Incest was likely used to consolidate power

The series will return just in time for a binge-watch post-Christmas

'When I heard the news I started crying'

'Criminal activity and death'

'Stay away and warn your friends'

Our list of the 10 most underrated Kinks songs presents a wide variety of tracks from the band that have flown under the radar. Of course, nothing flies under the radar for hardcore Kinks fans, as everyone who is a huge fan of the band knows all the material. However, The Kinks have a vast catalog of music, and there are likely many songs that the general public has missed. The Kinks were first formed in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. The two had a tumultuous relationship over the years. When the group first came together, the original The post 10 Most Underrated Kinks Songs appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Books book recommendations Five SFF Stories Featuring Uneasy Homecomings There’s no place like home… but that’s not necessarily good news for protagonists of speculative fiction. By James Davis Nicoll | Published on August 13, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share They say you can’t go home again. That isn’t always true. Sometimes going home is as easy as booking a flight or setting sail. Which isn’t to say going home is always a good idea. Just see how going home worked out for these five protagonists… “Jeffty Is Five” by Harlan Ellison (1977) (Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction; collected in The Essential Ellison) Grudgingly admitting progress in certain fields such as medicine and transportation, the unnamed narrator laments the loss of so many other features of his childhood. Favorite shows are long gone, the traditional household products have been replaced by ersatz copies, and worst of all, candy bars are smaller and cost a whole twenty cents. These are all grim developments that all adults of a certain age must face. But not Jeffty. Jeffty is five. Jeffty is always five. It takes time and several sojourns away from and returns to his hometown for the narrator to grasp how bizarre Jeffty truly is. Not only is Jeffty ageless, the world in his immediate vicinity appears to be trapped in amber. How wonderful Jeffty’s gift, to make available an otherwise lost moment in time to those in his proximity… although Jeffty’s parents might disagree. I would like at this time to complain that 95 cents is far too much for a paperback. Lycanthia, or The Children of Wolves by Tanith Lee (1981) The home to which Christian Dorse returns is not one he himself has ever lived in. Lost to creditors by his improvident grandfather, the mansion has only recently been required by Christian. Nevertheless, it is the Dorse homestead, a suitable estate where Christian can languish before he perishes of the illness from which he insists he is suffering. The chateau is a meagerly staffed, half-ruined shambles. Its neighbors are a handful of suspicious, unfriendly peasants…and the de Lagenay siblings, about whom wild rumors featuring wolves and shape-shifting swirl. Revelations await Christian! Not least of which is what a terrible person Christian can be, given the opportunity. This Tanith Lee gothic tale is a succession of discoveries, each one more alarming than the last. The Apple-Tree Throne by Premee Mohamed (2018) Major-General Theodore Wickersley vaingloriously led his men into an avoidable slaughter. Wickersley’s battlefield demise alongside his unfortunate subordinates did not redeem him in the eyes of fellow Britannians. Survivor Braddock, however, was willing to speak on Wickersley’s behalf, which endeared him to Wickersley’s family. Wickersley family gratitude proves a lucky break for Braddock, who is otherwise without means or prospects. Braddock finds himself stepping into the life his former commander so foolishly lost. The one minor complication? Wickersley is dead but his ghost is not merely active, but increasingly enraged as Braddock is embraced by the family and the fiancée that Wickersley believes is still his. The Greater Republic of Britannia does not appear to object to an officer promoted to a position far beyond his competence getting himself and a lot of soldiers needless killed out of pure arrogance. The Greater Republic isn’t some sort of meritocracy. They object to his having publicly embarrassed the Greater Republic. The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick (2021) Dissatisfied by gang leader Ondrakja’s sadism-based management philosophy, Ren provided a gentle rebuke in the form of fatal poison in Ondrakja’s food. Ren and sister of circumstance Tess then prudently decamped from Nadežra. Now, however, greed outweighs prudence. All Ren need do to get her hands on House Traementis’ vast wealth is to convince House Traementis that Ren is Letilia Traementis’ daughter. But Ren is not Letilia’s daughter. She is Letilia’s former maid. Long estranged from her family, Letilia is not present to confirm or deny the claim. The odds appear to favor Ren’s confidence game… but House Traementis has many enemies. In order to victimize House Traementis, Ren will first have to save it. Who doesn’t like stories with morals? The Mask of Mirrors has a number of morals, the most important of which seems to be “make sure someone is actually dead before making plans dependent on their being too dead to interfere.” Nadežra seems to house all too many people who are not nearly as dead as they should be. The Master of Samar by Melissa Scott (2023) The product of a marriage of which