Vox Popoli

In which America is surprised to learn that minorities behave just a little bit differently when they find themselves in charge:

A 20-year-old woman who was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield was also maimed by her attacker, police said. Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard tells Channel 4 Action News that the victim was robbed at knifepoint on Wednesday night outside of a Citizens Bank near Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street just before 9 p.m.

Richard said the robber took $60 from the woman, then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim’s car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using the knife to scratch the letter “B” into her face, Richard said.

That’s bad news. But the really bad news is that Michelle Obama just hired the guy to lead Obama’s post-election outreach campaign.

Andy McCarthy reminds us that this is the mostest importantest election EVAR… again:

As anyone who follows the Corner and cares about such things knows, I have never been a McCain fan. I worry a great deal about McCain reaching across the aisle for the next four years “to get things done” (which I imagine, to detour for a moment on the judicial-appointees issue Ramesh and Peter debated yesterday, would involve throwing congressional Dems a lot of judicial slots on the lower courts, and — as Ramesh and I have discussed before — I am not as confident as some that McCain’s Supreme Court picks would be very satisfying). I also fret about Republicans in Congress rolling over for McCain when they’d be inclined to fight Obama. For a long time, I struggled with the question whether it would be better — especially on the matter of conservative reform discussed here yesterday — if we just resigned ourselves to rebuilding and becoming a coherent opposition to an Obama administration.

I abandoned that idea because, while I disagree with McCain on many things, I am frightened by Obama. He would try to change the United States in very fundamental ways.

This post is unfortunately yet another in the countless repetitions of “vote the lesser evil because this is the mostest importantest election EVAR”. We see this every four years from Republicans and all it does is to ensure is that both the greater and lesser evils are further to the left four years later. Abandoning reason for emotion – you state outright that you’re “frightened” – is hardly the way to ensure long-term success.

Political pragmatism dug this hole. Abandoning principle one more time won’t help America or the Republican Party get out of it.

McCain will be very bad. Obama will be even worse. No conservative, libertarian, or republican of principle should vote for either man.

Ron Paul explains the obvious to the clueless:

In the midst of highly unpopular bailouts of Wall Street, many justifications have been given about why Washington feels the need to act. Some claim that capitalism and the free market are to blame, but we have not had capitalism. If you compare our financial capital to our aggregate debt, this would be obvious. In the same way, we have not had a truly free market. The monetary manipulations of the Federal Reserve, a complex tax code, the many “oversight” agencies and their mountains of regulations show that we are far removed from a free market economy.

Read. Learn. Think. There is no such thing as “too big to fail”. And the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

This very useful site may help provide a perspective on a concept that for some reason appears to be very difficult for most people to understand: a monetary unit is, on average, a short-lived thing:

The median age for a live currency is 37 years and at least one, the Zimbabwe dollar, is in the throes of hyperinflation. Excluding the early paper currencies of China up until the 15th century and the majority of paper currencies that existed in China until 1935, there are 609 currencies no longer in circulation. Of these, at least 153 were destroyed as a result of hyperinflation caused by over-issuance. The remainder were revalued, destroyed by military occupation/liberation, renamed for political reasons, or were converted to another currency. The median age for these currencies is only seventeen years.

This list, of course, is by no means perfect. For example, the present dollar is by no means identical to the 1792 dollar, which was defined by the Coinage Act of that year and specified a dollar to be 371.25 grains (24.75 grams) of silver. At today’s silver price, that 1792 dollar is worth 8.18 in current dollars.

Regardless, it’s a near-certainty that most of us will live to see the U.S. dollar replaced by another currency. On the other hand, keep in mind that nothing ever goes straight to zero and the dollar may well continue to strengthen against other paper currencies in light of the current deflation.

Lest you wonder why I don’t worry about my book sales:

There’s a decided lack of plot in the above synopsis, and it’s not because I want to withhold spoilers. Truth is, there really isn’t a plot in Twilight. Nearly 400 out of 500 pages are devoted to Bella and Edward cuddling, professing their undying love for each other, and generally staring at each other dewey-eyed. In other words, oodles and oodles of this:

“His angel’s face was only a few inches from mine. I might have — should have — flinched away from his uexpected closeness, but I was unable to move. His golden eyes mesmerized me.”What are you afraid of, then?” he whispered intently.But I couldn’t answer. As I had just that once before, I smelled his cool breath in my face. Sweet, delicious, the scent made my mouth water. It was unlike anything else. Instinctively, unthinkingly, I leaned closer, inhaling.”

Sweet smelling…breath? Is this for real? I bet he craps rainbows, too. Just sayin’.

Seriously people, this is it. Between scenes of Bella playing Susie Homemaker to her father and wondering at her inexplicable popularity, this is Twilight.

Given the rather exotic nature of Summa Elvetica I suspect no one will ever doubt my professed lack of ambition to make the NYT bestseller’s list again. The truth is, if I wanted to maximize my pursuit of the consumer entertainment dollar, I’d much prefer to build an x-rated empire and develop games like Strip Club Tycoon and Rape 3D than write this sort of banal and brainless schlock.

Speaking of porn and Twilight, I’m reminded of the writer who wondered what was going to happen when a generation of young men accustomed to acrobatic performances by silicone-enhanced actresses runs headlong into a generation of young women expecting the human equivalent of gentlemanly teetotalling vampires. My impression is that moment of two cultures colliding will be the perfect moment to introduce Robogirl.

