#induction year: 2005

[nfr-reviews]

NFR Reviews #4: San Francisco Earthquake & Fire: April 18, 1906

Released 1906 / Inducted 2005

Watch film here

There’s a clear progression here, a gradual tone shift that begins around the four-minute mark. At first, the camera pans slowly over the razing of giant destroyed walls and billowing clouds of smoke that sometimes obscure half the frame. When people appear, they’re either far in the distance or hurrying offscreen as soon as they can. By the end, people are the camera’s main focus, not an accidental scattered presence. They eat together in the streets and pose with mugs of some drink, fill the streets with horse-drawn carriages (complete with a joke about those newfangled automobiles), overstuff themselves into trollies, and pack boats as refugees to Oakland. 

The land that became San Francisco sits atop the San Andreas Fault, the meeting point of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. Earthquakes are inevitable whenever a lateral motion between the plates occurs. On April 18, 1906 at 5:12 AM, an earthquake was felt from Oregon to south of Los Angeles. The quake is tied to San Francisco in collective memory due to the three-day fire it caused. There were roughly 3,000 deaths and 225,000 left homeless. A central tension of both the film and wider earthquake recovery was whether to downplay the extent of the damage for the sake of the economy or to share the full knowledge in order to improve long-term safety. 

The film’s vast isolation gives way to a cramped togetherness that almost resembles normality–at least until a title card shows soldiers stationed outside the bank with a shoot-to-kill order in the event of looting. Their presence communicates that the normal operations of law and order are prevailing over the chaos of the earthquake, people’s life savings protected. Military, police, and firefighters provided the city with relief at rapid speed, tearing down buildings to prevent fire spread after destroyed water mains prevented typical firefighting methods. The “kill looters'' order was issued by the mayor, Eugene Schmitz, despite him not having the authority to declare martial law and thus suspend normal operations of civil law (that authority fell to the California governor or US president). Confusion ensued over which forms of laws were even in effect. Due process fell to the wayside. Homeowners retrieving their own belongings and people seeking help were mistaken for looters, including one instance of a man being shot exiting his own home. Authors writing about the disaster chose to emphasize the city’s quick recovery and portrayed the military as saviors, but their presence brought both relief from earthquake-caused fires and civilian deaths from gunfire.

San Francisco’s leadership downplayed the severity of the disaster on multiple occasions. They undercounted death rates to the point where the San Francisco Bulletin’s editor joked that the death count of sunstroke during a typical East Coast summer killed more people than the earthquake. Their quick rebuild didn’t implement as many long-term earthquake safety measures as there could have been, only adding new regulations if they didn’t cost too much time or money. They minimized the earthquake in favor of calling the disaster “fire-based” because fires can start anywhere but San Francisco’s propensity for earthquakes might scare off investors. Even after the earthquake, city officials didn’t declare a 1907 plague outbreak a public health emergency and antagonized the Board of Health until Edward Taylor became mayor and took action against the disease. This was to protect the still-ongoing economic recovery. 

Which reveals the reason for doing this: the city was a key hub of business in the western US, and their leaving would cost the city desperately needed money and jobs. However, not all San Franciscans had the same chance to take advantage of economic opportunities or even post-earthquake emergency services. Working class people, who lived in crowded wooden housing, were hit the hardest by the quake and fire. Chinese people were segregated, generally unable to find work outside Chinatown, and scapegoated as disease carriers before the quake. After the quake, they were frequently relocated away from white survivors by officials and barred from relief efforts. 

Despite efforts to downplay the disaster, scientific research laid groundwork for future generations of earthquake safety policy. The governor appointed a State Earthquake Investigation Commission, the first government-backed earthquake investigation in the US. Their 1908 final report contained extensive coverage of seismographic records, photos and maps of damaged locations, and explanations of how building construction and underlying soil/rock type affected how damaged buildings became. It was still being cited in earthquake safety proposals a century later. Measurements from triangulation surveys (showing how much angles changed in fixed lines on the ground) lead to the development of the elastic rebound theory. The US Geological Survey defines the theory as “how the earth's crust gradually and elastically distorts with accumulating plate motion until it is suddenly returned to its undistorted state by rapid slip along a fault, releasing the years of accumulated strain and, in the process, generating seismic waves that produce shaking.” The idea of fault ruptures creating earthquakes instead of the other way around only gained wide acceptance after the 1906 quake research. Generations of scientists built on knowledge shared in the wake of 1906. Predicting the timing of future earthquakes is still imprecise, but experts can tell which areas will be hit hardest by fault rupturing. Engineering, zoning, and building codes are all influenced by this data to protect from future disasters the best they can. 

