#16th amendment

[kafirchristian]

What he says IS THE TRUTH!! But many will ignore it...

Pastor Ken Hovind was speaking documented facts. He was educating to the truth. Feds went after him, confiscated his funds, arrested him and sent him to prison...for speaking truth that was inconvenient. Couldn't have Americans waking up to the insidious moves to abolish our Constitution, our safety, our rights that we have had since the organic rise of a nation in America under God, as a Christian nation.

[marklakshmanan]

Please file under April 15: Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14 and died on the 15th, 1865. The Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14 and sank on the 15th, 1912. The modern income tax system was established by ratification of the 16th amendment on February 3, 1913. Why did we choose the 15th as Income Tax Day?

[citizenshipsolutions]

Part 55 - A Post "MOORE"Tem- The Supreme Court Upholds The 965 @USTransitionTax

Introduction and purpose https://twitter.com/USTransitionTax/status/1673425979497234432 The Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in the Moore case in June of 2024. The decision in Moore is here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-800_jg6o.pdf Moore 22-800_jg6o I would characterize the decision as a loss for the Moores, but a possibly a huge win for those who backed…

[rodgermalcolmmitchell]

The lawsuit you never heard of could upend your life

The U.S. Supreme Court has a sordid history, with only brief flashes of morality and honesty. Following a sad tradition of supporting extremism, bigotry, and personal greed. It has legalized slavery, counted blacks and women as less than human, denied the words “well-regulated militia” exist, approved civil asset forfeiture without due process, forced sterilization of the mentally feeble,…

[theirwolfbicanthrope]

Went digging around about the quote regarding Orlok sleeping for a century (or more) before hearing Ellen and here is everything I've found around it (so far):

my post about the Fangoria issue + reblog with the photo of the quote (also corrected to give the credit to Craig Lathrop who said it, not Eggers - don't post things when half awake and overly excited, kiddos!)

These are all interviews with Lathrop, the production designer (+ some of the other crew, but the quotes are all his)

“We needed disrepair, decay, you needed to feel diseased almost,” he said. “So that’s what we were building. It needed to feel like Orlok has gone in his sarcophagus a hundred years ago, and he’s decided not to come out again until Ellen awakens him.”

The supernatural feeling of the scene is furthered when Hutter approaches Count Orlok’s castle, which was able to use Corvin Castle in Romania as an exterior though the interior needed to be designed and built by Lathrop. “I looked at a lot of castles in the Czech Republic, probably all of them,” he says. “They’re all beautifully refurbished and ready for tourists to come through, but that’s not who Orlok is, right? Orlok has been in his sarcophagus for at least a hundred years, probably closer to two. He is in disrepair and decay and almost diseased, and you want to feel that.”

Then there's this one that is a little more confusing -

The main thing is that it should be not just unkempt – it should be falling apart. It should be deteriorating, much like Orlock. You have a few items, more inside the tower room, which was the Hutter bedroom. I was thinking of the castle as being 100 or 200 years old. I looked at the 16th century as if it had just sat there for 150 years. It couldn’t be what we were seeing, these beautifully whitewashed, spit-shined old castles. They are gorgeous, but they look like they’re ready for tourists to visit.

If Orlok is 300, then his castle should be around the same age, right? Or, at least 250-ish years, if he did die in his 50s like Bill Skarsgard said in some interviews. The whole quote is kind of awkwardly phrased. I'm wondering if this was a mix up of the previous quotes.

Though I suppose it's not outside the realm of possibility the castle was finished after he became a vampire, especially if there were more of his bloodline still alive at the time. But in every other quote he's talking about the castle going into disrepair as Orlok goes to sleep, both of them decaying together. Idk, this one confused me.

Overall, the headcanon I'm getting is that Orlok hated being a vampire and didn't want to really actively be one - until Ellen gave him a reason to fully embrace what he is.

