#New York Newsday

[internettoday]

New episode of Tech Newsday, this time covering

Twitch Implied nudity

China gaming restrictions

GTA VI leak

Elon's favorite songs

Hyperloop finally dead

Twitter not doing great

Grok is woke, unfortunately

Michael Cohen AI oopsie

RiteAid facial recognition oopsie

NYT vs OpenAI

[makingqueerhistory]

Amateur: A Reckoning with Gender, Identity, and Masculinity

Thomas Page McBee

Thomas McBee, a trans man, sets out to uncover what makes a man--and what being a "good" man even means--through his experience training for and fighting in a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden. A self-described "amateur" at masculinity, McBee embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of gender in society, examining sexism, toxic masculinity, and privilege. As he questions the limitations of gender roles and the roots of masculine aggression, he finds intimacy, hope, and even love in the experience of boxing and in his role as a man in the world. Despite personal history and cultural expectations, "Amateur is a reminder that the individual can still come forward and fight" (The A.V. Club). "Sharp and precise, open and honest," (Women's Review of Books), McBee's writing asks questions "relevant to all people, trans or not" (New York Newsday). Through interviews with experts in neuroscience, sociology, and critical race theory, he constructs a deft and thoughtful examination of the role of men in contemporary society. Amateur is a graceful and uncompromising look at gender by a fearless, fiercely honest writer.

(Affiliate link above)

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES AND CAPTAIN AMERICA

I turned twelve years old around this time, and while I don’t especially remember anything about that event, there were two other things that happened in that same week that I’ll never forget. I first saw an advertisement for the live action LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES specials in one of my family’s regular newspapers–we got both the New York Daily News and Newsday, so I have no idea which one ran…

[indestructibleheart]

Hi, fam! Okay, so I'm going to be out at an appointment tomorrow morning, so I'm kicking this off a little bit early. It's technically Wednesday in several timezones and very nearly Wednesday in mine. I'm... also a bit eager to share this, ngl.

I know that I've shared a lot of angst lately, but I swear that's not all I'm doing. 😅 In fact, the actor/playwright AU decided to wallop me in the face out of nowhere after sitting in my WIP folder for months. I'm really excited about it, so I'm gonna share the first scene!

(Also, those of you who have been to New York with me will recognize my favorite brunch spot in this scene lmao.)

---

You probably didn't even know I was in the room, but I noticed you straight away. You were talking with your friends, happy and animated and fully alive—a person living in dimensions I couldn’t access—and so beautiful. Your hair was longer then. You were the center of attention, but you weren’t afraid. You had a yellow ipê-amarelo in your pocket. I thought, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen; I'd better keep it a safe distance away from me. I thought, if someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire.

INT. MOM'S KITCHEN & BAR - HELL'S KITCHEN - LATE MORNING

"I'm telling y'all," Alex is saying, punctuating with dangerously large bites of his pancake burrito. "The dude's a dick." 

It's been two hours since the nightmare audition, but Alex has been on this tirade since June and Nora first slid into the retro diner chairs across from him (at least forty-five minutes ago).

They're at Mom's: a restaurant-bar in midtown that can only be described as millennial nostalgia incarnate. The trio fell in love with it two years back—post-karaoke, stumbling in right before closing—when Alex saw God in their Fruity Pebble pancakes.  Since then, it's been his favorite place to eat his feelings.

Mom's is just really fucking comforting in general, honestly; whether it's the televisions cycling through episodes of 'Rugrats,' 'Dexter's Laboratory,' and 'Hey, Arnold!' or  the rainbow straws and Lisa-Frank-looking menus, Alex can't be sure. It doesn't hurt that they've made friends with several of the waitstaff, including an eccentric bartender, Pez, whose pink hair and painted nails fit right in with the decor. 

