Sad Puppies, Hugos, Entryism, and Social Cliques

So, yeah, it's stupid season in the land of sci-fi.

A relatively minor kerfuffle in fandom has blown up out of all reasonable proportion. Let me sum up one side: Oh, noes! People are voting in the Hugo awards in a fashion we don't like! And they're people we don't like! This is awful! They must be ! We should do somethings!

Wait. I think I summed up both sides. I tend to agree more with one side than the other, but I'm not entirely sure how much I care. Honestly, the last time I cared that someone had won a Hugo was when Ursala Vernon won for Digger. I can say truthfully at this late stage of my existence, I don't generally notice who wins the Hugos. Of the awards/nominations handed out this millennium, I read the ones I did completely irrespective of the awards.

Let's back up for a moment and talk about the Hugos. I'm going to talk about the Best Novel awards from here out, because it's the marquee award. Yeah, there's those other categories, but the novel is the big enchilada. What's there to say about it? A fandom popularity contest! Most prestigious award in sic-fi! Determined by very few people! Long and storied history! Not representative of the genre at any given time! Only award that affects sales! A list of sci-fi's great works! All of these things are, to a greater or lesser extent, true.

It's always been run by fans. Fans vote on it, fans run it, and ultimately fans are what make the Hugos possible. But only those fans that attend or pay money to Worldcon. It's not open to the rest of the vastly larger community of people who are sci-fi fans. The number of nominating ballots last year (2014, since the web is forever and the most recent data available, btw) was 1923 with 3587 ballots cast in the final voting. This is a tiny, tiny subset of the body of people who can be called sf/f fans.

Let's take me as an example. I've read, from a quick count, at least 123 of the novels that won or were nominated for the Hugos. Hell, I've got most of those on the bookshelf, including some Hugo winners I haven't read yet. But, despite my having been raised on and reading science fiction since I was knee high to a duck, I've never been to Worldcon, nor do I plan to go. That would involve leaving the house and interacting with large numbers of people, neither of which are on my shortlist of fun things to do. In the minds of a certain group of people, my not going to cons makes me a lesser fan than them. I don't support the community*. I should keep my mouth shut and let real fans, who go to cons and stuff, decide what the best works of sci fi are. In short I am not of the clique, so how dare I have an opinion on what the clique does. This attitude is a large part of the current problem, along with the idea that the 'real' con-going fans are the true arbiters of good sci-fi. It doesn't bother me, because who the fuck are these people and why should I care? There are, however, apparently a lot of people out there who resent this attitude.

But seriously, it's cliquish popularity contest all the way down, and more importantly, always has been. Look at the past Best Novel nomination lists: 64 years of nominations, usually 5 nominations per year, and a grand total of 136 authors. Either some of these people just happen to write one of the 5 best books each year they publish, or it's got more to do with popularity. Some people are a lot more popular with the fanbase than others, it appears. Bob Heinlein could have crapped on a ream of paper and they'd have nominated it for something. More recently, look at Short Form Dramatic Presentation awards where Dr. Who episodes written by Moffat take the award entirely too many times for the quality of his work. But hey, the fans liked Heinlein and they like Moffat, so that's great sci fi! Seriously, ask yourself if there's another industry where the fanboys & girls hand out the most prestigious award. I'm unaware of it.

Now let's shift gears and talk about entryism. There's some larger background you can go research, but in general, the left in America has been on a decades long crusade to infiltrate every organization in America and shift the paradigm to one more favorable to their worldview. This can be seen most notably in academia and journalism. Apparently, at some point when I wasn't paying attention, this process started in the sf/f fandom world. The 'personal is political' crowd crept in while nobody was looking. These are the people who think everything is an extension of your politics. Did you write an entertaining story? You might think that should be important for sf/f, that doesn't matter to them. What matters more are your views on everything else under the sun. The perceived politics of a work and its author are now critical, and this has bled over into the fans as well. You need to slavishly conform to the dominant progressive groupthink of the day or you are, again, not a real fan and generally an unperson. Certain people who have a long and storied pedigree in the industry were exempted from this, mainly because you can't kick out somebody like Jerry Pournelle. But new authors and incoming fans? Fuck 'em. Conform or die, bitches.

