May Posts

A lot of people are lured by affiliate marketing because it can be financially rewarding, even if you just stay at home. Affiliate marketing programs are best alternatives to those who are sick and tired of their arduous daily work just to climb up the venerated corporate ladder. You don’t need products to sell, you just have to market them in your own web site and you don’t have to worry about processing the customers’ payments and the shipment of the products. If you are already into affiliate marketing, probably you were thinking about these benefits, too, before deciding to join an affiliate program.

Of course you want earn huge amount of commission. Who would not want it anyway? Keep in mind, however, that affiliate marketing cannot guarantee you instant success if you don’t work on it. There are a lot of ways of maximizing your income. The Internet is a huge library of information, use it to learn of other opportunities and ways to increase your income. You can partner with several merchandisers and promote different products in your website; thereby, increasing your chance to earn a commission.

The easiest way for you to rev up your revenue potential is by incorporating Google AdSense into your marketing campaigns. What is Google AdSense? What are its advantages? How can it boost my revenues? These are some of the questions you might want to ask. Let’s try to probe into Google AdSense, so you would know how it could help you in your affiliate marketing program.

Merchants place their ads in Google, which is one of the most popular search engines or tools for locating various resources in the World Wide Web. Now the Google AdSense program allows you to display these ads in you website and when your visitors click through them, you earn. The advertiser, which is the merchant pays Google for every click-through made by the customer and you as a partner of Google, gets a share from that payment.

What’s great about the Google AdSense is that the ads are relevant to the content of your web page. Most likely, visitors of your web site are interested on the theme of your site and specifically, on the content of your web page. So, seeing ads related to their interest would definitely drive them to click through the link or the ad. Using state-of-the-art technology, Google scans your web site and matches the content of your pages to their large database of advertisers; this way, Google is able to find ads that are targeted by the users of your site. In addition, Google changes the ads in your site as you change the content of your pages, so you can always expect the ads to be relevant to your site.

Having Google ads in your website is also a way of convincing your users to return to your site. Repeat customers multiply your income without having to exert extra effort to convince them again to click through your links. And your potential to earn doesn’t depend on them alone. Since you already have their confidence, they can be your endorsers as well. They could refer your site to family and friends who probably share the same interests with them.

Advertisers in the Google AdSense program range from large international brands to small-time domestic and local businesses, so the targeted market for the ads can range as well. This adds variety to your site; thereby, attracting different kinds of users. As you attract more users, you increase your earning potential as well. If you are targeting a specific nationality for your site users, don’t worry because AdSense can be used in different languages.

In order to boost your revenues through Google AdSense, you must pay attention to making web pages of high value topics. Make contents related to high-paying ads, so you can earn more. Some ads pay only a few cents while some ads pay you dollars just for a single click. You would need to do a little research on this so you can come up with a more relevant content. Join affiliate marketing forums and get tips from experienced affiliate marketers.

Becoming an AdSense affiliate marketer is easy and fast. You just have to apply online and once your application is approved, you can instantly set up Google ads in your site. All you need to do is copy and paste some codes in your web pages and in no time the ads will appear in your site.

Strike while the iron is hot! Take advantage of the favorable circumstances the Internet is offering you. Make the most of your affiliate marketing opportunities, use Google AdSense!

Trust and reputation are much more significant to younger used car buyers when it comes to choosing where to purchase their next used auto, according to Experian.

Kirk Fletcher, Managing Director of Experian’s Automotive division, stated, “More car buyers are turning tcheaper, older cars, so it will come as no surprise that younger buyers are the most likely to go for an older model. However, with older cars there are potentially more problems, so being able to buy one from a trustworthy source becomes more important. Used cars aged between three and nine years old were the only ones to see an increase in sales during 2006 and the survey confirmed that the young are the biggest fans of these used cars for the obvious reason of price although they are still keenly interested in the car’s condition to ensure they are getting a good deal.”

