#Senator Morton

[mametupa]

[xtruss]

History of Earth Day & Arbor Day in Parks

First Annual Earth Day Birthday Parade and Celebration in Union Square on April 22, 1970

Earth Day began in 1970 as a way to raise awareness about environmental issues. Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, and Denis Hayes, a young environmentalist, joined to organize events across the country and "shake things up." Following that first Earth Day, which was celebrated by 20 million people across the country, President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.

For the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, thousands participated in various sanctioned events in New York City. Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic from Union Square Park to Central Park, and 14th Street between 3rd and 7th Avenues was transformed into an "Ecological Carnival."

First Annual Earth Day Birthday Parade and Celebration

Union Square Park served as the focus of numerous Earth Day observances and teach-ins throughout the metropolitan region. Over the day, some 100,000 people were estimated to have thronged to the square in one of the largest demonstrations there since the socialist rallies of the 1930s. The empty streets resulted in at least one picnic spread at the intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, and Mayor John V. Lindsay repeated the idea during the summer of 1970 when he closed Fifth Avenue to traffic for four successive weekends. The City also banned cars for the day in Central Park in Manhattan, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Forest Park in Queens, and Silver Lake Park in Staten Island.

First Annual Earth Day Birthday Parade and Celebration

Earth Day became a global event in 1990; the event has been celebrated in earnest with tours, events, and volunteer opportunities at parks across the city since 2000. For NYC Parks, Earth Day is a chance to honor our green spaces and how we care for them, and to raise awareness about how we are working to shape a greener future for our city.

Youthful zeal and environmental activism join forces as celebrants hoist a tree at Union Square Park on the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970. Photo by Daniel McPartlin; courtesy of Parks Photo Archive.

Arbor Day Observed in the City

Arbor Day, celebrated on the last Friday in April, dates to 1872 when it is said that over one million trees were planted in Nebraska. Julius Sterling Morton, originally from upstate New York then living in Nebraska, was instrumental in establishing the day. New York State has been celebrating Arbor Day since 1888, and Arbor Day has been celebrated at NYC Parks for years. In 1906, Arbor Day festivities were held in playgrounds, "thereby inculcating a true love for nature," according to the 1906 Annual Report.

Planting Trees for New York City

With the support of Big Bird, Mayor Bloomberg helps plant the first tree of the MillionTreesNYC initiative, October 9, 2007. Photo by Daniel Avila.

Inspired by the million trees planted in Nebraska in 1872, NYC Parks and the New York Restoration Project launched MillionTreesNYC in 2007. The goal of the citywide public-private program was to plant and care for one million new trees across the city. In his support for this tree initiative, Mayor Michael Bloomberg pointed out that trees help clean the air and reduce the pollutants that trigger asthma (an endemic problem in underserved areas of the city) while also cooling streets, sidewalks, and homes on hot days, and increasing property values and encouraging neighborhood revitalization. In 2015, thanks to help from NYRP, additional partners, our many volunteers, and nearly 50,000 New Yorkers who helped plant trees in our parks, on neighborhood streets, and in their own backyards, we planted our millionth tree.

Some 20 million people took part in the first Earth Day protests held across the United States on April 22, 1970. In New York City, the streets near Union Square Park were turned into an "ecological carnival" in one of the largest demonstrations the city had seen in decades. Photograph By Santi Vissalli, Getty

In the last 20 years, Parks has worked to diversify New York City’s street tree species to make our urban forest stronger and more resilient. We currently plant over 200 tree species that are well suited to the urban environment because they’re able to withstand soil compaction, drought, flooding, air pollution, high pH soils, and strong winds. More information can be found on our Approved Species List page, the NYC Street Tree Map, and our 2015 Street Tree Census Report.

[thenewdemocratus]

Jim Heath: Video: CBS News: Election 1982 Highlights

The New Democrat The recession of 1981-82 was huge and cost Congressional Republicans especially in the House a lot of seats. House Republicans lost something like thirty-five seats. Going from the low 190s in the House to the upper 150s where they were going into the 1980 general election. So House Republicans especially lost everything that they picked up in 1980 in 1982. Similar to House…

[absolute-immunities]

Travis Crum, The Lawfulness of the Fifteenth Amendment, 97 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1543, 1578–80 (2022) (footnotes omitted):

Although there were irregularities in the South for the ratifications of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, Indiana presents a unique problem as a Northern State whose initial ratification [of the Fifteenth Amendment] is questionable.

Indiana’s ratification involved a series of political machinations. During the 1868 campaign, Republicans nationwide and in Indiana adopted a compromise position that advocated for black male suffrage in the South but not the North. After the Fifteenth Amendment’s passage by Congress, Democrats cried foul. State Representative John Coffroth, a leading Indiana Democrat, proposed that Democrats could delay the Fifteenth Amendment’s ratification by resigning en masse to deny the state legislature a quorum. On March 5, 1869, thirty-eight Democratic representatives and seventeen Democratic state senators did just that, plunging the state legislature into chaos. Under Indiana’s Constitution, a quorum of two-thirds of total members was required for each house.

