#premier firearms

[goliathindustries]

The Legal Landscape: Concealed Carry Rights and Responsibilities

Explore a wide array of high-quality firearms and ammunition at Goliath Industries in Mohave County. Benefit from expert guidance and find everything you need.

[fortresstraining]

Maryland handgun qualification license and ways to get it. | HOW CAN I GET A PERMIT IN MARYLAND?

Maryland handgun qualification license.

1. Threat to Your Life

-You will need to demonstrate that your life is in danger, which may

need the use of proof.

-Few cases received permits without a police complaint.

2. Domestic Violence - They, too, can obtain a license quickly.

-We have assisted numerous victims of abuse, who have been strangled,

stabbed, or shot, in obtaining the permission.

3. Exceptions to possession of the HQL License -  Include lot of people such as Licensed Firearms Manufacturer, Active law enforcement officer, retired member of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard.

— A renting or receiving an antique, purchasing, curio or relic as defined by the law.

If you do not fit into one of the above categories, you will not qualify for a permit in Maryland. Although we missed one category for that contact us to know few more categories.

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Phone: - 410-983-3989

Mailing Address: - 841 E. Fort Ave, Suite 224

Baltimore, MD 21230

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Maryland's Finest Wear and Carry Training Celebrating 10 years and 20,000 clients.

[toskarin]

what warband mods would you rec? I only ever played vanilla warband years ago and that was probably on fairly low AI settings, but I'm definitely intrigued by getting the full feudal clusterfuck experience as well as indulging in some nostalgia.

there's a few qualifications to these, because I usually like them for different reasons and I have something wrong with me, but...

< ! PREEMPTIVE WARNING ! > you should be running modules in Warband Script Extender even if they don't say they need it! people have historically been really bad about clarifying when it's expected

Bannerpage - vanilla for people who want More of it, and then more after that. it reminds me of a spiritual successor to Floris Modpack. an enormous expansion that's also a bit of a tongue in cheek what-if for "Bannerlord, except as continued development of Warband" with increasing complexity. this one will probably spoil you a bit on other modules just because of how many little enhancements it pulls on the native systems lol

Prophesy of Pendor - the premier feudal fantasy rpg experience. this one is brutally difficult and throws some battles at you with genuinely bewildering enemy force sizes. I'd feel fairly confident in calling this the most difficult of the major total conversion modules that maintain core M&B gameplay

Touhou Gensokyo Warfare~the Castiron Flame - this is straight up glorious kusoge and I love it dearly. it often breaks so severely due to its own design decisions that it creates a unique high-skill gameplay expectation that exists in literally no other mods, but also it can't really be called "core" M&B gameplay anymore. this module actually consists of three chinese mods (Touhou Tinder, Touhou Origin, and Touhou Beat), one of which is derived from a fork that was extended by /jp/, another which was just translated by /jp/ (a shoddy translation but not distinctly a 4chan translation, if that's a concern), all of which were merged into one mod and managed by a passionate and cool chinese mod team. none of this comes to a consistent artistic vision. every single character looks like kigurumi cosplay and they all look like they're from different manufacturers. this is my favourite module. I could play it for years.

Perisno - a strange bird of a module that I don't see mentioned much anymore. a shame, honestly, because it's quite fun if you like higher fantasy settings. a bit overconfident with its own setting lore at times, but that really just makes it more authentic as a high fantasy setting, doesn't it? anyway they funnelled the mod development efforts away to a standalone game in the setting because of that, and I wish them well, but you know how it goes with that sort of thing

Gekokujo Daimyo Edition - a modification of an older warband module that was originally a touhou hijack that was originally a mod for the non-Warband game made by japanese players annoyed that nobody in the western playerbase was making mods with a japanese setting. it's buggy, it's incomplete, it will explode at you randomly, but it's still pretty neat. there's really no other mod out there that gives you such a thorough "I HATE THE TANEGASHIMA I HATE THE TANEGASHIMA" experience. Sengoku Era, a successor mod, will probably replace it on recommendation lists when it eventually releases.

Warsword Conquest - this is the Warhammer Fantasy mod. it has all the problems you'd expect from that. that being said, the sheer level of detail in this mod makes it more than worth dropping in to check it out. some of the environments are gorgeous enough to make Warband feel like an entirely different game, and with a surprising variety of firearms, the average campaign ends up being a pretty wild ride

Brytenwalda - I'm not recommending Brytenwalda as an experience, because it's actually not that good a very interesting moment in M&B modding history. Brytenwalda is the birthplace of a lot of mod tropes that became standard in mods going forward, namely most culture-related systems and the modern standard for module graphics. it also introduced tripping and represents the moment people started making really annoying attempts at jury-rigging balance into the game before Warband Script Extender came around and actually allowed them to modify the lower systems of the game. still kinda neat if you like historical settings, and definitely foundational enough to warrant a look

Last Days of the Third Age - infamously hard-headed in a way that only a mod for a feudal warfare simulator rpg made by Tolkien nerds who insist on book>movie aesthetics could pull off, this isn't really core M&B gameplay and is very rigid, but it's another case of something being so detailed and passionate that it's a fun experience anyway.

Solid and Shade - this is actually the best hardcore survival horror experience made for Warband, which is a bit like saying that Harvester is the best FMV game ever made about waking up in a town named Harvest. the Harvester comparison is more than surface level. the writing often feels like Harvester. this is one of the only modules (hell, one of the only games even!) I've ever seen that successfully pulls off the concept of corrupting players with the promise of immortality. it's a horror mystery where every single character creation option affects your longterm gameplay... but to provide a fair warning, reading the developer's commentary on this mod will sour you on it. the developer is an edgelord who just kinda kitchen-sinked horror elements in a way that reminds me a lot of Revolution of Terror (the old Well of Souls mod). the compelling esoterica and atmosphere seem to have been achieved largely on accident

[vague-humanoid]

Premier Danielle Smith intends to strengthen the little-known Alberta Bill of Rights this fall to include protections for people who refuse to be vaccinated, but she's facing heavy pressure from United Conservative activists to go much farther in her overhaul, CBC News has learned.

A group from the premier's riding in Medicine Hat, which calls itself the Black Hat Gang, has met with senior government officials and proposed a massive new draft of Alberta's rights document. The "gang" wants it to enshrine an array of new rights, including confidentiality of health information and "informed consent" to medical care, as well as rights to keep and bear firearms, to use "sufficient force" to defend one's property, and "freedom from excessive taxation."

@quasi-normalcy @el-shab-hussein

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review III (WA 2025): The Nationals WA

Prior reviews: none, I have never previously reviewed the Nationals

Normally, I do not review the Nationals because I do not review any members of the federal Coalition parties (Liberal, National, Queensland’s LNP, or NT’s Country Liberals). If you are reading this blog, you have almost certainly got views on these parties already and don’t need me to review them. I have made an exception for this WA state election, though, because there is something worth saying here.

The Nationals (formerly known as the Country Party) have a tumultuous history at state level in WA, both in terms of whether they work in coalition with the Liberals and in terms of their own splits. They have at times been the larger of the two parties when in opposition, but they have never been the larger of the two when in government; Country missed out by one seat in 1947, and had they been the larger party then they would have supplied the premier. At the 2021 election, the Nationals won more seats in the lower house than the Liberals, four vs two, so for the first time since 1947 they have been the official opposition. Heading into this election, the numbers are 3 apiece because Merome Beard defected to the Liberals in October 2023 (she won her seat at a byelection a year previously after the sitting National member resigned—that member, Vince Catania, had also been a defector, in his case from Labor to National).

