#Jack Duckworth

[blaithnne]

A while ago, @ai-higurashi suggested that Duckworth’s demon form was not a result of him being a ghost, but just something he could do anyways. I’ve been obsessed with that ever since and have FINALLY been able to visualise it — meet 60s era human Duckworth!

I based his demon form off a canine, instead of a sheep like in canon. Also his first name is based off a running gag from an old since deleted fic of mine lol. ALSO I still can’t decide on Beakleys colours, bear with me here.

Meet the Cast!

╰┈➤ Canon ☄. *. ⋆

→ Scrooge McDuff → Matilda McDuff → Hortense McDuff → Qalhata Duiker → Goldie O'Gilt → Bentina Beakley → LÙ Huifen (pre-caseflies) → LÙ Huifen (post-casefiles) → Ludwig Von Druska → Bradford Butcher

╰┈➤ OCs ☄. *. ⋆

→ Lucrais NicRiada

.ೃ࿐

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Joan E. Greve at The Guardian:

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for US secretary of defense, defended his record in a contentious Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, acknowledging he was “not a perfect person” as Democratic lawmakers grilled the military veteran and Fox News host on allegations of sexual assault, excessive alcohol use and financial mismanagement. Hegseth can only afford to lose the votes of three Senate Republicans, assuming every Democratic senator opposes his nomination, but none appeared ready to break ranks despite some having previously voiced concerns about Hegseth’s personal history and his views on women in the military.

Hegseth pushed back against the criticism as he answered senators’ questions, dismissing the controversies as a “coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media,” and pitched himself as a “change agent” who would lead the Pentagon into a new era. “From story after story in the media, leftwing media, we saw anonymous source after anonymous source based on second- or third-hand accounts,” Hegseth said. “I’m not a perfect person, but redemption is real, and God forged me in ways that I know I’m prepared for, and I’m honored by the people standing and sitting behind me and look forward to leading this Pentagon on behalf of the war fighters.” Republicans on the Senate armed services committee rushed to Hegseth’s defense, lobbing softball questions and echoing his concerns about anonymous sources attacking his character. Describing Hegseth as an “unconventional” nominee, Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the committee, praised him as an “excellent choice to improve this unacceptable status quo”.

“Mr Hegseth has admitted to falling short, as we all do from time to time,” Wicker said. “It is noteworthy that the vast majority of the accusations leveled at Mr Hegseth have come from anonymous sources. Contrast these anonymous accusations with the many public letters of support and commendation.” But Democratic members of the committee hammered Hegseth on the numerous accusations against him, including a claim of sexual assault. In 2017, Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman who said he took her cellphone and blocked the door of a hotel room to prevent her from leaving, according to a police report. Hegseth has denied the accusation, although his lawyer acknowledged that the woman was paid a settlement.

An explosive report from the New Yorker also outlined claims that Hegseth frequently became so intoxicated at work events as to require colleagues’ assistance in getting home. One whistleblower further accused Hegseth of using official funds for the non-profit that he previously led, Concerned Veterans for America, as a “personal expense account”.

Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, told Hegseth that he lacked “the character and composure and competence” to lead the country’s largest government agency. “Mr Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job,” Reed said at the hearing. “Indeed, the totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the secretary of defense.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a background check on Hegseth, but Reed bemoaned the report as “insufficient”, arguing that the bureau failed to speak to crucial witnesses. Reed requested that Wicker make the report available to all members of the committee, but Wicker said he would follow recent precedent by restricting the report’s access to the chair and the ranking member. Multiple Democrats on the committee, including Tim Kaine of Virginia, reminded Hegseth that the allegations against him extended beyond anonymous accounts. His mother, Penelope Hegseth, once described him as “an abuser of women”, a characterization she has since rejected.

[...] Other Democrats grilled Hegseth on his previous comments suggesting that women should not serve in combat roles and attacking the inclusion of gay troops in the military as part of a “Marxist agenda”. “Please explain these types of statements because they’re brutal and they’re mean and they disrespect men and women who are willing to die for this country,” Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat of New York, said. Hegseth attempted to soften his earlier comments, telling Joni Ernst, a Republican of Iowa and one of the female veterans on the committee, that women would have access to ground combat roles “given the standards remain high” to qualify for such roles. Unconvinced by Hegseth’s assurances, Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat of Illinois and another female veteran, framed his nomination as an insult to “women who’ve earned their place in their units”. Duckworth, who received the Purple Heart after losing her legs in an attack on her helicopter in 2004, quoted the Soldier’s Creed as she excoriated Hegseth’s nomination as “a no-go at this station”.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: Pete Hegseth grilled by Democrats over past comments & behavior against women

Pete Hegseth embarrassed our country and our troops today in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The committee’s Democrats heavily grilled this drunken and abusive disgrace good.