In response, the Republican governor called for special elections to be held on April 8, 1869, to fill the seats. The Democrats promptly won back their seats and returned to Indianapolis following an agreement to help pass a budget and that a vote on the Fifteenth Amendment would not occur until the end of the session.

On May 13, 1869, the Democrats once again decided to resign en masse. This time, however, their plan failed. In the state senate, “the doors were ordered locked and the roll was called.” Although sixteen state senators had sent letters of resignation to the governor, many of them were still present in the chamber. The senate’s presiding officer ruled that, because those senators had not submitted resignation letters to the senate, they had not yet resigned. A quorum was declared and the Fifteenth Amendment passed 27–1, with eleven senators marked present but not voting. That same afternoon, Speaker of the Indiana House George Buskirk determined that the house lacked a quorum due, in part, to the resignation of twenty-seven Democratic representatives.

But the next day, Buskirk changed his mind following pressure from Indiana’s U.S. Senator, Oliver Morton. Buskirk decreed that a vote could proceed even though only fifty-seven members were present. When pressed by Coffroth to justify this ruling, Buskirk stated that Indiana’s Constitution required a quorum “for legislative business of any ordinary character” but not to ratify a constitutional amendment. In other words, the ratification process, as an act of federal lawmaking, need not follow the particularities of state law. The Indiana House then voted 54–3 to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment.

As such, Indiana’s state legislature was arguably a rump legislature when it adopted the Fifteenth Amendment. Nevertheless, Secretary Fish ignored the quorum issue and counted Indiana as a ratifying State. Indeed, unlike his discussion of New York and Georgia, Fish gave no indication that anything untoward happened in Indiana.

:')

[sneakerguybln]

Prison revolt at the Morton prison - part 1

Morton is a prison in the Nevada desert. In the prison system of the Federal Republic of Dystopia it's on grade 5 of the 7 grade security scheme - ranking from grade 1 "Low security" to grade 7 "Super Max security". In 2098 a huge prison revolt happened and lasted for 3 weeks with several guards wounded and 3 guards dead. The revolt was planned, organized and started by the "Honourable Council of the Ten". This self-styled council saw themself as leaders of the inmates. This council was part of a trial of inmate self-administration and was introduced in some pilot prisons of grade 1 to 5 prisons. Within the legislation it was called "Help council" and was planned to be an elected body of 10 inmates. It quickly switched to be an instrument of criminals to control other inmates and use ressources to continue criminal activities. In most prisons it was renamed by the inmates - inofficially - and never elected freely. It was abolished after the Morton prison revolt.

All participants of this riot will be charged - all 904 inmates of the cellblocks that participated in the riots are counted as participants - under the Prison Mutiny Law (PML) that sets draconic measures.

In this first part we look at the 10 members of the former council who were the ringleaders. Under the PML the ringleaders are charged for the murders committed in a revolt or mutiny regardless wether they did the murder(s) or someone else.

They were split into 5 groups and sent to different places in the Federal Republic of Dystopia to reduce their influence.

Giorgio (28, left) and Vittorio (30, right) Marconi are brothers and grew up in a crime family. Their father, uncle and the two brothers were accused several times for drug trafficking but acquitted each time. They were sentenced two years ago for the brutal beating of two police officers. They were sentenced to 31 years prison sentence each. Three months before the revolt, new evidences emerged about their connections to drug trafficking, human trafficking and murder of two witnesses in a case against their father. They saw the revolt as their last opportunity to be in freedom. It was quite sure that the new evidence would send them right into a life sentence in a grade 7 prison, most likely in solitary confinement.

Their new sentence is: 5 life sentences, 90 years, 12 strokes of the cane after this trial and every second year 10 strokes of the cane until they turn 60. They'll spend the rest of their lives shackled in solitary confinement in a grade 7 prison.

Eric Mosley (24, left) and Damian Hintz (23, right) are both bisexual and fell in love in prison. They were molested and tortured by homophobic guards after one guard saw them having sex and instigated his colleagues to mistreat the couple. They killed that guard while the revolt was running. Mosley was at Morton for six months when the revolt broke out. He was sentenced to 9 years for an armed robbery with possibility of parole after 7 years. Damian Hintz was sentenced to 13 years of prison for manipulating ATMs, gambling machines and hacking into computers. He was a mastermind and made for his bosses more than 11 million $. They promised him 10%. He never saw a penny. He was offered to snitch his bosses to see his sentence reduced to 3 years under house arrest but he refused as the bosses threatened his wife, his parents and his young sister. He was 21 as he was arrested.

Mosley and Hintz got three life sentences in addition to their former sentences. They'll spend the rest of their lives shackled in a double cell in a grade 7 prison. They'll get 8 strokes of the cane each after the trial and 4 strokes every second year until they turn 60.

In the aftermath of their trial 7 former guards of the Morton prison will be tried for molesting and torturing inmates.

