Well ladies and gentlemen, as the oft-reviled Deplorables, we will be taking our rightful place among the damned. I officially announce the beginning of our group read of Dante's Inferno.
Abandon all hope, ye who read further.
Canto I
Dante finds that he has strayed from the right road and is lost in a Dark Wood. He tries to escape by climbing a beautiful Mountain, but is turned aside, first by a gambolling Leopard, then by a fierce Lion, and finally by a ravenous She-Wolf. As he is fleeing back into the wood, he is stopped by the shade of Virgil, who tells him that he cannot hope to pass the Wolf and ascend the Mountain by that road. One day a Greyhound will come and drive the Wolf back to Hell; but the only course at present left open to Dante is to trust himself to Virgil, who will guide him by a longer way, leading through Hell and Purgatory. From there, a worthier spirit than Virgil (Beatrice) will lead him on to see the blessed souls in Paradise. Dante accepts Virgil as his "master, leader, and lord", and they set out together.
Canto II
Dante's attempts to climb the Mountain have taken the whole day and it is now Good Friday evening. Dante has not gone far before he loses heart and "begins to make excuse". To his specious arguments, Virgil replies flatly: "This is mere cowardice" and then tells how Beatrice, prompted by St. Lucy at the instance of the Virgin Mary herself, descended into Limbo to entreat him to go to Dante's rescue. Thus encouraged, Dante pulls himself together and they start off again.
Hello again, guys. Still recovering from my surgery. I'm doing a decent impression of Dr. House, taking Vicodin as a painkiller and walking around with a cane to take weight off a bad leg.
It's difficult to get much done lately. Between the pain, the drug, and (hopefully the last of) the lockdown, I can't focus. I still need to record a video for this coming Monday. The one I'd like to do keeps getting put off because of current events.
Anyway, welcome to Hell. I look forward to your commentary.
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Chapter 12 and Appendix What the Future Holds and A Heartfelt Apology
Chapter 12
The author makes tentative predictions regarding converged corporations and, once again, encourages the reader to take action in his own sphere of influence.
Appendix
Pax Dickinson offers an apology to journalist Amanda Robb for a series of inconveniences she was subjected to in attempting to interview him . . . unsuccessfully.
So it looks like we'll be starting Dante's Inferno next week. I've read the whole thing myself (in translation) at least once before, but it's been over a decade. In my experience, the text itself goes fairly quickly. The real slog is getting through all the footnotes which explain the various historical circumstances. We'll start off doing 2 cantos a week and see how that pace does for us.
If you know anyone who might be interested in joining for that book, please pass this on.
Also, personal update. I had my knee surgery Thursday afternoon. I currently have an enormous swathe of bandages wrapped around my knee and am still somewhat incapacitated. The good news, though, is that now I should start actual healing instead of slowly getting worse.
Thanks for your prayers on this, guys. I look forward to your final thoughts on Corporate Cancer, and it should be interesting starting The Inferno next week.
The author makes tentative predictions regarding converged corporations and, once again, encourages the reader to take action in his own sphere of influence.
Appendix
Pax Dickinson offers an apology to journalist Amanda Robb for a series of inconveniences she was subjected to in attempting to interview him . . . unsuccessfully.
So it looks like we'll be starting Dante's Inferno next week. I've read the whole thing myself (in translation) at least once before, but it's been over a decade. In my experience, the text itself goes fairly quickly. The real slog is getting through all the footnotes which explain the various historical circumstances. We'll start off doing 2 cantos a week and see how that pace does for us.
If you know anyone who might be interested in joining for that book, please pass this on.
Also, personal update. I had my knee surgery Thursday afternoon. I currently have an enormous swathe of bandages wrapped around my knee and am still somewhat incapacitated. The good news, though, is that now I should start actual healing instead of slowly getting worse.
Thanks for your prayers on this, guys. I look forward to your final thoughts on Corporate Cancer, and it should be interesting starting The Inferno next week.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
The convergence of the legal system
So Vox Day defines convergence as an institution or organization ceasing to serve the purpose for which it was created, and instead being turned to serve social justice. Now, our book is more specifically about corporate convergence, but this case is related.
The Hunt for Dystopia D'NaeNae
Large sections of our "justice" system are completely converged. They no longer serve the purpose of equally enforcing laws against stealing, assault, murder, rape, etc. Instead, the goal of these corrupt institutions (courts, police departments, etc.) appears to be protecting non-white criminals against whites who choose to defend themselves from crime. If you live in one of these areas and are a victim of a crime by a non-white, your chances of justice are slim indeed.
Another example of this, the Bay Area Rapid Transit refusing to release footage of criminal actions from their surveillance cameras. Why are they doing this? To not promote racial stereotypes. Now, why would releasing such footage promote racial stereotypes? Unless, of course, the criminals are overwhelmingly of a particular race. And in that case, they are withholding information people genuinely need in order to act wisely to protect themselves.
