What is Digg?74 Comments
- kremvax, on 10/12/2007, -7/+35I think what I appreciate most about the fellow, is that, in a letter announcing that he's been diagnosed with a fatal disease and been given four years to live, he takes a moment out to berate both Bush and Cheney for sponsoring the Republican War on Science.
Respect! - wolfzero, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30Definitely use the dragonmount link. It explains how to donate money in his name, with an explaination on how his REAL name is not Robert Jordan, but James Rigney. If you just throw money at some generic donation page, it's probably not going towards the specific research of this disease. If you are seriously going to donate, read the article on dragonmount, cleared alot of things up for me.
- noahtgreat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25My girlfriend loves those books, so I dugg the story just for her. His writing makes a lot of people happy and brings a lot of people together through internet communities. So good for him. We should all aspire to acomplish as much.
- anztac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19"In any case, I intend to live considerably longer than that. Everybody knows or has heard of someone who was told they had five years to live, only that was twenty years ago and here they guy is, still around and kicking. I mean to beat him. I sat down and figured out how long it would take me to write all of the books I currently have in mind, without adding anything new and without trying rush anything. The figure I came up with was thirty years. Now, I'm fifty-seven, so anyone my age hoping for another thirty years is asking for a fair bit, but I don't care. That is my minimum goal. I am going to finish those books, all of them, and that is that."
The man is inspiring. - lukas88, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14That is a shame, but I admire his resolve. he certainly has that backed into a corner and fighting to stay alive mentality. That will probably help him alot. Plus it is inspiring.
- JohnboiWaltune, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13"And it's great how on a tech website you can't avoid throwing in a partisan, ideologically motivated Bush bash."
Why don't you be an adult and avoid responding in kind with an ideologically motivated gay bash. It always baffles me how you people think a disease is the "fault" of a person it afflicts, and somehow a cure is not as important. I bet you would change your tune if you contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion, or your sister caught it from her boyfriend. - kremvax, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Otherland,
I'm a lifelong devout Christian, and there's nothing in the world that pisses me off more than a sloppy redneck backhanded interpretation of the Bible that somehow allows people to believe that Jesus would punish any of his children with a disease. One of the fundamental tenets of Christian faith is charity, which you are arguing very hard against. And he reserved judgement of others as being for the Lord alone.
Whatever right-wing-hate-monger faith you practice has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ. If he came back today and heard all of the threats, hatred, war and evil that was being done in his name by fools like you, he'd never stop throwing up. - ZenKai, on 10/12/2007, -17/+29If you want to give a donation to the Mayo clinic, this is the link. http://www.dragonmount.com/News/?p=270%20
- justinvt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11DUUDDEE - Digg has nothing to do with being liberal or really anything political. It is fine if people bring up politics here, but if you are going to do it in such an inane way, just keep your mouth shut (I'm talking to you Otherland). I don't compress every republican I know into some conservative cabal - we owe it to each other as people NOT TO GENERALIZE. Also, if Bush has moved funding away from the NIH to the DoD, what is biased or liberal about bringing it up? What if this guy is a doctor? Do you have to be liberal to push for government funding of medical research? If so, then I guess being a liberal isn't so bad, because that sounds like a pretty ***** good idea.
And I can't believe you told someone you hope they get AIDS. You are such a dumbass, and not even a likeable dumbass. Maybe you should get out of whatever backwater ***** town you live in and try to understand the world around you, instead of repeating things like "Ad Hominem attack" that you heard on O'Reilly. If I am wrong and you somehow come from some major metropolitain center, then you are that much more pathetic. I am sorry I even have to waste my effort modding your comments down, but I don't want other people to waste their time reading them. Go ***** yourself - How is that for ad hominem?
PS - I would like to say that I hope this doesn't come off as sounding liberal or conservative, because I am really just trying to speak out against stupidity. I respect both sides of the aisle. - w0rd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I think you just made a mistake. You see, there are rules around here:
1. Don't talk ***** about Apple
2. "Do" talk ***** about Microsoft (Ahem, M$, I mean)
3. Don't talk ***** about DnD/Lord of the Rings/Wheel of Time/Trek/Star Wars
These guys have some serious attachment issues with the things they enjoy/follow in life. You are basically stomping on their very world. You might even be making some of them mad enough to mod you down every time they see you, forever. Beware travelers, here be dragons. - oneiroi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12If this inspires a certain number of people who wouldn't normally donate money for disease research, then I'm all for it.
