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cowboymaterials · 6 months

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The U.S. military’s recent $35 million contract to do construction at its secret base in Israel went to a joint venture that includes an American firm and an Israeli one. The Israeli company, Y.D. Ashush Infrastructure, has been involved in many large-scale infrastructure and public works projects — including building an illegal settlement in occupied Palestinian territory.

In a section on its website touting its projects, Ashush mentions construction work in the settlement of Leshem. Originally planned to include nearly 700 homes, Leshem was constructed in the 2010s as a satellite of Alei Zahav, a settlement established in 1982.

“I estimate that Leshem has tripled the number of settlers in Alei Zahav.”

“Leshem is an Israeli settlement that was established in 2010, officially as a ‘neighborhood’ of an older settlement called Alei Zahav,” Dror Etkes — founder of Kerem Navot, an Israeli organization that monitors Israeli land policy in the West Bank — told The Intercept. Etkes said describing new communities as “neighborhoods” was a “trick” used by settlers to make it look like no new settlement was being constructed, since such moves have often drawn international condemnation. [...]

Leshem has been in the news in recent years for hostility to its neighboring Palestinian villages. In 2020, the settlement was accused of deliberately dumping its sewage into the farmlands of nearby Deir Ballut, preventing its olive harvest and destroying trees, some of which date back to Roman times. [...]

Considered illegal under international law and by nearly every country in the world apart from the U.S. and Israel, settlements have continued to grow even as international opinion tilts strongly against them. An occupying military force like Israel transferring civilian populations into occupied territory such as the West Bank is a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention. [...]

The company was referenced in the Pentagon’s August 2 contract announcement for the construction of a “life-support area” in Israel. Other documents revealed this to be a euphemism for the construction of barracks-like facilities to house U.S. military personnel on its unacknowledged base deep in the Negev desert, code-named “Site 512,” as The Intercept reported. Four other bids were considered, according to the Defense Department’s contract announcement.

It is not clear how much of the $35 million joint venture contract, shared with the Colorado construction company Bryan Construction, went to Ashush. Bryan Construction did not respond to requests for comment. Ashush does not appear in public databases that track U.S. government contracts, meaning there is no transparency around how much public money is flowing to the company. [...]

In 2015, when U.S. diplomats investigated allegations of vandalism, including the uprooting of thousands of Palestinian-owned olive trees in the West Bank by settlers from an Israeli “outpost,” the settlers assaulted them with stones. Though the State Department confirmed the incident and provided a video to Israeli authorities, the controversial head of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan, an ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called for the diplomats’ expulsion, accusing them of being spies.

“The land which the settlement is sitting on was looted by the Israeli government from two Palestinian communities.”

A report from January 2022 described settlers from Alei Zahav destroying a Palestinian farmer’s olive trees with assistance from the Israeli military. The military, at the behest of the settlers, ordered the farmer off the land and seized a tractor, claiming that the land was owned by the Israeli state.

“The land which the settlement is sitting on was looted by the Israeli government from two Palestinian communities … in the 1980s by declaring it as ‘state land,’ which was allocated to Alei Zahav later,” said Etkes, the Israeli expert on settlements.

Months later, in July, another report described settlers destroying another nearby farm.

November 3, 2023

#free palestine #palestine #gaza #free gaza #israel #us imperialism #colonialism #genocide #us politics

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fyonnkalnonn · 1 year

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Signalis Plot Theory: Pan/Bi Edition

I checked my initial theory against some details in my note memories of my last save and immediately realized I made a critical mistake. I replayed Signalis. Using my original understanding as a framework, I paid close attention to everything I could comprehend happening in the game. I might still be lacking some context that having read The King In Yellow or being able to read a language other than English would have granted, but here we are. I think anything else that I missed is probably just minutia and nuances. This game is right up there with Silent Hill 2 for me, so I'm sure I'll grasp those in future playthroughs over time.

The original Elster that went on the Penrose-512 journey with Ariane will be referred to as Elster 1, and the Elster we play as will be referred to as Elster 3. Elster 2? We'll get to her.

In the depths of a planet that will one day be known as Leng, an unnamed elder god is sealed with six plates representing the planets of the solar system in which Leng presides.

Centuries, millennia, perhaps eons later, S-23 Sierpinski is founded to mine the bioresonant materials resulting from the dormant unnamed elder god's influence.

Replikas are created using bioresonance to copy a mental profile of an individual onto a body constructed out of bioresonant materials. Replikas are critical to the war effort against the Empire waged by the Eusan Nation.

As a side note, the Empire has machine-servants, which can be assumed to also be bioresonant, implying the Empire has been aware of bioresonance for a long time.

Lilith Itou and Alina Seo serve the Eusan Nation's military together on Venita.

Lilith Itou's military service eventually results in an injury significant enough that she is no longer fit for combat duty. She returns to civilian life, having two twins, Erika Itou and Isolde “Isa” Itou.

After her military service, Alina Seo is assigned to the Sierpinski facility.

Lilith's medical data is used as the basis for the Elster line of Replika.

Ariane Yeong is living with her mother at a remote outpost, leading to her being culturally different from the majority of the Nation. Eventually, one of Yeong's Aunts gets Ariane transferred to a “proper” school, effectively placing her under the oppressive arm of the Nation.

Ariane Yeong acquires a photograph of Lilith Itou and Alina Seo through her friendship with the Itou sisters – she associates Alina with a sort of romanticized escape from her current life by means of joining the military.

Medical data collected from the residents of Rotfront are used as the basis for a number of Replika models, including Ariane. Ariane is suspected of being Bioresonant, and ends up being the basis for the Falke Replika line.

Ariane gets accepted to be a Penrose expedition pilot – a sort of shotgun-blast approach to finding habitable worlds. She escapes the arm of the Nation, but is largely isolated on the journey, except for the presence of the Elster Replika assigned as the maintenance technician for her ship, the Penrose-512.

YURI INTENSIFIES

hey isn't it kind of weird that Ariane is in a romantic relationship with a copy of her high school friends' mom??? best not to think about it

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

oh wait that means Lilith and Elster are pansexual icons! pansexual representation!!!

DANCING IN THE GESTALT SLEEPING QUARTERS

oh my god were Lilith and Alina dating???

FALKE AND ELSTER HIGH-FIVE ABOUT ARIANE SNUGGLING

i have decided Lilith and Alina were dating

Penrose-512 does not find a habitable world during its effective operational range. Its radiation shielding fails, and Ariane develops cancer.

Elster and Ariane continue on well beyond the Penrose-512's operational range.

Penrose-512 crashes on an unknown planet due to systems failure, and Ariane is either awake for it, or the cryo system fails on impact. She leaves the Penrose-512, presumably called by the unnamed elder god.

This is critical – the red planet the Penrose-512 crashes on is not Leng, but is connected to Leng via the gateway and/or the island. The unnamed elder god is on Leng, and is likely the source of Sierpinski's bioresonant material mine.

Elster pursued Ariane as in the opening of the game. Together, they flee from the unnamed elder god and return to the Penrose-512.

Unfortunately, Ariane has already been changed, recognized by the unnamed elder god. Ariane loses the ability to sleep under its influence, she is slowly becoming part of it. Ariane asks Elster to kill her. The Leave ending occurs. Elster ends up somewhere on Leng, a significant distance from the danger of the unnamed elder god, before dying. (We find Elster's corpse on the Penrose-512 late in the game that could be the original Elster, but given this would break the rest of the timeline, I think it's more likely just an Elster corpse. It's clear either way that many Elsters have gotten as far as we do.)