The Nats have decided to take advantage of the WA Liberal Party being in a historically weak position by nominating candidates for metropolitan seats, something they have not done for a century. They normally only stand in regional seats, but this time they are competing against the Liberals in Perth, and not just in seats on the suburban fringe where you might anticipate the strongest metropolitan sympathies for the Nationals might lie, but also in Liberal heartland seats like Bateman and South Perth, which Labor won for the first time in 2021 and will likely relinquish this year.

Will it work? Look, I’m doubtful the Nats can win anything in Perth, but it's going to be fun to see how this plays out. I don’t have a Nat contesting my own seat—a pity, as I would’ve enjoyed duelling Nat and Lib leaflets landing in my letterbox—but some candidates might have a chance if they campaign well among the community and get their name out there. Some seats might be genuine three-cornered contests.

Anyway, policies! Obviously I am not a big fan of the Nats. Let’s take a few examples why. They oppose Labor’s strict new firearms laws, which they think are motivated “more by ideology than practicality”—well that’s fine by me because my ideology is very much “gun ownership should be regulated tightly”. Funnily enough the Nats say they “remain the sole political party opposing Labor’s draconian legislation”, which will be news to the Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers Party, who are even more frothing mad about this. The Nats would like to restore the “Royalties for Regions” slush fund that they twisted Colin Barnett’s arm into introducing early in the term of the Lib/Nat coalition state government of 2008–17; this was obvious pork-barrelling even by the Nats’ usual standards. They also want to continue live exports of sheep, in service of which they have a very lazy pun encouraging their supporters to “tell Labor to flock off”. As I noted in my SFF review, that ban is at federal level so the state parliament can’t do shit. Roger Cook has been doing his best to distance state Labor from the federal policy, but it seems the state party will still cop backlash for it in regional seats.

There is, though, one National Party policy that I support: they would completely deregulate trading hours in Perth. At the moment, most businesses are restricted to trading between 8am–9pm on weekdays, 8am–5pm on Saturday, and a completely bonkers 11am–5pm on Sunday. I grew up in country New Zealand during the nineties, at a time when many shops closed at 1pm Saturday and did not open on Sundays (the laws enforcing this were repealed in the 1980s but my rural hometown took a while to change its practices). When I moved to Perth in 2022, I felt like I was stepping back in time. We live in a secular society; keeping shops closed on Sunday morning makes no sense. The Nats make the reasonable argument that restricted trading hours now favours online traders by putting a barrier in the way of local businesses. (The Libs, by comparison, would allow Sunday trading to begin at 9am but that's all they propose modifying.)

Recommendation: Give the National Party of WA a weak or no preference in the Legislative Council. If you have National and Liberal candidates competing for your Legislative Assembly seat, consider carefully the order in which you rank them—this might be a judgement call based on what you can glean about the personality and abilities of your local candidates. If one wins, which person is more palatable? That will vary between seats.

Website: https://www.nationalswa.com/

[minteagalaxea]

the high table | s.v.t

choi seungcheol: s.coups

known for overturning in a single night the entirety of the japanese yakuza for his ward to seize control of the yakuza, s.coups is ruthless and protective of those that under his care, garnering him a thirteen million dollar bounty on his head from those that oppose his charge’s control.

yoon jeonghan

as the manager of the incheon branch of the continental hotel, joenghan serves as the information broker for all of south korea, and potentially beyond (though he keeps his knowledge to himself). despite his penchant for verbal and psychological warfare, he’s also capable of shooting.

hong joshua

hong joshua helps keep the incheon continental working smoothly, operating as the intermediary between his criminal clientele and the many ammenities rendered by the various members in the establishment. he is known for his sweet demeanor, but behind that hides a deadly nature when in danger.

wen junhui: jun

as the heir to the wen crime family, wen junhui is set to take over his family empire with the various bodies he has killed. capitalizing on the rule by fear, he is determined to stretch his dominion beyond just guangzhou, but towards all of china.

kwon soonyoung: hoshi

as a former associate of many various crime families and institutions, kwon soonyoung is currently on the run from those many institutions after killing an esteemed member in the prestigious continental hotel in incheon. with a twenty-two million dollar bounty, his whereabouts are frequently tracked by money-hungry assassins.

jeon wonwoo

known among the criminal underworld to be a free agent, jeon wonwoo is an assassin of absolute precision and brutality in his part of the world. also known to have retired from the world, his sudden return to the underground makes his bounty enticing to many who want to immortalize themselves.

lee jihoon: woozi

the newest proprietor and manager of the osaka continental, woozi’s reputation for taking in strays into his wing makes osaka the premier safe haven for those that wish for refuge from whatever is hunting them. his benevolence, however, does not exempt him from sharp words and knives, indicating his former time as a serviceman. 

lee seokmin: dokyeom

hiding from emissaries of the russian mob because of his brother’s actions, dokyeom currently works as a ballistic armor specialist and tailor for the osaka continental’s guests. his work, while relatively anonymous, is worn among the many locals in the criminal underworld of japan.

kim mingyu

particular about his “dinner reservations”, mingyu works hard to make sure that the bodies are disposed of in every capacity. his services are so impeccable that he is highly sought out through osaka to help handle the aftermath, though he does take some of the valuables for himself. 

xu minahgo: the8

initially a member of the wen family, the8 now works as the sommelier for the osaka continental, not just serving wine, but also firearms for all occasions. taken in as a stray after killing a prominent member of the wen crime syndicate, his location is unknown to the family.

boo seungkwan

initially beginning a clinic to help those that could not receive medical assistance, seungkwan’s increasingly underworld clientele enticed him to seek employment at the incheon continental hotel, where he shows his years of medical experience.

choi hansol: vernon

another stray now within the osaka continental hotel, vernon’s knowledge of blueprints—and where to get them—allows operatives to have their most powerful weapon on hand. a former member of the ruska roma, his bounty is due to an incident that required him to use his ticket, losing his place there.

lee chan: dino

the newest member of the osaka continental, dino is learning the ropes of being a concierge, a shift from his upbringing of violence and brutality. however, he is of utmost loyalty to the hotel, being unafraid to exert violence in the face of danger of not just the establishment, but to the workers inside.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 12.10

Holidays

Bob Dylan Day (Minnesota)

Chief Red Cloud Day

Dewey Decimal System Day

Flag Day (Guinea)

Flipadelphia (from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”)

Grub-Hoe Day (French Republic)

Human Rights Day (UN)

International Animal Rights Day

International Human Rights Day (Namibia)

Jane Addams Day

Mari Alphabet Day

Merlinpeen (Festival of Mouth Pleasure from Secret Santa; Verdkianism; on “30 Rock”)

Namibian Women’s Day (Namibia)

National Cancel Caillou Day

National Corey Day

National Day of the Clown

National Derek Day

Nobeldagen (a.k.a. Alfred Nobel Day; Sweden)

Nobel Prize Day

Sister-Friend Day

Victory Day (Iraq)

Whirling Dervishes Festival begins [thru 17th]

Women’s Day (Namibia)

Women’s Rights Day (Wyoming)

World Digital Detox Day

World Football Day

World Human Rights Day (UN)

World TRAP Awareness Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Do Something Wild and Crazy with Velveeta Day

International Tokaji Aszú Day

National Lager Day

National Pancetta Day

Suspended Coffee Day

Terra Madre Day (Slow Food)

Independence & Related Days

Constitution Day (Thailand)

Mississippi Statehood Day (#20; 1817)

Tortuga (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

2nd Tuesday in December

National Belgian Waffles Day (Belgium) [2nd Tuesday]

Table Tennis Tuesday [2nd Tuesday of Each Month]

Taco Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Target Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Tater Tot Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Tomato Tuesday [2nd Tuesday of Each Month]

Trivia Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Two For Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning December 10 (2nd Full Week of December)

Human Rights Week (thru 12.17)

National Groundwater Awareness Week (thru 12.12)

Festivals Beginning December 10, 2024

The Bracebridge Dinner (Yosemite National Park, California) [thru 12.23]

Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market Expo (Grand Rapids, Michigan) [thru 12.12]

Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo (Grand Rapids, Michigan) [thru 12.12]

Nebraska AG Expo (Lincoln, Nebraska) [thru 12.12]

Nobel Prize Award Ceremony (Stockholm, Sweden & Norway (the Nobel Peace Prize))

Stalker International Human Rights Film Festival (Moscow, Russia) [thru 12.15]

Western Alfalfa & Forage Symposium (Sparks, Nevada) [thru 12.12]

Feast Days

Adriaen van Ostade (Artology)

Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs (Syriac Orthodox Church)

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Cornelia Funke (Writerism)

Emily Dickinson (Writerism)

Eulalia of Mérida (Christian; Saint)

Festival for the Souls of Dead Whales (Inuit)

Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole (Artology)

Greta Kempton (Artology)

Hanukkah Day #3 (Judaism) [thru Dec. 15th]

International Human Rights Day (Pastafarian)

Karl Barth (Episcopal Church USA)

Llys Don (Celtic Book of Days)

Lux Mundi (Light of the World; Roman Goddess of Liberty)

Melchiades, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Miltiades (Christian; Saint)

Purification Rites begin (Ancient Inuit; Everyday Wicca)

Rumer Godden (Writerism)

Sedna’s Day (Pagan)

Thomas Merton (Episcopal Church USA)

Tidy Up Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

The Toves (Muppetism)

Translation of the Holy House of Loreto (Christian)

Vieta (Positivist; Saint)

Zinaida Serebriakova (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fatal Day (Pagan) [24 of 24]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (Novel; 1884)

Bedazzled (Film; 1967)

Bedknob and Broomstick, by Mary Norton (Novel; 1943)

Being the Ricardos (Film; 2021)

Big Fish (Film; 2003)

The Billy Goat’s Whiskers, featuring Farmer Al Alfa (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1937)

Boris Bashes a Box or The Flat Chest (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 237; 1963)

The Cider House Rules (Film; 1999)

Counterpart (TV Series; 2017)

A Day at the Races, by Queen (Album; 1976)

Dexter’s Laboratory: Ego Trip (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Film; 1999)

Donald’s Ostrich (Disney Cartoon; 1937)

The Ethics of Ambiguity, by Simone de Beauvoir (Philosophy Book; 1947)

The Fellowship of the Ring (Film; 2001) [Lord of the Rings #1]

Fernando, by ABBA (Song; 1975)

The Fighter (Film; 2010)

48 Hrs. (Film; 1982)

Gandhi (Film; 1982)

The Glenn Miller Story (Film; 1953)

Gopher Spinach (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1954)

The Green Mile (Film; 1999)

Guided Muscle (WB LT Cartoon; 1955)

Guys and Dolls, by Damon Runyon (Short Stories; 1932)

A Horse Tale (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1928)

The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector (Novel; 1977)

Islands in the Stream, by Ernest Hemingway (Novel; 1970)

The Last Detail (Film; 1973)

Lawrence of Arabia (Film; 1962)

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Film; 2004)

Mood Indigo, recorded by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (Song; 1930)

A New Villain, Parts 1 & 2 (Underdog Cartoon, S3, Eps. 25 & 26; 1967)

Ocean’s Twelve (Film; 2004)

One, Two, Three, Gone! Or I’ve Got Plenty of Nothing (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 238; 1963)

Santa’s Workshop (Silly Symphony Disney Cartoon; 1932)

Shoah (Documentary Film; 2010)

The Silver Sword, by Ian Serraillier (Novel; 1956)

Sleuth (Film; 1972)

Sophie’s Choice (Film; 1982)

Swiss Family Robinson (Film; 1960)

The Tempest (Film; 2010)

Tennis Chumps (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1949)

Three’s a Crowd (WB MM Cartoon; 1932)

The Tourist (Film; 2010)

Toyland Premiere (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1934)

Wayne’s World 2 (Film; 1993)

West Side Story (Film; 2021)

Wings Over America (Live Album; 1976)

The Year Without a Santa Claus (Animated TV Special; 1974)

Today’s Name Days

Angelina, Bruno, Emma, Herbert (Austria)

Edmund, Gregor, Mauro (Croatia)

Julie (Czech Republic)

Judith (Denmark)

Juta, Juudit (Estonia)

Jutta (Finland)

Eulaire, Romaric (France)

Emma, Imma, Loretta (Germany)

Judit (Hungary)

Loreto (Italy)

Cera, Guna, Judīte, Sniedze (Latvia)

Eidimtas, Eularija, Ilma, Loreta (Lithuania)

Judit, Jytte (Norway)

Andrzej, Daniel, Judyta, Julia, Maria, Radzisława (Poland)

Ermoghen, Eugraf, Mina (Romania)

Radúz (Slovakia)

Eulalia, Loreto (Spain)

Malena, Malin (Sweden)

Angeline, Marian (Ukraine)

Emely, Emilee, Emilia, Emilie, Emily, Eula, Eulalia, Ula (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 345 of 2024; 21 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of Week 50 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 17 of 28]

Chinese: Month 11 (Bing-Zi), Day 10 (Wu-Shen)

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

Hebrew: 9 Kislev 5785

Islamic: 8 Jumada II 1446

J Cal: 15 Black; Oneday [15 of 30]

Julian: 27 November 2024

Moon: 72%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 9 Bichat (13th Month) [Fermat / Wallis]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 79 of 90)

Week: 2nd Full Week of December

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 19 of 30)

[reasoningdaily]

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

In the late 1890s, Edmund Dene Morel, a young British shipping company agent, noticed something strange about the cargoes of his company's ships as they arrived from and departed for the Congo, Leopold II's vast new African colony. Incoming ships were crammed with valuable ivory and rubber. Outbound ships carried little more than soldiers and firearms.

Correctly concluding that only slave labor on a vast scale could account for these cargoes, Morel resigned from his company and almost singlehandedly made Leopold's slave-labor regime the premier human rights story in the world. Thousands of people packed hundreds of meetings throughout the United States and Europe to learn about Congo atrocities. Two courageous black Americans - George Washington Williams and William Sheppard - risked much to bring evidence to the outside world. Roger Casement, later hanged by Britain as a traitor, conducted an eye-opening investigation of the Congo River stations.

Sailing into the middle of the story was a young steamboat officer named Joseph Conrad. And looming over all was Leopold II, King of the Belgians, sole owner of the only private colony in the world.

Reviewer Comment:

This is a tragic history of the Belgian Congo at the turn of the 19th century as the Scramble for Africa began. Adam Hochschild is an American writer and journalist for the New Yorker, NY Times, NY Review of Books and Times Literary Supplement. His work has combined history with human rights advocacy. The events in this book are a shameful chapter in the era of colonialism, of which there were many. It is portrait of Leopold likely to inspire loathing in any who reads it. Beside an account of a colony, it archives the lives of activists who fought to free it. In 1482 Portuguese sailors braved the ocean beyond the Canary Islands and discovered a fresh water flow off the coast of Central Africa. Following a silt trail, fighting a fast current, they found the mouth of a vast river. Nine years later priests and emissaries arrived and began the first European settlement in a black African kingdom. Small scale slavery existed but a booming slave trade developed with the Americas to grow cotton and cane. During the 19th century slavery was abolished in Britain and America yet continued in Afro-Arab commerce. Leopold II (1835-1909) was the King of the Belgians and obsessed with obtaining colonies. He studied records of conquistadores in Seville, sailed to India, Ceylon, Burma and Java noting lucrative concerns. Plantations depended on forced labor to lift profits and civilize the lazy natives. He looked at land in Brazil, Argentina, Phillipines and Taiwan. Frustrated in these attempts he focused his sights on Africa. Humanitarian pretenses of freeing Africa from slavery and bringing enlightenment to the Dark Continent disguised his dreams of ivory and rubber.

