#assault Champion Wrestling

[angelamoroso]

If you missed the relaunch of Assault Champion Wrestling fan fest and show, YOU REALLY MISSED OUT ON HISTORY 🔥

[theoutcastrogue]

A point about Silco's politics.

Silco somehow did the "nationalist noble" thing by reversing cause and effect. Traditionally, the local nobility (or the bigshots in any case, elders, landowners, rich fucks, warrior aristocracy, whatever's handy) of a subjugated region will happily champion nationalism in order to get rid of the overlords and rule in their place, while convincing the lower classes (and themselves, if they're not very smart and/or cynical) that they're on the same side.

Silco became the bigshot (heartwarming rags-to-riches story!) in order to champion nationalism. Obsessed with achieving power by any means, he used shimmer (and Vander's elimination) to establish the Chembarons [*] as the closest thing Zaun has to a local ruling class, separate from their Piltie overlords. Of course, it was more a mafia than a government – not that these two function that differently.

However, by viewing power as the necessary stepping stone to Zaun's independence, Silco completely lost the ball. Shimmer could have been a weapon, to be tactically employed in the veins of people who actually wanted to fight Piltover. Still extremely shady tbh, but clear in purpose. But that would require getting people to want to fight Piltover, and Silco seems to have… neglected that. Instead, he flooded the streets of Zaun with shimmer, the very place he was supposed to liberate, causing a hideous addiction epidemic (fastest way to kill a social movement btw), and only cared to weaponise it to wrestle more power for himself from other Zaunites. NOT from Piltover.

So something went extremely wrong there, and Silco ended up "an industrialist". The local strongman, the little big man, The Man, the Boss, the one the lower classes dread. For Ekko (whose assessments matter VERY much), he's the No 1 enemy and biggest threat to the well-being of his people, not because he's more powerful than the Council, but because he's closer, getting his hands dirty every hour at every corner. Whereas Piltover's systemic exploitation works from afar and in the background, and is often experienced as neglect rather than assault.

And THEN, Silco got to negotiate on behalf of Zaun because the Council went to him, after Jinx caused mayhem on her own. Jayce came waving a white flag, because he was also acting unilaterally. In short, through NONE of Silco's doing, Zaun's independence fell on his lap. And ironically he couldn't take it, because the price was his daughter.

Fantastic character btw (the depth, the pathos, the total lack of qualms) but damn. Some nationalist. Some liberator.

[*] It's unclear to me why there are several Chembarons when shimmer was basically commissioned by Silco, and therefore could be controlled solely by him. Did the others reverse-engineer it? Did he share? Did he need their facilities after his lab blew up? No idea.

[mydaddywiki]

Pat Patterson

Physique: Husky Build Height: 6'1" (1.85 m)

Pat Patterson (born Pierre Clermont; January 19, 1941 – December 2, 2020; aged 79) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler and producer, widely known for his long tenure in the professional wrestling promotion WWE, first as a wrestler, then as a creative consultant and producer ("booker"). He is recognized by the company as their first Intercontinental Champion and creator of the Royal Rumble match. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 1996.

I first became aware of Patterson when he and Gerald Brisco became onscreen stooges of Vince McMahon in 97. He had peeked my interest a little, then after his match with the Mean Street Posse where he took off his sweat shirt and started parodying Hulk Hogan’s flexing routine. I started putting my dick in a sleeper hold to the thought of him. It wasn’t until a few years later that I found out he was gay.

A native of Quebec, Patterson came to the U.S. in 1962 to wrestle, though he didn’t speak any English. He wrestled for regional promotions before joining WWE in 1979 as a wrestler, referee, and commentator. After his wrestling career, he worked for WWE in many capacities, including as a referee and in promotions. He was described as McMahon's right-hand man and played a crucial role in the company's massive growth. Patterson was touted as the inaugural Intercontinental Champion, credited as the Royal Rumble creator, and often described as the first openly gay wrestler.

Patterson came out as gay in the 1970s and acknowledged it on a WWE reality show in 2014. Patterson's longtime partner was Louie Dondero. Patterson said on WWE Legends' House he and Dondero were together for 40 years. Dondero died of a heart attack on June 28, 1998, the same night as King of the Ring. Patterson died of liver failure caused by a blood clot at a Miami, Florida, hospital on December 2, 2020.

Damn… The stories about this guy from WWE Ringboy scandal of 1992 to accusations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault with employees. Now all that is wrong, but If I was offered the 'push' from Patterson, I'd be world known. Just saying.

[bloodsappho]

These crosses all over my body

Remind me of who I used to be

And Christ forgive these bones I’m hiding

From noone successfully

Wrestling with God, secrets that can’t be hidden, flesh and bone. Themes established from the very outset. Of course we wonder what are these crosses, these secrets. As we will hear, violence haunts the protagonist. She is abused, she fights back, she kills. So are the crosses decorative sigils, testaments of faith worn around the neck and fingers? Are they cuts and bruises and batterings? Are they deep, inner wounds, bleeding out silently? Are they self inflicted cuts, scored with a razor into her wrists and thighs?

