Year of troubles, season of hatchetmen. As of several weeks back, Substack has been under a massive seemingly coordinated attack from subversive forces seeking to create a viral exodus from the site by reputationally damaging it. Unfortunately, it seems the program is of such wide scope as to even target individual high volume accounts, of which I appear to be one—as I too have now come under the hatchetmen’s blade of deplatformization.
Simplicius was kind enough not to forbid me to post a comment that's not too relevant while still dealing with censorship. Amazon cut off advertisement of my book, 'As America Crumbles... : A Grim Chronicle Exploring the Evil Source of America’s Catastrophic Decline,' because it, I kid you not, “contains content revolving around highly debated social topics.”
There's nothing more I can say. The book, according to them, 'contains content revolving around highly debated social topics' and, as such, is not 'eligible for advertising.'
The book itself is not banned (yet), but I can't promote it. This shows how 'freedom of speech but not of reach' is taking root in the media giant's suppression of free speech.
Nazis cannot allow figures like Simplicius or Taibbi, for that matter, to keep telling the truth. Twitter—no matter how suspicious Elon might be—and Substack (and Rumble) are thorns in their eyes as they pull a black pall over everyone's eyes, burying the West in a new Dark Ages.
And yes, I would join Simplicius on any other platform if the motherfucking Nazis manage to shut this down.
OK, let me rephrase it -- kind people filed with love and light for opressed cannot allow figures like Simplicius or Taibbi, for that matter, to keep telling the truth. Twitter—no matter how suspicious Elon might be—and Substack (and Rumble) are thorns in their eyes as they pull a black pall over everyone's eyes, burying the West in a new Dark Ages.
And yes, I would join Simplicius on any other platform if the motherfucking Nazis manage to shut this down. Fucking fuck.
you have to understand nazi has become the codeword for Zionist. Your challenging global zionism, your going to get push back is not termination metaphorical or otherwise.
Anyone with a modicum of curiosity would soon enough discover/conclude that Nazis, the concocted Aryans, have something in common with the other 2 religions who think they are above all other humans.
The simple test is if their excrement don't stink, then I can accept the premise. Yet, I have never had anyone accept the challenge.
however if you prefer to simply wallow in the shyte version of "his-story" that you have been spoon fed might i suggest knitting as a better use of your time??
"I’m not deterred even in the slightest by these laughable attacks. In fact, it has revved me up to go even harder at exposing the things they don’t want you to hear."
Well you become everyone's go to and of course they need to suppress that.
De-platforming is turning into a significant testimony to ones honesty, integrity and relevance. It's a heady loveable confluence of movers and shakers. BRICS would be there. Lot's of violently dead heroes at the head of the class. Of course the ultimate projection to lump us all as Nazis. At least that's plain to see.
You are motivating me to get off my lazy, distracted ass (The best and worst of times) and get back into the money enough to join whatever. As long as it furthers such efforts as Simplicius. I hesitate to use financial devices that you dislike. Could I just mail a check?
Orwell was warning of communists, sir. People calling communists nazis: the total inversion of reality is a well-known satanic device used by the 'chosen of God', the murderers of Christ, those who do indeed control our money and our government. The ones whose Bolshevik revolution murdered and starved hundreds of thousands and are now looking to do it to the USA. Jesus wept.
Hahaha...right. Everyone knows they came from the steppes of Central Asia on their ponies. Then there is that genealogical problem that so many Ashkenazi have. Families being able to trace their roots back many centuries as well as certain characteristic DNA markers.
Semites are native to what the Romans referred to as Judea. That blue-eyed blond-haired "Bibi" genociding actual Semites- and Christians in the Gaza as well- is a monster whose ancestry has little to do with those who have been there for thousands of years. Your ad-homs fall on deaf ears as well; The Christian Bible has been bowdlerized and corrupted viciously over the centuries; I may not claim to have read it in the Greek, but some early German versions are very interesting. Was Martin Luther "anti-semetic (sp)"? He no doubt had little connections with those peoples, but his opinions on those of the claimed faith of the peoples in that area calling themselves jews leave little doubt that many nations have similar opinions as well.
I have indeed read many other writings which have very low opinions of those whose chutzpah (such a fine self-description!) lets them call themselves the 'chosen of God'!f
By the way- I am not a Christian, but I am a fan of Pascal and his wager!
Your comment is dripping wet of self-congratulatory PRIDE blatantly obvious to ANYONE with common sense. But of course the PROUD-BLINDED mind cannot recognise any of that as it is caught up in PLATO'S MENTAL PRISON CAVE - the hall of mirrors of SELF-DECEPTION!
Didn't know it was the Romano-Bolsheviks like Pontius Pilatus Leninus who both killed Christus and organised the 1917 October revolution, and who now control our governments and money. The truth is truly stranger and more terrible than any fiction, O tempora o mores!
Lest I confuse Nazi and Communist again—I would not want to mix up drastically different kinds of authoritarians—can you clear it up to me what Iesus Christus thinks of the National Socialists who were also avowed Marxists like Ernst Röhm and the Strasserists, who objected to Hitler for only fulfilling the national and not socialist revolution?
As the first openly homosexual politician I know Christus would have wept, but I'm more interested in how the beefsteak Nazis fit into this Romano-Bolshevik cultural perspective. Given he held beliefs apparently dialectically opposite to one another, was Herr Röhm simply led astray by the Procurator Pilatus Leninus and his Satanic devices?
Really hope you can help me tell these groups apart, since I have trouble telling them apart, are anti-communist, Nationalist, Socialist, Marxist and gay Nazis allies or enemies of Jesus?
And what type of engineer is it that specialises in the creation of the Satanic device, so I know which type of artificer it is I must avoid?
"Didn't know it was the Romano-Bolsheviks like Pontius Pilatus Leninus who both killed Christus and organised the 1917 October revolution, and who now control our governments and money."
That's called a straw man. No one claimed the Romans had anything to do with the Bolsheviks.
How bout taking a look at the leadership of the German communist party, the Hungarian communist party, the Bolsheviks, etc. Denying the Jewish role in communist movements is about as sane as denying that the earth is roughly spherical.
oy vey itz all zo complicatrated.... shall unz have doze beefstakes with fried frenchies and vat the hellstorm: perhaps some shekels to tip dat cutie bavarian mit der pilsner?
and yet: That was a clever and frustrating read. Deliberately insulting and provocative in strange and diabolical ways, too be sure. "the truth".... yes. perhaps we should look in the box and see if the cat is dead instead of quantomperizing about it. Evil is as evil does, I will merely suggest you are doing it.
Please do not respond, thank you very much, and I shall return the favor.
I know little of middle ages catholic dogma. I read titus and others of the era in which jc was hung up. At the behest of keeping peace with those running the bureacracy.... sound familiar?
Ah... I'm painfully aware of that. You have no idea how challenging it is for a struggling writer with no funds for book advertising. Unfortunately, I had zero sales on Smashwords for my novels (will give D2D another shot now, thanks). Amazon seemed like my only viable option, and I bit the turd...
I must be an idiot, i buy and read over 100 ebooks a year and never even heard of Smashwords... maybe because do not live in US or english-speaking country so word of it has not somehow reached me.
Thanks, another site from where to buy ebooks :) One learns something everyday from reading substack comments, i guess.
me neither. and i'm in a typical english speaking western american owned vassal state. it just shows, doesn't it, we're not freely communicating as yet at all.
I just purchased a Kindle copy of your novel, Trygve. Thanks for letting us know it's available. And yes, I wanted the book more than I hate evil Amazon. My bad.
This is unfortunately true and why I continue to get ebooks for my kindle at Amazon despite avoiding it otherwise (and my old eyes can only handle ebooks these days). Just bought the book, not only because it's a topic that interests me but to show my support.
For all of you Simplicius' readers who have purchased the book—you overwhelm me with kindness. Thank you. Thanks to you, I had the joy of experiencing what I tweeted about:
"For posterity: My book, "As America Crumbles....", currently shares the spotlight with "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, "The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity" by Douglas Murray, and the book I love most—perhaps even more than Dostoyevsky— "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, and at this moment in time, is ranking better than those.
I am fully aware that this is just a fleeting moment, with my book positioned alongside those masterpieces. Nevertheless, as I mentioned, this record is for posterity. It's surreal to see my own work next to Bulgakov's, no matter how illusory the ranking is."
For indie authors, Amazon is the only place where we can actually sell books, as opposed to just putting them up on the digital shelves and hoping. It varies by genre some, but in general, it's the only game in town. Kinda like how Stripe has cornered payment processing.
there's kids being blown to bits by Israel as a f'rinstance of the evil in the world and this dude takes it upon himself to make his only utterance one of criticism/condemnation of yourself for allowing your book to be advertised as for sale via Amazon !??