Today, it's the combination of breakfast sausage, bacon, eggs and cheese wrapped up in a syrup-soaked pancake that's really doing something for him. It could also be the margarita the size of his face, which Pez placed in front of him before making himself uncharacteristically scarce. But it's fine. He's probably just busy.

Alex won't admit it out loud, but what really helps is having June and Nora here to talk to… even though Nora is scrolling on her phone.

"I'm sorry," June says. She pokes an ice cube with her straw, and Alex watches as it bobs around her mimosa like a buoy. "That sounds like it sucked, but if he's really that rude… maybe you didn't want to work with him anyway."

Nora doesn't look up as she pops a home fry into her mouth. 

"Several sources say he's difficult to work with," she adds, evidently reading about Henry on the internet. "Though, in his defense, his dad did just die, like, three years ago… and there was that whole thing when he came out after. Remember?"

Alex does remember. Henry's grandmother, Mary Mountchristen, runs a pretty major company that used to own half the theatres on the West End. When Henry came out last year, she tried blacklisting his shows from her properties to punish him—which totally backfired when it got around. At least a dozen other queer writers and producers started talking about how they were also denied the space, and Mary was stoned on the streets of the theatre district. Like, metaphorically. 

Alex, Nora, and June had just moved to New York, but between June's position at Newsday and both Alex and Nora on the audition circuit, it was all anyone in their new circles could talk about. They were some of the first to know when the Mountchristens were bought out of their properties and Henry moved to the States.

This show is the first of Henry's being produced here—and it's autobiographical, which Alex has to admit is pretty fucking baller. So, yeah, Nora's not wrong. He has reason to be standoffish. Still, it doesn't explain why Alex was only halfway through his audition monologue when Henry abruptly stood up and exited stage left as if pursued by a bear.

He shoves another forkful into his mouth. "It's just, like, they're the only people who let me into the room," he says, barely finishing chewing. "Nobody wants to take me seriously, and I really thought this was my shot, you know?"

June and Nora both know Alex is having a hard time landing serious roles after growing up on a sitcom—Nora more than most, as his former co-star. What they don't know is that losing this role, specifically, feels like a kick to the stomach. From the moment Alex saw the script, he wanted to be a part of it. He can't even explain why, and now he'll never figure it out. Henry wouldn't give him a chance.

"It wasn't your only shot, and you know it." Nora fixes him with a look. "Seriously, I get it—I do—but it's just one play, buddy."

June nods. "Something will happen for you, baby brother."

At that, Alex finally groans. "Okay, calling me baby brother doesn't help me feel better about the entertainment industry infantili—"

"—itty bitty, teeny weeny—"

Alex throws a home fry at her face. 

It bounces off her forehead and into the giant gauntlet holding her mimosa with a very unappetizing splash. Just as Alex throws his hands into the air with a victorious whoop, his phone buzzes on the table. 

A glance is all it takes for him to see that it's his agent, Zahra.

"Damn," he says, deflating. There goes that upswing. "You answer it."

June balks. "Me?"

"I don't need to hear how fucking badly it went. Trust me, I got the message." Alex blinks innocently, like he's six years old again, asking her to lie to their mom about that broken vase. "Please, Bug? Besides, Zahra actually likes you."

"Everyone likes me." June rolls her eyes, but she caves—answering the phone with a haughty, "Alex Claremont-Diaz's office," before breaking into a smile. "Yeah, Z. It's me… No, Alex is feeling a little sensitive today."

(He throws another home fry at her. This one misses.)

To her credit, June's face remains totally blank as Zahra no doubt tells her how Alex insulted Henry Fox's name and all of his inbred ancestors just by showing up, or whatever—which is extremely annoying and unhelpful—but, once she says goodbye and sets the phone back down on the table, her face breaks out into a grin.

"Guess you didn't suck too bad," she says. "They want you for the part."

He doesn't know if it's Nora throwing herself at him or the shock that knocks him onto the floor.

Tagging some lovelies. If you haven't been tagged and you want to be, consider this your tag!

