Ted Cruz 2020

Even Apollo 1 had a better launch than Ted Cruz’s 2020 presidential campaign last night.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz was denied entry into billionaire GOP donor Sheldon Adleson’s suite following his speech at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night, Independent Journal Review has confirmed.

A former U.S. Senator inside the Adelson’s luxury box at the Quicken Loans arena told Independent Journal Review that Cruz approached the suite after he finished his speech that fell short of endorsing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Cruz was not welcome in the suite “because he’s a piece of sh*t,” the Senator said.

Cruz was stopped at the door because several attendees inside the suite were furious with his decision to not endorse Trump. An aide to Adelson then confirmed that Cruz was turned away. 

UPDATE: “Ted Cruz’s campaign chair Richard Black says that it’s doubtful he’d ever support Cruz again.”

UPDATE 2: Hear Ted Cruz attempting to rationalize his self-immolation on the national stage. Video at the link:

A delegate was upset that Ted Cruz didn’t honor his pledge and support Trump, telling Cruz that his word is his bond and that he should have honored his pledge.

Here’s how Cruz responded and it was awesome!

Cruz explained to the person why the pledge he made supporting the nominee was abrogated, pointing out that happened when Trump attacked his wife and his father and made this personal.

The delegate responded that this is politics and he needed to get over it.

But Cruz hit back hard, saying this is NOT politics and it’s not a game, that there is right and wrong and we must stand for what is right!

So noble! Of course, Cruz didn’t make this clear to the public at any time before standing at the podium, in fact, he didn’t even make it clear during his speech, which is why some of his foolish defenders are trying to claim that he did not, in fact, do what he obviously did. That’s what happens when you side with a snake.

When white-knighting goes awry

Due to their self-absorption and addiction to self-delusion, Gammas render themselves so completely incompetent that they can’t even white-knight properly. Jim Treacher is a commentator for the Daily Caller who nobly white-knighted for Michelle Fields when she was raped, her arm was ripped off, and she was beaten to death with it by Corey Lewandowski on the direct orders of Donald Trump.

His outrage at this horribly unchivalrous, ungallant behavior was stoked by Mike Cernovich’s infamous endorsement of Miss Field’s rape, mutilation, and murder, so it’s quite natural that he should have been even more inflamed at Spacebunny’s ignoble failure to decry and denounce the pure and unadulterated evil that is Mike Cernovich.

Jim Treacher@jtLOL
If you want to know why I want nothing to do with you: Just look at the shit Cernovich says, every day.

Mike Cernovich @Cernovich
Did Michelle Fields fiancé, who is violent and angry, abuse her? Could be source of those bruises she posted…

This is why we can’t be friends.

Space Bunnyopoulos ‏@Spacebunnyday
We can’t be friends because of something someone else said that has nothing to do with either of us.  Gotcha.

Jim Treacher@jtLOL 
There is no square centimeter of Cernovich’s nutsack that you haven’t licked. Don’t even pretend.

Jim Treacher@jtLOL
He took great delight in hurting my friend Michelle, because his demigod Trump had already hurt her.

Jim Treacher@jtLOL
Fuck all of you fucking shitheads.

Jim Treacher@jtLOL
Have fun eating Cernovich’s shit.

This demonstrates the fundamental way that being emotionally incontinent renders Gammas totally incoherent. In order to virtue-signal and defend the honor of Michelle Fields, Jim Treacher is spewing vulgar nonsense at Spacebunny simply because she would not agree with him.

The reason for this is threefold. First, Gammas usually double down, at least in the short term. Second, Gammas HATE HATE HATE Alphas, mostly because they envy them. Third, and perhaps most important here, is that Gammas place inordinate importance on the approval of women. Nothing burns them more painfully than female disapproval or rejection.

The fact that Treacher perceived Spacebunny as siding with the evil Alpha rather than him, the noble Defender of Women meant that he felt she was disapproving of him, which therefore justified, in his delusional Gamma mind, treating her far worse than Cernovich has ever treated the memory of the late Michelle Fields.

It’s best not to white-knight at all. But if you absolutely have to white-knight for one psychological reason or another, you might want to, at the very least, refrain from cursing at women and accusing them of being adulterous whores. It’s appalling, really, that The Daily Caller permits its commentators to treat women in such a grotesquely sexist way. Do they really endorse this sort of behavior?

