#conspiracy of pontiac

[detroitlib]

Mural by Gari Melchers depicting the conspiracy of Chief Pontiac, located in Adam Strohm Hall at the Detroit Public Library. Mural depicts Pontiac and other chiefs presenting a wampum belt to Major Gladwin, commandant of Fort Detroit. Printed on back: "The Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit 2, Michigan. The conspiracy of Pontiac, a mural by Gari Melchers (1860-1932) in Adam Strohm Hall, Main Library. Lithocolor Division, Microfilms, Inc. Ann Arbor, Michigan."

Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library

[theknightofivanhoe]

Justice League: Question’s Hard Drive Ch 2: Table for Two

Table of Contents

The journey in Question’s shiny royal blue 1960s Pontiac GTO was spent in deathly silence. Question himself focused on the road leading through the dimly-lit labyrinth of streets. Not a word was said between him or Huntress who sat looking out of the window. Right now Question’s mission had quite literally gone from infiltrating an office building in order to discover ties between CADMUS and Lex Luthor, to satisfying his scantily-clad, fiery-tempered vigilante girlfriend with a proper date in order to discover ties between CADMUS and Lex Luthor. Question was, Question was asking himself, which eating place could Huntress agree on without it being a front for the Court of Owls for instance? With all the connections that rattled through the detective’s head, the options were few.

“So, did you have a place in mind?” Question’s hushed inquiry pierced Huntress’ virtually unknown train of thoughts and she inclined her striking, tan face towards him. “The Princess of Mars club includes some rooftop tables.” she suggested, smirking romantically as she propped her elbow on the windowsill of her door and rested her head on her fist. “We can gaze up at the stars while we -.” “That’s a negative.” This terse response from the detective caught Huntress off guard. “I’m sorry?” she asked once she had processed this refusal. “That restaurant likely lets people on its roof so the Church of Blood has a vantage point to kidnap innocent families.” Question warned as he drove on. Huntress just pinched the bridge of her slim nose in despair. “Can we please not have another one of your idiot conspiracy theories again, Q? I’m worn out from tonight’s mission.” “Well I’ve got mountains of information to search if we’re going to connect CADMUS to Luthor.” Question replied intently. “Q, all I’d like is for us to just take it easy first, just for tonight.” Huntress protested. “Learn to work hard...and play hard.” She finished this with a devilish grin spreading on her lips, eyebrows bobbing up and down under her mask. This, along with how Huntress crossed her naked legs, was enough to send Question’s heart racing and remind him why their bond grew so strong since he joined in her pursuit of crime lord Steven Mandragora.

“So, how does some jazz and pasta at Brando’s Pastaria sound?” Huntress asked again. “That has Snaky Doyle’s name on it.” Question objected, but Huntress scoffed. “Snaky my butt! Anyway if you spot anything wrong, let your girl handle it.” “Like how you handled Black Canary?” Question shot back rather wryly. That got Huntress spluttering indignantly. “How about you don’t mention that blond bimbo in the middle of our date?” “I’m just saying - ” “Alright, one last try before I smash your head through the windshield; Corleone and Brazzi’s. And enough with your idiot conspiracies.” Huntress ended this with a certain amount of threat to her voice, facing the roadway again. “We went past the only lane that would have taken us there.” Question plainly told her. “...and?” Huntress asked, glaring at her bizarre admirer through the corner of her eye. “And there’s a good chance Corleone and Brazzi’s is a front for a sect of Kobr-” “Q!” “Okay, okay, Corleone and Brazzi’s it is!” The detective immediately backpedalled when Huntress sharply rounded on him again. The Pontiac was taken in an immediate u-turn now that the decision had been made. “Sometimes I wonder how…” Huntress muttered with a palm to her forehead. “Eccentric charm…” Question reminded her, focusing through his blank mask on the new route. This made Huntress smirk, her smokey dark eyes fixed on him and she propped her chin on her fist again. “Can’t argue with that…”

Corleone and Brazzi’s was not too shabby, a vast multi-storey restaurant in a thriving part of Hub city with classical-style pillars, statues and plants in large urns. Buzzing with relatively mild activity, the restaurant had men in tuxedos eating and drinking with ladies in elegant gowns and gentle piano music twinkling in the background over all the polite chatter. “Name…?” a moustached man standing over the guest list, the restaurant host, asked the figure that stepped up to him. “Question.” came the low, mysterious voice that caused the host to pause and look up at the visitor in the blue fedora and trench coat. “Questio - I’m sorry, I don’t quite foll - AAH!” He nearly leapt a foot in the air at the sight of a face that looked like nothing but skin, with no eyes, nose or mouth to speak of! Rooted to the spot as Question himself just fixed him with an eyeless stare, the host shivered all over. Other staff and guests stopped what they were doing in confusion and shock at what they heard. But the figure in the fedora lowered his head so the brim obscured his face before everyone else could also get a glimpse. The host, to whom Question had shown his masked face, could only stand up against his desk staring at him in pure fear. What was he to do?

“Don’t mind my date, sweetie.” A raven-haired woman appeared at Question’s side, smiling reassuringly. Out of her mask, gloves and boots and now wearing a gloss-black high-neck, sleeveless minidress with a pair of fashionable stiletto sandals and a black satchel slung on her shoulder, Helena lay a hand on Question’s shoulder while coiling her other arm snugly around his lower torso. “It’s not often Q-utie here ‘faces’ life at its fullest, is it, baby doll?” “…Table for two, please?” Underneath his mask, Question didn’t seem to take Helena’s teasing very well. “Name of Question and Helena…” Still nervous at this seemingly faceless man, the moustached host decided they didn’t look like they would cause any harm, hopefully. “Uhh…yes, yes, uh, certainly, Mr - uh - Question - uh - sir… We have - ah - ah, Table 5, it’s right - right by - by the window…you can hear the pianist pretty clearly, uh, sir…” he stammered, shakily writing on his list. His nervousness made it hard to jot the letters down. “You’re a peach, hun.” Helena commented in a sultry way, gently pulling Question along by his waist as her stilettos clicked across the waxed floor tiles.

“‘Faces life?’ Seriously?” Question hissed under his hat’s brim as they waded past the slightly apprehensive guests who he had to keep from seeing his mask. “Come on, Q! Is a sense of humour too conspiratorial for you too?” asked Helena who strutted beside him enjoying how people glanced at how gracefully she moved, not to mention her choice of attire. “It was Christmas cracker-tier.” Question said indignantly, “In fact, Christmas crackers are being looked into in connection with the - ” “What about the boys checking me out?” Helena interrupted his conspiracy-based rambling with a sly look. “You looking into that?” The minidress she now wore over her leotard didn’t show off her legs quite as much as the latter, but its hem was still short to the point of dangerous, earning some glances from some of the well-dressed men at tables the couple went past. Question noticed one man turn his head in Helena’s direction, his shoulders clenching threateningly. Pulling away from Helena’s arm, he towered over the man in the tuxedo, looking rather intimidating even as his hat’s brim hid his blank mask. “Ah…” the man uttered, trying no to shrink in his chair. “Saw something on the floor - uh, dropped something - my bit of bread - thought I’d dropped my bread…” he blabbered, immediately turning to the meal he was having. “Strange. I didn’t notice any bread on the floor…” Question nearly growled his words out, before Helena pulled him away to prevent an escalation. “Not now, baby doll…” Another man snuck a glance at her, only to get a clap round the head from the woman sitting next to him!

A reminder; Huntress is pretty sensitive to any mentions of Black Canary after their first battle in 'Double Date.'

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

[rawdatabyp3]

The Crutches Paradox (and Why Senior Software Engineers Don’t Care About AI)

Rob and Justin are back, catching up after a short break with an episode that’s part big ideas, part funny stories, and full of surprises.

They kick things off with the Crutches Paradox. Their take on why we hang onto things we’ll probably never use, “just in case.” From there, the conversation moves into all kinds of unexpected territory: why politeness might not matter when working with ChatGPT, the infamous New Coke conspiracy theory from the 80s, and why some of the world’s top software engineers just don’t seem too concerned about AI.

Rob even shares a few personal moments, including how his old Pontiac Bonneville managed to become a legend among tow truck drivers. Between the laughs and the thought-provoking moments, this grab bag episode has a little something for everyone.

Whether you’re here to explore big questions or just enjoy a good story, this one will keep you hooked from start to finish. As always, if you enjoyed the episode, be sure to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform.

Check out this episode!

