#Legion Of Merit

[kimgmac63]

Jeremy at the Granada party for the 10 years of Sherlock Holmes. Jeremy was asked he would accept the Legion d’honneur (is the highest French order of merit) for his portrayal of Sherlock. Jeremy gladly accepted. Jeremy was in hospital up to this point but he made it to the party.

[friendlyneighborhoodsynthezoid]

Plan 66

There were plenty of disadvantages to being experimental commandos, Hunter remarked to himself as the squad staggered towards their barracks, but there were upsides here and there. For instance, after a typically torturous day of training, testing, and reg torment, they were making their way towards their own private room- far from the prying eyes and muttered comments of regs and kaminoans alike. Granted, they were returning to said barracks in various states of exhaustion, many hours after late-meal, because maybe those disadvantages were just a bit more substantial. 

The door to the barracks slid open and the 99s swiftly scattered to various corners of the room. Hunter paused for a moment in the doorway, savouring the feeling of safety. His squad was here, together, and for now he could keep them all in his sight and away from danger. 

Hunter sat on his bunk and began readjusting his senses to the Kamino rain outside and the permanently unfortunate smell of the 99s’ barracks. His brothers were doing similar activities to declare to the world that they were done for the day- Wrecker began rummaging through the plentiful supply of snacks they absolutely weren’t supposed to keep in their room, Tech left his datapad on his rack and beelined it for the refresher before anyone else could claim the first sonic, and Crosshair collapsed face-first on his bunk and buried his head under a pillow without even pausing to remove his training armour. 

A few minutes passed in blessed peace. Wrecker began hoisting heavy objects over his head, Hunter began sorting through command training assignments he was expected to have done several months ago, and Tech emerged from the sonic and reclaimed his data pad. Hunter absentmindedly watched his brother coast through unknown reaches of the holonet that gave Tech his infinite wisdom. As he watched, Tech’s darting eyes stopped flitting behind their goggles and he sat down suddenly. “This is… not ideal.” He said, voice shaking very slightly. “Hunter? I-“

Crosshair’s voice emanated from his bunk, “I swear, if those bastards spring another of their ‘surprise assessments’ on us, Kamino will burn.”

“No, it is not-“ Tech cut himself off with a harsh exhale and simply turned his datapad around, the illuminated screen casting eerie light across the floor. Hunter edged forewarned and read off the screen: OFFICIAL G.A.R. REPORT FROM UMBARAN FRONT- FRIENDLY FIRE CASUALTY NUMBERS RISING

Hunter would have read more, but Tech turned the screen back around and pressed the datapad to his chest. “I read it,” Tech said, “it is a disturbing incident that merits immediate discussion.”

Hunter called over their other two brothers and they waited in tense silence for Tech to explain. “I have compiled an explanation from various official and unofficial sources,” Tech began. “From my understanding, the 501st and 212th legions suffered significant losses in a friendly fire incident arranged by their Jedi general.

“A Jedi did this?!” Wrecker gasped, “I thought they were in our side!”

“Indeed,” Tech said, “a Besalisk Jedi Master by the name of Pong Krell, who seemingly planned to leave the Jedi order and offer his services to the Separatists. 

The regs apprehended him, losing more men in the effort. He was executed on Umbara.”

“Who did it?” Hunter asked in morbid fascination. “Wouldn’t killing a Jedi be a death sentence for a clone? Did the 501st lose their commander? Was it… Cody?”

 “It would seem he was killed by CT-6922, otherwise known as Dogma. I have been unable to locate Dogma in any subsequent reports or communications. Furthermore, his number has been deleted from the Kaminoan database.”

“He killed a traitor,” Cosshair muttered, glaring at nothing, “and they made him disappear.”

 “So it would appear.” Tech put aside his datapad and levelled a serious stare at his brothers. Hunter felt Tech’s eyes catch his and hold his gaze. “I am reluctant to accept that all the Jedi will turn on their soldiers so easily. However, it is now a proven possibility. As such, it seems prudent to be prepared in case we are ever in the presence of a Jedi who wishes us harm.”

The squad exchanged glances. Wrecker was the first to break the silence. “But… will we even be working with Jedi? The regs have generals, but we’ll be on our own once we graduate, won’t we? We only really report to Cody.”

Hunter sighed. Time to be the sergent, he supposed. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared, I guess. Cody’s got a Jedi. We can’t avoid them completely.”

Tech nodded once and set his datapad on his lap, hands poised to type. “Precisely. As such, we need a plan. Just in case.”

They nodded along grimly and echoed him, “just in case.”

___________________

The discussion took hours. Jedi, it turns out, were not very easy to kill. But the Bad Batch weren’t the Bad Batch for nothing. As such, many scrapped ideas, shouting matches, and some very unhappy consciences later, they had a plan. It wasn’t perfect and it certainly wasn’t pretty, but it was enough. Eventually, Tech finished typing. “Well,” he sighed, “I suppose that is that. Now it needs a name. The next available numerical designation is fifty-t-“ 

“Sixty-Six,” Crosshair interrupted unexpectedly. Throughout the entire discussion, he had been very quiet, providing ideas when required, but largely just observing as the plan came together. Yet every time they flagged, every time Hunter threw his hands up in despair and declared it was futile, he was there. He’d set a hand on Hunter’s shoulder and meet his gaze with a look that said far better than Crosshair himself ever could that he needed to stay strong for the sake of the squad.

