#miles blume

[blumery]

Traumas part I

[mackmp3]

gender mood board

[kuri-crocus]

A David Tennant boyfriend for a Michael Sheen character Masterpost

Lucian (Underworld)

Martin Whitly (Prodigal Son)

Aro (Twilight)

Roland Blum (The Good Fight)

Miles Maitland (Bright Young Things)

Bill Masters (Masters of Sex)

Joe (Gallowglass)

Thorne Jamison (Laws of Attraction)

Tony Blair (The Deal)

Colin Lawes (Heartlands)

Robbie Ross (Wilde)

Harry Jones (Dead Long Enough)

Malcolm Howe (Apostle)

Wesley Snipes (30 Rock)

William Boldwood (Far From The Madding Crowd)

Tony Towers (Last Train To Christmas)

Slavkin O'Hara (Jesus Henry Christ)

Austen Blume (Home Again)

The Bat (Slaughterhouse Rulez)

Steven Arthur Younger (Unthinkable)

Bonus: Aziraphale

David's masterpost

This is not supposed to be the end! Make a request which character to do next ^^

[sandyhookhistory]

“A Repeat Beating For The Kriegsmarine” Eighty Years Ago Today - (Saturday) February 13th, 1943: In an eerily near-identical repeat of yesterday’s disaster, the Germans take it on the chin yet again, losing both another Type VIIC U-Boat AND another steamer, with far more fatal results. U-620, much like yesterday’s victim, U-442, is on her way home from a war patrol. At sea since December 19th, her 57 days have netted but one ship, the British tanker “British Dominion,” on January 11th, 165 miles northwest of the Canary Islands. Now, 106 miles northwest of Lisbon, Portugal, her rough luck runs out permanently. She’s jumped by an American-built twin-engine Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat of 202 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, flying out of Gibraltar (Photo 1). This squadron, too, is on definitive search-and-destroy anti-submarine operations. Before the Germans can react, the Catalina roars in with depth-charges. The attack is fast, accurate, and lethal. U-620 is ripped open and down she goes. There are No Survivors. She takes All Hands – 47 Officers and Men – to the sea floor with her. Meanwhile, in the port city of Danzig (present day Poland) the German steamer “SS August Blume” (Photo 2) weighs anchor, heading for Aalborg, Denmark… never to be seen again. In the fog of war, the ship just up and vanishes without a trace somewhere in the Baltic. Her entire crew vanishes with her. Now, as if this wasn’t bad enough, at the north end of the Adriatic, off Molat Island, Yogoslavia, the British submarine HMS Thunderbolt (T-Class, Photo 3) picks off the Italian Navy minesweeper "Mafalda" with her deck gun. Juuuuust another day… 🇺🇲🇺🇲 ** Please Like & Follow "Sandy Hook History" on Facebook & Instagram for more amazing maritime and military histories of the Garden State and New York Harbor as well as a review of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle Of The Atlantic and World War 2** 🇺🇲🇺🇲 (at Fort Hancock, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/Conql8igym8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rosalinewintrell]

A Lesson in Companionship

Part Three of my Hogwarts AU one-shot series.

“Accio!” Rosaline whispered, a large Gobstone flying down from the trophy room rafters and into her hand. This one fit just perfectly in the cup of her palm and the iridescent green hue darkened and lightened as she rolled it around. A third year Ravenclaw girl had asked for help retrieving her collections of Gobstones after a few overly competitive students had hidden them all over the school. When Rosaline had discovered that Imelda had been one such culprit, she had guilted her friend into revealing their locations.

Rosaline wasn’t a fan of the game, she often leaned towards her feminine side, and being sprayed with smelly liquids, magical or not, was not a pleasing notion. However, she simply refrained from playing the game, finding enough enjoyment from watching other players put their daily hygiene at risk. She reprimanded Imelda for her behavior, reminding her that if she decided to enter competitive play, she should take her win or loss with grace, rather than playing sore. Imelda was thoroughly chastised, and revealed the Gobstones hiding places, and wile rounding up the stones had taken a bit of time, it allowed Rosaline the chance to explore the castle and make herself familiar with the areas she did not visit during her day-to-day activities.

Zenobia was still lurking around the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower when Rosaline returned, her eyes lighting up upon noticing the older girl’s approach. She was hopping on the balls of her feet, a smile spreading on her face. “Oh! Please tell me you were able to find my Gobstones!” Zenobia called, a few wandering students turning towards the sudden yelling. Rosaline chuckled and held up a small blue pouch and shaking it, the tell-tale tinkling of Gobstones echoing down the corridor. “Oh, how wonderful!” Zenobia cried again, clapping her hands, “I knew you would be able to find them! Can I please have them back now?”

“Of course,” Rosaline said, though she did not lower the pouch to Zenobia’s waiting hands just yet, “On one condition.”

“Oh,” Zenobia’s face fell just a little, and she reached into her pockets, pulling a few Knuts out and lifting them towards her, “I’m sorry this is all I have. I hope its enough.”

Rosaline was still for a moment, staring blankly at what must have been the girl’s allowance before shaking her head and pushing Zenobia’s hand away, curling the younger girl’s fingers over the offered money in the process. “No, that is not what I mean.” Rosaline said and Zenobia was quick to stash the money away again. “I was just thinking that maybe we could work together to make you Gobstones a bit more…pleasant.”

“More pleasant? I’m not sure that’s possible,” Zenobia snorted a little as she talked, her doubt evident.

“Well, let me see if I can work something out, and if I do, will you work with me?” Rosaline stretched her hand out, ready to make a deal with the third year despite her lack of confidence.

“Hmm,” Zenobia eyed Rosaline before shaking her hand slowly, “I suppose it can’t hurt.”

“Great,” Rosaline smiled and deposited the bag of Gobstones into Zenobia’s palm.

“Oh, I am so glad to have these back!” Zenobia opened the pouch and examined her collection before tightening the drawstring, “Maybe I’ll go see if anyone on the common room would play!” Zenobia was just turning around when Rosaline stopped her one more time.

Sorry, just one more question.” She said, “Do people often ask for money in exchange for favors here?”

Ah,” Zenobia said, glancing around, her voice lowering to whisper, “I can’t say for sure. I just overheard a Gryffindor girl refusing to Help Cressida Blume with something about her diary because she didn’t have any money. I’m sorry for assuming you’d want something too.”

“That’s alright. I was just curious.” Rosaline said before sending the young Ravenclaw on her way, mind running a mile a minute as she meandered to the Great Hall for dinner.

***

Rosaline was the first of her small group to arrive at dinner, but she didn’t wait for them to start eating. Autumn had only just begun falling over the highlands of Scotland, but already Rosaline was feeling chilled, so the sight of pots of steaming potato soup was a temptation to great to resist as Rosaline scooped herself a large bowl full.  Rosaline had never been a picky eater, but even she had to agree that the caliber of the food at Hogwarts was truly beyond compare. The soup was thick and creamy, lacking any of the grittiness she often found a bit distracting in such thick broths, and each piece of potato was a perfect; hot, fully cooked, but tame enough to be bitten into without burning her mouth. Suffice to say, by the time Natty, Imelda and Poppy sat around her she was scooping a second bowl and cutting herself a piece of bread as well.

“Someone is enjoying themselves,” Imelda teased as she sat, though her smile quickly faded as she laid a hand on Rosaline’s shoulder. “Were you able to find all of Zenobia’s Gobstones? I would have looked with you but if I turned in another Arithmancy assignment late It’s have been detention.”

Rosaline waved her off, “It was no problem. But you owe me one!” Imelda laughed and agreed before piling her plate with fried potatoes and ham with gravy and medley of steaming autumn vegetables.       

“Aren’t you going to have anything else?” Poppy asked, a bit of concern lacing her voice as she eyed Rosaline’s bowl of soup.

