#Arkhaven INFOGALACTIC #Castalia House
Bounding Into Comics has an exclusive first look at the second Chuck Dixon’s Conan novel, CARAVAN OF THE DAMNED, including several illustrations and a draft of the paperback cover, which is not the image below.
In my opinion, both Dixon’s text and Ademir’s artwork are even better than in the first paperback. Note that the current paperback editions of THE SIEGE OF THE BLACK CITADEL now include Ademir’s illustrations and incorporate the typo-fixes identified in the first edition.
Even the NATO forces are openly admitting it now.
The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council has claimed a third world war is already underway, with the Moscow-Kiev conflict pulling in countries far beyond the region. Speaking at the Kiev Security Forum on Tuesday, Aleksey Danilov argued that NATO needs Ukraine as a member, as global turbulence is set to continue. “We’re going to strengthen the alliance,” he insisted.
“If somebody thinks that World War III hasn’t started then it’s a huge mistake. It has already begun. It had been underway in a hybrid period for some time and has now entered an active phase,” he said.
Sitting on stage beside former CIA Director General David Petraeus, Danilov said that “if somebody thinks that it [the conflict in Ukraine] is about settling the scores between Kiev and Moscow then it’s a mistake. Things are much more complicated.”
He’s not wrong. I pointed this out months ago. This was never about Putin, his ego, or the revival of the Soviet Union. Don’t forget that WWII started with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, seven years before the Austrian Anschluss and ten years before the USA got openly involved. Even though we didn’t realize it until 2022, WWIII began in 2014 with the Maiden Coup in Ukraine, and it won’t be surprising if, ten years later, the US military gets openly involved in 2024.
The African front has already been opened. The Asian front will open soon, probably next year. The only serious question that remains to be answered is if there will be an American front as well.
UPDATE: Speaking of the African Front.
The crumbling house of French colonialism faces another blow as Chad demands the withdrawal of French troops from the country. This push gained momentum after the unfortunate killing of a local resident by French soldiers, sparking protests against the French colonial presence.
Ironically, France had contemplated pulling its colonial troops out of Niger and into Chad in response to demands for a definitive withdrawal date from the Niger military. Now, it seems they barely had time to leave Niger before facing expulsion from Chad. This follows previous expulsions of the French from the Central African Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso, with Niger, Gabon, and Chad lining up as potential next exits.
Elon Musk brings up the possibility of suing the ADL for defamation:
While the ADL is obviously vulnerable on the issue of defamation, and has previously lost defamation cases, I think Musk and many others would actually have a much stronger case concerning tortious interference. The ADL literally raises money on the basis of its successful interference in contracts between third parties to which it has no relation, and its entire modus operandi is based on tortious interference for the purposes of harming the party it is targeting.
And while defamation is extremely hard for a public figure to prove, tortious interference is usually an easily established matter of record. In the case of the ADL’s interference with X’s advertising contracts, all of the elements are observably there and could be easily proven using the communications between the ADL and the advertisers.
If Musk actually follows through with his musings with a lawsuit for tortious interference, and if Facebook, which was also targeted by the ADL, followed suit, there is a very good chance that the ADL would be financially ruined. Which would be ironic, given how many other organizations and individuals it has attempted to ruin financially. #BantheADL
UPDATE: I am very skeptical that Musk is genuinely serious about this. Among other things, he hasn’t fired his ADL-friendly CEO, Linda Yaccarino, yet.
UPDATE: On the other hand, the mainstream media is already rushing to misdirect the public and provide cover for the ADL, which tends to suggest that they are afraid the threat is real.
It’s unclear what kind of communications Musk is referring to, but a successful defamation suit would require him to prove that the ADL has been making false claims about him and his company. Musk and X did not immediately respond to a question from NBC News as to whether a complaint had been drafted. The ADL told NBC News on Monday that as a matter of policy it does not comment on legal threats.
