BattlePenguin

Game Reviews: Planet of Lana, Doki Doki Literature Club, Strikey Sisters and Persona 5 Royal

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been a while since I posted my last set of game reviews. Over the fall and winter, I played mostly PC games and a single PlayStation 5 title. Planet of Lana was a fun side scrolling puzzler. Doki Doki Literature Club is a cult classic visual novel and psychological horror game. A friend gave me a free key to Strikey Sisters, a fun and short Brickles clone with fantasy elements. Finally, on the PS5, I spent more time playing Persona 5 Royal than all the other games combined.

Planet of Lana

Planet of Lana is a beautiful side scrolling puzzler. It’s similar to Limbo, Inside, or either of the FAR Lone Sail games. It takes place in a village on an alien world. The characters all speak their own language (saving on localization and voice acting costs). Simple hiding, climbing and puzzle solving mechanics are gradually introduced before the small village is upended by a full scale invasion from space fairing ships and robots.

The Scene

The artwork in this game is superb. The first few chapters take place in the forests and use a bright, vibrant green color pallet. Subsequent settings include dark blue swamps, sandy deserts and gray futuristic structures. There are interludes between major chapters with incredible music and vocals, which really pull the game together.

Gameplay

The gameplay involves typical left to right platforming and puzzles. For most of the game, you have a companion that can be ordered around. Your companion can jump high and far, but cannot swim, creating interesting challenges for getting both of you through each scene. I really enjoyed the puzzles. Some of them were quite creative. Even though they were all similar, the overall flow never really got old or monotonous. Character death is pretty constant, but it’s not as gruesome as Limbo.

Overall

There aren’t a whole lot of characters in this game. Their obscure language leaves an aurora of mystery over some of the details in the story, even though it has a concrete ending. I finished the journey in five and a half hours according to my save game, and seven according to the Steam game timer. It’s really the perfect length for this indie title, filled with fun puzzles, beautiful artwork, memorable music and a complete story.

Summary

Beautifully made scrolling platform puzzler that's a little tense, but mostly relaxing and enjoyable.

78%

Doki Doki Literature Club

I’ve never played a game in the visual novel genre before. After playing Doki Doki Literature Club, I’m not sure if it counts. This five hour narrative adventure starts with strong content warnings, leading me to believe I’d be plunged directly into the center of a psychological horror. The first time I attempted it, I got about eleven minutes into the game and was so bored I didn’t touch it again for months. It was only after seeing a random product with artwork from the game, that I decided to finally finish it¹.

Changing Your Name

First off, in a lot of role playing games where you choose the names of characters, you’re introduced to them first via some short gameplay and story. It helps the player decide on an appropriate name. Doki Doki Literature Club asks for a name at the very beginning, without any cues as to if your character is a man or woman. This can be super annoying if you’re twenty minutes in and the character name doesn’t fit at all. It’s surprisingly hard to change the main character’s name, with most guides suggesting you just delete your save data and start over. If you’re on PC, I discovered you can edit your name with a few simple steps.

Doki Doki Literature Club is made using the RenPy visual novel engine. It stores the players name in the persistent file², but there’s little information on this file’s format³. The RenPy engine does have a development console, and the unren program from mrunkel shows that the console can be enabled by created a file named C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Doki Doki Literature Club\game\unren-dev.py with the following configuration⁴:

init 999 python:
  config.developer = True
  config.console = True

After creating this file, you should be able to use Shift+O to open up a development console and change the variable player to the name you want for your player⁴. Be sure to quote the string like so: player = "Bob"

Game and Story

Doki Doki Literature Club has the initial appeal of a slice of life anime. It repeats many of the same graphics over and over, relying a lot on dialog and exposition. The story is incredibly boring, and the choices very basic. Picking words from a notebook to form a poem may seem like it has an impact on the story, along with the standard choice boxes found in visual novels. However, the game attempts to be subversive, reminding the player of those content warnings at the beginning long after they’ve been forgotten about. There is some fourth wall breaking, and there are even minor puzzles and Easter eggs hidden outside the game.

The game doesn’t disappoint on the dark themes it teases from the beginning. More time and detail are spent on the artwork and visual styles towards the end of the adventure, and there are even more fourth-wall breaks. However, there doesn’t seem to be anything really profound with the final act of the game. The characters are developed and memorable, but the game tries to pull the audience into a realm of depth I don’t think it deserves. For a visual novel that’s made it onto so many different consoles and platforms, I expected something more from this title. The final act is interesting, and there some things that can be discussed about the games motivations once the final credits roll. However, it still feels a little gimmicky. I’m glad I played it, but I’m not sure if it was worth the five to six hours of text that must be sifted through.

Summary

Drawn out visual novel, with cute an memorable characters, that depends too much on late stage darker elements to pull unrelated themes together.

68%

Strikey Sisters

Strikey Sisters is a fun take on the classic game of Brickles, mixed with monsters, fantasy, and a story about rescuing a lost pet. The gameplay is fast and challenging, without being overly difficult. I got a free product code for this game from a friend of mine, and I casually finished off the main adventure over the course of three weeks.

Gameplay

The gameplay is fairly simple. Your character needs to intercept a ball, keeping it floating in the air to hit bricks, monsters, and occasionally bosses. You can strike the ball to hit it faster, and you can collect power-ups and health from enemies. Some power-ups get applied to your ball immediately, making it faster, slower or stronger. Others get stored as a spell which can be triggered.

Health is limited to three hearts, which can be lost by taking damage from enemies or by losing a ball. Most attacks can be countered with a strike, although some come fast enough that it’s better to dodge. Sometimes your ball can get lost in all the action, but generally its flashing animation makes it easy to keep track of. The dead-zones and collision areas all make sense and keep the game from getting too frustrating. The gameplay was challenging, but achievable.

Story

For an independent title, there is some voice acting. Bosses contain cut sequences, and the story revolves around the two main characters searching for a lost pet. The dialog is silly. There’s an underlying theme about not being poor, or … sharing, or something? It doesn’t really matter. The story is the weakest part. I think there might be some social commentary in there, but thankfully, it’s easily ignorable.

Overall

Strikey Sisters is a great little independent title. It hooked me in early on. Although it supports two players, I was able to complete the entire game on my own in under eight hours. Even after fighting the final boss, there are other areas I didn’t unlock, meaning you could get much more mileage out of this title. Strikey Sisters provides plenty of challenge, has a good variety of enemies, and feels about the right length.

Summary

Fun retro-styled take on brick busting, adding monsters and bosses, with a silly story and challenging gameplay.

78%

Persona 5 Royal

Persona 5 Royal is the first game I’ve ever played in the Persona franchise. It’s a Japanese role playing game, with a lot of fast paced anime themes mixed into a classic high school drama. It also has supernatural elements, and a talking cat (that’s not a cat). It’s a game that took a while to get into. Although the game mechanics are really fun and addicting, the initial pacing is slow and the overall story seems to drag. It’s a very long title. At 107 hours of play time, it’s one I’m glad I finished, but not sure if it was worth starting.

Gameplay

At its core, Persona 5 is a dungeon crawler. The dungeons are called “palaces,” and your party changes peoples’ hearts by infiltrating and completing those palaces. The battles are turn based, and it’s very easy to sneak around and see or avoid enemies. There are no random encounters. Experience builds up a “persona,” which is a representation of each character’s power and identity in the alternative world. Saving is not automatic, and must be done manually in safe areas.

The main character has the ability to combine personas via a mysterious ghoul that visits him in his sleep. Building certain items in the world outside the dungeons upgrades players abilities while transversing the palaces. Between each dungeon, relationships, side stories and skills can be pursued. There are several “confidants” (the game’s version of “familiars”), who can grant additional skills as you build relationships. Each day consists of school, and time slots afterwards. Some actions, like buying items or visiting stores, don’t take up any time in game. Visiting certain people, or building skill, will use up the after school and evening time slots.

Overall, Persona 5 takes board game skill building mechanics, interleaves them with a dungeon crawling RPG, and throws in monster collecting. Individual character interactions build story, and increase their support skills. The calendar and skill building aspects are similar to those in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The battle animations are fast paced, with vintage pulp comic themes. It’s a pretty addictive set of mechanics, but it’s slow to build and get into.

Story

Initially, learning how the game mechanics work, and the story itself is painfully slow. Three to four hours into the game, the player is still learning basic things, both in the limited gameplay, and in how skill building works in the world. It’s a traditional high school drama, showing that even Japanese writers can make things as crappy and unbelievable as 1990s Nickelodeon teenage soap operas.

The story starts over half way though the game’s timeline. It introduces some advances mechanics you use once and forget about for hours, as the game jumps back to the past. There are occasional flash forwards when building contracts with new confidants, reminding you of the time gap. Most of these are just kind of weird and annoying, and it’s at least 80 hours of gameplay before you catch up to the present. Although I liked the little poems about vows book-ending each confidant’s story, the flashes through time got old and the dialog wasn’t very good.

I enjoyed a lot of the support conversations and side stories in this game. You can build romantic relationships with some of the characters, so choose wisely. However, the overall story seemed like a jumbled mess. The game invites powerful themes about morality and conflict over how the main characters enter peoples’ minds. The election story arc is a little thought provoking, and it’s creative in the way the player’s view of politics can easily be projected onto the story, not matter their party affiliation. However, most of the complex moral quandaries are never really flushed out beyond the classic 1990’s vigilante vs hero questions.

Odds and Ends

I initially started playing this game in English, and occasionally switched to Japanese. Both sets of voice actors are pretty good. If you use the Japanese audio, not everything is translated. The ending battle sequences, showtime battles, in-game skill building movies, and other minor flashes of audio don’t have any subtitles. Some of the combat sequences move so fast you can’t read some of the cards when they are present. I played dozens of hours in both languages and I would recommend playing at least half of the game in Japanese, as it helps cover up some of the bad writing and campy dialogue.

For the most part, the game is a relaxing, turn based, RPG. There are no real action sequences. Half way through the game, there is a dungeon that sets a time limit, and has a completely unbalanced and ridiculous boss battle. It took me several hours and several guides⁵⁶ to beat the famous Okumura boss fight. It’s not even close to the end of the game, and nothing else compares to it. It’s the most out of place and unbalanced fight in the entire game⁷, and really takes down the overall fun experience.

The music is nothing to write home about. There are a few parts of the game that have really beautiful jazz vocals in English, that really help build out the world. However, most of it gets repetitive, and the light motifs change abruptly within the story. The music for the underground Mementos dungeon is the absolute worst.

The user interface is really snappy. There are no large worlds that take forever to transverse. All the shops and useful locations are on small maps, and the fast travel really cuts down on anything tedious. The UI and game mechanics really make the game addictively fast paced, dramatically different from the obnoxiously slow story and dialog.

On the PlayStation 5 version, screen captures and recordings are disabled for the entire end game and epilogue. This is the first time I’ve seen this in a console game, and it’s super annoying. It’s impossible for most people to capture any cool moments at the end of the game, but it doesn’t prevent streamers with dedicated capture equipment from doing so.

Conclusions

Overall, this game was difficult to get into. It took sticking with it for several hours for the game to become interesting. Although the mechanics became addictive, and a small amount of the music and character interactions were interesting, a lot of the game was an absolute slog. This is the kind of game that would have been better if they cut out half the content. If you want a game that’s a beautiful mix of high school anime drama mixed with science fiction, 13 Sentinels Ageis Rim is a far superior game, with more character depth at less than half the runtime.