Self-inflicted razor wounds go much deeper than the pop-psych logic of “self-harm”. Particularly prevalent amongst young women, they attest to a body-mind that wants to open, to bleed, to have its own limits annihilated in a rush of pleasure and pain. Mortification of the flesh is particularly common in Christian culture, self-inflicted punishment for sinful thought and deed, attributed especially to women.

Camille Paglia:

“The artist makes art not to save mankind but to save himself. Every benevolent comment by an artist is a fog to cover his tracks, the bloody trail of his assault against reality and others.”

Later

“Art advances by self-mutilation of the artist.”

Hemingway claims “to write is easy, you just sit down and bleed”. Bowie claims “to be an artist is a ridiculous thing. It makes much more sense to earn money, look after your family. I don’t know why anyone would do it.” Self experience attests to artists sitting in frozen cold apartments, unable to eat properly, following a voice that nobody else can here. Addicts and artists often go hand in hand.

“These crosses all over our bodies”, the stacked wounds and traumas of war against the everyday. The great mistake of Amero-boomerist art criticism to assume that such wounds and traumas are the fault of oppressive power structures themselves. Such power structures exist to keep violent nature in a straightjacket, a state of affairs that the artist simply cannot abide by. The only advice that can ever be given to someone who is thinking about becoming an artist is “Give up now”, because the path of crucifixion is not something that can be chosen or rationally debated.

Many cultures and esoteric paths offer Gods of ecstasy and vision who undergo violent metamorphoses and stand at the crossroads of life and death: Jesus, Dionysus, Shiva and Osiris just a few. Of course the Christ myth is an evolution of the Dionysus myth, but the Christian Universalist reading comes out of Jewish linguistic totalitarianism which wants to banish the erotics of masks, idols and personas. The multiplicity and polymorphism, not to mention the perversity, of the various robes of the dying God is anathema to the priest line that wants to establish strict loyalty and sexual submission.

Judaism today has evolved to be a champion of the erotics of the eye, with many of the great figures of Hollywood Jewish artists trained in Romanticism and Expressionism who fled central Europe when the Nazis came to power in the 1930s. It is in fundamentalist Islam where we see the nightmare of Abrahamic totalitarianism most clearly, with women wrapped in rags and virgin girls offered as the heavenly reward for total submission to God.

Michael Jackson, one of the most influential and biggest selling artists of all time. One hardly ever hears his name mentioned save in scorn, and yet his traces are everywhere — the songs and dances of every popstar of the last 20 years are unmistakenly scorred by his influence. Jackson is frightening because he is, we might say, trans-everything. Massively androgynous, morphing from black to white, physically and musically, adult and child, his career is a violent and unceasing metamorphosis. He was under the knife as much as under the camera, a vanguard of celebrity plastic surgery taken to extremes, to many an angel and to many others a satanic freakshow.

The artist, condemned to create beauty at the monstrous intersections of life.

[z2z-gaming-and-random-art-ai]

Console Fighting Games of 1993 - 1995 - Compilation

Compilation of Fighting games released on consoles between 1993 and 1995 this compilation features.

Console Fighting Games of 1993 - 00:00 3 Count Bout, Aa Harimanada, American Gladiators, Art of Fighting, Battle Master - Kyuukyoku no Senshi-tachi, Best of the Best Championship Karate, Blackhole Assault, Boxing Legends of the Ring, Chavez, Chavez II, Clay Fighter, Dragon The Bruce Lee Story, Dragon Ball Z - Super Butouden, Dragon Ball Z - Super Butouden 2, Eternal Champions, Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2, Greatest Heavyweights, Masters of Combat, Mortal Kombat, Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle, Riddick Bowe Boxing, Samurai Showdown, Street Fighter II Champion Edition, Street Fighter II Turbo, Strip Fighter, Super Fire Pro Wrestling III Final Bout, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Tournament Fighters, Tsuppari Ōzumō Heisei Ban, Tuff E Nuff, Ultra Seven, Ultraman, World Heroes and World Heroes 2, WWF King of the Ring, WWF Royal Rumble, WWF WrestleMania Steel Cage Challenge, Zen Nihon Pro Wrestling and Zen Nihon Pro Wrestling Dash Sekai Saikyō Tag.

