#julian's public announcement system

[jerswayman]

to the anon who sent an ask requesting a sway gifset i'm not ignoring you i promise! work has been so so hectic lately, so i took a short break, but i'll be back!

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

M6 with an MC who comes out as trans?

The Arcana HCs: M6 when MC comes out as trans

~ a request near and dear to my heart, anon, let's hope I can do it justice. To all my trans brothers, sisters, and siblings, you are valid and loved and so incredibly beautiful! - brainrot ~

Julian

Worried at first that this was common knowledge and he'd missed all the cues and this is you running out of patience and correcting him

Very relieved when you explain otherwise

He'll do his best to curb his enthusiasm, but after all you've done to help him find purpose again he's throwing all the resources he has available at you with reckless abandon

Did you want surgery? A medical plan? He can do that! He's so happy to do that!

Will randomly ask questions or bring up new facts he learned about being trans in general at all hours of the day (and night)

If you know what name you want to go by, he's using it right away. He's used multiple names himself

If you don't he is absolutely the type to suggest trying on a different one a day

While you're at it, why not come up with a dramatic backstory for each one? Each one emphasizes a different trait of yours that he loves

One time a day or two after you came out, he was half-asleep and accidentally misgendered you (old habit) and he spent the next three days apologizing and trying to make it up to you

Unless you ask him not to, he will announce your preferred pronouns to every friend he has to make sure that all of your future conversations with them are comfortable

Asra

Hell yeah, let's question gender!

But first, they love you so much, and they want you to know that they'll be with you every step of the way, and however you want to express this is completely valid

There's no pressure, there's no rush, nobody knows what's best for you like you do and he's just here to watch the magic happen

That said, where do you want to start

They know some handy spells. Would you like to play with the pitch of your voice?

Sorry, he got distracted giggling at himself sounding like he inhaled too much helium

Loves hearing all the different voices you can call their name in. Lets you know that the one they find the most attractive is the one that makes your eyes light up

Will suggest all kinds of ridiculous names to make you smile and playfully reintroduce you to Faust when you decide on one

Checks in with you on how open you want to be about your gender before he uses your preferred name and pronouns in public. He wants to protect your privacy and process

Gives you full access to their wardrobe in case there's anything you want to try on (skirts? trousers? shirts? dresses? they've got it all, and a few other outlandish pieces)

He thinks everything about you is perfect, so you may have to be upfront about asking him to pay certain parts of your body attention in a different way or adjust certain compliments

Nadia

Deeply honored to be trusted with something so important to you, takes everything about it extremely seriously

Wavers between letting you talk about things at your own pace and asking questions. The more she understands, the better she can support you

Immediately clarifies your preferred pronouns and asks after a preferred name. If you've chosen one already, she'll adjust without a hitch

If you haven't, she's very happy to help you compile a list of illustrious names and their meanings

Wardrobe overhaul. She wants you to feel as comfortable in your skin as possible

Speaking of, were you hoping for any medical care? She knows of several good doctors to summon, and you know what -

- she may as well look over the current state of the healthcare system while she's at it. These are basic needs, everyone should have access to this, not just nobility

It's unnecessary but she will stare down every one of her sisters when she reintroduces you on their next visit. They're all very quick to affirm you regardless of her silent threat

Will plan a grand announcement as soon as you're okay with it, complete with the biggest celebration you're comfortable with

Is quick to figure out which traits of yours give you gender euphoria and will heap praise on them for hours

Muriel

Cool. Thanks for letting him know

Plenty of animals have different genders at different points in their lives, it makes perfect sense if you're the type of human that does that too

He can tell you're experiencing some really strong emotions right now, but being trans is so normal to him that he doesn't realize that's the reason why until a few seconds after his initial response

Panicking because now that he realizes it's a big deal to you there's a lot more he wants to say but he doesn't know where to start so here's an emotional support chicken while he thinks

Okay. He loves you. He's proud of you for taking the step to tell him. He's here for you and wants to support whatever decisions you make

Normally prefers not needing to talk a lot and letting your understanding of each other speak instead, but he'll make an exception for this

He grew up with Asra's nonchalant approach to gender, as soon as you make your pronoun and name preferences known he'll adjust with little effort

Though with how rare it is for him to refer to you in the third person, it's not a huge change

Will be present as emotional support if you wanted to tell anyone else, but you're doing the talking

Portia

Her first response? A really big, really tight hug

"I'd better be the first person to hear this news. What's the plan?"

She certainly didn't expect your announcement, but she's not surprised. You're a cool, attractive magician, this seems par for the course

Obstacles do not exist when Portia's beloved suggests a new adventure. Gender dysphoria quakes at her name

And yes, this is an adventure! Adventures are all about discovering yourself and taking hold of your future, this definitely falls under that category

Takes full advantage of her networking skills to find the best specialists to give you different options

Speaking of networking, she may or may not start a mental list of all the other trans and gender-nonconforming people she knows in the palace

She will also not-so-subtly try getting you to hang out with them. Communities are great places to find support systems for growth!

It's okay if you feel weird about initiating it, she has no such qualms and will happily invite 20+ people over for a big, queer barbeque

Like her brother, if you're still playing around with different names she'll introduce you as different ones on different ambassador trips. The sailors think it's awesome

Lucio

You're a super cool magic user, are you announcing this because you're about to shapeshift??

Completely chill once you explain that no, you're a trans person just like all the other trans people, you're just letting him know because you hadn't told him before

Does his best to listen to everything you have to say but he'll be side eyeing you for the rest of the day just in case you suddenly build a chrysalis and disappear into it for a couple of weeks

He switched his own name from Montag to Lucio because it suited him better, he will be aggressively supportive of your name and pronoun decisions

Doesn't tiptoe around the subject at all, asks so many questions about your identity and how it works for you and how you plan on expressing it

(extravagantly, he hopes, but whatever works for you is fine)

But are you sure you can't use magic? At all? Because while you're on the subject, he wouldn't mind a few extra pounds of muscle himself ... kidding, he's kidding!

You have to be careful when you pass back through places you've been to before because he will fight anyone who misgenders or deadnames you before you have the chance to update them

Thinks announcing pronouns after your name sounds really cool so he starts doing it too

(In case you'd enjoy HCs where MC is already out & in an established relationship with M6, might I suggest M6 with an MC with gender dysphoria?)

[head-post]

Ukraine loses its first F-16: Friendly fire, “alternative truth” and Moscow’s money

The Ukrainian military reported the loss of its first F-16 fighter jet, according to The Wall Street Journal. People’s deputies split over the incident, with Russia offering money to those who downed the jet.

The US Defence Ministry, Kyiv’s main ally, declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) acknowledged the loss of the F-16. Pilot mistake was named as the official cause of the crash.

Ukrainian mass media reported that one F-16 pilot was killed in a strike on an airfield in Ivano-Frankivsk. Some experts link the death of Ukrainian pilot Oleksiy Mes with the destroyed F-16.

Division between Verkhovna Rada military commanders

Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) MP Mariana Bezuhla, known for her criticism of fortifications on Ukrainian defensive positions and criticism of Ukraine’s military command, stated that the F-16 was shot down by a Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.

“According to my information, the F-16 of Ukrainian pilot Oleksiy ‘Moonfish’ Mes was shot down by a Patriot surface-to-air missile system due to discoordination between units. Reports noted that he ‘failed to control the aircraft’.”

The crash took place on Monday, 26 August, in what Bezuhla called “one of the most powerful air attacks by the Russians.”

But the culture of lies in the Air Force Command of the AFU, as well as in other higher military headquarters, leads to the fact that the military decision management system is not improving (…) but even collapsing. (…) And none of the generals are punished. General Oleshchuk remains in office.

In response, Commander of the Air Force of Ukraine Mykola Oleshchuk said that the Ukrainian military was “hiding nothing” and that all the reasons for the incident were being “clarified together with American partners”, according to Ukrainian media.

“You have once again not only poured mud on me personally and on the Air Force, you have discredited the manufacturers of US weapons – Ukraine’s main ally – the United States! You have again become the main newsmaker of enemy propaganda and are breaking all records on Russian television! All of Russia applauds you! If you don’t help us, at least stay out of our war!”

Meanwhile, German military journalist Julian Röpcke, who covers the war in Ukraine, accused foreign publications of lying about the downed US fighter jet. He also stated that several sources had already confirmed that the crash of the US plane was caused by a missile of the Patriot defence system and not by pilot mistake.

Unfortunately, not the only source: Apparently, there was a fatal incident during the first joint operation of Patriot and F-16 last Monday due to poor air defense coordination. Instead of openly admitting this, an alternative truth was spread.

Kremlin pays

Earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that the first person to shoot down a Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet would receive 15 million roubles (about 164,000 dollars or 147,400 euros).

Sources responded that if the F-16 was shot down by a Ukrainian pilot, the pilot’s relatives could claim the award. If the fighter jet was destroyed by the Patriot system, its operators would receive the money.

However, military experts expressed doubts about Russia sending the money to any of the Ukrainian citizens. They claim that the reward for the first F-16 shot down is saved and awaits its Russian receiver.

The Defence Ministry previously paid 500,000 rubles (about $5,500 or 4,900 euros) each to Russian soldiers for destroying Abrams and Leopard tanks.

Read more HERE

[independentartistbuzz]

Julian Cross & AFROJACK is ‘All I Need’

Today Julian Cross has just launched his new track 'All I Need' together with AFROJACK, the first song for Julian’s debut album Stories of The Nebula, which is anticipated to be released later this summer. Futuristic and fresh describe Julian Cross's sound, who incorporates his clear vision for his music into all aspects of his work, including artwork and performances. Born in the Netherlands and raised in Belgium, Julian Cross has been working as a DJ and producer for many years. He is one of the biggest developments within WALL Recordings, the record label of DJ/producer AFROJACK, who is also Julian's mentor and co-producer on this beautiful track. Listen in here: https://open.spotify.com/album/5DgYnW9yRnHEtY7LabHPys  Julian Cross proudly announces the release of his latest hit track, 'All I Need.' It's a fantastic 'feel-good' song with catchy and uplifting vocals from Tonino Speciale, the singer who co-wrote the hit 'Anywhere With You' with AFROJACK. 'All I Need' is the perfect song to start the summer with and will undoubtedly conquer headphones and dance floors throughout the coming year. Julian Cross is no stranger to the dance scene. With over 4 million plays on Spotify and impressive performances at Tomorrowland the Gathering and during Ultra Miami, the name 'Julian Cross' is becoming increasingly familiar to the general public. His previous track, 'Antidote,' was also played frequently during Ultra. Julian draws most of his inspiration for his music mainly from his environment to keep his songs close to himself. Knowing where you came from is a big part of his life, which he incorporates into his music. He has also received support from big names in the industry such as Martin Garrix and of course AFROJACK. The other Dutchman on this track needs little introduction. The world-famous DJ and Grammy-award-winning producer AFROJACK has been one of the biggest names in the EDM scene for over a decade. With his focus on developing new talent, the superstar provides advice to the producers of the future. This track 'All I Need' is, therefore, a testament to the developments behind WALL. Proud mentor of Julian Cross and also one of the founders of the EDM scene, AFROJACK will continue to break boundaries wherever he goes. With its catchy vocals and melody, 'All I Need' is a track you’ll have on repeat. Within seconds, the song sticks in your head, and you'll be singing it all summer long. Now that the single is out, you can listen to it from the comfort of your own sound system in addition to festival sets around the world. 'All I Need' is this track, all summer long!

[emiliocarrasco]

All smiles and professionalisms fall into place when Emilio's gaze snaps to Joyce — it's as though he's spotted a mark. Only this one, he knows to try keep on the good side of. A presidential candidate up his ass, is the last thing he needs. Emilio's heard plenty rumours about Wagner.

She and Julian really were the rival King and Queen of the political kingdoms.

Emilio's a loyal subject — tonight, especially.

"Mrs. Wagner," He greets. immediately feeling obligated to take the glass she's offering him. Senators could be more dangerous than a criminals, and sometimes — they were one and the same. Emilio's the rougher side of the Halliday-Carrasco ops. Good cop, bad cop — and all those cliches that mean Emilio's still got some sharpening of his public speech skills to do.

He's not sure if he can make an offhanded remark with Joyce, but he does it regardless: "The stats can be found online these days, senator." For the people, Emilio knows. But as for cracking down on it — he's not sure if she's entirely aware of the funding, operations, and shortages of officers in the current climate.

"—And I hope your husband hears all good things in those papers," Emilio dreads to think. He learned to avoid reading the articles in full, unless Halliday drops it on his desk. Which then, he does.

Sipping the drink, he swallows: "Hooliganism, whilst can be criminal, is not everything." A jest, it falls short; he knows it when he's said it. Criminals, is always the word he'll use. But that's probably politically incorrect of him. "I'd like — in the future, to redirect some attentions—" if and when we have the resources. "— to basic living needs. Officers being called out to crimes that could have easily been avoided." It's not a dig, but it is announcing that it's out of his jurisdiction. But it's within Joyce's. "It costs the city countless zeros, it wastes resources and it endangers my officers needlessly. You want the force to cut your crime rate every year, help them out with cleaning up the other flaws in the city."

It comes across sharp, and maybe it is — but, she asked.

Annoyingly — he thinks of Takeda in this moment, because toe to toe with her as of late, happened to be on cases that Emilio knows test the sometimes flawed system Emilio prides on. It isn't an excuse, it never is. But, removing those excuses entirely, that isn't impossible. Homelessness, employment, medical care... the list goes on.

"As you know," An assumption, he doesn't know if she does. "A lot of crime would be eradicated, if those with basic living needs were fulfilled. That's always where I try to start. Prioritise our team. Whilst also—" he laughs, trying to butter instead of slice: "—catching the rest of the hooligans..." Another sip and —

"I wish not to bore you with things, senator. I'm sure you have some brilliant ideas for the city, no?"

closed starter for @emiliocarrasco where: the cloisters

"Emilio, I'm positively delighted to run into you." Is she being fake or not? It's not easy to tell. She wears a perfectly pleasant smile, as all politicians do, and looks the picture of charm. She places a gentle hand on his upper arm, gesturing for one of the caterers to stop, plucks a wine glass for him and hands it over.

She's not one to shy away from bribery, even if it is in the form of shrimp puffs and champagne. After all, they're here to mingle. Her children are somewhere spreading her good word in this religious space, and it almost feels sacrilegious but she doesn't give a rat's ass what God wants - only if it puts her in the White House.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about the city's crime rate, my husband has been raving about hearing your name in the papers. I'd love to hear your ideas to crack down on these.." She gives a bit of an eye roll. "..hooligans."

[mariacallous]

Vladimir Putin turns 70 years old today. Ramzan Kadyrov has already announced that the day will be celebrated with pomp and circumstance in Chechnya. In Moscow, expect more muted felicitations, but there will still be a roll call of the powerful showing their deference. But there will be no standing ovations at the Bolshoi Theater as there were for Joseph Stalin on December 21, 1949, when the Soviet leader celebrated his 70th birthday. It is also unlikely that Xi Jinping will come to congratulate Putin in person, as Mao Zedong famously did in 1949, ushering in the first of many short-lived waves of Sino-Soviet co-operation. (And even if Xi did come, he would arrive as Putin’s master not as a junior partner.) There are remarkable similarities and important differences between these two long-serving dictators at the age of 70, explains historian Juliane Fürst in a guest essay for Meduza.

Whereas Stalin became a septuagenarian at the height of his power, four years after a victorious war that extended the Soviet empire and served as a potent unifier of his people, Putin’s position at the epicenter of power is far from certain and is ironically threatened most by those sycophantically celebrating his anniversary.