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.5 (before 1860)

AD 25 – Guangwu claims the throne as Emperor of China, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty. 70 – Fires resulting from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem are extinguished. 642 – Battle of Maserfield: Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria. 910 – The last major Danish army to raid England for nearly a century is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward the Elder and Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians. 939 – The Battle of Alhandic is fought between Ramiro II of León and Abd-ar-Rahman III at Zamora in the context of the Spanish Reconquista. The battle resulted in a victory for the Emirate of Córdoba. 1068 – Byzantine–Norman wars: Italo-Normans begin a nearly-three-year siege of Bari. 1100 – Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. 1278 – Spanish Reconquista: the forces of the Kingdom of Castile initiate the ultimately futile Siege of Algeciras against the Emirate of Granada. 1305 – First Scottish War of Independence: Sir John Stewart of Menteith, the pro-English Sheriff of Dumbarton, successfully manages to capture Sir William Wallace of Scotland, leading to Wallace's subsequent execution by hanging, evisceration, drawing and quartering, and beheading 18 days later. 1388 – The Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England, is fought near Otterburn. 1460 – The Kingdom of Scotland captures Roxburgh, one of the last English strongholds in Scotland, following a siege. 1506 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Crimean Khanate in the Battle of Kletsk. 1583 – Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. 1600 – The Gowrie Conspiracy against King James VI of Scotland (later to become King James I of England) takes place. 1620 – The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England, carrying would-be settlers, on its first attempt to reach North America; it is forced to dock in Dartmouth when its companion ship, the Speedwell, springs a leak. 1689 – Beaver Wars: Fifteen hundred Iroquois attack Lachine in New France. 1716 – Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718): One-fifth of a Turkish army and the Grand Vizier are killed in the Battle of Petrovaradin. 1735 – Freedom of the press: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he had published was true. 1772 – First Partition of Poland: The representatives of Austria, Prussia, and Russia sign three bilateral conventions condemning the ‘anarchy’ of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and imputing to the three powers ‘ancient and legitimate rights’ to the territories of the Commonwealth. The conventions allow each of the three great powers to annex a part of the Commonwealth, which they proceed to do over the course of the following two months. 1763 – Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run: British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run. 1781 – The Battle of Dogger Bank takes place. 1796 – The Battle of Castiglione in Napoleon's first Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars. 1816 – The British Admiralty dismisses Francis Ronalds's new invention of the first working electric telegraph as "wholly unnecessary", preferring to continue using the semaphore. 1824 – Greek War of Independence: Konstantinos Kanaris leads a Greek fleet to victory against Ottoman and Egyptian naval forces in the Battle of Samos. 1858 – Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It will operate for less than a month.

[yarnsword]

From "Pontiac's Conspiracy... Notices Abstracted from Colonial Newspapers, 1763-1765"

[g4zdtechtv]

FULL EPISODE: X-Play - Loved By People of the Species "Nerdicus Electronicus"

Featuring two kinds of wrestling!

[seat-safety-switch]

One of my friends is a high school teacher. Recently, he got a student in who didn’t believe Australia actually existed. It was just too weird and different from here to be a thing that could be. Koalas? Drug-induced hallucinations upon seeing a dog. Kangaroos? Holograms. Ford Barras? Pure fantasy.

I’m a little bit of an expert in this whole parapsychology thing, and I wanted a chance to get in on the ground floor of what was likely to be a new and exciting internet conspiracy theory. So I packed up my phrenology tools, stuffed them in the trunk of my twincharged Sunfire convertible, and made EPA snifferbots freak out the entire way from my house to the high school.

My friend told me that he had arranged for an “independent study” course, so that nobody would really notice that the kid was missing. I was impressed with the relative level of leeway his trustworthy position in adult society lent to him. Even so, he had cryptically cautioned me that “The Media” had been lurking around, intending to catch the school board in one scandal or another to line the pockets of their private-school advertisers. Knowing that the student parking lot had cars that were much nicer than mine, I decided to park in the teachers’ lot in order to avoid raising any suspicion.

Meeting with this kid was truly illuminating. Australia being a computer-generated synthetic landmass was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. He didn’t believe the world was flat, per se, but cylindrical, which explained why airplanes always flew over the North Pole to go to Europe. Psychic dogs compelled Helen Keller to invent the touch-tone phone tree so that they could avail themselves of important government services. Gasoline is expensive because of deliberate actions to artificially limit the supply by a moneyed elite. Far from the stoner philosophy I expected, I was now beginning to admit that some of the things he was saying made a lot of sense. In order to maintain my professional impartiality, I needed to leave before he could completely turn me to his way of thinking.

When I opened the door to leave Multi-Purpose Faculty Room C, I came face to face with a TV camera. The Media was there, and they intended to expose my vicious acts in the school newspaper. In a panic, I hauled the kid out before the camera, and had him repeat what he had told me. Sure, it violated the Prime Directive of freak research - never get high on your own supply - but the ramble was so damn compelling that the student newspeople soon completely forgot about my own misdeeds.

I probably should have nipped it in the bud at some point, if not that day, then certainly that month. At that point, my interest had moved on from parapsychology to French mopeds. By the time I looked up from my Kijiji notification emails for Peugeot two-stroke happiness, the FBI was already raiding the kid’s fully-developed cult compound. Good luck with that, I said to the TV. He doesn’t believe in you, so you must not be real.

[antoine-roquentin]

obliquely, this is in reference to how formerly working class bastions in the midwest that used to elect socialists now elect republicans. if we all gave up the theory that LGBT people are normal, we might once again go back to the days where we elected socialists across the country. thomas frank, what’s the matter with kansas:

But its periodic bouts of leftism were what really branded Kansas with the mark of the freak. Every part of the country in the nineteenth century had labor upheavals and protosocialist reform movements, of course. In Kansas, though, the radicals kept coming out on top. It was as though the blank landscape prompted dreams of a blank-slate society, a place where institutions might be remade as the human mind saw fit. Maps of the state from the 1880s show a hamlet (since vanished) called Radical City; in nearby Crawford County the town of Girard was home to the Appeal to Reason, a socialist newspaper whose circulation was in the hundreds of thousands. In that same town, in 1908, Eugene Debs gave a fiery speech accepting the Socialist Party’s nomination for president; in 1912 Debs actually carried Crawford County, one of four he won nationwide. (All were in the Midwest.) In 1910 Theodore Roosevelt signaled his own lurch to the left by traveling to Kansas and giving an inflammatory address in Osawatomie, the onetime home of John Brown.

The most famous freak-out of them all was Populism, the first of the great American leftist movements.* Populism tore through other states as well—wailing all across Texas, the South, and the West in the 1890s—but Kansas was the place that really distinguished itself by its enthusiasm. Driven to the brink of ruin by years of bad prices, debt, and deflation, the state’s farmers came together in huge meetings where homegrown troublemakers like Mary Elizabeth Lease exhorted them to “raise less corn and more hell.” The radicalized farmers marched through the small towns in day-long parades, raging against what they called the “money power.” And despite all the clamor, they still managed to take the state’s traditional Republican masters utterly by surprise in 1890, sweeping the small-town slickers out of office and ending the careers of many a career politician. In the decade that followed they elected Populist governors, Populist senators, Populist congressmen, Populist supreme court justices, Populistcity councils, and probably Populist dogcatchers, too; men of strong ideas, curious nicknames, and a colorful patois....

For a generation, Kansas has been the testing-ground for every experiment in morals, politics, and social life. Doubt of all existing institutions has been respectable. Nothing has been venerable or revered merely because it exists or has endured. Prohibition, female suffrage, fiat money, free silver, every incoherent and fantastic dream of social improvement and reform, every economic delusion that has bewildered the foggy brains of fanatics, every political fallacy nurtured by misfortune, poverty and failure, rejected elsewhere, has here found tolerance and advocacy.

Today the two myths are one. Kansas may be the land of averageness, but it is a freaky, militant, outraged averageness. Kansas today is a burned-over district of conservatism where the backlash propaganda has woven itself into the fabric of everyday life. People in suburban Kansas City vituperate against the sinful cosmopolitan elite of New York and Washington, D.C.; people in rural Kansas vituperate against the sinful cosmopolitan elite of Topeka and suburban Kansas City. Survivalist supply shops sprout in neighborhood strip-malls. People send Christmas cards urging their friends to look on the bright side of Islamic terrorism, since the Rapture is now clearly at hand.