Lilith's medical data is lost in the war with the Empire. The recovered Penrose-512 Elster is recovered, and all future Elsters are based on the Penrose-512 Elster.

Second generation Elsters like Elsters 2 & 3 are known to be less stable than first generation Elsters like Elster 1. Like all Replikas, there is a danger that they begin accessing their Gestalt's memories, but they have the added danger of accessing Elster 1's memories.

Falke descends into the depths of the mine and discovers the Plate Door, opens it, possibly unleashing the full influence of the unnamed elder god. Now wholly incorporated with the unnamed elder god, God!Ariane imprints the reality she desires onto Falke. That is, she wants her fucking partner.

Alina descends into the depths of the mine and takes the Plate of Eternity from the unsealed Plate Door. God!Ariane goes “well I made my partner, but I also want to be with her” and imprints herself onto Alina.

Note, given the nature of the unnamed elder god, I don't think Ariane has any conscious input into what God!Ariane is doing. She's just dreaming. It's just very bad when elder gods dream near you.

Given the extreme susceptibility of Adler units to bioresonance, as Falke changes, Adler and the Kolibris come under the influence of the changes as well. Adler's high level of persona stability leaves him largely unaffected, but the remarkably unstable Kolibris start acting like four-foot tall mobile elder god wireless access points.

The Sierpinski crisis unfolds, most Replikas become monsters as their personality melts into being four to six different people simultaneously, and one of those people is an elder god. They all attempt to fulfill Elster 1's promise, but are not coherent enough to identify who, exactly, they're supposed to be killing.

Alina descends into the mines along with all the other Gestalts. Alina, slowly, is changed by God!Ariane into a physical Ariane avatar.

On Leng date 84-21-D, it becomes a stable timeloop. Changes to the God!Ariane persist, as does anything that came from outside Leng (read: Elsters). Everything else resets.

As cycles progress, Adler, Alina, and Falke all begin remembering “the future” (previous cycles).

Elsters, likely under the extremely wide-ranging influence of the unnamed elder god, remembers her Gestalt's comrade, Alina Seo. They track Alina down to the facility on Sierpinski, and go to meet her.

This has happened many, many, many times.

Given Alina remembers an Elster that is not assigned to Sierpinski, it is likely that one of the earliest second-generation Elsters found Alina and completed part of the journey alongside her. An Elster might even be how Alina got deep enough into God!Ariane to escape the timeloop.

Elster 2 progresses through her own version of Signalis, but its slightly less meat-y.

Elster 2 gets the Memory ending. Alina!Ariane does not recognize Elster, and the loop cannot be closed this cycle.

Elster 3 is drawn to Sierpinski.

Incidentally, Isa Itou also makes her way to Sierpinski, but since there's only one of her, we know for a fact that Elster 3's journey is the only time Isa has been present for the loop. She's looking for Erika Itou, I think, but does that make any sense? I'm not sure.

GAME STARTS HERE

Sometimes Elster 3 flashes to the past of one of the principle characters. Not all these flashbacks are characters she is related to – she flashes back to Isa's point of view at one point, indicating both are already under the influence of God!Ariane's consciousness-blending effects.

Isa knocks herself the fuck out by using an anti-material rifle while standing up to kill a Silent Hill 3 monster who was tragically visiting Sierpinski on vacation. This isn't super relevant to the plot, really, it's just badass.

Elster 3 passes through the gate, destroying her body in the process of failing to open the Penrose 512's airlock during the Fakeout ending.

Elster 3 remembers her time with Ariane in full.

Elster 3 is awoken by God!Ariane reaching out to her. She finds herself within the Penrose-512, part of God!Ariane's body throbbing where there should just be Ariane.

Elster 3 will do anything to fulfill her promise.

Elster 3 salvages parts from the dead heavy combat configured Elster 2.

UNREALITY INTENSIFIES

Elster 3 meets up with Isa in the depths and witnesses what God!Ariane does to the majority of Gestalts, what every Gestalt in the galaxy is doomed to if God!Ariane cannot be stopped.

Elster 3 encounters Falke and a boss battle happens. When Falke loses, she surrenders to Elster 3, granting her the identity and memories granted to her by God!Ariane. There is now no effective difference between Elster 1, Falke, and Elster 3. They're the same person.

At the gateway, Adler confronts Elster. Adler seems to think that if this cycle completes, it will likely cause all of Leng, if not the whole solar system, to be consumed by God!Ariane. Adler attempts – and fails – to save the galaxy. Elster, as established, will do anything.

Elster enters the Penrose-512 one last time. Ariane!Alina is now more Ariane than Alina, so she recognizes Elster. Elster kills Ariane!Alina. I would like to think that this ends Ariane's suffering, but there's not much to suggest that's the case. Either way, the Death ending occurs.

Artifact Ending

Elster 3 is the sixth and final Elster to sacrifice herself to God!Ariane deciding that she would, in fact, still love Ariane even if she was a worm. In the wreckage of a dead universe, Elster and Ariane live on together forever. Presumably, the solar system is doomed to be wholly consumed by God!Ariane because of Elster's selfish or perhaps selfless act. If the solar system is doomed either way as Adler suspects... Well, what's the harm in finding joy in the face of oblivion?

#Signalis #Signalis plot #Signalis endings #Super Pansexual Robot: Elster

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giallofever2 · 1 year

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NEW by Cauldron Films

March 31, 2023.

Frankenstein '80 (Limited Blu-ray w/ Slipcase)

Blu-ray:

2K restoration from the uncensored negative / 1080p presentation

English audio

Optional English SDH subtitles

Italian audio w/ English subtitles

Extras

Dalila Forever: The Recorded Memories of Dalila Di Lazzaro (28 min.)

Little Frankensteins: History of Italian Frankenstein films with Domenico Monetti (38 min.)

Audio commentary by film historian Heather Drain

Reversible Blu-ray wrap with alternate artwork

Booklet - limited edition only

Poster (folded) - Double sided poster featuring new artwork by Putrid Matt and Justin Coffee - limited edition only

High quality slipcase w/ artwork by Justin Coffee - limited edition only

Limited to 1500 copies

NEW by Cauldron Films

March 29, 2023.

City of the Living Dead limited edition UHD/BD/BD/CD set

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UHD (feature film) 4K (2160p) presentation with Dolby Vision™ HDR (HDR 10 compatible)

English mono 2.0 audio (24 bit DTS-MA)

Optional English SDH subtitles

Italian mono 2.0 audio (24 bit DTS-MA) w/ English subtitles

Seamless branching - watch in English Language w/ English credit sequences and watch Italian language w/ Italian credit sequences.

New audio commentary with film historian Samm Deighan

Archival audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson

Archival audio commentary with actress Catriona MacColl moderated by Jay Slater

Archival audio commentary with actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice moderated by Calum Waddell

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Blu-ray (feature film) 1080p presentation

English mono 2.0 audio (24 bit DTS-MA)

Optional English SDH subtitles

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Seamless branching - watch in English Language w/ English credit sequences and watch Italian language w/ Italian credit sequences.

New audio commentary with film historian Samm Deighan

Archival audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson

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Disc 3 (All region)

Blu-ray loaded with over 5 hours of new and archival extras!

