#San Francisco land for sale

[hellentangrealestate]

#bayarea#vacantland#lot near #sanfrancisco close to #highway #80 in #vallejo board of #napa ,the #golfcourse#community#forsale, anyone #Interested ? We #service all #california#realestate ,for more info please feel free to contact #buying#selling#loan#investment#propertymanagerment your #onestop#topagent /broker:

+1-415-689-3988 （WhatsApp/Telegram）

WeChat:ke201788

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#hellentangrealestate#hellentang#hellentongrealestate#hellentong#realtor#loanofficer#美国加州#美国#土地出售 #美国加州房地产经纪人 #美国加州贷款经纪人 #美国投资#loanbroker #investment #investors #bayarearealtor #napavalley #highway80

[labrxnth]

Prison Break- (Leon Kennedy x Reader Series)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

CW: Death Island Spoilers (obviously), suicidal thoughts/tendencies

WC: 1840

Summary: You and your co-worker Leon Kennedy are sent on a mission to rescue a kidnapped robotic engineer Dr. Antonio Taylor. The journey for him leads the two of you to somewhere you thought you would never go, Alcatraz.

A/N: God I loved Death Island. I saw it in theaters on opening weekend a few weeks ago and loved every minute of it. This is me trying to remember the lines and small plot points of this movie from weeks ago so sorry if I get some stuff wrong.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───

San Francisco was beautiful this time of year, but unfortunately you weren’t here to sight see. The shops lining the area were littered with “FOR SALE” signs and different colored fronts. The streets, admittedly, needed a little bit of getting used to driving on with the hills and trams. While you were busy looking at the foliage and people passing, your partner was talking on the phone and your ear coms. 

The two of you certainly were a sight. You dressed in a black leather jacket, jeans and boots with a Panigale V2 Ducati with red accents; your partner, Leon Kennedy, with a blue bomber jacket, black jeans, boots and the same model Ducati with green accents. Together, the two of you made sense. You went together like Bert and Ernie if Bert and Ernie were weapons trained by the United States government and molded into whatever they needed you for. 

And just like Bert and Ernie, the two of you refused to talk about your feelings for each other.

It was just easier that way. If you two went without saying your feelings for each other, no one would get hurt. The fantastic duo you two were would continue to thrive and not feel awkward. 

The sight of a white van flying past the two of you brought you back from your daydream and thoughts. The very same white van the two of you were tracking. 

“He’s early,” Leon grumbled and turned his bike on.

“We’re counting on the two of you to get him back.” Hunnigan’s voice cut through your ear com. Your thumb flicked the engine of your bike on and through the earbud you heard Leon reply with a chuckle. 

“You sure do love to rush me,” He retorted and the two of you took off behind the white van. 

“Tell me why the hell we’re rescuing Dr. Taylor. Didn’t he weaponize his robotics?” You asked rhetorically through your ear piece. The two of you were weaving in and out of traffic, keeping a close distance to the van. Whoever was behind the wheel definitely knew you were after them. 

“Because we’re just the grunts, we do what we’re told,” Leon replied and sped in front of you. 

“Ha ha.” You replied and kept an eye on your rearview mirror in case anyone was coming from behind. The road was slightly busy, making the driving not as hard as it could’ve been, thankfully. Eventually the van brought you two to the highway, making following it easy and a straight shot. 

Out of the corner of your eye you saw another truck getting interestingly close to the chase. “We got company,” You said over the ear com to Leon. 

“Great, switch,” Leon replied. With ease, the two of you swapped; you speeding ahead of Leon and him dropping back. The Ducati was purring under you, matching your every move smoothly like butter. 

Leon had dropped back and out of the corner of his eye he saw a woman get out of the truck boxing you two in. The woman jumped out of the truck, landing on the back of his bike and putting him into a headlock. With a gag of surprise, he tried to steer the bike and deal with her at the same time. 

Looking through the rear-view mirror, you could see Leon struggling and turned your head over your shoulder to see what was happening. Hitting your brake, you dropped back so his bike was in front. Sliding into your back holster, you slid your Beretta out and tried to shoot the woman in the leg, trying to get her to let go of Leon. 

Using her leg, the woman steered the bike towards a semi truck and ran along the side of it, flipping to the front of the bike, in front of Leon. She started throwing punches, while Leon tried to dodge it, attempting to not crash the bike. With her now in front and so close to Leon, you were too scared to shoot her, afraid of hitting your partner. 

She launched herself over his head, hitting the front brake with her heel. Leon’s bike instantly braked on the front tire, sending him flying over the handlebars. 

“Leon!” You said, shooting the woman in the road. She jumped back into the truck she came out of. Your eyes went to Leon who rolled on the pavement, lessening the hit to his body. He eventually got to his knees and took his Sentinel out of the holster, scanning everywhere. 

“Leave me, I’m fine,” He replied over the ear coms, watching you pass him. “Get Taylor!” He barked. 

You sped towards the white van holding your target. “Hunnigan, it’s (L/n). Leon needs a transit while I keep chase,” You said over the ear coms. 

“And why would he need that?” Hunnigan’s voice asked. You could see her pinching the bridge of her nose at her desk by the tone of her voice. 

“Do you have to ask?” You replied, chuckling. “Seriously, when will you guys stop letting that man drive?” You asked snarkily. 

“Hey, I’m a fine driver!” You could hear Leon reply over the radio. “.... Man, I loved that bike…” He said, the frown on his face audible. 

“When you survive a mission without crashing something, lemme know,” You retorted and kept your eyes on the truck and the van trying to sandwich you. The white van was slowing down as the black truck was speeding up. You drove to another lane, trying to get around the van. The van slammed into the bike and you steered it clear. The van hit you again and sent you flying towards an exit. With a stutter, the engine on your Ducati started to smoke. You used the momentum of the hit to push you towards the exit, giving up on catching Taylor. 

“Fuck…” You said under your breath as you pulled the bike over. Your eyes watched the van and the truck disappear, bringing your target with them. Your finger went up to the radio in your ear. “Leon, when you get that transport pick me up at the next exit. I got rammed.” You said and crossed your arms, looking at the engine. 

“And you gave me shit,” He retorted.

“Shut up,” You grumbled back. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───

Leon pulled up to you on another bike, a shit eating grin on his face. “And who’s the best driver now?” He asked teasingly. 

