SJW hit piece on DC artist

Bleeding Cool is the most embarrassingly SJW of the comics fan sites that try to pose as real journalistic organizations. They don’t cover much actual news, they prefer to devote their efforts to fan-squee over failing Marvel comics and striking blows for social justice at every opportunity. They’ve run hit pieces on my erstwhile opponent Ethan Van Sciver before, but now Rich Johnston is jumping on the campaign by four minor artists that has the objective of getting Van Sciver fired from DC.

Ethan Van Sciver is a successful superhero comic book artist. Beginning with his own character Cyberfrog, he would go on to draw New X-Men, written by Grant Morrison; Green Lantern Rebirth by Geoff Johns; go exclusive with DC Comics; and more recently draw the DC Rebirth series Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps.

Van Sciver has also continuously exhibited a rather fractious online personality, and has been accused of being an agitator and a troll. Over the course of much of his professional career, he has generally characterized such behavior simply as over-the-top, often ironic, bombastic banter, but last year even he seemed to accept the notion that it was something beyond that.

“I’m going to try to focus on being kinder. I try every day, but I have this mean streak…”, he said in part, at a candid moment in May 2017.

While Van Sciver has echoed that desire for a kinder focus on social media in more recent times, there are many who would say that this mean streak still in large part defines him, and guides his current intent in ways not too far removed from that pivotal moment last year.

Public and Private

At that time, some of his privately posted comments became subject to public scrutiny. While in a heated discussion, Van Sciver suggested that another user — someone who had been suffering from depression — should kill themselves.

View image on Twitter

This seemed to be a critical moment for the artist, and for the people around him. Many creators spoke out about the incident, and he seemed to realize he’d gone too far. Indeed, DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson was made aware of the situation, and responded to it in private email that was CC’d to Dee Dee Myers, the head of corporate communications at Warner Brothers, which we are running for the first time here. Replying to concerns that a fan expressed to her, Nelson stated that Van Sciver’s comments were offensive, did not meet their standards for their creators, and that his actions did not speak for DC Comics.

Dear Deeply Concerned Individual,

Thank you for taking the time to write. I couldn’t agree more that the comments Ethan van Sciver made on Facebook were offensive. His actions do not meet the high standards we strive for from our creative community. They are inconsistent with the values of Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, as well as those of the pantheon of the DC superhero characters.

Ethan is just one of hundreds of members of DC’s freelance creative community, and I assure you his actions do not speak for the rest of us. That said, I completely understand if fans choose not to purchase Ethan’s work.

Thanks again for taking the time to craft such a thoughtful email. It’s appreciated.

Best,

Diane
President, DC Entertainment

He publicly apologised and committed to changing his ways, vowing “not to vent” on social media anymore. He also closed two of his three Facebook pages and withdrew, stating, “I’m going to try to focus on being kinder. I try every day, but I have this mean streak… I’m sorry. Truly. I’ll be a better man.”

So, the question is: has Van Sciver made good on that apology and promise? Or has his “mean streak” gotten the better of him?

Friends In Low Places

Van Sciver has shown glimpses of the better man he vowed to be in that dark moment. He has spoken up against instances of abuse directed at LGBTQ comic book creators. He has tweeted about the need to treat each other with kindness. But overshadowing those glimpses, he has continually invested considerable effort into elevating voices whose intent seems in direct opposition to those words.

He started a YouTube channel, ostensibly to share the secrets of comic book artists, to present his commentary on the industry and engage with figures from Vox Day to Chuck Dixon to Mark Waid — but more often, Richard C. Meyer, the commentator behind the Diversity & Comics YouTube channel, which stands accused of propagating bigotry, hate speech, and harassment. Meyer’s followers have aimed abuse against many members of the comic book community.

For transparency, that often includes me.
Van Sciver has hosted a number of videos with Meyer now, equivocating away Meyer’s actions, past and present.

It was in the light of this that Van Sciver openly posted an invite to one of his critics, cartoonist and comic store employee Darryl Ayo, to come onto a live YouTube show to debate comic artist Jon Malin, with Ethan as moderator. Malin recently found himself at the centre of criticism after comparing Hitler’s ideology to that of “social justice warriors”. Ayo declined. But the requests kept coming.