Hegseth should be rejected by the Senate. #RejectHegseth #BlockHegseth

[fangomusic]

Kendrick Lamar, GNX

New music Wednesday

This album is probably the blueprint for rap’s next big era. The Compton rapper’s brilliant sixth LP is a trippy, danceable odyssey through the ego death of a hip-hop authority. Clocking in at a modest runtime, GNX packs an astonishing punch, showcasing his knack for playing in a league entirely his own.

[sohan121]

Why Pete Hegseth is a perfect fit to be Trump’s Pentagon chief Reed More

[theeldritchcorvid]

A List Of Some Of My Favourite Apocalypse Players Moments In No Particular Order

The fantastic moment in Trail of the Loathsome Slime when Joseph matter-of-factly describes the cook coming through the door with an axe and a severed head foaming blue at the mouth.

The first time Kirk Sleep loses it (and the subsequent reveal of his ABYSMAL 20 San)

The chain of events in the car kicked off by Duckworth breaking and smashing his mask and developing an obsession with his own beauty (can you tell I'm a big Crimson Letters enjoyer)

The moment in Unland where we learn what happened to Jojo. Ouch.

I'M ONLY NINE!

Peregrine McCutcheon putting his hand on what he thinks is the head of a dog, but of course it turns out to be a Bear. that whole scene is brilliantly creepy.

"Hi, I'm Lester Goodman!" "Hi, I'm Lester Goodman!" "Hi, I'm-"

The mere existence of Rose Damienne, need I say more?

I just genuinely love the buildup in Il Portico De San Luca. It's so TENSE. I mean we get that with a lot of these scenarios because you're waiting for shit to go sideways, but Portico had like 5 episodes build up to two episodes crazy shit and really I loved that. It had all the tension of a mob movie, but deep down you knew it'd go eldritch any second.

How utterly batshit NUTS Ed Mooney and Jack Carstairs went. I gotta relisten to Highway of Blood.

AND FINALLY the moment when everyone clocks quite how biological Prospect is in Bleak Prospect. The line 'we're in the stomach' gave me chills. As an aspiring anatomist and body horror fan I loved it. Glad I didn't listen over lunch though...

[ironworked]

Let's look at that list from Geeks for Harris:

Starring (in alphabetical order):

Andy 'Brak' Merrill, Anthony Rapp, Bill Nye, Bill Prady, Chace Crawford, Corey Booker, Curtis Armstrong, Danneel Ackles, Dave Foley, Dave Hill, Dru Levasseur, Elie Mystal, Eric Kripke, Erin Moriary, Felicia Day, Frank Conniff, Gail Simone, Garrett Reisman, George Takei, Gloria Steinem, Hal Sparks, Jack Quaid, Jacqueline Emerson, Jamia Wilson, Jennifer Taub, Jensen Ackles, Jeri Ryan, Jessica Carter Altman, Jim Beaver, Jody Hamilton, John Fugelsang, John Grunsfeld, Jon Cryer, Jonathan Frakes, Kaela Joseph, Karen Fukuhara, Kevin Woo, Kim Rhodes, Laz Alonso, LeVar Burton, Lindy Li, Lynda Carter, Mae Jemison, Mark Hamill, Mark Sheppard, Mary Trump, Matthew Modine, Megan Smith, Misha Collins, Mona Sinha, Nancy Altman, Nia Bentall, Patty Jenkins, Paul Booth, Rachel Miner, Rep. Robert Garcia, Rep. Andy Kim, Rep. Wiley Nickel, Richard Speight, Rob Benedict, Robert Picardo, Ruth Connell, Sean Astin, Sian Proctor, Stacey Abrams, Tammy Duckworth, Tanya Cook, Tim Russ, Valorie Curry, Wajahat Ali, Waseem Daher Wheatus, Wil Wheaton, Yvette Nicole Brown, Zakiya Thomas.

[bignaz8]

This B-24, designated Blue I, was the lead ship of the entire wing and carried 2 extra crew. There were 11 crew on-board and miraculously 6 escaped: Lt Col. Clarrence Lokker (p), Capt. Milton Duckworth (co-p), Lt. Joseph Kutger (lead nav), Lt. Robert Hockman (bom), Sgt. James Bourne (wg). Sgt. Lee Billings (eng). The 5 who perished were: Lt. Joseph Whalen (radar), Lt. Grosvnor Rice (nav), Sgt. Jack Rabkin (top g), Sgt. Paul Flynn (tail g), Sgt. Edmund Miosky (rad). The ship's ball turret had been removed and replaced with radar. Their target was the I.G. Farben chemical factory in Blechhammer South, Germany.

