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nanabrainrot · 2 years ago

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After reading the story with Lalo’s death, I’m curious about MC in Breaking Bad taking care of Hector. I’d love to see that ! Maybe she’d meet Walt and Jesse, who knows ?

I was j thinking of this; she ran into jesse a few times and has yet to meet walt because she stays at home with hector unless she goes out to get a necessity or her weird little home improvement efforts but I wrote a drabble on it </3 hmmc is so sweet despite her circumstances like she rly is j trying her best

Home Improvement

Summary: you like to refresh the house and practice your English. WC: 1528

It is hot out, admittedly thanks to the heat in New Mexico. The weather conditions were less than ideal for someone not accustomed to dry and hot climates but it was a reminder of Chihuahua. A slice of nostalgia packed in a carry away box and left to rot in the back of the fridge. It only consoled you that the same sun beamed down on you at a different time in different coordinates.

It feels like starting over, a rebirth, but with complications like a baby born with the cord around its neck wriggling and blue in the face.

But it’s not, it’s just a passing moment. Hector stays inside, given by his circumstances, but he will occasionally indulge in a walk if coaxed enough. Tuco stopped by often, Marco and Leonel less often, with their faces stiff and hands tense as they tentatively hand you a hard candy, then a soft one for Hector of course.

The place is a piece of shit compared to the house in Chihuahua, the hacienda where you could bathe in the sun but differently it feels more relaxed in the shitty house in the desert of Albuquerque, but some knick knacks serve little reminders; men really have no eye for decor, you think. Tuco is no handyman after getting out, that hot-head, relaying just the bare bones of meals and the scummy television.

Internally, you wish Lalo would have let you have your own savings account. Nacho did deliver some money to you before he vanished and you saved it, sparsely trying to budget after twenty some years of knowing nothing about finances. Tuco was sweet enough to give an allowance and Marco and Leonel always secretively left a thick wad of cash every few months when they popped in. But thankfully, it’s enough for some paint this week.

The paint you can’t reach.

An accent wall with wallpaper would surely lighten the ambience of the shitshow house, still sorting out how to live without Lalo was a mess. It was a mix of good days and bad days, the days missing someone loving you and then the days where you recall he was not the best husband, that what you had was not healthy and not right. It’s liberating, freeing, so you choose a wallpaper too. If you could reach that one too.

“Lady, you need some help?”

Frozen. Oh, Lalo’s not here. He can’t beat the shit out of some worker trying to help you, but at the turn of your neck it isn’t a worker but just… some kid. He didn’t look young enough to be in high school, but he likely graduated a year or two back. The scruff on his face is brown and the hue of his eyes look cold and harsh, but probably just the lighting of the harsh fluorescent lights looming above head.

“I just can’t reach the mint green up there or the dark blue floral paper of the wall. Can you just grab them for me?” you stutter, still acclimating to speaking English more than Spanish. You spoke in Spanish to Hector, but Tuco almost always spoke to you in English. It caused a headache; Lalo never spoke in anything but Spanish to you. Ah, it feels like a bad day and the thought of your accent feels heavy in your throat.

Did you say that right? It was mint, right? How do you phrase it?

“You mean wallpaper?”

“Yes! Wallpaper! I’m still learning English,” you murmur embarrassed as the kid in baggy clothes moves to get the items for you before clunking them into your wobbly little cart. It’s so odd, speaking with strangers without anyone looming over you. It's still hard to go outside without a dress code, no dress constricting the ankles, but you can’t help but try to look good still.

Maybe he was looking at you from Heaven? He seemed to prefer the kitten wedges with a sundress, but this outside is outside of your realm. The cheap cotton of the clothes in New Mexico compared to the spoils of Chihuahua felt reminiscent of when you had no money in your teens. Ah, it still feels like a bad day.

“Your English is really good, ma’am,” he reassures.

“Really? You understand me?”

There’s the cross look of worry in his face at your mannerisms, the unnerving anxiety of the way your hands twitched and how you looked not at him but past him. “Yeah, perfectly,” the kid chuckles, “you’re a natural, lady.”

A grin, at him, not past him. “You are very nice, young man.”

“Young man? What are you, barely thirty?” he scoffed as you both went to roll your carts to checkout; his was full of thick tubs and strange chemicals. A science project for college, you thought innocently, glancing at his weird collection of items.

“So nice! I’m turning 46 this year - I think?” you murmur the last part, scooting ahead of the boy in the line since you only had the wallpaper and paint; you had been painstakingly washing the brushes over and over to use again. Money suddenly was so important in the past four years you had spent trying to fix up Hector’s house. It was coming along; some knick knacks recycled from Abuelita’s house to try to lift Hector’s spirits and antiques that had been restored to try and make it less scummy. The trials of getting paperwork and steady income was difficult after so many years without any work experience. It was foolish to forget Lalo was mortal.

“You think?” he laughs a little at your skittish self, placing the paint and wallpaper on the conveyor belt for the employee, who smiles half-heartedly.

“Yeah, my husband never celebrated my real birthday. It got lost over the years but if my birth certificate is right I should be 46 in about two months?”

“Sounds like a shitty husband.”

It sounds like a backhanded compliment, one that you have brewed on, as you count the twenties that Tuco gave you. You miss the feel of pesos a bit, but going back over the border seemed to be a fruitless effort. It would feel like taking two steps back.

“Only sometimes,” you reply softly, taking the receipt from her and scooting forward so he could pay for his numerous tubs and chemicals.

“This is my car!” you cheer, showing him the otherwise unimpressive buggy with little scratches and bumps on it from your errors trying to learn how to drive; poles are always so much closer than they seem…

“You seem really excited for a little buggy, lady,” the kid chuckles, loading his tubs in his trunk of a bright red car. It’s all flashy, like Nacho’s was. “I am! It is hard to learn how to drive after you hit 40,” you grin,”I didn’t touch a wheel until 5 years ago!”

“Damn, you had a chauffeur?” he jokes, strolling next to you to the cart return with his own cart.

“Chaffeur?” you scrunch your brows, pushing the cart in.

“Oh uh, it’s a guy who drives you everywhere.”

“Oh? My husband was my chauffeur?”

“Your shitty husband was your chauffeur, yeah,” he laughs like a silly belly laugh and it makes you giggle. He was a shitty husband, you think sometimes, but not too often. If you reflect too hard you might miss the two decades you spent with him.

“Mister, I’m going home now - I’m my own chauffeur!” you cry out, trying to pronounce the new word like he did - like a real Albuquerque native. “What’s your name, mister?”

He rolls down his window, a smile playing at his pink lips, “Jesse! You?”

You give him your name, not even a thought that the first thing that left your mouth for once wasn’t “Mrs. Salamanca” at the question. It starts to feel like a good day.

“Tuco, buenos tar - I mean good afternoon! I bought - not buyed! - the wallpaper and paint for our sanctuary,” you holler, happy at the conversation. Usually, you were too iffy to allow for help but the only other option was to scale a ladder yourself or talk to the ginormous lumberjack of a man that worked in the store rather than the nice boy.

“Tio, mira, este es un hermoso mint! Mint green para nos muras!” you smile, pecking Hector’s head like Lalo did every time he saw him. His lip twitches.

The past four years without Lalo were not easy, but it’s living. The walls are mint and it smells like paint in the kitchen, something Hector rang his bell about jokingly as you poked your tongue at him. The one wall has wallpaper, but you think you could use more. The sweet floral against the navy looks like Lalo’s shirts. You hope you run into Jesse twice at the store. Internally, you wish him luck with whatever science project he has going.