Persona 5 Royal was my introduction to the Persona franchise. After playing it, I’m not sure if I’ll pick up another game in the series any time soon. It has a lot of mechanics I’ve seen in several other RPGs, but the dialog just goes on endlessly. The basis for the characters’ missions and mind manipulation felt very basic, with only a few places in the game that posed interesting moral quandaries. Although some of the characters and levels are unique and memorable, it was simply too long of a slog for me to recommend, even to die hard RPG fans.

Summary

Snappy, addictive, action packed turn based role playing that has amazing artwork, but is muddled by medocire dialogue, okay story and a game length that should have been cut in half.

47%

Winter Games

The independent titles I played were certainly more enjoyable than the more well known ones this time around. I didn’t do as much gaming as I thought I would over the winter. I still played through some great titles, and got sucked into one not-great game. There are a few I haven’t quite finished yet, while I’ll cover in the next set of reviews.

Is this … is this suppose to be the Quintessential Quintuplets (If so they’re missing the green one), or generic anime girls or some other show I’m not familiar with?. 8 November 2023. @djsumdog@djsumdog.com Archive ↩
what is the file that saves the name that I enter at the start of the game. 23 Mar 2019. u/natsuki_is_the_best_ /r/DDLCMods ↩
Edit/Decoding the Presistent File?. 18 Nov 2021. u/TheSpoonfulOfSalt. /r/RenPy. Reddit. ↩
unren/unren.sh at master. Retrieved on 16 Feb 2024. mkrunkel. Github. RAW ↩ ↩²
Wow, f*** the new Okumura boss fight.. 2 Jan 2021. BipBapBam. GameFAQs. ↩
How to beat Okumura boss fight?. 12 Jan 2023. Killermoose69. Steam Community Persona 5 Royal General Discussion. ↩
Why is shadow Okumura SO HARD IN THIS GAME. 8 April 2020. GeeGollyJester /r/Persona5. Reddit. ↩

How Reddit Banned Ideas

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Reddit Thought Police

Years ago, I was in a vehicle headed to a state park in Kentucky to go camping with a group of friends. As I looked around from my seat, I asked, “Wait, do we all know each other from Reddit?” A friend replied, “Yes, you’re going camping in the woods with random people you met off the Internet. You know, that thing your mother told you not to do.”

Whenever I moved to new cities, Reddit meetups were one of the many ways I’d meet new people. Reddit was once an amazing microcosm of vastly different viewpoints spanning tens of thousands of communities. In the past several years, it has abandoned its original vision, driving out verboten viewpoints in the name of safety and social justice. It’s embrace of censorship has converted the platform from a hivemind into an echo chamber. Once a small backwater site like 4chan, Reddit has grown to embrace big tech censorship, and has morphed itself into a website with a very narrow acceptable range of views. It has become an extremist forum, just as terrible as the platforms that were created by its dissidents.

Orange Man Broke the Internet

In 2016, I returned to the United States after spending eleven months living out of two bags. It had been five years since I left America. Arriving during an election season seemed like a terrible idea, and I did my best to ignore the entire election cycle. Except for one primary, I avoided nearly all election coverage. I was unprepared for the absurdly insane anger and hatred following the election. At the time, a popular subreddit called /r/TheDonald had been a hotbed for pro-Trump election news and memes. The tech industry went into a bizarre self-flagellated panic, with industry leaders like Google telling their employees they did not do enough to prevent the political opposition from getting elected¹. What followed was a new era in corporate, big tech censorship, with Reddit being one of the many websites that destroyed their platform and alienated half their userbase, in order to promote the propaganda of their leadership.

The Events of 2020

The mind virus of 2020 brought along with it, an unprecedented amount of censorship on nearly every part of the Internet. Reddit, once a website that allowed for discourse, arguments and the free flow of ideas, turned even further into a platform where dissent was intolerable. Living in Chicago at the time, I posted the following in a thread regarding my concerns over personal freedoms and human rights.

In another thread, I made an appeal to the United States Constitution as a defense against authoritarian measures. I was met with a response from farbtoner stating “Looking to a document written before the popular adoption of germ theory for guidance during a pandemic is… an interesting route to take.”².

Comment from /r/chicago

In August of 2021, there was a call to delete subreddits spreading any messages that didn’t match the prevailing media narrative, and ban accounts that participated in such communities³. This call was echoed by hundreds of communities, including those which had nothing to do at all with politics or medicine such as /r/pics⁴.

Of course, I was banned for my posts to /r/chicago:

Banned From Everything

On the 6th of January, 2022, I was banned from /r/iamatotalpieceofshit. It was a subreddit I had never even heard of, nor have I ever visited or posted in.

The reason given was my participation in “disinformation subreddit[s]”. The moderator message called for me to delete such comments in order to remove the ban. Later that month, I was banned from /r/pics, presumably by the same moderation script.

The next week I was banned from /r/atheism, a subreddit I hadn’t visited or participated in for years.

I was also banned from /r/woahdude:

Toxicity

I was still using Reddit into 2022, but not much. I had already deleted my social media. When I did use Reddit, I refused to censor myself. I occasionally participated in communities that still allowed some form of critical discussion. Doing so, I occasionally got the flowing “Reddit Cares” messages⁵. I never posted anything to indicate I was in mental distress. I can only assume users misused this Reddit feature as a childish means to attack users they disagreed with.

Reddit became increasingly filled with toxic people. More than once, I’d see a user go into someone’s post history in a disagreement, just to call out other posts and comments they’ve made as a form of personal attack.

User on Reddit Threatening to Dox Someone's Comments to their Employer

Erasing All My Previous Contributions

It wasn’t just that I was banned from participating further in some communities. Moderators used automated scripts to delete my previous posts. Content that was entirely unrelated to my current opinions, some with hundreds of upvotes, are now gone.

Deleted Post from /r/Android

Deleted Post from /r/Chicago

Deleted Post from /r/conspiracy

Deleted Post from /r/Chicago

Deleted Post from /r/LockdownSkepticism

I can only imagine that thousands of people who refused to submit to the groupthink of the 2020s, had years of contributions, posts and comments removed entirely from Reddit. In the past, I’d often read from the bottom, in order to see controversial posts first. However, now even posts that were totally unrelated, including support for products, programming tutorials, or pop culture discussions, have been entirely erased from the past, over individual user’s disagreements on how society is handling the present.

Comments Removed by Moderators on Reddit

The API Wars

Much of the Internet we use today was not built by the big platform companies, but by lots of independent developers building small tools to connect different websites together⁶. In April of 2023, Reddit announced they would start charging a fee for using their Application Programming Interface (API)⁷, used by many developers to create custom Reddit apps⁸. Apollo, a popular Reddit mobile application, informed its users that the new pricing would cost them over $1.7 million per month, far exceeding their subscription revenue⁹.

To protest the API fees, many moderators set their subreddits to private, meaning people couldn’t post or view content. This would cause Reddit to lose advertising revenue. Reddit started to reopen dark communities by removing the moderators participating in the strike¹⁰. This protest ultimately failed. Moderators who made their communities private were threatened with losing their moderation abilities¹¹, and ultimately capitulated to Reddit’s corporate demands¹². The Apollo client announced they would close down their app on June 30th¹³.

NoRecognition84's comment on moderators and arbitrary bans

When Twitter started, it only supported 140 character posts. It depended on services like Twitpic to expand what it could offer. After Twitter added their own image support, they went after Twitpic over trademark issues. Twitpic ultimately shut down in 2014¹⁴. The Reddit API fees followed in the footsteps of Twitter’s own API pricing changes just weeks prior¹⁵.

Hostilities to third party developers is nothing new. In 2013, Falcon Pro reached it 100,000 user limit for its Twitter API key. It was removed from the Google Play store, even for users who had paid for it. It was released for free by the developers, but required people to manually install the app outside of the Play store and create their own API keys¹⁶.

It’s not unusual for big websites to turn on the people who contributed tools to help them grow and make them popular. I suspect Reddit had already shed a large portion of its userbase for the actions taken by communities and moderators during the events of 2020. If their moderator base hadn’t become so authoritarian and run off so many users, would their protest against the Reddit API changes have been successful? Who knows. But the general direction the site had taken over the past few years has only reduced community support.

Repeating History

I’m old enough to remember when Digg released version 4 (v4) of their popular link ranking site. A predecessor to Reddit, Digg had a similar system where people could submit stories and “dig” or “bury” posts. Digg v4 was an unmitigated disaster which removed post histories, points and attempted to push readers towards integration with social media where you rank the stories of friends versus random people on the Internet¹⁷. It’s what causes a mass exodus from Digg’s smooth and sleek Web 2.0 design, to Reddit that sported a classic 90s clobbered mess.

People left Digg for Reddit, not due to censorship, but just due to basic usability. It was a different time, both on the web, and in tech culture. The masses stuck to MySpace and Yahoo, while many explored websites the same way we use to explore nature. Today people rarely explore ideas, much less entire websites. They often limit themselves to solitary links on social media, which lead directly to a video, article or blog post.

Censorship

Through the banning of comments, subreddits and thoughts, Reddit has not only become a toxic community, but it has also driven many of its moderates and centrists onto other websites. For those who have absorbed and dedicated themselves to the orthodoxy narrative of the current era, their views are entirely reinforced. They cheer when people who oppose their viewpoint, by spreading misinformation, are banned. Moderators are rewarded perversely for stifling ideas, because those ideas are viewed as dangerous. Much of the remaining userbase of Reddit probably doesn’t even realize the extend to which the entire site has been censored. Posts that may have contributed insights to a variety of topics, from the technical to the philosophical, have been retroactively removed, not due to their content, but due to which subreddits their authors have contributed too. Reddit, like Twitter, is effectively erasing the past.

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” -George Orwell, 1984

Over the years, I’ve made a lot of friends from Reddit meetups. The city specific subreddits have helped me greatly in the past when I’ve moved to new places. But those times are long gone. Reddit is now an echo chamber of uniformity. Its rules ban everything about what made it fun and engaging. In a misguided attempt to fight misinformation, Reddit has essentially become a left-wing version of Voat, Gab or Parlor. It is nothing more than a cesspool of alt-left authoritarianism and hate. Its users, like so many people on the hard-left, lack any real self-awareness to their own hypocrisy and totalitarian views they now embrace.

