Hello community.
I'm reading this community for a while now and feel like this would probably be the best sub to post as some seem to have a similar background/history and people here probably understand my situation better than in the usual finance subs.
My situation: Mid 30s, NW ~500k (300k stocks, 100k crypto, 100k misc investments, 100k in cacash/etc) making slightly above 200k USD after taxes selling my time as an independent consultant, living for rent as the rent where I live is usually ~3%. Fixed costs of about 3.5k and spending around 2.5-3k beyond that I guess, saving 10k in ETFs and leaving a few k for other investments for when the opportunity arises. No debt.
My goal: At least 10k passive per month @3% variable withdrawal rate, so +-4M in cash. More is always nice but this would ensure myself and my gf a reasonable lifestyle where I live. I might still make some money after that but if then only through stuff I enjoy doing, not because I have to.
My issue: When doing the math you'll probably notice that this means another ~15 years of the grind, which I don't see myself doing. While I'm fortunate to even be making this much work's a slog, really and I don't know if I'm mentally able to do this for another 15 years, so I'll either have to significantly increase my returns and/or my income.
So I'm trying to figure out how to do that for a while now and thought I could be looking here for tipps and a general assessment of my situation and ideas for possible trajectories. Something has to change, thats for sure. I was thinking about maybe coming to the states as some incomes posted on here seem to be significantly above what I'm making (I'm in Europe) but I'm not sure if those incomes aren't just outliers as when checking LinkedIn, etc for roles on big construction projects the averages seem to be rather in the 150k region at best, and that's before taxes even. Other than that I could see myself buying a company, but have no experience in doing so and expect the future returns to be priced in in a way that would make it unappealing to do so. There's no free lunch, I guess. Considered starting my own company (beyond the one selling my time) developing a product, but it's a high risk due to no income for a long time and it possibly ending up burning a considerable part of my stash for a failure.
Not sure what to expect but with how much valuable input I've seen around here I hope people might be able to point me in the right direction.
Cheers

This camry taxi has been imported to Oman and I'm seeking to buy it. Can someone please help me if there is some way to know its correct odo reading. Also, are AD taxis known to do proper maintenance?
The price being quoted is 23500 aed. Is it worth?
JTNBF9HK4J3007627

Hi everyone!
I just found out I was placed in País Vasco as my first choice through the NALCAP program! 🎉 I’m super excited and wanted to get some tips and insights from those who have experience living there.
A bit about me: I’m coming from Austin, Texas, where the cost of living is pretty high (a one-bedroom apartment goes for about $1,700). I’m planning to live with a friend who also got placed in País Vasco.
I’m particularly interested in Bilbao. Is it an expensive city to live in? How does the cost of living compare to Austin? Any tips on finding affordable housing or neighborhoods to check out would be greatly appreciated. I’m looking on idealista!
Also, any general advice about living and teaching in País Vasco would be fantastic!
We’re aiming to keep our budget around 500-600 euros each per month for rent. Both of us have corporate jobs and have managed to save about 10,000 euros each (around 12,000 dollars). We plan to do the program for at least two years, though we’re not sure if we’ll renew in País Vasco after the first year. Regardless, I’m definitely going no matter what and have almost all my visa documents ready.
I’d love to hear from past AUXs about their experiences, especially those coming from the U.S. How is life in País Vasco, and what should we expect? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
(We are both 25M & 25F)
Lastly I lived in Prague, Czechia for 12 months getting a masters degree so have experience getting a visa and living abroad/Europe
I’ve also done my research, I’m not clueless, just want to initiate a conversation about this in present day!
Thanks in advance for your help! 😊

So, I'm building this setup all new from scratch after doing a fairly reasonable amount of research, so the final step is finding what people with actual experience building these setups have to say...
I plan on mainly watching 4K streams and totally legit backup copies of UHD 4K 5.1 HDR Dolby... whatever blu-ray discs, you get the idea, and those tend to be in h.265 format.
Should I be able to play "everything" in 4K@60HZ except HDR10+??
Should I be able to get all the audios?
This is the planned setup (I'm in Europe in case it helps):
TV: LG G4 Oled tv (https://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-oled77g4wua-oled-4k-tv). I think it supports everything except HDR10+
AVR: Denon X2800H (https://www.denon.com/en-us/product/av-receivers/avr-x2800h/300610-new.html) Again, I think it supports everything except HDR10+ (it has pass-through for it, but since my TV can't handle it...)
5.1 Setup: QAcoustics Q3050i Home theater system (https://www.qacoustics.com/products/3050i-5-1-plus-home-theater-system). In the future I may want to add 2 Atmos ceiling speakers, but not in a hurry.
Streaming Box: Nvidia Shield Pro (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/shield-tv-pro/). Again, I think this supports everything (at 60HZ) except HDR10+. This will be played with plex client or Kodi or jellyfin or a plugin that runs one of those into one of the others.
Blu-ray player: Dunno if I really need one, probably not for a while, but if I buy something, I'd be surprised if the limiting factor to play a UHD blu-ray disc would be the UHD blu-ray player...
Media Server: NAS with all the videos/music hosting a plex server that SHOULD NOT TRANSCODE EVER (because the Shield should play everything, right?). This will be a very low power machine so will not be able to transcode 4K video.
The idea is to plug the Shield to the AVR, then to the TV and never use the smart shit of the TV and always get the input from the AVR.
I need a Denon 2800 for the dual output because I'll build an "ambilight" system out of the second output (better than finding a splitter that allows encripted content to still work), so I'm aware I have unused channels (that might be used in the future for the Atmos speakers). And the 3800 is like 900€ more and I don't think I need it.
Any obvious holes here?
Thanks for checking!

I recently came into a bit of money and am looking to buy a summeweekend/enthusiast car.
Car Background:
I have a 2017 RX350 that I love and plan to keep till death do us part (hopefully the car before me), and my wife is getting a 2024 Lexus TX500h next month. I previously had a Ford Fusion 2007 (loved the V6, hated the electronics) and a Subaru Crosstrek 2013 (loved the reliability, but did not like the powecomfort). I bought my RX350 since 2000 and honestly can say I just love how the miles go by when I am in it. But I also want a "fun" weekend car
Requirements (in order of priority)

1. Manual Transmission (Must have) - I learnt how to drive on a stick shift and always try and rent one when I am driving outside North America. I spent 3 months in Europe one year and had a manual VW TDI and it was a blast to drive.
2. 4-door with back seats - This isn't an absolute must have but I have 2 kids and I'd like to have decently comfortable back seats for them and be able to fit in a car-seat or booster. Frankly, I don't know how much I would use a car if I can't take my kids for a drive in it.
3. V6 or V8 - I am not looking for a 4-cyl car. I want something that is a big engine. I know the world is going electric and I will probably too for my main daily when I replace the RX, but for the weekend, I want a car I can keep for decades as a last remnant of the ICE.
4. Long Term Reliability - I want to keep this car for a while so I would want it to be decently reliable. I am ok with maintenance costs but just not something that craps out in 5 years at which point I wonder if manual ICE cars will exist (for example, we cant get a manual V8 M5 anymore).

So right now, the only cars that fit the bill are M3 and CTS5-BW. The 911 is a backup (since it isn't a 4-door).

1. BMW M3 - I am concerned about BMW reliability but from everything Ive seen online, this car is a beast and would fit my needs great. Not a big fan of the grill but I am buying this thing for my own driving pleasure so I don't particularly care how it looks from the outside.
2. CT5V-BW - This really is my ideal car and I almost placed an order for it as it checks all my boxes. But before I did, I went down to the dealership and test drove a CT5V.. and I was not impressed. The interior felt kind of cheap compared to my lexus or the BMW and the CT5V did not seem as quick as I expected. Now I know the BW is a different beast but this just threw me off. It just felt cheap and not the 70K CAD car that I was in.
3. 911 - ? Can't say I am super keen on it given the 2 door aspect. Also the most expensive of the above and I have to drive alone.

Any insight or suggestions here to help me make a decision?

Both desire to be a dominating force. The former in the world/workplace, the latter in the home and over childrearing. At first thought, one might picture a "trad" wife as meek, subservient, but these women if not already, develop into the "devouring" mother archetype. This dynamic is common in Southern and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Father is the breadwinner, but the wife is really the one pulling the strings when it comes to the family and children. Think Livia Soprano. Think Big Fat Greek Wedding "the man is the head, but the woman is the neck, and she can turn the head any way she wants." The Italian momma's boy is a stereotype for a reason. They tend to be either over the top macho womanizers or effeminate and closeted. Their fathers weren't in the picture enough to pass off a healthy masculinity. Seems to me, what is probably the healthiest dynamic is one where roles are blended and children get sufficient exposure to both their mother and father. For most of human history that was more the norm. Work from home is not a modern invention. Fathers usually worked in the home on the farm or as an artisan. Boys even at young ages would accompany their dad to work.
If a woman's whole identity is Mother, she'll struggle to ever give her children up. Who is she then? One strong check against becoming a devouring mother is having a loving and respectful relationship with your husband. If you're getting love and attention from him, you won't feel the incessant need to obtain it from your children. Another check is having a life outside of motherhood. If you're getting some fulfillment in other ways, you won't expect to get all fulfillment from raising children.
"This mother archetype tends to love selfishly, and not selflessly. Although this is done with the intention of protecting them from the ills and evils of the world, it often results in her children feeling suffocated or constrained".