Under the state’s simple blue flag are gathered today some of the most flamboyant cranks, conspiracists, and calamity howlers the Republic has ever seen. The Kansas school board draws the guffaws of the world for purging state science standards of references to evolution. Cities large and small across the state still hold out against water fluoridation, while one tiny hamlet takes the additional step of requiring firearms in every home. A prominent female politician expresses public doubts about the wisdom of women’s suffrage, while another pol proposes that the state sell off the Kansas Turnpike in order to solve its budget crisis. Impoverished inhabitants of the state’s most scenic area fight with fanatical determination to prevent a national park from opening up in their neighborhood, while the rails-to-trails program, regarded everywhere else in the union as a harmless scheme for family fun, is reviled in Kansas as an infernal design on the rights of property owners. Operation Rescue selects Wichita as the stage for its great offensive against abortion, calling down thirty thousand testifying fundamentalists on the city, witnessing and blocking traffic and chaining themselves to fences. A preacher from Topeka travels the nation advising Americans to love God’s holy hate, showing up wherever a gay person has been in the news to announce that “God Hates Fags.” Survivalists and secessionists dream of backyard confederacies out on the lone prairie; schismatic Catholics declare the pope himself to be insufficiently Catholic; Posses Comitatus hold imaginary legal proceedings, sternly prosecuting state officials for participating in actual legal proceedings; and homegrown terrorists swap conspiracy theories at a house in Dickinson County before screaming off to strike a blow against big government in Oklahoma City.

the problem with this simple story is that social liberalism actually grew in lockstep with an economic policy tailored to the poor. in the 70s, the most common place to get gender reassignment surgery was at a catholic hospital in small town colorado. in 2010, in response to deep opposition in the town, the practice was forced to move to california. the second most common place was at a baptist hospital in oklahoma city, where such surgery was viewed as routine until a number of religious leaders decided to oppose it in the 70s. at the same time, many other religious leaders spoke out in favour of the surgery, saying that it comported well with religious tenets.

likewise, colorado legalized abortion in 1967, as did states like kansas, missouri, georgia, and north and south carolina prior to roe v wade. today, these states are considered anti-abortion and anti-lgbt hotspots, yet prior to the late 70s, compassion for such people was viewed as paramount in the life of america’s christians. so what happened? it clearly wasn’t an emphasis on the social aspects of poor american lives that shifted the political arena in favour of religious conservatism. rather, as thomas frank points out in the same book:

Nobody mows their own lawn in Mission Hills anymore, and only a foot soldier in its armies of gardeners would park a Pontiac there. The doctors who lived near us in the seventies have pretty much been gentrified out, their places taken by the bankers and brokers and CEOs who have lapped them repeatedly on the racetrack of status and income. Every time I paid Mission Hills a visit during the nineties, it seemed another of the more modest houses in our neighborhood had been torn down and replaced by a much larger edifice, a three-story stone chateau, say, bristling with turrets and porches and dormers and gazebos and a three-car garage. The dark old palaces from the twenties sprouted spiffy new slate roofs, immaculately tailored gardens, remote-controlled driveway gates, and sometimes entire new wings. One grand old pile down the street from us was fitted with shiny new gutters made entirely of copper. A new house a few doors down from Esrey’s spread is so large it has two multicar garages, one at either end.

These changes are of course not unique to Mission Hills. What has gone on there is normal in its freakishness. You can observe the same changes in Shaker Heights or La Jolla or Winnetka or Ann Coulter’s hometown of New Canaan, Connecticut. They reflect the simplest and hardest of economic realities: The fortunes of Mission Hills rise and fall in inverse relation to the fortunes of ordinary working people. When workers are powerful, taxes are high, and labor is expensive (as was the case from World War II until the late seventies), the houses built here are smaller, the cars domestic, the servants rare, and the overgrown look fashionable in gardening circles. People read novels about eccentric English aristocrats trapped in a democratic age, sighing sadly for their lost world.

When workers are weak, taxes are down, and labor is cheap (as in the twenties and again today), Mission Hills coats itself in shimmering raiments of gold and green. Now the stock returns are plush, the bonus packages fat, the servants affordable, and the suburb finds that the princely life isn’t dead after all. It builds new additions and new fountains and new Italianate porches overlooking Olympic-sized flower gardens maintained by shifts of laborers. People read books about the glory of empire. The kids get Porsches or SUVs when they turn sixteen; the houses with asphalt roofs discreetly disappear; the wings that were closed off are triumphantly reopened, and all is restored to its former grandeur. Times may be hard where you live, but here events have yielded a heaven on earth, a pleasure colony out of the paintings of Maxfield Parrish.

america's workers and small farmers were saved by the reforms of the 1930s, as frank explains, then crushed as the wealthy found out how to squirrel away their taxes (in part thanks to the collapse of the british empire), accumulate wealth away from prying eyes, lobby the government for preferential treatment, and between 1976 and 2000, triumph completely in the political domain. mission hill donates more money to politicians than the rest of kansas combined. unions are swamped in state politics, and see declining fortunes. as a result, neoliberal social atomization takes effect, which sees even workers demanding beggar-thy-neighbour policies. and when thy neighbour is socially distinct from you, it becomes easier to justify voting for such politics based on a survival instinct. the majority of the working class tuned out and do not vote any more. among the rest, low skilled working class jobs in highly stratified and inequitable cities vote democrat, hoping for some patronage from the white collar creative class voters they serve, while blue collar skilled workers tend to vote republican, devoid of any examples of class politics in their lives with the death of unions and hoping to keep their share of wages against their only opposition, the tax man.

ultimately, any socially liberal politics sustained by donations from rich big city donors is unsustainable. on the other hand, the notion that “woke” politics is holding back leftism is, save for a few clearly absurd situations (robin diangelo, for instance) also wrong. economic leftism leads to social leftism, because respect to the working class leads to respect for its identities. neoliberal atomization is a much deeper force than can be surmounted at the ballot box, even in a primary, but it is always an economic force first and foremost.

[creepingsharia]

Michigan: Doctors arrested for helping more than 1,249 immigrants from jihad areas fraudulently enter U.S.

One doctor helped at least 1,249 immigrants fraudently enter the U.S. in the just the last four years using excuses such as, “being held captive and assaulted by Sunni terrorists, being bombed, and being jailed for a year by Saddam Hussein.”

Muhammad Awaisi is from Pakistan and had his medical license revoked in at least 2 states previously. Read the details at end.

Muhammad Awaisi, left, and Firoza VanHorn

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Two Area Doctors Charged in a Scheme to Defraud the United States

Allegations Include Visa Fraud, False Statements and Unlawful Distribution of Controlled Substances

A psychologist and medical doctor were charged in a criminal complaint for their alleged role in a scheme to create fake medical diagnoses to help immigrants fraudulently obtain their U.S. citizenship, announced United States Attorney Matthew Schneider.

Joining in the announcement were Acting Special Agent in Charge David G. Nanz, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Associate Director of Field Operations Directorate Daniel Renaud, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Director of Field Operations Christopher Perry, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Charged were psychologist Firoza VanHorn, 70, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and medical doctor Muhammad Awaisi, 61, of Pontiac, Michigan.

Schneider stated, “The allegations in this case are truly outrageous and are a disservice to every immigrant who comes to America and becomes a citizen the right and honest way.” 

"As Americans we look for those individuals seeking to become our fellow citizens to respect and follow the laws of our country. We expect them to accept and respect our system of government and our naturalization process.  And we expect everyone involved in the naturalization process to demonstrate the same good moral character required of immigrants applying to be U.S. citizens," said Nanz.  "The conduct alleged in this complaint, if proven, demonstrates those involved showed contempt for the naturalization process and our laws."

Renaud stated, “The collaborative efforts of multiple departments and agencies on this investigation sends a clear message of our joint dedication to track down and hold accountable any who would seek to abuse our immigration system. In this situation, allegations of medical professionals dishonoring their positions of power to undermine our immigration system are especially despicable and are a slap in the face to those immigrants seeking relief through the disability exception process who truly need it.”

Perry stated, “Medical professionals are in a position of trust, profiting off of fake medical diagnoses to help others fraudulently obtain citizenship is a betrayal of that trust. U.S. Customs and Border Protection takes these allegations seriously and will aggressively pursue those bad actors who attempt to financially benefit off of such fraudulent activities.”

According to the complaint, immigrants seeking to become naturalized U.S. citizens must first successfully demonstrate the ability to read, write and use the English language, and demonstrate a knowledge of United States history and government. These requirements, however, can be waived for immigrants who can prove that they are not able to meet the requirements because of physical or mental disabilities. The complaint alleges that Van Horn and Awaisi helped immigrants fraudulently obtain these waivers, and hence fraudulently obtain U.S. citizenship, by diagnosing the immigrants with medical conditions they did not have, documenting tests that were never performed on the immigrants, and prescribing medically unnecessary medication. Van Horn typically received $500 each time she created the fake diagnosis and medical records. According to records from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Van Horn assisted 1,249 immigrants file requests for such waivers over the past four years alone.

For example, the complaint alleges that a witness met with Van Horn at Van Horn’s office.  Van Horn asked how the witness was feeling, along with other basic questions a doctor typically asks a patient.  The witness explained that the witness had previously been in a car accident.  The complaint alleges that Van Horn then wrote a report diagnosing the witness with Chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by the witness being in a car accident, being held captive and assaulted by Sunni terrorists, being bombed, being jailed for a year by Saddam Hussein, being shot at a bus stop with friends, and the witness being the lone survivor.   

The complaint further alleges that, as part of this conspiracy, Awaisi prescribed opioid painkillers to a patient, even though the patient was not in pain and did not tell Awaisi the patient was in pain. 

A complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Trial cannot be held on felony charges in a complaint.  When the investigation is completed a determination will be made whether to seek a felony indictment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Goulding. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the FBI, USCIS and CBP.