LEAKED VIDEO: Google Leadership’s Dismayed Reaction to Trump Election. 12 Sep 2018. Bokhari. Breitbart. ↩
Pritzker the extends stay-at-home order to May 30. 23 April 2020. /r/chicago. Deleted Original ↩
We call upon Reddit to take action against the rampant Coronavirus misinformation on their website. r/vaxxhappened. 25 August 2021. ↩
We call upon Reddit to take action against the rampant Coronavirus misinformation on their website.. 25 August 2021. /u/cwenham. /r/pics. Archive ↩
Someone on Reddit disagrees with you. That obviously means you must be depressed. This is ideological gaslighting.. 14 September 2021. @djsumdog@djsumdog.com ↩
This Video Has 69,540,383 Views. 6 April 2020. Tom Scott. ↩
Reddit pricing: API charge explained. 11 July 2023. Lutkevich. TechTarget. ↩
Reddit’s API rug pull. 12 June 2023. Fireship. Mirror. ↩
📣 Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing. Bad news for third-party apps, their announced pricing is close to Twitter’s pricing, and Apollo would have to pay Reddit $20 million per year to keep running as-is.. 31 May 2023. u/iamthatis /r/apolloapp ↩
Reddit forcibly breaks strike; this is an uninvestable company!. 16 June 2023. Louis Rossmann. ↩
Imagine that. Mods who have for years banned people for arbitrary reasons may find themselves removed from their subs for seemingly arbitrary reasons. 20 June 2023. NoRecognition84 via @VD15@pl.valkyrie.world. Mirror ↩
What pisses me off about the failed Reddit protest…. 19 June 2023. Louis Rossmann ↩
Apollo will close down on June 30th. Reddit’s recent decisions and actions have unfortunately made it impossible for Apollo to continue. Thank you so, so much for all the support over the years.. 8 June 2023. @ChristianSelig. ↩
Twitpic really is doomed after failed acquisition attempt. 17 October 2014. Miners. PCWorld. ↩
Death By API: Reddit Joins Twitter In Pricing Out Apps. 1 June 2023. Collins. Forbes. ↩
Falcon Pro updated with workaround for Twitter tokens. 3 July 2013. Cipriani. CNet. ↩
Digg v4: How To Successfully Kill A Community. 21 September 2010. Finn. Search Engline Land. ↩

Deconstructing Faith and Removing Retaining Walls

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I first heard about Christian deconstruction from an episode of The Babylon Bee podcast. The guest they interviewed, Alisa Childers, spoke on the importance of people understanding the reasons for their core beliefs, but was critical of the deconstruction movement for tearing apart beliefs without rebuilding their foundation¹. My own examination of Christian deconstruction found that it is essentially an apostate movement; a justification for discarding one’s faith in Christianity. While I have no issue with people examining, testing and discerning what is and isn’t true², many of the videos I’ve seen are people justifying migrating from their deeply held beliefs. Their revelations aren’t new or uniquely insightful. What I have noticed is that Christian deconstructionists are critical of their faith, while not being critical of the moral structures and belief systems they want to replace that faith with. They are often critical of the religion of their forbearers, without realizing the system they wish to replace it with, is also its own unexamined ideology.

Understanding The Ritual of Animal Sacrifice

Why did so many ancient cultures sacrifice animals? Is letting the blood drain from an animal, to offer to a deity, abhorrent? Is it more or less justifiable to kill an animal for food? Anyone who has spent time with both domestic pets, and farm animals, realizes the decision to eat one and befriend the other, is mostly arbitrary³. Someone might make a case that cats and dogs have a specific general intelligence, and personalities. However, those who raise chickens or ducks will often see those same characteristics. Within mammals, we see basic habits and some limited intelligence.

Although the intelligence of an animal will never grow past that of a human child, one must acknowledge that they have evolved the same fear of pain, and need of self preservation as we have. The act of killing an animal, in order for humans to eat, is a harsh one. I hypothesize that one of the reasons so many cultures created a ritual around animal sacrifice, was to justify and ease the horrors of taking another life in order to sustain our own. Some hunters and farmers may kill without thought, but others may need to believe it is to serve some purpose. The ritual brings the practice into the idea of the sacred, and gives the cruelty some degree of meaning beyond food and self preservation.

Chesterton’s Fence

G.K. Chesterton, a Christian apologist and author, once discussed the importance of not taking down a fence until one knows why it was built in the first place:

“In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.” -The Thing, G. K. Chesterton (1929)⁴

The parable of Chesterton’s seems intentionally abstract. After all, what harm is there taking down a fence? A new home owner may take down an old rotting gate without much thought, and it would likely cause no harm. However, consider that you are a young attorney at a law firm. You see a contract filled with what seems like boilerplate, and you want to simplify it. However, that standard contract may have come about through dozens or hundreds of legal cases, where unspecific details landed clients or the firm in costly situations. Stripping out seemingly useless language, without understanding why it’s there to begin with, could open up parties to unexpected liabilities⁵.

A more concrete example may not be a fence, but a retaining wall. Imagine a region ravished by war, which becomes inhabited by a new group of people unfamiliar with the area. They may see walls in front of hills that seem to serve no purpose. The new settlers remove those walls in order to rebuild and expand, not understanding the engineering behind those walls and their original purpose. Things are fine for a few months as they build new structures, until a massive rainfall causes landslides destroying everything new and old.

In the 2010 book Sex at Dawn, the authors make an arguments for polyamorous relationships. Most of the arguments in the book are arguments from nature, focusing on animals like bonobos and chimps. When not examining nature, the authors focus on civilizations and cultures that are non-monogamous. However, the authors don’t seem interested in the fact that many of these cultures are either very old, small or underdeveloped. One can make an argument against the current size and benefit of our global societies. However, the case for polyamorism is not a complete argument without acknowledging that the vast majority of civilizations, that have led to our modern world, all developed some form of monogamous long-term pair bonding. Many polyamorous people seek to tear down the structures of modern relationships, or even modern families, without understanding all of the societal and evolutionary pressures which brought such structures into being.

Deconstructing Christianity

Kristi Burke makes videos about faith and deconstruction. In Burke’s analysis on a sermon by John MacAuthur, she heavily criticizes the sermon’s view on deconstructionism and Christian apostates⁶. However, her insights are at an incredibly basic level. She doesn’t try to make a devil’s argument to challenger her own positions.

In one section, Burke says, “[Jesus] never gave a rule that said ‘don’t be transgender,’” in a response to part of MacAuthur’s sermon. It seems likely from this argument that Burke supports transgender affirming ideology. Earlier, she called out MacAuthur for using the “No true Scotsman fallacy,” in reference to him ranting about “defectors from Christianity.” This is an example of a disconnect; not acknowledging the many gender critical people who oppose transgenderism from non-theist or secular viewpoints. The idea that a man or woman can be born “in the wrong body,” is an argument in metaphysics and the nature of the self, not in objective observable reality. The only qualifier to being a “real Christian,” is to self-identify as a real Christian. In the same way, the neo-genderists want the self-identification of male, female or non-binary to be the sole factor in determining sex, removing a part of directly observable reality from having a name or distinction.

I will concede that John MacAuthur’s arguments were absolutely terrible in the sermon Burke analyses. He makes poor arguments, which will likely contribute to people leaving Christianity. However, Burke’s style of theological deconstruction is equally vapid. Her surface level readings do not attempt to understand why certain religious beliefs came into being. In a video describing the “manipulative nature of the gospel,” she criticizes blood sacrifices being used for forgiveness⁷, without first trying to understand why the practices may have started. She is not justifying her new beliefs, only criticizing her previous ones. She is ready to rip out G.K. Chesterton’s proverbial fence, unaware of the potential landslide of moral panic that could spread from it.

The Undeniable Impact of Christianity

Christianity, in many ways, was not very original. Stories of messiahs, arising from the dead and God dwelling among men can be found throughout history in many different cultures. Much of the Old Testament, before the story of King Solomon, has no basis in archaeological record, and is likely to be entirely fictional⁸. The stories of the Hebrew people, often justified the violence they used to establish their kingdoms. They believed God had chosen them above all others.

“Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” -1 Samuel 15:3 (NIV)

The philosophy of Jesus radically departs from the story of the Hebrew people. Instead of God giving the promise to a specific group of people; a justification for a superior culture—Jesus gives the promise to all people. The blessing of God was now open to all the people of the earth. It was no longer just the descendants of Abraham that were “made in God’s image⁹,”, but all human beings who accepted Jesus’s message. Christians don’t like to acknowledge earlier versions of this message led to crusades and inquisitions. Deconstructionists don’t like to acknowledge this message is the foundation of our belief in human equality.

“…I just think it’s absurd not to concede the fact that much of what we have in America, Britain, Canada is derived from Christian ethics [and] Christian ideas. Why deny that? I mean, you might not believe it, but you shouldn’t deny it, because it’s obvious. What are human rights, but a kind of derivation of a form of spilt Christianity? There’s no reason to have human rights. They’re not self-evident. So, I think you should just concede these things where they’re true, and even if they’re against your interests, and obviously an atheist is against their interests … and I also say it’s important to conceded this because you should try to work out … whether you want to engage in sawing off a branch of a tree that you’re sitting on. A certain amount of atheism does consist of that…“ -Douglas Murray¹⁰

The Romans didn’t see the value in individual people, had no qualms with abortion or infanticide, and made clear distinctions between citizens, non-citizens and slaves¹¹. It was the Jews and early Christians that led the moral charge against abandoning or killing infants¹². Many religions reinforced that their tribe or people group were special in some way, to justify their wars with others. Christianity said all human beings are made in the image of a creator God. That core belief is the foundation that distinguishes English Common Law from Roman Civil Law¹¹. It is the ideology behind the founding document of the United States.

“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…“ -Declaration of Independence¹³

Beyond the Fence

Postmodern deconstruction is not about building up society or beliefs. It is focused on tearing down the old. During the cultural revolution in China, Maoists sought to tear down the four olds: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. The destruction of culture creates a void. Where a culture can gradually grow and change over time, revolutions tend to create vacuums that are often filled with authoritarianism. If you remove a fence without acknowledging the thousands of years of history which created it, the floodgates can open for all kinds of untested and radical ideas.

I think it’s unlikely Christianity will come back to America and Europe in the way the revivalists or evangelicals desire. A rebirth of religion cannot replace what we’ve lost in Western culture¹⁴. Yet, deconstruction offers nothing in its place. Progressives want the ultimate equality of all human beings, when human beings are inherently unequal. They seeks to discard the notion we are all equal under God, as a religious justification for inequality; an “opium of the masses” as the Marxist would say.

Progressives like to focus on how America has used its soldiers in wars for resources, or how it’s justified torture against imagined enemies. They ignore the absolutely tremendous amount of freedom we have in America to stand up against those wrongs. Ignoring those fundamental freedoms and rights has led to the era of American political prisoners. Focusing on past racism and embracing victimhood, ignores that Christianity championed the growth in the moral belief that slavery was wrong. Academic environments in Universities seeks to distance themselves from religion, ignoring that Western higher education grew out of Christian institutions.

In my own personal journey, I left the Christian faith while attending University in the early 2000s. In the years since, I did grow apprehensive to the evangelism I once embraced. For a while, I went to events and meetups that discussed what’s now called the New Atheist movement¹⁵. In recent years, I’ve come to understand and appreciate the powerful mythos of Christianity and Western Culture, and the great changes they have brought to the planet. I doubt I will ever believe in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets again, but I do see beauty in the faith of the believers. I do not know what ideology will dominate the coming century, but I am not in favor of casting out the old so quickly and frivolously, without understanding the long and winding journey our ancestors took to get civilization to this precipice.

