#Superior National Forest

[highways-are-liminal-spaces]

A pair of courting Canadian Lynxes on an empty logging road

Superior National Forest, taken February 2024

[vintagecamping]

Camp set up on canoe camp site on an island in Lake Four in Superior National Forest.

Minnesota

1940

[chaddavisphotography]

Fall colors in Northern Minnesota, Superior National Forest in late September 2024.

[61below]

[prolibytherium]

Hey check this out

[rangerpeyton]

Best National Park Service Site To Vist- MSN

Best National Park in the US? It's not Yellowstone, Yosemite or the Great Smokies, according to new list (msn.com)

I have not had the chance to visit Isle Royale National Park but I have wanted to visit for many many many years. I lied, i did have the opportunity and as i readied to go i broke a toe.... and that kinda screwed me from going since the only way of getting around on the islands is walking and boating.

But I have heard nothing but good things from folks who have visited. And Lake Superior is one of my favorite bodies of water. And would go back to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a heart beat if the opportunity showed itself. So go visit if you get the chance. And brush up on your rock knowledge before you go. There are some beautiful rocks on those shores including Lake Superior Agates (am the proud owner of a few), native copper and datolite.

Also if you go, make sure you also visit Keweenaw National Historic Park just a few miles up from the boat dock. It is a fantastic, little known, historic site in the NPS that talks about the copper industry in the US and the people it drew to the country from ALLLL over the world. At one point in the 19th century and early 20th century Calumet, MI was just as ethically diverse as NYC at the time.

Click on the above Identification Badge to be taken to Keweenaw's website of a few of the artifacts they have.

[openurmindb4urmouth22]

[dailyanarchistposts]

In mid-August, a three year-old lawsuit charging that environmentalist groups were religious extremists comparable to some of the more violent, intolerant, ultra-orthodox Islamic sects collapsed when the attorney failed to meet a re-filing deadline with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The suit had been brought against the Forest Guardians, the Superior Wilderness Action Network, and the U.S. Forest Service by the 125 companies that make up the Associated Contract Loggers (A.C.L.) of northern Minnesota. The loggers were asking for $600,000 in damages and permission to plunder timber from the Superior National Forest.

Lawyers for the A.C.L. argued that deep ecology was actually a religion, and so by extension, environmental groups that espoused its philosophies were cults, and by outlawing timber cutting on so-called “federal land,” the Forest Service was favoring a particular set of religious doctrines and was therefore violating the guarantee of neutrality in matters of religion purportedly vouchsafed in the U.S. Constitution.

According to theological scholars at the logging company syndicate like former executive director, Larry Jones, Deep Ecology is an “earth-centered religion,” a “belief system” that holds that “trees and Man [sic] are equal.” Anti-logging activists who extol the virtues of forested spaces over industry profit and environmental degradation are spiritual zealots, and the government functionaries who are swayed by their proselytizing may turn out to be fanatical closet druids themselves.

Stephen Young, the A.C.L. lawyer and a former Republican Party senatorial candidate, explained his legal action on such esteemed venues as Rush Limbaugh’s radio show by saying that clear-cutting in national forests had been restricted by the Forest Service for no reason other than reverebce for some fringe New Age religion.

A U.S. District Court judge in Minnesota dismissed the case as “frivolous” in February 2000, but the A.C.L. petitioned the Supreme Court last year after reports that Wahabi Islamic extremists were responsible for the blitzkrieg attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“The doctrine of Deep Ecology is the very worldview that gave rise to eco-terrorism. We feel that after the events of September 11, it’s an obligation of the Supreme Court to keep religious fanaticism in check,” Young said. “Just as devout faith in the literal words of various Hadith of Mohammad gave the Taliban license to impose through state power harsh conditions on the women of Afghanistan, so Deep Ecology gives license to its adherents to take extreme actions against those who would live by different beliefs.”

