Honest mistake vs media libel

So, this morning I retweeted a tweet that someone sent me about the “Nazi Trump supporter”; I think it was a tweet to Louise Mensch. I didn’t just retweet it because it had the fake children’s book “Everyone is Hitler” as part of the image, so I cropped that off, then tweeted the picture of the woman attached to the picture of another woman who looked like the same woman.

Except that woman was a Bernie Sanders activist. Which appeared to prove what looked like a media plant was, in fact, a media plant. Quite a few people retweeted the tweet, including Donald Trump Jr., which led someone to look more closely about three hours later and observe that the two women were different and the “Nazi Trump supporter” was from a Chicago Tribune story.

It was just a simple mistake, not an intentionally dank meme, so naturally I corrected the tweet right away.

Now reports are that the “Trump Nazi” is not pro-Sanders Portia Boulger, but “Birgitt Peterson of Yorkville”.

I didn’t delete the tweet because a) Ms Boulger did not request that I do so, and, b) because I am in the habit of owning up to my mistakes, not trying to conceal them. If Twitter had an edit function with a strikethrough, I would have noted the error that way, just as I do on this blog.

However, the Left erupted with minor outrage, apparently unfeigned, although I suspect it was more because the tweet disrupted their absurd attempt to once more portray Donald Trump’s supporters, and therefore Donald Trump himself, as a National Socialist. Probably the most notable reaction was from Ken at Popehat, apparently off his meds again, as he first insisted that I would need a lawyer, then started babbling something about something called Moon Court. I will leave it to the lawyers, and the mental health professionals, to interpret that.

They kept calling for me to correct the tweet, which I had already done, until, after finally realizing that I had, in fact, already done so, they demanded that I apologize and that I delete the tweet.

Needless to say, I did not apologize. I did, however, assure everyone that if Ms Boulger wished me to delete the tweet, I would do so. I have not, as yet, heard the lady express any such wish.

But wait, there’s more! One Olivia Nuzzi, who claims to be a “reporter” at the Daily Beast, thought that this would be a wonderful time to attack Donald Trump Jr. by also claiming that I am “a white supremacist”.

I reached Boulger by phone on Saturday morning, a few minutes after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted her photo with the caption, “Big surprise. However, the media will never run with this.” As the New Republic’s Jeet Heer pointed out, the user who Trump Jr. got the photo from, @voxday, is a white supremacist.

Naturally, I immediately let Ms Nuzzi know that Mr. Heer’s libelous, and baseless, accusation notwithstanding, I am nothing of the sort.

Supreme Dark Lord ‏@voxday
Actually, Olivia, you’re lying. I’m not a white supremacist. I’m an American Indian. We just made a mistake

Supreme Dark Lord ‏@voxday
I corrected my tweet. Are you going to correct your post falsely accusing an American Indian of being a white supremacist?

Supreme Dark Lord ‏@voxday
You are calling an American Indian – and the great-grandson of a Mexican revolutionary – “a white supremacist.” Retract. Now.

Olivia Nuzzi ‏@Olivianuzzi
I cite another reporters writing on you. If you dispute his story, I’m happy to add that to mine.

Her first response was to add additional information instead of correcting it.

I was not content with that:

Supreme Dark Lord ‏@voxday
Not sufficient, Olivia. Retract. And mention that I am an American Indian and the great-grandson of a Mexican revolutionary.

So she continued trying to finesse it.

Apparently I’ll have to get in touch with her editor on Monday. First VFM to provide me with the contact details for Olivia Nuzzi’s editor wins a free copy of On The Existence of Gods and the Castalia House ebook of his choice. First one with her email wins the latter. The rest of you keep an eye on your inbox.

This week we dine on SJW flesh!

Update: And we have 2nd Law at work:

Olivia Nuzzi ‏@Olivianuzzi
nothing to retract, sorry.

Supreme Dark Lord @voxday
(shakes head) Oh dear. See where it says “Supreme Dark Lord”? You really should have paid more attention.

Olivia Nuzzi ‏@Olivianuzzi
Portia Boulger, the woman inaccurately smeared by @DonaldJTrumpJr and others as a Nazi, just told me she needs time to decide if she’ll sue.

Supreme Dark Lord @voxday
Except she wasn’t smeared as a Nazi. She was mistaken for the woman whom the media smeared as a Nazi.

Supreme Dark Lord @voxday
You lied and called me “a white supremacist”. Then you lied again and said @DonaldJTrumpJr smeared Portia Boulger “as a Nazi.”

Introducing DevGame the blog

The second course (and first online one) is coming to an end today, but in the interest of maintaining the little dev community that the course has inadvertently spawned, I have created a blog to which a number of the course participants have author privileges.