“I doubt it,” Natty said, though she too was serving herself a healthy portion of the potato and cream delicacy, “Rosaline is always cold recently, she needs to warm up!”

“Oh! Poor thing!” Imelda teased again, a wide smile on her face, “Do you need someone to warm you up?” She then proceeded to wrap her arms tight around Rosaline’s shoulders, nearly knocking the last of her bowl to the floor.

“Be careful what you offer,” Rosaline said, “Or I’ll wake you up in the middle of the night for some of those cuddles.”

“You would not,” Indeed, Imelda had seen the number of quilts piled on Rosaline’s bed. The girl was thoroughly warm even in the deepest of night, and Rosaline smiled at Imelda’s cheek.

“Perhaps not,” She responded, her challenging grin only growing. “But I might forget to wake you up for your morning constitutional.” One of the greatest advantages to their friendship, if you asked Imelda, was Rosaline’s penchant for waking up early in the mornings. The girl seemed able to function at the earliest hours, never mind the time she finally found herself asleep.

 Imelda gasped, her mouth hanging open like a fish, “But you’d be up anyway! Come on!” Rosaline did not deign to respond, only taking another bite of her broth-soaked bread with an impish smile. Imelda sighed, “Fine. You are perfectly normal temperature, and everyone should stop bugging you about it.” Rosaline heard the girl grumble more under her breath and she chuckled.

“Oh, hey,” she said, getting the attention of all three girls, “have any of you seen Cressida Blume recently?” All three looked around, unaware that Rosaline even knew of the mild-mannered Gryffindor. Cressida kept a very small circle of friends and none of them ran in the same circles as Rosaline’s growing group of companions.

“I did not even think you knew her,” Natty replied, lips pursed.

“I don’t,” Rosaline shrugged and wiped at the corners of her mouth with a napkin, “But I heard someone might be trying to extort her for money. Something about her diary? I was hoping to speak with her about it, but I don’t know where I might find her.”

“Isn’t extortion a bit… harsh? We’re only students after all” Poppy inquired as she ate. Her face was concerned, and Rosaline knew Poppy was worried about Cressida, but the sweet Hufflepuff girl tried to see the best in every situation.

“Extortion is extortion, whether carried out by a fifty-year-old man or a sixteen-year-old student.” Rosaline replied with a shake of her head. “I just want to help her if I can. Goodness knows I’d hate for my diary to go missing with no way to get it back.”

“That would be devastating!” Poppy agreed quickly.

“I am not sure how willing she will be to accept your help, though,” Natty said as she too finished her meal. “Slytherins don’t have the best reputation, especially with Gryffindors,” Natty cringed a little, shooting Rosaline and Imelda apologetic smiles.

“We know,” Imelda said rolling her eyes.

“We might all be in different houses with grudges against the others,” Rosaline began, “But at the end of the day we are all still just teenage witches and wizards, and I am not going to let house politics stop me from helping a fellow girl in need, especially when she needs help with something so sensitive.”

“You’re right,” Natty agrees quickly, having always possessed a strong sense of justice and she was followed quickly by Poppy who, despite her initial misgivings was quick to help a fellow student.

“I won’t pretend to get it,” Imelda said with a shrug, “But I’ll help too I guess.” Rosaline bumped the other girl with her shoulder a goofy smile spreading her cheeks.

“You wanna help!” Rosaline sing-songed, “You just don’t won’t admit it!”

“And I never will.”

[the-last-dillpickle]

DS9 prompts under the cut from DS9agogo’s 2010 Station Log Ficathon on LJ

>>

GEN

- Ezri Dax, prompt: sliding across a bridge of sighs

- Kira Nerys and Mora Pol: After Odo has returned to the Great Link

- Jadzia Dax, where the sky is the limit

- Quark and or Odo: not as adversarial as it may at first appear

- Kira Nerys, Julian Bashir, in the line of fire

- Nog and Jake Sisko, friends will be friends

- Three generations of Siskos. If you can work in Benjamin's sister and her family, as well as Benjamin and Kasidy's child, so much the better :D

- The reconstruction of Bajor after the Occupation and/or the reconstruction of Cardassia after the Dominion War.

- After curing a plague on Bajor, Julian is proclaimed by most Bajorans to be 'sent by the Prophets'. Then Julian has visions much like Sisko and he starts to question his sanity. Kira and Sisko play a big part, anyone else is up to you. You can pair him with whoever or no pairing at all.

- "Where's Garak?" : Insert Garak into an episode or a scene where he doesn't appear, but should have

- Dear diary, Judy Blume style.

- Kai Winn's brush with atheism.

- Keiko's experiences adjusting to the station. Make her likeable!

- Remember the "puppy" from episode 1x17: The forsaken? Considering that the whole computer system was fried at least once, whatever happened to the puppy?

- Miles O'Brien, Keiko O'Brien, and Kira Nerys. (Slashes optional.) Experiments in marriage, partnership, and parenting: sometimes painful, sometimes joyful, always difficult.

- Kai Opaka and Vedek Winn. "One must never look into the eyes of one's own gods."

- Five things Tora Ziyal didn't live to do, and one she managed just in time.

- Sisko, Jake and a cooking lesson. I'd love to see fic that highlights that awesome father-son dynamic they have, whether it turns out comical or poignant or serious or whatever. HET - Sisko/Jadzia Dax. Things happen between them. Sisko is freaked. Dax is... not so much.

- Odo/Kira, if we'd had a moment to ourselves/We'd be unstoppable

- Odo/Kira Reuniting after Odo fulfills his obligations to the Great Link/heals the founders. Bittersweet or happily ever after, whatever feels right.

- Odo/Kira. Quark POV that gives away how genuinely fond he is of both of them, and of course how happy for them if it's after they get their shit together.

- Jake/Ziyal - Will you marry me?

- O'Brien/Station Computer - "Computer... you and I need to have a little talk." (Mod put this in het because the computer has a female voice.)

- Worf/Jadzia, lighten up and you might just learn a thing or two

- Worf/Jadzia a new skill, preferably something Dax has never encountered before but has to do with Klingons. This is in exchange for Jadzia teaching him something particularly Klingon. SLASH - Weyoun/Dukat either non-con or semi-con. I rather like the idea or Dukat or Damar getting punished by Weyoun.

- Garak/Dukat Anything absolutely smutty would be amazing. No fluff or cute stuff.

- Odo/Quark I can't help myself

- Julian Bashir/Miles O'Brien; prompt: boys and their toys (can be either gen or slash)

- Garak/Bashir. An AU where Bashir is kicked out of Starfleet because of his genetic enhancements, but he is able to find a way to stay on Bajor/on the station, and this sets Garak and Bashir's relationship on a different course than in canon.

- Garak/Bashir. An AU where Bashir is kicked out of the Federation because of his genetic enhancements, and becomes an exile too.

- Garak/Bashir. An AU where they’re all on a starship and Cardassia is a new-ish member of the Federation. Garak is one of the first Cardassians to serve in Starfleet.

- Garak/Bashir. An AU where Bashir and Garak meet when they’re younger, that has a happy ending, please!

- Garak/Bashir, ensemble cast, any other pairings. A complete fantasy/magic/medieval AU. Instead of planets, Cardassia/Earth/Bajor/etc are countries, etc.

- Garak/Bashir, ensemble cast, any other pairings. An AU in which Cardassia didn’t just take over Bajor, but the entire Federation. The characters are all part of ~the resistance~, and Garak has trouble figuring out where his loyalties are. Happy (or at least bittersweet!) ending, please- no Garak betraying them all, etc.

- Garak/Bashir. Post series. Garak and Bashir are somehow reunited, but not using the trope of Bashir going to Cardassia to help with the recovery.