Kirk said: “It could be argued that older used car buyers are focused more on what the used car would say about them, while the results suggest that the young are more concerned about getting value for money and not getting ripped off. They have a smaller disposable income and, therefore, a greater desire to find a bargain. However, in a bid to bag a bargain, the young could be putting themselves more at risk.”

With a population of almost half a million, Dublin is the capital and largest city on the island of Ireland. It was originated in 488AD as a shipping port while going through the Irish Sea and has progressively grown into a modern day city throughout the years.

Today Dublin is a mixture of the old and the new Metro and they merge nicely from the downtown area out into the suburbs.

Dublin has a sizable number of immigrants, coming from Great Britain, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and continental Europe. More recently, Nigerian, Indian, and Eastern European populations have also migrated into the city, largely attracted by Ireland’s economic success since the mid-1990’s. Old and once run-down streets have rapidly become busy ‘ethnic districts’, such as Moore Street’s transformation into ‘Little Africa’ and Parnell Street East into the city’s de-facto ‘Chinatown’ and ‘Asian Village’. These villages are a great way for tourists to spend the afternoon, casually walking the cobblestone streets, shopping and having lunch!

There is plenty to do in Dublin if you are on vacation or sightseeing.

- The National Print Museum of Ireland
- The Irish Museum of Modern Art
- The National Gallery of Ireland
- The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery
- The Chester Beatty Library
- And three centers of the National Museum of Ireland are all located in Dublin.

These cultural museums would make an informative and beautiful tour around the city of Dublin. And Dublin has an excellent bus system that will carry you around the town with very little effort or expense. Or if you prefer a more energetic afternoon, renting a bicycle and touring on a bike is a popular way to see the city “up close and personal.

Thanks to Michael W who sent me a picture of half a caravan and some mattresses at Gloucester Road Station.

If it wasn’t at Gloucester Road you’d be forgiven for thinking there were some very weird campers or that the German woman who mistook the subway for an underground car-park had made her way over to London.

We’re not so lucky. Gloucester Road is one of Platform for Art’s showcase stations and the caravan and mattresses are art installations. As it’s quite a recent installation, currently there doesn’t appear to be any information about the artist or the statement that the installation is making. As Michael said, it’s all a bit Tracey Emin with her un-made bed and tent. Way too derivitive in my opinion. Or maybe that’s the point. Perhaps we’re being asked to question Emin’s art. Maybe it’s a playful pun on the signifcance of travellers exchanging a commuter lifestyle for one that’s more free and innocent.

In any case, I wonder how many enterprising homeless folk will try to nab the mattresses during the installation’s run?

Rev Jesse Jackson and Rev Al Sharpton
Originally uploaded by cunningsue. Provocative title, I know. Actually the full title should be Blacks are More Racist and Antisemitic than whites. But despite being 100% accurate and truthful, it will invite Liberals, especially Jewish Liberals [87% of Jews voted for Dems in 2006], to complain that I am the racist for making such statements.

In the comment section to my previous post Roy Pearson is an Idiot many commenters went into a rage over my words:
Judge Pearson is black. He obviously grew up with that chip-on-a-shoulder nigga-attitude that the world owes him more than a living. It doesn’t. It is instructive to note that the Chungs are Koreans, which next to Jews, Blacks hate the most.

Here are some of the comments:

“…it is wrong of you to perpetuate a false stereotype that black people hate Koreans and Jews… I am more enraged by your racist attitude.”

“Being Black has NOTHING to do with Pearson filing suit. Pearson is a petty, ignorant, and vindictive man. However, the blogger and some of the people who commented are just as ignorant by perpetuating hatred and racism in our society.”

“In this situation you are responsible for introducing the politics of race and hatred. There may be some truth to what you say but when you infer it you are conflating the real world with ‘Do the Right Thing.’”
The most revealing comment is:

“I agree with the bloggers comments, I agree with the assessment of BWA, and I agree it’s highly inappropriate and self-defeating to openly acknowledge it because it sells the argument short.

