Mont Order group appears in fantasy art

An artist at the image-sharing site DeviantArt has produced pictures themed on the Mont Order, with many portraying sword-wielding monks in a fantasy-like style.

The images make the Mont Order comparable with the Jedi knights of the Star Wars films, although the artist may have had something more "sinister" in mind. Some internet users skeptical of the Mont Order group have described the (allegedly) ancient order as something right out of a "bad movie plot". Although these pictures will only strengthen that idea, they certainly look epic enough to belong among your favorite all-time internet searches.

Ferocious-looking demons are portrayed being battled by a devout, humble warrior we can assume to be a knight or other devotee of the Order. A caption reads that the Mont Order has sent its men willingly through the gates of hell, as they were so driven to fight to the death against evil forms. Other pictures portray a "civil war" with one robed figure set against another. The story being told is not clearly something related to the real Mont Order group.

The real Mont Order "society" can be read about and even joined by people at LOrdre.net, with participation at a Facebook group and inclusion in exclusive email lists possible through the Mont Order. It doesn't look anywhere near as exciting as the image below would seem to suggest, however.

Members are not being given cloaks, Lord of the Rings style suits of armor, or swords at the Mont Order, but you may get a free badge and a surge of social media influence if you are part of the society.

For more weird fantasy pictures of the Mont Order, it's well worth adding the gallery of this DeviantArt user to your favorites and reusing the pictures, as these images are free to use under a Creative Commons license.

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US Empire fears defeat in star wars?

The Blog

According to a recent Stratfor analysis, US generals are getting worried again. This time, about American space dominance in the face of increased anti-satellite capabilities in development by China and Russia.

As always, America sees threats everywhere and gaps in its attempts to manage the entire planet as a single perfect battlefield. The analysis states, "Increased competition in space is reviving fears of a war there, one with devastating consequences".

Included in the report is an acknowledgement that the increasingly unstable American empire is getting ready for pesky Russian or Chinese rebel attacks by planning to build ultimate battle stations in orbit:

Overall, the United States is getting far more serious about the threat of space warfare. Investment in new technologies is increasing, and the organizational architecture to deal with such a contingency is being put in place. In the race between shield and sword, however, there is no guarantee that offensive ASAT capabilities will not have the advantage, potentially denying critical access to space during a catastrophic celestial war.

Going beyond the Star Wars references, this story has a serious side, with grave implications for US global military dominance as it suffers from the inevitable decline of empire.

Stratfor's analysis admits that the US is more dependent on vulnerable satellites than other powers because of the global remit of its foreign policy (driven by US belief that the country must dominate the world). The US is only interested in military technology it can project globally to maintain its own power and threaten others, and has comparatively no interest in fortifying its own borders against threats or ensuring the regime's own survival.

Such mistaken priorities put the US at a disadvantage to Russia and China when trying to confront those countries at their borders. While US armies will depend on a flimsy chain of defenseless satellites to learn about Russian and Chinese forces, Russia and China will only need to depend on hardened ground-based radar systems deep inside their own territory in the event of war.

US satellite weakness is an additional component of the overall overstretching that is putting US forces on such weak footing against Russia and China in its hopes of "containment" of emerging powers, despite America's vastly greater defense spending. As long as the United States attempts to occupy the entire planet, its forces will be spread too thin to engage Russia or China in any effective way. US military dominance will hang by a thread of dependence on fragile technologies, such as its exposed satellites.

"Obama should celebrate" US atrocities: The BlogWhile President Obama's planned Japan visit was reported, C4S... https://t.co/yUUEwnZiSZ

— The clubof.info Blog (@ClubOfInfo) May 20, 2016

The clubof.info Blog

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NSA claims to end spying are like satire

The Blog

Headlines saying the US National Security Agency (NSA) was going to stop spying on Americans before Snowden's leak sound like something from the Onion satirical paper, a C4SS analyst writes.

In an analysis of the reporting at The Week and the Associated Press, C4SS's Nick Ford wrote:

Most people’s reactions to this is to laugh. The idea that the NSA, an organization all but synonymous with spying on the American people, was going to self-regulate is worth a good chuckle indeed.

Workers lower in the NSA's hierarchy are likely to be more cognizant of the mass surveillance program's ineffectiveness than  higher ranking officials, Ford writes, but are afraid of being punished if they bring their grievances to their superiors. This also matches Edward Snowden's own account of why he chose to disclose the program's details to the public via anti-establishment journalists rather than going via Congressional options or the NSA's own internal system. It also refutes many of the arguments made against Snowden as a traitor by pointing to the "loyalty" of others in the NSA, who are really only held back by fear of punishment rather than sincere support for mass spying abuses.

Ford argues that the NSA's desperate media tactics are laughable and reveal the organization's incompetence and uselessness to the American people:

So here we have an incompetent but incredibly powerful organization saying, “oh yeah we would have stopped spying on everyone if you hadn’t exposed us!” 

Come on NSA, pull the other one.

The clubof.info Blog

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Review: Death on Taurus by J. M. Porup

. @hjbentham. @toholdaquill. #sciencefiction. #book. #review.

Another excellent and striking contribution to the genre by J. M. Porup.

Along with Dreams Must Die, this is an excellent book to start with for any reader new to J. M. Porup's sci fi. This epic story won't disappoint, and the only way you can discover this for yourself is to download.

From the book description on Amazon:

On Taurus, there's only one good way to die. 

On the bullfighting planet of Taurus, in the far distant future, a genetically engineered race of half-man, half-bull stages ritual blood sacrifices to the gods—human viewers light-years away. Vizzer, the high priest who presides over the daily slaughter, loathes the fights and wants to end them. 

When news arrives that the humans have destroyed themselves in an interstellar civil war, he deposes the king and outlaws the fights. But not all the humans are dead. Carlos the Creator lies in stasis on Taurus itself. Vizzer comes face to face with an enraged and ancient god. And in so doing, he must also confront the truth of his own savage nature.

By Harry J. Bentham - More articles by Harry J. Bentham

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Review: Dreams Must Die by J. M. Porup

. @hjbentham. @toholdaquill. #sciencefiction. #book. #review.

All of J. M. Porup's science fiction is pioneering and valuable literature, and this is my perspective as a science fiction story contributor myself.

In particular, I find the narrative voice present throughout Porup's work to be gripping and more stimulating in a way that would appeal to a vaster readership than mine. I discovered this mainly through Dreams Must Die and I encourage readers to download the book as a starting point to reading further sublime works by the author. I hope to be blogging more thoughts on it.

From the book description on Amazon:

The time for dreaming is over. 

Jimmy Shade kills dreams. It’s his job. As a member of the elite Dream Police, he defends the Collective against that poisonous nocturnal ooze. 

But when Shade gets infected with a dream, he finds himself on the run from his former colleagues. He must choose between his love for the Collective--and the dream he cannot live without.

By Harry J. Bentham - More articles by Harry J. Bentham

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