Yet, details notwithstanding, there are also remarkable parallels between Stalin’s position in 1949 and Putin’s today. Both leaders look back on a more-than-20-year rule, in which they gradually but unmistakably tightened the screws on any kind of opposition — Stalin a bit earlier and more decisively than Putin, who for a long time left a façade of permitted dissent, especially in the cultural sphere.

Both also pathologically fear(ed) old age with its physical frailty and loss of command. Putin’s every youthful self-fashioning was matched by Stalin’s extreme control over his image in the last few years of his reign. He hardly ever appeared in public, censored photographs of his image, and preferred to use film doubles in visuals for the Soviet population. Harrison Salisbury, the long-time New York Times correspondent, recounted around the time of Stalin’s 70th birthday how people had gathered in shock around a shop window where a photo was exhibited showing Stalin with grey hair. Putin is more visible, but he too resorts to recorded and staged videos and keeps absolute privacy about his health and well-being.

While Stalin’s last years were quieter compared to the terror of the 1930s, it was by no means clear at the time that they would remain so. Stalin’s external war had been fought and won by 1949, but internally he unleashed a number of smaller purges in Leningrad and Georgia and ruled with an iron hand everywhere else. The anti-cosmopolitan campaign, formally started in 1948, reminded East and West alike that Stalin continued to rule by division and ethnic persecution. In 1952, the pressure was ratcheted upward further when several Jewish doctors working for the Kremlin were arrested on charges of treason and murdering Stalin’s ally, Andrey Zhdanov.

When Stalin died on March 5, 1953, the country (and the foreign press corps) had for some time been expecting the forced resettlement of the 2 million Soviet Jews residing within the USSR’s borders — an idea no less crazy and brutal than the unprovoked invasion of a neighboring country.

In 1949, as well as in October 2022, it is hard to imagine Moscow without the leaders who define the country’s image, so much so that they are synonymous with their regimes. Few could imagine in 1949 that Stalinism would be over soon, just as Putin’s system feels irrevocably entrenched today. And yet not only did Stalin’s successors, who had been his loyal cronies, dismantle public representations of him almost immediately — the Soviet people, too, moved on with astonishing speed.

After the ill-fated funeral where dozens of people were crushed in a stampede, Stalin disappeared from peoples’ thoughts surprisingly quickly (albeit not completely). In many ways, the 1953–1956 years were the most turbulent of the Thaw period, characterized by multiple challenges to the Stalinist way things had been done. This was especially true in universities, the Komsomol, and other youthful spaces, where not only Stalin but the system found itself under attack.

With hindsight, it’s clear that Stalin lost large parts of the young generation in his final years — especially the young intelligentsia, even if (barring a few exceptions) young people did not rebel en masse against the regime. People in this demographic were born too late to benefit from the social mobility Stalinist policies engendered in the 1930s and were quasi-disenfranchised by the Soviet Union’s second founding myth: victory in the Great Patriotic War.

The veteran generation’s dominance over Soviet politics and society was only broken with the ascendancy of Mikhail Gorbachev, who at the time of Stalin’s death was a student at Moscow State University and whose first political steps as a Komsomol organizer in the law department came in the heady days of post-Stalinism. Meanwhile, young men with quiffs and a love for Western fashion listened to jazz on Voice of America and paraded their colorful socks and ties on Gorky Street. They outdid each other in stylish innovation and (unconsciously) created an ideological and visual counterpoint to their elders’ military culture and Stalinist puritanism.

Putin has also disenfranchised the young by catering almost exclusively to the psychological needs of Russia’s older generation. Unlike Stalin who had a victory at his disposal, Putin’s generational focal point has always been a negative one (at least in his estimation): the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin’s frequent rallying around the memory of Western betrayals in the “terrible 1990s” does not resonate with those who have no active memory of the period and whose experience of the West is determined by actual encounters rather than imaginary u- or dys-topias.

Long before the war against Ukraine drove many young people across Russia’s borders, Putin’s star had declined among this segment of the population. 

None of this can tell us what the future holds for Putinist or post-Putinist Russia. Stalin died before he could fully implement his last great bloodletting, while Putin has embarked on his biggest aggression yet, just as he turns 70 (and we do not know what he will do next).

The reports and documents we have detailing Stalin’s life in his twilight years testify to the fact that age does not mellow dictators but heightens their paranoia and intensifies their desperate grip on power. The fear of imminent death and the immunity to commit literally any activity combine in dictators to form a chilly climate that’s safe for no one — not even the wives of top politicians (for example, Molotov’s Jewish wife Polina Zhemchuzhina was arrested in 1948).

Even when living standards rise (as they did after 1947) and people find belonging in the collective veneration of their leader, these regimes can be unexpectedly fragile. It’s not for nothing that Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg likened the late Stalinist years to a winter — a winter that had no end in sight until March 5, 1953.

[kiranxrys]

Alone Together Episode 1 Transcript - Alexander Siddig & Andrew Robinson

I hadn’t seen a transcript for this episode going around on Tumblr yet and I thought I would quickly make one to share with anyone who would prefer to read or wants to read along/revisit the first episode in text form (and the YouTube subtitles are mostly useless, annoyingly). Please let me know if you think I’ve made an error anywhere and I’ll amend it!

watch: one | two | three | four

read: two | three | four

ANNOUNCER (ON-SCREEN): ‘Alone Together’ - a DS9 companion, Episode 1 - ‘These Days’. It has been about 25 years since the Dominion War ended. The Federation isn’t quite the same. Starfleet is much more consistently militarized these days. Earth may be paradise, but humanity is less ideologically empathetic. Since the recent Romulan attempts to extinguish synthetic life by infiltrating Starfleet Command, benevolence is taking a backseat to security these days. 

Elim Garak has been Castellan of the Cardassian Assembly since the new order was established following the Dominion War. Garak, of course, also has direct control over a newly resurrected Obsidian Order, though not by title. 

Julian Bashir is still a doctor on Deep Space 9 but is also coordinating the activities of Section 31. What we’ve learned is that upon sharing a consciousness with Luther Sloane using stolen Romulan technology, his genetically enhanced brain committed much of what he learned to his eidetic memory. That information had to be contained but could be put to good use. He was given little choice in the matter. Maintaining his cover as a Chief Medical Officer in the Bajoran sector met his needs, and he saw no reason to change.

[fade to black]

JULIAN BASHIR (VOICE ONLY): Mission log, stardate 737114. I’m approaching Cardassia Prime in response to a rather enigmatic request for medical aid from Castellan Garak, the leader of the Cardassian government. Though it’s hardly surprising that Garak might be withholding information, it seems that a reunion of sorts will be forthcoming. I’ve left the Infirmary in the capable hands of Doctor Jabara while I’m off the station. I must admit, I’m not entirely sure what to expect. 

JULIAN (ON-SCREEN): Bashir to Central Command, I’ve just entered orbit of Cardassia Prime, requesting approval to transport to Cardassia.

ELIM GARAK (VOICE ONLY): Stand by, Doctor. Don’t be in such a hurry.

JULIAN: Garak. I didn’t expect you to be at the Central Command, it’s good to hear your voice.

GARAK: My dear doctor, are we starting the lies already?

JULIAN (LAUGHING): It’s true, Garak. It’s good to hear your voice! That’s not a- Look, more importantly, if you’ll grant approval I can beam to your current location.

GARAK: Doctor, I’m not at Central Command. I’ve merely intercepted your subspace communications link. Unfortunately, Doctor, the Federation will not be setting foot on Cardassia today, and, to be quite honest, you don’t want to be here.

JULIAN: Garak, your message suggested some urgency in my arrival. Quite frankly, what the hell am I doing here if I can’t beam down?

GARAK: Would you uh- [laughs] believe pure, unadulterated nostalgia?

JULIAN: Would you?

GARAK (ON-SCREEN): [laughs] I missed you too Doctor. So, how is life on the station?

JULIAN: Well, Bajoran fashions just aren’t the same since you left.

GARAK: I’m sure.

JULIAN: But much of life has returned to what it once was, as much as it ever could, I suppose. Now-

GARAK: I was sorry to hear about Dax.

JULIAN: Thank you. I um… I miss Ezri every day. Ten years. I, well, that is- we, Dax and I, we tried to make it work. I- I was so happy Dax made it back to Trill on time. Cairn and I, we were very different people. He’s a botanist – can you imagine? Dax as a botanist. I suppose it’s why Keiko didn’t seem to mind my business as much. She and Dax had so much to talk about but, well, once the Symbiosis Commission discovered our continued relationship, well, we just uh- we couldn’t-

GARAK: Doctor, there’s no need to explain.

JULIAN: No. Dax always encouraged me to talk about my feelings, though there’s not much else to say, really. I had never really considered being in love with another man, but it was Dax. Ezri, Jadzia, even Cairn, it was Dax, is Dax. But we- we just couldn’t- I didn’t-

GARAK: It is difficult to find a good counselor to sort out our deepest sorrows these days.

JULIAN: I suppose it is.

GARAK: You’re an honourable man, Doctor. You loved Dax, you could do nothing less than your heart demanded. I know the pain of love all too well, especially a love that has everything working against it.

JULIAN: Ziyal.

GARAK: Ziyal, yes. Yes, even exiles have hearts, Doctor. Even [laughs] Elim Garak. When it comes right down to it, he has a heart as well. In fact, my heart is partially the reason why I’m here.

JULIAN: So, this is a house call? Damn it, Garak, why didn’t you tell me on subspace? What- what are your symptoms? Why don’t you want me to beam down?

GARAK: Well, so many questions, one hardly knows which to answer first.

JULIAN: Your symptoms, Garak. What is wrong with your heart?

GARAK: Well, it’s not just my heart, Doctor. Actually the most concerning symptom seems to be a degenerative condition that causes the ill to be especially susceptible to suggestion. Luckily my infection is relatively new, and rather unexplained as my exposure to the public tends to be limited to state functions and the like, you know, the life of a politician.

JULIAN: The ill? Garak, what are you saying?

GARAK: A virus, Doctor. Cardassia appears to be facing a- a minor health issue. We’re trying to contain the infection to one region, but we may have moved… far too late.

JULIAN: A minor health issue? You are a champion of understatement! ‘The ill’ suggests that this isn’t just about you but your ability to hide the facts seems to have been tainted over the years.

GARAK: Doctor?

JULIAN: Since your speech at the Lakarian City memorial, the ridges on your neck have grown paler and your breathing rate has increased.

GARAK: You liked my speech?

JULIAN: Damn it, Garak, you contacted me! How is this the first time that I’m hearing about this? Why is the planet not being quarantined? Your message said ‘medical aid’ – I assumed that I was just coming here as a preliminary consultation having something to do with one of your colonies. Now it sounds like an outbreak that needs to be contained.

GARAK: Doctor, quarantine means announcing the problem to the galaxy. This is an internal matter. You obviously don’t appreciate the severity of this virus, but you needn’t worry – no one is allowed to leave Cardassia, no one is currently being permitted to enter the atmosphere.

JULIAN: I cannot imagine you can contain the population without a reason. Just how bad is it?

GARAK: Oh, I’ve given them a reason, Doctor, but you shouldn’t worry about that. There are more important things requiring your focus right now.

JULIAN: Of course. How much- how many are infected?

GARAK: At last count, the virus had been contained to three continents. Nearly 68% of the population in those regions has been infected.

JULIAN: And you call it a ‘minor issue’ Garak?! That’s a pandemic!

GARAK: Doctor, when I say that the ill have developed a degenerative condition, I speak specifically of their thought processes. It is true that we have determined that it is a virus – a biological contaminant of sorts – but the Central Command is hardly a healthcare organization and while the degeneration is affecting the cardiopulmonary system as well, all of the symptoms seem to be driven by misfiring neurons, and therein lies the problem.

JULIAN: A virus that affects the brain is no small problem. The fact that early infections are showing in terms of dysfunction relatively mild systems doesn’t mean people won’t start to die.

GARAK: Yes, Doctor. And I haven’t.

JULIAN: My God, Garak. You’re infected.

GARAK: Why do you think I contacted you? I want the best.

JULIAN: And hoping that my genetic enhancements will allow me to diagnose your symptoms without scanning equipment?  

GARAK: I really have missed your mistrust, Doctor. The physicians here have the tendency to avoid the necessary dispassion for harder truths. You, however, have a refreshingly forthright bedside manner.

JULIAN: Wow, a compliment. You must be neurologically compromised. Well of course, of course I’ll do everything that I can. Do you know anything more about the virus? How is it passed on? How does it proliferate in the body? Have your doctors attempted any therapies that show any promise?

GARAK: Well, it seems to take several days to propagate in the carrier. During that time, sufferers develop a rather serious cough... [inaudible] …the dispatcher reaches the brain so our assumption it that it is spread through the air. Most hospitals have been closed to all but the infected to try and control the outbreak. As a result, our doctors are learning from their patients as they are treating them. As it stands now, they can only treat symptoms. Medical staff is reporting to external bodies to ensure that anyone studying the infection isn’t also battling a neurological disease. Progress is limited and all too slow.

JULIAN: Garak, I’m not sure how I can help you if I can’t examine you or access your data.

GARAK: Doctor, I’m afraid I can’t allow you to put yourself at risk. After all, I’m counting on you to save us all. And I believe that an outside perspective may be exactly what we need.

JULIAN: So no pressure?

GARAK: You’re a bright man, Doctor – put that genetically-enhanced brain of yours to work.

JULIAN: Well, I can’t examine you from orbit. My shuttlecraft sensors may be able to me that you’re alive, they can isolate you for transport, but they can hardly determine more than the most modest of life signs, and while I can see outward symptoms, Garak, I can’t for the life of me figure out how to see through your skull. I suppose I could transport a tricorder down there for a preliminary scan.

GARAK: I’m afraid I can’t allow that, Doctor.

JULIAN: Oh, of course you can’t. Can you send me your most recent medical scans?

GARAK: Unfortunately, no.

JULIAN: And why not?

GARAK: All of my genuine medical records are routinely deleted and replaced with falsified data. All data rods in which those records once existed have been destroyed, all computers in which the data rods were placed have been vaporized. My dear doctor, I’m the leader of the Cardassian people! Especially now, I can’t afford to broadcast my weaknesses to all, to anyone who feels they could exploit them.

JULIAN: The more things change, the more they remain the same.

GARAK: Meaning?

JULIAN: A presumption of godliness, most certainly a great paranoia. You haven’t managed to find yourself a staff that you trust to protect your life. To be quite honest, I’m surprised your staff doesn’t have implants that allow you to control them.

GARAK: Oh, Doctor, your assumptions hurt me deeply! Of course they do. If news of this infection gets out, and I can’t be clearer than this, Cardassia will be devastated. And we won’t be the only world that will fall.

JULIAN: Garak, you seem to believe that I can cure this virus from orbit, without any information.

GARAK: Well, Doctor, this virus doesn’t only infect the average citizen. Everyone is at risk. Everyone – the government, the military. Imagine if only a few of their people were infected. They find it difficult to concentrate. They’re finding themselves susceptible to suggestion. And what if intelligence agents of foreign governments found their way to Cardassia during this crisis?

JULIAN: It could destroy the Cardassia you’ve been rebuilding for over two decades.

GARAK: Yes.

JULIAN: But quarantine would keep foreign nationals off-planet and keep the rest of us safe from infection, assuming it can even infect off-worlders.

GARAK: Again, Doctor, it would announce the problem before we have a solution.

JULIAN: But it could help produce the solution you so desperately need!