The ADL’s publicly shared research and its criticisms of antisemitism on Musk’s platform in recent months are grounded in evidence. In March, the group flagged specific examples of antisemitic hate speech and tropes, and it criticized X for failing to remove posts in accordance with X’s own policies that prohibit hateful conduct, threats or incitement to violence based on individual or group identities. And in May, the ADL posted a report that documented examples of how antisemitic harassment networks are flourishing on the platform. Some of the ADL’s methodology seems unclear to me, and the organization also has a history of sometimes defining antisemitism in ways that conflate it with anti-Zionism. But the ADL flagged persuasive examples in its posts, and anyone who spends time on X knows the site is brimming with hate speech directed at all kinds of minority communities. One might also note that in these posts and in its report, the ADL is not calling Musk or X itself antisemitic, but the group is critiquing the company for failing to take action against antisemitic speech. Musk said on Monday that he was “pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind.”
Musk’s decision to single out the ADL is odd. As I noted, the ADL is just one voice among scores of civil rights-oriented organizations, research groups and media commentators that have criticized Musk’s laissez-faire attitudes toward hate speech. That’s to say nothing of the possibility that advertisers may choose to pull back on their spending on a platform without any pressure from activist groups or critics, and simply out of the calculation that the platform might be risky for their reputation in the future.
The twisted logic of Elon Musk’s defamation threat against the Anti-Defamation League, MSNBC, 6 September 2023
Notice how there is no mention of tortious interference, and yet the last sentence is specifically phrased to provide a hypothetical defense against the possibility that X advertisers were contacted by the ADL and pressured to stop advertising on X. And it is those communications between the ADL and the advertisers it is believed to have pressured are presumably the kind of communications to which Musk was referring.
THE LOST ERA TRANSCRIPTS Episode 13: Story Four: Night
A MIND PROGRAMMED Episode 32: A Drastic Action
HAMMER OF FREEDOM 2 Episode 12: The New Order
上嫁小鼠 Episode 20: 你的统治结束了
REBEL DEAD REVENGE Episode 78: Knock Yourself Out
STONETOSS Episode 221: Auto-Defamation League
“In terms of the vaccine mandates, I acknowledge that it was a challenging time for people but they ultimately made their own choices. There was no compulsory vaccination. People made their own choices.”
This statement is sparking an amount of outrage, mostly among those who feel they were forced to get vaccinated, and while the outrage is understandable, the man is telling no more than the literal truth. Virtually no one was actually compelled to get vaccinated, as we were all presented with choices. To be threatened with the loss of one’s job, the inability to play a sport, to drink in a club, or to eat in a restaurant, the cancellation of one’s college acceptance or one’s travel plans, may be unpleasant, but it is still to be presented with a choice.
Many people, most people, made bad choices. They made what in retrospect look like very suboptimal and dangerous choices that prioritized their short-term preferences over their long-term health.
So remember this next time! Remember this when the new “mandates” are put in place. The choice is still going to be yours. Learn from the mistakes that were made last time, and remember, those who are putting you in this difficult position are going to point out after the fact that you were the one who made your choice.
When more relevant information gainsays its conclusions. Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former Commanding Officer of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, was certain that the British wunderpanzers were going to wreak havoc on the Russian lines back in June.
As a former tank commander, I can say one thing for certain: Putin’s demoralised conscripts are utterly unprepared for the shock action now hitting their lines. Ukrainian armoured formations are beginning to meet Russian forces in battle, and they are going to pulverise Russia’s defensive lines. I am confident for one simple reason: Ukraine will follow the Western ideology of manoeuvre warfare in a combined arms context, while the Russians will follow Soviet doctrine, relying on attrition and numbers. The Russians will find that the armour of Western tanks is far more resilient than flesh and bone, they will die in great numbers, and they will lose.