Gentleman - I've decided to take the leap and move forward with getting a transplant. I'm going to be in Europe already next month and can easily skip over to Turkey to get it done. A friend here in the States used the Avrupa Clinic https://avrupahairtransplant.com/, about 4 months ago and had good results. He spoke highly of their professionalism and the doctor's bedside manner. I found some good reviews online but all those review websites look bogus to me so wanted to check in to see if anyone had any advice before I pull the trigger.
I'll throw one minor item out there that sketched me out a bit. They sent me a PDF of their treatment plan which was day one - assessment, day two - surgery, day three - review results and remove bandages, and then day four - hair wash and fly home.
Now they are telling me that day three would be the hair wash and fly home so they're cutting it short one day. I called a place in Texas who has the same procedure, surgery and then leave the next day. I may be being overly cautious but the entire decision is difficult so even that minor inconsistency made me want to look a little closer. The TX hair center saying the same thing has made me relax some.
Cost is about $3K.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone, I am selling my Polo on a 3rd party website and they might be asking for a confirmation of all the service checkups that were done to the car
I've had to do 2 checkups and both of them at an authorized VW service. I went to that service asking for a confirmation of those checkups but they said that they are not allowed to print them and give them to me. Very weird
So I wanted to ask if anyone knows if these checks would be visible in the VW database by the car VIN. And maybe I can talk to another dealer for some confirmation.
Thank you in advance for any advice