Zombie Kings: Interview with Massimo Antonello Geleng (45 min)

Requiem for Bob: Interview with Giovanni Lombardo Radice (28 min)

On Stage: Q&A with Venantino Venantini & Ruggero Deodato (46 min)

Catriona MacColl Q&A (20 min)

Fabio Frizzi Q&A (30 min)

The Meat Munching Movies of Gino De Rossi (27 min)

Carlo of the Living Dead, an archival interview with actor Carlo De Mejo (18 min)

A Trip Through Bonaventure Cemetery (5 min)

Catriona Maccoll video intro 2001 (5 min)

Image Gallery

Plus more archival extras and other surprises!

Disc 4

CD soundtrack in separate custom sized wallet packaging with emboss and gloss effects (collectors note - packaging is approx. same size as a Blu-ray case) - limited edition only

Additional limited edition extras:

Reversible Blu-ray wrap with alternate artwork - limited edition only

Sticker sheet featuring illustrations by Johnny Ryan (approx. 5" x 6.5") - limited edition only

Poster (folded) - Double sided poster featuring new and vintage artwork (approx. 16.5" x 11") - limited edition only

High quality slipcase with emboss and gloss effects (spine # 011) - artwork by Robert Sammelin - limited edition only

Limited to 3000 copies

1980 / 93 mins / 1.85:1 / UHD -All Region / BD feature - Region A / BD extras - All Region

There will be a standard edition to follow in 2023.

Silkscreened poster of Robert Sammelin artwork also available @outpost-512 .com

#cauldron films #frankenstein 80 #city of the living dead #lucio fulci #catriona maccoll #janet agren

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pinerguitar · 2 years

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kogaionon · 6 years

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Sleepaway Camp 2 by Sara Deck / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Store

24" x 36" screen print, numbered edition of 75. Available HERE.

#sleepway camp #sleepway camp 2 #sara deck #film #art #poster #horror #80s #michael a. simpson #print #screenprint #outpost 512 #vgkids #unhappy campers

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reddus-sideblog · 3 years

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A Rembrancer’s account of the House Mariqette’s affairs during the War of the Beast.

002.M32 - The Promenade Worlds - Still recovering from the terrible destruction wrought by the Traitor’s hand the Untellatian Parliament signs oath-contracts with several Rogue Trader houses at the dawn of Millennium 32 to go forth into the void beyond the sector’s borders and find resources to rebuild the shattered worlds of the Sector Untellatian with. The borders formed by the Dominion of Storms, the Acheronian Drifts, and the Xersinian Wastes send the entrepreneur-explorers into largely uncharted territory, with some daring to make forays into forbidden systems. At least two noble lines are lost to unknown circumstances in the depths of the Heart of Darkness, with the entire Trathine family’s fleet being lost to the Xersinian Wastes.

Those who scouted the regions that lie Rimwards find tens of untouched systems, brimming with unrefined resources. Mass-harvesting soon begins, with the Thune family claiming a majority of worlds before selling them to lesser houses for a king’s ransom, with interest rates that will take generations to pay off. As the newly named “Promenade Worlds” expand into full-fledged colonial worlds their remoteness draws in many noble families, who discreetly buy whole islands or continents on these planets, and create grand mansions and palaces upon them. This interest and development by the many noble families of the sector lead to a perceived air of exclusivity and refinement that the possessors of these worlds did little to dispel, leading to their lofty and grandiose title of “The Promenade Worlds”. With these periphery systems being still beyond the borders of the Sector Untellatian they were largely under the provisional purview of their owning nobility until such a time as a sub-sectorial constitution could be drafted and signed by these provisional rulers after their worlds were reviewed by Administratum logi-savants and Biologis adepts for tithe-grading.

This tithe-grading process could last for decades, as hordes of bureaucratic adepts agonize over profit margins, labour-force numbers, and tonnage of harvested materials, double and triple checking their calculations before sending them to the nearest Adeptus Adminstratum collation nexus and awaiting a response through astropathic channels that could take months or even years that would give them the affirmation of due process needed to move on to the next step in the rigorous system. Occasionally, due to changing planetary conditions, corrupted astropathic transmissions, or lost mass shipments of paperwork, an entire system would have to be re-evaluated beginning the process all over again. This extensive and seemingly endless administrative busywork brought a sense of furtive complacency to the nobles who had taken up their private residences on these backwaters, as no end could be seen to it, and with it their private keep’s secrecy would remain unspoiled. For what reason these holds were kept can only be speculated at, but hiding away troubled progeny, dodging conscription tithes, stashing away unspeakably valuable heirlooms, and far less legitimate enterprises could all be assumed. For a handful of centuries these frontier worlds bolstered up the weakened Sector Untellatian until it could stand once more.

542.M32 - The Encounter at Scertan - As the Promenade Worlds began to face the growing pains of becoming a newly-formed subsector many of the Rogue Traders who had founded these frontier worlds now used them as stations to base further explorations into the depths of the void. As time went on these voyages would find the occasional world of use, but many of the habitable and resource rich worlds worlds had already been claimed. With this expansion of borders the Promenade Worlds came into contact with Forge World Tigrus around 374.M32. Soon after this chartist captains took to hauling raw resources from the burgeoning sub-sector to the Mechanicus sovereign space of Tigrus, and returning with manufactured goods and technological tools to further expand the scope of their industrial processes. This trade would continue largely uninterrupted for nearly two centuries, as it’s scale and rapidity benefitted the rapacious appetite of a recovering sector.

By 512.M32 an uncomfortable truth had been realized; across a wide number of the less habitable worlds of the newly-formed subsector a common xenoform was present, occupying their own primitive settlements far removed from any major human ones, but in numbers that could well threaten the less well defended industrial camps of the Promenade Worlds. The anomalous xenos had been repelled multiple times over the years by men-at-arms of the colonial world’s noble families, but as the years went on these skirmishes began escalating, some even becoming protracted campaigns, with noble families hiring Rogue Trader Militants to help them endure and scour their worlds. Even with this aid the infestations persisted, leading to a plea for help to, and interest from, Tigrus’ xenobiologists.

In less than a decade the Tigrusian techpriests confirmed their findings, these xenos were none other than the long thought to be extinct “ork” species. While they exhibited none of the insane technological prowess that their species was said to possess during the Astartes’ engagements with them they nonetheless fit the profile of the creatures. It was surmised, ultimately, that these were merely stragglers, degenerated leftovers from the days of the Great Crusade’s xenocides, barely able to comprehend a simple firearm, much less use one. Skitarii cohorts were soon summoned, and rad-elimination protocols enacted, with consent from the planet’s rulers. This seemed to be the end to a pitiful, savage race that had no place in Mankind’s galaxy.

In the ensuing years a string of events occured that lead to the utter downfall of the sub-sector. The first of this was the growing predation on inter-system short distance haulers from the well-established worlds of the Promenade to the growing colonial worlds at the edges of it’s space. At first these were anomalous, but as the number of the escorts guarding the ships grew so too did the ferocity of these raiders. When ships laden with goods for colonies started disappearing, and some of their escorts with them, the Imperial Navy stepped in, determined to end the threat with decisive action. In 539.M32 the Battlefleet Ultima sent forth 2 flotilla of ships, consisting of one grand cruiser and three escorts each, to patrol the Promenade World’s outer edges, flush out these raiders, and crush them. These plans went unchanged for some three years, until chance had it that one of these patrol groups would investigate an astropathic plea for help coming from the Scertan system, a plea that mentioned xeno raiders preying on the isolated outposts of the planet’s worlds. The Exaction of Justice and it’s escort ships, the Torchbearer, Angelus Solarum, and the Terra’s Child took to the system, sweeping inwards to goad out their quarry. As the group approached Scertan III, the primary colonial world of the system, they made close passes on each of the planets, taking augur readings as they went.