GARAK: The risk is too great, Doctor.

JULIAN: Garak! Lives are at stake!

GARAK: Hundreds, perhaps thousands, to save billions. Doctor – will. You. Help. Me?

JULIAN: First and foremost, I’m a doctor, Garak. And I’m your friend.

GARAK: Yes. One more thing we should keep to ourselves.

JULIAN: You know Garak… you are being more paranoid than usual. You remind me of the exiled tailor I met so many years ago.

GARAK: Ah, but as you said yourself Doctor, the more things change-

JULIAN: The more they stay the same. But Garak, so much has changed. You’re the leader of your people.

GARAK: Julian… let’s drop the pretensions, shall we?

JULIAN: Whatever do you mean?

GARAK: You know that I have rebuilt the Obsidian Order, and the reason that I know that you know is because I know that you are working for Starfleet Intelligence. Your posting at Deep Space 9 is merely your cover. Why would a religious sanctuary like Deep Space 9 need a doctor of your capability, with such a limited Starfleet presence? I must admit, you have done an excellent job of obscuring your intelligence role.

JULIAN: Dear, dear Garak. Have you been keeping tabs on me? I suppose of all people you would be the only person I might be able to trust with such information. Assuming any of your conclusions are true. But Starfleet still has a presence and Deep Space 9 is still a major way station for commerce and diplomacy in the Bajoran sector.

GARAK: Of course you can trust me with sensitive information Julian-

JULIAN: [chuckles]

GARAK: -at least until there’s a reason you can’t. Oh, but let’s hope it never comes to that. I do like you; I did from the very beginning. You may be my only true friend. Since Mila’s passing, our all too infrequent exchanges have been my only respite from a world without trust. The political world on Cardassia deplores a vacuum and the old ways are clung to, even after the war. It took me years to bring Cardassians around to another way of thinking. The arts are celebrated, the people are fed. Life is no longer a struggle, but… paranoia is rampant once more.

JULIAN: Then I suppose you’ve been the ideal leader.

GARAK: Well, I do appear to have the appropriate skill set and experience, yes.

JULIAN: You could always go back to being a plain, simple tailor.

GARAK (LAUGHING): You would be surprised by how many of my old vocations I still dabble in. I’ve even taken up taxidermy! Yes, it’s true! But stuffing a tribble isn’t as challenging as perhaps a six-legged [uncertain] marsupial, but it passes the time. And so many wonderful things fit inside an animal that need only trill to appear alive.

JULIAN: [laughs]

GARAK: But as you said Julian, you are my friend, and one of the things I learned from working in the Obsidian Order under Enabran Tain, was that friends are a liability. Enemies are easy. Friends… friends are the challenge. When I was his protégé I had a job to do, relationships were tools to achieve my objectives. I don’t have time for friends, I don’t have room for emotional attachments.

JULIAN: And then you were exiled.

GARAK: And then… I was exiled.

JULIAN: I had no idea.

GARAK: About what?

JULIAN: Am I your only friend?

GARAK: Well… the only one living.

JULIAN: You said that your cardiopulmonary system seems to be demonstrating symptoms consistent with this neurolytic virus.

GARAK: Mm-hmm.

JULIAN: I need to at least access the database being used by the off-site researchers working on a cure.

GARAK: I’m sorry to disappoint you, Doctor – I’ve never been an ideal patient, as you well know. But while I trust you, I cannot risk any access that Starfleet Intelligence might have built into your shuttle.

JULIAN: Garak, you’re tying my hands. Do you have access to a medical scanner? Can you scan yourself?

GARAK: I’ve been a tailor, a gardener, a spy, who’s to say I’m not a doctor as well?

JULIAN: I suppose stranger things have happened.

GARAK: Oh, a shapeshifter saved the galaxy by going for a swim, a Starfleet captain turned out to be a god, a Cardassian legate turned out to be the devil, you were married to a woman three centuries your senior – stranger things, my dear doctor, happen all the time.

JULIAN: You may have a point. Although to be fair, Dax is three hundred years older, not Ezri. Ezri was several years younger than me.

GARAK: Semantics, Doctor.

JULIAN: Ah, here we are.

GARAK: I’m sorry?

JULIAN: I’ve created an encrypted backdoor to your central database.

GARAK: Ooh, of course you did. Yes, but it won’t help you. Our researches are working in a closed system, it is impossible to access their research through the central network.

JULIAN: Damn it, Garak, I’m trying to help you! I encrypted the access, there was no danger to you or you people! I used a fractal regression to develop access points at either end.

GARAK: And I sincerely appreciate your efforts, Julian. That’s why you’re here. And of course that is why I am convinced no one else will be able to save us.

JULIAN: I cannot do this without any information about the pathogen. And even the smartest person in the galaxy would be hard-pressed to develop a cure to an unknown virus quickly enough to prevent its spread or knowledge of its existence to the outside world.

GARAK: I have faith in you, Doctor. And to put your mind at ease, you should know that very few citizens on Cardassia are even aware that they are infected. And I’ve committed the Order to a substantial misinformation campaign to keep it that way.

JULIAN: How long do you expect that to last? The longer the infected believe that they’re free to live their normal lives or even to travel to and from health centers for treatment for whatever malady they believe they have, the faster the real virus will spread.

GARAK: Well, it seems its symptoms vary in their intensity. The cough can be persistent or periodic. And when that initial symptom passes, the neurological symptoms cause sufferers to present a variety of ailments. It is only those doctors who discovered the virus and were subsequently visited by some associates that are aware of the larger problem. And they are the very physicians currently researching the virus on my behalf.

JULIAN: If you are able to contact them then there’s no reason that I can’t access their data!

GARAK: Doctor, we’ve been through this.

JULIAN: Garak, we’ve been through a lot of things!

GARAK (LAUGHING): Yes.

JULIAN: You didn’t call me here to explain Cardassia’s post-war isolationist bureaucracy!

GARAK: [laughs]

JULIAN: I came because a friend in need asked me!

GARAK: You didn’t know why I called you, Doctor. So please, don’t offer me your selfless pretense.

JULIAN: Pretense?! You think after all this time your lives and deceptions would keep me from helping you? I can tell when you’re lying Garak, and you know when I’m telling the truth. I promise you that no one will ever know about your role in the cover-up of the virus, at least not from me.

GARAK: I… I want you to set course for the southern polar region of Cardassia Prime. The magnetic interference will make it more difficult for prying eyes to access your subspace signal. You’ll find that my alleged paranoia has a purpose. 

JULIAN: Computer, set course 118 mark 72.

COMPUTER: [chimes] Acknowledged.

JULIAN: Engage at one-quarter impulse.

COMPUTER: Course laid in. [chimes]

JULIAN: My signal was encrypted from the very beginning. I assume the same is true of the signal you used to isolate and redirect my subspace carrier wave. Isn’t it a little bit late to begin worrying now, Garak?

GARAK: Our signal may be secure between one another, but any system can be breached given enough time and expertise. And what I have to tell you…

JULIAN: Just tell me, Garak. I’m over the polar region as you asked.

GARAK: Yes, so you are, so you are. Now, good, wait- wait… Good. Now that we’re comfortably alone, let me ask you this: do viruses normally pop up undetected in a population with little to no prior warning? And how many unknown pathogens exist in a planetary ecosystem with our level of technological development?

JULIAN: Well, to be quite honest, pathogens can unexpectedly adapt or cross species barriers. Centuries ago on Earth, industrial pollution led to a climate change which in turn caused previously isolated microorganisms to be released into the biosphere.

GARAK: Yes, you truly have an answer for everything.

JULIAN: It comes in handy. But I suspect you’re going somewhere with this so please, continue.

GARAK: Our research has found some… peculiarities in the viral RNA, and admittedly I don’t understand all of the specifics, but, to put it bluntly, the virus has been engineered. I’m sending you two images of the viral RNA we’ve discovered. The images are all that I can risk sending you now. If you can find the source, you may find a cure. Alternatively, if a cure was not developed… you can avenge my death.

JULIAN: Not currently one of my skill sets, Garak. But why the pretense? You could’ve told me this immediately- actually, don’t answer that. I’ll need some time to do an analysis of this to determine what might work to counteract the viral infection. Annoyingly, there is no systemic treatment that I can even begin to research without knowing the underlying cause. But over the last twenty-five years, you must’ve made all sorts of new enemies. According to the latest intelligence, the only dangerous political intrigue is coming out of the Romulan Empire these days.

GARAK: Yes, well, leading a government comes with its own risks, to be sure, Doctor. But why do they have to be new enemies? Of course the Romulans have never been great fans of mine – I mean I left their embassy’s grounds-keeping staff so many years ago. Oh, those poor orchids, they’ll never be the same. And there’s always Kai.

JULIAN: The Kai.

GARAK: Ah, Kira- Kira, dear Kira’s never been a fan of mine.

JULIAN: We both know that Nerys would have never worked this slowly if she wanted to kill you.

GARAK: [laughs]

JULIAN: And she would only kill you. But Nerys is hardly the same person since she left the militia to join the Vedek Assembly, and now that she’s the Kai, this level of genetic manipulation would have to accomplished by someone with intimate knowledge of the Cardassian physiology as well as the capacity to evade security of your medical system.

GARAK: Yes, although like I said, it is an internal Cardassian matter. I’m sure there are plenty of elder Cardassians who would enjoy watching my life come to an end from torture. Dukat’s father- I mean, uh… [laughs] to one kanar-induced tryst with the man himself, to finally becoming involved with Ziyal, and whatever else-

JULIAN: Wait- wait, wait, wait you- hang on, you- you and Dukat?

GARAK: Ooh, yes. Surprising, isn’t it? Yes, two nights, maybe, before my exile, I’d been feeling quite powerful. I wouldn’t have normally lowered my guard even among my fellow Cardassians. Dukat was enjoying his second bottle of kanar, was looking for someone to blame for his most recent failures to overcome the Bajoran resistance, and there I was. He promised my death from across Quark’s bar. Later that evening he found his way back to my table to apologize – uncharacteristic, absolutely, to be sure. But kanar can do that to a man. We stole away to a quiet corner on the second level to talk, and then we found our way to an unoccupied holosuite.

JULIAN: I don’t know what to say.

GARAK: Well, I don’t need to tell you, Doctor – it was an unplanned direction for my evening to take. And suffice to say it didn’t soften Dukat’s general opinion of me. [laughs] He did keep his distance for a long time afterward.

JULIAN: So, that story had a happy ending, if you’ll pardon the pun.

GARAK: Pun?

JULIAN: Uh, it- it’d be funny on Earth. Though tragic, too – sort of like a sad clown, really. Miles will love it.

GARAK: Doctor, could we perhaps find out what is slowly eating away at me before revealing my darkest secrets to Professor O’Brien over an ale.

JULIAN: Of course, of course. I think the first step is to cross-reference known immunogenic agents that could have been introduced into your system. Even if the virus is a new pathogen, its mode of infection could be a million different things. You should review your schedule and try and determine an environment over which your control was limited, a place where the food and drink could’ve been tampered with or perhaps a place where you could have been unexpectedly exposed to an air assault. But… about this dalliance with Dukat-

GARAK: Oh Doctor, please. Provincial human attitudes aside-

JULIAN: Of course.

GARAK: -your species didn’t always have synthehol, and every species seems to go through a period of poor choices. Believe it or not, Cardassians are a passionate people, a people who yearn to find joy wherever it may lie. And remember, that we were in the midst of a Bajoran occupation and there wasn’t much joy to be had for those of us assigned to Terok Nor. Decades later, my reforms are helping to shape a modern Cardassia.

JULIAN: Understood. Though I take exception to the word ‘provincial’.

GARAK: Oh, of course you do. Now, let me take a look at my agenda… According to my doctors, I could have been exposed more than a month ago.

JULIAN: A month? Well, you certainly waited long enough to contact me.

GARAK: Well, well we do have doctors on Cardassia, and I wouldn’t be much of a leader if I didn’t look to my own people before seeking outside assistance. However, I’m not naïve enough to trust them completely. And what kind of leader would I be if I did?

JULIAN: Fair enough. I need to get some biometric information, please, from you if I’m even to begin researching cures. Can you transport yourself to a hospital with proper scanning equipment that I can access?

GARAK: Oh dear, I- I- I can do better than that, Doctor. I can do better than that. My residence is equipped with some of the best holographic technology in the quadrant – what type of equipment do we need?

JULIAN: I didn’t realize Cardassia had made such strides in holography.

GARAK: Oh, the technology is Federation, actually. Cardassian engineers build wonderful ships, but their work with artificial intelligence isn’t what it should be. Political life has its perks – I even have an EMH.

JULIAN: Well can I talk to him?

GARAK: Doctor, he’s obviously offline during this crisis. We’re wasting time better spent on the issue at hand! Now shall we begin?

JULIAN: Alright. Well the first thing we’ll need is a standard biobed with-

GARAK: Doctor, doctor, wait- I’m detecting a coherent signal directed at your shuttle. Yes, the magnetic currents over the poles should’ve obscured your presence. We may have a problem.

JULIAN: Hang on, it looks like an encrypted subspace signal… but I can’t determine the origin. Stand by, I’m trying- it’s… it’s from Earth. Well, I think I’ve got it. One moment… Jake?

[fade to black]

[CREDITS]

[a-room-of-my-own]

By Julian Vigo

Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor's New Clothes tells the tale of a ruler who is unconcerned with the reigning of his kingdom—he did not care much about attending the theatre nor making any public appearances unless, of course, he was able to flaunt his latest clothes. That is until one day when two swindlers came to town and tricked the emperor successfully convincing him that they were weavers who could spin him the most beautiful cloth he had ever before seen in his life. These swindlers claimed, “Not only were the colours and the patterns of their material extraordinarily beautiful, but the cloth had the strange quality of being invisible to anyone who was unfit for his office or unforgivably stupid.” It was perfect, of course, for the emperor whose intelligence would not only allow him to see quite perfectly the beauty of the cloth before him but which would also allow him to choose his councillors wisely as he would discard any of them who were unable to perceive the magnificent beauty before their eyes. 

The emperor then bought these fraudsters the most expensive materials of silk and gold and a loom with which to make the clothes. The swindlers kept the materials for themselves and pretended to make the garments from the empty loom. First, the emperor sent his faithful prime minister to check up on the “weavers” who doubted his eyesight as he found an empty loom. He thought to himself, “Am I stupid?” wondering if he was fit for his office. In a choice between his trust of his eyesight or his desire to keep his position, the prime minister quickly came around stating, “It is beautiful. It is very lovely...What patterns! What colours! I shall tell the emperor that I am greatly pleased.” And each of the councillors the emperor sent thereafter had a similar reaction—at first doubting their sanity and then realising that if they did not concede the beauty of the cloth being spun that they risked losing their position. Soon, all those close to the emperor had announced their sighting of a magnificent cloth that in fact was non-existent.

When it finally came time for the emperor to view the completed cloth, the fraudsters and everyone around the emperor informed him how beautiful the cloth was. The prime minister exclaims, “Isn't it magnifique?” However, the emperor had a similar crisis to that of all those he had sent before to check up on the cloth: he saw nothing. He thought to himself, “I can't see a thing! Why this is a disaster! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be emperor? Oh, it is too horrible!” However, like his officials who realised that their credibility and good-judgment lay in the balance, the emperor capitulates to his officials’ claims and announced the glorious artistry of a cloth that did not, in fact, exist at all. “It is lovely,” exclaims the emperor. After paying the thieves handsomely for their good work, the emperor decides to have the cloth cut and sewn and, in celebration of his new clothes, he has a parade. As he marches down the streets in sheer nudity, everyone in the kingdom is awed by the beauty of his clothes and shares in his delight and belief of the lie. That is until a young child sees that the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes at all and the rest of the kingdom slowly begins to realise the same.

