amounting “hundreds of million euros”. Reuters reported on Thursday that European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure told euro area’s finance ministers that he was not sure whether Greek bank will be able to open on Monday.

The Bank of Cyprus source also said that the bank cannot be ruled out that a bank holiday in Greece could also affect the Cypriot banking system via the units of Greek banks operating on the island in the form of deposits outflows. The source was not in position to name the amount in additional liquidity the bank will need in the case of a bank holiday in Greece nor the number of its customers that would be affected.

“In that case, a bank holiday in Greece could also prompt Cypriot authorities to also impose a bank holiday in Cyprus,” the Bank of Cyprus source said.

To say nothing of Spain, then Italy…. I strongly suspect we are witnessing the slow unwinding of first the Euro, then the European Union. As untenable as the Euro now is, the EU is even worse off due to its immigration policies that nearly everyone except the EU Commission, the media, and the invaders hate.

UPDATE: Phoenix Capital Research explains that the Greek bailouts had little to do with Greece per se:

The Greek situation actually had nothing to do with helping Greece. Forget about Greece’s debt issues, or protests, or even the political decisions… the real story was that the bailouts were all about insuring that the EU banks that were using Greek bonds as collateral were kept whole by any means possible.

The war on free expression

The principled defenses have failed. The attempts to ignore it have failed. The attempts to placate have, predictably, failed. The only way to shut down the “army of self-appointed militants who see themselves as the guardians of correct thinking” is hit back twice as hard and hold the SJWs completely accountable to their own rules.

When Professor Tim Hunt, the Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, recently addressed a major conference in Seoul about women in science, he said he had three problems with ‘girls in laboratories’, namely that: ‘You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them, they cry.’

As a media storm erupted, Hunt insisted that his remarks were made in ‘a totally jocular, ironic way’.

But none of that matters to today’s self-righteous crusaders against offensive opinions, for whom language is never a laughing matter. Professor Hunt was immediately surrounded online by an outraged Twitter mob demanding his head on a pike.

These boycott-and-ban zealots are not content with exercising their right to criticise somebody who makes an offensive joke. Quivering with self-righteous indignation, they want to silence those who fail to conform to their group-think.

In this case, their bullying worked. The scientific authorities immediately caved in. Not only was Hunt forced to resign from his post at University College London, but he was also dismissed from the science committee of the European Research Council.

So biochemistry loses a brilliant pioneer, while we lose more ground to the forces of oppressive censorship.

For the saga of Tim Hunt’s downfall is just the latest example of how a culture of verbal prohibition is taking over society, led by an army of self-appointed militants who see themselves as the guardians of correct thinking.

If you don’t want to see more Nobel Laureates like Tim Hunt and James Watson hounded from science, more innovators like Brandon Eich hounded from tech, then you should endorse the Tor Books boycott and force the SJWs to realize that they will be held twice as accountable for their every joke, every tweet, every Facebook comment, and every personal statement as they hold everyone else.

The First Law in action

The SJWs trying to save Irene Gallo and Patrick Nielsen Hayden from the Macmillan axe must be getting desperate. In addition to launching a “Buy Tor books” campaign in response to the boycott they mocked, they’re doing what SJWs always do.

Which is what? All together now…. In this case, the SJWs in science fiction are pretending to buy books that they’re not actually buying. ED noticed a recurring pattern on Twitter today:

Kerian Larsen ‏@KerianLarsen  1h1 hour ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more.

Phyllis Chandler ‏@phyllis_chandle  1h1 hour ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more.

Maisy ‏@Maisy_Chandler  2h2 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more.

Kalia ‏@kalia_weaver  2h2 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more.

Desiree ‏@Desiree_Waller  2h2 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more.

Dee Foreman ‏@Dee_Foreman  2h2 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more.

Cherie ‏@Cherie_Blanchar  2h2 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more

Fernanda ‏@fernanda_wise  2h2 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more

Greta ‏@greta_welch  2h2 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more

Jayla Bauer ‏@JaylaBauer  3h3 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more.

Bria ‏@brialangley  3h3 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on I just bought three ebooks from Tor and preordered two more

Kurt Busiek ‏@KurtBusiek  3h3 hours ago
Since the Puppy boycott of Tor Books is on, I just bought three e-books from Tor and pre-ordered two more.

On the plus side, I think we now have an answer to how John Scalzi has so many Twitter followers when no one is reading his blog anymore.