Ayo, also a heavy critic of Bleeding Cool, nevertheless invited me to look into this. I reached out to Van Sciver, who initially agreed to take and answer questions about this and other matters. But before I could begin, he rescinded his agreement (more on that later). So I talked to Ayo.

Rich Johnston: Darryl, what is your history with Ethan Van Sciver?

Darryl Ayo: I don’t have a history with Ethan Van Sciver prior to January 23rd, 2018. He is a known superhero artist and I’m a minicomics creator and comics critic. I’ve never interacted with Ethan Van Sciver and haven’t made any attempt to interact with him. We are from different parts of the comics art form and industry.

RJ:  So what led to his recent invite to you?

DA: In professional terms, nothing. There was no reason for Ethan Van Sciver to even be thinking about me, much less talking to me.

That said, Ethan Van Sciver decided to invite me (and I don’t necessarily see it as an “invitation,” per se) to appear on his show after I had been highlighted and targeted for harassment by an online person called “Diversity and Comics.” At the time, “Diversity and Comics” had been focusing his attention on me and targeting me for abuse by his fans for about a week.

The supposed purpose of Ethan Van Sciver’s initiation of contact was to discuss a superhero artist named Jon Malin, who had made bizarre comments earlier that day about Hitler being an “SJW,” which is a derisive term applied to liberals, progressives and leftists. The idea of Hitler, one of the most notorious and brutal right wing thugs in the twentieth century being equated with a term that essentially means “progressive” was appalling and many people throughout the comics industries, including, but not limited to me, expressed disgust at the comments of this Jon Malin person.

As I was about to shut off my computer and go to bed, I noticed a string of notifications to my twitter account. There was a discussion and there were replies. The origin was Ethan Van Sciver, who I had never spoken with before, mentioning me on his twitter and asking/telling/pleading/demanding that I join some debate that he was currently having on a podcast that he apparently hosts. This is the first time that I had any contact with Ethan Van Sciver and therefore, the casual tone of his tweets was disturbing as they seemed to indicate a familiarity or at least a preexisting relationship between us. There was no preexisting relationship. I had never agreed to appear on this podcast and I certainly was not going to be coaxed or goaded or railroaded into appearing in public in such a manner. I made a post to my own twitter account, not as a reply to Ethan, but a plain text post, indicating that I was not appearing on an Ethan Van Sciver podcast.  Ethan pressed the issue by tweeting to me and attempting to sustain the illusion that there was a mutual agreement about a desire to debate. There was no agreement. There was no prior discussion or contact.

RJ: How did this invite and the repeated requests affect you?

DA: I thought it was all quite annoying and unprofessional. And since it opened me up to further trolling and harassment by the same parties that have already been attacking me, I was furious.

The entire affair was manipulative and frankly, insulting. The notion that anyone would drop everything and appear on a podcast to argue with a stranger at midnight just because someone goaded them is preposterous. The more Ethan tried to talk me into this nonsensical idea, the more certain I was that it was an attempt to publicly humiliate me. All of this became even more obvious after Ethan Van Sciver eventually dropped his pretense and admitted that he was angry with me about a comment that I had made months prior regarding reports that he, Ethan Van Sciver, had named a book of his after Hitler’s book.

As Ethan Van Sciver continued to tweet about me and at me, he would exaggerate this to his audience, spinning a fantasy that I had personally led a mob of hatred against him. Nonsense; many people publicly expressed disgust about Ethan Van Sciver’s Hitler-referencing title at the time of that particular report. However, since I was designated as the enemy of the moment by “Diversity and Comics,” Ethan sought to lie to his twitter followers and insist that I had led a hate campaign against him “for six months.” In other words, a comment *made* six months prior was recast as an ongoing campaign *lasting* for six months. Lies, outright lies. Flagrant lies. And of course, this further enflamed the angry bigots who, as I have said above, were already targeting me and friends of mine for abuse and harassment.

RJ: What outcome would you like to see come from this?

DA: Who cares. I’m already a target of abuse by the “Diversity and Comics” person’s followers. I’m already a target of abuse by the alt right. I don’t see any outcome. If you’re asking me whether Ethan Van Sciver, for his part, should lose his contract with DC Comics: absolutely. This reckless and dishonest behavior would get anybody fired from a traditional employer. But since that’s not going to happen, I don’t care. They should all definitely stay away from me and everyone I know.

