Houston, we have a stalker

It was interesting to see Camestros Felapton was stalking my profile on LinkedIn yesterday. It looks like he created a profile just for that purpose. Meanwhile, another File 770 denizen, ex-Amazon Principle Research Scientist Greg Hullender, is instructing SJWs on how they can attempt to interfere with Castalia House and other publishers who sell through Amazon in the future.

Greg Hullender on February 1, 2019 at 4:59 pm said:

I was a senior manager at Amazon in the division that managed the catalog. I can guarantee you that no one outside that team can really delete anything from the catalog. The programs that others run only mark things deleted, but they don’t really go away.

Likewise, accounts don’t really get erased. They get frozen and the money put on hold until someone can figure out whom it really belongs to. (This was an IP theft accusation, if you believe VD’s account, so of course they held the money.)

Once it was straightened out, they quickly put everything back the way it was. (Considering that the database had over 2 billion records in it when I left the company 5 years ago, it’s pretty impressive how well it works, if I do say so myself.)

He may be telling the truth about what was told to him. It’s possible he got someone who just didn’t know how to reinstate a deleted account. (Or someone without the privilege to do so.) Someone new enough to simply not know that whatever was done can be undone. (With just a few caveats.)

As I think about it, if you wanted to make this happen to him again, the way to do it (assuming he created another “misleading” book like this) is as follows:

1. Purchase the book yourself.
2. A few days later, submit a return request to Amazon, alleging that you received a counterfeit. (I forget the exact code, but it’s a checkbox that indicates you got something other than what you thought you ordered.)
3. In the comments, mention the book you wanted to get and include a link to VD’s own words explaining what he did. Make it clear that “this was a deliberate fraud. Amazon shouldn’t tolerate this.”

Any customer service rep would refund you at once and kick it straight up to Fraud. Fraud would look at the info, see that the account has been suspended repeatedly, and instantly suspend it pending further investigation. Or so I believe, since I’ve seen the same thing happen to other merchants who skirted the line a lot. (E.g. gray-market sellers whose ads make it look too much like the original product. Or refurbished-product sellers who aren’t clear enough it’s not new.)

It’s fascinating to observe such an influential ex-Amazon employee providing instructions on monkey-wrenching Amazon’s core business. Needless to say, we’ve archived this post and forwarded screenshots of Mr. Hullender’s advice to our contacts at Amazon so they are aware that Mr. Hullender and his associates may attempt to interfere with Amazon’s attempts to sell books to their customers in the future.

CBS rejects “Just Stand” ad

Deplatforming doesn’t happen because you are a bad individual with evil ideas. It happens because those with the ability to silence you fear the power of your message:

A veteran-owned apparel company’s pro-flag Super Bowl TV ad that punches back at Nike’s promotion of Colin Kaepernick and his national anthem protests has been rejected by CBS.

According to the firm, Nine Line Apparel, CBS was apparently not satisfied the firm could pay for the 45-second ad, despite having annual revenues of $25 million. A spokesman for Nine Line charged that CBS didn’t like the ad’s content.

The ad features soldiers, first responders, and images of military graves decorated with American flags and gives credit to them for protecting the rights of those like Kaepernick to protest.

Remember, Free Speech was always a fake principle. The Enlightenment was not merely a fake philosophy, it was a complete lie designed to undermine Christian society.

Some minor changes

While we are pleased to continue working with Amazon and selling our books there in various formats, the Book of the Week will henceforth point to the Arkhaven store.

Also, we anticipate having very good news for those of you who enjoy Castalia House audiobooks in the coming week. We also plan to have Chuck Dixon’s Avalon #1 available in digital format there very soon.

CNN is Fake News

When reality interferes with the narrative, it’s reality that must make way:

A Democrat with a racist past? That fact might be too far from the mainstream line for CNN, so they labeled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam a ‘Republican’ when reporting on his apology for a past racist photo.

Northam is under pressure from both Democrats and Republicans to resign after admitting that he is one of two men that appeared in an old photograph, one in blackface and the other dressed in a KKK robe. He apologized for the photo, unearthed from a 1984 school yearbook this week, saying that it did not reflect the person he is today, and promised to work to regain the public’s trust, but did not indicate any intention to leave office.

When the story was covered on Anderson Cooper’s show on CNN Friday night, the governor’s name was labeled with the letter ‘R’ – which stands for ‘Republican’.

This sort of thing is why I don’t ever watch ABCNNBCBS Fake News. If they’re misrepresenting the most easily verified facts, what else are they lying about?

Metaphor

If you see a forest in Ethiopia, you know there is very likely to be a church in the middle, says Alemayehu Wassie. …

These small but fertile oases — which number around 35,000 and are dotted across the country — are some of the last remaining scraps of the tall, lush natural forests that once covered Ethiopia, and which, along with their biodiversity, have all but disappeared.

Much of the nation’s forestland has been sacrificed to agriculture to feed the country’s mushrooming population — at more than 100 million, it is the world’s 12th largest. Deforestation was particularly encouraged during the country’s period of communism, in 1974–91, when the government nationalized the land, including the large estates of the church, and distributed it to people who converted swathes to farmland. Just 5{b43a0fc0c6bef1f13a0ee688948bcd35a2a6d28785f026a3bff8ca14cb06d58e} of the country is now covered in forest, down from 45{b43a0fc0c6bef1f13a0ee688948bcd35a2a6d28785f026a3bff8ca14cb06d58e} in the early twentieth century.