@anchoredarchangel, @barbiediaz, @cha-melodius, @cricketnationrise, @guillermosfamiliar, @hgejfmw-hgejhsf, @hippolotamus, @inexplicablymine, @jettestar, @junebugclaremontdiaz, @kiwiana-writes, @lizzie-bennetdarcy, @missgeevious, @mulderscully, @myheartalivewrites, @ninzied, @nontoxic-writes, @notspecialbabe, @priincebutt, @rmd-writes, @rosedavid, @three-drink-amy, @treluna4, @vanillahigh00, @welcometololaland, @orchidscript, @ships-to-sail, @stereopticons

[ourshadowstallerthanoursoul]

On this day... - June 7th

On this day Led Zeppelin performed:

+ 1972 : Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

“The members of Led Zeppelin are safely ensconced in their Waldorf-Astoria suite in New York this morning while the city of Montreal faces a severe power shortage as a result of the British group's gig here last night. Zep couldn't have left too much amperage in town after they put on one of the most electric shows Montreal will ever see. And the 12.000 people in the Forum got quite a charge out of it. […] They played for well over two hours — there were no preliminary groups. They are not only the original group of all the heavies, they are still the best. […] Zep has learned to put strategic breaks in between the explosions of sound, a trick that makes their music so much more dynamic than that of their imitators.” – ‘Led Zeppelin: top heavies electrify 12,000 at Forum’ by B. Mann (Gazette)

+ 1977 : Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, USA

“The cheers and fireworks were deafening as Led Zeppelin's sold-out six-concert engagement got off to an explosive start here. […] Zeppelin's main strength is still the skill of its individual musicians. […] Led Zeppelin is bent on becoming one of the world's longest-lived rock groups. However, they conspicuously avoided older material, in even leaving out the classic "Dazed And Confused." Sticking to the current albums will keep Zeppelin fresh with the younger crowd, even at the risk of losing the "grandparents," as Plant humorously referred to us.” – by P. Dumauro

“Some rock bands have fans, others have admirers and still others have followers. But Led Zeppelin is the last great rock band whose minions can be considered true believers. […] Led Zeppelin proved that it was worthy of the adoration bestowed upon it. […] The band has grown with the times. Rather than relying on its earlier style of rock-to-break-your-kneecaps-with once represented by songs like Whole Lotta Love, Led Zeppelin performed a nearly three-hour set notable for its variety, sophistication and depth. […] So while many in the audience enjoyed the show simply because being there conferred status on the high school ladder, Zeppelin pleased its older fans by playing with both complexity and poignance.” – by D. Marsh (Newsday)

“After too many years of lackluster concerts and spotty albums Led Zeppelin landed in Madison Square Garden last night for a concert that saw the band at its roaring, pounding best. The first of six New York performances, last night's show may very well stand as the finest concert the group has ever given in the city - at least until tonight.” – ‘Zeppelin late but great’ by R. Atkinson

[verycleverboy]

Almost thirty-four years after Donald Trump took out a full-page ad in New York newspapers calling for the return of the death penalty in the wake of the case of a group of young African-American men branded the “Central Park Five”, and a few days after Trump was charged with thirty-four felony counts, one of the now-Exonerated Five took out a full-page ad of his own. The full text follows:

BRING BACK JUSTICE & FAIRNESS. BUILD A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR HARLEM!

On May 1, 1989, almost thirty-four years ago, Donald J. Trump spent $85,000 to take out full-page ads in The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post and New York Newsday, calling for the execution of the Central Park Five — an act he has never apologized for, even after someone else confessed to and was convicted of the crime, the convictions of all five of us were overturned, and we were renamed the Exonerated Five.

Instead, Mr. Trump has often doubled-down. A few weeks after taking out the ad, he went on CNN and stated: "I hate these people and let's all hate these people because maybe hate is that we need if we're gonna get something done."