- kremvax, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14"Yeah, you libs are hypocrites." "And it's great how on a tech website you can't avoid throwing in a partisan, ideologically motivated Bush bash."
I'm so glad to see that you've risen above petty partisan politics.
"How about focusing on Alzheimer research and other diseases innocent people get instead of AIDS, which is more of a lifestyle choice than a disease?"
I also enjoy your sense of Christian charity by saying that the 26 MILLION Men, Women and Children dying of AIDS ( 25% of the population of southern africa is dying of the disease by current count ) have somehow made a lifestyle choice that incurred the wrath of a merciless God, and don't deserve help as much as, say, an Alzheimers patient.
All that innuendo that was spread about Jesus curing lepers and the unclean and helping the least of his brothers was totally over exaggerated by the liberals who translated the Bible. And that part about "Judging not...." completely out of context. Clearly God Hates Fags.
Right on Otherland. Show those evil Libs who really has the moral high ground here... Mega dittoes. - timlee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Whatever... I've seen the Saa go across his eyes!
(Seriously though... get well soon, RJ) - PaxRomana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I hope that he gets better, not just because I have been following his epic, epic series for several years now. He seems to be a good guy, answering fan questions and always sticking around the conventions for the fans.
- brandonking, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9My comments about Bush are simply facts. They ARE moving funds from biological research to weapons research. I WORK IN A LAB at a major university. It is WIDELY KNOWN among the scientific community that the best way to get funds under the Bush administration is to figure out a way to appeal to DARPA. Here's a AAAS document on this topic:
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/proj05p.pdf#search='bush%20reduce%20nih%20funding'
From the Alzheimer's association's website:
"These cuts come just two months after the President signed a bill decreased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in FY06 - by approximately $70 million. This was the first time NIH funding had been cut in 36 years, and only the third time in its history."
And since everyone else has pointed out how this guy is a complete ass, I thought i would point out that the 70% of US children are sexually active before 20, and, of the female population, over 80% get it from heterosexual contact. About a third of cases for men are homosexual contact, but then again, I'm sure you're one of those that think of that as a 'choice'. Either way, acting like this is a 'lifestyle' disease that doesn't warrant treatment is ridiculous at best. It's like saying, "Oh we can't operate on that football player's knees. That just comes with the territory." If we didn't treat 'lifestyle diseases' there would be no meds for cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, some forms of asthma, and the list goes one. Hell, what's the point of ED drugs?
I don't make any delineations between lifestyle/developmental/genetic diseases as far as donations are concerned. That I'm saying is that treating the diseases that affect the largest segment of the population leads to the most lives saved immediately, best press (ensuring future investment), and will lead to collateral cures. If this guy inspires you to donate, donate to a larger research effort. We generally investigate mechanisms underlying disorders, and there is a chance you are actually contributing to the salary of a person who's sole job is to funnel these smaller charity donations into the appropriate 'uber-charity'. The best thing you can do is lobby for legislative reform and budget allocations. Sure a $50 donation is nice, but when you consider Alzheimer's funding is around $400 million, pushing for $50 million more means alot more than a direct donation. Unfortunately, that's the world we live in. Either complain about it, ignore it, or try to use it for bigger purposes. - benjamincanfly, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14Not to distract from Jordan's misfortune, but it would be a pretty funny/tragic joke if the author of such a long series of books died from a rare, 8-in-a-million disease right before finishing it.
The books are good - even after the fourth and fifth, which so many people think of as the point at which the series jumps the shark. It's just, there are so many of them... I've read 1-9, I think, and plan to get back into them at some point.
Anyhow, good luck to the guy, I hope he is cured. - mrgreen4242, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9You got a lot of negative diggs for your comment, but I will agree that there would be a but of cosmic humor in it... He says that the next book, the 12th, is the last, and he's already working on it, and the "worst case scenario" is that he puts that one out and nothing else. I HAVE to assume that he has a detailed outline of what is to happen, along with the parts of the book he has already finished, as well as some notes that could be used to peice together an ending for the series... we won't go without some closure, most likely.
As far as re-reading the series, the same thing happened to me. Twice. I read the first 4 books, started college, ran out of time, then re-read them so I could catch up on the series about 3 years ago. They're worth the time for the first 5 or 6. The 6/7th-10th are just so-so, but worth reading to get to the 11th which was pretty damn good. The second re-read through them all was to refresh myself for the 11th (which I finished last week).
