damn.

I read all the Shannara books ... and the second trilogy of 'Thomas Covenant' ... and I hear that the new Anne McCaffrey's novel is coming out, the one that will finally make that 13,900 pages of her previous stuff worth it: 'BitchGoddess of Pern'

So I'll buy that, too.

man, I'm soooooooooooo watchlisted.

Me I'm still waiting for the McCaffrey novel that will explain all the subtle plot twists in her Acorna the Unicorn Girl cycle. Those books just had me hopelessly confused.

Elfstone of Shannara books--Wow--it has been sooo long since I heard them mentioned!! I read them years ago.

Personally, I am a fan of Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman with their Dungeon and Dragons books: of course, i haven't read that stuff since I was a teenager.

I guess I am safe; no watch-list here.

You are hardcore - first Shannara book was enough to convince me to steer clear of the rest (Alanon indeed!). It was such a Tolkein clone, I was reminded of Mark Twain's response to lookalikes who had sent him their picture: "you look more like me that I do - I intend to use your picture to shave by." [paraphrased]

You're right about Anne McGaffrey, though. I went to a book signing back when "Dragondrums" came out and overheard her cackling with some confederates. Quite the shrew.

uh, that should read "you look more like me *than* I do"

I have grown to hate those gauzy, estrogen-laden "fantasy" novels where the heroine Desdemona and the hero Engelbert have to battle Maragauth the dragon to save the Mythical Kingdom of Schmork. And have some hot nookie along the way. Not just warmed-over Tolkein, but badly-written and inept warmed-over Tolkien. Just wrap that junk in a Harlequin cover and put it with the other bodice-rippers.

As for profiling: I'm not sure how much I like Uncle Sam poking around my personal records to see how many times I've rented Ernest Goes To Camp. That's between my therapist and me.

I think I can explain it, not that I buy all the way into it. First, Home Depot has no power to bring criminal proceedings against you with the information they collect. Second, the basis for our system of government is to not trust those we vest with power and to limit those powers to the greatest extent possible.

That being said, we exist in a virtual fairy tale land in terms of the lack of loss of civil liberty or even personal hardship during time of war. Compare and contrast with either FDR or Lincoln and you may come to the conclusion that when the road gets tough, our government has never been afraid to make it up as they go along.

Hey Ace,

You want a SPECIFIC right-wing example?

Ollie North.

Remember when it was all over about his video rental history ("ohhh nasty movies!")

What if I'm up for something big (OK, bigger, like a GS-9) and the New York Times (Ok, the Paducah Tattler or the Department of Education) finds my little writeup on the web about yohimbine, or, heaven-forbid, this posting!

My ambitions as Deputy Assistant Associate Undersecretary of Paper Cuts would be dashed.

Besides, have YOU no shame?

We've got a major breach of geek protocol, here. It's not "the Elfstone of Shannara books." Elfstones was the title of the second (most interesting) book, not the series.

Elfstone of Shannara? Pfft! Terry Brooks is a bitch! David Eddings fuckin' rocks his ass, and don't even get me started on Robert Jordan 'cause if you say one bad word about him then you're begging for an Ogier sized bitchslap!

Whitehall I believe you meant to say Clarence Thomas not Olie North.

God, I'm a fuckin tool.

David Eddings' and Robert Jordan's series turned into fantasy versions of soap operas after the first few books. I doggedly plodded through the first 6 or 7 books of eaach series, waiting for the light to shine through, and then packed it in. Much prefer real heroic fantasy ala E. R. Eddison or "serious" fantasy like that of George R. R. Martin.

"What if I'm up for something big (OK, bigger, like a GS-9) and the New York Times (Ok, the Paducah Tattler or the Department of Education) finds my little writeup on the web about yohimbine, or, heaven-forbid, this posting!"

So what if they do?

I think the point that a lot of folks (which includes me sometimes) miss is that the government belongs to us and that we get to set the limits on how it uses the information it gets. More importantly, we get to decide how we receive the information it that mining reveals.

I think there's a very compelling reason to allow the government to data mine for the purpose of national defense (which, since I've thrown a good Constitutional Reference in there, ought to lull my Libertarian compadres back into somnolescence). We are capable of limiting the government to that purpose. It's pretty much our fault if they get out of hand with it.

But let's say that some newspaper gets hold of that yohimbe article and runs with it. Aren't we all bright enough to know what's really important to the job of Assistant Associate Undersecretary for Paper Cuts? Can't we just say, "Okay, so he likes the boner juice. That stops him from cataloguing paper cuts how, exactly?".

I think we underestimate the power we have, probably because we just don't use it very much.

God, I'm a fuckin tool.

Well, I wasn't gonna say anything, but....

ummm, I think you miss the point that is in the Able Danger story. They used Open Source data, i'e news stories and wire service feeds.

Here is a post I wrote.
http://snookerswamp.blogspot.com/2005/08/data-mining-and-sandy-bergers-pants.html

I have built several of these systems long ago for unamed users :)

Once you read I think you will understand what is going on.

