The pecking order

Vox Day had a post today in which he commented on Roissy in DC's theories regarding male/female interactions. Vox quite correctly identified Roissy's world of Alpha men and Beta men as an invalid binary construct. He posited that there are a much larger number of categories into which men can be grouped. The categories, as laid out by Vox, are these (I'm paraphrasing his descriptions in the interest of space).

• Alpha. Leaders of men. Women want them. Men want to be them.
  


• Beta. The 'almost Alpha' men. Similar to Alphas in many ways, usually successful, attractive to women, etc. But Betas lack the character and confidence of Alphas.
  


• Delta. The ordinary man. Most men are Deltas. They have no "game", hence women aren't particularly attracted to them if attracted to them at all. Yet Deltas CAN succeed in life if they recognize who they are and make appropriate behavioral changes.
  


• Gamma. The obsequious ass-kisser. Mr. Nice Guy. Like Deltas, not attractive to the ladies. Distinct from Deltas in that they think they're doing things the right way.
  


• Lamda. Gay men.
  


• Sigma. The lone wolf. Very much an Alpha in every way except that they are not leaders and go to great lengths to avoid being thrust into leadership roles. The Sigma views interaction with other people as pure torture. Or, as Vox put it, "Suggestion: Entertain the possibility that other people are not always Hell."
  


• Omega. Losers. With a capital 'L'. Even Gammas despise them. They are social rejects. Women are creeped out by them.
  

Now, far be it for me to dispute the opinion of an Internet Superintelligence and someone who's writings have had a major influence on my views in life. But my view of the male hierarchy goes something like this.

• Alpha. These are the leaders, the achievers. Women want them. Men want to be them. On this one, Vox and I are in complete agreement.
  


• Beta. Pain in the ass wannabe Alphas. Their lives are a constant cycle of aggression and butting heads with any Alpha they come in contact with. When they come up against a real Alpha, a humiliating beatdown is in store.
  
  They tend to be bullies. They tend to be extraordinarily bad leaders. Women are attracted to their faux-Alphaness...and end up eventually divorcing them.
  
  No one likes them, not even other Betas. They can only be described as tools.
  
  Betas tend to work as salesmen, lawyers, or politicians.
  


• Gamma. Intellectual Alphas lacking the confidence and mojo to be a real Alpha. Gammas know who they are and behave accordingly. They are the true lieutenants - Vox's Betas - who work with, admire, and support Alphas in every way.
  
  Gammas have a natural enmity with Betas; they see through their phony BS right away. They will actively subvert Betas by any means necessary, including passive-aggressive subversion.
  
  A Gamma thrust into a position of leadership will either founder or do just well enough to get the job done. In either case, Gammas HATE being in leadership positions. It's just not in their personality to be a leader.
  
  Gammas won't score any 10's, but they'll do well with the ladies if they don't set their sights too high. They are great relationship material.
  


• Epsilon. The faux Gamma. These men are either ass kissers extraordinaire or total Mr. Nice Guy types. Unlike the Gamma, they do NOT support the Alpha, but seek to subvert him with passive-aggressive tactics. They will support a Beta if it serves their purposes; otherwise, they are as repelled by the Beta as everyone else. Women are definitely NOT attracted to the Epsilon.
  
  Epsilon men tend to believe in Global Warming and to support collectivist politicians.
  


• Omegas. The clueless losers. Not bright. Not talented. Not attractive to the ladies. God help them.

Now, I'll admit that my definitions are incomplete, and Vox has done a better job of filling in the missing types I've sort of glossed over. I particularly like the Lamda and Sigma definitions. They were not types I had considered before.

In my spectrum there are overlaps. Every Gamma will occasionally exhibit Epsilon-like behavior. It's a personality trait they have to actively watch for and nip in the bud. Every Alpha will occasionally exhibit Beta-like behavior. It's inevitable that their combination of intelligence, leadership, and confidence will sometimes give them the opportunity to be a jerk.

So, what do you think? Are you more in line with Vox's taxonomy, mine, or do have have one of your own that you like better? Comment on my friend!

Toyota troubles

Toyota has a reputation for building quality, reliable vehicles. Make that "had".

At least six deaths have been linked to faulty gas pedals. One safety firm says there are more than 2,000 reports of sudden acceleration in Toyotas.

How bad is the damage to Toyota and its corporate reputation? Bad. Really bad.

In a stunning setback, the automaker has stopped selling eight popular models in the U.S.
...
It's the latest move from the world's largest automaker in damage control: Toyota said it will take a hit to its bottom line by not selling the cars, even announcing it'll halt production in an effort to save lives.

Ouch! Never. Let me repeat - NEVER - has an automobile manufacturer had to resort to this drastic a measure. This is huge.

