by George J. Dance
The blog began as "The Political Animal" in January 2010. From its first article, "Introducing 'The Political Animal'", January 26, 2010:
"George Dance is my real name. I'm 56 years old, and live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with my family.
"I am a long-time member of both the Libertarian Party of Canada and the Ontario Libertarian Party. I was the Leader of both parties for brief periods, and the Chairman of the provincial party for 12 years. You can read the details of my political biography here.
"For all of that period I wrote for, and for some time edited, both parties' newsletters. Those newsletters were my zines in those days. (The blog's title is a hommage, not only to Aristotle, but also to one of my 1980's-era columns.)
"In 1996 I discovered mailing lists, and began posting on a few. In 2000 I became interested in political philosophy and aware of the internet, and began writing on usenet. Ten years later, I am still writing on usenet and Google Groups.
"George Dance is my real name. I'm 56 years old, and live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with my family.
"I am a long-time member of both the Libertarian Party of Canada and the Ontario Libertarian Party. I was the Leader of both parties for brief periods, and the Chairman of the provincial party for 12 years. You can read the details of my political biography here.
"For all of that period I wrote for, and for some time edited, both parties' newsletters. Those newsletters were my zines in those days. (The blog's title is a hommage, not only to Aristotle, but also to one of my 1980's-era columns.)
"In 1996 I discovered mailing lists, and began posting on a few. In 2000 I became interested in political philosophy and aware of the internet, and began writing on usenet. Ten years later, I am still writing on usenet and Google Groups.
"Inspired by Ron Paul's carpe diem Presidential campaign, in early 2008 I began writing a Nolan Chart political column, in particular on the U.S. election, in particular on the Paul and Libertarian campaigns. That column continues, with an eye on the 2012 election."
The name was changed in 2011 to prevent confusion with other blogs that were also using the name "Political Animal." Most of the stories I blog are by other writers, which do not necessarily reflect my own opinions. Those that I have bylined, or those without a credit, are by me, and do reflect those, of course.
For those who wish to know me better, a more detailed biography is here.
The masthead is a detail from a cartoon, captioned "The real trouble will come with the Wake", published in Puck magazine, Aug. 15, 1900, and attributed to Udo Keppler (1872-1956). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
