WorldCon, the home of the Hugos, has been filled with a collection of lefty snobs for, easily, the last 50 years or so. Kevin J Anderson joked at one DragonCon that after the rise of Star Trek made SF really popular again, WorldCon decided to lock out everyone who followed "media" SF. WorldCon was only for the "elite" who only appreciated literary SF.
And thus the slow spiral began. And I mean slow. I'd say it caught up to WorldCon about twenty years ago, maybe a little less, when it gets more and more difficult to find anyone on the Hugo nominations for best novel that I could even pick out of a lineup.
Of course, there were Puppies, and the fun that was had there for a year or two. After that, even Vox Day has given up on trolling WorldCon. And when even Vox Day thinks you're not even worth poking with a stick, check your pulse, you're probably dead.
Enter Jon Del Arroz, the man who was banned from BayCon, and losing every friend he'd made at a con he worked for 10 years, all because he voted for Trump.
Jon is, at worse, a good acquaintance. I don't think it would be too much to call him a friend. I like him, even if he is far too friendly, sociable and optimistic for my taste. I prefer sitting in my office and pumping out books to--ugh-- dealing with people. I have a history of that never ending well.
Jon, of course, has three stages of interacting with Leftists online.
Step one, he is aggressively friendly. Everything I have seen from Jon shows that he is sincere in being friendly.
SFWA President Cat Rambo (yes, that's her name) cites Jon's crimes against her as
And for the record, yes, I did read a report that she posted those exact complaints against Jon. She was apparently serious.
Now, my usual tactic dealing with people who annoy me is to ignore them. The worst I've done to someone has been to block them.
With Jon however, these people decide to continue engaging with him. Not because they like Jon, but because they hate him, and have already branded him an -ist or a -phobe-- racist, sexist, blah blah blah. Cat Rambo and John Scalzi have both gone after Jon on their blogs...
Seriously, do you people have nothing better to do?
That's when step 2 kicks in: trolling. He pokes, prods, and generally teases and makes fun of these people who have publicly scorned, ridiculed, and have gone after him. It's occasionally entertaining, though I personally think it's a joke that stopped being funny. Though, again, if these people are in such hysterics over Jon teasing them... block him. Move on.
But no, apparently they can't do that. They can't move on. Considering they started a "Move on .com" website after 9/11, that's kinda funny.
Then he wanted to go to WorldCon. Why does he want to go to WorldCon? Because he wants to be friendly and sociable with people, and try to talk with them in person. Because, surely, when you talk to them in person, they're going to act differently than they do in real life, of course. Aren't they?
I think Probably not, but I'm not Jon.
So, WorldCon took his money for his ticket, then downgraded him from attending member to "You can vote in the Hugos, but come near us and we won't let you in." Well, that's a bit of a dick move. And why, you ask? They SAY it's because he intends to violate community standards. In their official announcement, they don't mention anything, aside from implying that he's a racist and a bully. Then they say in further comments on Facebook that he's going to be wearing a body camera due to threats-- his children have been doxxed, he's had packages sent to his house, all things that he's told WorldCon already.
Wait, I'm sorry, he's bringing a camera for self defense, and that's a problem? Maybe if he brought mace, I could see that.
Then of course, you have people like Scalzi talking about how "We don't want any annoying people at our convention!" Dude, if they didn't want annoying people, how come they'll still let you in? Also, if it's because he's annoying, why not say so? If it's because of the camera, why not ask Jon if he'll refrain from using it, THEN block him if he refuses?
See? It's a bit of a problem.
In order to cover their asses against charges of racism, World Con has decided to point out that the guest of honor is Hispanic! How nice that they promoted a pet token to GoH status. I wonder if the guy knows that he's being used as a shield. Poor guy.
Now, if they had just honestly said, "You're an evil Trump supporter and you have cooties," I'm sure everyone would have just rolled with it. It would at least be honest. After all, Jon believes in freedom of association. But they don't. Now they have to bake Jon a cake, and like it.
My first thought is "lawsuit." Seriously, they gave him no warning, is banning him on reasons they will neither confirm nor clarify, and they seem very interested in jerking him around. Their decision is "final," but having my own experience with lawyers, they better get used to the term "arbitrary and capricious."
I don't agree with Jon on this matter. I see no reason for any sane human being to go to WorldCon.
Though I do hear that Jon has pondered getting a Hugo nomination. Heh heh heh.