Perhaps the less said about this sleazy episode the better, which is just as well, since it is so hard to get a firm analytic grasp on it because it is sad and sick on so many different levels. For instance, likening the plight of women in Afghanistan to that of lumber barons in northern Minnesota is staggering in its shamelessness, as it has been my experience that women living near industrial logging camps are subjected to at least the same sort of abuse, derision, and masculinist domination as women who had been living in Taliban-controlled Kandahar.

And we all know that if the U.S. government was serious about keeping homicidal religious terrorism in check, then John Ashcroft and the Army of God anti-abortionists would be in the Guantanamo Bay gulag. It was all obviously just a miserable attempt to slander and jam up anti-logging activists with legal action, and it failed.

But I can’t help thinking about the broader philosophical implications of who supported it. I have no idea as to whether or not there are Deep Ecologists involved in Forest Guardians or the Superior Wilderness Action Network (and I suspect that none are to be found among the Forest Service feds), but in demonizing Deep Ecology as an alien fanatical religious practice in this lawsuit, we can see once again how tighly Christianity is bound to capitalist exploitation and ecological destruction.

Deep ecology is not a single doctrine, but rather an ethical sensibility informed by a variety of perspectives on the relationship of hummankind to the whole of nature’s systems. We can oversimplifydeep ecology by saying that its fundamentals include a belief in the intrinsic value of all forms of life as well as the holistic diversity of those life forms. The economic, technological, and ideological beliefs that prop up Western civilization antagonistically threaten the existence and diversity of natural life systems.

Individuals who adhere to the ideas of Deep Ecology are obligated to work towards radically changing those deadly attitudes and social structures. Deep ecology challenges the long-held anthropocentrist notion which entitles humans to take advantage of and destroy wilderness at will and for private profit, a view obviously held sacred by the A.C.L. timber industrialists.

Anthropocentrism derives from core Judeo-Christian values that have been part of the settler-capitalist catechism on this continent since the early seventeenth-century. Consider, for example, the preaching of Puritan minister, John Cotton. In his popular pamphlet of the 1630’s, “God’s Promise to His Plantation,” Cotton claimed that God desired colonists to “take possesion” of land in New England, saying that whosoever “bestoweth culture and husbandry upon it” has an inviolable divine right to it.

The Native Americans, dying in large numbers from exposure to European diseases was proff that God wanted to wipe the slate clean for the Puritans and thereby better facilitate His decree in the Book of Genesis that humans aggresively “subdue” the earth. Christians were the center of the universe, exclusively licensed by Almighty God to dominate the land, eradicate wild nature, and replace it with the purity of civilization. “All the world out of the Church is as wilderness, or at best, a wild field where all manner of unclean and wild beasts live and feed,” Cotton proclaimed in 1642.

There were many others during the period who were at least as enthusiastic about Christ, colonization, and commercial cultivation as Cotton was, and these ideas, linked to distinctly Judeo-Christian models of linear (rather than seasonally cyclical) time, became ingrained in the settler psyche, especially during the era of westward expansion some two centuries later. Justified by the Calvinist capitalism of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations — complete with its fallacious notions about the ennobling “civilizing” powers of wealth, marlets, and economic growth — the implications of Puritan repugnance for the wilderness and wildness on the North American continent becomes depressingly clear.

As inheritors of Puritan fanaticism that have erected the violent, intolerant faith of capitalism, it is individuals and organizations like the A.C.L. who hold a worldview that advances a five hundred year-old campaign of terrorism against entire bioregions and “empowers its adherents to take extreme action against those who would live by different beliefs.”

[kaijuno]

Originating from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning “large water” or “large lake”, Michigan was admitted into the union in 1837 as the 26th state.

With a population of about 10 million, it is the 10th most populous and the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River.

Michigan has the nation’s longest freshwater coastline, is bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, and is the only state to consist of two peninsulas; the Lower Peninsula (proudly referred to as the “mitten” by residents) and Upper Peninsula are separated by the Straits of Mackinac.