Console Fighting Games of 1994 - 02:57:24 Advanced V.G., Aggressors of Dark Kombat, Art of Fighting 2, Ballz 3D Fighting at its Ballziest, Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon S Jogai Ranto!? Shuyaku Sodatsusen, Brutal Paws of Fury, Clay Fighter 2 Judgement Clay, Clay Fighter Tournament Edition,  Cosmic Carnage, Double Dragon V The Shadow Falls, Dragon Ball Z Buyu Retsuden, Dragon Ball Z Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu, Dragon Ball Z Super Butoden 3, Fighters History Dynamite, Hammerlock Wrestling, Hana no Keiji Kumo no Kanata ni, Kakuto Hao, Densetsu Algunos, Kart Fighter, Kasumi Ninja, Kido Butoden G Gundam, King of the Monsters 2, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Osu!! Karate Bu, Power Instinct, Rose of the Robots, Samurai Showdown II, Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter, Shaq Fu, Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Punch Out!, Super Wrestle Angels, Taekwon-Do, Ranma 1/2 Chogi Ranbu-hen, The King of Fighters 94, Totsugeki Kikan (Karakuri) Megadasu!!,  Twin Goddesses, Ultraman Powered, Way of the Warrior, WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling, World Heroes 2 Jet, WWF Rage in the Cage, WWF Raw, Yu Yu Hakusho, Yu Yu Hakusho - Makyou Tōitsusen and Yu Yu Hakusho 2 Kakuto no Sho.

Console Fighting Games of 1995 - 05:46:19 Asuka 120% Maxima BURNING Fest, Ballz The Director's Cut, Battle Arena Toshinden, Battle Arena Toshinden 2, Battle Arena Toshinden Remix, Battle Monsters, Battle Tycoon, Brutal Unleashed Above the Claw, Chō Aniki Bakuretsu Rantōden, Criticom, Dark Legend, Double Dragon, Dragon Ball Z Shin Butōden, Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22, Eternal Champions Challenge from the Dark Side, Fatal Fury 3 Road to the Final Victory, Galaxy Fight Universal Warriors, Gokū Densetsu Magic Beast Warriors, Golden Axe The Duel, Justice League Task Force, Kabuki Ittōryōdan, Kabuki Klash, Killer Instinct, Makeruna! Makendō 2, Mighty Morphin Power Ranger The Fighting Edition, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S, Primal Rage, Saban's VR Troopers, Samurai Showdown III Blades of Blood, Savage Reign, Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter X, Street Fighter Alpha Warriors' Dreams, Street Fighter the Movie, Super Fire Pro Wrestling Queen's Special, Tekken, The King of Fighters '95, Ultra Vortek, Virtua Fighter Remix, Virtua Fighter, Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer, WeaponLord, World Heroes Perfect, Yū Yū Hakusho Final Makai Saikyō Retsuden and Zero Divide

For the Individual videos for each fighting game releases across 1993 to 1995 check out the following playlists.

Console Fighting Games of 1993 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CFcKSo9Eglrv2NFDHAqNDRi

Console Fighting Games of 1994 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CF-R5w4NujQcYo8cCcOMHYv

Console Fighting Games of 1995 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CEUiZn8FlwHoMcwoOzUqchX

For Other Compilation videos check out this playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CEjFei9KXJ8xDIChQB8WLJd

[blowflyfag]

BILL APTER’S WOW XTRA magazine : VOL 1 / NO. 8

NEWS

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TROUBLE

As World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner boarded an airplane in Greensboro, N.C., on Jan 23, Winston-Salem, N.C., police served Steiner with a criminal assault complaint. Randall Mankins, an EMT who was in the ring with Stein on Jan. 22 at the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, filed the grievance after Steiner allegedly attacked Mankins at that night’s Nitro. Mankins, a Kernersville, N.C., EMT, entered the ring cast as a paramedic to check on Christopher Daniels who had been attacked by Stiner and was working a broken leg angle. Steiner stated in several published reports that he, “thought Mankins was a fan entering the ring.”

[guywrestlingaddiction]

That Wrestling Moment: Crafting Kayden or Kayden Keller v Scrapper (bgeast.com)

I love to see a gay wrestler come into their own as part of their journey.�� Now part of that experience is also seeing said performer before they found their way.  Seeing them as a rookie, I can dissect and spot some of the subtle differences that would one day lead to gay wrestling legends.  Take for example: Kayden Keller v Scrapper.  

SPOILER ALERT: I highly recommend viewing this match in its entirety before reading this post.

The Backstory

It's hard to imagine but Kayden wasn't always the top dog at bgeast.  Yes I know that the studio doesn't have a recognized champion or belt, but it is hard to picture anyone else having that honor other than Kayden (maybe for a while anyway).  All that to say, everyone needs to start somewhere and watching Kayden just starting out - the man, the myth, the legend - is a rare thing indeed.  

The Action

The mat wrestling takes on a furious and vicious pace.  Scrapper does not hold back in his assault, easily crumbling whatever "formal" mat wrestling techniques Kayden had in place.  Sorry bud, but any training you received before bgeast is for naught.  

The back and forth is intense between our two fighters as Kayden is eager to show he can take the punishment while Scrapper takes on the task to break him in.  What a self-less guy he is 😉.

Kayden: Tap for me, just once.  Let me hear you say it.

The Moment 

At some point Kayden stopped fighting against the erotic abuse and finally embraced it. 

And now, at the end of the match, we finally have our moment.  Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we've been waiting for - that time when Kayden began to embrace the heel within or how He learned to stop worrying and love the domination.  

