#surviving earth nbc

[mrultra100]

We might not have to wait much longer for Surviving Earth, folks…

[zvezdacito]

Random TWST worldbuilding rewrite idea

I think it would've been cool if the Scalding Sands event had utilized more of the Cave of Wonders lore from the original movie as insp.

I'll elaborate on the idea I thought of in the images and text below ⬇️

-Maybe the Scalding Sands got its name from the sands of its deserts being magical and having an aggravated fierceness because of that, In my brain the magic sands kinda have the movement of unpredictable rocky ocean waves

-And that's why its a common semi-magic natural phenomenon in the Scalding Sands that in the danger desert zones outside the City there are just these sinkholes/gaps that can appear out of nowhere

-and it basically leads to the underground cave thing (the Cave of Wonders reference) but it's usually very unstable and collapses before ppl can get out

-So exploring is not advised and that's why researchers haven't found much on its cause and the full extent of what happens inside yet

-Maybe kalim's ancestors who helped found and stabilize the city were the only known people in recorded history who were able to successfully navigate past these 'caves'/get out when they were trapped inside

-Back to where the canon event starts Kalim Jamil and co. go to the city first but then Malleus wanders off to the desert area and they GPS follow him there, but then the sand suddenly sinks in and they get trapped in a Cave of Wonder where they find a bunch of like rare magic gems in there and stuff

-Because Kalim knows his ancestor supposedly survived this situation according to legend, it increases their hopes that they might make it out too

-Although exact record of how he made it out is lost, maybe he left something behind passed down to his family for generations that serves as a clue or guide to how

-The stakes are the gang have to get back to the surface in time for the fireworks launching ceremony, and before the sands shift too much and crush them to death underneath it (reference to Aladdin cave chase where he has to escape it being overrun by lava and stuff)

Ok that's it so far its still kinda unpolished cause this is kinda just the first things I thought of

For this to happen they need to cut on a lot of the details in kalim inviting everyone and them touring the town so rip to those crumbs but overall I think this is kind of a cooler concept for an event😭

-Like idk but I wished the worldbuilding of Twisted Wonderland felt more whimsical and magical for real since it's all based off Disney movies there is so much potential😭😭😭

-Currently they are underutilizing the source material in that regard so bad TWSTLand is literally just simplified earth and that's frankly kinda lame😭 Yuu might as well not have been isekaid to it at this point

-(Also I think they should've saved a city with its main thing being flowers for somewhere in the Queendom of Roses than the NBC city (I know its for those fire lilies plot point but whatever they could've found some other way for Rollo to attempt genocide on mages)

-Like I personally think NBC city should just be like twst Vatican tho idk what religions TWSTland residents have)

That's all I think. Thank you for reading

[kosmos2999]

Star Trek: The Animted Series 50th Anniversary Episode Review

Episode: The Infinite Vulcan

Season: 1

Episode: 7

Stardate:

Original airdate: October 20, 1973

Written by: Walter Koenig

Directed by: Hal Sutherland

Music by: Yvette Blais and Jeff Michaels

Executive producers: Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott

Studio: Filmation Associates

Network: NBC

Series created by: Gene Roddenberry

Cast:

Captain James T. Kirk (voice by William Shatner)

Mr. Spock, Spock 2 (voice by Leonard Nimoy)

Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (voice by DeForest Kelly)

Lt. Uhura, Computer Voice (voice by Nichelle Nichols)

Lt. Hikaru Sulu (voice by George Takei)

Eng. Montgomery Scott, Agmar, Dr. Stavos Keniclus 5 (voices by James Doohan)

Nurse Christine Chapel (voice by Majel Barrett)

Synopsis:

The Enterprise is engaged in an exploring mission. A newly discovered planet on the pheripheral portion of the galaxy. An away team composed of Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy, Mister Spock and Lieutenant Sulu is assembled to being beamed down to this world full of natural beauty but full of mystery.