That look was no where to be seen, now. In its place was an oddly dark, thousand-yard stare that put his brother uncomfortably in mind of a corpse. “It’s got to be Plan Sixty-Six.”

Tech, puzzled, tried to argue that “It does not makes sense to skip the preceding numbers for this one in particular,” but then Wrecker spoke up:

“No, he’s right. It’s gotta be that. It just feels… right”

Hunter found himself nodding along. For some reason, as soon as Crosshair said it, there was no alternative. Even Tech conceded the point, muttering some rationalization involving multiples of eleven.

In the dark, mind still spinning with the news of Umbara and the newly minted “plan 66”, Hunter was struck by the creeping feeling that they had just taken once step closer to something terrible. Something inescapable. 

Something horribly, world-shakingly, inevitable.

[mydaddywiki]

Joseph Daul

Physique: Husky Build

Height: 5' 5"

Joseph Alexander Daul (born 13 April 1947) is a French politician who served as President of the European People's Party (EPP) from 2013 to 2019. He previously served as Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament from 2007 to 2014 and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France from 1999 until 2014. He is a member of The Republicans, part of the EPP.

Daul had previously come to prominence as the chairman of the European Parliament's powerful Committee on Agriculture, a position he was elected to on 23 July 2004, and previously, from 2002, as chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen. He has been mayor of Pfettisheim (Bas-Rhin) since 1989, and is an officer of the Agricultural Order of Merit, knight of the National Order of Merit and knight of the Legion of Honour.

Short and cute, I'd vote for him (if I wasn't American) purely on looks. I did see something about being under investigation for misuse of public funds in France, but unless that is somehow going to result in him doing nude photo-shoots and porno's on Older4Me then I don't have much of an opinion. He's a politician… of course he's corrupt.

Anyway, Daul manage his family cattle farm of 75 ha with his wife and, for the last few years, his son, specializing in beef production and the cultivation of sugar beet. In addition to French, he speaks standard German and Alsatian, the Alemannic variety of German spoken in his native Alsace. I can offer nothing else about him, other than I want to fuck him. But you've probably guess that already.

[eddy25960]

Self-portrait 1896

Konstanty Gorski (Górski) (Polish painter) 1868-1934

Oil on canvas

Private Collection

Konstanty Górski (also known as Gorski) (born 1868 in Kazimierzów, died 1934 in Warsaw) - Polish painter.

He attended the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture

Konstanty Górski created portraits and caricatures, and rarely used historical and fairy-tale themes. He illustrated books and magazines, among others. Wędrowiec, He was an outstanding organizer of foreign painting exhibitions, for which he was awarded the Legion of Honor and the Cross of Merit awarded in Austria.

[red-cape-morgana]

Arcane season 2

Finished searching every little details I had noted during watching this first arc and thought about sharing it:

Caitlyn tying up her hair the moment she creates her squad, or more honestly “anti zaunites militia”. It’s not self consciousness or trying to look adult because we have seen her facing the council in the previous season with her hair down.

Any idea who always has her hair done/ tied up? Her mom. It’s not to impress the council or anyone because she had no problem arguing with the council last with her hair down. But her mom always had her hair up and I believe Caitlyn wanted to imitate that to look like the powerful woman she was and also to feel closer to her.

Let’s blame my French-ness but that hat. A military beret, and not any of them but the white one that’s reserved to the foreign legion of the French army. With a medal on it as a sign of her military prowess/merit.

It’s intriguing to see this choice cause they are known to be a last resort and ready to die regimen, but also the foreigner is supposed to be the one offering their service to the country. YET HERE it’s Ambessa the foreigner that gives her full powers and solidifies a rather fragile figure because everyone knows she is a very young adult, a rookie enforcer, and someone way too involved in the situation to clearly assess the situation. The perfect prey for a master in manipulation.

And what’s up with the necklace/ribbon? Where the hell is the pendant that we saw all last season? And her mom didn’t wear that color at all, the only character that wears something similar is Ambessa Medarda. A sort of red string between two characters.

[olderthannetfic]

I feel like that other chart was unintentionally a little misleading once separated from whatever talk or meta I originally prepared it for.

Here's a breakdown of what's going on with category tagging on AO3 currently in March 2024.

The majority of works are tagged with just one tag, but that doesn't mean multi-category works hit every type of content exactly equally. The bar chart shows what percentage of works with a given category tag are tagged only with that category.

As we'd expect, the 'multi' tag often gets added to a work with other categories. Ditto 'other', though not as strongly. Presumably, there are some tentacle monsters who obviously merit the tag, while nobody has ever been quite sure what to do with 'Multi'. (It was kind of a holdover from ancient archives that made a big deal of works with a m/m and a f/m ship. Personally, I use it for my legions of m/m/f ships.)

F/F isn't in that much of a worse boat than the other big categories, but it does objectively get cross-tagged more than F/M or M/M. Combine this fact with the lower absolute numbers of F/F, I think it strongly contributes to the feeling of "Grr, I came here for my femslash, and it was a background ship that showed up for literally one line!"

The red pie chart is comparing total numbers, but it's perhaps misleading because it's going to add up to more works than are actually on AO3.

Works with no category tags are harder to find totals for, and a lot of AO3 stats leave them out, which can also be misleading if you're trying to say X% of AO3 is M/M and you use a total work count that includes the unlabeled ones. I've been guilty of this plenty of times.