You stood up and put a hand on your hip, staring at him. “Yeah, yeah, scooch,” You said and waved your hand for him to move to the back seat on the bike. 

“Really?” He asked, but scooted back anyway. He knew better than to challenge you on something like this. It usually ended up with you winning anyways. 

“Alright, hold on, pretty boy,” You said teasingly and got on the bike. “You get to be the passenger princess now,” You added and grinned. Leon’s arms hesitantly wrapped around you and you could hear the groan under his breath. 

“This is embarrassing,” He said slightly. 

“I’m making you sit behind me, not wear an apron with polka dots and bows,” You replied and snickered. 

“Don’t get any ideas,” Leon replied curtly and tightened his grip around your waist. 

After a little bit of driving in silence, you looked at Leon through the rearview mirror. “Hey, you saw her face. She looked really familiar, who was she?” You asked, meaning the woman who tried to paint the pavement with Leon. 

“You remember Arias?” Leon asked, getting closer to you. 

“Yeah?”

“It was Maria,” He replied and looked forward. 

“Oh,” You said, suddenly getting quiet as you were thinking. “What the hell does she want with Taylor?” You asked. 

“If I knew, we wouldn’t be heading back,,” Leon said and nudged you a bit. 

“True, I guess,” You said under your breath and focussed back on driving. Eventually the two of you made it back to the AirBNB you booked and parked the bike. “Your ass is lucky that you’re a DSO founder. I don’t think they’d put up with the bill you run if you weren’t,” You said, tapping his arm as you got off the bike. 

“What can I say, I’m certainly special,” He added, his signature smirk on his face. 

You looked over your shoulder at him. “Is that the word you use?” You asked. The two of you got in the condo and you took off your leather jacket. 

“So, you wanna break the news to Hunnigan?” Leon asked, shedding his bomber jacket. He walked over to the couch and pulled his phone out, looking up something. 

“Absolutely not!” You replied. “I can do no wrong in her eyes and I wanna keep it that way,” You said and walked to the fridge, grabbing two bottles of water. Walking over to the couch, you handed Leon a bottle. “It’s all yours,” You said and grinned widely. 

“Wow, thanks,” Leon said sarcastically and watched you sit down. You absentmindedly fixed his hair, combing a few strands down with your fingers. He leaned towards you more while he dialed Hunnigan’s number, letting you fix more of his hair. Your fingers ran through his long brown hair, noticing how, when the light hit it, it almost looked blonde. 

“Hey Hunnigan, got some bad news. Both me and (Y/n) lost Taylor. Someone crashed the party and we had to deal with them,” He said, putting the phone on speaker and putting it on the coffee table. You bent your legs so you were sitting criss-crossed and kept playing with his hair, paying attention to the conversation. 

“Did you get a good look at the license plate? I can track where it went through traffic lights and records,” Hunnigan said, almost expecting the mission to go wrong. It was never easy for you and Leon, something always went wrong. At this point, Hunnigan expected it. 

“Yeah, it was a New York license plate,” You said and proceeded to tell her the number. After a few seconds, Hunnigan hummed on the other end. 

“Got it. Traffic light cameras show that they made their way towards one of the islands,” Hunnigan replied. 

You and Leon met each other’s gaze, almost as if saying the same thing. There were only two islands in the direction that the van was going. 

“Get your gear ready, you two are headed to Alcatraz,” Hunnigan added. 

“Got it, thanks Hunnigan. We owe you,” You said and watched Leon hang up. 

“Alcatraz….” Leon said and leaned back on the couch, putting his arms behind his head. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as his crystal blue eyes met the ceiling, studying it as the gears turned in his head. 

“You ready?” You asked and grinned.

“Ready for what?” He asked, looking at you. 

“A prison break,” You replied. 

“You bet your ass I am,” He said and grinned. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───

Catch it early on my AO3!

[torpublishinggroup]

Do you hear that??

It’s the sweet, sweet sound of gifts and the necessity of buying them for all of the humans, animals, and unidentified entities in your life. That’s a lot of pressure, but don’t sweat, because we’ve got your back, and more importantly, we’ve got a ton of increasingly niche book recommendations to get you through the holiday season! Check them out here and let us know which ones you’re grabbing in the comments. 

by Rachel Taylor and a cat

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree is for the treasured party member who’s saved your character’s life many times on TTRPG night

We all have That One Amazing Player who has pulled our butts out of the fictional fire on D&D night, and what better way to show your endless appreciation than with the gift of LITERATURE?! High fantasy, secondhand books, and first love–what more could you ask for?

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake is for the angsty goth who still wishes it was Halloween

So they’re in denial that it’s not Halloween anymore, but guess what?! In the unbroken face of eternity, time has no meaning! Every day is Halloween!

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune is for the plucky traveler who’s got the whole world to see

There are many ways to see new and exciting worlds, and TJ Klune always provides queer and cozy adventures that you only need to pick up a book to explore. Consider picking up his latest venture for that friend who’s been bit by the travel bug!

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Ebony Gate by Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle is for the action movie fanatic who owns a cardboard cutout of John Wick

Assassins, dragon magic, and Chinese diaspora urban fantasy set in contemporary San Francisco.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Book of Night by Holly Black is for the insatiable reader who has way more books to read than hands to hold them

And if you order and submit your receipt before 12/15, you can receive a Book of Night tote bag! Even Charlie Hall needs a safe sling to carry her contraband. Who’s Charlie Hall? A professional thief / bartender who pilfers shadow magic secrets! Read the book!

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

T. L. Huchu’s Edinburgh Nights series is for the Supernatural fan who’s looking to expand their fandom across the pond

Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker, but she’s not just carrying messages anymore. You talk to one ghost and suddenly you’re spending late nights in the occult library, solving murders, and following trails of huskified children to their sinister spectral source.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz is for the science-enjoyer in your life who’s looking for environmentally-conscious fiction

This sweeping, uplifting, and illuminating exploration of the future from a science fiction visionary is the perfect gift to give your non-fiction loving, environmentally aware bestie who wants to dip their toe into a more fictional space.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson is for fans looking for The Princess Bride vibes but just haven’t quite found them yet

Do you have a Princess Bride superfan in your life? They don’t need another fandom-y Etsy gift this year–they need a book that gives them the same emotional rush they got the first time they laid eyes on the fairytale-inspired glory that is their favorite 1987 classic.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Everfair by Nisi Shawl is for the history buff in your life who can’t stop thinking about other paths the world might have taken

After being purchased back from the Congo Free State’s colonizer, Everfair becomes a land of fantastic technologies—of spying cats and gulls, nuclear dirigibles buoyed by barkcloth balloons, and silent pistols that shoot poison knives. What happens when these technological advances are brought to bear against Belgian tyrant Leopold II?