Henry Morton Stanley led a Dickensonian life. Abandoned to a poorhouse as a child he sailed to America and became a soldier in the Civil War, first for the Confederacy and then for the Union. He became a newspaper correspondent and tracked down explorer David Livingstone during his search for the source of the Nile. Returning to Africa in 1874 to map the waterways of the interior he discovered the source of the Congo River. Upon reaching the Atlantic he was hired by Leopold to establish trading posts and railroads and force tribal leaders to cede land. King Leopold and an American ambassador formed fake philanthropic associations for evangelism and scientific study of the region. In 1884 he lobbied the US to recognize the Congo Free State, in reality a colony owned by himself. Post-Civil War politicians were interested in sending freed slaves back to Africa. The area annexed was as large as the land east of the Mississippi while Belgium was half the size of West Virginia. In diplomatic deals France and Germany fell into line and Britain became invested. The challenge was to carry steamboats over the falls. By 1890 trading stations had been secured. Elephants were hunted by conscripted natives or their ivory simply seized. Vacant land was leased to private companies with shares of the profit retained. Legions of Africans were used as porters through jungles chained by the neck. So many were needed agents began to purchase them from the slave traders they purported to abolish. Security officers of the Free State were Europeans, half from Belgium, with soldiers drawn from the Congo. They chose to join the conquerors, their spears and muskets no match for machine guns. Leopold's agents set up orphanages run by Catholic missions to train future troops. Captured women were kept in harems by agents or held hostage to coerce their men to harvest rubber. Discipline was enforced with the whip and counted in severed hands of dead rebels. To exact penalties entire villages were often burned down. The human toll over a quarter century is not known for certain but is estimated at 10 million, or half of the population. The causes included murder, starvation and disease (due to inhuman working conditions) and lowered birth rates. Joseph Conrad was briefly a steamboat pilot on the Congo, his novel 'Heart of Darkness' a depiction of what he saw. Displays of decapitated heads were not only a metaphorical critique of colonialism. Black Americans G.W. Williams, a polymath, and W.H. Sheppard, a missionary, exposed the conditions in 1890. Few voices of natives were recorded but are included where possible. In 1898 British shipping clerk E. D. Morel and Irish diplomat R. Casement suspected forced labor and began campaigns. Mark Twain and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote exposés on Leopold. As opinion turned Leopold waged propaganda wars. Self-appointed commission reports criticized his regime. The only option was to sell Congo to Belgium; self rule was unthinkable. In 1908 Leopold was given a billion dollar bonus and billions remained in his name. Wild rubber was replaced with farms. Atrocities declined but forced labor persisted. Head taxes kept people in plantations and mines before independence in 1960. PM Lumumba, seen as hostile to business, was shot with Belgian and US assistance and replaced by kleptocrat Mobuto until 1997.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS BOOK FROM THE BLACK TRUEBRARY

[shadyruinskryptonite]

Titan Bending Chapter 17 - The Beach

Warning: Violence consistent with cannon, NSFW so MDNI, language, major character death (both consistent with canon of both AOT and ATLA as well as diverging from canon), so much trauma literally everyone is so traumatized, very much slow burn, a little enemies to lovers, SO MUCH ANGST, hurt/comfort, hurt and delayed comfort, AFAB reader

Chapter Warnings: guns, loaded gun is pointed at y/n, wishing Flock was dead, threatening Flock’s life

A/N: Okay so listen, I know that in the show they wait a year after retaking Wall Maria to go to the sea but I had the timeline wrong in my head for, well, forever and didn’t realize that until doing my deep episode-by-episode analysis for this fic. It works much better in my self-created timeline for them to go right away so that’s what I’m doing. I know this diverges from canon but hey, the entire existence of y/n technically diverges from canon so it is what it is.

WC: 3202

Previous Chapter, Next Chapter

Masterlist

Tags: @mochminnie @sseleniaa @naruwitch

A meeting to discuss the findings from the basement. A meeting to tell Historia and the heads of the military industrial complex that this slice of the world is, in fact, not all that remains of humanity. 

I obviously knew there were people outside of the walls since I myself wasn’t from their confines, however, even I was taken aback by the sheer amount of information about another country that I knew nothing about.

Just like Historia’s coronation, I had to be dressed appropriately so Hange let me wear one of her spare dress uniforms. 

After Levi and Hange got Eren and Mikasa out of their cells, we all went over to the meeting room together. In the front row, a chair was saved for Erwin out of respect. I noticed one lone seat at the back and took it. Levi gave me a strange look but there was no opportunity to question him about it.

It’s only right for me to sit at the back, I’m not even a real soldier.

The meeting was, all things considered, fairly uneventful. Everyone was stunned of course to find out that there was an entire world outside of this one and moreso that that world wanted us dead, but other than a brief disagreement about next steps that Historia quickly put an end to, there wasn’t much noteworthy that occurred. 

A date is set for the medal ceremony for everyone that fought in the recent battle, and Historia dismisses the meeting by instructing Premier Zachary to have 10 medals prepared.

10? But there’s only 9 soldiers. Are…are they counting me?

Before everyone can leave, I approach Historia. The guy from the previous meeting, Nile, immediately readies his weapon and points it at me. I’m unphased by this, but I seem to be the only one.

Over my shoulder, I hear Levi practically growl, “If you like having fingers to pull that trigger I suggest you lower your weapon.”

Hange slightly speaks over Levi and says “Nile what’s gotten into you?”

“With everything that’s come out I don’t trust that bitch! And then she has the audacity to approach the queen?!” Nile grits out.

I slowly turn towards him and as I move he takes the safety off of his firearm. I jump when Historia’s voice cuts through the tension.

Banging her hand on the table and standing up, she shrieks, “Commander Nile Dock, stand. Down.”

He looks at her dumbfounded, and begins to try to argue but she cuts him off. “Y/n is someone I’ve had the pleasure to work and fight alongside. I trust her as much as I trust any of my advisors. If you have a problem with her continued involvement both as a Scout and as my friend, feel free to dismiss yourself.”

Her massive blue eyes hold ice in them, challenging him to talk back. Defeated, he places the safety back on his weapon and sits down. Turning to me, still clearly aggravated but trying to get over it, Historia calmly says, “What is it, y/n?”

It takes me a moment to gather my thoughts, but when I do I say, “I think you made a mistake. You requested 10 medals and there’s only nine soldiers.”

She looks puzzled. “How do you figure?”

Now I’m confused as I say, “Well, Hange, Levi, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Connie, Jean, Sasha, and Flock. That’s nine.”

A dazzling smile breaks across her face before she giggles a little bit. “You’re forgetting yourself.”

Now I’m completely stunned. “I…I thought I wouldn’t be eligible for anything like that. I’ve said 100 times that I’m not a soldier, I don’t just mean that when there’s things I don’t wanna do. Are…are you sure it would be fair to give me a medal?”

She continues to smile and pats my shoulder. “From what I’ve heard, you fought just as hard as everyone else. While you might not be a soldier, that doesn’t mean you did any less than your comrades.”

I smile a little, still in disbelief, as I thank her and turn to walk away.

As we all leave the conference room, Jean flicks the back of my head.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?!” I say.

“For being the only person stupid enough to try to get out of getting a royal medal.”

“Oh shut up, Horseface. I was just making sure there wasn’t a mistake.”

Hange laughs a little. “Looks like you’ll be borrowing my uniform for an extra event.” I smile in response and wait for the day to arrive, hiding the entire time just how excited I am.

Between that meeting and the day of the awards ceremony, the news broke to the public. Much to my surprise, when Hange and Levi had to meet with the press, they invited me to the meeting as well.