As the warships left the orbital rings of the gas giant Scertan VI they were hit by an unexpected bombardment that hit their rears, taking out the plasma drives of both the Angelus Solarum and the Terra’s Child, and crippling the maneuvering thrusters of the Exaction of Justice.To the shock of the ship’s captains the raiders had modified entire asteroids into attack platforms, which the initial scans had simply dismissed as ferric ore clusters. This opening salvo coloured the rest of the engagement, with the two disabled ships becoming easy prey for the lumbering asteroid fortresses. The valiant armsmen of both ships were unable to stop the tide of well-armed aliens that overran their vessels, soon commandeering them and turning their weapons against the Exaction of Justice. The Torchbearer left formation, as the Exaction suffered from the fire of her previous allies, and swung around to engage the commandeered vessels. Streaking through the hail of fire from the asteroid fortresses and gun batteries of the other escorts the Torchbearer disabled it’s rogue counterparts, annihilating their weapon batteries that were focused on the Exaction of Justice’s exposed flank.

With little left of it’s maneuvering devices the Exaction of Justice increased its plasma burn and accelerated deeper into the system, to put space between it and the overrun ships. As the Exaction hurtled forwards it approached the original goal of their interdiction, Scertan III. Coming closer to the beleaguered world the Lord-Captain of the Exaction of Justice realized how grave the situation of Scertan III truly was. It had been shelled from orbit, obliterating vast swathes of land and kicking up dust enough to block out entire continents. The devastation followed into orbit, where the shattered remains of the colony’s astropathic station and main void docks lay, now a mutilated metal corpse, it’s technological innards strewn about as though torn apart by some unimaginably immense chainsword. Then, from the opposite side of the planet’s orbit the xeno raiders struck at the damaged grand cruiser.

The hideous alien ship rounded the planet’s curvature, speeding towards the Exaction with full confidence in its ability to take on the heaviest class of ship of the Imperial Navy headon. With precious few options left the Imperial vessel’s Lord-Captain was determined to test his foe’s mettle. The Exaction hurtled towards the ugly, brutish ship, igniting her engines to full burn and taking shots at it’s pitted, spiked hull as the two ships closed the distance between them. In the last moments before the impact, the Lord-Captain Seyv Haadirge ordered the Torchbearer to retreat to the nearest civilized system, to tell the Battlefleet Ultima command upon Kar Duniash what had transpired, and regroup with the second flotilla.

The cataclysmic crash between the human and alien cruisers was enough to totally destroy both combatants’ vessels, sending enough wreckage about to fully double the density of Scertan III’s debris cloud, and giving the vessels but a few precious dozens of minutes before they careened down to the world’s surface, obliterating a steppe continent with their furious force. The Torchbearer watched their doomed comrades with morose admiration before speeding out to fulfill their commander’s last order.

544.M32 - The Tyrant Rises - It is unknown and perhaps unknowable if the Scertan Encounter lead to the ensuing invasion of greenskins, or if indeed the Tyrant of Jagga’s WAAAGH! had been in the making and rampaging towards these most tenuous borders of the Imperium for many years before it. Many xenoarcanists speculate it is a simple combination of the two, saying that the ork’s naval forces most likely returned to their main host and informed the orks of Jagga that the Imperial systems in that direction were ripe for the taking.

The reason for it mattered little in the end, as the Tyrant WAAAGH! swept through the frontier systems of the Promenade Worlds, practically unopposed by the meager planetary defense forces and men-at-arms present on these planets. The endless tide of aliens tore apart the colonies of the fledgling sector and still hungered for more, and turned it’s sights to the ancient worlds of the Untellatian. As the orks renewed their strength on the spoils of their conquest the noble families of the Mariqette Reach's whipped their vassals and allies into a frenzy. The House of Mariqette was on the verge of being swept over by a green tide of barbaric fury, and they had lost many scions, assets, and entire family lines to the fury of the ork’s invasion already. The militant forces of the Imperium were occupied on the opposite side of the Promenade Worlds, pushing the WAAAGH! back from the Ostarrin Hold, and would promise very little in the way of aid to the far off Mariqette Reach.

Thusly the Lord Mariqette Solteraise the 1st summoned forth the multiple Mariqette lines that held Warrants of Trade allowing for the purchase of war materiel, most notably the Kees-Erraux, Dilante, and Deur-Maute lines. They made for Kar Duniash with all haste, and took to aggressive negotiations and in some cases acts of piracy out of desperation, being far too acutely aware of the destruction coming forth from the Rimward Reaches to care for the agonizing months or even years of due process that would be needed for the release of these vessels into their houses hands. While this was underway the Taghmata and Skitarii Legions of Bellus Prime and forces of House Vulker took to the field of battle, trying to delay the endless deluge of xenos with all the techno-arcane might they could muster. Ancient weapon vaults bearing hideous weapons not thought of in over a millennium were brought forth once more to destroy this menace, obliterating planetary biospheres in irradiated conflagration storms, phosphex bombing campaigns incinerating entire landmasses, and cybernetica constructs considered taboo by the nature of their abhorrent destructive potential commanded forth once more. Entire worlds were lost to these weapons, but it was barely enough to hold back the Tyrant WAAAGH! and the ranks of these ancient bastions of the Machine God were folding to the inconceivably more numerous hordes of their foes.

Many of scions of House Vulker were lost to hold back the greenskins, and cohorts and maniples without number sacrificed to give just another day to House Mariqette’s radical plan. The Knights of House Vulker had sworn binaric-honor pacts and intended to keep them, unto the death of their last son, but the ruling synod of Bellus Prime were becoming wary and uneasy. If the most terrible of relics from Old Night could not hold back this foe, then what? The other forces of the Imperium throughout the sector faced dilemmas of their own, with Incaladion besieged by an entire planetoid commandeered by orks, the worlds of the Ostarrin Hold dedicated to fighting a war very much the same as theirs, on the opposite side of what had once been the Promenade Worlds, and Tigrus facing a systemwide siege. There was no help to be found, from the followers of the Omnissiah or the Emperor, so the most drastic of measures were pursued to ensure the greenskins would not take their world. The biosphere of Bellus Prime was thusly poisoned with meticulous care to ensure it would be wholly inimical to the ork menace, any of the test subjects placed onto the forge world’s surface could not breathe and began to decompose within minutes of exposure.

After this act of self-poisoning the forces of Bellus Prime renewed their efforts, ensured that their home could continue to exist, even if the foe made landfall upon their world. It took still more weeks until the first of the Mariqette’s newly acquired fleet could make it to the frontlines, but once they did the effect was immediate. After witnessing the state of so many of the worlds that once held infinite promise for the noble houses of the sector their course of action was ensured. The fleet of House Mariqette would sweep through the stolen worlds and deny them to the enemy by means of obliteration, boiling oceans with lance batteries, obliterating continents in fusillades of macrocannon fire, and destroying moons and planetoids wholesale with nova cannons. Over the course of the next decade House Mariqette, supplied and followed by the remains of Bellus Prime’s Taghmata and House Vulker’s crusade fleet brought death to the lost worlds of Mankind. The destruction of planets was simply not enough to assuage their ignited rage and they took on the fleets of their sworn enemy head on, tearing them from the void and quite purposely marooning them in decaying orbits, or hauling the hulks into nearby stars.