But for now, the print of Lalo’s shirt is reflected in the wall, seen by Hector’s little glance and your tight throat. And you wonder, a small voice in your head, how do you get back twenty-four years?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: the mc from Homemaker will be divided into three routes for people looking for the true ending that works with canon, the Homemaker verse where Lalo wins, and my work "Companion Dog" will be focused on the weird moments in their marriage where ur like "that's not healthy!" ty for the askkkkkkkk i love interactions and interest in my work <3

#nana writes bcs #nana writes #hmmc true #ask nana

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bllsbailey · 3 months ago

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Are New Hampshire and Virginia in Play?

When Joe Biden was the nominee, he was starting to collapse in Virginia. That got quickly buried when he dropped out in July. With Kamala Harris taking the top spot after the intraparty coup, this narrative fizzled as joy, money, and weirdo Tim Walz provided distractions. Everything is crashing around Democrats in the final weeks of this election. Kamala’s momentum is finished. Her internals must be so bad because she has Barack Obama lashing out at black men for not backing Harris. The longer this woman stays in the media spotlight, the worse she does, but she must do the media hits being a major party candidate. Yet, flawed candidates like this usually get tossed if there is a legitimate primary process. Kamala threw herself out in 2020. It’s the same story here.

Now, with early voting totals surging for Republicans and the momentum shifting, ex-MSNBC analyst Mark Halperin, who’s been covering the private polling data showing that Kamala is at risk of losing most of the swing states, says that New Hampshire and Virginia are back on the table. Two things: one, early voting isn’t an indicator of the total result, but some states are seeing historic returns for Republicans, and two, he admits that this doesn’t mean Trump will take these states.

If he does, that’s the ballgame. Still, the fact that the former president is very “active” in these Democratic bastions is a throwback to when certain safe states were slipping away from John McCain in 2008—Democrats made Republicans focus on areas they didn’t need to in past cycles. The same thing could happen here, which doesn’t bode well for Harris. No Democrat should have to worry about Virginia or the Granite State less than two weeks from Election Day (via RealClearPolitics):

When Kamala Harris a few weeks ago did an event in New Hampshire, I said to everybody in both parties, like, what's going on? Because she's spending a day campaigning in New Hampshire. They said, oh, no, she's got a fundraiser in Boston. She's given a national speech. It's got nothing to do with being worded by New Hampshire. In fact, the private data in New Hampshire shows her with a pretty substantial lead. Joe Biden back in New Hampshire yesterday. There's a school of thought. I'm not predicting Trump will win a landslide. I'm not rooting for Trump winning a landslide. But there's a school of thought that says, Trump's going to go to Albuquerque to try to win New Mexico. He's going to go to St. Paul to try to win Minnesota. He's going to go to, I don't know, Richmond to try to win Virginia And then he's going to go to New Hampshire. And I was told yesterday, as someone showed me, an email saying that the Trump campaign is doing last minute hiring, paying a pretty robust sum for folks to do door knocking at the last minute. So watch that dynamic. Let's see. It could be a mistake. But again, Joe Biden went there.

Trump being so active while Kamala remains stuck in the mud must be keeping liberals up at night, especially after her poor CNN town hall, where even the network’s hosts admitted that Kamala didn’t seal the deal, becoming overly obsessed with Donald Trump and serving up word salad. Kamala did not outline a single coherent legislative action item this week. She’s too dumb to take on that task.

Trending on Townhall Videos

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globalworship · 4 months ago

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Two 'Trinity' artworks by Charlie Carrillo, New Mexico

Charles M. Carrillo (born 1956, Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American artist, author, and archeologist known particularly for creating art using Spanish colonial techniques that reflect 18th-century Spanish New Mexico. Carrillo’s works have shown throughout the USA and are a part of many permanent collections in United States museums including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC, the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, and the Denver Museum of Art among others.

Here are two of his 'Trinity' artworks:

1 La Santisma Trinidad, 1998 Lithograph, 13 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/La-Santisma-Trinidad/CB42FF926E76193CC697FFD2BE76BC12

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2 Santisima Trinidad, undated 49.21 x 31.43 x 2.54 cm. hand-adzed pine panel with natural pigments on gesso https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Santisima-Trinidad/23C4B34335CD1C3C?signup=1

This piece obviously references the famous 'Trinity' icon by Rublev, with three seated figures.

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Charles Carrillo’s interest in archaeology led him to his life’s work as a santero, a carver and painter of images of saints. https://www.newmexicopbs.org/productions/colores/artist-charlie-carrillo/

See a PBS video about his art at https://youtu.be/uwNbt9AOkZ8

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In addition to his work as a santero, which he describes as a vocation rather than a job, Carrillo teaches at the University of New Mexico, works with the artists-in-residence program for the state of New Mexico and conducts workshops at schools throughout the state. “At one point I figured out I had seen over 17,000 young students,” he said. “More than three-quarters of the santeros at the Spanish Market now either have either been my students, worked with me or have taken classes from me. That’s where my life has been. My life has been promoting the tradition.

“Even if the kids never do artwork, I truly believe that they get an appreciation for the culture and the traditions. The saints were made for one purpose and one purpose only: to tell stories. We see them as artwork nowadays, but historically they were made to tell stories to pass along values and morals and religious philosophies. I think it’s important that kids of different faiths, different backgrounds — whether they’re Jewish or Buddhist or Muslim or even Protestant — get an appreciation for the longevity of the tradition in New Mexico and get an understanding of a people’s culture and tradition.” http://www.mastersoftraditionalarts.org/artists/50

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brookstonalmanac · 5 months ago

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Holidays 9.5

Holidays

Achalasia Awareness Day

Amazon Rainforest Day

Beard Tax Day

Be Late for Something Day

Bill Murray Day (Canada)

Clifford the Big Red Dog Day

Day of the Languages of the Peoples of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)

Dia de Santiago Iglesias Pantin (Puerto Rico)

Engineer’s Day (Egypt, Tanzania)

Entrepreneur Day (Finland)

First Day of School (Vietnam)

Flag Day (Mozambique)

Flag-Flying Day (Denmark)

Freddie For A Day

Freddie Mercury Day

Gaura Parva (Nepal)

Hassaku-sai (Kyoto, Japan)

International Day of Charity

International Day of the Vaquinta Marina

International Indigenous Women’s Day

International Multiple Myeloma Day

International Pierre Robin Sequence Awareness Day

Jury Rights Day

Mexican Marigold Day (French Republic)

National Actdumb. Day

National Cellulite Day

National GIF Day

National Shrink Day

National White Cat Day

On the Road Day

Red Cross Day

Regata Storical (Historical Regatta; Venice, Italy)

Scouts’ Day (Argentina)

Straight Story Lawnmower Day

Teacher's Day (India)

Tweet Like Werner Herzog Day

Working Mothers Day

World Day of Siblings

World Day of Tourism Journalists

World Spinal Cord Injury Day

Yrittäjän Päivä (Entrepreneur Day; Finland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bitter Beer Day

National Cheese Pizza Day

World Samosa Day

Independence & Related Days

Bir Tawil Empire (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

1st Thursday in September

International Day of the Orchid [1st Thursday]

Jeûne Genevois (Geneva, Switzerland) [Thursday after 1st Sunday]

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

Thankful Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Therapy Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thin Crust Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thirsty Thursday [Every Thursday]

Three for Thursday [Every Thursday]

Thrift Store Thursday [Every Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Festivals Beginning September 5, 2024

Ayden Collard Festival (Ayden, North Carolina) [thru 9.7]

Berlin International Literature Festival (Berlin, Germany) [thru 9.14]

Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair (Clinton, Maine) [thru 9.8]

DOKer Film Festival (Moscow, Russia) [thru 9.15]

Farm-to-Fork Festival (Sacramento, California) [thru 9.21]

Grape & Fall Festival (St. James, Missouri) [thru 9.7]

Greek Festival (Union, New Jersey) [thru 9.8]

Marion Popcorn Festival (Marion, Ohio) [thru 9.7]