As the three of us walked through the barracks to the room where we were going to sit and chat, I finally said, “I’m happy to be here, but why exactly did you want me to tag along for this meeting? I feel like I won’t really have anything to add.”

“Well,” Hange starts. “We figured with the awards ceremony coming up it’s going to have a lot of coverage and your name is going to be put out there. Erwin soft-launched your, well, existence not too long ago and we thought now that there was proof that there is life outside the walls that we could finally tell people about you.”

The entire time Hange speaks, Levi looks straight ahead. He seems unhappy about the situation.

Is he mad that I’m joining? Especially after the last meeting where I bent?

We stop outside of the room and Hange softly says, “Are you okay with going public? We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

I shake my head. “It’s not that I have a problem with it it’s just…aren’t you worried that there will be backlash? Especially this soon after we’ve just told the public everything we just learned?”

Before Hange can say anything, Levi answers with a very pointed, “Yes.” I turn to look at him but he doesn’t immediately clarify what he means. After a moment he says, “I raised exactly that concern but Hange doesn’t seem to think it will be a problem.”

She huffs, and I can tell they must have had a long conversation about this already. “It’s not that I don’t think it will be a problem,” she explains. “It’s that now that we’re dropping so much information this is the perfect time to slide in that y/n has been working with us and gloss over the fact that we’ve hidden it. If we wait it will only snowball out of control.”

“Like I said,” Levi responds, clearly sick of the conversation. “I don’t see a reason to make it public knowledge in the first place.” 

Then, they both look at me for an answer. “Frankly, I don’t know what’s best. But for all anyone knows I’m just another soldier, especially when I’m wearing your uniform. I don’t think it’s totally necessary to be completely public.”

Hange’s lips tighten but she gives a tight nod. “Very well then. I see no reason why you should have to sit through this then.” 

I’m taken aback but I nod and part ways. I’m gone so fast that I don’t overhear the conversation between Hange and Levi.

“There, are you happy? You got your way,” Hange says acridly.

“Why are you so hell-bent on making her go public anyway?”

Hange bites back, “I didn’t think it was a good idea to keep her a secret in the first place! If people find out the Scouts are hiding something this big they’re going to be outraged! Then, the violence you’re so worried about will happen ten fold!”

Levi, finally losing patience, says, “She was kept a secret to keep her to ourselves and to keep her safe. That still stands.”

“Why are you so worried about it anyway?” Hange asks. 

Levi quickly looks away, the tips of his ears suddenly pink telling Hange everything she needs to know. Before she can interrogate him, he mutters, “Let’s just get in there already.”

---

We all gather in a beautiful grand hall in the palace for the award ceremony. There’s a bunch of people from the other branches there to watch. But, despite it being a monumental moment in these soldiers’ careers, no one is excited.

Standing with everyone before the ceremony begins, I recognize the girl that approaches us as Hitch, the girl that helped us in the woods when we were outlaws.

Before the mission, it was clear to everyone with eyes that Hitch had the hots for Marlow, the bowl-cut kid. Everyone except for Marlow, that is. Since Flock was in the group of recruits with Marlow, Jean suggests Flock talk about how brave he was in his final moments. He has really nice things to say, up until he ruins it at the end.

This kid has got to be one of the most annoying-

“Hey, why did you tell her that?!” Jean whisper yells at Flock.

With a pointed glare at Armin he says, “Because, somebody has to speak the truth around here.”

That’s enough to put me on the defensive, standing a little taller and moving more in between Armin and Flock.

Ever the empath, Armin tries to extend an olive branch by saying, “Listen, I heard about what you did, Flock. How hard you fought to ensure that Erwin would be revived-”

“That’s right!” Flock cuts him off. “You should be dead and Erwin should stand in your place. I’m not alone in thinking that. All of us do. Everyone that read that report had the same thought. Why wasn’t Erwin the one that was saved?”

Eren jumps in, “What do you know about Armin to justify saying that? Not a damn thing!”

With a smug look I want to smack right off, Flock says, “You’re right, I’m not a childhood friend of his. Hell, I’m not his friend at all! But I can tell you why he’s the one standing here right now. It’s because you two got emotional and Captain Levi did the same! You-”

“I didn’t get a chance to do that on the roof to shut you up, but I’ll be damned if I stand here and listen to you make a mockery of any of my squad!” I cut him off by freezing his spit and I now step fully in between him and Armin.

While he’s quiet before the ice melts, I forcefully say, “You were right talking to Hitch, you’re not a leader you’re a coward. All you’re able to do is hide behind someone better than you telling you every move you should make. You don’t understand the Captain’s choice because you don’t have enough foresight to take your head out of your ass, let alone make an important decision. Levi did exactly what Erwin would have wanted: he took a gamble that will pay off one day. I’ve said it to everyone that will listen at this point, but Erwin was the past and Armin will be the future. In case you didn’t notice, Erwin was deferring to Armin throughout the entire battle and even went so far as to leave him in charge of Levi’s squad. He’s got more leadership in his pinky finger than you do in your whole body.” I step in to get dangerously close. I want him to feel the venom dripping from my every word. “And if I ever hear you degrading Armin for a choice he played no part in or speaking ill towards the decision Captain Levi made - a choice you will never understand having to make - so help me, I’ll make you wish the Beast Titan obliterated your sorry ass.”

With a wave of my hand I melt the remainder of the ice in his mouth and he coughs for a moment before Levi appears around a pillar to call us all to line up. From where he appeared, I can tell that he must have heard my entire spiel but he doesn’t have time to say anything.

We line up and kneel down and I’m the first person in the back row, directly behind Hange. When Historia gets to Eren, there’s a horrific pause and I can’t see clearly but it looks like Eren makes a terrified face. It takes him a while to come to his senses but he quickly apologizes once he does and Historia moves on. But the entire situation was more than a little odd.

When Historia gets to me, she places the medal around my neck and tightens it, and when I go to kiss her hand I give it an extra little squeeze which she returns as the corners of her mouth twitch with a hidden smile.

After the ceremony, the rest of the day is filled with mostly nothing. Just lounging around and catching up on some much needed rest and relaxation. Especially considering that the following day we would be taking off to find the sea. 

---

It was just Levi’s Squad and Hange that went on this bit of exploration, not that there really was anyone left to join us otherwise. 

We take off riding and go for what feels like forever. We don’t encounter a single titan for a very long time, and when we do it’s a pathetic little abnormal that can’t even really move. It came in handy though, because we could follow the trail that it clearly blazed years if not decades prior based on how overgrown it had become. We followed it until the grass turned to sand and it was at this point that I started to get excited.

Looking at the kids, there was wonder on everyones’ faces except for Eren. Something drastic has changed about him, even though I can’t quite place what it is. 

As we come around a large dune, I’m hit with the unmistakable scent of salt water and we’re faced with another wall. Eren calls out that he’s sure that’s what he remembers from his dad’s memories.

“If you take a deep breath, you can also smell the ocean!” I inform everyone.

It’s cute watching all of them breathe in after I say this, even Levi does it.

The wall isn’t very long, so we’re able to find the end fairly quickly and ride up a steep embankment. I race ahead, not because I want to beat everyone there, but because I want to make sure I’m in perfect position to see all of their faces.

And it’s a moment I’ll never forget. As each person finally crests the hill, the ocean breeze catches their hair and the look of pure amazement fills their faces. I wouldn’t trade being there for that moment for anything in the entire world.

No one knows what to do, and I think they’d be content to just look at it forever. I certainly wouldn’t be happy with just that though, so after taking it in for at least 10 minutes I finally say, “Well? Are we going to go down there and get in it or are we just going to stare at it forever!”

I lead the charge down, kicking my boots off as I practically run into the water. It’s crystal clear and a perfect temperature. As the waves gently crash across my feet and ankles, the sense of peace that washes over me is unlike anything I had ever felt.

