#Louis and Clark County

[rabbitcruiser]

Idyllic

What do you think about my pic?

[guspartenza]

THE SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON, FANART+FANFIC INTRODUCTION

art by https://www.deviantart.com/gabrielrb91

What would you think about an alternate universe with a female-Clark as Superwoman in the golden age?

Is the only main change in the classic canon together with her love interest, is not Earth-11, let's say is Eart-19...meet Clara Kent/Superwoman!

It's 1948, in Metropolis!

Up in the sky! Look! It's a bird? It's a plane? No! It's Superwoman!

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, this amazing stranger from the planet Krypton, The Woman of Steel: Superwoman!

Empowered with X-ray vision, possessing remarkable physical strength, Superwoman fights a never-ending battle for love, truth, and justice, disguised as a mild-mannered newspaper reporter, Clara Kent!

In a world plagued by the Cold War and mistrust, can Superwoman bring peace to the world while fighting for love, truth, justice, and the American way? Can she finally find a happy life with Louis Lane, the love of her life? Can she defeat Lex Luthor and the terrible ancient evil he is about to awaken?

You can download full free illustrated fanfic in pdf here! SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON-FREE ILLUSTRATED FANFIC by lordmallory on DeviantArt or here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XPh48B9_giTgDpnBXjRP-4Z4ksUU-WzR/view?usp=drive_link

Art by https://www.deviantart.com/letoart

KALA-EL/CLARA JOSEPHINE KENT/SUPERWOMAN

BORN: Krypton, a moon in a distant galaxy. Formally 28/02/1918, SMALLVILLE, KANSAS

PROFESSION: ASSISTANT REPORTER

YEAR: 1948

PLACE: METROPOLIS (METROPOLIS COUNTY, NEW YORK)

art by https://www.deviantart.com/wagemagegames

-Farmgirl, born Kansas 1918. No sisters nor brothers.

-Nicest girl in the office but very unfunny.

-Disappears without reason very often.

-Lives alone in a little flat and has a golden retriever dog called Krypto.

-Daddy issues. Her father didn't let her pursue a career as ballet dancer or swimmer (he didn't want her to take advantage of her powers) and died when she was 18.

-Former nurse during the war in the Pacific Ocean and in the Philippines.

-Loves children and dogs

-Tomboyish trails. Not quite elegant.

-Music-Hall fan, Katherine Hepburn and James Stewart fan

-Favorite books: Scarlet Pimpernel adventures, Jane Austen, Upton Sinclair and Virginia Wolf, somewhat eclectic.

-Amateur writer of children's stories, with characters such as DeeDog and the Komfy Dragon.

-She greatly admires her boss, Perry Weiss. A 1940s very liberal Republican style journalist, chief editor of the Daily Planet. She despises her deputy boss Cat Grant.

-Ambiguous relationship with her other boss Louis Lane. Clara has a good friendship with Louis and hides that she is very much in love with him. At the same time, she competes a lot with Mr. Lane and is annoyed by his political ideas and his paternalism.

-Strange friendship with young millionaire Bruce Wayne, something that is very surprising for the people in the Daily Planet newsroom.

-Always good scoops but never appears in the front line and too stubborn and independent to grow fast in the newspaper.

-Progressive quaker like her fathers.

-Civil rights supporter.

-Dislikes General McArthur, dislikes even more Lex Luthor

-Loves Eleanor Roosevelt but also Governor Dewey.

-Hates guns

-Supports unions, splits ticket between Metropolis Liberal Party and the two main parties. Politicians must be kind.

art by https://www.tumblr.com/bobbinalong

SUPERHEROINE LIFE

-Superpowers: Flight, Super-Strength, Super-Speed, X-Ray Vision, Heat Vision, Enhanced Vision, Super-Hearing, Super-Breath, Freeze-Breath, High Invulnerability, Super-Stamina

-Can fly to a Mach 100 speed.

-Acts as Superwoman since October 1945.

-Defeated Zod invasion in July1946.

-Initial bad relationship with Batman but now close friends and allies. Together with Flash they conform the Justice League.

-Didn't act as Superwoman during the World War II because she was afraid of her powers. After the discovery of the Holocaust and the atomic bombs she decided to step in and showed herself to the world on autumn 1945.

-Worst enemy: Lex Luthor, heir of Nikola Tesla, rocket engineer & CEO of TELCORP (Tesla-Luthor Co.)

-Deeply in love with Louis Lane, who strongly rejects the superheroine.

-She hides her supersuit and cape under her normal clothes. The material is extraordinarily thin, flexible and resistant, and very easy to wear under normal clothing. Whenever someone needs Superwoman, she just needs to find an inconspicuous place, rip her shirt, unfold her cape and fly away at full speed.

-Widely admired.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/bluerollerball

art by Gabriel Larragan (Ko-Fi)

FAMILY & ORIGINS

The El family & Krypton

Krypton was a decadent civilization located on a moon near a large gaseous planet in the Orion belt, next to a green sun. In the past they had visited Earth and other planets expanding civilization, but their penchant for slavery, war, resource extraction and violence caused many of these projects to fail. Even in 10,500 BC the Kryptonians almost caused the terraforming of the Earth, melting the poles and destroying Atlantis and other civilizations, causing among other things the end of the Ice Age. Nearly 99% of humanity perished during that Kryptonian attack.

Over the centuries the Kryptonians lost the fuel necessary to travel across space and ended up confined to their planet, dedicated to warfare, genetic engineering-creating clones whose organs they needed to extend their lives-to pleasure and to exploiting the subsoil of their planet. The Kryptonians also established a dictatorship with a caste system based on genetic engineering and prohibited natural reproduction.

Jor-El and Lara were a couple of scientists critical of the system and supporters of the abolition of the caste system. They also fought against genetic engineering, violent repression, and the permanent destruction of the ecosystem. After a series of terrible earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and gas outbursts, it became clear that Krypton's core was collapsing, due to the energetic drilling and magnetic energy used in Krypton's industry. The Planet was doomed but the ruling caste ignored it. Jor-El and Lara had a daughter, Kala-El in a natural way against all the rules of Krypton. Lara managed to manufacture a small ship capable of making a space jump to save her daughter from the end of Krypton. General Zod stole her design and managed to build a larger fleet of ships but Jor-El managed to sabotage them and send the fleet to the Phantom Zone, a black hole near Krypton.

Lara decided to send Kala to Earth, confident that the culture of this planet was much more hopeful and kinder, and less prone to the mistakes of Krypton than other distant inhabited planets closer to them. Jor-El preferred to send her to New Genesis, another distant inhabited planet, because there Kala would receive less radiation and develop less extraordinary abilities that would allow her to live a normal life, but eventually Lara convinced him. During her journey to Earth and her growing period under a yellow sun, Kala would develop wonderful powers and could live a long life in the service of mankind, rehabilitating Krypton's legacy.

Within hours of Kala's birth, she was placed in the small ship, accompanied by the robot guide Kelex, whose memory was imprinted with the consciousness of Jor-El and Lara, as well as nearly all of Krypton's cultural heritage. They included several Kryptonian artifacts inside, such as a nearly indestructible ceremonial female ancestral caped suit with the crest of the House of El on its chest.

The ship was launched just hours before Krypton's demise and travelled through space for thirty years...

art by https://www.tumblr.com/bobbinalong

Joe&Martha Kent, Kansas life

Joe and Martha Kent were a Quaker farming couple whose farm was struck by the pod carrying Kala-El the 28th of February of 1918. Although owners of substantial property they were a very humble, cooperative, austere, devout, and civil rights-minded people. Martha Kent was a descendant of Kansas abolitionist guerrilla fighter John Brown. They both raised Clara very lovingly and unwilling to ask too many questions about the baby's origin. Clara was a very sickly child as her body did not adapt to the Earth. She was an affectionate and obedient girl and devoured books. The Kent family were avowed supporters of the New Deal and Joe Kent was a member of the local farmers union.