----------------------------------------------------------------

More: Pontiac General Hospital and doctor face lawsuit alleging fraud

Public records also show after graduating from medical school in Pakistan, Dr. Awaisi lost his medical license in Massachusetts in September 2008 after an investigation showed he improperly accessed other doctors' patient info and directed them to have unnecessary treatments at his own rehab clinic for profit.

Documents also show the doctor's medical license was suspended in Michigan in November 2009 for using an expired pad to prescribe drugs. But he got his license back.

[warped-historian]

Warped Tour, 2004

Dates:

June 26: Dallas, TX

June 27: Selma, TX

June 28: Houston, TX

June 29: Las Cruces, NM

June 30: Peoria, AZ

July 1: Fullerton, CA

July 2: Fullerton, CA

July 3: San Francisco, CA

July 4: Las Vegas, NV

July 6: Chula Vista, CA

July 7: Ventura, CA

July 8: Wheatland, CA

July 9: Boise, ID

July 10: George, WA

July 11: St. Helens, OR

July 13: Vancouver, BC

July 15: Calgary, AB

July 16: Bozeman, MT

July 17: Salt Lake City, UT

July 18: Denver, CO

July 20: Milwaukee, WI

July 21: Maryland Heights, MO

July 22: Noblesville, IN

July 23: Cleveland, OH

July 24: Tinley Park, IL

July 25: Minneapolis, MN

July 26: Bonner Springs, KS

July 28: Atlanta, GA

July 29: Orlando, GA

July 30: Tampa, FL

July 31: Pompano Beach, FL

August 1: Jacksonville, FL

August 2: Charlotte, NC

August 3: Virginia Beach, VA

August 4: Bristow, VA

August 5: Burgettstown, PA

August 6: Camden, NJ

August 7: New York, NY

August 8: Englishtown, NJ

August 10: Hershey, PA

August 12: Quebec City, QC

August 13: Montreal, QC

August 14: Barrie, ON

August 15: Pontiac, MI

August 16: Cincinnati, OH

August 17: Columbus, OH

August 18: Darien, NY

August 19-20: Foxborough, MA

Lineup:

Anti-Flag (Played 6/29-8/19)

Billy Talent (Played 7/20-8/19)

Bowling For Soup (Played 6/26)

The Bouncing Souls

New Found Glory

NOFX (Played 7/1-8/8)

Simple Plan (Played 7/24-7/26 and 8/1-8/5)

Story of the Year

Taking Back Sunday

Tiger Army (Played 7/20-8/19)

The Used (Played 8/19)

The All-American Rejects (Played 6/25-6/29 and 7/29-8/1)

Alkaline Trio (Played 6/25-7/24)

Bad Religion

Coheed and Cambria

The Early November (Played 6/25-7/18)

Flogging Molly

Good Charlotte (Played 8/12-8/18)

The (International) Noise Conspiracy (Played 7/28-8/19)

Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards (Played 7/20-8/18)

The Sounds (Played 6/25-7/26)

Sugarcult (Played 7/20-8/19)

Thursday (Played 6/25-7/18 and 8/6-8/14)

The Vandals

Yellowcard

Allister (Played 7/20-8/19)

Atmosphere

Avenged Sevenfold (Played 7/20-8/19)

The Casualties

From Autumn to Ashes (Played 7/20-8/2)

Hazen Street (Played 6/25-7/18)

IMA Robot (Played 6/25-7/16)

Jackson United (Played 7/7-7/13 and 7/20-8/2)

Lilix (Played 7/13)

Mae (Played 6/25-7/18)

Matchbook Romance (Played 7/20-8/19)

My Chemical Romance (Played 6/25-7/18 and 7/24)

Piebald (Played 8/5-8/8)

The Red West (Played 6/25-7/20)

The Revolution Smile (Played 7/15-7/26)

Rise Against

Rufio (Played 7/20-8/19)

Senses Fail (Played 6/25-7/18)

A Faith Called Chaos

Alexisonfire (Played 8/12-8/19)

Another Damn Disappointment (Played 6/29-6/30, 7/8, 7/13-7/15 and 7/24-7/28)

Arkham (Played 7/9-7/13, 7/16-7/23, 7/29-7/31 and 8/6-8/10)

ASG (Played 7/1-7/8, 8/1 and 8/12-8/19)

Autopilot Off (Played 6/25-7/6)

Bleed the Dream (Played 7/20-8/2)

The Briggs (Played 7/24-8/19)

Chronic Future (Played 7/25-8/4)

Die Hunns (Played 6/25-7/6)

Don't Look Down (Played 7/7-7/18)

The Eyeliners (Played 6/25-7/2)

Fall Out Boy (Played 8/10-8/19)

Fear Before the March of Flames (Played 7/20-7/24)

The Fuck Ups (Played 6/25-7/18)

Go Betty Go (Played 6/25-7/23)

The God Awfuls (Played 6/25-7/15)

Guttermouth (Played 6/25-7/11)

Juliette and the Licks (Played 6/25-7/7)

The Kinison (Played 8/7-8/19)

Lennon (Played 7/28 and 7/30-8/7)

Letter Kills

Minority (Played 6/28)

Motion City Soundtrack (Played 7/16-8/8)

Potluck (Played 7/1-7/6)

Pulley (Played 7/7-7/18)

Rose Hill Drive (Played 8/8-8/19)

Side 67 (Played 7/15)

Single Frame (Played 6/25-6/27 and 7/16-7/28)

Washington Social Club (Played 8/4-8/19)

1208 (Played 7/11)

Amber Pacific (Played 6/25-7/13, 7/28-8/12 and 8/17-8/19)

Audio Karate (Played 8/4-8/19)

Before Today (Played 7/6)

Big D and the Kids Table (Played 7/20-7/26)

Black Fire (Played 6/25-6/30)

Black Furys (Played 7/3)

Bottom Line (Played 8/15-8/17)

Break Dance Vietnam (Played 6/25-7/6)

Break the Silence (Played 7/16-7/26 and 8/10-8/19)

Bytch Kiddy (Played 8/12-8/14)

Candy Ass (Played 8/4-8/10)

Carne Asada (Played 7/17-7/26)

The Code (Played 8/5-8/8)

Codie (Played 7/21-7/22)

The Commercials (Played 8/10)

Crowned King (Played 7/13-7/15 and 8/10-8/14)

Early Man

Eden Row (Played 8/16-8/19)

Eight Fingers Down (Played 6/25-6/29)

El Centro (Played 7/20-7/23)

El Nada (Played 7/24-7/26)

The Erks

Fear Nuttin' Band (Played 8/7)

Fighting Jacks (Played 7/8-7/9)

Happy Campers (Played 6/25-6/30)

Harpo (Played 7/22)

H is Orange (Played 7/1)

Holden (Played 7/2 and 7/7)

Hurry Up Offense (Played 8/4-8/7)

The Hurt Process (Played 7/1-7/11)

Insofar (Played 7/1-7/23)

J4 (Played 6/25-6/29)

Jersey (Played 8/7, 8/10-8/15 and 8/18-8/19)

Keg (Played 7/10)

Killradio (Played 7/16-7/26)

Lakeside (Played 7/28-7/29)

Losing Team (Playd 7/16-7/17)

Lylah (Played 6/25-6/29)

Madison (Played 7/28-8/8)

Madrepore (Played 7/4 and 7/7)

The Matches (Played 8/12-8/17)

Melee

Number One Fan (Played 7/18-8/19)

O're The Ramparts (Played 7/18)

Only Crime (Played 7/18)

Opiate for the Masses (Played 7/28-8/8)

Oreon (Played 8/16-8/19)

Pipedown (Played 7/7-7/10)

The Planet Smashers (Played 7/28-8/4, 8/10 and 8/15-8/19)

The Q (Played 6/30-7/8 and 7/31-8/3)

Reeve Oliver (Played 7/28-8/8)

Rolling Blackouts

Scatter the Ashes (Played 7/20-7/24)

Silverstein (Played 8/2-8/8)

The Skulls (Played 8/19)

Slowdance (Played 7/7-7/18)

Spell Toronto

Stereogram (Played 7/11-7/18)

Stole Your Woman (Played 7/8-7/13)

Suffocate (Played 7/20-7/26)

The Swear (Played 7/28)

Thought Riot (Played 7/2-7/6)

Truth In Fiction (Played 7/24-7/25)

Unit F (Played 6/25-7/2)

Van Stone (Played 7/4-7/7)

Victory Within (Played 7/10-7/18)

Wanted Dead (Played 7/1-7/8)

Windsor (Played 7/1 and 7/6)

Zox (Played 8/16-8/19)

A Thorn For Every Heart (Played 6/25-7/1, 7/6 and 7/24)

The Academy (Played 7/24)

All Rights Reserved (Played 8/5-8/8)

All That's Left (Played 7/29-8/1)

Away From Here (Played 7/13-7/15 and 8/12-8/14)

Bayside (Played 8/15-8/19)

The Bled (Played 7/29-8/8)

