No safe harbor

I have my doubts about this guy as a lawyer, but this particular observation is astute and potentially very significant.

WAIT JUST A DANG MINUTE…WHAT? Did Apple just say it is a curator of content and therefore NOT protected by Safe Harbor in copyright and CDA 230?

What he’s referring to is this interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook with Vice News Tonight:

In an interview with Vice News Tonight on HBO Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly explained some of the reasoning behind removing Alex Jones and InfoWars from the company’s podcast app and App Store. According to Cook, the move wasn’t politically motivated, or coordinated with any other tech companies, as he denied ever discussing the subject with them.

Instead, he said: “What users want from us and what we’ve always provided them is a curated platform. We think that what the user wants is someone that does review these apps, someone that does review the podcasts, someone that on like Apple news, where a human is selecting the top stories. And that’s what we do.”

What this means is that Apple has publicly established that it is legally liable for all the content on its platform.

A production error

No, Chuck Dixon has not begun experimenting in action comics sans dialogue. Unfortunately, we had a breakdown in our production process and sent out the first 193 print editions of Chuck Dixon’s Avalon #2: Rulebreaker without the dialogue layer. We have already revised the comic as well as our process and all subsequent editions will be correct.

We are working on a plan to get replacement issues out to those who received an incorrect edition and will run the plan by those customers once we are able to confirm it with our distribution partner. We apologize for the inconvenience and delay. The digital edition was not affected.

Nationalism rises

Thanks to the astute leadership of Matteo Salvini, La Lega is now the dominant political party in Italy:

Italy’s League under Matteo Salvini is now the most popular political party in the nation, with a voter affiliation of 33.8 percent, a nationwide electoral poll revealed Saturday.

The monthly survey conducted by the IPSOS research group, which inquired about citizens’ voting intentions, showed the Five Star Movement (M5S) — the League’s partner in the current coalition government — falling by 1.5 percentage points over the last month to 28.5 percent. This figure represents a three percentage-point drop for M5S from mid-July and a widening gap between the two governing partners.

Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party has meanwhile fallen to 7.8 percent, down slightly less than one point compared to the last published figure, while the center-left Democratic Party (PD) stands at 17 percent.

The PD registered a slight uptick compared to recent months, thanks to recent rallies, increased media visibility, and the perception of greater cohesion among the leadership of the party.

Observers suggest that the solid performance of the League is due in large part to the constant media presence of party chief Matteo Salvini, Italy’s interior minister and deputy prime minister. Salvini has persistently sought to rein in Italy’s illegal immigration problem and has stood up against globalist leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron.

Forza Italia support is all going to go to La Lega once Berlusconi is no longer in the picture, which means that La Lega is pushing near 40 percent in a parliamentary system, which is huge. Factor in the alliance with Cinque Stelle and that means the nationalists of left and right now represent about 70 percent of the Italian population.

I expect a push for Italexit after the next round of national elections. Italy does not need the European Union and will be much better off with a return to the Lira.

Wormtongue confirmed

Jordan Peterson is behaving the way all con men behave when they’ve gotten ahead of the con. Now he’s walking it back. And Scott Adams is helping him try to sell it and salvage his credibility:

Jordan B Peterson@jordanbpeterson
If confirmed Kavanaugh should step down.

Jordan B Peterson@jordanbpeterson
I’m not certain that is the right move. It’s very complex. But he would have his name cleared, and a figure who might be less divisive might be put forward.

Jordan B Peterson@jordanbpeterson
That might decrease residual alienation from the left, and make things less polarized moving forward. Of course, that has to be balanced against handing any victory to the “believe all accusers” crowd.

Jordan B Peterson@jordanbpeterson
I was thinking all this whole trying to plot out a strategy that would be least damaging, on the whole. And I’m not jumping up and down claiming to be correct. Thought is experiment, not reality.

Scott Adams
Clarification accepted.

If you STILL buy into Jordan Peterson’s bullshit after this pathetic “never mind, I’ll just walk it back” display, you will fully deserve the disenchantment that will be your fate.