Anyway, just some thoughts on how your charts can mislead even when you were trying to be clear.

[tagthescullion]

Do you have any headcanons about Octavian (still can't believe we got Luke's entire tragic multifaceted backstory but we never even got Octavian's last name)?

I'll admit my idea of octavian comes from those politicians who want greatness by staying traditional so:

(yes this is long)

his family is one of the oldest in CJ/NR, he's a descendant of apollo but also of a bunch of other gods

as with any other community, secret, mythological, or plain common, the second half of the 20th century brought the need to become strong and powerful which means octavian's parents, grandparents, etc did everything in their power to solidify their family's hold on NR's power

then the 21st century brought the idea of opening society to the different (speaking ideally and etc etc), of being less strict, less controlled, less severe with rules

octavian's family hated this, I mean, they were powerful bc their roots were tied to the legion from long before the gods were even in the US! who tf were these upstarts like jason grace or reyna r. arellano who had no demigod ancestors?? no parents living in the city to show them how everything was done!!

octavian himself was probably less worried about how demigodish or not these kids were but he was fond of their heritage and he was used to his name meaning something, jason's liberal and radical ideas about un-roman-ising discipline and traditions.. well, I don't think the english for "le vino por las pelotas" exists, but go translate that

and, don't get me wrong, ofc excessive nationalism (or whatever that for smaller communities is) leads to bad places, but at first, nobody thought it was so strange. the guy was proud of who he was, of his family, he was secluded from mortals from a young age, what was wrong with him defending his culture from demigods who popped up and imposed their own ways to camp's?? (we all know how hard defending one's culture can be in the US)

in canon it's implied octavian blackmails and bribes his way into power, but with figures like jason and reyna having the 'official' power, that's not quite likely, he'd have been exiled long before, so it's more likely he played a sort-of-luke but instead of offering comfort and emotional affection, he offered a symbolic place in NR's society

"my family extends an offering for lunch this weekend" from octavian means a shitload to people who want power but have no connections of their own

and octavian wasn't probably too bad as a person if one wasn't conflictive (as long as one doesn't openly speak of politics, football, and religion, conversations can remain civil)

his dislike towards jason comes in part from jason being way too chill for a traditional roman despite being the son of the king of the gods, and from jealousy. jason seems to be a nice, popular, powerful kid who was given respect for the sake of existing, not so much for his merits at first

but that dislike was his own doom bc jason had his own friends, so there was probably a sort of division between "I like this one/I like the other"

at first it was probably just a jokey thing, like "ooh losers, we won the war games this time!" but shit like that can hit the fan fast if the times get conflictive

and conflictive is an understatement, two wars in two years?? (officially, the first one lasted two years most likely, but y'know) that's putting everybody in a bad and wary mood, everybody's paranoid, everyone's tense, that can only end in massive disaster

specially bc octavian's clever and he'd have badmouthed jason to make him less powerful. with his future seeing superpower, he probably saw jason enjoying "the enemy's" company and assumed it was kronos' side rather than the greeks (tho ofc to him the greeks would also have been the enemy)

anyway, jason becoming praetor was a punch in the gut for a guy who wanted traditions to prevail, and who failed to convince people even through a whole war!

[tiaramania]

do you know anything about the red ribbon victoria and sofia are wearing at the state visit?

I think it's the ribbon and badge for the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. Prince Daniel and Prince Carl Philip are wearing it too. Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf have the Grand Cross (a step higher than the Grand Officer) of the Legion of Honor so they get sashes instead of ribbons.

I really dislike how the French orders don't have a thinner version of the orders for women. I'm kind of iffy about orders anyway, particularly royal family orders. I appreciate the history behind them and sometimes they look very fancy and regal but other times I think they distract from the jewelry and make an outfit look cluttered. I feel the need to duck behind something because I know the royal fandom loves orders.

I'm mean look at Crown Princess Victoria, she's wearing...

the ribbon, badge, and star of the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor

the sash and badge of the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit

the star of the Order of the Seraphim

King Carl XVI Gustaf's Royal Family Order

It's just too much.

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 3 July 1988, the United States Navy shot down Iran Air flight 655, a civilian passenger plane with 290 people on board, all of whom were killed. The victims included 66 children, and an entire family of 16 who were on their way to a wedding in Dubai. The incident took place during the war between Iran and Iraq, which was led by Saddam Hussein and backed by the US. It followed a catalogue of errors, including the naval officer in charge of firing the missile aboard the USS Vincennes hitting the wrong key no fewer than 23 times before it was eventually fired. The US military then claimed that the Vincennes was rushing to defend a merchant vessel under attack from Iran when an aircraft outside the commercial air corridor was descending in "attack mode" towards the ship – which was false on all three counts. They also tried to claim the ship was in international waters, and naval officials even deleted an Iranian island from the map they showed to Congress. In fact it was in Iranian waters, in clear violation of international law. Meanwhile, the US media backed up the official line, with the New York Times apportioning blame to the pilot, Mohsen Rezaian, and Iran. In the aftermath, officers and crew of the Vincennes were welcomed home and decorated as heroes, receiving combat action ribbons and in one case a Commendation Medal for "heroic achievement" for "quickly and precisely complet[ing] the firing procedure." The Captain was later awarded the Legion of Merit for "exceptionally meritorious conduct as a commanding officer." Donations from the public to construct a monument honouring the USS Vincennes in Indiana also shot up following the incident, and the monument was constructed and dedicated the following year. If you value our social media posts, connect with us directly, independent of social media corporations, by joining our occasional email list: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/pages/sign-up https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=655304546642764&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

[stolenres-if]

Did any of the legion members know about N’s alleged feelings for MC?

