Surprise

You know, if I thought anyone actually read my blog, I'd probably be a lot more careful about what I write here.  I guess that's part of the thrill of blogging:  you never know when you might suddenly become a teen pop idol, or get sued for defamation, or something else exciting.

My first surprise was that someone responded to my post about the Mann vs. Steyn case to defend Michael Mann.  Since the person remained anonymous, I wonder if it isn't Mann himself; I've heard he spends a lot of time patrolling the internet looking for derogatory statements to defend himself from.

Then someone responded to the anonymous poster, saying pretty much exactly what I would have said:  that the case for being compared to a child molester seems pretty weak, and I thought the focus of the case centered on the use of "fraudulent" to describe the hockey stick graph.

And then the real surprise:  Mark Steyn himself cited my post over on his blog.  I have to admit, my first reaction is that his case may not be as strong as I thought if he would bother to cite me.  But let's give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he believes me to be more worth citing than I actually am.

And just in case I have some new eyes on the blog (hey, I got nearly 80 hits a few days ago), I just have to mention that my book, "The Last Christian Peace: The Congress of Westphalia as a Baroque Event" came out in paperback a few weeks so.  Instead of $115, which is what the hardback cost, you can now have my wisdom for a mere $35, or less if you buy from a discount store.  No, it will not be nearly as entertaining as Mark Steyn's books, and it is completely bereft of humour, but I promise that it will be the most interesting book you ever read on the Peace of Westphalia.  (I was going to add, "...or your money back," but I'm afraid of the legal consequences of making such a statement; even if I honoured it, I might be violating my contract in some way.  So you'll have to trust me.)

You might also want to head over to my web site, Everything Peace of Westphalia, to see what else I have to say on the subject.  It has the advantage of having zero advertising, which is quite a rarity for a site with content.  (It's because nobody visits the site, not because I'm opposed to advertising, but you still benefit.)

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