Montgomery Turkey Trot Festival (Montgomery, Indiana) [thru 9.8]

New Mexico State Fair (Albuquerque, New Mexico) [thru 9.15]

Niagara County Peach Festival (Lewiston, New York) [thru 9.8]

Oktoberfest (Helen, Georgia) [thru 10.27]

Plattsmouth Harvest Festival (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) [thru 9.8]

Time-Based Art Festival (Portland, Oregon) [thru 9.22]

Tipton County Pork Festival (Tipton, Indiana) [thru 9.7]

Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Utah State Fair (Salt Lake City, Utah) [thru 9.15]

Vancouver Fringe Festival (Vancouver, Canada) [thru 9.15]

The WhiskyX (Nashville, Tennessee)

Feast Days

Abdus of Susa (Christian; Saint)

Alto (Christian; Saint)

Bertin (Christian; Saint)

Caspar David Friedrich (Artology)

Cathy Guisewite (Artology)

Charbel (Christian; Martyr)

Day of Ganesh (Everyday Wicca)

Day of the West Wind (Pagan)

Duhamel [du Monceau] (Positivist; Saint)

Frank Armitage (Artology)

Gargling Day (Pastafarian)

Genebald (Christian; Saint)

Genesia (Day of the Dead; Ancient Greece)

Gregorio Aglipay (Episcopal Church)

H.L. Mencken Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Janmasthami (Birth of Lord Krishna; Hindu)

John Cage (Writerism)

Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

Laurence Gustiani (a.k.a. Laurence Justinian; Christian; Saint)

Maurice Quentin de La Tour (Artology)

The Moes (Muppetism)

Ralston Crawford (Artology)

Teresa of Calcutta (a.k.a. Mother Teresa; Christian; Saint)

Three Candles Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Ursicinus of Ravenna (Christian; Saint)

Wag and Carrot Fancying Day (Shamanism)

Yodeling Day (Pastafarian)

Zechariah and Elisabeth (Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Church)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Premieres

Batman: The Animated Series (Animated TV Series; 1992)

Blue Christmas, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1957)

Bonanza Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

The Chain Gang (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Citizen Kane (Film; 1941)

City of Illusions, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1967)

The Criminal, by Jim Thompson (Novel; 1953)

Dr. Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak (U.S. Novel; 1958)

Gnomes, by Wil Huygen (Art Book; 1976)

Greenpernt Ogle, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 105; 1961)

It (Film; 2017)

Just Ducky (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1953)

Louder Than Love, by Soundgarden (Album; 1989)

The Mail Animal or Bullwinkle Stamps His Foot (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 106; 1961)

No No: A Dockumentary (Documentary Film; 2014)

The One-Man Navy (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1957)

Ping Pong Playa (Film; 2008)

Sherman’s March (Documentary Film; 1986)

Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

A Street Cat Named Sylvester (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Trolley Troubles (Ub Iwerks Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Disney Cartoon; 1927) [1st Oswald]

The Wrestler (Film; 2008)

Today’s Name Days

Albert, Larentius, Roswitha, Teresa (Austria)

Elisaveta, Hari, Zahari (Bulgaria)

Borko, Eudoksije, Lovro, Roman, Tereza, Terezija (Croatia)

Boris (Czech Republic)

Regina (Denmark)

Preedik, Priidik, Priido, Priidu, Priit, Reedik, Vidrik (Estonia)

Mainio, Roni (Finland)

Raïssa (France)

Hermine, Roswitha, Urs (Germany)

Zacharias (Greece)

Lőrinc, Viktor (Hungary)

Vittorino (Italy)

Klaudija, Perse, Persijs, Vaida (Latvia)

Dingailė, Erdenis, Justina, Stanislova, Stasė (Lithuania)

Brede, Brian, Njål (Norway)

Dorota, Herakles, Herkulan, Herkules, Justyna, Laurencjusz, Stronisława, Wawrzyniec (Poland)

Regina (Slovakia)

Obdulia, Teresa (Spain)

Adela, Heidi (Sweden)

Elizabeth, Raisa, Raya, Zachary (Ukraine)

Bert, Bertha, Bertie, Bertin, Berton, Burt, Burton, Rigoberto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 249 of 2024; 117 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of Week 36 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 3 (Red-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 2 Elul 5784

Islamic: 1 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 9 Gold; Twosday [8 of 30]

Julian: 23 August 2024

Moon: 5%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 25 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Bouguer]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 78 of 94)

Week: 1st Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 15 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Rabīʿ al-ʾAwwal [ٱلْأَوَّل or رَبِيع] (Islamic Calendar) [Month 3 of 12] (First Spring Month)

#Holidays

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brookston · 5 months ago

Text

Holidays 9.5

Holidays

Achalasia Awareness Day

Amazon Rainforest Day

Beard Tax Day

Be Late for Something Day

Bill Murray Day (Canada)

Clifford the Big Red Dog Day

Day of the Languages of the Peoples of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)

Dia de Santiago Iglesias Pantin (Puerto Rico)

Engineer’s Day (Egypt, Tanzania)

Entrepreneur Day (Finland)

First Day of School (Vietnam)

Flag Day (Mozambique)

Flag-Flying Day (Denmark)

Freddie For A Day

Freddie Mercury Day

Gaura Parva (Nepal)

Hassaku-sai (Kyoto, Japan)

International Day of Charity

International Day of the Vaquinta Marina

International Indigenous Women’s Day

International Multiple Myeloma Day

International Pierre Robin Sequence Awareness Day

Jury Rights Day

Mexican Marigold Day (French Republic)

National Actdumb. Day

National Cellulite Day

National GIF Day

National Shrink Day

National White Cat Day

On the Road Day

Red Cross Day

Regata Storical (Historical Regatta; Venice, Italy)

Scouts’ Day (Argentina)

Straight Story Lawnmower Day

Teacher's Day (India)

Tweet Like Werner Herzog Day

Working Mothers Day

World Day of Siblings

World Day of Tourism Journalists

World Spinal Cord Injury Day

Yrittäjän Päivä (Entrepreneur Day; Finland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Bitter Beer Day

National Cheese Pizza Day

World Samosa Day

Independence & Related Days

Bir Tawil Empire (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

1st Thursday in September

International Day of the Orchid [1st Thursday]

Jeûne Genevois (Geneva, Switzerland) [Thursday after 1st Sunday]

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

Thankful Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Therapy Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thin Crust Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thirsty Thursday [Every Thursday]

Three for Thursday [Every Thursday]

Thrift Store Thursday [Every Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Festivals Beginning September 5, 2024

Ayden Collard Festival (Ayden, North Carolina) [thru 9.7]

Berlin International Literature Festival (Berlin, Germany) [thru 9.14]

Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair (Clinton, Maine) [thru 9.8]

DOKer Film Festival (Moscow, Russia) [thru 9.15]

Farm-to-Fork Festival (Sacramento, California) [thru 9.21]

Grape & Fall Festival (St. James, Missouri) [thru 9.7]

Greek Festival (Union, New Jersey) [thru 9.8]

Marion Popcorn Festival (Marion, Ohio) [thru 9.7]

Montgomery Turkey Trot Festival (Montgomery, Indiana) [thru 9.8]

New Mexico State Fair (Albuquerque, New Mexico) [thru 9.15]

Niagara County Peach Festival (Lewiston, New York) [thru 9.8]

Oktoberfest (Helen, Georgia) [thru 10.27]

Plattsmouth Harvest Festival (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) [thru 9.8]

Time-Based Art Festival (Portland, Oregon) [thru 9.22]

Tipton County Pork Festival (Tipton, Indiana) [thru 9.7]

Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Utah State Fair (Salt Lake City, Utah) [thru 9.15]

Vancouver Fringe Festival (Vancouver, Canada) [thru 9.15]

