#Arkhaven INFOGALACTIC #Castalia House
This one is for the physicists.
I vaguely recall that one explanation for gravity is that everything is gradually expanding. But given all the remains of very large flora and fauna that have been discovered, is a potentially viable explanation for gravity the inverse possibility that everything is gradually contracting? Or is that just nonsensical?
The walls of Amazon’s walled garden for books are rising higher:
Amazon is letting users know, via a pop-up message when using Kindle for PC, that it will be discontinued on June 30, 2026. When this date comes, the app will no longer work, even if you download it from another website. The company has disclosed to Good e-Reader that Amazon is developing a new Kindle for PC app, but it will only be compatible with Windows 11. This will be an app available only to download from the Microsoft Store.
The Kindle for PC app launched in 2009 and never really got any love from Amazon. Many modern users who use Kindle for PC do so only to download books locally for the express purpose of stripping the DRM. Older versions of Kindle for PC can do this more easily, but in the past couple of years, Amazon has forced updates on older versions of the app, or you won’t be able to access or read books. Kindle for PC was basically a war zone between pirates and Amazon, with both sides implementing fixes.
Amazon is doing everything it can to lock down the Kindle e-readers and their various apps.
While we are using Amazon again, and with some degree of success, I can’t stress enough how important it is to directly support Castalia, because as we’ve repeatedly seen, Amazon can completely eliminate even a very successful business overnight.
This is a really excellent post on the reality of the hidden aspect of human history. I’ll be posting at least one more link to another part of the post tomorrow:
Father Chad Ripperger describes how demons besiege the imagination and emotions to such a degree that the person cannot think outside the perceptual box that has colonized them. He calls this obsession in the clinical, theological sense. The person is not fully possessed. They function. They hold jobs. They make decisions. They simply cannot perceive anything outside the boundaries the besieging force has constructed around them. He has observed, publicly, that this pattern is identical to the psychology of ideological movements. He has said that when you strip the veneer away, communism and diabolic psychology operate on the same structural logic.
Now consider a different kind of morphing.
Watch a college freshman arrive at an elite university in September. Watch them again in June. The vocal fry has set in. The upswing at the end of declarative sentences, turning statements into questions. The flattened affect. The identical vocabulary deployed across thousands of individuals who believe themselves to be independent thinkers.
They did not choose this. It overtook them.
By the time they reach Silicon Valley, the morphing is complete. They speak as one voice. They believe they arrived at their opinions independently. Listen to the way Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, speaks. The measured cadence. The pauses calibrated to signal thoughtfulness. The vocal register that never rises and never breaks. It is the voice of a system, not a person.
Listen to how many in Generation Z now pronounce the word ‘women.’ The shift is uniform. It is not regional. It did not emerge from any dialect. Millions of people began mispronouncing the same word in the same way at the same time, and no one can identify the point of origin. Linguists call it a speech trend. The ancient world would have called it something else.
When millions of people begin speaking in the same cadence, using the same contractions, the same tonal shifts, the same moral vocabulary, at the same time, that is not culture. That is memetic synchronization. The ancient world had a name for it. The modern world calls it a meme and treats it as a joke. The word “meme” was coined by Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist, as a deliberate parallel to “gene”: a unit of cultural transmission that replicates, mutates, and colonizes minds. Dawkins meant it as a scientific metaphor. The ancients would have recognized it as a description of exactly what they were warning about.
As I discussed in my recent piece, Money, Sex, and Sorcery, the word “glamour” comes from the Scots English alteration of “grammar,” which itself derives from “grimoire,” a book of spells. A glamour, in its original meaning, is a spell cast through language. It is the manipulation of perception through words. It makes the enchanted person see something other than what is actually there.
Ripperger describes the same dynamic from the exorcism room: demons, he says, put a perspective on your imagination. They alter how you perceive a person, a situation, a reality. The thing itself has not changed. Your perception of it has been replaced. He says this is how demons destroy marriages, careers, and institutions. They do not change the facts. They change how the possessed person sees the facts.