Even after our exoneration and acknowledgment by the government that we had been wrongfully convicted, Mr. Trump continued to incite animus against me, my peers and our families. In 2013 — over a decade after our exoneration — Trump called the Ken and Sarah Burns Central Park Five documentary "a one-sided piece of garbage," and when asked how he felt now that we were shown to be innocent, responded: "Innocent of what?"

In 2014, the City of New York finally reached a settlement with the members of the Exonerated Five, awarding at compensation to help us rebuild our lives after so many years were taken from us. But even that acknowledgement from the city wasn't enough for Trump to see five young Black and Latino men as anything other than criminals, saying "settling doesn't mean innocence."

Note, after several decades and an unfortunate and disastrous presidency, we all know exactly who Donald J. Trump is — a man who seeks to deny justice and fairness for others, while claiming only innocence for himself.

Being wrongfully convicted as a teenager was an experience that changed my life drastically. Yet I am honored when people express how deeply they connect with my story.

It matters because, while my experience may have been extreme, I have lived through a form of trauma that many of us experience in some way every day throughout our country. My past is an example of systemic oppression imposed by the injustice system.

But the problems our community faced when my name was splashed across the newspapers a generation ago — inadequate housing, underfunded schools, public safety concerns, and a lack of good jobs — became worse during Donald Trump's time in office.

I am trying to change that, by working with so many other dedicated community members to build a better future for everyone, both here in Harlem and across the country.

Here is my message to you, Mr. Trump: In response to the multiple federal and state criminal investigations that you are facing, you responded by warning of "potential death and destruction," and by posting a photograph of yourself with a baseball bat, next to a photo of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. These actions, just like your actions leading up to the January 6 insurrection at the U .S. Capitol, are an attack on our safety.

Thirty-four years ago, your full-page ad stated, in all caps: "CIVIL LIBERTIES END WHEN AN ATTACK ON OUR SAFETY BEGINS."

You were wrong then, and you are wrong now. The civil liberties of all Americans are grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and many of us fight every day to uphold those rights, even in the face of those like you who seek to obliterate them.

Now that you have been indicted and are facing criminal charges, I do not resort to hatred, bias or racism — as you once did.

Even though thirty-four years ago you effectively called for my death and the death of four other innocent children, I wish you no harm.

Rather, I at putting my faith in the judicial system to seek out the truth. I hope that you exercise your civil liberties to the fullest, and that you get what the Exonerated 5 did not get — a presumption of innocence, and a fair trial.

And if the charges are proven and you are found guilty, I hope that you endure whatever penalties are imposed with the same strength and dignity that the Exonerated Five showed as we served our punishment for a crime we did not commit.

--Yusef A. Salaam

[transparentgentlemenmarker]