[wingsofhcpe]

me about to have mud and rotten tomatoes thrown @ me by at least half of my musketeer fandom friends when I say these two have more chemistry in that one scene than Sylvie and Athos ever did:

[reality-detective]

SHOCKING IRS BOMBSHELL! 16TH AMENDMENT NEVER RATIFIED – $330 TRILLION STOLEN!

The IRS is a lie. A weaponized system of control built on a FRAUD that has robbed Americans blind for over 100 YEARS. And now—the truth is out.

In April 1985, a sitting IRS Commissioner admitted in a CONFIDENTIAL LETTER what patriots have been shouting for decades: The 16th Amendment was NEVER legally ratified. That means EVERY dollar stolen from your paycheck since 1913 was done through an ILLEGAL SCAM.

This is not a mistake. This is deliberate theft. A century-long extortion racket run by globalist parasites, deep-state traitors, and corrupt bureaucrats. And it’s time to BURN IT ALL DOWN.

THEY LIED. THEY RIGGED THE SYSTEM. THEY ENSLAVED US.

The so-called “ratification” was FRAUDULENT. States were coerced, manipulated, and even falsely recorded as ratifying an amendment they REJECTED. The IRS was created as the ENFORCEMENT ARM of this criminal scheme—operating OUTSIDE the Constitution.

They didn’t just bend the law—they ignored it completely.

And now, after draining over $330 TRILLION from the American people, the elites think they can bury this truth forever. But we’re NOT letting that happen.

TRUMP KNOWS. AND HE’S READY TO ACT.

He’s made it clear: The IRS must be dismantled. He’s the ONLY one who’s stood up to the deep-state machine and lived to tell about it. But he needs an army behind him. US.

WHAT YOU MUST DO NOW:

SPREAD THIS MESSAGE. The deep state is scrambling to censor it—don’t let them.

DEMAND INVESTIGATIONS. Contact your reps and make noise. LOUD.

PRESSURE TRUMP. Tell him we stand with him—ABOLISH THE IRS NOW.

NEVER COMPLY AGAIN. They fear your refusal more than anything.

This isn’t about taxes—it’s about FREEDOM.

We are slaves no more.

The chains are breaking. The walls are shaking.

The storm is HERE. 🤔

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Judy Garland (Meet Me In St. Louis, A Star is Born, Summer Stock)— Judy is the GOAT when it comes to classic movie musicals. The voice of an angel who deserved so much better than she got. She can sing she can dance she can act she's a triple threat. Though she had a turbulent personal life (her treatment as a child star by the studio system makes me mad as hell like Louis b Mayer fight me ((she was made to believe that she was physically unattractive by the constant criticism of film executives who made her feel ugly and who manipulated her onscreen appearance by capping her teeth and using discs in her nose to change its shape and Mayer called her "my little hunchback" like imagine hearing that as a child and not having damage)) she always goddamn delivered on screen and in any performance she gave. She began in vaudeville performing with her sisters and was signed to MGM at 13. Starting out in supporting parts especially paired with mickey Rooney in a bunch of films (she's the best part tbh) she eventually transferred to the lead role. She is best known for her starring role in movie musicals like the iconic Wizard of Oz (somewhere over the rainbow still hits hard and is ranked the top film song of all time), meet me in St. Louis (Judy singing have your self a merry little Christmas brings tears to the eyes she is that powerful), the Harvey girls (she looks like a technicolor dream and sings a catchy af song about trains), Easter parade ( dancing and singing with Fred Astaire), for me and my gal, the pirate, and summer stock ( with pal Gene Kelly who she helped when he was starting out and he helped her when she was struggling). But she also does non- singing just as well like the clock ( her first movie where she sings no songs and is an underrated ww2 era romance), her Oscar nominated a star is born ( like the man that got away she put her whole soul in that and I have beef with the fact she lost to grace kelly ((whom I love but like still not even her best work)), and judgement at Nuremberg (a courtroom drama about the nazi war criminal trials). Outside of film she made concert appearances to record-breaking audiences, released 8 studio albums, and had her own Emmy-nominated tv series. She was the youngest (39) and first female recipient of the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement in the film industry. Girl was a lifelong democrat and was a financial and moral supporter of many causes including the civil rights movement (she was at the March on Washington and held a press conference to protest the 16th street Baptist church bombings). She was a friend of the Kennedy family and would call jfk weekly often ending the calls by singing the first few lines of somewhere over the rainbow (she thought of them as Gemini twins).She was a member of the committee for the first amendment which was formed in response to the HUAC investigations. Though she died far too young and tragically she remains an icon for her work and her life. As a girl who didn't feel like i was as pretty as everyone else I have always felt a connection to Judy and I just really love her.