A New Age Of Heroes

Van Sciver is a freelance artist working for DC Comics, and discussions with the publisher have focused on the difference between this role and that of a staffer, in regards to how the company would view their actions.

However, I have been made aware that senior DC creators have been vocal within the publisher, some going as far as refusing to work in any project Van Sciver was affiliated with, in a similar manner as some refused to work under editor Eddie Berganza. Berganza was a champion of Van Sciver’s work before he was fired following several allegations of sexual harassment. I understand that a number of letters by senior DC creators have been sent up the chain, objecting to Van Sciver’s behavior online.

It is notable that despite his critical reputation, Van Sciver was not part of the DC New Age of Heroes lineup, alongside peers of a similar background such as Tony S. Daniel or Kenneth Rocafort.

Regardless, the subject has been getting more heated. Comic book creators have again been making public statements — some about Van Sciver and some about Meyer, whom they see Van Sciver as supporting and promoting. And these creators have called on comic book publishers to do something:

I approached Van Sciver to discuss all of these issues. He initially agreed to participate, but after I asked that he not screencap or post extracts of our conversation before publication, he declined to proceed.

If Van Sciver had continued, I would have asked him about the reaction from his fellow comic book professionals, from DC President Diane Nelson, senior DC employees and other freelancers and commentators. I would have asked him if, like Trump, he saw “very fine people on both sides” regarding this.

Most of all, I’d have asked him if he felt that he was living up to his promise to be a better man. And if his expressed desire to bring unity was working.

Because it seems to be having quite the opposite effect. And I am told by a number of DC sources not to expect to see Ethan Van Sciver’s name on any other upcoming DC projects after his current run on Hal Jordan & Green Lantern Corps.

Many comic book fans enjoy Ethan’s artwork and he has a solid body of work behind him. But his self-described “mean streak” has blunted his own creative potential.  It has ruled him, rather than served him. I suspect even Ethan knows that too. I’d have liked the chance to ask.

As of yesterday, he has deleted his Twitter account with the apparent intent to move his comics commentary and work to YouTube.

Neither DC Comics nor Van Sciver chose to comment on this story.

There are a lot of interesting details to be mined from the SJW behavior here, but among other things, this is yet another lesson in never apologizing. And notice how heavily converged DC Comics is. The Hillary Clinton fundraiser who runs the show reports to Dee Dee Myers, who you may recall served as the White House Press Secretary during the first two years of the Clinton administration, worked for Alan Sorkin as a consultant on The West Wing, and wrote the book Why Women Should Rule the World.

Who better to know what young men want to read, right? As bad as Marvel’s convergence has been of late, you can be very confident that DC’s will be even worse within 18 months.

Anyhow, this is simply more of the same SJW DARVO that we saw the busted Googlers attempting via Wired and USA Today last week. They swarm and harass until their target hits back, then run screaming to Mommy Media that the bad mans hit them because Nazi. It’s the same disingenuous routine every time; notice that the media never quotes what provoked the initial response from the target.

And if the comics-SJWs think that Ethan Van Sciver, of all people, is far Right and has a mean streak, well, then the VFM and the Dread Ilk are going to have a seriously GOOD TIME these next few years. The poor sensitive bastards clearly have no idea what the Evil Legion of Evil has in store for them. Ethan and his fans aren’t the bad guys.

We are the bad guys.

The Nunes memo

The Honorable Devin Nunes
Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
January 18, 2018

To: HPSCI Majority Members
From: HPSCI Majority Staff
Subject: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Purpose

This memorandum provides Members an update on significant facts relating to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and their use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Our findings, which are detailed below, 1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process.

Investigation Update

On October 21, 2016, DOJ and FBI sought and received a FISA probable cause order authorizing electronic surveillance on Carter Page from the FISC. Page is a US citizen who served as a volunteer advisor to the Trump presidential campaign. Consistent with requirements under FISA, the application had to be first certified by the Director or Deputy Director of the FBI. It then required the approval of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General (DAG), or the Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.

The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC. As required by statute, a FISA order on an American citizen must be renewed by the FISC every 90 days and each renewal requires a separate finding of probable cause. Then-Director James Comey signed three FISA applications in question on behalf of the FBI, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signed one. Sally Yates, then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein each signed one or more FISA applications on behalf of DOJ.

