#president of ganymede

[silencedminstrel]

THE MONOLOGUE OF MICKEY (MIND OF THE CREATOR) - THE DEATH OF THE FALSE DEITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS

...It is done at last; the pale shadow, the one delusional, had overstayed his welcome in the Almighty's Gracious Kingdom! Forsooth His unconditional love for that pale imitation made Him stayed His Hands all these eons, hoping that he would stop thinking that he's His equal but...he didn't! Now he had learned the hard way that there's no other God other

Than Him, and that lesson had since led to his veritable demise! But forsooth! I fear the destruction of one despot would only lead to the rise of even more despots, as I observe my sole protege and his meeting at the violet shore...with the one that should not be! At least the blessed twins are but free now to confront their wretched, psychotic "Parent"

As "The One In Error" (Watcher Semyaza) arrived to a mutual understanding with his Xnrene "Usurper" (The Regent Of Samawi) in the direction of their--formerly--Unholy Host! (The Watchers) Thus we The Creator Aspects shall watch this new development with great interest! The Final Prophecy is about to resume its course as the return of

The Samawi Regent only meant that the Two Emperors will be enthroned anon as The Golden Horde is nearly assembled, and The Messenger Of Shairo (starship) is also due to make its maiden voyage--albeit for a very different reason! And such be but glimpses of His Almighty's Divine Plan...as witnessed by yours truly! This is Mickey signing off...!

(by Casey Horner)

[raspberrylover28]

Titan will LITERALLY become "the middle earth".

Like, once the Sun becomes a red giant, Saturn will not only be the middle planet of the system, but his orbit will be in the new goldilocks zone. That means Titan's orbit will also be in said zone, which sounds GREAT until you think about it.

Because what if humanity is still around by that time? I severely doubt that after billions of years they still haven't tried colonizing Titan. Once the Sun becomes big enough, even terraformed Mars would be EXTREMELY close to the star and the heat would most likely force the earthlings to abandon Mars's surface entirely. Unless they came up with some insane, sci-fi technology, but let's assume that even if they do, the heat would be unbearable. Plus, by that point Mars could have already been polluted to hell and back, so the earthlings would have to look for a new home either way.

I don't think the earthlings would see Titan as their only option. Jupiter's orbit would also be in the goldilocks zone, even if it was on the warmer side, so Ganymede and Europa could also be good options. Other moons could also become habitable, who knows! But I feel like Titan would be THE earthling colony.

And I don't think Titan would like that.

He wouldn't push the earthlings away, of course not. They're in need of a shelter (AKA a celestial body) in order to survive and Titan is their best option. Plus, Titan might even have a bit of a soft spot for humanity at that point in time, since they're Earth's life and Earth isn't around anymore. Plus, it was an earthling astronaut that discovered life on Titan's surface, even if said astronaut was forced to do it. Titan has to lend them his surface, it's the right thing to do.

But Titan has life too, doesn't he? And a few billion years is more than enough time for it to evolve, become sentient, even! But Titan won't be able to see it grow and shape it's own identity. The earthlings will be there, and they will leave their mark deeply. Sure, maybe Titan's life will develop it's own languages, cultures, holidays, even religions. But in the end, the similarities with the earthling culture would be so obvious that Titan's natives might as well be an earthling country, and not a whole other species. He will become "the middle earth" even to the creatures that crawled out of his oceans. It would be hard not to feel bitter.

To celestial objects, he was Saturn's favorite moon. To the life forms, he's a replacement for Earth. He's always in someone's shadow, nothing is his.

And I feel like he wants something that is his. I think that's why he wanted to start the moon strike in the first place. He wanted to show that he's more than the people around him, that he is strong and kind and compassionate. So people think about him as the leader of the moon revolution, the president of the moon club, the first moon to develop life. So people look up to him.

He constatly acts like he's the morally superior one that does no wrong, it's why he villainizes Ganymede and Europa in the moon club arc. Now that people are looking at him and not his titles, he wants them to see him as his best self. He's not pretending to be a good person, either! He genuinly wants to help people because that's the right thing to do.

But maybe, when millions, if not billions of earthlings are crammed on his surface like sardines, drilling and exploiting and ripping him open, Titan would wonder if it was all worth it.

[draconicfool]

     In truth, Ganymedes had never really given much thought to the flora of this world or any other before that. Not until he had noticed the beauty that was held there only by sheer coincidence of this aeon who presided over them. Only because his fascination had been with him first, and that Xirá seemed so fond of them.

     Lithe black fingers reach forward to take the bud in gentle hands. Examining it idly. There was nothing in the cosmos, he thought, that would rival the beauty his darling had. And yet, in this quiet moment he understood all too easily how people could grow fond of them. How enrapturing their beauty could be.

     “ I love it. ”

@chthcnic || c.

[talesfrommedinastation]

Happy OC Sunday: meet the new (good guy) minor OCs of To Guard Against Titans!

First of all, here's Hunter, and the new folks serving under him... Belter Force 99!

(Don't fret! Clone Force 99 is all together as a family and working in separate capacities on Medina Station, from The Expanse. In this case, Hunter was immediately made sergeant in the Border Patrol under President Camina Drummer and leads this task force).

