#Dakota North 1986

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

PISTOL-PACKING STRAIGHT OUTTA THE FASHION HOUSES OF NEW YORK, PARIS, ROME, & TOKYO -- IN THE MIGHTY MARVEL MANNER.

PIC(S) INFO: Mega spotlight on assorted house ads for the "Dakota North" American limited comic book series published by Marvel Comics from June 1986 to February 1987. The series was co-created by writer Martha Thomases and artist Tony Salmons.

OVERVIEW: "Just like movie trailers, house ads are an important part of the deployment of the medium that is often cast aside, because they represent an uncomfortably naked commercial aspect. Also like movie trailers, they are often much better than the actual thing they exist to promote. Take, for example, the house ad promoting the mostly forgotten "Dakota North" miniseries from 1986: it’s a thing of wonder; of beauty, even. Tony Salmons, an artist known more for his comedic touch, draws the self-assured protagonist gazing directly at the reader, holding a gun to her side, not pointing at the reader or any possible antagonist (this is a pose rather than a promise for action). Her jacket opens, promising something that wouldn’t pass the PG-13 rating, only to be blocked by the title of the series. Above her, a single word with dots enhancing each letter: S*T*Y*L*E.

such a note-perfect evocation of that famous adage about how “all you need for a movie is a girl and a gun” (a quote attributed to Godard, but goes much further back to the days of "Birth of a Nation" director D. W. Griffith). It promises everything the reader might want, and it owns, entirely, any criticisms that might be lobbed at it.

Is it shallow? Exploitative? Pandering? Heck yes! It’s STYLE. Nothing in the actual series looks quite this good, though possibly this has more to do with the terrible print quality. To this day I can post that particular house ad on social media and pick up engagement like no one’s business – you don’t need to know anything about "Dakota North" to be impressed by it. The image is iconic enough to stand on its own. What it promises, nothing can truly deliver. Better stick to your dreams.

Here’s an important thing: I attribute that the ad was drawn by Tony Salmons (and probably colored by Christie Scheele for that matter), because he was the artist for the series and he has a rather unique style (sorry, S*T*Y*L*E) of his own. But his name isn’t on it. For most house ads, especially in ye olden days, you won’t see artist signatures, and finding out who made what is a game of guessing and digging. It’s a massive part of the comics industry – or used to be before the internet pushed all ads online and off my mind, that has almost nothing written about it."

-- THE GUTTER REVIEW, "Style, Baby, S*T*Y*L*E : An Ode to Comics House Ads," by Tim Shapira, published July 3, 2023

Sources: www.thegutterreview.com/style-baby-style-an-ode-to-comics-house-ads, Pinterest, various, etc...

[browsethestacks]

Marvel Age (1986)

[thegroovyarchives]

70's/80's/90's/2000's Local Television Halloween Station IDs/Bumpers Part 4

1. WMTW-TV, Poland Spring, Maine, 70's 2. WPIX-TV, New York City, New York, 1993 3. KSAS-TV, Wichita, Kansas, 80's 4. KCTV-TV, Kansas City, Missouri, 1997 5. WNYW-TV, New York City, New York, 1986 6. WQED-TV, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2000 7. WXIX-TV, Newport, Kentucky/Cincinnati, Ohio, 1990 8. KTHI-TV, Fargo-Grand Forks, North Dakota, 1985 Part 1 (x) Part 2 (x) Part 3 (x)

[evilhorse]

Dakota North house ad (circa June 1986)

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Uranus' moon Miranda may have an ocean beneath its surface, study finds

A new study suggests Uranus' moon Miranda may harbor a water ocean beneath its surface, a finding that would challenge many assumptions about the moon's history and composition and could put it in the company of the few select worlds in our solar system with potentially life-sustaining environments.

"To find evidence of an ocean inside a small object like Miranda is incredibly surprising," said Tom Nordheim, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, and co-author of the study published in The Planetary Science Journal.

"It helps build on the story that some of these moons at Uranus may be really interesting—that there may be several ocean worlds around one of the most distant planets in our solar system, which is both exciting and bizarre."

Among the moons in the solar system, Miranda stands out. The few images Voyager 2 captured in 1986 show Miranda's southern hemisphere (the only part we've seen) is a Frankenstein-like hodgepodge of grooved terrain quartered off by rough scarps and cratered areas, like squares on a quilt. Most researchers suspect these bizarre structures are the result of tidal forces and heating within the moon.

Caleb Strom, a graduate student at the University of North Dakota who worked with Nordheim and Alex Patthoff of the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona, revisited the Voyager 2 images. The team set out to explain Miranda's enigmatic geology by reverse engineering the surface features, working backward to uncover what the moon's interior structure must have been to shape the moon's geology in response to tidal forcing.

After first mapping the various surface features like cracks, ridges and Miranda's unique trapezoidal coronae, the team developed a computer model to test several possible structures of the moon's interior, matching the predicted stress patterns to the actual surface geology.

The setup that produced the best match between predicted stress patterns and observed surface features required the existence of vast ocean beneath Miranda's icy surface some 100–500 million years ago. This subsurface ocean was at least 62 miles (100 kilometers) deep, according to the study, and hidden beneath an icy crust no more than 19 miles (30 kilometers) thick.

Given Miranda has a radius of just 146 miles (235 kilometers), the ocean would have filled almost half of the moon's body. "That result was a big surprise to the team," Strom said.

Key to creating that ocean, the researchers believe, were tidal forces between Miranda and nearby moons. These regular gravitational tugs can be amplified by orbital resonances—a configuration where each moon's period around a planet is an exact integer of the others' periods.

