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Something was in the way.

Very interesting Merkal, thank you! As most of you know I'm in the slaver side of politics, but with a twist : I think a good compromise would be to tolerate slavery for all Batarians BUT going back to the idea of slaves properly taken care of.

So you're living in Erszbat now? It's my home planet! Are you originally from there? In which county do you live?

a common argument hypocritical to its core. you cannot 'properly take care of anyone' no matter how well they are treated so long as you are still stifling their basic freedoms. there is no such thing as morally acceptable slavery.

Oh hey. You're here again.

It's Mekan.

And I live in Ertl County. I'm originally from Omega. Parents were escaped slave caste.



Oh. Hey.


Welcome to MY world, sir.

What, that's it?

According to your view of the world perhaps, but if everyone saw the world the same way, it would be very different. I find nothing morally wrong with slavery, as long as it is practiced properly.

Alright, I guess I owe you a bigger hello after a year-long silence. Still having a hard time phrasing 'holy shit, it's good to see you again' in a way that doesn't identify me as a human-lover. People on Erszbat get fucked with for that, y'know, and I know some of my Erszbat-based audience is probably watching this site now. Gotta watch what I say or word will get back to my, eh, benefactors.

But yeah. It's good to see you again, Lyra.

How can slavery be practiced 'properly'? You're taking their basic rights as a sentient away from them. You're turning them into things.

I saw kids, innocents, people just trying to get on with their lives, and someone has come along and said: 'you belong to me now and I'm going to fit you with this collar and take you away and there is nothing you can do about it'. And I can't see how anyone can see that and not think it's wrong unless they're fucked up. And even if you take the abduction of other species out of it, you're still turning a sentient creature in a possession and stripping their future, their achievements, their mistakes, all of it from them.

Actually, legitimate question. what do you mean by 'properly'?

(Also like the blog Mekan)

This is cool to read. Do you do this, like, every week or something?

It's good to see you alive Mekan, glad to hear that you're doing well for yourself.

And with quality advice as always.


Got it in one. Anything you need you can usually procure without having to sell yourselves, your children, or run the risk of being hauled off in cuffs. Yes it takes a bit of effort and yes you have to know the right people (or know somebody who does), but honestly the payoff is worth it. Overall quality tends to be higher, personal risk is lower, and again, you can still find most everything you need.

Yes. Yes I do.


You give me too much credit. You tend to pick this shit up living on Omega, and the new Erszbat kind of reinforces it.

Still does not diminish its value. I do believe that I'll be subscribing.

@Nat

For those in Citadel space, their idea of slavery is someone with a computer chip implanted in their skull that forces them to comply. That or a slave that is beaten nearly to death for the most minor of infractions.

Those methods are what I would consider to be the wrong way of doing it. They are horribly inefficient, and they strip any sense of dignity from a slave. It might sound strange that a slave owner would care for the pride of his servants, but it is a vital part. This is rarely understood because much of the slaving activity in recent years that aliens cared about has had little to do with actual slavery and more to do with dick waving. The slavers on Mindoir didn't care about how efficient or "right" their operation was, they just wanted to piss off whoever was watching; making money was a secondary goal, and doing anything correctly was a distant third.

Back to the right way of doing things: A strong slave produces much. A beaten, weakened slave produces little. The dead produce nothing. It is in my own interests to ensure the well being of those who serve me. That means food, water, shelter, clothing, and protection. All the basic necessities of life have to be provided by me, they receive these things in return for their services. When you keep this in mind, it should no longer surprise you that slavery is not always an imposed thing. Many who live in poverty sell themselves into slavery in search of these things.

You also spoke of taking their future from them. That is one of the problems, you must allow them the hope of, and an actual chance at, changing their station, or that of their children. Those who belong where they are can be content, while the ambitious have a chance to realize those ambitions should they prove worthy of them. This does not mean it cannot be difficult, but it must be attainable.

I could go on and on, but it would probably be easier for me to write a book about all the details. Hmmm, that's an idea...

@Jemak : Thank you sir! Nobody could have said it better
@Nat : Look outside of your window my friend. Do you see someone begging for a scrap of money, that he will use for drugs instead of much needed nutrients? You're looking at someone from the slave caste, in a society not equipped to handle them. In all sentient society, there are people who will never truly live without direction. That junkie could be living a fulfilling life, making the universe better, one building block at a time. No I'm asking you, between well fed and healthy slave, and that dirty junkie, who lacks dignity?

The slave is a possession of another person. How can they have dignity when everything they are and everything they do is subject to another's will. How is that 'fulfilling'? We have no castes. The lower socio-economic demographic has targeted programs; and people slip through but at least we're help them rather than saying 'you aren't equipped for freedom, here's a collar'.