And calls IT the 'epitome of an evil corporation' while doubtless, I'd guess, from his language and attitude, being an American, a citizen of the real epitome of evil corporations: the American Military Industrial Complex otherwise (not) known as the American Oligarchy (un) Incorporated.
Sell it wherever the hell you like. It hardly matters. Get your own site, your own domain.
I just bought it for you (and for me, I hope) - Kindle edition. $10. Presumably spread a little light and free speech a tiny bit further around the world. Didn't make the 'evil' Amazon any the more evil; could clearly be argued as making them the less so.
Keep your eye on the ball, bro, ignore the hecklers.... have a good day... :)
Hey, that warmed my heart; thank you, man. You'll have a treasure trove about fraud and billions and trillions stolen in that book. The making of the American Military-Industrial Complex rich is so yesterday; they're making themselves obscenely wealthy with the filthy lucre they're grabbing everywhere.
''there's kids being blown to bits in Israel''? WTF? There is the hate filled genocidal Zionist IDF invaders taking delight in murdering the native inhabitants of Palestine that is well documented.
Where is this Israel you speak of? Who is being blown up there?
Amazon is starting to look a lot more like Bezos himself. The more money he gets, the greedier he gets. And amazingly, like too many ultra-rich business wizards, their thinking about real life seems as muddled as their thinking about how to make a buck is crystal clear. He thinks he is avoiding controversy by stopping discussion. What a putz.
Bezos is just an over paid delivery boy. He didn't do all that much to build Amazon. It was his IT and logistics people who did all the heavy lifting...
Obviously if a book “contains content revolving around highly debated social topics”, it is socially desirable and should sell well.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously not a believer in democracy, which assumes that the average citizen is intelligent, well-informed, and sensible enough to come to his own conclusions.
Those who wish to shut down Substack are clearly determined to deprive citizens of any information that they - the censors - don't want to be heard.
And they criticize the Chinese and the Russians for their relatively mild censorship!
democracy does not just assume the intelligent independent thinking of its participants, but demands it. If the public becomes ignorant, you end up where we are. A former democracy, or at a minimum, a moribund one.
Unfortunately a vicious circle is possible - and, since it is possible, has been systematically exploited. The public are ignorant - compared to how they should be - partly because the conventional media has almost ceased to tell the truth, and the "alternative" media - such as Substack - has relatively small reach and resources.
But the public are also ignorant because the educational system has been methodically subverted.
I attended private schools in England before going to Cambridge University to study history. Much of what I was taught by my estimable and highly professional teachers has turned out to be wrong. But they also taught me to be sceptical and to evaluate evidence, which is how I learned the truth.
absolutely agree with you. The ultimate goal of the Censors is to reach a point where the public is so totally reliant on them for information that they become sort of Ground Zero for Ignorance. They become pliable, manipulable, usable. Alas for the censors, even the Soviet Union could not do it. What arose was samizdat ("self-publication") that was typed in multiple copies and given out to trusted friends (or moles from the KGB. For its tiny size it had a massive influence. And in today's tech environment, it is samizdat on steroids. And finally -- I attended Georgetown University when the Jesuits still were influential therein and logic and sharp thinking are their hallmarks. It is the one skill that education must impart if it is to even be called "education." Teaching how to think, not what to think.
Very good points. But I fear that our situation - especially in the UK - is worse than the USSR, because whatever one may think of Russians (and I admire them as a people), it's obvious that they are extremely sceptical and tough-minded. Whereas today's British citizens (and, I fear, Americans) lack the ability or the desire to think critically and are very tender-minded. Although I am agnostic inclining to atheist, I agree about the Jesuits (especially after watching "The Man in the Iron Mask" yet again!) Moreover, teaching critical thinking is no good if the taughtprefer not to employ it. As Dorothy Parker replied when asked to compose a sentence including the word "horticulture", "You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think".
As with the USSR, I think the downward spiral will certainly end when the authorities have lost all credibility. But it may take a lot longer in "the West". And the ensuring chaos and plunging quality of life may be even worse. Let's hope not.
USSR past tense? As in former USSR. I read it as so but I have found a great many people have never even heard of Glasnost and think that the Russian Federation is still communist. Very prevalent among Yanks.
The availability of sport, gambling and booze is a greater outlet for the average Joe, eyes open is something lacking generally whilst a hint of curiosity never goes astray but lacking again generally.
Hey Simp is an early extension of one's subscription a thing that would interest you. Please advise.
There's a fraud the powers-that-be have been pushing as Putin's Enemy #1, a certain Bill Browder (most likely an MI-6 asset) who's now very loud again re: $300B of the frozen Russian money they plan to steal.
Alex Krainer wrote a fantastic expose of that fraud, titled "Grand Deception: The Browder Hoax," but the book was banned on Amazon. Moreover, Amazon stole about 2,000.00 EUR from Krainer from the past sales. The book's available elsewhere if you'd google it.
Also, Andrei Nekrasov made a movie "The Magnitsky Act: Behind the Scenes" that started with an idea of showing Putin's "enemy" only to end up revealing the fraud. Browder's backers managed to stop that movie from distribution, EVEN from showing it in the EU Parliament.
I consistently reply under Browder's self-aggrandizing Twitter posts advocating expropriation of Russia's assets, words to the effect that: "Your work in accelerating the demise of the USD in global trade settlement and as a world reserve currency are greatly appreciated. The multi-polar world will thank you. Keep up the good work."
Wall St. understands but the neocons are in charge of this s***show and I'm left wondering when the seams within the establishment burst. Now that will be something to see.
"An evil ruler will burn his nation just to rule over the ashes"-Sun Tzu. Who could be more evil than the ones Jesus called out as the servants of Satan? Those who worship, as they call him, the 'light bringer"- Lucifer.
The US of A has never been a democracy. All democratic reforms have been bought with blood, sweat and tears; and those are rapidly fading before our unwatching eyes.
Alexis de Tocqueville nailed it two centuries ago (but ironically didn't escape censorship in modern print editions - two of mine "edit out" most of the following passage) :
"I know no country in which there is so little true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in America...
...In America the majority raises very formidable barriers to the liberty of opinion: within these barriers an author may write whatever he pleases, but he will repent it if he ever steps beyond them. Not that he is exposed to the terrors of an auto-da-fe, but he is tormented by the slights and persecutions of daily obloquy. His political career is closed forever, since he has offended the only authority which is able to promote his success. Every sort of compensation, even that of celebrity, is refused to him. Before he published his opinions he imagined that he held them in common with many others; but no sooner has he declared them openly than he is loudly censured by his overbearing opponents, whilst those who think without having the courage to speak, like him, abandon him in silence. He yields at length, oppressed by the daily efforts he has been making, and he subsides into silence, as if he was tormented by remorse for having spoken the truth.
...Under the absolute sway of an individual despot the body was attacked in order to subdue the soul, and the soul escaped the blows which were directed against it and rose superior to the attempt; but such is not the course adopted by tyranny in democratic republics; there the body is left free, and the soul is enslaved."
De Tocqueville was a wise man, indeed. Although I feel that Mark Twain also hit the nail on the head:
"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them".
- Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar, Ch. XX
Some of his other sayings strike me as singularly appropriate to our world:
"To create man was a fine and original idea; but to add the sheep was a tautology".
"To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence".
"There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press".
You're welcome. Twain just shot off such remarks like sparks from a hammer. I particularly like his trademark "sting in the tail" - as in "It's noble to be good, and nobler to teach others to be good, and less trouble".
"Je ne connais pas de pays où il règne en général moins d’indépendance d’esprit et de véritable liberté de discussion qu’en Amérique.
Il n’y a pas de théorie religieuse ou politique qu’on ne puisse prêcher librement dans les États constitutionnels de l’Europe et qui ne pénètre dans les autres ; car il n’est pas de pays en Europe tellement soumis à un seul pouvoir, que celui qui veut y dire la vérité n’y trouve un appui capable de le rassurer contre les résultats de son indépendance. S’il a le malheur de vivre sous un gouvernement absolu, il a souvent pour lui le peuple ; s’il habite un pays libre, il peut au besoin s’abriter derrière l’autorité royale. La fraction aristocratique de la société le soutient dans les contrées démocratiques, et la démocratie dans les autres. Mais au sein d’une démocratie organisée ainsi que celle des États-Unis, on ne rencontre qu’un seul pouvoir, un seul élément de force et de succès, et rien en dehors de lui. "
Thanks Antonio. However, I don't speak French and I don't entirely trust the auto-translation, though part of it's obviously a slightly different passage. My current interpretation of what you say is either that de Tocqueville is a calvinist, or that he's commenting on a calvinist society. Either way I can't quite appreciate your point. Can you please clarify?
I am bad at english.... I was just pointing to the original source, just for the sake of information. I guess translation is correct, that was not my point or concern.