Jupiter's moons Io and Europa, for example, have a 2:1 resonance: For every two orbits Io makes around Jupiter, Europa makes exactly one, leading to tidal forces that are known to sustain an ocean beneath Europa's surface.

These orbital configurations and the resulting tidal forces deform the moons like rubber balls, leading to friction and heat that keeps interiors warm. This also creates stresses that crack the surface, creating a rich tapestry of geologic features. Numerical simulations have suggested that Miranda and its neighboring moons likely had such a resonance in the past, offering a potential mechanism that could have warmed Miranda's interior to produce and maintain a subsurface ocean.

At some point, the moons' orbital ballet desynchronized, slowing the heating process so that the moon's insides started to cool and solidify. But the team doesn't think Miranda's interior has fully frozen yet. If the ocean had completely frozen, Nordheim explained, it would have expanded and caused certain telltale cracks on the surface, which aren't there.

This suggests that Miranda is still cooling—and may have an ocean beneath its surface even now. Miranda's modern-day ocean is probably relatively thin, Strom noted. "But the suggestion of an ocean inside one of the most distant moons in the solar system is remarkable," he said.

Miranda wasn't predicted to have an ocean. With its small size and old age, scientists thought it would likely be a frozen ball of ice. Any leftover heat from its formation was assumed to have dissipated long ago. But as Patthoff pointed out, predictions about ice moons can be wrong, as evidenced by Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Before the Cassini spacecraft arrived in 2004, many scientists thought Enceladus was a frozen ball of ice and rock. But it was actually harboring a global ocean and active geological processes. "Few scientists expected Enceladus to be geologically active," Patthoff said. "However, it's shooting water vapor and ice out of its southern hemisphere as we speak." Enceladus is now a prime target in the search for life beyond Earth.

Miranda might be a similar case. It's comparable in size and composition to Enceladus, and according to a 2023 study led by APL's Ian Cohen, it may be actively releasing material into space. If it has (or even had) an ocean, it could be a future target for studying habitability and life. However, Nordheim cautions that there's still too much we don't know about Miranda and the Uranian moons to speculate about the existence of life.

"We won't know for sure that it even has an ocean until we go back and collect more data," he said. "We're squeezing the last bit of science we can from Voyager 2's images. For now, we're excited by the possibilities and eager to return to study Uranus and its potential ocean moons in depth."

Revealing the secrets of Uranus' icy moons

Uranus' icy moons have fascinated scientists ever since Voyager 2 captured stunning images of them, and valuable data about them, during its brief flyby in 1986. This latest study, led by Caleb Strom and APL's Tom Nordheim, is part of a broader effort at APL to uncover the secrets of these mysterious moons and the unusual planet they orbit:

2023: A team led by APL's Ian Cohen reanalyzed particle and magnetic data from Voyager 2's flyby and found Uranus' moons Ariel and Miranda may both be releasing material into the space environment around Uranus, possibly through plumes.

2024: APL's Richard Cartwright used observations of Uranus' moon Ariel by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to conclude the moon may have a subsurface ocean that's replenishing its surface deposits of carbon dioxide ice—a topic he presented at the recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

IMAGE: Uranus’ icy moon Miranda, captured by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft on Jan. 24, 1986. Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech

[ravens-all]

https://www.tumblr.com/aro-simp/754787607924424704?source=share

If you're up for it! 4, 17, and 22. 💞

4. Is there an f/o you have never/rarely talked about publicly? Tell us a little something about them!

I'll use this to talk about the Jinxed Sweethearts as a whole, bcus I have so many thoughts about them omg:

The canon character: So, Victor Parks (the only named character in this movie to have a second name, lol) is a 17/18-year-old student who recently moved to Santa Cruz with one of his parents after they broke up / divorced with each other. He works as a waiter, in a local pizza restaurant.

He becomes the target of the “Brotherhood of Justice” after being nice to his coworker / schoolmate Christie a few times. (Like, I know the movie wants to convince me there's a love triangle going on, but Victor never flirts with Christie, unless you interpret, driving your coworker home after she got stood up by her boyfriend, and talking to your coworker at work as flirting)

The s/i: Jennifer (Jenny) Tyrell. A closeted transmasc (she's in fact so closeted she has adventures in Narnia, because this movie takes place in 1986) She moved to Santa Cruz alongside her family, from North Dakota. Soon she becomes friends with Christie and gets to know Victor. Sometime during the main plot, Jenny, and Victor start dating.

The relationship: This is a relationship that doesn't really last. (hence the name) Considering Jenny's experiencing gender dysphoria her whole life and can't put a name to it, it has an impact on their relationship. She works through this by ignoring it. Tries really hard to be more feminine, bcus you know, maybe this is just insecurity.

It's not that they don't have lovely moments and all that, but there's always a shadow over them. For every lovely moment, where Jenny feels happy and secure, where she talks to Victor about her problems and vice versa, there's two when Jenny locks herself in her room for four days straight.

Anyway, sometime after graduating, she cheats on Victor (she went to a club and ended up making out with some guy, who mistook her for a guy, which made Jenny go ♡〰♡) and feeling guilty afterward, tells Victor and breaks up with him.

17. Pick one f/o you think makes others think of you! (Might be a main f/o, or one so obscure only you ship with them)

Marko, considering I haven't talked about the others.

22. Do you own a trinket you associate with your f/o?

No, but I'd like to. (If I could sew, I would make myself a Marko jacket. Not the exact same, just one with similar vibes.)