"Aren't we all bright enough..."

No.

And it was so Ollie North!

OK, maybe not, but Bork is just as good an example.

Have any of you fantasy geeks ever seen a living naked woman?

Living? No.

Not counting your mom.

Have any of you fantasy geeks ever seen a living naked woman?

Seen one? Why, I once imagined having sex with one!

"Have any of you fantasy geeks ever seen a living naked woman?"

Why, are we missing something? Surely nothing that re-reading "The Chronicles of Amber" couldn't fix.

Does the succubus in the Appendix of the Dungeon Master's Guide (1st Ed.) count?

I mean, she is living. She does not have the Undead Template.

Not counting your mom.

Okay, besides my mom. Besides, that's really pretty gross dude. I mean, she can stand up straight and still tuck her tits into the front pockets of her slacks.

The data-mining of Clarence Thomas' trash wasn't done by the government. It was done by Democrat lobby groups and the New York Times, if there's any difference.

Incidentally, there's no record that he ever rented anything nasty. A white manager at a video store said that a black guy who looked like Thomas rented X-rated movies from him. The story was widely circulated in the media, but it appears the manager was wrong.

The store would have been in an inconvenient location for Thomas, and there's no record that he was ever a member or ever rented anything there. At the first sign of media skepticism, the manager backed off his identification.

In essence, it's a false rumor that became urban legend.

Imagine that it is 2009 and Hillary! is president and Janet Reno is back as AG. Do you still trust the government with that much private information? Hillary probably won't be interested in selling you a riding mower Ace.

Granted I think the left is out of control on this issue given the war on terror, but I remember being a lot more concerned about government intrusion when our guy wasn't in office.

Whitehall:

Sure we are! We're not necessarily individually bright, but as a voting collective, we manage to do pretty well overall.

The point behind Bork and Thomas is that we let our elected officials to get played by those "revelations". Had we lived up to our obligations and told our Senators in pretty clear terms "I don't give a rat's ass if he *starred* in Long Dong Silver. He'd made a great judge. Now vote that way or start packing up your office", I bet the vote would have turned out a lot differently.

Jeff - have you noticed that in spite of years of Patriot, nobody has managed to burn up a hundred people or shoot any mothers holding infants yet.

I must say, I'm seriously disturbed by this clear lack of application of abusive powers.

Damnit, I want my money's worth - I want a body count, I want flaming buildings on TV, and I want it now.

Well, JeffK, not long after my guy was voted into office, 19 other guys turned 3000 people into ash and kibble and changed the skyline of New York City.

Stuff like being in the middle of a shooting war does tend to focus the mind on what is important and what is piddling triviality.

I still trust my fellow Americans to do right by themselves, their families, and their neighbors. I'm sure by some measure that makes me naive, but I don't mind being naive right next to the guys who wrote the Constitution.

FYI - That 1st Ed Succubus is old news. The new hotness is the Dryad from the 3E Monster manual.

I'm still waiting for the correction and apology on the whole "Elfstones" snafu. What is this, the New York Times? I expect them to make this kind of error, but not Ace.

Seriously, Ace, you need to fire whoever was responsible for this failure in your multiple levels of fact-checking.

"Have any of you geeks ever seen a living naked woman?"

After three wives and five kids, at times I wish I hadn't.

Sobek,

Sometimes I make mistakes deliberately to flush out the real fucking geeks, such as yourself.

You'll feel differently about data mining after the silicosis takes hold.

Is this the thread that goes crazy tonight? Cuz it sure is starting to sound like it. Let's just make it official by mentioning bbeck's tits.

Ace, you just made a huge mistake, pal...

Seriously - I don't understand all the fantasy stuff at all.

I can cruise down to South Beach on a friday or saturday night and experience a "reality" that is an order of magnitude more fantastical and unbelievable than anything any of these amateur hacks have written.

One night of doing a ride-along with a friend who's a cop down there is worth a dump truck full of those dreary coma inducing tomes.

Surely nothing that re-reading "The Chronicles of Amber" couldn't fix.

Oh, thank goodness, someone FINALLY mentions a decent fantasy series.

Have any of you fantasy geeks ever seen a living naked woman?"

Every dang day. I could see one NOW if I had a mirror!

I saw George RR Martin about a month ago. That guy is....large, which is kind of fitting considering the length of his books.

Later,
bbeck

bbeck:

You are an enlightened soul amidst the intellectual squalor that litters this thread.

bbeck:

You are an enlightened soul amidst the intellectual squalor that litters this thread.

So I don't have to worry about my excessive list of "Little WhoreHouse on the Prairie" book borrowing showing up on some Fed's desk? Cuz, you know, I'm getting pretty close to mastering Half Pint Guzzler's technique and hate to think my "under the table" income from my new talent will be discovered.

The Fed who would end up checking my library and bookstore records would probably commit suicide out of sheer sympathy. Considering that I would have then contributed to the death of a federal agent, no, I do not want them going through my records.