- Garak/Bashir. Post series. Garak and Bashir keep in contact throughout the years, while Garak helps rebuild Cardassia and Bashir is still working in Starfleet. Of course, eventually they meet again, though!

- Garak/Bashir, ensemble cast, any other pairings. Post-series. All the main "characters" are having a "reunion", but no one actually thought that Garak would show up- including Julian Bashir, who hasn't seen Garak in years.

- Garak/Bashir, ensemble cast, any other pairings. A disaster occures in the Federation and the characters are all drawn back together.

- Garak/Bashir. Garak knew about Bashir’s genetic enhancements before everyone else… but not because he “figured it out”. For some reason Bashir told him, or when they were in trouble/danger it came out.

- Garak/Bashir. Something with Bashir actually using his genetic enhancements and saving the day/etc.

- Garak/Bashir. Bashir rescues Garak. Featuring Bashir being generally awesome.

- Garak/Bashir. Somehow Bashir unexpectedly ends up with a baby/kid, courtesy of an old girlfriend, and of course he has absolutely no clue what to do. But to the surprise of everyone, Garak is surprisingly useful and enthusiastic- children are very important to Cardassians, after all. Even more surprising is the route their relationship takes as taking care of the he kid brings them closer.

- Garak/Bashir. As a reverse of the norm, Bashir muses on Garak's beauty/attractiveness.

- Garak/Bashir. Bashir knows that Garak likes to get off the station, but rarely gets to, so he invites Garak along on his vacation, not knowing that this vacation will change everything between them.

- Sisko/Bashir, something that deals with how impossibly young Julian seems at the beginning of the series and how much he changes over time.

- Sisko/Bashir - they shared an unpleasant time during the days leading up to the Bell Riots. Maybe it brings them closer once they're finally back to their own time?

- Sisko/Bashir. Kasidy ends things with Benjamin, because she's figured out that he's in love with someone else. Ironically, Benjamin hasn't worked this out for himself yet.

- Jake/Bashir during "Fascination" (Season 3). When Lwaxana's aboard the station, inadvertently messing with people's heads, it's not Kira that Jake fixates on.

- Jake/Bashir - Jake Sisko's got his heart set on Julian. Julian doesn't quite know what to do with that.

- Jake/Bashir, Sisko finds out (on purpose or otherwise).

- Dukat/Garak. They get into a fight after Garak catches Dukat in his quarters. When fighting, they begin to have rough, passionate anal and oral sex while spewing insults at each other. Dukat walks out grinning with the taste of Garak still in his mouth.

- Dukat/Sisko. Alternate scenario in which some hot-lovin' happens in the cave they're stranded in during "Waltz." THREESOMES/MULTIPLE PAIRINGS - Something canon compliant Bashir/Ezri/Garak as an actual threesome.

- Garak/Bashir, Kira/Odo. Garak, Bashir, Odo, and Kira all have to work together to Save The Day. I will have your babies if both couples get together during the story- developing relationships ftw.

- Garak/Bashir/O’Brien. Post series. Bashir and O’Brien are in a relationship, but Bashir has kept in contact/comes back into contact with Garak, and something happens to cause him to realize that he loves Garak too.

- Garak/OFC, Garak/Bashir. To rebuild & repopulate Cardassia, Garak gets married. Bashir realizes that he's lost his chance. Bashir visits Cardassia over the years, and is like, "Uncle Julian" to the kids. But Garak and Bashir do get together in the end!

- Garak/Bashir/Mirror!Garak. Garak is on Cardassia (for any reason). Feeling horny, Bashir decides to travel to the AU to try to seduce AU!Garak. When Garak returns from Cardassia early to find Bashir gone without explanation, he knows exactly where he's gone. Garak goes to the AU in a fit of jealously but ends up joining in on the fun.

[xtruss]

Tina Cordova and her mother, Rosalie, relax at Bonito Lake, New Mexico, in 1960. Cordova says the lake—which lies within the estimated radioactive fallout zone—was a water source for area towns, including Carrizozo, Alamogordo, and Ruidoso. Courtesy of Anastacio and Rosalie Cordova

U.S. Lawmakers Move Urgently to Recognize Survivors of the First Atomic Bomb Test

The 1945 Trinity test produced heat 10,000 times greater than the surface of the sun and spread fallout across the country.

— By Lesley M.M. Blume | Published September 21, 2021 | July 29th, 2023

Barbara Kent joined Carmadean’s dance camp in the desert near Ruidoso, New Mexico, in the summer of 1945. During the day, she and nine other girls learned tap and ballet. At night, they slept in a cabin by a river. Early in the morning on July 16, 1945, Kent says that she —then 13—and the other campers were jolted out of their bunk beds by what felt like an enormous explosion nearby. Their dance instructor rushed the girls outside, worried that a heater on the premises might have burst.

“We were all just shocked … and then, all of a sudden, there was this big cloud overhead, and lights in the sky,” Kent recalls. “It even hurt our eyes when we looked up. The whole sky turned strange. It was as if the sun came out tremendous.”

A few hours later, she says, white flakes began to fall from above. Excited, the girls put on their bathing suits and, amid the flurries, began playing in the river. “We were grabbing all of this white, which we thought was snow, and we were putting it all over our faces,” Kent says. “But the strange thing, instead of being cold like snow, it was hot. And we all thought, ‘Well, the reason it’s hot is because it’s summer.’ We were just 13 years old.”

Thirteen-year-old Barbara Kent (center) and her fellow campers play in a river near Ruidoso, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, in the hours after the bomb’s detonation. Fallout flakes drifted down that day and for days afterward. “We thought [it] was snow," Kent says. “But the strange thing, instead of being cold like snow, it was hot." Courtesy of Barbara Kent

The flakes were fallout from the Manhattan Project’s Trinity test, the world’s first atomic bomb detonation. It took place at 5:29 a.m. local time atop a hundred-foot steel tower 40 miles away at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, in Jornada del Muerto valley.

The site had been selected in part for its supposed isolation. In reality, thousands of people were within a 40-mile radius, some as close as 12 miles away. Yet all those living near the bomb site weren't warned that the test would take place. Nor were they evacuated beforehand or afterward, even as radioactive fallout continued to drop for days.

The Trinity test took place at 5:29 a.m. local time on July 16, 1945. It was three to five times more powerful than its creators had anticipated, producing heat 10,000 times greater than the surface of the sun. The explosion cloud may have reached a height of 70,000 feet. Photograph By Science History Images/ Alamy

In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which has since dispensed over two billion dollars to more than 45,000 nuclear workers and “downwinders”—a term describing people who have lived near nuclear test sites conducted since World War II and may have been exposed to deadly radioactive fallout.

But those exposed during the Trinity test and its aftermath have never been eligible.

For years, Senator Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat from New Mexico, and other members of Congress have attempted to amend RECA, due to expire on July 11, 2022. In light of this looming deadline, on September 22, Lujan, along with Senator Mike Crapo, Republican of Idaho, and eight co-sponsors introduced Senate bill S. 2798 to extend RECA and expand it to make those in the estimated Trinity fallout zone eligible, as well as other downwinder communities in Colorado, Idaho, and Montana. The proposed legislation also would expand eligibility for people who have worked in uranium mines and mills or transported uranium ore. Also on September 22, Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez and 15 co-sponsors introduced a similar bill, H.R. 5338, in the House.

The plutonium bomb—nicknamed the Gadget—was set atop this hundred-foot steel tower, which vaporized in the explosion. "From the Trinity test,” a 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report noted, “it was learned that detonating a nuclear explosive device [that] close to the ground increases the radioactive fallout from the event." Photograph Via CORBIS/Getty

Manhattan Project leaders—including General Leslie Groves (center) and, to his right, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer—scrutinize the remnants of the tower at ground zero. Upon seeing the detonation, Oppenheimer thought of a line from the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Photograph Via CORBIS/Getty

“The fact that there had not been a recognition of the impact of the very first atomic detonation in New Mexico was really simply wrong,” says Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat from New Mexico and co-sponsor of the House bill. “We hear their voices, we see their pain, and we must act.”

