Category: Uncategorized

If you want to play Hugos

And you didn’t vote in the final round last year, you’ll have to register today or tomorrow in order to be able to vote in the nominations.

The Hugo Awards voting process has two stages: a nomination period and a final voting period. During the nomination period ballots may be cast by members of MidAmeriCon II and Worldcon 75 (as of January 31) and members from Sasquan, the 73rd Worldcon.

Just a reminder for those who would have liked to be able to participate last time. The Rabid Puppy List of Recommendations That Is Most Certainly Not a Slate, Much Less a Direct Order From the Supreme Dark Lord of the Evil Legion of Evil will be posted in February.

Bolsheviks always devour the Mensheviks

In which Richard Dawkins is disinvited by a Science and Skepticism conference:

Professor Richard Dawkins has had an invitation to speak at a science event withdrawn by organisers for sharing a “highly offensive” video mocking feminists on Twitter.

Dawkins was scheduled to speak at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism which will take place in New York City in May, but on Thursday organisers issued a statement concerning his participation.

“The NECSS has withdrawn its invitation to Richard Dawkins to participate at NECSS 2016. We have taken this action in response to Dr. Dawkins’ approving re-tweet of a highly offensive video. We believe strongly in freedom of speech and freedom to express
unpopular, and even offensive, views. However, unnecessarily divisive,
counterproductive, and even hateful speech runs contrary to our mission
and the environment we wish to foster at NECSS. The sentiments expressed
in the video do not represent the values of NECSS or its sponsoring
organisations.”

Please. They believe in freedom of speech and the freedom to express offensive views about as strongly as they believe in God, the Resurrection, and the Holy Virgin.

A murder in Germany

The German authorities had better respect all of the migrants back to their homelands pretty damned soon, or I expect there is going to be a second Holocaust that will make the first one look downright merciful.

GERMAN-born Iranian Muslim man kills 20-year-old German woman by pushing her into the path of an oncoming subway train in Berlin. German police say a 20-year-old woman has died after being pushed in front of a Berlin subway train by a stranger. The 28-year-old Iranian Muslim has been arrested on ‘suspicion’ of homicide. (Suspicion? Several people grabbed him after witnessing the attack!)

The shocking incident took place when the young woman was standing on the platform waiting for her train and she was pushed in front of an oncoming train by a 28-year-old Hamburg man born of Iranian descent.

After he pushed the woman, shocked witnesses ran toward him and held him back so that he couldn’t escape.

Berlin police spokesman Heidi Vogt said Wednesday that the victim and the suspect didn’t appear to have known each other and there was no indication of a quarrel. Vogt said the man, who was born in Germany but had Iranian citizenship, had previous convictions.

So much for that “innocent second-generation immigrant” idea.

ENOUGH NOW!

As I predicted months ago, the first stage of the nationalist response to the great orc invasion has begun. I am, however, somewhat surprised to see that it has begun in Sweden. It is a limited response; they’re only beating them up… for now:

A mob of black-clad masked men went on a rampage in and around Stockholm’s main train station last night beating up refugees and anyone who did not look like they were ethnically Swedish.

Before the attack, the group of 200 people handed out xenophobic leaflets with the message ‘Enough now’.

Swedish media reported that the thugs, allegedly linked to Sweden’s football hooligan scene, were targeting unaccompanied minors with a ‘foreign’ background.

The mob, wearing all-black balaclavas and armbands, ‘gathered with the purpose of attacking refugee children’ Stockholm police spokesman Towe Hagg said.

If the Swedish authorities are foolish enough to attempt to crack down on the anti-immigrant fighters rather than focus on respecting the “refugee children” back to their homelands, the slaughter is going to begin soon. As I warned five years ago, Anders Breivik was the harbinger of things to come.

And before the Swedish authorities decide upon their response, they should probably keep in mind that it isn’t only the migrants who will be attacked by the nationalist forces if they decide that it is the nationalists, and not the migrants, who are their enemies.

The leaflet, as translated by the Daily Mail:

ENOUGH NOW!

