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The Underdog Effect
Underdogs can rise, too
For well over a decade, with Arsène Wenger, Arsenal struggled to win the league (PL). The 'underdog' of Pep, Arteta, put an end to the "PL drought". And today Arsenal is back at the top (owing to a one-goal goal difference or "GD"). Well done to Arsenal, they deserve it.
Today, a 10-men ManCity won in Old Trafford against a potent rival; they fought 'til the end and so will we. Some hours ago I explained that it is more like Brett Wilson LLP v Schestowitz at this stage; they cannot hide it anymore. The UK's SLAPP industry is willing to spend a fortune to muzzle us.
We won't be silenced and any attacks on us will result in more speech, not less of it. More attacks = more scandals to cover in the future.
We've not been (in any real sense) neglecting important topics due to the SLAPP series. There's no rush. The news is slower sometimes. We'll spread out the coverage and it can last years, even a decade or longer.
Time is not a barrier. In fact, social control media, in hindsight, was the biggest waste of time, not the efforts to cover SLAPP and after the SLAPP against TechDirt the site did in fact focus a lot on the issue of SLAPPs in the US. We can relate to that.
"SLAPP coverage is very important," a reader has told us today, and it's important to talk about the issue, the patterns, the tactics, not the players and hired guns du jour. They follow a similar "blueprint" or "playbook". Then, we'll get politicians to amend laws so as to curtail them all at one fell swoop.
They won't give up without a long fight, so preparing for the fight is critical. It's feasible to win it with all the right allies. The SLAPP industry is only about 0.001% of the population and everyone hates it (more so if the hired guns cannot operate secretly, in "the shadows" and "without prejudice"). Everyone stands to lose from the SLAPP industry except their prolific clients (oversensitive and egoistic defamation trolls); their rare clients just go broke even if they "win".
Coverage of the SLAPPs will span several sites. SLAPPs must stop. In order for them to stop we need to public to know they exist and how they're done. █
![[Jack Sparrow you have heard of me] We don't fancy you insulting the SLAPP industry. But you ARE SLAPPing.](/i/2026/09/slapp-meme.png)
Image source: Big dog small dog