Let me be clear: Jordan Peterson is absolutely and utterly full of shit… and he always has been.

Sworn in

Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice Saturday night after the bitterly polarized U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed him. The Senate vote delivered an election-season triumph to President Donald Trump that could swing the court rightward for a generation after a battle that rubbed raw the country’s cultural, gender and political divides.

Kavanaugh was quickly sworn in at the court building, across the street from the Capitol, even as protesters chanted outside.

The near party-line Senate vote was 50-48

Darkstream: Jordan Peterson sells out America

From the transcript of the Darkstream:

I warned you about Jordan Peterson. A lot of people were unhappy when I first came out and pointed out that Jordan Peterson is not a good guy, that Jordan Peterson is not on our side, that Jordan Peterson is not an enemy of the SJWs, and that he is not someone who’s good for the Right. Now, the thing is, either you stand for what is right or what you don’t, and when Jordan Peterson came out today against Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation and explicitly came out and said that if Kavanaugh is confirmed  -which he will be, by the way, in case you haven’t heard,  two of the four maybe votes in the Senate have come out openly and confirmed that they are going to support Kavanaugh’s confirmation and more significantly one of them is actually the West Virginia Democrat – so you know,  for years Jordan Peterson has said he’s terrified of making the mistake that is going to ruin his career.

Now I don’t know if this is actually sufficient to sink his career or not, but it should be,  because this makes very clear that Jordan Peterson is in league with the SJWs. Jordan Peterson is, in American terms, a Democrat and there’s absolutely no question that the intellectual dark web, the Ben Shapiros the Eric Weinsteins, the recycled New Atheist known as Sam Harris, and Jordan Peterson himself, are all on the side of the Left. This is not a surprise, I mean,  I’ve been telling you guys this for ages. I knew that he was not a good guy, that he was not on our side, that he was part of the problem rather than part of the solution from the time I read his book. There are so many people who say such incredibly dumb things about Peterson because they happen to like one thing that he said, they happen to like two things that he said. Here’s the thing you can always find something that somebody says that you agree with. That doesn’t mean that their objectives are aligned with yours

Jordan Peterson kneecaps his defenders

Peterson’s cultists really are desperate. It was a joke. He’s being sarcastic. I think he’s waxing ironic. he has to be joking. He’s drunk tweeting. I’m hoping @jordanbpeterson is drunk posting tonight. Did he really mean it?

And my favorite: It’s the scurvy talking.

But no, Crazy Christ wasn’t “being sarcastic” when he suggested that Kavanaugh step down if confirmed.

Jordan B Peterson@jordanbpeterson
If confirmed Kavanaugh should step down.

Jordan B Peterson@jordanbpeterson
I’m not certain that is the right move. It’s very complex. But he would have his name cleared, and a figure who might be less divisive might be put forward.

This episode has not only demonstrated that Jordan Peterson is NOT on our side, it has shown that a) his defenders are clueless cultists who simply refuse to accept the truth about him, and, b) Jordan Peterson is a complete ignoramus when it comes to American politics.

First, Supreme Court Justice-to-be Kavanaugh would not have his name cleared. Just ask Robert Bork or Richard Nixon. Second, the God-Emperor Donald Trump would not respond by putting forward someone less divisive, he would absolutely name someone he could trust not to betray him by stepping down after all the hard work was done, someone who is a fire-breather that would make Kavanaugh look like a cuddly teddy bear in comparison.

Which is to say, someone considerably MORE divisive.

I am genuinely curious to see what sort of excuse the Jordanetics cultists will provide next for their hero. Especially since he is such a shameless and transparent liar.

I have a habit of not preparing my talks until really the last minute, and I mean that’s not exactly true, because I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to talk to you about tonight for a very long time, but I, I really only got the title for this talk firmly in place about half an hour ago. And, and one of the things I like to do when I’m speaking to people is to tell them what I’m thinking about, not what I’ve already thought about, you know, and certainly not what I know, but what I’m thinking about, what I’m trying to figure out.