Tor boycott announced

Peter Grant explains why he is no longer going to buy any Tor products:

Regrettably, due to the apparent lack of action by (and the deafening silence from) Tor and Macmillan, the time has come to do as I promised.  I therefore ask all those who believe, as I do, that the recent statement by Irene Gallo, and the pattern of behavior and statements from others at Tor whom I’ve previously named, are completely unacceptable, to join me in refusing to buy any of Tor’s products from now on.

I support and endorse what Larry Correia said about this yesterday.

    … this is between Tor and its readers who feel insulted, not the Sad Puppies campaign or the people who ran it … To the Sad Puppies supporters, do what you think is right. All I’m asking is that whatever you do, try to be as civil as possible in your disagreements. Stick with the facts.

I am not a member of, and I do not speak for, either the ‘Sad Puppies’ or ‘Rabid Puppies’ campaigns (although I support the former).  I don’t represent cute puppies, playful puppies, cuddly puppies or hush puppies – only myself.  If you share, in whole or in part, my values and outlook on life, I invite you to join me in this boycott.  Don’t do so just because I, or anyone else, is asking you to do so.  Act on the basis of your own informed conscience and reasoned judgment.

As you can see, I have been a Tor Books customer since 1986, when I bought a mass market paperback copy of The Edge of Tomorrow by Isaac Asimov. And because I have considerably more experience of Tor Books and the consistently abusive and unprofessional behavior of its senior employees than Mr. Grant, I will go a little further than he has. Until Irene Gallo and Patrick Nielsen Hayden are no longer employed by Tor Books or Tor.com, I will not:

  1. Purchase any books published by Tor Books
  2. Read any books published by Tor Books

Given (2), this means that if Ms. Gallo and Mr. Nielsen Hayden are still employed by Tor Books in 2016, I will not nominate any books published by Tor Books for any awards.

I encourage those who deem Ms. Gallo’s behavior to be unprofessional and unacceptable to follow Mr. Grant’s lead and join the Tor Books boycott. I am the leader of the Rabid Puppies, I do speak for them, and I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that they will follow my lead in this regard with all the vim and vigor for which they are rightly known.

I am not concerned about whether the boycott is “successful” or not. The simple fact is that if Macmillan is at all interested in the long-term success of Tor Books, it will jettison both Ms Gallo and Mr. Nielsen Hayden on the basis of their disloyalty, their unprofessional behavior, and their repeated violations of the Macmillan Code of Conduct, regardless of what any outside parties may happen to believe. I simply won’t have anything to do with Tor Books as long as those two individuals are employed there.

There will be those who claim that the boycott will make no difference at all. They may well be correct. Regardless, in response I can do no better than to quote the wise words of the VFM. “We don’t care.”

So very unconcerned

The First Law of the Social Justice Warrior: SJWs always lie.

The Second Law of the Social Justice Warrior: SJWs always double down.

As you’d expect, both of these things are seriously in effect in the Gallo affair. The latest SJW incoherence is this:

  1. Mocking the prospective boycott of Tor Books as being numerically trivial and ineffective.
  2. Declaring that they are buying books published by Tor Books today in order to preemptively counteract the effects of that trivial and ineffective boycott.

Based on their actions, the SJWs are just a little more concerned about it than they affect. Quelle surprise. The fact is that I don’t know how effective a boycott of Tor Books will be. I don’t know if it will inspire Macmillan to actually pay attention to the unprofessional behavior of the senior employees at their subsidiary. The point is that I am simply not going to support an organization that employs an individual who so openly hates me, my readers, and various authors that I support, and who publicly lies about us.

The organization is certainly free to ignore me and continue to not sell books to me. The organization is absolutely free to employ anyone they like, including ludicrously unprofessional people who can’t even bother to disguise their hatred for all of their customers to the right of Bernie Sanders. I can’t dictate anyone’s actions but my own.

Even so, it appears there are either an awful lot of people who are interested in my actions today or just a few SJWs who are concerned enough to launch a DDOS attack to try to disrupt the anticipated announcement this afternoon. This is a screen shot of the current Sitemeter traffic at VP as of 10:15 AM this morning. I suppose it could be a Sitemeter bug, but I find the timing rather suspicious, especially considering that AG’s sitemeter is operating normally and the Google traffic is indicating normal traffic of between 45-50k pageviews today. My guess is that it’s an attack being deflected by Google somewhere between Sitemeter picking it up and it interfering with Blogger’s operations. But regardless, UP TO ONE MILLION DAILY PAGEVIEWS isn’t bad.