All over the country, reports are pouring in that the police can no longer cope with preventing and investigating the crimes which strike the Swedish people.
 
In some cases, for example, in the latest murder of a woman employed at a home for so called ‘unaccompanied minor refugees’ in Molndal, it goes as far as the National Police Commissioner choosing to show more sympathy for the perpetrator than the victim. But we refuse to accept the repeated assaults and harrassment against Swedish women.’
 
We refuse to accept the destruction of our once to safe society. When our political leadership and police show more sympathy for murderers than for their victims, there are no longer any excuses to let it happen without protest.
 
When Swedish streets are no longer safe to walk on for normal Swedes, it is our DUTY to fix the problem. This is why, today, 200 Swedish men gathered to take a stand against the north African ‘street children’ who are running rampage in and around the capital’s central station.
 
Police have clearly showed that they lack the means to stop their progress and we see no other way than to hand down the punishment they deserve ourselves. The justice system has left walk over and the contract of society is therefore broken – it is now every Swedish man’s duty to defend out public spaced against the imported criminality.
 
Those who gathered today are neither your politician, your journalist or your policeman. We are your father, your brother, your husband, your colleague, your friend and your neighbour.
 
Swedish men and women deserve safety in their everyday life and we are therefore calling on all others who also see the problem to follow in our footsteps, both in Stockholm and in other places around the country. For a better future together.

The three top-rated comments at the Daily Mail:

  • This is going to become more common across Europe as the weeks go by.
  • It’s inevitable, when politicians are unable to provide solutions, the people will.
  • If the government don’t act then of course the people will!

However, the initial indications are that the European authorities are going to double down. It appears that they either want a civil war or they have an astonishing faith in their ability to redefine observable reality.

EU leaders insist there is ‘NO LINK’ between the migrant crisis and New Year sex attacks in Cologne – and vow to bring about an end to ‘false accusations’. European Commission wants to ‘unconditionally reject’ link, minutes show. Officials are also growing concerned about possibility of a public backlash.

“Possibility”, the Lacedaemonians said.

    The SJW war on Ruby continues

    Despite being warned off by members of the group, and despite the Ruby project founder making it clear that thought policing and enforcement is not going to be permitted, Typhoid Coraline has taken advantage of the founder’s desire to be nice as he continues revising and spinning and attempting to take control of the project. This is his latest attempt after having the poison pill that is his Contributor Covenant knocked back:

    As part of our collective culture we believe that the Ruby community should be open and welcoming to everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

    This document provides community guidelines for a safe, respectful, productive, and collaborative place for people engaging with and contributing to to the Ruby community. It applies to all collaborative spaces and documents, including mailing lists, IRC, submitted patches, big reports, and pull requests.

    •     Participants must ensure that their language and actions are free of personal attacks and disparaging personal remarks.
    •     Participants must agree that the use of sexual imagery, sexual language, and sexual advances are not conducive to a professional environment and must be avoided.
    •     Participants must not publish non-public contact information about other members of the community, including physical addresses or other private information.
    •     Participants who disrupt the collaborative space, or participate in a pattern of behaviour which could reasonably be considered harassment will not be tolerated.

        Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.

    Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported by sending an email to [INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS]. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. Respondents are obligated to maintain confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident.

    We believe that by thoughtfully abiding by these community guidelines, we help Ruby fulfill its promise to make people happy and to put the needs of the community first.

    This is a retreat from the Covenant, which covers all behavior by a contributor, whether it is related to the project or not. But the level of sheer dishonesty it entails is revealed by some of Typhoid Coraline’s SJW supporters.

    I would recommend the Contributor Covenant. People complaining that it includes harassment in public spaces are most likely just guilty of doing so. Just because the harassment occurs outside the scope of the project does not make it any more ok!

    It’s quite obvious from this thread alone how toxic this community is, I can’t believe so many people are essentially saying they don’t want to stop harassing people by coming up with silly excuses as if a CoC was somehow implementing communism.