The WhiskyX (Nashville, Tennessee)

Feast Days

Abdus of Susa (Christian; Saint)

Alto (Christian; Saint)

Bertin (Christian; Saint)

Caspar David Friedrich (Artology)

Cathy Guisewite (Artology)

Charbel (Christian; Martyr)

Day of Ganesh (Everyday Wicca)

Day of the West Wind (Pagan)

Duhamel [du Monceau] (Positivist; Saint)

Frank Armitage (Artology)

Gargling Day (Pastafarian)

Genebald (Christian; Saint)

Genesia (Day of the Dead; Ancient Greece)

Gregorio Aglipay (Episcopal Church)

H.L. Mencken Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Janmasthami (Birth of Lord Krishna; Hindu)

John Cage (Writerism)

Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

Laurence Gustiani (a.k.a. Laurence Justinian; Christian; Saint)

Maurice Quentin de La Tour (Artology)

The Moes (Muppetism)

Ralston Crawford (Artology)

Teresa of Calcutta (a.k.a. Mother Teresa; Christian; Saint)

Three Candles Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Ursicinus of Ravenna (Christian; Saint)

Wag and Carrot Fancying Day (Shamanism)

Yodeling Day (Pastafarian)

Zechariah and Elisabeth (Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Church)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Premieres

Batman: The Animated Series (Animated TV Series; 1992)

Blue Christmas, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1957)

Bonanza Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

The Chain Gang (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Citizen Kane (Film; 1941)

City of Illusions, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1967)

The Criminal, by Jim Thompson (Novel; 1953)

Dr. Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak (U.S. Novel; 1958)

Gnomes, by Wil Huygen (Art Book; 1976)

Greenpernt Ogle, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 105; 1961)

It (Film; 2017)

Just Ducky (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1953)

Louder Than Love, by Soundgarden (Album; 1989)

The Mail Animal or Bullwinkle Stamps His Foot (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 106; 1961)

No No: A Dockumentary (Documentary Film; 2014)

The One-Man Navy (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1957)

Ping Pong Playa (Film; 2008)

Sherman’s March (Documentary Film; 1986)

Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

A Street Cat Named Sylvester (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Trolley Troubles (Ub Iwerks Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Disney Cartoon; 1927) [1st Oswald]

The Wrestler (Film; 2008)

Today’s Name Days

Albert, Larentius, Roswitha, Teresa (Austria)

Elisaveta, Hari, Zahari (Bulgaria)

Borko, Eudoksije, Lovro, Roman, Tereza, Terezija (Croatia)

Boris (Czech Republic)

Regina (Denmark)

Preedik, Priidik, Priido, Priidu, Priit, Reedik, Vidrik (Estonia)

Mainio, Roni (Finland)

Raïssa (France)

Hermine, Roswitha, Urs (Germany)

Zacharias (Greece)

Lőrinc, Viktor (Hungary)

Vittorino (Italy)

Klaudija, Perse, Persijs, Vaida (Latvia)

Dingailė, Erdenis, Justina, Stanislova, Stasė (Lithuania)

Brede, Brian, Njål (Norway)

Dorota, Herakles, Herkulan, Herkules, Justyna, Laurencjusz, Stronisława, Wawrzyniec (Poland)

Regina (Slovakia)

Obdulia, Teresa (Spain)

Adela, Heidi (Sweden)

Elizabeth, Raisa, Raya, Zachary (Ukraine)

Bert, Bertha, Bertie, Bertin, Berton, Burt, Burton, Rigoberto (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 249 of 2024; 117 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of Week 36 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 3 (Red-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 2 Elul 5784

Islamic: 1 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 9 Gold; Twosday [8 of 30]

Julian: 23 August 2024

Moon: 5%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 25 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Bouguer]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 78 of 94)

Week: 1st Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 15 of 32)

Calendar Changes

Rabīʿ al-ʾAwwal [ٱلْأَوَّل or رَبِيع] (Islamic Calendar) [Month 3 of 12] (First Spring Month)

#calendar #Holidays

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mediamonarchy · 5 months ago

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https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240902_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Concert economy, military cemetery and mind-boggling state TV broadcasts + this day in history w/the burning of Zozobra and our song of the day by Blitzkrieg on your #MorningMonarchy for September 2, 2024. Notes/Links: Image: The Media Monarchy origin story – Heartbreaking: Annoying Kid That Refused To Do Pledge Of Allegiance In High School Was 100% Right https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/kid_refuse_pledge_right.jpg Arctic Monkeys Setlist at Royal Albert Hall, London, England Jun 7 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_the_Royal_Albert_Hall_(Arctic_Monkeys_album) // https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/arctic-monkeys/2018/royal-albert-hall-london-england-63ed46ef.html Oasis Reunion Tour to Make Swift Impact on UK Economy, Live Sector https://archive.is/kWvje Ticket Prices Are Higher Than Ever. Will Fans Keep Paying?; Dynamic pricing deters scalpers, but the practice has led to a 30% increase in ticket prices. Has the concert industry reached a tipping point? https://archive.is/ZHma9 Video: Why Did Concert Tickets Get So Expensive? (Jan. 2, 2023 // Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPjVpFBjJ6I The Get Up Kids – “The Company Dime” (Vinyl // Audio) https://www.discogs.com/release/8804867-The-Get-Up-Kids-Something-To-Write-Home-About // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_to_Write_Home_About // https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYuU_zvsPck Michigan Residents Weary of National Politics, Hopeful for Truth; Many voters in the battleground state said they discard mailers and tune out video ads but would like to hear more candid talk from the candidates. https://archive.is/CIqYp CNN fact-checks Harris’ interview on CNN https://archive.is/veV4B Harris dodged questions about her Day 1 plans. Here’s how 5 presidents have spent their first days in office https://archive.is/gkg6N Harris Defends Shifting Positions, Pivots on Messaging https://archive.is/rmA0Q Comrade Harris Scolded Donald Trump About Arlington, So Trump Dropped Eight Videos in Response https://thelibertydaily.com/kamala-harris-scolded-donald-trump-about-arlington-so/ Video: Kamala Harris calls Donald Trump’s Arlington cemetery visit political stunt (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-eTkSkn60k Manacles – “Tiesa” (Cassette // Audio) https://www.discogs.com/release/18905143-Various-Punk-Is-Love // https://www.discogs.com/artist/7771008-Manacles // https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSvpWFeXuCc Armed and Underground: Inside the Turbulent, Secret World of an American Militia https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-secret-ap3-militia-american-patriots-three-percent Largest Texas Newspaper Slams Greg Abbott: ‘He Don’t Care’ https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/largest-texas-newspaper-slams-greg-abbott-he-don-t-care/ar-AA1pncvz New Mexico police chief claims he had constitutional right to leave his body cam off after crash: report; Albuquerque police chief ‘intentionally’ left body camera off after running red light, hitting driver, according to an Internal Affairs investigation https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-mexico-police-chief-claims-he-had-constitutional-right-leave-his-body-cam-off-after-crash-report Aurora, Colorado, Mayor Blames Government After Gangs Take Over Apartment Blocks; The city has set up a task force of law enforcement officials to help deal with the gangs https://archive.is/uH6Br Video: JUST IN: An armed illegal immigrant gang has reportedly taken over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado. https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1828919972166545595 Ontario man stumbles upon ‘mind-boggling’ North Korean state TV broadcasts https://globalnews.ca/video/10710145/ontario-man-stumbles-upon-mind-boggling-north-korean-state-tv-broadcasts Video: Ontario man stumbles upon “mind-boggling” North Korean state TV broadcasts (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBknQAwKe8c The Comas – “Hologram” (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f8KalgBgeE #MorningMonarchy: September 2, 2016 ...

