#Community Monument Signs

[artsignworks]

Transform Your Home into a Coastal Paradise with Art Sign Works' Signs

If you're looking to add a touch of charm and personality to your home or business, look no further than Art Sign Works. Our team of skilled artists and craftsmen specializes in creating high-quality and unique signs using traditional and modern techniques.

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But Art Sign Works is not limited to just coastal signs. We also offer a wide range of sign options suitable for any style, including our charming Cottage Signs Canada. These signs are perfect for those who want to add a cozy and welcoming touch to their home or cottage. Our team works closely with our clients to create custom designs that reflect their unique personality and style. From classic and elegant to whimsical and fun, we can bring your vision to life.

At Art Sign Works, we understand that a good sign is not just about the design, but also about functionality. That's why we use high-quality materials and modern techniques to ensure that our signs are durable and long-lasting. We also offer a variety of finishes to protect your sign from fading, cracking, and peeling. This means you can enjoy your beautiful sign for years to come without worrying about maintenance.

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[thewriteadviceforwriters]

100 Vocabulary Words for Gothic Fiction | For Writers

Hello Writers! I've put together a list of 100 words to help you expand your vocabulary for writing gothic fiction in October. I categorized the words for easy reference. I did some research using thesauruses and dictionaries to compile this list for you. I hope you find it helpful! 👻🎃

Atmospheric Words

Tenebrous - dark and gloomy

Oppressive - overwhelming and unpleasantly powerful

Ominous - suggesting evil or harm is imminent

Eerie - strange and frightening

Uncanny - mysterious and unsettling

Nefarious - wicked or criminal

Malevolent - having evil intentions

Sinister - giving the impression of evil

Melancholy - deep sadness

Lugubrious - mournful or dismal

Sombre - dark and gloomy

Dreary - dull and depressing

Desolate - empty and lonely

Bleak - cold and depressing

Dank - unpleasantly damp and cold

Character Descriptions

Pallid - abnormally pale

Gaunt - thin and bony

Haggard - looking exhausted and unwell

Cadaverous - corpse-like

Wan - pale and sickly

Spectral - ghost-like

Enigmatic - mysterious and difficult to understand

Brooding - appearing darkly thoughtful

Tortured - suffering mentally or physically

Macabre - disturbing due to focus on death or injury

Architectural Features

Gothic - relating to medieval style architecture

Dilapidated - in a state of disrepair

Decrepit - worn out or ruined due to age

Crumbling - breaking into small fragments

Decaying - rotting or decomposing

Ramshackle - in a state of severe disrepair

Crypt - underground room or vault

Turret - small tower on a building

Parapet - low protective wall along the edge of a roof

Buttress - structure built against a wall for support

Supernatural Elements

Apparition - ghost or spirit

Phantasm - figment of the imagination

Specter - ghost or phantom

Wraith - ghost or spirit

Revenant - person who returns as a spirit after death

Ethereal - extremely delicate and light

Otherworldly - belonging to an imaginary or spiritual world

Paranormal - beyond normal explanation

Preternatural - beyond what is normal in nature

Occult - supernatural or magical

Emotions and States of Mind

Dread - great fear or apprehension

Foreboding - fearful apprehension

Trepidation - fear or anxiety about something that may happen

Anguish - severe mental or physical pain

Despair - complete loss of hope

Melancholia - deep and long-lasting sadness

Hysteria - exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion

Delirium - state of confusion and hallucination

Madness - state of severe mental illness

Obsession - persistent disturbing preoccupation with an idea or feeling

Gothic Settings

Moor - area of open, uncultivated upland

Wasteland - barren or desolate area

Labyrinth - complex maze-like structure

Catacomb - underground cemetery

Dungeon - dark underground prison

Mausoleum - building housing a tomb or tombs

Sepulcher - small room or monument where a dead person is laid

Necropolis - large cemetery, especially an ancient one

Citadel - fortress that commands a city

Monastery - building occupied by a community of monks

Weather and Natural Phenomena

Tempest - violent windy storm

Miasma - unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapor

Fog - thick cloud of tiny water droplets

Mist - cloud of tiny water droplets in the air near ground level

Gloom - partial or total darkness

Twilight - soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon

Umbra - the fully shaded inner region of a shadow

Penumbra - the partially shaded outer region of a shadow

Crepuscular - resembling twilight; dim

Tenebrous - dark, shadowy, or obscure

Literary Devices and Narrative Elements

Foreshadowing - warning or indication of a future event

Omen - event regarded as a portent of good or evil

Portent - sign or warning that a momentous or calamitous event is likely to happen

Harbinger - person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another

Presage - sign or warning that something will happen

Doppelganger - look-alike or double of a living person

Grotesque - comically or repulsively ugly or distorted

Gothic double - character representing the duality of human nature

Unreliable narrator - narrator whose credibility is compromised

Frame narrative - story within a story

Liminal Spaces and Concepts

Threshold - strip of wood or stone forming the bottom of a doorway

Liminal - occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold

Betwixt - in between

Interstitial - of, forming, or occupying interstices (small spaces between things)

Twilight zone - undefined or intermediate area between two distinct states

Purgatory - place or state of temporary suffering or expiation

Netherworld - imaginary subterranean world of the dead

Abyss - deep or seemingly bottomless chasm

Void - completely empty space

Chthonic - concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld

Miscellaneous Gothic Terms

Sublime - of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire awe

Ineffable - too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words

Eldritch - weird and sinister or ghostly

Atavistic - relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral

Numinous - having a strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating the presence of a divinity

Happy writing, and Happy October! 📜🕯️- Rin T.