Leave the obvious out of it next time, bud.”

Korean Deli, Chinatown
Originally uploaded by
JenniferWoodardMaderazo. So, my problem is that I stated what everyone already knows is the truth, Blacks hate Asians. I’m sorry, but I find it impossible for my fingers to reach the keyboard to write my blog if I’m forced to stick my head up my ass. If I wanted to hide the truth I would write for CNN or the New York Times. When Jews do the wrong thing I call them self-loathing Jews or useful idiots or defeatist traitors [89% of Jewish Democrats oppose the Iraq war]; Should I sugarcoat the truth because I’m Jewish? Similarly, why should I pretend that race has nothing to do with the case at bar? What, so no one gets offended? Blacks should be offended. Black leaders like Al Sharpton should be pissed as hell and lecturing all his followers that racism against Jews and Asians is wrong. That all hatred for any group white, black, Asian is immoral. But that’s hard to do when you are the hypocritical epitome of racism yourself:

TMZ,
3 Mar 2007,
Sharpton Marches Against Words He Won’t Apologize ForAccording to published accounts, Sharpton publicly bashed former NYC Mayor David Dinkins as “a n—-r whore,” and once referred to his political opponents as “recycled white trash.” Sharpton has also never publicly renounced his 1991 inflammatory public remarks against “diamond merchants” — after which a Harlem mob singled out a random 29-year-old Jewish rabbinical student — and stabbed him to death.
Some politically correct reader will object that everyone knows that Sharpton is a racist, violence-inciting bigot and greedy, self-aggrandising, ignorant bastard, why write such provocative and hurtful words? Well, if the MSM would just tell the truth, I wouldn’t be forced to be alone here crying in the wilderness.

Interestingly, the majority of Jews live on the East and West Coasts [wiki map] while, contrary to most people’s opinion, blacks are least represented in those two areas [U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Demographic Supplement to the March 2002 Current Population Survey PDF]; so the majority of Jews are immunized against Black on Jew crimes by virtue of being in least contact with them. Unfortunately for those few Jews who do live in proximity to black neighborhoods, they well know that

Washington Post,
5 Apr 2005,
Poll: 14 percent in U.S. are anti-SemiticThe number of blacks with strong anti-Semitic beliefs continued to remain high since 1992. The 2005 survey found 36 percent of African-Americans hold strong anti-Semitic beliefs, four times more than the 9 percent for whites.

Since this survey was sponsored by Jews, I suspect they sugarcoated this report since they left out the percentage of blacks who hold mild anti-Semitic beliefs. Regardless, there is no shortage of surveys to indicate that blacks are extremely more likely to hate Jews than any other group in America.

OK, you say, big deal, Blacks are more racist than any other group, so what? No one is getting hurt, are they, it’s just an opinion, no?

No. People are getting hurt. Blacks are 1.85 times more likely to be the perpetrator of a hate crime than non-blacks [See Note 1 below for sources].

OK, OK, you say, so blacks are the worst offenders in hate crimes, but aren’t Blacks still the main object of racial violence, no?

No.

WND,
22Feb 2006,
‘Hate crime’ victims:
Young, poor, whiteWASHINGTON – The most likely victim of a hate crime in the U.S. is a poor, young, white, single urban dweller, according to an analysis of Justice Department statistics collected from between July 2000 and December 2003.

A November report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics detailing a study of 210,000 “hate crimes” a year during that period has gone virtually unreported by the U.S. press.

But it does contain some surprising numbers. While race is, by far, the No. 1 factor cited as the reason for hate crimes, blacks are slightly less likely to be victims and far more likely to be perpetrators, the statistics show.

So what have we shown: Blacks are more antisemitic than anyone else, are less likely to be victims of hate crimes and more likely to be the perpetrators. So it’s unpleasant to hear, does that make it forbidden to say?