It’s strange, then, that he so often happens to say the same things over and over and over again. Does he never manage to figure anything out? Notice again how he advertises when he’s about to lie. Many people, me included, repeat words or even stutter, but I’ve noticed that Peterson tends to primarily do it when he’s about to say something he knows to be false.

I will admit that I found Stefan’s puzzled reaction to Peterson’s original tweet to be mildly amusing. Surely there must be some kind of context in which the Crazy Christ didn’t actually mean what he quite clearly wrote!

@StefanMolyneux
I find this bafflingly incomprehensible. Appease disproven accusers? Can anyone help me with context?

@ButMuhRussia
Vox told you, Stefan. You just didn’t listen.

@CovfefusMaximus
Context: Peterson is a fraud, exposed by Vox Day months ago

@ProgenyOfEurope
Context: he is an intellectual fraud.

Just to be clear, I have no problem whatsoever with Stefan. He owes me nothing and we get along fine. He’s neither the first nor last intelligent individual to be taken in by Peterson’s bafflegarble. As far as I can tell, Milo is about the only one to have seen through Peterson as quickly as I did, even though he was considerably more polite about it. Although it would appear Mike Cernovich has now too:

Professor Peterson: Have you resigned your position in an effort to appease the hate mob that targeted you? That would clear your name, yes?

Mailvox: double down at your own risk

Lovekraft is whining because he refuses to accept that stubbornly standing by a false position and doubling down on it is never, ever, going to receive anything but open contempt from me.

Your ego is getting the better of you. One post you say you encourage discussion, the next you come across as a complete prick.

Make up your mind asshole.

I am one of your long-time followers and supporters. Hopefully others here will see what their so-called mentor thinks of them.

First, this has nothing to do with my ego. And trying to make the subject about me would make Lovekraft liable for a permanent ban even if he wasn’t reduced to namecalling.

Second, I encourage intelligent discussion, not butthurt babbling from people who suggest something, have their suggestions shot down, then repeatedly insist that their suggestions are too valuable without being able to offer the slightest bit of evidence in support of their position.

I was asked “is calling an SJW a social justice terrorist good rhetoric?” The answer was: no, it is terrible and ineffective rhetoric. “Social Justice Terrorist” is, just like “Social Justice Crybaby” and “Social Justice Whiner”, inept rhetoric of the sort produced by those who simply don’t understand the basics of Aristotelian rhetoric and dialectic. Lovekraft even attempted to claim that “Social Justice Terrorist” isn’t meant to serve as a rhetorical pejorative attacking the Extreme Left, but rather, as a rhetorical persuasive aimed at the Center, that “its effectiveness may lie in converting the normies.”

It does nothing of the sort. How, precisely, is that going to work? What emotion is “Social Justice Terrorist” supposed to trigger in the centrist, and of what is that emotion going to persuade the sort of people who can’t even be convinced that Antifa dressing in black masks, setting cars on fire, and physically beating people up in public are a genuine threat to the body politic?

Third, there is no conflict between a) encouraging intelligent discussion and b) coming off as a complete prick. Fourth, I don’t give a quantum of a fraction of a sliver of a damn if I come off as a complete prick. The comments are there because the readers requested them, not because I wanted to be subjected to a daily dose of foolish questions, idiotic assertions, gamma posturings, personal attacks, trolls, buffoons, attention seekers, and psychologically troubled individuals working out their issues in public. I put up with the comments, I engage with the comments, I even occasionally derive value from the comments but never, ever, make the mistake of thinking that they are an integral aspect of this blog.

Fifth, if I have to make up my mind between encouraging discussion and modifying my offensive behavior, then I will shut down the comments so I don’t have to listen to any of the nonsense anymore. I walked away from both Alpha Game and my WND column without any ceremony or hesitation, does anyone truly believe I would never do the same here? Fortunately, as I have already pointed out, it is a false dichotomy and I do not need to make that choice.