That's just fucked. Now, not everyone's religious, but I believe God gave us all free will. Who are you to take that away and treat people as things to be bought and sold? Used for pleasure or labour?



Never the less, your society produced those people who thought that it was right to come in and take people from their houses. Mindoir isn't the best example. It basically turned into the slavers slaughtering the colonists when the Alliance turned up to liberate the place.

So just because you feed them and cloth them it makes it okay to take away their free will? It isn't so much taking away hope-sure I guess someone whose in captivity can still have hope. It's that you're taking away their freedom, their free will. You're turning them, as i said, into a possession. Into a thing that can be used against its will. The power dynamic, all of that-it just sickens me. If you enslave someone, you're not looking at them as a sentient being. You're looking at them as something to be looked after, like a tool.

People who are hungry or in desperate circumstances often do drastic things. Why not instead help those people rise above those circumstances and become working, fulfilled members of society? It might surprise you but a lot of intelligent, brave or otherwise virtous people can be born into poverty. How does that make them deserve slavery?

The human way of doing it isn't perfect-a lot of people on Earth were too poor to leave and there were street gangs and poverty. but at least we try-and now SATAE's really getting in there and changing the place, things will be better for everyone. At least our lower social-economic class doesn't get turned into the property of those fortunate enough to be born into privelege.

I don't know what it's like to live in poverty-I was born in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, that was arguably one of the wealthiest, most stable middle-class areas on Earth-but I've served with people that enlisted in the SAN or SAMC to escape poverty on Earth. And if you give most people a chance they'll get out, no matter if it means they'll get shot at or in your example, ordered around for the rest of their lives.

(haha, though that could work for the SAMC as well. oorah.)

I'm disappointed that you think I have no dignity. I'm disappointed that you think the dozens who sell themselves or their children to the Jannissary corps for the honor of becoming a Jannissary have no dignity, and I'm insulted that you think that chattel slavery is the only kind that exists.

Be patient my little friend, this is thousands years old cultural difference we're working on here.

Let's keep the slavery-talk to a minimum, people. There's more to batarian politics than the slavery issue, and it's really just beating a dead varren. This is a debate that's been years and years in the making, and it's not one that'll be solved by a couple of people on the extranet. Much as I'd like it to be resolved like that, it's just unrealistic.

[Cross-posted to CrossNet Prime, DarkNet, Electronix, Undernet, Cerberus Daily News, and Erszbat Social]

Alright, people. This week's going to have entertainment, a conspiracy article instead of the politics, and then we'll do electronics and cybercrime, and this week's entry of 'Big And Bad', the worst of the criminal underworld's organizations, crime bosses, and enforcers, and a Who's Who of Who Not To Fuck With.

ENTERTAINMENT

Alright, so this one's going to focus a bit on a new holovid that's come out recently. ChronoWarp 2, a sequel to an OLD movie that came out over five decades ago. The plot basically revolves around a Batarian Confederate science team trying to go back into the past to prevent the Reaper War from being as apocalyptic as it turned out to be, by warning the major galactic power groups. Naturally, nobody believes them, and shit goes down. Personally, I liked the original ChronoWarp with how cheesy it was, and it looks like ChronoWarp 2 got a bigger budget to work with, but no big name talent or anything. Whether or not it'll be worth watching is largely dependent on your opinion of the old ChronoWarp. Personally, I think it's worth a laugh or two, so go see it when it's out. I'll see about getting the files out to a few friends of mine when it comes out, as a gift.

'Ze timelines ahr mergeeng! Vun timeline must take precedent ovah ze othah!'

That line never gets old.

CONSPIRACY

OK. I'm going to be up front with you guys. This one's going to focus on the Deep State. Again.

Yes, I know, I need to get some new material, and I did. But I've got some new readers, so I'll be giving you guys some background first. If you're a long-time reader, skip this part.

The Deep State is allegedly this large, underground movement dedicated to the reconstruction of the old Batarian Hegemony and the fall of the Batarian Confederacy, or other various nefarious goals and purposes. Largely, this organization would consist of ex-StateSec, StateInt, SIU and government leaders, members and officials. The eventual overall goal is to reclaim their rightful positions of power and impose the Hegemony's concept of order across all batarian worlds once again. The vast majority of these people have apparently gone to ground, become involved in organized crime, or various small-time terrorist and guerrilla organizations, allegedly responsible for swaying various officials in the Confederacy's public sphere to their cause through a combination of bribes, threats, and blackmail. They are now the puppeteers behind the Batarian Confederacy's government and leadership. Certain votes that appear to be a sure thing in one way turn out to go the other way, some people vote ways that nobody expects due to their affiliation, and there's almost never any explanation for it. A large number of the government's officials are apparent opponents of this Deep State, but it's almost impossible to determine who's backing the Deep State and who isn't, and who is receiving backing FROM the Deep State and who isn't.