90% of the “U.P.” is forested land and is an important tourist destination known for its accessible wilderness, unique landscapes, vast wildlife, 150 waterfalls, and the Soo Locks (where ocean-going freighters make the 21-foot leap from Lake Superior to Lake Huron).

[usnatarchives]

Paws and Claws for the Cause - American WWII Propaganda Posters Featuring Animals 🐕‍🦺🦅

During World War II, U.S. propaganda posters wielded not just patriotic fervor but also a diverse array of animal symbolism to rally the public. Faithful dogs, regal eagles, and even the humble wildlife of American forests became emblems of the home front's dedication to victory. Let's take a leap into the past and examine the role these animals played in U.S. wartime propaganda.

Dogs: Loyal Companions in the Fight for Freedom 🐶

Dogs in WWII posters often represented trustworthiness and the protective instincts crucial to American security. A notable poster from the National Archives shows a vigilant dog alongside a call to action for war bond contributions, encapsulating the role of dogs as both companions and defenders.

Eagles: The Winged Warriors of American Ideals 🦅

The American eagle soared across numerous posters, its powerful wingspan casting a shadow over threats to liberty, and its sharp gaze fixed on aerial superiority and victory.

Wildlife: Symbols of Conservation and the Nation's Resolve 🦉

Bears, squirrels, and other native animals symbolized the conservation efforts on the home front. These posters encouraged citizens to collect and contribute materials critical to the war effort, equating everyday actions with the strength and resourcefulness of America's wildlife.

Enemies as Pests: Propaganda's Vermin 🐁

Enemy forces were often portrayed as vermin, such as rats or insects, to emphasize the threat and repugnance of their ideologies. This stark animal imagery served to dehumanize the enemy.

These posters from the National Archives Catalog remind us of the power of imagery and metaphor in rallying a nation to unite against a common foe. As we explore these historical artifacts, we gain insight into the era's cultural mindset and the enduring impact of visual persuasion.

Read more:

[highways-are-liminal-spaces]

Dusk on the Gunflint Trail

Superior National Forest, taken February 2024

[vintagecamping]

A group of friends explore Burntside Lake

Superior National Forest, Minnesota

1940

[chaddavisphotography]

The West Baptism River near the town of Isabella in Northern Minnesota, Superior National Forest.

[stardewremixed]

🎆 Fireworks Headcanon 🎆

(And subsequently Independence Day ones since this is 4th of July where I'm from).

Alex- not really a big fan but would toss around the gridball on the beach while waiting for them to start. Super nostalgic about the picnic though. Used to do that with his mom. All the favorites (and Granny doesn't disappoint). Carries the basket out and helps her setup and even tries to get Grandpa George in the spirit by asking about his old war stories.

Abigail - loves them and would raid her dad's secret (illegal) stash to get the big ones to set off with Sam. Drags Seb into her shenanigans. Ends the night with a big bonfire on the beach, telling scary ghost stories. Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not this gal.

Elliott - Earlier in the day, he's a bit annoyed by the sudden appearance of so many people on the beach. He wanders off to contemplate a poem about patriotism and glory. Might crack open a pale ale at the Stardrop before heading to the waterfront. He is a romantic so of course, he loves fireworks! Preferably in a little boat out in the ocean, away from the crowds. Maybe stealing time with Farmer (or if not in a relationship, with Leah).

Emily - has a little fireworks dance! Magic! Trying to pull Haley outside to enjoy but her sister won't budge. Emily is passing out little flags to her friends and neighbors. And she's decked out in patriotic colors, handmade bandana and hair bows and all.

Harvey - is too busy treating the idiots who set off fireworks and got burned to really enjoy them. Might start some "sparks" of his own if Farmer comes to drag him outside to enjoy. *wiggles eyebrows* They are far more exciting than fireworks (and something about these fiery lights in the night sky is romantic... or at least that's what someone once told him). Absolutely sipping wine coolers once he's off duty.