Ciro Vallanzasca (34, left) and Marvin Colb (25, right) will be the two lucky guys of the ringleaders. Ciro is the nephew of a senator of the Federal Republic of Dystopia and Marvin is his assistant. Ciro had a long criminal career but avoided prison until he turned 32. He was sentenced to 7 years for money laundering. He was transferred to Morton prison after he beat his cellmate on his second day after his sentence. Marvin Colb was sentenced 5 years ago for drugging other people - men and women - and selling their explicit pictures on porn sites or blackmailing them. He was nearly killed by one of his victims what led to his arrest and trial. He turned assistant of Ciro Vallanzasca a short time after they became cellmates. The remainder of his prison term was just 1 year. Both guys were against the revolt and expelled for that from the council a few days before the revolt. At the court they told everything about the council decisions and about the plannings. At the end they were acquitted from the murders of the three guards but had to face another harsh punishment for prison mutinies.

They were sentenced each to 5 additional years for enabling conspiracy and mutiny (instead of telling the guards beforehand). In addition they'll receive 5 strokes of cane each and additional 4 strokes six months before their planned release. They'll get a mandatory vasectomy as ringleaders of mutinies as these people are barred from reproducing (along with some other crimes). It will be a so-called "ultra vasectomy" removing large parts of the vas deferens to make a reversal operation impossible. They'll spend the next five years shackled in a grade 7 prison together in one cell. After these five years they go into a grade 4 prison where a cousin of the Marconis cut the word "traitor" into their faces.

Timothey "Red Timmy" Claus (30, left) and Marlon Estrada (32, right) are communist activist who planned a terrorist attack on an economic meeting three years ago. That plan was foiled but they were sentenced to 60 years in prison each. At the beginning of the revolt they beat two guards nearly to death.

They got an additional sentence of four life sentences, 12 strokes of the cane after the trial and 10 strokes each year until they turn 60. They'll spend the rest of their lives shackled in total solitary confinement of a grade 7 prison. These two convinced the other members of the council to start the revolt. They planned a huge prison break out and were in hope that all prisoner support their communist ideas. Claus and Estrada have three weapon arsenals that remained undiscovered and they wanted to infiltrate army posts with their fellow inmates. Claus styled himself as general secretary of the council and Estrada styled himself as president of the council despite these titles didn't exist. On the way to the prison Claus and Estrada tried to kill a guard in the prisoner transport van in the hope to get killed to avoid their life sentences. But that didn't work. Both tried to go on hunger strikes but were force fed and started eating after few days of force feeding. They lived until their 70s in prison.

Steve Lee (19, left) and Kevin Calvert (25, right) are the last two of the ringleaders to be sentenced. Steve Lee split from his religious family at the age of 15 and began his short criminal career. He sold drugs and convinced friends to take drugs while being abstinent. He loved to make videos of people who got the drugs from him. At the age of 16 he stole a car as cops chased him. With that car he injured two guys. Despite his criminal behavuiour he stopped and tried to help the two injured. So he was arrested. He was sentenced for drug selling, for the car theft and for the accident. His sentence was 15 years in prison with possible parole after 12 years. Because of his calculating nature he was sentenced as an adult and transferred immediately to the adult prison. He gained huge respect in prison quickly and forced another inmate to retire from his post in the council.

Kevin Calvert worked together with two cops to set up a trap for a group of four pedophiles. He killed all four by torturing them to death. He was sentenced to life in prison. He was called up into the council on the first day at Morton prison.

Both guys were sentenced to additional three life sentences and 7 strokes of the cane after sentence and 4 strokes every year until they turn 60. They were set to spend the rest of their lives shackled in solitary confinement in a grade 7 prison. But Steve Lee was offered to take part in a "harvesting program". This was set up to get blood donations. Inmates in this program get special food and a fitness program. This treatment makes it possible to recreate blood quicker - and donate more often. Inmates of the harvesting program are released at the age of 35 into a 5 year probation period. After 4 years of solitary confinement Kevin Calvert was sent to a grade 3 prison. At the age of 35 he got sterilized and pardoned next day. He lived a good life later as he got donations from several groups fighting pedophilia.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) strongly condemned the change in policy by the Biden Administration towards Israelis seeking permeant resident status in the United States or requesting a visa. Sometime in the last few months, Israelis seeking a response from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have begun to face detailed questioning about their service in the IDF, with the clear implication that routine service in the army of the Jewish State may constitute war crimes. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) sent a letter last week to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (see https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-to-mayorkas-your-job-is-to-protect-our-borders-not-interrogate-our-allies) demanding answers about the apparent change in American policy. It is clear that the context of the new policy is to increase the pressure on Israel to avoid the total destruction of Hamas. It is reprehensible that the Biden administration is joining with various UN agencies to prevent an Israeli victory in Gaza.

The facts are undisputed. Israelis living in the United States and routinely applying for a green card have been asked very detailed questions about service in the IDF, including if the applicant had been in combat, commanded troops, guarded ‘detainees,’ worked with explosives, or fired any weapon. An IDF female veteran routinely seeking a Visa to America at a European consulate was asked similar questions and then unceremoniously denied entry without any explanation. The letter sent by Senator Cotton demands answers about this new policy, and ZOA strongly agrees that Secretary Mayorkas should provide them to Congress and change this outrageous policy.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said:

“The entire Biden administration has displayed a disturbing hostility to Israel as it fights for its life against Iran and the Nazi-like Islamic terrorists of Hamas. The pattern of this new policy against heroes who have served their country honorably, combined with the slow walking of needed munitions while Israel is at war, is beyond despicable. ZOA agrees with Caroline Glick – Biden is implementing a “whole-of-government policy of criminalizing Israel and its citizens.” (https://www.jns.org/bidens-whole-of-government-hostility-to-israel/) The Jewish community in the United States has not spoken up enough about this pattern of hostility, but ZOA will not be silent and will do everything it can to draw attention to this bizarre and self-defeating treatment of our best ally in the region.”