Brazil (Played 7/1-8/19)

The Break (Played 7/22-7/28)

Day Two (Played 7/16-7/18)

Deville (Played 8/12-8/14)

Don't Look Down (Played 7/20-7/26)

Dynamite Boy (Played 6/25-6/30 and 7/16-8/19)

Eighteen Visions (Played 6/25-7/15)

Emery (Played 7/9-7/11)

Facing New York (Played 7/4)

From First To Last

Hidden In Plain View

Kiros (Played 7/13-7/15 and 8/12-8/14)

The Matches (Played 6/25-7/11)

Moments in Grace (Played 7/31-8/3)

Northstar (Played 6/25-6/27)

Not Quite Bernadette (Played 7/17-7/18)

Over It (Played 7/16-8/4)

Plans for Revenge (Played 7/3 and 7/8)

Roses Are Red (Played 7/16-7/21)

The Silence (Played 7/2 and 7/7)

Silverstein (Played 8/10-8/19)

The Snake, The Cross, The Crown (Played 7/2 and 7/7)

Somerset (Played 7/25)

The Spill Canvas (Played 7/16)

Stars Hide Fire (Played 8/2-8/6)

Still Life Projector (Played 7/8)

Stimulator (Played 7/1-7/8)

Tokyo Rose (Played 8/15-8/19)

Trophy Scars (Played 8/7-8/10)

Underminded

Underoath

Yesterdays Rising (Played 6/25-7/30)

5 Knuckle Surprise (Played 8/13)

13 Attempts to Fail (Played 7/9)

21 Rest (Played 7/6)

1090 Club (Played 7/16)

A Common Threat (Played 7/16)

A Second Chance (Played 8/7)

Abandon All Hope (Played 6/29)

Abstract Giants (Played 7/24)

Addison (Played 8/3)

Aiden (Played 7/10)

Air Tight Alibi (Played 6/27)

Allotic (Played 7/6)

Ambry (Played 8/19)

Arms of Orion (Played 8/6)

Antik (Played 7/18)

The Aquabats (Played 7/1-7/2 and 7/7)

Arson Cried Fire (Played 8/17)

Athena In Hades (Played 7/8)

The Autumn View (Played 7/25)

Authority Zero (Played 6/30 and 8/1-8/5)

The Bank Robbers (Played 8/8)

Benton (Played 8/10)

Bentvalve (Played 7/4)

Best Interest (Played 7/2)

The Big Screen (Played 7/31)

Billy and the Lost Boys (Played 7/13)

Bop Skizzum (Played 7/18)

Bosio (Played 7/20)

Bowling For Soup (Played 6/25, 6/27, 7/18-8/10 and 8/15-8/19)

Box Elder (Played 7/29)

Broken Horizon (Played 7/1)

BXF (Played 7/11)

Calico Drive (Played 7/15)

Capital Tragedy (Played 8/17)

Capitol Speedway (Played 8/1)

Capone (Played 8/15)

Cellar Door (Played 7/6)

Chances Are (Played 7/8)

Cheap Suits (Played 8/14)

Cherry Bing (Played 8/18)

Chernobyl Kids (Played 8/4)

Clearmotive (Played 8/18)

Coat of Arms (Played 8/5)

Crooked Edge (Played 8/1)

De La Vega (Played 7/9)

Dead Society (Played 8/8)

Death in Graceland (Played 8/16)

Deep Enough To Die (Played 8/10)

Delay (Played 7/23)

Delinquent Monastery (Played 7/3)

Deville (Played 7/15)

D.O.R.K. (Played 7/18)

Dramatic Still Life (Played 7/16)

Drane (Played 6/26)

DV8 (Played 6/25-6/27)

Each on Set (Played 8/12)

ElseWorth (Played 7/2)

Emotional Distress (Played 8/13)

Ender (Played 7/15)

The Escape Engine (Played 8/8)

Existing Away (Played 7/19)

Fail to Follow (Played 7/17)

Fallen From the Sky (Played 7/31)

Falling Process (Played 6/29)

The Feds (Played 6/26)

The Felix Culpa (Played 7/20)

Fell Far Behind (Played 8/6)

Final Underground (Played 7/9)

Firekills (Played 6/27)

Forever July (Played 8/2)

Ghetto Lust (Played 7/1)

Good With Guns (Played 7/26)

Grand Poo Bah (Played 8/14)

Her Candane (Played 7/17)

Highland Drive (Played 8/18)

Hit The Lights (Played 8/16)

Holiday (Played 8/19)

How About No (Played 7/23)

Hydra (Played 7/2 and 7/7)

I Voted For Kodos (Played 7/20)

Ill Figures (Played 7/4)

In This Day (Played 7/29)

International Businessmen (Played 7/10)

Intro5pect (Played 7/1)

Jacobs Ladder (Played 7/31)

Jane Eyre (Played 7/7)

Johnny Action Figure (Played 8/10)

Johnny Psycho (Played 7/23)

Johnny Rock (Played 7/26)

Junior (Played 6/26)

Just For A Day (Played 7/31)

JV Allstars (Played 7/26)

Kane Hodder (Played 7/10)

Key to Arson (Played 7/8)

Kick Over The Traces (Played 8/8)

Kid Deposit Triumph (Played 7/4)

Kincaide (Played 7/13)

Last Action Zeros (Played 6/30)

Last Annual (Played 7/24)

Last Collapse (Played 7/1)

Left Alone

Legbone (Played 8/17)

Light the Sky (Played 7/2)

Logik (Played 6/30)

Losers Luck (Played 7/21)

Lucked Out (Played 8/8)

Ludo (Played 7/13 and 7/21)

Made of Koncentrate (Played 8/12)

The Malcontents (Played 7/22)

Minority (Played 6/26)

Minus Vince (Played 7/3)

Monday In London (Played 8/2)

Monty's Fan Club (Played 7/7-7/17)

Much the Same (Played 7/24 and 8/3-8/10)

My American Heart (Played 7/6)

The Nancy School (Played 7/22)

Nervous Nellie (Played 7/28-8/1)

New Tomorrow (Played 7/6)

No Red Flags (Played 7/11)

The No Talent Show (Played 8/3)

Not Long After (Played 7/11)

NSF (Played 8/12)

O'Doyle Rules (Played 6/25)

Oktober (Played 6/30)

One Mile Wish (Played 7/2)

One Way Letter (Played 7/28)

Once Over (Played 7/6 and 7/8)

Oreon (Played 8/5)

Pacer (Played 8/13)

Patent Pending (Played 8/7)

Pennyroyals (Played 8/8)

The Phoenix Rising (Played 7/24)

The Pink Spiders (Played 7/28)

Plan B (Played 8/19)

Pleased (Played 8/12)

Poopan (Played 7/7)

Powderburn (Played 6/27)

Praxxis (Played 6/25)

The Preps (Played 8/10)

The Prime (Played 8/8)

Punos (Played 8/2)

Quietdrive (Played 7/20 and 7/24-7/25)

The Radikills (Played 7/23)

Rain Fur Rent (Played 7/3)

Red With Envy (Played 7/8)

Reno Divorce (Played 7/18)

The Response (Played 7/20)

Rise or Rust (Played 7/25)

Rockett Queen (Played 6/25)

Rory (Played 7/29)

Rubberhead (Played 6/27)

Rudesquad (Played 7/30)

The Salads (Played 8/14)

Same Old Crap (Played 7/26)

Sarcasm (Played 8/7)

The Scrubs (Played 8/16)

The Second Track (Played 8/1)

Sedona (Played 8/2)

The School Play (Played 7/11)

Shadow Agency (Played 8/1)

ShotBlue (Played 7/1)

Side Out (Played 7/29)

Silence The Wake (Played 8/15)

Silent Opposition (Played 7/10)

The Skeptics (Played 8/19)

Skylar Blue (Played 6/25)

The Skyline (Played 7/21)

The Slurs (Played 7/22)

Sometime in April (Played 8/6)

Sometime Never (Played 8/7)

The Sophomore Year (Played 7/28)

Soulfound (Played 7/30)

Sound Riot (Played 8/4)

The Spicolis (Played 8/14)

Spil (Played 7/22)

Spit for Athena (Played 8/15)

Split Habit (Played 7/24)

Spoiler (Played 6/29)

Spun On Ambition (Played 7/16)

Still Life Projector (Played 7/3)

The Story Changes (Played 8/17)

Straight Forward (Played 7/7)

Strutmore (Played 6/26)

Suburban Shock Syndrome (Played 6/29)

Suburban Tragedy (Played 7/30)

The Swellers (Played 7/23 and 8/15)

Tabula Rasa (Played 8/5)

Tel Star (Played 8/5)

Ten Second Epic (Played 7/15)

Ten Years From Now (Played 8/3)

Thin Dark Line (Played 8/4)

Today's Not Tomorrow (Played 8/18)

Tokyo Rose (Played 8/7)

Trace Element (Played 7/7)

The Trademark (Played 7/17)

Tragedy Andy (Played 7/3)

Transition (Played 8/5)

Truly Sunday (Played 7/30)

Uncrowned (Played 7/28)

Underscore (Played 8/4)

Unlabeled (Played 7/13)

Unjust (Played 7/3)

Useless (Played 8/6)

The Utmost (Played 7/4)

Victim 26 (Played 6/30)

Viscera's Recital (Played 8/13)

Waiting for Daryl (Played 7/9)

Westcott (Played 7/21)

When All Else Fails (Played 8/3)

When Sparks Fly (Played 8/16)

Youth in Asia (Played 7/26)

Youthinasia (Played 8/14)

Arcane

Astronautalis and Mes

B-Girl Temper

Cellar Door

Community Service

Crisis Center

Icon

Immortal Technique

Kanser

The Lordz Of Brooklyn

Pearl Crew

Shankini

Shebang!