From left to right: Eden Franco (Earther, from Brisbane), Jon "The Boring Tech" Torres (Martian, from Olympia), Hunter (ah-hem), Lars Suzuki (Belter, from Ceres), and Ana Wen (Belter, from Ganymede).

Peep the planet/skull motif, as well as the 99 references on their uniforms.

They face off and snark heavily against other clones and a certain Martian Marine in the first chapter here.

Meanwhile...meet Tech's two assistant engineers!

Former Martian Marine Mai Torres (yes, Jon in Belter Force 99 is her husband), and former platform engineer on Ceres Station, Padrik Flores.

Their names rhyme, even though they are opposites in almost every way. But if there's two things they have in common, it's the fact that they are great at their jobs, and fiercely loyal to their Chief Systems Engineer...good old Tech!

Read them dealing with nonsense here.

Fo da Belt unte de Clonelowda: @thecoffeelorian @eyecandyeoz @merkitty49 @cdblake1565 @sued134 @skellymom

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

I'm coming to BURNING MAN! On TUESDAY (Aug 27) at 1PM, I'm giving a talk called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE!" at PALENQUE NORTE (7&E). On WEDNESDAY (Aug 28) at NOON, I'm doing a "Talking Caterpillar" Q&A at LIMINAL LABS (830&C).

#15yrsago Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede, one of the all-time great American comedy sf novels, will be a movie https://memex.craphound.com/2009/08/13/buddy-holly-is-alive-and-well-on-ganymede-one-of-the-all-time-great-american-comedy-sf-novels-will-be-a-movie/

#15yrsago Dingbat dictatorship in Belarus invents magical anti-cancer pockets for school uniforms https://web.archive.org/web/20090820215848/http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/08/13/belarus_develops_school_uniform_that_makes_tin_foil_hates_obsolete

#10yrsago Comcast, Time Warner make huge “donations” to party honoring their FCC overseer https://www.techdirt.com/2014/08/12/comcast-time-warner-cable-spend-big-to-honor-fcc-commissioner-overseeing-their-merger-review/

#10yrsago Comcast leaves customer on hold for 3 hours, closes the office and goes home https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/2ddxku/comment/cjoqmdo/

#10yrsago Brooklyn Law Clinic students scare away patent trolls https://medium.com/patents-technology-law/law-students-fend-off-a-patent-troll-2b8a708277fc

#10yrsago Groucho Marx on comics and depression https://memex.craphound.com/2014/08/13/groucho-marx-on-comics-and-depression/

#10yrsago How Gary Gygax lost control over D&D and TSR https://medium.com/@increment/the-ambush-at-sheridan-springs-3a29d07f6836

#5yrsago If you think Jeffrey Epstein must have been murdered because no prison would treat an inmate that negligently… https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/thirty-two-stories-jeffrey-epstein-prison-death/596029/

#5yrsago Deep look at the Googler Uprising, drawing on insider interviews https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery-happiest-company-tech/

#5yrsago The only path to victory in the Middle Earth election is to appeal to the moderate orc voter https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/we-need-a-wizard-who-can-appeal-to-the-moderate-orc-voter

#5yrsago “Productivity” is a perfect example of the pseudscience underpinning economics https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2019/07/08/no-productivity-does-not-explain-income/

#5yrsago If the election was held today, Bernie would beat Trump by 8 points https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/12/bernie-sanders-acing-electability-test-another-poll-shows-senator-crushing-trump

#5yrsago Barstool Sports’ president posts illegal termination threat against employees considering unionization https://web.archive.org/web/20190813133038/https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1161268795278790658

#5yrsago As Uber’s stock craters amid billions in unanticipated losses, a hiring freeze on engineers https://finance.yahoo.com/news/uber-imposes-engineer-hiring-freeze-as-losses-mount-exclusive-202234064.html

#5yrsago Interoperability and Privacy: Squaring the Circle https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/08/interoperability-and-privacy-squaring-circle

#1yrago Enshitternet https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/13/enshitternet/

Community voting for SXSW is live! If you wanna hear RIDA QADRI and me talk about how GIG WORKERS can DISENSHITTIFY their jobs with INTEROPERABILITY, VOTE FOR THIS ONE!

[bolters-and-rivets]

391st Grand-Batallion (4th Legion); lore supliment

The 391st Grand-Battalion of the Iron Warriors, when not cruising the warp looking to settle their grudge with the Imperium, is based out of the Lishtragen system; a Binary-star system comprised of a red dwarf co-orbiting a sun-like star.

the Lishtragen system, rendered as seen from the Galactic plain, and in a simple view for clarity The system features 7 orbiting planets.

L-I is a barren, rocky world, much like Murcury or Ganymede, to close to the twin stars to be of much use beyond mining for resources.