[pebbledrat]

Hello Pebble,

I originally followed u here, because u are a fellow saal enthusiast (enjoyer doesn’t quite cut it, I fear). Then I left tumblr for a while (never was really active here myself) and now I just opened the app after maybe half a year and see u still posting about saal.

That gave me joy, so yeah

Idk *waves*

This makes me so happy!!? Thank you for saying hi!

Yeah, I'd agree that "enjoyer" doesn't quite describe the mania that saal posting tends to inspire 😅 there's been a little less saal posting as of late, but it's the intensity, not the frequency that makes saal content what it is (looks pointedly at the knack update schedule). I'm just glad there are still saal enthusiasts floating around!! ^_^

[schtrawberry]

[4] personal astrology observations

[!] this is mostly an introspective view into my chart; in no way, shape, or form am i saying that any of this is fact or set in stone, nor am i saying that i am a professional astrologer. these are just presences that exist within my chart that i've felt manifest themselves in real life. simply put, take what resonates and leave what doesn't :)

─ having your moon and ascendant in the same sign 🤝🏽 having every single emotion flash on your face, clear as day, at all times

═ sun in the tenth house 🤝🏽 indicator of doing well in your career or being able to advance in your career more easily than others

☰ on that note, mercury in the tenth house can also indicate being able to advance in your career because of the way you speak or how well you speak in a professional setting. individuals with this sign can also be recognized in the workplace for how well they speak and communicate.

☱ individuals with moon in twelth house may find themselves dwelling in the past more than most. the feeling of nostalgic makes them both happy and sad at the same time.

[personally, this manifests itself in me being able to constantly go back to specific moments in my life where i could've made a different choice, where i could've said yes to a specific opportunity, where my split decision could've prevented something monumental in my life from happening, and just overthinking the hell about how different my current situation would be if i did or did not. lots of angst and nostalgia in this sign tbh. it's hard, i know.]

☲ having moon negatively aspecting venus can indicate a late-bloomer in relationships. one might be more likely to find themselves in a serious relationship much later in life compared to others. this may be because the individual could be less likely to pursue romance on their own and would rather be approached first by a potential love interest.

[i can personally attest to this. at the ripe old age of 23, i have never been in a relationship before (or even a fling). from personal experience, i find that this is mostly out of fear of rejection (maybe coupled with my fear of being known but who really knows).]

☴ the taurus juno urge to show love and care through cooking— whether they're good at it or not. be it making their loved one breakfast in the morning, buying them a thoughtful snack or baking them their favorite dessert; a taurus juno is intrinsically tied to food in how they express their dedication and commitment to the one's they love most.

☳ a few asteroid notes:

note: asteroids are less impactful to one's personality, physicality, etc. compared to personal planets. they tend to only be relevant to one's chart if they are either in a tight orb (0-1°) or have major aspects to personal planets, preferably conjunctions or oppositions.

✢ kalliope (22), known as the chief of all muses, goddess of eloquence, and muse of epic poetry is the eldest of the nine muses. her name translates to "beautiful-voiced" from the greek words "kallos" and "ops". having this prominent in one's chart can indicate being known for having a beautiful voice, whether it be in terms of singing, public speaking, or just in general. someone that can attract positive attention from others simply through their voice, even to the point of possibly becoming someone's muse for it.

✢ [tw: r***] peitho (118), the personified spirit of seduction, persuasion, and charming speech, was the handmaiden and herald of the goddess aphrodite. interestingly, one striking depiction of peitho is of her fleeing from the scene of a r***. she was known to protect women from r*** and was known to flee from scenes of r*** when she was unable to intervene. peitho’s gift was pleasure for words and bodies, and she would be enraged when such pleasure was violated in any way.

i feel that this energy, when prominent in one's chart, can manifest itself in a girl's girl— a protector of women and advocate for consent. and while this observation does lean into the darker side of peitho, on the lighter end, this energy does also stand for using one's gift in speech and voice to seduce and charm others whilst also using it to stand up for women in unconsenting situations with men.

[`] film: love & pop (1998) dir. hideaki anno

last / next

[chippewa]

Indigeneity, Agenda 47 (Project 2025), and Social Security

Update: I think our best hope is that these plans aren't really implemented. Maybe people will become aware and there will be pushback from other elected officials to stop it. Trump's administration didn't go through with its entire 2016 plan. Maybe we'll dodge a bullet this time too.

This affects all Americans.

If you're in the US, you should be aware that the Trump administration plan includes reducing and/or shutting down Social Security which includes SSDI ("disability") / SSI ("welfare"), Medicare / Medicaid, along with EBT / SNAP ("food stamps").

This could also disband Tribes and take our remaining homelands. This could be the Termination Era coming back.

A lot of people voted for him having no idea that they may have voted to end their own healthcare, financial and food assistance in the coming year.

A lot of vulnerable people are at risk in the next year.

Insulin rationing is already happening to Americans (there's a common lie that "insulin was capped at $35!" when that only applies to seniors on a specific Medicare plan, which may be going away) even with the bare minimum social safety net that is Social Security / Medicare / Medicaid.

People are already going hungry even with SNAP / EBT food cards.

If you know anyone who relies on Social Security, or is "on disability" SSDI, or lives in poverty "on welfare" SSI, or needs Medicare or Medicaid for their healthcare and prescriptions, be very aware that you might see scary things happen in 2025, as part of "Agenda 47" (Project 2025).

The campaign had a fake website with nameless AI-generated "Native people" declaring support for the Project:

Zoom in on the hand and the strange sign meme text:

None of these people have names. They don't exist.