I am not ignoring the fact that blacks have the highest rates of poverty, infant mortality, unemployment and incarceration rates of any other group in America. That they are more likely to be racially profiled, that they go to the worst public schools. But whose fault is that? Al Sharpton’s. Instead of concentrating on black on black crime, he focuses on the infinitesimally small number of incidents of cops who injure blacks or Jews who accidentally kill blacks.

Poor Korean and other Asian immigrants come to America and take their paltry earnings and savings to help other members of their race. Indeed, I market my phone cards to one large Korean deli cooperative who helps hundreds of other Koreans, strangers to him, set up businesses with loans and grants and advice. Chinese restaurants sprout like wildflowers in thousands of black neighborhoods. That they succeed in the midst of black neighborhoods is one source of the hatred against them. In a matter of a few years, Asians succeed in achieving the American dream with large homes, successful businesses, and sending their children to Ivy league schools while no black businesses dare to open other than a few hair salons.

Oprah Winfrey and her
students in South Africa
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News
Wire File Photos. Why isn’t Al Sharpton demanding that black sports professionals, black actors, black rap stars and black millionaires use their wealth to bolster business and economic development in poor, urban black neighborhoods? Huh, eh, what? Why does Oprah open schools in Africa instead of Detroit?

Because they have given up on black America. And young blacks know there is no one to care or help them, so they are left with nothing but crime to get their piece of the American pie. That a quarter of young black males are in prison is the fault of all the blacks who have made it and turned their backs on their own race. It is the fault of all black demagogues who blame whites for all the misfortunes besetting blacks in America, instead of placing the blame on themselves.

Al Sharpton is right in one regard: there is a race of people in America who are overly exploited, intimidated, physically attacked and victims of racism and hate crimes; but they ain’t black folk.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, it happens I am an activist for blacks achieving the American dream. I hate and despise so-called black leaders like Al “diamond merchant” Sharpton and Jesse “himey town” Jackson who have done nothing but keep blacks poor, bigoted, ignorant and in despair so that they, Sharpton et al, will have a constituency.

Note 1:
FBI Crime in the US,
2002 - Crime Index,
Hate CrimesRace of Known Offenders, 2002

Total 7,314

White 4,517
Black 1,592
American Indian/Alaskan Native 43
Asian/Pacific Islander 87
Multiple Races, Group2 355
Unknown Race 720

Blacks represent 13% of the population in 2002 but are 1592/7314 or 21.8% of the known offenders in hate crimes. 21.8/13=1.669 times overly represented in hates crimes than should be expected by their percentage of population.

Non-Blacks represent 87% of the population but are 5722/7314 or 78.2% of the known offenders in hate crimes. 78.2/87=0.9 times under-represented in hate crimes than should be expected by their percentage of population.

Therefore blacks are 1.669/0.90 or 1.85 times more involved in hate crimes than non-blacks.

Related:

While the ghettoes burn, Al Sharpton fiddles with inconsequential inanities like nappy-headed hoes.

Kerfuffles,
Nappy Headed HoeWhen did “nappy

(Hat-tip goes to Drudge)

David Zucker, Producer and Director of such films as Airplane!, Scary Movie 3 and 4, and my personal favorite, the Naked Gun films, has recently finished an ad for the GOP that he is hoping to get circulated on TV stations. Unfortunately, this video is seen as “over-the-top” by GOP strategists, and is currently not being distributed. What a shame.

Here is the video:

According to one GOP Strategist:

“Nobody could believe Zucker thought any political organization could use this ad. It makes a point, but it’s way over the top.”