So where does the film fit into all this? The people-focused sections, especially the bit about troubles vanishing at mealtime and the shots of bustling horse-drawn carriages add to the "extremely quick recovery” narrative that the government was also projecting. The film avoids the most egregious crisis-downplaying, though. There’s no effort to hide the fact that an earthquake occurred and not just a fire. They do mention Chinese people in this while discussing refugees who had to leave belongings behind; they refer to them as an offensive term, but don't engage in the scapegoating rampant among residents at the time. The coverage isn’t super detailed, but it was more comprehensive than many of its filmic predecessors. Nonfiction filmmaking up to this point was dominated by actualities, which were rarely over two minutes long and lacked editing or structure. This film’s edited intertitles attempt to educate viewers, add context for the images, and give specific names to places like Market Street and St. Patrick’s Church. Nowadays, many more in-depth sources are available who utilize information discovered after this film was released. The film functions as one of those Registry entries where its greatest importance comes not from narrative or filmmaking craft but from needing to preserve footage of a major historical event. At the time, while somewhat playing into the dominant “we’re fine, we swear” narratives, it offered a decent overview of the topic to viewers far away from the damage.

Sources

https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/san-francisco-earthquake-and-fire.pdf

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18april/revolution.php

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18april/

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/why-are-there-so-many-earthquakes-and-faults-western-united-states

https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/actuality

https://hazards.colorado.edu/uploads/observer/2006/may06/may06.pdf

https://www.cairn.info/revue-annales-de-demographie-historique-2010-2-page-217.htm?contenu=article

https://escholarship.org/content/qt00f913xm/qt00f913xm_noSplash_2a0a8269463659626adcab8d09b6366f.pdf?t=p0tadq

https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/1906-earthquake-law-enforcement.htm

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I wasn't a royal watcher in 2007 when Kate and William split. Could you share more about it? How? What happened? Why? How did they reconcile? Curious mind!

There’s not a whole lot known about the split since neither Kate nor William have gone on the record to speak about it.

What we know (and most of this is assumptions from a few leaks and some side stories) is this.

In December 2006, Kate and her parents were William’s guests at his passing-out parade at Sandringham Academy. This is considered to be Kate’s official debut as William’s girlfriend, after about 4 years of dating. The Middletons’ appearance at the event made engagement rumors and speculation EXPLODE. Apparently it freaked William out a bit.

In early 2007 (sometime between January and March), William was waffling about whether to commit and kept signing up for new military rotations and trainings. Eventually Philip advised him to, more or less, shit or get off the pot; it wasn’t fair to string Kate along. William decided and broke up with her. Kate accepted it. They went their separate ways - William to do military stuff and Kate went to her family.

Kate decided (maybe on Carole’s advice, it’s not really clear) that she was just going to live her life. She went dancing at clubs with her sister and their friends - most of the clubbing pictures from 2007 are from this time. In April 2007, she signed up for a charity crew/rowing event and began practicing with the team. Royal reporters called Kate to ask about the relationship and what happened. Kate said something like “I haven’t spoken to reporters before and I don’t think it’s appropriate to start now” and they all backed off.

Eventually William began to miss Kate and asked her to take him back. She refused until either he showed some kind of commitment or they discussed getting married. Whatever he did, Kate was satisfied by it and they got back together in June, relaunching their relationship at the Concert for Diana on July 1st, though it wasn’t confirmed until a few weeks later when it was announced that Kate had pulled out of the charity rowing race.

(There’s some speculation that the Queen ordered Kate to quit the team but everything we’ve seen of Kate’s behavior since the relationship outed in 2004 indicates that Kate chose to quit on her own discretion because she had become too much of a distraction and the photographers/crowds watching the practices were disruptive.)

Also, by the way, it was around this time when Katie Nicholls coined the nickname “Waity Katie” while writing about Kate (though she refuses all accountability) and the press, tabloids especially, began using it relentlessly in their coverage of Kate.

Next, in 2008, three Very Big things happened.

First, William received his Air Force wings in April 2008 from Charles. Kate attended the ceremony and this is the first time they were photographed together in a quasi-official way that made it clear they were a) back together and b) very committed.

Second, William asked Kate to represent him at Peter and Autumn Phillips’s wedding in May 2008 when he couldn’t attend for another commitment. This is when Kate met The Queen for the first time. (They speak about this a little bit in the engagement interview.)