This is a project that may include disbanding our remaining Tribes, taking our remaining land and selling it to the highest international bidder.

They could do the same to all "federal land", like National Parks which Trump began doing in 2016 with Bears Ears National Monument a place that used to be protected, with ancient Native petroglyph rock art that now has ATV trails and RV parking, and is open for uranium mining:

From the fake site with AI generated "Native people" telling you we support this plan:

The "community-based self-reflection on how we identify as Native people of the United States" is a return of the Termination Era, where all Tribes are disbanded and we "become Americans" or cease to exist as Native people. Our nations are older than the US. The Trump administration has no right to force yet another assimilation policy on us.

This is a land grab, a theft of public resources, and will rob from the poorest people in the US including your neighbors.

This will affect everyone, Native or not.

I don't have any solution. This is just a warning.

[reasonsforhope]

"The U.S. government is entering a new era of collaboration with Native American and Alaska Native leaders in managing public lands and other resources, with top federal officials saying that incorporating more Indigenous knowledge into decision-making can help spur conservation and combat climate change.

Federal emergency managers on Thursday also announced updates to recovery policies to aid tribal communities in the repair or rebuilding of traditional homes or ceremonial buildings after a series of wildfires, floods and other disasters around the country.

With hundreds of tribal leaders gathering in Washington this week for an annual summit, the Biden administration is celebrating nearly 200 new agreements that are designed to boost federal cooperation with tribes nationwide.

The agreements cover everything from fishery restoration projects in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to management of new national monuments in the Southwestern U.S., seed collection work in Montana and plant restoration in the Great Smoky Mountains.

“The United States manages hundreds of millions of acres of what we call federal public lands. Why wouldn’t we want added capacity, added expertise, millennia of knowledge and understanding of how to manage those lands?” U.S. Interior Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland said during a panel discussion.

The new co-management and co-stewardship agreements announced this week mark a tenfold increase over what had been inked just a year earlier, and officials said more are in the pipeline.

Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community in northern Michigan, said each agreement is unique. He said each arrangement is tailored to a tribe’s needs and capacity for helping to manage public lands — and at the very least assures their presence at the table when decisions are made.

The federal government is not looking to dictate to tribal leaders what a partnership should look like, he said...

The U.S. government controls more than a quarter of the land in the United States, with much of that encompassing the ancestral homelands of federally recognized tribes...

Tribes and advocacy groups have been pushing for arrangements that go beyond the consultation requirements mandated by federal law.

Researchers at the University of Washington and legal experts with the Native American Rights Fund have put together a new clearinghouse on the topic. They point out that public lands now central to the country’s national heritage originated from the dispossession and displacement of Indigenous people and that co-management could present on opportunity for the U.S. to reckon with that complicated legacy...

In an attempt to address complaints about chronic underfunding across Indian Country, President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order on the first day of the summit that will make it easier for tribes to find and access grants.

Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told tribal leaders Thursday that her agency [FEMA] began work this year to upgrade its disaster guidance particularly in response to tribal needs.

The Indigenous people of Hawaii have increasingly been under siege from disasters, most recently a devastating fire that killed dozens of people and leveled an entire town. Just last month, another blaze scorched a stretch of irreplaceable rainforest on Oahu.

Tribes in California and Oregon also were forced to seek disaster declarations earlier this year after severe storms resulted in flooding and mudslides...

Criswell said the new guidance includes a pathway for Native American, Alaska Native and Hawaiian communities to request presidential disaster declarations, providing them with access to emergency federal relief funding. [Note: This alone is potentially a huge deal. A presidential disaster declaration unlocks literally millions of dollars in federal aid and does a lot to speed up the response.]

The agency also is now accepting tribal self-certified damage assessments and cost estimates for restoring ceremonial buildings or traditional homes, while not requiring site inspections, maps or other details that might compromise culturally sensitive data."

-via AP, December 7, 2023

[hoodreader]

𝒜𝐹𝑅𝒪𝒮𝒯𝑅𝒪𝐿𝒪𝒢𝒴

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི HAIRSTYLE TWO 🌾 DREADS, LOCS, OR DREADLOCKS. the purposeful matting of hair into tendril-like structures. u can start ur dreads in many ways: from braids, twists, freeforms, crochet, & more.

this style ruffles a lot of feathers with the discourse surrounding who started what, and what is cultural appropriation. the thing is hoodreader says #ArgueWitYaMama cuz hoodreader don’t gaf about a viking. i’m black so i’m talking about black people.

anyways… people dread or loc their hair for a lot of reasons. there’s cultural or religious reasons. there’s political reasons, especially with freeforms, to combat respectability politics concerning black hair. there’s just maintenance reasons. and there’s ’cuz people find them cunty!

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི SATURNIANS. saturn in the first house/aspecting the ascendant or inner planets, capricorn or aquarius placements

WHY? saturn is the planetary ruler over patterns and textures. especially spirals, or things that are bound. dreadlocks — similar to a delicate yarn — are bound to themselves. this is also why i think that it looks best on kinky hair textures. it’s because black hair is naturally (usually) patterned hair.

it’s aquarius energy in the way that aquarius represents liberation and community. most radical people have some form of prominent aquarius energy in their charts because they don’t mind combatting the system. going against the grain is in their nature. the general public / world has a fetishized or low view of dreadlocks. by getting them, someone shows that they are committed to themselves and not to the conventional public opinion.