At the arrival, they have found a city apparently abandoned by its inhabitants. They get confusing signals on their scanners and the readings of a power source on a building in front of them. While his teammates explore the inside of the building, Sulu finds a mobile plant and gets hurt mortally by one of its thorns. Kirk, McCoy and Spock came to his rescue once they listen to his scream for help.

The doctor applies one of his antidotes, but it is useless aganist the plant's poison. Then, a group of plant-like beings suddenly appeared. Their leader, Agmar offers a cure for Sulu but McCoy refusses the help. Kirk accepts the help from the natives and just when they apply their antidote, Sulu recovers very fast.

Agmar, the Phylosian told to the crew that they had an earlier contact with humans. One that brought the an infectious bactery that killed a generation of their own, but he also helped them to survive. As they are entering thru a cave, a flock of dragon-like flying plant-lifeforms attack the Enterprise's crew and kidnap Spock.

The Phylosians got a system that makes phasers not working, then a giant human appeared and the natives made a bow to him. He identifies as Doctor Stavos Keniclus 5, the man who saved the natives from extintion. He told the team that he needs Spock for his plans and also told them to leave the planet.

Kirk orders to beam up the rest of the crew.

On the bridge, Kirk orders Lt. Uhura to investigate any data about Keniclus 5. Meanwhile, the doctor tries to find a way to defend themselves against the plant-lifeforms by using a recepie for a pesticide from his gran-grandfather's farm.

Uhura found a record of a scientist Keniciclus who left the Earth after loosing the Eugenic Wars. Kirk is surprised and trying to guess how he survived after more than 200 years.

Kirk, McCoy and Sulu return to the planet's surface but much prepeared to rescue Spock. The natives brought them to a underground compound where Spock is located.

Inside the cave compound, they encounter again with Keniciclus 5. He reveals himself as the fifth generation clone of the original Dr. Keniciclus. His plan is to imposing peace by strenght to the galaxy by invading every single planet they could. For that reason, he produced a Mr. Spock's clone, Spock 2.

As soon as they learned Keniciclus 5's plans for galactic conquest, a new wave of the dragon-like flying plant-lifeforms made an attack. This time, the team is ready to counter using McCoy's pesticide formula as a weapon.

After a successfully defeat of the flying creatures, Kirk triex to reason with Keniciclus 5 that he is unaware of the present time. That there is no need to continue wars from the past because the Federation had brought peace thru the galaxy. Then Kirk had a conversation with Spock 2 about the illogical action of imposing peace thru strenght. Some that goes against the Vulcan philosophy of infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Something that simbolize the elements of truth and beauty.

Spock 2 asserts Kirk's words and changes his mind. Meanwhile, the original Spock is dying in a chamber because of a memory drain performed by the mad scientist, Keniciclus 5. Spock 2 performs a Vulcan mind meld to help his original self to recover.

At the end, Keniciclus 5 was feeling useless after his plans failed miserably, Kirk and the original Spock convince him to use all of his knowledge and strength to help on the restoring of the Phylosian civilization with the help of Spock 2. All of them agree on that.

Fascinating Facts:

This episode was written by Walter Koenig. Due to budget restrictions, Koenig was not cast for playing the role of Lieutenant Chekov in The Animated series, but he made his collaboration by writing this episode.

The Koenig's main source for inspiration for writing the story was the fact that cloning was a very discussed subject in that time.

The mobile plant-lifeform who attackes Sulu has the name of Retlaw. It is Walter spelled backwards. The idea came from a story of a comic book series where the aliens spoke bakwards.

The first reference to the Vulcan philosophy of Infinite Diversity In Infinite Combinations (or IDIC) was made in the third season episode of The Original Series titled “Is There In Truth No Beauty?” At first, Leonard Nimoy refused the idea for a symbol because he thought Gene Roddenberry's idea for merchandising its pin.