It leaned more toward an open secret. Since they're celebrities as well there were a lot of tabloids and gossip rags that hinted at it. Cath did a lot of appearances on their own due to their elevated status within the group so Rea and Ray were put together often and N and MC were paired up to do gigs/appearances/keynotes and so of course people would create a story.

Cath brushed it off ofc since it didn't bother them and they didn't think twice about it. Everyone else secretly wondered if the rumors had any merit.

N would play it off as a joke but N joked that they'd want to sleep with everyone in Legion because they're a playboy/girl like that so no one really took it seriously. Guess that helped them lol

[scribe-of-maat]

Ranking DC Pride 2024

8. Phantom Rodeo (Jules Jourdain/Circuit Breaker, Jay Garrick/The Flash)

Dead last because 1 - it's not self-contained. 2 - it has nothing to do with anything Pride related and 3 - it's the return of the complete rando from last time. At least before the incredibly cool couple of Jess/Flash and Andy/Aquawoman featured heavily but no, because of detractor 1 Jay is here instead. Personally, I don't care about Circuit Breaker and I really hope someone else gets their spot next year.

7. "Hello, Spaceboy" (Starman/Mikaal, Komak)

If I knew who either of these characters were, this would probably be a lot higher. But the competition this year is steep so at 8 they go. Komak and the blue-purple warp zone 80s color pallet is REALLY slick. I thought I was familiar-ish with Starman but clearly there are multiple people running around with that name who have nothing to do with the JSA.

6. "Lessons in Astral Projection" (Nia Nal/Dreamer)

I stopped watching the CW shows that weren't about Black Lightning or Batwoman a looong time before Dreamer was intro'd (or after? I know I wasn't watching Flash way before she came along) but I knew of her and thought her powers and connection to the Legion of Superheroes was cool. I didn't like that there was no confrontation with Maeve in the story but it definitely would have gotten in the way of the feel-good affirmation vibe of the story.

5. Spaces

I'm 99% sure I've seen mention of Phil Jimenez across various DC fan spaces, so the only surprises here were that he was LGBT and that they were bringing back the real-person issue-ender like they did Mr. Conroy. It was nice seeing his journey, and it being so well-told is a real plus. No superheroes anywhere in sight though, save Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman.

4. Marasmius (Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy, Janet-from-HR)

Now THIS one was a ride. The opening left me a little rudderless and I'm not the biggest Harlivy fan so I thought I wasn't gonna get much out of this but if there's one thing I can believe, it's that if we had interplanetary travel the 'phobes would preach their nonsense across the galaxy. Ivy being an anti-villain is used to great effect here. No hand-wringing about morals, no reasoning with hate. Just do unto others as they would do unto. VERY cathartic.

3. Bros Down In A-Town (Jon Kent/Superman, Jay Nakamura, Ray Terrill/The Ray, Miguel Barragan/Bunker)

This one 3rd because I relate heavy to feeling weird about being openly LGBT out and about in public. I thought it was a surprising feeling that doesn't get touched on a whole lot because people generally don't like to see that type of real queer struggle being depicted in media that's supposed to be heavy on escapism. This artstyle though. I follow the artist on twitter because it fascinates me how one person's character can bleed through so transparently in the way they draw.

2. The Rivers and the Lakes that You're Used To (Jackson Hyde/Aquaman, Ha'Wea, Orion)

My bias for Jackson Hyde is showing but this story was also incredibly cool on its own merits. Orion being stone-facedly het for half of it was a choice but my boys showed up and officially got together - which I was surprised to learn hadn't happened long before now - so of course it shot up further in the rankings than it otherwise may have. Him saying he feels like himself when he's around his boyfriend is just *chef's kiss*.

1, Steeling Time (Natasha Irons/Steel, Traci Thirteen/Traci 13, John Constantine, Xanthe Zhou)

Natasha and Traci's appearances were the only things about this I got spoiled on, but after reading this they've instantly shot up to join Jackson and Ha'Wea in my pantheon on ships. I do like how it showed the steps to reconciliation and they were both still clearly open to the idea of rekindling things eventually. But this artstyle makes me want to see a webtoon of these two YESTERDAY.

[usafphantom2]

Colonel Bud Anderson (1942-1972) was the last living triple ace of WW2, until he passed in May of this year…..What a legend 🇺🇸

- 5 Distinguished Flying Crosses

- 2 Legions of Merit 🥇

- 16 Air Medals ✈️

-Bronze Star 🎖️

@JasonRBurt via X

[cameoamalthea]

Dumb Post about Senator Mark Kelly

Usually I make Dumb Posts about animals, BUT Election 2024 is important and Harris is going to pick her VP soon so I want you to know about Mark Kelly.

The coolest, most meme-worthy politician ever, through shear awesomeness

Mark Kelly is the result of a cloning project to create the coolest VP candidate ever

Ok - that's not true, he's just an identical twin whose brother is also an astronaut (and yes, he's an astronaut, but that's not all)

SCIENTIST, PILOT, WAR HERO

He received a Bachelor of Science in marine engineering and nautical science from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, graduating with highest honors in 1986. In 1994, he received a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

As a Navy Aviator he flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm.