I’m home.

The kids waste no time playing in the water. Sasha, Connie, and Jean immediately start horsing around and learn the hard way not to get salt water in your eyes. Armin finds a shell and I swear I saw the moment that he wanted to start collecting them. Hange doesn’t even know where to look and Levi keeps imploring her to be careful. 

Since I can dry myself off with a flick of my wrist, I start going deeper. From the shore, I hear Levi yell to me, “y/n! Don’t go so far!”

I turn and grin at him mischeviously. “I’m the only one here that knows anything about the ocean from experience, I’ll be fine!” 

Knowing it would freak him out and wanting to be cheeky, I jump up and fall backwards into the water, completely submerging myself. I make a little bubble of air and swim for a bit, admiring the fish and foliage that are still completely foreign to me.

When I come back up, Levi looks like he’s going to rip his hair out. I walk back to shore to give him some kind of reassurance.

I pat him on the shoulder before calling to everyone else. “If anyone would like to, I can make air pockets so that you can see the ocean floor and what it looks like underneath the water!”

Of course, everyone wants to but I tell them that they have to take turns because an air pocket wouldn’t hold enough oxygen for all of us at the same time. So one by one, I show everyone the ocean. The last person on the list being Levi, who wanted nothing to do with my little adventure but whom I forced to do it anyway.

Despite not being very interested on land, he clearly enjoyed himself once he got under water. I honestly didn’t even know his eyes could go that wide. 

That’s…cute.

While we’re in our literal own little bubble, he quietly says, “Is being back everything you had hoped it would be?”

I grin so hard it almost hurts. “And then some.”

When we reimerge, I notice everyone staring off into the distance. When I follow their gazes I see a white shape moving towards the horizon. Shielding my face from the sun, I shake my head after a moment of looking at it.

Hange inquires, “What is it y/n?”

I turn to look at her, kind of embarrassed. “Oh, it’s nothing. I guess being back at the ocean has made me a little homesick because I thought it looked like Appa.”

We keep an eye on the strange unidentified flying object, and I could swear it was getting closer. Even so, I couldn’t shake away the hope that maybe it was Appa. 

It’s a cloud, y/n. There’s no way or reason it would be Appa. What are the odds that anyone from the Gaang would come to find you the one time you’re at the beach, anyway?

Given the time of day, we all set our things down to get our pre-packed food out. While everyone sets up, I start drying off everyone that might need it. As I’m doing so, Levi suddenly yells “Y/n! Look out!” 

I turn around just as I’m clocked by something flying full speed at me. I stumble backwards. I’m dazed for a moment until I hear a familiar chittering sound.

“Momo?!” I exclaim.

In disbelief, I hear Jean say, “What the fuck.”

I turn again to see Aang gliding down.

So it was Appa!

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

"Outlander’ is coming to an end, but Season 7B has released a new set of photos. These photos capture William Ransom's interaction (Charles Vandervaart's character) and one of them caught my eye.

The Outlander season 7️⃣ scene above was filmed on 11/11/2022, the photos tease the upcoming premiere of season 7B on Friday 22/11/2024. The shots hint at what might come next. In one of the photos, we see him holding a gun, but not on the battlefield.

In the image, William is seen in his full uniform, holding a pistol in a barn and a serious expression on his face. While many speculate on who William might be planning to shoot, My interest is in the pistol itself.

William in this shot is not prepared for a duel or a battle. His left hand is clenched, indicating he opts for a pistol over his sword. The pistol was, and is to this day, more of a personal defence weapon, and is far easier to handle despite duelling in the Georgian Era being a matter of Honour throughout the eighteenth century that become fashionable in Britain and by Britons overseas.

If he is not fighting for his life in hand-to-hand combat, it’s not time for a soldier to draw the blade. His sword is in its scabbard. We see the sword knot looped onto the top end of the narrow part of the guard and left to dangle if you are a cavalryman or an infantry field officer. The acorn part then sticks out forward from beneath the little finger when in the 'carry swords' position.

The pistol held by Lieutenant Lord Ellesmere, William Ransom played by Charles Vandervaart seems to be a British officer's Queen Anne Flintlock Silver Mounted Pistol style from the last quarter of the 18th century and the colonial wars. These are the types of pistols that would have been used by both British and American officers alike during the Revolutionary War.

These pistols came into fashion in England during the reign of Queen Anne, who reigned between 1702 - 1714 and are consequently so named. In this moment the flintlock pistols would have been used primarily as a self-defence weapon. Their effective range was short, and they frequently used as an adjunct to a sword.

Queen Anne pistols are a type of breech-loading flintlock pistol known as a turn-off pistol, in which the chamber is filled from the front and accessed by unscrewing the barrel. Another distinguishing feature of the design is that the lock plate and the breech section (chamber) of the firearm are forged as a single piece.

This would not be a trooper's pistol, but a military officer's private purchase example, they are from one of the great makers and suppliers to the regiments and officers of his day, during the time of King George II. These pistols would have seen service during the War known as King George's War of 1744-48, in America, and the 7 Years War of 1756–1763 principally against the French but involving the whole of Europe.

The pistol’s details are not well visible in the photos, but it looks like a very rare and expensive military piece, to appear in a few episodes as part of Outlander memorabilia. I wonder who takes care of the weapons on set?

During that time, the gunmakers' shops in London had numerous contracts with the British government to provide military muskets. They also operated a bespoke gun-making business for affluent customers. The pistol is 12 1/2 inches in overall length, with a 6 3/4 inch cannon barrel, in the typical "Queen Anne" style. It's predominantly made of iron and steel and has a walnut stock. This pistol is particularly interesting due to its silver inlays, making it an excellent military period piece.

The pistol in these shots is different from the one used by SH while filming Outlander season 8 at Eglinton Country Park and in other seasons. Both are Flintlock Pistols from the mid-18th century made in London, England, but they are different styles. Queen Anne’s style is a military piece proper for a British army officer.

It looks like they are in the last days of filming Outlander season 8️⃣ celebrating their 100 episodes. The final countdown has begun. It's going to be unforgettable, but "everything that has a beginning comes to an end."

#FinalCountdown #LieutenantLordEllesmere #WilliamRansom #CharlesVandervaart #pistol #QueenAnneFlintlockSilverMountedPistol #style #18thcentury #colonialwars #Britishofficer

Posted 26th September 2024

[the-mad-duo]

Retrograde - Mossberg 500 and 590 Retro Shotguns

Between Troy, Springfield, Brownells, and now Mossberg, it seems like the future is decidedly retro among firearm manufacturers in the United States. There has been a major uptick in the market for guns from the age before the Picatinny rail ruled. Mossberg’s Retrograde line is our specific focus for today. The Retrograde series premiered late last year with two decidedly old school shotguns, the…

[terriwriting]

UCP Voters Demand Extrajudicial Execution Of Suspicious Persons

A group from the premier's riding in Medicine Hat, which calls itself the Black Hat Gang, has met with senior government officials and proposed a massive new draft of Alberta's rights document. The "gang" wants it to enshrine an array of new rights, including confidentiality of health information and "informed consent" to medical care, as well as rights to keep and bear firearms, to use "sufficient force" to defend one's property, and "freedom from excessive taxation."

Let's fix that headline for you, CBC.

[daisiesonafield-blog]

Info for Faith In The Future World Tour SIOUX FALLS, SD - JUN 19 2023

With special guests THE SNUTS & ANDREW CUSHIN!

Important Times:

5:00 PM – Parking Opens 

6:00 PM - Doors Open

7:10 PM - Andrew Cushin

8:00 PM - The Snuts

9:00 PM - Louis Tomlinson

Times are all approximate and subject to change.