Sisters of the Underground

Bring Your Own Weapon (Played 6/30)

Calabrese (Played 6/30)

Casket Life (Played 6/30)

Half Empties (Played 6/30)

Point 9 Percent (Played 6/30)

Scary Kids Scaring Kids (Played 6/30)

Sidetracked (Played 6/30)

Groovie Ghoulies (Played 7/1-8/19)

The Phenomenauts (Played 7/1-8/19)

A Wilhelm Scream (Played 8/16-8/19)

Alone at 3am (Played 8/16)

Amity (Played 7/13-8/19)

Anadivine (Played 8/7-8/8 and 8/18)

As Tall As Lions (Played 8/10-8/13)

Bear Vs. Shark (Played 7/22-7/24 and 8/15)

Before Braille (Played 7/16 and 7/18-7/20)

Before Today (Played 7/13-7/18)

Boys Night Out (Played 8/2-8/19)

Days Like These (Played 7/16-8/19)

Day Two (Played 7/21)

Don't Look Down (Played 8/6-8/7 and 8/10-8/15)

Emanuel (Played 7/21-7/24 and 8/2-8/6)

Endicott (Played 8/16-8/17)

Facing New York (Played 7/13-7/17)

Fear Before the March of Flames (Played 7/18)

Fifteen Minutes Fast (Played 7/21 and 7/26)

Fire When Ready (Played 8/7-8/8 and 8/18-8/19)

From Here On Out (Played 8/14-8/15)

Haddonfield (Played 8/13)

Half the Battle (Played 8/14-8/15)

Halifax (Played 8/4-8/14)

Haste The Day (Played 7/22-7/24)

The Higher (Played 7/13-7/17)

In Passing (Played 7/29-8/1)

In Reverent Fear (Played 7/13-7/15 and 7/18)

Junior Revolution (Played 8/17)

Kiros (Played 7/16-7/17)

The Letters Organized (Played 7/28-7/30)

Lightweight Holiday (Played 7/13-8/19)

The Matches (Played 7/13-7/17, 7/23-7/25, 8/2-8/6 and 8/18-8/19)

Much the Same (Played 7/21-7/22 and 8/16-8/17)

Noise Ratchet (Played 7/18-8/1)

Nor Am I (Played 7/21-8/19)

Nuclear Saturday (Played 7/28 and 7/30)

Offset (Played 7/18)

Salt the Earth (Played 7/26)

Secret Lives of Freemasons (Played 8/1-8/3)

Silverstein (Played 7/25-8/1)

The Snake, The Cross, The Crown (Played 7/13-7/15)

The Softer Side (Played 7/29-8/1)

Socratic (Played 7/31-8/1 and 8/3-8/5)

Split Sense (Played 7/26)

Staring Back (Played 7/13-8/19)

Tokyo Rose (Played 8/8-8/10)

Tora Tora Torrance (Played 7/25)

Waking Ashland (Played 7/13-7/15, 7/20 and 7/25)

The Working Title (Played 7/29-8/1)

[esperwatchesfilms]

Clue (1985)

This is one of my all-time favorite films. I have no clue why. It might be the nostalgia factor. But I’m absolutely obsessed with it. I’ve seen it a million times, but I have never looked into the interesting trivia on its IMDB page, so this will be fun!

Awesome Fun Fact:

The color of each character's car is the same color as their playing piece in the game, and is introduced as follows: Colonel Mustard drives a yellow 1954 Cadillac Series 62, Mrs. White drives a black-and-white 1950 MG TD convertible, Mrs. Peacock drives a blue 1952 Packard 200 Deluxe club sedan, Mr. Green drives a green 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook, Ms. Scarlet drives a 1946 red Lincoln Continental, and Professor Plum drives a purple 1949 Pontiac Streamliner Station Wagon.

Prof. Plum: It’s frightened.

Something I Already Knew But Maybe You Didn’t: When Wadsworth cuts the power to the house during his solving of the mystery, it represents the point of divergence of the three endings.

Amusing Fun Fact: Professor Plum indicates at dinner that he works for the World Health Organization, part of the United Nations Organization. This means he works for UNO WHO.

Wadsworth: Professor Plum -- you were once a professor of psychiatry specializing in helping paranoid and homicidal lunatics suffering from delusions of grandeur. Prof. Plum: Yes, but now I work for the United Nations. Wadsworth: So your work has not changed. But you don’t practice medicine at the U.N. His license to practice has been lifted; correct? Miss Scarlet: Why? What did he do? Wadsworth: You know what doctors aren’t allowed to do with their lady patients? Miss Scarlet: Yeah? Wadsworth: Well, he did. Miss Scarlet: Ha!

Mrs. White: [after Mrs. Peacock swears that the reason she's being blackmailed is a vicious lie] Well, I am willing to believe you. I, too, am being blackmailed for something I didn't do. Mr. Green: Me too. Colonel Mustard: And me. Miss Scarlet: Not me. Wadsworth: [surprised] You're *not* being blackmailed? Miss Scarlet: Oh, I’m being blackmailed all right, but I did what I’m being blackmailed for.

Miss Scarlet: Well, to be perfectly frank, I run a specialized hotel and a telephone service which provides gentlemen with the company of a young lady, for a short while. Professor Plum: Oh yeah? [pulls out pen and a pad of paper] Professor Plum: What's the phone number?

Wadsworth: The double negative has turned to proof positive. I’m afraid you gave yourself away. Colonel Mustard: Are you trying to make me look stupid in front of the other guests? Wadsworth: You don’t need any help from me, sir. Colonel Mustard: That’s right!

Wadsworth: Mrs. White, you've been paying our friend, the blackmailer, ever since your husband died under, shall we say, mysterious circumstances? Miss Scarlet: Ah! [laughs] Mrs. White: Why is that funny? Miss Scarlet: I see! That's why he was lying on his back, in his coffin. Mrs. White: I didn't kill him. Colonel Mustard: Then why are you paying the blackmailer? Mrs. White: I don’t want a scandal, do I? We had had a very humiliating public confrontation. He was deranged. He was -- [points to head] Mrs. White: -- a lunatic! He didn't actually seem to like me very much.

Miss Scarlet: Why would he wanna kill you in public? Wadsworth: I think she meant he threatened, in public, to kill her. Miss Scarlet: Oh. Was that his final word on the matter? Mrs. White: Being killed is pretty final, wouldn't you say? Wadsworth: And yet, he was the one who died, not you, Mrs. White, not you! Miss Scarlet: What did he do for a living? Mrs. White: He was a scientist, nuclear physics. Miss Scarlet: What was he like? Mrs. White: He was always a rather stupidly optimistic man. I mean, I'm afraid it came as a great shock to him when he died, but he was found dead at home.

Mrs. White: I had been out all evening at the movies.

Wadsworth: But, he was your second husband. Your first husband also disappeared. Mrs. White: Well, that was his job. He was an illusionist. Wadsworth: But he never reappeared! Mrs. White: [chuckling, admittedly] He wasn't a very good illusionist.

Prof. Plum: Maybe he was poisoned!

Wadsworth: He decided to put his information to good use and make a little money out of it. What could be more American than that?

Col. Mustard: You lure men to their deaths like a spider with flies! Mrs. White: Flies are where men are most vulnerable.

Mrs. Peacock: No, I just want to powder my nose. Thank you.

Wadsworth: Sorry!

Wadsworth: The key is gone! Professor Plum: Never mind about the key, unlock the door! [smacks Mr. Green on the shoulder] Mr. Green: [grabs Professor Plum by the collar, throttling him] I CAN'T UNLOCK THE DOOR WITHOUT THE KEY! [releasing Plum, Mr. Green rattles doorknob] Mr. Green: LET US IN! LET US IN! Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet: [on other side of locked door] LET US OUT! LET US OUT!

Mrs. Peacock: Our lives are in danger, ya beatnik!