I know I made this post mostly about Kayden but Scrapper deserves credit for coaxing the erotic heel out of the guy.  Scrapper's formula for pleasure and pain is surely a factor in his rebirth.  Now spoiler alert, Kayden doesn't exactly triumph in this match; Instead we the audience are the winners because we get to witness the beginnings of a tenacious heel, the tension between agony and ecstasy, the alpha energy, all that would eventually result in Kayden being the star he is today.  

[blueonwrestling]

I have some other thoughts on cody rhodes tbh, and those delve deep into capitalism, hopefully without sounding like i'm utterly huffing farts, excuse me if i do, but i dont like cody rhodes because he comes off to me as everything thats wrong with modern day society, he is not the blue collar workings man champion, he isn't stone cold going against the authority, he is the authority, but people today absolutely love that shit, they love standing up for big corpo when they think it's on their side, he's the definition of american capitialism coming out there with the fake blonde hair, expensive suits, white teeth, all the pyro, everything, and he reflects how people just want to show off to the world that they're cool/wealthy/epic, with all the people showing their perfect life in instagram and how perfect they look instead of showing who they really are, cody rhodes is the modern day american dream in that everyone thinks that within american capitalism they can become the next famous instagram or tiktoker and have all this money, but they can't, cody rhodes is born into wrestling and was always going to get an easier life in wrestling because of it, cody rhodes has never ever had to struggle a day in his life, but people just still like the guy because they've been fooled into believing that, what does he do at the end of wrestlemania, he thanks triple h and bruce prichard, thank you corporate heads for giving me this chance, he has to make sure he thinks those two people because thank you for corporations!

meanwhile wwe is in the midst of being exposed as hiding all these sex trafficking secrets for years, vince mcmahon has been "ousted" after years of sexual assault and misconduct but not because of that, only because he used corporate money to silence those women, they dont care they he sexually assaulted countless women, it's because he used money not for him, and theres countless cases of wwe covering up shit whether it be the ring boy paedo scandal of the 80s with pat patterson or michael hayes saying that he's more of a n word with a hard r to mark henry only to now days being back at the tippity top of the producer scene working exclusively with roman reigns in all of his matches, these people just get away with it all because it's a reflection of society, if you're rich and powerful you can do whatever you want.

[pitgritted]

Thrice he knocked upon the solid birch frame of Sett's office door, and for each knock he waited a moment to listen for any signs of life inside the office. The warm candlelight cast dancing shadows that played through the dimly lit corridor as Robin swung open the heavy door to the workplace. After receiving no response the sight that met him was … unexpected, to say the least. And quick in response was Robin's selenic gaze shimmering in the blackened shadows of the room, ever curious it caught the flickering gold to refract it back into the Vastayan's weary eyes. To see Sett hunched over his desk in a sea of crumpled papers and ink-stained scrolls was rather unbecoming of The Champion of Qayanvi; perhaps that's why he'd not left his office at all. To risk such weakness in front of the greedy rabble that followed behind him could prove to be rather troubling ━ better to keep it hidden away forever. For that he could not blame Sett, he'd work hard for his title, the last thing he needed was to be jeered at or challenged when he could barely keep awake.

Unfortunately, Robin would not be able to though, especially now that he had seen how the usually crisp lines of his tailored attire were replaced by rumples and wrinkles, not to mention the dreadully dark circles under Sett's pretty eyes that hinted at just how long he'd been awake for. It was an unusual sight; typically, he would be tucked away in the comfort of his bed, wrestling with the demons of his past that he never dared to mention, or channeling his restless energy into mercilessly assaulting the bark of whatever poor tree was closest. Yet here he was, shoulders slumped, enveloped in a haze of exhaustion - although Robin could mentally admit that he looked quite cute ( at least the very blurry image of him that Robin could see ).

"My goodness," he remarked with a voice painted over with incredulity ( the authenticity of which was questionable ), "Have you been awake the entire night?"

The medic spoke rather gently despite his ponderings, tutting at the Vastayan before he pushed aside the paperwork that had momentarily occupied his attention - and perched himself in its place. Dull eyes scrutinized over Sett's tousled hair and lowered ears, bridging the space in his attempt to see better - nothing new, frankly. A click of his tongue later and the mage was sat upright, kicking his legs idly and tapping a finger to his chin with a pleasant hum.

"Mmm, you know, it is nearly dawn, just about four I believe, and you do need to rest," he insisted, but his voice held a simmering warmth despite its slight authoritarian edge. Robin was swift to interject before Sett could even hope to open his mouth to protest, a playful ━ yet still serious ━ glint now present in his gaze. "Ah ah! No no no, I am not taking anything else but "Yes Doctor" for an answer. You are to follow me to your quarters and sleep properly, lest I have to drag you there myself!" Despite his scolding, the corners of his lips twitched with a suppressed smile, it was a ludicrous idea to propose; Sett was nearly twice his size and definitely at least thrice his weight. Well. The demon bird could finally do something besides chatter in his ears all day.

Robin let out a sigh while he took off his hat.