Natalie Wood (West Side Story, The Great Race)—She went through so much shit which I know can be said for all these women but Natalie really was a star and her death often overshadows her career and life. She could make you cry, but she also had the capacity to be incredibly funny which I think is lost on people.

This is round 4 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Natalie Wood:

Judy Garland:

Judy's voice alone qualifies her for at least top ten hottest HOT VINTAGE MOVIE WOMEN. She was a truly incredible swing singer, with a stunning voice on top of her technique. Her short dark hair looked incredible in just about any style. Have I mentioned her swagger? I can’t do it justice with words. She had swagger. She was funny as hell, and clever too. Incredibly charming and cool. I adore her.

Her eyes, her voice have bewitched me

I mean how can you beat the one and only Judy? She's beautiful, her smile is contagious, the way she sings with her whole body. You can't help but love her.

Beautiful woman, love her singing voice. And she can do everything between happy or silly and angry or heartbroken

[curiouspupsicle]

Good Omens Fan Fiction Friday (2/7/25) - Read the Footnotes, part 1

Terry Pratchett spawned a bunch of Good Omens fan fic writers who adore clever footnotes as much as he did.

Sure, there are tons of fics who use footnotes to share musical inspiration, background information, or explanations of arcane knowledge. But some also use it to offer witty asides, a different writing rhythm, and even bickering between co-authors.

I adore clever footnotes. And I've collected quite a number of faves. So this will be a two-parter to do justice to the fabulous fics with footnotes.

Let's start with a few fics by @may--hawk, a writer known for fabulous footnotes. First up is ad vitam aeternam (T) in which Aziraphale and Crowley each turn up at a 16th century monastery near where a miracle has recently taken place. The footnotes bring a lightness where the "nature of miracles, love, and forgiveness" could feel quite serious.

For a light bit of fun, check out Operation Bookworm (T), one of @may--hawk's silliest and most recent works. After Armageddon't, Crowley decides to sneak his books into Aziraphale's bookshop for "safekeeping."

I'll just quickly mention like black and hungry birds (M)--Aziraphale falls and attends hell's carnival-- and some of these days (M)--Aziraphale has to figure out how to make amends to Crowley after averting the Second Coming.

Mayhawk has over 30 fics in the Good Omens universe so you can't go wrong if you love clever footnotes as much as I do. It's one of their key traits as a fic writer.

In The Big Lack of Chill (M) by @ashfae, The Bentley is fed up with Crowley not moving his relationship with Aziraphale to the next level so she takes things into her own hands, er wheels. The footnotes in this fic are quick, sassy quips. It feels like having a saucy friend whispering in your ear.

And, also by @ashfae is Feast (E). Set during the Covid lockdowns (a horrific thing to live through but a fabulous inspiration for fiction), Aziraphale gets lonely. When Crowley wakes, Aziraphale sets out to seduce him with food--yes, really. The writer calls it smut. But the meal is both silly and sexy. And the footnotes are delicious too.

Wow, a whole fan fic rec with only two writers?

Don't worry. I'll have more splendid picks with fun footnotes in part 2.

In the meantime, check out my other favorite fics on this pinned post of weekly Good Omens fan fiction recommendations.