    The responsibility of enforcing the code of conduct should be handed to a committee comprised of people who have more experience with harassment which is often not recognised by people with more privilege. As well as that, what if Matz or one of the maintainers themselves were to violate the code of conduct? Nobody could stop them, therefore the CoC enforcement task should be carried out members of minority groups who will not violate the CoC. Nobody, not Matz or any maintainers should be exempt from consequences like demotion and banning. And as Matz has already stated, he will probably not have the time or willingness to deal with peoples reports of unacceptable behaviour.

    Notice how their priority is not the Code of Conduct, but the committee that is charged with enforcing it. This SJW is considerably clumsier than Typhoid Coraline, in that he openly states how the committee will be stacked by “members of minority groups” who, by their very nature, “will not violate the CoC”. Remember, SJWs always set up rules that do not apply to them. They are above the law; laws are for those lesser people who are insufficiently idealistic.

    Only an idiot would accept the establishment of an authority that not only has the ability to demote and ban him, but quite clearly has every intention of doing so. Sadly, there are more than a few naive idiots in the OSS world.

    And, of course, anywhere there are SJWs, the First Law of SJW is in action:

    I also support adopting a Code of Conduct. I believe CC 1.3 is a good base to work from simply because it is already used on many well known projects. I grew up in a “thick skin” internet age myself, so I personally prefer the “deal with it, fight back, or killfile” approach. That said, I live on top of a giant mountain of privilege. For my projects, I feel that I have a greater responsibility than simply serving my personal ideology. For me, I wasn’t quick to decide that adding a code of conduct to a project was a good thing, and I shared many of the concerns expressed by the non-troll commenters on this thread.

    But the net effect of actually taking the time to listen and learn, not just to those active in social justice, but everyday people from many different backgrounds, was to find out… yes, this is a real problem. Sending a signal of support to those who have experienced that problem elsewhere in a way that’s loud and clear is worth doing. A CoC is one of the basic tools that can set the stage for accomplishing that, and if we trust the maintainers of this project, that trust will be preserved even after a CoC is implemented.

    However, if the core team decides not to act on this, or acts on this in a way that’s half baked and idealistic, or acts in way that’s meant to preserve the “nice” attitude rather than making an effective decision — you will lose the trust of many who have come to realize that community management involves a lot more than the purely technical aspect of things. There are people in this thread that I’ve totally lost respect for already, who I’ve collaborated with before and previously thought of as very insightful voices in Ruby.

    Not only the lies, but the threat is always the same. Do what I demand or I shall disapprove of you! However, it is clear from this Japanese Ruby administrator’s response that patience is wearing thin and the SJW attack has been recognized for what it is.

    Currently, in order to maintain the integrity of the discussion in this issue, creating new accounts have been suspended. This means that we considered that this issue may be important, and this issue is occurring some hindrance to the development of Ruby. I hope that everyone who comments to this issue understands that.

    After this issue was opened, many new accounts are created. Most of such accounts only commented to this issue. Normally new comers are welcomed, but in this case, sorry, I am watching such accounts with distrust.

    My policy should be clear. I stand by the One-Finger Code of Conduct.

    Vaccine safety and “ovarian failure”

    Once more, we see that those oh-so-trustworthy scientists appear to have carefully buried the risks in the name of not allowing parents to make informed decisions about what they inject into their children:

    The HPV vaccine is heavily pushed to both teen girls and boys. Even though countries such as Japan won’t formally have stated that they don’t want to support it, the United States continues to massively push this vaccine despite all the push back world-wide. The HPV money grab by pharmaceutical companies is blatant and unchecked. Well, now things just got a whole lot worse: The American College Of Pediatricians has announced that the HPV vaccine is “possibly” associated with ovarian cancer. You can view the document here.

         It has recently come to the attention of the College that one of the recommended vaccines could possibly be associated with the very rare but serious condition of premature ovarian failure (POF), also known as premature menopause.

    The rest of the press release is a defensive mess, claiming that the studies aren’t proof positive. But here’s the thing, if the ACP is admitting this small amount, imagine how large the actual issue likely is? They are always in a mode of protection when it comes to this vaccine, it creates a lot of revenue, so for them to admit this is a really big deal.