[smashedpages]

Marvel published Dakota North #1 by Martha Thomases and Tony Salmons on this date in 1986, which featured the debut of the title character. Although her series was short-lived, she'd go on to be a supporting character in the pages of Cage, Daredevil and Captain Marvel.

[aktionfsa-blog-blog]

Frei nach 48 Jahren

Häufung von "Fehlurteilen" in den USA

Immer wieder kommen nach Jahren in den USA falsche Schuldsprüche ans Licht. Den "Rekord" im National Register of Exonerations der Universität Kalifornien hält nun mit 48 Jahren, einem Monat und 18 Tagen Gynn Simmons. Am 19.12. nimmt die Richterin Amy Palumbo den Antrag von Simmons auf "Unschuldsvermutung" während einer Anhörung im Oklahoma County Gerichtsgebäude in Oklahoma City entgegen. Der 71-Jährige wurde aus der Haft entlassen, nachdem er die letzten 48 Jahre seines Lebens unschuldig im Gefängnis verbracht hatte.

Zwischenfrage: Was bedeutet "Unschuldsvermutung" im Hinblick auf Entschädigung oder schlimmer, eventuelle Wiederaufnahmen wegen "neuer Beweise"?

Weitere berühmte Fälle

Knapp an die 48 Jahre unschuldig im Gefängnis kommt Leonard Peltier, geboren am 12. September 1944 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Er ist ein indianischer Aktivist des American Indian Movement (AIM) in den USA und wurde 1977 trotz umstrittener Beweislage zuerst wegen Mord ersten Grades verurteilt. Später wurde das Urteil zu zweifach lebenslanger Haft wegen Beihilfe zum Mord geändert. Peltier wurde nach seiner Flucht nach Kanada in einem komplexen und umstrittenen Verfahren ausgeliefert, für schuldig befunden, verurteilt und inhaftiert.

Trotz seines schlechten Gesundheitszustands wurde 2009 nach einer Anhörung der United States Parole Commission eine Begnadigung abgelehnt. Dabei gibt es noch nicht einmal Gründe für eine Verurteilung, denn bei einer Anhörung zu dem Fall am 11. Februar 1986 sagte der zuständige Bundesberufungsrichter Gerald Heaney: "Wenn man das Für und Wider erörtert hat, bleiben einige wenige, aber wichtige Tatsachen über."

Auf 42 Jahre unschuldig im Gefängnis kommt auch der Journalist, Autor und Bürgerrechtler Mumia Abu Jamal, unter dem Namen Wesley Cook geboren am 24. April 1954 in Philadelphia, der 1982 der Ermordung des Polizisten Daniel Faulkner schuldig gesprochen und zum Tode verurteilt wurde. Nach fast 30 Jahren in der Todeszelle wurde die Strafe mit Zustimmung der Staatsanwaltschaft 2011 in lebenslange Haft ohne Revisionsmöglichkeit umgewandelt.

Über den Prozess 1982 sagte die Gerichtsschreiberin Sabo, dass sie eine Unterredung von drei entscheidenden Personen gehört hätte, bei der die wörtliche Aussage "Yeah, and I’m going to help them fry the nigger" - "Ich werde ihnen dabei helfen, diesen Nigger zu grillen" fiel. Selbst die Aussage des Auftragsmörder Arnold Beverly im Jahr 1999 , das Verbrechen als Fahrgast von Jamals Bruder im Auftrag der Mafia begangen zu haben, führte nicht zu einer Wiederaufnahme des Prozesses.

Mumia ist auch nach 47 Jahren im Gefängnis politisch aktiv.

Nur wenige Jahre musste Angela Davis, geboren am 26. Januar 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama, im Gefängnis zubringen. Sie kam auf die Liste der zehn meistgesuchten Verbrecher der USA nachdem bei einer missglückten Gefangenenbefreiung der Black Panther Party Mitglieder, der Soledad Brothers im August 1970 in einem Gerichtssaal in einer Schießerei mit der Polizei vier Menschen getötet wurden. Dabei wurde auch ihre Pistole benutzt. Nach zweijähriger Prozessdauer und einer weltweiten Solidaritätskampagne wurde Davis am 4. Juni 1972 in allen Punkten der Anklage  und vom Vorwurfs der "Unterstützung des Terrorismus" freigesprochen. In ihrer in diesem Herbst auch auf deutsch erschienenden Autobiographie beschreibt Angela Davis den zutiefst rassistischen Alltag zuerst in ihrer Jugend im Süden der USA und dann in den Gefängnissen der USA (ISBN 978 3 311 35013 2).

Allen Dreien und auch den meisten im Standard beschriebenen "Fehlurteilen" ist ihre dunkle Hautfarbe gemeinsam.

Mehr dazu bei https://www.derstandard.at/consent/tcf/story/3000000200645/serie-an-falschen und https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal und https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Peltier

Kategorie[21]: Unsere Themen in der Presse Short-Link dieser Seite: a-fsa.de/d/3y6 Link zu dieser Seite: https://www.aktion-freiheitstattangst.org/de/articles/8632-20231228-frei-nach-48-jahren.html

[rockislandadultreads]

Book Recommendations: More Nonfiction Book Club Picks

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

April 25, 1986, in Chernobyl, was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.

Chernobyl was also a key event in the destruction of the Soviet Union, and, with it, the United States’ victory in the Cold War. For Moscow, it was a political and financial catastrophe as much as an environmental and scientific one. With a total cost of 18 billion rubles - at the time equivalent to $18 billion - Chernobyl bankrupted an already teetering economy and revealed to its population a state built upon a pillar of lies.