[robertreich]

Billionaires Don’t Want You to Know About This Supreme Court Case

A majority of Americans support a wealth tax. But, surprise, surprise, the wealthy Republican megadonors who’ve been plying Supreme Court justices with gifts and vacations do not. And if those justices don’t recuse themselves from a case I’m about to explain, it will be a grave conflict of interest and potentially block Congress from ever enacting a wealth tax.

Moore v. U.S. concerns a one-time tax charged in 2017 on profitable foreign investments regardless of whether investors cashed them in.

The plaintiffs argue that the tax is unlawful under the 16th Amendment, which gives Congress the power to tax incomes.

Right now the super wealthy can take advantage of increases in the value of their stock portfolios by using stock as collateral to borrow all the money they need instead of taking taxable income. It’s a way to have their cake and eat it too.

If the Supreme Court buys the argument that the Constitution does not give Congress the power to tax increases in the value of investments, that would make it impossible to ever pass a wealth tax.

But here’s the kicker: This case raises profound conflicts of interest on the Supreme Court.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas both accepted luxury vacations from billionaires who stand to gain financially and are tied to conservative political groups that are responsible for appealing the case.  

No wonder Americans don’t trust the Supreme Court.

So what can you do?

First, share this video to spread the word about this little-known case.

Second, contact your representatives, and urge them to demand that justices with conflicts of interest recuse themselves.

And third, if your representative doesn’t support a wealth tax to combat inequality, replace them with somebody who does.

With so much at stake, now is not the time to sit on the sidelines.

[charlotte-of-wales]

Happy 85th birthday to Queen Margrethe Il of Denmark!

Born on April 16th 1940, Margrethe Alexandrine Pórhildur Ingrid, reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 52 years, she was the second-longest reigning Danish monarch after Christian IV.

Margrethe is the eldest child of Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden and became heir presumptive to her father in 1953, when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne. On her accession, she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrethe I, ruler of the Scandinavian kingdoms in 1376-1412.

In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she had two sons: Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim. She also has 8 grandchildren.

In her annual live broadcast New Year's Eve address on 31 December 2023, Margrethe announced her abdication, which took place on 14 January 2024, the 52nd anniversary of her accession to the throne. She was succeeded by her elder son, Frederik, as King Frederik X.

[goodolddumbbanana]

You know, I vaguely felt there was some similarity between Dark Sun and Sun, but I couldn't put my finger on it. But now I think I have figured it out.

I think Dark Sun's dimension is just exactly like Sun's, but with faster timelines.

Because Dark Sun's dimension has an Eclipse, so that means, they have to separate before Eclipse being created, right?

And it seems like it's just a normal day to Dark Sun!Moon, before he got ripped apart and tortured for idk... years?

And if Dark Sun doesn't have the exact same life as Sun, he would never be sympathetic with him or think Sun one day would be snap, right?

So what if, they have the same history as Sun and Moon. Waking up, being sentient, with Moon makes Sun's life a living hell, separate....

Only, with Sun and Moon, Moon kinda stops being an asshole from time to time... (The amount of time he is being an assholes lesser than the time he is being a dear brother.)

But with Dark Sun and Dark Sun's Moon, there are some differences.

1. Moon is the one who takes the body.

We saw when Sun pulled a "dragon ball" to Eclipse. His body got broken, and his Eclipse model showed off. This Moon has exactly the same condition and model as Sun, which means, when they separated, Moon is the one who keeps the body.

I guess this Moon thinks he should be the one who is in charge (he thinks he is more superior) and his hatred for Sun still does not go off after separation.

So he may have treated Dark Sun badly, or worse, he just treated him just like when they were sharing the same body, just slightly better.

Like Moon would downgrade Dark Sun, belittle him, hit him with the whacking stick....

Because Sun at the beginning of the show, thinks that Moon hated his guts so much he didn't want to live with him, that's why he has bought a house in space.