[johndpg]

SPANKING ON TV #2

P’tang, Yang, Kipperbang (1982) d. Michael Apted

A classic touching-toes, three-stroke caning in the Head’s study for 14-year-old Duckworth after “being persistently late three times”.

The film is set shortly after the end of World War 2. Duckworth is a socially awkward lad who’s obsessed with cricket and a girl in his class called Ann. He daydreams his life is narrated by cricket commentator John Arnott. He sees a golden opportunity when he and Ann are cast in the school play together and realises they have to kiss in the final scene.

Publicity stills:

This is a charming, coming-of-age drama with some funny scenes about the daft things teen boys get up to. It’s got a good cast, including an early film role for Alison Steadman. Pete Beale’s in it, and that sergeant bloke off The Bill! It was broadcast in the UK as part of Channel 4’s launch night in 1982 and I remember watching it live with my dad.

The traditional bending-over position is a simple but effective means for a boy to present his backside for caning. The enduring “touching toes” description is a misnomer really, as most boys would grasp their knees or ankles. Speaking from experience, the former is better in terms of maintaining stability!

Amusingly the Head is a bit of a perfectionist and keeps changing canes between strokes, so each one ends up being more painful than the last. Poor Duckworth thinks he’s got away with two but must stay in position for a third, which ends up being a real stinger. The first stroke is shown but it’s audio only/reaction shots for the other two with a very funny commentary from John Arnott.

The message to report to the Head’s study is delivered during a PE lesson, which is why Duckworth is wearing his gym kit. There’s a funny exchange with the PE teacher when he’s told to get going and he says, “But, sir, I’ll need my pants.” For non-British readers, boys weren’t allowed to wear underwear during physical education for reasons such as hygiene or having to sit in wet/muddy pants for the rest of the day, a practice that seems to have persisted well into the 1980s. (Stay tuned for a funny story about this.) Anyway, school shorts of the time were typically thick flannel and lined, so you have to wonder whether writer Jack Rosenthal meant the wily Head had timed Duckworth’s visit for when he’d only be wearing cotton shorts.

John Albasiny was 15 years old when he filmed this and is still acting today. Robert Urquhart, who played the Head, died in 1995.

Here’s the link to the film on YouTube. Fast forward 12 mins to see the Head in action.

[caffeinatedowlbear]

the hours of becoming: January (1 of 1)

Brief intro

What this is about: an attempt to chronicle my writing efforts.

Why: both for my own records (because I'm a stats nerd), and to add some transparency to the writing process (because I feel that a lot of writers despair at their own perceived slow pace and lack of progress when exposed to others' highlight reels).

What's with the title: it refers to a quote from Grit by Angela Duckworth:

Nobody wants to show you the hours and hours of becoming. They’d rather show you the highlight of what they’ve become.

Personally, I don't mind showing those hours. Writing can be lonely, especially when it feels like you're the only one struggling, while everyone else is knocking out NaNo-worthy wordcounts in one sitting.

(For full disclosure, these updates will cover exclusively my creative writing, which is non-commercial; whatever writing I do for clients comes under the heading of 'work'.)

So here we go.

Weeks 1-5

I might do weekly reports in the coming months, but January is always a slow writing month for me, both by necessity and by design. This year was no exception, with a lot of work and family care packed into what was a tough month following a tough year.

Week 1 was designated to decompressing from the holidays and family care. Week 1 writing summary: none.

Week 2 featured a really bad sinus infection that put me out of commission for the duration. Week 2 writing summary: none.

Week 3 had a tight schedule of commitments, but I made a point of showing up to my (usually) weekly writing stream, because I realized that failing to do so would mean neglecting the one appointment with myself that I had that week. I hadn't written for two weeks, and it showed. My brain was unwieldy, and every word felt like I was chiseling it out of bedrock. Still, I persevered, and got around 2,000 words of a draft down during a 3-hour stretch. That was all the writing done that week. Week 3 writing summary: 3 hours, 2,000 words (draft).

