#rolling hills of pennsylvania

[geopsych]

Views on either side of that hickory in the previous post. Spitzenberg Hill on one side and a view to the Pinnacle and Hawk Mountain on the other, even a glimpse of Pulpit Rock. That tree chose a glorious spot.

[ed13d1]

there is treasure in the hills

Laura Gilpin • Woman in a White Dress, 1917

[fallsflowersandmoss]

Misty morning

[ahedderick]

Future Forest

We've had large tree plantings three times in various areas of our property or my late father's. One was on one acre at the lower end of a field, near bridge and a bend in the creek. Two years in a row our neighbor planted corn there and had that one part wiped out by the creek deciding to come up and over the road and field. Planting it is trees that don't mind a bit of wet in (I think) 2013 has yielded this:

They have had 12 growing season, now, and are starting to look like a little forest instead of a bunch of lined-up sticks.

The 2020 planting got very weird. Planting was arranged in the fall of 2019, but when 2020 rolled around . . well. Planting starts in the far south, and the crews work their way north just ahead of the spring weather planting bare-root seedlings. By the time they got to Maryland, lockdown happened and they weren't allowed to go any further north. My husband called everybody and their dog trying to find places to plant thousands of extra trees that had been headed for Pennsylvania and New York state.

We had been scheduled for 6 acres of planting to 'retire' pastures my father wasn't using any more. I don't know HOW much we ended up with, but it was a lot.

That hill in the middle left of the picture is planted on all sides; probably a couple thousand trees. It'll be interesting to see how this all changes over the next twenty years.

The 2020 crew was folks from Jamaica. Most or all of them were fully deaf or hard of hearing. I guess they grouped them together so they could have one sign-language translator for the whole group. At one point, my 80-yr-old, white-bearded father put on a suit jacket (with his jeans)(?) and went up to see how they were doing. From their point of view, an elder came walking across the field, nodded to them, and then disappeared into the forest and was not seen again. They thought he was an appalachian spirit of some sort.

You just never know.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Asawin Suebsaeng, Tim Dickinson, and Ryan Bort at Rolling Stone:

Donald Trump — the twice impeached former president, Jan. 6 coup leader, convicted felon, adjudicated sexual abuser, and man who mismanaged the 2020 economic implosion and coronavirus disaster that killed more than 1 million people in this country — has convinced American voters to give him another term in the White House.

After a campaign marked by nativism, open bigotry, and aspiring authoritarianism, Trump triumphed over Vice President Kamala Harris, despite being denounced by several of those who worked most closely with him in his first term as a “fascist.” The 45th president will become the 47th in late January. Trump got out to an early lead on Tuesday and never looked back, securing North Carolina and Georgia before shattering the Democratic “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The race was called at 5:35 a.m. EST by the Associated Press after Trump earned 270 electoral college votes by winning Wisconsin. [...]

The stakes of a Trump victory could not be higher for many of the most vulnerable people living in this country. Trump’s central campaign promise has been to embark on the largest mass-deportation program in the nation’s history, a supercharged version of a racist Eisenhower-era program called “Operation Wetback.” Trump has promised to forcibly remove millions, and said that it will be a “bloody story.” He has vowed to employ local law enforcement, sheriffs, and, if necessary, the armed forces.

Trump has also vowed to use the Justice Department as an instrument of revenge on his political enemies, to crack down on media outlets that have criticized him, to hollow out the professional ranks of the federal government (and stock it full of his MAGA cronies), and to impose massive tariffs that will increase the cost of everything from avocados and automobiles to iPhones and apparel. 

America’s democracy has rarely been in a more fragile place. The country has chosen a leader who has promised to govern as a strongman, and who will not be held accountable for breaking the law, thanks to a ruling by his hand-selected, far-right Supreme Court majority that puts the presidency beyond the reach of criminal prosecution. This implausible victory — coming after a chaotic campaign that saw Democrats change candidates mid-election, and Trump galumph down the closing stretch with an increasingly bizarre series of stunts, including dressing up as a garbage man — also has huge stakes for Trump personally. 

As early as the summer of 2021, according to three sources familiar with the matter, longtime political operatives and GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill who had remained in direct contact with Trump were coalescing around a shared belief: If the criminal investigations into the former president keep ramping up, and especially if charges materialize, there is no way he doesn’t run for the presidency again. This conviction was based on conversations these Trump allies had been having with the ex-president at the time, when Trump’s fixation on, and barely veiled anxiety about, prosecution and potential prison sentences was already palpable. As time inched closer and closer to the 2022 midterm elections, Trump would, in discussions with close advisers about running again, increasingly ramble about the unique legal protections from prosecution that a sitting American president enjoys.

Two years, several history-making indictments of a former president, and billions of dollars later, those anxieties continued to fester in Trump’s brain. Over the 2024 election season, he and his allies had brainstormed and plotted numerous ways to shield him from dire legal consequences; earlier this year, the former president personally pressured multiple Republican lawmakers to pass legislation essentially designed to keep him out of prison forever. (This law did not pass, but stay tuned.)  Trump appears in the clear for at least another four years after voters handed him his long-coveted get-out-of-jail-free card on Tuesday. [...]

Trump won this year even though — and, surely in some cases, because — he ran on imposing upon the American people and global community an openly authoritarian regime concerned largely with score-settling. In addition to pledging mass deportations, militarized crackdowns, and disassembling and reconstructing the federal government around protecting and empowering himself, the former president loudly and explicitly ran on a platform of letting fellow Americans die if he doesn’t get his way or if your local leaders don’t bend to his will. Trump has recently threatened to deny potentially life-saving natural disaster aid to states whose leaders don’t bend to his wishes, threats that should be taken seriously given his history of withholding such aid for political reasons.