Alisa Childers On The Deconstruction Of Christianity And CCM. 24 October 2023. The Babylon Bee (PodCast) Mirror ↩
Philippians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 ↩
Animals. Jim Benton. Retrieved 20 November 2023. Mirror Mirror ↩
Taking a Fence Down. 30 April 2012. The Society of G. K. Chesterton. ↩
The Fallacy Of Chesterton’s Fence. 3 Jan 2023. Lee. Above The Law. ↩
John MacArthur is Wrong About Deconstruction - Ex Christian Responds. 9 June 2023. Kristi Burke ↩
The Manipulative Nature of the Gospel Message. 21 May 2023. Kristi Burke. ↩
#13,303 - Israel-Palestine Armed Conflict. 20 October 2023. AssignedEva. Kiwifarms. ↩
Genesis 1:27 ↩
Did Will Smith ATTACK Dave Chappelle?! Douglas Murray LIVE In Studio. Louder with Crowder. 4 May 2022. Mirror ↩
Are we becoming Pagan? - Helen Dale. 11 June 2023. Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry. ↩ ↩²
“As long as it’s healthy”: What can we learn from early Christianity’s resistance to infanticide and exposure?. 18 December 2020. Gosbell. ABC Australia. ↩
Declaration of Independence: A Transcription. 4 July 1776. National Archive. ↩
He is Risen. 9 April 2023. Amerika. ↩
Why New Atheism has failed - Justin Brierley. 24 September 2023. Maiden Mother Matriarch. ↩

Staining a Picnic Table

Sat, 21 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

While browsing through Craigslist, I came across a listing for picnic tables. The post was for reasonably priced, custom built sets. A full 8 foot table with four benches was $600 unfinished. Although I’ve painted my fair share of walls and furniture, both indoors and out, I’ve never stained anything before. The craftsman who built the set gave me some suggestions. Armed with techniques from several random tutorials, blog posts and videos, I made my way to the hardware store to get started on my first staining project.

Since I deleted most of my social media years ago, I don’t have access to Facebook marketplace. Instead, I sometimes browse Craigslist and there’s a lot of good stuff that pops up. The following post shows up a few times a year. I assume it’s renewed by the craftsman when he gets time to build these on the side.

Craigslist Posting

I was able to transport the entire table set in the back of my truck, with the help of some ratchet straps.

Table and Benches Loaded into the back of my Truck

My first trip to the hardware store took care of the majority of the supplies I needed to finish this table set. I picked up cans of pre-stain, stain and water sealant, along with brushes, cloths and sandpaper blocks.

Material	Cost
Paint Cup	$2.97
Staining Cloths (10 pack)	$6.98
Staining Pads (4 pack)	$7.98
Plastic Drop Cloth (6 pack)	$12.47
Track Cloth (3 pack)	$7.96
Varathane Wood Stain	$42.98
Varathane Urethane	$58.68
Varathane Pre-Stain	$18.38
220 Grit Sanding Block	$5.98
Oil Sealing Brush	$14.77
9 Piece Foam Brush Set	$7.47
5” Stain Brush	$16.97
Taxes	$19.18
Total	$222.77

Table and Benches moved to my Garage

All the pieces of this set are very well built and heavy. I took the approach of always starting with the bottom of each section, using track cloths to lift them up and flip them over. Doing this by myself required finding just the right pivot points to rock each piece over without having them land on my shoes. Here, I’ve finished the first coat of stain on the left bench, a second coat on the right bench (still wet) and started applying pre-stain to the long bench on the right. I sanded between each coat of stain.

In the next photo, two coats of stain have dried on the small benches. The long bench on the right has a single coat on the bottom and pre-stain on the top.

Small Benches with Two Coats of Stain

I had to get some additional supplies at this point. I didn't thoroughly clean one of my brushes and the urethane sealant had hardened to make it unusable. I also purchased some mineral spirits to help clean my brushes going forward.

Material	Cost
Additional Stain Brush	$9.99
Mineral Spirits	$9.59
Taxes	$1.80
Total	$21.38

I continued to stain and seal the long benches, leaving the table itself for the end.

Here are three of the finished benches outside my garage, with two coast of stain and two coats of sealant.

I'm not sure if the pre-stain really makes a difference, but I purchased another can and treated the table before staining it. I purchased another sanding block, as my first one was partially coated in urethane.

Material	Cost
220G Sanding Block	$5.98
Staining Pads (4 pack)	$9.59
BEHR Pre-stain	$18.38
Taxes	$2.99
Total	$36.94

I finished staining the table and treated it with urethane. Although I needed more pre-stain, I was able to finished the set with the original single cans of stain and urethane I purchased.

From start to finish, the entire staining project took a little over a month. I worked on it slowly and steadily.

Task	Date
Deposit for Build	August 6th
Picked up Set	August 12th
Purchased Supplies	August 19th
2nd Coat on Both Small Benches	August 24th
1st Coat on Long Benches	August 25th
Purchased Second Set of Supplies	September 1st
Long Benches Coated, Short Benches Sealed	September 2nd
Purchased Final Set of Supplies	September 3rd
3 Benches Fully Stained and Sealed	September 4th
Started Staining Table	September 5th
Finished Staining and Sealing Entire Set	September 8th
Moved Entire Set to Back Yard	September 10th

It wasn't a cheap projects, after factoring in all the tools and supplies. Still, it was fairly reasonable considering the result.

Item	Cost
Full Table Set	$600
Stain and Tools	$222.77
Additional Supplies	$21.38
Additional Supplies	$36.94
Total	881.09

Lessons Learned

If I attempt another staining project in the future, I’d probably buy an orbital sander. The sanding blocks take a lot of work and I know I could have gotten a smoother finish by applying multiple passes with varying grit wheels on a powered sander. I’m also curious if using water resistant outdoor stain would have achieved the same results with fewer coats than the stain and urethane. I would have also been more diligent of cleaning and storing brushes, as the urethane can be difficult or impossible to get off once it dries and hardens.

Conclusions

This was a fun project, and I hope the stain and sealant last for several years. If it doesn’t, I’ll just sand it down again and try something new. I didn’t build it from scratch, but I did learn about staining outdoor furniture. I’ve got a few other wood working projects in the works, and hope to have posts and build guides for them in the coming year.

Israel, Palestine and the Coming Genocide

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Over the weekend Hamas forces attacked Israel. Initial reports indicated Palestinian forces entered via land and power gliders. There is evidence they are directly attacking civilians, although a considerable amount of information is clouded in the fog of war. Immediately, most conservative analysts and commentators defended Israel and condemned Palestinian forces as terrorists. The resulting media fury has sharply divided people on all sides of the political compass. Some people fully support Israel without question, some fully back the Palestinians, and others condemn both sides of the conflict. Few people are asking the real questions beyond the media smoke screen. The conflict is a major distraction from a failing US president, the unending conflict in Ukraine and the dual border crises in the European Union and the United States.

The Pundits

On the Viva/Barnes podcast, Robert Barnes was quick to unequivocally defend Israel¹. Stephen Crowder did the same on his Monday morning show². If you watched either of these shows live, or travel down below to the video comments, they are filled with vigorous debates. There are thousands of comments talking about the apartheid form of government between the Israelis and those on the West Bank, and how the Israeli Defense Force has driven thousands from their homes in brutal expansionism. There are also thousands of comments that stand behind Israel as a democracy, victims of terrorism, or as God’s chosen people in the Christian faith. There are also those who hate both sides, advocating for one side wiping out the other, and the world wiping out whoever is left.

The only voices I’ve heard who have done a critical and in-depth analysis of the media machine feeding us information from conflict, are the hosts of the No Agenda Podcast. Their report on Israel questions who is reporting events, what reports may be real or false, and the reasons why network and media outlets are taking their respective stances³. They are one of the few in independent outlets who are questioning each and every story without blind and panicked emotion.

Conservative commentators, who align themselves with Christianity or Israel, are finding many in the populist movement that elected the first anti-war president in my lifetime, do not share their values when it comes to the nation of Israel, or international involvement in foreign wars. This conflict, just like Ukraine, is a wedge that will split conservatives both in America, and around the world.

Is It Terrorism?

I immediately question every video and social media report on the conflict. During the opening days of the war between Ukraine and Russia, it came to light that many of the videos and news reports that were circulating were taken from training exercises, video games or unrelated to the current military action. I’ve found it wise to question a media that seems to always behoove military and weapons industries.

Many outlets make claims without showing video evidence citing the graphic nature of the content. From what can be pieced together, it does seem that the Palestinians who invaded, were shooting civilian drivers in their vehicles⁴. There are videos of fighters paragliding into a concert⁵, causing Israels to flee a music festival⁶ where reports state they killed at least 260 people⁷. They appeared to be cheering over a dead woman dragged around in a truck⁸. They weren’t just attacking civilians, but allegedly had taken an Israeli military base as well⁹.

Babies in the Incubators

Multiple outlets are reporting Hamas fighters decapitating babies¹⁰¹¹¹². In 1990, Nayirah al-Ṣabaḥ testified before congress that soldiers pulled babies from incubators and left them to die, a story that was found to be fabricated. A few are calling this out to be potential bullshit¹³¹⁴. Be careful not to believe everything you read.

Ideology and Justification

If these reports and videos are true, attacking civilian targets for political ends is literally an act of terrorism. The justification for such actions by supporters of Palestine, often rely on the past crimes of Israelis. Apologists for Palestine state that Gaze is an, “The largest open air prison¹⁵.” The attacks are justified as fighting to end “Israel’s occupation and apartheid¹⁶.”

During the Summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter (BLM) used past wrongs as justification for wide spread destruction, looting and murders during a summer of riots. I witnessed the destruction myself, living in the South Loop of Chicago. BLM of Chicago has officially shown its support for the Palestinians¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹. This is inline with the ideology of BLM; using the history of past crimes as a justification for violence and destruction against a demonized oppressor.

In Australia, Pro-Palestinian protesters chanted “gas the Jews,” outside of the Sydney Opera House²⁰. Many far-left politicians, academics and celebrities have sided with the Palestinians as they are reported to have mass murder civilians²¹.

Jordan Peterson has spoken before on the dangers of attempting to neatly place people into boxes marked oppressed and oppressor, and how such ideology can lead to seeing everyone associated to those with privilege as enemies²². This is the same Jordan Peterson who accused fans critical of him as being “trolls,” because he refused to push back, when given a chance to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the interview, Netanyahu equivocated Palestinians to being squatters in an apartment who didn’t pay rent. This is the same Peterson who told Netanyahu to “Give ‘em hell,” in response to the recent attacks²³.

Both Sides

Years ago I worked with an Egyptian American, who told me Islam was a religion of war. A Chinese American friend made similar comments. As a liberal, I sought to defend Islamists as a protection of their rights to their religion, even though I was an Atheist who had left Christianity behind years prior. Both people countered my defense; their arguments not targeting Muslim people in specificity, but that the religion itself came from conflict. Their culture was built within the crucible of strife.

We are living in an era where people on the progressive left believe that human beings are fungible; that you can replace a man with a woman or a Muslim with a Christian, and you would only get positive diversity or cultural enrichment. However, the culture a group grows up with fundamentally changes the way people think, work and act. The reason I specified the races of the two people above, both of which I considered on the progressive left, was their background did influence their justifications.

How Religions Shape Reality

Cultures are not fixed. Christianity has changed significantly over the past several centuries. The early protestant reformer, Martin Luther, believed the Jewish people had turned away from the true Messiah, and were no longer God’s chosen people²⁴. Many of the evangelical Christians I knew in the 1990s believed that the Jews are still God’s chosen people, and would be judged to enter the kingdom of heaven. Some will state this is due to guilt over the Holocaust, and others will say this is out of a perverse desire to see the end times²⁵.