ZOA Director of Government Relations Dan Pollak said:

“ZOA thanks Sen. Cotton for his leadership in drawing attention to this outrageous and inappropriate weaponization of the visa and immigration process to try to achieve a political result. It will not help President Biden in his political campaign anyway, but combined with other actions taken by the administration, it is becoming clear that that is not really the point. There is an effort within the American government to sacrifice our country’s actual interests for ideological points of some kind. When the answers to Senator Cotton’s reasonable questions come back, ZOA calls on all members of Congress to hold the administration accountable.”

[promise-you-wont-write]

fortune comes to few

Summary: While still suffering through the grief of Senator Smith's death and the weight of Tim joining the Army, Hawk finds out he's been temporarily posted in Greece. His grief has made him vulnerable and, unable to bear the thought of more loss, he asks Tim to join him in paradise.

Words: 3.2k (and counting)

Warnings: See tags on AO3

Notes: Inspired by an ask on tumblr for Hawk not marrying Lucy and instead finding the courage to be with Tim. This will be two chapters - one more to be posted probably early next week, and then I will turn this into a beautiful series of one-shot stories with the two of them living in Greece and just enjoying one another. I'm me, so there will be plenty of hurt & comfort involved, but for the most part expect a lot of soft soft men in love. This is where they get to be happy. (As happy as the two of them can be, anyway. They're still them.)

Also, not to toot my own horn or anything...but also yes to toot my horn...this story officially puts me over TWO MILLION WORDS on AO3. Thank you all for hanging out with me as I frivolously indulge my love of sad old men.

==============================================

“Greece?” Hawk asked, unable to believe his ears. He’d been waiting for a foreign posting for years, dreaming of the day he could get away from the curse of life in Washington, and while this wasn’t exactly ideal circumstances...he simply couldn’t believe his fortune.

“It’s a thirty day posting while Thompson is on sabbatical. Of course, should you make a good impression, your chances of gaining a long term posting are greatly increased.”

“How long until I leave?”

He’d been planning to propose to Lucy Smith that evening over dinner, but this development might be enough to alter the course of his history. Still grieving the loss of Senator Smith, the closest thing to a real father he’d ever had, was toying with his emotions. He’d become scared, that old idea that he was bulletproof feeling flimsier by the day. Senator Smith was a sort of barrier, a protection even. Without him, Hawk felt alone and exposed.

Lucy made sense, she was so like her father in many ways and some selfish part of him wanted to keep his good friend around. But more than that, he wanted to craft the image people saw. He wanted to be in charge of how he was perceived. This posting to Greece changed everything.

He thought of Tim, of golden days spent lounging on the Aegean and he no longer felt like he needed to marry Lucy. Perhaps there was another way, a more authentic way. It wasn’t without obstacles, but wasn’t that the kind of thing that made life worth living? He certainly had never shied away from a bit of excitement.

“You leave in two days. Enough time to get your affairs in order here I hope? They’re in a bit of a jam over there.”

“I’ll manage. Thank you Mr. Morton.”

Read the rest on AO3!

[thestarwarslesbian]

Fox: Morton, this is Senator Organa. Bail: Hey, Morton. Morton: Wow. Bail: Well said. *points at Thrie* Is that the clone? Breha: Yes. Bail: You're pardoned. Fox: Sir?

Bail: What do you want? Fox: Well, y'know... Bail: By the power vested in me by the Constitution of the Alderaan I hereby pardon you. Morton: Okay. Bail: No, it's not okay.

Fox: Sir...

Bail: Morton, I can't pardon a clone. If you think I can pardon a clone then you have got to go back to your school and insist that you be better prepared to go out in the world.

Breha: You can't pardon a clone? Bail: No. I'll tell you what I can do. I'm drafting this clone into military service for Alderaan.

[yr-obedt-cicero]