Source: http://www.drudgereport.com/flashma.htm

What a pity. The truth is that this video, while showing the over-the-top comedy that made Zucker so famous in Hollywood, shows the intellectual and moral failing of the Democratic Party in dealing with terrorism as seen by so many Republicans and Conservatives. What these GOP strategists fail to see, either due to not understanding comedy, being spineless, or both, is that the over-the-top nature of this video is the very point of the film. One of the many weapons in Comedy is to show a flawed idea is to take it to its extreme logical conclusion and thus show the sillyness of the other side in doing so. This film shows EXACTLY what I see as wrong in the “Peace and Stability” crowd that infects the halls of Academia, the Democratic Party, and countless blowhard political talking-heads. And that is the reason, that despite the Foley scandal that’s been shown on our TV screens on endless repeat, I will NOT choose to vote for Democrats in this coming election, and perhaps many elections to come. The GOP does indeed have its flaws, and I believe there is a desperate need for a change within the party with bringing less fire-and-brimstone religious Conservatives and RINOs who are for big government in the economic sector out of office. Despite that, their one strength is that they back this War for Civilization we are now fighting when so many are unwilling. Defense of our country of our civilization is the most important issue. It is a damn pity that whether or not to do so has become a heated debate, as opposed to debating on how to accomplish victory. Thankfully, people like Zucker, through their intellectual and artistic skill, show how the ultimate failure of those who made this unnecessary debate occur.

Like many governments, the US tries to protect its citizens from quackery and scam. We license medical service providers, regulate clinical drug testing, and enforce disclosures of medical risks. Indeed, societies need these processes to properly assess the efficacy and dangers of new medical technologies. But when the vast majority of our population lacks a basic understanding of scientific principles, the medical safeguards fail. Con men exploit the scientifically illiterate by appealling to their hope for miracle cures, while overcoming their skepticism with confusing and intimidating jargon. Today’s blog post is inspired by one particularly egregious example of highly scalable theft — a phenomenally successful product called Airborne, that is the number one selling cold and flu remedy in many large drug retailers. Allegedly, sales have topped $100 million after several consecutive years of doubling revenues.The pill itself is nothing but some vitamins, some commercially tired herbs and the electrolytes you get from a swish of Gatorade. But Airborne’s success springs from a remarkably shrewd and sinister campaign that employs a number of diversions to mislead the public without blatantly violating any laws. Essentially, the clever marketing messages and packaging suggest that Airborne cures the common cold, without ever actually saying so.
The Airborne PackageThe convenient pocket-sized package, illustrated with cartoons of germs, displays these instructions:
For Use In: Airplanes - Restaurants - Offices - Hospitals - Schools - Health Clubs - Carpools - Theaters - Sports ArenasTake at the FIRST sign of a cold symptom or before entering crowded environments.* 100% Guaranteed Satisfaction.AIRBORNE PLEDGE: AIRBORNE was developed by a school teacher who was sick of catching colds in class.* The natural ingredients in AIRBORNE’S unique formulation, reflects [sic] state of the art antioxidant, electrolyte and herbal technology. WE PLEDGE to our customers to continually upgrade the AIRBORNE formula as improved technology avails itself, thereby offering the finest most effective health formula possible. Satisfaction guaranteed.DIRECTIONS: AT THE FIRST SIGN OF A COLD SYMPTOM, SIMPLY DROP (1) AIRBORNE TABLET IN A SMALL AMOUNT OF PLAIN WATER, LET DISSOLVE ABOUT (1) MINUTE AND DRINK.* REPEAT EVERY THREE HOURS AS NECESSARY.*
EFFERVESCENT TECHNOLOGY OFFERS 100% IMMEDIATE ABSORPTION!
Without actually saying so, the package implies every which way it can that Airborne is a medicine that prevents or cures colds. But did you notice the asterisks on the four sentences containing any reference to actually treating colds? I scoured the package for clarification, but I had to literally use a magnifying glass before I could make out the footnote in fine, fine print that read:*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. In case the print is too small for you, here’s a more legible version:*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.So if this product wasn’t intended to treat colds, why should we take it at the first sign of cold symptoms, and why use it in airplanes, carpools etc.? What does it even mean to REPEAT EVERY THREE HOURS AS NECESSARY? Necessary to do what? It doesn’t make any sense, but the manufacturer Knight McDowell Labs knows that few people will ever notice.
In fact, their CEO Elise Donahue knows better than anyone how to make claims without being pinned down. Here, ABC News reported on a Good Morning America interview with Knight McDowell Labs’ CEO:
“We don’t know if Airborne is a … cure for the common cold. What Airborne does is it helps your body build a healthy immune system. When you have a healthy immune system, then it allows your body, on its own, to fight off germs.” Donahue said the best proof that the product works was that 40,000 customers contact the company every year. But a number of medical experts and watchdog groups are skeptical that Airborne prevents or cures colds.”Simply washing your hands during cold and flu season is a much more effective way of preventing colds,” said David Kroll, a pharmacologist at Duke University Medical School. Yet the Airborne box tells users to take the product at the first sign of a cold. An Airborne ad testimonial called it a miracle cold buster. And the company said in a news release Airborne would get rid of most colds in one hour.
The School Teacher Diversion
Magicians know that the best way to trick an audience is to divert their attention away from what the magician is doing with a flamboyant gesture or joke. The fraudsters at Knight McDowell Labs elevated this to an art form with an insidious diversion that turned a liability into a “viral growth” marketing engine…You see, KNIGHT-MCDOWELL LABS is not the reputable pharmaceutical research institute from whom you’d expect to find the cure for the common cold. It is actually the recently incorporated holding company of a couple living in the beachside resort town of Carmel, California, far from any science labs. Victoria Knight, a school teacher, and Rider McDowell, an aspiring script writer, needed to overcome consumers’ healthy skepticism that these two people might not have the scientific credentials to assess, let alone develop, a medication that has so far eluded armies of brilliant biochemists. But the script writer, if nothing else, understood the TV audience he hoped to entertain, and in a stroke of brilliance he turned the problem upside down: turn their complete lack of qualification into a story that drives awareness, and diverts attention from the real question of efficacy.