General admission (pit tickets):

All seats, there’s no need to line up!

Check the venue’s socials for updates!

🔆⚠️ EXTREME TEMPERATURE ADVISORY ⚠️🔆

VERY HIGH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED: temperatures are expected to be in the high 90s! Prepare accordingly!

Hydrate before the show, while waiting in line and during the show

For optimal hydration drink something with electrolytes such as Gatorade or LiquidIV

Wear sunscreen!

Eat well!

Here are important policies:

The venue is CASHLESS! Pay with cards only!

Parking: There are several options for parking on-site, including four public parking lots located around the complex that are free year-round. Prices vary for premium parking. Parking info and map here

ADA info here 

Cameras: Still cameras are allowed. Professional photographic and video equipment may be prohibited for some concerts and special events unless otherwise approved in writing from facility/event management. Please contact our administration office at (605) 367-7288 for event-specific information.

Water: All water bottles that enter our facility must be completely clear. Water bottles must be empty upon entry.

NO outside food or beverages

NO smoking

NO alcohol

NO Animals (except service animals)

NO Marijuana or any cannabis products

NO drugs

NO Coolers

NO Glass, Metal, or Hard Plastic Containers

NO knives, firearms, Brass knuckles, Tasers & mace/pepper spray or weapons of any kind

NO strollers, baby carriages, or car seats are permitted in general seating areas

NO Fireworks

NO Laptops

NO Lawn chairs

NO Selfie sticks

NO Laser Pointers/flashlights

NO Liquids of any kind 

There is NO RE-ENTRY!

VIEW VENUE MAP 

VIEW SEAT MAP

*This list is not exhaustive. Items not appearing on the list may still be prohibited at the discretion of Security

For more details click here 

Bag Policy:

Clear one (1) gallon zipper lock type bag allowed.

A clear stadium bag that is no larger than 12” x 12” x 6” is an acceptable alternative to the zipper lock type bag.

Clutch bags, fanny packs, and over-the-shoulder packs, (4.5” x 6.5” or smaller) that have a single over the shoulder, or cross-body strap that are made of a canvas, nylon, or leather material are permitted (don't need to be clear).

Chain straps are not allowed.

Tinted bags are not permitted.

Opaque bags larger than 4.5” x 6.5” will not be allowed in any of our venues. Patrons who are in possession of items that are larger than this bag size shall be denied entry. 

No oversized bags, backpacks, or duffel bags.

Ticketed guests are permitted to bring in one (1) bag only.

For more details click here and here

Banners, signs and flag policy:

No posters or large signs.

No flags/signs with poles.

More here

Contact:

For additional questions please call the venue at (605)367-7288. You can also access their website. Email: info@premier-center.com Check their twitter here and IG here for updates. Address: 1201 N. West Avenue Sioux Falls, SD 57104. Venue: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, Sioux Falls Arena And Convention Center.

[ncisfranchise-source]

After 43 total seasons and a nearly 1,000 (!) combined episodes, does the NCIS franchise have anything new to offer…?

Created by an Australian (actor-turned-writer/producer Morgan O’Neill)… (originally just) for Australians… and starring/guest-starring maaany Australians, NCIS: Sydney (premiering Tuesday, Nov. 14 on CBS) suggests that a trip to the land Down Under shakes things up enough to warrant another offshoot.

The premise for NCIS: Sydney, as established in the first episode (I’ve seen the first four of eight): “As international tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific,” U.S. NCIS Agents and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are grafted into a “multi-national task force, to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet.”

Olivia Swann (Legends of Tomorrow) and Todd Lasance (Spartacus: War of the Damned) lead the cast as, respectively, NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey and her 2IC AFP counterpart, Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey. Rounding out the merged team are Sean Sagar (Fate: The Winx Saga) as NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, Tuuli Narkle (Bad Behaviour) as AFP liaison officer Constable Evie Cooper, Mavournee Hazel (Neighbours) as AFP forensic scientist Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson, and William McInnes (Blue Heelers) as AFP forensic pathologist Dr. Roy Penrose.

Of the above actors, all are Australian save for Swann (who is English) and Sagar (American).

Now, you don’t need me to tell you that the Sydney backdrop in and of itself makes TV’s fifth NCIS series look special, if not oftentimes downright picturesque, shooting on location as it does at Sydney Harbor (including at the HMAS Kuttabul naval base), Bondi Beach, the Malabar Ocean Pool, Kings Cross and the like. Most everywhere the camera faces, this gives the procedural a vibe like no NCIS before it. (But if pressed to draw a comparison, I’d say it most evokes NCIS: New Orleans, between the team’s makeshift HQ and the setting’s highly specific local flavor.)

The cases similarly make the most of the NCIS franchise’s first international setting, with “murder by exotic snake” and an apparent shark attack figuring into two of the kills.

NCIS: Sydney also, of course, sounds different. And while I luhrve me the Aussie accent, you will probably want to watch with closed-captioning on, since at least one of the series regulars and the occasional guest star can be a bit indecipherable at times.

But as different as NCIS: Sydney may look and sound, the character types will be (a bit too?) familiar to franchise aficionados.

You have, in Swann’s Mackey, the veddy serious team leader with a limited tolerance for hijinks. There is also, of course, the quirky! forensic scientist, the M.E. who’s a font of wisdom, and the early hints of Will They/Won’t They between two team members.

On the flip side, the “forcibly merged team” aspect is new for the long-running franchise, and tees up entertaining instances of culture clash. (Australia has very different rules about LEOs and open carry firearms, for example. They play, “Scissors, Paper, Rock.” Oh, and car steering wheels are on the other side! Wild.) There’s also a recurring adversary that offers an interesting wrinkle, given who he works for….

Of the cast, Swann makes for a solid (and tall) team leader, though it takes at least one episode too many to shine any light on the past trauma that defines Mackey/has her “shields” up, while Lasance has great fun with Dempsey’s comparatively laid-back persona. Narkle, I want to say, is the big standout as Evie — winningly sassy and arguably the “most Australian” of the bunch — while Sagar was a runner-up until his character started acting a little too free-spirited in later episodes. Hazel is hampered early on by Blue’s characterization (though that starts to improve), and I look forward to learning more about McInnes’ M.E.

All told, I was digging the very first episodes (and getting a crash course on Aussie lingo), and I might have gone “B+” if Episode 4 didn’t land very flat for me. So, a “B” it is, for now.

NCIS: Sydney premieres Stateside on CBS on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 8/7c, and will also be available live and on demand that night for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers. (Paramount+ Essential subscribers can stream each episode the day after it airs.) The series globally premieres on Paramount+ Australia on Friday, Nov. 10, with additional Paramount+ international markets to be announced at a later date.

THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: If you’ve never pulled the trigger on an actual (long) trip to Australia, it’s a g‘day to be an NCIS fan, with the arrival of NCIS: Sydney

[pinkgirl78659]

GMA Voltes V Legacy Criticism

I can’t say how long I’ve wait to watch this series and i have high expectations of it. So out of love i just want to share my opinions and criticism. I am no way hating on this series but i care for it so much that i just had to critique it. KEEP IN MIND this is only covering the Frist episode that premiered today on GMA may 8. THIS IS MY OWN OPINION.

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

STORY CHANGES-

The fact the Voltes Team is training on the Camp Big Falcon Base. I want to say this is a huge change mostly because the Anime series starts off with the Voltes Team not know what exactly they are training for and are completely unaware of the Camp Big Falcon base and the idea of the robot Voltes V.

The Legacy series however has them training near base yet they do not know what they’re training for but some how know of the exist of the Voltes V robot. I’m hoping future episodes clear this up because i feel like this is a huge continuity error.