Due to the sensitive nature of foreign intelligence activity, FISA submissions (including renewals) before the FISC are classified. As such, the public’s confidence in the integrity of the FISA process depends on the court’s ability to hold the government to the highest standard, particularly as it relates to surveillance of American citizens. However, the rigor in protecting the rights of Americans, which is reinforced by 90-day renewals of surveillance orders, is necessarily dependent on the government’s production to the court of all material and relevant facts. This should include information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application that is known by the government. In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the relevant facts. However, our findings indicate that, as described below, material and relevant information was omitted.

1) The “dossier” compiled by Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an essential part of the Carter Page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.

a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or. any party/campaign in funding Steele’s efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior and FBI officials.

b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named US. person, but does not name Fusion GPS and principal Glenn Simpson, who was paid by a US. law firm (Perkins Coie) representing the DNC (even though it was known by DOI at the, time that political actors were involved with the Steele dossier). The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of – and paid by – the DNC and Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information.

2) The Carter Page FISA application also cited extensively a September 23, 2016, Yahoo News article by- Michael Isikoff, which focuses on Page’s July 2016 trip to Moscow. This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News. Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo News-and several other outlets-in September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS. Perkins Coie was aware of Steele’s initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington DC. in 2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed.

a) Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations-an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David Corn. Steele should have been terminated for his previous undisclosed contacts with Yahoo and other outlets in September-before the Page application was submitted to the FISC in October-but Steele improperly concealed from and lied to the FBI about those contacts.

b) Steele’s numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source handling-maintaining confidentiality-and demonstrated that Steele had become a less than reliable source for the FBI.

Before and after Steele was terminated as a source, he maintained contact with DOJ via then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, a senior DOJ official who worked closely with Deputy Attorneys General Yates and later Rosenstein. Shortly after the election, the FBI began interviewing Ohr, documenting his communications with Steele. For example, in September 2016, Steele admitted to Ohr his feelings against then-candidate Trump when Steele said he “was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.” This clear evidence of Steele’s bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files, but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications.

a) During this same time period, Ohr’s wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wife’s opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs’ relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the FISC.

According to the head of the counterintelligence division, Assistant Director Bill Priestap, corroboration of the Steele dossier was in its “infancy” at the time of the initial Page FISA application. After Steele was terminated, a source validation report conducted by an independent unit within FBI assessed Steele’s reporting as only minimally corroborated. Yet, in early January 2017, Director Comey briefed President-elect Trump on a summary of the Steele dossier, even though it was according to his June 2017 testimony “salacious and unverified”. While the FISA application relied on Steele’s past record of credible reporting on other unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his anti-Trump financial and ideological motivations. Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information.

5) The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos. The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok. Strzok was reassigned by the Special Counsel’s Office to FBI Human Resources for improper text messages with his mistress, FBI Attorney Lisa Page (no known relation to Carter Page), where they both demonstrated a clear bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton, Whom Strzok had also investigated. The Strzok/Lisa Page texts also reflect extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe to discuss an “insurance” policy against President Trump’s election.

CNN is Fake News

Unidentified “aides” are supposedly worried about the FBI Director doing what he hasn’t said he will do. Right. Better not release the memo, then!

Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN.

Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director James Comey in May, yet his advice on the Nunes memo is being disregarded and cast as part of the purported partisan leadership of the FBI, according to a senior law enforcement official.

Wray’s stance is “raising hell,” one source familiar with the matter said.

Wray has not directly threatened to resign after clashing with Trump over the possible release of the memo, the source added, because that is not his style of dealing with conflict.

No one cares. Ignore the fake news and the bureaucrats desperately trying to keep their corrupt backsides covered. Release the memo unredacted.

Stupefying Stories #20

The Original Cyberpunk is giving it away today on Free Release Friday:

To celebrate the release of STUPEFYING STORIES #20, we’re giving away the Kindle edition FREE for the cost of a click—but only for the next 24 hours, beginning at Midnight tonight, West Coast time.

Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell people you know who aren’t such good friends but still like to get free ebooks! Share the news!

But share it soon, because at midnight tomorrow night, this book goes back to normal price.