#alternative news #Blitzkrieg #geopolitiks #media monarchy #Morning Monarchy #mp3 #podcast #Songs Of The Day #This Day In History

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kristihurley · 6 months ago

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Todd holds a Bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurial Studies, an MBA in International Management from the Robert O. Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico, and Project Management Professional Certification through the Project Management Institute.

#home builders in Albuquerque #custom home builders Albuquerque

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engbergsinfinland · 7 months ago

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Pack it up!

It's so exciting (and slightly jaw-dropping) that we're leaving Albuquerque on Sunday! We will head to Michigan and then on to Helsinki (then on to Tampere) a few days later. Our luggage is all packed, as the photo shows, and we're about to set sail! Erm, take wing! The vacuum compression bags really came in handy and we have all of the bags well under the maximum weight.

I promise future posts will be much more interesting, but I just wanted to chime in to say we're very excited to share details of our adventures here, as I serve as a Fulbright-Tampere University Scholar for the 2024-2025 academic year and the children attend an international school -- and Eric continues work for his family business while on Wells leave, and serves as Daddy Extraordinaire!

Stayed tuned!

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robotsfromtomorrow · 9 months ago

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TEST What Censorship Looks Like

The story of Rio Rancho High School pulling the Gilbert Hernandez graphic novel “Palomar” from their library due to a parent challenging it as “child pornography” has received a fair amount of attention since it broke last February. We’ve covered it several times on this site.

But new facts have come to light.

Specifically, internal RRSD emails obtained by request from the Custodian of Records pursuant with New Mexico open records law (N.M. Stat. Secs. 14-2-1 to 14-2-12). These emails cover the period from February 26th through April 4th, and while the activity over this challenge continues to this day, those dates give us a look inside the RRHS camp before, during, and after the review committee’s deliberation and decision on “Palomar.”

A note before we begin: this article would not have been possible without the help of Rita Daniels. A reporter for NPR station KUNM out of Albuquerque, NM, she originally requested these emails & documents from RRSD, and later passed them on to me to help in my reporting. You can listen to her coverage of this story over at KUNM. My sincerest thanks for her diligence and generosity.

The Inciting Incident

Rio Rancho High School (photo by Nancy Bymers)

On the morning of Thursday, February 26th, Catrenna Lopez showed up at Rio Rancho High School with her bookmarked copy of “Palomar”, ready to have it pulled from the library catalog. Librarian Brenna McCandless relayed an account of the meeting to Principal Richard VonAncken that afternoon (emphasis her’s):

We had a parent come in today with a graphic novel (Palomar by Gilbert Hernandez) that her student had checked out. It looks like it was purchased in 2006 or earlier and has only been checked out once before, but the content is quite adult. The parent has the book at the moment, but I’ve already removed it from the collection because it’s definitely not something we should have…

I already spoke with the mother and let her know I shared her concern and thanked her for bringing it to our attention so that we could rectify the situation.

We’re currently going through the graphic novel collection by hand just to make sure nothing else has slipped through the cracks, so if she wants to know what else is being done, we’re taking care of it.

Vice Principal Sherri Carver later describes the meeting with Lopez:

On Thursday, February 26, Ms. Lopez brought the book first to the principal’s secretary and then to the librarian where we had a discussion about the content of the book. The book does not fit with the current selection policy in place at Rio Rancho Public Schools and is aimed at a higher age level than we purchase for (Library Bill of Rights Policy 425: “to provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels [bolding mine] of the pupils served).

(As this was in response to a press inquiry and I can’t find any other corroboration that Carver was there in person, I believe the ‘we’ mentioned refers to the school, as opposed to Carver and McCandless themselves.)

As most of the RRHS administration was away or unavailable to meet with Lopez that day, a meeting was scheduled for the following Monday. She must have then decided this matter could not wait, because she proceeded to take her case directly to KOAT Channel 7 News.

KOAT contacted the school that afternoon and asked about the book. Spokeswoman Kim Vesely later admitted to telling KOAT the content in “Palomar” was “clearly inappropriate and the book had been removed (a mistake, but with all the key players out of town, I and others forgot the decision is subject to review).” Armed with that nugget, KOAT aired an incredibly biased and inflammatory report that same evening. This report went viral on various comics blogs & newsfeeds the next day while RRHS prepared for a storm of controversy.

Interestingly enough, the first few responses they received were ones of support. Both the American Library Association and the National Coalition Against Censorship had sent emails to the school by the next morning, offering advice and “a ton of experience successfully helping librarians combat these kinds of allegations tied to book challenges.” (No replies to these inquiries were included in the released emails.) In fact, there were also no references to the school receiving negative comments or feedback of any kind from the Rio Rancho community at large. Lopez did eventually meet with the school as planned on March 2nd, where she relinquished control of the book to VonAncken, who then proceeded to lock the book in his office.

We’ve Got Rules For This Sort Of Thing

That same day, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund issued a press statement denouncing both the egregious KOAT broadcast and RRHS’s swift capitulation to the accusations, ignoring the specific procedures laid out in their own policies for dealing with exactly this kind of parental request. RRPS Policy #425, the one pertaining to challenges against library materials, states that:

Review of questioned (“challenged”) materials will be treated objectively, unemotionally, and as a routine matter. Criticisms of print and non-print materials must be submitted in writing on a Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials form obtained from the librarian at the library/media center where the material is housed and submitted to the Superintendent of schools. The Request must be signed and include specific information as to author, title, publisher, and definite citation of objection.

A Review Committee will be appointed by the Superintendent to determine the validity of the objection. The Committee shall include the superintendent or designee as chairperson, eight other persons to include three members from the community and four educators, and a library media specialist from the appropriate level.

While the materials are under reconsideration, they shall remain in circulation in the library media center, unless the Superintendent decides otherwise.

Appeals of the decision by the Review Committee may be made through the Superintendent to the Rio Rancho Board of Education for a final decision.

According to RRPS policy, by this point there should be a written request submitted, a 9-person committee forming, and the work should still be in circulation barring a decision to the contrary by the Superintendent.

According to the released RRPS emails, by this point there was no request, no committee, and “Palomar” was so far out of circulation that if there was any way to get it even farther away, outside of, say, burning it, one would be hard-pressed to think of it.

To my knowledge, the March 2nd CBLDF release contained the first public mention and explanation of Policy #425. My learning about that policy was not only important in my personal understanding of what should have been happening, but as it turns out, could very well have kicked off everything that happened after March 2nd. But explaining how that could be true requires a slightly personal, and definitely surreal, tangent.

I didn’t see the KOAT news piece until March 1st. By the 2nd, I’d emailed my editor and asked him if anyone else on the site was going to cover it, because otherwise I had an angry editorial building in me that I had to get out. He said the coast was clear and gave me his blessing (thanks, Brian!). It wasn’t until I actually had to write the thing that I wondered how I could make this different than just another guy on another soapbox.

Context.

So that evening I sent emails to not only the obvious comics-friendly choices, Fantagraphics and the CBLDF, but to KOAT News and RRSD (via their contact form).

The first two responded later that night, as I had hoped they would. Vesely had my message forwarded to her on the 4th, when she then replied to me with a brief note asking for the nature of my questions. Not wanting to give this open door any chance to close, I sent off my full list of six questions later that evening, including this question specifically referencing Policy #425:

By the 26th an internal school decision had been made (by “officials” who “agreed [“Palomar”]’s clearly inappropriate”) without following the school board’s own procedure…Does the school board have, at this point, any intention of forming the committee its own policy requires for such matters? If so, what is the best way for the community of Rio Rancho High parents to follow that committee’s formation and findings?

Questions sent

Rounding Up The Committee

I didn’t send those questions until after midnight EST, so Vesely wouldn’t have seen them until the morning of the 5th. At which point, all hell broke loose.