The course itself has been extremely successful. The guests have included everything from programmers at cutting-edge studios to senior producers at EA, from game journalists like The Escapist‘s Oliver Campbell to well-known game developers like Mark Kern (Diablo II producer and World of Warcraft team lead.) And the attendees are working on five dev projects, all of which are updates of classic early 80’s games.

The course spawned a Develop article on imitative design requested by the editor who attended Session Three, and even merited a mention in this month’s GDC issue of the magazine.

The next course will begin in May. If you’re potentially interested in taking it or getting involved in one of the dev projects, I would encourage you to begin following the DevGame blog and reading a few of the testimonials that can be found on the right sidebar.

“The Devgame course is great. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn the
history of games and the industry, to get the real word on how the
industry is, and to receive practical information on how games are made.
It was obvious from the first seminar that this class was worth every
penny.”

And yes, Brainstorm members will be permitted to attend the next course as well.

Does no one know how to play this game?

Those who organized the mass multiethnic chimp-out in Chicago are celebrating their defeat of the Evil Donald Trump. 

Meanwhile, millions of white Americans, or as they were historically known, Americans, are deciding they had better vote for the only candidate who is going to deal with the invasion of America.

And if you weren’t already convinced that Ted Cruz is not the man for the job, his response to the situation should suffice.

Ted Cruz hit The Donald on such violence, saying his campaign bears some responsibility for encouraging it. “A campaign bears responsibility for creating an environment when the candidate urges supporters to engage in physical violence,” Cruz declared on Fox News’s The Kelly File Friday night.

I’ve never supported Cruz in any way because he’s a Goldman-Sachs creature, and I don’t regard him as being eligible for the presidency anyhow, the various emanations and penumbras that declare him a “natural born citizen” notwithstanding. But the political tone-deafness that he is showing here is truly astonishing.

Meanwhile, Mike Cernovich brings us news about the Washington Post’s contribution to the media’s desperate anti-Trump campaign:

Jabin Botsford has been ordered by Washington Post reporter Ben Terris to cover up a media hoax, we can now report. (Credit for these shocking revelations goes to this Internet sleuth.)

When Michelle Fields was nudged during a Donald Trump press conference, Ben Terris blamed Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. Fields went on the media circuit, accusing Lewandowski of assault. Her accusation was later revealed to be false.

Yet the story goes deeper. The Washington Post is actively covering up the false accusation against Trump’s campaign.

Trump’s decision to cancel the rally is looking more and more like his previous decision to skip the Fox debate; he knows a trap when he sees it and isn’t afraid to take action to evade it.

Queens at war

A historical study of European queens produces some unexpected results:

After sifting through historical data on queenly reigns across six centuries, two political scientists have found that it’s more complicated than that. In a recent working paper, New York University scholars Oeindrila Dube and S.P. Harish analyzed 28 European queenly reigns from 1480 to 1913 and found a 27 percent increase in wars when a queen was in power, as compared to the reign of a king. “People have this preconceived idea that states that are led by women engage in less conflict,” Dube told Pacific Standard, but her analysis of the data on European queens suggests another story.

Interestingly, Dube and Harish think the reason why queens were able to take part in more military policy can be explained by the division of labor that tended to happen when a queen — particularly a married queen — ruled. Queens managed foreign policy and war policies, which were often important to bring in cash, while their husbands managed the state (think taxes, crime, judicial issues, etc.). As the authors theorize, “greater division of labor under queenly reigns could have enabled queens to pursue more aggressive war policies.” Kings, on the other hand, didn’t tend to engage in division of labor like ruling queens — or, more specifically, they may have shared military and state duties with some close adviser, but not with the queen. And, Dube and Harish argue, it may be this “asymmetry in how queens relied on male spouses and kings relied on female spouses [that] strengthened the relative capacity of queenly reigns, facilitating their greater participation in warfare.”

The queens’ marital status made a difference here; as the authors write,
“among married monarchs, queens were more likely to participate as
attackers than kings.” If a queen were single — which was the case with
13 of those they studied — she was more likely to be attacked compared
to the times when a king was in power, perhaps because her country was
seen in the outside world as being more vulnerable and thus easier to attack.

Ironically, as Nate pointed out, this means that female leaders are more strongly correlated with warfare than religion. And it would be hard to argue that this relationship is not causal, given the fact that the queens were responsible for the decision to go to war.

The Littlest Chickenhawk goes to war

He never bothered to enlist for any of the campaigns in the Middle East, because he was saving himself for the noblest of all callings: Milady’s arm was said to have been BRUISED:

“Corey Lewandowski is a thug and Donald Trump is a thug for backing him… This has been a verified account. There’s a report in The Daily Beast this morning that Corey Lewandowski specifically went to Matt Boyle over at Breitbart, a guy I know, and said to Matt Boyle that if he’d known it was a Breitbart reporter, he wouldn’t have done it. As though that’s justification. As though you can go after somebody who’s not a Breitbart reporter just because Breitbart is friendlier to Trump than other publications? The whole thing’s absurd.”