» DOWNLOAD ISSUE #20 RIGHT NOW

STUPEFYING STORIES #20 features the gut-grabbing cover story, “Zombie Like Me,” by Clancy Weeks, along with a terrific mix of fantasy, light horror, demons, abominations, vampires, old family secrets, very nasty little fairies, and Bo Balder’s remarkably strange but charming story, “Alien Whispering.” If nothing else, read “Endeavor to Dream on Broken Wings,” so you can someday tell people that you were reading AJ Finley before anyone else had heard of her.

CONTENTS:

  • THEIR NOSTALGIA WILL BE VERY MUCH LIKE OUR NOSTALGIA • by Eric Cline
  • HOW TO BUILD A TRAIN • by Brandon Kempner
  • ENDEAVOR TO DREAM ON BROKEN WINGS • by AJ Finley
  • PILES OF DUST AND BERRIES • by Sadie Bruce
  • ALIEN WHISPERING • by Bo Balder
  • LUCKY FIND • by Lance Young
  • SECRET SEED • by Shannon Norland
  • ZOMBIE LIKE ME • by Clancy Weeks

We’re #2

Things have been quiet at Infogalactic lately, and they will continue to be quiet even as we continue to improve performance, until DONTPANIC is ready to bring the noise, but you can bet that Wikipedia is aware that it exists now. This is #2 on Breitbart’s list of the Best Examples of Left-wing Bias on Wikipedia in 2017:

2. Burying CNN’s Blackmail controversy and other scandals at the network

Shortly after CNN’s blackmail controversy, an editor created a page on the topic. Other editors promptly had the story buried by moving the content  into the bottom section of an article about CNN controversies. Roughly two dozen editors, mostly left-wing, supported this move citing a policy that says Wikipedia is not for news. Five of these editors showed a double standard, having previously voted to keep an article on Trump’s disclosure of intelligence about ISIS threats in a meeting with Russia where the same policy would apply.

A few editors went even further by cutting out critical information on the blackmail controversy from even the general CNN controversies article, as well as gutting nearly a third of the article’s content covering a variety of scandals that gripped the network, despite much of it being backed by sources considered reliable by Wikipedia standards. These removals included a section on CNN New Year’s Eve host Kathy Griffin’s firing from the network, which was justified by claiming it wasn’t a CNN controversy. The same argument was used to keep out mention of undercover journalist James O’Keefe’s video series on CNN, itself denied its own article by many of the same editors.

Only a small amount of the removed content had been restored after the flurry of deletions. When the situation was mentioned on the Vox Popoli blog of science fiction author Vox Day, the founder of Wikipedia alternative Infogalactic, an editor sought to restore noteworthy content about the blackmail controversy and was immediately reverted.

Scandalous! The mainstream media won’t cover this, of course, but that’s fine. More and more people are routing around them every day.

But this underlines the importance of Infogalactic. Do take the trouble to thank the Burn Unit, which make it run. And if you’re using Infogalactic, consider joining it. The thing about foundational structures like Infogalactic is that they’re neither sexy nor exciting. That’s why people pay so little attention to them even when they rely upon them heavily. The thing is, they are absolutely vital. Which, of course, is why I prioritized it in the first place.

Note that only 561 of Wikipedia’s 1,237 administrators are active now. We have a LONG way to go, but it is doable. And the more that Wikipedia is converged by its admins, the easier our long march becomes.

The John Scalzi school of business

Hey, it worked for The Most Popular Blog in Science Fiction. Lie about your traffic, secure the contract, then pray that no one notices the way in which your subsequent performance doesn’t quite line up with your supposed influence. What’s wrong with a little traffic inflation among friends?

The publisher of Newsweek and the International Business Times has been engaging in fraudulent online traffic practices that helped it secure a major ad buy from a US government agency, according to a new report released today by independent ad fraud researchers.

IBTimes.com, the publisher’s US business site, last year won a significant portion of a large video and display advertising campaign for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency. Social Puncher, a consulting firm that investigates online ad fraud, alleges in its report that the ads were displayed to an audience on IBTimes.com that includes a significant amount of “cheap junk traffic with a share of bots.”

The CFPB’s ad budget was the subject of criticism from Republican lawmakers after the Daily Caller reported last year that it had awarded more than $40 million in contracts to a single ad agency, GMMB, which is one of the top Democratic media strategists. (A portion of money in those contracts was used to pay media outlets for advertising space, and was not kept by GMMB.)

The CFPB was created in 2011 as a result of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. President Trump recently tweeted that the bureau “has been a total disaster,” and installed his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, as its new director.