Which means, in that time, Dark Sun still has the same mentality of these thinking, and plus with the Eclipse things, I guess he just snapped.

2. July 16th on Dark Sun's dimension

I think the July 16th in Dark Sun's dimension still happened. Because if it is not, why does Dark Sun hate Bloodmoon? He seems to despise the existence of Bloodmoon more than apathetic about him.

Which leads to the bunker. Y'all remember the big fight Sun and Moon had in the bunker, but gladly, they made amends after the big fight with Wither Storm? (Sun had been really down after that, but he decided to be a better person and forgave Moon)

There is one line I remember. "Every Sun hated their brother, they just don't know it yet."

What if in Dark Sun's dimension, there is none of it? Or Moon never wants to make amends, was too deeply in his self hated ? He never apologised to Dark Sun, which leads to Dark Sun's hatred for Moon growing more and more, day by day until till Dark Sun decides enough is enough.

Because it seems like Moon got caught off guard. Moon has tons of self defense machine bullshit, so that means, it just happened in one day when nothing happened, when Dark Sun and Moon still laugh with each other in the morning.

Moon got his downfall just exactly like Dark Sun said, because of his own ego, never believe his weak idiot brother would try and succeed in beating him down.

3. Sun and Dark Sun's nature

Sure Sun is very kind, he cares and loves his family so dearly and he always believes in second chances or something... But he is also a very realistic and pessimistic person.

When Sun decides something may be a threat to him (Dark Sun's case cuz that baby girl doesn't care about anybody) or his family, or when he has no emotion attracted to it, he immediately goes into kill mode.

(When Jack dumped Sun's cats into the trash can, he almost went to scrap Jack. He killed Eclipse v1 cuz there is no way Eclipse v1 would stop hurting his family, and when Sun went to the spirals, not only Sun destroyed Eclipse v2's computer, he also threatened to kill Solar Flares...)

What I am going to say is, Sun and All variants of Sun can be very single minded at the same time. With Dark Sun, not only did he torture Moon, he also programmed Monty or killed everyone that might cause problems for him. He just went down the killing route, and tried to win the prize who killed the most.

I think the reason why Dark Sun thinks kinda highly about Sun, not only because he sees himself in Sun, but also he knows about how Sun accidentally killed his Moon once.

The backbone Dark Sun says to Sun I think now it's just as simple as bland. Dark Sun wants Sun to hate Moon, to stop putting up with Moon. That is why he said Sun is naive, because Sun still waiting answer from the others. That's why he manipulated events to make Nexus evil, so he can open Sun's eyes, proving for Sun that every Moon is just the same assholes, no one would and will ever change that title, despite them saying again and again how many times they will be better.

4. Do you think Dark Sun is lonely?

Because Dark Sun is still Sun, he can't get rid of those illogical sentiments.

Letting Moon alive? Letting him have his own body but can't move or do anything? Not only is it in another level of petty and cruel, it also shows that despite everything, Dark Sun still can kill Moon properly.

And keeping his dimension alive despite killing or programming everyone? How he still think of it as his home? Purely sentimental.

And when he visits Lunar and Earth, these banter, these siblings moments, there is no way it is fake.

Sun is not a good actor. He may read patterns and act along these assumptions of people's thinking very well, but he is just too self aware and stiff to do it. Moon is the dramatic one. He is the one who fooled Eclipse v1 for a long time, enough time for them to found the star.

So that means there is some part of Dark Sun still enjoying it, still enjoying chatting with his siblings. Still want to have a family, have someone to rely on.

Dark Sun's Moon had begged and yelled at Sun to come back, that means there was a time when Dark Sun still showed up at that cell, looking at the broken Moon, and maybe think about what would change if Moon just being a slightly lesser asshole before wiping all these regrets off his head and enjoying His Moon's suffer.