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི JOVIALS. jupiter in the first house/aspecting the ascendant or inner planets/saturn, sagittarius or pisces placements, saturn in sag or pisces

WHY? jupiter represents freedom similarly to aquarius energy. the black people i met with dreads are usually free-spirited in some sort of way— they often are queer, spiritualists, sex workers, politically revolutionary, soulful, or just have a bright ‘auras’.

to many black cultures, it’s believed that dreadlocks represent enlightenment or wisdom. our hair tells us a lot of our crown chakra, and the dreads essentially absorb the wisdom u accumulate over ur life.

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི TAURUS INFLUENCE. inner planets in taurus (especially moon or venus), taurus ascendant, chart ruler in taurus, saturn in taurus

WHY? taurus just gives the earthy vibe, people usually ascribe ‘natural beauty’ to taurus. a lot of effortlessly & naturally gorgeous earthy black girls with dreads tend to have that fixed / earthy appearance as well.

fixed also makes sense because dreads are ‘fixed’ in the way that they are effectively permanent or at least a meticulous style to take down. usually when people dread their hair it’s treated as a unreversible thing so they in it for the long haul. taurus is a sign that doesn’t like to be finicky or movable. it’s a real commitment.

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི SCORPIO INFLUENCE. scorpio ascendant/saturn, chart ruler in scorpio, scorpio inner planets

it’s somewhat scorpio to have these things bound to each other, so much that dead hair isn’t let go of either. u accumulate so much energy spiritually with dreads, which is why choosing to dread ur hair is a spiritually monumental decision whether u intend it to or not. scorpio rules things that are deeply intertwined with something else.

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི for both TAUREANS and SATURNIANS, i want to also mention that the dreadlocks are often compared to plants. for example when people use the term “budding.” saturn rules over agriculture and the ground/earth. taurus rules over flowers and things found in nature.

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི the TWELFTH HOUSE is also a house of significance. with venus or saturn here, i think it can possibly produce a native who wears dreadlocks. but i’m unsure why i feel this way. it was an intuitive inkling lol. maybe a black person with dreads and a 12H saturn/venus can explain. maybe it’s something to do with all of the social stigma attached to them.

i’m a 12H saturn and i never dreaded my hair but the appeal to me is reclaiming something that’s so stigmatized against simply because it’s a black thing to do. i love to reclaim things that society tells black people we should be ashamed of. just my input.

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི a part of me says VIRGO PLACEMENTS as well, although i’m unsure why. earth placements overall give “has dreads” energy. virgo gives that energy because virgo is mutable earth — it’s movable but constrained at the same time? kinda like dreads. i also think virgos are very spiritual. very connected to the earth.

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི okay, those are my theories for dreadlock placements. here’s some examples:

Lisa Bonet (scorpio sun, capricorn mars, taurus moon) is known for her natural beauty and her dreadlocks that complements her appearance.

Lauryn Hill (virgo rising, sag moon, venus conjunct saturn) is known for her dreadlocks and her spirituality/politicalness. she’s viewed as a very wise person.

Whoopi Goldberg (scorpio sun, scorpio moon conj scorpio saturn, sag venus, aqua rising) is known for her dreads. i can’t say if she’s known for being exceptionally political or anything.

♡ ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི ALTERNATIVES if ur hesitant, i recommend trying twists just to see if u like them. if u like it, then maybe u can take that as a sign to go ahead and dread them up. but if not, just take them down — no harm no foul. u could also decorate ur dreads or try faux loc styles, but be care when taking them down! i see many a horror story lol

[respectthepetty]

Background Noise in Wandee Goodday

This started because of that "First Kiss: Do you believe in first kiss?" poster Yak ripped in the elevator

And I was going to write something about the importance of clocks in Yak and Dee's relationship

Since they made a deal to fake it for four months, the clocks are always present

And counting down their time together.

But then I also wanted to write about Yak still seeing his necklace on Dee when he imagined Dee kissing Ter during his boxing match.

So instead of writing small separate posts, everything is going here in quick snippets starting with the how Yak's life is all about boxing, all the time.

He has the boxing gloves name plate, and so does Yei

He has nothing but pictures and books of boxers all over his room

His clock has a pair of gloves in the center and his decorations all have boxing gloves, say "eat, sleep, box, repeat," and show a boxer with the statement "I am the best"

The posters over the bed and the pictures on the nightstands are of him and his brother in their boxing gear.

And even the pictures in the house are of boxers, and of course the smiley face boxing gloves.

So I liked that the smiley face gloves tied to the smiley face balloons Yei gave Cher.

I thought about mentioning the signs, but we all see those, so instead I'll focus on shirts, like Dee's shirt is three angels with "Saint Michael" and says to "Say a Prayer and Get Lost in the Flames." Saint Michael is the ultimate protector against wickedness and temptation, yet the shirt says to embrace it. Yak's shirt says "love is giving freedom" and is part of a longer lesson about love not being about possession or control but about love setting people free.

About Last Night is an American romcom about two people who have a one-night stand and fall in love. The original and remake both show the couple's ups and downs with communication as they deal with their shifting feelings.

When Yak goes over for dinner and finds Dee in Ter's apartment, his shirt says "Casual Active Original Wear" yet the only part we ever see throughout the entire sequence of events is "CASUAL"

Normally, Yak's shirts are motivational, like "Success"

And leading up to Yak's fight, his shirts become more motivational like the shirt he wakes Dee up in states that winning is a mental game.

"Good things are coming"

And how even though going uphill is hard and going downhill is easy, the uphill battle is best because the view is better.