This well-known fairy tale serves as an allegory for political ideology that a government can impose upon its citizens, that a well-funded interest group can as well—that of false consciousness. In his essay,The Power of the Powerless (1978), Václav Havel explores what he calls the post-totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia wherein he reveals an ideology of false consciousness that is strikingly similar to the political consciousness of Andersen’s fairy tale. Havel uses the analogy of a greengrocer who displays in his storefront window the party slogan which reads “Workers of the World, Unite!” Just as the emperor's clothes are a production of artistic sleight of hand and cunning trickery, for Havel so too is the party literature, the slogan of the green grocer. The manoeuvre of an invisible cloth or a state-mandated slogan in both cases becomes the vehicle through which ideology surfaces and inscribes itself upon the masses whereby, as Havel writes, the citizens “confirm the system, fulfil the system, make the system, are the system.”

Havel’s essay is quite critical of political ideology calling it an “almost secularised religion” which maintains its force by offering the wandering masses a “home” that immediately grants the believer a life full of new meaning:

Ideology is a specious way of relating to the world. It offers human beings the illusion of an identity, of dignity, and of morality while making it easier for them to part with them. As the repository of something suprapersonal and objective, it enables people to deceive their conscience and conceal their true position and their inglorious modus vivendi, both from the world and from themselves. It is a very pragmatic but, at the same time, an apparently dignified way of legitimising what is above, below, and on either side. 

Havel goes on to assert that ideology feeds a systemic drive that creates a “world of appearances trying to pass for reality” where the post-totalitarian system “touches people at every step, but it does so with its ideological gloves on.” 

Havel’s essay is not only a damning summation of the ideological rituals common within Czechoslovakia, Poland and other Communist regimes of the era, but it eerily portrays much of what is happening in the west today fifty years later. With samizdat, a form of dissident activity across the former Eastern bloc nations long ago retired, we have laid witness in recent years to its unofficial rebirth among many critics of gender ideology. For those who have pushed back against the onslaught of gender ideology that has permeated the neoliberal left over the past twenty years, many critics of this era’s embrace of identity politics who refuse to be silenced have either taken to social media or they have published blog posts under assumed names. Due to the mounting authoritarianism from the left on this subject whereby individuals have faced losing income, being fired from their positions entirely, or being socially and politically ostracised, the protest to the official narratives of gender ideology has been emanating from unofficial spaces. 

Twitter and Facebook have been the two primary social media spaces where feminists and trans ideologues alike have created secret groups in an attempt to strategise, dialogue, and establish actions. It would be an understatement to state that the wave has not only turned in the favour of these feminists, but COVID-19 has assisted the many who previously doubted the importance of material reality, to understand the difference between identity as feeling and the somatic reality of male versus female, a virus versus a unicorn. I have been in many of the gender-critical groups that are composed of only women, only radical feminists, only leftists, and myriad other variations on a theme. Where women and men from the left have joined forces to fight what they perceive as an ideological backwater of men’s rights activism, this fourth wave of feminism has teeth and it is speaking clearly to what resoundingly appears to be a religious ideology of gender.

Now that the NHS and the BBC have radically transformed their websites in recent weeks to update the information on gender dysphoria to include mentioning childhood desistance and ROGD (rapid-onset gender dysphoria), there is now a mass wiping of servers of these and other institutions of all references to Mermaids, a UK-based lobby group and NGO that has long identified its constituency as “transgender children” and their parents. And Mermaids is no outlier in the industry that seeks the expansion of childhood medical “gender transition” as it has consistently encouraged policy changes within the British government and its agencies to effect the quickest possible transition times of the highest number of children with the fewest safeguards in place. In 2018, Mermaids received £500,000 in lottery funding to this end.

So how is it that in less than two years, Mermaids has gone from being the star charity ostensibly championing the rights of children to now being silently removed from the BBC and NHS websites in their information and support sections as all the claims that puberty blockers such as Lupron are “reversible” have also disappeared? More importantly, why is it now commonplace in recent weeks that the media and public figures as well as private and public institutions have in stealth removed mention of Mermaids and the cheerleading of “childhood transition” from their accounts or servers as if a damnatio memoriae rivalling China’s removal of Zhao Ziyang from most every public record available in China?

Last year British actor, Jameela Jamil, participated in a video in support of both sic “trans kids” and Mermaids. Yet, in the same time frame that the NHS and BBC servers were wiped clean of any reference to Mermaids with data amended that exaggerated suicide information or that omitted childhood desistance, Jamil has curiously wiped clean her many Twitter posts referring to Mermaids. While Jamil claims she deleted her history to “become a more activism focused account that I can lend to other activists and charities,” many activists have answered Jamil on Twitter noting the non-coincidence of her and British comedian Josie Long having both dumped their Twitter feed within hours of one another, to include the many tweets in support of both Mermaids and the lifetime medicalisation of mostly gay and lesbian children’s bodies. 

On the other side of this debate, you have trans activists like Katy Montgomerie who are soliciting screenshots of gender-critical people who have “bought this latest Mermaids conspiracy theory” as he calls it. One of the tweets sent to Montgomerie as “proof” of wrong-think was that of fellow-writer, Suzanne Moore, who tweeted this past week: “I see all you celebs deleting your tweets that supported the charity Mermaids? Wonder why you are doing that.” Now that Montgomerie is invested in collecting evidence of women’s words on social media (as if their clearly visible tweets were not enough), the pushback to gender-critical voices has become patently absurd, especially since feminists have been pointing out the sexism and homophobia inherent within transgender ideology for years. Next up, Montgomerie or another trans-identified male will claim that gender critics are right-wing, religious bigots because they questioned the sexism and homophobia of Mermaids which in turn made it impossible for them to question the sexism and homophobia of Mermaids. This is pretty much the cycle these online debates take in the vein of “on the wrong side of history” debates that pervade social media.

Content aside, what should trouble us all is that media of public and private institutions and individuals on social media is being scrubbed of history. As Havel’s essay shows us that the greengrocer’s shop slogan is divorced from what the slogan actually says, the true meaning of the social act of proclaiming allegiance to an ideology is quite clear and comprehensible because the code is so familiar: 

The greengrocer declares his loyalty (and he can do no other if his declaration is to be accepted) in the only way the regime is capable of hearing; that is, by accepting the prescribed ritual, by accepting appearances as reality, by accepting the given rules of the game. In doing so, however, he has himself become a player in the game, thus making it possible for the game to go on, for it to exist in the first place.

Today, here we are in the midst of a tide-turning moment where transgender ideology is being rejected en masse by gay and straight people, men and women alike. Meanwhile, the public institutions which have for years codified the social signs, sponsored the "gender identity" training, crafted the woke lessons transmitted by the BBC and the NHS permeating all arenas of media and public health, in addition to the cast of Harry Potter chiming in with their endless support for “trans people” through Twitter and other media outlets, and we have been handed the perfect storm exemplifying exactly how we got here in the first place. Of course, political ideology is a powerful tool when it leaves no oxygen in the room for anything else. Such an authoritarian narrative creates the subterfuge to the very ideology all these bodies and individuals espouse. 

For those like British journalist Owen Jones who declared in 2015 that all critics of transgender ideology were on “the wrong side of history,” we must be more circumspect in how we approach ideologues who ought to be covering the news instead of participating in it. While gender has wider implications beyond its very narrow media representation, the political backwater of how the media influences public policy, politics and even law is unparalleled today. We need to learn from Havel’s historical example of what happens when we allow ourselves to become the greengrocer who unthinkingly parrots slogans that have neither any base in reason nor any resonance within our society. The repression of artists, poets, thinkers and politicians in the former Eastern bloc countries has been well documented. So too have the attempts to purge antagonistic articulations about gender from the “party line” been noted in recent years across various anglophone countries.

Now that the gender narrative is falling apart quickly, many of its proponents are running for cover skipping over to the very side they previously denounced as “wrong.” Of course, these individuals will happily prefer their slogans be forgotten, to have their tweets removed and their websites altered from public record. “All traces of totalitarian influence, dissidents confirm, define, adopt, and integrate the methods of totalitarianism within their own structure building their 'truth' on its negation,” Havel reminds us.

Let’s now remind these political actors of the dangers that occur when espousing ideological hogwash as human rights. More importantly, let us now learn from this lesson of this dangerous era of public tyranny and return to the drawing board to continue that discussion about historical materialism and its significance today

[salmenzo]

Weekly Update - Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Commitment - Conviction - Consideration

“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.”

Walter Elliot

Good Morning,

I hope that you enjoyed the long weekend.  As I continue to say, I am hopeful this winter comes to an end soon.  I miss running in the morning, and I think most of us have seen enough snow and can stand a little warm weather.  In the meantime, we will continue to persevere.

Student Activities and Updates

Lyman Hall Culinary Arts now has a Facebook page.  The page is filled with tips, tricks, and information on fitness, food, fun, and finance. They’d love for everyone to join them on it! Please consider sharing this page with your followers. Thank you for your continuous support of our program!

Link: https://www.facebook.com/Lyman-Hall-Culinary-Arts-and-Hospitality-Management-104907028229218 

Follow High School Sports from Home

Both Sheehan and Lyman Hall have live stream capabilities for athletic events in the gymnasium via NFHS Network (subscription rates apply).  

Sheehan Gym NFHS Live Stream 

Lyman Hall Gym NFHS Live Stream

Live stream options for other SCC member school sites will be communicated once that information is compiled by the league.

Both Sheehan and Lyman Hall are working with Northford Ice Pavilion to establish live stream capabilities for hockey games.  Virtual swim meets will also be filmed. If the meet is not live streamed, footage will be available to watch after the meet.

Sheehan High School Dramatic Arts Society

This is just a reminder that the Sheehan High School Dramatic Arts Society drama production 10 Ways to Survive Life in a Quarantine will be streaming on February 19 & 20, 2021 beginning at 7:00 PM. A streaming ticket for this event is $20.00 and will allow you to have your family watch the show. Streaming tickets can be purchased from our website: http://bit.ly/SheehanDrama. Each ticket has its own unique streaming code. 

If you're spending a long time at home, it can be a challenge to keep yourself occupied. Luckily, 10 Ways to Survive Life in a Quarantine is full of handy solutions, from putting on a musical with your dog, to becoming an announcer for a made-up sport, to falling in love with an inanimate object. Hey, we promised handy solutions - we never said they wouldn't be strange. Whether or not you're inspired to take up origami and squirrel observation, this play is sure to bring a laugh to anyone who finds themselves unexpectedly indoors.

Sheehan’s production stars:  

Arianna Kaplan ‘21, Emma Connors ‘21, Ryan Villano ‘22, Vincent Atienza ‘22, Heather Gaydowen ‘22, Jacob Shook ‘22, Julie Rochniak ‘22. Marissa Capozzo ‘22, Travis Karosi ‘23, Emily Conte ‘23, Hailey dela Chevrotiere ‘23, Julian Bingham ‘23, Ava Kaplan ‘23, Ava Lewellyn ‘23, 

Ronan Liu ‘24, Jesse Heinrich ‘24, Trinity Duffey ‘24, and our hosts for the event Shane Kaplan ‘21 and Shannon McKenna ‘22. 

Commitment - Conviction - Consideration

Here are this week’s shot outs!  Thank you again to everyone for their commitment and hard work.

Chrisy Rich, Dag Health Teacher, has truly embraced our request to first and foremost address student mental health. She begins each class with a mindfulness activity which allows her to check-in on students and more importantly provides students time to learn and practice a powerful life skill. A variety of mindfulness strategies are utilized so students can figure out what is most effective for them. She even encourages students to participate in a fun activity with their parents/guardians to reinforce the importance of connectedness not just in school but at home. 

If I could stand on the roof tops and sing the praises of Lauren Young, our dynamically dedicated School Nurse, I would! 

Lauren has been a ROCK STAR this year, not only continuing her regular responsibilities, but buzzing around the school with her stand up cart, now desk, with her portable phone attached to her at all times and keeping a calm smile on her face always! She's amazing with our students AND staff and she is the QUEEN of contact tracing (even on the weekends!)  and is constantly following up with parents whether it's related to an active case or just that she notices a student was out and she's checking in! She even has a bulletin board that she updates for the season with inspirational tips for students! 

Lauren is soooo deserving of a shout out! I am so grateful everyday that she's on MY team! 

Gina Cabrera-paraprofessional

Ms. Cabrera goes above and beyond to connect with our students and families.  She calls and texts parents before, during and after school. She drops materials off to families and will certainly do whatever it takes to keep our students engaged and connected.  Rock Hill is so lucky to have her on our team!

Chris Vece-instrumental teacher

Mr. Vece is amazingly talented and has worked so hard with his team to develop an instrumental program that meets our needs during this pandemic. Students can be seen carrying their keyboards up to Mr. Vece's room with a bounce in their step ready for a fun time.  Additionally, Mr. Vece has been an all-hands-on-deck staff member helping out in a myriad of ways.  He is certainly a valued community member.

Danielle Marcellino-third grade VDL teacher

Mrs. Marcellino has taken virtual learning to new levels.  Whether she is operating from her multiple screens, creating interactive presentations with technology, or differentiating work for each of her learners, Mrs. Marcellino is an outstanding educator who has embraced the world of virtual learning.  Her students love to go to school through their computers and we are so appreciative of all of her time and effort.  

I wanted to let you know that I have been discussing with my son about his experiences with his advanced math curriculum at Sheehan and more specifically his current AP Calculus professor Kevin Ainsworth.  In the environment we are in now it is more important than ever to have engagement between teachers and students.  Keeping the interest and being available for assistance is so critical.

Kevin Ainsworth has been all of this and more as he has engaged with students, I know from my own example witnessing my son's math interactions, and taking the extra time to ensure that they understand the material.  This is more challenging now with distance learning and certainly can require more time and patience but I can say from what I have seen Kevin Ainsworth has been exceptional.

My son is a very good math student but there are times when he needs a better understanding of a specific concept.  As a college bound engineering major that is trying to transfer his AP Calculus I & II credits he needs to have this understanding to support his engineering curriculum next year.  Kevin Ainsworth has always been there there for him and as a parent I couldn't be any more happier to have him help build my son's core skills.  I am confident that he will succeed going forward and Kevin Ainsworth has played a large role.  My son has even been tutoring students in Wallingford that are struggling with distance learning and has been working with Wendy Eaton-Soto in this effort.  I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin's efforts have rubbed off on him.

I just wanted to send you this note to let you know how impressed we are with the type of teachers you have on your team.  Your leadership during these fluid times is paying off for students like mine that are willing to push to ensure that their learning isn't reduced, and teachers like Kevin Ainsworth are certainly making this happen.

Make it a great week!

Sal

Dr. Salvatore F. Menzo

Superintendent

Email - smenzo@wallingfordschools.org

Twitter - @SalMenzo

Wallingford Public School District

 Wallingford Public School System Mission

To inspire through innovative and engaging experiences that lead all learners to pursue and discover their personal best.

 THE INFORMATION IN THIS TRANSMISSION IS PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL AND INTENDED ONLY FOR THE RECIPIENT LISTED ABOVE.  If you have received this transmission in error, please NOTIFY ME IMMEDIATELY BY E-MAIL AND DELETE THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE. Responses provided by this E-Mail are SIMILAR to ordinary telephone or face-to-face conversations.