Shapiro added, “And the fact that the Trump campaign continues to play this game, where they put out what’s not just violent rhetoric but in this case, a campaign manager engaging in allegedly violent action, and then they won’t even step down to apologize; it’s beyond disgusting. It’s just gross.”

Kelly then turned to Wohl to defend Trump’s campaign manager. He immediately suggested that Fields could be lying: “this whole thing from the beginning doesn’t look good to me. The reality is there were dozens of people around. No one apparently saw it other than this one Washington post reporter. There were 100 cameras, none of them caught anything?”

Kelly, skeptical, asked Wohl, “Were they acting when they had that exchange on tape?”

Wohl replied that Trump was the real victim: “Trump is under attack on multiple levels. On political, economic, social and a personal level. And this is a way to get at him… if it is a real, legitimate assault or battery, you file a police report, you don’t tweet it out and then 36 hours later, you tweet out pictures of bruises and you say, ‘Lewandowski caused it.’”

Shapiro responded brutally: “This is disgusting. How repulsive are you people?”

Oh, it is well done, noble sir! Milady’s honor has been defended! I’m sure you will all join me in tipping your fedoras to him.

Seriously, this whole Michelle Fields thing is totally surreal. The way Shapiro and
Fox News are going into serial fainting fits, you’d think Donald Trump personally ripped her arm off at the
shoulder and raped her with it.

I cannot exaggerate the extent of my indifference concerning the possibility that a female reporter may have been shoved. I think all reporters, male and female, should be beaten periodically, on general principle.

Reprehensible

If you’re ever wondering why I generally refuse to have anything to do with the so-called “non-profit” world, this scandal at the Wounded Warrior Project is a very good example of why:

Wounded Warrior Project aims to empower wounded veterans, but a recent exposé revealed that the charity spent nearly half of its funding empowering its executives instead. The board of directors responded by beginning to clean house, starting at the top.

Wounded Warrior Project has raised more than a billion dollars in donations since 2003, according to CBS News. Donors might expect their money would be used “to honor and empower Wounded Warriors,” as the nonprofit’s mission states. However, CBS revealed the charity spends between 40 to 50 percent of their money on overhead – while other veterans’ charities spend an average of 10 to 15 percent on the same expenses.

Wounded Warrior Project Chief Executive Officer Steven Nardizzi and Chief Operating Officer Al Giordano were both removed from the organization after accusations arose alleging that the charity’s donations were being misused…. Over $26 million was spent on employee conferences in 2014, compared to $1.7 million in 2010. The events were described as being lavish and boozy, such as one annual meeting held in a luxury hotel in Colorado Springs, where 500 staff members attended a four-day conference that came with a final price tag of $3 million.

The corporate world is predatory, and the mercenary class of executives are certainly in it for no one but themselves, but for sheer thievery, I think only the financial industry can even begin to compete with the non-profit world. At least the corporations have to deliver to their customers on some level, or they go out of business.

Not so the non-profit charities and foundations, which often seem to exist primarily to provide those who run them a very good living.

The fact that these con artists would rip off American military veterans, of all people, just makes them among the lowest of the very low.

Yeah, it pretty much is

Florio trolls the NFL world in search of clicks:

No, this isn’t click bait or trolling or whatever other term the cool kids have come up with. It’s a legitimate question given the current state of the Denver roster.

Should they bring back Tim Tebow?

Manning finished the year averaging 6.8 yards per pass and throwing nine touchdown passes against 17 interceptions, with a passer rating of 67.9. In 2011, Tebow averaged 6.4 yards per pass, threw 12 touchdown passes against six interceptions, and had a passer rating of 72.9. He also added 660 rushing yards and six touchdowns; that’s 666 more rushing yards that Manning (minus-6) had this year.

No, it’s not a legitimate question. There is no way that is happening. Tebow did nothing with the three other opportunities afforded to him post-Denver, and hasn’t played in two years. I refuse to even dignify the absurdity with a link.

Elway got rid of Tebow because Tebow’s inability to throw the ball caused the Hall of Fame rifleman genuine psychological pain every time he watched his offense take the field. And while I was genuinely pleased to see Tebow’s unexpected success, particularly in the games against the Jets and Steelers, I can’t blame Elway at all.

Rabid Puppies 2016: Best Novella

The preliminary recommendations for the Best Novella category.

  • “Fear and Self-Loathing in Hollywood”, Nick Cole
  • “Penric’s Demon”, Lois McMaster Bujold
  • “Hyperspace Demons”, Jonathan Moeller
  • “The Builders”, Daniel Polansky
  • “Slow Bullets”, Alastair Reynolds 

Also, I stand corrected. The intrepid readers at File 770 have been gracious enough to inform us that “Space Raptor Butt Invasion” is not actually a novelette, and therefore belongs in the short story category.