But the best shirt is when he excitedly goes to his appointment after his one-night stand with Dee since it says "Heart Melt" and explains that a heart melts when a person begins to have feelings for another person.

Dee also gets sentimental after they listen to the song together on the balcony about loving someone because his shirt says "Relation: Friendship involves a lot of love"

I'm sure the "Favorite" shirt has meaning since he is wearing it as he thinks about missing Yak, but I just want everyone to know that is Monument Valley in the picture which is part of the Navajo Tribal Parks (woot woot!), and I'm proud to see it in a Thai series.

Finally, I would just like to appreciate whoever put Inn and his arms in this "Heavy Metal" shirt.

[offender42085]

Post 1349

...not guilty of felony hate crime charges, but guilty of third-degree malicious mischief -- a crime that is a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 364 days in county jail.

Frank John Bagley, inmate 395764

Cabriel R Smith-Nilsen, inmate 395763

Matthew A Clement, inmate 365991

Lewis County Washington Jail inmates, incarceration intake October 2024, sentenced to 364 days

In October 2024, a Lewis County (Washington) Superior Court judge sentenced the three men convicted by a jury for defacing the “Friendship Fence” in Chehalis earlier in the year to 364 days in county jail: the maximum sentence allotted for their cases.

“This crime cries out for the maximum. It cries out for a statement that this will not be tolerated,” Judge J. Andrew Toynbee said during a sentencing hearing for the three defendants, Frank John B. Bagley II, 40, of Seattle, Matthew A. Clement, 33, of Centralia, and Gabriel R. Smith-Nilsen, 25, of Driggs, Idaho, on Friday, Oct. 4.

Bagley, Clement and Smith-Nilsen were arrested in Centralia early in the morning on Sunday, Feb. 25, after a neighbor saw them defacing the Friendship Fence — a rainbow-colored fence — in Chehalis and followed them as they fled in a dark-colored Subaru station wagon.

The Chehalis Police Department received a call at 12:08 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25, from the neighbor, Norman Lynn, reporting three subjects “wearing all black and ski masks” were spray painting the Friendship Fence in the 600 block of Northwest Pennsylvania Avenue.

They hid behind the house before fleeing on foot, getting into a dark-colored station wagon and fleeing northbound on Interstate 5 into Centralia. Officers with the Centralia Police Department were able to stop the suspects’ vehicle as they were trying to get onto southbound I-5 at 12:38 a.m. on Feb. 25, according to police call logs. 

Officers found a stencil “covered in multicolored paint and had the words ‘Patriotfront’ as the cutout for the sign,” as well as a blue bag containing “several pieces of White Lives Matter and … literature and propaganda stickers” inside the vehicle the suspects were in when Centralia police arrested them on Feb. 25.

A Lewis County jury ruled earlier that Bagley, Clement and Smith-Nilsen were not guilty of felony hate crime charges, but were guilty of third-degree malicious mischief.

The crime is a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 364 days in prison.

“This was undoubtedly a contentious case,” defense attorney Shane O’Rourke, representing Clement, said Monday.

While the jury found that the defendants did not target a specific person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, which would be required for a hate crime conviction, O’Rourke said Friday, “I think the evidence did suggest it was an attack on the social commentary and political messaging of the fence.”

O’Rourke said the fence was “unquestionably a symbol and monument” in the community, but asked the court “would we all be engaged in the same conversation” if “liberals” had vandalized a hypothetical Confederate or Trump monument in the community?

O’Rourke and fellow defense attorneys Joseph Enbody and Jakob McGhie, who represented Bagley and Smith-Nilsen, respectively, argued Friday in favor of a suspended sentence or an electronic home monitoring option for the defendants, saying such a sentence would be consistent with what they’ve seen the court sentence for third-degree malicious mischief cases in which the defendants have little to no prior criminal history.

3v

[nando161mando]

The white nationalist group, the Asatru Folk Assembly, is holding a blot on October 28th at Stonehenge. Many people don't realize that this is a white nationalist group. Sign the petition and help stop them from using this community monument.

@antifainternational @anarchistmemecollective @kropotkindersurprise @radicalgraff

[misfitwashere]

December 16, 2024 

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

DEC 17

Today, President Joe Biden designated a new national monument in honor of Frances Perkins, secretary of labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The first female Cabinet secretary, Perkins served for twelve years. She took the job only after getting FDR to sign on to her goals: unemployment insurance, health insurance, old-age insurance, a 40-hour work week, a minimum wage, and abolition of child labor. She later recalled: “I remember he looked so startled, and he said, ‘Well, do you think it can be done?’”

She promised to find out.

Once in office, Perkins was a driving force behind the administration’s massive investment in public works projects to get people back to work. She urged the government to spend $3.3 billion on schools, roads, housing, and post offices. Those projects employed more than a million people in 1934.

In 1935, FDR signed into law the Social Security Act that she designed and negotiated, providing ordinary Americans with unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services.

In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established a minimum wage and maximum hours. It banned child labor.

The one area where Perkins fell short of her goals was in establishing public healthcare. It was not until 2010 that President Barack Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act.

Perkins’s work to build FDR’s New Deal sparked the modern American state.

Before Perkins, the primary function of the federal government was to manage the economic relationships between labor, capital, and resources. Property rights, after all, had been the basis on which North American colonists had found the justification to rebel against the British crown, and that focus on the relationships inherent in property ownership had continued to dominate the government American lawmakers built.

But Perkins recognized that the central purpose of government was not to protect property; it was to protect the communities of people who lived in the nation. She recognized that children, the elderly, women, and disabled Americans, all of whom contributed to society whether or not that contribution was recognized with a paycheck, were as valuable to the survival of a community as male workers and the wealthy men who employed them.