598.M32 - The Lordly Patrol of the Dead Worlds - At the end of this grisly campaign almost two dozen systems were purgated, and only then did the Tyrant WAAAGH! resign. Though House Mariqette had bolstered its fleet with a score of ships taken from the Battlefleet Ultima command above Kar Duniash now only a half dozen of those ships were still serviceable. A handful of others required extensive refits to be considered voidworthy again, while the rest of the acquired ships were destroyed, either being scuttled as they were overwhelmed, utterly ruined by the alien foe, or in one case taking a whole enemy capital ship into a star’s corona with it while the crews of the two vessels clashed. If it could be considered a victory it was a hollow one. The perception of martial perfection of the Mariqette was marred by the brutal and terrible methods employed to cleanse the worlds of the taint of the greenskins, but their utter dedication to the Imperium would never come into question again. With the closing of the century came the sentencing of House Mariqette for their acts of piracy and theft against the Imperial Navy, presided over by the Lord Marshall of Justice for the Sector Untellatian, the Imperial Naval Review Board, and the Sector Lord himself. After the short 5 month trial the verdict was for the Lord Mariqette Solteraise the 1st and all his heirs to be punished by means of service unto the sector. This service entailed their stewardship over the worlds they had razed, to ensure that the enemies of Man would not ever use that region of space, and would not be able to use it as a route into the sector once more. To this end the Lordly Patrol of the Dead Worlds was established, with a flotilla of craft on near-permanent patrol throughout the breadth of the ruined worlds and multiple servo-automated listening posts stationed throughout the systems of the newly christened “Dead Worlds” as no longer did any of the systems once so full of promise for the Imperium resemble anything habitable.

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bedrockbeginnings · 2 years

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Mineshaft and Ocean Monument at Spawn

VERSION: 1.18.2

SEED: 1603435761

Spawn next to ravine with mineshaft (-533, 66, -84) and ocean monument with shipwreck in bay (-377, 64, -281)

Plus: A ruined portal and pillager outpost on flower mountain (-512, 96, -626)

And a riverside plains village with lava nearby lava pool at -1007, 64, 154

#minecraft #bedrock #mc bedrock #mineshaft #ocean monument #flower meadow #pillager outpost #plains village #shipwreck

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robertsammelin · 5 years

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Sleepaway Camp 3 - On sale now at outpost-512.com! #robertsammelin #screenprint #outpost512 https://www.instagram.com/p/B3cgZxQl_zB/?igshid=3jj8flrr0src

#robertsammelin #screenprint #outpost512

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neuralengine · 3 years

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ArtStation - City of the Living Dead Screenprint | Outpost 512, Robert Sammelin

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galacticnewsnetwork · 6 years

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How a worldwide Star Wars fan group grew out of Columbia, South Carolina

Albin Johnson (helmet off) of Columbia stands next to Star Wars creator George Lucas before the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade with members of Johnson's costuming group, the 501st Legion. Provided

COLUMBIA — During Albin Johnson’s darkest moments in life, Star Wars has been a source of light.

He lost a leg in a wreck. That led him to create a Star Wars stormtrooper costuming group that now has 12,000 members worldwide.

He lost a young daughter to cancer. That led to the construction of a pink droid that solidified his fan group’s mission in aiding children’s charities.

Johnson has turned his love for Star Wars into a powerful force.

Stormtroopers from his massive fan group created 20 years ago in Columbia have raised nearly $3 million over the past five years. They have marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade with Star Wars mastermind George Lucas, appeared at the MTV Movie Awards and, just last week, shared a red carpet with Britain’s Princes William and Harry at the London premiere of "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi."

They have a seal of approval from filmmakers as Lucasfilms' "preferred Imperial costuming group."

"It’s so liberating to get to play out all your bad-guy fantasies," Johnson said. “Stormtroopers are your average guy. He can be anyone."

'My own world'

Johnson’s route to becoming Stormtrooper TK 210 started in 1977 with his father, a former World War II pilot, being intrigued by a movie poster featuring battling spaceships. His father thought it was a war movie and took the family, then living in Charlotte, to see "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope."

Johnson liked the movie because of the white-clad soldiers from the Galactic Empire that served with the movie’s villain, Darth Vader. Stormtroopers are among the first characters seen in the film.

“What were they? Were they men? Were they robots?” Johnson, 48, recalled. “I was trying to work the morality of why they did the things they did."

Johnson’s parents were very religious — they worked for the PTL Club, a Christian television program — and would occasionally throw away his Star Wars toys. A youth minister once told Johnson that Lucas was trying to lure kids into a cult.

He hid some of his Star War memorabilia and tried to read everything he could about the movie.

“I was in my own world,” Johnson said.

Albin Johnson (left) and his wife Kathy pose with R2-D2 and C-3PO during a 2005 Star Wars convention in Indianapolis.

His life changed after losing his left leg following a 1994 auto accident. Johnson was depressed, so a co-worker (and fellow Star Wars fan) at a Columbia Circuit City store encouraged him to buy a $2,000 Stormtrooper costume to wear to a showing for the re-release of "Star Wars: Episode V —The Empire Strikes Back."

"His eyes came alive when we talked about the movie," said Tom Crews, who worked with Johnson at the electronics store.

Few people dressed up in movie costumes to go to a movie in the '90s, especially in Columbia. It was a hit. Johnson bought a Stormtrooper suit for Crews, and they started posting photos of themselves in costumes on online bulletin boards.

They began to make friends with other fans dressing as Stormtroopers. Some were in other states, but they were joined by fans from other countries.

In 1997, Johnson, with Crews' help, created a fictional unit for the Stormtroopers, calling it the 501st Legion because “it rolled off the tongue.”

“We wanted to find people who are really into the movie and people who were really into the costumes,” said Crews, who is known as TK 512 in the legion. “We wanted to create something people wanted to belong to and wanted to grow.”

Since members were so far apart, Johnson adopted military lingo for local groups, known as garrisons, squads and outposts, so members were invested in growing the 501st in their state or country.

He had rules to make sure members dressed — and acted — properly, but he didn’t charge dues or try to make money selling costumes like similar Star Wars fan groups.

“It was not about perfection,” Johnson said. “It was about the relationships.”

The big break

That’s not to say the 501st didn’t struggle. The group’s first attempt at a gathering during a comic convention in 1998 in Atlanta included members who were not interested in dressing up or who preferred partying over marching.

But four years later, the 501st had its breakthrough.

During a Star Wars event in Indianapolis, Johnson was able to assemble 200 troopers to march to the arena. It was impressive and drew applause from fans waiting in line to get in. One problem: they walked across a street where a marathon was taking place. Peripheral vision in the masks is almost nonexistent. They stopped runners during their march.

Inside the arena, the crowds overwhelmed security. Johnson said he assembled his troopers and asked they each stand behind a security person to help usher fans through the event. That got the attention of Lucasfilm, the maker of Star Wars, which thanked the 501st and began a relationship that has helped legitimize the South Carolina-created legion.

Film company officials also recognized how Johnson led his group.