[...] Trump’s win demonstrates that the most powerful people in the country are indeed above the law. An elderly, foul-mouthed, racist game-show host can try, in broad daylight, while the TV cameras are fixed on him, to execute a coup d’état in our nation’s capital, people can die from it, and in a few short years be rewarded with the full-throated support of his political party, and now the keys to the White House.

For just the 2nd time in American history, A president who previously lost an election wins a 2nd non-consecutive term, as Grover Cleveland was the first to do so.

34x convicted felon, insurrection-inciter, adjudicated rapist, fascist, and vile bigot Donald J. Trump, who tried everything he could to sabotage his re-election bid, won the 2024 elections… this time with the popular vote to likely swing his way.

Assuming the 2-terms limit applies to consecutive and nonconsecutive terms, 2028 will be a wide open Presidential election for both parties (provided that America has free elections still at that point).

[aussiepineapple1st]

Could I please have Leon falling asleep on watch duty and feeling so guilty because Reader was sound asleep trusting that he’d stay awake during his shift? Do you think reader would be considerate or lash out on him? I personally want angst, what do ya think?

I think it depends on the person but I went with what I personally would do if I was Reader.

Night Watch

Leon x GN!Reader

Words: 2,186 Contains: Blood, Injury, Angst, Death?

"Here should be good." Leon says Panting heavily as he makes sure you were still following. He reaches his bloodied hand out for you to take.

You were both extremely injured, Leon being Leon had leaped between you and an oncoming attack from a Licker. You had tried to patch him up the best you could, but he was still losing blood. Despite all of this, Leon was still very much on the move and making sure you both got to safety. Grabbing Leon's hand you pull yourself up into a small clearing. You were both in a forest surrounding a hidden facility in Pennsylvania, you were both sent to check out from rumours of BOW's being created for a planned Bioterrorist Attack. A shallow cave was etched away in the side of the sharp hill, bushes and thickly covered trees keep the area secure and out of sight.

"This should do the trick. I need to patch you up properly." You say to Leon as he stands beside you. His right side covered in his own fresh blood. Gently placing a hand on Leon's lower back he automatically lifts his left arm to rest it over your shoulder. Leading him towards the cave you help lay him against part of the wall that sloped upwards. Making sure he was comfortable you take out your torch and shine it up, illuminating the ceiling to have more coverage.

Unclipping the medical pouch you had on the back of your belt, you pull out bandages, gauze, and a needle and surgical thread. Pulling up Leon's shirt you cut the old bandage around him. Leon flinched at the feeling of you touching him. "Sorry, didn't mean to hurt you." You apologise, continuing to remove the bandage slowly. Leon shakes his head, face almost in a constant squint. "It wasn't that.." "Then why did you flinch?"

"Your hands are cold.."

"Really? You're bleeding out and the thing that makes you flinch is my hands?" Leon just opens his eyes as he rests his head back on the slope of rock he lay on, cheeky smirk on his face. It was short lived though as he scrunched up his face, clenching his teeth and rolling his head slightly away from you. Seeing the pain in his face and the tremble he would do when you would touch around his wound made your chest hurt, you hated seeing Leon hurt. "Easy does it.." You say gently as you see the two gashes in his side.

The one over his ribs wasn't very deep, that one just needed to be sewn up, the one above his waist was deep. You hade stuffed the wound with a bandage to try and stem the bleeding as best you could. "Okay I'm going to pull the bandage out now.." You reach down and remove the leather belt around your waist to place in Leons mouth.

He bites down getting ready, you wait until he gives you a thumbs up before starting to pull it out. Trying to be careful and not do any more damage. As you start to pull Leon's right hand grips your left shoulder. You could tell it was just instinct, his body wanted to get away from whatever was hurting him. His arm pushing you but his hand still holding onto you so you wouldn't be pushed back completely. You needed to help him.

After pulling the bandage out you take a look inside. You can't see any muscle so he was safe there. You reach down to grab a bottle of medical alcohol and open it, the smell makes your nose tickle, almost making you sneeze.

"This is going to hurt like a bitch." You warn and then pour it out over both both wounds. Leon shouts through his teeth, banging his left hand in a fist on the ground beside him.

"I know.. You're doing good." You praise.

Grabbing the needle and surgical thread you start to combine the two. He was still holding your shoulder, panting heavily as he was taking a break from the sharp pain, only feeling a painful throbbing right now.

"Alright.. Just a prick and pulling.. I'll try and be quick." You say making sure he was ready, again. This time he just nods his head and tightens the grip on your shoulder premptively.

You go as fast and as neatly as possible, stitching him up and holding him down by his chest so you would stop pulling down. You give him a small break, but you did the big one first to get the most pain over and done with. Starting to stitch it up, Leon found it less painful seeing as he had just been in more pain with the first one.

Once he was stitched up, you tape some gauze over the wounds and the wrap a bandage around his abdomen. "There.." You say looking out the small cave you were in. "It's starting to get dark. You rest while I collect wood for a fire and maybe catch a rabbit or something."

There was a small nod and "Mmhm" from Leon as he tried to get comfortable, staying on his back, only turning his head and fixing his leg's position. You make sure he's settles before pulling out a slingshot from one of the pockets on your leg. You never know when you might need it so you trained yourself to use one and got really good with it.

Going out you start to pick up the sticks, staying close to Leon so he is safe protected while he sleeps. You manage to catch 1 rabbit, that's all you needed for the two of you. Making your way back you drop the rabbit off first and then collect the sticks for the fire. Leon was still fast asleep, though it was strange because you had never heard him snore. You hat witness him snore once and wake himself up but that was when he napped.

You could also tell he was extremely tired. You knew because he normally slept with his mouth closed, but his mouth was slightly hung open, bottom lip leaving a gap between it and the end of his top teeth.

You smile and start to skin the rabbit. Walking over to the small amount of water streaming down beside the entrance of the cave. You wash the rabbit then start to make a little stand with sticks to hold the rabbit over the fire.