Third, Kate attended the Order of the Garter service in June 2008 as William’s guest when he was inducted in as the 1,000th member. She was given a space on the porch alongside Harry and Camilla. This essentially signaled to everyone that they were eventually going to marry (because you don’t go to an event like that without some kind of tacit approval and plan) and we were off to the races.

(Also William and Kate had a few smaller break-ups/pauses through 2005 and 2006 but they were never picked up by and reported in the press the way the 2007 breakup was so the 2007 breakup is considered the “main” breakup. It’s also the inflection point for alternate timelines in royal fanfiction.)

And anon, if you haven’t already, definitely give the engagement interview a watch. I linked to it above. You’ll learn a lot about the way Kate is from what she says and how she carries herself in it.

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Earlene Dennis Brown

Earlene Dennis Brown, a three-time Olympian, was the first African American woman to win a medal in the shot put. Throughout her life Brown excelled in a variety of sports, gaining attention, recognition, and honors. She is the only shot-putter to compete in three consecutive Olympics (1956, 1960, 1964). Brown won Olympic bronze for Women’s shot put in 1960; was Amateur Athletic Union Champion in shot put (1956-62, 1964); won Amateur Athletic Union Championship, discus (1958-59, 1961); won gold medal in shot put, silver medal in discus, USA-USSR dual meet (1958); was shot put and discus champion, Pan-American Games (1959); and placed 12th in shot put, Tokyo Olympics (1964).

Earlene Dennis, born July 11, 1935, in Latexo, Texas to Espenola Tillis Dennis, a domestic servant, and Willie Dennis, a semipro baseball player with the Negro League in Texas. When her parents separated in 1938, Dennis remained with her mother and they moved to Los Angeles in 1945. Dennis’s mother married Julius Walker in 1946. Dennis attended Jordan High School in South Central Los Angeles, where she excelled in track and field. Her athletic ability was noticed by many, including Adeline Valdez, Dennis’s high school gym teacher, Josephine Spearman, and Coach Clarence Mackey, who tried to get her to compete in the Helsinki Olympics (in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland). Valdez is credited with putting the first discus in Dennis’ hands while her history teacher taught her to shot put. Before competing in shot put and discus, Dennis anchored the relay team.

In 1956, Brown finished in the top ten in the shot put and the discus. In 1958 Brown received the #1 world ranking and became the first American to break the 50-foot barrier. Brown won gold medals in the shot put as well as discus events at the Pan American Games in 1959. At the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 Brown placed 12th in the shot put.

Brown retired from the shot put competition in 1965. The same year she took up another sport, roller derby. Brown’s career in skating began as a blocker for the New York Bombers.

In 1975, Brown retired from all athletic ventures and worked as a beautician to provide for herself and family. On May 1, 1983, Earlene Dennis Brown passed away in Compton, California at the age of 47. On December 1, 2005, Earlene Brown was posthumously inducted in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame by the USA Track and Field (USATF) Association during the Jesse Owens Awards and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Jacksonville, Florida.

[mydaddywiki]

Bobby Bowden

Physique: Average Build Height: 5'9"

Robert Cleckler Bowden (November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college football coaches of all time for his accomplishments with the Seminoles. Bowden was first among active coaches for winning percentage in bowl games at the time of his retirement, and is currently second for all-time bowl wins and second for bowl appearances.

The beloved Hall of Fame coach led FSU to an National Title in 1993 and a BCS National Championship in 1999, as well as 12 ACC championships. But fuck that shit! He was sexy southern guy who is just adorable at any time in his coaching career that got me giddy. Giddy? Yeah I said giddy.

The beloved, folksy Hall of Fame coach led FSU to an National Title in 1993 and a BCS National Championship in 1999, as well as 12 ACC championships. But fuck that shit! He was sexy southern guy who is just adorable at any time in his coaching career that got me giddy. Giddy? Yeah I said giddy. A devout Christian, Bowden didn’t smoke or drink, and “dadgummit” seemed the sharpest word in his vocabulary. Which some how makes him hotter to me.

Sadly, passed away Aug. 8, 2021 at the age of 91, after a battle with cancer. The Birmingham, AL native and his wife had six children, including two who became college football coaches, former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden and current University of Louisiana at Monroe coach Terry Bowden. I would probably toss a dick to all four of his sons, particularly Terry. Good genes I guess.

But back in the 90s, DAMN Bobby was scorching hot and I would have loved to make him cum. Accept his Christian faith wouldn't have allowed that. But I could dream.