There are Muslims who have adapted and assimilated into Western culture, as well as calls from Muslims for further secularization²⁶. However, there would be no need for such calls if it wasn’t for the real dangers of Muslim extremism. In 2020, Samuel Paty, a French school teacher, was beheaded, over allegations he had taught his class about Charlie Hebdo’s 2012 cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. In 2015, the New Years sexual assaults in Cologne, Germany, perpetrated mostly by “North African man” were barely covered by the media²⁷.

I think Christianity has grown the way it has because its core ideology revolves around messages of grace, forgiveness and equality under God. Those on the social justice left may not acknowledge it, but their own ideas of equity are based around the same Christian ideas of equality. However, many on the progressive left are atheistic or agnostic. They have removed God from the equality equation, often citing Marxist mantras of how religion is an opiate for the masses. They want to see justice and equality now, and it’s that same desire for revenge that drives those who commit acts of terrorism in the name of Islam.

Pro-Palestinian March on Swanson Street in Melbourne, Australia (2012)

Back in 2012, I marched alongside socialists protesting against Israeli atrocities. Many were socialists, and left leaning progressives. One of their leaders, an Australian Israeli, symbolically burned his citizenship papers in front of Flinders Street railway station. Looking back, I think the greatest irony are those on the progressive left advocating for struggle of Palestine, are also those who advocate for gay rights and marriage equality. Homosexuality is illegal in many Muslim countries, and can be punishable by death.

The Future Genocide

I think the Palestinians are committing atrocities of terrorism. I think the government of Israel is an apartheid and authoritarian regime. Just because the Palestinians are the underdogs in this fight, does not justify their means of warfare (unless they win and rewrite history).

One does have to show the capacity for violence in order for non-violence to work. Gandhi fasted when his people took violent action against the British Raj²⁸. Martin Luther King called riots the “language of the unheard²⁹.” Is there anyone in Palestine who will rise up a cult of personality, denouncing the violent assaults of the Palestinians, yet advocate for radical non-violence? Or is such a value system impossible under the teaching of Islam?

It may not matter. Hamas’s assault makes little sense. They are the underdogs, and I find it hard to believe they could have taken down the “Iron Dome” or breached Israeli Defense Force (IDF) outposts. Did an influx of weapons laundered through Ukraine³⁰, or left over from Biden’s withdrawal in Afghanistan, give the Hamas leadership the incentive they needed to launch an attack? They cannot hold positions against the IDF. Do they intend to fallback and commit to a guerrilla war? It does not matter.

I think it’s likely Israel will use this as the justification to carpet bomb the Gaza strip. We may see even more mass migration into Europe from those fleeing the war. Whichever side someone advocates for, I do not see how they are advocating for something other than genocide.

Ep. 181: Trump Madness; Israel at War; Wrongly Accused; Pfizer AND MORE!. 8 October 2023. Vivafrei. ↩
Israel at War: How The Biden Admin Is Responsible For Hamas’ Attack!. 9 October 2023. Steven Crowder. ↩
No Agenda Episode #1597: Honorifics. 8 October 2023. No Agenda. (Podcast) ↩
2023 Israel-Palestine Armed Conflict - Page 2 - #26. 7 October 2023. N—erStripes. Kiwifarms. ↩
#tribeofnova #עוטףעזה #פיצוצים # Rttttdf. 7th October 2023. @yuuuot3. Tiktok. ↩
2023 Israel-Palestine Armed Conflict - Page 2 - #33. 7 October 2023. Zucotti Manicotti. Kiwifarms. ↩
At least 260 dead in Israel Supernova festival massacre. 9 October 2023. Hamblin. Zagon. The Telegraph. ↩
2023 Israel-Palestine Armed Conflict - Page 2 - #34. 7 October 2023. N—erStripes. Kiwifarms. ↩
Terrorists with the Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas have reportedly Captured an Israeli Military Base near the Border with Gaza. 7 October 2023. @OSINTdefender. X. ↩
They found the bodies of 40 Jewish babies, some with their heads cut off.. 11 Octber 2023. @charliekirk1776. Threads. Archive. ↩
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Babies Being Taken By Terrorists’: Israelis React To Hamas’ ‘Shocking’ Surprise Attack. 2023 October 7. Taer. DailyCaller. ↩
Babies Killed, Beheaded in Israel by Hamas at Kfar Aza: Israeli TV. 10 October 2023. McBride. Heavy.com. ↩
Image.png. 11 October 2023. @terry@bae.st ↩
Hamas BEHEADED BABIES Says Report, US Forces Offered To Israel Over American Hostages, WW3 Feared. 10 October 2023. Timcast. ↩
Israel and Gaza are not two countries at war. Gaza is a territory under siege, where every aspect of life is controlled by Israel…. 9 October 2023. @ajplus. X. ↩
Mohammed El-Kurd: How Much Palestinian Blood Will It Take to End Israel’s Occupation & Apartheid?. 10 October 2023. Goodman. Democracy Now! ↩
That is all that is it!. 10 October 2023. @BLMChicago. (Deleted) Archive Screenshot ↩
Black Lives Matters Grassroots Statement in #Solidarity with the People of #Palestine.. 10 October 2023. @blmgrassroots. X. ↩
“Your Position Is Clear” - Musk Slams Terrorist-Supporting BLM Posts. 10 October 2023. ZeroHedge. ↩
“WATCH: Crowds chanting “gas the Jews” in Sydney, Australia. Police are investigating. 9 October 2023. @BNONews. X. Mirror Mirror. ↩
The Truth About the Israel Attack. 2023 9 October. Paul Jospeh Watson. ↩
Jordan Peterson - The Idea of Privilege and Oppression in Communist Regimes. 12 March, 2017. Bite-sized Philosophy. ↩
Give ‘em hell @netanyahu Enough is enough. 7 Ocotber 2023. @jordanbpeterson. X. ↩
The Jews and their Lies. 1543. Luther. ↩
Episode 96: The Christian Cinema-GOP Persecution Complex. 11 December 2019. Citations Needed. (Podcast). ↩
Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue. 2015. Harris. Nawaz. ↩
Why The New Year’s Attacks On Women In Germany Weren’t Even A Crime. 26 March 2016. Moore. BuzzFeed News. ↩
Gandhi. 1982. Attenborough. ↩
Quotes by Martin Luther King. Goodreads. Retrieved 2 June 2020. ↩
Were U.S. Weapons Sent To Ukraine Used By Hamas?. 9 October 2023. Ron Paul Liberty Report. ↩

Game Reviews: Terra Nil, Final Fantasy XVI

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Final Fantasy XVI is, for now, an exclusive release for the Sony Playstation 5. I usually stick to console exclusives for the PlayStation, and I was looking forward to this one as it’s the first Final Fantasy game I’ve played since the FF7 Remake. While waiting on FF16’s release, I played Terra Nil, a fun but short independent terraforming game. These are two very different games, on different platforms, for different audiences, which will hopefully make this a fun review.

Terra Nil

Terra Nil is a delightful and relaxing terraforming puzzler. It has a lot of well designed, beautiful elements, although it is a bit short. The game jumps right in with missions on a richly animated map, with tools that can bring life to a toxic landscape. The artwork and audio are immersive, immediately pulling the player into the surroundings.

Gameplay

You start with a map of a desolate, brown wasteland. The tutorial guides you through scrubbing the air and building the pieces needed to bring life to a dead biome. There are multiple phases, with limits to the available resources. Terra Nil starts off looking like a sim game, but quickly reveals itself to be a puzzler.

The four main maps have very different stories and challenges. Each one has slightly different tools, which provide multiple paths through construction puzzles. The worlds are procedurally generated, allowing for some variety on replays. Although each map is amazingly put together, all four can be solved in under seven hours.

One of the main criticisms of this game is the short length compared to the price. It’s not quite as bad as LEGO Builder’s Journey , but I would recommend picking it up on sale. There are second versions of the maps that unlock after completing the base game. They’re similar to their originals in layout, but considerably more challenging. It’s a very relaxing terraforming game, feeling more like a casual boardgame than a boring management sim.

Conclusions

Terra Nil feels as relaxing as a SimEarth game, but with clear challenges and goals. Although short, it has really fun and unique puzzles. The post game challenges and procedurally generated world add a considerable amount of content for players who don’t want to abandon this world so soon. I also appreciated the lack of any overt political statements. There is no real backstory to why you are fixing and/or terraforming these biomes. It could be anything from a new planet, to a distant future, to a planet devastated by intergalactic war. The reason of why is entirely up to the player’s imagination, as the casual gameplay pulls them into a world of lush forests, volcanic lava flows, rolling fields and pristine beaches.

Summary

Delightful and relaxing terraforming puzzler, although a bit short

75%

Final Fantasy XVI

Final Fantasy XVI Title Screen

It’s been a while since I last reviewed a Final Fantasy game. Final Fantaxy XVI is the latest installment of the decades running series and the first full, non-remake, episode to appear on Sony’s latest game console. Being a limited time exclusive to the PlayStation 5, I decided to get this for my system. Although it has many of the classic elements and themes fans would come to expect from the Final Fantasy series, the pacing is slow at times and the combat is fairly basic. The game focuses mostly on the protagonist, with themes around man vs the gods, slavery and destiny. Its monster fights are visually stunning and cinematic, yet there isn’t as much focus on your team and party as one might expect from a role playing game.

Story

The opening two hours of this game are painfully slow. I prefer cut sequences and longer story element that follow hard battles or complex interactions. It makes the story feel like a reward for navigating quests and combat. Instead, the introduction is heavy on dialogue and back story. Later parts of the game have dialog that can be skipped line by line if you have subtitles enabled, but the introduction is composed almost entirely of unskippable dialog segments.

I can see where the writers were going in trying to build the story behind the main character Clive. The first act of the game builds his relationship to his brother, and the family of his childhood. Still, the opening made me often question if I’d even be able to make it through the game. I’m very glad the rest of the game wasn’t as criminally boring.

Unlike many other Final Fantasy games, almost everything is focused on Clive, the protagonist. There are omnipresent sequences where the player gets to view what’s going on in distant kingdoms, or short moments where the player is briefly another character. However, for most the game, the other party members just feel like addons.

Parts of the adventure are a bit too rosy. There is a serious lack of moral ambiguity despite some of the more controversial ideas in the game. There is a strong connection between the branded (magic users) and slavery, that often feels forced and out of place. Although some serious moral conflicts about the heroes are raised during side quests, don’t expect anything as in-depth as Far Cry 4. Characters are often introduced out of nowhere, with no real backstory or exposition. There are continual political conflicts between the various nations and kingdoms in the game, that are confusing, murky and ultimately useless and uninteresting.

Like any Final Fantasy game, there is enough revealed to help you understand the world that’s being built. However, much is still left in ambiguity for players to debate and argue about. The diving conflict of the story attempts to deal with issues of brotherhood, loyalty, and the conflict between man and creator. It starts slowly, and honestly felt like it slowed down uncomfortably towards the ends. Still, after the initial introduction, the story and game were interesting enough to hold my attention to the conclusion.

Gameplay

Unlike most Final Fantasy games, the player only controls one character at a time, other than your dog (once unlocked). Your dog is also the only character which can heal you. All battle is done in real time. Switching the game settings to being story driven allows for additional hints for blocking enemies and items that can provide automatic support. I played the game on the action focused mode, and the difficulty felt more than fair. Although the boss fights often have multiple waves, they also have checkpoints, and health consumables are restored if you die.