“His order of the day was, ‘Let’s have some fun,’ ’’ said Steve Sansweet, a former fan relations head for Lucasfilm. “He’s a personable guy who had an idea and threw it out there.”

Crews said he and Johnson wondered if Lucasfilm would come after them over copyright issues. Sansweet said filmmakers were leery at first, fearing that one of these rabid fans would rob a convenience store dressed as a Star Wars character.

But Lucasfilm took the 501st and other costume fan groups as a compliment.

“These can be our best emissaries out there," Sansweet said. "People love seeing them in the wild.”

Legion members take pride in making their own costumes or tweaking ones they buy to make them more authentic.

"We're showcasing our art," said Dan Rodriguez, the current 501st leader who lives in Maryland. "We want to look like we came right off the screen."

The pink droid

Just two years after the 501st’s big break, Johnson’s 6-year-old daughter Katie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Katie saw in “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones” how the droid R2-D2 watched over Padmé Amidala while she was sleeping and wanted her own nighttime protector.

Johnson worked with friends to have a full-size pink version of R2-D2 at her bedside until her death in 2005. The droid was named R2-KT in her honor and now tours the country for charity events, visits sick children in hospitals and participates in Make-A-Wish events.

“This became a defining aspect of the 501st: We will be as charitable as we can for children,” Crews said.

R2-KT has become the Columbia-created 501st Legion's mascot, joining parades and visiting sick children in hospitals. The pink droid is named after 501st founder Albin Johnson's daughter, Katie, who died from brain cancer in 2005.

Johnson’s strong religious beliefs carried him through his daughter’s illness, said Crews, who now works with Johnson at the state's information technology agency.

Johnson refers to himself as a father of five, which includes Katie.

“He knows death is not death. It’s part of our existence,” Crews said. “You take some heart from that. Al has always found a way to see the brighter side of things no matter the low.”

R2-KT now has its own backstory in the Star Wars legend and the pink droid has appeared in animated Star Wars shows. Filmmakers borrowed the droid for more than a year so R2-KT could appear in the background of some scenes in 2015's “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.” (The pink droid does not have a cameo in “The Last Jedi.”)

'Power of the internet'

Members of the 501st have become a staples at Star Wars events.

Lucas wanted a group of Stormtroopers when he was grand marshal of the 2007 Rose Parade. Sansweet knew where to find them and recruited the 501st, which got a pep talk from the Star Wars creator ahead of a four-hour march.

“You’re all cannon fodder, none of you will probably make it,” Lucas joked, seeing how Stormtroopers' main role in the films is getting shot and dying. “We will remember you.”

Actor John Boyega, who plays Finn, former Stormtrooper FN 2187, poses with members of the Columbia-created 501st Legion at the premiere of "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi" in London on Dec. 12. Joel C. Ryan/Invision/AP

In the past week, 501st members took part in the premieres of “The Last Jedi” in Los Angeles and London. Their reward: They got to see the movie — and some British royalty.

Johnson stayed home. He is not involved in the legion day-to-day so he can spend more time with his family.

But he still chats with filmmakers, dresses up as TK 210 a few times a year and sends messages to members, who have reached into China and Russia — far from the Columbia electronics store where it all began.

“Even I’m surprised that it started here,” Johnson said. “But that’s the power of the internet.”

By: Andy Shain

Source: The Post & Courier

#star wars #501st #legion #albin johnson

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brokehorrorfan · 7 months

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Outpost 512 has released a Suspiria poster designed by Tula Lotay. Shipping in November, the 24x36 screen print is limited to 200 and costs $75.

#suspiria #dario argento #jessica harper #horror #italian horror #70s horror #1970s horror #outpost 512 #tula lotay #art #gift #stefania casini #daria nicolodi #suzy bannion #giallo

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bloggerthanwolves · 4 years

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Log #33 - Nether Grid / Back to Me

I got bored of the Mitosan Project and decided to do other things for an indefinite amount of time.

I revamped the basement at Mitose, turning it into a mass storage room, making more room upstairs. My selection of aesthetic blocks is limited, to say the least, so I ended up going with...redstone blocks. Certainly a unique look.

With the added space upstairs, I made a grandfather clock. Aesthetic and functional.

Onto more significant matters, my nether travel network sucks. The problem is that it's an irregular network which is confusing, inefficient, and often literally dangerous.

As the search for important progression items in increasingly distant regions of the map goes on, a more regular system would be useful. Enter the Nether Grid.

Located just below the Nether's bedrock ceiling, the Nether Grid is a grid of portals, equally spaced and labeled. This is significant not only because it makes exploring easier, but because of the implications for Hardcore Spawn. If the far reaches of the overworld become populated by these portals, the odds of me being able to find one after a death go up drastically.

(There is the Nothing To Worry About factor to consider, but that's mostly problems with breeding animals. A caveman has bigger problems.)

Its location at the ceiling is also important. It minimizes the risk of running into caves and lava pockets, and makes the risk of tunneling into the nether at large almost zero.

I've decided to have a grid spacing of 512 blocks between each portal. This corresponds to 4,096 overworld blocks. It'll take about two minutes to walk between portals in the Nether, and about sixteen minutes to walk between portals in the overworld.

The reason the distance is a power of two and not a multiple is ten is to make spacing easier to measure via netherrack and quartz added to my inventory as I dig the tunnels. A 2-high 512 block tunnel is exactly sixteen stacks of blocks mined.

As of right now, the grid looks like this:

The space between each line indicates a portal. All of them except for the one at (2, 0) in a coordinate system went into a cave or above an ocean. The one at (0, 3) happened to pop out near a Mushroom Biome, which is neat but not immediately relevant. What happened at (2, 0)? I finally hit land.

Now I can spread out and look for the usual suspects - more Vessels, more Enchantment Tables, more Villagers, and the stupid carrots I still need. The portal's at the edge of land, next to an ocean. That won't be a problem, will it?

Portals turn squids into ghasts, which is funnily enough almost a downgrade in power.

I had to haul over a bunch of mortar and cobble from Mitose to encase the entire outpost in a shell to prevent its destruction and my death.

Once that was taken care of, I was back to pushing the frontiers of the known world, coming across some nice sights like this one.

I even went through a jungle, for once.

...what's that on the left? A gravel hut? But I'm several thousand blocks from spawn - it's really unlikely I was ever a cave man out here.

Following the customary bread crumb trail…

I recognized the architecture. This is Port Portillo, back from Log #23. Which means I should be able to find…

Classic. The first time I got here by sailing across the ocean at an impossible to replicate angle for forty-five minutes. Now I can get here through a ten minute nether walk and a twenty minute overworld land journey. The improvement in time is marginal, but now Me is actually on the map instead of being a faded legend that can't be found ever again.

(If you recall, I found Mitose by accident while trying to get back to Portillo.)

Speaking of faded legends, let's finally go take Revel.

Modern siege tactics developed in Log #30 while assaulting Athens made it a breeze. Three more zombie villagers contained, and a new continent reconnected to the world map.