Haley - smoke messes with her hair and makeup and clothes and no... that would be a hard no. But she does enjoy holiday sales earlier in the day, stocking up on her favorite treats, athleisure wear, and cosmetics.

Leah - She's moderately interested in fireworks, and may feign more interest for the sake of Elliott. Wanders off into the forest to enjoy quiet. In honor of the "rebel spirit," she skinny dips in the Cindersap Lake and embraces "one with nature" vibes.

Sam - loves them! He's probably setting off the big (illegal) ones. Don't tell Lewis. Organizes a beach volleyball game, pulls in Seb and Abi, Alex, and maybe even Penny, but promptly gets distracted when he remembers he's supposed to rehearse for the official town ceremony. He also plays the national anthem (rock ballad style, of course), and tears up every time.

Maru - will try and explain all the scientific properties to you - how fireworks actually work. Robin will remind her not to bore you to tears. Demetrius is so proud of his little girl. What else is new? The smoke bothers her eyes a bit though during the actual show so she may just turn in a bit early.

Sebastian -gets dragged into shenanigans with Sam and Abigail. Slinks off to steal a smoke on a dark corner of the beach. Ducks out early to go watch old movies in the cool of his basement. It's too noisy and hot out there anyway. He would, however, be up for snuggles.

Shane - meh! Sells them at JojaMart. Would toss around a gridball with Alex first for kicks and giggles. Could prove his superiority in a hot dog eating contest. Probably burns off an eyebrow trying to set a firework off for Jas (and plays it off like it's no big deal).

Penny - enjoys them, but is busy trying to corral Vincent who wants to get too close and Jas who's a little scared (and upset about Shane being injured). Earlier in the day, she gets pulled into Sam's beach volleyball game. It's a good opportunity to wear her cute orange bikini. While she's always nervous about showing skin, today she's feeling a bit braver.

[wilcze-kudly]

Dark Avatar Ozai, aka, Ozaatu:

Vaatu orchestrates the 100-year war through Sozin, the tree of time, the swamp tree, and the summer solstice. He also manipulates Iroh's spiritually attuned mother, Ilah, into getting free, by him fusing with Ilah's astral form and warping back into her body. This resulted in Vaatu's power temporarily depleting and being reborn in a human form that's given the name Ozai. Kinda like how Tui and La were reborn as mortal coy fish and how Tienhai took the form of a human after falling in love with a young prince.

Aang's year is the 10,000th year and Harmonic Convergence arrives at the finale of ATLA Book 4: Air. Ozaatu battles the Lion Turtle instead of Aang during Sozin's Comet and Ozaatu wins by consuming the last Lion Turtle's soul, gaining its abilities.

As the avatar embodies balance and all the positive aspects of bending, elements, nations, humans, and spirits, the dark avatar will, naturally, embody all the negative aspects and extreme versions of bending/elements/nations/humans/spirits. (Think Ozaatu as basically a combination of Vaatu, Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, Kuvira, and an evil lion turtle.) The dark avatar achieves this status through the polar opposite means of how the light avatar does it and in the reversed order of the avatar cycle.

By the time becomes a fully realized master dark avatar, Ozaatu will be an immortal who can rapidly heal at a nigh-limitless level, in contrast to the light avatar being able to only reincarnate.

While the light avatar will have the strongest bond with and reliance on various team avatars, the dark avatar will be the superior archenemy to said various team avatars, an independent one-man team avatar, and view his own allies as disposable pawns.

Vaatu's endgame plan is to destroy Raava and to also slowly drain and absorb Raava's natural regeneration and powers and combine them with his own for 10,000 years. Aang and Azula's counterplan is to use spiritbending and energybending to purify Vaatu and have Raava absorb Vaatu's regeneration and powers immediately, saving all of existence and restoring true balance in the process, even if Aang loses his connection to his past lives forever.