TITLE: Kant, Herder and Cosmopolitanism: An Inquiry into Historicisms, Universalisms and Eurocentrism.
18th century Prussia was a complex sociocultural landscape, which sported often contradicting imperatives of both cosmopolitanism and ‘nationalism’. While there was a unique cosmopolitan lifestyle, namely thanks to Prussia’s comparative lack of national identity in relation to western European nations, there were also counteractive efforts at establishing this national sentiment. Frederick the Great’s adoption of so called ‘progressive’ policies, such as equality through the law, and freedom of the press, had compounded Prussia’s strategic position in Central Europe, subsequently attracting an influx of trade and diplomacy, most notably from surrounding Germanic states. Regardless, Frederick II’s belief in ‘enlightened absolutism’ yet reflected a dual effort at differentiating Prussia from the rest of Europe, and thus ‘cosmopolitanism’ was something ironically in tandem with so-called nationalism. Thomas Abbt’s Von Tode fur Das Vaterland (1761) had outlined moral imperatives of sacrificing one’s own life for the good of the nation, and efforts at social cohesion were present as far back as 1715, when German became mandated for what was a nationalised schooling system.
Prussia’s cosmopolitan culture was one that was at times combated by, and at other times in tandem with auto-referential imperatives. Both Immanuel Kant and Johann Gottfried Herder were two Prussian thinkers, who’s ideas were distinctly shaped and moulded by this social context. Cosmopolitanism was not merely a lifestyle in Prussia, as institutions like the ‘Berlin Academy of Sciences’, which were central to Frederick II’s belief in ‘enlightened absolutism’, had stimulated the idea that intellectual prowess was similarly integral to Prussia’s ‘modernising’ efforts. In 1784, Herder had published his Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man, and later in the year, Kant had published his Idea for a Global History with A Cosmopolitan Intent. Both Kant and Herder imagined ‘cosmopolitanism’ very differently. Where Kant would predominantly focus on the idea of a ‘cosmopolitan order’ as a teleological end goal to history, Herder would instead profess the mere relativity of different ideas and cultural practices. Compared to Kant, Herder had centred intercultural equality as central to cosmopolitanism, and had thus abstained from deterministic, universalist concepts such as that of ‘cosmopolitan order’.
As prevalent as it was in Prussia’s multi-ethnic landscape, ‘cosmopolitanism’ also appears to have ‘triumphed’ in western societies. It is ever relevant today, and these ideas are evidently significant in their legacies. Michael W. Doyle had praised Kant’s ideas for their influence on contemporary ‘liberal internationalism’, while Frederick Beiser had lauded Herder’s ideas for its unique recognition of the relativity of different ideas, particularly when most enlightenment thinkers were instead concerned with arbitrary, universal narratives that he describes as comparatively Eurocentric. Regardless, both historians ignore how both essays may be ‘Eurocentric’ themselves, given the problematic concept of ‘political modernity’ that exists today, and which imbibes characteristically European imaginations as an object standard for societal ‘progress’. Beiser and Doyle ignore this concept, and in this sense, their appraisals reflect a very emanation of this problem. This essay will thus begin with a re-evaluation of the concept of enlightenment universalism, followed by the a formal dissemination of Eurocentrism and its relation to Kant and Herder’s philosophies. Lastly, I will examine the relationship between these concepts and the existence of contemporary ‘political modernity’, with the aim of re-evaluating these essays in the context of Dipesh Chakrabarty’s Provincialising Europe.
To assess the rigour of current evaluations on Kant and Herder’s works is to first gain a deeper understanding of both essays. Immanuel Kant’s imagination of a ‘cosmopolitan order’ was not an isolated idea, but encapsulated a rigid philosophical framework, which he sets out in his essay. In Kant’s eyes, this ‘cosmopolitan’ future would be engendered by teleological human experiences with conflict, or ‘unsocial sociability’ that would aid in the ‘refinement’ of the human spirit through the use of reason, and gradual, developmental realisation of a ‘universal moral law’. Kant maintained that reason would triumph over the course of history, and despite his rigid, and often uncompromising language, he maintains that his teleology would ultimately culminate in the ‘emancipation of all people, in all places’.
Herder’s profession of ‘cultural relativism’ may be similarly contextualised by his broader beliefs on cosmopolitanism. Herder purports the idea of a ‘volksgeist’ or ‘spirit of the people’ that may define human history, and to Herder, it is the use of rigid, abstract language that is at direct odds with cosmopolitanism. For Herder, cultural relativism is an endorsement of a ‘spirit of the people’, which may only be captured once one abstains from superimposing arbitrary narratives onto the diverse cultural practices of global peripheries. Herder and Kant disagreed on precisely which ideas they could label as truly cosmopolitan, and it is this disagreement that has stimulated similarly opposing contemporary evaluations.
Frederick Beiser’s ‘The German Historicist Tradition’ is a retrospective evaluation of different German philosophies, and maintains a particular focus on Herder’s intellectual integrity. While Beiser takes a critical stance on Herder’s notion of particularism, notably for its incompatibility with the idea of shared, universal truths, he also recognises that it is this methodology that warrants his ‘cosmopolitanism’ to have integrity. Beiser notes that Herder’s work maintains an awareness of epistemological diversity, as much as it does cultural diversity, and in this sense, Herder was thus practicing cosmopolitanism as much as he was arguing for it. Contrastingly, Michael Doyle approaches ‘Ways of War and Peace’ from an inquiry into the influential nature of enlightenment thought, more so than its intellectual integrity. His preoccupation with the idea of ‘liberal internationalism’ is, regarding Kant, a testament to the sensationalism of his ideas. For Doyle, cosmopolitanism is a noble pursuit, but is also one that is only meaningful if it is able to be put into practice. Doyle’s appraisal of Kant thus revolves around the idea that the ‘liberal internationalism’ draws much of its influence from the sensationalism of Kantian ideas, most notably those of ‘cosmopolitan order’ and lasting international peace. For Doyle, it is precisely Kant’s rigid, uncompromising language that has created a more cohesive framework for many to better understand and execute cosmopolitanism bureaucratically. It is clear that Beiser and Doyle maintain ideas of cosmopolitanism that are as diverse as Kant and Herder’s imaginations, and they are evidently to be lauded in the ambitious scope of their works.
I would argue that both historians, in spite of their nuances, ignore how Kant and Herder’s philosophies would yet be constrained in both scope and applicability. Their ideas concern themselves with a global scale, and yet the scope of sociolinguistic influences that informed these ideas is much smaller. When Beiser praises Herder’s holistic approach, he ignores how his ideas were deployed teleologically, reflecting the universalism of history in the same image as distinctly European imaginations. Regarding Kant, Doyle ignores how his abstract, universalist terminology risks contradicting the very diversity of ideas and cultures that he had imagined as part of a ‘cosmopolitan order’. It appears confusing that both imaginations of cosmopolitanism would prioritise universalism, as notably, Dipesh Chakrabarty draws considerable links between the universalist preoccupations of enlightenment culture, and the Eurocentric idea of ‘political modernity’ that they have come to unfortunately encapsulate. When Beiser and Doyle ignore this, they warrant investigation into how these essays may have contributed to this very problem through their use of abstract language, orientalist tendencies, and imaginations on historical teleology.
The ideas that came out of enlightenment were often universalist, and yet may be directly linked to specific sociocultural pressures across the continent. The problem here is that when one universalises what is an immediately relevant concept, they risk robbing other social contexts of their own ‘sovereign’ intellectual expression. Kant and Herder were no exception to this trend, and thus their use of universalism appears somewhat contradictory to the cosmopolitanism they sought after. John Pocock’s Barbarism and Religion maintains that the ‘enlightenment’, as a singular concept, is largely reductive of the multidimensionality of ideas that existed in this period. He identifies how many view ‘enlightenment’ as Franco-German in origin, maintaining that ‘the enlightenments’ may be better characterised by their plurality, given the unique linguistic paradigms that shaped different ideas.
Across numerous historical contexts, such as Scotland and France, thinkers had imbibed diverse imaginations on ‘objectivity’, and yet these ideas were distinctly relative to comparatively minuscule, and subsequently unrepresentative linguistic contexts. In 1698, a failed colony in Panama had accompanied Scottish fascination with scientific enquiry across universities, and in 1748, Colin Maclaurin’s An Account of Isaac Newton’s Philosophical Discoveries had conveyed a particular fascination with Newtonian empiricism. Following the 1707 Union Act with England, which brought new trade opportunities not found in Scotland’s failed imperialist endeavours, Scottish thought had merged into a synthesis of empiricism and political economy. Between 1739 and 1740, David Hume would publish A Treatise of Human Nature, which approached political philosophy from an empiricist imagination of the human mind and its ability to form a ‘moral culture’ with other ‘social beings’. These ideas proved influential for Scottish linguistic imaginations, as William Robertson had applied this framework to a study of pre-Columbian populations, endorsing the idea that broader societies may objectively progress in epochs from ‘barbarism’ to ‘civility'. Another example would be Montesquieu’s ‘Spirit of the Laws’, which claimed to assess the ‘utility’ of global religions in his political philosophy, yet this imagination of ‘utility’ was largely contingent on comparatively particularistic linguistic influences; Montesquieu had staunchly opposed the ‘first estate’ taxation privileges of 18th century France, and it is thus no surprise that his imaginations on ‘political triage’ were grounded in the eradication of ‘despotism’ as he had observed it in France.
Contextual forces would not merely inspire ‘enlightened’ ideas, but would also propagate universalist language. When William Robertson had examined pre-columbian cultures as part of his endorsement for Scottish ‘stadialism’, he had done so to justify ‘stadialism’ as a universal, objective concept. These examples demonstrate that while enlightened thought had often claimed to have uncovered ‘objective’ truth, the ‘truth’ of these concepts were only as true as the sociolinguistic contexts that informed them. It appears wrong that any of these abstract concepts may truly be universal, as the universalism of one abstraction ultimately risks obscuring the development and expression of others, which is a testament to the logical equity of different abstract ideas. Enlightenment universalism appears, by default, to be a problematic concept. It is the differential in scope between the influences of enlightenment ideas, and their comparatively global application, that is both Eurocentric and subversive of ‘cosmopolitan’ diversity. Perhaps the biggest irony is that while Kant and Herder had imagined a cosmopolitan future, and on a global scale, they had done so by universalising distinctly particularist influences, which are hardly applicable to the global scope their essays are concerned with. If we are to demonstrate that these ideas disjunct with cosmopolitanism, it follows that we establish the links between Kant and Herder’s universal imaginations and their comparatively particularistic influences.
Kant and Herder had experienced a number of contextual influences that draw considerable links to their philosophies. While Prussia lacked a notable national identity, and involved cross cultural encounters amongst Polish and Lithuanian populations, there was also an extensive state presence in everyday life. Frederick II’s ‘enlightened absolutism’ allowed him to embark on bureaucratic innovations on centralised authoritarian power, most notably through his imposition of standardised military training, and his emphasis on state monopolies as a means of economic regulation. Frederick the Great had prioritised bureaucratic efficiency, yet he was not the first to do so. Instead, Prussia maintained a consistent drive to consolidate its bureaucracy as far back as the ‘Edict of Potsdam’ in 1685. Frederick William I sought to attract Huguenot refugees into the fold of the Prussian economy, and by 1700, French Huguenots had played an integral role in the establishment of the Electoral Brandenburg Society of Sciences, something that would be renamed the ‘Royal Academy’ in 1744 following Frederick II’s patronage of ‘enlightened absolutism’. Frederick the Great and Frederick William I illustrate a historical context of ideological determinism; on the topic of nationhood, Frederick II had noted that “Whoever does not respect and love his own language is not worthy of salvation”. This had followed the standardised teaching of German in Prussian schools (1715), and thus Prussia’s ‘modernising’ efforts were certainly deployed with deterministic presuppositions as to what ‘modernisation’ actually meant (most notably, that of nationhood). Amidst this landscape, Kant had studied mathematics, physics and philosophy at the University of Konigsberg, and had personally participated in what would then be the Royal Academy of Sciences. Ronald Calinger describes how the academy had eventually become a hub for intellectual rigour, and given Kant’s scientific background, it is no surprise that Prussia’s ‘modernising’ imaginations would find itself reflected in his use of language.
Prussian imaginations on objective ‘progress’, and the stadialist idea of ‘modernisation’, appear somewhat tangential to a fascination with ‘unlocking’ objective truth, and scientific enquiry certainly reflected a vehicle through which this may occur. Kant’s language is similarly deterministic, and his imaginations on cosmopolitanism appear, in tandem with his scientific background, to be heavily preoccupied with the idea of uncovering universal conceptual truths. This is something exemplified by Kant’s efforts at establishing a metaphysical grounding for morality, a concept which was integral to his imaginations on reason, history, and historical teleology. There is considerable risk that such language risks marginalising intellectual diversity, as converse to Prussian sciences, these concepts had lacked objective grounding, and ideas of an objective ‘moral law’ are still subject to much contention in Philosophy. His philosophical abstractions appear to be intellectually invasive, as while they outlined a ‘cosmopolitan’ future, they had also stifled the scope for ‘cosmopolitan’ diversity by superimposing this narrative onto the image and identity of global peripheries. Kant’s imaginations on ‘universality’ were moulded in the image of a distinctly European experience with ‘modernity’, and in this sense, his argument for cosmopolitanism appears to reflect something of a contradiction.
In comparison to Kant, Herder’s essay is far more particularistic. His belief in ‘cultural relativism’ appears predominantly informed by his fascination with folklore, poetry and diverse cultural traditions that he had observed within Prussia’s multi-ethnic landscape. Regardless, his ideas on historical teleology are similarly universalist, yet link to incompatibly particularistic influences. Ernst Cassirer draws links between Herder’s experience with a multicultural and multilingual landscape and his ideas, but appears to ignore the clear links between his historical teleology and European Lutheranism. Lutheranism, by default, is a denomination enamoured by the idea of ‘divine providence’, which is to say that God plays an active role in worldly affairs. This relates directly to his preoccupation with ‘outlining’ the ‘history of man’, as the idea of ‘divine providence’ is one that naturally invokes the assumption that worldly affairs occur with a deterministic, ’divine’ intention.
Lutheranism was a predominantly European sect, having originated amidst the Protestant Reformation, and maintained notable ties to germanic culture through Martin Luther. Herder was raised in a Lutheran household, and preceding his philosophical career, he had seriously considered a clerical one. The idea that Herder could universalise history in the image of ‘divine providence’ appears problematic, namely thanks to the fact that Lutheranism was synonymous with predominantly European imaginations. Lutheranism was the ‘national religion’ in Prussia, and even after Frederick II’s period of religious toleration, Christopher Clark maintains that principles of the sect had yet become ingrained in education. It certainly appears ‘Eurocentric’ to assume that such particularism is in any way suitable for a comparatively universal application, and despite Herder’s progressive imaginations on a ‘volksgeist’, his teleological approach reflects the universalism of distinctly European norms and values. Eurocentrism is a multifaceted term however, and possesses several characteristics. To better understand Kant and Herder’s eurocentrism, it follows that we embark on a formal exploration of the concept.
Sebastian Conrad has identified Eurocentrism in ‘What Is Global History?’, which he analyses from a perspective of ever prevalent global entanglements. Like Pocock, Conrad maintains a similar awareness of how enlightenment universalism was inherently problematic. More notable however, is how Conrad explores Eurocentrism through the vein of presenting a newer, comparatively more ‘cosmopolitan’ methodology for studying history. Conrad makes the case for ‘Global History’ which effectively suggests that cross-cultural entanglements have since occurred on a global scale, and thus to study the history of different people and practices is to study the agency involved in establishing their intrinsic global connections. In effect, ‘Global History’ outlines the idea that the past is typically subject to power dynamics, which may only be eradicated by the comparatively even medium that is Global History. For instance, Conrad identifies ‘diffusionism’ in intellectual history, where abstract universalisms had historically infiltrated this measurement of global connectivity.
In Conrad’s eyes, diffusionism was an auto-referential mechanism; he details how in any intellectual context, a paradigm of objectivity may occur with relation to abstract ideas and narratives, informing the conclusion that similar ideas worldwide had merely ‘diffused’ from a given epistemological ‘centre’. This had occurred amidst the Haitian Revolution, which, given its imperial ties to France, had inspired the idea from historians like Cyril James that the phenomena was merely an exportation of distinctly European values and events. James postulates on the exportation of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’, yet these ideas maintain considerable links to the universalism of abstract imaginations of ‘justice’, as the primary vehicle of ‘sovereignty’ in Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Conrad shows us how other ideas, not conducive to any given epistemology may be both obscured and marginalised, which precisely illustrates how ‘Eurocentrism’ contains multiple dimensions. It is not merely the obstruction of intercultural diversity and equality, but also possesses a malignant agency.
Edward Said identifies this, formally, as ‘orientalism’, which breathed new life into the term following its use in the fetishisation of the middle east. He details how universalist language is often a vehicle for cultural marginalisation, which occurs when peripheries do not measure up effectively to the arbitrary values and concepts of a domineering cultural context. Said shows us how Kant’s abstract language is not merely obstructive of cultural diversity, but also marginalises it. This is supported by how Kant’s philosophical framework adopted a paternalistic view of global peripheries, construing them as inherently less developed than Europe, and in need of ‘modernisation’ through the exportation of enlightened ideas.
Kant’s broader language, such as his idea for universal moral law, appear to have considerably influenced these orientalist tendencies. The idea of an objective morality, for instance, acts as a vehicle through which cultural peripheries may be viewed as deviating from the European ideal. These moral proclivities are particularly uncompromising in nature, and, given his belief that morality itself was metaphysical, it is no surprise that so much of Kant’s abstract language reflected an emanation of these ‘objective’ virtues. While Kant had often encouraged critical debate and open dialogue, his terminology (e.g. cosmopolitan order, imaginations on the moral functions of reason) would all but subvert these principles in the interests of universality; Kant’s belief that these principles were universally applicable had defined his philosophical system, yet equally reflected a lens for the ‘European gaze’ to take hold. Kant believed in the idea of total equality between cultures, and yet his universalist language is something that poises itself against this very notion. In this sense, Kant’s belief in ‘unsocial sociability’ reflects something of a contradiction, as while he had defined it as a destructive act of auto-referentiality, against the interests of intercultural equality, this is equally something that he was practicing himself.
It would appear that Herder’s doctrines of ‘cultural relativism’ would render his essay to be largely conducive to the cross-cultural equality espoused by Conrad’s Global History, and in this sense, it appears difficult to characterise his work as explicitly Eurocentric. His essay does not only value cultural diversity, but Herder goes as far as to define history itself by the progressive imagination of a ‘volksgeist’, which reflects the very appreciation for cultural diversity that Conrad describes in his case for ‘Global History’. Moreover, his inferences around the rise of global entanglements were hardly a local observation, and also reflected the rampant imperial and commercial initiatives that had prompted ‘orientalist’ preoccupations on behalf of thinkers like William Robertson. While his imaginations on cultural relativity subverted eurocentrism in this sense, his teleological approach yet links to a comparatively localised religious sentiment, and his ‘claiming’ of history in the image of these imaginations touches on a much bigger problem with regards to eurocentrism; when it comes to how we imagine history, ‘enlightened’ universalisms have had broad ramifications for what we find ourselves revering as fundamentally ‘modern’.
Dipesh Chakrabarty maintains a particular focus on the overall legacy of enlightenment ideas, which he does through an interrogation into modern historical imaginations, and conceptualisations of both ‘modernity’ and ‘progress’. He defines historicism as the contemporary idea that history is informed by uniquely historical forces, rather than metaphysical or otherwise philosophical concepts. He argues that contemporary discourse is dominated by this concept, moreover that it has been often informed by a predominantly European paradigm of experiences. To justify his idea, he interrogates the concept of ‘political modernity’ that has encapsulated the so-called ‘modern’ experience, deriding it as a product of European ‘cultural hegemony’, or dominance, that emerged in part thanks to the universalism of European linguistic paradigms. Chakrabarty applies this framework to postcolonial India, examining how British colonialism had slowly distorted and overrode Indian cultural traditions and practices, fostering the development of a new ‘modernity’ in India. He maintains that these forms of ‘hegemony’ may gradually distort modern understandings of the past, until they are merely reflective of an exclusively European gaze; from his perspective, the universalism of abstract, enlightenment ideas risks ‘claiming’ history in the image of the Eurocentric ideal. Chakrabarty’s overall deductions are not at all reductive, nor are they unsubstantiated in light of how contemporary thinkers have reproduced enlightenment imaginations as central to their own. Not only is this indicative of Europe’s dominant ‘hegemony’, but it is something that Kant and Herder’s ideas have contributed to.
Jurgen Habermas, a German sociologist, had evaluated contemporary western societies as part of a broader sociological inquiry in the 1990s. In his essay, he explores how a ‘post-national constellation’ of decentralised government may engender universal worldly progress against nationalistic conflicts of the twentieth century. He reimagines distinctly Kantian ideas of cosmopolitan order and of lasting international peace, while also maintaining the importance of cross-cultural relativism and universal solidarity in tandem with Herder’s imaginations on a global ‘volksgeist’. His ideas draw considerable links to both philosophies, reflecting a contemporary synthesis of germanic imaginations on universality. His idea for collective solidarity is something that revolves around a universal appreciation for both democracy and universal human rights, yet these doctrines have similarly been moulded in the image of European sociolinguistic paradigms. Montesquieu had been one of the first to universalise on the problem of democracy, and the idea of basic human rights, which was influenced heavily by France’s 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, was hinged on universalist principles of ‘justice’ and ‘sovereignty’ that emanated from predominantly French imaginations on what ‘progress’ may actually entail. ‘The Enlightenment’, as described by Pocock, has long been considered a predominantly Franco-German phenomena, and Habermas’ reproduction of this sentiment merely serves as a testament to its evident ‘hegemony’.
We can observe a clear correlation between the contemporary popularity of enlightenment thought and its historical propensity towards universalism. By imbibing and re-imagining distinctly European philosophies, Habermas exemplifies how European imaginations of ‘progress’ have come to encapsulate what contemporary thinkers imagine as a part of ‘political modernity’. It is not that ‘cosmopolitanism’, or ‘democracy’ are inherently bad concepts, but instead that they ought not to become a vehicle for ‘orientalist’ marginalisation, which is fundamental to the binary nature of ‘modernity’, and how all other practices may be subsequently ‘un-modern’ or ‘backward’. There is an evident contradiction between the subject matter of these ‘cosmopolitan’ essays and their implications for how we imagine history in the image of European ‘greatness’. Perhaps this is the biggest irony of both works, yet this is something that Beiser and Doyle fail to recognise. In this sense, both historians merely praise the ‘political modernity’ that these ideas have come to encapsulate, most notably seen in Doyle’s explicit reverence of Kant for his influence on so-called ‘liberal internationalism’.
It is important to note here the titling of Beiser’s book, ‘The German Historicist Tradition’, when looking at historicism. Historicism is a relatively new concept, and yet Beiser maintains that Herder’s teleology was similarly historicist. What is significant however, is how Beiser defines Herder’s ‘historicist’ principles; integral to Herder’s ideas were that the ‘historical forces’ of global entanglements would characterise history as an interplay of cross-cultural agents, intertwining with one another to form a global cosmopolitan telos. His teleological approach, while reductive, does in many ways appear an accurate prediction for global affairs, as Habermas exemplifies how cosmopolitanism has since taken hold both in immediate reality and in public consciousness. Regardless, we ought to question the origins of this sentiment, particularly given Chakrabarty’s illuminations on ‘cultural hegemony’. While cosmopolitanism is undoubtedly pervasive, it is difficult to divorce this fact from the existence of ‘political modernity’ and how these ideas had, in the eyes of thinkers like Doyle and Habermas, come to encapsulate its definition. While Herder’s ideas appear to have accurately predicted globalisation, his universalisms also present a vehicle for the ‘claiming’ of modern historical imaginations at the direct expense of ‘cosmopolitan’ individuality. We can draw links between how his historicism has, through its contemporary influence on thinkers like Habermas, become its own ‘historical force’, complicit in forming and moulding modern historical imaginations. While Beiser was right to laud Herder for his methodological integrity, his preoccupation with a universal historicism is what had ultimately undermined these principles.
Kant and Herder utilise various Eurocentric forms of language in their universalist accounts of history, and while both maintain ties to ‘political modernity’, their works also differ fundamentally on the problem of orientalism. Beiser certainly appears more perceptive in his approach to Herder’s ideas, and while ‘cultural relativism’ has become a pertinent and often contentious term, its illuminations into the origin of many ideas, both culturally and linguistically, most certainly appear beneficial for public relations and broader intellectual conversations. Immanuel Kant, on the other hand, was far more rigid in his language, and it is this fact that enabled greater scope for the orientalist marginalisation of global peripheries. The legacies of these ideas is incredibly nuanced, yet their most problematic legacy is something that lies in their historical reverence, and what this means for how we imagine ‘modernity’. We ought always to check our own biases when we choose to revere only characteristically European ideas as ‘progressive’, as, even as cosmopolitanism shows us, the very imagination of such a beneficial concept may yet be ‘claimed’ in the image of European ‘greatness’.