#better than wolves

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omgstupendousbouquetbasement · 5 years

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Growing Chinese Navy Adds to Risk of Clashes in Asia’s Major Maritime Dispute

A Chinese missile frigate returned last week from a five-day, friendly visit to the Philippines -- days after a Chinese fleet had visited Cambodia and half a year after a Chinese state firm started taking bids to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a sign of Beijing’s growing power at sea. Multiple media outlets last week cited a Chinese Xinhua News Agency report saying the People’s Liberation Army ground forces had dwindled to less than half China’s total 2.26 million troops as the number at sea grew. This mounting evidence of Chinese naval expansion will show first in the South China Sea, experts say, upsetting five other governments that dispute Beijing’s maritime sovereignty claims, and challenging U.S. defense for the weaker states. “I think it’s not a battle that anyone can hope to win against China except the United States, and even then at very high cost, so the issue is about trying to make clear that (China is) not intimidated from maintaining their existing claims,” said Euan Graham, international security director with the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Strongest forces in Asia Naval scholars in the West had forecast 10 years ago that a high-seas navy would become a key to China’s military modernization. As of 2012, the Chinese navy had 512 ships, according to the British think tank International Institute of Strategic Studies. It now has 714 ships, the database Globalfirepower.com says. China also operated more than 710 naval aircraft in 2012, according to the British research and news organization Flightglobal Insight. The ArmedForces.eu website says is has 780 aircraft now. Two years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled he was trying to bring the army under a central command to improve its coordination with the navy. Any battlefront would more likely be at sea than on land, Graham said, and naval hardware normally reaches the South China Sea before anywhere else. “The pattern for new equipment tends to be that they go to the South sea fleet first, so we could expect it’ll just be a continuation of the same trend where the fruits of naval modernization are concentrated in the South China Sea,” he said. Pressure on Southeast Asia Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam contest all or some of China’s claims to about 90 percent of the fishery-rich, oil-laden South China Sea spanning 3.5 million square kilometers. But they are all militarily weaker than China and might find it harder under a stronger Chinese navy to access small island outposts or prime fishing spots, maritime scholars say. China already lets its own fishing boats mass in disputed waters as a deterrent to other countries, Graham said. “There’s not much they can do about this in the surrounding countries,” said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. “We may just privately worry about it.” China has alarmed the other claimants since 2010 by landfilling a series of tiny islets, some for military use. China and the Southeast Asian countries are negotiating now a code of conduct to prevent mishaps, but the code, due in 2021, is expected to avoid anti-China language. U.S. and outside powers China worries most about the naval activities of outside powers, especially the United States, Japan and Australia. Those countries lack sovereignty claims to the sea but don’t want China to control it. The U.S. Navy regularly sends ships to tell China that Washington considers the sea to be open for international use. Over the past half-decade, the United States and its allies have offered Southeast Asian countries military training as well as intelligence about China’s activities. The U.S. Navy most recently sent a guided-missile destroyer January 7 to the sea’s Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands, which are contested by Taiwan and Vietnam. “To me, the real target of the deterrents is really the United States and the other middle powers, like Japan, Australia and India,” said Sun Yun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Washington D.C.-based Stimson Center think tank. “Looking at the coastal line along the West Pacific, South China Sea is the only area where the U.S. and China are engaged in confrontational postures.” Armed confrontation in the South China Sea between Beijing and one or more Southeast Asian states ranks as a “top tier” U.S. priority because of the sea’s volume of commercial shipping and the U.S. legal obligation to defend the Philippines as needed, the Council on Foreign Relations think tank says. What happens in Sino-foreign maritime relations eventually comes down to numbers of new ships and personnel actually deployed in the sea, Oh said. “An increase in the naval personnel has to be accompanied by an increase in equipment and various other military postures,” he said. “If they are building 10 more frigates and so on, maybe people will be surprised.” from Blogger http://bit.ly/2sTslwE via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Blogger

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coolinaustin · 7 years

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SXSW 2017: Free Party RSVP Roundup, Part 1

South by Southwest 2017 is just around the corner, and to help you keep your eyes on the party prize, we’re rounding up the RSVP info for the best of the free parties, right here, right now.

All of the events below require you to RSVP, and we anticipate that they’ll all be open to people without badges or wristbands. However, some parties do give priority entry to badge and wristband holders, and some become badge-only in the evening hours — we’ve identified those in the listings.

We’ll be posting batches of new parties right here in the days ahead and compiling the full list on the “SXSW” tab at the top of this page — so keep checking back for updates!

A few tips for maximum enjoyment:

1) SHOW UP EARLY. Parties sometimes hit capacity very soon after they open, so there’s a good chance that you’ll be dealing with some pretty serious lines by mid-afternoon. Plan accordingly and have several backup options just in case. Also be aware that free drinks and (especially) free food may not last for the entire event, so try to get there when doors open whenever possible to maximize your chances of getting the good stuff.

2) RSVP for as many events as possible, even if they conflict, and even you’re not sure you’ll actually go. It’s good to have options (see tip #1).

3) If an event page says the party is sold out, check again later (and get on the waitlist if there is one). Some organizers reopen their lists and start accepting more RSVPs closer to the event.

Stay tuned to this site, our Twitter feed, and our Facebook page for more RSVP tips, band recs, and other SXSW-related goodness. Heard about any cool events you don’t see on the list yet? Tweet @ us or shoot us an email and let us know! Good luck out there!

Shout-out to the cool folks at Keegan’s List, Free Shit Guide, ATX Concert, Mxdwn, and OpenBarATX — check them out for some more hot party tips.

Multiple Days

Spredfast Social Suite Fri. 3/10 through Sun. 3/12 • Time TBD (day party) • Spredfast, 200 West Cesar Chavez, Suite 600 Free food and drinks. Must receive confirmation email.

The Fast Company Grill at SXSW Interactive Fri. 3/10 through Mon. 3/13 • Time TBD (day party) • Cedar Door, 201 Brazos St. Free drinks, tech demos, panels. If you’re patient you can probably also get some free food.

Mashable House Fri. 3/10 through Sun. 3/12 • Noon–5pm • The Main (aka the old Emos), 610 East 6th St. No big details for this one just yet, but it’s always a fun event and usually has some free food, especially earlier in the afternoon.

Casa Mexico @ SXSW 2017 Thu. 3/9 through Sun. 3/12 • Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River St. • Noon-9pm Live music, Mexican food, art exhibitions, y mas.

Sprinklr Sanctuary Thu. 3/9 from 10am–6pm; Fri. 3/10 from 10am–5pm; Sun. 3/12 from 10am–4pm • Sprinklr, 515 Congress Details TBD, but probably some free stuff. Must receive confirmation.

Pandora at SXSW 2017 Mon. 3/13 through Thu. 3/16 • Gatsby, 708 E. 6th St. • 1–6pm / 8pm–midnight Good bands at one of the more chill multi-day parties – still, get there early-ish. Night shows almost always badge/wristband-only.

Independence & Lagunitas Present Austin BugOut Tue. 3/14 and Wed. 3/15 • Scoot Inn, 1308 East 4th St. • 11am-5pm Free beer and bands at a cool venue during the slowest part of the fest. Sounds like a good time to us! (Make sure to RSVP for both dates separately using the “select a date” button.)