New York State Society of the Cincinnati, on the death of Alexander Hamilton

At a special meeting of the the State Society of the Cincinnati, held at Ross's Hotel in Broad-street, in the City of New-York, on Tuesday, the 17th day of July, 1804: This Society, deeply afflicted by the death of their President-General, ALEXANDER HAMILTON, and earnestly desirous of testifying the high respect they feel for his memory (bowing with submission to the mysterious Will of Heaven) and feeling the deepest affliction at an event which has deprived them of their most illustrious Member—their Country of its most enlightened and useful Statesman—and the world of one of those extraordinary Men, which ages have rarely produced; unanimously agree to the following Resolutions: I. Resolved, That a letter be drafted and addressed to the Vice-President-General of the Society, and Circular Letters to the several State Societies, announcing this sad event, the deep and universal sorrow it has occasioned in this Society, and amongst their fellow-citizens of every description; and that the Rev. Mr. Linn, General Clarkson, Mr. Dunscomb, Mr. Hardie, and Col. Platt, be a Committee to draft such letters. II. Resolved, That the said Committee draft a letter of condolence to Mrs. Hamilton, which letter and letters, when prepared, are to be signed by the President and countersigned by the Secretary of the Society. III. Resolved, That Gen. Clarkson, Mess'rs Watson and Burrel, be a Committee to wait on the Rev. Mr. Mason, and request him to prepare and deliver an Oration on the 31st instant, in honour of the Talents, the Virtues, and eminent Services of that Great Man whose loss we deplore; and that the said Committee make such arrangements as may be proper on the occasion. IV. Resolved, That a Monument be erected in Trinity Church, by this Society, to the memory of Alexander Hamilton, its late President-General, with a suitable Inscription; and that Mr. Gouverneur Morris, the Rev. Dr. Linn, and Mr. Morton, be a Committee to carry this resolution into effect. V. Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be presented to Mr. Gouverneur Morris, for his prompt compliance with their wishes, in delivering an Eulogium at the Funeral Ceremonies of their deceased President-General, Alexander Hamilton. VI. Resolved, That the several Resolutions passed at this meeting, be transmitted to the Vice-President-General of the Society, and to the respective State Societies, and be also published. W. S. SMITH, President.

W. POPHAM, Secretary.

Source — Library of Congress, Digital Collections, manuscript/mixed material. Image 8 of Alexander Hamilton Papers: Family Papers, 1737-1917; 1804-1805

The New York State Society of Cincinnati - also known as The Society of the Cincinnati - is a fraternal hereditary society founded on June 9, 1783, to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. In order to perpetuate their fellowship, the founders made membership hereditary. [x] The Society has had three goals; “To preserve the rights so dearly won; to promote the continuing union of the states; and to assist members in need, their widows, and their orphans.” To achieve these aims, the Society called on its members to contribute a month's pay. George Washington was the first president general of the Society. The army's chief of artillery, Henry Knox, was the chief author of the Institution.

The organization was named after, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a farmer who left his farm to serve as a Roman Consul and Magister Populi (With temporary powers similar to that of a modern-era dictator). In response to a military emergency, he took over the city of Rome as a legitimate dictator. After the conflict, he gave the Senate back the initiative and resumed cultivating his fields. This philosophy of unselfish service is reflected in the Society's motto; He gave up everything to keep the Republic alive, or Omnia reliquit servare rempublicam.

The Society of the Cincinnati was founded by officers at the Continental Army encampment at Newburgh, like Major General Henry Knox. The first meeting of the Society was held in the May of 1783 at a dinner at the Verplanck House Fishkill, New York, (Which was Baron Von Steuben's headquarters during the Revolution) before the British evacuation from New York City. The meeting was presided over by Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton serving as the orator. The participants agreed to stay in contact with each other after the war. Mount Gulian is considered the birthplace of the Society of the Cincinnati, where the Institution was formally adopted on May 13, 1783. To this day the members of the organization meet annually at the Verplanck homestead. It is modernly known as The Mount Gulian historic site and looks very much as it did in 1783. There you will find the Cincinnati Gallery, dedicated to the New York State Society, with displays, artifacts, and documents illustrating the founding and activities of the Society during its continuous existence since 1783. Read more here.

While the NYSSOTC did erect the famous white monument on top of the grave of Hamilton, [x] in 1957 they erected another monument in Financial District in Manhattan in New York County engraved with; “To the Memory of Alexander Hamilton 1757 - 1804. Lieutenant Colonel, Aide de Camp to Gen. Washington And Those Other Officers of the Continental Army & Navy Original Members of the Society Whose Remains are Interred in the Churchyards of Trinity Parish” [x]

[aspoonofsugar]

Hello....Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 10) favorite moments from any media that you love (books, anime/manga, tv series, movies, games, etc)? Thanks if you want to answer. Sorry if I ask too much....

Hi!

Thank you for the fun ask. So, I don't think these are gonna be my all times favourites because like... there are too many and I am bound to forget many ones I love LOL... So, I will just write down some moments that come to mind from different medium in no particular order... Tbh they are probably going to be influenced by my current mood and not exhaustive at all?

Once Upon a Time in America - The reveal of who Senator Bailey is. It is the twist the whole movie is built on and the reveal is powerfully done without words thanks to the clever use of the same child actor for father and son. By seeing how the son looks like, you immediately realize who the father is. (Runner up for this moment is Morton's death in Once Upon A Time in the West, another movie by Leone - poetic and thematically poignant)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - The reveal the religion of  Mercerism is a lie. It drives home the irony of empathy being used as a weapon to discriminate instead of a weapon to understand others. Brilliant! (Runner up for this moment is the door asking for money to open herself up in Ubik, another book by Dick - capitalism at its finest)

Monster - The Red Roses Mansion's reveal. It is still one of my favourite twists ever. It is beautifully foreshadowed and it is an example of a twist that really makes the story better. In the sense, it is not just surprising, but it adds a lot of depth to both the twins and the themes. It completely deconstructs the bad twin and good twin archetype.