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Bit of a complicated situation. I have a crush on this guy and we’d been flirting heavily for months but nothing came out of it. A few weeks ago, my crush levelled with me telling me that he was planning to travel to Europe and was preparing himself to meet new people so I should probably be prepared with the possibility of him meeting someone else and he also did say I should be with someone who has more “fire in the belly” for me. He went travelling but we still kept in touch. (Friendly check-ins).
I had a rough few weeks and ghosted him for 3 weeks. I feel horrible about it but at the same time I’m not sure if it was for the best because he didn’t like me back in the same way anyway. I have since reached out and apologised.
Thoughts?

What goes up in the sky when the rain comes down? An umbrella
In this rainy day I hope to find a kind single childless marriage minded man, who will have place for me under his umbrella.
Please, no low effort messages, fed up with one line messages, it's disrespectful and will be ignored.
Europe, 35 y.o.,168 sm/64 kg, pale skin, average building, long hair. Not too ugly. No kids. No bad habits. Hobbies: books, old movies, cultural events (museum, gallery, theatre). I search for intelligent ma rriage minded man, who has time, romance, opportunities, interest and efforts for me. Who will not demand sex before marriage. Who will never make me to feel, that I'm not good enough for him. Who has respect and will not hurt me. Who is able to take initiative and to write first always or at least tend to it.
I sincerely don't expect other people to live up to my expectations. Those, who seemed to be very close to my description at first, gave the worst contact later, we stopped talking in 5 minutes. Those, who were far from my description (not absolutely far, but didn't match in some points), were very pleasant people. That's why this description is not strict demand in most of points. But definitely that can be red flags for some people, maybe, I'm not good for you, so I just save your time, in case if we are too different.

1. That one, who will want to ma rry me and will be able to meet in real life soon. Please, write in your FIRST message, when you are able to meet, if we match. Yes, it's silly to ask, when it's not clear, if it's worthy to meet in general. But why to start conversation, if no opportunity to meet in foreseen future? Relationship with a big distances demand permanent efforts. 99% of all dialogs will end in houday/week. Maybe, in your current life situation relationship are not priority and you have no time to stay in touch. Then better even not to start.
   
2. I wish to meet that man, who is stable both psychically and in his work. Often someone writes, starts conversation, but later his bad mood, difficulties at his work, unstable psychic begins to ruin conversation. It ends with his ghosting and his "offends". If you can't stay stable for me, please, even don't start. I used to work at very stressful job and understand, how strong pressure and responsibility can be. If you can't control your mood, don text.
   
3. You can live anywhere, if you are ready to make efforts for meet in real life. If you are not ready to make any efforts, date locals. Obviously, when there are real feelings, there is wish to make efforts, but there is certain type of people, who will never do anything, they just entertain here without anything real in mind. Even not able to write adequate first message. They send short one line messages and wait, that they will be pursued, what is maximum disrespect.
   
4. Very important! You are officially single, not in any form of relationship and don't have kids. No exceptions from this rule. For a pity, many people are not honest and hide their status. Relationship, that started from lies, will end soon. Please, don't lie.
   