Thursday, March 5th

12:03pm: Vesely forwards my 6-question inquiry to Associate Superintendent Carl Leppelman.

12:30pm: Leppelman requests Carver and RRPS Exec. Director LaJuana Coleman put together a “Palomar” review committee ASAP. The form requesting removal from Lopez has not been completed and apparently “it is not prudent” to have it done so at this point. Superintendent V. Sue Cleveland has removed “Palomar” pending the committee’s decision.

2:10pm: Special Asst to the Superintendent Marilyn Lake-DellAngelo manages to use Amazon to see how much their edition of “Palomar” is going for on the aftermarket; jokingly(?) suggests selling it.

If you're curious...

2:39pm: Coleman asks Leppelman for clarification, as this is the first she is hearing of it.

3:13pm: Carver forwards my questions to McCandless for answering. Interestingly, only 5 of the 6 are included; the one listed above regarding Policy #425 is missing from the email.

3:24pm: Carver tells Coleman she will bring her up to speed. “We have removed the Palomar book from circulation and it should not be reconsidered. If there needs to be a committee, then I can round up one.”

Friday, March 6th

7:46am: Carver sends answers for my questions to Coleman.

Questions answered.

8:25am: Coleman is still unclear about committee necessity: “It appears that the book is off the shelf, answers have been provided and case closed, unless I am missing something. Please advise.”

10:39am: Leppelman clarifies: “Yes, it has been taken off the shelves but RRPS did not follow our board policy in doing so. Dr. C. directed me to follow the process and submit a recommendation from the committee to determine if it should be removed permanently.”

12:40pm: I followup with Vesely; no response.

Monday, March 9th

A letter is sent to Superintendent Cleveland from the NCAC’s Kids Right to Read Project, reiterating “Palomar”‘s literary merit and the school responsibility to following its own procedures in this matter. The letter is co-sponsored by the CBLDF and several other anti-censorship organizations.

3:30pm: Coleman puts out the call for committee members. Meeting date is set for Monday, March 16th at 3:00 pm. According to Coleman, “I don’t believe it will take more than 30 minutes of your time.”

Tuesday, March 10th

8:19am to 9:24am: Teacher Joel Salisbury tells teacher & committee member Elaine Gonzalez he had not “seen or read the book, and it’s doubtful that the objector has actually read the book either. Unfortunately, KV has already opined on KOAT that the book was “clearly inappropriate”. Well, that certainly makes the committee’s work more difficult, doesn’t it?!” He also forwards her several “Palomar”-related links.

3:38pm: Vesely replies to my inquiry. “A committee review of the book is being held next week per district policy…The book is currently out of circulation pending the committee review.”

I can’t speak for the entire comics community, but the collective feeling outside RRHS at this time back in March had to be one of relief. It certainly was for me; instead of being quickly dropped into a library black site, “Palomar” would have its day in court and be exonerated. How could it not? Policy #425 calls for a review conducted “objectively, unemotionally, and as a routine matter.” But in going back over the emails now, my confidence was sorely misplaced. There didn’t seem to be much objectivity to spare for “Palomar.”

Or even much knowledge of its contents. Nowhere in the almost 200-page PDF of released emails is there any mention of anyone reading the actual book (or even excerpts) as a requirement for the meeting, or raise the idea that the meeting should be scheduled with enough lead-time for anyone to reasonably do so. True, this particular omnibus edition of “Palomar” was out-of-print, but the material contained in it was and is readily available through newer print collections or digitally through Comixology. No request was made to Fantagraphics to provide review copies or any such material. Maybe if Lake-DellAngelo spent a little less time checking the book’s asking price on Amazon and a little more time on research…

I Knows It When I Sees It

The Mugshot

Lopez did go back to RRHS and fill out the required Request for Reconsideration of Library/Media Materials form on March 12th, well after the fact. But nothing else about this had gone according to the rules, so why should this be any different? At least now the committee would have a record of specific instances in the 522-page book to consider and debate, right?

Lopez’s specific list of objectionable material in the book (without citing exact pages/panels as expressly required by Policy #425)?

Sexual graphics, prostitution, child pornography, child abuse, explicit sexual scenes, nudity

The harm Lopez feels a person reading this material would be subjected to?

We are teaching ours (sic) children that you should not have sex before marriage, child abuse and child pornography are bad, and prostitution is degrading but this book promotes what we say are (sic) wrong.

Lopez’s opinion if there was anything good in this material?

No.

The form also requests the submitter name a replacement work of similar medium that would cover the same informational ground in less offending terms. That part, surprisingly, was left blank.

Finally!

Any Last Words From The Deceased…I Mean, The Defendant?

The charges now officially established, the committee met at 3pm on March 16th. McCandless brought the copy of “Palomar” from its locked room, along with “several reviews printed out for the panel” and the NCAC/CBLDF letter to Cleveland. The meeting agenda listed four items: review of Policy #425, review of evidence, discussion, and recommendation & decision.

Attending the meeting were eight of the nine selected members: Coleman (as Cleveland’s designee), Carver, McCandless, Gonzalez, teacher Amanda Bader, non-RRHS Librarian Ann McGinley, community member Theresa Harmer, and teacher Leslie Keeney. The ninth, community member Jo Ann Wondra, had to cancel that morning due to an unrelated matter. Several emails refer to trying to find a substitute but to no avail.

The meeting was:

Closed to the public,

Lasted over an hour (according to RRPS Spokeswoman Beth Pendergrass) without minutes being taken,

Took its vote by anonymous ballot, and

Returned a 5-3 decision in favor of keeping “Palomar” in the high school library.

The Decision

Speaking about “Palomar” in a broader sense:

The committee discussed these concerns at length and found no evidence of the “child pornography or child abuse.” The adult themes are made more obvious by the format of the book and the images are powerful, however, the power of the graphic novel is the combination of the story and the images.

Palomar is a novel with substantive themes, plots, and story lines, which provides the reader opportunities for thoughtful discussion and reflection on important issues. School libraries have large collections of fiction with the hopes that students will check out books not only to use in research, but to read on their own…

Providing students with opportunities to read, even controversial materials, is required under RRHS School Board Policy 425 … The opinion of the majority of the committee is that Palomar, in spite of its depiction of adult sexual themes, does meet the standard of RRPS School Board Policy 425 Library Bill of Rights.

To remove Palomar from the library would give one person undue authority to determine what is appropriate in a library…A majority of the committee concluded that the overall value of the book and the importance of protecting the right to read and the right for public high school libraries to provide a comprehensive collection takes precedence over censorship by a single individual.

After considerable discussion, the committee vote determined the book should remain catalogued at Rio Rancho High School.

Given the committee’s decision, one would think Coleman, Carver, Vesely, McCandless, and the rest would feel vindicated their implied approval (if not actually held belief) of “Palomar”‘s worth was upheld.

One would be wrong, judging from a post-meeting email exchange between VonAncken and Carver:

V: Don’t beat yourself up over this. No matter which way it went, it was going to be a controversy anyway.

C: Yes, and it is my opinion that Dr. C may overturn the committee’s decision as well.

V: I hope she does.

Since the votes were cast by anonymous ballot, there is no record of who voted which way. But based on the email statements leading up to the meeting, I’d score this decision as Carver, Coleman, McCandless for removing “Palomar” and the rest in favor of keeping it. Interesting that, theoretically, the administrators were for removal and the instructors were for retention.

If the voting did play out that way, it would mean there was a librarian voting for either side of the argument, which I wouldn’t have expected going in. I also didn’t expect Policy #425 to be used both against AND for removing “Palomar” (as Carver used the ‘maturity level’ line from it in her earlier justification), so there are surprises all around.

Did Wondra’s absence give one side an advantage? We love “what if’s?” in comics, but this one is truly hard to decipher.