A fascinating confession

It appears the post-2008 economy has humbled, be it ever so slightly, the Nobel-prize winning economist, Paul Krugman:

[L]et me tell you about a dirty little secret of economics — namely, that we don’t know very much about how to raise the long-run rate of economic growth. Economists do know how to promote recovery from temporary slumps, even if politicians usually refuse to take their advice. But once the economy is near full employment, further growth depends on raising output per worker. And while there are things that might help make that happen, the truth is that nobody knows how to conjure up rapid productivity gains.

An interesting admission from a man who never saw a government spending program he didn’t like. The truth is that both the Neo-Keynesians and the Keynesian heretics that call themselves monetarists are up a conceptual creek without a paddle, because both their intellectual models reject the possibility that the quantity of debt can have anything to do with the economy’s ability to grow.

I realize that sounds ridiculously stupid, but it is nevertheless the case. And, as you may have noticed, events are proving otherwise.

The broad-spectrum SJW attack

If you think the SJWs will ever leave you alone anywhere, in any industry, you are wrong. Even if you volunteer and provide your time and skills somewhere for free, they will attack you and try to remove you.

CoralineAda commented Jun 18, 2015
Elia Schito is publicly calling trans people out for “not accepting reality” on Twitter. His Twitter profile mentions that he is a core contributor to opal. Is this what the other maintainers want to be reflected in the project? Will any transgender developers feel comfortable contributing?

meh commented Jun 18, 2015
If you want him removed, start working on Opal and contributing as much as him to everything he did for Opal so we have a replacement that’s more in orientation with your morals and views. Protip: you won’t because you can’t.

strand commented Jun 18, 2015
As a queer person this sort of argument from a maintainer makes me feel unwelcome. The ignorance which @elia shows by claiming that transfolk are “not accepting reality” is actively harmful. I will not contribute to this project or any other project which @elia maintains.

aredridel commented Jun 18, 2015
Damn. I found out about this project thanks to this issue, and it’s super relevant to my interests. But not going to come near it with a thousand foot pole if these are the people I’d have to interact with.

bhaibel commented Jun 18, 2015
@meh You’ve said that you’re committed to creating a welcoming environment for new contributors. Saying that is easy. Doing that is hard. You’re failing at it: right now, as a queer woman, I do not believe Opal would treat any contributions I might make fairly. I do not believe that I would be welcomed onto the project.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it. Notice that none of them actually use Opal or have contributed to it, they just want to execute a drive-by disqualification. This is why SJWs have to be methodically ignored when they run their usual game and removed as soon as they are identified in your organization. They don’t give a quantum of a damn about the project, the job, or the company, all of it is mere grist for their ideological mill.

Macmillan has learned that its SJWs are more concerned about denigrating those who won’t kowtow to their insane ideology than promoting authors or selling books. It would do well to jettison them in their own self-interest, regardless of what we do, because SJWs cannot be rehabilitated and are always focused on furthering their agenda at the expense of their employers.

I was able to attend Representation Beyond Characters and Creating Comics. The former’s panelists were primarily people of color; the latter was all-female, including several women of color. Both talked about sneaking small but relatable details into worldbuilding, the difference between work-for-hire and creator-owned comics, and how publishers have responded to calls for greater diversity. Though the panels took place at different points during the con, they presented a refreshingly diverse lineup talking about real issues in modern storytelling.

However, Bennett cautions, while people are talking about how inclusive and wonderful it’s going to be in the future, they can’t take it as a given. “While I appreciate the optimism, that’s a trap I don’t want to fall into,” she said. “You have to remember that it takes active participation from every single person to make sure we keep this momentum going.”

Read that part again: “active participation from every single person” is required. Translation: they regard totalitarian thought-policing as not only desirable, but necessary.

Brainstorm June

The next event is for Brainstorm members only on 24 June at 7:30 PM EDT. We’re going to be discussing three subjects:

  1.  External discipline and Life Design. I know a lot of people were interested in the concept, I’m actively applying one of them now in my own life with some objective success, and I’ve got some ideas for how to make it work. 
  2. Nate and I are going to do a post-mortem about our Inflation-Deflation debate and discuss how events that have happened since fit better into the Ice or the Fire scenarios.
  3. The Tor-Macmillan situation. It may be a little more interesting than it looks at the moment. We’ll discuss our current options and our next steps.
  4. It’s not a subject per se, but I also have some interesting announcements about the game development course I’ll be teaching this fall.

If you’re interested in taking part, you can sign up as either an Annual or Monthly member. The Roosh transcripts are still being put together and we should be able to get them out by the end of next week.