The corruption of our government in this manner is horrific. It may be beyond repair. What is coming next, I have no idea. Assuming that the U.S. is still a single entity, at some point after Trump, a Democrat will be elected president again. What will they do then, considering how they've been behaving during his presidency.
Yech. This came out far more bleak than I had intended. God be with all of you.
Two announcements: First, unless anyone has serious objections, it appears the most popular suggestion for our next book is Dante's Inferno. I think we should be able to cover 2 cantos a week. From past experience, most of my time reading that was spent not on the text itself but on all of the notes needed to explain many of the references. There are, of course, many translations out there. I would suggest Dorothy Sayers's as she actually translates it into terza rima, as it is in Italian. Whichever translation you use, I would strongly suggest including the quotes in your comments, as something which makes sense from yours may not be so clear from a different translation.
Second, I have surgery tomorrow at noon for my knee. Your prayers would be appreciated. Hopefully, in a few months, it'll be like this never happened and I can run again. That would be wonderful.
Talk with you all Saturday morning. My own comments on recent chapters will be posted shortly.
The Hunt for Dystopia D'NaeNae
Large sections of our "justice" system are completely converged. They no longer serve the purpose of equally enforcing laws against stealing, assault, murder, rape, etc. Instead, the goal of these corrupt institutions (courts, police departments, etc.) appears to be protecting non-white criminals against whites who choose to defend themselves from crime. If you live in one of these areas and are a victim of a crime by a non-white, your chances of justice are slim indeed.
Another example of this, the Bay Area Rapid Transit refusing to release footage of criminal actions from their surveillance cameras. Why are they doing this? To not promote racial stereotypes. Now, why would releasing such footage promote racial stereotypes? Unless, of course, the criminals are overwhelmingly of a particular race. And in that case, they are withholding information people genuinely need in order to act wisely to protect themselves.
The corruption of our government in this manner is horrific. It may be beyond repair. What is coming next, I have no idea. Assuming that the U.S. is still a single entity, at some point after Trump, a Democrat will be elected president again. What will they do then, considering how they've been behaving during his presidency.
Yech. This came out far more bleak than I had intended. God be with all of you.
Two announcements: First, unless anyone has serious objections, it appears the most popular suggestion for our next book is Dante's Inferno. I think we should be able to cover 2 cantos a week. From past experience, most of my time reading that was spent not on the text itself but on all of the notes needed to explain many of the references. There are, of course, many translations out there. I would suggest Dorothy Sayers's as she actually translates it into terza rima, as it is in Italian. Whichever translation you use, I would strongly suggest including the quotes in your comments, as something which makes sense from yours may not be so clear from a different translation.
Second, I have surgery tomorrow at noon for my knee. Your prayers would be appreciated. Hopefully, in a few months, it'll be like this never happened and I can run again. That would be wonderful.
Talk with you all Saturday morning. My own comments on recent chapters will be posted shortly.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Chapters 10 & 11 Case Study: A Patreon Deplatforming and Legal Encounters: The Lesson Learned
Chapter 10 Case Study: A Patreon Deplatforming
This chapter describes the process which led to Owen Benjamin being deplatformed from Patreon. (Of course, this is only one of several companies which has treated him similarly.)
Chapter 11 Legal Encounters: The Lesson Learned
Vox Day describes the various lessons he's derived from his legal battles with various converged tech companies and how the reader can use such lessons in his own situation.
Sorry for the late post, guys.
Okay, so we have the last regular chapter and the appendix left here. The only book I've heard more than one person express interest in for our next is Dante's Inferno. I'm fine with that one, so if that sounds good to you guys, let me know.
I should be having surgery on my knee this Thursday. If all goes well, I'll be back running again by August. I can put up a post before & after if you guys are interested to let you know how it goes.
This chapter describes the process which led to Owen Benjamin being deplatformed from Patreon. (Of course, this is only one of several companies which has treated him similarly.)
Chapter 11 Legal Encounters: The Lesson Learned
Vox Day describes the various lessons he's derived from his legal battles with various converged tech companies and how the reader can use such lessons in his own situation.
Sorry for the late post, guys.
Okay, so we have the last regular chapter and the appendix left here. The only book I've heard more than one person express interest in for our next is Dante's Inferno. I'm fine with that one, so if that sounds good to you guys, let me know.
I should be having surgery on my knee this Thursday. If all goes well, I'll be back running again by August. I can put up a post before & after if you guys are interested to let you know how it goes.
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Chapters 7 and 8 Your Convergence Action Plan and Case Study: The Road to a Deplatforming
Chapter 7 Your Convergence Action Plan
The author offers a suggested plan of action for people in various relationships to a converged company including business customers, employees, and individual customers
Chapter 8 Case Study
Vox describes his own interactions, by way of his comics business, with SJWs in media and in a converged tech company Indiegogo.
So given that chapter 9 is currently on hold, most likely brought to you by the letters N, D, and A, it looks like next week, we'll cover chapters 10 and 11.