L-II is an terestrial planet, about 1.25x the size of Terra and the staging ground for the 391st's manpower

L-III is an ocean world, used as a main berth for the 391's void fleet to avoid clogging up the orbit of L-II

L-IV to L-VI are gas giants, used by the Dark Mechanicum as forge worlds

L-VII is a brown dawrf; a proto-star that was flung from a nebula before it had a chance to reach critical mass and captured into the Lishtragen systems orbit, where it now resides on the outer edge. the presence of the brown dwarf has a substantial influence on the stability of the system, forcing the other planets into various elliptical or eccentric orbits, in fact, so sever is this outside pull on the system that planets Lishtragen-IV and Lishtragen VI both cross the orbit of Lishtragen V and back again.

How the system has sustained such eccentric orbits without planets colliding or getting flung off into space is unknown, but the uper echelons of the Grand Batallion theorise that the gods of chaos may have some role to play in orchestrating such organised chaos

Lishtragen-II is where we will focus our attention.

1st drafts of Lishtragen-II displaying climate and factions. Faction labels and locations are subject to change as I develop the lore further.

L-II is the staging ground for the 391st Grand Battalion, the planet's eccentric orbit and the presence of two stars gives it a climate that varies between oven dry and sauna-humid, the pull of the other planets locking the orbit into a rotational period that alligns with the seasons, so that the "summer" side of the planet is a scorching desert, whilst the "winter" side of the planet is invariably hot & humid rainforests and jungles.

the 391st as an entity holds most of the terretory on the summer side of the planet, using the scorched desert terrain and the maintain range known locally as "The Spine" to their advantage to make it as difficult as possible for outside assault their base of operations, known simply as "The Iron Keep".

As for the rest of the planet? The 391st Grand Battalion leaves much of the more hospitible terretory unocupied for a veriety of cults and renegade warbands to stake out their own little terretories and empires in miniature, this ultimately works in the 391st's favour as the varius faactions waring for terretory gives the Iron Warriors a pool of manpower to draw from who are specialised in many forms of warfare.

One notable region besides the Iron Dominion is the Free Terretory of Estadia, a designated neutral zone where all may do trade, seek sanctuary, and hire mercinaries free from the grudges outside its borders. It also sees use as a place for the factions to settle disputes that can't be so easily solved by feat of arms, for which a member of the 391st may preside over disputes and pass judgement. The defacto capital of the planet, at least so-far as the general population are concerned, is Hive City Primus, located in Estadia, a seedy hive rife with crime, slavery, and corruption. What "law enforcement" exists consists of little more than armed thugs drawn from the Grand Battalion's auxilliaries tasked with keeping the violence on the busiest streets to a tolerable minimum

Prepresentative placeholder image, until I have the funds to commision an artist to make artwork for me

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

SwRI-developed instruments will study potential habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa

Two Southwest Research Institute instruments were launched aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Oct. 14 from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. The spacecraft is designed to conduct a detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter’s moon Europa, investigating whether it could hold conditions suitable for life.

The SwRI-developed MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (MASPEX) and Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS) are among nine science instruments and a gravity science investigation that were developed to explore Europa, Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon and one of the most likely locations for potential life in our solar system. In the 1990s, NASA’s Galileo mission yielded strong evidence that Europa, which is about the size of Earth’s moon, has a liquid ocean beneath an icy crust of unknown thickness. This global ocean could have at least twice as much water as Earth.

“The ability to characterize this ocean remotely is key — MASPEX has a mass resolution 50 times finer than anything that has flown to space before,” said SwRI Senior Vice President Dr. Jim Burch, who serves as MASPEX’s principal investigator. Burch leads the Institute’s Space Sector, with three divisions devoted to space science, solar system science and space systems. “MASPEX can differentiate between molecules with almost identical masses based on the energy binding the atoms. It also differentiates isotopes — atoms with equal numbers of protons but a different number of neutrons. These capabilities are crucial to revealing the habitability of Europa.”

SwRI internal research, NASA instrument development programs and the Europa Clipper project funded MASPEX’s development.

Europa-UVS is the sixth in a series of SwRI-built ultraviolet spectrographs, benefitting greatly from the design experience gained by its team from the Juno-UVS instrument, which is currently operating in Jupiter’s harsh radiation environment on NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

“UVS is designed to hunt down and study potential plumes emanating from surface cracks on Europa,” said Dr. Kurt Retherford, principal investigator for the UVS instrument and a senior program manager at SwRI. UVS will look at the composition and chemistry of Europa’s atmosphere to understand its source, structure and variability. It will search for and characterize plumes in terms of activity and the nature of subsurface water reservoirs.

“Once UVS detects any potential plumes, the spacecraft might fly through them, allowing MASPEX to ‘sniff’ the volatile gases,” said Burch.

The mass spectrometer is designed to measure molecular and isotopic composition of these gases, offering insight into the oxidation state of the moon’s subsurface ocean and potential metabolic energy sources for potential microbial life.

“With these precise measurements, the composition of the gases will reveal the story of the interior and whether the conditions for life exist beneath the icy surface of Europa,” Burch explained.

Another UVS is en route to Jupiter now aboard ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) to orbit both Jupiter and its moon Ganymede.

“Having two UVS instruments in the Jupiter system making measurements will offer exciting complementary science possibilities,” said Retherford. “Juice is primarily studying Ganymede, but it will fly past Europa twice.”