The full story of the events that started that night in the control room of Reactor No.4 of the V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Plant has never been told - until now. Through two decades of reporting, new archival information, and firsthand interviews with witnesses, journalist Adam Higginbotham tells the full dramatic story, including Alexander Akimov and Anatoli Dyatlov, who represented the best and worst of Soviet life; denizens of a vanished world of secret policemen, internal passports, food lines, and heroic self-sacrifice for the Motherland. Midnight in Chernobyl, award-worthy nonfiction that reads like sci-fi, shows not only the final epic struggle of a dying empire but also the story of individual heroism and desperate, ingenious technical improvisation joining forces against a new kind of enemy.

Last Call by Elon Green

The Townhouse Bar, midtown, July 1992: The piano player seems to know every song ever written, the crowd belts out the lyrics to their favorites, and a man standing nearby is drinking a Scotch and water. The man strikes the piano player as forgettable.

He looks bland and inconspicuous. Not at all what you think a serial killer looks like. But that’s what he is, and tonight, he has his sights set on a gray haired man. He will not be his first victim. Nor will he be his last.

The Last Call Killer preyed upon gay men in New York in the ‘80s and ‘90s and had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers. Yet because of the sexuality of his victims, the skyhigh murder rates, and the AIDS epidemic, his murders have been almost entirely forgotten.

This gripping true-crime narrative tells the story of the Last Call Killer and the decades-long chase to find him. And at the same time, it paints a portrait of his victims and a vibrant community navigating threat and resilience.

Yellow Bird by Sierra Crane Murdoch 

When Lissa Yellow Bird was released from prison in 2009, she found her home, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, transformed by the Bakken oil boom. In her absence, the landscape had been altered beyond recognition, her tribal government swayed by corporate interests, and her community burdened by a surge in violence and addiction. Three years later, when Lissa learned that a young white oil worker, Kristopher "KC" Clarke, had disappeared from his reservation worksite, she became particularly concerned. No one knew where Clarke had gone, and few people were actively looking for him.

Yellow Bird traces Lissa's steps as she obsessively hunts for clues to Clarke's disappearance. She navigates two worlds - that of her own tribe, changed by its newfound wealth, and that of the non-Native oilmen, down on their luck, who have come to find work on the heels of the economic recession. Her pursuit of Clarke is also a pursuit of redemption, as Lissa atones for her own crimes and reckons with generations of trauma.

Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz

Eighteen months before Kathryn Schulz's father died, she met the woman she would marry. In Lost & Found, she weaves the story of those relationships into a brilliant exploration of the role that loss and discovery play in all of our lives. The resulting book is part memoir, part guidebook to living in a world that is simultaneously full of wonder and joy and wretchedness and suffering - a world that always demands both our gratitude and our grief. A staff writer at The New Yorker and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Schulz writes with curiosity, tenderness, erudition, and wit about our finite yet infinitely complicated lives. Lost & Found is an enduring account of love in all its many forms from one of the great writers of our time.

[cantsayidont]

February 1987. Created by Martha Thomases and artist Tony Salmons, this very stylish, agreeably lightweight series looked and felt like a better-than-average '80s TV detective show. Sadly, while pistol-packing private investigator Dakota North had all the narrative mod cons (semi-retired CIA father, hunky but none-too-bright police detective love interest, too-cool-for-school teenage brother, an array of $100 haircuts), what might have lasted three or four seasons on network television managed only five issues at Marvel in 1986–1987.

Dakota North subsequently made trademark-preserving guest appearances in various other Marvel books (the 2018 collection DAKOTA NORTH: DESIGN FOR DYING includes most of those, along with the five issues of her own series), but the original vibe was lost, and Dakota was eventually overshadowed by the angstier, more superhero-adjacent Jessica Jones.

[annethunderstorms]

My Year in Books 2022:

11,299 pages read

33 books read

Children of the Volga/My Children by Guzel Yakinha

historical fiction, life, solitude

set in Russia (German colony Gnadenthal) between 1910s-1940s

main characters: Jakob Bach, Klara Grimm, Anna Bach

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

historical fiction, politics, betrayal

set in Dominican Republic in 1960s + 1990s

main characters: Urania Cabral, Augustín Cabral, Rafael Trujillo

Persuasion by Jane Austen

historical fiction, romance

set in United Kingdom (Somerset) in 1814-15

main characters: Anne Elliott, Frederick Wentworth, Lady Russell

In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park

nonfiction, memoir, oppression, human trafficking, survival

set in North Korea, China, South Korea in 1990s-2000s

Outpost: A Journey to the Wild Ends of the Earth by Dan Richards

nonfiction, memoir, travel

set in Iceland, US, Scotland, France, Japan, Svalbard

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

historical fiction, romance

set in Chile (Valparaíso), US (San Francisco) between 1843-1853

main characters: Eliza Sommers, Rose Sommers, Joaquín Andieta, Tao Chi'en

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

fiction, dystopia, family, relationships

set in US (New York, Hawaii) in 1893, 1993 & 2093

main characters: David Bingham, Kawika Bingham, Charlie Bingham-Griffith

Dálvi: Six Years in the Arctic Tundra by Laura Galloway

nonfiction, memoir, introspection, Sámi, nature

set in northern Norway

Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon

historical fiction, romance, western

set in US (Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming) between 1853-1858