Khitty Hawk
Not sure what VD’s goal is since “Space Raptor Butt Invasion” isn’t even a novelette. The thing’s less than 5000 words. No one could No Award it since it’d get disqualified beforehand.

Aaron
Well, it is pretty much established that Beale simply isn’t particularly bright.

Glenn Hauman
We already know he has trouble counting past 5 without taking off the other mitten. Counting to see if it makes novelette length? He’d get lost after 21. Okay, 20 and a half.

I sincerely apologize for this inexcusable and unconscionable error, and will, of course, make the appropriate adjustments when the final Rabid Puppies list of recommendations is presented next week.

      Other 2016 Hugo categories

      EU idiocy is not Russia’s problem

      What on Earth do the moronic EU officials hope to achieve by whining at Russia? It’s enough to make even Putin crack a smile.

      Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of Russia’s Federal Migration Service, said ‘multiculturalism has failed’ because Europe never formed a unified strategy to integrate refugees into Western society. He told RT: ‘Practicing family reunification and offering refugees generous benefits without integrating them into the labor market, the EU did not expect that such a great number of people would claim these rights.

      ‘This was clearly a mistake. The policy of multiculturalism has failed.’

      He pointed to the mass sex attacks by gang of migrant men on women in Cologne. He said: ‘Note the defiant behavior of refugees and their growing claims and demands. What happened in Germany on New Year’s Eve is a striking example of this.’

      His comments came after it emerged Brussels was seeking a deal with Vladimir Putin to stop fuelling the influx of migrants into Europe. A sharp rise in numbers entering the continent from Russia has led senior officials to plead with Moscow for help. It comes despite warnings that, by bombing Syria and fuelling the flow of refugees, Russia is ‘weaponising’ the crisis to ‘overwhelm’ and ‘break’ Europe.

      Meanwhile, migrants continued to ignore warnings about that their hopes for quick access to a better life in Europe would fail.

      It’s interesting to note how Serbia and Russia, two nations that are willing to defend their borders and their people, aren’t being overrun by invaders. Perhaps there is a lesson in that for the feckless European leaders.

      But it is funny to see the EU leaders trying to simultaneously blame Russia for the problem and beg them to solve it. Do you think they’d accept an invitation from Putin to send the Russian military to guard their borders for them?

      Wait a minute… they can’t possibly be THAT stupid, can they?

      Deport the neocons

      Seriously, what American gives a damn what these morally bankrupt morons think?

      The neocons who led the George W. Bush administration into Iraq are now touting a fresh crusade to save American democracy — and the Republican Party — from an authoritarian foe: Donald J. Trump.

      Their campaign began with an impassioned essay in The American Interest last month by Eliot A. Cohen, a former Bush State Department official, who depicted Mr. Trump as symptomatic of the broader “moral rot” of America. Then, in an open letter, more than 100 Republican foreign policy mavens, including neocons such as Mr. Cohen and Robert Kagan, as well as more traditional Republican foreign policy figures like the former World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick, announced they were “united in our opposition to a Donald Trump presidency.”

      Now, in a last-ditch effort, leading neocon thinkers have established what they call the National Security Advisory Council to support Senator Marco Rubio. And many are announcing that if push comes to shove, they will support Hillary Clinton over Mr. Trump. Indeed, in the magazine Commentary, the neoconservative historian Max Boot wrote, somewhat hyperbolically, that Mr. Trump is “the No. 1 threat to American security” — bigger than the Islamic State or China.

      They wanted to remake Iraq, so let’s hope that God-Emperor Trump sends them there. They are the architects of one of the most pointless, hapless, anti-democratic foreign policies in American history; the fact that they are vociferously opposed to Trump is alone enough reason to support him.

      Furthermore, the New York Times is blatantly playing games with economic history here:

      So-called mossback Republicans supported the punitive Immigration Act of 1924, which included provisions barring Asians and restricting African immigrants. The party also backed protectionism: In June 1930 Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff, which worsened the Great Depression and stoked nationalism around the world.

      The Smoot-Hawley tariff is often blamed for the Great Depression. It’s a complete load of nonsense, as anyone who has read RGD knows. Heilbrunn is attempting to avoid being caught in a lie, because a generic term like “worsened” is virtually unquantifiable.

      An immigration act that barred Asians and restricted Africans would look pretty damned good right now to most Republicans. And more than a few Democrats too. But the end of the article is inadvertently optimistic.

      Once George W. Bush and the neocons led us into Iraq, it was probably
      only a matter of time before the neocons were called to account.

      We can certainly hope so, anyhow.