This is an especially urgent and consequential moment for those living in Trinity’s estimated fallout zone—some of whom have been waiting 76 years to be acknowledged. “We have been denied justice long enough,” says Bernice Gutierrez, who was a newborn when the bomb exploded. Her family lived in Carrizozo, about 50 miles from the blast site. “It’s not like we haven’t given our all to our country. What more can you give?”

‘A Very Serious Hazard���

The blast from the plutonium implosion device, nicknamed the Gadget, produced heat 10,000 times greater than the surface of the sun and was significantly more powerful than its creators had expected. It carried aloft hundreds of tons of irradiated soil and sent a mushroom cloud up to 70,000 feet in the sky. In this experimental atomic detonation, only three of the 13 pounds of plutonium at the bomb’s center underwent fission. The rest dispersed in the fallout cloud.

A tiny fraction of that three pounds of plutonium—about the weight of a raisin—was enough to release “three times the destructive force of the largest conventional bomb used in World War II,” says Robert Alvarez, associate fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies and former senior policy advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy. (The Gadget released an explosive force equivalent to about 21,000 tons of TNT.)

Right after detonation, the cloud divided into three parts. One part drifted east, another to the west and northwest, and the rest to the northeast, across a region a hundred miles long and 30 miles wide, “dropping its trail of fission products” the entire way, according to a 2010 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The fallout eventually spread over thousands of square miles and was detected as far away as Rochester, New York.

Nineteen counties in New Mexico were in the downwind area, including 78 towns and cities, and dozens of ranches and pueblos. Radiation levels near homes in some “hot spots” reached levels “almost 10,000 times what is currently allowed in public areas,” according to the CDC.

“There is still a tremendous quantity of radioactive dust floating in the air,” wrote Stafford Warren to U.S. Army General Leslie R. Groves, head of the Manhattan Project, five days after the blast. Warren, the project’s chief medical officer, added that “a very serious [radiation] hazard” existed within a 2,700-square-mile area downwind of the test.

He also advised that future atomic tests be done only where there were no people within a radius of 150 miles. (Nearly half a million people in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico lived within a 150-mile radius of the Trinity test.)

“We didn’t know what the hell we were doing,” Louis Hempelmann—the director of the Los Alamos Health Group, a team tasked with managing radiation within the Manhattan Project—reflected in a 1986 interview uncovered by sociologist James L. Nolan, Jr., in his book Atomic Doctors. “Nobody had had any experience like this before, and we were just hoping that the situation wouldn’t get terribly sticky.”

The leaders of the Manhattan Project knew that civilians had been “probably overexposed,” Hempelmann said. “But they couldn’t prove it and we couldn’t prove it. So we just assumed that we got away with it.”

Many civilians living within the estimated fallout zone were unwittingly exposed and sickened. According to Alvarez, even minute quantities of plutonium can inflict disease. “Particles of plutonium less than a few microns in diameter can penetrate deep in the lungs and lymph nodes and can also be deposited via the bloodstream in the liver, on bone surfaces, and in other organs,” he says. “If inhaled, extremely small amounts can lead to cancer.”

How is it, asks Senator Lujan, that RECA covered people living downwind of the Nevada Test Site but left out “the community where the first nuclear bomb was tested on American soil? There’s not been a good answer given to me nor to the downwinders in New Mexico. There’s no question of the exposure that resulted from the Trinity test.”

The explosion seared the desert sand surrounding the tower into a green, glass-like substance, named Trinitite. Photograph Via Bettmann/Getty

Something Felt Terribly Awry

Several people living near the test site later reported that they thought they were experiencing the end of the world. The strange, snowlike substance that fell from the sky for days coated everything: orchards, gardens, livestock, as well as cisterns, ponds, and rivers—the main sources of drinking water because local groundwater was “unsuitable for human consumption,” according to the 2010 CDC report.

One family in Oscuro, New Mexico, about 45 miles from the site, hung wet bedsheets in their windows against the fallout. They felt that something was terribly awry when their chickens and their dog died. Thirty miles away from ground zero, along Chupadera Mesa, burns appeared on the hides of cattle, whose fur eventually grew back gray and white in the burned patches.

A health care provider in Roswell, a hundred miles away, noted a surge in infant deaths there—35 in August 1945 alone. When she wrote to Warren, stating her concerns, his medical assistant replied that there were no “pertinent data” and assured her that “the safety and health of the people at large is not in any way endangered.”

“They Lied To Us. I Didn’t Learn The Truth Until Years Later.” — BatbaraKent, Trinity Test Survivor

For General Groves, getting the bomb ready—in secrecy—for wartime use had trumped all other considerations, including public safety.

Yet he realized that a blast whose flash was seen in at least three states and two countries could not be wholly concealed. He ordered the commanding officer of the Alamogordo Air Base to feed a cover story to the Associated Press that “a remotely located ammunition magazine containing a considerable amount of high explosives and pyrotechnics exploded.” There had been, the report went on, “no loss of life or injury.” Local newspapers reprinted the announcement without challenge.

Barbara Kent recalls that the day after the explosion, her camp’s dance instructor took the girls into Ruidoso, where government officials were to make an announcement about the source of the blast.

“It was so crowded downtown—everyone was shoulder to shoulder,” Kent says. “What they told us—there was an explosion at a dump. They said, ‘No one worry about anything, everything’s fine, just go along with your own business.’ Everyone was confused. Some people believed it, but some people thought they couldn’t imagine that a dump explosion would do this." She continues: "They lied to us. I didn’t learn the truth until years later.”

As time passed, Kent says she began to hear disturbing reports that her fellow campers were falling ill. By the time she turned 30, she says, “I was the only survivor of all the girls at that camp.” She adds that she has suffered from lifelong illnesses: She had to have her thyroid removed and has survived several forms of cancer, including endometrial cancer and “all kinds of skin cancers.”

In this photograph from 1962, three-year-old Tina Cordova (bottom right) is pictured with her father, Anastacio (holding her baby brother, Matthew), and mother Rosalie. The young family lived in Tularosa, about 40 miles from the blast site. Everything they ate, Tina recalls, “was raised or grown or hunted," adding that the bomb’s “ash got everywhere, in the soil, in the water—everything was contaminated." She says her mother and father developed cancers, and she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was 39. Courtesy of Anastacio and Rosalie Cordova

Tina Cordova is a fifth-generation resident of Tularosa, about 40 miles from the blast site. Thanks to an extensive ditch system in the area, the town was an oasis in the desert, and Cordova’s family’s home, like many others, had an orchard and garden.

“You could literally go out into your yard in the summer and eat peaches, apricots, cherries, figs, dates, pecans, walnuts—everything you could think of,” she says. Local people harvested and canned their fruit and collected rainwater for drinking from rooftop cisterns. Milk came from local dairies. People made their own butter and butchered farmyard animals or hunted wild animals for meat, including deer, quail, rabbit, and pheasant.

“Everything that people were consuming in 1945 was contaminated,” Cordova says. “But they didn’t know [the fallout was] dangerous. They went about their lives.”

After the test, she says, health problems began to plague her family, all of whom lived in and around Tularosa. According to Cordova, two of her great-grandfathers died of stomach cancer, and both of her grandmothers developed cancer. Two aunts had breast cancer, and one died from it. A cousin developed a brain tumor. Her mother had mouth cancer, and her sister has skin cancer. Her father, who was four at the time of the blast, suffered from various cancers, including prostate cancer and tongue cancer. Doctors had to remove part of his tongue and his lymph nodes. The cancer eventually spread to his neck and became inoperable. Cordova says he weighed about 125 pounds at his death in 2013 at the age of 71. She says that she herself was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1997, when she was 39.