his grandfather disapproved, Gilmyssin Irichels di Samar left both Samar House and the city of Bejanth. A magical adept in a demon-haunted world, Irichels had no problem establishing himself as a cursebreaker. He never expected to return to Bejanth, let alone return as the new Master of Samar. No last-minute grandfatherly repentance is responsible for Irichels’ elevation to heir. Rather, it’s the fact that Irichels is the only living Samar left to lead Samar House. The deaths of every other Samar could be simply be chalked up to a surprisingly large number of exceedingly unlikely accidents. More likely, there’s a plot in which Irichels is now the sole remaining target. Alas, knowing someone wants one dead does not mean one can avoid assassination. Bejanth is a secondary-world Venice, with the very important difference that the dangers from which it must protect itself include demons. Are Bejanth’s ambitious rich people any better at maintaining vital infrastructure when profit motive gets in the way than the rich and powerful of our world are? Read and find out! As a theme or a plot point, the idea of a homecoming offers so many possibilities to authors that it is not surprising that the five works above are only a small sample of the many stories that feature homecomings. No doubt many of your old favorites were overlooked, not always because I’ve used them in previous essays. Feel free to remind me of them in comments below…[end-mark] The post Five SFF Stories Featuring Uneasy Homecomings appeared first on Reactor.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate shows how radical she is, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., tells The Daily Signal. Scott spoke at Erick Erickson’s The Gathering conference in Atlanta on Saturday. He joined The Daily Signal Podcast to discuss Walz’s military record, expectations for the 2024 election in the state of Florida, and what to expect from a Harris-Walz Democratic ticket. “I don’t know one veteran who’s been to war who’s a socialist,” Scott said, “and this guy is clearly a radical socialist,” referring to Walz. The former Florida governor served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, though he was not deployed to Vietnam. His father fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. “It’s a big deal to make sure you are honest with your military record,” Scott said. Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance has accused Walz of exaggerating his military record. Listen to the full interview here: The post ‘Most Radical Ticket We’ve Ever Had’: Sen. Rick Scott Weighs In on Harris-Walz Campaign appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The UK authorities and the media either willing to or feeling pressure to take their cues from the government, continue to assert that the root cause of the serious rioting that hit the country this month is to be found on – social media. This, in turn, makes for a convenient excuse to ramp up police surveillance of online content. Special police teams are now going through social sites in order to identify those said to have “incited” the riots, and there’s a special name for them – “hate influencers.” The said teams consist of what reports refer to as “specialized” officers, those investigating serious crimes (i.e., murder and the like) and terrorism, as well as local units whose job is normally to investigate organized crime. “Other” national-level teams are also mentioned as taking part in scouring the internet, and what they might be doing is suggested by the goal of this exercise being gaining “a clear intelligence picture,” as one article put it, citing the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). A statement on the NPCC site said that the search for “online offenders” is being led by regional organized crime units (ROCUs) and that the offense is spreading hate and inciting violence on the internet. NPCC Chief Constable Chris Haward is quoted as saying that the large number of people taking part in protests and riots “did not mobilize spontaneously.” “It was the result of dozens of so-called influencers, exploiting the outpouring of grief from the tragic loss of three young girls in Southport,” Haward said, referring to the knife attack that resulted in the three murders. Still talking about “hate influencers,” Haward added: “They knowingly spread misinformation, stoked the flames of hatred and division, and incited violence from the comfort of their own homes – causing chaos on other people’s doorsteps. (…) Online crimes have real-world consequences and you will be dealt with in the same way as those physically present and inflicting the violence.” Thus far, the NPCC has said that it is investigating hundreds of leads. The content targeted by law enforcement and intelligence units is reportedly spread across a range of unnamed social sites and platforms, according to the press release. It is also revealed that “hate influencers” as the British legacy press calls them will not be held responsible simply for using the internet to allegedly incite real-world violence – but also for something separate NPCC calls “violence online.” “A senior investigator” will have the last word on whether any of this can be treated as a crime – and if so, people behind the accounts and/or content will be identified and arrested. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Specialist UK Police Teams Target “Hate” on Social Media appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Backyard Camping: Important Lessons Preppers Can Learn