“The people are what matter to government,” she said, “and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.”

A majority of Americans of both parties liked the new system, but the reworking of the government shocked those who had previously dominated the country. As soon as the Social Security Act passed, opponents set out to destroy it along with the rest of the new system. A coalition of Republican businessmen who hated both business regulation and the taxes that paid for social programs, racists who opposed the idea of equal rights for racial and ethnic minorities, and religious traditionalists—especially Southern Baptists—who opposed the recognition of women’s equal rights, joined together to fight against the New Deal.

Their undermining of Perkins’s vision got little traction when they were attacking business regulation and taxes to support social services. Voters liked those things. But it began to attract supporters after 1954, when the Supreme Court handed down the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, decision requiring the desegregation of public schools. That decision enabled those opposed to the New Deal to harness racism to their cause, warning American voters that a government that protected everyone would mean a government that used tax dollars paid by white Americans to benefit Black Americans.

Religious traditionalists’ role in undermining the New Deal grew in the 1970s. The new system dramatically expanded women’s rights, and when President Richard Nixon’s people worried he would lose reelection in 1972, they quite deliberately used the issue of abortion to claim that “women’s liberation” was destroying the family structure that religious traditionalists believed mirrored God’s relationship to his human flock.

By 1979, religious traditionalists had rejected the modern move toward women’s rights and made common cause with Republicans eager to derail the New Deal. In 1980 the support of those traditionalists put Republican president Ronald Reagan into the White House. Their influence grew in the 1990s as white evangelicals became the base of the Republican Party. By 2016 they had brought into the Republican Party a determination to reinstate a male-dominated, patriarchal world that resurrected the government Frances Perkins’s vision had replaced.

That impulse has grown until now, in 2024, attacks on women have become central to the destruction of the kind of government Frances Perkins helped to establish during the New Deal. Religious extremists in the Republican Party have in some states reduced or prevented women’s access to healthcare and are talking about taking away women’s right to vote, and the party itself has downgraded the role of women in society. When House Republicans released a list of their committee leaders for the next Congress last Thursday, there were no women on it. For the first time in 20 years, no House committees will be chaired by women.

“Very fitting in the MAGA Era—No Women Need Apply,” former Republican representative from Virginia Barbara Comstock posted on X.

In his term in office, President Biden has worked to reclaim Frances Perkins’s vision of a government that works for all Americans. When he took office, he promised to have a Cabinet that “looks like America,” and he created the most diverse Cabinet in American history. And he has emphasized women’s equality. In March 2024 he signed an executive order noting that, since women’s roles in American history have often been overlooked, it is imperative that we recognize the women and girls who have shaped the nation.

The creation today of the Frances Perkins National Monument tied together Perkins’s expansion of the government and the centrality of women to the American story. The event took place in the Frances Perkins Building, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., where acting secretary of labor Julie Su noted that Biden has been “the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history,” protecting pensions, defending unions, creating good jobs, and unapologetically wielding the power of the presidency on behalf of working people.

Su inducted the president into the Labor Department’s Hall of Honor, and Biden responded with the observation that “the American people are beginning to figure out all we’re doing is what’s basically decent and fair—just basically decent and fair.”

Then Biden spoke about Perkins and her work. He described how his administration has defended, protected, and expanded her vision. He reiterated that women have always been vital to the United States and insisted that they must be acknowledged both in our current society and in the way we remember our history.

As part of the day’s events, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the establishment of five new National Historic Landmarks recognizing women’s history: the Charleston Cigar Factory in Charleston, South Carolina, where in 1945–1946, Black women led a strike that prompted the organization of southern workers; the Furies Collective, the Washington, D.C., home of a lesbian, feminist publishing group in the early 1970s; the Washington, D.C., Slowe-Burrill House, home of Black lesbian educators Lucy Diggs Slowe and Mary Burrill in the early twentieth century; Azurest South in Petersburg, Virginia, the home and studio of early twentieth century Black architect Amaza Lee Meredith; and the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth House and Studios in San Patricio, New Mexico, where the two painted in the twentieth century.

In establishing the 57-acre family farm of Frances Perkins on the Damariscotta River in Newcastle, Maine, as a National Monument today, Biden acknowledged both the importance of Perkins’s New Deal vision of a government that benefits everyone and the centrality of women’s equality to that vision.

—

[sensualnoiree]

astro notes: daily transits & horoscopes 11/19

Tuesday begins with a calming Mercury-Chiron trine, offering a chance for healing through thoughtful communication. However, the Cancer Moon's square to Chiron shortly after may reignite emotional wounds, creating a stop-and-start rhythm in resolving conflicts. A monumental cosmic event occurs at 12:29 p.m., as Pluto makes its final ingress into Aquarius for the century, marking a 20-year chapter of transformative shifts in society, science, and technology. Adding to the day’s tension, a Venus-Uranus sesquiquadrate stirs restlessness in relationships, pushing for individuality and challenging loyalties.

Rising Sign Insights:

Aries Rising The Mercury-Chiron trine supports open dialogue, particularly around unresolved personal or professional matters. However, family dynamics or private emotions could feel sensitive as the Cancer Moon squares Chiron. Pluto’s entry into Aquarius promises long-term growth in your social networks and aspirations, while Venus-Uranus may test the balance between closeness and independence in your partnerships.

Taurus Rising Mercury and Chiron encourage healing conversations, particularly around beliefs or education. However, the Cancer Moon’s influence could cause misunderstandings in communication. Pluto’s shift into Aquarius transforms your career path, pushing you toward innovation, while Venus-Uranus heightens your need for creative freedom in work or love.