If you have any sort of commute they are all available as audio books, and the readers are quite good, so that's an easy way to catchup. - kremvax, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12The Lib Agenda?
The Lib Agenda to Destroy Traditional Values?... Is responsible... for Aids in Southern Africa.....
Yeah, all part of my fiendish plan.
Whatever cult you belong to otherland has clearly been putting something in your daily gruel ration. And they've really given you some mighty evil imaginary enemies to fight...that don't actually exist in the real world.
You should really get out more. Talk to people. And stop listening to radio hate jocks. Jesus hates them the most. - Dracos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13I read the first 10 a couple years ago. At page 1 of book 5, his writing style changed in such a way that made it obvious Jordan realized he had a cash cow, and was milking it. I don't care who's wearing what (too many characters with too many wardrobe changes), just tell me the damn story. The Seanchan storyline was totally unnecessary. Jordan obviously knows where he's going, he just doesn't know how to get there.
- Bhima, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9you are very much correct. I have to admit I have never read a series that frustrated me as much as the wheel of time series... if only I could edit out the awful, trite, ridiculous conflict of the sexes crap he has going on I'd say it was the best series I've read by a living author... but I can't.
- AeroSquid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I've been folding for over 4 years now trying to figure out diseases like this. hope RJ is ok.
- oneiroi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9It's nerd community news, close enough.
- justinvt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Is this a reference to Folding@Home? That is a cool way for people to volunteer their resources if they don't have lots of money. Way to bring it up!
- U2groupie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I've been reading these books for 10 years... and have always been afraid something like this would happen. I hope that RJ will be ok, he has such wonderful talent as a writer that I don't much mind that the WoT books take so long to come out. As long as the books are good, he can take as much time as he likes. Nothing in the Fantasy genre has come as close to LotR until WoT came along.
The Mayo Clinic gave my grandfather 6 months to live when he was diagnosed with cancer and he lived for 12 more years, so keep faith.
Wishing Robert Jordan all the best.
- JohnboiWaltune, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Look nobody with any taste in literature at all is disputing the guy's status a mediocre hack writer. There are millions of nerdy 16-25 year old males who eat up books like Wheel of Time and consider them great literature.
Lots of people enjoy his books the way some people enjoy soap operas or Double Whoppers with Cheese. There's no reason to hate on the guy, he has brought a lot of entertainment to people. - jcnz56, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"I used to love Robert Jordan books till I discovered Terry Goodkinds Sword Of Truth books. There is not much point in reading the Wheel of Time after discovering the Sword Of Truth books."
you know, you can like both of them. I do.
I really hope he can finish the series! - johndi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It's amazing how many people don't know what a quarantine is. It's where the government doesn't allow anyone to travel in a certain area. So for HIV you are suggesting no one be allowed out of their house for 15 years? Though you could find dictionaries to back up your definition it's not the medical or legal for what you want. What you really desire is medical isolation for the infected. Castro tried that. It's not working in Cuba, how do you expect it to work in the free world?
Babies are born with HIV ... So it's not a lifestyle choice. - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -16/+22Or you could link to the frigging Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org/development/give.html ), since after all, you're donating to them and not some random fantasy website.
- Simen, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13That's awfully sensitive and mature.
And we obviously needed to hear that.
----
It seems to me, you're not getting the point.
At all.
(By the way, I made a line so it would be easier for you disrespectful no-goods to separate the sarcasm) - gadlaw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Robert Jordan is a great author and the Wheel of Time is a great fantasy epic. I saw him at a book signing a few months ago in Dayton, Ohio and sat there with a standing room only crowd of fans who asked him about the books, the characters and all manner of things. He was a gracious and patient man who answered each question and afterwards signed books as long as there were people in line. And it was a big big line. I sat up in the front row and as I looked at him, to me he looked like a sick man. I'm sorry that I was right but I'm glad that he's attacking this treatment with a good attitude and with expectations of getting better. Get well sir, books be damned.
- SkeletaLlama, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Well it was insensitive, but I kind of agree. The series has gone on way too long. This may actually be a good thing from the standpoint of fans. When Stephen King had his accident and was nearly killed, he returned to writing with an added vigor and finally finished his long incomplete Dark Tower series, much to fan's relief. If this unfortunate illness doesn't incapacitate Robert Jordan, maybe he'll finally find what he needs to finish the books. It would be a real shame if he left them unfinished. I have long suspected that he's just stretching them out for money's sake because the odds that he can create another successful series in his lifetime are slim to none, but I really would like a conclusion.