As for my own comment, it was the second option: what Tocqueville criticized is more or less what many catholic based europeans nickname "calvinism" or "puritanism". Yankee mindset is a special derivative of protestantism, with manichean rigid simplistic views.
follow up to clarify even more I hope: what a French call "puritain/puritanism" may also be different of what an american call "puritan/puritanism"....
nowadays words "West" "Western" are used a lot. In French, Italian, Spanish, there are two words: Ouest/Oeste is for geographical West (West/East/North/South) and Occident/Occidente is for cultural-historical matters. La civilisation occidentale, for instance. Civilisation occidentale means european civiisation after Roman Empire, ie. how Europe evolved pn from early Middle-Ages. In that picture there is no USA, but there is Novgorod and Aleksandr Nevski.
Novgorod ie. early russian kingdom and the following Kievan Rus' were borderline because they belong Orthodox realm of Byzance, and a big split appeared around ~1000 and developed in full-scale conflict between Carolingean kingdoms who insisted that Roman Empire heritage was in Rome, and the actual remaining Roman Empire in Byzance/Constantinople. It ended in a Crusade where in 1204 Carolingean armies besieged and sacked Byzance, and shared among themselves provinces of the Empire. So this Crusade actually killed Byzance Empire long before the Turks who just gave le coup de grâce, final stroke.
But medieval Russ(ia) was indeed a Christian Slavonic state, ie. european. That's why generally in Catholic western-european realms, Russia is (was?) considered well ... a "Western" culture and society. Or in French: une culture occidentale. Opposed to "oriental" as in "arab" or "turkish".
And for quite some people USA is no longer european, but a Frankenstein of european origin, but less "occidental" than Russia.
I never was in USA but in Montréal, Ottawa and smaller québécois towns in North-East, so Canada. I have been many times a year in Russia in the last 15 years. I feel more at home in Russia than in Canada.
Also the Orthodox element IS also in the current political "West": Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Makedonia.
There are times in history, when one looks back, when tide of free speech, free thinking raises... unique moments. It is not a process, otherwise humanity would already have reached perfection, and clearly it had not.
More like Wizzard of Oz moment of truth, and then back. Back to reality, back to the future.
Let us hope it still will be for some time to come. Control of our money- the currency of trade- is the ultimate tool of our so-called masters. The pharisees in the temple have the flocks in their grasp once again; the mammon-worshipers ignore any evil as long as they are chosen for the next sacrifice. They do not understand they are up next after throwing all their innocents into the mouth of Ba'al.
When I first started using the internet there where no platforms. I had to learn HTML and CSS and build my own websites. People seem to have forgotten that you still can build your own website. No third party rules, no censorship or other anti free speech measures. Then they have to go after your internet service provider.
Just ago Ursula held a 20 minute speech claiming biggest treat is mis- and disinformation. It was a 20 minutes of mis- and disinformation. You know it's bad when they believe their own lies. Are there journalist who dare to expose these groups going after people for deplatforming? We can bet they're paid by the EU and US and other supranational organisations.
That's a good point. You don't even need to know HTML, either. You can download WordPress for free and install it on a spare computer, and that'll run as a (literally a 100% free) website as long as your computer is powered on and connected to the internet.
Unfortunately, it doesn't do anything to solve the issue of receiving PAYMENT for your work, which is the bigger issue here.
Unfortunately, it isn't as simple as organising a payment processor to collect your salary from, it is far easier to hack someone's computer running WordPress or to do a simple DOS attack to take a site off the internet. The reason why such platforms as SubStack exist is that you can gain collectively from them being able to resist DOS attacks etc. They'll employ network engineers and security experts to mitigate and prevent such things happening. Far cheaper to do over thousands of websites than it is to do the same for a single website.
There are new payment processors springing up all of the time, although getting a multi national one can be difficult and platforms such as SubStack, will only want to be dealing with one or two payment processors for ease of coding etc. (I know having built many e-commerce websites fir European use.)
Come on. There are a bunch of WordPress e-commerce plugins that allow you to receive payments. The problem small sites are facing is Pareto distribution; no one sees them unless you market them. People flock to a full restaurant, to the most visited sites. Google alone has hundreds of billions of webpages, if not over a trillion, so one can scream from the top of their digital lungs from such a website and never be seen by anyone.
I like the way Substack is set up. When I read an especially good commenter I check to see who they are subscribed to. I have found incredibly insightful, brilliant journalists/authors on this platform.
This is what happens when your domain name and host is based in the West.
Another thing is you and your family resides in the West and you are an easy target for ala Bolton threats to kill your family unless you behave as told.
Personally I think a combination of these forced The Saker to retire.
Your best bet is move to a ironcast host located in a country that's strong enough to resist obvious sanction threats.
If you can find a safe haven I have no problem following and paying a sub that's reasonable.
I live in a country that's literally un-sanction-able LOL because it doesn't officially exist. And we have great internet. But the downside is that we're completely cut off from all "Western" banking networks, so moving here wouldn't solve Simplicius' problem.
how interesting? the Jew Zelensky represents a fascist junta installed and maintained by foreign powers. Israel uses every trick it learned in its experience as test subjects for genocide under the Reich to carry out genocide against Arabs. Are they not equally "Nazis"? If the ADL does not support unfettered free speech that calls for no action whatsoever but merely expresses a viewpoint then it is anti-free speech, anti-democratic. Are they doing what Nazis did? Sure, and what commies did, too, and what all dictators and censors do. They hate free speech. It is truly a threat, but not to democracy -hah - but to their power.
> The only other possible explanation I can think of, is that perhaps the targeted campaign against me hit Stripe with so many random false accusations, they were covering their bases for all the different claims.
I think any large enough platform automates customer service currently. The larger they are the more automation there is. I can't prove it but I have a feeling that no humans were involved in that affair apart from NAFO trolls flooding the abuse system with reports. From that point on everything else was automatically triggered, and badly. There might have been one single human that terminated the process after reviewing that nothing actually happened. Get used to it, guys, you've seen nothing yet. You can be 100% sure that quite soon there won't be any humans dealing with small problems like that in web services.
> For the record, Substack was the only service to even respond semi-reassuringly to my urgent alert about a mass attack on my accounts.
I've found out that all small companies tend to have actual humans on support and it looks like Substack is still primarily human-operated. That might change in the future if they continue to grow, of course.
> I also realized that if Stripe were to deplatform me, that would have no effect on the Substack account.
You do not need Stripe to receive money from BuyMeACoffee, I've recently researched that. They allow Payoneer and direct bank transfers. Gumroad, OTOH, is a Stripe-only service. So in theory you could add a BMC link to every post or lock the post content there if you want. Which would likely cut into your profits.
As someone who used to design chatbots, I can assure you 100% that those screenshots are from a chatbot, not a human being.
As for Payoneer, they suck balls and have the worst customer service you've ever seen in your life. And guess what? They adhere to all Western sanctions against Russia and Belarus as well.
Well, most of these outfits have no choice but "to adhere", because if they don't adhere... they end up on the sanctioned side themselves.
There would have to be a critical mass of non-adhering high-profile individuals and outfits (including in financial services) and mass media and social media platforms, all starting their non-adhesion at once after previous co-ordination, for the non-adhering to escape being sanctioned and put out of business.
There is a very specific reason, that needs not to be worded out here at this time, for which all across the "NATO area" (and farther, maybe) that is not possible, has not been possible for a couple decades so far, is likely to continue being not possible for decades, hopefully not centuries, to come.
all I have to do is use one of the big search engines to see how totally cooked this goose is. You cannot get a straightforward response to an inquiry. It is all highly directed and confined. I tried to "google" (what an ugly word it has become, straight out of the USSR -- was Brin from a Soviet family, I wonder?) US violations of Russian airspace and all I got was Russian violations of US air space. What a racket it has all become. Keep writing, Thinkers. Keep talking and keep going to bed and waking up each morning saying "Fuck censorship."
I wonder if Simplicius has Google Analytics or Webmaster Tools to see how many of the pages are not indexed or de-indexed from the Google index. My own Substack has 287 not indexed pages and 112 indexed pages.
And do you know what's funny? I went on "Request Indexing" for those pages once, twice, and had them back in the index. Then, like in Casablanca, I put a page up, they tear the page down, and voila, the pages are de-indexed again.
I can attest to that, at least with Amazon. Before the automated system notified me that my book "does not comply with our current Creative Acceptance Policies" (with of that famous, (it) "contains content revolving around highly debated social topics"), I tried to find out, for a full three weeks, with the "support" about why my ads were not running.
I received, I actually went and counted them now, 15 emails providing an obvious cookie-cutter and meaningless reply: "Thank you for reaching out to us; we are glad to assist. / We understand you are experiencing issues with the campaign under pending review and how important this is for your business. / We apologize for the time this has taken; please note that we are still working on resolving your request with our specialized team in charge of these kinds of issues," no matter what I wrote to them.
After it became clear what is happening, I stopped bothering with them, and yet, I've received 5 more emails with the same set of idiotic lines. Bangalore "support" was totally idiotic, but Bangalore AI "support" is much, much worse.