Not being entirely dim, certain people within the community noticed how things were going. So, they decided to game the system. They called themselves Sad Puppies and mounted a successful insurrectionist campaign against the Hugos, completely according to the rules. The Sad Puppies did a demonstration/proof of concept last year, and got a few things nominated. This year they went for broke and, along with another group called Rabid Puppies, swept the nominations. Somewhat predictably, the world went nuts. The old-line fandom cliques are totally distraught while the newer progressive wing is just calling everybody racist. Strangely enough, the main instigator of the Sad Puppies called the reaction before it happened. As always with progressives, dissenting voices must be silenced. So the campaign against these horrible people who dared interfere is in full swing. Too bad they paid their money and get to vote now, huh?

I don't really have to take a side, but if I do, I'll come down on the side that doesn't contain a mendacious racist and a fascist censor. See, this insulting people thing is so easy anyone can play! Of course, now most of you have no idea which side that is because of all the mud being slung about. For the uninitiated, that means I'm more philosophically inclined to agree with the Sad Puppies because of some shitty past ( and continuing!) behavior by people on the opposite side.

What's it all mean? I dunno. Not my circus, not my monkeys. Most of my reading recommendations come from reading things by people who are known to me from previous work and actual humans I know, not a bunch of random con attendees. There's lots of talk about how the system is broken and we shouldn't tolerate this sort of behavior and blah blah blah. One thing the Puppies have going for them is that they did the whole thing out in the open for everybody to watch. They're more than happy to tell you why they did it. The other side? No real coherent point, just insults and whining.

Some random closing thoughts, in no particular order:
Democracy is what it is. You let people pay $40 bucks and vote, you get what they decide. Sucks for you if you don't like it.

The implicit assumption that all of the people who voted for the Sad Puppies slate aren't 'real' fans is hilariously broken from the get go. Would people who didn't give a shit pay the $40 bucks to vote?

Valid nominating ballots this year as opposed to last year? 2122 vs. 1923. If 200 people are enough to break your election as thoroughly as some claim, your election was weak to begin with. There are a lot of things going on here somebody with more time than me could unpack.

I have little or no sentimental attachment to the Hugos. If they die, they die. Times change, the world moves on. Adapt or die.

*I figure I'm supporting the community by buying books new at retail. By my doing so, authors get paid, which means they keep authoring. Going to cons doesn't get authors paid.

Never Trust The Internets

At least, not when it comes to online voting. Those of us who have been on the internet more than a day or two may remember the Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf vs. People's online poll episode. Anyone with a brain should have figured out about that time that online polling and voting was susceptible to strange results.

Some people missed the memo. I voted in this poll a few days ago, back when a proposed acronym of GOATSE was coming in second. Apparently somebody in Austin figured out what goatse meant. Shame they didn't figure out why this was a bad idea at the same time.

Terry Lowry, the Republican Party & the EEEVIL Libertarian Boogeymen

If you're not familiar with Mr. Terry Lowry and his activities, suffice it to say that he has long held an interesting reputation within local Republican activist circles. He's a semi-insider (precinct chair) who claims to host weekday radio programs on FM 100.7 and/or AM 1110 . The problem is if you visit either website, the timeslot he claims to inhabit on the FM frequency actually lists a radio show hosted by a Ms. Marsha Lambeth, and his claimed AM slot is hosted by a Mr. Ray Lucia. I'm sure at one point, he hosted a show somewhere, no doubt tuned into by a couple of family members and/or someone in the listening area with a busted radio. After all, he prints a fantabulous picture of himself over and over on his newsletter that looks about 25 years old where he sports what is I'm sure is his "trademark" stretch-mark hiding mustache and wearing some giant earmuff headphones around his neck. That has to make him radio legit, right?

Now, all joking aside, I'm betting on a personal level, Mr. Lowry is an amiable man; however, what he is really known for is his "Link Letter". This "publication", if you want to call it that, is an amateurish, 70's style, poorly printed mailer, which inside is basically nothing more than a collection of candidate ads, some tabloid-style rumor filled or reprinted articles, and a couple of pages dedicated to who Mr. Lowry personally endorses.

The dirty little secret about the "Link Letter" is, the trick to getting a personal endorsement from Mr. Lowry is having some cash that you're willing to hand over to Mr. Lowry. Oh, and taking him for a couple of meals doesn't hurt either. See, he explains on his "How are Endorsements Made?" page that he meets personally with every candidate, and from what I understand from a few resources, you almost can't get a "personal meeting" without buying the man a meal. Nice gig if you can get enough people to sign up, I guess. That summation made, I honestly think Big Jolly and The County Seat have captured the essence of the Link Letter from a far more interesting perspective than I ever could, so I'll leave the further information to them, if you're interested.