That’s Everfair, and then you can read Kinning (on sale 1/23/24) for the continuation of this expansive alternate history.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab is for people looking to put a different kind of magic into their holidays

Let’s put the magic into the holidays, shall we? V. E. Schwab returns to The Shades of Magic universe with a whole new series, perfect for readers who loved the original and new fans who want to explore magical alternate universes from in front of a cozy fireplace.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Shelley Parker-Chan’s Radiant Emperor Duology is for the unhinged danmei consumer who’s looking for their next great read

Do you have someone in your life that consumes danmei like candy? Are they tired of waiting for their new favorite series to be translated so they can add it to their shelves? Do we have the series for you. She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World explore a stunning reinvention of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor. It’s queer, it’s fantastical, and it’s complete! Snag both books in the duology for them now.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher is for the friend with an ill-advised yet much-beloved Shrek 2 tattoo

“Better out than in” on the inside of the wrist, Thornhedge open in hand.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is for anyone who has never been disappointed by the combo of Mike Flanagan and a Scary House

Home is where the heart is, and really puts you in a vulnerable position when your house HATES you.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Starter Villain by John Scalzi is for Megamind

If you’re not Megamind, keep scrolling. Just kidding—this book is also for cat lovers and fans of Despicable Me and The Venture Brothers.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan is for people who loved Season 2 of The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime

If you have someone in your life that got sucked into the masterpiece that was The Wheel of Time Season 2, don’t worry, you can help them relive the fun with The Great Hunt, the inspiration for the show and the second book in The Wheel of Time series!

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss Live at Tre Posti Vineyards

Pre-Concert Wine Tasting Reception • Live Concert in the Vineyard • Post-Concert 3-Course Vintner's Dinner

Time & Location Jul 25, 2024, 6:00 PM Tre Posti Vineyards, 641 Main St, St Helena, CA 94574, USA

About the event Please note: Concert is at 7:30pm. Arrival time varies based on ticket type. Broadway & Vine invites you to an unforgettable evening pairing some of Napa Valley most beloved vintner's with a concert by Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, Critic's Choice, and SAG Award Winner Darren Criss (TV: Glee, Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Hollywood, Broadway/Off Broadway: Maybe Happy Ending, Little Shop of Horrors, American Buffalo, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2015), How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying) at Tre Posti's Vineyard. For this concert, Darren will be performing a playlist of songs featured throughout his wildly eclectic career as both a songwriter and performer.  Supplement your concert experience with a pre-concert wine tasting reception and post concert Vintner's dinner.

Since bursting onto the pop-culture landscape over a decade ago, Darren Criss has embodied the kind of kaleidoscopic artistry that’s entirely uninhibited by form or genre.  Before Darren Criss exploded into the internet’s subculture as both an actor and songwriter for the YouTube viral hit A Very Potter Musical in 2009, he had made a small name for himself playing unique interpretations of popular songs he’d perform at cafes and bars in his hometown of San Francisco.  Little did he know that the same knack for covering tunes would serve him well in 2010, when he was cast on FOX’s massively successful musical series Glee, from which many of his performances of popular songs would lead to several Billboard-topping records.  In 2015 his songwriting also landed an Emmy nomination for Best Original Music and Lyrics, from penning the song “This Time” for the show’s series finale.

Criss has continued to write and produce music extensively through the years, whether for his own releases as an artist or as a songwriter for theater, film & television.  In 2019 Criss created, executive produced, starred in, and provided all the original songs for his short-form musical comedy series Royalties, and earlier this year provided the music & lyrics for the opening number of the 2022 Tony Awards: Act One.  As an artist, he most recently delivered a genre-diverse collection of "character-driven" singles as part of his 2021 solo EP titled “Masquerade” (BMG), and in the same year, released a full-length Christmas album titled- aptly- A Very Darren Crissmas (Decca).

As an actor, Criss is a veteran of the stage whose Broadway credits include the titular role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2015), How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (2012), and the most recent 2022 revival of David Mamet’s seminal play American Buffalo alongside Laurence Fishburne and Sam Rockwell.  In 2018 his work in Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story received wide critical acclaim, earning him a Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Critics’ Choice Award.  He was most recently seen starring in Netflix’s hit series Hollywood, for which he also served as executive producer.”

Please Note: The event will be held outdoors at sunset and the temperature will vary. Seating is based on party size and arrival time, and is up to the discretion of the event management. No seat is greater than 35 feet from the stage in this exclusive Broadway concert experience.  ALL SALES FINAL.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Stunning fancy 1882 Victorian lady in San Francisco, California has 6bds. 3.5ba. and is listed for $3M. (I could go over there and hit the next door neighbors on the head w/my shoe for putting that horrid stone on their house.)

The architectural details are magnificent.

It’s a little dark inside, but it could be absolutely beautiful w/a little brightening up. If you like dark goth, just leave it.

Fancy lamp on the beautiful newel post. I like the carpet- it works.

Huge sitting room. They left the piano, but took the mirror over the fabulous original fireplace. 

What is with these people removing the damned mirrors? We will have to go to the architectural salvage yard to try to replace them. Look at the pediment over the door, though, and the built-in cabinet.

So, the kitchen is a blank slate. The bones are here, though, and that wonderful drainboard sink. As long as some fool doesn’t come in and make it ultra modern.

Cute little pantry.

Guest powder room is also a blank slate.

Wow, this is dramatic.

Interesting. A corner sink on the 2nd landing.

Love a niche- you could put a cool statue in there.

Nice bd. with a marble fireplace.

The 3rd level.

The bds. are a little small.

Nice vintage bath.

Gee, these rooms are tiny and so are the closets. I would have to make one of them a walk-in closet.