Leon wakes up just at the rabbit was ready, outside was pitch black and the light from the fire illuminating your face and body. He would just watch you for a little bit before you notice his eyes were open. "Hello sleepy head. Have a good rest?" You smile at him as you pull off some of the rabbit meat and eat it.

"Hey.. How long have I been out?"

"About an hour." You say as you move to sit next to him, pulling off pieces of the meat and handing it to him

"Alright.. I'll take watch tonight."

"What? Leon you're injured your body needs the rest more than I do." You disagree.

Leon thought for a moment. "I just slept, I feel more away than you look right now. Besides you took last night's watch so you haven't slept in a long while." He argues the point, though the tone you both had was as if you were just talking casually. No agression.

"Fine.. If you say so." There wasn't really much point in fighting with Leon. You were super tired and he had more rest in him. "Good." He says trying to sit up, he was very stiff and sore. You help him rest against the wall of the cave and continue to pull meat from the rabbit and hand it to him.

After you ate you add more sticks to the fire, just to keep it going a little longer. You then curl up on the ground beside the fire to keep warm, looking over to Leon as your eyes became too heavy to stay open and they closed. Instantly falling asleep.

Leon watched for a good 3 hours but his body was fighting with him. He was doing his best to keep his eyes open, but with the amount of blood he had lost he was weak. He tried to call your name but he was too tired to even open his mouth. His head finally slumps forwards and passes out. After a good 3 more hours you wake up, seeing the early morning sun illuminate the area. Stretching you sit up. "Morning.." You say in a yawn. When you got no response you look over to Leon. He was leaning against the wall, head slumped forwards. You frown, how long had he been asleep? He was supposed to be on watch.

"Hey! Leon.. Wake up, you're supposed to be on watch or at least wake me if you were getting tired. I could have... Leon?" You pause in your frustrated rant. Leon hadn't budge. Normally he would have jumped awake at the slightest noise.

You try clapping your hands. Nothing. "Hey, Leon.. This isn't a funny joke." You crawl over to be beside him, looking over his figure, not even a snore at that awkward angle of his neck. "Leon?" You place your hand on his shoulder and gently shake him.

His hand falls off his lap as you shake him. "Leon, wake up!!" You reach up and move his fringe, tucking some of it behind his ear to be able to see his face. Still closed. You press your ear to his chest and listen. Still breathing and a heart beat. Your heart was racing, starting to come down as you had feared the worst. Taking Leon's face in your hands you turn his head to face you, your hand gently slapping his cheek. "Leon!" You call his name again.

His brows were the first to move, then his eyes open slowly, looking into yours. "What's wrong?" He asks tiredly. Then it hits him. "Oh SHIT!"

"Yeah.. Oh shit indeed!" Your tone sounded like you were pissed, but only a slight frown was on your face.

"I'm sorry, I was awake, then suddenly you were waking me up." He explained. You couldn't blame him, he had lost a lot of blood.

"You should have woken me up if you were getting tired." You say as you lift up his right arm to pull up his shirt and see how the wound was going. The Bandage was slightly bloody, but not drenched as if he was still bleeding out. "I need to change the gauze before it scabs onto it." You explain starting to undo the bandage around his abdomen. Leon was quiet, he could tell you are angry at him, he was kicking himself for falling asleep as well. He just wanted you to get some rest, he thought he could stay awake, but he was wrong and put you both in danger. "I'm sorry." He apologised eventually. You shake your head. "You lost a lot of blood, so naturally your body wants to heal, I wouldn't have mind if you just woke me to take over, but you put both of us in danger." "I know.." He looked away from you feeling ashamed. You start to get him patched up, not a word was said between you the whole time you change the gauze, seeing he wasn't bleeding anymore. You throw all the mess in the fire smouldering and turn to Leon, his head still turned away from you, his fringe blocking your view of his face. "Could you look at me?" You asked in a soft tone, waiting for him to look at you when he was ready. He turns to you, his eyes looked like he could pass out again at any moment. You reach out and place a hand on his cheek. "I'm angry, yes. But you need to listen to your body. You're just too stubborn to want to admit you need help. I'm here for you. That's why we are partners, we have to have each others backs." Leon nods and sighs heavily. "Maybe I need to rest more before we keep moving."

You nod and move to be on the flat ground rather than the slope, sitting next to the warm coals. You pat your hand on your lap. Leon looks to you with a questioning look. "Lay your head on my lap. That way the warmth from the coals will help ease the pain so you can sleep better." Leon sighs and slides over to you, lying down and placing his head on your lap. You smile and start to run your fingers through his hair to help calm him. "Sleep as long as you need. We don't have to rush. I promise to wake you if anything happens." Leon nods and almost instantly falls asleep. Your smile widens and you keep the fire at a low temperature for Leon's side, keeping an eye out for any danger.

🏷️: @phoenix666stuff @maehemthemisfit @greywardensaywhat @growingupnrealizing @starcrossedreaders

[collapsedsquid]

According to two Biden campaign officials and two other sources with knowledge of the operation, draft pleadings and legal motions, for all kinds of possible Trump-related emergencies, are already written and at the ready. In critical swing states such as Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, Team Biden is regularly in contact with an array of outside counsels and local law firms that have been retained to actively monitor what is happening on the ground, including with regards to the activism of election-denying Trump allies.  Bidenworld’s closely-held list of nightmare scenarios — in which Democratic legal teams would have to battle it out tooth and nail with Republican counterparts before, during, or after Election Day 2024 — has grown “comically long,” says one source with direct knowledge of the matter. Biden campaign officials and other Democrats familiar with the topic tell Rolling Stone that a key concern, for which step-by-step gameplanning has already begun, is how to robustly respond if Trump and other leading Republicans try to engineer another Jan. 6-style power grab. In these internal wargames among Bidenworld and Democratic attorneys in key states, this kind of Jan. 6 sequel has included scripts in which House Republicans or state officials refuse to certify a Biden victory — an act that prominent GOP politicians, including on Capitol Hill, have publicly dangled as an option.