With puberty Clara developed very fast, and her superpowers began to appear. She soon began to excel in swimming and ballet, while still questioning her origins, but Joe forbade her to pursue a professional career to prevent her from taking advantage of her powers, and moreover he forbade her to use her superpowers to help others, fearful of humanity's reaction and wary of savior messiahs in the era of interwar dictators.

Clara rebelled against her father but eventually gave in, fearful of her own abilities and understanding her parents' position. During these years, Clara didn't fit in very well, but she had two best friends, Pete Ross, with whom she was secretly in love, and Lana Lang. Pete didn't know about her superpowers, but Lana did. In 1936 Joe Kent died of a heart attack, devastating her daughter. Clara was unable to go to college after her father's death and worked as a teacher and nurse's aide in Smallville. Her engagement to Pete Ross, her teenage sweetheart failed in 1939 when she revealed her powers to Pete and he panicked, although he later promised to keep the secret. In those times of sadness, Kelex, the Kryptonian robot, was activated, explaining to Clara her true origins, which filled her with confusion.

Between 1939 and 1941 Clara lived in Canada and Alaska searching for the Fortress of Solitude, a strange place Kelex was pointing, but with the outbreak of World War II she decided to enlist as a nurse in the Pacific, refusing to use her powers except to help the wounded, fearing to cause more harm than good. In late 1944, the hospital ship on which he was traveling, the USS Shuster, was torpedoed by the Japanese. Clara jumped into the water and managed to keep the ship afloat with her super strength until she managed to beach it. No one understood how miraculously the ship had stayed afloat and even levitated. The incident was kept secret. Clara got a permit to return home and she revisited Alaska where she found the Fortress of Solitude with the help of Kelex. There she was able to better understand her origins and began to train her superpowers.

After learning about the Holocaust first and the atomic bombs later, Clara decided to become Superwoman and help others with her superpowers dressed in the ceremonial Kryptonian costume of her ancestors. Her mother Martha supported her decision. She relocated to Metropolis, where in September 1945 she was hired as an assistant reporter by Major Louis Lane, who had just returned from Europe.

art by LuisF47 - Hobbyist, Digital Artist | DeviantArt

On October 1, 1945, Superwoman unveiled herself to the world and caused a huge sensation. The world was changed forever. Superwoman introduced herself to the newly formed United Nations, explaining her origins and her desire to help others and to stay out of political conflicts except to protect civilians.

Clara Kent began her double life as a journalist and as Superwoman. In July 1946, she defeated the invasion of General Zod and the survivors of Krypton. She also had to face other enemies such as the Intergang - an alliance of all organized crime in Metropolis and Gotham, Atomic Skull - an ex-Nazi agent with terrifying technology, Lex Luthor who began to develop his hatred and paranoia towards the superheroine, and his creations such as Metallo.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/xtophe

DAILY PLANET CHARACTERS

Perry Weiss, a major shareholder and editor in chief of the Daily Planet. Born in Odessa in 1886. Jewish immigrant from humble origins who became a skilled journalist and founded the Daily Planet as a tool of the liberal wing of the Metropolis Republican Party to unseat the city bosses of the time. Still a staunch liberal, he supported Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, is an ally of Mayor LaGuardia. He won the Pulitzer Prize in the 1920s for defending the innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti. Friend and ally of Louis Lane's father. He is very demanding with his employees but is very fond of Clara. He admires and defends Superwoman despite Louis Lane's distrust. Best friend of Cat Grant.

Cat Grant, Co-chair of Perry Weiss, Pulitzer winner, closeted lesbian, and Ayn Rand Fan. Born 1901, she comes from a fine family of Metropolis Knickerbockers. She is like Louis the least liberal element of the newspaper. To protect herself she married a very old friend of her father who helped her lead a double life. For twenty years she lived with a painter named Margaret Ivy. Considered the best writer of the Daily Planet, in addition to being a journalist she has published two novels. Very elegant and popular in intellectual circles. She is tremendously authoritarian. She mistreats Clara a lot because she does not respect her authority and because of her different political ideas, but as Clara grows as a journalist and Cat Grant suspects that she is Superwoman, she will protect her and push her forward without Clara knowing it. Best friend of Perry Weiss

Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Weiss, best friends of Clara.

Jimmy is a junior urban photographer. He comes from a town in Massachusetts. He is 7 years younger than Clara. He is a party animal, friendly, generous, and somewhat naive. Yet he is a skilled photographer who has been able to capture the worst of the night and day of Metropolis. Miraculously he always gets the best pictures of Superwoman (Clara helps him a little). Very democratic and complains about working for a newspaper that is too conservative for his taste. Adores Clara whom he treats as his big sister. It doesn't even cross his mind that she is Superwoman. Jimmy thinks that Louis is a snob and a bigot.

Lucy is a senior political photographer and the only woman on photo reporting on the Daily Planet who works outside the fashion department. She is the eldest daughter of Perry Weiss. She is an intrepid photojournalist who gets overseas passes and has been to several military conflicts. A loyal friend of Clara, and a very serious and professional woman. She is suspicious of Clara's double identity but would never say anything. She is the same age as Clara and a lover of jazz and the more alternative circuits of Metropolis.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/milkydraws8/gallery

art by https://www.artstation.com/pabloalcalde

LOUIS LANE, SUPERWOMAN'S WEAKNESS?

NAME: LOUIS LANE

BORN: 08/02/1912, METROPOLIS (NEW YORK)

PROFESSION: SENIOR REPORTER

YEAR: 1948

PLACE: METROPOLIS (NYC)

art by https://www.deviantart.com/rickcelis/gallery

-Rich family, born in 1912, first of 6 brothers.

-Caustic, cynical, ironic but somewhat kind.

-Commanding.

-Lives in Park Avenue with his 6-year-old daughter and his rich unfaithful wife, fashion reporter Pat Lane (neé Kelly). Very unhappy marriage.

-Major rank during the war in the US army. He also worked with the OSS.

-Elegant, sportsman, plays violin.

-Teaches music lessons in an orphan house in secret.

-Not that snobbish nor Wasp, new rich family traits.

-Arkham University alumni.

-Classic music and literature lover.

-Heavy drinker.

-Does not enjoy journalism, thinking of quitting to politics or teaching literature.

-Jewish father (Lane surname is a change from Lantzman), Irish catholic mother, raised catholic and religious, but not extremely orthodox.

-His father is a self-made tycoon who started as democrat in the Tammany Hall and then switched to republican. Close ally of Mayor LaGuardia.

-Fought in the European theater during World War II.

-Conservative republican opposed to his father liberal republican views, loves McArthur, who he thinks should be the next President.

-In the past he had a good opinion of Lex Luthor. He saw him as an innovator and freedom fighter, but his opinion changed when Luthor kidnapped him to set a trap for Superwoman.

-Perry Weiss favorite reporter.

-Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1941, for his articles about the first defeat of the Intergang.

-First person to interview Superwoman.

-Very nice and paternalistic to Clara. Louis pushes Clara's career forward despite Cat Grant's opposition. He is also secretly in love with Clara. Although he rejects Superwoman and suspects she is the same person as Clara, he deludes himself and rejects these suspicions.

-Tired of New Deal Politics, anticommunist.

-"a brilliant and kind man" for most of the Daily Planet staff, a "terrible asshole" for many others like Jimmy Olsen.

-Strongly rejects Superwoman and other heroes.

-Sometimes Clara really hates him.

-Famous line "Neither reds nor capes".

