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Castalia House Thanksgiving Sales

From November 24 through November 30, Castalia Library is selling four Library books at a discount price of $69.99 for everyone in the USA and the UK. This includes both subscribers and non-subscribers alike; no discount codes are necessary or applicable to the books on sale. Free shipping is included.

  • The Lawdog Files
  • The Jungle Books
  • The Black Swan
  • Fooled by Randomness

Castalia Library is also selling four Libraria books at a discount price of $199.99. The same rules apply.

  • Ethics
  • Politics
  • Summa Elvetica
  • The Promethean

Don’t forget that the BASED BOOKS SALE is also running, as in addition to the hundreds of ebooks on offer from other authors and publishers, 9 Castalia House ebooks are available at $0.99 each until November 30. A Throne of Bones and The Junior Classics are also on sale. The ebook sales are available worldwide.

  • The Nine Laws by Ivan Throne
  • Wardogs Inc. #1: Battlesuit Bastards by G.D. Stark
  • Wardogs Inc. #2: Hunter Killer by G.D. Stark
  • Wardogs Inc. #3: Metal Monsters by G.D. Stark
  • Mutiny in Space by Rod Walker
  • Corrosion by Johan Kalsi
  • There Will Be War Vol. I by Jerry Pournelle (editor)
  • Summa Elvetica and Other Stories by Vox Day
  • A Throne of Bones by Vox Day ($1.99)
  • The Junior Classics Vols 1-8 by William Patten, Matthew King, and Vox Day ($19.99/set)

An email to this effect was sent out to the Castalia House mailing list. If you are not on it, or if you were somehow removed from it by the vagaries of the current state of email, you can sign up for it here.

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Up Your Game or Else

A new episode of the late Osamu Tezuka’s Give My Regards to Black Jack has been created by a Japanese team with significant AI assistance:

A new episode of Osamu Tezuka’s famous “Black Jack” manga made with the help of artificial intelligence was unveiled Monday, with the creators saying that while the work reflected the spirit of the late legendary manga artist, its ability to depict human feelings remains an issue.

“We are happy that a very Tezuka Osamu-like work has been created,” said Makoto Tezuka, son of the late artist and director at Tezuka Productions Co, one of the organizers of the project, which was launched to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the medical drama about an unlicensed genius surgeon.

The latest 32-page episode will be published Wednesday in the weekly comic magazine Shukan Shonen Champion and will feature a female patient who has had a transplant for what was supposed to have been a “perfect” AI-made artificial heart. The magazine ran the original Black Jack series from 1973 and 1983.

“The new episode contains the sanctity of life as a theme, and raises issues posed by advanced medical technology in modern society,” Makoto Tezuka told a joint press conference alongside project team members in Tokyo.

The team used generative AI models that learned from some 200 episodes of “Black Jack,” another 200 short-form manga works by Osamu Tezuka who died in 1989, and 20,000 pages of his manga characters’ facial image data.

Under the project, which was officially launched in May, the team input plot ideas into the AI and requested it to come up with a full story for a new Black Jack episode. Interacting with the AI model enhanced creativity, and generated text was adjusted to better reflect the team’s vision of the story in a way readers could easily understand, the team said. The AI models used in the project were ChatGPT’s advanced GPT-4, and Stable Diffusion, an image generator.

New Tezuka ‘Black Jack’ manga episode created using AI unveiled, JAPAN TODAY, 16 November 2023

Once it becomes possible to create stable and reliable characters, AI will revolutionize the industry. It’s going to supercharge the abilities of prolific authors like Chuck Dixon and John C. Wright, and give a significant boost to genuinely creative writers like Gene Wolfe and Roger Zelazny. And it’s going to seriously harm the industry gatekeepers, the unoriginal hacks, and the expensive artists.

Most of all, it’s going to reduce the influence of Hollywood, which has utilized its monopoly on distribution and expensive art production, by reducing the cost of what has always been the most expensive part of video production. So, I see it as a very good and literally pro-creative technological development.