La liste des stars de la musique, du cinéma et de la télévision qui ont soutenu Kamala : Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Jon Bon Jovi, Tyler Perry, Bruce Springsteen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Beyoncee, George Clooney, Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand, David Letterman, Jennifer Lopez, Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Bryan Tyree Henry, Scarlet Johanson, Robert Downey, Jr., Don Cheadle, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Bettany, Chris Evans, Dania Guria, Ben Stiller, Andy Cohen, Harrison Ford, Jack Black, Billie Eilish, Anne Hathaway, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Porter, Jennifer Lawrence, Eminem, Jason Bateman, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Patton Oswalt, Emmy Rossum, Glenn Close, Kumail Nanjiani, Jason Alexander, Kevin Smith, Steven Colbert, Larry David, Morgan Freeman, Cher, Nick Offerman, Michael Keaton, Jeff Bridges, Josh Bag, Sean Aston, Bradley Whitford, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Kelly, Paul Schreer, Misha Collins, Mark Hamill, Lance Bass, Josh Groban, Matt Damon, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Will Ferrel, Billy Eichner, Alicia Keys, Usher, Dave Bautista, Jimmy Kimmel, membrii formației Mumford & Sons, John Legend, Pink, Maren Morris, Keenan Thompson, Lil John, Eva Longoria, Mindy Kaling, Tony Goldwyn, D.L. Hughley, Lizzo, Martin Sheen, Sigourney Weaver, George Lopez, Howard Stern, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Marc Anthony, Sam Elliot, Keegan Michael Key, John Stamos, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, Jon Hamm, Cecily Strong, Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Rosie O' Donnel, Kathy Griffin, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Anthony Anderson, Sally Field, Rob Reiner, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julianne Moore, Cynthia Nixon, George Takei, Mia Farrow, Alyssa Milano, Sandra Bernhard, John Cleese, Michael Ian Black, Piper Perabo, Stephen King, Michael Moore, Jane Fonda, Bette Midler, Marisa Hargitay, Sheryl Lee Ralph, GloRilla, Padma Lashmi, Matthew Modine, Aubrey Plaza, Fat Joe, Christina Aquilera, Dick Van Dyke, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, LeBron James, Jennifer Aniston, Bad Bunny, Ariana Grande, Ricky Martin, Chappel Roan, Martha Stewart, Steph Curry, Sara Bareilles, Olivia Rodrigo, Tina Knowles, Shonda Rhimes.

📍Les journaux nationaux et les chaînes de télévision qui ont soutenu Kamala : CBS, NBC, MSNBC, abc, CNN, New York Times, The Economist, The New Yorker, Houston Chronicle, The Boston Globe, The Seattle Times, Las Vegas Sun, The Philadephia Inquirer, Rolling Stone, Daily Herald, Times Union, Newsday, Lincoln Journal Star, Vogue, The Republican, The Sun Chronicle, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Observer et d’autres plus petites.

[chernobog13]

Some pages from the origin story and first appearance of Wildcat, by Bill Finger (co-creator of a some guy called Batman) and Irwin Hasen, from Sensation Comics (vol. 1) #1 (January, 1942).

As a kid I only knew Hasen as the artist on the newspaper strip Dondi. I bought the New York Daily News every Sunday for my grandmother, and she let me have the large color comics section, which carried Dondi. The other Sunday newspapers my family read were Long Island's Newsday, which had a so-so comics section with no adventure strips, and The New York Times, which carried no comic strips at all (boring!).

It wasn't until I purchased Famous First Edition #C-30, the over-sized reprint of Sensation Comics #1, that I realized Hasen had been a comic book artist during the Golden Age. I really loved those reprints from DC, complete with the ads that ran in the books.

I liked the whole bit where Ted Grant is inspired to become Wildcat by "comic book character" (and his future Justice Society of America teammate) Green Lantern. That same bit is used in the Little Boy Blue origin story in the same issue. When deciding to become a costumed crime fighter, the hero is told by his best friend that Wildcat was inspired to do so by Green Lantern. So very meta.

Sensation Comics #1 included the original and first appearance of Mr. Terrific (another future member of the Justice Society), and The Gay Ghost (later renamed The Grim Ghost). It also featured the second appearance of some dame named Wonder Woman, who also snagged the cover spot.

[beardedmrbean]

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge sentenced a woman who pleaded guilty to fatally shoving an 87-year-old Broadway singing coach onto a Manhattan sidewalk to six months more in prison than the eight years that had been previously reached in a plea deal.

During Friday’s sentencing of Lauren Pazienza for manslaughter, Manhattan state Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin said she was unconvinced that the 28-year-old Long Island woman took responsibility for her actions on March 10, 2022, when she pushed the vocal teacher, Barbara Maier Gustern, to the ground.

Gustern, whose students included “Blondie” singer Debbie Harry, lay bleeding on a sidewalk. She died five days later.

Pazienza pleaded guilty on Aug. 23. She could have been sentenced to 25 years had she been convicted during a trial.

Pazienza, a former event planner originally from Long Island, has been locked up at the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex since a judge revoked her bail in May 2022.