-He lives a bizarre love triangle with Clara Kent and Superwoman. Although he publicly rejects the superheroine, he also desires her and he and Superwoman have had moments of passion, which Louis feels guilty about because he is married and because of his religion. On the other hand, he is in love with Clara Kent as much as he rejects the figure of Superwoman. He deludes himself about the identity of both. A bit James Stewart in Vertigo, which destabilizes and infuriates Clara.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/guinnessyde

art by https://akiko02.carrd.co/

CURRENT AND PAST ENEMIES

Lex Luthor

Rocket engineer, CEO of TELCORP and Heir of Nikola Tesla. A Brilliant scientist who defines himself as a "radical humanist"...but in the early 30s supported closely fascism to stop "imperialism" and "usury" but later changed his mind and move closer to the USSR to fight "predatory western capitalism". Publicly, he is a tycoon and scientist loyal to the United States and works closely with the government. The world's greatest philanthropist. Loving father and husband. Hates Superwoman to death and believes she spells the end of humanity. Paranoid and ruthless but convinced that he does everything for the greater good.

art by https://www.deviantart.com/gus-art

General Zod & Faora

Political dissidents like the El on Krypton on the other hand believed that Krypton's only salvation lay in emigrating and invading, terraforming, and exterminating other planets. They almost succeeded in a coup d'état but after their failure they and their henchmen tried to flee by space jumping their ships, Jor-El managed to sabotage the launch and send them to the Phantom Zone. Over the years they managed to escape and arrived on Earth in 1946, shortly after Clara showed herself to the world as Superwoman. They tried to exterminate all humanity, but Superwoman and the armies of Earth managed to defeat them. Their invasion caused 5,000 human casualties but could have caused complete extermination. The experience was traumatic for Clara because she had to send Zod and Faora back to the Phantom Zone where they would surely die. Zod, Faora and their henchmen had not yet developed the full powers of a yellow sun like Earth's and so several of them were killed by human bombs and missiles. Their remains were stored by Russians and Americans. Superwoman managed to expel all Kryptonian technology and weaponry into space so that humans would not use it for warfare.

Doomsday

A truly near-indestructible abomination.

Perhaps from Krypton's past? Perhaps created by mistake by human scientists?

art by https://www.deviantart.com/fernando-damasio & https://www.deviantart.com/kristherion

The Toyman

Winslow Schott, former entrepreneur, and inventor of the 1920s toy business who was ruined in the Great Depression by banks and various betrayals. After a crime spree he was imprisoned in 1933 but escaped from prison recently completely crazed and ready to take revenge on the whole city using his inventions.

Brainiac "The Eternal Traveller"

An android resulting from the abhorrent merger of a famous astronaut and artificial intelligence, which was used by the first civilization of Krypton to collect information from other worlds. It is more than 100,000 years old. With the passage of time, he revealed against the Kryptonians, became evil and phobic to any form of life that he considered imperfect or inferior. It caused the destruction of many cultures. He wanders through space visiting planets and analyzing life forms. He probably has no enthusiasm for humans, much less for a descendant of the House of El.

art by https://www.instagram.com/estefaniaart_/

art by https://www.deviantart.com/midnightowl07

art by https://www.deviantart.com/artsandar

art by https://akiko02.carrd.co/

art by https://www.deviantart.com/son-neko

art by https://www.deviantart.com/dommnics

You can download full free illustrated fanfic in pdf here! SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON-FREE ILLUSTRATED FANFIC by lordmallory on DeviantArt or here SUPERWOMAN.pdf - Google Drive

[bignaz8]

ARIZONA INTERESTING FACTS:

1. Arizona has 3,928 mountain peaks and summits, more mountains than any one of the other Mountain States (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming).

2. All New England, plus the state of Pennsylvania would fit inside Arizona.

3. Arizona became the 48th state and last of the contiguous states on February 14, 1912, Valentine’s Day.

4. Arizona's disparate climate can yield both the highest temperature across the nation and the lowest temperature across the nation in the same day.

5. There are more wilderness areas in Arizona than in the entire Midwest. Arizona alone has 90 wilderness areas, while the Midwest has 50.

6. Arizona has 26 peaks that are more than 10,000 feet in elevation.

7. Arizona has the largest contiguous stand of Ponderosa pines in the world stretching from near Flagstaff along the Mogollon Rim to the White Mountains region.

8. Yuma, Arizona is the country's highest producer of winter vegetables, especially lettuce.

9. Arizona is the 6th largest state in the nation, covering 113,909 square miles.

10. Out of all the states in the U.S., Arizona has the largest percentage of its land designated as Indian lands.

11. The Five C's of Arizona's economy are: Cattle, Copper, Citrus, Cotton, and Climate.

12. More copper is mined in Arizona than all the other states combined The Morenci Mine is the largest copper producer in all of North America.

13. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, two of the most prominent movie stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, were married on March 18, 1939, in Kingman, Arizona.

14. Covering 18,608 sq. miles, Coconino County is the second largest county by land area in the 48 contiguous United States.(San Bernardino County in California is the largest).

15. The world's largest solar telescope is located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Sells, Arizona.

16. Bisbee, Arizona is known as the Queen of the Copper Mines because during its mining heyday it produced nearly 25 percent of the world's copper. It was the largest city in the Southwest between Saint Louis and San Francisco.

17. Billy the Kid killed his first man, Windy Cahill, in Bonita, Arizona.

18. Arizona grows enough cotton each year to make more than one pair of jeans for every person in the United States.

19. Famous labor leader and activist Cesar Chavez was born in Yuma.

20. In 1912, President William Howard Taft was ready to make Arizona a state on February 12, but it was Lincoln's birthday.

The next day, the 13th, was considered bad luck so they waited until the following day. That's how Arizona became known as the Valentine State.

21. When England's famous London Bridge was replaced in the 1960s, the original was purchased, dismantled, shipped stone by stone and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where it still stands today.

22. Mount Lemmon, Tucson, in the Santa Catalina Mountains, is the southernmost ski resort in the United States.

23. Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch in Picacho, Arizona is the largest privately-owned ostrich ranch in the world outside South Africa.

24. If you cut down a protected species of cactus in Arizona, you could spend more than a year in prison.

25. The world's largest to-scale collection of miniature airplane models is housed at the library at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona.

26. The only place in the country where mail is delivered by mule is the village of Supai, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

27. Located on Arizona's western border, Parker Dam is the deepest dam in the world at 320 feet.

28. South Mountain Park/Preserve in Phoenix is the largest municipal park in the country.

29. Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, located about 55 miles west of Phoenix, generates more electricity than any other U.S. power plant.

30. Oraibi, a Hopi village located in Navajo County, Arizona, dates back to before A.D. 1200 and is reputed to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in America.

31. Built by Del Webb in 1960, Sun City, Arizona was the first 55-plus active adult retirement community in the country.

32. Petrified wood is the official state fossil. The Petrified Forest in northeastern Arizona contains America's largest deposits of petrified wood.

33. Many of the founders of San Francisco in 1776 were Spanish colonists from Tubac, Arizona.

34. Phoenix originated in 1866 as a hay camp to supply military post Camp McDowell.

35. Rainfall averages for Arizona range from less than three inches in the deserts to more than 30 inches per year in the mountains.

36. Rising to a height of 12,643 feet, Humphreys Peak north of Flagstaff is the state's highest mountain.

37. Roadrunners are not just in cartoons! In Arizona, you'll see them running up to 17-mph away from their enemies.

38. The Saguaro cactus is the largest cactus found in the U.S. It can grow as high as a five-story building and is native to the Sonoran Desert, which stretches across southern Arizona.

39. Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, grew up on a large family ranch near Duncan, Arizona.

40. The best-preserved meteor crater in the world is located near Winslow, Arizona.

41. The average state elevation is 4,000 feet.

42. The Navajo Nation spans 27,000 square miles across the states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, but its capital is seated in Window Rock, Arizona.

43. The amount of copper utilized to make the copper dome atop Arizona's Capitol building is equivalent to the amount used in 4.8 million pennies.