Now, with the primer out of the way, there are two problems with the usual public outlook on the Deep State.

Problem 1: The Batarian Hegemony had an immense number of internal feuds, fractures, and rivalries within its own political and power structures, the military, and all major intelligence agencies, to the point where the government could barely function in the first place. The kind of unity we hear about among a hypothetical Deep State is unlikely at best, even in the wake of the Hegemony's fall. I can guarantee that, with every batarian involved in these organizations largely looking out for themselves, they'd focus on how to advance their own position - undoubtedly at cost to their rivals. Even in the wake of the Reaper invasion, they'd probably look towards solidifying their position post-war. It's what I would do, and that's speaking purely as a batarian. It's in our mindset to get to the top. If the upper echelons of power were all Indoctrinated or killed by the end of the war, and therefore there was no legitimate leader, there'd be very little stopping the guys closer to the bottom from achieving a new position, even if it means they'd end up with targets painted on their backs. If they saw their chance for power, and took it, then it's likely they're involved in the upper echelons of the new Batarian Confederate government and may be the leaders of a number of subfactions within the two major political camps - which means they PROBABLY got what they wanted, for the most part. With this in mind, we can assume the Deep State may largely consist of the people left in their existing positions, or the guys who got knocked down a peg or two in the wake of the Hegemony's fall.

Problem 2: The Deep State couldn't possibly maintain the sheer amount of influence it possesses unless it was simply a fact of life. With the sheer mutual dislike between people that would probably make up its ranks, it's unlikely that the Deep State is actually a single movement. It's far more likely that it's simply a number of smaller organizations, cells, and other groups doing their own thing and generally ignoring each-other, all directing their own actions towards the advancement of their own agenda within the new Confederate government. The similarities between these groups would make it difficult to tell which group is doing what, and the sheer number of such small groups would make it all impossible to determine whether or not it's one movement or a bunch of smaller ones seeming to work in unison. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if individual Deep State groups fought one another on occasion over philosophical differences, or more materialistic goals. Some may not even be aware of each-other.

Now, with these two problems clearly displayed, we need to take a look at the Deep State from a different angle. With the analysis above, we can assume the Deep State isn't a single cohesive group, and that makes it difficult for the Confederacy to pick apart or combat. It's not something that can be dismantled or killed in a conventional manner; it just exists. Any ties these groups may or may not have to one another is incidental or minor, and they'd all just be advancing their own agendas. Whether it's all oddly-timed or it all coincides with one another is a secondary concern. It's just a matter of how many groups there actually are, in practice.

The current political situation in the Confederacy is currently a varrenpile, and it's every batarian for himself, and this kind of situation is VERY conducive to the Deep State's actions, even if it's as fragmented or disjointed as my theory would indicate if true. The Hegemony and its power structure stood for so long that the level of paranoia the Confederacy and its people are displaying in regards to the Deep State isn't unprecedented, and with how many batarians were onboard with the old regime for the sake of advancing their own power, it's safe to say that a good-sized chunk of these operatives want things to go back to how they were.

This massive fucking wall of inane blabber is the core of my opinion on the Deep State Theory. It's big, it's fucking complex, and it's impossible to get under the microscope completely. This leads to the massive clusterfuck of theories out there on fringe extranet sites based in the Confederacy. Y'know, the ones run by the fucking crackpots, which is what people outside of the Confederacy tend to think of when they think 'Deep State theorists.'

So to those readers from outside batarian space, and the people within the Confederacy who doubt its existence, I have a message. The Deep State is real. It's a tangible, physical factor in everyday life here. The Deep State's existence is almost undeniable except for the sheer lack of evidence to CONFIRM the theories of its existence. So, my little message here: Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Pay close attention, put batarian politics under scrutiny. The tiniest thing COULD lead to Deep State involvement being acknowledged by those in the government who actually call the shots.

ELECTRONICS

Alright, after looking at some of the new OTs coming out on the market, it's pretty much confirmed my suspicions that most of them are marginal upgrades and barely worth your credits. If you can't cobble together an equivalent machine with half the money and some spare parts, you've got no technical skill. If you can't settle for a slightly-worse machine, you're picky or addicted to getting new tech, and may need to get some professional help. Almost all of the new stuff on the market is barely any better than what came out a couple of years ago. A lot of proponents of new technology are going 'FUCK YES, POST-WAR TECH DEVELOPMENTS ARE MAKING LIFE EASIER', but I'm sorry to say 'no they're not, you fucking idiots.'

Just settle for your old OT, and wait for another couple of years before deciding you want to bother getting another one. Trust me. You'll save money you can spend on some better food in these post-war days. Almost everyone deserves a decent meal and if you don't want a new OT, but don't own one, go ahead and get an old one and find a tech-savvy friend. It'll simplify things.