[sciencespies]

How Apollo 8 Delivered Christmas Eve Peace and Understanding to the World

https://sciencespies.com/history/how-apollo-8-delivered-christmas-eve-peace-and-understanding-to-the-world/

How Apollo 8 Delivered Christmas Eve Peace and Understanding to the World

It was the final months of 1968 and throughout the year, the stability of American democracy had been called into question again and again. When Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis in April, civil unrest erupted throughout the United States. The “confidence of America’s allies and friends around the world” had been shaken, Leonard Marks, the United States Information Agency (USIA) director told President Lyndon B. Johnson. “We have suffered a blow from which it will take a long time to recover.”

Two months later, on the other side of the country, presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot shortly after he made his California Democratic primary victory speech. Then, in late August, violent clashes between protestors and police at the Democratic National Convention broke out in Chicago, casting more doubt on the U.S. political system. Parallels were quickly drawn between the Chicago riots and the Soviet Union’s suppression of the Prague Spring that same month. At the end of the year the USIA concluded that the Vietnam War, protests, assassinations and upheaval throughout the country led “many persons abroad to question whether the vaunted American system might be on the verge of decay and disintegration.”

Tear gas, body counts, protests and riots all appeared on television sets around the globe and in international newspapers. The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee observed that “the mental picture that many foreigners have of our nation is increasingly that of a violent, lawless, overbearing, even sick society.”

Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo

Since July 1969, Neil Armstrong’s first step on the Moon has represented the pinnacle of American space exploration and a grand scientific achievement. Yet, as Smithsonian curator Teasel Muir-Harmony argues in Operation Moonglow, its primary purpose wasn’t advancing science. Rather, it was part of a political strategy to build a global coalition. Starting with President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 decision to send astronauts to the Moon to promote American “freedom” over Soviet “tyranny,” Project Apollo was central to American foreign relations.

Buy

Read More About Apollo 8

Then, in late December, Apollo 8 offered an antidote: an image of a nation striving for grand goals, inclusive and focused on peace and unity. The crew’s broadcasts from the moon would capture the attention of a billion people worldwide. Inclusive language during the broadcasts, as well as the soon-to-be-iconic photo Earthrise, amplified the USIA and State Department messaging that the American space program was “for all mankind.” When the world felt divided—between democracy and Communism, among generations, races and genders—it would be Apollo 8 that would offer a moment of unity and a sense of connection.

From the start, Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman understood his flight and then later promotion of the space program abroad as part of his service to the country, not as a purely scientific pursuit: “If you think I would’ve devoted that much of my life simply to exploration or science, I wouldn’t have, I’m not built that way, that’s not my thing.” The cold war threatened the security of the U. S., and his role as an astronaut was part of confronting that threat, lessening Soviet influence on the geopolitical landscape.

Shortly before his launch, as Borman engrossed himself in training, his phone rang. It was Julian Scheer, NASA’s deputy administrator for public affairs.

“Look, Frank,” Borman recalled Scheer explaining. “We’ve determined that you’ll be circling the Moon on Christmas Eve and we’ve scheduled one of the television broadcasts from Apollo 8 around that time.” Scheer pointed out that more people would hear the crew’s voices than had heard any voice in history. NASA estimated that a billion people around the world would be following the flight. He then added the simple but imposing instruction: “So, we want you to say something appropriate.”

One in four people on Earth—roughly a billion people spread among 64 countries—listened to the broadcast on Christmas Eve from Apollo 8 (from left: James A. Lovell Jr., command module pilot; William A. Anders, lunar module pilot; and Frank Borman, commander).

(NASA S68-50265)

For help, Borman turned to his friend Simon Bourgin, the USIA science advisor. The two had become close during the Gemini 7 diplomatic tour of Asia. When Borman prepared for interviews, he would ask Bourgin for advice.

Bourgin suggested a simple and short broadcast. “With six television transmissions, you are overexposed . . . and with that much time you could be tempted to pad, ham it up, or try to entertain. Avoid all of these.” In other words, he explained, “Keep your audience hungry.”

For the Christmas Eve broadcast, start with a description of what you see, he suggested: “I have a feeling that any direct message that you might compose reflecting on Christmas Eve, conditions on Earth, and the way you feel about it at the moon, could get awfully sticky; it would be difficult not to sound pretentious or patronizing.” In its place, end with a quotation.

Bourgin had called his friend Joe Laitin, assistant to the director of the Bureau of the Budget, and his wife, Christine, for advice. Christine came up with the idea of reading Genesis. “Why don’t you begin at the beginning?” she asked.

The first ten verses of Genesis from the Old Testament would have “universal appeal and a sense of reverence that is called for,” agreed Bourgin. As he told Borman, “About the only thing I can think of to match the majesty of the occasion, and the evening, is to read the opening lines of Genesis.” When Borman shared the idea with crewmates James Lovell and William Anders, they also agreed. The passage, typed on fireproof paper, was inserted into the Apollo 8 flight plan.

On December 21, like much of the nation, the first thing on President Lynden B. Johnson’s agenda was to watch the early-morning launch of Apollo 8. At 7:51 a.m. EST, Borman, Lovell and Anders became the first humans to ride the huge Saturn V rocket into space, one of countless firsts that the astronauts would claim on the mission. Susan Borman, Frank’s wife, found it “awesome . . . like watching the Empire State Building taking off.” As the spacecraft glided out toward the stars, the astronauts departed the Earth and stopped experiencing sunrises and sunsets. Another first.

An entry pass to the viewing stand for the Apollo 8 launch at Kennedy Space Center, December 21, 1968, is held in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

(NASM)

Also in the museum’s collections is Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders’ spacesuit, engineered to provide a life-sustaining environment during unpressurized spacecraft operation.

(NASM)

Lunar module pilot William Anders wore this intra-vehicular glove during the launch of Apollo 8.

(NASM)

The Genesis scripture that the astronauts read on Christmas Eve 1968 can be found neatly typed in the pages of the Apollo 8 flight plan.

(NASM, courtesy of the Alder Planetarium and Astronomy Museum)

When Apollo 8 astronauts splashed down on December 27, 1968, they were airlifted safely aboard this rescue net to hovering Navy helicopters.

(NASM)

The image Earthrise, taken aboard Apollo 8, swiftly became a culture touchstone, appearing on this bumpersticker and elsewhere across the American landscape.

(NASM)

The mission would prove a boon for American ambassadors and other officials, who were invited by local media for interviews on the flight. “An excellent opportunity to get positive exposure through a variety of media in many countries,” the USIA advised. The agency would record the heaviest placement of its media material in memory, providing hundreds of photos, thousands of feet of TV film, and “reams of copy” to local newspaper, radio and television outlets around the world.

The Voice of America radio network provided live coverage of each stage of the mission, from launch to splashdown, in English, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. American embassies in Eastern Europe assembled exhibits in their windows with pictorial explanations and a step-by-step schedule of the flight. As the crew completed stages of the mission, embassy staff would post announcements. The U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, reported that the window display “drew exceptionally large crowds, despite cold and snow.” In warmer climes, inhabitants of Martinique followed radio coverage of the flight so carefully that consulate personnel reported walking down the street and hearing status updates from shopkeepers and acquaintances.

Apollo 8 reached the moon three days later. The crew fired the service module engine, slowing the spacecraft down just enough to put it into orbit around another celestial body, another first. On the fourth orbit, Borman rotated the spacecraft, tilting its nose back toward Earth. Its small windows framed the Earth seemingly rising above the lunar horizon. The view caught the crew by surprise, even though mission planners had anticipated that the moment would come.

“Look at that picture over there!” Anders called out. “Here’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!” With a Hasselblad camera in hand, Anders snapped a photo. Most of the photography scheduled for the flight focused on the moon. NASA needed detailed images of potential landing sites for future missions. As Anders watched the Earth rise above the lunar horizon, the black-and-white film magazine mounted to the camera’s boxy body would not do. Only color film could capture the contrast of the gray moon and the bright-blue Earth that Borman called “the most beautiful, heart-catching sight of my life.” Anders called out, “You got a color film, Jim? Hand me that roll of color quick, will you . . . hurry up!” After a swift swap of film magazines, Anders started snapping again.

“Look at that picture over there!” Anders called out. “Here’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!” The image Earthrise became one of the most famous of the Space Age.

(NASA )

He caught the Earth above the gray-chalky lunar horizon, the sun illuminating parts of Africa and South America. Eddying clouds suggested an alive, dynamic planet. Earthrise, as the photograph would come to be known, amplified the beauty—and rarity—of humans’ home planet. Shortly after the crew splashed down a few days later, this photograph would grace the front page of newspapers around the world and become one of the most famous images of the Space Age.

Food packed for the crew that day was tied up in fireproof plastic green ribbons and labeled “Merry Christmas.” Inside Borman, Anders and Lovell found turkey with gravy and a fruit-cake coated with gelatin to prevent crumbs from floating into the spacecraft’s systems.

At 9:30 p.m., during the second-to-last lunar orbit of the flight, the crew began their last broadcast from the moon. Taking a cue from Bourgin, they turned the camera toward the moon and took turns describing their perspectives. Borman called the moon a “vast, lonely, forbidding-type existence, or expanse of nothing, that looks rather like clouds.” Lovell agreed, commenting that “the vast loneliness up here of the Moon is awe inspiring, and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth.” Anders added, “The sky up here is also rather forbidding, foreboding expanse of blackness, with no stars visible.”

“We are now approaching lunar sunrise,” Anders explained to the television and radio audiences around the world. “For all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 have a message that we would like to send to you.” Minutes before the spacecraft slipped behind the moon for the last time, the crew took turns reading from Genesis.

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth,” Anders read.

Borman ended the passage, adding “and from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you—all of you on the good Earth.”

Around the world, television sets glowed with the broadcast. One in four people on Earth—roughly a billion people spread among 64 countries—listened to the reading. Within 24 hours, recorded broadcasts of the address from the moon reached people in another 30 countries. Audiences in North and South America as well as Europe tuned in live thanks to the recently launched Intelsat 3 satellite. Comsat put the satellite into operation a week ahead of schedule so that international audiences could follow the flight.

Frank Borman had at first been skeptical about the addition of heavy television equipment on missions because weight and time were at a premium. But the broadcast, and world reaction, would change his mind. “Probably [the] most important part of space,” he later reflected, “in view of [the] impact on people of the world.”

Reactions to the telecast were unprecedented, and the USIA won a significant public diplomacy victory with the carefully chosen, inclusive wording of the Christmas Eve address. A BBC correspondent commented that the reading “struck on instantly as a stroke of genius.”

In Latin America alone, 1,353 stations carried the VOA broadcast, breaking records. Even Radio Havana picked up VOA coverage, an anomaly for the official Cuban-government–run station known for transmitting programming created by the North Vietnamese, North Koreans and Russians. The station cheered the mission as “a total success.” Borman received some 100,000 letters of appreciation for the Christmas Eve broadcast from around the world, with just 34 letters making complaint.

The Apollo 8 crew had traveled farther and faster than any humans in history. They saw what no other eyes had seen: the far side of the moon, and the Earth from a great distance, blue and white and shining. They became the first humans to ride the mighty Saturn V rocket, break the bonds of Earth’s physical pull, and enter the gravitational field of another celestial body. But the mission, and the program more generally, “did much more than just advance the country scientifically and technically,” Borman, argued. “It advanced it—in my opinion—diplomatically just as much. It cast the country in a favorable light, at a time when there were many things that cast it in an unfavorable light.”

On Christmas Day, the front page of the New York Times carried an essay by the poet Archibald MacLeish inspired by the mission: “To see the earth as it truly is, small blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold—brothers who know now they are truly brothers.”

Expert from Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo, by Teasel Muir-Harmony. Copyright©2020 by Teasel Muir-Harmony. Published by Basic Books. Reprinted by permission.

#History

[theculturedmarxist]

President-elect Joe Biden announced the second major group of cabinet and White House appointments Sunday and Monday, including most of his economic team, drawn almost entirely from the major financial institutions and hedge funds.

The most important nomination, of former Federal Reserve Board chair Janet Yellen to become secretary of the treasury, was leaked to the press last week. Yellen was deputy chair of the Fed from 2010 to 2014, then chair from 2014 to 2018, meaning that she played a major role in economic policy for the bulk of the Obama administration, a period that saw the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor and working class to the wealthy of any time in American history.

Throughout her tenure at the Fed, Yellen was identified with the policy of “quantitative easing,” in which the central bank made effectively unlimited sums of money available to the financial markets. This policy was pursued while the White House, Congress, and the media insisted that there was no money available to create jobs, sustain education and other social services, reduce poverty, or accomplish any other progressive social goal.

Her top deputy at the treasury, officially designated Monday, will be Adewale Adeyemo, a former Obama White House aide who became a senior adviser at BlackRock, the world’s largest hedge fund, after Trump took office. In 2019, Adeyemo left BlackRock to head the Obama Foundation in Chicago.

Adeyemo is one of two BlackRock officers named for high economic posts in the Biden administration, with the New York Times reporting that Brian Deeson, another former Obama aide turned investment banker, will become chairman of the National Economic Council, the top White House economic policymaking post.

For director of the Office of Management and Budget, Biden nominated Neera Tanden, currently chief executive of the Center for American Progress (CAP), a major Democratic Party think tank, whose selection is perhaps the most revealing decision of the Biden transition so far.

A book could be written about Tanden’s role in promoting right-wing social policies and the defense of American imperialism while using the language of liberalism and “progressive” politics.

Tanden was a vociferous supporter of Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2016. Tanden became notorious for her attacks against Clinton’s chief challenger Bernie Sanders, which continued during the 2020 campaign, when Tanden aligned with Biden.

Despite the media characterization of CAP as a “left-wing” think tank, its major function has been to prepare and devise right-wing, pro-market policies for Democratic administrations, like the Affordable Care Act, which Tanden played a major role in crafting while she worked in the Obama White House.

CAP endorsed a proposal by Obama, during budget negotiations with congressional Republicans, to calculate increases in Social Security payments through what was called “chained-CPI,” a version of the Consumer Price Index constructed to produce lower increases in benefits—actually cuts in real terms, since the increases would lag behind the real rise in the cost of living for the elderly.

Bernie Sanders opposed chained CPI at the time, but Tanden has continued to support it, while admitting that it is regressive, as a necessary element in a budget “compromise” with Republicans. This, of course, is exactly the posture advocated by Joe Biden throughout the presidential campaign, when he claimed he would be able to find “common ground” with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and other congressional reactionaries.

Tanden was a co-author of an influential article published in 2012 by the New England Journal of Medicine, under the title, “A Systemic Approach to Containing Health Care Spending,” which defended Obamacare as the basis for substantially reducing the cost of health care for both corporations and the government. The lead author of this treatise was Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of the former mayor of Chicago and Obama aide, and a leading public advocate of reducing health care spending aimed at prolonging the lives of the elderly.

While her remit in the Obama White House was domestic policy, Tanden has played a significant role at the CAP in supporting the type of aggressive foreign intervention espoused by Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and then as a presidential candidate.

According to journalist Glenn Greenwald, Tanden argued during the US-NATO attack on Libya in 2011 “that Libyans should be forced to turn over large portions of their oil revenues to repay the U.S. for the costs incurred in bombing Libya, on the grounds that Americans will support future wars only if they see that the countries attacked by the U.S. pay for the invasions.” This anticipated the position taken by Donald Trump in relation to Syria and Iraq.

In 2014, the CAP published a report backing the decision of the Obama administration to intervene militarily in Iraq and Syria on the pretext of fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), an offshoot of the fundamentalist forces backed by the US and Saudi Arabia against the Assad regime in Syria. Last year, the New York Times reported that the CAP had received $2.5 million from the United Arab Emirates to fund national security and international policy studies.