This is why it is very important to not only devote yourself to speaking the truth to the greatest extent possible, but also knowing your own mind. I once had what I am certain was a demonic dream, because not only were the dream-thoughts definitely not my own, but the characterizations of other people in the dream were intrinsically false and fundamentally different than what I absolutely know to be my true perspective on them. It was scripted to attempt to influence my thinking in a destructive direction, and the temptations offered were not of a sort that even appealed to me.
It was rather like seeing an email and immediately recognizing it to be spam. What the false non-science of modern psychology calls “the subconscious” is actually made up of several elements, and one of them is the pathway with which spirits, both good and evil, communicate with the mind.
And, of course, it’s even more important to avoid doing the sorts of things that open up one’s mind to alien influences. Keep those doors resolutely shut, and even if your personal weaknesses lead to you repeatedly open them again and again, never tire of going back and shutting them, every single time.
Science is considerably more fake than genuine. And history is considerably deeper and darker than is generally acknowledged. And not every individual with whom you speak is speaking for himself.
It was, of course, Kathleen Kennedy. Again.
Disney invested billions of dollars in the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge design and construction, based on a fictional world called “Batuu.” They hyped up technology and immersive elements meant to enhance the guest experience and allow for fans to spend hours in Galaxy’s Edge…And now, after just a few years in operation, new leadership at the top is completely changing the entire plan behind Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. In the process, admitting they completely missed the mark with their multi-billion dollar project.
One former top executive at Walt Disney World once explained in an interview why Galaxy’s Edge focused on the new trilogy and not the beloved original movies and characters. Because Kathleen Kennedy gave awful advice to Bob Iger.
“We got a call one day,” said former WDW VP Dan Cockerell. “They said, ‘Well, we got some news for you all.’ And the Imagineering guys, they’ve heard this line many, many times during their careers. And I had never been through this.” “They said, ‘Well, yesterday Bob Iger met with Kathleen Kennedy, who as a lot people may know was sort of George Lucas’ protégé and headed up Lucasfilm. And they had a conversation. They had a meeting. And Kathleen Kennedy, her point of view was, there are way more Disney Star Wars stories ahead of us than behind us. So we really should think about do we want to build a Tatooine, and build what all the fifty-somethings remember Star Wars is or do we want to build something else which is going to appeal to all the upcoming generations who are going to know the new stories.'”
Don’t focus the land on characters people like, focus it instead on the new movies, Kennedy said. And Iger listened. Well, those new movies have come and gone, and “Star Wars” has never meant less in the national conversation. Sure enough, under new CEO Josh D’Amaro, Disney announced this month that they were bringing Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker into Galaxy’s Edge, as well as finally incorporating John Williams’ beloved score from the original films.
That’s how you know they’re admitting they made a gigantic mistake listening to Kathleen Kennedy.
Bringing these characters into Galaxy’s Edge makes no logical or thematic sense, particularly since they’re being portrayed as their younger selves from the original trilogy. But Disney is desperate to make their gigantic investment in Galaxy’s Edge worth it, so they’re hoping characters people actually like will bring new fans and keep them there longer.
It’s a series of unforced errors. They made mediocre movies that have been mostly forgotten, assumed that people cared about Rey and Kylo Ren or Fin or Poe Dameron, and then bet billions of dollars that their newer stories would be more popular moving forward than the old ones.
Whenever you see an executive making an argument about the need to appeal to the new audience, which is young, superficial, and mostly hypothetical, at the expense of the old audience, which is older, better-off, larger, and loyal, you know a business disaster is in the making. Although, in this case, the ill wind did blow some good for Nick Cole’s book sales due to the fortuitous name chosen by Disney.
It’s necessary to appeal to new arguments in order to grow. That’s why we try new things. That’s why I’ve got something like five different sites now. But never, ever, are those things done at the expense of the tried-and-true elements of the community. Even to this day, I still usually post here first.