Toilet w/a ladder?

Nice bd. with a Victorian corner sink.

This bd. has an en suite. 

Here’s a grand room. Look, they left the mirror. 

The garden’s been neglected, but it has great potential.

Nice large deck.

Beautiful big park nearby.

https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-1190-2bffl3/814-grove-street-western-addition-san-francisco-ca-94117

[xhxhxhx]

Caughey, 50 Am. Hist. Rev. 461, 462 (1945):

[In 1859, San Francisco publisher Hubert Howe Bancroft] had begun to collect Californiana. Gradually his search widened to a world-wide canvass for materials on the western half of North America from Panama to Alaska. In this search he had the good fortune to be first in the field. Yet the real basis of his success lay in his philosophy of collecting. He believed in collecting for content rather than for externals of format. He believed in sweeping in every item that seemed to have even slight bearing on his subject. He had high regard for newspapers, and this before most historians had discovered them. He went after manuscripts, preferring the originals but if necessary resorting to copies and abstracts. He created historical materials by taking dictations from hundreds of pioneers and old-timers. He argued, oftentimes successfully, that it was a patriotic service to put materials in his collection. He was a sturdy beggar and a good borrower, but he drew heavily on his financial resources to buy from dealers, out of catalogues, and at auctions. At the time of its sale to the University of California, Reuben Gold Thwaites appraised the collection at more than $300,000. It has since [as of 1945] appreciated in value at least tenfold; and Director Herbert E. Bolton has said that with $10,000,000 and twenty years in which to spend it the collection could not be duplicated or satisfactorily replaced.

As his library grew, Bancroft felt repeated urges to make some use of it. He considered publishing selected original narratives. . . . Fortunately his decision took another direction. In his words, “I would strike at once for the highest, brightest mark before me. . . . History-writing I conceived to be among the highest of human occupations, and this should be my choice.”

He was never in doubt about what history to undertake. It would be that of his field of collecting, the Pacific states, a modest one twelfth of the earth’s land surface. He proposed, furthermore, a straightforward, frontal, factual attack upon this vast subject matter. He would attempt comprehensive and exhaustive treatment and leave philosophical theorizing to others.

Barnes, 15 Hist. & Theory 212, 212 (1976):

By 1871 Hubert Howe Bancroft had personally collected nearly twenty thousand items on western Americana, but had reluctantly concluded that, at the rate of eight hours a day, it would take him four hundred years to read and annotate it all. If anything was ever to be done with these rare books, pamphlets, newspapers, and chronicles, it was painfully clear that additional help must be forthcoming.

Caughey, 50 Am. Hist. Rev. 461, 463 (1945):

From the outset [Bancroft] realized that he was undertaking more than any one man could do. In businesslike fashion he therefore hired assistants, employing first and last some six hundred persons to help in the production of his works. After much experimenting and at an outlay of $35,000 he devised a subject index to his entire collection. More than twice this amount went into abstracting and note-taking. Going still further, he set some of his men to writing first drafts, and the less revision required, the better he liked it.

Theoretically he made himself responsible for all that went finally into print, and in practice he did this sufficiently so that his 30,000-page, 12,000,000-word opus has unity of design and method and character. Oftentimes his personal contact was slight, for example with the chapters he read on the cable car between his library and his printery, yet the thirty-nine volumes are an integrated whole.

Barnes, 15 Hist. & Theory 212, 213 (1976):

By the early 1890s Bancroft could look back with an almost unalloyed sense of accomplishment. The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft stretched before him on seven and a half feet of linear shelf, subdivided into thirty-nine stout volumes of approximately eight hundred pages each. In sheer bulk and detail there was nothing in any language which could rival this monumental survey of western North America. Eleven of the volumes were wholly or partly devoted to the history of California alone, comprising 8,800 pages with an estimated 4,500,000 words. Another nine volumes dealt with the states, provinces, and territories east and north of California, including British Columbia and Alaska. There were six volumes on Mexico, three on Central America, and two on northern Mexico and Texas. In some respects nothing quite like it has ever been done before or since.

Hubert Howe Bancroft, generative intelligence power user.

[little-annie]

the Eddie Bang for wip weekend!!

Come make me write!

And just like the years that have passed, once everything's set, Wayne, Eddie and Max gather around the fire, cook over the open flame and toast a mug of hot chocolate to another busy summer season.

It never used to be that way. Busy. Eddie remembers Wayne buying the land in some estate sale, the dream of converting the property into a place for the man's grandson dying along with him many years ago, bought up by some rough and tumble tradesman and his nephew.

For all the years Eddie lived with Wayne before venturing to San Francisco, he doesn't remember much more than standing walls and building cabins on the property. Of course there was school and BBQs with the neighbours. Summer's storms and Winter's heavy snows. But aside from all of that, Eddie remembers the majority of their time being spent preparing for their future as small business owners. Building one cabin when money allowed and moving onto the next.

The first customer hadn't arrived until he was long gone to the city and it's vices.

But it was the year of Eddie's return that things finally took off.

Three cabins booked for that summer and the next. Guided hikes, one wedding, and morning meals.

[lboogie1906]

Dr. Carl L. Hart (October 30, 1966) is a psychologist and neuroscientist, working as the Mamie Phipps Clark Professor of Psychology at Columbia University. He is known for his research on drug abuse and drug addiction, his advocacy for the legalization of recreational drugs, and his recreational use of drugs. He became the first tenured African American professor of sciences at Columbia University. He is the author of two books for the general public, High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery that Challenges Everything You Know about Drugs and Society (2013) and Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear (2021).

He grew up in Miami Gardens. He engaged in petty crime and the use and sale of drugs, and at times carried a gun. He was a proficient athlete involved in high school sports. He was raised by a single mother. He served in the Air Force (1984-88) which became his path to higher education.

He earned a BS in Psychology from the University of Maryland, an MS, and a Ph.D., both in Psychology/Neuroscience, from the University of Wyoming. He was the only African American Ph.D. in Neuroscience in the US. He attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He pursued postdoctoral research at the UC San Francisco and Yale University and completed an Intramural Training Award fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.

He is married to Robin Hart and has three children.

#africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[rabbitcruiser]

Caesars Palace, NV (No. 5)

The Forum Shops at Caesars, also known as The Forum Shops, is an upscale shopping mall on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is connected to the Caesars Palace resort, and both feature a Roman theme. The mall project was announced in 1987. It was developed and initially owned by The Gordon Company and Melvin Simon & Associates. The land had previously been used for the unsuccessful Caesars Palace Grand Prix. Construction of the Forum Shops began in 1990, and the project opened on May 1, 1992, with 240,000 sq ft (22,000 m2) of leasable space. An expansion opened in 1997. Simon subsequently took over full ownership, and another expansion was opened in 2004.

The mall has 675,000 sq ft (62,700 m2) and approximately 160 tenants, including various restaurants. It has also offered several shows featuring animatronic statues. Until 2016, the Forum Shops was the highest grossing mall in the U.S., measured in terms of sales per square foot.

Like Caesars Palace, a Roman theme is used throughout the Forum Shops. The mall features an abundance of marble, and several fountains are located inside and out. The interior includes sky-painted ceilings which change from day to night.

The mall has 675,000 sq ft (62,700 m2) of leasable tenant space. It has approximately 160 tenants, including 145 retailers and 15 restaurants. The mall receives an average of 50,000 visitors per day. Approximately 20 percent of the mall's clientele are local residents, with tourists making up the remainder. By 1997, the Forum Shops had become the highest grossing mall in the U.S., measured in terms of sales per square foot.[19][49] It would retain this title until 2016.

The three-story expansion includes a skylight, and features several spiral escalators, created by Mitsubishi Electric. The company spent two years developing the escalators, and took another nine months to install them. At the time, the Forum Shops was one of only two projects in the U.S. to use spiral escalators, joining the Westfield San Francisco Centre shopping mall.

Source: Wikipedia

[collapsedsquid]

Two area congressmen who sought for years to find out whether foreign adversaries or investors were behind the buying spree around a U.S. Air Force base vital to national security and the local economy are furious that Flannery kept its identity hidden for so long. The website say 97% of its funding is from U.S. investors and the rest are from the United Kingdom and Ireland. “The FBI, the Department of Treasury, everyone has been doing work trying to figure out who these people are,” U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents much of the county, said this week after meeting with Sramek. “Their secrecy has caused a lot of problems, a lot of time, and a lot of expense.” The investment group said secrecy was required until enough land was purchased, in order to avoid short-term speculation, but that it is now ready to hear from Solano households via a mailed survey and creation of a community advisory board. Past surveys showed parents were most concerned about their children’s future, the website said. [...] In many ways, Solano County is ideal for development. It is 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco and 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of California’s capital city of Sacramento. Solano County homes are among the most affordable in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a median sales price of $600,000 last month. But Princess Washington, mayor pro tempore of Suisun City, said residents deliberately decided to protect open space and keep the area around Travis Air Force Base free of encroachment given its significance. She’s suspicious that the group’s real purpose is “to create a city for the elite” under the guise of more housing. “Economic blight is everywhere. So why do you need to spend upwards of a billion dollars to create a brand new city when you have all these other things that can be achieved throughout the Bay Area?” she said. Flannery further infuriated locals in May when it sued several landowners in court, accusing them of conspiring to fix prices for their properties. The company disclosed it had purchased or was under contract to buy about 140 properties for more than $800 million.

DIsappointed that Marc Andreessen doesn't believe in the free market and immediately calls on Big Government

[jennyboom21]

As a football fan, it’s not uncommon to see big NFL stars date celebrities. When I was growing up in Pittsburgh, the Steelers’ quarterback Terry Bradshaw dated figure skater JoJo Starbuck. That was such a big deal at the time. For a brief period, they were the "it couple."

Now, that pairing seems so simple.

A few years ago quarterback Russell Wilson, when he was with the Seattle Seahawks, married global singing superstar Ciara. Before their nuptials, it was Tom Brady, who of course married supermodel Gisele Bündchen. Sadly, the two divorced last year. Then, Brady made big headlines in late summer with rumors he was dating another model, Irina Shayk.

That pairing seems so simple now.

This weekend, the Miami Dolphins scored 70 points in their win against the Denver Broncos, whose quarterback is Wilson. Presumably, Wilson was consoled by his famous wife after that embarrassing defeat. The Dolphins had a total offense of 726 yards, just nine yards short of the NFL's all-time record set by the Los Angeles Rams way back in 1951.

During any other weekend, the Dolphins's history-making win would dominate sports news, and spill into general news as well, because wins and yardage like that are unheard of, even in a league where high passing and high-scoring games are the norm.

Also on Sunday night, the plane carrying my beloved Steelers was forced to land in Kansas City, Mo., on their way back from Las Vegas after defeating the Raiders. That, too, would be huge sports news and general news, but alas, the emergency landing in Kansas City wasn't the biggest thing to even happen in that city on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Taylor Swift appeared in a private box at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, to watch the Chiefs manhandle the Chicago Bears 41-10. Presumably, Swift wasn’t there as a Chiefs fan or to watch the action. She was there to watch her new beau, the Chiefs's tight-end, Travis Kelce — who scored a touchdown probably just to show off. Images of Swift cheering and screaming for Kelce in that private box with his family almost crashed social media.

Is Swift dating Kelce? Well, who knows, and you might say, who cares? But, a lot of the world cares, to put it bluntly. Starbuck, Ciara, and Gisele pale in comparison to the enormity of Swift. If Swift decided to date a tree, that tree would become a top tourist destination.

It’s called the Swift effect; similar it seems to the Oprah effect. Everything Swift touches turns to gold. Swift walked hand-in-hand with Kelce out of Arrowhead Stadium Sunday after the game, and since then, sales of Kelce’s #87 Chiefs’ jersey have soared over 400 percent, according to TMZ.

This relationship between Swift and Kelce – whatever or however long it is – has also caused the interwebs to almost crash. Young women and young gay men around the world are Googling “Travis Kelce” to find out all they can about Swift’s new hunk of a football player boyfriend – or acquaintance?

Similarly, many of the gay “Swifties” I know were reaching out to me on Sunday about Kelce. They know I’m a football fan, so they had many questions for me; Is Kelce any good Where is he from? Who are the Chiefs? Is he a homophobe?