‘When Are They Going To Hold Our Government Accountable?’

After the U.S. leveled Hiroshima with a uranium bomb on August 6, 1945, the secret history of the creation of atomic weapons was released and widely publicized. Many New Mexicans now realized that the blast that had shattered their windows and blanketed their homes in warm ash was not, after all, an ammunition dump explosion. Although they still hadn't been informed by the government about the nature of that ash or monitored for adverse health effects, they were encouraged to be proud of the part they’d unknowingly played in bringing about the dramatic new atomic age.

“When I was a child, the government fed us propaganda about how much pride we should take in the part we played in ending World War Two,” Cordova says. “We still did not know what that meant from a health consequence perspective. Our mom actually took us to the [Trinity] site for a picnic. We brought home as much Trinitite as we could and played with it.” (The Trinity Site is now a National Historic Landmark, open to visitors twice a year, and anyone can go online and buy radioactive fragments of Trinitite—a green glass created from sand and other materials that melted in the immediate blast zone.)

The U.S. Army erected this monument at ground zero in 1965. Ten years later, the National Park Service designated Trinity Site as a National Historic Landmark. It’s open to visitors twice a year, on the first Saturdays in April and October. Photograph By Tony Korody, SYGMA Via Getty

In 2004, Cordova read a letter from another Tularosa resident, Fred Tyler, to the editor of a local newspaper. She says that the letter changed her life. “He said, ‘When are they going to hold our government accountable for the damage they did to us?’ ” Cordova says. “I called him and said, ‘I feel the same way you do. It’s time to start an organization to more fully push the government about this issue.’ ”

In 2005, Cordova and Tyler founded the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC) as an advocacy organization for Trinity test downwinders.

At that time, she recalls, they weren’t aware that the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act had been in place for 15 years and already had provided onetime, $50,000 compensation to other downwinders who “may have developed cancer or other specified diseases after being exposed to radiation from atomic weapons testing or uranium mining, milling, or transporting.” Downwinder eligibility initially was limited to those within specified areas around the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles north of Las Vegas, where a hundred aboveground tests were conducted before a moratorium on atomic testing took effect in 1992.

In 2000, an amendment to RECA expanded eligibility to include some uranium miners and millers in New Mexico. Military and government workers who were “on-site participants” in the Trinity test were also eligible for compensation, but civilian downwinders remained ineligible.

Cordova, like Senator Lujan, says she has “never been able to get a straight answer” about why civilian downwinders were excluded from the legislation: “Even from people who were serving in Congress at the time, I’ve been told, ‘Well, no one was connecting the dots that anybody was harmed.’ ”

Bill Richardson—a Democrat who served as New Mexico’s governor from 2003 to 2011 and was a representative for the state’s Third Congressional District in 1990 when RECA was enacted—says, “I don’t think there was opposition [to their inclusion], just perhaps a lack of awareness. I didn’t know about their claims until I started reading about it when I was governor, and I was sympathetic.”

To raise awareness, Cordova and her colleagues at the consortium began to gather testimonies from and distribute health surveys to downwinders who were alive at the time of the Trinity test, along with their descendants who have lived in areas surrounding the test site. To date, the consortium has collected more than 1,000 surveys, and Cordova says that 100 percent of those questioned describe adverse health conditions—from thyroid disease to brain cancer—that can result from radiation exposure. Often participants describe similar cancers that have ravaged many family members over several generations.

‘A Now-or-Never Moment’

Cordova describes this effort to extend and expand RECA as a “now-or-never moment.” Senator Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican and co-sponsor of the Senate bill, says there’s a “dire need for Congress to extend RECA … [and] to include victims in states across the West.”

“It is beyond time for the federal government to right a past wrong that caused harm to countless innocent Americans,” he wrote in a letter on March 24, 2021, to the chairman and members of the House Judiciary Committee.

“We Hear Their Voices, We See Their Pain, and We Must Act.” — TeresaLeger Fernandez, Representative to Congress, New Mexico

“When [RECA] was first introduced, no one considered the impact on the first downwinders,” Representative Fernandez says. “But we are in a place now where we recognize an injustice when we see it.” Her family lived in San Miguel and Guadalupe Counties in New Mexico, areas of potential exposure. She says her mother and sister—both nonsmokers—died of lung cancer. Her father died of esophageal cancer, she says, and her grandmother, who grew up near the Trinity site, died of leukemia.

Fernandez and Lujan say they’re also going to push for new epidemiological and environmental studies of the Trinity test’s aftermath and possible long-term effects.

Assessing Trinity’s exact “fingerprint” based on current fallout levels is “complicated and subject to large uncertainties,” says health physicist Joseph Shonka, co-author of the 2010 CDC report. He notes that residents of New Mexico have higher positive plutonium levels in their tissues than residents of any other state but says that tracing those levels back specifically to Trinity fallout might be difficult.

New Mexicans also may have internalized plutonium from various additional sources, he says, including general global fallout, releases from New Mexico’s Los Alamos plutonium operations, and fallout that drifted down from Nevada’s Test Site. The CDC recommended prioritizing Trinity’s aftermath for future studies.

Last year, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released its findings from a nearly seven-year study of the Trinity nuclear test. The study’s lead investigator, Steven Simon, calls it the “most comprehensive study conducted on the Trinity test and its possible ramifications for cancer risks in the estimated fallout area.”

The researchers concluded that up to a thousand people may have developed cancer from the Trinity test fallout and that “only small geographic areas immediately downwind to the northeast received exposures of any significance.” They also said that the “plutonium deposited as a result of the Trinity test was unlikely to have resulted in significant health risks to the downwind population.”

The researchers also acknowledged their study’s limitations. Calculating exposure for those alive at the time of the detonation is “complex and is subject to uncertainties,” Simon explains, “because all of the needed data is not available."

Shonka says the new NCI study “failed to address early fallout adequately.” He says he questions some of the methodology and is preparing a counter-article addressing what he says are inconsistencies with previous findings. Other critics of the NCI study say it doesn’t address ongoing family cancer clusters and the reported 1945 spike in infant deaths in the region, documented in a 2019 paper in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, co-authored by Robert Alvarez.

The NCI responds that its researchers focused on exposures received among “New Mexico residents alive at the time of the test,” and that they didn’t investigate the infant mortality because it was “not a cancer effect.”

Senator Lujan calls the NCI study “limited” and says that he wants to “make sure that there’s accurate data that truly is looking at the exposure that families face.”

“How can someone say that families in proximity to a nuclear blast were not exposed?” he asks. “It goes against everything that I’ve learned and data sets that I’ve seen from different parts of the world where this has happened, whether it’s been from meltdown of nuclear energy generation facilities or where weapons were deployed.”

Lujan continues, “People died as a result of the Trinity test—that’s a fact. People are still suffering—that’s a fact. The U.S. needs to come forward to address this liability, this wrong.”

Cordova says she and her community will be closely watching the RECA bills’ progress. The new legislation asks to expand compensation for individuals from $50,000 to $150,000. But beyond financial restitution, Cordova says, they’re also hoping simply for a government apology.

“We’ve never had an opportunity to live normal lives,” she says. “They can never say that they didn’t know ahead of time that radiation was harmful or that there was going to be fallout. We don’t ask if we’re going to get cancer; we ask when it’s going to be our turn. We are the forgotten collateral damage.”

— Lesley M. M. Blume is a New York Times best-selling historian, journalist, and author of Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World.