44. Near Yuma, the Colorado River's elevation dips to 70 feet above sea level, making it the lowest point in the state.

45. The geographic center of Arizona is 55 miles southeast of Prescott near the community of Mayer.

46. You could pile four 1,300-foot skyscrapers on top of each other and they still would not reach the rim of the Grand Canyon.

47. The hottest temperature recorded in Arizona was 128 degrees at Lake Havasu City on June 29, 1994.

48. The coldest temperature recorded in Arizona was 40 degrees below zero at Hawley Lake on January 7, 1971.

49. A saguaro cactus can store up to nine tons of water.

50. The state of Massachusetts could fit inside Maricopa County (9,922 sq. miles).

51. The westernmost battle of the Civil War was fought at Picacho Pass on April 15, 1862 near Picacho Peak in Pinal County.

52. There are 11.2 million acres of National Forest in Arizona, and one-fourth of the state forested.

53. Wyatt Earp was neither the town marshal nor the sheriff in Tombstone at the time of the shoot-out at the O..K. Corral. His brother Virgil was the town marshal.

54. On June 6, 1936, the first barrel of tequila produced in the United States rolled off the production line in Nogales, Arizona.

55. The Sonoran Desert is the most biologically diverse desert in North America.

56. Bisbee is the Nation's Southernmost mile-high city.

57. The two largest man-made lakes in the U.S. are Lake Mead and Lake Powell, both located in Arizona.

58. The longest remaining intact section of Route 66 can be found in Arizona and runs from Seligman to Topock, a total of 157 unbroken miles.

59. The 13 stripes on the Arizona flag represent the 13 original colonies of the United States.

60. The negotiations for Geronimo's final surrender took place in Skeleton Canyon, near present day Douglas, Arizona, in 1886.

61. Prescott, Arizona is home to the world's oldest rodeo, and Payson, Arizona is home to the world's oldest continuous rodeo, both of which date back to the 1880's.

62. Kartchner Caverns, near Benson, Arizona, is a massive limestone cave with 13,000 feet of passages, two rooms as long as football fields, and one of the world's longest soda straw stalactites: measuring 21 feet 3 inches.

63. You can carry a loaded firearm on your person, no permit required.

64. Arizona has one of the lowest crime rates in the U.S.A.

[fashionbooksmilano]

Nick Knight

Introduction by Charlotte Cotton

Designed by Paul Hetherington

Harper Collins, New York 2009, 264 pages, 27x32,5cm, ISBN 978-0-06-171 4573

euro 240,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

Nick Knight is among the world's most influential and visionary image makers. As a fashion photographer, he has consistently challenged conventional notions of beauty and is renowned for his groundbreaking creative collaborations with designers including Alexander McQueen, Comme des Garçons, and John Galliano. Advertising campaigns for clients such as Christian Dior, Yohji Yamamoto, Shiseido, Jil Sander, Swarovski, and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as award-winning editorials for W, Vogue, Dazed & Confused, Visionaire, and i-D magazines, among others, have kept Knight at the vanguard of progressive image making for the past three decades.

This incredible volume—with all images selected by Knight—is a midcareer retrospective of his work, from 1990 to the present day. With an introduction by Charlotte Cotton, curator of photography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the book includes work for major advertising campaigns for Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Levi Strauss, as well as numerous prestigious fashion publications. It features collaborative work with Björk, Michael Clark, Peter Saville, Gareth Pugh, Massive Attack, and Hussein Chalayan, photographs of the natural world, exquisite editorial images for Vogue, and models who defy fashion's stereotypes. It also includes examples of Knight's ground-breaking performance and film work on his Web site, SHOWstudio.com, the first to seriously consider how contemporary fashion photography would be shaped and expanded by the Internet—and is the contemporary reference point for many of the most innovative ideas and experiences of fashion today.

With more than 300 striking images reflecting Knight's extraordinary vision and fearless experimentation, this volume is a landmark in both the genres of photography and fashion.

23/01/24

[kanye--westeros]

Top Albums of 2024

1. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU - JPEGMAFIA (Favorite Track: vulgar display of power)

2. Dark Times - Vince Staples (Favorite Track: Étouffée)

3. GNX - Kendrick Lamar (Favorite Track: tv off)

4. empathogen - Willow Smith (Favorite Track: false self)

5. CHROMAKOPIA - Tyler, The Creator (Favorite Track: I Killed You)

6. Big Ideas - Remi Wolf (Favorite Track: Wave)

7. Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q (Favorite Track: time killers)

8. Algorithm - Lucky Daye (Favorite Track: Think Different)

9. What Now - Brittany Howard (Favorite Track: Red Flags)

10. Soul Burger - Ab-Soul (Favorite Track: California Dream)

11. Charm - Clairo (Favorite Track: Juna)

12. Two Star & The Dream Police - Mk.gee (Favorite Track: Candy)

13. I've Never Been Here Before - Erick the Architect (Favorite Track: Breaking Point)

14. Humble As the Sun - Bob Vylan (Favorite Track: Ring the Alarm)

15. TANGK - IDLES (Favorite Track: POP POP POP)

16. Nothing - Louis Cole (Favorite Track: Life)

17. COWBOY CARTER - Beyonce (Favorite Track: SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN')

18. People Who Aren't There Anymore - Future Islands (Favorite Track: Corner Of My Eye)

19. What A Devastating Turn Of Events - Rachel Chinouriri (Favorite Track: Dumb Bitch Juice)

20. The People We Become - nobigdyl. (Favorite Track: leave it to God)

21. It Wasn't That Deep - Glolorun (Favorite Track: Walk)

22. HEAVY JELLY - SOFT PLAY (Favorite Track: Act Violently)

23. Imaginal Disk - Magdalena Bay (Favorite Track: Cry For Me)

24. Songs For Sinners & Saints - Killer Mike (Favorite Track: Humble Me

25. Mahashmashana - Father John Misty (Favorite Track: Screamland)

26. Bando Stone & The New World - Childish Gambino (Favorite Track: Cruisin)

27. The Alexander Technique - Rex Orange County (Favorite Track: Carrera)

28. Cyan Blue - Charlotte Day Wilson (Favorite Track: My Way)

29. Atavista - Childish Gambino (Favorite Track: Final Church)

30. She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She - Chelsea Wolfe (Favorite Track: Dusk)

31. No - Tomato Flower (Favorite Track: Destroyer)

32. Pointy Heights - Foushee (Favorite Track: rice & peas)

33. Love Heart Cheat Code - Hiatus Kaiyote (Favorite Track: Cinnamon Temple)

34. Quiet In A World Full Of Noise - Dawn Richard x Spencer Zahn (Favorite Track: The Dancer)

35. Public Love - Littrell (Favorite Track: Meet Me In The Water)

36. AND THEY MINE FOR OUR BODIES - Gao the Arsonist (Favorite Track: INSOMANIA)

37. Afrikan Alien - Pa Salieu (Favorite Track: Big Smile)

38. TIMELESS - Kaytranada (Favorite Track: WITCHY)

39. HARDSTONE PSYCHO - Don Toliver (Favorite Track: BACKSTREETS)

40. ORQUIDEAS - Kali Uchis (Favorite Track: Perdiste)

Honorable Mention:

Hit Me Hard And Soft - Billie Eilish, Older - Lizzy McAlpine, HEAVY - SiR, Hyperdrama - Justice, INDIGO - Jared Evan, Dark Matter - Pearl Jam, JPEG RAW - Gary Clark Jr., What A Fucking Nightmare - The Chisel, Chains & Stakes - The Dead South, #Richaxxhaitian - Mach-Hommy, I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy, Samurai - Lupe Fiasco, Something in the Room She Moves - Julia Holter, Brat - Charli XCX, 9 - Kenny Mason, The Art Of The Lie - John Grant, Dopamine - Normani, Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain - Raveena, Big For You - Zsela, God Said No - Omar Apollo, Wide open, horses - James Vincent McMorrow, This Wasn't For You Anyway - Lola Young, Permanent Pleasure - Joywave, MEGAN - Megan Thee Stallion, Mantras - Katie Pruitt, Romanticism - Hana Vu, No Name - Jack White, CRASH - Kehlani, Shadowbox - MAVI, Bird's Eye - Ravyn Lenae, This Is How Tomorrow Moves - Beabadoobee, Bad Cameo - James Blake x Lil Yachty, Ultra 85 - Logic, The Loop - Jordan Rakei, A LA SALA - Khruangbin, Power - illuminati hotties, Better Me Than You - Big Sean, Wild God - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Please Don't Cry - Rapsody, Found Heaven - Conan Gray, When a Thought Grows Wings - Luna Li, A Dream Is All We Know - The Lemon Twigs, Penalty of Leadership - Boldy James & Nicholas Craven, You Only Die 1nce - Freddie Gibbs, Bravado Intimo - IDK, Evergreen - Soccer Mommy, The FORCE - LL Cool J, From Zero - Linkin Park, Moth - Fana Hues, PHASOR - Helado Negro, Dunya - Mustafa The Poet, Negative Spaces - Poppy, Maybe In Nirvana - Smino, Mika's Laundry - Matt Champion, Fabiana Palladino - Fabiana Palladino

Albums Worth Checking Out Despite Not Making HM:

Stargazer - Helqvist, We Don't Trust You - Metro Boomin x Future, Bryson Tiller - Bryson Tiller, Deeper Well - Kacey Musgraves, Here In The Pitch - Jessica Pratt, Pinball - MIKE & Tony Seltzer, Only God Above Us - Vampire Weekend, Loss Of Life - MGMT, Saviors - Green Day, GRIP - serpentwithfeet, Eternal Sunshine - Ariana Grande, Can We Please Have Fun - Kings of Leon, Name Your Sorrow - Pillow Queens, Visions - Norah Jones, Girl With No Face - Allie X, Melt The Honey - PACKS, All Born Screaming - St. Vincent, Everything I Thought It Was - Justin Timberlake, Lives Outgrown - Beth Gibbons, INSANO (NITRO MEGA) - Kid Cudi, American Dream - 21 Savage, Radical Optimism - Dua Lipa, Chaos Angel - Maya Hawke, Good Together - Lake Street Dive, Little Rope - Sleater-Kinney, Don't Forget Me - Maggie Rogers, Love's Letter - Shae Universe, Everybody Can't Go - Benny The Butcher, Head Rush - Channel Tres, Summertime Butch - Benny The Butcher, Quantum Baby - Tinashe, Doing It For Me - Larry June, PRATTS & PAIN - Royel Otis, flight b741 - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, COYOTE - Tommy Richman, Idols & Vices: Vol 1 - Kimbra, For Crying Out Loud - FINNEAS, Leon - Leon Bridges, Glorious - GloRilla, Still Praying - Westside Gunn, Tyla - Tyla, Audio Vertigo - Elbow, WORLD WIDE WHACK - Tierra Whack, Black Yacht Rock Vol. 1: City Of Limitless Access - Pharrell Williams, Underdressed At The Symphony - Faye Webster, The Crossroads - Cordae, Petrichor - 070 Shake, Blacks & Whites - Big Hit, Hit-Boy x The Alchemist, The Book Of Clarence Soundtrack - Jeymes Samuel, ROLLERCOASTER - Cadence Weapon, BUG - Kacy Hill, Why Lawd? - NxWorries, Born In The Wild - Tems, When Angels Cry - jev., Across The Tracks - Boldy James x Conductor Williams, Memoirs in Armour - Navy Blue, The Genuine Articulate - The Alchemist

Notable EPs/Mixtapes:

Drop 7 - Little Simz, Scrapyard - Quadeca, Something Ether - Lil Yachty, ROBOPHOBIA EP - EARTHGANG, Might Delete Later - J. Cole, Slow Burn - Baby Rose x BADBADNOTGOOD, On Read EP - Dear Silas, The Pursuit - The 80s, King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2 - Denzel Curry, Alligator Bites Never Heal - Doechii

Great Songs on Decent to Bad Albums:

"OFTEN, I HAVE THESE DREAMZ" by Kid Cudi

"Honestly" by Lil Dicky

"Doomsday" by Lyrical Lemonade x Cordae x Juice WRLD

"If We Being Real" by Yeat

"Your share of the night" by Gesaffelstein

"BANG YOUR HEAD" by Devin Malik x Schoolboy Q

"Nobody Escapes" by Mother Mother

"Fuel" by Eminem x JID

"Earwax" by Ski Mask The Slump God

"Walking In The Rain" by Toro Y Moi

[todaysdocument]

Resolution of the General Assembly of the Missouri Territory for the relief of the inhabitants of the County of New Madrid who have suffered by earthquake

Record Group 233: Records of the U.S. House of RepresentativesSeries: Petitions and Memorials Referred to the Committee on Public LandsFile Unit: Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to the Committee on Public Lands during the 13th Congress

A Resolution for the relief of the Inhabitants of the County of New Madrid Whereas in the Catalogue of miseries and afflictions, with which it has pleased the supreme being of the universe, to visit the Inhabitants of this earth, there are none more truly awful and destructive than Earthquakes. Man's wisdom can not foresee nor his precaution guard against them. For whatever sections of the habitable world, this wreck of matter, these convulsions of nature occur; they do not fail profoundly to impress us with awe; and to excite our astonishment at their terrible effects. As members of the great human family, our deepest commiserations should not fail to be excited, and our hearts expanded with charity for the relief of those whose lives are saved from the general wreck. We ought never to forget that what was their fate Yesterday may be ours tomorrow. And Whereas it is notorious to this general assembly, that the Inhabitants of the late District now County of New Madrid in this Territory; have lately been visited with several calamities of this kind, which have deluged large portions of their Country and involved in the greatest distress, many families, whilst others have been entirely ruined, whole districts of country have been depopulated and many valuable farms utterly destroyed. Many of these our unfortunate fellow citizens are now wandering about without a home to go or a roof to shelter them from the pitiless Storms. And whereas the best light in which these Calamities are viewed by the enlightened humane government of the United States, has been conspicuously manifested, by their liberal Arbitration in favor of the Sufferers at Carracas, this General Assembly can not therefore doubt but what it will be equally ready to extend relief to a portion of it's own Citizens, under similar Circumstances. Be it therefore resolved by the General Assembly for the Territory of Missouri, that they do recommend the Inhabitants of the said County of New Madrid, who have thus suffered to the consideration of the National Legislature, and that in the opinion of the said general assembly provisions ought to be made by law, for granting to the said Inhabitants relief, either out of the public lands or in such other way as may seem meet to the wisdom and Liberality of the general government. George Bullitt St. Louis, January12th 1814 Speaker of the House of Representatives William Clark S. Hammond Governor of the Missouri Territory President of the Legislative Counsel

[idroolinmysleep]

I should be proud (I am! I am!) that the Dallas Museum of Art made it as one of the 20 best art museums in America, even if it's in last place. But what I'm really here for is the precious drawings. Love those axonometric projections.

I'm probably being redundant, but I also wanted to have the list in text form for easier reading or searching or whatever:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Institute of Chicago

National Gallery of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Cleveland Museum of Art

Museum of Modern Art

Detroit Institute of Art

Getty Center/Getty Villa

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

St. Louis Art Museum

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Legion of Honor/De Young

Baltimore Museum of Art

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Wadsworth Atheneum

Whitney Museum of American Art

Dallas Museum of Art

In a companion piece, the Washington Post lists (but doesn't rank) the 10 best small art museums in America:

Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia

Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Frick Collection, New York

Glenstone, Potomac, Maryland

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

Menil Collection, Houston

Neue Galerie, New York

Norton Simon, Pasadena, California

Phillips Collection, D.C.

And the best college art museums:

Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas at Austin

Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University

Harvard Art Museums

RISD Museum

Yale University Art Gallery

[whiteshipnightjar]

Does art make a difference?