Little john’s lack of training. This is something i actually hope to see develop in the later episodes. I like the new take on his character and i can see this choice was mostly likely inspired by the later episodes of the anime involving Dr.Hook. I am only hoping his character isn’t downplayed to just be the kid of the team since they do acknowledges him as an engineer.

FLIM CRITICISM-

The opening training scenes with the Voltes Team training. Oh boy. I have so much to say for this since i literally think the only people who had accurate scene to the anime were Big Bert and Jamie Robinson.

Steve’s intro is flat out boring. He’s supposed to be a marksmanship. that opening shot did not give you any idea that he was even training. I was so hoping they could emulate him driving on a motorcycle while shooting. If not focus more on just his skills as a marksman.

Mark’s intro is also extremely boring. Maybe it was the environment he was horsing around in. The scene looke so empty there were no trees and even it if you didn’t want tree don’t make it a continuous wide shot have more close up shots following him on the horse. I can kinda see they’re leaning more to the cowboy side of Mark and even so he was just raiding a horse no whip or even making the horse jump.

I really like Big Bert’s training scene. I felt it accurately portrayed his scene in the anime. I have no idea why they choose to do his outdoors and not indoors like the anime but regardless it was good.

Little johns’s is extremely confusing form an outsiders perspective. Why does he have a dolphin. Does he like dolphins?. What is point of the scene. I get that making him kill a shark is a bit extreme to do in live action but that shows something of his character at least in the anime. At that point they should have made the scene of him being an a great swimmer or have him fixing one of battle ship boats that he does for the ship races. They could even done something more because that scene straight up does not make sense.

Jamie’s intro was amazing only confused why she had firearms. I know all of them are suppose to be good with firearms but the fact have she was duel welding pistols and not Steve was confusing.

Finally my last complaint I truly believe the actors could have done better if given better guidance. I mostly have an issue with line delivery regarding the “weapons call out” to me most of the lines seem devoid of enthusiasm or just lack intense. Also slight nit picking weapons name its “Frigate Missile” not “Frigate Rocket”.

[brookston]

Holidays 12.10

Holidays

Bob Dylan Day (Minnesota)

Chief Red Cloud Day

Constitution Day (Thailand)

Dewey Decimal System Day

Flag Day (Guinea)

Flipadelphia (from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”)

Grub-Hoe Day (French Republic)

International Animal Rights Day

International Aszu Day

Jane Addams Day

Merlinpeen (Festival of Mouth Pleasure from Secret Santa; Verdkianism; on “30 Rock”)

National Cancel Caillou Day

National Corey Day

National Day of the Clown

National Derek Day

Nobeldagen (a.k.a. Alfred Nobel Day; Sweden)

Nobel Prize Day

Sister-Friend Day

Victory Day (Iraq)

Whirling Dervishes Festival begins [thru 17th]

Women’s Day (Namibia)

Women’s Rights Day (Wyoming)

World Digital Detox Day

World Football Day

World Human Rights Day (UN)

World TRAP Awareness Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Do Something Wild and Crazy with Velveeta Day

National Lager Day

National Pancetta Day

Suspended Coffee Day

Terra Madre Day (Slow Food)

2nd Sunday in December

International Children’s Day [2nd Sunday]

Jashan-e Sadeh (a.k.a. Adar-Jashen; Zoroastrian/Parsi)

Lager Beer Week begins [Sunday of 2nd full week]

National Children’s Memorial Day [2nd Sunday]

2nd Sunday in Advent [3rd Sunday before Xmas] (a.k.a. ... 

Advent Sunday

Love Sunday

Transfiguration Sunday

Waiting Sunday

World Choral Day [2nd Sunday]

Worldwide Candle Lighting Day (7 PM) [2nd Sunday]

Independence Days

Mississippi Statehood Day (#20; 1817)

Tortuga (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Adriaen van Ostade (Artology)

Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs (Syriac Orthodox Church)

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Eulalia of Mérida (Christian; Saint)

Festival for the Souls of Dead Whales (Inuit)

Greta Kempton (Artology)

Hanukkah Day #3 (Judaism) [thru Dec. 15th]

International Human Rights Day (Pastafarian)

Karl Barth (Episcopal Church USA)

Lux Mundi (Light of the World; Roman Goddess of Liberty)

Melchiades, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Miltiades (Christian; Saint)

Sedna’s Day (Pagan)

Thomas Merton (Episcopal Church USA)

The Toves (Muppetism)

Translation of the Holy House of Loreto (Christian)

Vieta (Positivist; Saint)

Zinaida Serebriakova (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fatal Day (Pagan) [24 of 24]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (Novel; 1884)

Bedazzled (Film; 1967)

Bedknob and Broomstick, by Mary Norton (Novel; 1943)

Being the Ricardos (Film; 2021)

Big Fish (Film; 2003)

Boris Bashes a Box or The Flat Chest (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 237; 1963)

The Cider House Rules (Film; 1999)

A Day at the Races, by Queen (Album; 1976)

Donald’s Ostrich (Disney Cartoon; 1937)

The Ethics of Ambiguity, by Simone de Beauvoir (Philosophy Book; 1947)

The Fellowship of the Ring (Film; 2001) [Lord of the Rings #1]

Fernando, by ABBA (Song; 1975)

The Fighter (Film; 2010)

48 Hrs. (Film; 1982)

Gandhi (Film; 1982)

The Glenn Miller Story (Film; 1953)

The Green Mile (Film; 1999)

Guided Muscle (WB LT Cartoon; 1955)

Guys and Dolls, by Damon Runyon (Short Stories; 1932)

Islands in the Stream, by Ernest Hemingway (Novel; 1970)

The Last Detail (Film; 1973)

Lawrence of Arabia (Film; 1962)

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Film; 2004)

Mood Indigo, recorded by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (Song; 1930)

Ocean’s Twelve (Film; 2004)

One, Two, Three, Gone! Or I’ve Got Plenty of Nothing (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 238; 1963)

Santa’s Workshop (Disney Cartoon; 1932)

Shoah (Documentary Film; 2010)

The Silver Sword, by Ian Serraillier (Novel; 1956)

Sleuth (Film; 1972)

Sophie’s Choice (Film; 1982)

Swiss Family Robinson (Film; 1960)

The Tempest (Film; 2010)

Three’s a Crowd (WB MM Cartoon; 1932)

The Tourist (Film; 2010)

Wayne’s World 2 (Film; 1993)

West Side Story (Film; 2021)

Wings Over America (Live Album; 1976)

The Year Without a Santa Claus (Animated TV Special; 1974)

Today’s Name Days

Angelina, Bruno, Emma, Herbert (Austria)

Edmund, Gregor, Mauro (Croatia)

Julie (Czech Republic)

Judith (Denmark)

Juta, Juudit (Estonia)

Jutta (Finland)

Eulaire, Romaric (France)

Emma, Imma, Loretta (Germany)

Judit (Hungary)

Loreto (Italy)

Cera, Guna, Judīte, Sniedze (Latvia)

Eidimtas, Eularija, Ilma, Loreta (Lithuania)

Judit, Jytte (Norway)

Andrzej, Daniel, Judyta, Julia, Maria, Radzisława (Poland)

Ermoghen, Eugraf, Mina (Romania)

Radúz (Slovakia)

Eulalia, Loreto (Spain)

Malena, Malin (Sweden)

Angeline, Marian (Ukraine)

Emely, Emilee, Emilia, Emilie, Emily, Eula, Eulalia, Ula (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 344 of 2024; 21 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of week 49 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 13 of 28]

Chinese: Month 10 (Gui-Hai), Day 28 (Ren-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 27 Kislev 5784

Islamic: 27 Jumada I 1445

J Cal: 14 Zima; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 27 November 2023

Moon: 6%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 8 Bichat (12th Month) [Vieta]

Runic Half Month: Is (Stasis) [Day 15 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 78 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 19 of 30)