"Maybe in a different timeline, we can be happy. But right now, it's just me and you in this hellhole alone, with I stand outside and you in the cage like you always be. Wish I could just kill you and move on. Wish our father is never right, that you are always just the violent beast. Wish I could hate you for that, and wish I could let go of you, Moon."

Sidenote: so what does it make Nexus, who refuses to acknowledge himself as Moon? Because it seems like Dark Sun still thinks of him as Moon, and already pulls his strings to make Moon kill Nexus faster.

And why Dark Sun! Moon said to not to believe everything Dark Sun said? And why does this Moon call Dark Sun "it"?

Does that mean in this Universe, it was Moon who disowned Dark Sun?

[whencyclopedia]

Native American Enslavement in Colonial America

Slavery was practiced by the Native Americans before any Europeans arrived in the region. People of one tribe could be taken by another for a variety of reasons but, whatever the reason, it was understood that the enslaved had done something – staked himself in a gamble and lost or allowed himself to be captured – to warrant such treatment.

This model changed with the arrival of the Spanish in the West Indies in 1492 and their colonization of that region, South, and Central America throughout the 16th century. Native Americans were then enslaved simply for being Native Americans. In North America, after the English arrived, Native Americans were at first enslaved as prisoners of war but, eventually, were taken and sold to plantations in the West Indies to clear the land for expansion of English colonies.

This practice continued throughout the colonial era aided and encouraged by Native American tribes themselves up through 1750 and, after the American War of Independence (1775-1783), natives were pushed into the interior as African slavery became more lucrative. Even so, the enslavement of Native Americans continued even after slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. Americans got around illegal enslavement of natives by calling it by other names and justified it in the interests of "civilizing the savages". The practice continued up through 1900, dramatically impacting Native American cultures, languages, and development.

Native American Slavery & Columbus

Native American tribes were incredibly diverse, each with their own culture, and far from the cohesive, unified civilization they are often represented as under the umbrella term "Native American" or "American Indian". Each tribe understood itself as inherently superior to others and although they would form alliances for short periods in a common cause, or for longer periods as confederacies, they frequently warred with each other for goods, in the name of tribal honor, and for captives, among other reasons.

Men, women, and children taken captive were then enslaved by the victorious tribe, sometimes for life and other times for a given number of years and, in still other cases, until they were adopted and became members of the tribe. People could also be enslaved as hostages, held to ensure compliance with a treaty, and in some tribes, people were not only enslaved for life but any children born to them were also considered slaves, thereby creating a slave class long before the arrival of Europeans.

This model changed after the arrival of Christopher Columbus (l. 1451-1506) in the West Indies in 1492 and the Portuguese in 1500. Columbus kidnapped natives he brought back to Spain as slaves on his first voyage and sent over 500 back on his second. Between 1493-1496, he implemented the encomienda system, which institutionalized Native American enslavement throughout the Spanish colonies of the New World, and, by the time the French, Dutch, and English began colonizing North America, the Transatlantic Slave Trade was already established.

Continue reading...

[coraniaid]

Does anyone know the original source of the idea that Buffy's birthday is definitely January 19th? Because -- unlike, say, Tara's birthday, which we know is October 16th because it's given on her headstone in Help -- I don't think it's actually confirmed beyond doubt in the show proper. In particular, neither of Buffy's grave markers -- neither the one in Nightmares nor the one we see in The Gift -- gives a date of birth, only a year.

(Obviously I'm ignoring the two different dates of birth shown in Buffy's Sunnydale school records in I Robot ... You Jane. Neither of these can be correct because they' make Buffy's age at least seventeen, but we know from dialogue that she's sixteen in The Harvest at the beginning of the season and still sixteen at the end of the season in Prophecy Girl. I think those two wrong dates can be explained away as Moloch already using his presence on the net to change digital records.)