Can Toyota survive this? Probably. Since their previous reputation was so immaculate, they've got cred to fall back on. If this was, say, Chrysler having these problems, it would be "Turn out the lights, the party's over." That is, barring government bailout.

Does this mark the day that Toyota's manufacturing has fallen to the level of its products' drivers?

God, I hope not!

Something in the water?

What is up with South Carolina politicians? First Governor Mark Sanford "went on a hike" that turned out to be a 10,000 mile flight to Argentina to see his mistress. Then the Assistant Attorney General got nabbed in a cemetery with an 18-year-old stripper, a sack of sex toys and Viagra.

Now it's the Lieutenant Governor, Andre Bauer, who's wandered off the reservation.

Last Thursday, Andre Bauer commented at a town hall meeting, "My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed! You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't think too much further than that.” Mr. Bauer was referring to govt. programs that assist the poor and disadvantaged.

Someone check the water in Columbia...I think someone's putting nutjob juice in it.

Are you serious? "Don't feed the strays"? That comment goes WAAAAAAY beyond any of the so-called "racist" comments made by other politicians that has caused them to get driven from office. It's even worse than Harry Reid's "light skinned" and "no negro dialect" comments. Dude! Are you frickin' serious?

I've seen some ass-headed politicians in my day, but this bozo takes the cake. And, not coincidentally, he also takes a well-deserved Wiener Award.

Ellie Light speaks!

The Ellie Light ("photo" at left) story continues to grow legs. Updates can be found here and here.

The latest count from Patterico's Pontifications:

65 publications in 31 states and the District of Columbia.
3 national publications and a Yahoo link
2 foreign publications.

A must read, also from Patterico's Pontifications, provides more analysis of this controversy.

One of the national publications, Politico - specifically columnist Ben Smith - tries to justify their place as the first guppy to swallow the Ellie Light BS.

While conspiracy theories about the emails seem to be abounding, there's no particular reason to believe that this was something more than one person's gambit. The letter got published (again and again) because it was pretty well done, but a lot of people can write.

Commenters weren't in a forgiving mood.

It still doesn't answer the question as to why you, Ben, felt the need to post "her" email here. I have rarely seen you post entire emails from "fans". Why this time?
Posted By: | January 25, 2010 at 09:53 AM

"(T)here's no particular reason to believe that this was something more than one person's gambit." This said by the first person to give Ellie Light a forum. This is obviously part of the astroturfing army that Axelrod put into action for President Obama. Forgive me if I don't believe you Mr. Smith.
Posted By: | January 25, 2010 at 09:56 AM

Gotta hand it to Ben, he's very good at ignoring the comments that point out he's full of crap.
Posted By: Eric | January 25, 2010 at 11:34 AM

Schadenfreude, sweet schadenfreude. But I digress.

The bottom line is that Sabrina Eaton has opened a can of worms and is to be commended. By doing the work of a reporter and...wait for it...INVESTIGATING, Ms. Eaton has committed an act of real journalism. Would that more "reporters" would follow in her footsteps.

Vulture Droppings - who is Ellie Light?

Vulture Droppings is a semi-regular feature of this blog. It's a kind of "Random Thoughts" post in which I try to quickly summarize a particularly large event or series of events. Think of it being sort of like what a vulture leaves behind after devouring a horse. You don't get the whole horse, just highly processed leftovers.

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There's a viral story churning around the interwebs right now regarding a prolific letter writing grandmother by the name of Ellie Light. At least, "prolific letter writing grandmother" is the cover story for Ellie Light, an obvious pseudonym, since "Ellie" translates as "Light", and E. Lite looks a lot like "elite".

This edition of Vulture Droppings looks at the issue from three angles. First, the identity of Ellie Light - who is she/he, or is it an operative from the government or some group? Second, who is behind Ellie Light? And finally, why is this vacuous bimbo getting so much media play out of her insipid little letter when most people are lucky to get ONE letter to the editor published EVER.

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First, kudos to Sabrina Eaton of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who brought this story to light.

Ellie Light sure gets around.

In recent weeks, Light has published virtually identical “Letters to the Editor” in support of President Barack Obama in more than a dozen newspapers.Every letter claimed a different residence for Light that happened to be in the newspaper’s circulation area.

“It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything,” said a letter from alleged Philadelphian Ellie Light, that was published in the Jan. 19 edition of The Philadelphia Daily News.

A letter from Light in the Jan. 20 edition of the San Francisco Examiner concluded with an identical sentence, but with an address for Light all the way across the country in Daly City, California.