"I can't prove it but I have a feeling that no humans were involved in that affair apart from NAFO trolls flooding the abuse system with reports."
You can be sure that customer service is any large organization is basically a bot. Hell, I would not be a bit surprised if half the NAFO trolls also were bots.
Terrible times for the truth seekers , I really enjoy your articles , you might want to try Markethive.com , it is a new platform , the CEO is absolutely against censoring , and it is crypto friendly .
Simplicius, your work have become impactful enough for "establishment" to notice. You know, Substack is being pressured to clamp down on what they describe as "disinformation". So far Substack has refused but they are a San Francisco based American corp after all, it won't be shrewd to rely on them entirely.
I'd like to offer a friendly suggestion: Perhaps it's worth exploring the idea of launching your own website. Take a look at John Helmer's Dancing with Bears; it could provide a convincing model for you. You can rent server and infrastructure from Russian or Chinese providers. Given the size of your audience, relying solely on Substack may not be necessary. You could maintain it concurrently while gradually establishing your independent platform.
Wishing you the best of luck, and thank you for the excellent analysis you put out.
Telegram channel to get update of new posts? If Simplicius have time to manage all these platforms, then why not!
Personally, I use RSS feed to get notification of new contents from hundreds of blogs, Substack channels including this one, websites and even youtube channels I follow. I don't like to log in to websites, specially one with such a vast cross platform tracking and fingerprinting capability as Youtube/Google services. RSS feed allows me to stay updated with ONLY the channels and contents I care about and nothing else. Saves time and headache, and more importantly: Privacy.
You are probably the most prolific writer I have ever encountered on this platform. So, yes, I will support you wherever you go--without exemptions. (Obviously, that is a signal that I would have to put my money where my mouth is.)
Well, in a way, Substack does have a "Nazi" problem--it just so happens that these Nazis are not on Substack. If "anti-Nazis" burn books, figuratively, they are still Nazis.
I'm edging towards subbing, I've never felt the need but your work and attention to unbiased detail is undeniable. In these dark times of government overreach, some search lights blaze in the dark. You are one! Keep it up.
Firstly, get off X, set up another account not linked to simplicius so you can still monitor the site.
Secondly, set up a website, direct all your subscribers to it. Set up a company or register as self employed.
On your site have a pay wall, link the payment options to your own business bank account using IBAN.
Set up a core of subscribers like me who love your work and would happily pay a monthly subscription.
Do this for a year along with your substack and see if it is worthwhile.
We are living a nightmare now, that, there can be no doubt.
Before the internet we had journals and pamphlets and writers earned money off them. There are many ways to get your message out there, don't get too despondent.
Heh, if they don't like you, they damn sure ain't gonna like ME. LOL
Advocating crime, violence, and illegal hacking, as well as learning ninjutsu and tradecraft and firearms use is entirely the goal of my Substack. Along with other things, of course, but ultimately the goal is to point out "The Five Essentials" that people are going to need to survive the "cyberpunk" future that's already here, let alone coming.
But I thank Simplicius for giving me the heads up that my Substack probably won't last another year, if that, based on this "cancel" nonsense. And I'm not surprised they went after the financing because control of the money is how everyone is brought into line.
So learn to hack and steal your money directly, then hide it in crypto and offshore banks under phony corporate identities - like the "legit" real heavy hitters do. Use corporate entities to undermine the corporate state.
What's that line from the movie "Hackers"? Ah, yes: "HACK THE PLANET!"
Doesn't matter what platform you're on - it's the fact that you have to be on a "platform" at all - unless you can pay enough to make it profitable for a bulletproof hoster to take the risk - that does everyone in.
This always was the big Achilles' heel of the Internet - that "bastion of freedom" everyone proclaimed it would be back in the 90's. As long as there is "infrastructure" of any kind involved, you lose.
The other alternative is "guerilla Internet" - you post stuff everywhere and rely on everyone else reposting it everywhere - essentially the "MP3 platform" a la music downloads. Ask for money and have it sent via crypto - or cash in the mail. Or redirect them to some site selling something unrelated to - and unconnected to - whatever you're posting as a form of "covert subscription".
Bottom line, though, is whatever approach is used , unless you're a recognized "heavy hitter" like Glenn Greenwald who got paid half a million to move to Substack - and then moved out a short time later - you're not going to make a living wage writing unless you write what is acceptable to the "cancel society".
I have to admit I love your suggestion! Having a totally separate 'coupon' site with a purchase of maybe a digital token to get de-linked access is doable. Of course this would have to be under separate companies. What is going on has been going on for centuries, just the tools of war have changed.
None of this would happen if were not for the majority of 'humans' lacking fixed morals of truth and righteousness. It's the "it doesn't affect me" morality that allows these all evil things to be successful.
You're correct about "the majority of humans" but it's not the lack of "fixed morals" that is the problem. It's human nature which is being papered over by "morals and ethics" and fake notions of "truth and righteousness". There are no such things - they are scams, "spooks in the head" as Max Stirner wrote.
As Einstein wrote, "a problem can not be solved in terms of itself". There will be no solution to human problems until human nature is changed. Fortunately that is coming. Unfortunately the mere suggestion of it provokes the usual human fear and threat display.
Atheism has only changed the nature of Western Christendom into a crumbling heap of burning dumpsters. Einstein was a fraud and another tool of the money-changers. Humans are as they are - good luck with your windmills.
The whiny cancel culture gits taking their ball and heading to Ghost I welcome with open arms. Hopefully they'll succeed in creating a parallel ecosystem between Ghost and Mastodon and whatever else, and the rest of us will never see them again.
It's semantics at this point. Words and definitions stopped being relevant since the elites went post modernist. It's their sociopathic drive for power and their modus operandi that they can never shed.
.
I should perhaps stop using that term as its distracting from the actual point.
Indeed. I just get a mite perturbed seeing folks using terms in historically inaccurate ways. Moustache Man bad therefore everything bad is his fault. Perhaps I'm too pedantic for my own good.
The whiners and the offended are merely tools of those who are the real threat, and most of them don't even realize it. The ones that want to control society by censoring are the real threat. They engineered the whining and hate speech narrative for this very reason--they themselves are not "offended."
Simplicius was kind enough not to forbid me to post a comment that's not too relevant while still dealing with censorship. Amazon cut off advertisement of my book, 'As America Crumbles... : A Grim Chronicle Exploring the Evil Source of America’s Catastrophic Decline,' because it, I kid you not, “contains content revolving around highly debated social topics.”
I feel the need to mention my book; otherwise, it would never be seen by anyone. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQR71WN3/.
There's nothing more I can say. The book, according to them, 'contains content revolving around highly debated social topics' and, as such, is not 'eligible for advertising.'
The book itself is not banned (yet), but I can't promote it. This shows how 'freedom of speech but not of reach' is taking root in the media giant's suppression of free speech.
Nazis cannot allow figures like Simplicius or Taibbi, for that matter, to keep telling the truth. Twitter—no matter how suspicious Elon might be—and Substack (and Rumble) are thorns in their eyes as they pull a black pall over everyone's eyes, burying the West in a new Dark Ages.
And yes, I would join Simplicius on any other platform if the motherfucking Nazis manage to shut this down.
Nazis? Ahem...Rabbi says what?
OK, let me rephrase it -- kind people filed with love and light for opressed cannot allow figures like Simplicius or Taibbi, for that matter, to keep telling the truth. Twitter—no matter how suspicious Elon might be—and Substack (and Rumble) are thorns in their eyes as they pull a black pall over everyone's eyes, burying the West in a new Dark Ages.
And yes, I would join Simplicius on any other platform if the motherfucking Nazis manage to shut this down. Fucking fuck.
Idiot!
you have to understand nazi has become the codeword for Zionist. Your challenging global zionism, your going to get push back is not termination metaphorical or otherwise.
Nah. Call it like ya sees it. If the small hat fits...
Anyone with a modicum of curiosity would soon enough discover/conclude that Nazis, the concocted Aryans, have something in common with the other 2 religions who think they are above all other humans.
The simple test is if their excrement don't stink, then I can accept the premise. Yet, I have never had anyone accept the challenge.
Idiot#2.
go immerse yourself in this and then come back with something intelligent to say:
https://rumble.com/v3t9omm-the-mystery-of-israel-a-documentary-by-david-sorensen.html
https://odysee.com/@Happy:9/Europa:bcb
however if you prefer to simply wallow in the shyte version of "his-story" that you have been spoon fed might i suggest knitting as a better use of your time??
Perhaps you could enlighten me with the error of my conclusion.
2 Religions on this planet put themselves above all other human beings; that all other human beings are various sorts of pack animals or scum.
An enlightened one of God's choosing ought to be able to respond with something more than the equivalent of a grunt.
Me 2 Noam
"I’m not deterred even in the slightest by these laughable attacks. In fact, it has revved me up to go even harder at exposing the things they don’t want you to hear."