Regarding our next book, I'd offered three suggestions The Screwtape Letters, Victoria: A Novel of Fourth Generation War, and The Day of the Rope. Lugnuts has suggested The Flying Inn by G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, and a book by JD Cowan.
Re: The Flying Inn, we just did Chesterton, and I'd like some variety.
I'd be okay with The Space Trilogy, but I'd suggest we only do books 1 and 2 just now, as book 3 is longer. As for Cowan, I don't know much about him, but I'd be willing to try it.
On a personal note, I saw the doctor yesterday, and it looks like I should have surgery on my knee in the next few weeks. If all goes well, I could be back running again by this August.
The author offers a suggested plan of action for people in various relationships to a converged company including business customers, employees, and individual customers
Chapter 8 Case Study
Vox describes his own interactions, by way of his comics business, with SJWs in media and in a converged tech company Indiegogo.
So given that chapter 9 is currently on hold, most likely brought to you by the letters N, D, and A, it looks like next week, we'll cover chapters 10 and 11.
Regarding our next book, I'd offered three suggestions The Screwtape Letters, Victoria: A Novel of Fourth Generation War, and The Day of the Rope. Lugnuts has suggested The Flying Inn by G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, and a book by JD Cowan.
Re: The Flying Inn, we just did Chesterton, and I'd like some variety.
I'd be okay with The Space Trilogy, but I'd suggest we only do books 1 and 2 just now, as book 3 is longer. As for Cowan, I don't know much about him, but I'd be willing to try it.
On a personal note, I saw the doctor yesterday, and it looks like I should have surgery on my knee in the next few weeks. If all goes well, I could be back running again by this August.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
What is our next book?
Okay, this one is going by pretty quickly, so we need to start planning already. What is our next book, guys?
I'll set out some guidelines and then offer a couple of suggestions of my own.
First, I would like to alternate fiction and non-fiction. So the next should be fiction. Second, it should be a book that, in some respects, is at the edges of today's Overton Window if not entirely outside it. Anything that is sincerely representing Christianity would do that.
Our first fiction book was G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday. A few suggestions for a follow-up: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Victoria: A Novel of Fourth Generation War by Thomas Hobbes. The Day of the Rope by Devon Stack.
As usual, I am open to other suggestions. I have read The Screwtape Letters. I've not read the other two, but have some idea about their contents.
I'd also like to note that the fact that I made suggestions does not make yours futile. Our current book was not one of my suggestions, and I am open to input. Please tell me what you'd like us to discuss together.
On a personal note, tomorrow I am going in for an ultrasound on my right knee. This will make three methods of medical imaging on one joint. If all goes well, I should be having surgery to repair that knee sometime in the next month. Prayers would be appreciated.
I'll set out some guidelines and then offer a couple of suggestions of my own.
First, I would like to alternate fiction and non-fiction. So the next should be fiction. Second, it should be a book that, in some respects, is at the edges of today's Overton Window if not entirely outside it. Anything that is sincerely representing Christianity would do that.
Our first fiction book was G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday. A few suggestions for a follow-up: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Victoria: A Novel of Fourth Generation War by Thomas Hobbes. The Day of the Rope by Devon Stack.
As usual, I am open to other suggestions. I have read The Screwtape Letters. I've not read the other two, but have some idea about their contents.
I'd also like to note that the fact that I made suggestions does not make yours futile. Our current book was not one of my suggestions, and I am open to input. Please tell me what you'd like us to discuss together.
On a personal note, tomorrow I am going in for an ultrasound on my right knee. This will make three methods of medical imaging on one joint. If all goes well, I should be having surgery to repair that knee sometime in the next month. Prayers would be appreciated.
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Chapters 5 and 6 - Diagnosing Convergence and Why Full Convergence is Fatal
Chapter 5
The author offers a method to tell how converged any given company is: comparing the company's actions to various standard measures. He gives examples of several companies and their actions to establish a standard to compare your own company to.
Chapter 6
The author describes the actions of various heavily-converged companies including T-Mobile, Google, and Starbucks, and why those actions are destructive to the corporation's nominal goals.
Since this is a fairly short book, we already need to start planning for our next book if we'd like to keep this going. I still like the idea of alternating fiction and non-fiction. So I have a couple of ideas for what might be a good fiction book next, but I'll wait for a mid-week post. If you have a suggestion, please add it in the comments.
The author offers a method to tell how converged any given company is: comparing the company's actions to various standard measures. He gives examples of several companies and their actions to establish a standard to compare your own company to.
Chapter 6
The author describes the actions of various heavily-converged companies including T-Mobile, Google, and Starbucks, and why those actions are destructive to the corporation's nominal goals.
Since this is a fairly short book, we already need to start planning for our next book if we'd like to keep this going. I still like the idea of alternating fiction and non-fiction. So I have a couple of ideas for what might be a good fiction book next, but I'll wait for a mid-week post. If you have a suggestion, please add it in the comments.
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