Now, I have to waste a little space to commend whoever compiles the mailing lists for the infamous "Link Letter". The last time there was a Republican primary in this State, the new and improved Y-P-S Manor was little more than a lump of dirt in the back of an obscure suburban neighborhood in South Montgomery County. This primary season, we actually received a "Link Letter" to the Manor, although I found it odd that it was addressed to the only individual in our household whose voting registration is listed "in suspense". Long story short, this person only used our address as a permanent one for a short period and no longer does so.

All this introductory stuff aside though and the point of my screed du jour, is that the common "scare" theme of Mr. Lowry's "Letter" this year is something I've heard in several circles: all "Christian Conservatives" need to "beware" because there's an evil Libertarian force trying to hijack the Republican party. From a personal perspective, and living with one of these "evil" Libertarians myself, I can convey the following message to all good, God fearing Republicans: true Libertarians wrote off the Republican party as worthless years ago. Most Libertarians are satisfied holding true to their never ending competition for ideological purity while steadfastly maintaining their hefty, but ideologically pure 1% voting block.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, here are the facts. Yes, there is a force trying to take over the party, but we've been here in one form or another all along.

Who are we?

Many of us were on the party "inside", (I personally haven't missed a Republican primary since I became of voting age and was myself a precinct chair & member of the HCRP) but the Republican party moved so far away from us and our ideals we could no longer tolerate the hypocrisy.

We've grown tired of the unkept promises, and of the officeholders who run on one set of issues and govern on another. Some us tried to hold our noses and vote for some abominable characters for the "good of the party" and some of us inevitably couldn't bear it. So we suffered while casting our ballots as the not-so ideologically pure 1%. Many of these folks I believe are the origins of the TEA party revolution, although I don't personally consider myself a TEA party activist.

Many of us are the children of Goldwater Conservatism and the Reagan Revolution.

We're sick of what the spoiled and sense of entitled Baby Boomers have done and continue to do to our country.

We're ready to combat the incremental Socialism and Communism that has oozed like some disease into our system.

We're ready for true constitutionalism and actual capitalism, not the crony variety where failure is "bailed out" by the so-called stewards of our hard earned money.

We're smart, we know who are the few good guys in government, and we back them. Unfortunately, most of those currently in power (regardless of party) are drunk with that power, and have time and time again proven their inability to provide the form of government we've tried to elect.

We don't want the absence of Government regulation, except where you think we need it; we want the Government out of our business.

We believe Government is evil and almost everything it touches fails.

We believe in the liberty and freedom granted to us by God, not by Government.

We believe the power to tax is the power to destroy.

Fundamentally, we believe that the promise of opportunity is as it was during the time of our founders.

We want the Federal Government to stick to the Enumerated Powers so eloquently stated in Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, and we want our State governments to intrude upon us as little as possible.

We believe that our American Consitution is the most perfect system of Government ever codified.

We believe that our Founders provided us with an exit strategy and we're trying so very desperately to not use it.

So, to further our efforts, we voice our malcontent...and over the years we were placated and preached at by our so-called "leaders" and "voices" that a third party was not the answer. We've been told time and time again we need to change the party from within, at the primary level. Well, that's exactly what we're doing, and that means some of these self-proclaimed "voices" and "leaders" who are part of the problem have got to go.

We are our own leaders, we have our families, and we don't need you.

I can imagine the prospect of losing power to someone who has spent his or her life living off the spoils of Government largess, is very daunting. My goodness, Mr. or Mrs. Government official, you might actually have to GET A REAL JOB and live by the horrid laws to which you've subjected the rest of us.

So now to hang on your sacred power you've resorted to lying about us and calling us names.

We, the liberty minded voters of the Republican party, are the people who the wannabe hanger-oners and political extortionists like Terry Lowry are calling the "libertarians who are trying to hijack the party."

The truth is that those like Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, John McCain, Charlie Crist, Lindsay Graham, Chuck Hagel, Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and even Terry Lowry are the ones who hijacked and perverted the ideals of the Republican party, and now these people and those like them need to recognize that they've failed our country. It is time for them to step aside and give someone else a shot.

And if you don't, we'll do our best to put you aside.

...I'm J, and I approved this message.

/rant

Votinatin'

Once again, the voters of Texas are being asked to poke around in the dog's breakfast that is the state constitution and fix some of the screw-ups from days gone by. As a handy service, I have compiled a list of how you should vote if you are crazy enough to take my advice on politics. My list only covers the Amendments on the ballot because out in the sticks where I live, that's all that's on the ballot.