Thoughts on all of this?

Oh wow that is an in-depth snd interesting AU for sure.

I do find the idea of Vaatu being somehow included in the 100 year war or being reborn in a mortal form intriguing, but I also don't really think Vaatu would willingly tie himself so much to a human.

Vaatu despises humans as a rule, and you could easily make the argument that the only reason he fused with Unalaq is because he had no other choice, really.

But I'm also not sure Vaatu would be that willing to ally himself qith the Fire Nation. Sure, they cause destruction, something he apparently feeds off, but the Fire Nation clearly had no qualms desercrating Spiritual areas, like Hei Bai's forest. This may pose a moral conondrum for Vaatu, whose influence appears very strongly when Spiritual Areas are disturbed, certain Spirits turning to their darker form even after Vaatu's defeat.

Vaatu is not the Spirit of Evil, he is the Spirit of Chaos and Darkness, neither of these qualities being purely evil. Similarly, Raava is not the Spirit of Good or Order, she is the Spirit of Peace and Light.

These seem like semantics, but it actually implies that true Balance in the world cannot be achieved with one of these Spirits absent. Vaatu and Raava are both important in their own right, even if Vaatu is a smug rat bastard

It would actually be an interesting storyline to see Aang go down, and see how he would deal with Vaatu. I think he could get down with the Chaos point for sure, being a nomad, traveller and somwone who doesn't value routine or order that much.

I was going to say that Aang wouldn't be down for the whole "darker urges" and destruction thing, but then I remembered the abject glee on his fave as he destroyed a factory so I think he could be homies with Vaatu who knows.

I also think that presenting Dark Avatar Ozai as a mish mash of all the villains of the franchise is a bit of a sisiphian task, since they are, particularly Korra's villains, very varied in ideologies and personality.

The issue with blending Ozai and Vaatu is that Ozai is a character who is less nuanced, at least in the text. (Azula takes the role of nuanced main antag) While tlok villains like Vaatu have their... clumsily executed shades of gray.

If we had to consider an AU of Vaatu and the Fire Nation teaming up, I'd rather go the Unalaq esque route of the Fire Nation trying to use Vaatu as a weapon. Canonically, we already had Zhao reasearching Tui and La, why not just have him find texts on Raava and Vaatu, and bring this news to the firelord.

Then you could have a B plot of Ozai trying to get to Vaatu and coerce him into merging with him or smth. Especially if you comtrast these scenes with Aang's more gentle approach to spirits, you can create some nice foiling.

So um. My thoughts in the end are: Intriguing idea. Cool concept. Needs a tad more nuancw when it comes to Vaatu, and I think you may be trying to cover too much ground with one single antagonist. 7.5/10

[etymology-of-the-emblem]

Kotaro / コタロウ, Mokushu / フウマ, Kohga / コウガ, and Igasato / 忍びの里

Kotaro (JP: コタロウ; rōmaji: kotarou) is the daimyo of the nation of Mokushu who allies with Nohr in Fire Emblem Fates. Like Saizo, Kotaro is named after a legendary Sengoku era figure that may or may not have existed. Fūma Kotarō (JP: 風魔小太郎) was the alleged fifth head of the Fūma clan. This clan, practiced in Fūma-ryū ninjutsu, served under the powerful Hōjō clan until they were dismantled by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Stories of Kotarō and the Fūma clan describe them as a dreaded band of thieves causing trouble. Some say that he led two hundred men known as rappa (JP:乱波), meaning 'thief' or 'spy'. The most infamous tale of them is that they swarmed a Takeda clan camp during the Battle of Omosu, sowing chaos and spiking the death toll.