Tanden also has been publicly linked to the slander campaign against imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, calling him “the agent of a pro fascist state, Russia” after WikiLeaks published materials damaging to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election campaign, and branding him “a central reason of why Trump got elected.” Tanden’s own anti-Sanders screeds were among the emails made public by WikiLeaks.

The three members of the Council of Economic Advisers will be Cecilia Rouse of Princeton University as chair, joined by Jared Bernstein, a longtime Biden adviser and labor economist, and Heather Boushey, who currently heads the Washington Institute for Equitable Growth, a liberal advocacy group.

The six economic nominees announced Monday include four women, two African Americans (Rouse and Adeyemo) and an Indian-American (Tanden). While this is celebrated endlessly by the Biden camp and the media as a cabinet that “looks like America,” the reality is that many of those selected are multi-millionaires. All are vehement defenders of the capitalist system and the “right” of the giant corporations, banks, hedge funds and a few hundred billionaires to control the economic resources of America.

Similarly, when Biden named his seven-person communications team on Sunday, the main focus of media coverage was that all seven were women, three of them black and one Latino. Nearly all are veterans of the Obama administration, meaning they already have extensive practice in lying to the American people and to the world about drone missile assassinations, illegal wars in Libya, Syria and Yemen, global spying by the US intelligence apparatus, and other crimes and misdeeds of Washington.

The main significance of the communications appointments is the integration of individuals from the more liberal wing of the party, including Karine Jean-Pierre, formerly of Move-on, Symone Sanders, who worked for Bernie Sanders in 2016, and Pilar Tobar of America’s Voice, a liberal immigration reform group. They have all moved seamlessly from the supposed “anti-corporate” wing of the Democratic Party to serve in an administration that is utterly dedicated to serving the interests of big business.

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, playwright, screenwriter, comedian and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades. She was known for her lighthearted, bawdy double entendres and breezy sexual independence, and often used a husky contralto voice. She was active in vaudeville and on stage in New York City before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry.

West was one of the most controversial movie stars of her day; she encountered many problems, especially censorship. She once quipped, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it." She bucked the system by making comedy out of conventional mores, and the Depression-era audience admired her for it. When her film career ended, she wrote books and plays, and continued to perform in Las Vegas and the United Kingdom, on radio and television, and recorded rock 'n roll albums. In 1999, the American Film Institute posthumously voted West the 15th greatest female screen legend of classic American cinema.

Mary Jane West was born on August 17, 1893, in Brooklyn (either Greenpoint or Bushwick, before New York City was consolidated in 1898). She was delivered at home by an aunt who was a midwife. She was the eldest surviving child of John Patrick West and Mathilde "Tillie" (later Matilda) Delker (originally Doelger; later Americanized to "Delker" or "Dilker"). Tillie and her five siblings emigrated with their parents, Jakob (1835–1902) and Christiana (1838–1901; née Brüning) Doelger from Bavaria in 1886. West's parents married on January 18, 1889, in Brooklyn, to the pleasure of the groom's parents and the displeasure of the bride's parents and raised their children as Protestants, although John West was of mixed Catholic–Protestant descent.

West's father was a prizefighter known as "Battlin' Jack West" who later worked as a "special policeman" and later had his own private investigations agency. Her mother was a former corset and fashion model. Her paternal grandmother, Mary Jane (née Copley), for whom she was named, was of Irish Catholic descent and West's paternal grandfather, John Edwin West, was of English–Scots descent and a ship's rigger.

Her eldest sibling, Katie, died in infancy. Her other siblings were Mildred Katherine West, later known as Beverly (December 8, 1898 – March 12, 1982), and John Edwin West II (sometimes inaccurately called "John Edwin West, Jr."; February 11, 1900 – October 12, 1964). During her childhood, West's family moved to various parts of Woodhaven, as well as the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods of Brooklyn. In Woodhaven, at Neir's Social Hall (which opened in 1829 and is still extant), West supposedly first performed professionally.

West was five when she first entertained a crowd at a church social, and she started appearing in amateur shows at the age of seven. She often won prizes at local talent contests. She began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Clarendon Stock Company in 1907 at the age of 14. West first performed under the stage name "Baby Mae", and tried various personas, including a male impersonator.

She used the alias "Jane Mast" early in her career. Her trademark walk was said to have been inspired or influenced by female impersonators Bert Savoy and Julian Eltinge, who were famous during the Pansy Craze. Her first appearance in a Broadway show was in a 1911 revue A La Broadway put on by her former dancing teacher, Ned Wayburn. The show folded after eight performances, but at age 18, West was singled out and discovered by The New York Times. The Times reviewer wrote that a "girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and snappy way of singing and dancing". West next appeared in a show called Vera Violetta, whose cast featured Al Jolson. In 1912, she appeared in the opening performance of A Winsome Widow as a "baby vamp" named La Petite Daffy.

She was encouraged as a performer by her mother, who, according to West, always thought that anything Mae did was fantastic. Other family members were less encouraging, including an aunt and her paternal grandmother. They are all reported as having disapproved of her career and her choices. In 1918, after exiting several high-profile revues, West finally got her break in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, opposite Ed Wynn. Her character Mayme danced the shimmy and her photograph appeared on an edition of the sheet music for the popular number "Ev'rybody Shimmies Now".

Eventually, she began writing her own risqué plays using the pen name Jane Mast. Her first starring role on Broadway was in a 1926 play she entitled Sex, which she wrote, produced, and directed. Although conservative critics panned the show, ticket sales were strong. The production did not go over well with city officials, who had received complaints from some religious groups, and the theater was raided, with West arrested along with the cast. She was taken to the Jefferson Market Court House, (now Jefferson Market Library), where she was prosecuted on morals charges, and on April 19, 1927, was sentenced to 10 days for "corrupting the morals of youth". Though West could have paid a fine and been let off, she chose the jail sentence for the publicity it would garner. While incarcerated on Welfare Island (now known as Roosevelt Island), she dined with the warden and his wife; she told reporters that she had worn her silk panties while serving time, in lieu of the "burlap" the other girls had to wear. West got great mileage from this jail stint. She served eight days with two days off for "good behavior". Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong".

Her next play, The Drag, dealt with homosexuality, and was what West called one of her "comedy-dramas of life". After a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, West announced she would open the play in New York. However, The Drag never opened on Broadway due to efforts by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice to ban any attempt by West to stage it. West explained, "The city fathers begged me not to bring the show to New York because they were not equipped to handle the commotion it would cause." West was an early supporter of the women's liberation movement, but said she was not a "burn your bra" type feminist. Since the 1920s, she was also an early supporter of gay rights, and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. She adopted a then "modern" psychological explanation that gay men were women's souls in men's bodies, and hitting a gay man was akin to hitting a woman. In her 1959 autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It, West strongly objected to hypocrisy while, for surprising and unexplained reasons, also disparaging homosexuality: "In many ways homosexuality is a danger to the entire social system of Western civilization. Certainly a nation should be made aware of its presence — without moral mottoes — and its effects on children recruited to it in their innocence. I had no objection to it as a cult of jaded inverts... involved only with themselves. It was its secret, anti-social aspects I wanted to bring into the sun. As a private pressure group it could, and has, infected whole nations." This perspective, never elaborated upon by Mae West in other books or interviews seems inconsistent with the Mae West persona. In her 1975 book Sex, Health, and ESP, Mae West writes on page 43, "I believe that the world owes male and female homosexuals more understanding than we've given them. Live and let live is my philosophy on the subject, and I believe everybody has the right to do his or her own thing or somebody else's -- as long as they do it all in private!"

West continued to write plays, including The Wicked Age, Pleasure Man and The Constant Sinner. Her productions aroused controversy, which ensured that she stayed in the news, which also often resulted in packed houses at her performances. Her 1928 play, Diamond Lil, about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. This show had an enduring popularity and West successfully revived it many times throughout the course of her career. With Diamond Lil being a hit show, Hollywood naturally came courting.

In 1932, West was offered a contract by Paramount Pictures despite being close to 40. This was an unusually late age to begin a film career, especially for women, but she was not playing an ingénue. She nonetheless managed to keep her age ambiguous for some time. She made her film debut in Night After Night (1932) starring George Raft, who suggested West for the role. At first she did not like her small role in Night After Night, but was appeased when she was allowed to rewrite her scenes.[45] In West's first scene, a hat-check girl exclaims, "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds", and West replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie." Reflecting on the overall result of her rewritten scenes, Raft is said to have remarked, "She stole everything but the cameras."

She brought her Diamond Lil character, now renamed "Lady Lou", to the screen in She Done Him Wrong (1933). The film was one of Cary Grant's first major roles, which boosted his career. West claimed she spotted Grant at the studio and insisted that he be cast as the male lead. She claimed to have told a Paramount director, "If he can talk, I'll take him!". The film was a box office hit and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. The success of the film saved Paramount from bankruptcy, grossing over $2 million, the equivalent of $140 million today. Paramount recognizes that debt of gratitude today, with a building on the lot named after West.

Her next release, I'm No Angel (1933), teamed her with Grant again. I'm No Angel was also a box office hit and was the most successful of her entire film career. In the months that followed the release of this film, reference to West could be found almost anywhere, from the song lyrics of Cole Porter, to a Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural of San Francisco's newly built Coit Tower, to She Done Him Right, a Betty Boop cartoon, to "My Dress Hangs There", a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Kahlo's husband, Diego Rivera, paid his own tribute: "West is the most wonderful machine for living I have ever known – unfortunately on the screen only." To F. Scott Fitzgerald, West was especially unique: "The only Hollywood actress with both an ironic edge and a comic spark." As Variety put it, "Mae West's films have made her the biggest conversation-provoker, free-space grabber, and all-around box office bet in the country. She's as hot an issue as Hitler."

By 1933, West was one of the largest box office draws in the United States and, by 1935, West was also the highest paid woman and the second-highest paid person in the United States (after William Randolph Hearst). Hearst invited West to San Simeon, California. "I could'a married him", West explained, "but I got no time for parties. I don't like those big crowds." On July 1, 1934, the censorship of the film Production Code began to be seriously and meticulously enforced, and West's scripts were heavily edited. She would intentionally place extremely risqué lines in her scripts, knowing they would be cut by the censors. She hoped they would then not object as much to her other less suggestive lines. Her next film was Belle of the Nineties (1934). The original title, It Ain't No Sin, was changed due to the censors' objections. Despite Paramount's early objections regarding costs, West insisted the studio to hire Duke Ellington and his orchestra to accompany her in the film's musical numbers. Their collaboration was a success; the classic "My Old Flame" (recorded by Duke Ellington) was introduced in this film. Her next film, Goin' to Town (1935), received mixed reviews, as censorship continued to take its toll in eroding West's best lines.

Her following effort, Klondike Annie (1936) dealt, as best it could given the heavy censorship, with religion and hypocrisy. Some critics called the film her magnum opus, but not everyone felt the same way. Press baron and film mogul William Randolph Hearst, ostensibly offended by an off-handed remark West made about his mistress, Marion Davies, sent a private memo to all his editors stating, "That Mae West picture Klondike Annie is a filthy picture... We should have editorials roasting that picture, Mae West, and Paramount... DO NOT ACCEPT ANY ADVERTISING OF THIS PICTURE." At one point, Hearst asked aloud, "Isn't it time Congress did something about the Mae West menace?" Paramount executives felt they had to tone down the West characterization or face further recrimination. This may be surprising by today's standards, as West's films contained no nudity, no profanity, and very little violence. Though raised in an era when women held second-place roles in society, West portrayed confident women who were not afraid to use their sexual wiles to get what they wanted. "I was the first liberated woman, you know. No guy was going to get the best of me. That's what I wrote all my scripts about."

Around the same time, West played opposite Randolph Scott in Go West, Young Man (1936). In this film, she adapted Lawrence Riley's Broadway hit Personal Appearance into a screenplay. Directed by Henry Hathaway, Go West, Young Man is considered one of West's weaker films of the era, due to the censor's cuts.

West next starred in Every Day's a Holiday (1937) for Paramount before their association came to an end. Again, due to censor cuts, the film performed below its goal. Censorship had made West's sexually suggestive brand of humor impossible for the studios to distribute. West, along with other stellar performers, was put on a list of actors called "Box Office Poison" by Harry Brandt on behalf of the Independent Theatre Owners Association. Others on the list were Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Fred Astaire, Dolores del Río, Katharine Hepburn and Kay Francis. The attack was published as a paid advertisement in The Hollywood Reporter, and was taken seriously by the fearful studio executives. The association argued that these stars' high salaries and extreme public popularity did not affect their ticket sales, thus hurt the exhibitors. This did not stop producer David O. Selznick, who next offered West the role of the sage madam, Belle Watling, the only woman ever to truly understand Rhett Butler, in Gone with the Wind, after Tallulah Bankhead turned him down. West also turned down the part, claiming that as it was, it was too small for an established star, and that she would need to rewrite her lines to suit her own persona. The role eventually went to Ona Munson.

In 1939, Universal Studios approached West to star in a film opposite W. C. Fields. The studio was eager to duplicate the success of Destry Rides Again starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart, with a comic vehicle starring West and Fields. Having left Paramount 18 months earlier and looking for a new film, West accepted the role of Flower Belle Lee in the film My Little Chickadee (1940). Despite the stars' intense mutual dislike, Fields's very real drinking problems and fights over the screenplay, My Little Chickadee was a box office hit, outgrossing Fields's previous film, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) and the later The Bank Dick (1940). Despite this, religious leaders condemned West as a negative role model, taking offense at lines such as "Between two evils, I like to pick the one I haven't tried before" and "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"

West's next film was Columbia's The Heat's On (1943). She initially did not want to do the film, but after actor, director and friend Gregory Ratoff (producer Max Fabian in All About Eve) pleaded with her and claimed he would go bankrupt if she could not help, West relented as a personal favor. Censors by now, though, had curtailed the sexual burlesque of the West characterization. The studio had orders to raise the neck lines and clean up the double entendres. This was the only film for which West was virtually not allowed to write her own dialogue and, as a result, the film suffered.

Perhaps the most critical challenge facing West in her career was censorship of her dialogue. As on Broadway a decade before, by the mid-1930s, her risqué and ribald dialogue could no longer be allowed to pass. The Heat's On opened to poor reviews and weak performance at the box office. West was so distraught after the experience and by her years of struggling with the strict Hays censorship office, that she would not attempt another film role for the next quarter-century. Instead, West pursued a successful and record-breaking career in top nightclubs, Las Vegas, nationally in theater and on Broadway, where she was allowed, even welcomed, to be herself.

After appearing in The Heat's On in 1943, West returned to a very active career on stage and in swank clubs. Among her popular new stage performances was the title role in Catherine Was Great (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an "imperial guard" of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd (Around The World in 80 Days) and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour.

When Mae West revived her 1928 play Diamond Lil, bringing it back to Broadway in 1949, The New York Times labeled her an "American Institution – as beloved and indestructible as Donald Duck. Like Chinatown, and Grant's Tomb, Mae West should be seen at least once." In the 1950s, West starred in her own Las Vegas stage show at the newly opened Sahara Hotel, singing while surrounded by bodybuilders. The show stood Las Vegas on its head. "Men come to see me, but I also give the women something to see: wall to wall men!" West explained. Jayne Mansfield met and later married one of West's muscle men, a former Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay.