    Pharmaceutical companies do not want any negative publications regarding Gardasil. And certainly, they’ve coerced and influenced this organization into not putting out negative claims over the matter. This tells me that this new discovery is huge and creates potential liability for them. It is so big that they actually fear not disclosing it.

    It’s amazing that so many scientists insist on continuing to do the one thing that is ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED to destroy all trust in them, which is point-and-shriek at those who do nothing more than dare to notice all the little anomalies and ask questions about the doubts that are quite naturally raised by their behavior.

    Go ahead, shriek some more about Jenny McCarthy killing people. That’s ever-so-convincing to everyone who wonders about your integrity.

    Mailvox: PEGIDA rising

    This is from a reader in Germany. It demonstrates how things are definitely heating up there regardless of what the mainstream media reports.

    Stationed in Germany.  Not being fluent I don’t understand all of the news commentary, but have been talking with my few German friends.  Most are definitely opposed to the mass migration that is occurring. Our area is rural and most of the Germans are blue-collar types. Think of it as the “fly-over” region of the US.  Anyway, this is the first I have heard of any demonstrations outside of the major cities of Germany.  These are right in my back yard, and if these people are stirred to action, the dominoes are falling.

    The authorities are distributing the following warnings:

    • The following areas below are to be avoided in Kaiserslautern due to the possibility of violent demonstrations this coming Saturday.  Although the assessment indicates a low possibility of violence by the Polizei, past PEGIDA events have quickly turned violent whenever counter demonstrations were also planned/present. 
    • On Saturday, 30 January 2016, precise time not yet known, the Kaiserslautern “Patriotische Europaer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes” is planning a demonstration march through downtown Kaiserslautern, rallying at the “Alte Post am Hauptbahnhof”.  Preceding the march, a self-appointed “vigilante force” will patrol the downtown area.  At approximately 1300 on the same date, left wing activists will demonstrate at Am Altenhof, in front of Stiftskirche //MGRS: 32UMV1094977581// in Kaiserslautern against right-wing demonstration.  After the demonstrations in Kaiserslautern, left-wing activist planned to travel to Homburg, Germany by train to disrupt a demonstration in Homburg, further information in Paragraph 2.B. below.  HNLE expectation of violence at both events was assessed as LOW.
    • At approximately 1700 on 30 January 2016, the group “Saarlaender gegen Salafisten” will demonstrate in the area surrounding the Hauptbahnhof.  The purpose of the demonstration is “Protect our women from sexual assaults”.  Expectation of violence was unknown.  

    Deport, kill, or die

    The Swedes are belatedly coming to the realization that contrary to what they were taught at school, orcs are going to orc:

    Swedish police have dealt with 5,000 incidents involving migrants since October as they revealed they are concerned the problems are getting worse.

    Officers in the country have been called out to nearly 600 assaults in the last three months as well as four rapes, two bomb threats and 450 fights.

    Migrants and asylum seekers have also been involved in 194 violent threats, 58 fires and nine robberies, according to data obtained by SvD.

    Given the claimed 80,000-migrant figure, (the actual figure is closer to 160,000 if I understand it correctly) that’s a 25 percent criminal rate per annum. Sweden now finds itself playing a game of deport, kill, or die; the sooner they address the migrant issue by respecting them all, the better it will be for everyone.

    Especially the migrants.

    The cons never stop

    The amusing thing about McRapey is that he lies about himself even when there is no rational reason for him to do so:

    So to sum up: I’m a Gryffindor, a Taurus, a Rooster and an INTP. AND, what the hell, Team Edward.

    Translation: I want people to think of me as brave, strong, outspoken, and a fiercely independent thinker. Also, I get 50,000 READERS A DAY!

    Now, which sounds more like Scalzi to you?

    As an INFP, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit into your personal value system. INFPs do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it. If they must face it, they will always approach it from the perspective of their feelings. In conflict situations, INFPs place little importance on who is right and who is wrong. They focus on the way that the conflict makes them feel, and indeed don’t really care whether or not they’re right. They don’t want to feel badly. This trait sometimes makes them appear irrational and illogical in conflict situations.