"You don't look well, Sett. That's all. If you'd like, we can sit together for a bit ━ I could even read you a tale to help you sleep," Robin offered, "I'll even make sure to scare any of your pit partners away."

saliva  &  blood  straddles  across  butchered  lips  &  down  his  squared  whiskered  chin  .  the  pain  being  reignited  as  he  evenly  shifted  his  eared  cranium  from  the  hard  wooden  desk  he  was  bunched  over  upon  .  tawny  muscle  rolls  the  skin  of  his  chin  as  he  mutters  something  incoherent  through  white  ridges  of  teeth  ,  hissing  deep  guttural  expletives  .  his  massive  frame  echoes  in  the  crimson  leather  seat  he  sat  upon  ,  his  weight  being  shifted  from  the  desk  to  his  back  .  abnormally  golden  pigmented  eyes  are  subdued  behind  thinly  oiled  skin  ,  ringed  tendrils  pinching  &  rubbing  at  it  .

❝  don’t  start  gettin’  wise  mouthed  ,  ❞  𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓  reprimanded  ,  adam’s  apple  bobbing  within  his  jugular  as  he  swallowed  the  dab  of  spit  piling  on  his  tongue  ,  quenching  the  dryness  within  humid  chops  .  ❝  just  ‘cause  ‘y’  got  more  demand  ‘ere  in  the  pit  ,  don’t  f’rget  i  am  still  ‘yer  boss  .  ❞

his  eyes  were  embedded  with  redness  &  strain  ,  reopening  them  with  much  effort  ;  vastayan  magic  sweltered  behind  his  retinas  &  the  prolonged  staring  of  the  lit  wax  candlestick  made  it  prone  to  sensitivity  .  had  he  exhausted  himself  that  much  ?  he  begrudgingly  groaned  ,  having  slept  with  his  eyes  open  for  just  a  wee  while  .  he  smears  blood  embedded  saliva  against  his  squared  chin  ,  scarred  lips  twisting  into  discomfort  .  ❝  &  y’  don’t  gotta  breathe  down  m’  neck  ,  i’m  not  a  kid  .  ‘sides  —  ❞  he  lets  meaty  arms  topple  against  his  wooden  desk  ,  so  evidently  fussed  with  lone  fisticuffs  &  disarrayed  papers  still  needing  to  be  stamped  ;  documents  of  the  monitoring  pit  officers  &  bouts  .

❝  business  is  the  clickin’  of  coins  .  &  that’s  my  business  —  my  coin  .  ❞  he  clarifies  ,  plucking  up  a  lone  scroll  etched  with  the  signature  of  his  bookie  .  concerning  the  calculations  of  the  pit’s  income  .  ❝  don’t  want  any  half  -  assed  bastards  messing  with  any  of  it  .  ❞  𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓  truly  was  doing  everything  in  his  power  not  to  drip  his  words  with  venom  ,  but  with  lack  of  sleep  &  thinly  sliced  patience  brewing  into  nasty  bitterness  ,  it  was  not  an  ultimatum  .

exhaustion  pricking  his  fingers  &  face  ,  he  fixed  his  gaze  onto  robin  .  dark  brows  perk  upwards  at  the  suggestion  beneath  the  heavy  sweep  of  crimson  hair  .  ❝  read  me  a  story  ?  ‘yer  joking  ,  right  ?  ❞  he  inquired  ,  fangs  numbing  the  clarity  in  his  words  albeit  .  ❝  gimme  an  hour  more  ‘n’  i’ll  get  to  my  chambers  .  how’s  that  ?  ❞

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mike Hixenbaugh for The Atlantic:

America’s public schools, since their creation, have repeatedly become a locus for our nation’s most divisive fights over politics and civil rights, whether the subject be evolution, segregation, sex ed, or school prayer. After all, it is in its classrooms—in social-studies curricula and civics lessons and mandatory-reading lists—that the country wrestles with how to tell its story to new generations, how to teach kids what’s right and wrong, true and false. And the decisions that society makes about what children ought to learn, or ought not to, have the power to shape culture and the future of democracy. Thus today we see fights over how to discuss racism in schools, with progressives championing lessons that connect the stain of slavery to modern inequities, conservatives demanding instead that children be taught “not to see color,” and plenty of debate somewhere in between. We see fights over whether first-graders should be allowed to check out picture books featuring LGBTQ characters, whether teens should be made to read literature with graphic depictions of sex, whether the Ten Commandments should be posted inside classrooms. The recent wave of activism targeting schools has sometimes seemed unprecedented in its ferocity and scale. But of course, these types of debates are not new. They fit into a long tradition of reactionary movements seeking to shape what children in America learn.

Early in the 20th century, Christian fundamentalists waged a crusade to stop the teaching of human evolution in public schools, culminating most famously with 1925’s Scopes “monkey trial,” in which a high-school teacher in Tennessee was charged with violating a new state law banning evolution lessons from classrooms. With the United States on the precipice of entering World War II in the late 1930s and early ’40s, groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution and the American Legion waged a successful nationwide campaign against popular social-studies textbooks written by the progressive educator Harold Rugg; they argued that the books—which raised questions about the unequal distribution of wealth in the U.S. and advocated for civil rights for African Americans—were “subversive.” Attempts to force schools to integrate in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s were met with riots and racist protests.

