Blog Update

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It was my plan to do one of these on a monthly basis like other sites, but time gets away from me and I forget to do it. I think the last one of these was in the summer, but I’m too lazy to look. It was well before the election so I’m guessing summer. Most sites seem to do these monthly to go along with fund raising, which makes sense. If you are asking for money, providing readers with some idea of what they are supporting is a good idea. Anyway, with the election over it feels like a good time to do it.

There are many new readers and new commenters since the last time. According to the traffic stat gizmo, my estimated readership is just shy of 80,000. That’s close to double in the last few months. It has been a steady rise too so it is not as much of an election effect as I would have guessed. Then again, I did not do a ton of stuff on the election. This also corresponds with the growth of my twitter and Gab accounts. I’m an infrequent tweeter, but I do link my posts there so it is mostly organic growth.

Speaking of twitter and Gab, JohnRivers, who comments here from time to time, promotes wackos like myself regularly on twitter and he has a big following. Well, had a big following. They whacked him this week as Twitter purges all the icky mean speakers in order to make twitter a safe space for snowflakes. Gab is getting better and better and I highly recommend joining and following JohnRivers. Following RickyVaughn is a must, mostly because the kid is hilarious when he starts in on a gentle little snowflake.

Interestingly, the number one way in which people are coming here is Google. I guess people see links on twitter or Facebook, google the blog and then land here. These are direct hits on posts too. Facebook is the second most popular referrer, which means someone is linking my stuff there. I have a Facebook page, but only so the little buttons at the top of posts work. I never go on Facebook and I have not visited my page since I setup the account. In fact, I may not have logged on since I set it up.

Interestingly the most popular post remains this one, which says a lot about the number of alt-right and alt-right sympathizers. The next most popular post is this one and that says a lot about what was on the minds of sympathizers in the run up to the election. I’ve always suspected that some portion of the electorate looked at Clinton and wondered if the woman was not so much corrupt, but just not very bright. The crooks and grifters surrounding her saw an easy mark with access to power. I don’t know and I no longer care. The witch is dead.

The volume of comments has gone up and and we have new faces since the summer. More than a few times I have seen posts on twitter about the quality of the comments here. In fact, one of my twitter followers says the comments are often better than the blog posts. I do not take that as an insult. Another follower told me that my comment section is a bit intimidating. I’m not entirely sure I follow, but I suppose some people refrain from commenting when they see a regular that is on top of his or her game.

I’ve received inquiries about donations and I have no plans to do anything on that front. I like money as much as the next guy, but there’s a level of effort involved with setting up donations and I don’t have the time. If I was looking to make this a full-time paying job then it would be different, but that’s not the plan. That’s mostly because I don’t see how anyone makes a living as a blogger. Honestly, I always wonder how people like Steve Sailer and Stacy McCain make it work. There’s a bit of economics there that eludes me.

My hate mail has gone up as well. Before the election, I was getting a regular stream of claims that my sort was finished. The right side of history was coming for me. After the election, not so much. In the last few days the hate mail has mentioned Steve Sailer and Steve Bannon. I read the former and never heard of the latter until this week. I see there’s some sort of conspiracy theory involving the two being peddled by that crackpot Glenn Beck. I must be stepping up in the world. I welcome my inclusion in the conspiracy.

That’s it for this update. I thank everyone for reading, linking and mentioning the site.

82 thoughts on “Blog Update”

  1. Don’t remember how I ended up here, but after reading My Theory of Everything, which I found quite readable and
    thoughtful, I started making it a regular stop. Once a day for the blog and two or three times for the comments. Great place. Thanks zman.

  2. Wow….great Birds of a Feather here….I’ve found a flock…Can’t remeber how I arrived, as I don’t “do” any social media… maybe a link from a link from a link on Drudge, Weaponsman, or Silicongreybeard…
    …Whatever….
    With seemingly no time and even less of an attention span, finding this blog and recognizing Zmans uncanny grasp of the zeitgeist effect was as though I’d swallowed a treble hook….there was no getting away….
    and as already mentioned the comments of my brothers and sisters here boggle and stimulate my humble mind.

    Thanks Z and all of you for giving me such a cozy retreat from the World we are hopefully now leaving behind….

    I too miss Klaus’s opining, I think Glenn Beck is borderline certifiable, and find it amusing that people take his insanity as worthy of their precious time.
    UKer, you gave me great solace during the lead up to Brexit.

    and also basically what Mima said above….

    Kudos All.