Neither the CFPB or GMMB are accused of taking part in, or having knowledge of, ad fraud on IBTimes.com.

A CFPB spokesperson told BuzzFeed News the bureau is looking into the allegations raised in Social Puncher’s report…. When it comes to IBT’s fraudulent traffic practices, Social Puncher’s findings align with reporting from BuzzFeed News on IBT India, and with separate data gathered by Pixalate, an ad fraud detection company, and DoubleVerify, a digital media measurement company. (Social Puncher and BuzzFeed News previously collaborated on ad fraud investigations, but worked separately in this case.)

Based on what it described as a detailed investigation, DoubleVerify this week classified IBT’s US, UK, India, and Singapore sites as “as having fraud or sophisticated invalid traffic,” according COO Matt McLaughlin. DoubleVerify is now blocking all ad impressions on these sites on behalf of customers.

I always find it amusing when the SJWs in science fiction try to accuse me of inflating or exaggerating my numbers because I never report anything except exactly the Google pageviews reported by Blogger. But their accusations tell me that they are aware that other people in science fiction do so.

By the way, yesterday’s pageviews were 141,106. It’s been informative to see how neither USA Today nor Wired moved the traffic needle more than a very small fraction, but one brief appearance on The Milo Show has temporarily increased daily traffic by about 40 percent. The members of the maintream media really have no idea how individually irrelevant most of them are. Even with the benefit of a prestigious platform, they don’t have much an influence.

EXCERPT: First on the Moon

FIRST ON THE MOON by Jeff Sutton. Available in ebook and audio editions.

The room was like a prison–at least to Adam Crag. It was a square with a narrow bunk, a battered desk, two straight-back chairs and little else. Its one small window overlooked the myriad quonsets and buildings of Burning Sands Base from the second floor of a nearly empty dormitory.

There was a sentry at the front of the building, another at the rear. Silent alert men who never spoke to Crag—seldom acknowledged his movements to and from the building—yet never let a stranger approach the weathered dorm without sharp challenge. Night and day they were there. From his window he could see the distant launch site and, by night, the batteries of floodlights illumining the metal monster on the pad. But now he wasn’t thinking of the rocket. He was fretting; fuming because of a call from Colonel Michael Gotch.

“Don’t stir from the room,” Gotch had crisply ordered on the phone. He had hung up without explanation. That had been two hours before.

Crag had finished dressing—he had a date—idly wondering what was in the Colonel’s mind. The fretting had only set in when, after more than an hour, Gotch had failed to show. Greg’s liberty had been restricted to one night a month. One measly night, he thought. Now he was wasting it, tossing away the precious hours. Waiting. Waiting for what?

“I’m a slave,” he told himself; “slave to a damned bird colonel.” His date wouldn’t wait–wasn’t the waiting kind. But he couldn’t leave.

He stopped pacing long enough to look at himself in the cracked mirror above his desk. The face that stared back was lean, hard, unlined–skin that told of wind and sun, not brown nor bronze but more of a mahogany red. Just now the face was frowning. The eyes were wide-spaced, hazel, the nose arrogant and hawkish. A thin white scar ran over one cheek ending.

His mind registered movement behind him. He swiveled around, flexing his body, balanced on his toes, then relaxed, slightly mortified.

Gotch—Colonel Michael Gotch—stood just inside the door, eyeing him. A flush crept over Crag’s face. Damn Gotch and his velvet feet, he thought.

The expression on Gotch’s face was replaced by a wooden mask. He studied the lean man by the mirror for a moment, then flipped his cap on the bed and sat down without switching his eyes.

He said, “You’re it.”

“I’ve got it?” Crag gave an audible sigh of relief. Gotch nodded without speaking.

“What about Temple?”

“Killed last night–flattened by a truck that came over the center-line. On an almost deserted highway just outside the base,” Gotch added. He spoke casually but his eyes were not casual. They were unfathomable black pools. Opaque and hard. Crag wrinkled his brow inquiringly.

“Accident?”

“You know better than that. The truck was hot, a semi with bum plates, and no driver when the cops got there.” His voice turned harsh. “No… it was no accident.”

