Books history Five SFF Works About Creating, Revising, and Obfuscating History Each of these works explores attempts at controlling the past, and rewriting history… By James Davis Nicoll | Published on September 24, 2024 Photo: Chris Lawton [via Unsplash] Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Chris Lawton [via Unsplash] A revered social visionary once observed “who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” How easy it is to guide people towards your desired goals if you control their perception of where they began! Alternatively, poorly documented or entirely forgotten history can leave people rudderless on the currents of destiny. Perhaps some examples would help. Hegira by Greg Bear (1979) Hegira is far vaster than fabled Earth. Hegira hosts a myriad of nations. Hegira is ancient. Distance implies isolation. Isolation plus time would ensure extreme divergence… had the people who created Hegira not taken steps to provide a common history, in the form of vast archives erected at regular intervals across Hegira’s surface. Thousand-kilometer-tall obelisks are engraved with human history and knowledge, with the earliest and most primitive at the bottom, and the most recent at the top. Cribbing from the obelisks offers technological shortcuts, the key to imperial supremacy. Thus, there is incentive for nations to familiarize themselves with the common past. Less clear, the future. Too bad for the Hegirans, as that future is about to become the survivors’ present. On the one hand, Hegira’s designers had clear reasons for designing their megastructure the way they did. On the other, their approach seems needlessly convoluted and inhumane. It’s almost as though their purpose was to provide a pretext for thrilling adventures. Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi (1996) Wandering bodyguard Balsa sees the carriage conveying Second Prince Chagum’s carriage tumble into a raging river. Prudence dictates she leave the boy to his fate. Nevertheless, Balsa rescues Chagum. Her heroism wins Balsa a central role in a national crisis. Chagum hosts a demon, or so his father the Mikado believes. Thus, to avoid scandal and to save the kingdom, near-fatal accidents have been arranged. Chagum’s mother, the Second Queen, wishes to save her son. Against every cautious instinct, Balsa is convinced to protect the boy—a nearly impossible task, given that Balsa has been denied certain critical, strictly need-to-know, information. New Yogo’s royals have been careful to curate an official history that suits propagandist ends. The fellow quoted at the top would approve! To this end, certain embarrassing (directly relevant to the plot) truths have been suppressed. New Yogo’s neighboring nations might glare disapprovingly, if later volumes did not establish that this sort of self-flattering historical revisionism is rife on this continent. Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle (2000) Ash keenly desires a principality of her own. Her army means it is in the interest of the local nobility to provide Ash with title and lands, lest she simply take them for herself. Charles the Bold provides Ash with the status she craves, but with a catch in the form of an arranged marriage to the unlovable Fernando de Gui. Destiny provides Ash with a distraction in the form of invasion by the seemingly unstoppable Visigoths. Centuries later, a historian wrestles with Ash’s history. Certain details beggar belief. The accounts must have been embellished…except, as the historian discovers, they have not. History is far less linear than scholars would like to believe. Many content warnings would be justified, here. Gentle may be the least aptly-named author in speculative fiction. However, unlike other authors I could mention, the unpleasant bits of Gentle’s tales are in no way gratuitous. Daemons of the Shadow Realm by Hiromu Arakawa (2021 onward) Skilled hunter Yuru lives in a peaceful rural village. Of the outside world, he knows little, save that he does not wish to travel there. To leave would be to abandon his sister Asa. Asa cannot travel, as she is permanently ensconced in the village prison. In the wake of a violent attack on the village, Yuru discovers that the village elders have withheld facts, even outright lied to Yuru. Yuru is one half of a treasure the world craves. Asa is the other half. However, the woman Yuru knows as Asa is an imposter. Reuniting with his sister and coming to terms with the world as it is requires learning to navigate an entirely unfamiliar modern world. For a few pages, I thought maybe this was another pleasant rustic tale like Arakawa’s Silver Spoon. Then the dismembering began. The tone is closer to Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist, except somehow even more violent. The Melancholy of Untold History by Minsoo Kang (2024) A prank somehow escalates, transforming four gods into bitter enemies who pursue a relentless feud for centuries. A storyteller, having delivered all his ruler demanded, finds himself slated for death. Bereavement leaves a historian unable to savor his moment of triumph. Three different narratives unfolding in three different settings, yet somehow inextricably entangled. Some readers may struggle with the intricate structure of the book. Persevere. Kang’s examination of how nations create history, and how this plays out on various personal levels, is a delightful fable. Perhaps you have your own favorite examples of histories obfuscated, misplaced, or created out of whole cloth. If so, comments are below. Regale us with new books for Mount Tsundoku![end-mark] The post Five SFF Works About Creating, Revising, and Obfuscating History appeared first on Reactor.