Kelly has received two Defense Superior Service Medals; one Legion of Merit; two Distinguished Flying Crosses; four Air Medals (two individual/two strike flight) with Combat "V"; two Navy Commendation Medals, (one with combat "V"); one Navy Achievement Medal; two Southwest Asia Service Medals; one Navy Expeditionary Medal; two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons; a NASA Distinguished Service Medal; and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

Distinguished Flying Crosses are a BIG DEAL. You pretty much only get those for doing something's that’s worth making into a movie scene and he has TWO!

ASTRONAUT

Mark Kelly has logged over 54 days in space.

His Twin brother spent a YEAR IN SPACE (that's his brother on the cover - probably - but you get the idea that he also looked cool as an astronaut - and if you're wondering why he wasn't in space for a year, I'll get to that but the cool thing is cause he was retired while his brother was in space for a year he was the control in a twin study on the effects of being in space for a year)

That's probably also his brother, it's hard to google pictures when you have two identical twin brothers in space.

That's also Mark's twin brother Scott, because Mark smuggled a whole ass Gorilla Costume onto the International Space Station so his brother could go on a Gorilla rampage as a prank.

OK here he is

That's Mark Kelly!

My point is he's an astronaut, he's been to space, and the reason he left all that behind will bring you to tears and make you love him.

He's Mr. Gabby Giffords

Gabby Giffords served as a Congresswoman from Tucson, Arizona. When Giffords was sworn in on January 3, 2007, she was the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to serve in the U.S. Congress and was a Democrat elected in a very Republican district.

When I met her she was very Mom Shaped. She took care of the community and cared about her constituents. To the point that she would fly to Arizona from Washington DC to do events where she would just be out on a street corner where you could go talk to her.

On January 8, 2011, at a “Congress On Your Corner” constituent event in Tucson, Gabby was shot in the head by a gunman who killed six people and injured 12 others. 

At the time Mark Kelly was Cammander of the STS-134 he penultimate mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the 25th and last spaceflight of Space Shuttle Endeavour.

He stayed by his Wife's side for a month, when it was clear she was making progress in her recovery he announced on February 4, 2011, that he would remain commander of the mission. This would be his final mission.

He sent a love song to his wife from the International Space Station in the form of dedicating a song:

On June 21, 2011, Kelly announced that he would leave NASA's astronaut corps and the U.S. Navy effective October 1, to be with his wife and support her through her recovery:

Kelly became an outspoken advocate for gun control following the attempted assassination of his wife.

Still he dreamed of returning to space and worked out to keep his body mission ready.

"Kelly eventually compares everything to his time with NASA. As commander, he managed a small team of astronauts and worked within a sprawling bureaucracy. Every day pointed toward the same goal. There were checkpoints and to-do lists. The mission offered a clear dividing line between success and failure.

“It’s a very well-defined criteria of success,” Kelly said"

In 2020 he began a new mission serving as Senator for Arizona. A Moderate, he won twice in a swing state and would like draw some Republican voters who don't love Donald Trump over to the Harris ticket, should she choose him as VP.

[scotianostra]

David (Davy) Blair was born on 11th November 1874 at Broughty Ferry.

Blair was an employee of the White Star Line and had been originally earmarked to sail on The Titanic on it’s maiden voyage to New York, indeed he was second officer on the ship during its trial voyages to test the ship’s seaworthiness and the final journey from its place of construction in Belfast to Southampton, but a change in crewing lists at the last minute saw the second officer from Broughty Ferry taken off the passenger liner.

In his hurry to disembark the ship at Southampton docks, Davy accidently took a locker key with him. It was an innocent oversight, but one that likely contributed to the sinking of the Titanic. The seemingly innocuous key was in fact the key to the cupboard in which the crow’s nest binoculars and telescope were kept locked away. Titanic’s lookouts on that fateful night had no access to binoculars, and failed to spot the iceberg until it was too late.

He sent a postcard to his sister-in-law, writing: “Am afraid I shall have to step out to make room for chief officer of the Olympic. “This is a magnificent ship, I feel very disappointed I am not to make her first voyage… I hope eventually to get back to this ship.” But when he left Titanic on April 9, he would never set foot on it again.

The ship sank on April 15th after striking an iceberg, claiming more than 1,500 lives.

Investigations into the sinking of the Titanic raised lots of questions, including the obvious – why had the iceberg not been seen sooner?

It was believed Davy inadvertently hampered the ability of Titanic’s lookouts during the transatlantic crossing. The official inquiry heard from surviving crew members, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee.

The pair told the inquiry they would have spotted the iceberg sooner had they had the means to do so.

When questioned how much sooner, Fred replied: “Enough to get out of the way.”

Davy kept the key as a memento and it was considered to be one of the most important artefacts from the Titanic.

He died at the age of 80 in 1955 and the key was passed on to his daughter Nancy.

It later sold at auction for £90,000 in 2007 and the proceeds were used to set up scholarships in Davy’s name.

Davy Blair went on to win gallantry medals later in his career. In 1913, when he was First Officer on the SS Majestic, he jumped 40-foot overboard to help save a crew member from the chilly waters of the Atlantic.