I'm sorry but gop legislators refusing to certify an election is not a "Jan 6th-like event," I fucking hate this shit. I mean these are necessary preparations, I am glad they are making them but I fucking hate that this is how they talk.

I hope however that in their insane desire they have to contextualize everything as "Jan 6th-like" while actually preparing for battles in the courtroom they are not ignoring the synthesis of these two and are preparing for a "Brooks Brothers Riot-type event"

[vaguelyoriginaldrivel]

RANDOM TOWN GENERATOR

My longest-running campaign ended this year. Granted, that’s not saying much - only ran 9 sessions, started last fall, but still as of yet the only real “campaign” I’ve ever ran. Was some sort of “urban fantasy” thing, players a bunch of wizards (and one giant shrimp-man) driving around some undefined region of the USA in an again undefined recent past… though near the end I think I’d decided on it being set in Pennsylvania? Definitely a learning experience in a lot of ways for me, regardless. Anyways here’s some tables I made for it

Town name (d10):

Washington

Franklin

Chester

Dover

- 10. [random - roll prefix, suffix]

Prefix (d12):

Spring

Hill

Glen

George

Kings

Green

Arling

Clay

Ash

Gold

Mill

Fair

Suffix (d6):

field

lake

hill

view

ton

-Town

Notable Feature (3d10): 1-3. Can’t be rolled on a 3d10

Ignore everything else - this isn’t an ordinary small town, it’s a neo-nazi cult compound. They have guns and they don’t like you

Historic building - Weird modern house - all pods, steel, fiberglass, and concrete, with spherical pods covered in pods. Abandoned.

Ruins - Abandoned Shopping Mal

Speed trap town - local cops lurk on the side of the highway, entire town economy based on speeding tickets. Basically operates on piracy. Absurdly low speed limits not properly demarcated

Weird art installation - field of sculptures (d4 - abstract metal, cobbled-together trash, stone statues of animals and people, monoliths with inscriptions)

Historic building - haunted mansion, old style - wood, maybe some stone

Notable dam overlooking the town, potentially vulnerable to failure

Ruins - Abandoned Factory

College town - small local college dominates the local economy, most residents are students or staff

Tourist trap - Historic house (d4- Rotting wooden mansion with a ghost story, old colonial stone fort, weird modern house of a dead eccentric rich guy/ weird cult leader )

Large immigrant population from a distant country (ie not part of the Americas- like Kazakhstan or Swahililand or Lichtenstein, not like, Colombia)

Oddly high concentration of a hyper-specific specialized type of business - an entire district of dentists or dog groomers or something

Not a full on cult compound, but much of the town’s population do follow a specific esoteric cults religion like scientology or sedevacantist mormonism or something

Birthplace of some celebrity, statue in town square proclaims as much

Tourist trap -Giant sculpture, gift shop (d4 - historic figure, giant animal, mascot of attached restaurant, dinosaur(young-earth creationist))

Historic building - old colonial fort, earthworks and stone and wood

Geography - Subterranean water (1d4 - Hot spring, bottomless pit in a lake, water-filled mine pit)

Geography- Big rock (d4 - Balancing rock, weird outcroppings (like fang ridge nevada), meteor (in far-off museum, there’s a plaque next to the crater though), butte)

Geography - Weird Cliff (1d6: columnar jointing, waterfall, petroglyphs, looks like a face, church built into it, odd color)

Retirement community, no children whatsoever and everyone is either a senior citizen or a caretaker

Odd museum - animal (1d6- snails, songbirds, butterflies, earthworms, leeches, mice)

Odd museum - human (1d6- finger, ear, spleen, tongue, nose, lip, nail)

Odd museum - local cryptid (1d6 - sasquatch, lake monster, grey alien, weird alien (ie flatwoods), hodag, giant toad, devil)

Religious - large megachurch, drawing in the faithful from across the state

Weird art installation - small grove with (d4 - dollheads hanging from the trees, extensive etchings onto the bark, geometric statues in between the trees, the trees coated in colorful yarn)

Ignore everything else - this isn’t an ordinary small town, it’s some kind of hippy commune or cult compound or something. Either pseudochristian or pseudodharmic, flip a coin

Special - roll on Supernatural table

(intentionally weighted to be biased more towards the middle but I didn’t really check the probabilities here, might be way too hard to get the ones at the further poles)

Extra: Supernatural element. (d4)

Entire town was replaced with body-snatchers a few years ago. They’ll try to keep you in town for a few days - constantly surveilling you, in order to grow a body-double - when they’re done they’ll try and kidnap you to replace you with it the next time you wander away from the group. Body snatcher type varies - (Fae-esque boogeymen cuckoo-bird shapeshifters, pseudo-plant pod people, 1979 Alien style androids, etc)

Recent sightings of some kind of cryptid or something has drawn droves of “cryptozoologists” to town. This is a problem because some of you are cryptids. Coinflip if the cryptid in question is real or not

Entire town stuck in groundhog day loop - the US military has caught on and is using the town as a testing-bed/training site. Just like groundhog day, there’s one guy somewhere in town originating the loop - kill him or put him to sleep and it resets - make him learn the error of his ways - or keep him awake til midnight - and the effect ends permanently. The feds know about this, first thing they do every loop is send their special ops guys to bag him and hide him in a van before they start the raid in earnest. Outsiders, like you and the special ops guys, can enter the loop - no matter what happens, when the loop resets you’re plopped back outside right where you entered in exactly the state you were then except for your memories - even if you died you’re revived.