“I’m sorry,” Crag said quietly. He hadn’t known Temple personally. He had been just a name–a whispered name. One of three names, to be exact: Romer, Temple, Crag. Each had been hand-picked as possible pilots of the Aztec, a modified missile being rushed to completion in a last ditch effort to beat the Eastern World in the race for the moon. They had been separately indoctrinated, tested, trained; each had virtually lived in one of the scale-size simulators of the Aztec’s space cabin, and had been rigorously schooled for the operation secretly referred to as “Step One.” But they had been kept carefully apart. There had been a time when no one—unless it were the grim-faced Gotch—knew which of the three was first choice.

Romer had died first–killed as a bystander in a brawl. So the police said. Crag had suspected differently. Now Temple. The choice, after all, had not been the swarthy Colonel’s to make. Somehow the knowledge pleased him. Gotch interrupted his thoughts.

“Things are happening. The chips are down. Time has run out, Adam.” While he clipped the words out he weighed Crag, as if seeking some clue to his thoughts. His face said that everything now depended upon the lean man with the hairline scar across his cheek. His eyes momentarily wondered if the lean man could perform what man never before had done. But his lips didn’t voice the doubt. After a moment he said:

“We know the East is behind us in developing an atomic spaceship. Quite a bit behind. We picked up a lot from some of our atomic sub work–that and our big missiles. But maybe the knowledge made us lax.” He added stridently:

“Now … they’re ready to launch.”

“Now?”

“Now!”

“I didn’t think they were that close.”

“Intelligence tells us they’ve modified a couple of T-3’s–the big ICBM model. We just got a line on it … almost too late.” Gotch smiled bleakly. “So we’ve jumped our schedule, at great risk. It’s your baby,” he added.

Crag said, “I’m glad of the chance.”

“You should be. You’ve hung around long enough,” Gotch said. His eyes probed Crag. “I only hope you’ve learned enough … are ready.”

“Plenty ready,” snapped Crag.

“I hope so.”

Gotch got to his feet, a square fiftyish man with cropped iron-gray hair, thick shoulders and weather-roughened skin. Clearly he wasn’t a desk colonel.

“You’ve got a job, Adam.” His voice was unexpectedly soft but he continued to weigh Crag for a long moment before he picked up his cap and turned toward the door.

“Wait,” he said. He paused, listening for a moment before he opened it, then slipped quietly into the hall, closing the door carefully behind him.

He’s like a cat, Crag thought for the thousandth time, watching the closed door. He was a man who seemed forever listening; a heavy hulking man who walked on velvet feet; a man with opaque eyes who saw everything and told nothing. Gotch would return.

Despite the fact the grizzled Colonel had been his mentor for over a year he felt he hardly knew the man. He was high up in the missile program—missile security, Crag had supposed—yet he seemed to hold power far greater than that of a security officer. He seemed, in fact, to have full charge of the Aztec project—Step One—even though Dr. Kenneth Walmsbelt was its official director. The difference was, the nation knew Walmsbelt. He talked with congressmen, pleaded for money, carried his program to the newspapers and was a familiar figure on the country’s TV screens. He was the leading exponent of the space-can’t-wait philosophy. But few people knew Gotch; and fewer yet his connections. He was capable, competent, and to Crag’s way of thinking, a tough monkey, which pretty well summarized his knowledge of the man.

He felt the elation welling inside him, growing until it was almost a painful pleasure. It had been born of months and months of hope, over a year during which he had scarcely dared hope. Now, because a man had died….

He sat looking at the ceiling, thinking, trying to still the inner tumult. Only outwardly was he calm. He heard footsteps returning. Gotch opened the door and entered, followed by a second man. Crag started involuntarily, half-rising from his chair.

He was looking at himself!

“Crag, meet Adam Crag.” The Colonel’s voice and face were expressionless. Crag extended his hand, feeling a little silly.

“Glad to know you.”

The newcomer acknowledged the introduction with a grin–the same kind of lopsided grin the real Crag wore. More startling was the selfsame hairline scar traversing his cheek; the same touch of cockiness in the set of his face.

Gotch said, “I just wanted you to get a good look at yourself. Crag here”—he motioned his hand toward the newcomer—”is your official double. What were you planning for tonight, your last night on earth?”

Google exec threatens whistleblowers

Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President at Google, is determined to hunt down every employee who isn’t 100 percent SJW-converged.