Psycho Pass - Akane's inner sequence, where she confronts all the people she met and answers the questions she had no answer for previously. It is a beautiful way to show Akane's growth and psychological process. It is also a very powerful way to affirm the themes of the series.

RWBY - Penny's death. I was not expecting it and was actually worried they were missing the mark with Penny's arc. To see them deliver such a wonderful and powerful ending for this character had my trust in the series renewed.

I tried to choose one moment from my favourite mediums (movies, books, manga, anime and indie animation). Of course the list isn't exhaustive and there are TONS of other memorable moments tbh... Just considering series like HxH, Hazbin or Oshi no Ko, I could write many many lists. Let's say these are moments that have stuck with me throughout time, so here there are.

Thank you for the ask :)

[mametupa]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Clay Bennett, The Chattanooga Times

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 17, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JAN 18, 2024

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton responded this evening to the federal government’s demand that state troops give U.S. Border Patrol agents access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, the site where three migrants died last week as they tried to cross the Rio Grande. 

Aarón Torres and Joseph Morton of The Dallas Morning News reported that Paxton’s letter acknowledged that by law the federal government’s Border Patrol officers are allowed  “warrantless access to land within 25 miles of the border, but only ‘for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States.’” Paxton claimed that this law doesn’t apply because the current administration’s policies—the law, after all, is written by Congress—are not intended to stop undocumented immigration. “There is not even a pretense that you are trying to prevent the illegal entry of aliens,” he wrote. 

Torres and Morton note that, in fact, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 142,000 migrants in 2023 and that Paxton presented no evidence for his claims.

Two weeks ago, House Homeland Security Committee chair Mark Green (R-TN) demanded that Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testify as part of the House’s impeachment proceedings against him. As Rebecca Beitsch points out in The Hill, testimony from a cabinet secretary is usually arranged several weeks or even months in advance, and Mayorkas said he could not make the date because he will be discussing immigration with a delegation from Mexico at that time but he asked to arrange another time. Mayorkas has testified before the House panel twice in the past year and before Congress 27 times since he took office.

In a letter obtained by Punchbowl News, Green wrote: “Since you continue to decline to come in person, I invite you to submit written testimony for the January 18th hearing record, so that our Committee Members may hear from you directly.” 

This evening, an inadvertently circulated internal Republican memo obtained by Rebecca Beitsch of The Hill shows that Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee likely have switched their demand for live testimony to a demand for written answers because they have already committed to impeachment on a tight timeline and cannot wait for the live hearing to be rescheduled. 

Green had previously suggested on the Fox News Channel that an impeachment document had already been written even though there had been no impeachment hearings. The memo appears to corroborate that suggestion, saying: “We have scheduled the markup for impeachment articles at 10:00 AM ET on Wednesday, January 31, 2024.” 

Republicans argue that Mayorkas lied to Congress because he said the government has operational control over the border. They dispute this characterization because the Secure Fence Act defines operational control as one in which not a single person or object enters the country improperly. This perfect standard has never been met, and yet they apparently decided to impeach over it before even holding hearings.  

Republicans are clearly hoping to use the issue of immigration against President Joe Biden and the Democrats in the upcoming election. After insisting in November that immigration was in such a crisis that there could be no more aid to Ukraine, Israel, or Taiwan without it, Republicans in December rejected the idea of new legislation and said Biden must handle the issue himself. Then, in early January, 64 Republicans traveled to the border to demonstrate the importance of the issue.

But now that the Senate appears to have hammered out a bipartisan immigration reform measure, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said this morning: “It’s a complex issue. I don’t think now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform, because we know how complicated that is.” After a meeting at the White House today with President Biden, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, and committee heads, Johnson still refused to put the proposed deal up for a vote in the House.

In today’s meeting, Biden emphasized the danger of leaving Ukraine’s defense unfunded. “He was clear,” the White House said, “Congress’s continued failure to act endangers the United States’ national security, the NATO Alliance, and the rest of the free world.” 

Johnson is caught between U.S. national security and Trump. On the Fox News Channel tonight, Laura Ingraham told Johnson she had just gotten off a phone call with Trump and Trump had told her that he was against the immigration deal and had urged Johnson to oppose it. “He…was extremely adamant about it,” she said. Johnson agreed and said that he and Trump had been “talking about this pretty frequently.”   

Trump needs the issue of immigration to whip up his base for the 2024 election.

Today the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, chaired by James Comer (R-KY) held a hearing titled “The Biden Administration’s Regulatory and Policymaking Efforts to Undermine U.S. Immigration Law.” The administration has asked for additional funding for border patrol officers, immigration courts, and so on, but Comer said in his opening statement that the problem is not a lack of resources but rather an unwillingness to enforce the law. 

Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) replied: “You know we have failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform up here for decades.” He noted that one of his colleagues had provided statistics showing that President Barack Obama deported more people in each term than Trump did, so “if the border wasn’t a problem until President Biden was elected, then how are we deporting all of these people in administrations before Trump was elected? It’s because this situation has been going on for decades. So stop lying to the American people that none of this happened until President Biden was elected.”