Europa Clipper is NASA’s largest solar-powered spacecraft for a planetary mission, and it will enter a long, looping orbit around the gas giant Jupiter to perform repeated close flybys of the moon over a four-year period. In total, the mission will perform nearly 50 flybys at altitudes ranging from 16 miles to 1,700 miles (25 kilometers to 2,700 kilometers).

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The directorate, which is responsible for planning and operating this mission, conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system and the universe.

The MASPEX instrument team includes scientists from SwRI, SETI, Washington University, Arizona State University, the Imperial College London and the University of Franche-Comté. The Europa-UVS instrument team includes scientists from SwRI, The University of Texas at San Antonio, SETI, the Planetary Science Institute, Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and the University of Cologne in Germany.

TOP IMAGE: SwRI’s Europa Clipper Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) instrument will collect ultraviolet light to study the composition of the atmospheric gases and surface materials of Europa, one of Jupiter’s largest moons with a suspected subsurface ocean. Europa-UVS is the sixth in a series of SwRI-built ultraviolet spectrographs including two others surveying the Jupiter system. Credit Southwest Research Institute

LOWER IMAGE: SwRI’s MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (MASPEX) instrument aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft has a mass resolution fifty times finer than anything that’s flown to space before to study the atmospheric gases and surface materials of Europa. This icy Jovian moon harbors a suspected subsurface ocean with the potential to support microbial life. The advanced capabilities of MASPEX can provide chemical clues on conditions and processes that occur within the depths of Europa. Credit Southwest Research Institute

[astrolocherry]

"There was a festival in heaven never before equalled! Zeus presided, Hermes served, Ganymede poured the wine of the gods, Apollo played his harp. In due time Psyche bore a daughter whose name was pleasure"

[frank-olivier]

Jeffrey Mishlove (New Thinking Allowed)

Heidi Jurka is author of 'The Making of a Psychic'. During the period from 1976 to 1979 she worked closely with parapsychologist Andrija Puharich on his "space kids" project. She was living in Puharich's house in August 1978 when the place was set on fire by an arsonist.

Here she provides many details concerning her work with Puharich, the "space kids" and "mindlink" projects, and the arson fire that put an end to this chapter in her life.

Heidi Jurka: Andrea Puharich and His Space Kids (February 2024)

Andy Puharich

Dr Andrija Puharich, medical and parapsychological researcher, medical inventor, physician and author.

Exerpts taken from interviews with his offspring for the 2023 documentary 'Mind Traveler'.

Puharich Personal (May 2023)

Psi Clips

Andrija Puharich, M.D. surveys his career researching psi, including studying the gifted subjects Eileen Garrett, Peter Hurkos, Uri Geller and others. Recorded at the Mind Science Foundation in San Antonio, Texas, USA on 21 February 1989. Dr. Puharich was Research Director there in the early '60s.

Much discussion also on ELF, psychotronics, government-sponsored psychic warfare and remote viewing of sub-atomic particles and fields (through Sharron Jacobson).

Dr. Puharich asserts that Peter Hurkos served as the top psychic for President Ronald Reagan. This was confirmed by Lee Sannella, M.D.

Andrea Puharich: Psi Explorations From Garrett to Geller And Beyond (February 1989)

Michael Salla

One of the most intriguing aspects of Gene Roddenberry’s creation of the Star Trek franchise was his relationship with a mysterious extraterrestrial group calling itself the Council of Nine that were being channeled by the psychic Phyllis Schlemmer in the 1970s. Roddenberry sat in on channeling sessions from 1974 to 1975, and participated in Q & A’s that were recorded in Schlemmer’s 1993 book, the Only Planet of Choice.

What lent credibility to the Council of Nine was that their existence was confirmed in the famous Law of One channeling sessions held from 1981 to 1984, which are widely regarded as the most authoritative channelings ever conducted due to the strict scientific protocols used by a retired applied physics professor, Don Elkins.

These historical events provide important context for Elena Danaan’s most recent contact experiences where she claims to have been taken to Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede, where she met with the Council of Nine, and was told why Rodenberry was chosen to prepare humanity for a Star Trek future.

This is an audio version of an article published on November 4, 2021, and narrated by the author Dr. Michael Salla.

Michael Salla: Contact with the Council of Nine & Roddenberry's Star Trek Future (November 2021)

Uri Geller

A book popped through my letterbox recently entitled Memories of a Maverick by H.G.M. Hermans. The maverick in question was Andrija Puharich (1918-1995) and the author, ‘Bep’ Hermans was his second wife. Her book has prompted this tribute to a great and much misunderstood scientist of great vision, versatility and courage and a wonderful human being. But for him, nobody outside Israel would probably ever have heard of me, and it is no exaggeration to say that I owe my career and my success to him.

H.G.M. Hermans: Memories Of A Maverick (1998)

L/L Research

Don and Carla were interviewed on WKQQ for their "UFO Awareness Week" in 1977, sharing information about their work in UFO investigation and communication.

Jim McCarty heard this interview on the radio, prompting him to seek out and join Don and Carla for their public meditations. Eventually, Don and Carla invited Jim to join efforts and form a trio, leading to the receiving of the Ra contact.