And, of course, bid adieu to Homo Technicas.

In which I conclude our new visitor is doomed to disappointment:

Heard you on AFR yesterday and was taken with your tone. You seem to have a great understanding of how things really work without the usual cockiness that accompanies that.

J, I’m very glad to hear that you enjoyed the interview. You’re certainly welcome to bookmark this blog and hang out as often as you like. I hope you enjoy the ongoing discourse. However, full disclosure requires me to inform you that I do not suffer from what a reasonable man would describe as a dearth of self-assurance. I am polite when making an appearance on other people’s shows and blogs, but this civility should probably not be taken as an absence of arrogance.

It’s probably just as well Bane already kicked it. This would totally have done him in. He would have died laughing.

I’ve always subtracted 5 points from the Democratic advantage and usually come closer to the actual result than any of the pre-election polls. This guy, however, has closely examined a number of their structural flaws:

I have already written extensively about polling groups manipulation of demographic weights, so I will only summarize here that in addition to party affiliation, various polling groups this year have produced polls out of demographic balance with Census norms for urban/suburban/rural participation, minority race representation, age, employment status, and income range. It should not be difficult to imagine how these manipulations might invalidate the results published by the polling groups.

I have to admit, it always seems bizarre to me when a poll announces that in a recent polling of 850 Democrats and 600 Republicans, Obama has a 58-42 advantage. I mean, do they even have to ask the question to figure that one out? I understand the concept of estimating dynamic party identifications and electoral turnout, but it seems to me that given the weight of those estimates, the actual answers are irrelevant.

“In a poll of 140 black Democrats and one Republican who still supports Ron Paul, Obama is ahead 100-0. Looks like an epic Democratic landslide of unthinkable proportions, Katie!”

In summary, if McCain is within 5 points next month, he probably wins.

There is nothing free about the market in the USA:

On Monday October 13 in the US Treasury, Paulson convened an emergency meeting with the heads of the nine largest US banks. According to reports from participants, Paulson handed each person a one page document to sign that they would agree to sell their stock shares in part to the US Government in return for an emergency injection of $250 billions. Paulson told them they must all sign before leaving the room. Three hours and reportedly many acrimonious arguments later, all nine had signed in the largest Government intervention into the US banking system since the Great Depression.

Unsurprisingly, the “conservative” media is almost completely silent about this coercive government acquisition. About the only way they’d even notice is if Paulson took over the Yankees or American Idol this way.

In care you’re interested, I’ll be doing an interview about TIA on the Christian Radio Network with Tim Wildmon and Marvin Sanders from 11:15 to 11:55 EST.

It seems that contrary to my original impressions, Summa Elvetica is actually available through Amazon now. I assume that most of you who were interested in acquiring the book have already ordered it from Marcher Lord by now, but if not, I thought I’d see if anyone was still interested in participating in a book surge of the sort we did for TIA. So, let me know what you think one way or the other; in the meantime, here’s a few more comments on the book from three recent reviewers:

I have never written fan mail to an author before, but I wanted to email you in praise of your wonderful book! I finished reading Summa Elvetica this weekend and was terribly disappointed when it ended so soon! I would quite happily have stayed in the world you created, enjoying the philosophical debate and the theological discussions. I trained as a surgeon in Oxford, and your book reminded me of the kind of arguments we would have in the Common Room until the small hours of the morning (though admittedly not over the eternal fate of elves…:)
– JB (via email)

Beale is an accomplished storyteller. This is evidenced by the fact that he stuck what amounted to two massive flashbacks into the front of his story and I didn’t realize until I got to the end of the first. And Beale also put in a great deal of tension and I didn’t see the ambush coming until it was too late. On top of that, the way the Sanctiff decides the question of elvish souls is so deliciously simple, I couldn’t stop smiling after I read it.
– The Least Read Blog on the Web

Theodore Beale takes up this theme in Summa Elvetica. When it is claimed that religion causes war, the crusades spring instantly to mind. If we read the prospective holy war against the elves as a parallel to one of the crusades of the middle ages, a complicated picture begins to emerge. The pious may be more likely to support a war if urged on to do so by their spiritual leader, but the war profiteers aren’t going to be moved by indulgences and red crosses. In short, a variety of motives lead men to go to war, even an ostensibly holy one. Blame resides with fallen man, not with religion which serves to ameliorate his depravity. Beale is not likely to join the company of Tolkien and Lewis—at least not yet—but he gives evidence of a lucid imagination and demonstrates that he can tell a good story. Its unusual subject matter may suggest merely an amusing novel, but Summa Elvetica creates a world in which the middle ages, its wars and its theological disputes, come roaring back to life.
– Thoughts and Ideas… of a Catholic libertarian

I don’t believe it makes any sense to argue with another reader’s impression of a book, least of all when you’re the author, so I will merely observe that I am fully aware of how I violated numerous “rules” of fantasy fiction throughout Summa Elvetica and mention that my publisher is in total agreement with the second point made by The Least Read Blog. If one understands that The Programmed Man is my favorite science fiction novel, then perhaps one can grasp why I elected to handle such an important plot element in that manner. As for the first point, the entire purpose of the book was to drop a medieval Church into a conventional high fantasy world, therefore convention in the usual fantasy races was required. Note, however, that I did build a foundation for a departure from conventional high fantasy with some of the other races in the event I decide to set future fiction in Selenoth.

Also, if you have written reviews, I’d encourage you to put them up on Amazon.