main characters: Naomi May, John Lowry

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

historical fiction, family, hardship, Great Depression

set in US (Texas, California) in 1921 & 1934-1940

main characters: Elsa Martinelli, Loreda Martinelli, Anthony Martinelli

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

historical fiction, Indigenous, mystery

set in US (North Dakota) in 1960s, 1970s and before

main characters: Evelina Harp, Mooshum Milk, Antone Bazil Coutts

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

nonfiction, memoir, race, grief

set in US (Mississippi) between 1970s-2000s

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

fiction, dystopia, motherhood

set in future US (Philadelphia)

main characters: Frida Liu, Harriet, Gust

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung

nonfiction, memoir, war, Khmer Rouge, family, survival

set in Cambodia between 1975-1980

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

historical fiction, solitude, western

set in US (Idaho) between 1910s-1930s

main character: Robert Grainier

Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende

historical fiction, romance, dictatorship

set in Chile in 1970s

main characters: Irene Beltrán, Francisco Leal

The Promise by Damon Galgut

(historical) fiction, family, grief, race

set in South Africa (Pretoria) in 1986, 1995, 1999, 2017

main characters: Amor Swart, Anton Swart, Astrid Swart

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

historical fiction, family, survival, immigration, identity

set in China, Taiwan, US (Illinois, New Mexico) between 1938-2005

main characters: Meilin, Renshu/Henry, Longwei, Lily

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

(historical) fiction, family, immigration, deportation

set in Cuba, US (Florida, Texas), Mexico between 1866-2019

main characters: Jeanette, Carmen, Gloria Ramos, Ana

It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo

fiction, social unrest, oppression, grief

set in Venezuela

main character: Adelaida Falcón 

Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall

nonfiction, geopolitics, history, international relations

set worldwide

Stolen (Stöld) by Ann-Helén Laestadius

fiction, Sámi, discrimination, crime, family

set in northern Sweden

main character: Elsa

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

historical fiction, witch trials, romance

set in northern Norway (Vardø) between 1617-1619

main character: Maren Bergensdatter, Ursula Cornet

Ways of Going Home by Alejandro Zambra

(historical) fiction, identity, politics, dictatorship

set in Chile between 1980s-2000s

characters: nameless protagonist, Claudia, Eme

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

nonfiction, memoir, abuse, mental health, child acting

set in US (LA)

The Marshal (Die Marschallin) by Zora del Buono

historical fiction, family, politics, war

set in Slovenia (Bovec) and Italy (Bari) between 1919-1980

main characters: Zora Ostan, Pietro del Buono

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey

nonfiction, nature, environment, national parks

set in US (Utah) in 1960s

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

historical fiction, geisha’s, Japanese culture

set in Japan (Kyoto) in 1930s-1940s

main character: Sakamoto Chiyo/Nitta Sayuri

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

historical fiction, romance, family

set in Japan (Nagasaki), India (Delhi), Pakistan (Karachi) in 1945, 1947, 1982-1983, 2001-2002

main characters: Hiroko Tanaka, Sajjad Ali Ashraf, Raza Ashraf, Harry Burton

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed

nonfiction, self help

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

fiction, separation, abandonment

set in Italy (Turin) in 2000s

main character: Olga

The Gift of the Wild (Das Geschenk der Wildnis) by Elli H. Radinger

nonfiction, nature, animals, environment

set in US (Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Arizona, Minnesota,   Massachusetts, Texas), Germany

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

historical fiction, sci-fi, time travel, race, slavery

set in US (California and Maryland) in 1810s-1820s and 1976

Main characters: Dana Franklin, Kevin Franklin, Rufus Weylin, Alice Greenwood

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 28, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 29, 2023

According to the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, legislatures in at least ten states have set out to weaken federal child labor laws. In the first three months of 2023, legislators in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Dakota introduced bills to weaken the regulations that protect children in the workplace, and in March, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law repealing restrictions for workers younger than 16.

Those in favor of the new policies argue that fewer restrictions on child labor will protect parents’ rights, but in fact the new labor measures have been written by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a Florida-based right-wing think tank. FGA is working to dismantle the federal government to get rid of business regulations. It has focused on advancing its ideology through the states for a while now, but the argument that its legislation protects parental rights has recently enabled them to wedge open a door to attack regulations more broadly.  

FGA is part of a larger story about Republicans’ attempt to undermine federal power in order to enact a radical agenda through their control of the states.

That goal has been part of the Republican agenda since the 1980s, as leaders who hated federal regulation of business, provision of a social safety net, and protection of civil rights recognized that a strong majority of Americans actually quite liked those things and getting Congress to repeal them would be a terribly hard sell. Instead, Republicans used their control of federal courts to weaken the power of the federal government and send power back to the states.

Historically, states have been far easier than the much larger, more diverse federal government for a few wealthy men to dominate. After 1986, Republicans began to restrict voting in the states they controlled, giving themselves an advantage, and after 2010 they focused on taking over the states through gerrymandering. This has enabled them to stop Congress from enacting popular legislation and has created quite radical state legislatures. Currently, in 29 of them, Republicans have supermajorities, permitting them to legislate however they wish.

The process of taking control of the states by choosing who can vote got stronger today when the North Carolina Supreme Court, now controlled by Republicans, revisited an earlier ruling concerning partisan gerrymandering. Overruling the previous decision, the court green-lighted partisan gerrymandering, opening the door for even more extreme gerrymanders in the future. The court also okayed voter restrictions that primarily affect Black people.

Gutting the federal government and throwing power to the states makes it easier for business leaders to cozy up to legislators and slash business regulations. It also enables a radical minority to enact its own worldview despite the wishes of the state. This dynamic is very clear over abortion rights and gun safety.