UPDATE: Just because it is almost too funny to believe. And to think he wanted to take on Spacebunny, of all women. She’d fillet him and serve him to his cats without even blinking.

Jim Treacher ‏@jtLOL
As I sat there handcuffed, one Metro DC cop mocked me for crying and another one made fun of my weight. Can’t say I blame them for either.

Gamma self-destruction on stage

There was a fair amount of talk about the socio-sexual rank of the candidates early during the campaign at Alpha Game. One of my readers concluded the following about Ted Cruz:

Ted Cruz: Beta, with a bit of Sigma. Seems to be instinctively serving as a lieutenant to Trump in some aspects, by cornering certain voters who won’t warm up to Trump, such as the evangelicals. Has a Sigma streak with his willingness to offend the Democrats and cuckservatives running the Senate, and which seems to have inoculated him against being an Establishment sellout, or at least less than Rubio or Rand Paul. Indeed, he seems to be rising above the less-“offensive” Rubio and Paul, despite Rubio’s backers having spent far more money than Cruz’s.

I was never confident about that, particularly when Cruz refused to accept the role that could very well have led to being Trump’s Vice-President, but instead very stupidly began attacking Trump through a series of legalistic maneuvers that couldn’t possibly influence the ultimate outcome. Some people saw that as Sigma behavior, but I most certainly did not. It struck me more as a delusional Gamma inflicted with the usual Gamma Alpha-hate.

And last night, we got our confirmation when Ted Cruz sperged out in front of the entire nation, struck a classic Noble Sir pose, and revealed himself to be the Gamma of all Gammas, sabotaging himself in a belated and futile, attempt to dethrone the Republican Alpha.

Republicans from all corners of the party scorned Ted Cruz Wednesday night after the Texas senator delivered a speech before the Republican National Convention that not only failed to endorse nominee Donald Trump, but encouraged audience members to not do so if it would violate their “conscience.”

“I think it was awful,” echoed New Jersey governor and Trump-supporter Chris Christie after Cruz’s speech. “And quite frankly, I think it was selfish.”

“For the life of me, I don’t know why he is doing this,” Fox News Channel and conservative talk-radio host Sean Hannity said. “I think there is going to be long-term damage for the party and for him.”

“Trump trusted Ted and was rewarded with a betrayal,” piled on former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Before his speech, some Republicans held out hope that Cruz would succumb to the pressure and endorse Trump. But, when it became clear that he would decline to express support for the GOP nominee, audience members rebelled, loudly booing the once-beloved conservative star until he exited the stage.

“The best unity I saw was everyone booing him off the stage,” Donald Trump Jr. said of the moment during an appearance on Fox News.

And Republicans were apparently not shy about expressing their frustration to Cruz’s face.

CNN reported that some donors were so furious at Cruz they called him a “disgrace” as he tried to enter a suite following his speech. An unnamed state party chair was so angry with the Texas senator that he had to be restrained, the news outlet reported.

Sheldon Adelson, a major Republican Party donor, even denied Cruz entry to his personal suite after his speech, according to CNN and BuzzFeed.

Cruz’s wife, Heidi, also came under verbal assault on the convention floor, with delegates heckling her. She had to be escorted outside by security, according to reports.

Trump, for his part, said Cruz’s speech did not bother him. “Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn’t honor the pledge! I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway,” he tweeted. “No big deal!”

Unbelievable. You can hide your true sociosexual nature, but it is always going to come out sooner or later. As one Twitter wag put it: “I saw a video of a Buddhist monk self-immolate, and Ted Cruz still did it better.”

Chinese buy Opera

This should shake things up in the browser world, to say the least:

After a $1.2 billion deal fell through, Opera has sold most of itself to a Chinese consortium for $600 million. The buyers, led by search and security firm Qihoo 360, are purchasing Opera’s browser business, its privacy and performance apps, its tech licensing and, most importantly, its name. The Norwegian company will keep its consumer division, including Opera Apps & Games and Opera TV. The consumer arm has 560 workers, but the company hasn’t said what will happen to its other 1,109 employees.

The original deal, announced in February, reportedly failed to gain regulatory approval. While expressing disappointment that it was scrapped, Opera CEO Lars Boilesen says “we believe that the new deal is very good for Opera employees and Opera shareholders.” The acquisition was approved by Opera’s board, and the company now has 18 months to find a new name, according to Techcrunch.