British-made tanks are about to sweep Putin’s conscripts aside, THE TELEGRAPH, 9 June 2023
Yeah, so, about that…
It turns out that attrition, numbers, and artillery trump propaganda and manoeuvre warfare. And apparently, the British are even more delusional about their tanks than they are about their chances of winning the World Cup. But like the World Cup, the 28 Challenger 2 tanks sent to Ukraine will not be coming home.
I think it’s safe to expect Chinese corporations to be seizing foreign-owned property in Hong Kong and Taiwan soon, and taking steps to abandon the international arbitration system given these remarks on a new law that strips foreign state immunity by the Foreign Ministry.
Q: The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress reviewed and passed the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Foreign State Immunity at a recent session. The law adjusted China’s previous stance of absolute state immunity and authorized courts in China to hear lawsuits against foreign states. What’s the reason for such an adjustment?
A: Enacting the Law on Foreign State Immunity is a normal legislative activity conducted by the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress. The law stipulates provisions related to foreign state immunity in line with international practices and aims to improve China’s foreign state immunity system. The law stipulates the rules for Chinese courts to handle civil cases involving a foreign State and its property, with a view to protecting the lawful rights and interests of the parties concerned, safeguarding the sovereign equality of States, and promoting friendly exchanges with other countries, which all in turn boost China’s higher-level opening-up.
The Law on Foreign State Immunity affirms the fundamental principle that a foreign State and its property enjoy immunity in China, at the same time stipulates exceptions relating to non-sovereign act of a foreign State, under which Chinese courts can exercise jurisdiction, such as cases involving disputes arising out of a commercial activity, relevant personal injury and property damage. The Law also states that Chinese courts can take compulsory judicial measures against a foreign State’s commercial property under strictly limited circumstances. It fully adheres to international law and it is also consistent with general state practices.
As a responsible major country, China firmly upholds the principle of sovereign equality and will faithfully implement this Law to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals and legal persons and respect the immunities enjoyed by foreign States under international law.
Translation: The USA and other Western governments, including Canada, have increasingly been utilizing their courts to the detriment of Chinese corporations and individuals. China is clearly going to follow their lead by giving its courts the power to exercise jurisdiction over foreign entities and individuals who had previously been considered off-limits on the basis of foreign state immunity.
Given how little foreign investment there is in mainland China, one would tend to expect the primary application of this expanded jurisdiction will be in Hong Kong, and eventually, Taiwan.
I expect Taiwan to peacefully unify with the mainland much sooner than most people are expecting, and I strongly suspect that it will be someone like this man who will make it happen when the time comes. Despite his public statements, I would assume that he is, for all intents and purposes, the CPC’s preferred candidate for the office, because when China eventually makes its move for reunification, it will want to have a pragmatic figure in control of Taiwan’s government in order to avoid violence and bloodshed.
The billionaire founder of tech giant Foxconn, Terry Gou, has announced he will run for president of Taiwan as an independent candidate, pledging to fix cross-strait relations and boost Taiwan’s economy.
At a press conference on Monday, Gou – a well-known and outspoken businessman – announced what he called “the era of entrepreneurs’ rule”. “I have decided to join the 2024 presidential race,” he said, touting his business and finance experience, including dealings with China.
“Give me four years and I promise that I will bring 50 years of peace to the Taiwan Strait and build the deepest foundation for the mutual trust across the strait … Taiwan must not become Ukraine and I will not let Taiwan become the next Ukraine.”
Gou should not be able to come anywhere close to winning in normal political circumstances. He couldn’t even win the Kuomintang nomination. But given the fact that the outcome of the NATO-Russian war should be known by the time the election takes place in 2024, combined with the increased US activity in southeast Asia, the fear of being similarly sacrificed on the altar of US geostrategic interests may be enough to move the Taiwanese electorate away from the separatist parties.