5. Expect, that I'm not from your country and you will have to travel. If you date only girls from your own country and can't travel, please, don't text. I wish your documents are in order. I wish you have passport or can get it soon.
   
6. I search for honest serious, quiet, logical, intelligent man, who has own place or plan to have it soon and can be a provider. Your age, appearance are not important. I prefer older person, who already knows, what he wants, who's love language is acts of service, not just words. Honesty is extremely important.
   
7. You shouldn't be pushy about having kid fast. If you want many kids, please, don't text. You are heterosexual, no exceptions. Sex is not a main thing in relationship for you. If it is, please, don't text.
   
8. You shouldn't demand to share expenses, because I wish to be stay at home wif e (though I have high education and work experience).
   
9. You can take my problems, as your own and will not run away, when know about my health problem, that demands surgical help (not plastic surgery, but more serious. Not in urgent condition, but if not to do anything, then can become urgent. All papers are on hands, ready to prove that need, when we meet, both in papers and in together visit to surgeon). Why do I mention this? Because 99% of men expect to build relationships with successful, healthy woman without any problems, who will never need any help from him, who will not be a burden in any way, who will stay young, sexually active and healthy forever. Most of men event don't have an idea to do anything real for her. They call that "to be with a girlfriend". So I just save your time in case, if you "want a girlfriend experience" without any responsibility.
   
10. You are able to make voice and video calls in teleg r1am, when I ask for it (of course, after work). If you can't for any reason, please, don't text. Some people are not able to use that messenger for many reason and they tell, they don't have camera, microphone, phone or something else. Before texting, please, check, if you can have it. No, I will not ask you to get any cr1 ypro cur rency and your num ber is not needed there.
    
11. I am very introverted by nature and when like someone, this person becomes almost a center of my world, I don't need any other men, I'm one-man-woman. I wish someone, who is same, one-woman-men. I'm jealous and will not forgive lies and cheating, even very light things like flirting with others. I will not run after any man and will not beg for attention. That means: it is you, who is expected to develop conversation, to text first and to offer something. If you are more in passive position and expect me to pursure you, then please, don't text.
    
12. You will get your own space and time, I try to be respectful and understanding to your needs (until it doesn't include other women).
    
13. Often people hate those, who are different from them, simply just for fact of their existence. So I need someone, who will not be irritated with my existence and hobbies (mentioned it in the beginning). I don't expect you to share these hobbies, but I just ask to be ok with it. It's difficult to imagine, that someone, who is deeply in gaming, sport, cosplay, k-pop will accept me as I am. I can't share mentioned activities, just not my thing. But I definitely will be ok with you doing your hobbies. Even if I can't join.
    
14. Very important ! Low efforts message will be ignored. First message MUST have at least 10 sentences about you and date of possible meet, if everything works. Respect my wish, please. You don't have to be big conversationalist, but a short message is a personal disrespect for me. Hope, you are respectful gentleman and will make efforts.
    

If you feel something common and think, you can be that man, then, please, write me about yourself and let's start our conversation. Thanks for your attention.

About the 7th Ranger Group [7R]

We are an international Arma 3 Milsim community officially founded in 2016, with roots dating back to 2013. We are based in Europe, with members from all over the world. As a community we strive to overcome challenges together by coordinated team play. To achieve this we rely on planning, communication and deployment of adapted military tactics and procedures. While we aim to provide an immersive, realistic experience, fun gameplay is not forgotten.

Our take on Milsim

We apply military procedures to establish a coordinated and team play focused environment. This does not mean realism at all costs. While we do not utilize an extensive rank structure, respecting the ingame chain of command is required, as well as following standard operating procedures and having adequate discipline. Communication and capacity for teamwork are crucial.
To ensure an immersive experience we regulate equipment and use first person view only. We use a modified ACE advanced medical system. Furthermore, we do not have an extensive ORBAT or dedicated roles. In general all specialized roles are entrusted to members who are capable of fulfilling them, supported by our diverse qualification system. While we are mainly a light infantry unit, we dynamically integrate a wide range of other assets into our composition based on mission requirements.

About our operations

• Dedicated server for main operations. Works as training grounds during non-mission hours.
• Weekly premade operation, set in modern day or cold war-era.
• Saturdays 20:00 CET (GMT+1) or CEST (Summer Time, GMT+2).
• We play mainly as infantry, with additional air or ground support.
• Units we play as includes (but is not limited to) US Army, US Marines, Tier 1 Operators, British Armed Forces and Bundeswehr.

Our Expectations

We are looking for mature people who share our enthusiasm for overcoming challenges using tactical team play. We do not expect any previous experience and will gladly support each new member with a will to improve on their journey forward.
With our training pipelines, we provide an accessible environment for both experienced and inexperienced players. Every new member will undergo a training program which teaches the required individual skills as well as our standard operating procedures, ensuring a smooth transition into our unit. At the end of a trial period, each Recruit has to complete our Infantry Qualification Course to become a full member.

Requirements

• You are at least 18 years old and you are able to respect and understand others in the unit, and give and take criticism for personal learning. We give everyone a chance to show what they are made of.
• TeamSpeak 3 Client
• A working microphone
• Legal copy of ARMA 3 (also, while not required, we strongly recommend the APEX, Contact and S.O.G. Prairie Fire DLCs)
• Weekly attendance. However, as real life always comes first, not everyone can always make this. In this case, just post a Leave of Absence so that we know and can plan the operations accordingly.

About mods

We, like many other units out there, use a collection of mods to improve and expand the base game. Some of these mods have been further customized to better suit our needs. Size of the modset is currently around 70 GB, and we use Steam Workshop to distribute and keep it synced.

How to join

Please read the general information and then fill an application on our Discord. Once a Recruiter has reviewed it, he will contact you through Discord and invite you to our Teamspeak to have a chat. If we are what you are looking for and vice versa, you will get further access to all the needed resources to be able to join our operations.

For more information

• Check out our handbook to learn more about us and our operation procedures and models.
• Visit our website
• Take a look at Maale's Youtube channel, Ronny's Youtube or his Twitch to see us in action.
• Feel free to join our Discord and have a chat with us.

[Part 1] [Part 2]
Admiral Pyraxis drummed his talons on his desk. A rhythmic sound, which he found quite comforting. Arranged on his desk stood various fine wines he had procured by means of ordering mass confiscation of alcohol from the Humans.
“Sir, are you sure the local drink isn’t affecting your judgement?”
And that was the sound of Pyraxis’s greatest headache - his incessant subordinate, Krystak, who was only one rank lower than him and undoubtedly waiting for the perfect opportunity to usurp Pyraxis.
“No, Krystak, I am quite unaffected by these beverages,” he lied, “also - you’re out of line speaking to me like that.”
Krystak bowed his head in apology. Taking a glug from a bottle gripped in his right hand, he gestured for Krystak to begin his debrief.
“Well, we have seen a 6.2% increase in attacks since last month. Of those, most have been unsuccessful, but we took approximately 17,800 fatalities this month, which is an 8% increase from last month. Efforts to locate major concentrations of exiled army units have failed, however, we succeeded in raiding weapons caches on all settled continents. Counter intelligence is working diligently to root out urban resistance, but rural resistance is unfortunately going to take a lot longer than predicted to eradicate.”
“We also managed to get some industrial and mining operations going without them being immediately blown up, which is good progress.”
Pyraxis took another long gulp of wine, before standing up, “I need you to get this damned planet under control! Is that clear? Because in five local cycles, the colonisation fleet will arrive. If they get here and it’s still a warzone, we will both be replaced. I don’t care how many people you have to kill to do it. Exterminate even more if you have to. Understood?”
Krystak opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it and nodded.
“Dismissed.”
He saluted, then marched out of Pyraxis’s office.
“Fucking Humans,” he muttered to himself. At least they had some decent swear words. Staring out the window at Earth, he downed the rest of his bottle, and passed out.

“I feel I have to tell you that what you are about to embark on is a suicide mission. Not one of you is expected to come back alive. If that isn’t your cup of tea, there is no shame in backing out now.” A few people in the back surreptitiously left the hall everyone had gathered in.
After a moment, the speaker - one general Mathews - resumed his briefing.
“This attack is one of many coordinated strikes which will - if successful - cripple the enemy’s ability to fight, and may just win us the war. Of those of you gathered here, most will partake in the main attack. The target is located on the Isle of Man - specifically, the old RAF base Jurby. It has been converted into a base of operations. All you need to know is that another, smaller force, will infiltrate the base. In order to complete their objective, you will need to divert as many troops away from the north of the base as possible.”
“Jurby has been turned into a fortress - our intel says there are at least five thousand Salvad troops on the island, and of those, one thousand are located within or near Jurby. Your goal is not to beat them, but distract them. You will be granted heavy weapons - in fact, everything we have at our disposal is going into this attack.”
Robert stood in the back, leaning against the wall, observing the reactions of the men around him.
“You will have the aid of local resistance forces, but they are not to be relied upon for anything other than intel - they are not combat troops. You will deploy under the cover of night. Our numbers should double when we reach the rendezvous point at Kidsdale prior to departure - we’re calling in everyone for this. The Salvads don’t have a seaborne navy, which is important for us, since you will be landing by boat.”
This had an interesting reception - mostly of shock, a bit of scorn. Once the chatter had died down, the general continued.
“We have commandeered numerous small civilian boats. There should be enough to carry everyone over to the Island. You will land on the west coast, south of Jurby. From there, Alpha team under Johnson will advance north to Jurby, where you will attack with everything you’ve got. Use the element of surprise, draw the enemy out. Beta team under Simmons will advance to St. Judes to cut off enemy land reinforcements. Charlie team under Smith will protect your rear from attack. There can be no radio chatter on the way over - we really need the element of surprise. Once they know you’re there, try to limit comms since we have no idea if they can decrypt our signals.”
“Hold out for as long as possible. The attack is scheduled to begin at 2400 hours two days from now. Gather your equipment, and prepare for a long march to the rendezvous. I will follow you up to that point. Questions?”
Robert lost interest at that point. He shook the ache out of his legs and walked through to the gathering spot for the infiltration team. He knew a few faces. A couple of Royal Marines were present, and some exiles from mainland europe. There were eight of them total, although apparently their team was thirty strong.
Where the rest of this little suicide squad was, he had no idea.