Head Coaching Record Overall 377–129–4 Bowls 21–10–1

Accomplishments and Honors Championships 2 National (1993, 1999), 12 ACC (1992–2000, 2002–2003, 2005), 2 ACC Atlantic Division (2005, 2008)

Awards: Bobby Dodd COY (1980), Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1991), Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (2011)

College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 (profile)

[kudzucataclysm]

SE Timeline Rough Draft

Early 1800s - Martians arrive on Earth after a century of observation. They either land in central Siberia or the Alps. Over the course of a couple years, the Martians split up to infiltrate human society. They are extremely successful.

1868 - Computers are invented.

1889 - Lupe Altena is born.

1897 - Personal computers invented. Sold to the general public.

1904 - Hammond is created.

1909 - There are over 500 webpages on the world wide web. This is the start of the internet.

1914 - WW1.

1917 - Carmine Keller is born.

1922 - WW1 ends in a “stalemate” with the establishment of multiple European DMZs. 

1925 - The first man in space. A political party, “The Machine”, takes the majority of power in congress.

1930s - Britain goes to war with Japan. Superscience race begins, leading to the invention of the atomic bomb. Lupe splits from The Machine (The New Machine) and funds the creation of the Martian hunting team known as ATLAS. First mutant powers begin to emerge.

1940s - Economic stagnation as conflicts at the European DMZs begin to escalate. America looks to profit as it appears another outbreak of total war may occur in Europe. Hammond and Azelfafage meet; Lupe catches ADP. Friday joins ATLAS.

1951 - Yellowstone Incident. Global atomic war begins 7 hours later. The winter of that year lasts for almost a decade.

1951-1969 - Famine. Plague. Civil war. Nuclear, broken weather. Superpowered chaos. Tall tales emerging from the wastes of red creatures with a hundred eyes… 

1955? - Lupe Altena establishes the Promethean Society and headquarters The New Machine in the outskirts of the former city of Chicago.

1958 - The construction of what will eventually be known as “The NEC” begins.

1960s - Countries not as devastated by the atomic war (such as Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Switzerland, Argentina, etc) attempt peacekeeping operations in the United States with little to no success. The Disincorporated United States of America is established, and a corporate committee of “superheroes” acts as its sword.

1970? - Martians reveal themselves to the world, promising aid and support in exchange for Earth’s resources. They soon begin terraforming Earth’s atmosphere in order to ensure a major ice age.

1971 - Intersolar Protocol is signed. A new species, known as “Chimera”, explodes across the world.

1973 - Maya Fontaine is born.

1974 - Carson Keller is born.

1980s - Necropolis turns into a tower of Babel, a megacity of stacked/layered cities, out in the middle of Lake Michigan due to the Martian King Azelfafage. The city’s population grows to the size of a country, and is unofficially regarded as such (to the ire of DUSA). It becomes a free economic zone, influenced largely by foreign capital.

1990 - Lupe Altena disappears. The authority of the NEC falls into feudalism between cities and layers. Francis Mueller is born.

1991 - Outbreak of firestorms across the southern states. Desmond Arkady is born.

1995 - Hammond disappears.

1999 - Francis experiences a “medical incident”. She develops a form of amnesia.

2000 - Francis and Vincent meet.

2003 - Sloane Arkady abandons the family. Francis is handed over to alleged crime lord Carmine Keller.

2004 - The remnants of the Arkady family move to the NEC.

2005 - Desmond is inducted into the Promethean School of Science.

[thedisabilitybookarchive]

Lis Hartel- Disabled Olympian, Equestrian Champion

Olympic season is in full swing, so it seems only appropriate to give a little love to some of history's most notable disabled Olympians as the games get underway. What better place to start than with the story of Lis Hartel and the impact she had upon equstrian sport.

[ID: A book cover. The cover art shows a brown horse being led by a woman in a black dressage suit. The background is light blue. A beam of light is shining on the woman and horse. Text above them reads: The title “Jubilee” in large red writing, “The First Therapy and an Olympic Dream” below in smaller black writing. “By KT Johnson” and “Illustrated by Anabella Ortiz” below in smaller, black capitals. /end]

🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎 [22 horse emojis]

Hartel was trained in the art of equestrian sport from a fairly young age, regularly competing in showjumping and dressage competitions by her teens, and, eventually becoming the Danish dressage champions in 1943 and 1944. In September of the latter year, at the age of 23 and whilst pregnant with her second daughter, Hartel contracted polio.

