They can argue something's "value" is whatever they want it to be, but nothing can ever be worth more than what someone is willing to pay for it.
YOU WOULDN'T DOWNLOAD A CAR
Would if I could (and to gain access to the full suite of features, might have to download cracks & hacks.. thanks Tesla & BMW!)
I want off Mr. Bone's Wild Ride... I want off Mr. Bone's Wild Ride...
When it comes to S.M. Stirling: I would kill for more in The Lords of Creation series.
(Incidentally, that series features an alternate history cold war-- where early sci-fi ideas of civilization on Venus and Mars turn out to be true, and the space race kicks off in earnest because of humans being found by a probe on Venus.)
Manhwa's the Korean version of Manga, which became more popular in the West after Solo Leveling got a lot of scanilations. The comics tend towards vertical strip format, and usually follow a weekly schedule, with seasons that range from 30-50 strips followed by an off season. They tend to frontload the first chapters, and have a tendency to get shorter/more filler as they go because of the faster production pace. (By comparison, most Manga is monthly)
Here's some of my picks:
Reincarnation of the Suicidal Battle God is exactly what it says on the tin, with a corrupt religion that matches the gods, who oversaw an apocalypse and rewound it to get more entertainment from the failed hero, who sets out to dominate once he's regressed.
Revenge of the Iron Blooded Sword Hound is thematically dark, and focuses on a discarded 'hound' who regresses after being betrayed by his family, House Baskerville. The MC's focus on revenge drives him to excel, but he changes enough of the future that his treatment changes as well.
The World After the End Has outstanding art, which carries an otherwise bog standard tower story until the twist hits-- I can't vouch for the third arc, but the first two are worth reading just for that twist between the two. Best art I've seen in any medium for a while.
Kill the Hero is a regression story that follows the natural consequence of dungeons upending the world-- the people who clear them become heroes, who get corrupted by the power and leverage over everything they gain by being saviors. Villain names his guild 'Messiah' and is stone-cold evil under the mask. The MC regresses and abuses all his knowledge to 'Kill the Hero.' Rivals Overlord and Solo Leveling in its depiction of Necromancy.
Return of the Frozen Player is a story with return in the title, which uses a defrosting from cryostasis rather than regression as its plot mechanic. One of earth's five heroes who was frozen and presumed dead after clearing the 'final dungeon' revives. Recommended for the villains-- the fiends, who drink the blood of demons and earn every beating the MC dispenses.
Past Life Returner gets an honorable mention. It's a remake of one of the older regression stories, and the MC straight up seeks to monopolize wealth to combat & control an oncoming dungeon apocalypse. The dungeons themselves are the brutality here, because electricity and guns don't work. The MC is exactly as ruthless as he needs to be to survive in that environment.
And they will forever slander him, as in the 'conspiracyland' podcast Carl's talking about. Mentioning him in the same breath as conspiracy theorists and white nationalists is duplicitous in and of itself, let alone the specific lies he tweeted about.
The BBC is slandering out of jealous spite. I hope they choke on it!
too little, too late, provided this PM isn't controlled opposition
Sweden has an Islamic minority and no-go zones. Marking the fighting age Muslim immigrants 'Return to Sender' won't work. They will just vanish into the woodwork where the government's laws end and Europe's nightmare begins.
<National workforce shortage.
I have to ask, can you work healthcare in Portland without being vaccinated?
There's a pool of labor right there. You just have to get over yourself and hire them...
(Who am I kidding? Deep blue areas would rather run their EMS into the ground than admit the mandates were wrong.)
Those who deny the necessity of violence try to make themselves good by being harmless. There is a very important distinction between the peaceful and the harmless, for the peaceful are capable of violence and make the choice to not be so. The harmless are weak and 'will suffer what they must' per Thucydides.
This isn't to say that peace is bad. As you say elsewhere, there's a difference between starting fights vs. ending them. The strongest and most morally warranted peacemaker is a veteran, who knows both the how and the cost of violence.
Sic pacem, para bellum.
I'm a writer, so I write.
My advice to ye creatives is to write your contracts in a way that presumes hostile entities trying to take over your IP and never sell out rights or give up creative control. Then ensure that your will is written to prevent the defilement of your creative legacy.
Yes. This is the town that rioted for 120 days straight after St. Floyd of Fentanyl kicked it and went deep down the 'defund the police' policy rabbit hole-- causing a large swath of their First Responders to retire or resign with no replacements being trained to replace them.
The long emergency response times are them reaping what they've sown.