Comer has also used the House Oversight Committee to spread the idea that President Biden is corrupt, but while he has made many allegations on right-wing media channels, the committee has not, in fact, turned up any evidence linking the president to illegal activity. Instead, the investigations there appear to be a continuation of the technique Republicans have used since  the 1990s to insinuate that a Democrat has engaged in wrongdoing simply by holding investigations. 

Trump employed this technique effectively in 2016 in his constant refrain that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, had illegally deleted emails, and less effectively in 2019 when he tried to strong-arm Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing an investigation into Hunter Biden. It was central to the plan of convincing state legislatures that they could recast their 2020 electoral votes: lawyer Jeffrey Clark wanted to tell them (falsely) that there were voting irregularities that the Department of Justice was investigating.

But this technique has backfired so far in this Congress. After a year of hearing that Biden is corrupt, MAGA Republicans have expected to see him impeached. But Democrats have come to hearings exceedingly well prepared and have pushed back on MAGA talking points, turning the tables on the Republicans so thoroughly that Comer recently was forced to back down, saying, “My job was never to impeach.” 

Creating a false reality to trick voters is central to undermining democracy, and it is no secret that autocratic states like Russia, Iran, and China are spreading disinformation in the U.S. But I have always wondered what would happen when the American people finally pushed back against suggestions and innuendo and instead demanded actual evidence and policies designed to address problems, as they did before American politics turned into entertainment.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[lboogie1906]

Bishop Michael Bruce Curry (born March 13, 1953) is a bishop who is the 27th and current presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church. He is the first African American to serve as presiding bishop in The Episcopal Church. He was bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.

He graduated with high honors from Hobart College. He earned an M.Div from the Yale Divinity School, in association with Berkeley Divinity School. He studied at The College of Preachers, Princeton Theological Seminary, Wake Forest University, the Ecumenical Institute at St. Mary’s Seminary, and the Institute of Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies.

He has received honorary degrees from the School of Theology-Sewanee, Theological Seminary, Berkeley Divinity School, the Episcopal Divinity School the Seminary of the Southwest, and the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. He was appointed a serving brother of the Order of St John by Elizabeth II. He received the James Parks Morton Interfaith Award.

He was elected the eleventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. When he was consecrated at Duke Chapel, he became the first African-American diocesan bishop of the Episcopal Church in the American South.

He served on the board of directors of the Alliance for Christian Media and chaired the board of Episcopal Relief and Development. He had a national preaching and teaching ministry and was a frequent speaker at services of worship and conferences around the country.

He was active in issues of social justice, speaking out on immigration policy and marriage equality. He instituted a network of canons, deacons, and youth ministry professionals to support preexisting ministries in local congregations. He led the Diocese of North Carolina to focus on the Millennium Development Goal to buy malaria nets that saved over 100,000 lives.

He served as the officiant for the state funeral of Senator John McCain. He officiated at the funeral of George H.W. Bush. He delivered a sermon-like address at “The Spirit of Apollo” program organized by the National Air and Space Museum. He spoke at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[byneddiedingo]

Farley Granger and Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951)

Cast: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, Leo G. Carroll, Patricia Hitchcock, Kasey Rogers, Marion Lorne, Jonathan Hale, Howard St. John, John Brown, Norma Varden, Robert Gist. Screenplay: Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde, Whitfield Cook, based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith. Cinematography: Robert Burks. Art direction: Ted Haworth. Film editing: William H. Ziegler. Music: Dimitri Tiomkin. 

Strangers on a Train and North by Northwest (1959) are the best of Alfred Hitchcock's "wrong man" thrillers, in which the protagonist is suspected of a crime he didn't commit and spends most of the film trying to prove his innocence. They have something else in common: Both involve seduction scenes that take place on a train, except that in the latter film the seduction, of Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) by Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), is conventionally heterosexual. It's the gay subtext that marks Strangers on a Train from the very beginning, when we watch the feet of Guy Haines (Farley Granger) and Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) as they board the train and eventually bump up against each other in the club car. It's Bruno's flamboyance, especially the gleaming white of his brown-and-white spectator shoes, that we notice first, before we see his lobster-patterned tie and the gold tie clasp that proclaims his name. Even the straightest viewer gets it: Bruno is cruising. And he lights upon the handsome athlete, Guy. Bruno is blatant, and he's more than a bit obnoxious, as he invades Guy's space and continues to talk after Guy has signaled that he'd be happy to be left alone with his book. Yet somehow Guy, who on the surface of it seems the kind of man who would brush Bruno aside swiftly, lets himself be talked into having lunch in Bruno's compartment. Only when Bruno makes his shocking tit-for-tat murder proposal does Guy make his exit. I think that Hitchcock is suggesting that Guy is at least intrigued by the possibility of hooking up with another man. Guy's sexuality is brought into question by his marriage to the promiscuous Miriam (Kasey Rogers, then billed as Laura Elliott) and by the obvious motive of political ambition that has led him to the daughter of a senator, Anne Morton (Ruth Roman), who looks older than he does. (Roman was, in fact, three years older than Granger.) Hitchcock goes about as far as he can under the Production Code in making his characters gay, but even this little helps heighten the paranoia that's haunting Guy.  It was 1951, after all, when homosexuality was still considered "deviance" and ferreting it out became an obsession of the FBI and other watchdog groups. That said, Strangers on a Train works even if you prefer to ignore subtext and see Guy and Bruno as a conventional hero and villain. Walker's performance is one of the best in any Hitchcock film, and his failure to be nominated for it by the Academy remains a marked injustice. Strangers received only one nomination, a deserved one: for Robert Burks's cinematography, the first of 12 collaborations with Hitchcock. Also overlooked were editor William H. Ziegler and special effects creator Hans F. Koenekamp, who gave us one of the most exciting scenes in the movies: the runaway merry-go-round. Hitchcock was deservedly proud of the film, having fought with his first choice as screenwriter, Raymond Chandler, who retained credit after he was fired and the script was rewritten, under Hitchcock's guidance, by Czenzi Ormonde and the uncredited Ben Hecht and Alma Reville, who followed an initial adaptation by Whitfield Cook of Patricia Highsmith's novel. Roman's casting is the film's major weakness: The studio forced Hitchcock to cast her, and he made no attempt to turn her into a real actress. She quickly exhausts her limited supply of anxious looks, practically the only ones the screenplay gives her; perhaps only the fear of getting lipstick on her teeth kept her from actually biting her lip. But the film launched what some think was Hitchcock's greatest decade, culminating in the amazing trifecta of Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest, and Psycho (1960).