  3. I think I followed a link from American Digest, and was hooked after reading the Mokita notes… I think of the ZMan as Fernandez’ evil twin. I have, at various times have been a software developer, a officer in the Army and Air Force, and am currently a elderly medical student.

  4. Found you over at American Digest. Back then 10 comments was a big post. I’ve only disagreed with you once (taxes), pretty good you have only been wrong once. I admire your productivity as well as your content.

  5. Z, I think I came here following a link from Gerard Vanderleun’s “American Digest.” I’ve only commented once, but I make this place a near-daily stop. I enjoy your writing and wish you long life and good health.

  6. I mostly stand over here in the corner marveling at the incisive, well-crafted essaying and the profound, ‘teachable’ comments that follow. Sometimes, I even feel the urge to contribute. I can’t fully express my appreciation. I equate it to being a wandering misfit who, quite by accident, stumbles into a tribe that miraculously fits. I can hardly believe it – I’m encouraged to believe that maybe I’m not a misfit after all?

    I would pay for this.

    And, btw, the witch is not dead. Don’t count the Clinton Crime Syndicate out – just yet. Though I am surprised she didn’t have a stroke on election night.

    • Hi Meema, I think the Clinton CF will slowly melt away. As their influence wanes, they no longer have a product to peddle. The left hates it’s losers, as does the right, but over time Hillary will be reviled for losing a what they see as pro forma contest to the hater Trump, hence the rending of hair and gnashing of teefs. I too am an engineer, civil, PE.

    • Well said,Meema,I feel the same way. Speaking of Madame Lafarge,she gave a speech before the Children’s Defense Fund in NY yesterday. [It’s always “for the children” u know] She looked like she hadn’t showered,nor slept,since the election-greasy hair,no makeup,balloon bags under her eyes. She looked like Soros in drag,and I’m not saying that to be bitchy,it’s the truth. How her handlers let her out like that is puzzling. Seeing her reminded me of the enormity of the bullet this country dodged. I know we’re in for a hard slog,but at least we have a chance for course correction.

  7. So how did Glenn Beck magically transform from “kooky guy with a chalkboard and conspiracy theories” to “wise sage with the inside scoop on the Right’s scheme to destroy American”? In the minds of Leftists, that is.

    Thankfully the depth of the writing and Captcha seem to be an effective troll wall. Let’s hope that keeps up.

  8. I’ve been following your blog here since last June when it was recommended by The Anti-Gnostic on his blog. And have been putting links to a lot of your posting on my Facebook page and tagging several FB friends. Keep up the good work. I second what many commenters have already said about this being one of the most stimulating blogs they read daily.

  9. I remember when I first came here and I was one of a dozen or so commentators (or common potatoes, as I prefer) but it is heart-warming to see how you have appealed to so many moire, Mr Z.

    Of course it also helps that you talk sense and put things in a clear and understandable way. It also helps you have actually seen something, and noted what you are seeing, of the world beyond the gated enclosures of the elite. I accept you may have your own gated enclosure, but your mind is open. I am grateful for that.

    Please continue to do such sterling work on behalf of so many, even people like me who are obliged to live on a damp island somewhere off the coast of the EU.

  10. “In fact, one of my twitter followers says the comments are often better than the blog posts.”

    Call it the Ace of Spades HQ effect.

    Breitbart himself famously loved to read the site…but only the comments.

  11. “I see there’s some sort of conspiracy theory involving the two being peddled by that crackpot Glenn Beck.”

    Glenn Beck? That boy’s cheese slid off his cracker before he moved here to Texas.

    • I originally followed a link from American Digest and have visited daily ever since. Had to read all of the archived posts too. You keep getting better and better. Thanks for sharing your insights.

  13. My favorite blog ever. Keep it coming. Your knowledge of world history is off the charts better than mine.

  14. Congrats on making the VRWC. I’ve been working on it for several years but so far my tally is getting unfriended by one FB’er.

  15. Google was not my friend when I was hunting for you. You weren’t even in the ballpark. I had to go through the comments statement of isteve.,

  16. I’m relatively new as a reader and commenter here, but would say that it’s one of my favorite sites, both for the quality of the essays and the high level of commentary. I’m not a “tree house” kind of guy, but I’m very comfortable in this group. This blog inspired me to start one of my own; time will tell if some of the commenters here will pay me a visit; our host did!

    Don’t remember how I came here, but believe it was from a link placed by a commenter on another blog.

    I’m likely one of the older folks here (70), but I know I’m not alone. I’m also a dual national (US/EU) and a bilingual permanent resident of Argentina, an expat for much of my adult life. This blog, with the RSS thingee on my toolbar, is one I visit daily and the one that gives me the best sense of the state of things out there in the wider world. Keep up the good work, my thanks to our host and you all who take the time to add to the discussion.