Sometimes, like yesterday, I am…saddened? taken aback? disgusted? by the thought that there are Googlers coming to work filled with gate towards their colleagues. I’m not even sure what adjective to use….but it’s sad. No matter the topic, there’s just no room for hate at Google.

But then again, I remind myself that 99.99{f34b2ed14022567e3962d98ceb517f14c2acb643b80147bdb11c1357fe49acc6} of our colleagues do not fall into that group, and that we can’t let a small fraction of employees dominate our thoughts, feelings, and culture. That makes me hopeful that we can overcome the attempts to create a culture of hate and fear.

But that is little comfort to the Googlers who are being doxxed or harassed. I hope we will identify those behind this reprehensible conduct. All Googlers are responsible for upholding a workplace and culture that is free of harassment, discrimination, misconduct, bullying, and retaliation.

So tragic, all these gate-filled Googlers. Of course, if Google wants to uphold a workplace free of harassment, discrimination, misconduct, bullying, and retaliation, the very first person they should fire is Urs Hölzle. The man is a genuinely nasty little thought-Nazi, full of the very worst kinds of gate.

Urs, did you really not realize that everything that passes through your corporate communication system gets leaked outside now? Just because outsiders don’t post very much of it doesn’t mean they don’t have it. You see, even your employees who are on the Left are totally freaked out by their legitimate concerns about what sort of insanity you lunatic SJWs are going to get up to next. They know it’s only a matter of time before you go after them as well. Once you root out the evil 0.01 percent, it’s on to the next 0.1 percent undsoweiter.

Sure, you’ve got access to all our emails and our browser histories. We know that. But are you absolutely certain that we don’t have yours? Beware the many heads of the Medusa!

By the way, Wired‘s Nitasha Tika denied coordinating her story, which SJWS at Google are circulating inside the company to try to intimidate suspected whistleblowers, with Jessica Guynn of USA Today. Just another one of those mysterious coincidences that seem to happen *COUGHGAMEJOURNOPROS* from time to time whenever SJW interests intersect, right? Actually, she is telling the truth, because it was a very small group of Google-SJWs coordinating their defense by press who were responsible for the near-simultaneous appearance of the articles.

Amateur effort, really. Even the SJWs at Tor managed to drum up international coverage from Entertainment Weekly to the New Zealand Herald after we blew up the Hugos the first time. But, as we’ve learned, the grunts at Google aren’t nearly as smart as they think they are.

Speaking of which, this email made me laugh.

I think you meant Hydra not Medusa in your Google post.  The hydra was a multi headed serpent.  Medusa looked like a cross between Grendel’s mother and Hillary Clinton.

You don’t say…. 

Taking the CON out of economics

Written by the greatest living economist, Steve Keen, one of the few professional economists to have correctly anticipated the global financial crisis of 2008, eCONcomics is a series of three satires explaining why the science of economics has gone so terribly wrong.

In these savagely erudite satires, Keen highlights the lameness of the excuses offered by economists for their failure to predict anything from the financial crisis to the recent stock market highs. From “secular stagnation” to the “non-accelerating inflation rate of employment” and the “full employment real interest rate”, Keen expertly mocks both the myths and the incompetence of his professional colleagues.

After reading eCONcomics, you will understand why no economist ever seems to be able to explain what is going on today, or tell you what will happen tomorrow.

Steve Keen is Professor of Economics at Kingston University in London, and an Honorary Professor at University College London.

32 pages. $3.99. eCONcomics: Taking the CON out of Economics is available via Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

And yes, there is a very good chance that Prof. Keen and I will collaborate on an eCONcomics devoted to the subject of free trade in the coming year. We may disagree on a number of issues, but free trade is not one of them.

Democracy is sex?

This criticism of proposed legislation in Indonesia reveals the insanity at the core of the globalist Left.

Gay sex, cohabitation, and sex outside marriage would become illegal and punishable with prison terms under proposals from Islamic parties that could soon become law in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Critics say the moves, which are being negotiated among Indonesia’s political parties and government legislative drafters, would, if enacted, be a major blow to democracy in this Southeast Asian nation of 250 million.

How can legislation that is popular with the majority of the electorate be “a major blow to democracy”?

When was “democracy” redefined as “unrestricted sex”?

Think about what this implies for survival of democracy as a legitimate political philosophy in the future. It is increasingly apparent that to the Left, “democracy” means nothing more than “the policies we happen to favor at the moment”.