[laresearchette]

Friday, April 21, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: BIG BEASTS (Apple TV +) DROPS OF GOD (Apple TV+) GHOSTED (Apple TV+) DIARY OF AN OLD HOME (discovery +) SLIP (The Roku Channel) THE LAST DRIVE-IN WITH JOE BOB BRIGGS (Shudder) DEAR MAMA (FX Canada) 10:00pm SECRETS OF THE ELEPHANTS (Nat Geo Canada) 10:00pm

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA CON LOS AÑOS QUE NOS QUEDAN DEAD RINGERS FABIO RABIN COMEDY SPECIAL JUDY BLUME FOREVER LOL: CHI RIDE È FUORI (Season 3) VENDETTA WILD ISLES (Season 1)

CBC GEM BLOODY MURRAY (Season 1) JUST EAT IT: A FOOD WASTE STORY THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY

CRAVE TV THE ARK (Season 1) THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE ASTRO BOY THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN THE CRAFT JERRY MAGUIRE ONE YEAR OFF SUMMER WITH HOPE

NETFLIX CANADA 8 MILE CHOKEHOLD ERIN BROCKOVICH INDIAN MATCHMAKING (Season 3 ONE MORE TIME ROUGH DIAMONDS A TOURIST’S GUIDE TO LOVE

IIHF WORLD MEN'S UNDER 18 CHAMPIONSHIP (TSN4) 8:30am: Canada vs. Germany (TSN4) 12:30pm: Slovakia vs. Sweden

NHL HOCKEY (SN1) 7:00pm: Hurricanes vs. Islanders - Game #3 (CBC/SN) 7:30pm: Bruins vs. Panthers - Game #3 (SN1) 9:30pm: Stars vs. Wild - Game #3 (CBC/SN) 10:00pm: Oilers vs. Kings - Game #3

NBA BASKETBALL (TSN3/TSN5) 7:00pm: Celtics vs. Hawks - Game #3 (TSN/TSN4) 8:30pm: Cavaliers vs. Knicks - Game #3 (TSN3/TSN5) 9:30pm: Nugget vs. Timberwolves - Game #3

MLB BASEBALL (SN Now) 8:00pm: Red Sox vs. Brewers

THE CASES OF MYSTERY LANE (W Network) 8:00pm: Alden and Birdie Case find a new way to keep the mystery in their marriage alive. Alden takes classes to become a private investigator, and Birdie may hold the key to solving one of his mysteries.

THE SPENCER SISTERS (CTV) 9:00pm (SEASON FINALE): When Billy is kidnapped, Victoria and Darby have to set aside their differences to save him and figure out the truth behind his identity.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF DURBAN (Slice) 9:00pm: Nonku stands her ground when Londie and Jojo attempt to intervene.

SUMMER WITH HOPE (Crave) 9:00pm: Young swimmer Omid trains for a prestigious competition with a new coach and feels responsible for the fate of his family. His alliance with another young man elicits disapproval from people around them.

CRIME BEAT (Global) 10:00pm: Two missing teens quickly turn into the prime suspects in the murders of three people, and officers follow a trail of clues across Canada into the vast wilderness of northern Manitoba.

[inafieldofdaisies]

1,5,10,15 for John and Sabrina

Questions from this post

1. Describe their first date.

Plane, being able to see Hope County in its full beauty without fearing a crash, kinda. You never know with John, he has fans that don't come in peace. *in my best Vaas' voice*

5. Do they argue often? If so, what do they argue about?

When they're argue it's mostly about Joseph and his agendas, and/or John keeping things from her + trying to convince him to not slip into his habits or run off anytime stuff gets too real.

And ofc, Calahan. John doesn't like she keeps him around.

10. Do they share any hobbies or interests? How do these things bring them together?

Music brings them together, especially Sabrina singing, the man's obsessed. I'm low key excited to get to a scene that's quite hilarious.

15. What songs remind you of their relationship?

I actually did a ship song tag recently, with a lot of songs from the story's playlist.

Some songs I didn't mention in that post + their lyrics:

Pretty in my darkness by Kendra Dantes

I find my way to hell each night The risk, the fight, it's worth the price So pretty in my darkness, Fantastic work of art it is My wounds and my scars They've gotten me this far Dark alleys they call my name I break, I take, yeah that's my game Breathe in evil, feel the high My wicked side keeps me alive

Vow by Tender

I'm gonna need you tonight Tell me everything is alright You wouldn't do it but I just might So, show me how you made the vow I'm gonna need you tonight Walking miles in the moonlight Got myself into the wrong So, show me where to make amends

Black Sea by Natasha Blume

Come down to the Black Sea Swimming with me Go down with me, fall with me Let's make it worth it You rise, I fall, I stand, you crawl You twist, I turn, who's the first to burn? You sit and stay, I don't obey Where do we land in the Black Sea? Grip your hands I'm tired of what's your worth Watch yourself beg hanging on to Earth Love, war, pain, life Everything's the same to me

[another-spideyverse]

Cast of Characters

Just listing the characters I have in mind in the most vague sense!

Superheroes (at least eventually):

Parker Reilly (Spider-Woman), she/her, trans girl, mid 20s

Gwen Stacy (Ghost Spider), she/her, mid 20s

Felicia “Mary” Jane Watson-Hardy (Black Cat), she/they, demigirl, early-mid 20s

Eddie Brock (Venom), they/them, gender: it’s complicated, mid-late 20s

Civilians (at least mostly):

May Parker, she/her, late 50s

J. Jonah Jameson, he/him, mid-40s

Sinister Six (at one point or another) (asterisk means founding member):

*Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus), they/them, nonbinary, late 20s

*Adrian Toomes (Vulture), she/her, trans woman, early 50s

*Maxine Dillon (Electro), she/they, butch mid 20s

*Rosemond Chery (Calypso), she/her, trans woman, late 30s

*Miles Warren (Jackal), he/him, late 40s

*Quentin Beck (Mysterio), any pronouns, nonbinary, mid-30s

*Phineas Mason/Efra (Tinkerer), he/him, trans man, early 50s

Sergei Kravinoff (Kraven), he/him, trans man, early-mid 30s

Flint Marko, he/him, trans man, early 30s

Donald Menken (Hobgoblin), he/him, trans man, early 30s

Ghost, they/them, nonbinary, age unknown

J. Conover (The Rose), they/them, nonbinary, early 30s

Supervillains (at least nominally):

Chameleon, ey/em, nonbinary, early 40s

Norman Osborn (Green Goblin), he/him, late 40s

Sasha Sytsevich (Rhino), he/they, demiguy, late 40s

Simin Manfredi (Silver Sable), she/her, trans woman, mid-20s

Silvio Manfredi (Silvermane), he/him but would be fine with they/them, some gender stuff going on early 50s

Roderick Kingsley (Puck), he/him, mid-late 40s

Spencer Smythe, he/him, early 60s

Other criminals (but probably not supervillains):

L. Thompson Lincoln (Tombstone) (”The Big Man”), he/him, early 40s

Frederick “Freddy” Foswell (The Big Man), he/him, late 40s

Delilah Blume, she/her, early-mid 30s

Maybe eventually (or very minor):

Harry Osborn (Green Goblin II), he/him, early 20s

Dr. Curt Connors, he/him, trans man, early 40s

Dr. Martha Connors, she/her, early-mid 40s

Capt. George Stacy, he/him, late 40s

Stanley Carter (Sin-Eater), he/him, early 30s

Patrícia Petruski (Trapstr), she/they, genderqueer, late teens

Miles Morales (Spider-Man), he/him, late teens

Tiana Toomes (Starling), she/her, late teens

Carnage, they/them, ???