Well you become everyone's go to and of course they need to suppress that.
De-platforming is turning into a significant testimony to ones honesty, integrity and relevance. It's a heady loveable confluence of movers and shakers. BRICS would be there. Lot's of violently dead heroes at the head of the class. Of course the ultimate projection to lump us all as Nazis. At least that's plain to see.
You are motivating me to get off my lazy, distracted ass (The best and worst of times) and get back into the money enough to join whatever. As long as it furthers such efforts as Simplicius. I hesitate to use financial devices that you dislike. Could I just mail a check?
It wouldn't be the Nazis themselves shutting down Simplicius. It would be the fascist "Ministry of Truth."
Orwell was warning of communists, sir. People calling communists nazis: the total inversion of reality is a well-known satanic device used by the 'chosen of God', the murderers of Christ, those who do indeed control our money and our government. The ones whose Bolshevik revolution murdered and starved hundreds of thousands and are now looking to do it to the USA. Jesus wept.
Your anti-semetic references fall on deaf ears, my friend. If you're not TOO old, coyote, I recommend you read more than the bible.
I saw no reference whatsoever to Arabs or the Levant which is a place the Turkic Ashkenazim fake Jews most certainly did not originate from.
Hahaha...right. Everyone knows they came from the steppes of Central Asia on their ponies. Then there is that genealogical problem that so many Ashkenazi have. Families being able to trace their roots back many centuries as well as certain characteristic DNA markers.
Careful with your phrasing, you should be more specific or he might take you seriously but his second book will be the Book of Mormon or something.
The Bolshevik revolution was indeed a Jewish affair, that much is true. And the death toll was millions.
Semites are native to what the Romans referred to as Judea. That blue-eyed blond-haired "Bibi" genociding actual Semites- and Christians in the Gaza as well- is a monster whose ancestry has little to do with those who have been there for thousands of years. Your ad-homs fall on deaf ears as well; The Christian Bible has been bowdlerized and corrupted viciously over the centuries; I may not claim to have read it in the Greek, but some early German versions are very interesting. Was Martin Luther "anti-semetic (sp)"? He no doubt had little connections with those peoples, but his opinions on those of the claimed faith of the peoples in that area calling themselves jews leave little doubt that many nations have similar opinions as well.
I have indeed read many other writings which have very low opinions of those whose chutzpah (such a fine self-description!) lets them call themselves the 'chosen of God'!f
By the way- I am not a Christian, but I am a fan of Pascal and his wager!
Your comment is dripping wet of self-congratulatory PRIDE blatantly obvious to ANYONE with common sense. But of course the PROUD-BLINDED mind cannot recognise any of that as it is caught up in PLATO'S MENTAL PRISON CAVE - the hall of mirrors of SELF-DECEPTION!
SOLI DEO GLORIA!
Didn't know it was the Romano-Bolsheviks like Pontius Pilatus Leninus who both killed Christus and organised the 1917 October revolution, and who now control our governments and money. The truth is truly stranger and more terrible than any fiction, O tempora o mores!
Lest I confuse Nazi and Communist again—I would not want to mix up drastically different kinds of authoritarians—can you clear it up to me what Iesus Christus thinks of the National Socialists who were also avowed Marxists like Ernst Röhm and the Strasserists, who objected to Hitler for only fulfilling the national and not socialist revolution?
As the first openly homosexual politician I know Christus would have wept, but I'm more interested in how the beefsteak Nazis fit into this Romano-Bolshevik cultural perspective. Given he held beliefs apparently dialectically opposite to one another, was Herr Röhm simply led astray by the Procurator Pilatus Leninus and his Satanic devices?
Really hope you can help me tell these groups apart, since I have trouble telling them apart, are anti-communist, Nationalist, Socialist, Marxist and gay Nazis allies or enemies of Jesus?
And what type of engineer is it that specialises in the creation of the Satanic device, so I know which type of artificer it is I must avoid?
"Didn't know it was the Romano-Bolsheviks like Pontius Pilatus Leninus who both killed Christus and organised the 1917 October revolution, and who now control our governments and money."
That's called a straw man. No one claimed the Romans had anything to do with the Bolsheviks.
How bout taking a look at the leadership of the German communist party, the Hungarian communist party, the Bolsheviks, etc. Denying the Jewish role in communist movements is about as sane as denying that the earth is roughly spherical.
oy vey itz all zo complicatrated.... shall unz have doze beefstakes with fried frenchies and vat the hellstorm: perhaps some shekels to tip dat cutie bavarian mit der pilsner?
and yet: That was a clever and frustrating read. Deliberately insulting and provocative in strange and diabolical ways, too be sure. "the truth".... yes. perhaps we should look in the box and see if the cat is dead instead of quantomperizing about it. Evil is as evil does, I will merely suggest you are doing it.
Please do not respond, thank you very much, and I shall return the favor.
Iesus Christus translates as Iasos gold. Not sure if Iasos gold had opinions of not but it could certainly garner some if it wanted to.
The German people called the Brown Shirts, "Beef cakes, brown on the outside, red in the middle.
Got to ŕevert to some middle age catholic dogma, do ya. The Roman's nailed Jesus to the cross.
I know little of middle ages catholic dogma. I read titus and others of the era in which jc was hung up. At the behest of keeping peace with those running the bureacracy.... sound familiar?
Fascist - Comes from the Latin word Fascis.
Sometimes it is worth looking at the history of words, for example idiots call queers gay.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/fasces
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces
I'm with you on that 100%.
Nazi? I doubt that you have any knowledge of the NSDAP other than what the ADL have told you.
Why in the f---k are you selling on Amazon? Use D2D/Smashwords, for the love of ----. Amazon is literally the epitome of an evil corporation.
Ah... I'm painfully aware of that. You have no idea how challenging it is for a struggling writer with no funds for book advertising. Unfortunately, I had zero sales on Smashwords for my novels (will give D2D another shot now, thanks). Amazon seemed like my only viable option, and I bit the turd...
I must be an idiot, i buy and read over 100 ebooks a year and never even heard of Smashwords... maybe because do not live in US or english-speaking country so word of it has not somehow reached me.
Thanks, another site from where to buy ebooks :) One learns something everyday from reading substack comments, i guess.
me neither. and i'm in a typical english speaking western american owned vassal state. it just shows, doesn't it, we're not freely communicating as yet at all.
Nor I....Smashwords...interesting name.
usa here. never heard of them. will check out.
try Kobo?
I just purchased a Kindle copy of your novel, Trygve. Thanks for letting us know it's available. And yes, I wanted the book more than I hate evil Amazon. My bad.
This is unfortunately true and why I continue to get ebooks for my kindle at Amazon despite avoiding it otherwise (and my old eyes can only handle ebooks these days). Just bought the book, not only because it's a topic that interests me but to show my support.
For all of you Simplicius' readers who have purchased the book—you overwhelm me with kindness. Thank you. Thanks to you, I had the joy of experiencing what I tweeted about:
"For posterity: My book, "As America Crumbles....", currently shares the spotlight with "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, "The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity" by Douglas Murray, and the book I love most—perhaps even more than Dostoyevsky— "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, and at this moment in time, is ranking better than those.
I am fully aware that this is just a fleeting moment, with my book positioned alongside those masterpieces. Nevertheless, as I mentioned, this record is for posterity. It's surreal to see my own work next to Bulgakov's, no matter how illusory the ranking is."
https://postimg.cc/QF4BWVzL
For indie authors, Amazon is the only place where we can actually sell books, as opposed to just putting them up on the digital shelves and hoping. It varies by genre some, but in general, it's the only game in town. Kinda like how Stripe has cornered payment processing.
Not true. Barnes & Noble lets anyone publish and sell through them.
They’re the same censoring cucks.
there's kids being blown to bits by Israel as a f'rinstance of the evil in the world and this dude takes it upon himself to make his only utterance one of criticism/condemnation of yourself for allowing your book to be advertised as for sale via Amazon !??
And calls IT the 'epitome of an evil corporation' while doubtless, I'd guess, from his language and attitude, being an American, a citizen of the real epitome of evil corporations: the American Military Industrial Complex otherwise (not) known as the American Oligarchy (un) Incorporated.
Sell it wherever the hell you like. It hardly matters. Get your own site, your own domain.
I just bought it for you (and for me, I hope) - Kindle edition. $10. Presumably spread a little light and free speech a tiny bit further around the world. Didn't make the 'evil' Amazon any the more evil; could clearly be argued as making them the less so.
Keep your eye on the ball, bro, ignore the hecklers.... have a good day... :)
Hey, that warmed my heart; thank you, man. You'll have a treasure trove about fraud and billions and trillions stolen in that book. The making of the American Military-Industrial Complex rich is so yesterday; they're making themselves obscenely wealthy with the filthy lucre they're grabbing everywhere.