That’s great news for Brendan Eich and Brave, which is already the best browser out there. I still use Pale Moon for a few things, but 85 percent of my work is now done on Brave.

Anyhow, I would not advise using Opera or OperaMail anymore. It’s bad enough to share things with the US government through Google and Microsoft, but this is a whole new can of worms.

Trump shows loyalty again

This is one reason why Trump is laying waste to the US political scene. Disloyal, treacherous politicians have never encountered anyone like him.

In other words, a friend and employee screwed up, created a problem, and yet neither of the Trumps threw her under the bus. They had to know from the beginning whose mistake it was, but they refused to identify her. And then they wouldn’t permit her to fall on her sword in her attempt to take full responsibility for her error.

That is more than a leader, that is a teacher.

That being said, I would still look hard into whoever wrote the rick-rolling into the speech. That tends to smack of intentional mischief, perhaps even malice.

They are finally starting to get it

David Frum @davidfrum
Big message of last night: the GOP has decisively turned its back on Bush-Clinton dynastic politics to embrace a Trump dynasty instead

And about time too. Pat Buchanan explains further:

Free-trade globalism was a crucial component of the New World Order, whose creation George H. W. Bush called the new great goal of U.S. foreign policy at the United Nations in October of 1991.

Bush II and Jeb are also free-trade zealots.

But when the American people discovered that the export of their factories and jobs to low-wage countries, and sinking salaries, were the going price of globalism, they rebelled, turned to Trump, and voted for him to put America first again.

Does anyone think that if Trump loses, we are going back to Davos-Dubai ideology, and Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership is our future? Even Hillary Clinton has gotten the message and dumped TPP.

Economic nationalism is the future.

The only remaining question is how many trade deficits shall America endure, and how many defeats shall the Republican Party suffer, before it formally renounces the free-trade fanaticism that has held it in thrall.

The Bush idea of remaking America into a more ethnically, culturally, diverse nation through mass immigration, rooted in an egalitarian ideology, also appears to be yesterday’s enthusiasm.

Diversity is dead. Multiculturalism is dead. Globocop is dead. Globalism and free trade are terminal. Mass migration is on its last legs. Most importantly, nationalism is on the rise and hasn’t even begun to crescendo.

Stay angry, friends. Stand firm. Give them no quarter or respite, for they will give you none.

Hugo 2016 Rabid Puppies ballot

This is how I will be voting for the 2016 Hugos. As MidAmericaCon2 has noted, there are less than two weeks to vote, so if you’re already registered, don’t neglect to send in your ballot.

BEST NOVEL

  1. Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
  2. Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
  3. The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)
  4. No Award

BEST NOVELLA

  1. Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
  2. Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
  3. Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)
  4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
  5. The Builders by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)

BEST NOVELETTE

  1. “Obits” by Stephen King (The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner)
  2. “What Price Humanity?” by David VanDyke (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
  3. “Flashpoint: Titan” by Cheah Kai Wai (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
  4. “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)
  5.  No Award

BEST SHORT STORY

  1. “Space Raptor Butt Invasion” by Chuck Tingle (Amazon Digital Services)
  2. “Seven Kill Tiger” by Charles Shao (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
  3. “If You Were an Award, My Love” by Juan Tabo and S. Harris (voxday.blogspot.com, Jun 2015)
  4. “Asymmetrical Warfare” by S. R. Algernon (Nature, Mar 2015)
  5. “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2015)

BEST RELATED WORK (2080 ballots)

  1. Between Light and Shadow: An Exploration of the Fiction of Gene Wolfe, 1951 to 1986 by Marc Aramini (Castalia House)
  2. “The Story of Moira Greyland” by Moira Greyland (askthebigot.com)
  3. “Safe Space as Rape Room” by Daniel Eness (castaliahouse.com)
  4. “The First Draft of My Appendix N Book” by Jeffro Johnson (jeffro.wordpress.com)
  5. SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day (Castalia House)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

  1. The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)
  2. No Award

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM)

  1. The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
  2. Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
  3. Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
  4. Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
  5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM)

  1. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media/Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)
  2. Supernatural: “Just My Imagination” written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)
  3. Grimm: “Headache” written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf(Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
  4. Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions;Netflix)
  5. Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)