As skills are gained, there are no combo button-presses to memorize like in other brawlers. Instead two special moves can be equipped, each with a cool down period. You can cycle through up to three of these sets, based on the magic of the Eikons. Combat with most of the normal creatures feels like filler. Without bonuses for style like in the Devil May Cry games, some attacks can be spammed on lesser enemies without consequence. Everything really just builds up to layers of boss fights, most of which can be beaten after learning each creatures evade pattern. Although the combat is continuous and fast paced, it does feel a bit dry compared to other games in the franchise with action based combat, such as the original Final Fantasy Crisis Core or Final Fantasy VII: Remake.

The summoned monsters, known as Eikons, cannot be used at any time. The game portrays Eikons as being taxing on the characters. Eikon transformation comes about during specific parts of the story, their abilities are unlocked to continue the plot, and their combat is completely independent of the characters. Despite all of this, the evade, attack and magic aspects or Eikon fights are very similar to the normal gameplay.

Final Fantasy XVI really likes to emphasize the cinematics. However, I feel like the interactive bits during cinematic scenes are really limited. In other adventure games, button presses for blocks and attacks often come fast paced, one right after another. They add immersion and interactivity to cut sequences. In this game, they are too spread out, predictable and seem to just barely keep action sequences from being incredibly boring.

Overall the gameplay is kinda meh. I like that it’s not insanely difficult, and still provides a decent amount of challenge. There never felt like a point where I had to grind monsters to progress. At the same time, your other team members seem like cheap party favors that make battles a little shorter. Their abilities cannot be improved, and their presence is never really acknowledged unless you turn around. This is a single protagonist action game. That’s engaging enough, but nothing really special.

The Elements of a Final Fantasy Game

There are Chocobos, a character named Cid, and monsters. There are pieces of the classic soundtrack included in certain sequences, although with darker and more gothic overtones. Swords and magic are combined with mystery and world building. I didn’t find a Cactuar, but there is a Moogle. It’s definitely a role playing game, and has a lot of the story elements I’ve come to expect from Final Fantasy adventures.

At the same time, there is a lot more blood and violence in this title. Yet, the added graphic scenes don’t seem to come with any real reward of complex story or moral quandary. There is mystery that does result in some very interesting questions; conflicts between the people of the world and their distant past. However, it still felt lacking in depth. Despite the more adult themes and cut sequences, I don’t feel like the writers really built a solid connection between the player and the characters. Role playing games should be about the entire party, and both the story and gameplay elements of Final Fantasy XVI left those deeper connections shallow and wanting.

Conclusion

Overall, Final Fantasy XVI kept my attention to the end. Out of the franchise, I’ve only finished Final Fantasy 7 (original and remake), 9 and Crisis Core (original). I’ve played, but not finished 8, 10 and 13. This is honestly not the best in the franchise. The visuals and artwork are amazing, showing off the abilities of the PS5. The in-game timer placed my time around 20 hours on my save file, while my PS5 profile states I’ve played for over 40 hours (which seems correct).

The lack of grinding and good progression ladder kept me engaged until the end. However, the opening was incredibly slow, and there were some moments that felt like they dragged towards the end. Still, despite the pacing, I feel like a lot of work went into making this title accessible to everyone. It feels like an okay mix of action and role playing, that makes it a decent casual game for fans of either genre.

Summary

With classic elements of Final Fantasy games, combined with a slow story and mediocre combat, this adventure still has an okay story despite inconsistency in pacing and character depth

69%

Thanks

I’ve only finished two games since my last set of game reviews, but I’ve been playing a couple I hope to finish up later this summer or in early fall. Thanks for reading and be sure to check out all my other posts.

How to Ignore Notifications or Why I Don't Write As Much as I Use To

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I deleted my Facebook and Twitter over a year ago. Even when I had accounts on those websites, I fought hard to ignore their notification systems. Even as my unread notices grew to over 80, I avoided the dopamine hit from clearing that little red number inscribed in a circle. Training ones brain to ignore notifications is the first step at fighting back against the growing war for your time and attention.

Ignore your Notifications

Every modern website and mobile app seem to incorporate some form of notification system. The details of the implementation vary, but the bell, alarm, envelope or question mark, with a red bubble and a little number inside of it, are universally understood by anyone familiar with modern communication technology. Part of fighting the distraction economy is training oneself to not acknowledge notifications.

Before I deleted Facebook, I had stopped clicking on the notifications. Interestingly, even without acknowledging them, the number of notifications did go down (most likely for events and other time based notices). I was never able to get over 100 notifications, and when Facebook reworked their layout, they limited the maximum to 20. LinkedIn, a network that silently deletes and censors posts, has a notification counter that maxes out at 99+. I don’t ignore all notification counters. Those for e-mail, personal chats and text messages are alerts I follow and acknowledge. But those are all systems I either self-host, or at least partially control. If I don’t have some degree of control over a system, or it’s not required for my job, I tend to ignore notifications from it.

Facebook's Later Notification Icon Caps out at 20+

Since I removed Google services from my phone, I have a limited amount of apps installed that I care about, greatly curtailing my mobile notifications. On any new web based service I try out, I make an active effort to never click on those notification icons. As the counters continue to gradually increase, I’ve found they tend to have less power over me. I’m not totally immune from the dopamine hits from responses. I still monitor a much smaller set of distractions, and do enjoy interacting with people on The Fediverse via my own Pleroma and Mastodon servers. I still keep up with news and blogs via an RSS reader. There are times when I start mindlessly scrolling down those rabbit holes looking for articles or conversations. Still, I’d like to think my active curation of what notices I choose to care about, and which I ignore, makes some impact on letting me choose where I focus my attention.

LinkedIn's Notification Counter Stops at '99+'

Loss of Focus

249 Unread Reddit Notifications

In the days of dial-up Internet, I spent a lot of time examining websites, playing with HTML, creating things in photo editing tools, and writing simple programs in Visual Basic. I was told some of the tools and presentations I wrote were still in use in our high school library for a few years after I graduated. I played a fair share of PC games as well, but focusing on projects was easier to do, back in the days when Internet speeds were measured in kilobytes per second and you had to stop chatting with your friends via instant messenger because your mom needed to use the phone.

Would I be able to create a fraction of what I put together in the 1990s, if I was a teenager in today’s world? There would be more tools accessible to me than ever before, but there would also be more distractions that would compete for my focus. With my early websites, I’d often have updates multiple times a week. These days I write posts that are more comprehensive with detailed sourcing, but I still struggle to get out entries every month.

The 1990s was also riddled with concerns about Attention Deficit [Hyperactivity] Disorder (abbreviated as ADD or ADHD), and the over-prescription of drugs such as Rittlin. Today, there are growing concerns about the prevalence of cellphones among kids and teenagers. Can constant social media exacerbate focus issues for those with ADHD? Even worse, could our current notification driven interfaces create ADHD like symptoms in people who wouldn’t develop such conditions in a previous decade? TikTok seems to be contributing to new waves of individuals self-diagnosing with ADHD¹, and the usage of drugs like Adderall are on the rise among college student². Are we seeing the emergence of an acquired ADHD, similar to how certain diets can lead to Type 2 Diabetes?

The Endless Scroll

There is no magic bullet that will fix the growing addiction people have to the products in the attention economy. Getting off of large social media networks is a start. We can train ourselves to ignore those shiny red notification bubbles, retooling our minds to break free from the technocratic dystopia that is being thrust upon humanity. There was a time when humans didn’t think in terms of broadcasting to the world; when every concert, show or activity wasn’t experienced in terms of how it will be framed on social media.

The next time you’re trying out a new website, app or service, try to avoid responding to notifications. Disable them if you’re given an option, and ignore that number in the little balloon. Post your opinions and don’t bother reading the comments. Limit taking action to events that truly require it, such as things that are work related or involve meeting up with your real friends in the outside world. The more we can ignore the corporations that seek to have control over our attention, the more that agency might return to our own lives.

Gilmore R, Beezhold J, Selwyn V, Howard R, Bartolome I, Henderson N. Is TikTok increasing the number of self-diagnoses of ADHD in young people? Eur Psychiatry. 2022 Sep 1;65(Suppl 1):S571. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.1463. PMCID: PMC9567752. ↩
Take Your Pills (2018, Documentary) ↩

Recent Keyboards: The Model M, Slice MK and Royal Kludge 84

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Unicomp Model M

Three years ago, I made a list of every mechanical keyboard I’ve ever owned. I thought I had settled into the keyboards I would use for the foreseeable future. A year ago, a friend of mine gave me a modern Model M keyboard as a housewarming gift. I also started looking into split ergonomic keyboards, and built a Slice MK from a kit. Being my first ortholinear keyboard, I wasn’t prepared for needing to relearn how to type. Eventually I went back to a staggered layout for my personal workstation while continuing to use the Slice MK for work. Below is an update to my previous post, with comments and criticisms of keyboards I’ve used over the past three years.

Unicomp Model M

Unicomp currently holds the license for the original IBM Model M keyboard. The last time I tried a model M, it was an authentic IBM version owned by a coworker of mine. I didn’t really care for it at the time, and that coworker later purchased my Das Keyboard before I left the country.

Unicomp Model M

A good friend of mine gave me a modern Unicomp Model M Ten Keyless as a house warming gift. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I set up the keyboard on my work computer. It had been a long time since I tried a buckling spring keyboard, and I wanted to give it a fair shake. I used it for over six months. While it’s solidly built, the key pressure required was higher than that of the Cherry MX Blue switches that I’m use to. The key presses also sounded a bit more hollow. Eventually, I switched back from this keyboard to the CM Storm Quickfire TK on my work machine, at least for a short while.

SliceMK (Wireless Ergodox Clone)

The ErgoDox is a famous split keyboard with open source designs. As with a lot of open hardware, this leads itself to a variety of clones, and customized versions. I was drawn to the SliceMK, a variation of the ErgoDox with wireless support and hot plug switches.

SliceMK Keyboard

The SliceMK had a higher than expected learning curve. I never learned to properly touch type, and I suspected that was the reason I missed almost all key presses when I first got my SliceMK running. It turns out, this was much more likely due to the keyboard having an ortholinear layout¹, where the keys are all lined up in columns instead of staggered. The slight offset took me a few weeks to get use to. I started using touch typing tools, including some of the classics (which I never actually used growing up), in order to retrain my brain for this interesting layout.

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing

The SliceMK also has an online firmware configuration tool, and it took me over a dozen iterations before I finally settled on the following layout and layers.

Default/Main Layer

fn Key Layer

Emoji Layer

System Layer

I wish there was a public board or wiki for this keyboard. There is a lot of documentation and support, but unfortunately, it’s all within the history of the SliceMK Discord chat. There aren’t even good instructions for building the ZMK firmware locally, making people either dependent on the web configuration tool or leaving people to dissect the Github build actions to replicate the build process.

Hard Soldering Key Switches to SliceMK Circuit Board

I’m not sure if I’m a fan of the hot plug key switch holders either. I had an issue where the T key started double typing. When I attempted to replace the switch, the key stopped working entirely. I ordered some replacement hot swap sockets and soldered a new one in. The T key started working again, but then the 3 and 4 keys stopped working without a lot of pressure. It seems that heating the solder may have caused some of the foam on top to separate, and no longer provide enough pressure for switches on the top row. After a failed attempt to replace the hot swap sockets, I ended up just soldering the switches directly to the printed circuit board.