Week 4 was, basically, week 3 with a vengeance, with the only thing that kept me going being the knowledge of a two-day break by the seaside coming up on Sunday. I showed up for the writing stream, during which I edited rather than drafted. On Sunday evening, a few hours into my break, I was finally able to sit myself down to jot down a 'primer' of the Borderlands series plot, for a friend who can't play the games, but wants to read my fic set in that universe. It proved unexpectedly fun, and the c. 3k words I put down on it was probably the first bit of writing I actually enjoyed this year. Week 4 writing summary: 2 hours, 2,000 words (edit) + 2 hours, 3.3k words (writing-adjacent)

Week 5, which strayed into February, saw me leaning into my excitement for the Borderlands primer, which had morphed into a unauthorized biography of Handsome Jack (with an occasional comment from the man himself; the fictional character, that is, not actually Dameon Clarke). I wrote more of it on my seaside break (which had turned out to be more of a working vacation, because f*** me), and then on the weekly stream. I also found myself very excited about recording snippets of my own writing as the universe's most basic podfic, so that's something I might end up doing more of. Week 5 writing summary: 3.5 hours, c. 4k words (writing-adjacent) + a few hours of podficcing myself.

January writing summary: 12 hours spent on writing and writing-adjacent pursuits, resulting in 2,000 words of draft, another 2,000 words edited, and 2/3 of the Very Unauthorized (But Heavily Annotated) Biography of Handsome Jack (7.5k words and counting). Curious about my excitement re: podfics, which is worth exploring further.

[blaithnne]

Oh so I’m supposed to choose one outfit for The Goldie O’Gilt? Get a fucking grip

Meet the Cast!

╰┈➤ Canon ☄. *. ⋆

→ Scrooge McDuff → Matilda McDuff → Hortense McDuff → Qalhata Duiker → Jack Duckworth → Bentina Beakley → LÙ Huifen (pre-caseflies) → LÙ Huifen (post-casefiles) → Ludwig Von Druska → Bradford Butcher

╰┈➤ OCs ☄. *. ⋆

→ Lucrais NicRiada

.ೃ࿐

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Allison Janowski at DNC:

5:30 PM

Call to Order The Honorable Jaime R. Harrison Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Gavel In The Honorable Mitch Landrieu DNC Night 2 Co-Chair and Committee Co-Chair Invocation Rabbi Sharon Brous IKAR Imam Dr. Talib M. Shareef The Nation’s Mosque Pledge of Allegiance Joshua Davis National Anthem Aristotle “Aris” Garcia Byrne Remarks Jason Carter Grandson of President Jimmy Carter Remarks Jack Schlossberg Grandson of President John F. Kennedy Remarks: “Project 2025—Chapter Two: The Economy” The Honorable Malcolm Kenyatta Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

6:00 PM

Remarks Kyle Sweetser Former Donald Trump voter Remarks Stephanie Grisham Former Trump White House Press Secretary Remarks Nabela Noor Content creator Remarks The Honorable Gary Peters United States Senator, Michigan Remarks Kenneth Stribling Retired Teamster

7:00 PM

Roll Call Remarks Minnesota Delegation Remarks California Delegation

8:00 PM

Host Introduction Ana Navarro Remarks The Honorable Chuck Schumer United States Senate Majority Leader Remarks The Honorable Bernie Sanders United States Senator, Vermont Remarks The Honorable JB Pritzker Governor of Illinois Remarks Ken Chenault American business executive Remarks The Honorable Michelle Lujan Grisham Governor of New Mexico

9:00 PM

Keynote Remarks Angela Alsobrooks Democratic Nominee for the U.S. Senate, Maryland; Long-time mentee of the Vice President Remarks The Honorable John Giles Mayor of Mesa, Arizona Remarks The Honorable Tammy Duckworth United States Senator, Illinois Remarks Douglas Emhoff Second Gentleman of the United States Remarks Michelle Obama Former First Lady of the United States 10:00 PM Remarks Barack Obama 44th President of the United States Benediction Bishop Samuel L. Green, Sr. African Methodist Episcopal Church, 7th Episcopal District His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

The Dem Convention speakers schedule is out for Night 2. Former President Barack Obama and former FLOTUS Michelle Obama are the main speeches of the night.