Aw, sure. Of course there are degrees of extremity to the potential change that art can effect, depending on how many people are able to engage with it. The Beatles made a huge difference in the world. But Henry Darger, Jeff McKissack, Karen Dalton, Pauline Oliveros, Kenneth Patchen – there are so many folks who have made great art and not gotten massively famous for it, yet I think there are all sorts of ways their work informs and shapes other people’s work, and brains, and decisions.

Should politics and art mix?

Well, everything mixes, the New Statesman! That’s like asking if a knee-reflex hammer and a quadriceps tendon should “mix”.

Is your work for the many or for the few?

That’s for the many/few to say. I just crank out the hot jams.

If you were world leader, what would be your first law?

Gravity. I feel like we need to tighten up the constitutional protections that particular law enjoys. It’s a ticking time bomb, if you ask me.

Who would be your top advisers?

Cute angel on one shoulder, cute devil on the other.

What, if anything, would you censor?

Maybe we could all agree to not bust each other’s chops all cut-dang day.

If you had to banish one public figure, who would it be?

Don’t know, banishment might be a little extreme, but I’d sure like to take that Stephen Hawking dude down a notch or two. Right? Are you with me?

What are the rules that you live by?

Basically, “bros before hos”. I feel like if you stay true to that, everything else just kind of falls into place.

Do you love your country?

I love William Faulkner, Dolly Parton, fried chicken, Van Dyke Parks, the Grand Canyon, Topanga Canyon, bacon cheeseburgers with horseradish, Georgia O’Keeffe, Grand Ole Opry, Gary Snyder, Gilda Radner, Radio City Music Hall, Big Sur, Ponderosa pines, Southern BBQ, Highway One, Kris Kristofferson, National Arts Club in New York, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Joni Mitchell, Ernest Hemingway, Harriet Tubman, Hearst Castle, Ansel Adams, Kenneth Jay Lane, Yuba River, South Yuba River Citizens League, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, “Hired Hand”, “The Jerk”, “The Sting”, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, clambakes, lobster rolls, s’mores, camping in the Sierra Nevadas, land sailing in the Nevada desert, riding horseback in Canyon de Chelly; Walker Percy, Billie Holiday, Drag City, Chez Panisse/Alice Waters/slow food movement, David Crosby, Ralph Lauren,San Francisco Tape Music Center, Albert Brooks, Utah Phillips, Carol Moseley Braun, Bolinas CA, Ashland OR, Lawrence KS, Austin TX, Bainbridge Island WA, Marilyn Monroe, Mills College, Elizabeth Cotton, Carl Sandburg, the Orange Show in Houston, Toni Morrison, Texas Gladden, California College of Ayurvedic Medicine, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Saturday Night Live, Aaron Copland, Barack Obama, Oscar de la Renta, Alan Lomax, Joyce Carol Oates, Fred Neil, Henry Cowell, Barneys New York, Golden Gate Park, Musee Mechanique, Woody Guthrie, Maxfield Parrish, Malibu, Maui, Napa Valley, Terry Riley, drive-in movies, homemade blackberry ice cream from blackberries picked on my property, Lil Wayne, Walt Whitman, Halston, Lavender Ridge Grenache from Lodi CA, Tony Duquette, Julia Morgan, Lotta Crabtree, Empire Mine, North Columbia Schoolhouse, Disneyland, Nevada County Grandmothers for Peace; Roberta Flack, Randy Newman, Mark Helprin, Larry David, Prince; cooking on Thanksgiving; Shel Siverstein, Lee Hazlewood, Lee Radziwill, Jackie Onassis, E.B. White, William Carlos Williams, Jay Z, Ralph Stanley, Allen Ginsberg, Cesar Chavez, Harvey Milk, RFK, Rosa Parks, Arthur Miller, “The Simpsons”, Julia Child, Henry Miller, Arthur Ashe, Anne Bancroft, The Farm Midwifery Center in TN, Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Clark Gable, Harry Nilsson, Woodstock, and some other stuff. Buuuut, the ol’ U S of A can pull some pretty dick moves. I’m hoping it’ll all come out in the wash...

Are we all doomed?

If we keep our expectations pretty low I think we might be fine. I mean, we’re definitely all dying at some point. There’s no getting around that. But between now and then, things might start looking up!

— Joanna Newsom for The New Statesman, 2008

[testostertunes]

Emily Robb Summer Tour starts today!! Today in Brooklyn w/ Rosali and then a bunch of nights w/ Kurt Vile & his Violators...

Emily has a string of gigs coming up, and she'll be joined by yours truly on stage with a little organ. Please come out and have a blast and say hello to us. As we get further from Philadelphia, we would especially love to meet anybody willing to let the two of us sleep at their place after the show. Email richie.charles@gmail.com if so inclined.

Either way- don't be shy come say what's up!

Emily Robb Live Dates Summer 2024

Sun 6/16 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool w/ Rosali Mon 6/17 Harrisburg, PA @ HMAC * Tue 6/18 Wilmington, DE @ The Queen * Thu 6/20 Atlantic City, NJ North to Shore Festival @ Anchor Rock Club * Sat 6/22 Charlotte, NC Neighborhood Theatre * Sun 6/23 Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre * Mon 6/24 Indianapolis, IN @ State Street Pub w/ Kind Buds Tue 6/25 Evanston, IL @ SPACE * Wed 6/26 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant * Thu 6/27 Kalamazoo, MI @ Bells * Fri 6/28 Detroit, MI @ Spread Art w/ Deadbeat Beat, Shells Sun 6/30 Norwalk, CT @ District Music Hall *

Tues 7/23 Montreal, QC @ Sotteranea w/ Mountain Movers, Feeling Figures Wed 7/24 Prince Edward County, ON @ Glenwood Cemetery w/ Mountain Movers, Stonegrass, Craig Currie, Paul Lowman Thurs 7/25 Toronto, ON @ Monarch Tavern w/ Mountain Movers Fri 7/26 Rochester, NY Carbon 30YR Fest @ Radio Social Sun 7/28 Williamstown, MA @ Clark Art Institute w/ Glenn Jones Fri 8/2 Philadelphia, PA @ Century Bar w/ Nod, Mike Polizze (of Purrling Hiss/Birds of Maya) Mon 9/23 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s w/ Mystic 100’s

* w/ Kurt Vile and the Violators

And other upcoming Petty Bunco shows… July 5 - Mordecai, The Spatulas, Overt Hostility @ Jerry’s On Front Aug 2 - Nod, Emily Robb, Mike Polizze @ Century Bar

We'll have copies of the newly landed "If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection" repress at the merch table. See ya there!

polaroid by Kurt Vile

[forthosebefore]

Cathay Williams, first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Army

November 15, 1866: Cathay Williams became the first African American woman to serve in the U.S. Army, and the only woman to serve in the U.S. Army as a Buffalo Soldier.

Williams was born to an enslaved mother and a free father in Independence, Missouri in 1844. At 17 years old, Williams first served as an Army cook and a washerwoman. During this time, African Americans who had been captured were forced to serve in military support as contraband for Union forces. Williams enlisted in the U.S. Regular Army under the false name “William Cathay” on November 15, 1866. She was assigned to the 38th U.S. infantry Regiment, one of the all-black regiments recently established, that would become part of the renown Buffalo Soldiers. The Army did not require full medical exams at the time, so she was able to pass as a man.

When Williams began to feel the effects of smallpox and was hospitalized, it was discovered that she was actually a woman. Lewis was honorably discharged by her commanding officer, Captain Charles E. Clarke, on October 14, 1868. Following her discharge, Williams went to work as a cook at Fort Union, New Mexico, and later moved to Pueblo, Colorado. Around 1889 or 1890, Williams entered a hospital and applied for disability pension based on her medical service. Her request was denied. In 1893, a doctor’s examination revealed that Willaims suffered from neuralgia and diabetes. She had all her toes amputated and walked with a crutch. The doctor determined that she did not qualify for disability payments. While the exact date of her death is unknown, it is believed that Williams died shortly after she was denied.