Certain nights, at the witching hour (12-1), local monsters and spirits and such emerge and walk the streets openly - certain stalls and shops pop up in areas that are normally unused, catering to this strange clientele, and others who sell mundane wares during the day reveal their magical affiliations at night. Also there’s street performances, music and dances and parades - and games, dangerous ones - ones you can join. The rest slumber on, but the magic that keeps them asleep does not apply to you. As magicians and cryptids yourself, this could be a good opportunity, but not all the spirits who’ve emerged are peaceful.

this is what the map of the actual campaign ended up looking like at the end btw

[reallystellacadente]

I Really Don't Want to Die, and Why

I need to make something ENTIRELY clear: Donald Trump needs to be defeated BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

ANY. FUCKING. MEANS. NECESSARY.

The rest is below the cut because it's long and personal. The tl;dr, though is if you cannot abide me posting that you have to vote for the Democrat in this election, you should probably unfollow me. I'm not all that popular, so blocking is unnecessary but you do you.

That also includes his supporters on Capitol Hill, the incompetents on SCOTUS, and any and all of the Nationalist Christians (Nat C) fascists who support the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 and any other manifestos they have excreted into the public domain.

For me, that means I have to vote for the Democratic nominee for president in 2024. To not vote, or to waste my vote on a useless third party candidate, is to hand a vote to Trump. Go back and check the facts of 2016: Jill Stein voters handed him Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, where I live. Nonvoters who usually voted Democrat who stayed home because of the Email Lady also would have made a difference.

Fine. We fucked around and found out. Hundreds of thousands died. An insurrection happened literally in front of our eyes. And the figurehead behind it all has, to date, gotten away with everything.

Now the Beast is even worse. If Donald Trump gets elected, his policies will LITERALLY COST ME MY LIFE and that of my family. He will take away my healthcare (I am a recent cancer survivor), my pending disability (I cannot walk or stand for more than a few seconds and had to quit my job; this predates and is unrelated to my cancer), my EBT (haven't been able to work more than part-time for a while now, and I do like to eat food) and the pitiful partial Social Security we're living on while my disability is getting approved -- thanks to the GOP, a process that takes a minimum of 6-8 months. I will lose my income and my housing and everything.

I FUCKING DON'T LIKE THAT.

None of this -- ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THIS -- means I support the genocide in Palestine. I have been fighting this fight since the mid-80s and I can get the receipts if you want. I questioned why it was OK to roll tanks onto people who threw stones at them, only to get called a terrorist.

But now, when I am doing the best I can to fight the literal war here where I live, I'm called a white supremacist? Fuck you. I mean, the person sending me messages has been blocked and won't see this, but I'm getting that out into the universe nevertheless.

If you're old enough to navigate this website, you're old enough to curate your own experience here. Unfollow me if me saying "you need to vote for the Democrat" is bothersome. I will accept that it might even be triggering and that's OK, I certainly don't want to actually trigger someone's pain. But sending me threatening messages is bullshit and you know it.

I don't stan politicians and in social media spaces where my real identity is known, and I have stated this many times. Cult of personality sucks no matter who it's about. But all things considered, the Democratic platform/policies/whatever have always been closer to what I want in the place where I live. The GOP? Never in my lifetime.

It's hard for me to reconcile these things, but I know that if Trump wins, it will be even worse for Palestine. And he'll let Putin run rampant through Ukraine, too.

I'm sorry this is what it's come down to. I hope to live long enough to see something change. But we absolutely must defeat Donald Trump.

I want to live.

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

The first world-record pancake

By Jonathan Monfiletto

A visitor to Penn Yan – a former resident of Yates County, in fact – recently remarked to me that it was his custom during his periodic visits to stop at the Penn Yan Diner and order the buckwheat pancakes, “as one would when in Penn Yan,” he told me. When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when in Penn Yan, do as the Pennsylvania Yankees do.

Penn Yan sure is proud of its buckwheat pancakes and of The Birkett Mills, the 200-plus-year-old company and the remaining mill on the Keuka Lake Outlet, that produces buckwheat pancake mix and other goods from the grain-like plant that is technically a fruit and related to rhubarb. So proud, indeed, that for a period of time – from 1986 until 1999 – Penn Yan celebrated the Buckwheat Festival at the end of September.

The Birkett Mills would actually shut down its operations for a couple of weeks, with many of its employees involved in the planning and hosting of the festival, and the community would gather to pay homage to the key ingredient in the Mills’ processes. Held at the Yates County Fairgrounds, the festival consisted of comedy shows, music acts, crafts, animals, a midway with rides and games, and of course buckwheat-based foods – pizza dough, hot dog rolls, kasha, and even ice cream and candy bars.

While the lasting impression of the Buckwheat Festival may be the giant griddle – 28 feet, 1 inch in diameter, to be exact – that hangs on the side of The Birkett Mills building on the corner of Main and Seneca streets and was used to make the Guinness Book of World Records-verified world record pancake at the second festival in 1987, people nowadays might not remember that the first attempt at a world-record pancake took place at the inaugural festival in 1986.

The inaugural Buckwheat Harvest Festival (it is dubbed the “first annual” festival, and that terminology grates on me as a former journalist and lifelong grammar drill sergeant) took place on the weekend of Saturday, September 27 and Sunday, September 28. It started with a parade through downtown Penn Yan on Saturday morning with high school marching bands, area musical acts, floats from local businesses and organizations, and others entertainers, marchers, and participants.

The festival also included an arts and crafts show in which a jury selected the vendors for the craftsmanship and variety of items the vendors offered numerous categories of items for sale. Several Yates County churches, pastors, and congregants gathered to host a sunrise worship service on the Sunday morning of the festival. Entertainment acts included Nik and the Nice Guys, the Tamburitzans of Duquesne University, and Dick Solberg the Sun Mountain Fiddler.

The Birkett Mills allowed tours of its facility during the festival – something it doesn’t normally do – and Penn Yan Academy staged a football game against Palmyra-Macedon on Saturday. There was also a jamboree on Saturday featuring the bands Crossroads, Country Cousins, Southern Tears, and Union.