The ship was 700 miles from New York when a stoker from the engine room “rendered temporarily insane by the heat of the stokehold had rushed on deck, and in his frenzy thrown himself into the sea”. Davy, who had just come off duty, heard the commotion and “without a moment’s hesitation” dived from “the dizzy elevation” to the man’s aid.

A report about the rescue in the London Gazette at the time said: “On the morning of 6th May, 1913, whilst the Majestic was in the North Atlantic, a Fireman jumped overboard.

“Vessel was backed to the place where he was supposed to have gone overboard and after some time he was sighted close to the port bow.

“Starboard emergency boat was lowered but Mr Blair, fearing that the boat might not reach him in time, jumped overboard from the port side of the vessel, swam to a lifebuoy which had been thrown overboard, and endeavoured to reach the man with it.

“He did not succeed, but, although weakened by the coldness of the sea, he managed to point out the whereabouts of the man to those in the boat, who rescued him and then picked up Mr Blair.

“There was a fog prevailing at the time and the water was very cold.”

The act of bravery saw him awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal from King George V at Buckingham Palace in 1915 and a medal from the Royal Humane Society.

A total of nine medals awarded to Davy including an OBE, First World War service medals and his Legion d’Honneur – the highest French order of merit.

As for the Titanic's binoculars and telescope, is it realistic that there was no others on a ship this size? I don't know.....

Pics are of Commander David Blair, and in the second left, packing scientific instruments for an expedition to the South Pacific.

[infiniteglitterfall]

Me, looking through books on Palestine: "Ilan Pappé wrote one called 'The Biggest Prison On Earth?!' People in Gaza hate it being called a prison. There's an entire hashtag for it. There's been an account dedicated to collecting pics and videos of #TheGazaYouDontSee for 6 years.

"Is Pappé even Palestinian? oh god wait I can tell already. this is gonna be an 'Israeli apologist' isn't it." Internet: "Yeah, Pappé's Israeli."

Me: "For fuck's--- so people will believe Israelis unquestioningly if they're shit-talking Israel, but in all other situations, Israelis are all liars?"

Internet: "Pretty much. Also, at best, Ilan Pappé must be one of the world’s sloppiest historians."

Me, admittedly in full schadenfreude now: "What?!?!"

Internet: "Benny Morris. That historian who's extremely hard-core about primary source documentation, who wrote that detailed book about how and why each group of Palestinian refugees left in 1947-9. He reviewed three books about Palestine."

Me: "Holy shit. And the book by Pappé is about the Husaynis. The family that Nazi war criminal Amin al-Husseini came from, the guy who fucked absolutely everything up for both Israel and Palestine."

Internet: "That's the one. Morris wrote, 'At best, Ilan Pappe must be one of the world’s sloppiest historians; at worst, one of the most dishonest. In truth, he probably merits a place somewhere between the two.'"

Me: "Why??"

Internet: "He says, 'Here is a clear and typical example—in detail, which is where the devil resides—of Pappe’s handiwork. I take this example from The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine'....

"Blah blah blah, basically in 1947 the UN voted to partition the land into Palestine and Israel, and extremist militias started shooting at Jewish towns and people. David Ben-Gurion was the leader of the Jewish community there, and his journal describes a visit from a scientist named Aharon Katzir, telling him about an experiment codenamed "Shimshon." Morris gives us the journal entry:

...An experiment was conducted on animals. The researchers were clothed in gas masks and suit. The suit costs 20 grush, the mask about 20 grush (all must be bought immediately). The operation [or experiment] went well. No animal died, the [animals] remained dazzled [as when a car’s headlights dazzle an oncoming driver] for 24 hours. There are some 50 kilos [of the gas]. [They] were moved to Tel Aviv. The [production] equipment is being moved here. On the laboratory level, some 20 kilos can be produced per day.

"Morris says, 'This is the only accessible source that exists, to the best of my knowledge, about the meeting and the gas experiment, and it is the sole source cited by Pappe for his description of the meeting and the "Shimshon" project. But this is how Pappe gives the passage in English:

Katzir reported to Ben-Gurion: 'We are experimenting with animals. Our researchers were wearing gas masks and adequate outfit. Good results. The animals did not die (they were just blinded). We can produce 20 kilos a day of this stuff.'

"'The translation is flecked with inaccuracies, but the outrage is in Pappe’s perversion of "dazzled," or sunveru, to "blinded"—in Hebrew "blinded" would be uvru, the verb not used by Ben-Gurion—coupled with the willful omission of the qualifier '"for 24 hours."'

"'Pappe’s version of this text is driven by something other than linguistic and historiographical accuracy. Published in English for the English-speaking world, where animal-lovers are legion and deliberately blinding animals would be regarded as a barbaric act, the passage, as published by Pappe, cannot fail to provoke a strong aversion to Ben-Gurion and to Israel.

"'Such distortions, large and small, characterize almost every page of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. So I should add, to make the historical context perfectly clear, that no gas was ever used in the war of 1948 by any of the participants. [Or, he later notes, by either Israel or Palestine ever.] Pappe never tells the reader this.

"'Raising the subject of gas is historical irrelevance. But the paragraph will dangle in the reader’s imagination as a dark possibility, or worse, a dark reality: the Jews, gassed by the Nazis three years before, were about to gas, or were gassing, Arabs.'"

Me: "Uuuuggghhhhhhhhh. Yeah, it will."