Variations of Light’s letter ran in Ohio’s Mansfield News Journal on Jan. 13, with Light claiming an address in Mansfield; in New Mexico’s Ruidoso News on Jan. 12, claiming an address in Three Rivers; in South Carolina’s The Sun News on Jan. 18, claiming an address in Myrtle Beach; and in the Daily News Leader of Staunton, Virginia on Jan. 15, claiming an address in Waynesboro. Her publications list includes other papers in Ohio, West Virginia, Maine, Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania and California, all claiming separate addresses.

Altogether, Ms. Light had letters published in 62 publications in 29 states and DC, 4 national publications (including USA Today), and 2 foreign publications (hat tip to Patterico's Pontifications, where you can find the complete list of publications). Note that this is as of 7 PM Sunday night; the final tabulation will certainly be higher.

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It begs the question: who is this Ellie Light? A real person? A leftard with a lot of time on her/his hands? Or is she/he something more sinister - a government hireling? An ACORN operative? A DNC mouthpiece?

If you read the comments on Ms. Eaton's story, you see all kinds of speculation and postulates. The most common allegation is that Ellie Light is Ellyn Sunstein, the daughter of Cass Sunstein, the Obama administration's Regulatory czar who is a proponent of government infiltration of chat rooms and blog comments by paid flacks to undermine conspiracy theories (more here). Others suggest it is Mr. Sunstein's wife, the former Samantha Power. Power fits the model of Ellie Light in that Light seems to favor the British spelling of words rather than the American spelling (Power is Irish).

Others speculate that Ellie Light is an ACORN operative who is paid each time one of her/his letters is published. It does fit the ACORN model, and would explain why she/he doesn't bother to use a different name along with the different city of origin each publication is provided; after all, she/he can't get paid if they can't verify that she/he was the author.

A few wags have speculated that Ellie Light is just Il Duce himself trying to gin up some support for himself. Or Michelle Obama. Or Rahm Emmanuel. This site has a particularly amusing collection of theories.

Attempts have been made to use the originating IP address of the email to trace the source of Light's emails. One intrepid blogger traced an "Ellie Light" comment to an ISP in Saudi Arabia, although spoofing software could have masked the real source. The Free Republic fingers Obama's own Organizing for America website and its paint-by-the-numbers form letter generation software. Yet another blogger links Ellie Light to an international public relations firm.

It matters who Ellie Light is. It matters because if Ellie Light is someone on the government payroll, or even a DNC or ACORN operative, it further damages the already damaged credibility of Il Duce.

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One has to wonder: given the likelihood of a letter to the editor being published once, let alone in 72 publications - one THREE TIMES IN A WEEK - one has to ask oneself, what's up here? This stinks to high heaven. And it begs a question that has to be stated as two questions.

Who is behind Ellie Light, that she gets this kind of response?
What is it about Ellie Light that causes editorial page editors to look upon her letter with such favor?

This two-part question matters. It matters a whole hell of a lot.

If Ellie Light's prolific acceptance by 69 publications is a matter of someone powerful behind Ellie Light, then it's obviously someone with a whole lotta juice. Juice this strong points to interests that are, at minimum, engaging in disinformation; at worst, they may be breaking the law.

But if Ellie Light's prolific acceptance isn't due to someone with juice behind her...well, what does THAT mean? It means that liberal editorial page editors are swallowing whole a campaign to improve the public perception of Il Duce, and are doing so in a concerted effort to prop up his sagging popularity.

Need I elaborate on how malignant either of those scenarios is in terms of our trust in public institutions?

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It gets more interesting. Now there's evidence of letters to the editor published in various papers across the country that have identical content but different "authors".

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I'll be the first to admit that this may just be a tempest in a teapot. But it just might be something very, very big. I commend Ms. Eaton and The Plain Dealer for printing the story. I commend the Drudge Report for bringing it national awareness. And I hope with total sincerity that this isn't one of those stories that just goes away with the questions left unanswered.

State mottos

Some time ago I introduced you to the Maryland state motto: "If you can imagine it, we can tax it". But now I have learned that I was off by one word. The CORRECT Maryland state motto is: "If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It". How do I know this? I know this because Theo Spark has published the official list of state mottos.

Check it out when you have a minute to waste. Some of my favorites (and some included just because I used to live there) are:

Alabama: Yes, We Have Electricity
Arizona: But It’s A Dry Heat
California: By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda
Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only The Kennedy's Don’t Own It Yet
Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes. Well Okay, Not Really, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good
Maryland: If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It
Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden’s (For Most Tax Brackets)
New Jersey: You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right Here!
Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus
West Virginia: One Big Happy Family – Really!
Wisconsin: Come Cut The Cheese
Wisconsin: Come Smell our Dairy Air
Wyoming: Where Men Are Men (And The Sheep Are Scared)

Enjoy.