Noncitizens number in the hundreds of thousands in each of the seven most fiercely contested battleground states expected to decide the Nov. 5 presidential election, and research suggests more than 1 million of them could vote nationally if past voting patterns continue.  Of the seven battleground states, Georgia has the largest number of adult noncitizens at 787,588, according to numbers assembled by the Center for Immigration Studies.  North Carolina follows with 726,079 noncitizens, according to data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau in the first quarter of 2024 and analyzed by CIS at the request of The Daily Signal.  The third highest number of noncitizens in a battleground state is Arizona, with 611,717 ages 18 or older.  The Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank, advocates enforcement of federal border and immigration laws. About 6% of noncitizens vote, CIS says. Pennsylvania has 516,123 voting-age noncitizens, according to CIS, and Michigan has 271,138. Nevada is next with 258,736 and  Wisconsin, with 129,600, has the smallest number of noncitizens among the seven swing states, CIS says. “In some states even if only a modest portion of noncitizens voted, it could possibly flip the state, as some states are likely to be decided by less than 30,000 votes,” Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Daily Signal. “Of course, that does not mean it has actually happened or will happen.” “Noncitizens” is an umbrella term that includes both legal but unnaturalized residents as well as illegal immigrants.  What isn’t knowable is how many of these individuals are registered to vote or would vote in the Nov. 5 election.  However, a recent study by the Only Citizens Vote Coalition determined that if noncitizens vote at the same rate in 2024 as in 2008, about 1.5 million could cast ballots for president and other offices. This finding is consistent with separate research by Just Facts, a research institute that estimates between 1 million and 2.7 million noncitizens likely would vote.  Both studies attempted to update numbers from one in an academic journal by professors from Old Dominion University and George Mason University, which determined that about 6.4% of noncitizens voted.  Although Democrats and left-leaning media outlets have disputed the findings of that 2014 academic research, in recent years several blue and red states have reported numerous cases in which noncitizens registered to vote and went on to vote.  Just Facts, basing its research on the most recent data, determined that 10% to 27% of noncitizens are illegally registered to vote in the United States. Using the same dataset as the 2014 study, but with new data on illegal immigration, Just Facts estimates that 5% to 13% of noncitizens will vote in this year’s election. The study, released in March, cites Census Bureau data finding that over 19 million noncitizens live in the United States.  “My study is not extrapolating. It uses the newest data to ascertain the newest numbers,” James Agresti, president of Just Facts, told The Daily Signal.  The study from Just Facts also concludes:  Given the estimates above and the fact that more than 20 million noncitizen adults live in the U.S., roughly 1 million to 2.7 million of them will illegally vote in 2024 unless stronger election integrity measures are implemented. This could easily overturn the will of the American people in close major elections. So do the 2008 numbers for noncitizen voting apply to 2024? Maybe, says Jesse Richman, an associate professor of political science at Old Dominion University who was the lead author of the heavily cited study. But it’s not a certainty, he warns.  “There are variations and different sources of information on noncitizen voting rates,” Richman told The Daily Signal. “Those sources provide a range of different numbers. Many are lower figures. Keep in mind, there are substantial uncertainties about the magnitude of the problem.” He noted that each side of the political spectrum tends to estimate the extent of the problem differently.  “Democrats lean too far in dismissing noncitizen voting as a nonissue,” Richman said. “Republicans sometimes lean too far into characterizing it as the monster that ate democracy.” Among the seven battleground states, The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard ranks Georgia—with the most voting-age noncitizens—as the best state for citizenship verification in voter registration. It earns the maximum of four points for that category. Georgia is second place overall on Heritage’s scorecard.  Arizona comes in third place for best verification of citizenship, with three out of four points. Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin each got zero points for citizenship verification.  Ken Cuccinelli, national chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative, says he has doubts that noncitizen votes will surpass 1 million. Even so, he says, these votes would be enough to tilt an election outcome.  “I would be shocked if the number is that high. Still, a congressional seat in Iowa was decided by six votes in 2020. A presidential election in a state can be moved by 10,000 to 20,000 votes,” Cuccinelli told The Daily Signal. “The Biden administration’s open border combined with Bidenbucks will make the problem worse.” The term “Bidenbucks” refers to President Joe Biden’s executive order in 2021 requiring federal agencies to work with nonprofit organizations to crank up voter registration and participation.  “I don’t know the effect that Executive Order 14019 will have because the administration has stonewalled everything,” Cuccinelli said, referring to Biden’s order. “I usually count on the incompetence of the federal government when it works outside its mission scope not to have much impact.”  In 2024, the number of noncitizens totals 25.7 million, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, and of those 23.2 million are voting age. That’s up from a reported total of 21.6 million noncitizens in 2008.  Under current law, 17 jurisdictions across California, Maryland, Vermont, and the District of Columbia allow noncitizen voting for local elections only—such as for mayor, city council, or school board.  The 2014 study from professors at Old Dominion and George Mason universities looked at both the 2008 and 2010 elections and determined that noncitizen voting in 2008 tilted North Carolina in favor of Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain in the presidential race. A different result in North Carolina would not have affected the ultimate outcome of the presidential election, however.  The study also found that noncitizen voting tilted the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota in favor of Democrat Al Franken over the Republican incumbent, Norm Coleman.  Nationally, more than 81% of noncitizens voted for Obama. The Daily Signal previously reported that the Boston Election Department removed 70 noncitizens from the city’s voter rolls and that 22 had voted in the city, according to information obtained by a watchdog group, the Public Interest Legal Foundation.  Last May, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, ordered 137 noncitizens removed from the voter rolls.   The previous May, the Virginia Department of Elections removed 1,481 noncitizens from the rolls; 335 noncitizens voted in Virginia elections over the previous four years. In North Carolina, an audit found that 1,454 registrants didn’t appear to be naturalized before Election Day 2014 and would have to be challenged at the polls. Out of those, 89 appeared at polling places, 24 were challenged, and 11 of those challenges were sustained or justified. In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the voter registrations of 139 illegal immigrants were canceled through self-reporting since 2006. Of those, 27% cast at least one vote. The post How Noncitizen Voting Could Affect These 7 Battleground States appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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Zelenskyy PA Visit Was Election Interference

Just in time for spooky season.

Prior to touring an American battleground state with active Democratic candidates for federal office as well as a Harris campaign surrogate, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cast doubt on President Donald Trump's ability to make good on his promise of peace in Ukraine and characterized Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), as a "radical." Zelenskyy went so far as to insinuate that if Vance were vice president and maintained his current views on how peace might be brokered, he "should be held responsible for potentially starting a global war." Evidently prickled by Zelenskyy's comments, Trump — allegedly targeted for assassination on Sept. 15 by a Ukraine war obsessive — said at a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on Monday that "Zelenskyy is the greatest salesman in history. Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with $60 billion. Billion! ... He wants them [the Democrats] to win this election so badly, but I would do it differently. I will work out peace." In a New Yorker interview released Sunday, Zelenskyy discussed his plan for bringing Russia's war against Ukraine to an end. According to Zelenskyy, "the victory plan is a plan that swiftly strengthens Ukraine. A strong Ukraine will force Putin to the negotiating table." 'Trump doesn't really know how to stop the war.' This plan largely hinges on America's authorization of Ukraine's use of Western long-range missiles to strike targets in Russia — a move Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated would effectively trigger a shooting war with NATO. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said at a press conference earlier this month in Kyiv that he emphasized to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy the need to "remove all the obstacles and limitations with the use of British equipment, American equipment in the territory of Russia against military targets." Blinken, who announced while in Kyiv over $700 million more in U.S. assistance for Ukraine, signaled possible support for the use of those weapons the Biden administration has up until now blocked for fear of escalation — American supersonic tactical ballistic missiles, which have a range of up to 190 miles, and British-made Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of roughly 155 miles. Zelenskyy said Friday, "We do have long-range weapons. But let's just say not the amount we need," reported CNN. "Neither the U.S. nor the United Kingdom gave us permission to use these weapons on the territory of Russia." The Ukrainian president reportedly expressed that with some convincing this week, he might ultimately secure the authorization. Putin said that an easing of the restrictions on such weapons "would mean that NATO countries, the U.S., European countries are at war with Russia," a nation with over 5,000 nuclear warheads. By strengthening Ukraine during the months of October, November, and December, Zelenskyy told the New Yorker, Putin will "realize an important fact: that if he is not