Communism is Just a Red Herring Fact: The line "Communism is just a red herring" is said in all three endings (twice by Wadsworth and once by Miss Scarlet). Not only is it is a pun (particularly after World War II, the Russian Communists were frequently called "reds", for example, the anti-Communist slogan, "Better dead than red."), but it cleverly refers to a MacGuffin (or a real "red herring") implemented by the screenwriters, because none of the murderers motives end up having anything to do with creating political conspiracy. There are various visual red herrings on-screen, such as a hammer and sickle on the shelf beside the torch Colonel Mustard finds, and a bust of Lenin in the attic.

ESE: 125/100

50 +10 for Tim Curry +4 for the dogs +2 for the dog poo shoe +5 for Mr. Green’s obedience (”Sit! No, not you, sir.”) +1 for Mrs. Peacock’s glasses +5 for amazing one-liners +5 for the discussion about why Mrs. White’s being blackmailed -10 for homophobia -5 for The Three Stooges antics when Mr. Boddy’s secret is revealed +5 for not shouting +5 for confusion +5 for most hilarious pairings +10 for secret passages +3 for the ironing board +10 for singing telegram +10 for Wadsworth walking through the whole thing +6 for 3 different endings -10 because the timing makes no sense for Mrs. White to have killed Yvette +10 for Mr. Green going home to sleep with his wife +4 for Clue card credits

[detroitlib]

Pontiac or Obwandiyag (c. 1720 – April 20, 1769) 

Odawa war chief who became noted for his role in Pontiac's War (1763–1766), an American Indian struggle against British military occupation of the Great Lakes region and named for him. (Wikipedia)

Mural by Gari Melchers depicting the conspiracy of Chief Pontiac, located in Adam Strohm Hall at the Detroit Public Library. Mural depicts Pontiac and other chiefs presenting a wampum belt to Major Gladwin, commandant of Fort Detroit. Printed on back: "The Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit 2, Michigan. The conspiracy of Pontiac, a mural by Gari Melchers (1860-1932) in Adam Strohm Hall, Main Library. Lithocolor Division, Microfilms, Inc. Ann Arbor, Michigan."

Courtesy of the Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library

[emmajustin20]

Upcoming Anticipated Science Fiction Films of 2021

Many 2020 films are postponed to 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Science fictions are the genre that always has created enough anticipation that helps them to perform well at the box office. Some of the top next year contenders might opt to release on the streaming platforms.

Fans of the sci-fi genre are excited for the big-budget movie in the upcoming year. This article tried to list some of the famous 2021 sci-fi movies with the “hype factor.”

Chaos Walking (5 March 2021)

Christopher Ford and Patrick Ness write Doug Liman’s upcoming film Chaos Walking. The movie is based on Ness’s 2008 novel sci-fi trilogy, The Knife of Never Letting Go. It stars Daisy Ridley, Tom Holland, Mads Mikkelsen, Demián Bichir, Cynthia Erivo, Nick Jonas, and David Oyelowo.

The movie’s plot follows Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland), who finds a mysterious girl (Daisy Ridley). The girl named Viola crashes on his planet, where all the women disappeared long ago. And the planet only has men afflicted by force called “the Noise”- display their thoughts. Viola’s life is in danger, and Todd promises to protect her.

Chaos Walking was initially set to release on 1 March 2019. However, the film underwent reshoots due to poor response during the test screening. The film is rescheduled to release on 5 March 2021 by Lionsgate.

Black Widow (7 May 2021)

Cate Shortland’s Black Widow is an upcoming superhero movie based on the character of the same name. It is the 24th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film stars Scarlett Johansson in the title role, alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz as the supporting cast.

The story of the film is the continuation of Captain America: Civil War. Natasha Romanoff finds herself forced and alone in a dangerous conspiracy. Romanoff also has to deal with her broken relationship and her history as a spy.

The development of the movie began in 2004 by Liongate. For some reason, the film did not move forward, and Marvel Studios bought the movie’s rights in 2006. Later Johansson shared her interest in a solo movie several times before Shortland and Schaeffer were hired in 2019. Later she became a part of the film.

Black Widow is scheduled to release on 7 May 2021 in the United States. The release date was delayed twice since May 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Suicide Squad (6 August 2021)

James Gunn’s upcoming superhero movie is based on the DC Comics antihero team. It is the tenth movie and standalone sequel to Suicide Squad. It stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Peter Capaldi, Sylvester Stallone, and Viola Davis. Robbie will be featured in the role of Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn.

The movie’s plot follows some convicts of Task Force X, who are sent on a new, sentence-easing mission to South American. It is a Nazi-era prison and held political prisoners. The team announced the sequel project in March 2016. The movie has then gone through many ups and downs. The film’s shooting started in September 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia, and the filming concluded in Panama in February 2020.

The Suicide Squad is scheduled for 6 August 2021, released theatrically in the United States and on HBO Max on the same day.

The above are a few upcoming anticipated science fiction films of 2021.

Hi, I’m Kinsley. I’m a web developer living in Pontiac, USA. I am a fan of web development, programming, and entrepreneurship. I’m also interested in innovation. You can read my blog such as, www.office.com/setup

Source: Upcoming Anticipated Science Fiction Films of 2021

[romancandlemagazine]

An Interview with John Lurie

Whilst most humanoids struggle to master even one useful skill in life, John Lurie is one of those adept rapscallions who can seemingly turn their hand to pretty much anything — from acting to angling.

This knack has led to a fairly stacked C.V. which involves such notable achievements as forming a rule-flouting jazz band called The Lounge Lizards, appearing in films like Down by Law, Paris, Texas and Wild at Heart and showing his paintings in exhibitions all over the planet.

And if all that wasn’t enough, he’s also hosted his own fishing show, and, with the help of Dennis Hopper, once came particularly close to snagging the elusive giant squid.

Here’s what he had to say about fishing, New York in the '70s and the importance of humour in the world...

First question… your television programme Fishing with John is mint. How did that come about?

I was threatening to do it for a long time, but wasn’t really serious. I would go fishing with Willem and we would video tape it. I flew out one New Year’s Eve to play with Tom Waits and the next day we went and fished with Stephen Torton video taping it.

This woman, Debra Brown, saw the tapes, home movies actually, and brought them to a Japanese company that was looking to get involved in things in New York.

She came back to me and said they wanted to make a pilot. I believe my response was, "Are you kidding?"

When you watch a film or television program, you only see the end result. What was it like filming that thing? Were there any mad struggles?  

If you see something good, you can just assume there were mad struggles. If you see something bad, you can assume that people were too lazy to take on the mad struggles.

If I am flicking through the channels looking for a movie, I can tell you in five seconds if a movie is going to be any good by the sound of the door closing or the light or the music or whatever.

Why do you think people love fishing so much?  

First off, so we can go to these beautiful places and pretend to be doing something. We wouldn’t go if there were nothing to do. And there is that visceral thing. A big fish on the line is like that exhilarating sports thing, like hitting a baseball perfectly or shooting a basket and the net just goes swish.

And then there is that thing of the world of mystery, right next to the world we are living in. What is in there? We are only going to be aware of what is there with a hook and a nylon string.

So of course we have to drag this amazing creature out of the water and kill it because human beings are pretty much ridiculous. The last bit is not why we love fishing, it’s just an observation.

I’d say it’s a pretty sharp observation. Did you ever face anger from the fishing community due to the lack of more conventional fishing?

Yes.

Why isn’t more television like Fishing with John? I hear we’re supposedly in the age of ‘peak TV’ or whatever, but why is there so much boring stuff out there?

The great thing about this, and a big shout out to Kenji Okabe from Telecom Japan, was they left me alone. I am fairly certain that the reason Breaking Bad was so great was because they left Vince Gilligan alone.

With most projects there are all these people meddling with what you do, to ruin it. The Gatekeepers. It is almost like there is a conspiracy to maintain mediocrity.

Going back a bit now, am I right in saying you’re from Minneapolis originally. What were you into as a child?

At first, dinosaurs and archeology. Then reptiles, particularly snakes after we moved to New Orleans. I was going to open my own snake farm. Then I was pretty sure one day, I would play center field for the Yankees.

An attainable dream. You moved to New York in the late 70s, and not long after, you started The Lounge Lizards. It seems like New York at that time is glamourized a bit now, but what was it like for you? What food did you eat? Where did you go at night? What streets were good to walk down? What did it smell like?

I was trying to remember the food I ate back then and couldn’t remember. I was pretty broke most of the time. They used to serve hors d’oevres at gallery openings and cheese became a large part of my regular diet.

Almost every night, or maybe not even “almost” — more like every night — we went to the Mudd Club. More than what streets were “good” to walk down, I can tell you which streets were bad to go down. I lived on East Third St across from the Men’s Shelter, so my block smelled of rotting garbage and urine.

What are some bits that people don’t talk about from that time? What sucked about back then?

It went fairly quickly from people having more relentless fun than any period in human history to a fairly grim time, a year or two later. There was the beginning of AIDs. I had many friends who were dying or horrifyingly sick. People were getting strung out. There were many deaths. Car accidents. People fell out of windows.