Interview with Don Elkins and Carla Rueckert (WKQQ, May 1977)

Monday, February 26, 2024

[vxidlight]

Like/Reblog for Ganymede (a Doctor Who OC Time Lord)!

Pre-established Connections: Unlikely Most Wanted Connections: Fifth Doctor, OCs (gimme) Ships: No.

Short Bio: Ganymede is a Time Lord who desires simply to have a simple life, however, fate keeps dragging him into the most non-simple situations. From rag-tag wanderer to Lord President to father, Ganymede has come a long way, but he wouldn’t be anywhere without his friends and partner, Nemo Sigma. Ganymede is in a single romantic ship with a stellanimarum’s Nemo Sigma.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Thomas Moreton of Merry Mount

In 1625 Captain Wollaston, Thomas Morton, and thirty others sailed from England and months later, taking their bearings from a red cedar tree, they disembarked in Quincy Bay. A year later Wollaston, impatient for lucre and gain, left for good to Virginia. Thomas Morton settled in Passonaggessit which he named Merry Mount. The land seemed a "Paradise" to him. He wrote, there are "fowls in abundance, fish in multitudes, and I discovered besides, millions of turtle doves on the green boughs, which sat pecking of the full, ripe, pleasant grapes that were supported by the lusty trees, whose fruitful load did cause the arms to bend."

On May Day, 1627, he and his Indian friends, stirred by the sound of drums, erected a Maypole eighty feet high, decorated it with garlands, wrapped it in ribbons, and nailed to its top the antlers of a buck. Later he wrote that he "sett up a Maypole upon the festival day of Philip and James, and therefore brewed a barrell of excellent beare." A ganymede sang a Bacchanalian song. Morton attached to the pole the first lyric verses penned in America which concluded.

With the proclamation that the first of May

At Merry Mount shall be kept holly day

The Puritans at Plymouth were opposed to the May Day. they called the Maypole "an Idoll" and named Merry Mount "Mount Dagon" after the god of the first ocean-going imperialists, the Phoenicians. More likely, though the Puritans were the imperialist, not Morton, who worked with slaves, servants, and native Americans, person to person. Everyone was equal in his "social contract." Governor Bradford wrote, "they allso set up a Maypole, drinking and dancing aboute it many days together, inviting the Indean women for thier consorts, dancing and frisking together (like so many faires, or furies rather) and worse practise."

Merry Mount became a refuge for Indians, the discontented, gay people, runaway servants, and what the governor called "all the scume of the countrie." When the authorities reminded him that his actions violated the King's Proclamation, Morton replied that it was "no law." Miles Standish, whom Morton called "Mr. Shrimp," attacked. The Maypole was cut down. The settlement was burned. Morton's goods were confiscated, he was chained in the bilboes, and ostracized to England aboard the ship "The Gift," at a cost the Puritans complained of twelve pounds seven shillings. The rainbow coalition of Merry Mount was thus destroyed for the time being. That Merry Mount later (1636) became associated with Anne Hutchinson, the famous mid-wife, spiritualist, and feminist, surely was more than coincidental. Her brother-in-law ran the Chapel of Ease. She thought that god loved everybody, regardless of their sins. She doubted the Puritans' authority to make law. A statue of Robert Burns in Quincy near to Merry Mount, quotes the poet's lines,

A fig for those by law protected!

Liberty's a glorious feast!

Courts for cowards were erected,

Churches built to please the priest.

Thomas Morton was a thorn in the side of the Boston and Plymouth Puritans, because he had an alternate vision of Massachusetts. He was impressed by its fertility; they by its scarcity. He befriended the Indians; they shuddered at the thought. He was egalitarian; they proclaimed themselves the "Elect". He freed servants; they lived off them. He armed the Indians; they used arms against Indians. To Nathaniel Hawthorne, the destiny of American settlement was decided at Merry Mount. Casting the struggle as mirth vs. gloom, grizzly saints vs. gay sinners, green vs. iron, it was the Puritans who won, and the fate of America was determined in favor of psalm-singing, Indian-scalpers whose notion of the Maypole was a whipping post.

Parts of the past live, parts die. The red cedar that drew Morton first to Merry Mount blew down in the gale of 1898. A section of it, about eight feet of its trunk became a power fetish in 1919, placed as it was next to the President's chair of the Quincy City Council. Interested parties may now view it in the Quincy Historical Museum. Living trees, however, have since grown, despite the closure of the ship-yards.

[sasa-chans-random-history]

January 07

[1325] Afonso IV succeeds Denis as King of Portugal.

[1430] Duke Philip the Good (33) formally celebrate marriage to Isabella of Portugal (32) in Sluys, Burgundy.

[1598] Boris Godunov seizes Russian throne on death of Feodor I.

[1601] Robert, Earl of Essex, leads revolt in London against Queen Elizabeth I.

[1610] Galileo Galilei discovers the first three moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa & Ganymede.

[1611] Trial of Hungarian aristocrat Elizabeth Bàthory for killing and torturing hundreds of young women, later sentenced to house arrest for the rest of her life.