BEST EDITOR – SHORT FORM

  1. Jerry Pournelle
  2. No Award

BEST EDITOR – LONG FORM

  1. Vox Day
  2. Toni Weisskopf
  3. Jim Minz
  4. No Award

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

  1. Larry Elmore
  2. Lars Braad Andersen
  3. Michal Karcz
  4. Larry Rostant
  5. Abigail Larson

BEST SEMIPROZINE

  1. No Award

BEST FANZINE

  1. File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
  2. Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson
  3. Tangent Online edited by Dave Truesdale
  4. Superversive SF edited by Jason Rennie

BEST FANCAST

  1. The Rageaholic, RazörFist
  2. 8-4 Play, Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Hiroko Minamoto, and Justin Epperson
  3. Cane and Rinse, Cane and Rinse
  4. HelloGreedo, HelloGreedo
  5. Tales to Terrify, Stephen Kilpatrick

BEST FAN WRITER

  1. Jeffro Johnson
  2. Morgan Holmes
  3. Mike Glyer
  4. Shamus Young
  5. Douglas Ernst

BEST FAN ARTIST

  1. Christian Quinot
  2. Kukuruyo
  3. disse86
  4. Matthew Callahan
  5. Steve Stiles

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER

  1. Andy Weir *
  2. Pierce Brown *
  3. Sebastien de Castell *
  4. Alyssa Wong *
  5. Brian Niemeier

Milo permanently banned from Twitter

After writing the review of Ghostbusters to which I linked the other day, Milo ended up getting into it on Twitter with actress Leslie Jones, who he eventually referred to as “a black dude”. It was funny, of course, because Miss Jones is a large, unattractive black woman who looks more manly than Michelle Obama.

After Leslie Jones – @lesdogg on Twitter – tried to hit back at him and other critics of the movie, she got piled on by the Alt Right and others; her cries of “racism, racism” were met, in the Alt Right’s usual wont, by pictures of bananas, gorillas, and other rhetorical memes, which caused Miss Jones to double down on crying victim.

So, Twitter perma-banned Milo on the grounds of “incitement to harassment”, even though Leslie Jones is the only individual who actually engaged in any incitement, as can be seen in this pair of tweets.

Leslie Jones ‏@Lesdoggg  Jul 18 Manhattan, NY
Exposing I hope y’all go after them like they going after me

Leslie JonesVerified account ‏@Lesdoggg  Jul 18 Manhattan, NY
bitch I want to tell you about your self but I’m gonna let everybody else do it I’m gonna retweet your hate!! Get her!!

Even the New York Times is on it, in its inimitably dishonest way. Twitter Bars Milo Yiannopoulos Over Torrent of Abusive Comments.

It appears the next task after Big Fork launches is an obvious one. No worries, it’s been part of the plan from the beginning.

Never trust a drama queen

I’m not at all surprised that Megyn Kelly is acting up at the expense of Fox News. No woman that self-centered is capable of restraining herself for the good of the network, even if it is in her own long-term interests. My guess is that she is upset at how Ailes and Fox News didn’t white-knight for her when she took on Donald Trump and lost.

Fox News boss Roger Ailes is negotiating his exit, Deadline has confirmed.

Blogger Matt Drudge put up a headline at the top of his popular aggregation website The Drudge Report this afternoon that Ailes will exit the company with a “$40+ million parachute.” There is no link to a story, but a source subsequently told Deadline that Ailes is in exit talks, saying terms of the settlement are being hammered out tonight.

“With internal allegations mounting, it was deemed time for him to go,” the well-placed source said. 21st Century Fox, however, said in a statement: “Roger is at work  The review is ongoing. And the only agreement that is in place is his existing employment agreement.”

Ailes’ ouster comes after Fox News host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him on July 6 after her contract was not renewed.

Ailes, the architect of the Fox News as a ratings behemoth and political force, in of June 2015, signed a multi-year contract to continue running Fox News, Fox Business Network, and Fox Television Stations.

Earlier this morning, Drudge linked a headline to today’s New York Magazine story, alleging Fox News star Megyn Kelly had told 21st Century Fox’s investigators that she had been the recipient of unwanted sexual advances from Ailes about a decade ago when she was a correspondent in the Washington bureau.

I have no idea, nor do I care, whether Ailes hit on her or not. I suspect that Kelly assumes any man who looks at her for more than 5 seconds is hitting on her. But regardless, it’s prodigiously stupid to break up a situation that is that good for everyone involved.