CYBERCRIME

Another tip from my year-old, handy-dandy 'how-to' on hacking 'It Is A Science, Not An Art: An Intro To Hacking.'

False Identities are fucking CRITICAL for anything high-profile, but are especially useful for anything involving hacking. Electronic forgery isn't that hard for a hacker who's got a few jobs under his belt (making the forgeries actually appear legit is another story, more on that next week) and this false information is incredibly useful for evading law-enforcement or hostile elements who take offense to you stealing their data or robbing their bank account. If you're gonna steal from gangs or syndicates, hack into law-enforcement databanks, or organize a convenient disappearance of several CEO bonuses from the payroll office computers of a major corporation like H-K or Exogeni, arrange a cover story for your new false identity, talk to friends who can 'confirm' your presence later, and get good at lying very quickly. All of this is critical if the job goes bad and you need to go to ground for a while.

To set up a false identity, one usually needs to set up a proper network of contacts and associates who would be in the know regarding the usual social monitoring tactics and policies in C-Space or the Terminus Systems. It varies from world to world, and from system to system. C-Space governments are usually more intricate and detailed in this sort of thing. Social security numbers, ID code numbers, holos of yourself, virtual ID on stuff like aircars and such, and so on are all absolutely necessary. If you need to resort to makeup and latex to make yourself look different, do it. Getting caught and getting a rap sheet is worse for future jobs you might get, simply because potential employers will assume you're unreliable, and legitimate employment is harder to get after a conviction. If you don't want to do time, false identities and lots of aliases help.

BIG AND BAD - A 'WHO'S WHO' OF WHO NOT TO FUCK WITH

Valhak the Cruel. This fucker is a nasty one. First, a bit of background on Valhak. He's vorcha. I know, now you're thinking 'But Mekan, you magnificent and handsome bastard, he's vorcha. How bad could one vorcha be?' Well, pretty fucking bad, apparently. Valhak has a background of several years' worth of work as a freelance merc prior to the Reaper War, and unlike a lot of vorcha out there, he was good at it. REALLY good at it. 100% mission success rate on MercNet and Darknet, making him easily one of the best freelancers on the market. Those of you in the PMC sector must be thinking 'pff, freelancers. What a joke.' Ordinarily, you would be right, except for the fact that the Blood Pack approached him for recruitment a while before the war, and he turned them down at first, violently. One krogan and four other vorcha had their heads mailed back to the Blood Pack leader on Omega at the time (the deceased Garm, for those of you wondering who it was), by way of a slightly-maimed batarian courier. Poor fucker lost the two lower eyes and one of the upper ones, just coming into contact with Valhak. The Blood Pack put out a bounty on him in response to him killing their men, and Valhak got a bit of a rep for being hard to put down, usually because he sent every hitman that came after him back to the Blood Pack in a shoebox.

Now, keep in mind, this is before the Reaper War. It gets worse.

Guess who fought in the Reaper War as a merc on allied payroll. Go ahead, guess. If you guessed 'Valhak', you're absolutely right. Lots of black ops and hidden missions on the record. There's not a lot of word on what he actually did across most of these missions, but he apparently went on operations involving contact with Cerberus operatives, allegedly killing a number of Cerberus officers and elite assault troopers. Several lightly-classified records I got my hands on through certain unnamed sources detail a number of engagements with Cerberus troopers across five planets and two moons, all of which involved high-risk, death-almost-certain operations of some importance. Such missions were common during the war and usually carried out by disposable merc squads when actual specialists weren't deemed necessary. During one such operation, Valhak apparently killed one of the squad leaders he was assigned to work under with a grenade, and got away with it. He did it because he thought it'd be funny. He got away with it because he accomplished his squad's objective by terminating a high-profile Cerberus agent as the agent was engaged with his squad leader in hand-to-hand combat, even though everyone else wanted to shoot him on the spot for his varrenshit, and he was deemed a potentially-valuable, deniable asset for future missions.

After the war and the reconstruction of the Relays, Valhak revisited the idea of joining the Blood Pack, and has apparently grown to a position of prominence in the organization's branch based in the Nemean Abyss, poised to take up a leadership role if there's a convenient accident or an open struggle for dominance. Any krogan who have an issue with him have taken it up with his gun barrel/teeth/claws/knife/other crazy-ass methods of killing people, and he's (allegedly) personally eaten the throats of all who challenge him, and left their heads with their clan mates. Needless to say, that's pretty fucking harsh.

With fuckers like this running around, it's safe to say that the galaxy's nasty, especially the nastier parts. Watch your asses if the name 'Valhak' is EVER fucking dropped in any deals.



That ends this entry of Prophet. Thank you, and I bid you all good day.