Gemini Rising The Mercury-Chiron trine invites healing around financial or emotional insecurities. Yet, the Cancer Moon’s square to Chiron may bring up worries about resources or self-worth. Pluto’s move into Aquarius opens a 20-year cycle of transformation in your worldview, while Venus-Uranus stirs a desire for excitement in your relationships.

Cancer Rising With Mercury and Chiron in harmony, today is an opportunity for constructive conversations about identity or career. The Moon’s square to Chiron, however, may leave you feeling momentarily vulnerable. Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius brings deep shifts in shared resources or intimacy, while Venus-Uranus emphasizes the importance of individuality in partnerships.

Leo Rising The Mercury-Chiron trine highlights healing in your subconscious or spiritual growth, but the Cancer Moon’s square to Chiron could stir up emotional residue. Pluto’s transition into Aquarius reshapes your closest relationships over the coming decades, while Venus-Uranus may challenge your daily routines or health habits.

Virgo Rising Mercury and Chiron ease tensions within your social circle or creative projects, but the Cancer Moon’s square may surface doubts about your long-term goals. Pluto’s move into Aquarius begins a cycle of transformation in your work habits or service to others, while Venus-Uranus calls for balance between stability and innovation in love.

Libra Rising Healing conversations about career or home life are supported by the Mercury-Chiron trine. However, the Cancer Moon square to Chiron may make it challenging to harmonize personal and professional demands. Pluto in Aquarius opens a cycle of creative transformation, while Venus-Uranus may shake up relationship dynamics.

Scorpio Rising Mercury-Chiron energy supports introspection and healing, especially around education or communication. The Cancer Moon’s square to Chiron may stir uncertainty about your path. Pluto’s shift into Aquarius marks a deep transformation of home and family matters, while Venus-Uranus highlights the tension between freedom and intimacy.

Sagittarius Rising Mercury and Chiron foster financial healing or discussions around shared resources. However, the Cancer Moon’s square to Chiron may bring emotional unease. Pluto in Aquarius begins a long-term evolution in how you communicate, while Venus-Uranus sparks a need for spontaneity in your routines or creative outlets.

Capricorn Rising The Mercury-Chiron trine encourages healing dialogues in relationships, but the Cancer Moon square may challenge emotional equilibrium. Pluto's return to Aquarius transforms your approach to finances and self-worth over the next two decades, while Venus-Uranus stirs restlessness in partnerships or creative projects.

Aquarius Rising The Mercury-Chiron trine supports growth in your routines or health practices, though the Cancer Moon’s square may evoke temporary stress. Pluto’s ingress into your sign heralds a monumental period of personal transformation. Venus-Uranus urges you to honor your individuality in work and love.

Pisces Rising Healing conversations about your creative passions or personal aspirations are favored under the Mercury-Chiron trine. However, the Cancer Moon’s square may create emotional sensitivity. Pluto in Aquarius transforms your subconscious patterns over the next 20 years, while Venus-Uranus pushes for balance between stability and self-expression.

follow for more astro insights like this and head on over to @quenysefields or my etsy --> sensualnoiree to grab my new astrology guidebook on reading your own natal chart :)

[whencyclopedia]

Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)

The Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia is the modern-day archaeological term for the era in Mesopotamian history – 2900-2334 BCE – during which some of the most significant cultural advances were made including the rise of the cities, the development of writing, and the establishment of governments.

This era was preceded by the Uruk Period (4100-2900 BCE) when the first cities were established in the region of Sumer (southern Mesopotamia) and succeeded by the Akkadian Period (2334-2218 BCE) when Mesopotamia was conquered by Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334-2279 BCE) and ruled by him and his successors as the Akkadian Empire.

The term Early Dynastic Period was coined by Orientalist Henri Frankfort (l. 1897-1954 CE) to mirror the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt, a similar period of development. It should be noted, however, that the advances of Mesopotamia's Early Dynastic Period differed from Egypt's in significant ways, notably in that Mesopotamia – even under the rule of Sargon or later empires – was never the cohesive ethnic or political entity Egypt was and the kinds of cultural development cited for this era were not as uniform as they were in Egypt.

The city-states of Sumer were, for much of their history, each independently governed – not united under the reign of a single king as in the case of Egyptian government – and so a city like Uruk or Ur might have developed some important cultural advance which was not shared – at least not readily – with others.

The era is divided by archaeologists into three subperiods:

Dynastic I – 2900-2800 BCE

Dynastic II – 2800-2600 BCE

Dynastic III – 2600-2334 BCE

These are considered arbitrary divisions by some scholars and historians as there is no clear demarcation line separating one from the next. Even so, there is enough of a subtle difference that division is considered justified.

Uruk Period

The earliest era in Mesopotamian history is the Ubaid Period (c. 5000-4100 BCE) about which little is known. The origins of the Ubaid people (so called because of the modern-day site, Tell al'Ubaid, where the major finds of the culture were located) are obscure, and as they left no written records, the little information archaeologists have on them comes from their pottery and artwork. They had already shifted from a hunter-gatherer society to an agrarian culture and established small rural communities before the rise of Sumer.

These villages developed during the Uruk Period (named for the central archeological site which defines the era, the city of Uruk) and, in time, became the first cities. Major advances of this period, besides urbanization, were monumental architecture (c. 3500-3300 BCE, notably the ziggurat), the development of cylinder seals (c. 3600 BCE, although the basic paradigm of the seal was already known), writing (c. 3600-3500 BCE), written language (c. 3200 BCE) which is exemplified in lexical lists (essentially scribal dictionaries of cuneiform signs and their meaning in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Hittite), and governmental bureaucracy. All of these advances became more highly developed during the Early Dynastic Period.