''there's kids being blown to bits in Israel''? WTF? There is the hate filled genocidal Zionist IDF invaders taking delight in murdering the native inhabitants of Palestine that is well documented.
Where is this Israel you speak of? Who is being blown up there?
Good catch. Thank you. I"ve been back and edited it. '...by Israel...'
Why? Network effects,. Sellers gotta sell where buyers are to be found. Buyers flock to places where there's stuff to buy.
Positive feedback loop.
Amazon is starting to look a lot more like Bezos himself. The more money he gets, the greedier he gets. And amazingly, like too many ultra-rich business wizards, their thinking about real life seems as muddled as their thinking about how to make a buck is crystal clear. He thinks he is avoiding controversy by stopping discussion. What a putz.
"Putz". What an oddly ethnic word.
Quite clear, nothing ethnic about it, other than the Yiddish origin.
Oy Vey...Goyim.
Boyyyyy have I gat a dactor for you!!
Hey! When one of the founders of this platform is named Hamish, my Scottish genes tell me that Substack is no pushover!
Bezos is just an over paid delivery boy. He didn't do all that much to build Amazon. It was his IT and logistics people who did all the heavy lifting...
Obviously if a book “contains content revolving around highly debated social topics”, it is socially desirable and should sell well.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously not a believer in democracy, which assumes that the average citizen is intelligent, well-informed, and sensible enough to come to his own conclusions.
Those who wish to shut down Substack are clearly determined to deprive citizens of any information that they - the censors - don't want to be heard.
And they criticize the Chinese and the Russians for their relatively mild censorship!
democracy does not just assume the intelligent independent thinking of its participants, but demands it. If the public becomes ignorant, you end up where we are. A former democracy, or at a minimum, a moribund one.
Unfortunately a vicious circle is possible - and, since it is possible, has been systematically exploited. The public are ignorant - compared to how they should be - partly because the conventional media has almost ceased to tell the truth, and the "alternative" media - such as Substack - has relatively small reach and resources.
But the public are also ignorant because the educational system has been methodically subverted.
I attended private schools in England before going to Cambridge University to study history. Much of what I was taught by my estimable and highly professional teachers has turned out to be wrong. But they also taught me to be sceptical and to evaluate evidence, which is how I learned the truth.
absolutely agree with you. The ultimate goal of the Censors is to reach a point where the public is so totally reliant on them for information that they become sort of Ground Zero for Ignorance. They become pliable, manipulable, usable. Alas for the censors, even the Soviet Union could not do it. What arose was samizdat ("self-publication") that was typed in multiple copies and given out to trusted friends (or moles from the KGB. For its tiny size it had a massive influence. And in today's tech environment, it is samizdat on steroids. And finally -- I attended Georgetown University when the Jesuits still were influential therein and logic and sharp thinking are their hallmarks. It is the one skill that education must impart if it is to even be called "education." Teaching how to think, not what to think.
Very good points. But I fear that our situation - especially in the UK - is worse than the USSR, because whatever one may think of Russians (and I admire them as a people), it's obvious that they are extremely sceptical and tough-minded. Whereas today's British citizens (and, I fear, Americans) lack the ability or the desire to think critically and are very tender-minded. Although I am agnostic inclining to atheist, I agree about the Jesuits (especially after watching "The Man in the Iron Mask" yet again!) Moreover, teaching critical thinking is no good if the taughtprefer not to employ it. As Dorothy Parker replied when asked to compose a sentence including the word "horticulture", "You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think".
As with the USSR, I think the downward spiral will certainly end when the authorities have lost all credibility. But it may take a lot longer in "the West". And the ensuring chaos and plunging quality of life may be even worse. Let's hope not.
USSR past tense? As in former USSR. I read it as so but I have found a great many people have never even heard of Glasnost and think that the Russian Federation is still communist. Very prevalent among Yanks.
The availability of sport, gambling and booze is a greater outlet for the average Joe, eyes open is something lacking generally whilst a hint of curiosity never goes astray but lacking again generally.
Hey Simp is an early extension of one's subscription a thing that would interest you. Please advise.
There's a fraud the powers-that-be have been pushing as Putin's Enemy #1, a certain Bill Browder (most likely an MI-6 asset) who's now very loud again re: $300B of the frozen Russian money they plan to steal.
Alex Krainer wrote a fantastic expose of that fraud, titled "Grand Deception: The Browder Hoax," but the book was banned on Amazon. Moreover, Amazon stole about 2,000.00 EUR from Krainer from the past sales. The book's available elsewhere if you'd google it.
Also, Andrei Nekrasov made a movie "The Magnitsky Act: Behind the Scenes" that started with an idea of showing Putin's "enemy" only to end up revealing the fraud. Browder's backers managed to stop that movie from distribution, EVEN from showing it in the EU Parliament.
https://archive.org/details/magnitsky-act-movie
I consistently reply under Browder's self-aggrandizing Twitter posts advocating expropriation of Russia's assets, words to the effect that: "Your work in accelerating the demise of the USD in global trade settlement and as a world reserve currency are greatly appreciated. The multi-polar world will thank you. Keep up the good work."
Excellent!
Wall St. understands but the neocons are in charge of this s***show and I'm left wondering when the seams within the establishment burst. Now that will be something to see.
"An evil ruler will burn his nation just to rule over the ashes"-Sun Tzu. Who could be more evil than the ones Jesus called out as the servants of Satan? Those who worship, as they call him, the 'light bringer"- Lucifer.
The US of A has never been a democracy. All democratic reforms have been bought with blood, sweat and tears; and those are rapidly fading before our unwatching eyes.
Alexis de Tocqueville nailed it two centuries ago (but ironically didn't escape censorship in modern print editions - two of mine "edit out" most of the following passage) :
"I know no country in which there is so little true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in America...
...In America the majority raises very formidable barriers to the liberty of opinion: within these barriers an author may write whatever he pleases, but he will repent it if he ever steps beyond them. Not that he is exposed to the terrors of an auto-da-fe, but he is tormented by the slights and persecutions of daily obloquy. His political career is closed forever, since he has offended the only authority which is able to promote his success. Every sort of compensation, even that of celebrity, is refused to him. Before he published his opinions he imagined that he held them in common with many others; but no sooner has he declared them openly than he is loudly censured by his overbearing opponents, whilst those who think without having the courage to speak, like him, abandon him in silence. He yields at length, oppressed by the daily efforts he has been making, and he subsides into silence, as if he was tormented by remorse for having spoken the truth.
...Under the absolute sway of an individual despot the body was attacked in order to subdue the soul, and the soul escaped the blows which were directed against it and rose superior to the attempt; but such is not the course adopted by tyranny in democratic republics; there the body is left free, and the soul is enslaved."
Alexis De Tocqueville, Democracy in America, pp292-3 original Reeve translation, PSU, http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/LojkoMiklos/Alexis-de-Tocqueville-Democracy-in-America.pdf
:)
De Tocqueville was a wise man, indeed. Although I feel that Mark Twain also hit the nail on the head:
"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them".
- Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar, Ch. XX
Some of his other sayings strike me as singularly appropriate to our world:
"To create man was a fine and original idea; but to add the sheep was a tautology".
"To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence".
"There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press".
- Mark Twain, “License of the Press” (1873)
Thank you very much for those, Tom! I wasn't aware of any of them. I'm reading his Gilded Age novel atm - lots of similar stuff.
You're welcome. Twain just shot off such remarks like sparks from a hammer. I particularly like his trademark "sting in the tail" - as in "It's noble to be good, and nobler to teach others to be good, and less trouble".
thanks for the link sir!
that's what is called by many in catholic Europe, calvinist puritanism.
https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/De_la_d%C3%A9mocratie_en_Am%C3%A9rique/%C3%89dition_1848/Tome_2/Deuxi%C3%A8me_partie/Chapitre_7
"Je ne connais pas de pays où il règne en général moins d’indépendance d’esprit et de véritable liberté de discussion qu’en Amérique.
Il n’y a pas de théorie religieuse ou politique qu’on ne puisse prêcher librement dans les États constitutionnels de l’Europe et qui ne pénètre dans les autres ; car il n’est pas de pays en Europe tellement soumis à un seul pouvoir, que celui qui veut y dire la vérité n’y trouve un appui capable de le rassurer contre les résultats de son indépendance. S’il a le malheur de vivre sous un gouvernement absolu, il a souvent pour lui le peuple ; s’il habite un pays libre, il peut au besoin s’abriter derrière l’autorité royale. La fraction aristocratique de la société le soutient dans les contrées démocratiques, et la démocratie dans les autres. Mais au sein d’une démocratie organisée ainsi que celle des États-Unis, on ne rencontre qu’un seul pouvoir, un seul élément de force et de succès, et rien en dehors de lui. "
Thanks Antonio. However, I don't speak French and I don't entirely trust the auto-translation, though part of it's obviously a slightly different passage. My current interpretation of what you say is either that de Tocqueville is a calvinist, or that he's commenting on a calvinist society. Either way I can't quite appreciate your point. Can you please clarify?