While researching my book on the latest political wars over public education, I came across a 1981 New York Times article that sounded as if it might have been printed this year. It described a coalition of suburban residents who, “armed with sophisticated lobbying techniques,” were fighting to “remove books from libraries” and replace history syllabi with “texts that emphasize the positive side of America’s past.” The article documented efforts by parents’ groups across the country to “cleanse their local schools of materials and teaching methods they consider antifamily, anti-American and anti-God.” Here was a tale of conservative activists waging a national assault on school lessons more than four decades ago, though that earlier generation applied a different label to the threat it perceived than activists do now: secular humanism.

[...] Also much as in today’s fights, the battles over secular humanism, which occurred in the years immediately following the civil-rights movement, were a response to evolving social norms around gender, race, and sexuality. And just as the protests for racial justice following the police murder of George Floyd in 2020 incited school-board conflicts in communities with rapidly changing demographics, many of the battles a generation ago emanated from predominantly white but diversifying suburbs, where angry parents formed groups with such names as Young Parents Alert and Guardians of Education. Portraying teachers, textbook writers, and school bureaucrats as liberal foot soldiers in a shadowy scheme to indoctrinate their children, these citizen activists described their cause as one of good versus evil, a framing that stoked passions—and sometimes violence.

The simmering right-wing movement against secular humanism exploded into national view in the spring of 1974, when white fundamentalists launched a political attack on the public school system in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The district had introduced new multicultural textbooks as required by a recent state mandate. Months of protests were led by Alice Moore, a white school-board member and preacher’s wife who argued—while explicitly invoking the dangers of secular humanism—that new language-arts textbooks would teach students “ghetto dialect” instead of “standard American speech.” Picketers carried homemade signs, including one that read i have a “bible,” i don’t need those dirty books. Angry parents were soon joined by members of the Ku Klux Klan. An elementary school’s entrance was defaced with a swastika. Arsonists attacked schools with firebombs and Molotov cocktails, vandals cut the fuel lines of school buses to keep them from running, and the county board-of-education building was blasted with 15 sticks of dynamite. [...]

There are also parallels in the financing of these movements, with support then and now drawn from a large network of conservative think tanks and activist groups. The campaign against secular humanism was backed by national organizations including the Heritage Foundation, Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, Pat Robertson’s National Legal Foundation, and the antigay, anti-feminist crusader Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum. Some of those same organizations remain involved today, joined by dozens of emergent activist groups, such as Moms for Liberty, No Left Turn in Education, and the 1776 Project PAC.

Some aspects of the right’s new playbook appear to have been copied from history—including its campaign to leverage school-board conflicts to push for a conservative reinterpretation of foundational rights. With help from conservative law firms, parents filed lawsuits in the 1970s and ’80s claiming that secular humanism was itself a religion, and as such should be barred from schools or balanced with Christian perspectives. Others in the movement simultaneously sought to overturn the principle of Church-state separation that was the basis for that argument. Insisting that America’s founding was grounded in biblical principles, activists demanded that educators present Christianity in a favorable light, that children be taught to respect the United States and its military, and that men and women be depicted in “traditional” gender roles in classroom reading assignments. Although many of these demands were denied by local and state education boards, Christian conservative groups scored major victories throughout the 1980s—largely through targeted lawsuits and local pressure campaigns—before the movement’s power and momentum began to wane, in the ’90s.

[...] Now, in many classrooms, dark chapters of America’s history are being softened or skipped. Some students are being taught a distorted narrative about our nation’s past and present, and books challenging that depiction are being pulled from shelves. All of this is helping shape what a new generation of Americans believes about our country—exactly the effect that anti-secularism activists fought for decades ago.

NBC News’s Mike Hixenbaugh wrote in The Atlantic about the history of right-wing “parental rights” revolts.

See Also:

Chalkbeat: How the ‘Southlake Playbook’ brought partisan battles to America’s school boards

[nwonitro]

01/24/24 McLawsuit!

According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, Janel Grant, an ex-employee of WWE, has initiated legal proceedings against WWE, Vince McMahon, and John Laurinaitis in a federal court in Connecticut.

The lawsuit alleges that Grant endured physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and trafficking during her time at WWE. The purpose of Grant's lawsuit is twofold: to seek redress for her personal experiences and to champion those who may be hesitant to come forward with similar claims.

More at Wrestling News Source.

[angelamoroso]

Come see Myself The Goddess of Gore Queen of Hardcore Angel Amoroso and ECW original Jason Knight as we relaunch Assault Champion Wrestling! This Saturday August 12 in Williamstown NJ! There's even a fan fest before the show from 12-4 with toys, horror, wrestling vendors and much more! The show starts at 5pm! Don't miss out on this EPIC event!!!