Needless to say, Arkhaven is actively embracing the use of AI on Arktoons, although almost entirely on the visual side instead of the written side.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND, Arktoons

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Happy Thanksgiving

Proclamation 533—Thanksgiving Day, 1904

A Proclamation

It has pleased Almighty God to bring the American people in safety and honor through another year, and, in accordance with the long unbroken custom handed down to us by our forefathers, the time has come when a special day shall be set apart in which to thank Him who holds all nations in the hollow of His hand for the mercies thus vouchsafed to us. During the century and a quarter of our national life we as a people have been blessed beyond all others, and for this we owe humble and heartfelt thanks to the Author of all blessings. The year that has closed has been one of peace within our own borders as well as between us and all other nations. The harvests have been abundant, and those who work, whether with hand or brain, are prospering greatly. Reward has waited upon honest effort. We have been enabled to do our duty to ourselves and to others. Never has there been a time when religious and charitable effort has been more evident. Much has been given to us and much will be expected from us. We speak of what has been done by this nation in no spirit of boastfulness or vainglory, but with full and reverent realization that our strength is as nothing unless we are helped from above. Hitherto we have been given the heart and the strength to do the tasks allotted to us as they severally arose. We are thankful for all that has been done for us in the past, and we pray that in the future we may be strengthened in the unending struggle to do our duty fearlessly and honestly, with charity and goodwill, with respect for ourselves and with love toward our fellow-men. In this great republic the effort to combine national strength with personal freedom is being tried on a scale more gigantic than ever before in the world’s history. Our success will mean much not only for ourselves, but for the future of all mankind; and every man or woman in our land should feel the grave responsibility resting upon him or her, for in the last analysis this success must depend upon the high average of our individual citizenship, upon the way in which each of us does his duty by himself and his neighbor.

Now, Therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart Thursday, the twenty-fourth of this November, to be observed as a day of festival and thanksgiving by all the people of the United States at home or abroad, and do recommend that on that day they cease from their ordinary occupations and gather in their several places of worship or in their homes, devoutly to give thanks unto Almighty God for the benefits he has conferred upon us as individuals and as a nation, and to beseech Him that in the future His Divine favor may be continued to us.

November 01, 1904

President Theodore Roosevelt

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BASED BOOK SALE 2023

Castalia House is supporting the popular Based Book Sale this year, with 8 ebooks at $0.99, one very long ebook at $1.99, and an even longer set of 8 ebooks for $19.99. There are a lot of very good authors participating, including the great John C. Wright, so be sure to peruse the lists!

Bypass the cultural gatekeeping, support non-woke authors, and get yourself some great books from both established and emerging talent for only $0.99 – many titles free!

The sale runs through Tuesday November 28.

  • Fan Favorites: These are some of the most popular titles from previous sales: 185 titles from 92 authors. This is a great place to start, if you’ve never been to a sale before, or if you want to be sure you haven’t overlooked a great deal.
  • New Arrivals: These are new releases and other books that we have not previously featured in a sale or that have not appeared in a while: 70 titles from 51 authors. If you’ve been to the sale before, this is a great place to start for some fresh reads.
  • Non-Fiction: We also have a handful of non-fiction works as well ranging from politics to theology to writing to homesteading.

You can see most of the ebooks that are on sale in the image below. So, if there is something that piques your interest or curiosity, why not give it a go? At only ninety-nine cents, it’s almost certainly going to be an excellent entertainment value.

We are also making the 924-page epic fantasy A THRONE OF BONES available for $1.99 for those who are gearing up to read its forthcoming, and equally massive, sequel, and the eight volumes of THE JUNIOR CLASSICS, 2020 Edition available for $19.99. All on-sale editions are ebooks in DRM-free EPUB format.

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You Never Were, Kemosabe

All of the fraudulent “dual-citizen” nonsense was fake and false from the moment of its invention by the Supreme Court in 1967. No matter how much Ben Shapiro swears up and down that he’s a real American and insists that he doesn’t even hold an Israeli passport, it’s been obvious and observable for literal decades that his sympathies and true allegiances lie elsewhere despite his citizenship papers.

For example, all it took to expose the true colors of Russian-Israeli citizens was the US sanctions regime imposed upon the European financial institutions:

Several leading Israeli banks have begun to segregate accounts belonging to Russian citizens or Russian tax residents, Forbes and RBK reported on Thursday, citing lawyers and financiers. According to Mark Oigman, founder of international financial company SmartGen, the measures stem from EU sanctions, in particular restrictions introduced against Russians by the Belgian-based depositary Euroclear.