And so the package, the web site, and the advertisements lead with the Amazing Fact that Airborne was CREATED BY A SCHOOL TEACHER! As any confidence artist knows, disclosing unflattering facts up front wins the target’s trust.
“Created by a school teacher? Can you imagine? Really? Who’d have thought a school teacher would invent the miraculous cure for the common cold? How amazing!”These are the comments I heard bounced around among people I know on the that first day I heard about this miracle cure. The school teacher story was so far-fetched that it actually accelerated brand awareness!And sure enough, each consumer convinced himself or herself that Airborne works, based on selective anecdotal data. “I used it last week and I didn’t get sick!” “I took it too late to stop my last cold–next time I’ll take it sooner.” “Everyone says it works.”

Clinical ResultsSo I examined the product they gave me. Nothing on the package (especially the inventor’s credentials) impressed me, but I did become hopeful when I read the words
“See Clinical Results on our Web Site www.AirborneHealth.com”I did check out the site and here’s what I found (in tiny hard-to-read print):WHY AIRBORNE? The FAA estimates 600 MILLION PEOPLE pass through American airports each year. A recent government survey identified “unhealthy air

Not that the Sims really needs a pat on the back, but I was sent this NYT article by our friend William.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/arts/07schi.html

At least as far as the gaming community is concerned, this article is relevant because it gives a fair treatment of the topic and issues involved, and it reflects positively on the medium.

Now if we could get more games that have the same social impact that the Sims has had, maybe we wouldn’t have to fight Yee and Clinton quite so much.

So last entry I was going to do the cardio box section of the davina McCall dvd. Well that still hasn’t happened !!!! It took a good 5 - 7 days to recover from the first workout as my legs, bottom and tummy just hurt so much.

Then last wednesday or thursday I started with gritty eyes, which gradually got more sore and then started watering, going puffy and red. Nice !!! So I had to wear my glasses instead of my contacts, which always makes me a bit bleurgh as I really don’t think I suit glasses.