According to prosecutors, Pazienza attacked Gustern after storming out of a nearby park, where she and her fiance had been eating meals from a food cart.

Gustern had just left her apartment to catch a student’s performance after hosting a rehearsal for a cabaret show, friends told The New York Times.

Gustern’s grandson, A.J. Gustern of Colorado, called Pazienza’s apology “contrived.”

“I curse you, Lauren Pazienza,” he said as he read from a statement in court, Newsday reported. “For the rest of your days, may you be miserable.”

Pazienza encountered Gustern on West 23rd Street and shoved her to the ground in what police called “an unprovoked, senseless attack.”

Gustern worked with singers ranging from the cast members of the 2019 Broadway revival of the musical “Oklahoma!” to experimental theater artist and 2017 MacArthur “genius grant” recipient Taylor Mac, who told the Times she was “one of the great humans that I’ve encountered.”

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Matt Davies :: Newsday Opinion

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 26, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Yesterday a team of international researchers confirmed that human-caused climate change is driving the life-threatening heat waves in the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. has broken more than 2,000 high temperature records in the past month, and it looks like July will be the hottest month on Earth since scientists have kept records. 

Another study published yesterday warns that the Atlantic currents that transport warm water from the tropics north are in danger of collapsing as early as 2025 and as late as 2095, with a central estimate of 2050. As Arctic ice melts, the cold water that sinks and pulls the current northward is warming, slowing the mechanism that moves the currents. The collapse of that system would disrupt rain patterns in India, South America, and West Africa, endangering the food supplies for billions of people. It would also raise sea levels on the North American east coast and create storms and colder temperatures in Europe.

On Sunday and Monday, the ocean water off the tip of Florida reached temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius), the same temperature as an average hot tub. According to the Coral Restoration Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Florida’s Key Largo that works to protect coral reefs, the hot water has created “a severe and urgent crisis,” with mortality up to 100%. The Mediterranean Sea also hit a record high this week, reaching 83.1 degrees Fahrenheit (28.4 Celsius).

An op-ed by David Wallace-Wells in the New York Times today noted that more land burned in Quebec in June than in the previous 20 years combined; across Canada, more than 25 million acres burned. And most of Canada’s fire season is still ahead. 

Professor Ian Lowe of Australia’s Griffith University told The Guardian that he recalled reading the 1985 report that identified the link between greenhouse gasses and climate change, and worked to draw public attention to it. “Now all the projected changes are happening,” he said. “I reflect on how much needless environmental damage and human suffering will result from the work of those politicians, business leaders and public figures who have prevented concerted action. History will judge them very harshly.”

Former vice president Mike Pence, who is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, today unveiled his economic proposal. It calls for eliminating the Environmental Protection Agency and the Biden administration’s incentives designed to address climate change. 

In that, he is in line with Republican lawmakers. Earlier this month, Mike Magner in Roll Call noted that at least four of the bills released so far by the House Appropriations Committee for 2024 include cutting funding to address climate change that Congress appropriated in the Inflation Reduction Act. Project 2025, which has provided the blueprint for a Trump presidency, says “the Biden Administration’s climate fanaticism will need a whole-of-government unwinding,” and calls for more use of fossil fuels. 

A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Columbia University says that court cases related to climate change have more than doubled in five years. Thirty-four of the 2,180 lawsuits have been brought forward on behalf of children, teens, and young adults.  

And therein lies a huge problem for today’s Republican Party. A recent poll of young voters shows they care deeply about gun violence, economic inequality, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate change. All of those issues are only becoming more prominent. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[saleintothe90s]

492. Ed's Party in Lockerbie (June 2, 1989)

Sometimes kids have ideas, and they should just stay ideas, you know? Sometimes we shouldn't listen to the kids--but Pan American Airlines did.