  17. Z, cream rises to the top. If we had an even semi-respectable press (the best that can be realistically wished for), instead of what we have (a cult of shrieking, emotionally stunted kindervermin as incapable of assessing objective realities as they are devoid of the means of self-reflection) we might have found you in a Restonesque corner office hung with little neglected plaques awarded for being America’s best columnist.

    It was not to be, but a man takes the world as it finds him.

    Thanks.

  18. You’re probably not getting much traffic from me because I only have 150 friends, but I’ve linked you on Facebook several times since the summer. Most of my friends on there are SJWs or sympathizers, but I’ve noticed a few men who’ve been conspicuously quiet about the election over the past 18 months. The ones I’m thinking of probably hadn’t heard of the alt-right until Hillary gave her speech, and I’m hoping a few of them visited. The brevity and quality of your posts encourages new readers to binge read, or at least they did for me. IMO, if you want to red pill someone quickly, you should send them here and recommend the “badder thoughts” tag.

  19. Zman.. thanks for all you do. I have mentioned your site to many of my friends and I know of one that reads you daily as I do. Heh. I found you a year or so ago and am blown away by your ability to put daily essays out in addition to whatever work you do for a living. So thank you. I especially like and appreciate your Theory of Everything Series ( thanks for the handy link in title bar ).. Anyone new to this site should ready those essays.. Most excellent. The commenters here are fun to read too. Excellent all around.

  20. This is the best blog on the internet, hands down. I appreciate your thoughtful, informed perspective and keen historical background.

    I can’t say that I necessarily identify entirely with the alt-right, but like lots of Americans I am sick to death of the government and the MSM pissing on my leg and telling me that it’s raining. It’s a sad commentary on the state of our country when the alt-right conspiracy theorists on the internet become more credible than the mainstream media organs.

    Keep up the good work. The Trump administration should provide a lot of fodder for discussion. Personally, I’d like to see more discussion here about what the Republicans and/or the alt-right can do to keep the Democrats on their current suicidal lurch into left-wing ideology driven politics so that Republicans can occupy and hold the center ground. One more all red state (or one fewer all blue state–Calexit!) and the Republicans can amend the Constitution without interference from the Democrats.

    P.S. Your most interesting post was the post about microdosing. Amazing.

    • Dear Guest: Just to reply to your statement “It’s a sad commentary on the state of our country when the alt-right conspiracy theorists on the internet become more credible than the mainstream media organs,” that is the state of our country for sure. But sad, no, I don’t see it that way. Call it creative destruction, the old falling away and becoming irrelevant, whatever. What gives me hope is the spirit embodied in this kind of movement that can upend such an entrenched, rich and powerful monster. It is the quick and agile using new methods against the stodgy old, slow and stuck in old ways that we are seeing triumph today.

      So the left can pout and cry and shout and burn and destroy, but to no end. The die is cast and with leaders like Zman, new energy, life force has been given to the Deplorables. When all is said and done, people like Zman will go down in history as did Ben Franklin using his wit and wisdom from many fields to educate his generation and future generations. Lots of work to be done in the coming years and good, thought provoking dialog is not limited to the inner circle of the Trump Administration. We, the People, have a voice too. Thanks Zman!

  21. Several things say more about your blog than I could:

    – The number of female commenters.
    – The number of non-U.S. commenters.
    – The lack of blowhards among the commenters.
    – The general maturity of the commenters… flame wars are vanishingly rare and trolls are seldom fed.

    Others have already written about the general quality of posts and comments.

  22. Hi Z, you hooked me when I discovered you were a “noticer”. You seem to be smart guy who can also express your thoughts with the best of them. The commentators are also top shelf with few exceptions, like me. I believe you to be one of Kek’s Most Favored.

  24. Congrats on coming up in the world.

    I found your site though a link either from Bill Quick, or at Vox Days and followed it, back during the Primaries, and have been a regular reader ever since.

    “I must be stepping up in the world. I welcome my inclusion in the conspiracy.”

    And now I’m jealous, darn it. I sent in my membership dues and all thirteen box tops, way back in 2003, and I never *did* get my membership card for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

  25. Best insight on the net, or on anything else. Some assembly required.

    Works a regular job, works a regular job inside enemy lines, travels regularly through Indian territory, lives among various second world and otherworldly humans, is a fly on the wall of Oz. What a diabolical plan. Pay sucks, the wages being satisfaction, but you deep cover agents are hard to find and hard to kill.