Continue reading...

[give-soup-please]

i'm not entirely sure how tumblr works so please bare with me if this isnt the right thing ^^;

i saw that you said your fic inbox was open and wanted to suggest a narrator/reader post top surgery fic?

i hope ive done this right- and i also hope youre having a good day :3

thank you!

Narrator with Reader post-top surgery

He's with you every step of the way. From the early arrival to the hospital, to driving you home, to recovery afterwards.

You wake up, your chest covered in bandages, drowsy, a little nauseous, but with an expansive feeling in the inside of your heart.

He's by your bedside right as you come back to consciousness. He's gently holding your hand, and beaming away. "Hello, dear. How are you feeling?"

You groan. "Five more minutes..." You mumble, asking the nurse to knock you back out. He laughs, relieved.

"Come along, Reader." He says, wheeling you out of the hospital.

It's strange, the first few days after surgery. The healing process isn't easy, and the bandages with drains feel so strange. But Nar is the perfect gentleman, through and through.

He becomes extremely competent, measuring out your post-surgery painkillers, and making sure you take them on time. His vigilance increases, and any sign that you're in pain after the operation is met with his calm and authoritative tone, telling you to rest.

Overprotective? Perhaps just a little bit. But his favorite person in the whole world is in a vulnerable position. So he'll be sure to cherish you extra hard while you're in recovery.

He's there, constantly offering you anything you might need. "Some snacks? Water? I could make you some toast. Extra blankets? Is seven too many? Hmm, perhaps so."

He tries his best. And he makes sure to gently coax you back into healthy habits without overcrowding you. He'll help you walk around for the first few days, giving you all the support you'll need.

Stories. Stories are his specialty. He'll keep you enthralled for hours at a time while you're in recovery. He'll break out new never before seen scripts, become animated, and make sure you're never bored while he's around.

He become the most affectionate, attentive partner the world has ever seen.

When you go for your post-op appointment to have the bandages removed, he gasps. And then he begins to blink away tears. It's rather embarrassing, and he asks the nurse to give you and him a moment alone.

"Reader, it's wonderful how far you've come with your transition. Truly, this is a moment that is monumental to your journey. I've watched you jump from paperwork to important phone calls to all the ridiculous nonsense the medical community is involved in-" He scans your chest, and you see not lust, but love.

Maybe you have a hard time seeing your beauty, so soon after the surgery. The scar tissue is fresh, and the bruises look a little strange. It will take a while to fully heal-

"You're gorgeous."

The words take your breath away.

He plays to your timing, not engaging in anything too romantic or physical until you're ready for it. He's spent thousands of years alone during the skip-button ending, his patience is without limits. He loves you. And he's so proud.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from The Guardian:

When scientists demonstrated a small tropical fish – the cleaner wrasse – could recognise itself in a mirror, Prof Culum Brown’s first thought was: “This is the coolest thing ever.”

Brown, an ecologist who researches fish behaviour and intelligence at Sydney’s Macquarie University, says the mirror self-recognition test – developed in the 1970s – is considered the gold standard for evidence of visual self-awareness in animals.

In the Osaka City University study, a small number of fish had a mark placed under their throats while under anaesthesia. When given a mirror, the fish oriented their bodies to see the mark, and tried to rub it off by scraping themselves on rocks.

Primates, elephants and dolphins previously passed the test. But the results in fish proved so controversial it took five years for the paper to be published.

Even then, many scientists refused to accept the results.

Brown says the response “shows beautifully” the bias against the idea of fish being intelligent – particularly when parts of the scientific community instead thought, “Shit! The mirror self-recognition test is broken.”

Globally, fish are the most eaten animal (an estimated 1.1-2.2tn are caught annually). They are also the most common pet, and one of the main animals used in science and medical research. Yet Brown says most of the public barely even consider them to be animals.

In recent decades, researchers have demonstrated that along with visual self-awareness, certain species have the capacity to learn, remember, experience pain and form relationships. Many of these qualities imply sentience, the capacity to feel positive and negative experiences.

“Science is so far in front of society that it’s going to take a monumental shift in human behaviour to catch up,” he says.

For instance, Brown says the popular misconception that fish have short memories has “absolutely no foundation”. His research on sharks found them to be intelligent and inquisitive creatures with long memories.

He is among a group of scientists and philosophers to sign the New York declaration on animal consciousness earlier this year, which attempts to bridge the gap between science and society. Drawing on evidence, the declaration says there is “at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fishes)”.

The scrutiny of the mirror test led to more studies, including one published this week showing cleaner wrasse will use a mirror to check their size before deciding whether to attack another fish. Fish now have the best supported evidence of any animal for mirror self-recognition, Brown says, yet “people still don’t believe it”.

[worldhistoryfacts]

Here's a 1907 photo of the Xian Stele, a monument to China's Christian community that dates to 781 CE.

The discovery of the stele caused a sensation in China and Europe. Jesuit missionaries had just re-opened contact with China (I wrote a previous post on this, if you’re curious) and were becoming increasingly influential in the court of the emperor. Discovering that there had been a thriving Christian community in China almost a millennium before must have felt like a sign from above to many of them. The stele hinted at a Chinese past that was far less monolithic (if you’ll pardon the pun) than many outsiders had understood.

Much more on the origins of the stele and Chinese Christianity itself here:

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