Serving as an oasis is going to be our job with regards to knowledge, particularly religious and philosophical tradition in the West. Why do you think I prioritized Infogalactic over more potentially lucrative projects? Did you truly think I didn’t know there was considerably more money in clones of profitable corporate projects than in one of a non-profit?

What the Infogalactic team and the Burn Unit are doing matters, quite possibly more than anything else we are doing.

They FINALLY got bored of themselves

For the first time in recorded history, a Baby Boomer has expressed a lack of interest in talking about his g-g-generation:

Not-Boomer: I’d like to see another Boomer bashing thread.

Boomer: Nah, all us boomers are used to it. And it’s tiresome.

Will wonders never cease? Have the Boomers finally learned? Have they finally realized that history has passed them by, that no one thinks they’re cool, and that The Beatles are not, in fact, the pinnacle of music? Have they finally grasped how everyone else was always sick of constantly hearing them talk about themselves?

Lust for life: why sex is better in your 80s. Sexually active older people are considered a curiosity, but a new survey suggests that lovemaking is often more fulfilling for ‘sexual survivors’ than those in middle age.

Sadly, no. Apparently some people are simply incapable of change. Bash away, bash away, bash away all. It is practically a moral duty at this point, as a salutary lesson to the younger generations, because no generation in human history has ever been as collectively obnoxious or narcissistic as the Baby Boomers.

The truth is that Boomers are not at all accustomed to being bashed and it stings them more than any non-Boomer can possibly believe, because none of us have ever had our identity tied up in our generational cohort. Here they were collectively catered to their entire lives, only to finally notice, late in life, that Generation X not only didn’t admire them and look up to them, but actively held them in contempt all along.

That’s why so many of them still react like angry Pavlovian dogs to even the smallest expression of disdain for them. Most of them will die without ever having relinquished the delusion that all of human history revolved around them.

Indiegogo deplatforms Bitchute

It looks like Indiegogo’s legal team still hasn’t read their own Terms of Use or Refund Policy:

Many of you will know about the Indiegogo campaign that we ran last year to build an open-source commenting platform named Comment Freely. Well, it was time for Indiegogo to pay us and rather than giving us the money they decided to refund it without even telling us why. We’ll be putting up a public blog post about this soon with more details. This is breaking news so we’re still considering our options.

Sounds like JAMS is going to have a very good 2019.

When are contributions not eligible for a refund?

Contributions cannot be refunded by Indiegogo, if any of the following are true:

  • The contribution funds have already been transferred to the campaign owner
  • The campaign has ended
  • The perk associated with the contribution has been fulfilled (contribution is marked as fulfilled on Indiegogo by the campaigner)
  • Indiegogo determines that there has been an abuse of our Terms of Use, or the refund policy.

Please note, we are unable to cancel your campaign or issue mass refunds for any campaign that has raised funds.

Resign, racist

Kamala Harris makes it clear that the Democratic Party has NO PLACE for white men:

Kamala Harris@KamalaHarris
Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government. The Governor of Virginia should step aside so the public can heal and move forward together.

Clearly Ralphie Northram should resign from the Virginia governorship. Because blackface raciss superbad. As should all the Republican consultants upon whom Ed Gillespie spent $29 million and still couldn’t find his opponent’s medical school yearbook.

Chuck Dixon’s Avalon #3

As you can see, the unexpected drama with Amazon did not even cause us to break our stride. Chuck Dixon’s Avalon #3 is now available in high-resolution digital format from Arkhaven.

UPDATE: It is now available in Kindle format on Amazon as well. However, it is not available via Kindle Select.

Chuck Dixon’s Avalon #3: The Conscience of the King

While King Ace is in training with Big Simba and the Specials of the UN-SPC, his former partner-in-fighting-crime Fazer languishes in a prison designed especially for people with superhuman powers. Fazer is desperate to escape, but how can he get out when his jailors possess the technology required to block his unique abilities?

But Fazer isn’t the only one feeling trapped, as King Ace quickly comes to learn that his new team isn’t tasked with fighting crime in the city of Avalon, but rather, tracking down other people like him and Fazer. And he also discovers that signing on with the official forces of law and order means accepting restrictions on your ability to do what you think is right.

Chuck Dixon is the most prolific comic book writer in history. Set in the world of Alt★Hero, CHUCK DIXON’S AVALON is the legend’s newest creation. The CBZ file contains high-quality 2048 x 1316 images. 24 pages. DRM-free. $2.99.

The print and Kindle editions will be available soon. We are still working with Ingram on sending out the replacement Issue #2 to those who received the silent editions. As the first two issues of CHUCK DIXON’S AVALON are no longer exclusive to Kindle Select, we will make high-resolution CBZ-format editions available on the Arkhaven store this weekend.

Please note that as of issue #3, we have changed over to standard comics format for the single issues. The omnibus editions will still be 10×7.

UPDATE: If you are an Arkhaven backer, please check your email.

Just say no, Johnny

John Scalzi@scalzi
TFW something designed to antagonize me turns out to be a consistent and profound source of trouble for the person who made it. Karma is apparently real, y’all.

I wonder what this Karma is in response to?

OVERDOSE

Complainant: Scalzi, [REDACTED], [ADDRESS], Bradford, OH 45308
Incident Address: [ADDRESS], Bradford, OH 45308

DETAILS: Report of male subject unresponsive

Perhaps Mr. Scalzi should spend less time snarking and snorting things and more time working on his next literary failure. Anyhow, if you’d like to read the book that all the fuss was about yesterday, it’s called CORROSION and you can pick up the DRM-free ebook at the Arkhaven store.