  26. It’s a shame you’re in on the conspiracy, now. It’s starting to look like the folks on my RSS feed are entirely paid Russian agents.

    Anyone know any good Chinese agents to follow? Time to diversify.

  27. I read this blog every day. The most interesting blog on the internet. And, once in a while, I get a huge smile on my face when there’s a passing reference to Lotus 123…….I even used one before that called VisiCalc….you couldn’t adjust the columns. I remember going into by bosses office because he just purchased a new IBM with a 10 meg hard drive and we were all greatly impressed. Thanks to you and your blog. It’s the first place I visit every day.

    • Heh. My small law firm where I was a paralegal, not a lawyer {{displays hex sign}} was too cheap to buy Lotus 123. We used its el cheapo relation: QuattroPro. it’s hard to remember a time before spreadsheets….

  28. A coworker friend put me onto your blog back around Easter of this year. Been checking it religiously ever since. I read ALL the comments and yes some of the replies are way over my pay grade. : ) As much as I love history sometimes the historical references I’ll still have to research. Which is good…makes me smarter. Perfect timing regarding this question. “What do all of you do?” I’m a locomotive engineer. I run freight trains for a living. I ask only because of the quality of the replies. They are fantastic. Please forgive me if nobody cares. Just curious is all.

  29. It appears that America’s Best Funded Hate Group, the SPLC, supplied a list of Evil White Supreeemacists for Twitter to ban.

    Now, I’m not a White Supreemacist at all, but I got on SPLC’s radar about 6 months ago when I got in a Twitter Slap Fight with an Anti-White Sociology Professor and posted FBI Crime Stats and Racial IQ data.

    Turns out he was Jewish and connected to SPLC and they wrote me up the next day and I’ve been on their list of EVIL WHITE SUPREEEMACISTS ever since.

    In SPLC’s world, any criticism of Blacks – including accurately citing FBI Crime Stats – is proof of WHITE SUPREEEMACISM.

    Funny thing, their write-up of me proving I was an Evil White Supreemacist included IQ & FBI Crime Data I posted that showed East Asians have higher avg IQs and lower homicide rates than Whites.

    But facts don’t matter to the SPLC. And they get to decide who gets purged in 2016.

    Besides, they have to regularly manufacture new White Supreemacists to fight in order to scare the Retired Old Jews they’re scamming into donating every 6 months. It’s their Business Model.

  30. I think I got here either through Derb or the Ed Realist. Either way I’m glad. Thanks for enjoyable reading, and a great comments section. Could use a few more Hockey East posts, though 🙂

    And-I thought Karl added much to the proceedings. I miss him too.

  32. I do have a housekeeping issue with the blog, or with WordPress.

    I read these things on a laptop. On my laptop, comments longer than about ten lines get cut off and you have to click “read more” to see the rest of the comment. This is a minor annoyance, but it means by definition on the better comment threads, with the meatier comments, the reader has to keep clicking “read more” to follow the discussion. I’m lazy enough and short enough on time that the effect on me is that I usually don’t bother reading the comments.

    I don’t see this on other blogs and wonder if it is fixable. I also can’t figure out a way to earn a living off this, so I do appreciate you writing here in your spare time.

  33. Found the blog by clicking your name after you commented once on a Sailer post quite a while ago.

    As I may have mentioned here way back when, a number of your quips were great for posting on FB to rile my numerous leftist friends. But with the election, I actually defriended one of them because of their tiresome political posts, and apparently I wasn’t the only one, so the person said they’d tone it down (in a general post visible to a common friend). I refriended the person and overly said (to everyone) that I was planning on laying off the political crap if others did the same. To some extent, they followed through (though at the end of the election cycle their enthusiasm for stupidity got the better of them, but I tried to ignore it).

    Anyway, I mostly kept up my end of the bargain, so I’ve had to give up posting Zman bons mots for the sake of FB comity. Maybe I can now resume my passive-aggressive poking of the hornets’ net.

    Thanks for all the material!

  34. The comment threads are as valuable as the posts. I don’t know how vigorously you police the comments, Z, but please protect the provocative semi-civility of the comments, they add great value and also help sort out my own thinking on many topics.

  36. You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. Victor Hugo

    Congratulations. Today 80,000, tomorrow a million.

  37. Ignore the haters..they are the past. I come here because you explain WHY things have happenned, not WHAT has happenned. It’s a surprisingly rare gift to have.