The third book of The Secret Scrolls of Naruto takes the pursuit out of the back alleys of Edo and up the Nakasendō, where the conspiracy climbs from city shadow into open mountain country. Three wicked rōnin push north through Usui Pass after Otsuna and the Tenma detective Mankichi: one with his arm in a sling from a wound that should have killed him, one strolling as though bound for a teahouse, one burning with the heat of his grudge with every league he walks. Somewhere ahead of them walks the swordsman-monk Norizuki Gennojō, who has already drawn blood in Edo and will draw more. And far to the south, deep in the sealed domain of Awa, a woman travels upriver toward Tsurugi-san with a servant and an errand she will not name.
The steam and sulphur of the Suwa bathhouses at evening, an eccentric scholar drifting through the Kiso-Fukushima checkpoint in search of hairpins and dried char, a midnight brawl and a hunted man in a hot-spring bath, and at last, the great confrontation on Mochinoki Slope under diamond clouds that hide the spring moon — this is the book where Yoshikawa Eiji takes his grand adventure out of the city and into the mountains.
The Kiso Scroll is the third book in the first English translation of Yoshikawa Eiji’s Naruto Hichō, the century-old serial series that made him the most widely read author in Japanese history. Translated in literary prose that reads as though it were originally composed in English, it brings the novel that created the modern Japanese adventure genre to the English-speaking world for the first time.
The Kuomintang and the Communist Party are joining forces to lay the ground for peaceful reunification:
The Chinese mainland on Sunday rolled out a package of 10 policies and measures — spanning inter-party communication, infrastructure, travel, trade and culture — aimed at boosting exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan.
Atop the 10 initiatives announced by the mainland on Sunday is a proposal to explore a regular communication mechanism between the CPC and the KMT. The CPC and the KMT will, on the common political foundation of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing “Taiwan independence,” take “stronger measures” to promote cross-Strait exchanges, interaction and integration, the CPC’s Taiwan work office said in a statement.
The statement said that an institutionalized platform will be set up to promote two-way exchanges between young people on both sides of the Strait. The All-China Youth Federation and other relevant mainland institutions will invite 20 youth groups from Taiwan to visit the mainland for exchanges every year.
INFRASTRUCTURE, TRAVEL, TRADE, CULTURE
- Efforts will be made to support the coastal areas of Fujian Province — the mainland region closest to Taiwan — in sharing water, electricity and gas supplies with the offshore islands of Kinmen and Matsu, and to promote construction of sea-crossing bridges linking them, when conditions permit.
- The mainland will also move to resume regular direct passenger flights across the Strait, including routes to and from Urumqi, Xi’an, Harbin, Kunming and Lanzhou.
- Kinmen will be supported to use a new airport under construction in the nearby mainland city of Xiamen, expected to begin operations by the end of 2026.
- A communication mechanism will be set up on the common political foundation of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing “Taiwan independence” to facilitate the entry of Taiwan’s agricultural and fishery products that meet the quarantine standards into the mainland.
- Efforts will also be made to help Taiwan’s agricultural and fishery products gain access to various mainland trade fairs to expand their sales channels.
- The mainland will explore building wharves and berths in regions where conditions permit for distant-water fishing vessels from the Taiwan region, and mull providing convenience for the sales of their fish catch on the mainland.
- It will also facilitate registration procedures for qualified Taiwan food manufacturers and the entry of their food products into the mainland market.
- The mainland will explore the establishment of more trading markets for small-ticket items with Taiwan and support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises from Taiwan to expand business on the mainland.
- Mainland cities such as Fuzhou and Xiamen have long established such markets, allowing small businesses from Taiwan to directly sell specialty commodities to mainland buyers.
- To boost cultural ties, the mainland will allow qualified TV shows, documentaries and animations from Taiwan to be aired, and permit Taiwan residents to take part in the mainland’s fast-growing micro-drama industry.
- The mainland will promote the resumption of individual tours for Shanghai and Fujian residents to Taiwan.
Things are quietly taking shape behind the scenes if they’re being this open about the process.