The disease left her paralysed below the knees, though she decided to continue her equestrian career against medical advice.

In 1947, then, Hartel finished second at the Scandinavian championships. She would then win a silver medal in individual dressage at the 1952 Olympics, becoming one of the first four women to compete in Olympic equestrian sport against men, and only losing out on the gold by 20 points, coming second to Swedish rider Henri Saint Cyr. At the 1956 Olympics, she would go on to be awarded another silver medal in individual dressage, again only coming second to Henri Saint Cyr.

Hartel was also the Danish dressage champion from 1952-54, securing the title again in both 1956 and 1959.

She eventually retired from competitive riding sometime later but continued to coach, give demonstrations, and raise money for polio survivors and therapy riding for disabled people.

In 1992, Hartel was inducted into Denmark's Hall of Fame. Two years later, in 1994, she became the first Scandinavian to be inducted into the International Women's Hall of Fame, and, in 2005, she was named one of Denmark's top ten all-time athletes, an honour she still holds today.

Hartel would pass away in 2009, at the age of 87, but her legacy as a decorated Olympian, equestrian, and great disabled athlete continues to live on.

The Lis Hartel Foundation in the Netherlands continued her work in the disabled community, by creating and providing riding opportunities for disabled riders.

Her Olympic success and position as a disabled athlete was greatly admired at the time and inspired many other "fledgling" movements, including the momentum that would eventually lead to the formation of the Riding for Disabled People's Association in the UK.

She has been written about countless times, with her story even being transformed into a children's educational picture book by KT Johnson (information for which can be found in the archive).

Yes, Hartel's impact on both equestrian sport and sporting history as a whole can never be denied. And so let us close out this Disability Pride Month by honouring a great disabled champion:

[ID: Black and white photograph of Lis Hartel riding a horse. /end]

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires.

- René Girard (1923-2015)

Frnechman René Girard’s work has been enjoying a renaissance in recent years. He has long been recognised for his theory of human behaviour and human culture. In 2005 he was inducted into the Académie française, and in 2008 he received the Modern Language Association's award for Lifetime Scholarly Achievement. He was Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.

Back more than 50 years ago, René Girard started teaching French literature because he needed a job. He hadn't even read many of the books he was assigned to teach. Then, as he studied the classic novels of Stendhal and Proust with a fresh mind, staying one step ahead of his students, he was struck by a series of similarities from novel to novel. Unbound by any narrow research agenda, Girard discovered a simple but powerful pattern that had eluded sophisticated critics before him: imitation is the fundamental mechanism of human behaviour.

Stories thrive on conflict between characters. By reading the great writers against the grain of conventional wisdom, Girard realised that people don't fight over their differences. They fight because they are the same, and they want the same things. Not because they need the same things (food, sex, scarce material goods), but because they want what will earn others' envy. Humans, with a planning intelligence that sets them apart from all other animals, are free to choose. With freedom comes risk and uncertainty: humans don't know in advance what to choose, so they look to others for cues.

People can desire anything, as long as other people seem to desire it, too: that is the meaning of Girard's concept of "mimetic desire." Since people tend toward the same objects of desire, jealousy and rivalry are inevitable sources of social tension.

[kiki-de-la-petite-flaque]

Pretenders front woman Chrissie Hynde with James Honeyman Scott in tow. For a brief shining moment they had brass in pocket, and they weren’t afraid to use it, and then the musician’s curse reared its ugly head. In 1982 and 1983 both Scott and bass player Pete Farndon expired due to drug intolerance leaving only Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers remaining as original members.

In March 2005, The Pretenders were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, the band performed "Precious" and "Message of Love". During her acceptance speech, Hynde named and thanked all the replacement members of the group, then said:

"I know that the Pretenders have looked like a tribute band for the last 20 years. ... And we're paying tribute to James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon, without whom we wouldn't be here. And on the other hand, without us, they might have been here, but that's the way it works in rock 'n' roll."