  39. Z Man,
    Found your site through a link on Doug Ross @ Journal news aggregator site. Sure glad I did! It’s always refreshing to hear somebody state as a matter of fact things that are common knowledge, but which are no longer allowed to be spoken out loud. I’ve felt more and more like I was living in the Soviet Union of old, and your insights (along with others in the infamous ‘Alt Right’) confirm that I’m not just imagining it all.
    Please keep up the great work!
    Sluf

  40. I’m a relatively new reader who visits every day. Great writing, reasoned analysis and always interesting comments from a group of obviously well informed readers.

  41. I have sent your articles all over the place with links. Tried to post at one Conservative forum. No such luck. So I link to you with blurbs on other relevant posts. Subversive. Have quoted and linked at Michelle Obama’s Mirror, a great site with a large following. (What will she do for a name now?)

    The high quality comments are commensurate with your high quality posts. Kudos to you and your regulars.

  42. I’ve seen your posts linked on Lee Rockwell, Zero Hedge, Maggie’s Farm and a few other blogs. I think it has something to do with the new commenters.

  43. I echo everyone’s sentiments thus far,this site makes me think,and I always get a chuckle. Found Z Man thru American Digest, thanks Gerard,and Z. Steve Bannon is Trump’s most interesting pick yet,as evidenced by Dirty Harry Reid’s excoriation on the Senate floor. Add the always reliable font of anti-white male bullshittery that is the Southern Poverty Law Center who claim Bannon is a “White Supremacist” . The fact that both Trump and Bannon have nutsacks filled with something other than glitter and fairydust gives me real,genuine hope for our country.

    • I’m here because Z is frequently linked by “A Nod to the Gods” , which I also frequent because the proprietor there and I have similar tastes in both politics and salacious boobie pictures.

      I like red-pilled conversation and poontang. So does our President Elect. Turns out I’m a man ahead of my time.

      Keep up the good work, Z.

  44. I’m a new reader. Your site is now a daily stop for me. I was referred by Grouchy Old Cripple. He compared you with Steven Den Beste. Like GOC, I too felt a big hole when Den Beste retired from blogging. Thank you.

  46. Agreed. It’s a great site, with a great community of commenters. Glad to see you’re getting your due in the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, and hey, there’s another reason to be glad Hillary’s gone — you must be somewhere in at least volume 3 of her Collected Enemies List, 2002-2016. I still wouldn’t try to bench toooo much at the gym — or at least be suspicious of the helpful DNC flack that offers to spot you — but you can breathe a bit easier. 🙂

  47. Ditto, Zman. The quality of your posts and the ensuing discussions are head and shoulders above what I has encountered on other sites.

    • Speaking of discussions, has anyone seen Karl Horst lately? His take is always interesting.

      • I think he got tired of being put in his place every time he went whoopdedoo on how much better Germany is than America.

        • I’ve been waiting for him to reappear with his Eurowennie drivel on how backward we Ameicans are, I have prepared an entire (somewhat long) post with a bunch of links that demonstrate how the untrammeled muzloid invasion is tearing his country apart at the seams (along with all of Western Europe).

          I think he’s MIA because his delicate sensibilities needed a “safe space” to pet his puppies and use his crayons.

          Or maybe he’s just decided to take his soccer ball and go home.

          • Maybe Karl decided to just go drive his German made auto on the road that Hitler legacy left rather than get frustrated trying to educate us dunderheads on advanced economics and industrial processes. After all, Germany is in the good hands of Frau Merkel.

          • I actually liked reading Karl’s comments. It’s a shame you jokers think it’s him that needs a safe space.

      • Was wondering about Karl, too. He gives thoughtful insight into what’s happening in Germany,in real time. Hope he’s ok.

          • I also miss his input and can’t fault anyone that is that proud of his country. There was a time when I was that proud of my country, and will be again come January.

      • Yeah, I always liked Karl’s view on things. Perhaps he found somewhere else to commentate.

        If so, one wishes him well.

  48. There’s a (not)-surprising reason for the TwoMinutesHate of Bannon: it appears that he’s a fairly orthodox Catholic.

  49. Looks like I need to up my public presence so I can make the inner-circle of the conspiracy in media reports.

  50. Good to see the Z zooming to the top of the charts. What an enjoyable read this blog is! Also, following the sidebar links has exposed me (and I’m sure many others) to minds we may not have met, were it not for you.

    Yes, the comments can be intimidating – there are many intelligent beings here with knowledge and stuff – but I still like to throw in something dumb every now and again.

    I can’t even remember how I got here – maybe the Woodpile or Am. Digest – but darned glad I did. Thanks, Z Man.

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