ready to end this war in a way that is fair and just, and instead wishes to continue to try to destroy us, then a strengthened Ukraine will not let him do so." When pressed about President Donald Trump's stated desire to promptly stop the war, Zelenskyy suggested that "Trump doesn't really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how." During his debate with Kamala Harris, Trump said, "I want the war to stop. I want to save lives." In response to the question of whether it was in America's best interest for Ukraine to win the war outright, Trump said it was imperative "to get this war finished," noting it would never have begun had he been president. At the first mention of Sen. JD Vance, Zelenskyy said in his New Yorker interview, "He is too radical." Zelenskyy appeared to be referring to Vance's suggestion on "The Shawn Ryan Show" podcast that a peaceful resolution to the conflict might require Ukraine to concede to Putin Crimea and eastern territories presently under Russian occupation. 'His message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice.' "What it probably looks like is the current line of demarcation between Russia and Ukraine — that becomes like a demilitarized zone," said Vance. "Ukraine retains its independent sovereignty, Russia gets the guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine — it doesn't join NATO, it doesn't join some of these allied institutions," said Trump's running mate. "That is what the deal is ultimately going to look something like." Zelenskyy said, "His message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice. This brings us back to the question of the cost and who shoulders it. The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine's expense is unacceptable. But I do not consider this concept of his a plan in any formal sense." "This would be an awful idea, if a person were actually going to carry it out, to make Ukraine shoulder the costs of stopping the war by giving up its territories," continued the Ukrainian president. "But there's certainly no way this could ever happen." With just over 40 days until the American election, the foreign leader added that the rise of people with ideas such as those expressed by Vance are for Ukraine "dangerous signals," underscoring that whichever president or vice president dares suggest that ending the war "hinges on cementing the status quo, with Ukraine simply giving up its land ... should be held responsible for potentially starting a global war." This is hardly the first time Zelenskyy has criticized the Marine veteran. In a February CNN interview, the Ukrainian president said, "I'm not sure [Vance] understands what's going on here, and we don't need any rhetoric from people who are not deeply in the war." Zelenskyy is expected to meet with President Joe Biden later this week. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Pop star Janet Jackson was assailed on social media for saying she heard Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was not black. 'She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.' Jackson made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, whose interviewer tried to correct the pop star on the spot. The 58-year-old was asked by Nosheen Iqbal whether she supported Harris to be the first black female president of the U.S. “Well, you know what they supposedly said?” Jackson responded. “She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.” “Well, she’s both,” Iqbal replied. “Her father’s white. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” Jackson responded. “I was told that they discovered her father was white.”Iqbal said she was "floored" by Jackson's statement and blamed a social media algorithm for pushing the pop star into alignment with "hardcore QAnon-adjacent, Trump-loving conspiracy theorists" who question Harris' racial identity. Harris' father was a Jamaican economist who divorced her mother, an Indian woman, when Harris was only 5 years old. She went on to ask whether Jackson believed the country was ready for a president who is a female and a person of color, whatever color Jackson believed Harris to be. “I don’t know,” Jackson said in what Iqbal described as a stage whisper. “Honestly, I don’t want to answer that because I really, truthfully, don’t know. I think either way it goes is going to be mayhem," she added. Social media imploded with many on the left lambasting Jackson for the comments and compared them to comments former President Donald Trump made claiming Harris had only recently started identifying as black. The issue became convoluted after someone claiming to represent Jackson offered a statement of apology, but she later said the apology was unauthorized and confirmed that she was not apologizing for the comments. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The last Legacy of Kain game came out 21 years ago. That's right, we've been waiting over two decades for any sort of return. While you could get some of the series across Steam and GOG (for a time), the story of Kain and Raziel has largely remained dormant. We've heard rumblings, and even have a graphic novel on the way, but that's about it. It looks like that's all about to change though, as the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver remasters just completely leaked thanks to PSN, suggesting a reveal is imminent. Continue reading Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver remasters just leaked, with a release date MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best old games and PC classics, Best story games, Best zombie games