Robert decided he really didn’t like whoever had come up with this part of the plan. They were not going with the main force, but were instead going to a different rendezvous to board a submarine. They would then ride this submarine to the Isle of Man. It would be 2 AM when they disembarked three kilometres north of Jurby. This would give the main attackers two hours to draw away the majority of the guards.
Robert did not like submarines. They would be boarding HMS Anson at HMNB Clyde. The reason this base hadn’t been destroyed by the Salvads was because out of sheer luck it was empty during the landings. They would have to be there at exactly the right time, as the sub would only wait for twenty minutes maximum, before leaving to do the mission without them.
The journey would be about eleven hours. That meant eleven hours cramped inside a submarine, underwater. Because of course they would be submerged for the whole journey. It only made sense, after all.
This was going to suck.

Admiral Pyraxis was in an irritable mood. He’d had to learn the meaning of another Earth word: drunk. Then he had to learn the meaning of hangover. Then he spent more time than necessary examining the capacities of his own liver.
He knew he was letting the drink get to him. But he was too stressed, and needed a way to relax. He was still somewhat sure that it wasn’t affecting his decision making that much.
Picking up his communicator from the floor, he punched in a code, then held it up to his head.
“Report on the project.”
“Understood. I’m coming down to inspect it.”
Putting in a different code, he once again spoke into the device, “Prepare my shuttle for departure. Destination is Immunisation Facility 3.”

Robert decided if he survived this, he would never ride a submarine again. The boarding had gone like clockwork. He now had half a day to become acquainted with the rest of the team.
One guy stood out - he was wearing a gas mask and spoke with a muffled accent. Perhaps German?
“Guten Tag, Gentlemen. My name is Corporal Müller, but you may call me Tobias - I am in charge of this operation. We will split into three teams. In the hold are three backpacks - these have the bioweapon. I would be very careful not to drop them. The strongest guy in each squad will carry one. There are three main silos. Deploy the weapon, then get out. Any questions?”
Robert raised his hand, “Yeah, what's with the mask?”
“I wear this because I am hideously deformed! Ja, I was in France, and received a large dose of radiation from the…erm…fireworks. I have about five days until I suffer critical organ failure, so I figured I would go out on my own terms - in glorious combat!”
“Oh. Right.”
“I nearly forgot! Here, you all need to take a cyanide pill with you. We cannot risk anyone being captured,” he said, taking out a tray from behind him and enthusiastically offering the pills up to everyone.
Well, that's just wonderful. Robert took one and put it in his jacket pocket.
Robert acquainted himself with the rest of the team, and found somewhere to lie down. He knew it was going to be an arduous journey.

General Mathews stood dramatically at the head of his force. The wind was strong, but the surf was calm enough to board the boats. It was dark as well. He had requested a red cape for his speech, which was billowing behind him. It would have been a more potent image if it wasn’t so dark. As it was, he could barely see to the end of the crowd gathered before him.
There was no moonlight either - the strike had been carefully planned to take place under heavy cloud coverage. And so far, their luck had held. Standing on top of some crates, with a microphone connected to a meagre sound system, he puffed up his chest.
Tapping the mic, he winced as it squealed. Slapping it a couple more times, he began to speak.
“Before me, I do not see an army. I do not see the best of the best. I do not see heroes; for the heroes died in the first attack. They died on the front lines, charging into certain death. We are the ones who remain. And you ask yourself, what can a couple of thousand men do?”
“Fighting an enemy we cannot beat, with weapons we can’t match and resources we can’t equal, not for a thousand years. What is the point? Madness!”
“We are martyrs. The heroes have fallen long ago. It falls to us to do the dirty work. We are the ones who ask for no thanks and will go forgotten by all; but do not fear! Our actions stand in place of our identities, and they will echo through the annals of history, for today we take the fight to them! Today, we charge into the jaws of death, just like our countrymen, only this time we can win!”
“You heard me right! We can win this war. Our job is simple. Fight, and die. And God willing, our comrades will complete their mission, and sentence the invader to eternity whichever hell they belong in. Today, we die. This is not a battle we can possibly survive, but we will sure as hell fight. Remember those words of Churchill, spoken so many years ago.”
“Feel the defiance of humanity coarse through your veins! Cast your thoughts to the Greeks at Thermopylae, or our forefathers at Rorke’s Drift! Pavlov’s house! Invoke the spirit of Saragarhi! Remember the Guards’ last stand at Westminster, where the road ran slick with Salvad blood!”
“For today, we cast our die for a future we will never see, and children we will never meet! We will not go quietly into that good night! Rage! Rage against the dying of the light!” The men cheered, overpowering the scream of the air and the rage of sea.
“To arms!”
Adrenaline swells in tensed muscles.
“Blood will be spilled!”
The clatter of weapons ringing in ears.
“On this day, our blood will stain the streets!”
They don’t cheer now; they roar.
“The blood of Terra will flow!”
They surge forward to the boats, a force of nature, with the defiance of a cornered beast.
“Rise, defenders of Earth! From every corner of our planet you came, and to the seas you will return! Fear no death, for death is on your side! If this is to be the dying gasp of Humanity, then let it be the greatest last stand in history!”
And as the warriors boarded their craft, general Mathews tossed away the key to his jeep, and slipped into the crowd. Which was impressive, given his rather pompous appearance.

Jacob, an absolute unit of a man - who never seemed far from getting his huge frame stuck in the doorways - yelled down the length of the compartment we were staying in.
“Captain says fifteen minutes to drop site!”
Tobias stood and said, “All right gentlemen, gather your equipment and prepare yourselves - the sea is cold this time of year.” Robert froze. “We’re not landing?” Tobias laughed, then suffered a bout of wet coughs. Recovering, he looked up, “No. The submarine will drop us off as close as possible, and we will have to wade the rest of the way. Maybe swim a little.”
This day just kept getting worse and worse.
Admiral Pyraxis was having yet another argument with Krystak when an aide came with alarming news.
“I’m sorry?”
“It's immunisation site three, sir! They’re reporting an attack on the island!”
Krystak, ever the opportunist, spoke up. “Correct me if I'm wrong, admiral, but is that not the location of project-”
Pyraxis snapped.
“I KNOW, SHUT UP!”
Taking some time to gather his thoughts, he spoke in a more reasonable tone.
“Summon the Zirrack, get them on my shuttle.” The aide looked shocked, “Y-you’re going down there?”
“Yes, now hurry up.”
Pyraxis dismissed Krystak and marched to his shuttle, seething with rage. Obviously, there was no way the Humans could know about what was hidden under the facility. It was probably just a few militants trying to sabotage operations in Europe. However, it pays to be cautious - hence Pyraxis bringing the Zirrack Crimson Brigade, his personal bodyguard.
An elite unit made up of the best Salvad troops, subjected to genetic enhancement and wearing crimson ceremonial armour - which was very much not for show.

Robert waded through the breakers, soaked all up his back with ice-cold water. The whole group panned out, advancing slowly up the beach, rifles at the ready. Robert was using a British army L85A1, along with a Glock 19 as a sidearm. They all had NVGs, although they wouldn’t be massively effective considering advanced Salvad thermal-concealing clothing.
The surf was calm, and distant rumbling of the clouds could be heard. He wished he’d worn thicker socks to protect against the biting cold of the sea. Dead quiet, they ran up the sand and into the grass. The crackling of gunfire could be heard fairly close by.
Jacob glared at a sign. “You can’t seriously expect me to believe that this place is called Cronky Bing,” he whispered. Robert squinted at the sign, and sure enough, it read: Cronk y Bing Nature Reserve.
"At least we're where we need to be," Tobias said. "Now let's get moving."
The team began a careful march through the fields, towards their target at Jurby. Deploying his night vision, Robert could see the silhouette of the Silos to be targeted, a large building that must have been the factory, and some squat structures which were most likely barracks.
The gunfire became louder the closer they got, with erratic explosions keeping Robert on edge. The flash of muzzles and bright light of Salvad plasma weapons became visible, reflecting on the clouds. Advancing to the last hedgerow before the base itself, the team’s sniper and spotter set up, easily disappearing into the bushes thanks to their ghillie suits.
“Okay, everyone split up into your teams. One target for each team. Get in, deploy it, and get out,” Tobias said. “Do not destroy the silos. Best of luck.”
Splitting up, the teams sprinted towards the border fence of the complex. No Salvads were spotted until they were halfway there, but the moment weapons were raised, the sniper took them out in quick succession. Tobias led Robert’s team up the fence, where they cut a hole with bolt cutters and crawled through. Tobias motioned to spread out, while Jacob and a couple of others moved towards their designated silo. They would have to climb the ladder to the access port at the top in order to deploy the payload.
It was just as they reached the ladder that they all heard the hum of engines approaching.