When casting about for the role of Norma Desmond for the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder offered West the role. Still smarting from the censorship debacle of The Heat's On, and the constraints placed on her characterization, she declined. The theme of the Wilder film, she noted, was pure pathos, while her brand of comedy was always "about uplifting the audience". Mae West had a unique comic character that was timeless, in the same way Charlie Chaplin did. After Mary Pickford also declined the role, Gloria Swanson was cast.

In subsequent years, West was offered the role of Vera Simpson, opposite Marlon Brando, in the 1957 film adaptation of Pal Joey, which she turned down, with the role going to Rita Hayworth. In 1964, West was offered a leading role in Roustabout, starring Elvis Presley. She turned the role down, and Barbara Stanwyck was cast in her place. West was also approached for roles in Frederico Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits and Satyricon, but rejected both offers.

In 1958, West appeared at the live televised Academy Awards and performed the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Rock Hudson, which brought a standing ovation. In 1959, she released an autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It, which became a best seller and was reprinted with a new chapter in 1970. West guest-starred on television, including The Dean Martin Show in 1959 and The Red Skelton Show in 1960, to promote her autobiography, and a lengthy interview on Person to Person with Charles Collingwood, which was censored by CBS in 1959, and never aired. CBS executives felt members of the television audience were not ready to see a nude marble statue of West, which rested on her piano. In 1964, she made a guest appearance on the sitcom Mister Ed. Much later, in 1976, she was interviewed by Dick Cavett and sang two songs on his "Back Lot U.S.A." special on CBS.

West's recording career started in the early 1930s with releases of her film songs on shellac 78 rpm records. Most of her film songs were released as 78s, as well as sheet music. In 1955, she recorded her first album, The Fabulous Mae West. In 1965, she recorded two songs, "Am I Too Young" and "He's Good For Me", for a 45 rpm record released by Plaza Records. She recorded several tongue-in-cheek songs, including "Santa, Come Up to See Me", on the album Wild Christmas, which was released in 1966 and reissued as Mae in December in 1980. Demonstrating her willingness to keep in touch with the contemporary scene, in 1966 she recorded Way Out West, the first of her two rock-and-roll albums. The second, released in 1972 on MGM Records and titled Great Balls of Fire, covered songs by The Doors, among others, and had songs written for West by English songwriter-producer Ian Whitcomb.

After a 27-year absence from motion pictures, West appeared as Leticia Van Allen in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge (1970) with Raquel Welch, Rex Reed, Farrah Fawcett, and Tom Selleck in a small part. The movie was intended to be deliberately campy sex change comedy, but had serious production problems, resulting in a botched film that was both a box-office and critical failure. Author Vidal, at great odds with inexperienced and self-styled "art film" director Michael Sarne, later called the film "an awful joke". Though Mae West was given star billing to attract ticket buyers, her scenes were truncated by the inexperienced film editor, and her songs were filmed as though they were merely side acts. Mae West's counterculture appeal (she was dubbed "the queen of camp"), included the young and hip, and by 1971, the student body of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) voted Mae West "Woman of the Century" in honor of her relevance as a pioneering advocate of sexual frankness and courageous crusader against censorship.

In 1975, West released her book Sex, Health, and ESP (William Allen & Sons, publisher), and Pleasure Man (Dell publishers) based on her 1928 play of the same name. Her autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It, was also updated and republished in the 1970s.

Mae West was a shrewd investor, produced her own stage acts, and invested her money in large tracts of land in Van Nuys, a thriving suburb of Los Angeles. With her considerable fortune, she could afford to do as she liked. In 1976, she appeared on Back Lot U.S.A. on CBS, where she was interviewed by Dick Cavett and sang "Frankie and Johnny" along with "After You've Gone." That same year, she began work on her final film, Sextette (1978). Adapted from a 1959 script written by West, the film's daily revisions and production disagreements hampered production from the beginning. Due to the near-endless last-minute script changes and tiring production schedule, West agreed to have her lines signaled to her through a speaker concealed in her hair piece. Despite the daily problems, West was, according to Sextette director Ken Hughes, determined to see the film through. At 84, her now-failing eyesight made navigating around the set difficult, but she made it through the filming, a tribute to her self-confidence, remarkable endurance, and stature as a self-created star 67 years after her Broadway debut in 1911 at the age of 18. Time magazine wrote an article on the indomitable star entitled "At 84, Mae West Is Still Mae West".

Upon its release, Sextette was not a critical or commercial success, but has a diverse cast. The cast included some of West's first co-stars such as George Raft (Night After Night, 1932), silver screen stars such as Walter Pidgeon and Tony Curtis, and more contemporary pop stars such as The Beatles' Ringo Starr and Alice Cooper, and television favorites such as Dom DeLuise and gossip queen Rona Barrett. It also included cameos of some of her musclemen from her 1950s Las Vegas show, such as the still remarkably fit Reg Lewis. Sextette also reunited Mae West with Edith Head, her costume designer from 1933 in She Done Him Wrong.

West was married on April 11, 1911 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Frank Szatkus (1892–1966), whose stage name was Frank Wallace, a fellow vaudevillian whom she met in 1909. She was 17. She kept the marriage a secret, but a filing clerk discovered the marriage certificate in 1935 and alerted the press. The clerk also uncovered an affidavit in which she had declared herself married, made during the Sex trial in 1927.

In August 1913, she met Guido Deiro (1886–1950), an Italian-born vaudeville headliner and star of the piano-accordion. Her affair, and possible 1914 marriage to him, as alleged by Diero's son Guido Roberto Deiro in his 2019 book Mae West and The Count, went "very deep, hittin' on all the emotions". West later said, "Marriage is a great institution. I'm not ready for an institution yet."

In 1916, when she was a vaudeville actress, West had a relationship with James Timony (1884–1954), an attorney nine years her senior. Timony was also her manager. By the time that she was an established movie actress in the mid-1930s, they were no longer a couple. West and Timony remained extremely close, living in the same building, working together, and providing support for each other until Timony's death in 1954.

West remained close to her family throughout her life and was devastated by her mother's death in 1930. In 1930, she moved to Hollywood and into the penthouse at The Ravenswood apartment building where she lived until her death in 1980. Her sister, brother, and father followed her to Hollywood where she provided them with nearby homes, jobs, and sometimes financial support. Among her boyfriends was boxing champion William Jones, nicknamed Gorilla Jones (1906–1982). The management at her Ravenswood apartment building barred the African American boxer from entering the premises; West solved the problem by buying the building and lifting the ban.

She became romantically involved at age 61 with Chester Rybinski (1923–1999), one of the muscle men in her Las Vegas stage show – a wrestler, former Mr. California, and former merchant sailor. He was 30 years younger than she, and later changed his name to Paul Novak. He moved in with her, and their romance continued until her death in 1980 at age 87. Novak once commented, "I believe I was put on this Earth to take care of Mae West." West was a Presbyterian.

In August 1980, West tripped while getting out of bed. After the fall she was unable to speak and was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where tests revealed that she had suffered a stroke. She died on November 22, 1980, at the age of 87.

A private service was held at the church in Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, on November 25, 1980; (the church is a replica of Boston's Old North Church.) Bishop Andre Penachio, a friend, officiated at the entombment in the family mausoleum at Cypress Hills Abbey, Brooklyn, purchased in 1930 when her mother died. Her father and brother were also entombed there before her, and her younger sister, Beverly, was laid to rest in the last of the five crypts less than 18 months after West's death.

For her contribution to the film industry, Mae West has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street in Hollywood. For her contributions as a stage actor in the theater world, she has been inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Mae West among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

[mytearsrricochet]

pros and cons of 2020 democratic presidential candidates

Hi kids. I’m doing my own research here and I’ve compiled a fairly short but still informed list of pros and cons of the 2020 democratic presidential candidates based almost solely on social issues. These issues tend to be abortion/right to choose, gun control, foreign policy, civil rights (which include black, LGBT, and domestic violence issues), crime/prison reform, healthcare, and immigration.

Read if you want, if not that’s okay! I thought it just might be an easier guide for those who don’t want to spend a whole lot of time getting educated yet. It’s just a quick thing :) you are also totally free to message me or add replies if you feel that I missed something

this is based completely on a liberal perspective (i’m very left-wing) so if you are centrist or right-wing you won’t like this, but that’s ok :)

most of this was found on ontheissues.org if you want to read more about their stances with links. others I had to dig for.

this list was created 3/19/19 and may not include candidates that announce their run after this. I also did not include Bernie sanders because his stances were made public during the 2016 election!

Elizabeth Warren

pros:

notoriously pro-choice (supports public abortion funding, unrestricted abortion, keep federal funding for family planning clinics like Planned Parenthood)

supports civil rights issues (voted to allow states to recognize same-sex marriage, opposes a legal definition of traditional marriage, voted YES to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, supports equal pay)

acknowledges racism of criminal justice system

pro-gun control (extend federal assault weapon ban, voted YES to ban high-capacity magazines)

supports immigration (supporter of DREAM Act, supports providing lawyers for immigrant child facing deportation)

cons:

rated 64% by NAPO which means she has a moderate stance on police issues (can be pro or con I suppose)

does not recognize Palestine/will not allow UN membership for Palestine

Cory Booker

pros:

pro-abortion (wrote an OpEd about abortion rights, wants to fix Hobby Lobby decision)

staunchly pro-civil rights issues (supports same-sex marriage, wants to enforce against wage discrimination)

rated 9% by NAPO which means he has a “police-the-police” stance 

supports giving drug addicts treatment rather than prison time

rated B+ by NORML which indicates pro drug reform stance

supports gun control (background checks, gun trace data)

supports immigration (supports DREAM, against involving city police in immigration matters, supports providing lawyers for children at risk of deportation)

cons:

supports restrictions on abortion at a certain point in the pregnancy (viable fetus though this was in 2013 and it seems he has changed)

“considers” single-payer healthcare but is not “behind it”

Julian Castro

pros:

supports universal preschool and two free years of higher education

pro gun control (background checks, ban assault weapons)

supports Medicare for All

pro-choice (opposed law that would ban abortion after 20 weeks)

pro-LGBT (served as Grand Marshal for San Antonio Gay Pride, against the trans military ban, voted to extend city benefits to same-sex couples)

pro-immigration reform (allow path to citizenship)

cons

does not want to abolish ICE but to “reconstitute” it

John Delaney

pros

pro-choice (supports public abortion funding)

voted YES on reauthorizing Violence Against Women Act

pro-LGBT community (supports same-sex marriage, wants to enforce against anti-discrimination laws for gay students in schools, supports enforcing against wage discrimination)

pro gun control (supports restrictions on purchases)

supports ObamaCare

pro-immigration (supports DREAM)

cons

rated 92% by NAPO which means he is “tough on crime”

Tulsi Gabbard

pros:

pro-choice (opposes limitations on abortions)

voted YES to reauthorize Violence Against Women Act

supports tuition-free community college and tuition-free public university for families making less than $125k a year

pro gun control (ban assault weapons, background checks)

supports universal healthcare

cons:

rated 85% by NAPO which means she is “tough on crime”

previously opposed to civil unions in 2004, Hawaii LGBT caucus refused to endorse her in 2016

Kirsten Gillibrand

pros

pro-choice (allow use of contraception, require pharmacies to fill contraceptive prescription no matter what, supports embryonic stem cell research, opposes abortion restrictions, keep federal funding for family planning clinics)

pro-civil rights (started a project to involve more women in politics, voted yes to reauthorize Violence Against Women Act

pro-LGBT (supports same-sex marriage, supports prohibiting sexual identity discrimination in schools)

considered having a pro-Palestine voting record (pro if you are pro-Palestine)

pro gun control (rated F by NRA in 2010, close gun show loophole)

supports CHIP

supports abolishing ICE

cons:

has a 64% rating by NAPO which means she is moderate on crime (could be pro or con)

increased funding for COPS ON THE BEAT program (which funnels money into increased police surveillance in communities, typically bicycle or foot police)

has a mixed stance on drug reform 

had a high rating with the NRA in 2009, though this drastically changed in a year

member of “Blue Dog” commission, for conservative Democrats in 2007

Kamala Harris

pros

pro-choice (rated 100% by NARAL, supports public abortion funding, opposes notifying parents if their child is seeking an abortion)

pro-LGBT (fought for marriage equality in California, wanted to eliminate “gay panic” tactic for criminal defendants)

opposes death penalty

supports Back on Track to re-enter citizens instead of punish them for drugs

pro-gun control (opposes ownership by dangerous criminals)

cons

opposes cops using body cameras

supports Israel (can be pro or con depending on your view; however, this tends to be a con for a liberal POV)

John Hickenlooper

pros

pro-gun control (higher minimum age to buy firearms)

pro-LGBT (opposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriages)

opposes longer prison sentences 

distributed $34 million for mental health services to prevent crime

distributed $20 million to implement 24/7 mental health call centers

cons

did not support gun control immediately after 2012 Aurora, CO mass shooting during which he was mayor

supports healthcare but does not “get behind” implementing it; does not support Medicare for All 

rejects eliminating private insurance companies

does not support ban on assault weapons

extreme vetting for Syrian refugees

Jay Inslee

pros

pro-choice (supports embryonic stem cell research, voted NO on banning partial-birth abortion, opposed providing funding for health providers who refused to provide information about abortion, expand contraception for low-income women, rated 100% by NARAL)

pro-LGBT (opposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, opposed banning gay adoptions, supporting enforcing punishment for anti-gay crimes)

pro-civil rights (rated 94% by NAACP meaning he is pro affirmative action)

wanted to reintroduce women’s rights amendment

opposes death penalty

pro-gun control (opposed decreasing wait to buy a gun from 3 days to 1

supports expanding CHIP

supports mental health reform

rated 100% by APHA which means he is pro-public health

supports scholarships for DREAMers

opposed building fence on Mexican border

rated 0% by USBC which means he supports open borders

cons

mixed stance on Israel-Palestine conflict

Amy Klobuchar

pros

pro-choice (supports embryonic stem cell research, consistently votes no on bills that would limit funding and access to women seeking abortions)

pro-civil rights (supports Violence Against Women Act, against wage discrimination, supports reintroducing Equal Rights Amendment)

pro-LGBT (supports prohibiting sexual identity discrimination in schools)

consistent pro-Palestine voting record (again, could be pro or con depending on your stance)

supports some gun control measures (banning assault weapons, background checks)

supports CHIP

supports universal healthcare

voted with democratic majority 94.2% of the time

cons

rated 64% by NAPO meaning she is moderate on police issues

considered to have a “hard on drugs” stance

pressured Arab countries to end boycott on Israeli products

“I would do nothing to hurt hunting” (about guns)

voted YES on allowing guns in checked Amtrak bags

Beto O’Rourke

pros

pro-choice (opposes restrictions on abortion)

voted yes to reauthorize Violence Against Women Act

pro-LGBT (supports prohibiting anti-gay discrimination in schools, voted to allow states to recognize same-sex marriages)

advocates for marijuana legalization

pro gun control (background checks, ban assault weapons)

wants to improve ObamaCare

pro-immigration (supports DREAMers, opposes family separation, opposes the wall, 

cons

rated 92% by NAPO which means he is tough on crime

[bobmccullochny]

January History

January 1st is both the furthest away and closest day to December 31st.

4713 BC - Julian Calendar day #1, according to Joseph Justus Scaliger's cycle of 7980 years.

46 BC - The Julian calendar began, and was used widespread until 1582.

1622 - January 1st became the start of the "new Year" (it was March 25 for a long time prior)

1788 - The Times of London newspaper began publication.

1801 - Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland unite, founding the "United Kingdom"

1818 - Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus was published (anonymously) in London. (500 copies were made)

1862 - U.S. income tax began, with 3% of incomes over $600, 5% of incomes over $10,000.