Also, with the artistic promise that was there, the output is disappointing. I suppose the wildness led to a lack of discipline and the work wasn’t nearly as good as it should have been.

I might be wrong, but it seems like at that time people just did what they felt like doing… people made films, music or anything else, with no regard for budget. I suppose for example, you made a film called Men in Orbit in your apartment for $500. Where did this freedom come from?

The freedom came from a ferocious demand to have that freedom at any cost. But it is odd or sad, because the more talented of those people seem to have gone unknown and the people who are now household names are, mostly, the ones who played the game by the rules from the beginning.

Do you think people nowadays get too hung up on money? Or perhaps too hung up on success?

I think people nowadays for the most part are quite lost and afraid. So they do whatever they think they must do to have a successful career, even if it means that they are making shit — and it usually does mean they are making shit.

The Lounge Lizard’s album, Voice of Chunk is an amazing record. What sort of stuff were you listening to when you made that? And who is Bob the Bob?  

The listening came from earlier in my life. Evan and I would devour everything. From Stravinsky to Monk to Little Walter to Coltrane to Tibetan music to Ellington to Dolphy to Pigmy music (you get the idea).

Later, when working on my own stuff, I stopped listening to pretty much everything. Though when I was in Morocco doing Last Temptation, I played a lot with Gnawa musicians that shifted me a bit. And around that time Evan discovered Piazzolla.

Bob the Bob is Kazu from Blonde Redhead. That is her mouth on the cover of the record. I still call her Bob.

You’re a prolific painter. Are there certain things that you notice recurring in your paintings?

I live on a small Caribbean island. There are flowers everywhere. I don’t like to think that they influence what I paint but they do. Fucking flowers.

A lot of people paint when they’re young, then stop. Why do you think that is? How come you didn’t stop?

The best paintings I have seen in the last 30 years or so are the ones taped to refrigerators. I don’t know why people stop painting or when they don't stop, why the painting gets so stiff.

I am sure my mother, who painted herself and taught art in Liverpool where the Beatles went, but not at the same time, had something to do with me keeping a freedom in my work. To not be afraid of that childlike dream thing.

Though it has been suggested that it may be time for me to get in touch with my “inner adult.”

How do you know when a painting is finished?

I ask Nesrin. If she says it is finished, I know it isn’t.

You seem like a pretty funny guy. Do you think humour is sometimes underrated? Do people take stuff too seriously sometime?

I think humor is immensely important. I think humor can shift society’s consciousness in a better way than almost anything else. So from Shakespeare to Mark Twain to Lenny Bruce to Richard Pryor and many more - these people shifted things for the better.

Do you know who was president when Mark Twain was at his peak? Benjamin Harrison. Who the fuck was Benjamin Harrison?

What are your thoughts on the internet? It seems like it’s a big thing these days.

I get so disappointed with people because I feel like social media could be an enormously positive thing for the world. And I certainly don’t mean to exclude humor, just I have heard enough fart jokes for one lifetime…

Something that bothers me quite a bit, is a star athlete gets hurt and then the response on places like twitter is close to joy. What kind of bitterness about your own life would make you behave like that?

You’ve just recently released a new Marvin Pontiac album after 17 years. This one is called The Asylum Tapes, and was reportedly made on a four track recorder in a mental institution. Back story aside, what made you want to make an album again?  

I have Advanced Lyme, so I was unable to play anything for a long time. Actually because of what was happening to me neurologically, I couldn’t even hear music for the first few years — it was more like fingernails on a blackboard.

As I slowly got better, I was able to play guitar and harmonica again, though playing saxophone would seem to be done for me in this life.

But I am very proud of this album and hope people get a chance to hear it. I made it to cheer people up.

Are people still confused about who Marvin Pontiac is?

I suppose so. He is a character I created to make this music. I suppose that is bad marketing, but fuck it.

Would the album be different if it was a John Lurie album? Do you feel like you can get away with more stuff as Marvin Pontiac? Or maybe what I mean is, is it easier to say some things as Marvin Pontiac?

Yes, absolutely. Marvin gives me a certain freedom. I doubt I would put out a record where I sing about a bear saying, “Smell my sandwich.”  But I’m happy that I get a chance to do that.

The lyrics are pretty straight up and direct. Do you sit and stew on songs and ideas for long, or do you just get it out?

Often they just come straight up. Like 'My Bear To Cross' I pretty much just came up with it live in the studio. Some took quite a while. And there are a couple where I never found the right lyrics to finish off a song and put them aside.

Okay, last question… do you think a lot of stuff is too over-thought and over-prepared? Does thinking sometimes get in the way?

Let me think about that.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.5 (before 1900)

AD 25 – Guangwu claims the throne as Emperor of China, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty. 70 – Fires resulting from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem are extinguished. 642 – Battle of Maserfield: Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria. 1068 – Byzantine–Norman wars: Italo-Normans begin a nearly-three-year siege of Bari. 1100 – Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. 1278 – Spanish Reconquista: the forces of the Kingdom of Castile initiate the ultimately futile Siege of Algeciras against the Emirate of Granada. 1305 – First Scottish War of Independence: Sir John Stewart of Menteith, the pro-English Sheriff of Dumbarton, successfully manages to capture Sir William Wallace of Scotland, leading to Wallace's subsequent execution by hanging, evisceration, drawing and quartering, and beheading 18 days later. 1388 – The Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England, is fought near Otterburn. 1506 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Crimean Khanate in the Battle of Kletsk. 1583 – Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. 1600 – The Gowrie Conspiracy against King James VI of Scotland (later to become King James I of England) takes place. 1620 – The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England, carrying would-be settlers, on its first attempt to reach North America; it is forced to dock in Dartmouth when its companion ship, the Speedwell, springs a leak. 1689 – Beaver Wars: Fifteen hundred Iroquois attack Lachine in New France. 1716 – Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718): One-fifth of a Turkish army and the Grand Vizier are killed in the Battle of Petrovaradin. 1735 – Freedom of the press: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he had published was true. 1772 – First Partition of Poland: The representatives of Austria, Prussia, and Russia sign three bilateral conventions condemning the ‘anarchy’ of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and imputing to the three powers ‘ancient and legitimate rights’ to the territories of the Commonwealth. The conventions allow each of the three great powers to annex a part of the Commonwealth, which they proceed to do over the course of the following two months. 1763 – Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run: British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run. 1781 – The Battle of Dogger Bank takes place. 1796 – The Battle of Castiglione in Napoleon's first Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars. 1824 – Greek War of Independence: Konstantinos Kanaris leads a Greek fleet to victory against Ottoman and Egyptian naval forces in the Battle of Samos. 1858 – Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It will operate for less than a month. 1860 – Charles XV of Sweden of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway in Trondheim. 1861 – American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US$800; rescinded in 1872). 1861 – The United States Army abolishes flogging. 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge: Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops attempt to take the city, but are driven back by fire from Union gunboats. 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Mobile Bay begins at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports. 1874 – Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled after a similar system in the United Kingdom. 1888 – Bertha Benz drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in the first long distance automobile trip, commemorated as the Bertha Benz Memorial Route since 2008.

[porcupine-girl]

1) Dont forget Bob Singer as one of the pieces in play, because I will never not be suspicious of him and I think that while the Walker stuff could have been a factor, if the network even looked at him funny he would’ve rolled RIGHT over in relief rather than push back. I am willing to give Dabb a tiny bit of the benefit of the doubt but not Singer unless I see solid proof that he wanted a destiel ending. This is the guy who basically laughed at fans for being upset about Charlie’s death and was overheard to have said (about disgruntled fans) something to the effect of “they’ll watch whatever we give them.”

2) Having stared at barn pictures for a while both before and after the finale, I am NOT at all convinced it’s the same barn. If anything it looks like the barn from On the Head of a Pin (an early Cas episode and interestingly one that is rumored to be the original or one of the original episodes he was supposed to die in). There is a lot of space between the slats of wood in the walls, which the Lazarus Riding barn (as you can see in the pic up there) does not have. Here is the very lightened version of the shot shown above of the barn in the finale:

Lots of light getting in there between the boards. Nothing like Cas’s barn.

3) I don’t think the fact that it’s not the Lazarus Rising barn means much either way, honestly. There’s one reason for them to use that barn and a million reasons they might use a different one whether the scene was originally written as-is or not (starting with the fact that even if they wanted to recreate any part of that scene, Sam and Dean are in Akron, OH rather than Pontiac, IL).

4) This does have some bits of info I hadn’t seen before that are making me wonder about this conspiracy theory for the first time, so fucking kudos for that, man. You’ve pulled me in. In particular that Portuguese dub thing is pretty crazy - it’s not in the two linked posts (that I noticed? Sorry if I missed it), does anyone have a source for that? I have been informed that this has been debunked as fake. So who knows what to believe anymore.

I am READY for PowerPoint night

let me know what I’m missing lmao. Based on several great posts (x) (x)