I am bad at english.... I was just pointing to the original source, just for the sake of information. I guess translation is correct, that was not my point or concern.
As for my own comment, it was the second option: what Tocqueville criticized is more or less what many catholic based europeans nickname "calvinism" or "puritanism". Yankee mindset is a special derivative of protestantism, with manichean rigid simplistic views.
follow up to clarify even more I hope: what a French call "puritain/puritanism" may also be different of what an american call "puritan/puritanism"....
nowadays words "West" "Western" are used a lot. In French, Italian, Spanish, there are two words: Ouest/Oeste is for geographical West (West/East/North/South) and Occident/Occidente is for cultural-historical matters. La civilisation occidentale, for instance. Civilisation occidentale means european civiisation after Roman Empire, ie. how Europe evolved pn from early Middle-Ages. In that picture there is no USA, but there is Novgorod and Aleksandr Nevski.
Novgorod ie. early russian kingdom and the following Kievan Rus' were borderline because they belong Orthodox realm of Byzance, and a big split appeared around ~1000 and developed in full-scale conflict between Carolingean kingdoms who insisted that Roman Empire heritage was in Rome, and the actual remaining Roman Empire in Byzance/Constantinople. It ended in a Crusade where in 1204 Carolingean armies besieged and sacked Byzance, and shared among themselves provinces of the Empire. So this Crusade actually killed Byzance Empire long before the Turks who just gave le coup de grâce, final stroke.
But medieval Russ(ia) was indeed a Christian Slavonic state, ie. european. That's why generally in Catholic western-european realms, Russia is (was?) considered well ... a "Western" culture and society. Or in French: une culture occidentale. Opposed to "oriental" as in "arab" or "turkish".
And for quite some people USA is no longer european, but a Frankenstein of european origin, but less "occidental" than Russia.
I never was in USA but in Montréal, Ottawa and smaller québécois towns in North-East, so Canada. I have been many times a year in Russia in the last 15 years. I feel more at home in Russia than in Canada.
Also the Orthodox element IS also in the current political "West": Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Makedonia.
Thanks for that, I get what you're saying now.
Actually I think the whole world has been dumbing down lately! :)
Just bought it and many thanks for your efforts in this war!
I will take a look. Jeff Bezos IS the Establishment. He does not need it to be rocked.
Perhaps check with Castalia House which is owned by Vox Day (Theodore Beale) and runs the Vox Populi website https://voxday.net/
got it
I added your book to my kindle.
There are times in history, when one looks back, when tide of free speech, free thinking raises... unique moments. It is not a process, otherwise humanity would already have reached perfection, and clearly it had not.
More like Wizzard of Oz moment of truth, and then back. Back to reality, back to the future.
Thank you Simplicius, it was a pleasure.
Let us hope it still will be for some time to come. Control of our money- the currency of trade- is the ultimate tool of our so-called masters. The pharisees in the temple have the flocks in their grasp once again; the mammon-worshipers ignore any evil as long as they are chosen for the next sacrifice. They do not understand they are up next after throwing all their innocents into the mouth of Ba'al.
When I first started using the internet there where no platforms. I had to learn HTML and CSS and build my own websites. People seem to have forgotten that you still can build your own website. No third party rules, no censorship or other anti free speech measures. Then they have to go after your internet service provider.
Just ago Ursula held a 20 minute speech claiming biggest treat is mis- and disinformation. It was a 20 minutes of mis- and disinformation. You know it's bad when they believe their own lies. Are there journalist who dare to expose these groups going after people for deplatforming? We can bet they're paid by the EU and US and other supranational organisations.
That's a good point. You don't even need to know HTML, either. You can download WordPress for free and install it on a spare computer, and that'll run as a (literally a 100% free) website as long as your computer is powered on and connected to the internet.
Unfortunately, it doesn't do anything to solve the issue of receiving PAYMENT for your work, which is the bigger issue here.
Unfortunately, it isn't as simple as organising a payment processor to collect your salary from, it is far easier to hack someone's computer running WordPress or to do a simple DOS attack to take a site off the internet. The reason why such platforms as SubStack exist is that you can gain collectively from them being able to resist DOS attacks etc. They'll employ network engineers and security experts to mitigate and prevent such things happening. Far cheaper to do over thousands of websites than it is to do the same for a single website.
There are new payment processors springing up all of the time, although getting a multi national one can be difficult and platforms such as SubStack, will only want to be dealing with one or two payment processors for ease of coding etc. (I know having built many e-commerce websites fir European use.)
Come on. There are a bunch of WordPress e-commerce plugins that allow you to receive payments. The problem small sites are facing is Pareto distribution; no one sees them unless you market them. People flock to a full restaurant, to the most visited sites. Google alone has hundreds of billions of webpages, if not over a trillion, so one can scream from the top of their digital lungs from such a website and never be seen by anyone.
Not only that, but the Substack platform is a lot better way of attracting readers than a random blog.
Sort of like why we have shopping centers, groups of stores in the same location and basically acting synergistically to attract buyers.
I like the way Substack is set up. When I read an especially good commenter I check to see who they are subscribed to. I have found incredibly insightful, brilliant journalists/authors on this platform.
all photos of Ursula should be photo-shopped to have her in a Nazi uniform, perhaps with photos of the Lagers behind her.
the smile, though. It isn't nearly as sly and wicked as hers is.
This is what happens when your domain name and host is based in the West.
Another thing is you and your family resides in the West and you are an easy target for ala Bolton threats to kill your family unless you behave as told.
Personally I think a combination of these forced The Saker to retire.
Your best bet is move to a ironcast host located in a country that's strong enough to resist obvious sanction threats.
If you can find a safe haven I have no problem following and paying a sub that's reasonable.
I live in a country that's literally un-sanction-able LOL because it doesn't officially exist. And we have great internet. But the downside is that we're completely cut off from all "Western" banking networks, so moving here wouldn't solve Simplicius' problem.
Are you speaking in a virtual cyberspace 'country' sense, or do you have a physical location in which the thought police are not a problem?
I believe he is speaking of Transnistria.
I am curious, where do you live? Ajbasia?
It is the only one I can think of
Or Liberland? https://liberland.org/en/
"We know where your children live."
It's clear: UA doesn't have a nazi problem, Substack has a nazi problem.
The ADL is Nazi? Interesting...
how interesting? the Jew Zelensky represents a fascist junta installed and maintained by foreign powers. Israel uses every trick it learned in its experience as test subjects for genocide under the Reich to carry out genocide against Arabs. Are they not equally "Nazis"? If the ADL does not support unfettered free speech that calls for no action whatsoever but merely expresses a viewpoint then it is anti-free speech, anti-democratic. Are they doing what Nazis did? Sure, and what commies did, too, and what all dictators and censors do. They hate free speech. It is truly a threat, but not to democracy -hah - but to their power.
Zelensky isn't a Jew, he's a secular who poses as a Jew because it is expedient. Zionist antisemites do the same.
Just joined last week, but yes, I would follow your work anywhere. You're that valuable! Thanks again for sharing your mind!
> The only other possible explanation I can think of, is that perhaps the targeted campaign against me hit Stripe with so many random false accusations, they were covering their bases for all the different claims.
I think any large enough platform automates customer service currently. The larger they are the more automation there is. I can't prove it but I have a feeling that no humans were involved in that affair apart from NAFO trolls flooding the abuse system with reports. From that point on everything else was automatically triggered, and badly. There might have been one single human that terminated the process after reviewing that nothing actually happened. Get used to it, guys, you've seen nothing yet. You can be 100% sure that quite soon there won't be any humans dealing with small problems like that in web services.
> For the record, Substack was the only service to even respond semi-reassuringly to my urgent alert about a mass attack on my accounts.
I've found out that all small companies tend to have actual humans on support and it looks like Substack is still primarily human-operated. That might change in the future if they continue to grow, of course.
> I also realized that if Stripe were to deplatform me, that would have no effect on the Substack account.
You do not need Stripe to receive money from BuyMeACoffee, I've recently researched that. They allow Payoneer and direct bank transfers. Gumroad, OTOH, is a Stripe-only service. So in theory you could add a BMC link to every post or lock the post content there if you want. Which would likely cut into your profits.
As someone who used to design chatbots, I can assure you 100% that those screenshots are from a chatbot, not a human being.
As for Payoneer, they suck balls and have the worst customer service you've ever seen in your life. And guess what? They adhere to all Western sanctions against Russia and Belarus as well.
Well, most of these outfits have no choice but "to adhere", because if they don't adhere... they end up on the sanctioned side themselves.
There would have to be a critical mass of non-adhering high-profile individuals and outfits (including in financial services) and mass media and social media platforms, all starting their non-adhesion at once after previous co-ordination, for the non-adhering to escape being sanctioned and put out of business.