Yet, the highlight of the inaugural Buckwheat Festival undoubtedly must have been the cooking of the 10-foot-diameter buckwheat pancake. With some 20,000 people attending the festival over the two days, The Chronicle-Express states the fairgrounds “grandstand was full and the crowd five to six feet deep as the excitement grew,” while Craig McMinn distributed 800 pounds of pancake batter over a half-ton steel griddle.

McMinn, of CM Fabrication in Penn Yan, built the griddle along with CM’s Bob Kerrick, while Bruce Hansen, of City Hill Construction in Dresden, provided hydraulic equipment to help flip the pancake. Steve Graves, The Birkett Mills assistant plant manager, was given the challenge of making the world’s biggest pancake, though inquiries to London-based Guinness offered little direction on how big it had to be. So, while it was dubbed the world’s largest buckwheat pancake, it is unclear whether it actually was.

In the program for the inaugural festival, Graves noted maintaining an adequate and constant heat source would be a difficult challenge, and he planned to use good, old-fashioned firewood to cook the pancake. He also planned to use Puritan Buckwheat Pancake Mix, since Puritan already contained all of the ingredients in its mix so the addition of eggs, milk, salt, and other items would be unnecessary. The only thing added to the mix was Keuka Lake water. Afterward, New York State maple syrup and butter topped off the meal.

Described by The Chronicle-Express as “a little brown around on top and crispy on the edges,” the pancake was also dubbed “a giant success” and “a meal for thousands” for the spectators and workers at the fairgrounds.

“What will be attempted next year?” The Chronicle-Express wondered. “Everyone will want to keep their eyes and ears open because plans are already underway for the second annual Buckwheat Harvest Festival.”

[travelena]

England 🇬🇧 - London, Cotswolds & Cornwall

Day 1 - London

Dishoom for lunch! We went to the covent garden location though there are many and each has a slightly different decor/vibe. Then walked around Soho and Big Ben, etc. Then we did dinner at Kricket which was mid.

Lots of places we wanted to go but ran out of time: Columbia Road Flower Market, Spitalfields Market, Borough Market

We did have one dinner near the airport which was fantastic: Zayani Indian Restaurant

High tea locations I researched: the beaumont, sketch, Oblix at the Shard (great view), Petersham Nurseries (whimsical, but in richmond), The stage at the Londoner (moody bar interior), The Ritz (pianist), The orchid lounge, the bloomsbury, Fortnum & Mason, Harrods, The Savoy, Claridge’s, The Orangery at Kensington Palace

Other London food recs though so many more: Dishoom (indian), Da Maria (italian in kensington), Daphne’s italian- cool atmosphere, Villa Mammas - middle eastern, Fait Mason - middle eastern w/ cool interior, Chet’s (thai), The Tamil Prince (order the channa bhatura), Malaysia Deli, Lyaness (cocktail bar), Tayyab’s (punjabi food, lamb chops)

Day 2 - Oxford & Cotswolds

Stopped at Oxford on our drive to the Cotswolds and it was amazing - could've spent more time walking around campus. We had a quick lunch at the Vaults & Garden near the Radcliffe Camera. We didn't have enough time but I would've liked to go into the Bodleian Library and walk around Christ Church meadow. Lots of old buildings and you really feel the history here and can imagine all these brilliant minds sharing this space through time. Then we left Oxford and went to Burford for a quick cream tea before going to our Airbnb on a very cute lush estate with horses and chickens and walking paths through the rolling hills. Could have also stopped at Bibury if time allowed on this route but we didn't have enough. Had a nice dinner at The Willow in Bourton-on-the-Water.

Day 3 - Cotswolds

Went to lower slaughter, bourton-on-the-water, Upper slaughter, stow-on-the-wold. Walked through the villages and enjoyed the quaintness. The main things to do are walk around and take it in, there are some nice countryside walks to do as well. Overall, all about slow living and would be a nice weekend getaway from London. We also spent some time enjoying our accommodation and doing countryside walks near the horse paddocks as well. Overall, very bucolic but the countryside honestly looked like Bucks County Pennsylvania.

Day 4 - Drive to Cornwall

Drove to Cornwall, this day was cold and rainy and I was sick. Didn't do too much except drive. All the drives took longer than the GPS predicted. If more time would've stopped at Dartmoor park on the way and done a hike (Hound Tor hike 2-3 h, or wistman woods 1h, or saddle tor & Haytor Rocks). We stayed just outside St. Ives

Day 5 - Cornwall

Drive to Sennen cove→ Land's End-> porthcurno beach → pedn vounder beach (nearby and gorgeous but can't remember if we went or not) →Mullion cove→Kynance Cove (enjoy Lizard)

We did a lovely afternoon tea. at Polurrian on the Lizard and then cliff walk from the property. This was a highlight!

Walked around St. Ives at sunset - gorgeous!

Cornwall food places I researched: Porthminster kitchen (st Ives - had a great whole fish here), the sea room (st Ives), hub box (st Ives), the Cornish bakery, silco is a cute cafe w tapas in st Ives, harbour fish and chips, moomaid (ice cream st ives)

Day 6 - Cornwall

Went to the beach on the other side of St. Ives and walked along the path from Godrevy Point stopping at Fisherman's Cove. Phenomenal cliff walk - could've gone much farther and hiked more of the coast. Pretty much anywhere along the cornwall coast is gorgeous, could spend much more time exploring/enjoying this area.

Day 7 - Bath

Stayed at Brooks Guesthouse which was cute. Met up with Edith and walked around, saw the old Georgian style buildings around the Royal Crescent where they now film lots of period pieces. Then had drinks next to Bath Abbey (there is a tour/ticket you can get to go inside as well) and saw the dam & Pulteney Bridge. Other attractions there are the roman baths and the Jane Austen Centre. Went to dinner at Bandook which was pretty good but small portions. Tash and I had drinks at The Botanist which was an absolute highlight - live music, gorgeous interior, and amazing cocktail menu. Still thinking about this a year later.