“Israeli banks began verbally warning some of their clients – most likely many – about the risks of blocking last week. Many people last week sold everything they could sell to avoid segregation. According to my estimates, few securities were blocked, since a lot of work was done, and at least private banking clients, wealthy Russians, managed to sell assets subject to segregation,” Oigman told RBK.

According to Aleksey Kovalenko of Israel-based legal firm Kovalenko and Partners, Israeli banks are currently negotiating the details of asset segregations with Euroclear, as many account holders have duel Russian-Israeli citizenship, and permanently live in Israel.

“The Israeli side insists that those who have an Israeli passport are in fact Israelis and should not be subject to the restrictions that should affect Russians, even despite having a second Russian passport,” the lawyer stated.

Israeli banks blocking Russian assets, RUSSIA TODAY, 16 November 2023

It didn’t even take that much to expose the falsity of some paper Americans:

The ONLY people I care about are my people, Israel. I have my reasons. I have some thoughts. However unconnected they seem, they are, I am connecting the dots. October 7th, the day we will never forget. I cried, non-stop for a week. felt the shock and devastation of my people like I have never felt before. I am ashamed to have thought in the past, I’m an American first. An American Jew, raised Conservative, practicing, not practicing, and practicing again, the only comfort now is in the company of other Jews.

Lauren Herman, THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, 25 October 2023

Americans know this. We have always known. To paraphrase an imaginary American Indian: “who is this ‘we’, kemosabe?” The only thing that has changed is that some of the “dual-citizens” no longer find it in their interests to pretend anymore, and so they are finally admitting that they were never Americans, or Russians, or Frenchmen, at all.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of your people and putting the interests of your nation first. That’s precisely what Israelis should do, whether it is a time of war or not. But pretending to be Americans, or Russians, or anything else at the same time is not only wrong, it is insidious and it is intrinsically untruthful, which is why it required the usual 1960s-era emanations and penumbras to provide a judicially-contorted basis for the false foundation of dual-citizenry.

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Micro-weaponization

Finland claims that Russia has “weaponized mass immigration” by sending 700 migrants across the Russo-Finnish border:

Finland’s prime minister said today that the country will close all but its northernmost crossing point with Russia following a surge in migrants, which Helsinki claims Moscow is intentionally pushing after it joined NATO.

Since the start of August, around 700 asylum seekers have entered Finland without a visa over its 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Russia.

‘The government has today decided to close more border posts. Only Raja-Jooseppi station will remain open,’ Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told a press conference. After seeing a surge in migrants seeking asylum on its eastern border in November, Finland last week shut half of its eight crossings to Russia.

So, 1.3 million migrants entering Great Britain and 5 million migrants entering Europe and 50 million migrants entering the United States, that’s all fine. But Russia kicks out 700 and that’s a “weaponization”?

Sometimes, Clown World is just insulting. We knew it was fake, gay, and evil, but we really never anticipated this level of rhetorical retardery.

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The Payments Never End

When you take the ticket to achieve what passes for “success” in Clown World, the demands upon you will never end.

Kanye West believes his ex personal trainer Harley Pasternak has been following him in Dubai – one year after the rapper leaked alleged texts from his ‘creepy’ former employee threatening to get him ‘institutionalized again’. Photo and video obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com shows Pasternak, 49, in the lobby of a hotel on Monday where West is staying with his children – which a source called ‘extremely suspect’.

West, 46, was notably hospitalized in November 2016 after suffering a temporary psychosis at Pasternak’s home in West Hollywood – reportedly brought on by sleep deprivation and extreme dehydration following a stream of Twitter posting frenzies, political and personal rants at his fans and cancelled concerts.

West was diagnosed with bipolar disorder but has claimed in the years since that he was ‘mentally misdiagnosed’ and that Pasternak was allegedly to blame – later leaking texts Pasternak had reportedly sent him in the wake of the musician’s 2022 anti-Semitic rants.

An insider told DailyMail.com of Pasternak: ‘We have grave concerns as to what this creepy operative is doing in Ye’s hotel. ‘The timing is extremely suspect. We are very concerned indeed about his motives and intentions. This is the man who threatened to “drug Ye to Zombieland”. Why has he suddenly shown up here?’

Kanye West believes ex personal trainer Harley Pasternak is FOLLOWING him in Dubai, 22 November 2023

Notice how Kanye West’s straightforward observation that he’s being followed around the world by his Clown World handler – and yes, of course, Every Single Time – is being portrayed as a “belief”, thereby attempting to further the idea that West is paranoid, even though he’s being literally stalked around the world.