There is a very specific reason, that needs not to be worded out here at this time, for which all across the "NATO area" (and farther, maybe) that is not possible, has not been possible for a couple decades so far, is likely to continue being not possible for decades, hopefully not centuries, to come.
all I have to do is use one of the big search engines to see how totally cooked this goose is. You cannot get a straightforward response to an inquiry. It is all highly directed and confined. I tried to "google" (what an ugly word it has become, straight out of the USSR -- was Brin from a Soviet family, I wonder?) US violations of Russian airspace and all I got was Russian violations of US air space. What a racket it has all become. Keep writing, Thinkers. Keep talking and keep going to bed and waking up each morning saying "Fuck censorship."
I wonder if Simplicius has Google Analytics or Webmaster Tools to see how many of the pages are not indexed or de-indexed from the Google index. My own Substack has 287 not indexed pages and 112 indexed pages.
And do you know what's funny? I went on "Request Indexing" for those pages once, twice, and had them back in the index. Then, like in Casablanca, I put a page up, they tear the page down, and voila, the pages are de-indexed again.
and when queried by an indignant public, they will count only the times they put a page back up and not the times it took the same back down.
I can attest to that, at least with Amazon. Before the automated system notified me that my book "does not comply with our current Creative Acceptance Policies" (with of that famous, (it) "contains content revolving around highly debated social topics"), I tried to find out, for a full three weeks, with the "support" about why my ads were not running.
I received, I actually went and counted them now, 15 emails providing an obvious cookie-cutter and meaningless reply: "Thank you for reaching out to us; we are glad to assist. / We understand you are experiencing issues with the campaign under pending review and how important this is for your business. / We apologize for the time this has taken; please note that we are still working on resolving your request with our specialized team in charge of these kinds of issues," no matter what I wrote to them.
After it became clear what is happening, I stopped bothering with them, and yet, I've received 5 more emails with the same set of idiotic lines. Bangalore "support" was totally idiotic, but Bangalore AI "support" is much, much worse.
"I can't prove it but I have a feeling that no humans were involved in that affair apart from NAFO trolls flooding the abuse system with reports."
You can be sure that customer service is any large organization is basically a bot. Hell, I would not be a bit surprised if half the NAFO trolls also were bots.
Terrible times for the truth seekers , I really enjoy your articles , you might want to try Markethive.com , it is a new platform , the CEO is absolutely against censoring , and it is crypto friendly .
Keep up the fantastic job
Check out blogstack.io, a decentralized blog platform over relay using nostr with lightning (btc) tips
Simplicius, your work have become impactful enough for "establishment" to notice. You know, Substack is being pressured to clamp down on what they describe as "disinformation". So far Substack has refused but they are a San Francisco based American corp after all, it won't be shrewd to rely on them entirely.
I'd like to offer a friendly suggestion: Perhaps it's worth exploring the idea of launching your own website. Take a look at John Helmer's Dancing with Bears; it could provide a convincing model for you. You can rent server and infrastructure from Russian or Chinese providers. Given the size of your audience, relying solely on Substack may not be necessary. You could maintain it concurrently while gradually establishing your independent platform.
Wishing you the best of luck, and thank you for the excellent analysis you put out.
I'd have a subscription based telegram channel with a website as you suggest and I would copy paste some content into the website and on substack.
Telegram channel to get update of new posts? If Simplicius have time to manage all these platforms, then why not!
Personally, I use RSS feed to get notification of new contents from hundreds of blogs, Substack channels including this one, websites and even youtube channels I follow. I don't like to log in to websites, specially one with such a vast cross platform tracking and fingerprinting capability as Youtube/Google services. RSS feed allows me to stay updated with ONLY the channels and contents I care about and nothing else. Saves time and headache, and more importantly: Privacy.
Yeah, and I don't like this! 😅
Same! RSS is great and seems to fly under the radar...
You are probably the most prolific writer I have ever encountered on this platform. So, yes, I will support you wherever you go--without exemptions. (Obviously, that is a signal that I would have to put my money where my mouth is.)
Well, in a way, Substack does have a "Nazi" problem--it just so happens that these Nazis are not on Substack. If "anti-Nazis" burn books, figuratively, they are still Nazis.
I believe that would probably make them Communists or other left wing rabble.
it is so discouraging to read so many posters who think commies are nazis.
Indeed. Boomer thought is still strong.
I'm edging towards subbing, I've never felt the need but your work and attention to unbiased detail is undeniable. In these dark times of government overreach, some search lights blaze in the dark. You are one! Keep it up.
Firstly, get off X, set up another account not linked to simplicius so you can still monitor the site.
Secondly, set up a website, direct all your subscribers to it. Set up a company or register as self employed.
On your site have a pay wall, link the payment options to your own business bank account using IBAN.
Set up a core of subscribers like me who love your work and would happily pay a monthly subscription.
Do this for a year along with your substack and see if it is worthwhile.
We are living a nightmare now, that, there can be no doubt.
Before the internet we had journals and pamphlets and writers earned money off them. There are many ways to get your message out there, don't get too despondent.
Heh, if they don't like you, they damn sure ain't gonna like ME. LOL
Advocating crime, violence, and illegal hacking, as well as learning ninjutsu and tradecraft and firearms use is entirely the goal of my Substack. Along with other things, of course, but ultimately the goal is to point out "The Five Essentials" that people are going to need to survive the "cyberpunk" future that's already here, let alone coming.
But I thank Simplicius for giving me the heads up that my Substack probably won't last another year, if that, based on this "cancel" nonsense. And I'm not surprised they went after the financing because control of the money is how everyone is brought into line.
So learn to hack and steal your money directly, then hide it in crypto and offshore banks under phony corporate identities - like the "legit" real heavy hitters do. Use corporate entities to undermine the corporate state.
What's that line from the movie "Hackers"? Ah, yes: "HACK THE PLANET!"
Maybe you could have a telegram channel with subscription.
Doesn't matter what platform you're on - it's the fact that you have to be on a "platform" at all - unless you can pay enough to make it profitable for a bulletproof hoster to take the risk - that does everyone in.
This always was the big Achilles' heel of the Internet - that "bastion of freedom" everyone proclaimed it would be back in the 90's. As long as there is "infrastructure" of any kind involved, you lose.
The other alternative is "guerilla Internet" - you post stuff everywhere and rely on everyone else reposting it everywhere - essentially the "MP3 platform" a la music downloads. Ask for money and have it sent via crypto - or cash in the mail. Or redirect them to some site selling something unrelated to - and unconnected to - whatever you're posting as a form of "covert subscription".
Bottom line, though, is whatever approach is used , unless you're a recognized "heavy hitter" like Glenn Greenwald who got paid half a million to move to Substack - and then moved out a short time later - you're not going to make a living wage writing unless you write what is acceptable to the "cancel society".
I have to admit I love your suggestion! Having a totally separate 'coupon' site with a purchase of maybe a digital token to get de-linked access is doable. Of course this would have to be under separate companies. What is going on has been going on for centuries, just the tools of war have changed.
None of this would happen if were not for the majority of 'humans' lacking fixed morals of truth and righteousness. It's the "it doesn't affect me" morality that allows these all evil things to be successful.
You're correct about "the majority of humans" but it's not the lack of "fixed morals" that is the problem. It's human nature which is being papered over by "morals and ethics" and fake notions of "truth and righteousness". There are no such things - they are scams, "spooks in the head" as Max Stirner wrote.
As Einstein wrote, "a problem can not be solved in terms of itself". There will be no solution to human problems until human nature is changed. Fortunately that is coming. Unfortunately the mere suggestion of it provokes the usual human fear and threat display.
Atheism has only changed the nature of Western Christendom into a crumbling heap of burning dumpsters. Einstein was a fraud and another tool of the money-changers. Humans are as they are - good luck with your windmills.
The NAFO banhammer manipulation is vile.
The whiny cancel culture gits taking their ball and heading to Ghost I welcome with open arms. Hopefully they'll succeed in creating a parallel ecosystem between Ghost and Mastodon and whatever else, and the rest of us will never see them again.
Its not whiny, its fasicsm. Take a closer look. The whole point is censorship, not needing a "safe space", its all performative.
It's not whiny, it's Marxism. FIFY.
It's semantics at this point. Words and definitions stopped being relevant since the elites went post modernist. It's their sociopathic drive for power and their modus operandi that they can never shed.
.
I should perhaps stop using that term as its distracting from the actual point.
Indeed. I just get a mite perturbed seeing folks using terms in historically inaccurate ways. Moustache Man bad therefore everything bad is his fault. Perhaps I'm too pedantic for my own good.
keep it up, knight pedant: those windmills are looming!! lols.
The whiners and the offended are merely tools of those who are the real threat, and most of them don't even realize it. The ones that want to control society by censoring are the real threat. They engineered the whining and hate speech narrative for this very reason--they themselves are not "offended."