Shortly after the December 21st, 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, 14 year old Ed Blaus of New Jersey sent a request to Pan Am to send the children of Lockerbie Christmas presents. Seems weird that a 14 year old would ask an airline to do this, but ok. A small child, maybe, but a fourteen year old?

I'm sure he meant something like a gift drive for the kids in town who lost everything that Christmas. Pan Am would give presents to the kids that following Christmas, right?

No, there was going to be a party for all of Lockerbie, and boy when the victims families found out, they were pissed and were assaulting the airline in the press:

Susan Cohen, of Port Jarvis, N.Y., who lost her 20-year-old daughter Theodora in the bombing, said the party was 'tasteless' and charged it was a publicty stunt by Pan Am 'to polish their tarnished image.'

'We're appalled by it,' Theodora Cohen's father Dan Cohen said of the party. 'Right now the rock band should be playing on the soccer field about a block and a half from where 75 bodies were found -- which is obscene. They should end their mourning but this is ridiculous.' 3

[...]

"I'm outraged," said a tearful Florence Bissett, whose 21-year-old son, Kenneth, was killed in the bombing. "How can they do something like that - picnic where bodies were found?"

Susan Cohen of Port Jervis, N.Y., said, "We feel Pan Am should be putting its money into security, not parties."

Joe Horgan of West Point, Pa., a member of the Victims of Pan Am 103 group, was quoted by the Dumfries and Galloway Standard as saying, "It is good for them to have a party, but Pan Am's involvement is despicable. We see this purely as a public relations exercise on their part." 4

"Having this picnic is cruel . . ." said Lynne Fraidowitz of Staten Island, whose 20-year-old son, Daniel Rosenthal, was killed. "It would have been easier on me if they had just ripped my heart out." 5

From what I've read in the scant articles I've found, Pan Am played a "he said, she said" with Ed and his idea. In one article, the airline stated that Ed conceived and raised money for the party, but also wrote the airline for help. The airline stated that they simply flew Ed and his family to Scotland. 1 However, a resident of Lockerbie said that PanAm had the idea of a "Summer Christmas", but townspeople suggested it be a party instead.2 Originally, Disney was going to send some costumed characters to Scotland, but due to outrage from the families, this was redacted. Hebrew National who was to supply food for the party also backed out. 3 

(Business Insider)

While families picketed outside of the PanAm headquarters in New York City, in Scotland the party went on with a concerts, bagpipes and food. 2 A football coach from Syracuse University (which lost 37 students in the bombing) came to give kids football lessons, which was a peculiar choice. Apparently there was no representation from Pan Am at the actual party.3

I found a Facebook post from the Annandale Herald and Moffat News on the 30th anniversary of the party. Most partygoers who were probably kids at the time, mostly remembered eating pizza.

Kinsey Wilson. 1989. "Kin of Jet Crash Victims Assail Plans for Party in Lockerbie: [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]." Newsday, May 21, 38. 

Daily Press. “Reaction to Lockerbie Party Mixed.” June 4, 1989.

Deseret News. “CONTROVERSY DIDN’T DASH LOCKERBIE BASH,” June 4, 1989. https://www.deseret.com/1989/6/4/18809762/controversy-didn-t-dash-lockerbie-bash.

"Lockerbie Party Outrages Bereaved: [Final Edition]." Edmonton Journal, Jun 04, 1989.

Joseph W. Queen. "Party in Lockerbie, Outrage in NY: [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]." Newsday, Jun 04, 1989, Combined editions.

[sexypinkon]

Sexypink - Christopher Cozier is at MOMA.

[vintagerocker69]

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts at Shea Stadium in 1989

Flushing, N.Y.: Charlie Watts plays drums on stage during the Rolling Stones' concert at Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York on October 10, 1989. (Photo by David Pokress/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

[killed-by-choice]

Alerte Desanges, 36 (USA 1994)

Alerte Desanges was an immigrant from Haiti who took care of her 3 daughters and her elderly mother. She supported the family by working as a caretaker for an elderly woman and had just bought a small house in Brooklyn when she received the exciting news that she was pregnant with her 4th baby.