Williams’ interview that was published in the St. Louis Daily Times on January 2, 1876:

"My Father a was a freeman, but my mother a slave, belonging to William Johnson, a wealthy farmer who lived at the time I was born near Independence, Jackson county, Missouri. While I was a small girl my master and family moved to Jefferson City. My master died there and when the war broke out and the United States soldiers came to Jefferson City they took me and other colored folks with them to Little Rock. Col. Benton of the 13th army corps was the officer that carried us off. I did not want to go. He wanted me to cook for the officers, but I had always been a house girl and did not know how to cook. I learned to cook after going to Little Rock and was with the army at The Battle of Pea Ridge. Afterwards the command moved over various portions of Arkansas and Louisiana. I saw the soldiers burn lots of cotton and was at Shreveport when the rebel gunboats were captured and burned on Red River. We afterwards went to New Orleans, then by way of the Gulf to Savannah Georgia, then to Macon and other places in the South. Finally I was sent to Washington City and at the time Gen. Sheridan made his raids in the Shenandoah valley I was cook and washwoman for his staff I was sent from Virginia to some place in Iowa and afterwards to Jefferson Barracks, where I remained some time. You will see by this paper that on the 15th day of November 1866 I enlisted in the United States army at St. Louis, in the Thirty-eighth United States Infantry Company A, Capt. Charles E. Clarke commanding. Captain Charles E. Clarke in the Civil War 6th Infantry at the Battle of Baton Rouge. "The regiment I joined wore the Zouave uniform and only two persons, a cousin and a particular friend, members of the regiment, knew that I was a woman. They never 'blowed' on me. They were partly the cause of my joining the army. Another reason was I wanted to make my own living and not be dependent on relations or friends. Soon after I joined the army, I was taken with the small-pox and was sick at a hospital across the river from St. Louis, but as soon as I got well I joined my company in New Mexico. I was as that paper says, I was never put in the guard house, no bayonet was ever put to my back. I carried my musket and did guard and other duties while in the army, but finally I got tired and wanted to get off. I played sick, complained of pains in my side, and rheumatism in my knees. The post surgeon found out I was a woman and I got my discharge. The men all wanted to get rid of me after they found out I was a woman. Some of them acted real bad to me. After leaving the army I went to Pueblo, Colorado, where I made money by cooking and washing. I got married while there, but my husband was no account. He stole my watch and chain, a hundred dollars in money and my team of horses and wagon. I had him arrested and put in jail, and then I came here. I like this town. I know all the good people here, and I expect to get rich yet. I have not got my land warrant. I thought I would wait till the railroad came and then take my land near the depot. Grant owns all this land around here, and it won't cost me anything. I shall never live in the states again. You see I've got a good sewing machine and I get washing to do and clothes to make. I want to get along and not be a burden to my friends or relatives."

Leticia Wright stars in the 2023 film Surrounded. Her character, Moses “Mo” Washington, was modeled after the Cathay Williams. I’m also seeing a bit of Stagecoach Mary in Wright’s character.

Source: Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture Facebook, National Park Service, YouTube

Visit www.attawellsummer.com/forthosebefore to learn more about Black history and read new blog posts first.

Need a freelance graphic designer or illustrator? Send me an email.

[countyflagchampionship]

Congratulations to the counties advancing to round 5!

AK 

Anchorage, Juneau

AL

Cleburne

AR

Searcy

AZ

Maricopa, Yavapai

CA

Santa Cruz, El Dorado, Ventura, Monterey, Mariposa, Calaveras, Orange

CO

La Plata

FL

Palm Beach, Okaloosa, Monroe

GA

Fulton, Floyd

HI 

Maui

IA

Black Hawk, Polk, Henry, Hardin

IL 

Moultrie, Peoria, Cook, McHenry

LA 

St Bernard, St Tammany, Bossier, Jefferson, Cameron

MA

Barnstable, Berkshire

MD

Cecil, Montgomery, Frederick

ME

Androscoggin, Washington

MI 

Wexford, Ottawa

MN

Aitkin

MO 

St Louis

MS 

Adams

MT 

Silver Bow

NC 

Person, Tyrrell, Hoke, Northampton

NE 

Saline, Buffalo, Saunders

NJ 

Somerset, Essex

NM 

Otero, Doña Ana, Socorro, Colfax

NV 

Eureka, White Pine, Lincoln, Douglas, Clark

NY 

Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, Saint Lawrence, Chemung, Chenango, Wyoming, Warren, Richmond, Livingston, Greene

OH

Lucas, Licking, Coshocton, Lake, Pickaway, Ross, Seneca, Trumbull, Jackson, Mercer, Brown

OK 

Payne

OR 

Linn

PA

Potter, Lancaster, Carbon

SC 

Florence

TN 

Johnson, Houston, Cumberland

TX

Dallas, Goliad, Lipscomb, McMullen, Llano, Ochiltree, Jones

UT

Summit

VA

James City, Charlotte, Southampton, Charles City, Wise, Warren, Alleghany

WA

Snohomish, Whitman, Pend Oreille, Chelan, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Kittitas, Skamania, Yakima, Clallam, Klickitat, Thurston, Whatcom, Asotin

WI

Fond du Lac

WY

Big Horn, Converse, Park

[beardedmrbean]

A mother and her four children were killed in a house fire that has been deemed “suspicious” by Missouri authorities.

The fire was reported at 4:20 a.m. Monday, Feb. 19, at a home in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis, according to the St. Louis County Police Department.

Photos shared by the Ferguson Police Department show smoke fill the home. The smoke was visible for miles, KTVI reported.

Firefighters found the bodies of five people inside the home, police said. There were also three dogs who were found dead.

“The smoke was so bad. I tried to kick the front door,” Jerry McClure, a neighbor, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We just couldn’t wake them up.”

The victims were identified by KMOV as Bernadine “Birdie” Pruessner and her four children: 2-year-old Millie, 5-year-old Jackson and 9-year-old twin girls Ellie and Ivy.

A cause for the fire is unknown, but authorities told the Post-Dispatch and KTVI “suspicious” circumstances were involved. The investigation is ongoing.

’A tragedy for our community’

Pruessner, a former math teacher at City Academy in St. Louis, was named the Missouri Teacher of the Year in 2013 by the American Board.

More recently, she was an assistant professor at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois, according to Metro East Star. She is also a published author and the founder of a nonprofit, Root Cause Agricultural Education Group.

“Birdie was a dear colleague and friend to all. She cared so deeply about her students and about helping others,” Lewis and Clark President Ken Trzaska said in a statement, Metro East Star reported. “She brought energy and illuminated such a bright light of positivity and kindness to our campus community.”

Pruessner was nearing the completion of her doctorate degree in early childhood education, her father told the Post-Dispatch, referring to her as “brilliant.”

Dara Ashby of the Ferguson Animal Coalition called the deaths of Pruessner and her children “a tragedy for our community,” KSDK reported.

“She was a wonderful person and loved her kids, loved her family, loved her animals,” Ashby told the station. “She was just a treasure to our community. So this is a huge loss.”

’Live each day like it’s your last’

Before her Monday morning death, Pruessner spent Sunday with her children, going to a reptile show, soccer game and camping out in their living room, she said on Facebook.

“Making today one of those live each day like it’s your last kind of days,” she said.

That night, she shared a photo of her family and said she was “blessed” to be their mother. “Us against the world,” she wrote in the post.

Pruessner and her children were referred to as a “beautiful family” by one friend.

“None of this seems real, today has been really really hard. How could Birdie, Elly, Ivy, Jack and Millie be gone?” Allison Nichole Fox said in a Facebook post. “Birdie was an incredible mother and had the brightest light always surrounding her.”