[gone2soon-rip]

TINA TURNER (1939-Died May 24th 2023,at 83).American-born and naturalized Swiss singer, dancer, actress and author. Widely referred to as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer.Turner began her career with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1957. Under the name Little Ann, she appeared on her first record, "Boxtop", in 1958. In 1960, she debuted as Tina Turner with the hit duet single "A Fool in Love". The duo Ike & Tina Turner became "one of the most formidable live acts in history".They released hits such as "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", "River Deep – Mountain High", "Proud Mary", and "Nutbush City Limits" before disbanding in 1976.In the 1980s, Turner launched "one of the greatest comebacks in music history".Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer contained the hit song "What's Love Got to Do with It", which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. At age 44, she was the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100.Her chart success continued with "Better Be Good to Me", "Private Dancer", "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", "Typical Male", "The Best", "I Don't Wanna Fight", and "GoldenEye". During her Break Every Rule World Tour in 1988, she set a then-Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience (180,000) for a solo performer.Turner also acted in the films Tommy (1975), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Last Action Hero (1993). In 1993, What's Love Got to Do with It, a biographical film adapted from her autobiography I, Tina: My Life Story, was released. In 2009, Turner retired after completing her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour, which is the 15th highest-grossing tour of the 2000s. In 2018, she became the subject of the jukebox musical Tina.Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, Turner is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She has received 12 Grammy Awards, which include eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the first black artist and first woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.Turner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame. She has twice been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021.She is also a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year award.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Turner

[kp777]

By Brian Kahn

The Guardian

March 25, 2023

From the article:

Stacey Abrams has been hailed as a masterly community organizer, after she helped turn out the voters that secured two Senate seats for Democrats in once solidly red Georgia. She has also run twice – unsuccessfully – for state governor. For her next move, she’s not focusing on electoral power so much as power itself.

Recently she left the world of campaign politics and took a job as senior counsel for the non-profit Rewiring America. Her role will focus on helping thousands of people across America wean their homes and businesses off fossil fuels and on to electricity, at a moment when scientists have given a “final warning” about the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions and prevent global catastrophe.

“We are at an inflection point where we can choose to electrify,” she said in an interview. “We don’t have to do it everywhere, all at once. If you want to see what the future looks like, we start building it here and now.”

The impetus for her role comes from significant moves taken by the Biden administration. When he signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) last year, President Joe Biden hailed it as “the biggest step forward on climate ever”. It includes a sprawling array of tax credits, rebates and other incentives to help people electrify their lives.

“The government has basically filled a bank account for you with thousands of dollars that will help you go electric,” Abrams said.

Her mission is to help people access that so-called bank account.

“You can improve your indoor air quality, make cooking quick and easy, make being cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and be more affordable,” Abrams said. “But we have to talk about it.”

Abrams is perhaps best known for registering 800,000 voters in Georgia through her voting rights advocacy organization Fair Fight Action. She wants to use a similar playbook with electrification, and doing so could benefit many of the same people whose voices risked going unheard in elections.

‘You meet people where they are, not where you want them to be’: Stacey Abrams. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

But figuring out what incentives you qualify for and how to access them can be involved, to say the least. While Rewiring America has a calculator that lets individuals suss out what IRA benefits they can snag, Abrams will be taking that and other tools to the community level. She highlighted how houses of worship could be prime places to talk about the IRA and a potential target for outreach.

And she hopes to work with local leaders such as teachers, mayors and city council members to make the IRA a kitchen table issue. Enlisting them will, she hopes, eventually lead to neighbors talking to neighbors about how much money they saved on a new induction stove or how much more comfortable their home was during a heatwave thanks to a newly installed heat pump.

“You meet people where they are, not where you want them to be,” she said. “That means understanding the lives they’re living and the questions they have and who they go to to talk about their questions.”

While the IRA has the potential to be transformative, it’s also not enough to electrify every household in the country. The law has billions set aside for home upgrades, but more resources will be needed to achieve the Biden administration’s goal of reducing US emissions up to 52% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade.

An analysis by the Rhodium Group found the law has the potential to cut emissions by up to 42%. And that it could reduce home energy bills by $717 to $1,146 by 2030.

Abrams said that, based on her experience in the arena of voting rights, the prospect of such benefits could help foster an electrification movement. “As people get more, they expect more,” she said. “The most sustainable movement is when people expect more and are willing to work for more.”

This isn’t Abrams’ first foray into climate. She was quick to point out her college senior thesis was on environmental justice and that she interned with the Environmental Protection Agency. During her tenure in the Georgia house of representatives, she also worked as minority leader to help pass a bill that included the state’s biggest influx of cash for public transportation.

Ultimately, the Biden administration wants the US to reach net zero by mid-century. It might be hard to imagine that occurring – a distant future, when perhaps technologies that are only nascent today like carbon dioxide removal will be more widespread, almost every car and home will be electric, and the inequalities targeted by the IRA and Biden’s executive orders will have dwindled.