“Where the fuck is the rest of Beta team?” Johnson yelled at Simmons.
“They must have been blown off course-”
Johnson cut him off, “How do you lose half your team? You're needed at full strength!”
“Calm down! They probably just landed further south than intended. I’ll take what men I have and we’ll just have to wait for the rest to catch up.”
Johnson seethed. But eventually, he just growled and ordered his men to move out. They had gathered in the centre of a little town called The Cronk, which lay about three kilometres south of the enemy compound. Alpha team set off at a brisk pace north, while the weakened Beta team moved northeast to cut off the Salvad route of reinforcements at St. Judes - reinforcing Salvad troops would most likely come along the main road from Ramsey on the east coast, where they would meet a nasty surprise.
And Charlie team were ordered to stay right where they were, and protect from an attack in the rear.
Johnson’s force lined the hedgerows facing Jurby. He had dispatched a portion of his force to secure the church sitting on a slight incline, which used to overlook the prison before it was demolished by the Salvads. Johnson checked his watch, then gave the order. Three rocket launchers fired into the base - two hitting guard towers, and the third hitting a barracks and caving in the roof.
Alarms blared, and Salvads rushed out - many without any of their armour - and frantically tried to find out where the attack was coming from. They were met with machine gun fire from the Humans. Johnson grinned as he watched swathes of enemies get mowed down. Hefting a grenade launcher, he began to help blow them to pieces. Gunfire at the church suggested that the squad sent there had encountered resistance.
His eyes bulged when a Salvad in the complex levelled the church with an anti-tank weapon.
That guy didn’t stay alive for long, as the marksmen among Alpha team exacted revenge. Once the shock of their attack began to wear off, deadly accurate return fire began to rain on them, plasma tearing through their superficial cover.
The real battle had started.

Meanwhile, Beta team managed to sneak unnoticed all the way to St Judes, where they laid their trap - landmines, hidden gun emplacements, the whole deal. Kicking in doors, they took up positions in windows and on roofs. Snipers spread out outside the village in the fields, ready to pick off any reinforcements.
It didn't take long for the call for help to reach Ramsey. It took even less time for the armoured response to come driving up the road.

Admiral Pyraxis gazed out his shuttle window at the storm clouds they were headed into. The power of nature on this planet was truly staggering to him. Of course he had seen storms back home, but those were gusts of wind compared to the thunderstorms here on Earth.
He felt the turbulence as his shuttle descended into the clouds, and part of him became nervous, just for a moment. He soon chastised himself; there was nothing to fear down there. So why did his gut tell him otherwise?
The shuttle smoothly landed at the Immunisation facility, where Pyraxis and his guard disembarked, only to be greeted with deafening gunfire far too close for comfort. As they walked away from the ship, it suddenly got hit with several successive blasts, tearing it apart. Pyraxis dove to the ground, shell shocked. Gathering himself, he screamed at the Zirrack, “Half of you, deal with those humans! Kill them all! The rest of you, with me.”
They silently obeyed, moving towards the sound of fighting. Pyraxis stormed into the facility's command centre, enraged. Barging into the control room, he searched for the base commander. Seeing him, the commander saluted, then - rather pointlessly - said “Sir! The base is under attack!”
Pyraxis glared at him. “I know. All the explosions gave it away.”“What should we do?” the commander stammered.
“What should- what are you, stupid? Deploy the garrison!”
The trembling commander blabbered his apology and scurried away.
Turning to the nearest worker, he ordered them to call in all the troops on the island. It was at this point that Pyraxis may have completely snapped. This is because a private burst into the room, and said, “Hostiles have breached the northern border!”
Suffice it to say, Pyraxis was not happy. Once he was done screaming at his subordinates, he ordered the inoculations extracted immediately to prevent their destruction.
Brandishing his pistol, he stormed out of the command centre with his guards. “Find the saboteurs. Prevent them from damaging anything.”

Robert never thought he would see a man physically tear a Salvad apart with his bare hands, but that is precisely what Jacob did. The victim was running towards the sounds of fighting, when Jacob jumped him from the side and went berserk. Robert stared with morbid fascination.
Moving through the compound, they easily overcame the few guards who stumbled upon them in quick fashion. Reaching the silo, Jacob and two other men began the climb up the ladder while the others secured the area.
“Contact, front! Multiple-”
A scream cut through the air as the speaker was blasted apart by plasma fire. Robert dove for cover, catching a glimpse of some red-clothed figures.
“Who the fuck are these clowns?” he yelled to Tobias, who shrugged from behind the crate he was using as cover.
Peaking around the corner of a wall, Robert saw who they were dealing with.
At least five. More?
He fired a burst at one, and swore upon seeing the rounds deflect harmlessly off of their armour. He motioned to Tobias to provide covering fire. Counting down with his fingers, he nodded at Tobias, and sprinted back through the facility. A couple of stray rounds flew near him as he ran. Finally, he saw what he needed.
A dead guard. And importantly, his weapon. It was worth seeing if it would have an effect. Running back to the fight with his newly liberated weapon, he hid at the edge of one of the barracks. From there, Robert saw Tobais loading an RPG. Quickly and efficiently, Tobias readied the weapon, and peaked round the corner.
Firing, he hit one of the red bastards point blank. It was not pretty - burning flesh and scraps of armour flew in all directions. The others did not like that, and began advancing, spraying fire at anything that moved, resulting in another guy’s head getting blown apart. Robert anxiously watched the group climbing the silo - they were about to be spotted. Pressing every button on the Salvad rifle until it seemed to work, he took a deep breath, and fired at the fancy dress fucks (as he had decided to name them). The first few hits did not penetrate their armour, but with several successive hits parts of the plate began to melt. So, it worked. They immediately returned fire, forcing Robert to duck back behind his corner.
He eyed the wall with fear as it began to melt under the pressure of enemy weaponry, and took a few steps back. He could still see the guys scaling the silo. They were just about to reach the top. Just a little further…
One of the Salvads saw them. It aimed its weapon up, and shot the man behind Jacob. He went tumbling down to the ground, the sickening splat of the impact echoing throughout the facility.
Gritting his teeth, Robert once again peeked from his cover to provide covering fire and distract the Salvads. As he ducked once more, a Salvad shot missed his head by a hair’s width, melting through the wall behind him.
He held his breath, watching Jacob pull himself and the payload up the last few rungs of the ladder. Enemy fire began to rain on them.
Come on…come on!
Just as it looked like Jacob would be hit, he pulled himself over the side and out of the enemy line of sight.

“Fuck! We need support over here!”
Johnson’s men had been repelled and were being forced back in the centre, with their hard-won position at the church’s ruins under threat of encirclement. Casualties were unknown, but high.
“It always sounds better in a speech.” Johnson muttered, “Oh, glory, saving humanity. I don’t see the general out here dying with us-”
Just then, he glanced over at the smouldering church, and saw a ridiculous looking figure, who appeared to be wearing some sort of cape...
“Oh, fuck me.”
He watched, dumbfounded, as general Mathews engaged Salvad troops in hand to hand combat with his bayonet. The fight was obscured by smoke as the general dramatically executed a downed Salvad. If a middle aged man with a bad back and a tendency to favour tea and biscuits over any kind of physical exertion could do that... what was Johnson waiting for?

Beta team was initially successful, destroying or disabling several armoured vehicles as they entered St. Judes in a single file convoy. However, the convoy recovered quickly, deploying their troops and demolishing every building in the town. The vehicles fanned out into the fields, where several more fell to landmines, but the rest were able to provide deadly fire support.
The members of Beta team who had landed too far south caught up only as the fighting began, and found themselves out of position and disorganised, with many fleeing in all directions and any semblance of order evaporating. Having levelled St. Judes, the armoured convoy resumed the drive to Jurby, albeit with significantly more caution.
Beta team radioed all other teams, alerting them of the breakthrough.
Charlie team was effectively holding back Salvad reinforcements in the south, having dug in at the Cronk and Ballaugh. Smith ordered guerrillas further inland to sabotage the Salvad communication array, and succeeded before anyone was the wiser. Salvad armoured columns from Peel lay burning, dotted across the landscape.
This favourable state of affairs only lasted until enemy air support arrived.
It was a slaughter.

“Can we get more men from Charlie team?” Johnson radioed, only to have his spirits sunk as the news came through.
Charlie team had been destroyed by enemy air strikes. Soon after, Simmons radioed to say that Beta team had been smashed, and were retreating.
Johnson’s heart sank. He probably had less than half his own men left, and enemies were closing in on all sides. He sincerely hoped that the mission had been successful.

Jacob yanked open the hatch to the silo, and deployed the payload without further thought, holding his breath as he did so. Tying a rope from his pack to a rail, he repelled down the side of the silo as quickly as possible, immediately taking cover. His comrade was not so lucky, getting shot on his way down. Jacob sprinted to find the others, cursing as a shot grazed his side, sending him sprawling on the ground.

Vice admiral Krystak had a solemn look on his face. Before him were the rest of the Salvad high command, all recalled for an emergency meeting.
“It seems our leader has gotten himself in quite some trouble. We have no communications, and satellite imaging is obscured by the storm. We have no idea the scale of the attack on Immunisation site three, or the status of Admiral Pyraxis. We must consider him compromised. Would you agree?”
Carefully neutral expressions and subtle nods all around.
Perfect.
“In these exceptional circumstances, we must take precautions. It is stipulated that the Vice Admiral must assume the position of Admiral in such circumstances. Agreed?”Careful nods all around. Nobody spoke up.
“As such, does the council agree to grant me the title of Admiral and the powers that come with it, in order to rectify the situation?”
They all looked at each other. Then, one by one, nodded in agreement.
“Then let us make haste. I presume you are all aware of Pyraxis’s little project buried under the facility. The research there must not be discovered by the Humans. As such, I move to allow the retrieval of all usable material from the facility, and to order the subsequent destruction of the facility to prevent a security breach. All in favour?”
The Salvad’s gathered looked weary, but soon crumbled under peer pressure.
All agreed. A rational decision, given the information available. They all knew it was a thinly veiled coup, and none wanted to put a target on themselves.
Krystak, now the Admiral and commander of all Salvad operations in Sol, growled softly as he revelled in his victory.
The foresight of the ambitious is often lacking.