Internet: "He does say, 'Palestinian Dynasty was a good idea.' Then he does some really detailed historian-dragging about the lack of primary sources and reliance on people's interpretations of what they say instead.

"'Almost all of Pappe’s references direct the reader to books and articles in English, Hebrew, and Arabic by other scholars, or to the memoirs of various Arab politicians, which are not the most reliable of sources. Occasionally there is a reference to an Arab or Western travelogue or genealogy, or to a diplomat’s memoir; but there is barely an allusion to documents in the relevant British, American, and Zionist/Israeli archives.

"'When referring to the content of American consular reports about Arab riots in the 1920s, for example, Pappe invariably directs the reader to an article in Hebrew by Gideon Biger—“The American Consulate in Jerusalem and the Events of 1920-1921,” in Cathedra, September 1988—and not to the documents themselves, which are easily accessible in the United States National Archive.

"'Those who falsify history routinely take the path of omission. They ignore crucial facts and important pieces of evidence while cherry-picking from the documentation to prove a case. 

"'Those who falsify history routinely take the path of omission. They ignore crucial facts and important pieces of evidence while cherry-picking from the documentation to prove a case. 

"'But Pappe is more brazen. He, too, often omits and ignores significant evidence, and he, too, alleges that a source tells us the opposite of what it in fact says, but he will also simply and straightforwardly falsify evidence.

"'Consider his handling of the Arab anti-Jewish riots of the 1920s.

"'Pappe writes of the “Nabi Musa” riots in April 1920: “The [British] Palin Commission... reported that the Jewish presence in the country was provoking the Arab population and was the cause of the riots.” He also quotes at length Musa Kazim al-Husayni, the clan’s leading notable at the time, to the effect that “it was not the [Arab] Hebronites who had started the riots but the Jews.”

"'But the (never published) [Palin Commission Report], while forthrightly anti-Zionist, thereby accurately reflecting the prevailing views in the British military government that ruled Palestine until mid-1920, flatly and strikingly charged the Arabs with responsibility for the bloodshed.

"'The team chaired by Major-General P.C. Palin wrote that “it is perfectly clear that with... few exceptions the Jews were the sufferers, and were, moreover, the victims of a peculiarly brutal and cowardly attack, the majority of the casualties being old men, women and children.” The inquiry pointed out that whereas 216 Jews were killed or injured, the British security forces and the Jews, in defending themselves or in retaliatory attacks, caused only twenty-five Arab casualties.'"

Me: "Yeah. I'm looking at that report right now and it says there had been an explosion, and then people were looting Jewish stores and beating Jews with stones, and in one case stabbing someone. Some people said that some Jews got up on the roof of a hotel and retaliated by throwing stones themselves.

"And then it literally says, 'The point as to the retaliation by Jews is of importance because it seems to have impressed the Military and led them to imagine that the Jews were to some extent responsible for provoking the rising.' That's the only thing it really says about anyone blaming the Jews.

"Except.... the very beginning gives some historical context. And it does say that when the Balfour Declaration came out, Muslims and Christians 'considered that they were to be handed over to an oppression which they hated far more than the Turk's and were aghast at the thought of this domination....

"'If this intensity of feeling proceeded merely from wounded pride of race and disappointment in political aspirations, it would be easier to criticise and rebuke: but it must be borne in mind that at the bottom of all is a deepseated fear of the Jew, both as a possible ruler and as an economic competitor. Rightly or wrongly they fear the Jew as a ruler, regarding his race as one of the most intolerant known to history....

"'The prospect of extensive Jewish immigration fills him with a panic fear, which may be exaggerated, but is none the less genuine. He sees the ablest race intellectually in the world, past-masters in all the arts of ousting competitors whether on the market, in the farm or the bureaucratic offices, backed by apparently inexhaustible funds given by their compatriots in all lands and possessed of powerful influence in the councils of the nations, prepared to enter the lists against him in every one of his normal occupations, backed by the one thing wanted to make them irresistible, the physical force of a great Imperial Power, and he feels himself overmastered and defeated before the contest is begun.'

"Wow! What a great fucking example of how 'positive' stereotypes are actually used to fuck people over! We're not antisemitic, we actually think Jews are the smartest, most powerful, richest group with tremendous global power! So positive!! Not at all being used here to justify antisemitic violence!

"Also, immigration from all over the world actually meant that different agricultural and manufacturing techniques were brought into the region, and yes, financial investments to start businesses sometimes, which meant that Arab Palestinians there had the highest per capita income in the Middle East, the highest daily wages, and started a lot of businesses of their own. But go off, I guess."

"Anyfuckingway.... it basically says that the Muslims and Christians were angry and scared, the Jews were too quick to set up the functioning government that the Brits were supposed to be there to help both sides create -- and which the Arab leaders completely refused to create for Palestine, because (1) fascists and (2) didn't want Jews nearby -- and that they were "ready prey for any form of agitation hostile to the British Government and the Jews." Then it says the movement for a United Syria was agitating them real hard, and so were the Sherifians.

"Is that what Ilan Passe, I mean Pappe, meant by the Palin Report blaming the Jews?! That when it says it's understandable the Arabs were freaking out, because antisemitism, Pappe thinks it's saying the Jews were provoking them?!"

Internet: "I don't know. I kinda tuned out after the first hour you were talking."