That scenario can read a bit like science fiction – a genre of which Abrams is a well-known fan.

“In almost every sci-fi story, it begins with what decisions people are making long before the story takes place,” she said.

[nevesmose]

Can I ramble about vampires for a bit? There's a very good short story called One For The Road by Stephen King which is a sort of sequel to Salem's Lot, set several years later where it shows that following the events of the book the Lot has become a dilapidated ghost town that everyone in the local area is afraid of and knows to avoid.

and by "ghost town", haha, well. let's justr say. Their vampeanits

Without their leader the vampires don't really do anything, they just kind of exist from one day to the next and survive by hunting people who do happen to be unlucky or unaware enough to wander too close to town. Anyway the story is about two old guys in the next town over who encounter a man from New York whose car has broken down leaving his family stranded in the Lot...

"Mister," she said in a high, clear voice, as sweet as morning mist, "won't you help me find my mother? She's gone and I'm so cold—"

"Honey," I said, "honey, you better get in the truck. Your mother's—"

I broke off, and if there was ever a time in my life I was close to swooning, that was the moment. She was standing there, you see, but she was standing on top of the snow and there were no tracks, not in any direction.

I was reminded of this because I started thinking about Sylvania and the Vampire Counts in general. I really liked them in Warhammer Fantasy and maybe one day I'll try to figure out what their Age of Sigmar equivalents are, but... it's just not the same, ya know? Sylvania was what I liked. It was an interesting place to read about.

My favourite part was always the bits we'd find out about the humans who lived there and served the vampires because it's always interesting to think about their point of view and motivations and the weird codependent relationships they could form.

Like in the first Ulrika the Vampire book her mentor has a small group of human knights that are totally loyal to her and aware of what the deal is. What's their motivation? Are they all just simps blood-swains? I don't actually remember for them specifically because it's been a while since I read those books but, in a more general sense, it's an interesting question to ask.

I'm getting back into a vampires obsession just now anyway which will no doubt lead to me resuscitating that novel I've had on the go since 2015. But I could see my way clear to writing some related stuff on here/ao3 as well. Did you know there's a shocking lack of Vampire Griffith fics? (I might need to fix that sometime. No guarantees though.)

It just seems like if I file off some serial numbers a suitably inclined vampire could exist as the leader of a late medieval/renaissance era mercenary company whose inner circle are all inducted into The Terrible Secret forming a creepily obsessed cultlike atmosphere all centred around his endless desire for power. Wouldn't it be nifty if it was revealed that Vampfith has been doing this over and over for decades with an endlessly replaced cast of followers, failing every single time due to his own personal flaws that no amount of effort can fix? That would be tragic huh. 🤔

You know what, you deserve a reward for making it this far.

Ten thousand years ago the BBC used to cover various kinds of niche entertainment interests grouped under the Cult theme on its website - this for example was where Doctor Who used to be prior to the 2005 series. Anyway, vampires was one of them so here are some just about two decade old short stories.

[lboogie1906]

Johnny Lee Stallworth (born July 15, 1952) is a former football wide receiver who played for 14 seasons in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for the Alabama A&M Bulldogs and was the Steelers’ fourth-round draft pick in 1974. He played in six AFC championships, and went to four Super Bowls, winning all four. His career statistics included 537 receptions for 8,723 yards and 63 touchdowns. His reception total was a franchise record until 2005. He played in three Pro Bowls and was the Steelers’ two-time MVP. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, he was an All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference receiver for Alabama A&M. He earned a BS in Business Administration and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Alabama A&M University.

He was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.

He was selected 82nd overall in the fourth round of the 1974 NFL Draft, a class of which he was one of four Pittsburgh Steelers picks who would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Scouts from various NFL teams observed him run the 40-yard dash on a wet track at Alabama A&M University and were disappointed by the results. He became a starter in his second season and held that job for the rest of his 165-game career. He battled a series of fibula, foot, ankle, knee, and hamstring injuries that forced him to miss 44 regular-season games.

He led the AFC with a career-high 1,395 yards gained on 80 receptions in 1984 when he was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He helped the Steelers defeat Super Bowl champion San Francisco for that team’s only loss of the season and led the Steelers in a playoff run that featured an upset win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Playoffs at Denver’s Mile High Stadium.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2002. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[mannytoodope]

 Christine Ellen “Chrissie” Hynde (born September 7, 1951),  I always thought her last name was Hinde. She is a musician best known as a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band The Pretenders.   The hippie counter-culture first inspired Hynde. e.  in 1978. She formed The Pretenders. Throughout the band’s 40-year run, Hynde has been the only consistent member. In 2014, she started a solo career. In 2005, she and the crew were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hynde has worked with various artists.   She and the band still tour and make solid music. Hynde is one of the leading figures in rock music.