Last June, quite dramatically, the Supreme Court overturned federal protection of the right to an abortion guaranteed in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. In the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision the right-wing court said that decisions about abortion rights belonged to voters at the state level.

But as the last ten months have made clear, the right wing does not really intend to let the voters of the states make decisions that contradict right-wing ideology.

After the Dobbs decision, Republican-dominated legislatures immediately began to restrict the right to abortion, although it remains popular in the country and voters have rejected extreme abortion restrictions in every special election held since the decision. Now Republican legislators in Ohio are trying to head off an abortion rights amendment scheduled for a popular vote in November by requiring 60% of voters, rather than 50%, to amend the state constitution.

Gun safety shows the same pattern. A new Fox News poll out yesterday shows that 87% of voters favor background checks for gun purchases, 81% favor making 21 the minimum age to buy a gun, 80% want mental health care checks on all gun buyers, 80% want flags for people who are dangerous to themselves or others, 77% want a 30-day waiting period to buy a gun, and 61% want an assault weapons ban.

And yet, Republican majorities in state legislatures are rapidly rolling back gun laws. Republican lawmakers in the Tennessee legislature went so far recently as to expel two young Black representatives when they encouraged protesters after the majority quashed their attempts to introduce gun safety measures after a mass shooting in Nashville. But they were not alone. Last week, when the Nebraska senate passed a  permitless concealed carry law, Melody Vaccaro, executive director of Nebraskans Against Gun Violence, shouted “Shame!” multiple times. She has since been “barred and banned” from the Nebraska statehouse.

The attempt of a radical minority to enforce their will on the rest of us, who constitute a majority, by stealing control of the states and then, through them, control of the federal government is precisely what the Confederates tried to do before the Civil War: it is no accident that one of the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, carried a replica of a Confederate battle flag.

And yet, in the wake of the Civil War, when former Confederates tried to dominate their Black neighbors despite the defeat of their ideology on the battlefields, Congress tried to make it impossible to pervert our democracy by capturing the states. It passed and in 1868 the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, putting into our fundamental laws the principle that the federal government trumps state power.

It reads, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” and it gives Congress the “power to enforce…the provisions of this article.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[macysparadeblog]

Floats from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2021 that will not be returning in 2022:

Image 1: "Winning Winter Together" by Massmutual and NHL; float active in 2021.

Image 2: "Mount Rushmore's American Pride" from South Dakota Department of Tourism; float active from 2010-2021.

Image 3: "Tiptoe's North Pole" by Macy's; float active in 2021.

Image 4: "Home Sweet Home" by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store; float active in 2019 and 2021

Image 5: "Rexy in the City" by COACH; float active from 2019- 2021.

Image 6: "Santaland Express" by Universal Orlando Resort; float active in 1986-2004, 2008-2011, 2013, 2015, 2021.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Flower Day

The rose is the national floral emblem, or national flower, of the United States. Senate Joint Resolution 159, which adopted the rose as the national floral emblem and asked the president to declare it as such with a proclamation, was passed in 1986 and was signed by President Reagan on October 7 of the same year. Accordingly, President Reagan signed Proclamation 5574 on November 20, 1986, certifying the rose as the national flower. A ceremony to mark the occasion took place in the White House Rose Garden. Therefore, the “National Flower” in today’s name refers to the rose, and the holiday is not a general holiday about flowers, but a holiday about the national flower of the United States. The holiday is celebrated on October 7 because that is the anniversary of when President Reagan signed Senate Joint Resolution 159 into law.

A perennial shrub, there are about 100 species of roses, which easily hybridize with each other. Roses are native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere: most are native to Asia, some are native to North America, and a few are native to Europe and northwest Africa. They have a rich aroma which differs depending on their variety and the climate they grow in. Roses may be red, pink, white, or yellow, with many shades in between, such as dark crimson and maroon. They have petals and hips—their fruit—which both are edible, and have been used in medicines. Their stems have prickles which are referred to as thorns.

The rose is a symbol of love and beauty and is commonly referred to in art, music, and literature. Roses are used in parades and celebrations, are put on altars and graves, are given to loves, and are used to make perfumes. They have long held significance in the United States, and are grown in all 50 states. George Washington bred roses, and the White House has the White House Rose Garden. Some states have even adopted them as their state flower: New York has the rose, Oklahoma has the Oklahoma rose, Georgia boasts the Cherokee rose, and Iowa and North Dakota both have the wild prairie rose.

National Flower Day is being observed today! It has been observed annually on October 7th since 1986.

Source

[brookstonalmanac]

Beer Events 7.1

Events

First display ad for Best & Co. (later Pabst) appeared (1852)

Federal Beer Tax of $1 per barrel went into effect to help finance Civil War (1863)

Andrew Billings patented a Mach Machine (1890)

Wenzl Medlin patented a Mash Tub (1890)

Frank Senn & Philip Ackermann Brewery incorporated (Kentucky; 1892)

Amsdell Brewing & Malting Co. incorporated (1897)

Wooden Shoe Beer 1st for sale (Minster, Ohio; 1903)

Flamingo Brewing's beer 1st for sale (Miami, Florida; 1933)

Compressed Bale Method of Packaging and Preserving Hops patented (1958)

Employees of Centlivre Brewing of Fort Wayne, Indiana, purchased the brewery, becoming the 1st employee-owned brewery in U.S. (1961)

Hoegaarden re-introduced by Pierre Celis (1966)

Schlitz Brewing patented a Process of Brewing (1969)

Anheuser-Busch and Labatt sign a “lifetime licensing agreement” to have Labatt brew and market Bud and Bud Light in Canada (1998)