Other notable speakers: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Jason Carter, Stephanie Grisham, New York Sen. and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Angela Alsobrooks, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

Tonight will also feature the roll call for the Presidential nomination of Kamala Harris and the Vice-Presidential nomination of Tim Walz,

[kwebtv]

One Sunday Afternoon - CBS - May 16, 1949

A Presentation of Ford Theater (Season 1 Episode 8)

Drama

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars:

Burgess Meredith as Biff Grimes (his television debut)

Hume Cronyn as Hugo Barnstead

Pat Harrington Sr as Nick

Francesca Bruning as Amy Lind Grimes

Augusta Roeland as Virginia Brush Barnstead

Additional Cast Members

James Sullivan

Claire Kirby

William Brower

Dorothy Duckworth

Martin Harvey

Peggy Cass

James Hagan's Play was filmed three times earlier

One Sunday Afternoon (1933) w/ Gary Cooper and Neil Hamilton

The Strawberry Blonde (1941) w/ James Cagney and Jack Carson

One Sunday Afternoon (1948) w/ Dennis Morgan and Don DeFore

[sohan121]

Should the U.S. Defense Secretary Know What ASEAN Is? Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Appear To Reed More

[hotcupoteckla]

And it's REALLY DAMAGING to:

1. Children whom you tell this to, for they are expected not to fail and set this expectation on themselves.

2. The children's work ethic

3. The teacher's work ethic and focus on coming up with challenging materials for the child to test Until they fail (because they will someday), and not how to study and not how to deal with failure, which is a social situation and emotional control which the kind teachers could provide valuable input and cruel teachers will exploit.

4. The children's ability to bond with their peer group- radically contrary to the "social stratification plan" these supposed geniuses want, the children are expected to stay with their peers and still be lauded about their performance, which in turn causes the other children to not like or respect the talented child. The children sense it's unfair when practice and effort should be lauded, so do not interact with the more gifted, or interact negatively. This hinders most gifted children's progress in other social and emotional health areas.

Ergo, the eugenics style call of smarter=better shoots itself in the foot pretty early on, but let's continue.

4.5 it damages the ethos of other children who otherwise interested in a given topic, but are shunted aside because they'll have to work harder to learn and (I think a key factor) the teacher will have to work harder to teach.

5. All of this teaches the talented children NOTHING about grit, about working through the pain points and accepting that your best results might not be the top results right away. ( OP, Check our Angela Duckworth's studies on Grit! Her studies suggest you are an inherently better mathematician in your grittiness to keep pursuing it in spite of obstacles! )

It's why the gym bros encourage in the way that they do - you might not get the Dorito torso you imagine in your head, but you'll still be pretty jacked.

They're setting your expectations to be lower than you anticipate and emphasize the level of work you need to put in to get close to what you want.

But if you keep at it and maintain the habits it took you get you to this point, you'll be in the 90th percentile anyway. The gym bros see it over and over and over.

This is also why most of the top performers say things like "Oh, I'm not the most talented. Oh, I'm really lucky to be here." They have seen the other more talented folks fall off the habits due to injury or bad maintenance, and they know that the best performer isn't always the one with the most talent.

The best performer is the one who shows up most often.

Ironically, this ability to keep showing up, this grittiness/determination, is what Nietzche meant by Ubermensch, but I digress.

Compare the way gymbros/bodybuilding enthusiasts/etc. talk about the influence of genetics on success to the way rationalist/more general social optimizationist IQ enthusiasts talk about the influence of genetics on success.

Every gymbro on the planet will acknowledge that good genetics play a role, often a pretty large role, in how much muscle you can expect to gain—especially if you're a natural lifter (as opposed to enhanced). But this is virtually always said merely as a caveat, never the centerpiece of discussion. The centerpiece of the discussion is always effort and training methodology. Why? Because the assumption is that if you're here, listening to a gymbro talk about gym shit, you want to get jacked. Your genetics are what they are, so why dwell on them? The point is, what can you do, with whatever genetics you happen to have, to get as jacked as possible. And the answer is ultimately "yeah, some people are gonna have a higher natural ceiling than others, but you won't know where yours is until you try—apply yourself as if you have a chance to be the best in the world, and even if you don't reach those heights, you'll probably end up pretty fucking jacked". And this is true. And as far as I'm concerned, it's the best way to think about the notion of natural talent.

IQ enthusiasts are always talking about how we should be testing IQ early and sorting people into social roles based on their scores. I despise this kind of thinking. I'm not Terence Tao, I have no desire to pretend I'm Terence Tao. But I like math, and I'm gonna try to get as good at math as I can possibly be. If someone had tested me at a young age, decided I wasn't cut out for math, and filtered me into a different social role, I would regard that as an injustice (a grave injustice) against me. People should be empowered to pursue their own ends, that's my eternal mantra when it comes to politics. Maybe society would achieve more net productive capacity if we filtered the people with natural math talent into math roles or whatever. I cannot underscore enough the degree to which I do not fucking care.

I have no sympathy for people who want to tell others who to be.