[whatsissue]

Volkswagen Unveils Bold Strategy to Conquer the Affordable EV Market with ID.2 Launch

Volkswagen Unveils Bold Strategy to Conquer the Affordable EV Market with ID.2 Launch In a significant move to enhance its position in the global automotive market, Volkswagen (VW) is doubling down on affordability with its electric vehicle (EV) strategy. Amid declining sales in Europe and China, VW is committed to making affordable EVs accessible to the masses with the upcoming launch of its most cost-effective model yet, the ID.2. A Commitment to Affordability Unlike many competitors that prioritize premium offerings, Volkswagen emphasizes the importance of affordability in the rapidly evolving EV landscape. The ID.2, set to debut in late 2025 or early 2026, epitomizes this strategy. Marketed as “spacious as a Golf” and “affordable as a Polo,” the ID.2 aims to attract long-time VW enthusiasts with its nostalgic design elements reminiscent of classic models like the VW Beetle and Golf. Competitive Pricing and Features With a projected entry price of under $27,000, the ID.2 represents VW's commitment to combining nostalgia with innovation. It promises an impressive range of 279 miles on a full charge, setting a new standard for budget-friendly electric vehicles. This strategic pricing positions VW to compete effectively in a crowded market, especially as American automakers like General Motors introduce similarly priced models, such as the Chevy Equinox EV at $27,500. Expanding the EV Lineup Volkswagen's ambitions extend beyond the ID.2. Plans are underway to introduce an ID.2 SUV and a GTI version, along with a total of eight new affordable EV models by 2027. CEO Larry Blume has hinted at the possibility of a sub-$22,000 model post-2025, further underscoring the company’s commitment to the affordable EV segment. Tackling Battery Costs One of the significant challenges in reducing EV prices is the cost of batteries. VW is addressing this issue head-on by developing its own unified battery cell technology across several European facilities, along with a new plant in Ontario, Canada. This strategic initiative could potentially revolutionize cost dynamics within the EV industry, enabling the company to offer more competitive pricing. A Strategic Advantage Despite facing competitive pressures, Volkswagen's focus on affordability could be its golden ticket. With existing tariffs on Chinese-made EVs and Tesla's current shift away from low-price models, VW's strategy may pave the way for democratizing EV access in North America and beyond. By prioritizing cost-effective solutions while maintaining quality, Volkswagen aims to reshape the perception of electric vehicles and broaden their appeal to a wider audience. Conclusion The launch of the ID.2 marks a significant step for Volkswagen as it seeks to establish itself as a leader in the affordable EV market. With a keen focus on nostalgia, competitive pricing, and innovative battery technology, VW is poised to make a lasting impact on the automotive landscape. As the company moves forward with its ambitious plans, the ID.2 may very well become a game-changer in the quest for accessible electric mobility. Read the full article

[colorfulenthusiastballoon]

Fulfillment is still hot, as GreyOrange raises $135M

Over the last few years, I’ve asked countless people in the robotics space “what comes next after warehouse/fulfillment?” The already popular category got red hot during the pandemic, as online shopping turned from convenience to necessity.

Amazon has been leading the space for more than a decade with in-house systems, while companies like Locus, 6 River Systems and Fetch (now owned by and branded Zebra) have struck partnerships with top retailers. But asking “what’s next” is in no way an indication that fulfillment’s time in the spotlight has ended. In spite of some economy-fueled investment slowdowns, it’s a huge category that’s only getting huger.

Headquartered roughly 20 miles north of Atlanta, in suburban Roswell, Georgia, GreyOrange was founded in 2011 — the year before Amazon’s Kiva deal shook the industry. The firm has landed a number of high-profile customers in the intervening decade-plus, including Walmart Canada, Nike and Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M

The company hasn’t had much of an issue fundraising, either. GreyOrange announced a $140 million Series C in 2018 and today announced that it has raised a $135 million growth financing Series D. Anthelion Capital led the round, which also featured returning investments from Mithril, 3State Ventures and Blume Ventures.

Over the years, it has been working to build a full-stack solution for warehouse, fulfillment and 3PL needs. That includes Kiva-like AMRs (autonomous mobile robots), forklifts and bin systems for picking, coupled with its own first-party (“hardware-agnostic”) fleet management software.

[thegalaxyonherlips]

Finally, finally got to 50 books this year! Very happy with myself🎉🎉🎉

50 Books this year:

Narrative of the Life of Friedrick Douglass by Friedrick Douglass

Severance by Ling Ma

The Body by Stephen King

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Lore Olympus Vol.1 by Rachel Smythe

Are You There God? it's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

The Green Mile by Stephen King

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

The Call of Cthulhu by H P Lovecraft

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid

The Silver Eyes Graphic Novel by Scott Cawthon

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

Macbeth by Shakespeare

The Boys Omnibus Vol. 1 by Dunbier, Ennis, Snejbjerg and Robertson

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

The Problems of Philosophy by Betrand Russell

The Vampyre by John William Polidori

The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx

Danse Macabre by Stephen King

Supernatural Horror in Literature by H P Lovecraft

Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

You Will Get Through This Night by Daniel Howell

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Rivers of London Vol. 1: Body Work by Ben Aaronovitch

The Twisted Ones by Scott Cawthon

11.22.63 by Stephen King

The Fourth Closet by Scott Cawthon

Pet Semetary by Stephen King

To Drink Coffee With a Ghost by Amanda Lovelace

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

Fetch by Scott Cawthon

Chavs: Demonisation of the Working Class by Owen Jones

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher

Reform or Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg

Smashed by Junji Ito

[kuri-crocus]

Results: A Michael Sheen bf/gf for a David Tennant character

I made a result post for the GO3 wishes. So here are the results for the Good Omens Extended Universe shipping polls as well. These are the results for David's characters. Here are the results for Michael's characters. It doesn't mean to be the end: I am still open for requests for other characters...

1. The Doctor -255 votes-

Most popular match: Aziraphale (32.5%)

2. Miles Maitland (19.2%), 3. Castor/Zuse (11.4%), 4. Arthur (10.4%), 5. House (7.5%), 6. Bill Masters (6.7%), 7. Aro (5.9%), 8. Lucian (3.1%) 3.9% voted for other characters: Tony Towers and Martin Whitly (both platonic)

2. Phileas Fogg -178 votes-

Most popular match: Will Charity (31.5%)

2. Miles Maitland (16.3%), 3. William Boldwood (14%), 4. Aziraphale (11.2%), 5. Robbie Ross (10.7%), 6. Lucian (5.6%), 7. Blair Mudfly (5.1%), 8. Aro (3.4%) 2.2 % voted for other characters (not specified)

3. Peter Vincent -143 votes-

Most popular match: Aro (35.7%)

2. Lucian (34.3%), 3. Throne Jamison (12.6%), 4. Miles Maitland (11.9%), 5. Aziraphale (4.9%), 0.7% voted for other characters (not specified)

4. Barty Crouch Jr. -136 votes-

Most popular match: Aro (47.8%) again!

2. Lucian (31.6%), 3. The Bat (8.1%), 4. Aziraphale (6.6%), 5. Malcolm Howe (3.7%), 2.2% voted for other characters (not specified)

5. Alec Hardy -129 votes-

Most popular match: Bill Masters (44.2%)

2. Martin Whitly (24.8%), 3. Aziraphale (13.2%), 4. Roland Blum (8.5%), 5. Joe (3.9%), 6. Bill Caroll (1.6%) 3.9% voted for other characters (not specified)

6. Campbell Bain -119 votes-

Most popular match: Miles Maitland (45.4%)

2. Joe (33.6%), 3. Aziraphale (7.6%), 4. Throne Jamison (5.9%), 5. Bill Masters (3.4%), 6. Bradshaw (2.5%), 7. Lucian (0%) 1.7% voted for other characters (not specified)

7. Kilgrave/Kevin Thompson -104 votes-

Most popular match: Martin Whitly (48.1%)

2. Lucian (23.1%), 3. Roland Blum (16.3%), 4. Steven Arthur Younger (8.7%) 3.8% voted for other characters (not specified)

8. Davina -65 votes-

Most popular match: Mrs. Robinson (61.5%)