Mississippi finally legalized brewpubs (1998)

Brahma and Antarctica merged (1999)

MillerCoors began operations (2008)

Widmer and Redhook merged (2008)

State private club system abolished, making bars open to the public (Utah)

Brewery Openings

Weyland Brewing (1885)

Washington Brewing (Washingon; 1899)

Als Harboe Brewery (Estonia; 1975)

St. Stan's Brewery (California; 1984)

Cornelius Pass Roadhouse & Brewery (Oregon; 1986)

Golden Lion Brewing (Canada; 1986)

Lighthouse Brew-Pub (Oregon; 1986)

Weeping Radish Restaurant & Brewery (North Carolina; 1986)

Gritty McDuff's (Maine; 198)

Southern California Brewing (California; 1988)

Weinkellar Brewery (Illinois; 1988)

Old Marlborough Brewing (Massachusetts; 1989)

Dakota Brewing (North Dakota; 1990)

Latchi's Grille & Windham Brewery (Vermont; 1991)

McGuire's Irish Pub & Brewery (Florida; 1991)

Flying Dog Brewpub (Colorado; 1992)

Empire City Brewing (Oregon; 1993)

Live Soup Brewery & Cafe (California; 1993)

Pacific Brewing (California; 1993)

Reverosa Co. (New York; 1993)

Atlanta Brewing (Georgia; 1994)

Blind Pig Brewing (California; 1994)

Boar's Head Pub & Brewery (Texas; 1994)

Emerald Isle Brew Works (Rhode Island; 1994)

Oaken Barrel Brewing (Indiana; 1994)

Old West Brewery (New Mexico; 1994)

Smuttynose Brewing (New Hampshire; 1994)

Bosque Brewing (Texas; 1995)

Boyne River Brewing (Michigan; 1995)

Brewery on Martha's Vineyard (Massachusetts; 1995)

Carolina Brewing (North Carolina; 1995)

Cooperstown Brewing (New York; 1995)

Humpback Brewing (California; 1995)

Remington Watson Smith Brewing (Wisconsin; 1995)

Black Robin Brewery (New Zealand; 1996)

Blue Mountain Brewing (Oregon; 1996)

Blue Star Brewing (Texas; 1996)

Brasserie Sainte Colombe (France; 1996)

Denali Brewing (Alaska; 1996)

Flying Goose Brewpub (New Hampshire; 1996)

Highland Fling Brewpub (New York; 1996)

Jeremiah's Foghead Brewery (Tennessee; 1996)

Les Brasseurs de la Capitale (Canada; 1996)

Moode's Tooth (Alaska; 1996)

Oak Pond Brewing (Maine; 1996)

Oh! La! Ho! Beer Club (Japan; 1996)

Spiker Ales (Nebraska; 1996)

Typhoon Brewing (New York; 1996)

Yosemite Brewing (California; 1996)

Beer Sunshine (Japan; 1997)

Brewzzi Brewing (Florida; 1997)

Diversified Brewing (California; 1997)

Elliot Bay Brewery & Pub (Washington; 1997)

Hyannisport Brewing (Massachusetts; 1997)

Home City Brewing (Ohio; 1997)

Joshua Huddy's Brewery (New Jersey; 1997)

Killian Bayer Brewing (Florida; 1997)

Offshore Ale Co. (Massachusetts; 1997)

Prairie Brewing (Wisconsin; 1997)

Quay Street Brewery (Michigan; 1997)

Steelhead Brewing Fisherman's Wharf (California; 1997)

VBC Bottling & Cooperage (Virginia; 1997)

Yo-Ho Brewing (Japan; 1997)

Brasserie Freedom et Firkin (France; 1998)

Hudson Valley Brewing (New York; 1998)

Osset Brewing (England; 1998)

Rochester Mills Brewing (Michigan; 1998)

Sliverado Brewing (California; 2000)

Brauhaus Kuhler Krug (Germany; 2001)

Illinois Brewing (Illinois; 2001)

Beau’s Brewing (Canada; 2006)

Grimm Brothers Brewhouse (Colorado; 2010)

Knee Deep Brewing (California; 2010)

Conrad Seipp Brewing (Illinois; 2020)

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

“The Chicago Rampage”

This draft was made on April 13th 2023. With people on Twitter talking about wanting a sequel to Brad Petyon’s Rampage. I wanted to post this draft I showed to @lovezdarestevez4ever long ago. We’re both Rampage fans and I’ll admit, while I question if a Rampage sequel will still happen. Mainly because Dwayne Johnson wants to do more serious stuff now if you’ve seen that news he’s working with A24 now. But again, I just retweeted some stuff on Twitter. Here’s a fun little fake documentary thing I made if a sequel was ever made.

I decided to not make any edits or updates to this. So, it’s raw basically.

Narrated by the WBC’s head news anchor.

This special has been given permission by the American government to tell the events of what happened in Chicago.

“In 2018, only a few years ago, the world hasn’t been the same since a distavorous incident that took place within Chicago. But also, other parts of North America.

To the surprise of many, the city of Chicago was attacked by three giant mutated animals. As they rampaged through the city, hundreds of people had sadly been caught in the crossfire. Counting both civilians and military personal. The incident has been considered one of the worst events in the city’s history.

But what led up to the destruction of Chicago and the three animals is...alarming.

Since then, new details had popped up after the incident. And where these monsters came from. And how this came to be. 

While Dr. Kate Caldwell is responsible for developing the mutagen. She didn’t have the intention to use it for dangerous experimentation that Claire Wyden wanted to use it with CRISPR technology. 