[ulkaralakbarova]

When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Fielding Mellish: Woody Allen Nancy: Louise Lasser General Emilio M. Vargas: Carlos Montalbán Yolanda: Nati Abascal Esposito: Jacobo Morales Luis: Miguel Ángel Suárez Diaz: René Enríquez Arroyo: Jack Axelrod Himself: Howard Cosell Mrs. Ruth Mellish: Charlotte Rae Dr. Al Mellish: Stanley Ackerman J. Edgar Hoover: Dorothi Fox Paul: Eddie Barth Semple: Conrad Bain British Ambassador: Baron De Beer Man On Cross: Allen Garfield Himself: Roger Grimsby Himself: Don Dunphy Priest: Dan Frazer Dr. Feigen: Martha Greenhouse Man Tortured: Axel Anderson Perez: El Tigre Pérez Judge: Arthur Hughes Prosecutor: John Braden Policeman: Ted Chapman Sharon: Dagne Crane Douglas: Nicholas Saunders The Interpreter: Eulogio Peraza Senator: Norman Evans FBI Man #1: Bob O’Connell FBI Man #2: Robert Dudley Norma: Marilyn Hengst FBI Security: Ed Crowley FBI Security: Beeson Carroll Snake Bite Lady: Princess Fatosh Cigarette Commercial Man: Dick Callinan Patient in Operating Room: Hy Anzell Subway Thug #1 (uncredited): Sylvester Stallone Woman in Hotel Lobby Cheering Honeymoon (uncredited): Mary Jo Catlett …: Tino García Sanchez: David Ortiz Angleró Film Crew: Screenplay: Woody Allen Screenplay: Mickey Rose Producer: Axel Anderson Producer: Antonio Encarnacion Producer: Jack Grossberg Executive Producer: Charles H. Joffe Producer: Manolo Villamil Executive Producer: Jack Rollins Original Music Composer: Marvin Hamlisch Director of Photography: Andrew M. Costikyan Editor: Ron Kalish Associate Producer: Ralph Rosenblum Production Design: Ed Wittstein Orchestrator: Ralph Burns Music Supervisor: Felix Giglio Sound Effects Editor: John Strauss Unit Production Manager: Morton Gorowitz Production Secretary: Noni Rock Producer’s Assistant: Henry Polonsky First Assistant Director: Fred T. Gallo Script Supervisor: Barbara Robinson Location Manager: William Eustace Casting: Vicky Hernández Transportation Captain: Richard Augustine Transportation Captain: Harry J. Leavey Unit Publicist: Samuel D. Berns Title Designer: Norman Gorbaty Set Decoration: Herbert F. Mulligan Special Effects: Don B. Courtney Gaffer: Robert A. Hudecek Key Grip: Michael Mahony Property Master: Connie Brink Costume Design: Gene Coffin Wardrobe Supervisor: Martin Gaiptman Makeup Artist: Guy Del Russo Sound: Nathan Boxer Sound: James Sabat Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Al Gramaglia Assistant Editor: Susan Behr Still Photographer: Jack Stager Movie Reviews:

[steveskafte]

SAID AND DONE There's an old swimming hole just east of Middleton town, along the old railbed near Senator Road. Local kids passed centuries of hot summer weather, here on the shores of Morton Brook. Here lie the memories that maybe won't matter, personal histories we can't quite recall. Built up and bolted together – just trying to make sure they won't falter. Nothing defines our existence like discovering our stories are up to us to tell. Many are tempted to stick with a shared past, repeatedly engaging with what they've said and done before. But there's a beauty in being a stranger that seems to win my heart out every time. There are always new faces coming and going out here. Why not take a turn you haven't before, and see how it'd feel if you were one? Spring seems like as good a time as any to do something new. April 23, 2024 Wilmot, Nova Scotia Year 17, Day 6008 of my daily journal.