SNAKEHAND Episode 36: Worse Than Expected
PAPER DOLL VERONIKA Episode 75: Claws
AESOPS FABLES Episode 16: The Mole and His Mother
CHATEAU GRIEF Episode 286: Joint Effort
THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS Episode 23: A Good Moral
THE WEIRD AND STRANGE Episode 13: When A Cartoonist Gets Bored
DIARY OF A POSTWAR PIRATE Episode 1: Just a Little Piracy
THE GRYPHON OF TIRSHAL Episode 1: Proper Respect for the Crown
GIVE MY REGARDS TO BLACK JACK Episode 21: In Ten Minutes
GORGO Episode 25: The Gorgo Solution
TREASURY OF TALES Episode 16: The Little Red Hen
Two new text series launch today, DIARY OF A POSTWAR PIRATE and THE GRYPHON OF TIRSHAL. Check them out!
Steve Harwell, the lead singer of 90s rockers Smash Mouth, has died at the age of 56.
Smashmouth wasn’t technically a one-hit wonder, but what a great hit it was. “All-Star” was one of the definitive songs for the Millennial generation but it was GenX to the core; musically it was very simple, but lyrically it was of a philosophical bent. Marcus Aurelius would have approved of it.
“Get your game on. Go play.”
After considerable review of statistics and video highlights in the aftermath of Argentina winning the World Cup, I have been forced to conclude that my previous opinion was in error. There simply isn’t any question about it.
Lionel Messi is the greatest soccer player of all time.
I’ve always considered Pele to be number one, with Maradona a close number two. But the fact is that Messi’s creative abilities, vision, and generosity make him a more complete, more effective player on the field than either Pele or Maradona. As for modern players, Cristiano Ronaldo is an incredible scorer and an inspirational leader for Portugal, and his speed, size, and aerial abilities are certainly superior to Messi’s, but the fact is that Messi is arguably more valuable as a goal-maker than he is as a goal-scorer.
This is unprecedented at the highest level of scoring even when one removes penalty goals from the equation. In his five-year peak at Barcelona, Messi averaged 1.03 non-penalty goals per game and 0.46 assists per game for a combined average of 1.5 goals per game.
Consider that the consummate midfielder, Zinedine Zidane, universally regarded as one of the ten-greatest to ever play the game, averaged 0.26 assists per game across his entire career. In Zidane’s best-ever season, at Juventus, he averaged 0.46 assists per game. Messi did that for five straight years. And he did that in addition to scoring a goal in every game himself.
His closest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, scored fewer non-penalty goals and had 25 percent fewer assists during his own five-year peak at Real Madrid. CR7’s combined average of 1.3 goals per game is still historically excellent to the point of being very nearly unprecedented, but across the 170 games played, that 0.2 delta is a difference of 34 goals in five seasons!
Statistically speaking, at their mutual peaks, Messi was worth one more goal every five games than Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s the statistical equivalent of having one additional mediocre striker or one above-average midfielder on the field every single game. And this peak-to-peak comparison is actually favorable to CR7. The career delta between Messi and Ronaldo is 0.32 despite the latter’s Saudi league-inflated numbers. To put that into perspective, 0.32 happens to be the career average of Andrés Iniesta, an excellent Spanish international who was named to the FIFA Pro World XI no less than nine times.
So the cold hard tangibles are perfectly clear. What about the intangibles? All you need to do is to forget about the goals and watch one highlight reel of Messi dribbling, followed by another one of him making assists. Only Maradona can compare to his dribbling and I’ve never seen anyone who creates opportunities for others as well as Messi does. Any lingering doubts about his ability to win the biggest competitions were settled once and for all when Argentina beat Brazil in the 2021 Copa America, then followed that up by winning the 2022 World Cup.
Dennis Bergkamp will always be my favorite player, and I’ll always harbor the utmost respect for Pele, Maradona, and CR7. But the unquestionable fact, the undeniable fact, is that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer to ever play the game.
And Americans are very fortunate to be able to watch him doing what he does at Inter Miami. Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar took the Saudi money, but what Messi is doing with David Beckham in Miami is more important, as they are building stronger foundations for the beautiful game.