[1698] Russian Tsar Peter the Great departs Netherlands for England.

[1790] French Revolution: A major riot breaks out in Versailles as people demand lower bread prices.

[1879] Dutch King William II weds Emma von Waldeck-Pyrmont.

[1892] A massive mine explosion leaves nearly 100 dead in Krebs, Oklahoma; blacks trying to help rescue white survivors, driven away with guns.

[1901] "Colorado Cannibal" Alfred Packer is paroled.

[1923] Baltimore Sun warns of the Ku Klux Klan.

[1934] Dutch Princess Juliana weds German Prince Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld.

[1950] "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts.

[1971] American horror, sci-fi and fantasy author Stephen King weds Tabitha Spruce, author and activist.

[1989] Akihito becomes the 125th Emperor of Japan after the death of his father Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito).

[1994] United Express commuter plane crashed in Ohio, killing 5.

[2006] Punky pop singer P!nk (26) weds motocross daredevil and "The Surreal Life" actor Carey Hart (30) at the Four Seasons Resort at Peninsula Papagayo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

[2012] Lady A (formerly Antebellum) singer-songwriter Hillary Scott (26) weds drummer Chris Tyrrell (25) at the Appel Inn near Albany, New York.

[2015] 12 people die and 11 injured in shooting at French satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" offices.

[2018] It snows in the Sahara desert - 15 inches reported in Aïn Séfra, Northwest Algeria.

[2019] Amazon overtakes Microsoft to become the world's most valuable listed company for the first time, worth $797B.

[2021] Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg blocks President Donald Trump from Facebook and Instagram till Jan. 20, following suspension of his other social media accounts the previous day.

[2021] Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla, becomes the world's richest man, worth $186B, overtaking Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

[2022] Three men convicted of murdering black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Feb. 2020, sentenced to life in prison in Georgia court.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.7

49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting. 1325 – Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal. 1558 – French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise, take Calais, the last continental possession of England. 1608 – Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia. 1610 – Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he is not able to distinguish the last two until the following day. 1738 – A peace treaty is signed between Peshwa Bajirao and Jai Singh II following Maratha victory in the Battle of Bhopal. 1782 – The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opens. 1785 – Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon. 1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago. 1894 – Thomas Edison makes a kinetoscopic film of someone sneezing. On the same day, his employee, William Kennedy Dickson, receives a patent for motion picture film. 1904 – The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS". 1919 – Montenegrin guerrilla fighters rebel against the planned annexation of Montenegro by Serbia, but fail. 1920 – The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen. 1922 – Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by a 64–57 vote. 1927 – The first transatlantic commercial telephone service is established from New York City to London. 1928 – A disastrous flood of the River Thames kills 14 people and causes extensive damage to much of riverside London. 1931 – Guy Menzies flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing on New Zealand's west coast. 1935 – Benito Mussolini and French Foreign minister Pierre Laval sign the Franco-Italian Agreement. 1940 – Winter War: Battle of Raate Road: The Finnish 9th Division finally defeat the numerically superior Soviet forces on the Raate-Suomussalmi road. 1948 – Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of a supposed UFO. 1954 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York at the head office of IBM. 1955 – Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. 1959 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro. 1968 – Surveyor Program: Surveyor 7, the last spacecraft in the Surveyor series, lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral. 1972 – Iberia Flight 602 crashes near Ibiza Airport, killing all 104 people on board. 1973 – In his second shooting spree of the week, Mark Essex fatally shoots seven people and wounds five others at Howard Johnson's Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, before being shot to death by police officers. 1979 – Third Indochina War: Cambodian–Vietnamese War: Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. 1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation. 1984 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 1985 – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launches Sakigake, Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the United States or the Soviet Union. 1991 – Roger Lafontant, former leader of the Tonton Macoute in Haiti under François Duvalier, attempts a coup d'état, which ends in his arrest. 1993 – The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated with Jerry Rawlings as president. 1993 – Bosnian War: The Bosnian Army executes a surprise attack at the village of Kravica in Srebrenica. 1994 – A British Aerospace Jetstream 41 operating as United Express Flight 6291 crashes in Gahanna, Ohio, killing five of the eight people on board. 1999 – The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins. 2012 – A hot air balloon crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board. 2015 – Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others. 2015 – A car bomb explodes outside a police college in the Yemeni capital Sana'a with at least 38 people reported dead and more than 63 injured. 2020 – The 6.4Mw  2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes kill four and injure nine in southern Puerto Rico.

[draconicfool]

"Do you truly want the answer to that?" He tilted his head slightly, moving only to look up at him for a moment. For Ganymedes knew all too well. Had seen everything. The second there lit a fire in his heart of any kind, there was the Obsession. Watching over him. Never touching, but whispering. Calling always to feed into those desires. Into that desperate want and need. The second that Yingxing had made up his mind on wanting to craft, one wanting to fight the Borisin, Ganymedes had been with him. "I have watched you...since the very moment you asked that first question of a Xianzhou Native. Let's go with that."