Sixth, it is only because Lovekraft is a longtime follower and supporter that he’s not being banned for violating the Second Directive: I am not the subject. At the same time, as a longtime follower and supporter, he should know better. No matter how betrayed and butthurt you might feel, a commenter should have better self-control. Bitch about me all you like on Twitter or your own site, but you are not on equal ground here where I am both the lawmaker and chief enforcer.

Seventh, I am not a mentor. I have not agreed to mentor anyone. Everyone who reads this blog or any of the books I have written is perfectly free to take or leave the information provided there. If what I’ve written is useful to you, great. If you disagree with something I wrote, fine. Disagree all you like. But if you say something stupid here, there is a reasonable chance I will tell you that it is stupid. If you insist on behaving like a moron, there is a reasonable chance I will identify you as one. And if you want to reject everything I do and say, and with which I am involved, because I don’t look at you with sad paternal eyes, tell you you’re good enough just the way you are, and metaphorically hug you the way you wish your father would, well, Jordan Peterson is probably more your style anyhow.

Not on your side

You can’t say I didn’t warn you.

Jordan B Peterson
If confirmed Kavanaugh should step down.

Eric Weinstein
This position is held in varying forms by nearly everyone thoughtful with whom I’m speaking. What divides these folks is which way to break the symmetry. But honest people see deep reasons that both outcomes are not healthy or workable. We need a genius healer we just don’t have.

Jordan Peterson is not useless, he’s actually worse than useless. He’s not opposed to the Left, he is of the Left. He just thinks the SJWs go a little too far because they inspire resistance. The man is a Fabian wormtongue.

Meanwhile, Kavanaugh will be confirmed as predicted:

Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh is heading to confirmation to the Supreme Court this weekend after two key undecided senators — Susan Collins of Maine and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — announced Friday that they would support his elevation to the high court, ending the most divisive confirmation fight in decades.

Why KU is killing ebooks

A reader has a theory:

1. Ebooks are introduced, everyone who reads gets a Kindle or reader, and fills it up. Many books are free and classics. The problem is that there are more books than you can read in a lifetime.

2. KU shows up. The Super-Readers end up on KU as for the money it is the best deal going. Books become a complete commodity on it. 

3. Regular, but not super readers still have too many eBooks to ever read but still pick up a few. 

4. So many forms of entertainment exist from on-demand videos, YouTube, Twitch, games, the world is filled with immediately accessible amusements. Reading slackens for Regular Readers. 

5. KU continues to grow, and more and more Super Readers flock to it, causing a drop in regular eBook sales.

6. Regular Readers realize the ephemeral nature of eBooks. There’s nothing to pass on, nothing to see or savor like the printed page and they don’t have the time nor inclination to read dozens of books a month like the Super Readers. (I stopped using an eBible and no only take notes in a printed one)

7. Regular Readers instead opt to buy printed books for the ones they truly love. They can pass on hardback, leather bound, and beautiful books which stand the test of time. Pulp Fiction and casual reading are left to the occasional eBook. 

8. Super Readers continue to devour KU.

I did an analysis of our ebook sales and was surprised to discover that with 7 exceptions, Kindle Unlimited is simply not worth it even without taking potential non-Amazon sales into account. So, we’re going to be removing most of our books from KU and returning them to the Castalia House store over the next three months. By the start of the new year, most of our books will be available from all the major ebook platforms as well as our online store.

Remember, every dollar in the KU pool represents about THREE dollars removed from the ebook sales pool. And because the overall market is not growing, it is a zero-sum game.

We’re also going to reduce the number of new fiction authors we publish. Because repeated experiments have demonstrated that even the very best-selling KU novelists don’t sell very well in print, and because the success of KU puts us in a catch-22 situation with them regardless of whether they sell well through us or not, we are going to focus our efforts on strategic properties that we create, own and develop rather than those that we merely publish.

Because non-fiction a) sells well in print and b) is not popular on KU, our non-fiction publishing will continue without any change in focus or strategy.