    INFPs are usually talented writers. They may be awkward and uncomfortable with expressing themselves verbally, but have a wonderful ability to define and express what they’re feeling on paper. INFPs also appear frequently in social service professions, such as counselling or teaching. They are at their best in situations where they’re working towards the public good, and in which they don’t need to use hard logic. 

    Versus this:

    INTPs live in the world of theoretical possibilities. They see everything in terms of how it could be improved, or what it could be turned into. They live primarily inside their own minds, having the ability to analyze difficult problems, identify patterns, and come up with logical explanations. They seek clarity in everything, and are therefore driven to build knowledge. They are the “absent-minded professors”, who highly value intelligence and the ability to apply logic to theories to find solutions. They typically are so strongly driven to turn problems into logical explanations, that they live much of their lives within their own heads, and may not place as much importance or value on the external world. Their natural drive to turn theories into concrete understanding may turn into a feeling of personal responsibility to solve theoretical problems, and help society move towards a higher understanding. 


    The INTP has no understanding or value for decisions made on the basis of
    personal subjectivity or feelings. The INTP is usually very independent, unconventional, and original. They
    are not likely to place much value on traditional goals such as
    popularity and security. 

    As for me, I have no need to lie about myself. Anyone who has read here for more than a week or two and is familiar with the Meyers-Briggs personality profiles can readily identify which category I fall into. 

    The magic of generational division

    Hawaiian Libertarian has an intriguing spin on the subject:

    Prior to the advent of mass mind control enabled by mass media technology, there was no real substantial differences between generations…at least not the sort that so thoroughly and contentiously divided us for the past century. Culture was far more static and slow changing, and influenced much more by religion and cultural traditions and norms.

    But the advent of the tell-a-vision, radio broadcasting, the consolidation of print media and the popular music industry all gave those with the same agenda of societal control as the Pharisees of old, the means to “Speak” to the mass audience so as to create such artificially imposed divisions as “generations.” THEY told each different generation that the older generations were “uncool” and “old-fashioned.” With mass media and commercial consumerism, THEY were able to institute a continuous, dynamic change in music, dance, fashion, clothing, hairstyles, slang and lingo, and ultimately an ethos and moral code for each generation of youth entering their young adult years, so that THEY successfully severed the connections between generations to divide and conquer we the sheeple.

    Just for one example of this, we need only look at the differences in marriage and family between the different generations. Our Grandparents were for the most part the last generation that followed the patterns of multiple generations that preceded them. They mostly dated, got married, had sex, then had children. Our parents dated, got married, had sex, had children, got divorced, dated, re-married, had more kids and often got divorced again. We (GenX) dated, had sex, had children, then got married, then divorced, then remarried. The younger generation don’t date, they hook up and have sex with a multitude of partners (or they’re incel and resort to teh Pr0n, or gay or transgendered or whatevers). Marriage is mostly out of the question, whether they have kids, use birth control, or have abortions or not.

    The common cultural ethos and paradigm that drove the changes in mating patterns and family formation (and disintegration) trends are all different for each generation, and it was this artificially created division causing each successive generation to reject the former generations morality that lead to this cultural devolution and attitudes towards family over the span of a few decades.

    Mating patterns are an important element in determining culture, so it should come as little surprise that altering the mating patterns would tend to exacerbate the cultural differences between the generations.

    It also might help explain the way in which Boomers are totally unable to understand GenX and the succeeding generations as well as the contempt in which Boomers are held by GenX; the Boomers simply don’t perceive that anything structural has changed.

    They tend to think of “change” as something that an individual does within the context of a permanent infrastructure. GenX, on the other hand, sees that there is no permanence to the infrastructure, and that the infrastructure is not only transforming, but is imposing its changes on the individual.

    The Millennial doesn’t even see the cultural infrastructure, and thereby doesn’t understand either the Boomer perspective or the GenX fury at the order and infrastructure they have lost.