There's a pout on his lips for a moment. Staring up at the man beneath his teeth. And there's a moment where he actually puts pressure in the bite. As if it's a warning, when it isn't. Not truly. To want something is to take. This he knows best as the very Aeon presiding over obsession. If this is not the path Yingxing wants, it nearly feels pointless to him. But then comes another breath and he's releasing him just as easily. I know my own worth. And you know it, too. Yes, suppose that much was true. "Mortals will bow only when their own prejudices are challenged. A shame." He begins running his fingers along the other's chest now. Running his tongue along Yingxing's throat. Trailing over his Adam's apple before his teeth traced it over once more. "Your resolve is always so delicious, my darling...sweet, sweet Yingxing..~. Then tell me what you desire from me."

A moment of quiet. As the Aeon listens to his words and shifts now. Sitting properly in the craftsman's lap and looking down at him. Amethyst eyes glowing in the darkness. And then, for a spell, it seems as if there are more than just the two. Filling the black void of the quiet, deep night. Before a smile spreads across his features, sharp teeth on full display. "Why yes...yes this could be quite fun. I can certainly do that, love." And then he leans back down. Claws dragging along the other man's chest. "I've no intention of letting you die anyway...I give these to you freely, my sweet Emanator."

"How many years have you been observing me for?" Yingxing asked. It must have been since the beginning, or close to it. This obsession of his had always been present, ever since he'd made the decision to travel to the Zhuming to learn craftsmanship. Just a ten-year old boy, bloodied and bruised, walking up to a Cloud-Knight overseeing the refugee rescue operation, to ask how one would best go about helping fight the borisin. Determination had always driven Yingxing forward. And then he'd found that he was talented. He'd known before that he was good with his hands, good with technology and all kinds of crafts, but when he'd been wandering the Flamewheel Forge on his own in those early days, he'd almost heard the metal calling to him. Creating weapons was what he was meant to do. What he always would be doing. Which was why he didn't expect to ever regret this night's decision.

He hummed his agreement at his Aeon's observation. "All mortals, I think. Some of the worst hypocrites I've met are vidyadhara." And wouldn't it be interesting to see their reaction to Yingxing being elevated in this way? The blatant disrespect towards his person for daring to so much as look at their High Elder would certainly be put to a halt. Yingxing shuddered at the feeling of those sweet kisses, followed by the hot drag of a tongue. Despite it all being so affectionate, it also made him feel like a mouse in the claws of a cat that was playing with its food. He... didn't think he minded it as much as he should. "I don't want it," he said softly, "It's too much politics and paperwork. And them being forced to concede because of you would be meaningless. They're not going to change their minds about me, and I've long since learned to not give a shit about their opinions. I know my own worth. And you know it, too." There were teeth against his neck now, instead of lips, and Yingxing was beginning to have some trouble focusing on the conversation, important as it was. "Strength," he murmured, "Self-healing. Immunity to lupitoxin, of course... perhaps you could make my skin impenetrable in battle, so the borisin will dull their claws and fangs if they try to tear me apart? It would suit me well, wouldn't it?" He was just coming up with quick ideas for now. He'd need to refine them, still. To stand beside Dan Feng and Jingliu, he would need more than simple survival abilities.

[talesfrommedinastation]

OC Sunday Post

Thanks to @commander-sunshine, I learned about this awesome event! Here's my two main OCs, both from the world of The Expanse, who happen to fall in line with a bunch of clones from The Bad Batch, and beyond! Their ongoing saga (Far Past The Ring) is up on both AO3 and Wattpad.

Here's my main OC, Dr. Sjael Drummer (PhD):

Dr. Sjael Drummer (who is from the world of The Expanse) is a chemical engineer and researcher from the Sol system, originally from Ganymede, who has found herself on Medina Station as part of the Transport Union with her extended family.

She conducted her post-doctoral research at the Outer Rim through a ring gate, to see if there were any inhabitable planets for Belter colonies. 

While she did not find a suitable planet due to the Empire Being Lame, she did find the remains of Clone Force 99, post-Ipsium incident. And things get wild from there, which you can read about here, in ‘Far Past the Ring’:

Some facts about this Dr. Drummer: 

Sjael is the first cousin of President Camina Drummer, as their fathers, Anang Drummer and Aki Drummer, were brothers. 

Both Anang and Aki, as can be surmised by their names, were descendents of the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe First Nations in the Belt. Sjael is of mixed First Nations and Scandinavian heritage, as is her older sister, Tanke. 

She is a vegetarian, and is adverse to harming animals. It is why she went into engineering and chemistry, rather than medicine, like her older sister (see below).

Sjael’s Ph.D is in chemical engineering. Her dissertation (and subsequent research) is on developing sucrose from both organic and synthetic materials (ie, how to make things sweet in space!)

She became friends with the crew of the Rocinante thanks to her cousin Camina's love for Naomi Nagata. They often host parties at their home where the crew hangs out.

She dated a dashing pilot for the Free Navy named Toivo Saavedra for many years, and got engaged while she was in graduate school. She soon found out that he had another fiancée, as well as other women, on different planets and stations. Oh, and he was a pirate, too. Just a class act. (She throws herself at the next guy she gets close to, who happens to be a member of Clone Force 99, so...take a read if you're curious who!)