It doesn’t matter if it’s acting, business, music, or writing, there is no amount of fame, money, sex, or drugs that is worth the price that is demanded of anyone who seeks success in their field. And there is no shame whatsoever in seeing your inferiors surpass you and garner all the inorganic praise, plaudits, sales, and “success”, because if you are doing your best work, any success that you achieve is both real and entirely merited.

Unlike the “successful” celebrities, you will never have “imposter syndrome”, because, unlike them, you are not an imposter. There is no such thing as “imposter syndrome”, there are only imposters. Imposter syndrome, truly described, is the belated realization of the imposter that his success, such as it is, is manufactured, has not been earned, and he is fundamentally a fraud.

It may also be informative to observe that a Wikipedia editor named Hemiauchenia keeps changing the page to say “Harley Samuel Pasternak is a Canadian personal trainer” instead of “”Harley Samuel Pasternak is a Jewish Canadian-American personal trainer” and removing the link to a well-sourced article entitled “Harley Pasternak, Jewish Fitness Trainer to the Stars.”

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Why I Dislike Quote Posts

I do not quote post. I find quote-posting to be rather narcissistic, mostly unnecessary, and somewhat smacking of the Smart Boy. I don’t think it should be banned or restricted, but I have to admit that I do tend to roll my eyes at a post that quotes a post that already has healthy engagement with dozens of comments.

There is, of course, a place for quote-posting. Ironically, the people who absolutely should be quote-posting don’t, while most of the people who do really shouldn’t. The ideal place for quote-posting is when your comment is excessively tangential to the original post or would otherwise tend to derail the discussion of the topic at hand. For example, if you’re going to take pedantic and detailed exception to some minor aspect of the post in question, or if you’re a Protestant/Catholic who is going to take the opportunity to unnecessarily express your very important opinion of the Roman Catholic Church/Random Protestant Denomination, that would be a good time to quote the post and thereby branch the discussion in an appropriate manner that most of the commenters on the thread will tend to appreciate.

If, however, you’re merely quote-posting to ensure that your Very Important Comment is not lost amidst the general stream of commentary on the topic, well, that’s simply not necessary. I’m not going to say that such a quote-poster is necessarily seeking attention with all the intensity of a girl on a pole chasing dollar bills, but that’s pretty much how it tends to strike me, anyhow.

Here’s how you can tell the difference: how much engagement of your quote post can you reasonably expect in comparison with the original post? If there is a reasonable fraction, then you’ve probably reasonably branched the discussion and provided a useful service to the community. If, however, there is no engagement, then you’re just quoting-posting to no purpose and everyone would be better off if you would simply comment on the original post instead of quoting it. Once you start to recognize the pattern of when others engage and when they don’t, it should be possible for you to improve your decision-making in this regard.

And for the love of all that is good and holy and beautiful and true, please recognize that a quote of this post, or any post on the subject, will neither be clever nor witty nor anything but painfully obvious.

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Tuesday Comics

CHATEAU GRIEF Episode 316: Rehab is for Quitters

THE SIDEWINDERS Episode 46: The Price of Madness

WARDOGS INC. Episode 33: Cemetery Hill

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BLACK JACK Episode 32: Even if You’re Right

GORGO Episode 33: The Return of Gorgo

TREASURY OF TALES Episode 27: The Golden Goose

THE LOST ERA TRANSCRIPTS Episode 24: The Deep Dark Hole

REBEL DEAD REVENGE Episode 89: The End of a Blood-Soaked Day

RIOT TOWN, USA Episode 37: La Haine pour Lahaina

STONETOSS Episode 243: Gay Bashing

COSMIC HORRORS Episode 4: The Temple

Sheepoleth

sheepoleth [ shee-puh-lith, ‐leth ]

noun

  1. a peculiarity of unjustified belief that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons.
  2. a slogan or catchword that regurgitates the mainstream Narrative
  3. a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth that is accepted by the average individual without skepticism, critical thought, or question.

“Early in life I have noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper, but in Spain, for the first time, I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts, not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed. I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors, and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as heroes of imaginary victories; and I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that never happened. I saw, in fact, history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various ‘party lines.'”

-George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia

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