Anyway I woke up on Friday morning with my eyes stuck together completely with gunk, yucky yuck. So I went to the pharmacy who after chatting with me thought it sounded like conjunctivitis and was able to give me some drops. Fairly newly available, as they are antibiotic ones only previously available on prescription. They were the optrex ones.

So wthin about a day my eyes were feeling loads better, and a lot less red but still a little gunky. Then on Sunday I got horrible neck pain, still had this a bit on Monday, when I also started feeling dizzy. Proper room spinning round dizzy and then proceeded to vomit several times from the dizziness. That had eased off a bit by Tuesday to more of a motion sickness, where I just felt constantly like I was on a boat at sea. Better, but still not nice. When this carried on into Wednesday I decided I had had enough and made an appointment at the Drs.

I also had a headache, particularly over my eyes, that got worse and throbbing when I bent over, a horrible thick post nasal drip and generally feeling lethargic, and bleurgh. The Dr diagnosed sinusitis and has given me some antibiotics, to take for the next week. They are Doxycycline capsules of 100mg. I’ve not had these ones before.

Also he thinks the dizziness is coming from the congestion too affecting my middle ear and even the residual slightly gunky eyes I’ve got too could be a result of the congestion. So I’ve got to take a couple of doses of the antibiotics and see if the dizziness goes, it may go as the infection starts to clear. If not he has given me some betahistine tablets to take for a week to help.

So for the minute, no exercising until I’m feeling well again. And at the moment I must admit I don’t realy feel like it at all. After looking after the children all day, all I have been doing is snuggling up on the sofa with a duvet and a hot water bottle, watching TV and then having an early night as I’m so shattered.

Heres hoping the antibiotics kick in quickly and I feel more lively again soon.

A few last words before we leave the subject of romantic fiction for a while.

It is in the nature of things that romantic novels appeal mainly to women readers. And for that reason, romantic fiction (a pretty woolly term if ever there was one) is largely despised by the literati.

This arrogant, unpleasant attitude has a long history, at least in English intellectual life. The origins of this contempt for women, and for popular culture generally, have been more than ably chronicled by John Carey, in his book The Intellectuals and the Masses. Carey also presented some of his material in the form of a recent TV documentary.

You and I, however, know better than to sneer at a book simply because it appeals to a group of readers to which we do not belong. Well I do, anyway. If we have any sense at all we know that there are lots of books which have fairly narrow and specialised audiences. Poetry, for instance. Much science fiction. Gay books. And so forth.

One would like to think that most writers would hold the same view. However, what we absorb from the general atmosphere in early life tends to linger in the mind; and I have noticed that, whenever I meet any romantic writers, I am forcibly struck by the fact that they have been brainwashed. For years and years they have been belittled and sneered at, and generally led to believe that romantic fiction is trash, and is (allegedly) infinitely inferior to the real stuff — i.e. literary fiction.

So often, and so intensely, has this idea been beaten into the heads of romantic novelists that many of them unconsciously believe it to be true. For instance, when I remarked to one writer recently that her latest book could just as easily have been marketed as a literary novel as a romantic one, she took this as such a compliment that tears began to form in her eyes.

Well now, I am always ready, I hope, to compliment a lady, but in this case my remark was not so much a compliment as a comment on the publishing business.

Let us banish this idea of genre inferiority once and for all. (If you need supporting arguments, see chapter 5 of The Truth about Writing, available free online.) And let us remember too that science-fiction writers have been treated in much the same way. But the sf guys (and gals), as far as I can see, have never believed a word of it. Faced with the idea that literary fiction is the real thing, they just snigger back.

Evidence? Try the Ansible newsletter, wherein Dave Langford always quotes some ridiculous, pompous statement which compares sf with lit, unfavourably, and then he proceeds to skewer it for the crap that it is. In the latest Ansible, he quotes Joyce Carol Oates, who is clearly a thinker to be avoided; and Langford also includes several other ‘As others see us’ paragraphs.

Perhaps some research chemist should develop a monthly antidote of the Ansible kind, and administer it to those who write romantic.