As a community member, Wondra would not have had the administration’s bias to rush to a removal decision to end the matter quickly. And having McGinley, another librarian, there making pro-“Palomar” points might have canceled out McCandless’s librarian’s critique. Teachers giving testimony about the maturity level of the kids they see in class every day might have carried more weight than points from an administration removed. She might have made the final tally 6-3.

Or she could have sided with the administration and convinced Harmer to go their way and it could have ended up 5-4 against “Palomar”.

Again, this is all conjecture on my part. Informed conjecture, but conjecture all the same.

What Did We Do Now?

The remaining emails released cover the internal back & forth over specific wording in the committee’s official decision statement (sent to Lopez via certified mail but not widely released, as far as I can tell), as well as several responses afterwards from myself, Daniels, KOAT News, KRQE News, and Peter Hart from the NCAC regarding that statement or general followup.

Vesely emailed Lake-DellAngelo the evening of the 16th to inquire about several questions regarding the validity of that afternoon’s meeting:

This whole situation has created somewhat of a furor with free speech advocates in the press, first from a columnist from Multiversity Comics who asked if we were following our policy, and then as I understand it, on various communications channels in the comics industry. I told the reporter in question only that a committee would be convened and it would meet this week. But now, we’ve been contacted by two mainstream media outlets this afternoon – I have not responded to either – contending – in one case in pretty strong terms and quoting the president of FOG — that the committee’s meeting was not publicly noticed and not open to the public and therefore violates the Open Meetings Act.

…And finally, this one not legal but more in the court of public opinion – is the process to date a sword we want to die on? Or if we have to reconvene the committee anyway on technical grounds [such as only having eight of the nine required attendees], should we just do it in public in the interest of transparency?

Those “pretty strong terms” came from Rita Daniels emailing that “because the committee will be discussing the fate of the book and formulating a binding policy for the material, under law (the Open Meetings Act), it has to be discussed in an open forum.”

The school released a statement regarding the decision on March 26th. In addition to mentioning the decision itself, the statement clarifies the meeting’s exemption from the Open Meetings Act: “As the committee is not statutorily-created, does not include a quorum of the school board, and does not take actions that are final, the committee’s meetings are not subject to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act.”

The statement also makes clear what the appeal process would entail: “The committee’s opinion may be appealed through the Superintendent to the RRPS Board. The final decision rests with the Board of Education. If an appeal is filed, it would be considered by the board in a duly-noticed public meeting in accordance with the Board’s Open Meetings Policy 130 and the Open Meetings Act, NMSA 1978 Section 10-15-1, et seq.”

Fallout

Lopez told KRQE News on March 26th she would appeal the committee’s decision, making comments comparing the book to Hustler. “I’m not saying [Hernandez]’s not a great author,” Lopez explained in Daniels’ NPR report. “I’m saying that it’s not appropriate for a public school library.”

Daniels notes in her story last week that Lopez said she has appealed the decision with the Superintendent. RRPS officials have stated they have not received an appeal from Lopez in writing.

Pendergrass confirmed with Daniels that “Palomar” will continue to be catalogued in the RRHS library, but “we will ask that any student under 18 wishing to check the book out receive parent permission.”

No other book in the library has carried or currently carries such a caveat.

There is no “restricted” section for such a book to be physically shelved in the RRHS library.

The school’s sole copy of “Palomar” is still locked away in Von Ancken’s office, where it will presumably still be when classes resume on August 12th.

Check out this episode!

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nataliehegert · 9 months ago

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At the International UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico, a group of grey-skinned, silver clad extraterrestrials stand rigid under a metal flying saucer that periodically emits a cloud of vapor from its base. The ground under the aliens’ feet is made to look like rocky desert soil, with plastic cacti and yucca plants interspersed with real rocks and fake rocks, while a replica of a juniper tree partially obscures the metal stand that holds the spaceship aloft. The photo backdrop, instead of depicting the local scenery of Roswell, where the High Plains of the Llano Estacado drop off into the Chihuahuan Desert, erroneously places the figures in the Sonoran Desert, indicated by the presence of a few tall saguaro cacti.

Museum exhibits recount the story of the purported UFO crash in 1947 in a field just outside of Roswell and the subsequent theories of military coverups, alien autopsies, and actual top-secret government surveillance programs. A kind of 20th century folklore unfolds in the chronicling of close encounters of the first, second, and third kind: flying saucer sightings around the globe, reports of strange psychological effects and missing gaps of time, and (wildly) various sketches of alien lifeforms that people claim to have seen.

Outside the museum, one encounters little green men everywhere. On benches, in restaurants, on signs and lampposts.

Before the UFO Museum opened in the 90s the Roswell Incident mythology lay somewhat dormant, staying alive only in the inquisitive imaginations of the UFO obsessed. The museum now welcomes thousands of visitors a year, the linchpin of the city’s new identity as a mecca for alien tourism.

Artist Eric J. García came to Roswell for a year-long stay at the Roswell Artist-in-Residence program and found the critical mass of aliens “seeped” into his brain and started showing up in his artwork. “I started questioning, who’s the alien? Who’s from here, not from here?”

García, who is known for his graphic style and political cartoons, grew up in Albuquerque and got his BFA from the University of New Mexico with a minor in Chicano Studies, and then his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Before that, he served in the Air Force for four and a half years.

He emerged from his service in a state of disillusionment. By that I mean he became aware of the “illusion” that the U.S. projected abroad and to its own citizenry. “Texas, the Alamo, the West, the idea of the cowboy, the frontier, [other] iconic Americana myths, these are super embedded,” he says.

The myth-building was on display in Roswell in an extremely conspicuous way: in the form of flying saucers and alien caricatures, all in service of tourism to the small Eastern New Mexico city. But it was all a grand distraction from the real truth, García found. Aliens were here, and they had in fact colonized the place.

In Roswell, I used to see these tourist shirts with an alien wearing a sombrero and serape, indicating that people from south of the border are not from here, are alien, are not human. Whereas there are many people crossing that border speaking Indigenous languages…They are from the Americas but now we’re calling them aliens.

In García’s video Alien Juxta (2021), he blends popular science-fiction images of extraterrestrials with “actual aliens”—juxtaposing Alf with Christopher Columbus, flying saucers with colonial ships. Even the language sounds sci-fi: the New World and the Old World. The Final Frontier.

Working with artist and video game designer Rafael Fajardo, García adapted the classic arcade game of Space Invaders, replacing the space aliens with cowboys, cannons, and cathedrals—symbols of American colonization. As the game player, you are an Indigenous person, shooting the invaders with a bow and arrow. “I want people to understand these perspectives,” García says, “that the colonial powers were not always here. There were a people here before you.”

To impress his message, García utilizes tactics of humor, satire, subversion, and a graphic style reminiscent of cartoons and the nostalgia of early video games. In his ink drawings, he often breaks down an image into basic geometric blocks, mimicking 8-bit graphics, a super-simplification of image and idea.

These tech-y icons, however, García renders in an ancient and Indigenous medium—cochineal ink, made from insects that inhabit the nopal cactus. When the Spanish brought cochineal back to Europe from the Americas, it became a phenomenon—carmine red. García also makes his own ink from the fruit of the nopal, the bright violet-pink of the prickly pear tuna, which is vivid and pretty, but unstable and lends itself to erasure if exposed to sunlight.

In Game Over (2023), García employs blood-red cochineal ink to depict the 1945 detonation of the first atomic bomb, the Trinity test, in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico. Departing from the blocky 8-bit motif, a cloud billows up and away from the X on the map, indicating the lasting effects of fallout drifting across the surrounding region and up into the atmosphere. The moment the world entered the Anthropocene, according to some. GAME OVER, indeed.