“I wish to put an end to rumors circulating online claiming that China has agreed with the United States not to provide arms to Iran. Let me be clear, no such communication has taken place. China has neither admitted supplying arms to Iran nor denied it. Our security agreements and defense cooperation are sovereign matters for China alone to consider.
No foreign country has the right to meddle in China’s internal affairs. Leaders around the world should weigh their words carefully before speaking.
China welcomes the decision by President Trump toward de-escalation and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. We remain committed to world peace and to safeguard regional stability through dialogue.”
– Guo Jiakun, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China
Translation: yes, we’re arming Iran. No, we won’t stop. Don’t try to cut off our oil or we’ll make sure you regret it.
Another day, another Middle East ceasefire:
President Donald Trump announced a ten–day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, describing the truce as an initial step toward a permanent end to hostilities between the two nations. He also mentioned an invitation he sent to the prime minister of Israel and the Lebanese president for further talks at the White House.
The announcement, made via Trump’s Truth Social platform, follows high–level discussions held in Washington earlier this week. The ceasefire is scheduled to take effect today at 5pm EST.
The President stated that the agreement was reached following personal conversations with the Israeli and Lebanese leaders, noting that representatives from both countries met in Washington on Tuesday, marking the first such diplomatic encounter in 34 years.
‘I just had excellent conversations with the highly respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel,’ Trump wrote. ‘These two leaders have agreed that in order to achieve peace between their countries, they will formally begin a ten-day ceasefire at 5pm EST.’
This might be helpful in attempting to persuade Israel not to try to expand into Lebanese territory. I don’t see how it’s going to slow down Hezbollah at all, though, especially if they’re not technically part of the ceasefire.
Every organization gets converged sooner or later. Sooner, in the case of those that don’t actively guard against it.
There’s a tweet from 2016 that has aged better than almost anything else on the internet:
1. Target a respected institution 2. Kill and clean it 3. Wear it as a skin suit, while demanding respect
I thought about that tweet this week when the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced it was leaving X.
EFF was, for a long time, genuinely great. Founded in 1990 by programmers, hackers, libertarians, and progressives united around a single premise: the internet should be free, and someone needed to fight for it. They took on the government’s attempt to control cryptography and won. They fought the PATRIOT Act. They built tools that protect millions of people who will never know their name.
That organization is gone. What remains is wearing its skin.
It’s a pity, but the surveillance state is too important to Clown World to permit pesky electronic freedoms to get in the way.
MAGA was supposed to be the alternative to the neocon-infested GOP, but it turned out to be MIGA, which thereby cements the probability that there will be no political fix for the USA prior to the anticipated failure in the 2033 timeframe.
There were two schools of thought on the Spanish Right in the lead-up to the civil war: Accidentalism and Catastrophism. Accidentalists believed that the serious issues facing the Spanish Republic were not baked into the institution itself, but rather an accident that could be attributed to the early Marxist bent of the first government. The Republic had gotten off on the wrong foot, but Conservatives could and would steer the ship in the right direction once they peacefully won political power through the electoral process and formed a government capable of addressing the Right’s concerns regarding government attacks on the Church and private property. They were strictly committed to following the rule of law and operating within the constitutional framework.
The second group believed the Republic was a catastrophe from the start, and that there could be no saving the Republic from itself. They asserted that the Left would never recognize any non-Leftist government, no matter how much they claimed to uphold the rule of law, because the problem was not with the Republic’s legalistic procedures but rather with the fact that the entire system was merely a facade to facilitate a Socialist and eventually Communist state that would permanently exclude Conservatives from power.
These two camps were largely united in their politics but divided in how to engage in politics. One pursued reform, while the other waited for an opportunity to overthrow the system itself once enough of the Right realized that there would be no voting their way out of this mess. After the Right won the 1933 elections and were met with: 1) Legalistic stonewalling when they attempted to form a government, and 2) An attempted Left-wing revolution in Asturias in 1934, the Catastrophists were proven to be correct.
As a general rule, the social and political optimists are wrong and the technogical optimists are right.