Project Rampage. An experiment to develop animals into super weapons. That was strangely inspired by a 1986 arcade game known as Rampage. More details about this were discovered within secret files and whatever was left of Wyden Tower.

It all started when an experiment aboard the satellite Athena-1 crashed down back onto the planet. Where it turned out, the satellite was a cover up for experimentation on a pathogen developed by the Energyne company. Which was covered up by now dead CEO Claire Wyden and her brother Brett Wyden.

Remains were found of the many crew that were sadly found within some of the crash sites. But other details that were discovered concerning their remains that most of them were already dead, killed by a mutated rat that also died within the crash. But the most alarming part of this news was the origin of the proclaimed “Wrecking Crew” that devasted Chicago.

-

1. Sickly nicknamed Ralph by the internet. In Wyoming, a Gray Wolf found one of the canisters containing the pathogen and was exposed to it. Resulting in the wolf to mutate and transform and even tragically murder his own pack.

“Ralph” kept transforming and traveled through Wyoming, causing the Wydens to send out a group of mercenaries led by a wanted man Burke. The group tried hiding the evidence and even killed a civilian who threated to report them to the authorities.

But their mission would end when they found “Ralph” in a forest. Where the aftermath left the entire group viciously slaughtered, and a helicopter destroyed. “Ralph” continued his rampage, killing wildlife, and even civilians in a bus into South Dakota.

2. Also sickly nicknamed by people on the internet, “Lizzie” after it was confirmed the American Crocodile was confirmed to be female was also affected by the pathogen. Which was found in the Crocodile’s stomach.

“Lizzie” attacked multiple boats in the Florida Everglades, causing death, and even going into the Gulf of Mexico.

3. George, an albino gorilla raised within the San Diego wildlife sanctuary was also affected by the pathogen when a canister crashed into the area. While being transported on a plane, George had awoken and took it down, killing nearly everyone.

-

The reason why all three animals came to Chicago was a signal activated by Claire Wyden, luring the creatures to the city. And in the process of that, the “Wrecking Crew” caused what appeared to be a 24-hour reign of terror. Again, resulting in the deaths of many civilians and military personal.

But soon it finally ended when “Ralph” and “Lizzie” were killed due to team effort of Davis Okoye, and George. Who was given an antidote to stop him from growing and stopping his increased aggression. Who also was the creature that was confirmed to have eaten and killed Claire Wyden. Brett Wyden was confirmed to have been crushed by debris after his remains were found.

Ever since the events, the world has been shocked, particularly America as many have grieved the loss of loved ones during the attack. Memorial services were held, reconstruction and massive clean ups were inducted as well. As for...the “Wrecking Crew” or what remains of them.

The remains of “Ralph” and “Lizzie” were picked up by the government. While George...was another case.

Despite having been “Cured” of his “Condition” and having helped rescue multiple civilians in the aftermath. Many people have called for the “Euthanasian” on the massive gorilla. But due to Davis Okoye, who had helped raised the ape, convinced the jury the people that George was no longer a danger. And that he, along with others would take responsibility not just for him, but other mutated animals as well.

Allowed permission by the government, and the help of Dr. Kate Caldwell and agent Harvey Russell, a giant animal sanctuary was opened up near by the San Diego Wildlife preserve.

But even after the incident in Chicago, this wasn’t the end of Project Rampage. It turns out, more canisters had crashed onto Earth, affecting more animals.

-

There have been reports and sightings of a giant squid swimming in the oceans that the internet have nicknamed “Cal”, ever since learning about it from a couple of divers who had barely survived an encounter with the creature at a reef. Since then, no one has been able to capture it.

Another creature that people have reported but never captured was a “Giant Great White Shark” that few have only seen. But multiple ships have been destroyed.

But as far as we know, these are the only two that are confirmed to be out there. Others have been placed within sanctuary.

-

Even though Davis Okoye’s motives are purely altruistic. There are still many that are still...devastated with what happened in Chicago. Many have criticized for trying to defend his “Friend” instead of putting him down. To where it got worse when someone attempted to bomb the sanctuary and kill George. The bomber’s motive was that after learning George had eaten his brother, he was enraged by Davis’s proposal to open a “Nonsensical” sanctuary and even for some reason, blamed everyone who worked at the area.

And concerning the inspiration for Project Rampage. Brain Colin and others were questioned about it. They were all shocked and horrified upon learning this information. Particularly Mr. Colin as he was also there in Chicago when the three attacked. They rather not comment more and feel like they inadvertently inspired such a catastrophe.

-

After everything, even with it being only a few years. And other events that have happened in the world. The Chicago Rampage has not left the minds of many, and will never be forgotten as it still baffles people to this day......

Wait...what are you saying? Can you say that again please?

Are you being serious? Are you actually being serious...and you want me to report on this? Do you realize what you’re telling me is to do is like saying serial killer coming back from the dead after a true crime narrator is about to end a video. Okay, I’ll do it.

So...something has developed...apparently as of right now. There is...another mutated wolf and possibly another mutated crocodile as well...and...I’m not dealing with this.

No, I’m not dealing with this. It’s Chicago all over again! Didn’t you guys just listen to me?! I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS! I’M GOING IN A BUNKER! I’M NOT REPORTING ON THIS SHIT! I’M NOT DYING! I WAS THERE IN CHICAGO! DID YOU SEE THE SHIT I’VE SEEN?!

FUCK THIS SHIT! I’M HIDING TILL THERE DEAD! UNLESS YOU PAY ME MORE MONEY!