Me: "OGH MY GOD"

Internet: "So anyway, then Morris ALSO says, 'About the 1929 “Temple Mount” riots, which included two large-scale massacres of Jews, in Hebron and in Safed, Pappe writes: “The opposite camp, Zionist and British, was no less ruthless [than the Arabs]. In Jaffa a Jewish mob murdered seven Palestinians.”

Me: "What the ENTIRE FUCK? There was no united 'Zionist and British' camp! The Brits would barely let any Holocaust refugees in, ffs!"

Internet: "Morris says, 'Actually, there were no massacres of Arabs by Jews, though a number of Arabs were killed when Jews defended themselves or retaliated after Arab violence.

"'Pappe adds that the British “Shaw Commission,” so-called because it was chaired by Sir Walter Shaw (a former chief justice of the Straits Settlements), which investigated the riots, “upheld the basic Arab claim that Jewish provocations had caused the violent outbreak. ‘The principal cause... was twelve years of pro-Zionist [British] policy.’”

"'It is unclear what Pappe is quoting from. I did not find this sentence in the commission’s report. Pappe’s bibliography refers, under “Primary Sources,” simply to “The Shaw Commission.” The report? The deliberations? Memoranda by or about? Who can tell?

"'The footnote attached to the quote, presumably to give its source, says, simply, “Ibid.”

"'The one before it says, “Ibid., p. 103.”

"'The one before that says, “The Shaw Commission, session 46, p. 92.”

"'But the quoted passage does not appear on page 103 of the report.

"In the text of Palestinian Dynasty, Pappe states that “Shaw wrote [this] after leaving the country [Palestine].” But if it is not in the report, where did Shaw “write” it?'"

Me: "I'M ON IT. [rapid-fire googling] OMG. This is.... Not the first time. In 'The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine,' he reported that in a 1937 letter to his son, David Ben-Gurion declared: 'The Arabs will have to go, but one needs an opportune moment for making it happen, such as war.'

"It's not in the source he gave. It's not in any of the three different sources he's given for it.

"He apparently has never responded to any requests for an explanation, either from the journal he published in, or from other historians. But it says he did "obliquely [acknowledge] the controversy in an article in Electronic Intifada, in which he portrayed himself as the victim of intimidation at the hands of “Zionist hooligans.”'

"This is absolutely fucking wild. THEN it says the chair of the Ethics Committee where he was teaching eventually said that the second part of the quote ('but one needs,' etc) was a (combined?) paraphrase of a diary entry and a speech Ben-Gurion gave, and that the first half is 'based on' a letter to his son.

"And it's so convincing! The chair says, 'Shabtai Teveth[,] Ben Gurion’s biographer, Benny Morris and the historian Nur Maslaha have all quoted this letter. In fact their translation was stronger than the quotation from Professor Pappé: ‘We must expel the Arabs and take their place.’ Professor Pappé has documentary evidence of these quotations and the source will ensure that this is correctly cited in any future editions of the publication or related studies.'

"And IT'S NOT EVEN TRUE?!

"Ben-Gurion's actual diary entry (not a letter) says the opposite.

“'We do not want and do not need to expel Arabs and take their places.... All our aspiration is built on the assumption – proven throughout all our activity – that there is enough room in the country for ourselves and the Arabs.'

"Benny Morris misquoted it as "We must expel the Arabs and take their places" in the English version of his 1987 book The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, although it was correct in the Hebrew version. He corrected himself in the 2001 book Righteous Victims.

"Teveth also misquoted it in the English version of his 1985 book Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs, but again, had it correct in the Hebrew edition.

"And both Morris and Teveth explicitly point out the rest of the entry. The part about all their aspiration being built on the assumption and experience that there was enough room in the country for everyone.

"Historian Efraim Karsh’s 1997 book Fabricating Israeli History pointed out and corrected their mistakes.

"This is apparently a very well-known issue among historians of Israel and Palestine. It was a big deal in 2003, when an evangelist Christian publisher put out a book FULL of disinformation, which not only used the same quote as Pappe does, but also could not give a real source for it.

"But Pappe STILL USED THE MISQUOTE AND DOUBLED DOWN ON IT EVERY SINGLE TIME."

Internet: "Are you done? I know all this already."

Me: "Also, there are literally only two places where the phrase 'twelve years of pro-Zionist policy' shows up online, and they're both about Pappe making quotes up.

"NOW I'm done."

Benny Morris wasn't, though. The review continues at the link below. And the next part starts, "To the deliberate slanting of history Pappe adds a profound ignorance of basic facts. Together these sins and deficiencies render his “histories” worthless as representations of the past, though they are important as documents in the current political and historiographic disputations about the Arab-Israeli conflict. Pappe’s grasp of the facts of World War I, for example, is weak in the extreme."

[taraross-1787]

This Day in History: Seaman Second Class John Cullen

On this day in 1920, a future U.S. Coast Guardsman is born. John “Jack” Cullen is best known for his role in finding and stopping Nazi saboteurs as they attempted to invade America during World War II.

He received a Legion of Merit for his actions.

Cullen was once described as “a thoroughly wholesome, typically American boy” with “a modest demeanor.” When the Japanese attacked at Pearl Harbor, he did what so many in that generation did: He signed up to help.

Before too long, Cullen was a Coast Guardsman stationed near Amagansett, New York.

FULL STORY: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-john-cullen