After the collapse of the Hōjō clan, it is said that the Fūma clan, though dwindled in numbers, remained active. By the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate, what remained of them were little more than roaming bandits. The more time passed, the more outlandish the stories of Kotarō grew. The most tame say that he managed to murder his mortal enemy, the historical samurai and leader of the Iga-ryū ninja—Hattori Hanzō. Others lean into the 魔 (rōmaji: ma) "demon" in Fūma, claiming that he was a colossal man and part oni. Never mind that the rivalry between Kotarō and Hanzō only came about in fictitious accounts, and that the earliest form of the name Fūma is rendered as 風間 rather than 風魔.

The Hoshidan nation of Mokushu bears a very peculiar name. In Japanese, another reading for the word for trees or wood, 木 (rōmaji: ki) is moku. Then shu likely comes from the Japanese counter for trees, 株 (rōmaji: shu). It may also be intended to invoke 衆 (rōmaji: shū), a sonkeigo (respectful language used when speaking to a superior or customer) word meaning "people; group". Thus, the name Mokushu can be interpreted as "Trees" or "Tree People," relating to the dense forests of the land.

At least, that's the localization of the country's name. In Japanese, Mokushu is instead called フウマ (rōmaji: fūma). That's right: the original name is a direct reference to the Fūma-ryū ninjas. It seems this was considered too on-the-nose by the localizers. Unfortunately, this change broke the chain of locations named after ninja schools.

Kohga (JP: コウガ; rōmaji: kōga) was a nation destroyed by Kotaro and the Mokushujin. The name is derived from Kōga-ryū—called 甲賀流 (rōmaji: kōka ryū) in the native language—one of the major schools of ninjutsu during the Sengoku period. Originating from the city of Kōka, the ninja and samurai of this school served the Rokkaku clan opposing the mighty Oda clan. Though the clan persisted beyond the sixteenth century, the last head of the school refused to teach anyone, leaving Kōga-ryū to die in the 1900s. This may be the basis of Kohga's end.

Additionally, there may be a tie to one of the earliest published works that influenced depictions of Fūma Kotarō. In 1661, 古老軍物語 (rōmaji: korōgun monogatari) or "Old Army Tales," there is a rappa ninja called 風間の三郎太郎 (rōmaji: kazama no saburō tarō). Note that Kazama (風間), a name he received for his ability to slip through tightly guarded locations as easy as the wind, is written the same as the original form of Fūma. Kazama was said in the text to originate from Kōka. Some have also linked this Kazama figure to the legendary hero Kōga Saburō (JP: 甲賀三郎), described in the Shintōshū to be the human form of the Suwa god Suwa Myōjin. That may just be coincidence, however, as there is no overt relation to the nation of Kohga or its only known inhabitant.

Lastly, Igasato is the ninja village Saizo and Kaze call home. The name combines the Japanese word 里 (rōmaji: sato), meaning 'village' or 'countryside' and Iga-ryū, another major ninja school. This practice started in the Iga Province, hence the name. The prevalence of ninja activity in both this province and the close proximity to the city of Kōka has caused many to believe this to be where ninjutsu began. Despite modern depictions of the two schools displaying a nasty rivalry between them, the Iga-ryū and Kōga-ryū were very close and frequently cooperated. Both supported the Rokkaku clan, and after the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate, both clans would be hired by Tokugawa Ieyasu, in part to his relation with the Iga ninja Hattori Hanzō. This may have inspired how Saizo and Kaze act as retainers to the Hoshidan royal family. Similarly, the aforementioned feud between Hanzō and Kotarō likely served as the basis for the conflict between Fire Emblem's Saizo and Kotaro, after the previous Saizo was killed.

At least, I would say that if Igasato wasn't a localization change. While the team behind Fates' western release removed the direct reference to the Fūma clan, they simultaneously added a new name relating to another ninja school. In Japanese, all mentions of Igasato by Saizo instead have him say 忍びの里 (rōmaji: shinobi no sato): literally "ninja village". Given how there are likely many "ninja villages" across Hoshido, giving the "Christmas Ninjas" a proper name to their home was a wise decision.