2. Aziraphale (12.3%), 3. Bill Masters (7.7%), 4. William Boldwood (6.2%), 5. Malcolm Howe and Harry Jones (3.1% each), 6. Bradshaw (0%) 3.8% voted for other characters: Roland Blum

9. Giacomo Casanova -48 votes-

Most popular match: Robbie Ross (60.4%)

2. Aro (18.8%), 3. Lucian and Lord Oliver (10.4% each)

10. Walt Jodell -41 votes-

Most popular match: Austen Blume (29.3%)

2. Roland Blum (22%), 3. Wesley Snipes (17.1%), 4. Harry Jones (14.6%), 5. Craig Fisher (7.3%), 3.8% voted for other characters (not specified)

11. Cale Erendreich -41 votes-

Most popular match: Martin Whitly (75.6%)

2. Steven Arthur Younger (9.8 %), 3. Roland Blum (7.3%), 4.,5., Malcolm Howe and The Bat (2.4 % each) 2.4% voted for other characters (not specified)

12. Roderick Peterson -40 votes-

Most popular match: Thorne Jamison (30%)

2. Paul Bates (20%), 3. Tony Blair (17.5%), 4. The Bat, Austen Blume and Tony Towers (10% each), 2.5% voted for other characters (not specified)

13. Peter Carlisle -35 votes-

Most popular match: Colin Lawes (34.3%)

2. Thorne Jamison (25.7%), 3. Mark Furness (14.3%), 4. Harry Jones and Wesley Snipes (8.6% each), 8.6% voted for other characters: Malcolm Howe

14. Aiden Hoynes -35 votes-

Most popular match: Roland Blum (71.4%)

2. Tony Blair (14.3%), 3. David Frost (5.7%), 4. Craig Fisher (2.9% each), 5.7% voted for other characters (not specified)

15. Arthur Eddington -31 votes-

Most popular match: Robbie Ross (35.5 %)

2. Kenneth Williams (22.6 %), 3. William Boldwood (19.4%), 4. Will Charity (12.9%), 5. Thorne Jamison (6.5%), 3.2 % voted for other characters: Miles Maitland

16. Jean-François Mercier -27 votes-

Most popular match: Tommy Atkins  (37 %)

2. Miles Maitland and Bill Masters (18.5 % each), 3. Steven Arthur Younger, 4. Robbie Ross and Aziraphale (3.7 %) 3.7 % voted for other characters (not specified)

17. Simon Yates -25 votes-

Most popular match: Slavkin O'Hara (40%)

2. Austen Blume (20%), 3. Andrew Lloyd and Colin Lawes (16% each), 4% voted for other characters (not specified)

18. James Arber -25 votes-

Most popular match: Harry Jones (28 %)

2. Austen Blume and Wesley Snipes, 3. Colin Lawes (16 %), 4. Mark Furness and Slavkin O'Hara (8% each)

19. John Helm -21 votes-

Most popular match: Thorne Jamison  (57.1 %)

2.Austen Blume and Tony Towers (19 % each), 3. Harry Jones (4.8 %)

20. Donald Peterson -19 votes-

Most popular match: Colin Lawes (42.1 %)

2. Tony Towers and Wesley Snipes (21.1 % each), 3.Mark Furness and , Slavkin O'Hara (5.3 %) 5.3% voted for other characters (not specified)

If you scrolled until here you deserve this fact: Until now we have 6 mutual couples where the character won the other ones poll and vice versa: Aro x Peter Vincent, Alec Hardy x Bill Masters, Campbell Bain x Miles Maitland, Roland Blum x Aiden Hoynes, Giacomo Casanova x Robbie Ross and Peter Carlisle x Colin Lawes!

[theam-cjsw]

The AM: March 20, 2023

It wasn't planned this way, but due to some nice synchronicities, this week's AM is a ringing in of spring and a celebration of the vernal equinox. It's also International Happiness Day, which is both a silly and serious idea, so hopefully this episode brings a little more happiness into your world. Opening with ambient trombone jazz (another silly but serious idea), closing with cathartic shoegaze, and finding room for eclectic sounds in between, it's an impromptu tribute to the springtime sun on The AM.

Listen on Soundcloud

Stream on CJSW.com

Spotify playlist

Podcasting links

(track list is after the break)

Hour One:

Temper the Wound Kalia Vandever • We Fell In Turn

Ventus Alondra Máynez • Single

Main Theme II (End Credits) Murray A. Lightburn • I Like Movies OST

The Mandate of the Kingdom of Heaven The All Golden • Yestereven

Sensorial Spectrum of the Tape Speed God Various Artists, featuring Atelier Radiof​ó​nico • L SERIES #4

A New Season Atari Umma • DiverseCity

Windmills - Salamanda Remix Anchorsong • Single

Blue Skies Mioclono • Cluster I

Banda Mountain - shn shn Remix Tewksbury • Brutes Remixed

Parallel 5ive Stelar Door • Masquerade

Woke Nachtbraker • uu002

Hour Two:

Hold the Line Raf Wilcot • Single

Milk and Honey The Greg Foat Group, featuring Kat Barnard • Once Again We Are The Children Of The Sun

After the Dawn Project Gemini • Single

Vento a Favor Sessa • Single

Paradise Cinema Andy Shauf • Norm

This Can’t Be Today Rain Parade • Emergency Third Rail Power Trip

I Look Around Rain Parade • Emergency Third Rail Power Trip

Picture of a Fading Man The High Dials • The Holy Ground EP

Hypnotized River Tiber • Dreaming Eyes

Perpetuum Mobile Death and Vanilla • Flicker

A Marcha Que o Monte Parou Pedro Ricardo • Soprem Bons Ventos

Hour Three:

Miles Away Yo La Tengo • This Stupid World

Rise Sugar Plant • Happy

Still Believe Blume • Still Believe

No Design Ulrika Spacek • Compact Trauma

Le Matin Bibi Club • Le soleil et la mer

Easy On Your Own? Alvvays • Blue Rev

The Fears, The Urge En Attendant Ana • Principia

We Live on a Fucking Planet and Baby That’s the Sun ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT • "Darling the Dawn"

[the-blackbird-roleplays]

"I've pissed off so many people it's hard to keep track these days..." Nolan smirked, eyeing the fireballs in Shego's hands before she snuffed them out. He smirked softly as he tapped his glasses, the custom-built smart glasses running a quick facial recognition search on the woman before chuckling as he read a criminal record about a mile and a half long.

"Terrorism, Conspiracy, Multiple accounts of Larceny and Grand Larceny, Attempted Murder, Blackmail, Assault, Multiple Jailbreaks, Kidnapping, Destruction of property, Breaking and entering... and Trespassing." He tapped the glasses again, smiling at Shego as he cocked an eyebrow. "Your scorecard is the functional equivalent of Murder, Arson, and Jaywalking... And yet you took a job to steal a hard drive from little old me... I guess Blume really does want me out of the picture this time. Though... Something tells me that if you wanted me dead I'd already be dead regardless of my hyper-imtelligent cat's ability to hit a bolas trap..."

An Uninvited Guest

(Open RP, Female muses prefered)

"Hey you... Finally awake..." Nolan smirked at the strange intruder to his safe house from his seat on a bag of quick-mix cement. The unknown woman currently bound to a chair in the middle of a warehouse in New York City, her feet resting inside of an empty mold for a concrete brick.

"Sneaking into my safehouse right as I'm taking a shower... Rather rude of you. You're lucky Morgana caught you before my security system did... Isn't that right?" He smirked, scratching the chin of his feline friend, resulting in a soft purr before the kitty bounded off his shoulder.

"Right... You have one minute." The Canadian hacker and vigilante stood, crossing his arms as he glared at the bound woman. "Why are you here, what do you want. If I don't like what I'm hearing, maybe the army of corpses at the bottom of the East River will be more apt to listen... Especially since you'll have matching shoes by the time I'm done..."