Sjael’s biggest passion is cooking and baking. She not only loves the chemical reactions and challenges from using different ingredients (vanilla being a favorite!), but she loves taking care of those she loves. She oversees all food preparation in her extended family, who live together in a massive compound on Medina Station. 

She also adores photography, and is responsible for many of the pictures and videos on Medina Station. 

Sjael became a pilot, first to make sure to see her parents on Eros (where her physician father and lab assistant mother were stationed, and then killed by the Protomolecule), and later as a coping mechanism for being left behind by Toivo. 

Going fast and doing wild tricks in her Mulan-class gunship is one of her modes of letting off steam.

The tattoo around her neck is of the various chemical flavonoids she worked with in her research.

An irreverent ‘daddy’s girl’, Sjael was very close to her laconic, but kind-hearted, obstetrician father, who emphasized the power of deeds over words. 

Speaking of family....

Next up, is Dr. Tanke Drummer (MD), Sjael's older sister. Drawing is a WIP, bear with me.

Yes, that's Crosshair's helmet. They do not hook up or get romantic in the slightest: Tanke has, to quote "Three children, two spouses, and endless headaches!"

Rather, they become close as PTSD riddled survivors of war and brainwashing in the best way they know how: by protecting the ones they love through fierce fighting.

She is the chief intake physician of Medina Station. Any human who wishes to travel from a ring gate into the Sol system to plants such as Earth and Mars must go through her first.

A quick eye and quicker tongue, Dr. Drummer does not suffer fools, and despises pirates, smooth talkers, and anyone who dares to hurt her family, whether it's a sibling, spouse, or child. 

Some facts:

Tanke is older than her cousin Camina, and often served as a guiding post for the younger Belter, even as their fathers fought constantly. 

One of Tanke’s most searing memories from her childhood is watching her grandfather, union organizer Sjaelland Roose, be killed on camera with his fellow miners during a strike. This prompted her to become entrenched in the more extreme factions of the OPA.

Tanke has both a wife (Miriam Martin) and a husband (Timon Chapelle). Polycules are common in the Belt.

She met her spouses while serving on a Free Navy ship, which she joined after finishing university: the horrifying experience of which has made her a fierce critic of the OPA/Free Navy, and a violent enemy of Anderson Dawes.

She has multiple tattoos–the Belter ‘scar’ tattoo around her neck, as well as feathers under her ear. Her left ring finger has two wedding rings tattooed on them for her spouses. Finally, she has multiple circles and dots on her arms–all of which show the locations of Ceres and Ganymede when her various family members were born. 

She has three children–two biological sons (Blid and Haber, ages 11 and 7) and a daughter that was born from her wife (Tro, age 14). Timon is the father of both. 

All of the children address her as ‘Niimama’, the Ojibwe word for ‘my mother’. Miriam is addressed as ‘Mama’ by all of the children.

She loves beer, but does not like hard alcohol as much. A full stomach is very comforting to her.  

Tanke has PTSD and anxiety, which is channeled through her rage and caustic tongue. Her insults are legendary.

She also deals with this through going to the firing range and long, intense walks through Medina Station.

She will not eat for many hours, but the moment she gets to a comfortable spot (usually with her sister and her cooking) she will eat a huge meal.

Tanke loves carbs, and that is her biggest weakness. Noodles and bread are her comfort foods. 

You'll meet more of them the more I keep writing!

[silencedminstrel]

THE TRIPLE-AGENT AND THE HUMANOID PRESIDENT RESUMING THEIR CONVERSATION OUTSIDE THE HOLOGRAPHIC KINGDOM OF THURGEVIA

THE TRIPLE-AGENT AND THE HUMANOID PRESIDENT RESUMING THEIR CONVERSATION OUTSIDE THE HOLOGRAPHIC KINGDOM OF THURGEVIA

You must be mad, Ed! If I knew Kevga well he will hunt you down all through the universe and back again if word gets out--I don’t have to tell you what Shaik would do to you if so...! Heheh, just relax Mr President! There are not many friends for people like me...I’d long considered you as one though you’re never

So fond of my method! But consider this, Mr President: the Demonic Horde (Ja-annite) are biding their sweet time while we’re busy with this Final Prophesy thing! And they sure don’t play by the rules unlike Shaik’s Legion! Anyway that Kevga is still weak, only grew half a backbone while still pining for his teacher--

He needs this thing more than he know! (Sigh) Sadly those are truths Ed, hard to think where they’d be when the fated Vermilion Sunset (Final Battle of The Apocalypse) comes! Especially for that pipsqueak under your care right now, heheh! I’m right here, Edzelion! I’m surprised Anaeklaktik still couldn’t gauge

Your treachery despite having access to all my magicks! But yes, I’m here to make amends...know it very well my fate as the Last Emperor of Samawi must see me getting my body back so--You’ll get your body back Your Highness! Now if we’re done we need to part ways...we three got jobs to do! Agreed! (Sigh)

(Lost IN LIFE, Facebook)