NoiseTrade & PledgeMusic Present: The CLIF Bar Bash Tue. 3/14 and Wed. 3/15 • The Blackheart, 86 Rainey Street • 11:30am-6pm Nice little two-day shindig in a cozy venue on Rainey. Make sure to check out Temples on Tuesday. RSVP separately for each day: Tuesday / Wednesday

British Music Embassy Wed. 3/15 through Sat. 3/18 • 2–6pm • Latitude 30, 512 San Jacinto Blvd. Fun vibes, cheeky Brits, and occasional free drinks make this four-day event one of our favorites each year. RSVP separately for each day: Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday

The Bay Area Showcase, Presented by Balanced Breakfast Wed. 3/15 and Thu. 3/16 • Noon-6pm • Jackalope, 404 E. 6th St. Bands n’ beers (which may be free if you catch them at the right time, if previous years are any indication). RSVP separately for each day: Wednesday / Thursday

Sound On Sound Fest & BrooklynVegan Present: Lost Weekend Thu. 3/16 through Sat. 3/18 • Cheer Up Charlie’s, 900 Red River St. Lineup and details coming soon. Sure to have some solid bands and either free or cheap beverages (sponsors include Bell's Brewery, Thunderbird, and Deep Eddy Vodka). RSVP separately for each day: Thursday / Friday / Saturday

Thursday, March 9

9th Annual Calm Before the Storm Party 6:30pm–? • Fogo de Chão, 309 East 3rd St. Free snacks + drinks.

Friday, March 10

Do512 EPIC! Interactive 6pm-? • Hotel Vegas, 1500 East 6th St. Details TBA. Usually pretty packed, but fun.

Recharge Oasis | Hardware House 6-9pm • WeWork Congress, 600 Congress Ave., 14th Floor Lounge Free drinks, food, and tech demos. May be semi-official, so badges will likely get priority.

Feedfeed Influencer Marketing Meetup 4–6pm • The Driskill, Jim Hogg Parlor, 604 Brazos Street Free drinks and snacks.

Saturday, March 11

Taco 'Bout It 9-11am • Max's Wine Dive, 207 San Jacinto Blvd. Free tacos and adult beverages. Could be a bit tough to get into, but if you’re up this early on Saturday, you might as well give it a shot.

Smart Cities Day @ SXSW 11am-4pm • Half Step, 75 Rainey Street Unofficial panels for all the city-tech geeks out there.

Soundcheck Saturday 1pm-? • Hotel Vegas / The Volstead, 1500 East 6th St. Multiple stages of bands for afternoon and evening shows, a popup outdoor market, and cheap drinks.

The Customer Social 2-6pm • Moonshine, 303 Red River St. Possibly some free food and/or drinks at this techy brunch shindig.

MDC Partners Pool Party at SXSW 2:30-4:30pm • W Hotel Pool, 200 Lavaca St. Free drinks, music, and poolside chillin.

Drink and Click 6-10pm • Spider House Ballroom, 2906 Fruth Street Free drinks for the first 300 guests, plus fancy camera demos and music.

Sunday, March 12

Create & Cultivate SXSW 2017 9am-9pm • 1102 East Cesar Chavez Free food, drinks, and panels with special guests including Kristen Bell. Get there early for this one.

Using Tech To Upgrade Our Criminal Justice System 10am-2pm • 901 Congress Ave. Breakfast tacos, margaritas, and craft beer will be served. Plus some really interesting-sounding panels on criminal justice.

LaunchKC Outpost at SXSW 2017 11am-8pm • Maggie Mae's, 323 East 6th Street Free beverages and snacks.

Snap House Cookout @ SXSW Noon–6pm • Location TBA Free BBQ and drinks. Must receive confirmation email.

Independence Brewing Company + Lagunitas Brewing Company present: Joint Session Noon-8pm • Independence Brewery, 3913 Todd Ln. Free beer and live music at a very cool local brewery.

Adaptive Commerce & Cocktails With Curalate | Decoded Fashion House 1:30-3pm • Hangar Lounge, 318 Colorado St. Cocktails and photo demos.

Souped Up Sunday at Quickie Pickie 2-5pm • Quickie Pickie, 2027 East Cesar Chavez Street First beer free courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery, plus food pairings and snacks.

Hightide Pool Party 3pm-? • Rio, 601 Rio Grande Street Free drinks and food. Must receive email confirmation.

Zendesk @ SXSW 5pm–midnight • Container Bar, 90 Rainey St. Free drinks, photo booth, music, and other festivities. Badges may get priority.

S’mores Under the Stars with BakeSpace.com 6-9pm • Location TBA Free s'mores.

Closing Party With Shopgate | Decoded Fashion 6-10pm • Hangar Lounge, 318 Colorado St. “Rooftop party filled with cocktails and conversation.”

Feedfeed SXSW Party 6-9pm • Backbeat, 1300 S. Lamar Free food and drinks. Get there early for this one.

Nordic Pitch Night @SXSW 7-9pm • Palm Door on Sixth, 508 East 6th Street Free food and drinks. There’s a chance this is a badge-only affair.

Tech.Co's Startup Night at SXSW 2017 8pm-12:30am • Maggie Mae's, 323 East 6th Street Free drinks. Semi-official event, so badges will get priority.

Monday, March 13

Do512 and COVERT CURIOSITY Present Strange Brew 6 1pm-? • Hotel Vegas, 1500 E. 6th Street Big crazy music blowout with 25+ bands on three stages.

Burgers & Bubbles: Digital Media Women @SXSW 3-7pm • Downtown Burgers, 503 E Cesar Chavez St. (across from the convention center) Burgers and discussions with women in the digital media business.

Get Plugged In ATX 2017 6-11pm • Bat Bar, 218 East 6th Street Free drinks, food, and music. Make sure to RSVP with your “work email” (i.e., not Gmail, Yahoo, etc.)

Tuesday, March 14

#bossbabesATX and Girlfriend present: Empress Noon-6pm • Cheer Up Charlies, 900 Red River St. Showcase featuring all-women artists, DJs, collectives and zines.

Recharge Oasis: Music Kickoff Featuring Mail The Horse 5-8pm • WeWork Congress, 600 Congress, 16th Floor Terrace Free margarita bar!

Wednesday, March 15

Dutch Impact Party SXSW 2017 Noon-8:30pm • Swan Dive, 615 Red River Street Afternoon showcase with some cool Dutch bands. Badges/wristbands get priority entry.

Cigar City Management presents Nochebuena SXSW 2017 Party 3pm-2am • Stay Gold, 1910 E Cesar Chavez St. “15 bands, 11 hours, a lot of drinks.”

Recharge Oasis | Investing in Startups Cocktail Hour 4-6pm • WeWork Congress, 600 Congress, 16th Floor Terrace Rooftop happy hour with cocktails.

Celebration By Beardbrand 6-11pm • Rattle Inn, 610 Nueces St. “Killer bands, cool people and giveaways.” Get your face rocked by Austin’s own A Giant Dog.

Thursday, March 16

Buy Me Brunch: #DownForShenanigans 11am-2pm • Forthright, 35 Brazos St. Free brunch and drinks from Austin Eastsiders.

Mischief Presents: The Pop Up Noon-8pm • Dirty Bill's, 511 Rio Grande Street Free Jameson, Lone Star, Red Bull, and swag.

FunNeverWon SXSW Showcase Noon-7pm • Historic Victory Grill, 1104 East 11th Street Free Popeye’s chicken and live music.

Day Flow SXSW 2-7pm • Plush, 617 Red River St. Free drinks while they last.

Friday, March 17

The Music Industry Meetup Presented by Balanced Breakfast 11am-? • Austin Java, 301 West 2nd Street Breakfast meetup with some cool music industry peeps.

Music Tastes Good 11:30am-6pm • Valhalla, 710 Red River St. Free food, free beer, and good bands at this free afternoon showcase.

#sxsw #2017 #south by southwest #parties #rsvp #free drinks #free food #free beer #austin #texas #free

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