Yes, we first see Buffy celebrate a birthday in Season 2's Surprise, which first aired on January 19th (the same date that Season 3's Helpless would air next year, when Buffy again celebrates a birthday), but I don't think this on its own can mean much. The events of the show aren't normally supposed to have taken place on the days the different episodes aired. (Sticking to Season 2, Halloween aired a few days before Halloween, Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered aired days before Valentine's Day despite being mostly set after it; Season 3's Amends covers several days including Christmas Eve but aired on December 15th.) And none of Buffy's other on-screen birthdays (of which we see three, in Season 4, 5 and 6) first aired on January 19th: a couple didn't even air in January.

The closest I think we come to fixing January 19th as Buffy's canonical birthday on screen is a line in Season 4's Doomed, when Buffy describes herself as being a "Capricorn on the cusp of Aquarius". But although that does put her birthday within a few days of January 19th, I don't think it does more than that. Somebody born on January 17th or 18th could also very easily describe themselves this way, no?

As usual, google is no help here. I can find lots of breathless "did you know Buffy's birthday is on January 19th?" clickbait, but what I've not been able to find is something along the lines of "This was confirmed by Joss Whedon on [date] at [event]" or "This was revealed in the official Sunnydale High Yearbook" or anything like that. Generally I wouldn't treat a source like that as being completely canonical -- though I might for something small like this -- but it would be a lot more compelling than "everyone on the internet keeps repeating it, so it must be true".

[chambersandfogg]

April 16th, 1933 

Well, that was a smashing success. Such a success, I’m still feeling woozy this evening, though it’s been nearly an entire day since I last imbibed. Immortality does not protect one from the dreaded morning head. 

And all this malaise and head-pounding caused by just beer and wine! It seemed appropriate to limit the party’s libations to those less potent alcohols given that is what the President has decreed legal to sell, but I suppose I’ve become accustomed enough to bathtub gin that the sweeter stuff went straight to my blood.

The pain of today was well-earned and well worth it - nearly fifteen years we’ve languished under this oppressive prohibition and now, finally, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Why, the first state ratified the amendment just the other day! I expect that California will be swift to follow. It isn’t as though myself nor anyone I know has actually stopped the consumption of liquor since the eighteenth was put in place, but it’s the principle of the thing. It will be a relief to no longer be breaking the law (in this at least; my identity continues to be a fraud). Not that I have such great respect for the law—at least, not all of them—but it does add undue stress to one’s life to break so many so brazenly so often. 

Even Charles was in excellent spirits at the news (pun very much intended). When I had first proposed a celebration in honor of the President’s announcement last month, he was immediately all aboard. Despite the fact that I encouraged him to partake in the burgeoning commercial flight business (as I have yet to do so), he refused to go up in the air, too afraid of falling right out of it.  But he made quick work of his train journey from Washington, D.C. and has been staying with me for the last week. I can’t recall when we last spent such frivolous time together and it has been extremely rejuvenating. Perhaps it is seeing each other in the Los Angeles sunshine, but I daresay we both appear lighter and younger than we have in decades. 

He’s become more of a social butterfly since I last saw him—perhaps all that politicking in D.C. has been good for him. Every one of my guests found him terribly fascinating (as he is) and were deeply curious once they discovered we’ve known each other for the bulk of our lives. I suppose I have some kind of mystique amongst my cohort here in LA and they were all eager to take advantage of Charles’ presence by peppering him with questions about what I was like as a younger man. Questions he was more than happy to answer, even if he had to bend the truth here and there. Seems that Charles’ penchant for teasing me outweighs any guilt he feels at lying to people. 

It is a burden I’m willing to carry. With every story he told of my antics, his smile would widen, his laugh would grow more robust, and a glittering spark would make its way into his eyes. I think there’s probably all manner of ridiculous things I would do to be responsible for that.

[from the personal diary of J.S. Fogg]

[to read the pre-1917 entries, join Atypical Artists and get access to the archive of 24 entries (5,000+ words), as well as ad-free episodes of Atypical's whole catalogue. to receive future monthly missives straight to your inbox, sign up for free here]