Alerte’s excitement turned into fear when the baby was diagnosed with “deformities”. (It is unclear what the exact diagnosis was.) Many people have been pressured into abortion on the basis of eugenics after receiving a prenatal diagnosis, but prenatal testing can be wrong. There is a chance that Alerte’s baby was completely fine. Either way, the abortion was a tragedy and didn’t have to happen.

Alerte was 36 years old when she went to Choices Women's Medical Center in Queens on September 16, 1994. She didn’t want the abortion, but had been scared into it by staff over her child’s diagnosis. The abortionist was David Gluck, who had already had his medical license revoked for charting a dead teenage client as “pink, alert and responsive” and for writing fake prescriptions in order to sell drugs to pay for his gambling addiction.

After the abortion, Alerte started to act strange and started telling nurses she wanted to go home. Her odd behavior was actually a textbook early warning sign of shock. Anyone with medical training should have recognized this immediately, but nobody at the abortion facility did. They just labeled her “feisty” and “argumentative”.

Even though she’d been healthy before the abortion, Alerte went into cardiac arrest and her blood pressure dropped to dangerous levels. Finally, she was taken to the hospital where she died. Police investigated Alerte’s death.

When her family was told about her death, Alerte’s 66-year-old mother threw her hands up in the air and sobbed, "What are we going to do? What are we going to do? We can't go back to Haiti."

Legal abortion didn’t just kill Alerte and her child, but also stripped an immigrant family of a loving mother, caretaker and provider.

NY Newsday 9-17-94

[reasoningdaily]

One of the "Central Park Five" mimicked a 1989 full-page ad that Trump placed calling for the death penalty.

Yusef Salaam was one of five Black and Latino teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white woman.

In the mock ad, posted on Twitter, Salaam referred to Trump's recent indictment and arrest.

An exonerated member of the so-called "Central Park Five" mimicked a full-page ad that Donald Trump placed in 1989 calling for the return of the death penalty in New York State.

In the ad, which was posted on Twitter, Yusef Salaam mocked Trump's recent indictment and arrest while imitating the statement Trump advertised in multiple New York newspapers.

Salaam was one of five Black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted of the assault and rape of a young white woman in Central Park. After spending many years in prison, they were released and exonerated after Matias Reyes confessed to the crime in 2002.

While Trump's ads did not explicitly call for the death penalty for the five, it was clear that the ads came in response to the attack, The New York Times reported.

Salaam, who announced in February that he was running for city council for central Harlem, appeared to ridicule Trump's original ad that called for "law and order" after the former president was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an indictment related to hush-money payments before the 2016 presidential election. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

—Yusef Abdus Salaam (@dr_yusefsalaam) April 5, 2023

"On May 1, 1989, almost thirty-four years ago, Donald J. Trump spent $85,000 to take out full-page ads in The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and New York Newsday, calling for the execution of the Central Park Five," Salaam wrote.

It was "an act he has never apologized for," he said. "After several decades and an unfortunate and disastrous presidency, we all know who exactly Donald J. Trump is — a man who seeks to deny justice and fairness for others while claiming only innocence for himself," Salaam's statement continued. 

Last week, Salaam issued a single-word response to the news of the indictment: "Karma."

—Raymond Santana (@santanaraymond) April 5, 2023

Now known as the "Exonerated Five," Salaam, along with Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, received a multi-million dollar settlement from NYC after they were coerced into confessing to the crime by police. 

Salaam, however, said he ultimately wished Trump "no harm," even though the former president had "effectively called for my death and the death of four other innocent children."

"Rather, I am putting my faith in the judicial system to seek out the truth," he added.

"I hope that you exercise your civil liberties to the fullest, and that you get what the Exonerated 5 did not get — a presumption of innocence, and a fair trial."