Tips:

Could've spent some more time in Bath, London & Cornwall. Other cornwall plces I would like to go are: Perranporth, Porthtowan, TintagelNorth Devon, Dorset National Landscape. Would've also liked to do a Jurassic Coast road trip and seen the seven sisters and cliffs.

If more time in Bath I would've liked to do afternoon tea at the Pump House

Would've stopped at Castle Combe if more time.

[fetchmearum420]

Ranking each 1776 character:

John Adams, Massachusetts: 7/10 funny but something quite rude which I don’t like, can be cute like with Abigail. Bill Daniels nails the role.

Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania: 28736372818/10 deserves the damn world, Howard Da Silva really should have won an Oscar and Tony for Franklin, such a fun part.

Thomas Jefferson, Virginia: even though he really doesn’t speak much until But Mr Adams and in the second act, I still love him (not the REAL Jefferson) and Ken Howard really was extremely hot.

John Dickinson, Pennsylvania: 198277281/10 yes he’s a dick but he’s my dick and I love him. Always a mood. I respect that he was trying to be civil with England. Both Paul Hecht and Donald Madden nailed the role.

John Hancock, Massachusetts: 172774738/10 such an angry boy but he’s so funny and for what 😀 David Ford should have won an Oscar for his facial expressions.

James Wilson, Pennsylvania: 1938738291/10 idk why I love him so much but I do. He’s so cute and him and Dickinson are so in love and it’s adorable. Emory Bass really nailed the part and hardly smiled at all. Nailed it.

Edward Rutledge, South Carolina: 10/10 this one might be controversial but I LOVE Rutledge. I’m obsessed with his peacock costumes and his hairstyle. (Gary Beach played Rutledge which was his Broadway debut and he’s the reason I’m even into this musical.) Molasses to Rum is the show stopper for me and I bow down to both John Cullum and Clifford David.

Charles Thompson: 10/10 such an underrated king and Ralston Hill’s eyebrows should have won an Oscar. Always a mood.

Dr. Lyman Hall, Georgia: 183873828/10 a cinnamon roll that deserves more love. His first day is so chaotic but he doesn’t complain. Jonathan Moore slayed. (Also fun fact, Jonathan UNDERSTUDIED Adams while on Broadway. What id give to go back in time to see him do that role.)

Richard Henry Lee, Virginia: 182773829/10 a small role, but his number is obviousLEE a stand out and such a bop. He’s so cute and clearLEE fun. Ron Holgate totally earned that Tony.

Roger Sherman, Connecticut: 1273672/10 underrated king that I love. He always has a bowl of coffee with him and it’s so cute and for what 😩 Rex Robbins you son of a bitch why you make Sherman so cute 😭

Samuel Chase, Maryland: 7/10, doesn’t do much for me but he is pretty funny. Phil Polito and Patrick Hines nailed it.

Caesar Rodney, Delaware: 10/10 we Stan a king who was deathly sick but yet traveled 80 miles back to congress to sign the damn declaration and save Delaware.

Col. Thomas McKean, Delaware: 19927382/10 He is so damn funny and for what 😭 he’s always threading Read and it makes me cackle.

Stephen Hopkins, Rhode Island: 1929838291/10 my favorite drunk bastard. Ceo of RUM. Such a crackhead. We Stan Roy Poole for this role.

George Read, Delaware: 0/10 we don’t like this louse in my house. He is a slimy worm. Fuck this bitch.

Andrew McNair: 10/10 SWEET JESUS it’s obvious. William Duell deserved an Oscar for saying SWEET JESUS so many times.

Lewis Morris, New York: 8/10 ceo of abstaining, COURTEOUSLY. We Stan.

Rev. John Witherspoon, New Jersey: 10/10 friendly guy who has a whore of an Aunt. But wtf is up with James Noble’s eyes the entire movie 😭🤭

Robert Livingston, New York: 4/10, the only time he actually says something is during But Mr Adams and he’s singing. Doesn’t do much for me.

Joseph Hewes, North Carolina: 6/10 he’s okay. Doesn’t do much for me.

Abigail Adams: 182772883/10 my wife. Such a damn queen. We Stan Virginia Vestoff.

Martha Jefferson: 182772828/10 only in one scene but NAILS IT. I definitely prefer Betty Buckley but Blythe Danner was good too.

Dr. Josiah Bartlett, New Hampshire: 1/10 literally takes the fun out of Congress. Unfair bitch.

Courier: 4/10, don’t really have an opinion.

[theyhaveacavetroll]

I love Pennsylvania's rolling hills. I love the rural areas where the people work so hard, too hard, but they also don't hesitate to help each other because that's all they've got. I love the lightning bugs at night in the summer and the mockingbirds that mimic every sound they hear and I love the town we moved to when I was seventeen with its occasional smell of potato chips from the factory in town. I just moved to another state and while I haven't been here long enough to find all the things I'll love about it, I love the public transit and the well-kept roads and the little corner store in town with the really friendly lady who runs it. I love the cigarette butt disposal stations in town with slots on either side so you can vote for the answer to a question by cleaning up the town.