1863 - The 'Emancipation Proclamation' issued by Abraham Lincoln

1886 - 1st Tournament of Roses took place in Pasadena, California

1896 - German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen announced his discovery of X-rays.

1908 - 1st New Year's ball drop at Times Square, NYC

1910 - The Hydrox "biscuit bonbon," a chocolate sandwich cookie with creme filling, was introduced. Oreos came out in 1912.

1915 - Aspirin was made available for the first time in tablet form. The pills were manufactured by Bayer pharmaceuticals, and had been available in powder form before that.

1928 - The 21-story Milam Building was the first air-conditioned, high-rise office building in the United States (San Antonio, TX)

1925 - 1st Sugar Bowl and 1st Orange Bowl

1936 - The Herald Tribune of New York began microfilming the latest issues, becoming the first US newspaper to make a current record of its publication.

1946 - ENIAC, the first U.S. computer was completed. It was built at the Moore School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,

1948 - The first motion picture 'newsreel' in color was taken at the Tournament of Roses and the Rose Bowl Game, Pasadena, California.

1954 - NBC broadcasted Pasadena's Rose Bowl parade, for the first time in color.

1960 - US population: 179,245,000

1962 - The Rose Bowl game on NBC was the first coast-to-coast color television broadcast of a college football game in the US.

1964 - Tops of the Pops first aired on BBC

1966 - "Caution Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health" warning started appearing on cigarettes.

1971 - Cigarette television ads cease.

1985 - VH1 debuted on US cable

1985 - The AT&T monopoly was broken up into seven companies: Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southwestern Bell and US West.

1995- The History Channel was launched

1995 - The last syndicated "Far Side" by cartoonist Gary Larson appeared. (started in 1985)

1997 - U.S. television networks adopted a ratings system for programming similar to the one used for motion pictures.

1997 - The Emergency Broadcast System was replaced by the Emergency Alert System

1999- The Biography channel and DIY channels were introduced

2008 - CourtTV was rebranded as TruTV

2011 - Discovery Health Channel became The Oprah Winfrey Network.

2014 -The manufacture and importing of the common 40-watt and 60-watt general service incandescent lamps was ended under the deadline set by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Democrats running for president in 2020 are faced with a choice when making their pitch to voters: make attacking President Trump a key part of their message or ignore him and focus on introducing themselves and their ideas.

On the one hand, criticizing Trump could help candidates convince primary voters that they’re able to defeat him, but depending on what shots they choose to take, they could risk alienating voters in the general election. So we wanted to see how the candidates tackled this choice by looking at one of the most direct ways they regularly communicate with voters — their emails.

Lindsey Cormack, who runs the DCinbox project, a public database of email newsletters sent by members of Congress, says emails, like tweets, can give us insight into how politicians try to brand themselves. “They don’t have to deal with editors at the paper. They don’t have to deal with booking an agent to be on a TV or radio program. They can really say anything they want.”

So to get a better sense of what the candidates told their followers about Trump, we subscribed to the mailing list of every candidate that FiveThirtyEight considers “major” and looked at all the emails they sent in the month prior to the first Democratic debate. (Though, for a variety of reasons — including email targeting practices, engagement testing techniques and the fact that we haven’t given money to any of these campaigns — we may not have received all the emails sent by all the campaigns.1)

Overall, the candidates have taken very different approaches. Some candidates, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, seem to be ignoring Trump almost entirely, while others, like former Vice President Joe Biden, are heavily peppering their emails with invocations of Trump. Even some lesser-known candidates like Montana Gov. Steve Bullock are going all in on Trump — every email we received from his campaign during this period contained a reference to the president.2

Biden’s emails contained the second-most mentions of Trump. In total, we received 27 messages from his campaign that referenced the president by name. This strong focus on Trump seems aimed at portraying Biden as a strong general election candidate, which makes sense, as his perceived “electability” has been a central argument of his campaign.

In his emails, Biden has attacked Trump’s campaign tactics, his policy stances and his values. Biden has even sent an email that, rather than concentrating on his campaign, asked readers to sign a petition to “tell Donald Trump that welcoming foreign interference in our elections is unacceptable.” Even many of Biden’s fundraising emails are all about Trump, asking readers to “imagine the shock on Trump’s face” when they hit their fundraising goal and collect enough to “compete with Trump’s fortunes.”

While Biden mentions Trump often, his emails completely ignore the rest of the primary field — none of his messages mention another Democratic candidate by name. Another thing Biden never mentions? Impeachment.

Biden also sent the most emails with “Trump” in the subject line.

And that’s a telling omission, because many other candidates have called for Trump’s impeachment and are renewing those calls in their emails. The move could help them in the primary election, as impeachment is popular among Democrats, but could prove risky in a general election because most polls find that more Americans oppose impeachment than support it.

In the month leading up to the first debate, Sen. Kamala Harris, former Cabinet secretary Julian Castro, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Cory Booker, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and former Gov. John Hickenlooper all sent at least one email entirely devoted to calling for Trump’s impeachment. O’Rourke, for example, sent a long email on May 30 explaining why he thought Trump should be impeached, and then a punchier one about two weeks later with “Donald Trump” as the subject line and “… should be impeached” as the only text in the body of the email, with a link to a petition.

While Warren was the first 2020 Democratic candidate to call for Trump’s impeachment — she publicly embraced that stance after the April release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election — we didn’t receive any emails from her campaign that mentioned the topic in the month before the first debate. Likewise, Sanders has also called for Trump’s impeachment, but didn’t send us any impeachment emails during the period we looked at.

Some candidates largely avoided talking about Trump at all in the month before the debate. For example, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg only mentioned Trump in one email, when he called Trump’s tariffs on Mexican goods “politically-motivated gamesmanship.” Warren also was largely silent on Trump in this period. Of the 56 emails she sent us that month, only four mentioned Trump, and of those four, only one focused on him for the bulk of the message.3 That email explained, “Our campaign isn’t about Donald Trump. That’s because he’s just the symptom, not the cause, of the crises we face as a country.” And Rep. Tim Ryan, who sent us 78 emails — the most of any candidate — didn’t mention Trump even once, although he, too, has called for Trump’s impeachment.

Bullock, on the other hand, mentioned Trump in every single email, often as part of a formulaic reminder to subscribers that he is the only presidential candidate to have won statewide office in a state Trump won.4

Candidates who have a harder time making an “electability” argument than Bullock varied widely in the tenor of their emails that mentioned Trump. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, for example, sent us fewer emails in the month leading up to the debate than most candidates, but he mentioned Trump in five of the seven emails he did send us. (And one the two that didn’t mention the president’s last name still used the hashtag #ConDon, which showed up in six of de Blasio’s emails and is meant to imply that Trump is a con man.) In many ways, De Blasio seemed to be trying to out-Trump Trump, aggressively attacking him and using name-calling tactics that the president is known for. In one email, for instance, he called Trump a “New York con man who’s just been made to smell his own BS” and referred to Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, as Trump’s “lapdog,” whose insults were “even lamer than his boss’s.” But unlike de Blasio, most of the Democratic contenders seemed to have heeded former First Lady Michelle Obama’s advice to “go high” when their opponents “go low” and are trying to strike a different tone than the current president, rather than trying to outdo him.

So what does this tell us about how Democrats are crafting (or not crafting) their campaigns around Trump? Well, a few candidates, like de Blasio, Bullock and Biden, are at one extreme — mentioning Trump at practically every opportunity — and a few, like Ryan and Buttigieg, are firmly planted at the other extreme, remaining largely silent on Trump. But perhaps unsurprisingly, most candidates fall somewhere in between, striking a balance between talking about Trump and focusing on their own message. It’s early yet, though, and some candidates’ communication strategies might change as the primary progresses. Still, with so many Democrats running, the party will have collectively tried out many different avenues of attack before the general election. Ultimately, however, there will only be one Democratic nominee, and whoever that is, he or she will have a wide pool of pre-tested approaches to draw from.

[smilystore]

Cape Cod’s looking into technology to stop the shark attacks but some officials say that could backfire

On Tuesday the South African government announced it will be installing the world’s first shark-repellent electromagnetic cable to protect swimmers along the end of the Busselton Jetty, a shark attack hot spot in Western Australia.

After shark attacks left one man dead and another severely injured in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, officials there have hired the Woods Hole Group to look into some tech alternatives to protect swimmers.

But some believe that unless these alternatives can be proved 100% effective, technology could create a “false sense of security for the public.”

On Tuesday the South African government announced it will be installing the world’s first shark-repellent electromagnetic cable to protect swimmers along the end of the Busselton Jetty, a shark attacks hot spot and one of Western Australia’s most famous landmarks. The 150-meter-long pulsing cable, expected to be installed by late December, will be fixed to the seafloor, with vertical risers supporting electrodes that emit a low-frequency pulsed electronic signal that proved 100% effective in turning away at least 50 sharks during its four-week trial at a Cape Town beach in South Africa. The state government will contribute $50,000 toward the shark cable, while the South African government will pay for 90% of the installation at Busselton. The South African Sharks Board chose Western Australia ahead of other locations because of its recent history of shark attacks, with 20 unprovoked incidents last year alone. This puts Western Australia second behind the U.S. at 32 confirmed cases and one fatality for the number of recorded shark attacks in 2018. Yet while tech alternatives seem promising, local officials, especially in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where the waters have become a feeding ground for these fearsome predators, believe it could provide swimmers with a “false sense of security.”

Desperately seeking solutions

Sightings of great whites off the shores of Cape Cod are a daily occurrence: Since June 1 the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s sharability app indicates there have been more than 160. “When we are lucky enough to actually get eyes on a shark, it really is no surprise,” said Nate Sears, natural resources manager for the town of Orleans, an area whose beaches have already been closed 12 times since mid-June due to confirmed shark sightings. These encounters have not been without incident. Last August William Lytton was bitten on the leg by a white shark while swimming in 8 to 10 feet of water in Truro. The 61-year-old Scarsdale, New York, neurologist instinctively punched the shark in the gills to fend him off. Weeks later a 26-year-old Revere, Massachusetts, the man was killed boogie-boarding off Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet. In 2017 a paddleboarder was about 30 yards offshore of Marconi Beach in Wellfleet when a shark took a bite out of his paddle board. The encounter took place in about 3 feet of water.

Now officials in Cape Cod are desperately searching for solutions and getting a huge response from tech companies and savvy entrepreneurs pitching ideas on everything from high-powered speakers with sirens and voice capability that would warn swimmers to “Evacuate the water,” to acoustical barriers that would chase away the gray seals (which the sharks come to feed on), to orca vocalizers and electronic zappers. The Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners says they are inundated with high-tech solutions. In February a shark working group comprised of representatives from Chatham to Provincetown, the Cape’s six Atlantic-facing towns; the National Park Service; scientific stakeholders; and the offices of state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, and state Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, hired the Woods Hole Group an international environmental services and products organization headquartered in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The objective: to produce a nearly $50,000 study of alternatives to protect the public from sharks. The report is expected to be delivered sometime in September. Yet unless these alternatives can be proved 100% effective, some local officials are not convinced that tech is the answer. In fact, according to Sears, implementing technology could create a “false sense of security for the public.” “Once you deploy something like this and you don’t have any incidence say, for a period of time the general public’s going to feel that technology may have been responsible for that, and it’s really hard to gauge whether that’s accurate or not,” he said. “Truly, the only way you minimize the chances of interactions continuing to happen is for the public to change their behavior.” Policing the beach remains a priority. “We keep people at knee- to waist-deep water, we don’t let them off the sandbars if water clarity isn’t optimum, and there’s times we don’t even let people in the water if the tide’s really high and there is a deepwater trough right adjacent to the shoreline,” Sears said. The towns also are continuing to push a public awareness campaign, using signage to warn beachgoers to be “shark smart” and installing severe bleeding first-aid kits at beaches to get help to victims immediately should the unthinkable happen. The towns also run Stop the Bleed training programs, which almost always have a waitlist. “Generally, most white shark bite victims survive because of first aid initiated by bystanders. We have a lot of remote beaches in Orleans, and it’s unlikely that if someone is suffering from massive hemorrhaging associated with a white shark that our first responders will be able to get there in time,” Sears said.

Pushing for change

Amanda Wilson, the general manager of Australia-based Ocean Guardian, the company whose patented Shark Shield technology is powering the cable that will be installed in the Busselton Jetty, says the culture in Australia has changed from one that “deals with the sharks” to one that needs to be proactive in protecting swimmers. This came after five people were killed there by great whites in a span of 18 months between 2012 and 2013. Before then, she said, Australians thought differently about the great whites, but “things have definitely escalated in the last five years.” Wilson met with the Woods Hole Group in June to introduce the company’s patented Shark Shield technology and discuss how it can offer protection to swimmers on Cape Cod. She explained that sharks have short-range electrical receptors in their snouts that are used to find food. Their Shark Shield technology creates a powerful three-dimensional electrical field that causes spasms in these sensitive receptors and turns the sharks away. Ocean Guardian has developed a number of handheld and belt-mounted devices that send out these tiny electrical currents and can be attached to surfboards, kayaks and fishing boats. Wilson claims that studies have proved their devices to be 99.9% effective in protecting against great whites. In 2018, after the fatality in Wellfleet, several surf shops on Cape Cod began stocking the devices, and surfers, kayakers and swimmers are snatching them up.

“Our sales have increased 100% over last year,” said Wilson, adding that the Freedom7, which sells for $499, is its most popular product. Other solutions being reviewed by the Woods Hole Group include one by Cape Cod residents Kevin McCarthy and Willy Planinshek, co-founders of Deep Blue LLC, although theirs is still in the concept stage. In late May the two men proposed their Marine Acoustic Deterrent Systems to the Barnstable Board of County Commissioners. Also known as MADS, the system would use sound waves to divert seals and sharks away from the Cape’s offshore swimming areas. The idea, McCarthy said, is to ping the seals with a sound frequency from an anchored buoy that would irritate the seal’s inner ears, sending them swimming off in a different direction. A second deterrent would feature an orca vocalization chamber to alert great whites that their predator is nearby. “The thought is that if the gray seals aren’t there, you are removing the food source and the white sharks wouldn’t come in,” said McCarthy. But he contended that “the towns were completely unreceptive to the idea. The pushback has been huge — from the environmental community, saying that we shouldn’t do anything at all to the gray seals or the white sharks, to the towns expressing concern about liability.”

“Stop the Bleed and the first-aid kits is all good stuff and it’s all needed. But again, this is something that gets done after a tragic event. Our objective is to stop the event from occurring,” McCarthy said. “There’s definitely some pilot programs that are going to need to happen. My concern is that they can’t be associated with public safety in the beginning, because they are not conclusive yet,” Sears said. “They are trying this stuff all over the world, and very few of it has been proven to be effective.” He added: “This is a very dynamic place. The sandbars are always changing. The people that are putting themselves most at risk are the surfers, and I grew up surfing around here. You are constantly searching for the best sandbar and the best wave break. Well, it’s always changing, so there’s not one definitive place where you can choose to deploy a technology. So it’s really important for people not to oversimplify this issue. “As far as tech goes, the town of Orleans is dedicated to investigating anything that’s out there. But nowhere in the world that has similar issues with sharks have they been able to solve this problem with tech yet. We are fully exposed to the wrath of the North Atlantic, and the conditions that we see throughout the year will challenge even the most robust technologies.”

Barbara Booth

source https://smilystore.com/2019/08/04/cape-cods-looking-into-technology-to-stop-the-shark-attacks-but-some-officials-say-that-could-backfire/