Kelce is good, in fact, he’s one of the best tight ends in the NFL. Kelce has an older brother, Jason who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. Their mother Donna has become somewhat of a celebrity herself. During the Super Bowl last year, where Travis’s team the Chiefs beat Jason's team, the Eagles, Donna was all over the place. The ultimate football mother. Happy for one son. Sad for the other. And now? After her picture alongside Swift ran wild over social media and the news on Sunday, Mrs. Kelce is the third biggest and current global superstar, behind Taylor and Travis.

As a side note, and for those who are obsessed with garnering as much knowledge about Kelce as they can get, this year’s Super Bowl win was his second win; the first being in 2020 when Kelce and the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers.

The Kelce brothers are creating a cottage industry for themselves. They have their own podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, and they have a documentary, Kelce, on Prime Video that is more about Jason, with Travis making frequent appearances. It’s actually pretty good, even if you’re not a football fan. Not to be outdone by his brother, Travis had a reality show on E! called Catching Kelce, that featured 50 women from 50 states in a dating competition. I guess Taylor decided to wait until the dust cleared with that many women pining for Kelce?

There’s no doubt in the world that every Swifty is downloading all the episodes of that The Bachelor riff, so that they can find out how to catch Kelce too, or about how Swift caught Kelce.

Finally, Travis Kelce is anything but a homophobe. Kelce told Outsports at the 2017 Pro Bowl (this is the game that features the NFL’s best players) that he’d support a gay teammate. “Anybody in this world [can play]. I’m comfortable with who I am and I expect everyone to be comfortable with who they are. I respect people for their views and opinions.”

And here’s a story about why you can love Kelce even if you’re not a Swifty or even a Gaylor — which is a subgroup of Swift fans who believe Taylor Swift is actually queer. In July, Bud Light released a commercial starring Kelce. In any other year, that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, but we all know what happened with Bud Light in April with the Dylan Mulvaney imbroglio, and Bud Light’s inexcusable reaction to the extreme right boycotting the beer.

In the face of that boycott, by angry cisgender straight white men who were shooting cans of Bud Light or pouring them down the drain, Kelce metaphorically flipped them the bird by swigging the beer. And for his bravery and f-you attitude towards the narrow-minded, they retaliated by calling for a boycott of Kelce and by calling him "woke." (How do you boycott a human being, let alone one that is 6’5” and weighs 250 pounds?) Kelce could have cared less about what they thought of him endorsing Bud Light. In fact, he was seen drinking the beer at a golf tournament soon after the ad was released.

This week, Kelce released a video announcing his partnership with Pfizer as part of an educational campaign to remind people to get their flu and COVID-19 vaccine shots, preferably at the same time. In his Instagram video, Kelce says, “With my schedule, saving time is key. The CDC says you can get this season’s updated COVID-19 shot when you get your flu shot if you’re due for both. That’s why I got two shots in one stop! Ask your doctor or pharmacist if it would be right for you. You can also visit CDC’s vaccines.gov to learn more and schedule an appointment.”

As you can imagine, the anti-vaxxers and the extreme right are horrified that Kelce is endorsing the same "phooey" and hawking the same “poisons” that their number one vaxxing nemesis Dr. Fauci championed. For his efforts, Kelce is a champion too.

Finally, Kelce hosted Saturday Night Live earlier this year after winning the Super Bowl, and appeared in a memorable sketch with Bowen Yang as his “Straight Male Friend,” as Yang's character seeks some balance after being the one gay guy in a group of straight women.

While the world tries to dissect Kelce in every imaginable way possible, as they scoop up his jersey in record numbers, we can take some solace in the fact that Kelce will have no problem with queer Swifties or even the Gaylors.

One of my gay Swifty friends asked me what the story is with Travis's hunky brother Jason. I was sorry to tell him that he is happily married to his wife Kylie, and that they have three young daughters who will be the envy of young girls worldwide some day soon, when they get a new Aunt Taylor.

[mybeingthere]

Flowers of eucalyptus are sublime.

Eucalyptus is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees. It is much argued about around the world - at present eucalyptus is the world most planted tree. It is used for timber, healing properties of bark and leaves, honey-making, dyes for silk and wool, repelling mosquitos and food supplement. History tells us a few difficult facts too: "In 1787, when a fleet of ships laden with English criminals and their keepers arrived in Australia’s Botany Bay for purposes of colonization, these newcomers were unprepared for the environment they found. Australian life had evolved for millions of years in isolation from the flora and fauna of the American, European, Asian, and African land masses. 

This was as true of the Australian gum, or eucalyptus tree, as it was of the kangaroo — both species for which no close cousins could be found on the shores of the West. Historian and art critic John Hughes, in his book on the colonization of Australia, The Fatal Shore, says that “it took at least two decades for colonial watercolorists to get the gum trees right, so that they did not look like English oaks or elms.”

Australia’s aborigines had lived with the eucalyptus as with the kangaroo and the wallaby and the dingo for millennia — indeed, eucalyptus composed (and today still composes) three-quarters of all Australian forest. The trees were indispensable to the natives; rickety canoes were fashioned from the bark; and during the frequent droughts, stores of life-sustaining water were squeezed from the roots. The English, unfamiliar with this lore, sometimes died of thirst on ground in which water-rich eucalyptus roots abounded.

If the Australian aborigines were never to extend beyond their homeland in a great migrant flood, the eucalyptus tree had a different fate in store. It was to be transplanted to regions all over the globe — from Ethiopia and Madagascar to Spain, Israel, Kenya, Brazil, and California. A United Nations study from the 1950s holds that eucalyptus is an exceedingly valuable tree for purposes of reforestation and industry and advocated its liberal use in developing areas.

In 1858, William C. Walker — owner of the Golden Gate Nursery in San Francisco — published a handwritten catalogue in which he advertised three species of eucalyptus for sale at five to ten dollars each. An article in the 1902 issue of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Bureau of Forestry Bulletin” provides additional history of the eucalyptus in California."

  https://www.sandiegoreader.com/.../cover-ecupalyptus-it-is/

[furryshakespeare]

Othello meets Pokemon!

15% off during the Steam Autumn Sale!