I love my country and I'm tired of people shit talking it like it's not worth anything.

anyways (I say this as someone who is deeply critical of the united states government, military, unchecked capitalism, police, etc) I am SICK of people treating america as if it has no cultural value or positives so….. I love u 85 million acres (bigger than italy) of national parks. I love u harlem renaissance. I love u groundhogs day. I love u sweet tea and fried chicken and jambalaya. I love u apple cider donuts and maizes on crisp autumn days. I love u 95k miles of coastlines and new england fisherman and hand knitted sweaters. I love u halloween where millions of people dress up and give candy to strangers and carve jack o’lanterns. I love u small talk and small towns and potlucks and bringing over casseroles to your struggling neighbors. I love u cowboys and ranch hands and arizonian cactus. I love u appalachian trail and dirtbikes and divebars. I love u sparklers and fireflies. I love u mark twain and toni morrison and emily dickinson and henry david thoreau. I love u rock n roll i love u bluegrass and hippies i love u jimi hendrix and nirvana and CCR and janis joplin. I love u victorian houses and jonny appleseed and john henry and mothman and bigfoot. I love u foggy days in the pacific northwest and neon signs and roadside attractions. I love u baseball and 1950s diners and soft serve. I love u native american art and pop art and poptarts. I love u blue jeans and barbecues and jazz musicians 

[ahedderick]

We planned in 2019 to have a 6-acre area of old pasture at Home Farm planted in trees. 2020 spring planting season came - with complications. The planting crews work from south to north to catch the early spring weather as it rolls up across the country. When they got to Maryland, they were 'stuck' and couldn't go any farther north; everything was shut down for Covid. My husband, who was a forester for the state at that time, got on the phone to anybody he could think of who could take the thousands of seedlings that had been scheduled to be planted in Pennsylvania and New York. We ended up planting quite a lot extra at Home Farm, too. This hill has cedar and pine regeneration lower down, but was quite treeless across the top. The new saplings, after four growing seasons, are poking out of the protective tree tubes, now, and flourishing.

In about ten years, it will be starting to look like a young forest, here. With a little luck.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Will Bunch at The Philadelphia Inquirer:

The most wildly misunderstood yet commonly used word in American politics is “gaffe.” The dictionary defines it as “an unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator; a blunder” — and that’s not wrong. But on the campaign trail, 95% of the time a much-talked-about “gaffe” is the blunder of a politician accidentally blurting out the truth. You’ve been hearing a lot about Donald Trump’s disastrous, Nazi-echoing rally at Madison Square Garden, and “comedian” Tony Hinchcliffe’s vote-killing “jokes” about Puerto Ricans and African Americans, and that’s been a game-changing development. But over the last week, it’s also been open-mic night for the Republicans who want to run Congress, and the embarrassing blunder of accidental truth-telling has been coming faster than Henny Youngman one-liners. Election Day will tell whether the joke is on the GOP, or on the American people for electing them.

[...] In fact, the current GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, with a 50-50 chance of clinging to that job next January, has been barnstorming America in a festival of truth-telling “gaffes,” including the revelation that his party dreams of not just gutting Obamacare — as McCormick suggested on that hot mic — but repealing the ACA altogether. This despite Trump’s September debate admission that after a decade of talking about this, he only has “concepts of a plan” (and in reality he doesn’t even have that) on how to replace a program that has saved thousands of American lives.

“No Obamacare,” Johnson responded to a voter’s comment during a news conference in Pennsylvania, before suggesting that Republicans, if it’s in their control, will make major but totally unspecified changes to a program that is broadly popular with the American public while currently insuring more than 21 million. He added: “The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that.” Yeah, sure, Mike. But like Bluto in Animal House, the House speaker was now rolling. Only a day or so later, campaigning for an embattled House ally in upstate New York, Johnson replied to a student journalist from Syracuse University asking if Congress would also repeal 2022′s bipartisan CHIP and Science Act, which is aiding an $100 billion new plant in that New York candidate’s district creating thousands of new jobs. “I expect that we probably will but we haven’t developed that part of the agenda yet — we gotta get over the election first,” Johnson said.

This time, Johnson soon realized that he’d gone too far even for today’s Republicans, and he rolled back the comment with the hard-to-believe claim that he’d misheard the clearly audible student journalist just a few feet away. But while the semiconductor-aid program, and its large-scale job creation, appear to be safe for now, we should take Johnson, McCormick and their colleagues seriously, if not always literally. To reach their true spiritual goal of taking America back to a time when white men like them ruled without challenge — not only on Capitol Hill but in every household — they are willing to willy-nilly repeal anything passed not just by President Joe Biden but LBJ and maybe even FDR. They want to bring back an uneven playing field for women, Black and brown folks, or the LGBTQ community, even if it also hurts the white middle class they claim to be representing.

Is it a gaffe that we’re learning in the campaign’s final hours that Team Trump plans to give enormous power over public health policy to former-candidate-turned-Trump-ally and anti-vaccine nutjob Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who tweeted Saturday night that he literally wants to take America back to the 1950s by removing fluoride — which has improved the dental health of U.S. children for decades — from public drinking water. Make all the jokes you want about the John Birch Society or Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove, but — just like Hinchcliffe’s MSG put-downs of Latinos and Black people — their push to unravel modern American progress is no laughing matter. Voters understand RFK Jr.’s words are serious because we’ve already seen in one hugely important area — reproductive rights — what happens when the barking dog of GOP policy nonsense actually catches the car. The Trump-fried U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe vs. Wade has taken women’s health care back more than 60 years, and now we are learning the stories of the women who are dying as a result. How many more Americans will die needlessly if Johnson, McCormick, Trump and their ilk keep driving their 1950s Rambler policies off the cliff?

[...] The GOP’s 11th-hour policy truth bombs aren’t getting the media attention they deserve. They are competing with the increasingly racist, violent and unhinged rhetoric from Trump’s allies but especially from the 78-year-old candidate himself, who seems to be descending into madness in what, either way, are (probably) his last days ever on the trail. We should be paying great attention to events like his nearly six-hour Manhattan hatefest. But understand that the cruelty is the point of the modern MAGA movement, and Trump’s despicable language and attitudes toward women and nonwhite men will be translated on Capitol Hill into cruel policies — political neutron bombs that will devastate everyone, even the folks lining up in Appalachia or the prairies of the Great Plains to vote for Trump.

Will Bunch delivers a truthbomb in his latest Philly Inquirer column that the GOP’s deranged quest to repeal CHIPS Act and Obamacare, along with pandering to anti-fluoride cranks, will doom them.

See Also:

HuffPost: Republicans Close Out Final Week Of 2024 Race By Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud

[pittsburghbeautiful]

Exploring Pittsburgh's Craft Distilleries

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