- Arramol, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Not really. It's one of the most popular series in the fantasy genre right now. Aside from the untouchable Lord of the Rings, it's the best fantasy I've ever read.
- oneiroi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I've always planned to get back into the books too. But I realized that it's been so long since I've read them, I'd have to re-read them. And I really don't have the patience to do that to feel caught up again and start reading the next 3 new ones I never reached. It will be a long and arduous undertaking.
- bar10dr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Not to be an ass, but I hope he gets the series done before he dies.
The books are truly worth reading! - AlphaPrime, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10Agreed, I have honestly never heard of this author or book series.
- CupofDice, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4My favorite author. Knife of Dreams was great. I hope he gets better. I can't think of any author who goes out of his way like RJ to please his fans. Both RJ and GRRM (A Song of Ice and Fire) are the best.
- brouhaha48, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Demon cum,
You are an idiot...have you actually read the series? If so, you could see that all his nothingness is deep plot developement for the end of the series, which he has had planned out before the beginning of book 1. - laddr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3All of the people saying this is not "one of the most treasured epics in modern literature" either:
1) Haven't read it
or
2) Have their heads way too far up Shakespeare's ass
I predict that in 5-10 years it will be the next LoTR, he will be seen as a great like JRR, he should be able to complete the series and while I hope he lives on for YEARS to come, his death if anything would only propel the books into legacy. Honestly the intricacy and complexity of the books rival LoTR to the core. If you can stick it out through the slow parts, the books are incredibly rewarding! - NJank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4even without much of a lag between books (whatever the length of time betweeen paperback releases, usually.) I still get confused reading the next one. When you're 200 pages in, and he decides to jump to a storyline he had left off at page 300 in the last book, and it's not one of the really big characters, I keep drawing blanks trying to remember who the frick I'm reading about.
That said, great, deep series. Even if he wasn't able to finish it off, it's a decent achievement.
And don't those people who spread all the 'robert jordan is dying' rumors in the past feel terrible... - laddr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ive read both as well, Sword books don't hold a candle to the epic of WoT...
- cranium, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I read books 1-10. I really enjoyed 1-6, but in 9 and 10 nothing really happened and I got really tired of hearing about Elaine in her shift.
I give up. - Mischa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Justinvt,
dude, what an awesome way to end an argument. Well put. - aragon127, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here's to hoping the Mayo clinic can find a way to make RJ live to be 250 yrs old. That way he can write the 37th book and finally finish the series...
Seriously, I've read all the WOT series out so far. They're good, but come on. At some time you have to just FINISH THE FREAKING STORY!
Instead of lamenting on and on he could have made the whole thing a 5 book series and it would have been awesome. Instead he's focusing on filling a library with his own words. - Haplo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Yup, very true. Don't worry, people like mwenge have often nothing done in life, and will not do so.
- Elminster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'll vouch for the audio books myself. They are currently the main thing getting me through my commute... As usual, don't bother with the Abridged versions and you'll do well. Are they the best? No, but they are a fun epic length story. I wish him luck in his recovery!
- threepio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I hit eight and stopped. I'll come back when there's a defined finish. Until the end, there's no point in going back, it just gets frustrating. I hope he makes it, but god damn boy, final chapter, epilogue and call it quits!
- pauldonnelly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I think you probably do need 12000 pages if it's a really long story. Might it be one of those?
- Haplo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6You're mistaken: RJ *started* the series as a cash cow, I mean: the first book is considered quite the Tolkien rip off, the second has a lot of Dune in it.
*But* there are way worse fantasy books, and people who have been trying to rip off the work of others in way worse ways. RJ can write, although certainly in his 2 first books, he got a lot of inspiration from others. But how he did it, shows in my opinion, that he can write. Certainly not literature, and (again) in my opinion not one of the better fantasy writers. - LordRahl72, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I used to love Robert Jordan books till I discovered Terry Goodkinds Sword Of Truth books. There is not much point in reading the Wheel of Time after discovering the Sword Of Truth books.
- w0rd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Oh really, stop digging this down fanboys. It is one of the biggest complaints that there has been about this series.
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