But yeah. WorldCon wants a war. I suspect they're going to get one.
And in the end, they just may have to make a cake.
And thus the slow spiral began. And I mean slow. I'd say it caught up to WorldCon about twenty years ago, maybe a little less, when it gets more and more difficult to find anyone on the Hugo nominations for best novel that I could even pick out of a lineup.
Of course, there were Puppies, and the fun that was had there for a year or two. After that, even Vox Day has given up on trolling WorldCon. And when even Vox Day thinks you're not even worth poking with a stick, check your pulse, you're probably dead.
Enter Jon Del Arroz, the man who was banned from BayCon, and losing every friend he'd made at a con he worked for 10 years, all because he voted for Trump.
Jon is, at worse, a good acquaintance. I don't think it would be too much to call him a friend. I like him, even if he is far too friendly, sociable and optimistic for my taste. I prefer sitting in my office and pumping out books to--ugh-- dealing with people. I have a history of that never ending well.
Jon, of course, has three stages of interacting with Leftists online.
Step one, he is aggressively friendly. Everything I have seen from Jon shows that he is sincere in being friendly.
SFWA President Cat Rambo (yes, that's her name) cites Jon's crimes against her as
- He invited her out to lunch and offered to pay
- He offered to do volunteer work
- He asked for a blurb for one of his works.
And for the record, yes, I did read a report that she posted those exact complaints against Jon. She was apparently serious.
Now, my usual tactic dealing with people who annoy me is to ignore them. The worst I've done to someone has been to block them.
With Jon however, these people decide to continue engaging with him. Not because they like Jon, but because they hate him, and have already branded him an -ist or a -phobe-- racist, sexist, blah blah blah. Cat Rambo and John Scalzi have both gone after Jon on their blogs...
Seriously, do you people have nothing better to do?
That's when step 2 kicks in: trolling. He pokes, prods, and generally teases and makes fun of these people who have publicly scorned, ridiculed, and have gone after him. It's occasionally entertaining, though I personally think it's a joke that stopped being funny. Though, again, if these people are in such hysterics over Jon teasing them... block him. Move on.
But no, apparently they can't do that. They can't move on. Considering they started a "Move on .com" website after 9/11, that's kinda funny.
Then he wanted to go to WorldCon. Why does he want to go to WorldCon? Because he wants to be friendly and sociable with people, and try to talk with them in person. Because, surely, when you talk to them in person, they're going to act differently than they do in real life, of course. Aren't they?
I think Probably not, but I'm not Jon.
So, WorldCon took his money for his ticket, then downgraded him from attending member to "You can vote in the Hugos, but come near us and we won't let you in." Well, that's a bit of a dick move. And why, you ask? They SAY it's because he intends to violate community standards. In their official announcement, they don't mention anything, aside from implying that he's a racist and a bully. Then they say in further comments on Facebook that he's going to be wearing a body camera due to threats-- his children have been doxxed, he's had packages sent to his house, all things that he's told WorldCon already.
Wait, I'm sorry, he's bringing a camera for self defense, and that's a problem? Maybe if he brought mace, I could see that.
Then of course, you have people like Scalzi talking about how "We don't want any annoying people at our convention!" Dude, if they didn't want annoying people, how come they'll still let you in? Also, if it's because he's annoying, why not say so? If it's because of the camera, why not ask Jon if he'll refrain from using it, THEN block him if he refuses?
See? It's a bit of a problem.
In order to cover their asses against charges of racism, World Con has decided to point out that the guest of honor is Hispanic! How nice that they promoted a pet token to GoH status. I wonder if the guy knows that he's being used as a shield. Poor guy.
Now, if they had just honestly said, "You're an evil Trump supporter and you have cooties," I'm sure everyone would have just rolled with it. It would at least be honest. After all, Jon believes in freedom of association. But they don't. Now they have to bake Jon a cake, and like it.
My first thought is "lawsuit." Seriously, they gave him no warning, is banning him on reasons they will neither confirm nor clarify, and they seem very interested in jerking him around. Their decision is "final," but having my own experience with lawyers, they better get used to the term "arbitrary and capricious."
I don't agree with Jon on this matter. I see no reason for any sane human being to go to WorldCon.
Though I do hear that Jon has pondered getting a Hugo nomination. Heh heh heh.
But yeah. WorldCon wants a war. I suspect they're going to get one.
And in the end, they just may have to make a cake.
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