ErgoDox (SliceMK) Wireless Lite (w/Black Acrylic)	$200
ErgoDox Wireless Lite Foam	$25
ErgoDox Graffiti Wrist Rest	$18
Shipping (SliceMK)	$5.99
DSA “Seafoam” Keyset (Alpha 52 keys)	$70
DSA Green Ergodox Modifiers (44 keys)	$62
Shipping (Keycaps)	$12.07
CherryMX Blue Switches	$25
Shipping/Tax (switches)	8.43
Total	426.49

The SliceMK is not as bare bones as some keyboard kits. It came mostly ready to go, only requiring the buyer to connect the batteries, add key switches and flash the firmware. Still it wasn’t cheap either. Besides the keyboard kit itself, I also had to order switches and key caps. Because of the investment I really wanted to give this keyboard a fair run. Conceptually, I like the entirely separate halves, and how they allow my arms to rest naturally further apart.

SliceMK Keyboard

However, after a few months, I still couldn’t get my typing skill to where it was on a traditional staggered keyboard layout. I also couldn’t get the ZMK firmware to emit a scroll lock code my KVM switch would recognize, which I would normally use as a keyboard shortcut to switch computers². Eventually I went back to a normal keyboard on my personal machine, and moved the SliceMK to my work laptop where I still use it currently. With as much work I’ve put into assembling and repairing the SliceMK, I’m not quite ready to give up on it yet.

Royal Kludge 84

Royal Kludge 84 Keyboard

On my personal machine, I switched over to the Royal Kludge 84 (RK84). It’s a wireless 75% keyboard, very similar to my Vortex Race 3, but with OEM profile keycaps³ instead of the shorter DSA keys. It also has some fun RGB modes, such as fading on key press, that are kinda nice and not annoying. At $60, it’s a relatively inexpensive mechanical keyboard. However, the first one I received had two columns of dead keys and I had to send it back. So far, I haven’t had any issues with the replacement.

First RK84 Arrived with Broken Keys

I had an extra Koi Fish keycap I used to liven up the left shift key.

Royal Kludge 84 Keyboard

Current Keyboards

Vortex Race 3, CM Storm Quickfire TK, Unicomp Model M(Top to Bottom)

Currently, I’m using the RK84 on my personal machine and the SliceMK with my work laptop. The Vortex Race 3, CM Storm Quickfire TK, and Model M are retired to a display stand, until I find another purpose for them. I also still own the AJazz AK33, although I’m in the process of replacing a dead key switch on it, and its switches have provided to be difficult to desolder. I hope to stick for the RK84 for a while so long as it’s reliable. Although I’m still not quite up to the same typing speed on the SliceMK, I’ve gotten proficient enough at it that it’s acceptable for my work computer.

is this your first ortholinear. 24 March 2023. @icedquinn@blob.cat mirror. ↩
Level1 Tech KVM and ZMK Keyboard Firmware (SlickMK), Scroll Lock hotkey not working. 24 March 2023. djsumdog. Level1Tech Forums. ↩
RK84 keycap profile - /r/RoyalKludge. 12 Jan 2022. /r/RoyalKludge. Reddit. ↩

The Ballad of Steven Crowder

Sun, 18 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In my last post, I discussed archiving the collection of Louder with Crowder Mug Club episodes after he switched networks. During the past year, Steven Crowder has faced many controversies, both with his show and his personal life. His conflict with The Daily Wire, the leaked videos of an argument with his wife, the departure of Dave Landau, and his move from BlazeTV to Rumble, have all led to reactions and speculation.

I currently still watch and support Louder with Crowder with a subscription to Mug Club. Over the past few years, I have found the show both entertaining and an excellent lens for information in an increasingly politically divisive media hellscape. We are living in a culture that seeks to erase anyone who doesn’t spout the ideology of progressivism. It’s a culture that will not supply grace and forgiveness to those who admit they are imperfect, but will justify insane beliefs of those from the progressive clan¹. Do Crowder’s antics and actions impede on his integrity? If so, what light should that cast (if any) on the work and dedication of the dozens of people that have made Louder with Crowder into one of the largest conservative morning shows currently on the Internet?

Mug Club Forever

In late 2022, Crowder announced parting ways with BlazeTV as their Mug Club livestream hosting provider. It became clear that BlazeTV was either unable or unwilling to turn over to Crowder, a list of members’ names and e-mail addresses. For weeks, every show had information about where current supporters could join a mailing list, known as “Mug Club Forever,” to get information on where the show would eventually land.

The Big Con

At one point during the break, Crowder released a video about “big con,” complaining about the terms he had seen in certain contracts from conservative outlets, without naming any specific companies². Shortly after Jeremy Boreing, from The Daily Wire, released an hour long video, outing himself as the source of the terms Crowder was complaining about. He attempted to defend the terms of the contract as well³. Crowder responded to this video with clips from a phone conversation he taped with Jeremy⁴, and later talking about conservative media censorship on on Tim Pool’s show⁵.

“Lawyers think of contracts as adversarial, like everything else in the legal process … how do I get my client, the best advantage? How do I extract the most out of the other side? My advice to people out there … everyone wants to be treated like a human being. They don’t want to be treated like a commodity .. rather than see it as adversarial [or] … extractive. See [contracts] as an opportunity to build trust … “ - Robert Barnes⁶

It would be nice if contracts were a way to build trust between two entities. However, anyone who’s read an employment agreement knows they are primarily to protect the interests of the company and not the employee. That being said, I have negotiated employment contracts in the past. Still, I can see the issues Crowder had with the Daily Wire and other conservative outlets.

One thing that was clear from the interactions between Crowder and Jeremy Boreing, is that The Daily Wire cared heavily about advertising revenue. Their dependence on the big tech and big media machines have kept them out of the censorship grinder, but has also had a chilling effect in their coverage of third rail topics such as the 2020 election, the illegal and immoral lockdowns, and the experimental medication forced upon the world. Although I can see issues with some of the ways Crowder made his points, I can understand his stance on censorship. His criticism of how The Daily Wire compromises to advertising friendly policies, is valid in the current news and political climate.

Recently, this became very apparent with Twitter canceling their promotion deal for stream The Daily Wire documentary What is a Woman?, due to the documentary misgendering individuals⁷. Twitter did eventually promote the documentary per their agreement once Elon Musk got involved⁸. I had two friends contact me saying they hadn’t seen the documentary until it was streamed for free on Twitter, and I think the promotion has had a considerable impact. Still, this type of censorship was exactly the type of thing Crowder spoke out against, validating his concerns⁹.

The Divorce

In April of this year, Yashar Ali released a video on his Substack of an argument from June of 2021, with Crowder and his pregnant wife¹⁰. The video does not put Crowder in a good light. Crowder released his own statement, stating that divorces are messy and people are imperfect, but also that all parties in his divorce agreed on privacy via a court order¹¹.

The leaked video is only a three minute view of a marriage that lasted nearly a decade¹². The video itself is from a patio security camera, has full audio, and raises questions about who released it, and for what purpose. The video doesn’t benefit Crowder in the court of public opinion, and his wife makes specific allegations of abuse. Did she do so knowing it was being recorded, to use later? No information on the video’s source has come to light.

The video leak rubs me the wrong way for all people involved. Personal relationships are messy things, and people say and do all types of shitty things in anger when bonds are strained or fall apart. Whether Crowder is deserving of any criticism on his personal affairs seems irrelevant in light of what appears to be either a smear campaign or hit piece.

Where’s Dave?

Dave Landau did not return as third chair on the show when it started back up on Rumble, stating that he had scheduling conflicts¹³. In April, he appeared on Michael Malice’s show, and discussed the internal conflicts and pressures Dave faced while working with Crowder¹⁴.

Crowder does not seem like the person I would ever want to work for. From Dave’s account, he exerted a lot of control over his staff and had heavy demands in his contracts, all while pushing his way into Laundau’s stand up work.

Still, despite Dave’s criticism, he said he believed that the two of them did make a good team, and wished the best for the show. Dave’s account is compelling, and it seems to fit with the other conflicts that have been placed into the recent spotlight (such as Crowder recording personal phone calls).

I’ll Just Take My Mug

I cannot stress how insanely important uncensored independent media is in the current era of mass corporate censorship. I also understand the people behind the cameras at many of these studios put in an incredible amount of work in very high paced, high stress environments. Focused leaders often bring strong personalities, that can rub people the wrong way.

I have valued the entertainment and analysis from Crowder’s show, enough that I have been a supporter for several seasons. At the same time, I understand that he’s probably not the type of person I’d like to directly work for. Driven people are the ones that make things happen, and grow businesses. But they often do so at the expense of anyone who doesn’t keep pace or isn’t fully vested in their vision.

Some of the additional Mug Club subscriber segments have been really interesting, with audience questions and powerful messages. However, most are just silly with a few additional games and gags. They’re interesting, but I no longer feel like I get a lot out of them.

It’s important to be able to separate the people, who are filled with strengths, weaknesses, pride and folly; from the output they provide to their customers and society. We are in a world that is demanding that everyone reject groups and individuals in totality; a rejection based on religious, moral or ideological beliefs, instead of discerning and identifying the individual pieces we agree and disagree with. The hosts of Louder with Crowder often talk about their own imperfections reflected in the lens of their Christian beliefs. Crowder often claims that everyone is a hypocrite, but that on their show, they often strive to be consistent.

I’m glad I archived their previous content, as I think their show has been immensely valuable in a world filled by a dishonest legacy media. I’m not sure if I will renew my subscription, but I will continue watching them, so long as they continue to produce quality content.

Robin DiAngelo Warns Black People To GET AWAY From White People in UNHINGED WOKE RANT. 21 March 2022. Timcast ↩
It’s time to stop…. 17 January 2023. Steven Crowder. Mirror ↩
Our Offer to Steven Crowder. 18 January 2023. DailyWire+. ↩
I didn’t want to do this…. 19 January 2023. StevenCrowder. Mirror ↩
Timcast IRL - Steven Crowder Joins To Discuss StopBigCon.Com Live At 8PM EST. 23 January 2023. Timcast. ↩
Steven Crowder v. Daily Wire; Jeremy MacKenzie; Alec Baldwin; Trump AND MORE! Viva & Barnes LIVE!. 22 Jan 2023. Viva Frei. (28m:05s) ↩
‘What is a Woman?’ SILENCED By Twitter. 1 June 2023. Matt Walsh. ↩
Elon Musk Promotes ‘What Is A Woman,’ Doc Hits OVER 100 MILLION Views. 4 June 2023. TimcastIRL. ↩
Interesting! Milquetoast Matt Walsh’s “What’s a Wahman” Doc (Un)Cancelled, Thiel Approved Middle Easterner Getting no Engagement. 3 June 2023. theTDC. The Daily Rake. ↩
Exclusive: Video Reveals Steven Crowder Emotionally Abusing Wife. In Statement, Hilary Crowder’s Family Says She Hid His Emotionally Abusive Behavior For Years. 27 April 2023. Ali. Substack. ↩
My statement. 28 April 2023. @scrowder. Twitter. ↩
Crowder Addresses LEAKED Divorce Video, Calls It Misleading & Edited. 29 April 2023. Timcast IRL. ↩
A lot of you have been asking if I’ll be on the new Louder with Crowder. I’m sorry it’s taken a long time to give you that answer.. 19 March 2023. dave.landau. Instagram. Audio. ↩
“YOUR WELCOME” with Michael Malice #255: Dave Landau. 20 April 2023. Michael Malice. ↩

The Mug Club Archivist

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Recently, the show Louder with Crowder moved from BlazeTV to Rumble/Locals. Their previous library of episodes does not appeared to have moved with them, preserved only on BlazeTV’s website in an archive section. People like to believe things put on the Internet stick around forever. If you were on-line during the early years, you’ve probably realized how much of the old Internet has disappeared. I never asked for a BlazeTV membership when I joined Mug Club, so I figured this would be a good time to archive the show. Using a little bit of web development knowledge and Python, I created a snapshot of a show that changed the landscape of conservative political satire and comedy in the late 2010s.