[racfoam]

Here is a nynn 7th Year Deathly Hallows AU. I say AU because 7th Year of nynn probably won’t be following the events of Deathly Hallows but oh, do I love playing around in it, there is so much possibility for ANGST and I am the best at writing angst. Warning, there is discussion of potential physical assault.

The Dursleys were packing.

Harry helped Dudley organize his clothes and safely package his video game system.

There was a load of stuff Dudley had, which meant a load had to be left behind. His gaze lingered on Indiana Jones cassettes and Mario Kart game discs before he pushed them into Harry’s arms without a word. The light caught in his blue eyes; they were twinkling with tears.

“I won’t be able to play them,” said Harry, confused.

“Doesn’t matter,” grunted Dudley, still avoiding making eye contact; his voice was rather wobbly. “Just carry them with you, in that pit of a pouch you have... wish I had an endless backpack...”

Harry’s lips twitched at that. She nodded, took the cassettes, game discs, and the Game Boy, and stored it in the small pouch hanging off her jeans. They continued packing things into boxes.

“You remember how to escape chokeholds? Front and rear-naked?”

“Yes,” said Harry.

The moment Harry had come back for the summer holidays, Dudley had insisted to train her in physical self-defence. It had scared Harry at first because she saw how by nature, men were stronger than women. Even when they started out with play wrestling on the mats in the back garden, when Harry gave it her all, Dudley had still won without putting much of his weight on it.

“And how to escape being pinned down?” he pressed. “That one’s important.”

Harry’s blood always turned to ice regarding that particular position, and it did so now, even after muscle memory memorized the counterattack, even now that she was capable to perform all the steps with lightning speed thanks to Dudley's teaching.

The first time they had tried to practice that one, Harry had a panic attack. With time, she calmed down enough and no longer did her brain empty itself with blind panic, no longer did every limb freeze in place.

But the goosebumps were yet to fade away.

“Yeah, and the kicks, tackles and punches... Best is to aim for the groin when everything else fails. And bite and scratch — aim for the eyes with my nails.”

Dudley nodded.

“Good,” said Dudley, sighing out shakily, nodding to himself. “Good. Knife?”

“Front pocket. If he's too far away, slash. Close enough, stab.”

“Good,” said Dudley, in that same, shaky sort of voice. It was strange, to hear Dudley, who fought boxing matches with older boys and came on top, sound concerned for his cousin who he bullied when they were kids. In fact, it sounded like Dudley would rather take on the international heavy-weight boxing champion than think of Harry being attacked.

Here is Harry using the knife Sirius gave her in Malfoy Manor.

Too far to slash.

Close enough to stab.

The knife materialized in Harry's palm, and she didn't hesitate for a single second. Before they even realized something was gripped in her hand, Harry wrenched her arm forward and plunged the knife into the closest part of Greyback she could reach. She felt the flesh open under the sharp blade, felt the knife bury itself deep into the muscle, forcing it apart, as though Harry was using her own hand as the knife itself —

Blood trickled out, warm and hot, reaching her fingers on the metal grip carved of the Sirius constellation.

There was a yell. It sounded far away. All Harry could hear was the beat of her heart, all she could think was save Hermione save Hermione —

Pull it out, open the wound, now, quick!

Harry pulled the knife out with lightning-bolt speed. There was a grunt of pain. Something slammed into the side of her cheek. Something heavy and hard. A fist.

Greyback had swung and hit Harry in the side of the right cheek. The entire world swayed. Black dots exploded in her vision. However, the grip on the knife remained. There was still hope. There was still a chance.

Harry threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around Greyback's knees, pushing off the floor with her feet, tackling him to the floor.

The knife plunged into flesh again, this time in the back of Greyback's left knee, into the nerves and the hamstring’s and this time Greyback howled like a miserable dog...

Harry’s other hand worked fast, finding the wand in Greyback's wand pocket. She plunged the tip toward his chest, and let her magic burst forth without a single incantation.

A red light burst out of the wand, and Greyback fell still, unconsciouss.

Harry scrambled up from the werewolf, left hand holding the wand, right hand the knife. She could feel the stinging jinx Hermione placed fading away, the swelling reducing.

Another blast of magic burst forth from the wand upon Harry's command. A large blastwave exploded in a circle. It knocked everyone but Harry off their feet. Bellatrix had separated from Hermione. Harry pointed the wand at Hermione. An invisible thread lunged out of the wand, covered the distance of fifteen feet lightning-quick, and wound up around Hermione’s torso, and yanked Hermione toward Harry.

Hermione crashed into Harry’s arms, and they both fell over. Harry was up again, a large bubble sphere of a shield appearing forth, surrounding her and Hermione as a curse sent by Bellatrix rebounded off the bubble.

The shield remained, shimmering and transparent, and Harry reached out with her hand for Hermione to clamber up, Hermione’s hold bone-squeezingly tight.

“Harry, you’re...”