[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

Gail Kim After Signing With TNA Wrestling, 2005

Gail Kim was signed to Total Nonstop Action ( TNA ) Wrestling in 2005 after being released by WWE in 2004. She made her debut as the Valet for the tag team, America’s Most Wanted ( AMW ), which consisted of Chris Harris and James Storm. She soon found success as a solo competitor in 2007 when she became the first TNA Knockouts Champion after winning a 10 Woman Gauntlet Match at the annual Bound For Glory Pay Per View. Kim also had a legendary rivalry with fellow Knockout , Awesome Kong. Kim also won the award for Knockout Of The Year in 2007.

Gail Kim was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2016. She also holds the record for seven reigns as Knockouts Champion. She was also a one time Knockouts Tag Team Champion, her partner being Madison Rayne . Kim had her final match in 2019 against Tessa Blanchard, the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer and Four Horsemen member, Tully Blanchard. She is now a Producer and a member of the Creative Team for TNA.

During her first run in WWE, she won the WWE Women’s Championship in her debut match for the company. This happened when she eliminated Victoria as they were the last two standing in a Seven Woman Battle Royal on RAW on June 30,2003.

My Final Thoughts:

If you have been following me on social media or know me personally, I’ve always stated that Gail Kim is my favorite TNA Knockout of all time . I enjoyed writing this mini article about her because she is a legend and a Trailblazer when it comes to Women’s Wrestling. I hope to meet her at WRESTLECADE this year!

Love You All,

- Kay

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday to golden girl Shirley Robertson born on July 15th 1968 in Dundee.

Shirley is a Scottish sailor and Olympic gold medallist, she had won silver medals at the 1998, 1999 and 2000 Europe Class World Championships and competed in the 1992 Barcelona Games and 1996 Atlanta Games. The big breakthrough came at the Millennium Olympic Games in Sydney when she won Gold the same year Shirley was voted ISAF World Female Sailor of the Year.

In 2004 Shirley’s achieved her historical second Gold Medal at the Olympics in Athens, the first and only woman from our shores to win back to back Golds.

Since winning her second gold medal Shirley has established a solid career in media. After a regular presenting spot on BBC South TV, she hosted BBC Scotland’s Sports Saturday programme standing in for John Beattie and presented BBC Grandstand.

Although Shirley didn’t compete at the Beijing Olympics she covered the event as part of the BBC Olympic sailing commentary team. She presented CNN’s monthly sailing TV programme ‘Mainsail’ until 2018.

Shirley was deservedly inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of fame in 2005.

Earlier this year Shirley was appointed head of The SuperYacht Racing Association (SYRA).

[bm2ab]

Arrivals & Departures 26 November 1939 – 24 May 2023 Tina {Anna Mae Bullock} Turner 

Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock) was an American-born and naturalized Swiss[a] singer, dancer, actress, and author. Widely referred to as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer.

Turner began her career with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1957. Under the name Little Ann, she appeared on her first record, "Boxtop", in 1958. In 1960, she debuted as Tina Turner with the hit duet single "A Fool in Love". The duo Ike & Tina Turner became "one of the most formidable live acts in history". They released hits such as "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", "River Deep – Mountain High", "Proud Mary", and "Nutbush City Limits", before disbanding in 1976.

In the 1980s, Turner launched "one of the greatest comebacks in music history". Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer contained the hit song "What's Love Got to Do with It", which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. Aged 44, she was the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100. Her chart success continued with "Better Be Good to Me", "Private Dancer", "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", "Typical Male", "The Best", "I Don't Wanna Fight", and "GoldenEye". During her Break Every Rule World Tour in 1988, she set a then-Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience (180,000) for a solo performer.

Turner also acted in the films Tommy (1975) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). In 1993, What's Love Got to Do with It, a biographical film adapted from her autobiography I, Tina: My Life Story, was released. In 2009, Turner retired after completing her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour, which is the 15th highest-grossing tour of the 2000s. In 2018, she became the subject of the jukebox musical Tina.

Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, Turner is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She received 12 Grammy Awards, which include eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She was the first black artist and first woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Turner had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame. She was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021. She was also a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year award. Turner died following a long illness on May 24, 2023, at the age of 83.