Digging Around

I tend to use yt-dlp as a Swiss Army Knife for archiving videos from around the Internet. It doesn’t support BlazeTV directly, but using the web debugging console, it is possible to dig around in the requests to find the relevant HTTP Live Stream (HLS) requests.

Using the web browser's network console to copy a request as a cURL command

One thing that’s super helpful is the ability to copy individual web requests as curl commands. This makes it easy to examine JSON data directly in a terminal, or redirect it out to a file. All relevant headers are included to make the request look similar to the request made from the browser:

curl 'https://ga-prod-api.powr.tv/v2/sites/blazetv/series/1RBcFcMd5N0w-louder-with-crowder-latest-episodes/episodes?__site=blazetv&__source=web' \
-H 'authority: ga-prod-api.powr.tv' \
-H 'accept: application/json, text/plain, */*' \
-H 'accept-language: en-US,en;q=0.5' \
-H 'authorization: Bearer ***removed***' \
-H 'origin: https://www.blazetv.com' \
-H 'referer: https://www.blazetv.com/' \
-H 'sec-fetch-dest: empty' \
-H 'sec-fetch-mode: cors' \
-H 'sec-fetch-site: cross-site' \
-H 'sec-gpc: 1' \
-H 'user-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/113.0.0.0 Safari/537.36' \
--compressed

In the above command, I’ve removed the bearer authorization token. With a logged in token, this will output a JSON representation of all the episodes in the Louder with Crowder archive. There’s an incredible amount of metadata for each episode. The following is just a small snippet of a single record:

...
"channels": [
  "SERIES",
  "SHOWS_SERIES",
  "SERIES",
  "LWC-CDN"
],
"products": [],
"rentals": [],
"sites": [
  "blazetv",
  "blazetv-louderwithcrowder",
  "blazetv-producer",
  "blazetest"
],
"status": "public",
"type": "episode",
"_id": {
  "uid": "2b9fd779-85cf-44b3-aeeb-0951a7bc3e8e",
  "source": "fuel-test-cdn"
},
"title": "Crowder’s 2022 Midterm Election Livestream Part 1",
"freeToWatch": false,
"uid": "79-a4fixk4uduzv-2022-11-09-louder-with-crowder-1-clipped",
"description": "Steven Crowder and the LWC team bring you LIVE coverage of the 2022 midterm elections with a star-studded cast of guests.",
"createdAt": "2022-11-09T06:10:24.104Z",
"rating": 400,
"ageGate": null,
"badge": {
  "blazetv-louderwithcrowder": null,
  "blazetv": null
},
...

There isn’t enough information here to begin downloading an episode. An additional request needs to be made to and endpoint called play-url with the uid listed in the metadata. This will give us the actual m3u8 playlist needed to download the video. The authorization token is very short lived. It can be found via the network console by looking for its header.

Where to find the bearer token using a web browser's network console

This token is only good for a few minutes. There is likely another endpoint where the session cookie can be used to get a new token, similar to the second version of the Docker registry protocol¹. However, rather than reverse engineer how that works and implement the flow in Python, I made sure the script saved its metadata whenever the authorization failed. This way I could grab a new token from the browser and run the command multiple times to pull all the needed playlists.

In the following scrape.py script, the auth token will have to be set. The output from the /episodes request made via curl above is expected to be in a file named episode-data.json. The script will create a output named playlists.json. You may need to run this script multiple times if the authorization token expires.

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import json
import requests
import sys
import logging
import os


log = logging.getLogger('scrape')
logging.basicConfig(format='%(asctime)s %(message)s')
log.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
auth = '<insert auth token>'


def get_playlist_url(id, bearer_token):
    headers = {'authority': 'ga-prod-api.powr.tv',
               'accept': 'application/json, text/plain, */*',
               'accept-language': 'en-US,en;q=0.5',
               'authorization': f'Bearer {bearer_token}',
               'cache-control': 'no-cache',
               'origin': 'https://www.blazetv.com',
               'pragma': 'no-cache',
               'referer': 'https://www.blazetv.com/',
               'sec-fetch-dest': 'empty',
               'sec-fetch-mode': 'cors',
               'sec-fetch-site': 'cross-site',
               'sec-gpc': '1',
               'user-agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/113.0.0.0 Safari/537.36'
               }
    url = f'https://ga-prod-api.powr.tv/v2/sites/blazetv/videos/{id}/play-url?__site=blazetv&__source=web&embed=false&protocol=https&tv=false'
    resp = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
    return resp.json()['url'] if 'url' in resp.json() else None


def load_episode_data():
    with open("episode-data.json", "r") as raw_data:
        return json.load(raw_data)


def load_playlist_data():
    if not os.path.isfile("playlists.json"):
        return []
    with open("playlists.json", "r") as fd:
        return json.load(fd)


def save_playlist_data(metadata):
    with open("playlists.json", "w") as n_fd:
        json.dump(metadata, n_fd)


def build_metadata(episode_list, playlist_data, bearer_token):
    existing_titles = [p['title'] for p in playlist_data]
    for season in episode_list:
        for episode in season:
            if episode:
                title = episode['title']
                if title in existing_titles:
                    log.debug(f'Already have playlist for {title}. Skipping...')
                    continue

                episode_uid = episode['uid']
                publish_date = episode['metadata']['publishedDate']
                season_no = episode['series']['season']
                episode_no = episode['series']['episode']
                playlist_url = get_playlist_url(episode_uid, bearer_token)

                if not playlist_url:
                    log.error("Auth Token Expired")
                    return playlist_data

                episode_info = {
                    "title": title,
                    "episode_uid": episode_uid,
                    "publish_date": publish_date,
                    "season_no": season_no,
                    "episode_no": episode_no,
                    "playlist_url": playlist_url
                }
                log.debug(episode_info)
                playlist_data.append(episode_info)
    return playlist_data


episode_data = load_episode_data()
playlist_data = load_playlist_data()
updated_playlist = build_metadata(episode_data, playlist_data, auth)
log.info(f"Previous playlist data records {len(playlist_data)}")
log.info(f"Current playlist data records {len(updated_playlist)}")
log.info("Saving Playlist Data")
save_playlist_data(updated_playlist)

The resulting playlists.json is a subset of the total video metadata that can be used to download and properly name vidoes.

...
{
  "title": "Am I Leaving YouTube? ... | Ep 552",
  "episode_uid": "43-axfvdc9vqtwu-am-i-leaving-youtube-ep-552",
  "publish_date": "2019-09-26T02:06:00.000Z",
  "season_no": 4,
  "episode_no": 55,
  "playlist_url": "https://streamshls.unreel.me/smedia/xxxx/af/yyyy/jwplayer_1234.m3u8"
},
{
  "title": "Dear Guru Crowder: I'm a Man Who Likes Lady Clothes... | Ep 550",
  "episode_uid": "43-dqm4lpero098-dear-guru-crowder-im-a-man-who-likes-lady-clothes-ep-550",
  "publish_date": "2019-09-23T23:33:00.000Z",
  "season_no": 4,
  "episode_no": 57,
  "playlist_url": "https://streamshls.unreel.me/smedia/aaaa/ww/tttt/jwplayer_5678.m3u8"
},
...

For the actual downloads, I use the trusted yt-dlp program, and call it directly from Python in order to archive the videos². The playlist URLs with the m3u8 extensions appear to be served from a 3rd party provider and do not require authentication. The following download.py script will be expecting a videos directory to exist, where it will archive each episode sequentially.

import json
import logging
import yt_dlp
import os


log = logging.getLogger('download')
logging.basicConfig(format='%(asctime)s %(message)s')
log.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)


def download_video(filename, playlist_link):
    if os.path.isfile(filename):
        log.info(f"{filename} exists. Skipping...")
    else:
        opts = {
            'outtmpl': filename
        }
        with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(opts) as ydl:
            ydl.download([playlist_link])


def load_playlist_data():
    with open("playlists.json", "r") as fd:
        return json.load(fd)


def normalize_filename(episode_data):
    date = episode_data['publish_date'].split("T")[0]
    title = episode_data['title'].replace("|", "-").replace("/", "-")
    return f"videos/[{date}] {title}.mp4"


playlist_data = load_playlist_data()
playlist_data.reverse()
for p in playlist_data:
    filename = normalize_filename(p)
    log.info(f"Processing {filename}")
    download_video(filename, p['playlist_url'])

The Importance of Archival

The entire process took several days and consumed over 1TB of storage space. I could have split the list and archived videos in parallel, but I wasn’t in a hurry. In the code above, the playlist_data list was reversed so I could pull and watch the oldest videos first as I was downloading them. I only started paying attention to Steven Crowder around 2021. Looking into a time capsule from only a few years ago, before I kept up with the show, is a pretty fascinating experience.

I originally kept the season and episode data in the playlists.json to be used for file naming. However, the season numbers didn’t seem consistent, and I ended up just naming each episode by its title, prefixed by the date. I also replaced all | with : in the episode titles, as the bar can be problematic in filenames as it’s also the pipe operator in most shells. After I started the archival process, I discovered some titles also had / characters, creating new sub-directories. I renamed them to use - instead and added another replacement to the script, but a cleaner approach in Python would be to use os.path.join() instead.

It’s important to keep around the original episode-data.json with the archive, as it has a lot of information and internal tags that can be useful in the future. For example, the BANNED ON YOUTUBE tag to indicate which videos were censored by Google/YouTube.

The show always marked their crowd funded member’s program as Mug Club. When I initially subscribed, I didn’t realize it was essentially a BlazeTV membership. Although I am looking forward to Dave Landau’s upcoming show³, I do not care enough to continue with their streaming service.

This post was less of a instruction manual, and more as a general idea book for developers. Most of the above examples are missing details that require experience with web and Python development to use. They also require a current BlazeTV subscription. This isn’t about pirating content, so much as preserving a snapshot in time. The code is somewhat messy, and was kept as simple as possible. Archival scripts are often tailored for specific systems, and tend to get thrown away after their purpose has been served.

I currently still subscribe to the new version of Mug Club hosted on the Locals platform owned by Rumble. I do think Crowder is still a significant and relevant force against the legacy media. However, he has faced a considerable amount of controversy over some recent leaks and some of his actions. In a future post, I may cover some of my thoughts on Steven Crowder, in the context of the new media landscape.

Retrieve Docker image tags from a 3rd party repo. 9 May 2019. djsumdog. Stackoverflow. ↩
How to use youtube-dl from a python program?. 5 August 2013. Stackoverflow. ↩
“YOUR WELCOME” with Michael Malice #255: Dave Landau. 20 April 2023. Michael Malice. ↩