Robert watched as the cargo haulers flew in, barely stopping as they lifted the entire silos, and then flying away at top speed. A few half-hearted pot shots were taken at them to reinforce the notion that the Salvads had foiled the dastardly human plan.
It had been a close thing. They hadn’t expected the Salvads to order an accelerated extraction. Robert now hid inside one of the barracks with a couple of others, including Tobias - who was methodically taping a claymore to his chest.
He stopped what he was doing when he heard a clatter somewhere far off, followed by the sound of footsteps.
Robert held his breath. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he tensed, ready to run.
He could hear their chatter. By the sound of their movements, they had panned out and were searching every nook and cranny.
Gripping his rifle with white knuckles, he waited for the nearest footsteps to near even more, before charging out of cover. Firing his stolen weapon in a continuous burst into the Salvad’s face, forcing him back. The plasma melted the faceplate, and boiled the Salvad inside - evidenced by its' screaming.
Hunched over to avoid the fire of the other Salvads, Robert sprinted to the body and extracted a knife from one of its pockets. The knife had an ornate design, and a thin glowing red rim along the edge. The balance felt completely off.
Diving behind a toppled bunk, Robert tried to make himself as small as possible. A stray enemy shot scorched the side of his abdomen, the intense heat instantly cauterising the wound. A few centimetres to the right, and he would be trying to stop his organs from falling out.
“Fuck!”
A small chunk of flesh had been carved away by the shot, and he screamed as his fried nerve endings made their displeasure known.
“Bitch!”
He half ran, half stumbled through the barracks, crashing through the first doorway he saw. On the other side was a slope, heading down into a lower level. With the sound of fighting, he saw no choice but to go further down. It looked like a laboratory of some sort, with pristine white walls and ceilings. Robert wandered into a vast chamber, where human bodies lay on operating tables in various states of dissection, with more suspended in vats filled with a sickly green liquid. Pausing to take this all in, Robert promptly vomited, and ran in another direction.He was determined to get out of that awful place as soon as possible. Hearing footsteps behind him, he threw himself onto the floor behind a cabinet to hide. Stolen gun at the ready, he strained his ears for any sign of the enemy.He didn’t have to wait long. Striding into the room, three of the red-clothed-pricks fanned out. Sneaking a look, he saw one of them wasn’t wearing a helmet - sign of a comically arrogant superior officer. They were speaking.
The officer sounded angry.
Taking his chance, he peaked his weapon around the cabinet, and nailed one of the soldiers in the head. He crumpled to the floor instantly. The other one, not missing a beat, spun and fired at Robert, forcing him to cower behind the rapidly melting cabinet.
Crawling to the other end, he peaked again, and was able to shoot the soldier’s weapon, disabling it. Unfortunately for Robert, his bad luck once more reared it’s ugly head, and the Salvad rifle stopped working.
Out of charge?
Casting the spent weapon aside, he charged the Red Salvad. *Where's the officer?*All too late, he realised his mistake. As he body-slammed the Salvad, the officer appeared from behind a wall, pistol raised. Robert’s “borrowed” Salvad knife found its way into his grip, and the glowing edge of the blade burrowed through the Salvad’s armour. Robert twisted it into the Salvad’s neck, severing the spine, and shoving the now-deceased body to the ground.
This left him facing off with the officer. Perhaps Robert had seen too many films, as he expected some kind of evil speech. Instead, the officer shot him, and he fell down.
He entered a world of pain, body convulsing on the floor. The once-pristine tiles were rapidly changing colour around him. It felt like some of him was missing. Taking a look at the damage, he wished he hadn’t. His brain sort of stopped working at this point, overwhelmed and high on adrenaline.
Robert fumbled for his Cyanide pill as the Salvad strolled over.
In the corner of his eye, he saw a shape appear at the door in the back. A human, covered with burns and scorched flesh underneath torn uniform. A distinctive gas mask adorned his face. The individual raised a pistol with shaking arms, and fired.
A single bullet hit the Salvad in the neck, spewing a fountain of blood in front of him. The Slavad cried out, and fell flat on his face.
Tobias limped over and kneeled beside Robert.
“Hey, I got you. Look at me. I got you.” he said, panting.
“And here I was, thinking… you were dead, Toby.”
“Heh, I very nearly was. Those freaks had a flamethrower! Here, let me help you up.”
Grunting, Tobias lifted Robert by the arm, supporting his weight. After a bit of rearranging themselves, the two limped their way back into the barracks. Bodies lay strewn everywhere, and the building was on fire and filling with smoke.
Kicking down the door to the outside, they stumbled out into the fresh sea air. The sound of battle could still be heard far off, though they paid it no heed. Stumbling away from the base, the pair made the short journey to the beach.
Robert lay down, and Tobias kneeled beside him. “What time do you think it is?” asked Robert. The Sun was just beginning to rise, with a few rays penetrating the morning sky. The storm had cleared, replaced wth a hesitant blue.
“Not a clue,” Tobias wheezed. The waves were breaking mere metres away from their feet, lapping at the shore and blissfully uncaring of the violence occurring inland.
“Just hold on a little longer. I think we’ll get to see a sunrise, of a sort.” said Robert. His gaze was fixed at a point just above the horizon. From that little point, a speck of light was rapidly growing, heading right for them.
They joined hands, clasping each other in a tight grip.
Here, the man who fought out of spite lay. Next to him, the man who fought out of habit. Both were terrified of dying. Both were now too tired to care. Bleeding and hurting, they finally rested. Their war, at least, was over.
Jacob had died just a few minutes earlier, in the fight in the barracks.
Pyraxis did not die when he was shot in the neck, as the bullet missed his airpipe. He stumbled out a different exit, only to see the sky brighten. Ironically, the killing blow was dealt by his own people. This irony was not lost on him.
The entire island was destroyed, every living thing perishing under orbital bombardment, leaving a crater and no evidence of the deeds done there, heroic or cowardly.
Save for its legacy, in the form of plague the likes of which the Salvad’s had never witnessed.
Author’s note:
I think this may be some of my best work yet. I put a lot of effort into the concepts and -especially- detailing the attack, which I’m quite proud of. It was a bit slower than I wanted getting this one done due to external factors, but I managed it in the end. Given how long it’s ended up, perhaps I should have split it up more, but oh well. I’d like to say thank you to anyone and everyone who took an interest in this little series - the support means a lot to me. If you read this far, thank you.

Does anyone know when Sugar and Spite will be released in Europe? Most stores I’ve checked says late august but that seems very late since it releases june 9th in the US. Is there anywhere in Europe I could get it earlier?

Going to start an overland project on my 15' Q5 and have been looking for suspension components. Would prefer hydraulic over air ride but something with ride height adjustability built into it. I've checked sites here in the US and Europe but haven't had any luck. Suggestions???

Does anyone know when Apeks will release the RK-4 fins in the US? Ive been seeing them online for a year now but nothing available anywhere. I don’t know if they’re available in Europe yet or not. The only sites that list them as available look sketchy. Just kinda want to check a set out before I buy something else.
They just say “coming this year” on the Apeks site.

So, I got a 280mm AIO from NZXT in January, but when installing it, a screw broke. I decided to contact NZXT and got a reply after one month. When I got that reply, they asked me for my info, so I gave them everything they needed, and they said it would take a few days to ship.
I didn't expect the shipment to be fast because it had to come from the US to Europe. But after one month, it still wasn't here. And of course, I was checking the tracking info a lot of times.
https://preview.redd.it/qcsvdm2nj55d1.png?width=309&format=png&auto=webp&s=fea65c05de5ca5a9a7f6f67180c70d20f53a4f04
I saw this weird path: it went from the US -> EU -> US.
Why? I understand that this might be USPS's fault and not NZXT's. So, after no movement for two months, I made a new ticket to ask about it. "After reviewing your order, it looks like the wrong country was put down and it looks like this part most likely got lost in shipping. I will make you a new part request due to this error."
I gave them my info again, and they processed it, but it was out of stock. So I had to wait even longer. But two days ago, I finally got an email that my screws were shipped. Hopefully, they will arrive soon.
(I can use my AIO with only 2 screws, but it's not optimal). But imagine if I couldn't use the product; that would be such bad service from NZXT.

Hey everyone,
I need some advice about my friend "Jim" and his long-distance relationship with a Filipina girl, "Jane," since early 2023. I'm starting to think it might be a scam. Here’s the scoop:
Good Signs:

• They FaceTime pretty often, and Jim even visited her earlier this year. I’ve talked to her a bit too.
• Jim's been in touch with several of her family members, some on FaceTime, some not. He regularly chats with her mom.
• Jim has her personal info.
• I checked her social media with reverse image search and found nothing fishy.
• She doesn’t directly ask for money.

Sketchy Stuff:

• In early 2023, Jim got DMs from two different profiles telling him to back off "their girl." Jane said one is her ex, and the other is a friend who turned stalker. I'm getting back to this.
• She sometimes goes MIA with little to no contact, claiming she has to work 16+ hours a day as a nurse.
• Jim didn’t meet any of her family or friends when he visited.
• Recently, she said someone at her hospital broke expensive equipment, so her whole department’s pay got cut until it's paid off. Then she mentioned a water leak in her rental that she has to pay for. I suspect Jim volunteered to cover expenses.
• After Jim’s visit, she said she got pregnant. He started getting things ready to bring her to Europe, and then she said she had a miscarriage. Jim covered time off work.

Big Red Flag:

• Last month, she sent screenshots of DMs with her Filipino doctor, "Mike" (weirdly, in English), about the miscarriage. Here’s the kicker: "Mike" has the same full name as one of the stalker DMs from last year. I'm almost sure it’s the same profile.

He already booked her a ticket to Europe, and she's due in two weeks. I’m really worried about Jim and need some advice.
Thanks a lot for any help!

I'm trying to buy a car in my country which was exported from Australia. Can any of you please help me check its vin 6T1BF9FK6HX720829