[itsdefinitelynottea]

In memory of the Royal Advisor, HG Duchess Mary of Astraea

Extended family of the Royal Advisor

L to R:

HRH Princess Sophie the Duchess of Alethea & HG Duke Consort Clark of Alethea

HRH Prince Louis the Count Consort of Alethea & HG Countess Eve of Alethea with their child, Liege Arthur, heir to the county of Alethea

HRH Prince Luther the Duke Consort of Astraea & HG Duchess Mary of Astraea, the Royal Advisor

Lord Noah & Liege Margie

Lord Malcolm & Lady Emma, the heir to the duchy of Astraea with their children, Liege Albert & Liege Beatrice

HRH Crown Princess Katherine & HRH Prince Consort Thomas

Liege Haley

Lord Jeremy & Lord Edgar

[bllsbailey]

NEW: Missouri Sues DOJ Over Poll Monitors

It's a contest between federal might and a state's right as we head into the waning hours of the 2024 election. The Department of Justice announced that it would be sending lawyers out to 86 polling locations in 27 states to monitor them on Tuesday. 

But some of those states are pushing back, including Missouri, which filed suit against the DOJ on Monday challenging the feds' right to have monitors in place. 

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department in an attempt to prevent federal officials from monitoring polling locations in St. Louis on Election Day. Ashcroft in a statement accused the Justice Department of "attempting to illegally interfere in Missouri's elections" after the DOJ announced that it would oversee polling locations in in St. Louis, one of 86 jurisdictions in 27 states that the department will monitor on Election Day "for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections," according to a DOJ announcement issued on Nov. 1. "The law clearly and specifically limits who may be in polling places and this action by the DOJ is not allowed," Ashcroft said. "The secretary of state's office has full confidence in our election authorities. Voting has been underway for several weeks and we are ready for Election Day. I want to personally thank all 116 local election authorities and the thousands of poll workers across Missouri who make our elections safe, secure and credible," he added.

Missouri isn't the only state raising objections to the DOJ monitoring announcement. Both Texas and Florida have taken issue with the practice as well. 

In a letter to the Justice Department on Friday, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said wrote that “Texas law is clear: Justice Department monitors are not permitted inside polling places where ballots are being cast or a central counting station where ballots are being counted.” “Texas has a robust processes and procedures in place to ensure that eligible voters may participate in a free and fair election," Nelson wrote. In a similar letter Friday, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd told the Justice Department that Florida law lists who is allowed inside the state's polling places and that Justice Department officials are not included. Byrd said that Florida is sending its own monitors to the four jurisdictions the Justice Department plans to send staff to and they will “ensure there is no interference with the voting process.”

The complaint, brought by Ashcroft and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke, and the DOJ, and filed in the Eastern District of Missouri, lays out the crux of the issue in the first paragraph:

For the second election cycle in a row, the Department of Justice, at the 11th hour, has announced an intent to displace state election authorities. Absent exceedingly clear federal authority, the States “keep for themselves … the power to regulate elections.” Shelby Cnty., Ala. v. Holder, 570, U.S. 529, 543 (2013) (cleaned up). To secure elections, Missouri exercised that traditional authority by enacting a law that strictly limits who, besides voters, can be present in a polling location. Poll monitors employed by DOJ are not on that list. Yet without specifically citing any federal authority authorizing its actions, DOJ announced on Friday November 1 its intent to displace Missouri law and place unauthorized poll monitors in polling locations in the City of St. Louis.

As alluded to in the complaint, this isn't the first set-to between the state and the DOJ. In 2022, a similar scenario unfolded ahead of the mid-term elections. 

Feds Threaten 'Oversight' in at Least One Missouri County on Election Day

The suit asks the court to declare the DOJ's proposed actions as "arbitrary and capricious, or otherwise contrary to the law" and to enjoin the DOJ from taking the proposed actions. 

Bailey issued a statement on X/Twitter regarding the suit: 

BREAKING: I filed suit against the Biden-Harris DOJ for sending unauthorized poll monitors to Missouri polling locations.  The law is clear that @KamalaHarris can’t just send unvetted individuals into our polling places.  It’s illegal and undermines trust in our elections.

A hearing was set for Monday evening before U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk (a Trump appointee), who presumably will rule on the matter sometime Monday evening. RedState will continue to monitor the matter and provide updates as they become available. 

[stevishabitat]

Michael Brown's mom pushes for justice for her son in public hearing - ABC News

The mother of Michael Brown -- who was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer in 2014 sparking protests around the county -- gave testimony to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) to review the case of her son's killing in a public hearing on Wednesday.

Lezley McSpadden, Brown's mother, joined nonprofit organization Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Howard University on a Zoom conference to petition the IACHR to recommend for United States prosecutors to criminally litigate Brown's killing. Lawyers from the U.S. State Department and the Department of Justice also attended the hearing.

"The PTSD is overwhelming. I do have three remaining children. I was very scared and nervous to let them out of my sight for weeks after Mike was killed," McSpadden said. "I received tons and tons of threatening letters. It got so bad where my lawyers had to look through my mail before I looked through it."

The 10-year anniversary of Brown's death is Aug. 9. Legal charges were never issued for Brown's killing.

"We will undoubtedly hear from the state a litany of all the things they have done to address the scourge of racist police violence in this country over the last 10 years, some of which I commend them for doing," Kerry Kennedy, with RFK Human Rights, said at the conference. "Is it enough when more people were killed by police in 2023 than any other previously recorded year? The answer is no."

Brown, an 18-year-old Black teenager, was unarmed when Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer at the time, shot and killed him on Aug. 9, 2014. The shooting ignited weeks of protests, riots, looting and arson in Ferguson.

"We are deeply saddened by this event and by similar events across our nation, and this event serves as another reminder that we must do more to prevent such tragedies," Thomas Hastings of the State Department said during the conference. "While we do not intend to discuss or debate the details of what took place on August 9, 2014, it was a devastating event that led to the loss of life of a young man."

The incident contributed to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, as national protests over police brutality evoked Brown's name among other Black Americans who died in police encounters, such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

"Hands up, don't shoot," a reference to claims that Brown had his hands up and voiced his surrender to the officer before being shot, became a rallying cry around the nation for those advocating against police brutality. The DOJ later determined in an investigative report that it could not confirm Brown capitulated to the officer before he was shot and killed.

"Federal statutes would require the government to prove that Officer Wilson used unreasonable force when he shot Michael Brown, Jr, and that he did so willfully," Kristen Clarke of the DOJ said on Wednesday. "Willfully would mean proving that he shot Mr. Brown, knowing it was wrong and knowing it was against the law to do so. After a careful and exhaustive review of all available evidence the Justice Department in 2015 determined that the evidence did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer violated the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute."

A St. Louis County grand jury declined to press charges against Wilson in 2014. He resigned from the police force soon after.

The U.S. Justice Department also chose not to indict the former officer in March 2015 due to witness accounts and evidence that claimed Brown attacked Wilson.

Brown's family received a $1.5 million settlement in 2017 after they filed a lawsuit against the city of Ferguson.

"He never had a job, he never learned how to drive," McSpadden said. "He was just beginning his life. So that was his first free summer to be a kid before he branched over into being a man. But he was robbed of it."

The IACHR stated a report will be published outlining its findings on the case and issuing recommendations to the U.S. government.

[huntikfan1017]

OHSAA - Division V - Region 20 - 2024-2025

Pickaway Christian Cincinnati Mitchell Clark DD North School Cincinnati Riverview East Acad. Cincinnati Taft W. Cleremont Cleremont County DD Cincinnati East Academy Russellsville Lucasville Scioto Lucasville Central Crossing Jamestown Imagine Acad. Cincinnati Hamilton St. Louis Norte Dame Greene DD Preble DD Lucasville Whetstone Springboro Wilmer Dayton Huggins Bulter DD…