[handeaux]

Westward Ho! Cincinnati Men Caught The California Gold Fever In 1849

It took a long time in 1848 for news to travel from California to Cincinnati. Gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, northeast of San Francisco, in January of that year, but Cincinnatians remained blissfully unaffected by gold fever until the middle of September.

By December 1948, Cincinnati merchants were placing advertisements in the local papers, offering camping and mining supplies to young men heading westward. As the new year of 1849 dawned, Cincinnati was fully possessed by visions of gold. Local newspapers printed dozens of announcements similar to this one, from the Commercial Tribune [23 February 1849]:

“A party of enterprising gentlemen of this city, completed their arrangements yesterday, packed up their trappings, and took passage on the steamer Chief Justice Marshall, for California. They design to sail from New Orleans, and either cross the Isthmus, or take the land route, via City of Mexico. The choice of these routes depends on contingencies. The party is composed of the brothers Moses, Mr. Collins, jeweler, and Messrs. Varney, Light, Vater, and the brothers Fagan.”

The Cincinnati Commercial [9 March 1849] reported on a company of 20 Cincinnatians setting out on the overland route to California, with a plan to cover expenses by selling gunpowder:

“They take with them one hundred kegs of powder, which on their arrival will be distributed, five kegs to each man – thus furnishing each a handsome capital to start on.”

In April, the “Independent Pacific Dispatch Company,” composed of 25 Cincinnati men, departed, also on the overland route. They loaded their pack mules onto the steamboat John Hancock, bound for Independence, Missouri, where they would commence hoofing across the continent.

As a major port along the Ohio River, Cincinnati not only witnessed local boys departing for the gold fields, but steamboats full of similarly determined young men passing through town. The Commercial Tribune [14 April 1849] was agog at the mass of virility floating westward down the Ohio:

“The tide of emigration to California is, in its extent, beyond all historical parallel; and will, in future times, stand prominent as the great event of the Nineteenth Century.”

Many of those adventurers, especially those from rural districts, stopped in Cincinnati to stock up on the supplies required to operate a basic gold-mining operation. Our shopkeepers were delighted to welcome the business. Gustav Sellin, purveyor of tin goods, advertised a gold-washing machine “of the most ingenious construction,” along with wash bowls, scoops and strainers. Philip Pike touted his “Imitation French Brandies, Holland Gin, Rum and Wines,” guaranteeing that a thousand-dollar investment in his beverages could be recouped for twenty times that amount in the thirsty gold fields. Miller Cornelius Sanders Bradbury boasted about his novel “steam-dried flour” warranted not to sour or get moldy for two years – ideal for the long trail westward.

Some Cincinnati businessmen just surrendered and joined the migration. Real estate mogul Thomas Hurst put a flour mill out near Sedamsville up for sale along with eight houses in the city. He was, as they say in the trade, a motivated seller. He closed his advertisement with this explanation:

“As I am making preparations for California, application should be made soon.”

Once folks arrived in California, they often discovered that panning for gold was not exactly as advertised. For instance, Benjamin Cory (Miami University Class of 1842, Medical College of Ohio Class of 1845) was busily engaged trading clothing to Native Americans in exchange for gold. Called to attend to a wealthy ranchero, Doctor Cory found himself trapped. In a letter home, Cory complained:

“My patient is quite smart this morning; he says I shall not leave him till all danger is over. ‘Charge what you please, Doctor,’ he says, ‘and it shall be paid; here is my ranch, with its horses, cattle, &c. &c. and I have a good large bag of gold.’ I am sorry, dear brother, that I ever had doctor stuck to my name; it is more trouble than profit; I am vexed to death; I tell people that I can get more gold in the mountains by digging and trading, than my conscience will permit me to charge my patients.”

Doctor Cory ended up doing okay for himself. The 1909 Miami University alumni directory notes that, before he died in 1896, he was elected to the first legislature of the new state of California in 1850 and had a distinguished medical career in Santa Clara and San Jose.

Joseph Talbert, a carpenter, who left Cincinnati in February 1849, wrote home that his traveling party of fifty had arrived safely in the gold fields. Talbert, however, after trying to mine gold for a couple of weeks, learned he could make more money as a carpenter, building cabins and gold-washing sluices than he could actually trying to find gold.

The Guysi brothers quit their jobs at B.F. Greenough’s lamp oil distillery on Main Street and endured a sea voyage of 160 days to round the tip of South America. They arrived in a San Francisco of 30,000 souls mostly housed in tents and suffering from dysentery. The only water available was polluted with copper, a spot of ground large enough to pitch a tent rented for $150 a month, and gambling was rampant. At least one of the brothers, Jacob, stuck it out; he was buried in the hills overlooking San Francisco Bay when he died at age 79 in 1906.

Joe Heywood had a solid career and sterling prospects here in Cincinnati. He was a butcher by trade, and regularly made the newspapers for the quality of his provender and the skill with which he decorated his shop. He was repeatedly referred to as a very handsome man who cut a dashing figure as a volunteer fireman. He was also known as a dependable “b’hoy” – a tough character – in the days when volunteer fire companies battled over which would put out the fire and collect the insurance money. Still, the Cincinnati Commercial of 9 January 1849 recorded the westward emigration of Heywood, along with Mathias Oliver, James Wilson, Alexander Burns and James McAlpin, all stalwarts of the “Rovers” fire company.

While most young men trudged west in hopes of sending pounds of bullion home, Heywood had no intention of digging anything once he got to California. Instead of packing a pick and shovel, Heywood had 1,500 cards printed to announce his business as a butcher and provision merchant. He seems to have succeeded admirably. After a sea voyage of 156 days, Heywood arrived in San Francisco and set up shop. A letter from a fellow firefighter reported that Heywood replicated the annual Cincinnati Christmas meat parade at his shop that December. Heywood himself wrote a long letter home describing his adventures aboard the ship and promising to write as soon as he could to “Lizzy.” He must have been persuasive. Joseph Heywood and Miss Eliza L. Hensley of Cincinnati were joined in matrimony on 1 July 1856 at San Francisco’s International Hotel.

[and-then-there-were-n0ne]

Power laws, whereby a small number of people tend to be responsible for a huge proportion of any phenomenon, can be found in all human activity, whether it be income, book sales by authors, or number of sexual partners; the most well-known, the Pareto principle, or the 80/20 rule, originally comes from Italian land ownership.