During his service in in the Air Force, “working in the belly of the beast,” García came to learn the global extent of the U.S. military presence. He reflects on the pervasive myth of the benevolence and judiciousness of the U.S. empire, and how embedded the military-industrial complex actually is in our society:

I grew up completely militarized. I played G.I. Joes, I read G.I. Joe comics, I watched Rambo action movies, I played military video games, I was constantly being exposed to militarism, right here in Albuquerque with the Kirtland Air Force Base. Every day around six o’clock the Air Force chopper would fly over like clockwork. I was constantly bombarded.

His brother joined the military before him. It was understood that military service was a way out and a way to get to college. He says, “It was inevitable that I would join.”

Aim High is a recruiting slogan for the Air Force, but it also refers to García’s ultimate target when it comes to his artwork. He has his sights set on the biggest forces in the game: imperialism, colonialism, militarism, white supremacy.

With satire and wit, García exposes the construction of reality proffered by the powerful, the alien empire embedded in this land. Their narrative has evolved over the centuries, from the Doctrine of Discovery, to Manifest Destiny, to Make America Great Again or Build Back Better. But, with a blast from a ray gun, an arrow from a bow, or a stroke of the pen, García blows their cover, explodes their myths.

Eric J. García: Mythbuster, published as a fold-out gallery text on the occasion of the artist’s exhibition at Texas Tech University’s Landmark Gallery, February 17 - April 21, 2024.

#in print #essay #highlights

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native-blog-deutsch · 1 year ago

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Der Weg zur Heilung: Die Macht der Stammesgemeinschaften

Ein Kommentar von Levi Rickert: Im Sommer 2021, einen Monat nachdem die Welt durch die Entdeckung von 215 Überresten unschuldiger Schulkinder in der Kamloops Industrial Residential School in British Columbia wachgerüttelt wurde, nahm ich an einer Gemeinschaftsveranstaltung in meiner Heimatstadt Grand Rapids, Michigan, teil. Die vierstündige Veranstaltung umfasste ein Potluck-Dinner, Jingle-Dress-Tanz und einen Gesprächskreis. Der Gesprächskreis war geprägt von ehrlichen Gesprächen und Tränen. Eine junge Frau erzählte, wie sie einen Nachmittag mit trockenen Bienenstöcken verbrachte, weil sie so bestürzt darüber war, dass unschuldige Kinder der Ureinwohner beim Besuch der Schule in Kamloops starben. Das Wichtigste, was ich von dieser Veranstaltung mitnehmen konnte, war, dass eine neue Generation junger amerikanischer Ureinwohner die Wahrheiten über indianische Internate entdeckte, die wir älteren Ureinwohner bereits seit Jahrzehnten kannten. Als Journalistin der amerikanischen Ureinwohner fällt es mir manchmal schwer, über Dinge zu berichten, die ich an der Seite meiner Stammesgemeinschaft erlebe. Als Potawatomi teile ich den Schmerz und den Kummer. Das war auch an diesem Tag im Jahr 2021 der Fall. Damals habe ich nicht über das Ereignis berichtet. Das konnte ich nicht. Dieses Ereignis fand ein ganzes Jahr vor dem Beginn der Road to Healing-Tour des US-Innenministeriums statt, die im Juli 2022 in Anadarko, Oklahoma, begann. Seitdem fanden 11 Road to Healing-Zuhörsitzungen statt, darunter auch eine gestern in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bei allen Road to Healing-Sitzungen haben die Ältesten der Ureinwohner über ihre Erfahrungen während des Besuchs von Indianer-Internaten berichtet, darunter auch über Fälle von körperlichem, emotionalem und sexuellem Missbrauch. Ich bin immer wieder erstaunt über die unverblümte Offenheit derjenigen, die bei diesen Anhörungen mündlich Zeugnis ablegen. Die Ältesten erzählen von Grausamkeiten, die sich vor Jahrzehnten ereignet haben, in lebhaften Details, als wären sie erst vor ein oder zwei Wochen geschehen. Es ist, als hätten sie jahrelang ein Tonbandgerät in ihrem Kopf abgespielt und dürften nun endlich die Play-Taste drücken und die Lautstärke aufdrehen. Oft werden die Zeugnisse von den Ältesten vorgetragen, die sichtlich zittern und denen die Tränen über die Wangen laufen. Bei der Veranstaltung Road to Healing am Sonntag war der Vorsitzende des Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisana, Marshall Pierite, einer von mehreren anwesenden Stammesführern. "Es war sehr wichtig, die Wahrheit darüber zu erfahren, was in diesen Internaten passiert ist. Ich bin sehr stolz darauf, dass Minister Haaland diese Anhörungen durchführt, denn dadurch wird der Heilungsprozess eingeleitet", sagte Pierite gegenüber Native News Online. Ich habe diese Heilung in Aktion gesehen. Eine Woche zuvor wurde nach einem Tag mit Zeugenaussagen ein heilender Totempfahl auf dem Gelände des Alaska Native Heritage Center aufgestellt. Etwa 500 Alaska-Ureinwohner versammelten sich, um das Aufstellen des heilenden Totempfahls zu beobachten. Das Aufstellen war ein Gemeinschaftsereignis, an dem viele beteiligt waren, darunter Innenministerin Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), die bei der Segnung des Pfahls half, und der stellvertretende Minister Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Indian Community), der beim Tragen des Pfahls half. Dieser heilende Totempfahl wurde von der Haida-Ältesten Norma Jean Dunne (Haida/Tsimshian) entworfen. Er wurde dieses Jahr im Alaska Native Heritage Center von den Haida-Meisterschnitzern Gidaawaan Joe Young und Sgwaayaans T.J. Young geschnitzt. Eine Inschrift für den heilenden Totempfahl lautet: Das heilende Totem stellt eine Bärenmutter dar, die ihre beiden Jungen umklammert, während der Vater (in menschlicher Gestalt) über ihr sitzt, eingebettet in einen Rabenschwanz. Über ihm befindet sich der Rabe mitten in der Verwandlung, an einem Ort zwischen der menschlichen und der Rabenform. Zwei Kinder ruhen bequem in Rabenohren. Das Aufstellen des heilenden Totempfahls war Teil einer langen Veranstaltung, die mit Gesang, Tanz und einer kulturellen Zeremonie verbunden war. Der Totempfahl wurde schließlich kurz vor Sonnenuntergang im Gedenken an die Tausenden von Opfern indianischer Internate aufgestellt. Es ist der einzige Totempfahl, der in den Vereinigten Staaten für die Opfer indianischer Internate aufgestellt wurde. Es war ein beeindruckendes Erlebnis, die große Menschenmenge zu sehen, die den Opfern indianischer Internate gedachte. Unmittelbar nach dem Aufstellen des Totempfahls wurde ich zum Flughafen gebracht, um mit einem roten Flieger nach Hause zu fliegen. Ich verließ Anchorage mit neuer Hoffnung auf Heilung, denn der Totempfahl war ein Symbol dafür, dass Heilung für unsere Stammesgemeinschaften, die so lange gelitten haben, möglich ist. Der Totempfahl ist ein dauerhaftes Symbol. Aber es ist die Kraft der Stammesgemeinschaft, die zusammenkommt, die mir für immer in Erinnerung bleiben wird. Wir wissen, dass Heilung eine Reise ist, die ein Leben lang dauern kann. Sie kann auf verschiedene Weise erfolgen: durch das Eingestehen vergangener Schmerzen, durch psychologische Beratung, durch Gebete an hohe Mächte und, was vielleicht am wichtigsten ist, durch das Zusammenkommen von Stammesgemeinschaften. Gemeinschaft ist alles für die Ureinwohner. Wir dürfen nie vergessen, dass es Kraft gibt, wenn wir im Geiste der Einheit zusammenkommen. Thayék gde nwéndëmen - Wir sind alle miteinander verbunden. 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