1 - Against. I was unaware cities and counties possessed military bases. If buffer areas are needed, the entity responsible for the base needs to handle the problem, not the surrounding jurisdiction.
2 - For. If I'm living in my house, it should be taxed as my house, not taxed on the theoretical value if my house was an office building.
3 - Against. I fail to see why things being done differently in Harris County vs. Blanco County is something the state needs to worry about.
4 - For. I'm just slightly for this. I could be convinced otherwise by a strong argument.
5 - For. It's an adjustment to the reality on the ground. If you need more people than you can get, what are you supposed to do?
6 - Against. You want more bonds, come back and ask for them again.
7 - For. If there's no conflict between National Guard service, why would there be for the State Guard?
8 - Undecided. While in theory, I am fine with what the state is doing, I am uneasy at the state providing resources to handle what should be a purely federal function. Once the state starts down the path, the fed may expect it.
9 - Against. Beaches are so goddamned important we should strip property rights away from people based on the whims of the weather? You're either for private property or you're not. If the state wants public beaches, the Lege needs to pony up some cash and buy the land.
10 - For. Two year terms essentially become endless campaigns.
11 - For. Given my views on eminent domain, I'll take whatever limits I can get.

Further analysis can be found here and here.

If you have candidates, I certainly hope you've done some research on them before today. If not, stay home. We have enough ignuts making policy without the rest of the ignuts encouraging them.

And as always, be nice to your election workers.

The Voter Registrar

So, with all the news on voter fraud going on over the past couple of days, ACORN, Obama people, and the like, I notice this transcript that our local TV station broadcast recently.

I don't know about everywhere else, but I can tell you how voter registration and the rolls work in Harris county. Paul Bettencourt's office works his ass off on this, and Click 2 Houston isn't being entirely accurate. I am sure there are dead people on the rolls, but as long as a voter is shown voting (the name is signed in the voter book)...which means as long as the election workers in the precincts are perpetrating fraud, a voter will stay on the rolls.

A voter is placed in suspense if he goes something like 3 elections where he doesn't vote. The line next to his name in the sign in book will have a notation and the election worker must see a photo ID if he shows up. In the meantime notices are sent to the address of record. After the next general election, if no response is received by mail and the voter doesn't show, he's removed from the rolls altogether.

As a former Election Judge, I have personally dealt with an individual (stupid donk twit) who came in, was rude to my 82 year old Grandmother, started bitching and moaning because she wasn't on the rolls, demanded her right to vote, produced her ID, and let me look her up. I saw no record, so I called Bettencourt's super secret election day number for judges in situations like this. Guess what? Uncle Paul's office can tell me that she re-registered in OREGON the previous year. I look at the twit in question and state, "according to the voter registrar, you registered in the State of Oregon last year, is this true?" Then I sit back, secretly smile, and watch the idjit twitch. I say that is pretty darned impressive on behalf of the registrar's office.

Prior to the introduction of ESlate in Harris County, I witnessed in precincts in Sheila Jackson (TV) Lee's congressional district, the workers go through the books near the end of the polls closing, sign by peoples' names who didn't show, and vote for them. And yes, you can see there will be 4 or 5 people in a row with the exact same handwriting in the book. Where the problem lies in our area, is at the precinct level, and then post-election. An individual who ran for state rep several years ago in that same (Queen Sheila's) area lost his race by less than 500 votes due to a ballot box with a broken seal that arrived to the county at 2a. When issues are reported, certain folks cry racism, the matter is swept away, and rightfully elected candidates are branded as sore losers.

I think probably what the counties need to do in the case of the dead is link up with death certificates issued in their respective counties, drop a couple of cards in the mail, and if they get no contact, remove the voter. I honestly thought they already did this. I also would love to see more volunteer poll watchers assigned to these precincts to see what is really going on in those rooms. A lot of people need to go to jail.

As an aside, I think the key to involving more people in elections in general is making it an additional exemption to jury duty.

As a second aside, I find it odd that all of these fraud issues only seem to occur with Democrat organizations, in Democrat precincts, and with Democrat workers and voters. The news media tells us how everybody hates and disagrees with Republicans, and yet it is the Democrats who cheat at every level and still can't totally sweep elections. Hmmm...

And finally, I think it goes without saying that the lazy assed news media should really engage in a little more fact checking.