Lawbreaking, too, observes a power law, so that a huge proportion of crime is committed by a very small number of offenders who have an outsized impact on society.

Inquisitive Bird wrote that power laws are ‘observed for arrests, convictions and even self-reported delinquent behavior’. He cited British data which shows that ‘70% of custodial sentences are imposed on those with at least seven previous convictions or cautions, and 50% are imposed on those with at least 15 previous convictions or cautions (Cuthbertson, 2017).

‘But perhaps the most illustrative study is by Falk et al. (2014), who used Swedish nationwide data of all 2.4 million individuals born in 1958–1980 and looked at the distribution of violent crime convictions. In short, they found that 1% of people were accountable for 63% of all violent crime convictions, and 0.12% of people accounted for 20% of violent crime convictions.’

Therefore in Sweden, some ‘70–80% of violent crimes are recidivism after an earlier conviction for a violent crime’, and ‘approximately half of violent crime convictions were committed by people who already had 3 or more violent crime convictions. In other words, if after being convicted of 3 violent crimes people were prevented from further offending, half of violent crime convictions would have been avoided.’

The author notes that, although ‘America has a reputation of a very harsh penal system that is very quick to lock anyone up’, this is not true. In fact one study found that ‘72.8% of federal offenders sentenced had been convicted of a prior offense. The average number of previous convictions was 6.1 among offenders with criminal history.’

Contrary to what received opinion in Britain believes, America is not a particularly punitive country; in fact criminals are often allowed to repeatedly offend until the inevitable tragedy happens.

The post cites analysis by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform which finds that ‘Overall, most victims and suspects with prior criminal offenses had been arrested about 11 times for about 13 different offenses by the time of the homicide. This count only refers to adult arrests and juvenile arrests were not included.’

In Washington DC, about 60–70% of all gun violence is carried out by just 500 individuals, and the same Pareto principle applies to shoplifting, the bane of big liberal cities like San Francisco or Vancouver, where 40 offenders were arrested 6,000 times in a year.

According to the New York Times, ‘Nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests in New York City last year involved just 327 people, the police said. Collectively, they were arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times.’ That third is therefore committed by less than 0.004% of New York’s population.

The same is true of Britain. According to the Daily Telegraph, ‘Prolific thieves are being caught and convicted of stealing up to 50 times before they are jailed by the courts.

‘Violent offenders are escaping jail until they have been convicted of up to 25 common assaults, while some are accruing as many as seven or eight repeat convictions for carrying a knife before they are given a prison sentence. Other criminals are collecting more than 20 drug convictions before being jailed.’

The paper reported that one-tenth of offenders in England and Wales commit half of all crimes, and that ‘10,400 “super-prolific” offenders who had been convicted of more than 50 previous offences each were spared jail over the past three years’. Between 2019 and 2021, 100,000 offenders with more than 16 previous convictions avoided prison.

They also found that for theft, prolific offenders had to rack up 49 previous convictions or cautions before they were jailed, ‘For robbery – theft with force or the threat of violence – it was nine previous such offences’, and for common assault 25 such attacks.

In 2020, one burglar was only jailed after 20 convictions; one knife offender was caught seven times with weapons before going down, and another eight times. ‘Even for sexual assault, the worst offender had been convicted of five previous attacks before being jailed in 2020, and three in 2021.’ How can someone commit five sexual assaults and still not be jailed?

Yet people convicted of multiple crimes will almost certainly have committed many, many more. One study ‘followed 411 South London men from age 8–9 in the early 1960s through their lives’ and found they admitted to ‘committing many hundreds of times more crimes than they were ever caught for.’ On top of this, most burglars also routinely shoplift, and the fact that people who self-report greater numbers of crimes tend to get caught and convicted later in life ‘implies that self reports have some level of validity’.

Unsurprisingly, British criminals released after short sentences of less than 12 months are more likely than not to reoffend within a year, while only 5% of those who endure stretches of 10 years or more do so.

All of this has huge implications for crime policy and suggests that merely relying on higher clear-up rates, and the stronger possibility of detection, are not enough in themselves. [...]

What matters is that persistent wrongdoers are kept away from society.

A friend based in Singapore has on occasion sent pictures of his bike, in a rack on a main road where he leaves it overnight, unlocked. The fact that he does so, and expects to see it in the morning, is almost mind-blowing to me. [...]

But such levels of civilisation are simply impossible when a small minority of criminals are allowed to mingle freely in society. Urban honesty boxes are impossible not because British society is inherently wicked but because a relatively tiny number of people would clear them out. Imprisoning several thousand more persistent wrongdoers, for long stretches, would bring Britain’s crime rates down to similar levels enjoyed in Singapore, where shops can stay open into the small hours without security, and women can walk home late at night listening to music on their earphones.

Until policymakers accept that prolific criminals have to be incapacitated, the rest of us are condemned to a quality of life well below what we should expect.

[deadpresidents]

The so-called "Drake" radio format was very much a product of its time.

Bill Drake, the programming consultant for the RKO-General Radio group, felt that many top-40 stations had too much clutter and too much talk that distracted from what he felt should be the main mission of the station: to present contemporary music to the audience and to never forget why that audience tuned in. By cutting the clutter, introducing painstaking research as to which records to play, keeping sales from encroaching on programming and creating a presentation that emphasized a "keep it moving forward" philosophy, the format became a winner for almost all of the stations in the RKO-General group (besides KHJ, WHBQ/Memphis, WRKO/Boston, KFRC/San Francisco, KAKC/Tulsa, WOR-FM/New York and CKLW/Windsor-Detroit).

Without getting into the details of Drake's formatics, he honed his format at KYNO/Fresno and KGB/San Diego before landing the big one, KHJ, in May of 1965. KHJ shot up to number one in the LA Market in a matter of weeks and stayed on top for years.

It's definitely not true that there were no "personalities" outside of AM drive, although Drake always kept his eye on the ball: The listeners tune in to hear the music, not the jocks. Despite that goal, there were many air personalities on Drake-programmed who became famous outside of AM drive (most notably, KHJ's PM drive man "The Real" Don Steele).

Many believe that the Drake format was the predecessor of modern music radio, but I doubt Drake (who died in 2008) would recognize or approve of what music radio is today.

I give zero fucks about any of this.