Visible. Except her sight was still blurry, her glasses stored deep in the inner pocket of her outer cloak.

The group of four stared at Harry for a moment, wide-mouthed, apparently speechless with shock.

It was followed by Bellatrix's cheery, celebratory laugh; Bellatrix clapped excitedly, hopping up and down like a madwoman who won the lottery. She looked a bit blurry from this distance, but Harry heard her just fine.

“Harrykins!”

Harry's heart thundered against her ribcage.

Then, she felt her scar burn. Groaning, she bent over, stumbling backward, trying to flee the pain. The shield shimmered dangerously, but remained firm. Hermione caught her, her body becoming Harry's pillar.

Warm, soft hands, hair smelling on old parchment and earth... Hermione...

Harry felt her glasses be placed on the bridge of her nose by those same hands, and she looked this way and that, trying to find who it was.

Lucius Malfoy’s sleeve was pulled up to his elbow, and the Dark Mark on his forearm stood in stark, black ink against his skin, crawling on its surface.

Harry's eyes stretched in horror. And then, she felt another pang of pain... And... Excitement and joy, bubbling up inside her stomach, threatening to swallow her whole.

There was a loud BOOM. It came from the dungeons. Bellatrix and Narcissa turned to the stairwell, but they were too slow —

“EXPELLIARMUS!” bellowed Ron, roaring like a lion, pointing a wand that was not his own at the witches. Both Bellatrix’s and Narcissa's wands flew out of their hands, and Ron caught one, while Luna caught the other. A goblin was with them, and Ollivander, too.

“Ron!” gasped Hermione in relief; she looked ready to collapse with relief at the sight of Ron, wild-eyed and hair messy, but unharmed. Ron looked mad. Looked ready to tear Bellatrix limb from limb.

They outnumbered them. They could get away...

Another surge of pain attacked Harry. This time, she saw dark smoke travelling across the grey sky, flying faster than a thestral or a Firebolt. It was approaching the dark Malfoy Manor, where they were...

Her wrist stung.

Then, the smoke was rising high, climbing up into the air, into the dim sky. Stormclouds appeared, and thunder rumbled.

Then, the smoke twisted downward, and dove toward the roof covering the drawing room.

Harry opened her eyes.

“RON!” screamed Harry at the top of her lungs, voice resounding across the thickening air. “DIVE!”

Ron grabbed Luna, Ollivander and the goblin, and flung them and himself down into the stairs, where they’d come from.

It was tunneling downward, this dark force of power, it was heading straight down toward the roof...

A cold, high voice whispered in Harry’s head.

“Harry.”

The only coherent thought Harry could think was: Shit.

The ceiling collapsed. The glass of the windows exploded. A large storm broke. Its shockwave shattered the protective, powerful sphere Harry conjured, splintering it into meaningless shards. The storm knocked everyone off their feet, tumbling them onto the ground.

Blindly aiming while being knocked away mid-air, the red jet of light burst out of the stolen wand, travelling into the dark cloud of smoke.

All Harry held onto tightly was the wand, and Hermione's hand. Harry crash-landed on her back, the breath punched out of her in a gasp.

[dalekofchaos]

I know they were in London and they are Saraya's family, but Tony potentially involving the Knight Family in the future after All In is not a good look, neither is having her scumbag transphobic piece of shit boyfriend perform her song. Welcoming a family who have been accused of abuse and sexual assault and creating a toxic environment by many people that they trained is insane. That's like inviting Bill DeMott to train your talent despite knowing what a reprehensible piece of shit that guy was.

And yes I have receipts.

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There's a simple explanation of why WWE didn't want to acknowledge Saraya's family until that movie came out. Because they're violent carnies. Wrestling with My Family whitewashed the Knight family. Made people believe they were quirky instead crazy deviants.

Saraya being Women's Champion is a bad idea because of how limited she can wrestle now days, but even entertaining the idea of involving the Knight family more involved than they should is a fucking disaster waiting to fucking happen.

[biggoldbelt]

Tessa Blanchard Returns to TNA Wrestling at Final Resolution – TNA Wrestling

Tessa Blanchard Returns to TNA Wrestling at Final Resolution News / December 13, 2024 / by TNA Wrestling Staff Watch on TNA+ Earlier tonight at Final Resolution, former TNA and Knockouts World Champion Tessa Blanchard made her shocking return to TNA Wrestling. Blanchard would make her presence felt during the match between Jordynne Grace and Rosemary, leading to an all-out assault on “The…

[a2zsportsnews]

Tessa Blanchard Returns to TNA Wrestling at Final Resolution – TNA Wrestling

Tessa Blanchard Returns to TNA Wrestling at Final Resolution News / December 13, 2024 / by TNA Wrestling Staff Watch on TNA+ Earlier tonight at Final Resolution, former TNA and Knockouts World Champion Tessa Blanchard made her shocking return to TNA Wrestling. Blanchard would make her presence felt during the match between Jordynne Grace and Rosemary, leading to an all-out assault on “The…