[debtsunpaid]

DEBTSUNPAID: low activity, iconless, selective multi-muse sideblog, featuring canon characters + oc's based in nbc's c.onstantine show & vertigo's h.ellblazer comics. ( + some additional fandoms. ) all muses & mun are 18+, triggering content & adult themes will be present. everything will be blanket tagged as trigger /. multi-verse, multi-ship, crossover & oc-friendly.

studying themes such as: the sidekick's story, the villain's intentions, the ones left behind; escaping your fate, what was i made for, personal hells, how to hold a grudge, the misguided righteous, the evil by necessity, so you survived: now what?

written by oxly, 25, they/them. follows back from talentforlying but is not directly associated with / does not share canon with interactions on that blog unless plotted beforehand.

GUIDELINES ♙ INTEREST TRACKER ♙ BIOS (tba) ♙ PINTEREST

mobile roster + temp bios under the cut! TESTING: clarice sackville (hellblazer), tali (hellblazer), nat (hellblazer 2019), tommy willowtree (hellblazer 2019)

PRIMARIES

THE DEMON CONSTANTINE (hellblazer comics) — pre-#250 canon only. it/he/they, british, former golem/current demon. created from the worst parts of constantine's personality, even more spiteful and annoying than the regular one, and bloodthirsty as hell to boot. fc: comics + matt ryan.

tags. vibe: us, possessor potential triggers: alcoholism, mentions/descriptions of body horror

MANNY THE ANGEL (nbc constantine + heavy hc influence) — he/him, angelic, supposed guardian angel with secret ties to dark magic and the brujeria. manipulative shithead with a love of mind games and genuine, if sinister, interest in humanity. high tolerance/invulnerability to most weapons, painful to punch, reality manipulation & other angelic powers. fc: harold perrineau.

tags. vibe: constantine (2005), dogma potential triggers: critical discussion of religion, familial trauma, manipulation

CLARICE SACKVILLE / THE CUMAEAN SYBIL (hellblazer + dead in america) — she/her, far older than she ought to be, a horribly wronged ancient greek oracle turned socialite, sorceress, and expert in the mystic arts. a snobby opportunist and shrewd strategist who has her pet revenant, gwendolyn, hunt tourists in order to steal their spiritual essence, de-age herself, and further extend her already-much-extended life. fc: joan collins. / youthful fc: young judi dench.

tags. vibe: breakfast at tiffany's, the silmarillion (galadriel), antigone rewritten potential triggers: sexual assault-centric backstory (not described graphically), classism

KLAVIER LUZ FURCHTBAR / JALLAKUNTILLIOKAN (hellblazer-based oc + hellblazer comics) — over 40 (isn't sure), they/he, spanish-german, ex-astrophysicist, current engine of the fear machine, accidental vessel for the revival of jallakuntilliokan, the animus & fear-domain half of a twin god. a drifting maths tutor who lives their life half-in and half-out of the Dreaming after becoming psychically entangled with the fear god during its banishing, fighting a losing battle to separate their consciousness from its looming eldritch presence before it takes full possession, rips open reality, and assumes its god-form on earth. fc: daniel bruhl.

tags. / appendicular blog. vibe: solaris, the thing (1982), venom, disco elysium (the inner voices), southern reach trilogy: annihilation (the biologist + the crawler) potential triggers: unreality, hallucinations, possession/body manipulation + related body horror, psychological manipulation, backstory references to freezing to death & unwanted experimentation

ANIMA / ONDINE NASIRIAN (both hellblazer-based oc's) — simultaneously 34 and as old as creation, she/they, spanish-iranian, former artist, currently the collaborative consciousness of mortal ondine and atalakuntilliokan, the anima & hope-domain half of a twin god. a wandering wonderer at all that humanity has to offer, searching the earth for her missing half (jallakuntilliokan) in an attempt to return them to the fold and restore the fragmented balance of humanity's collective subconscious before either of them can unravel themselves or the world beyond the point of saving. fc: sarah shahi.

tags. / appendicular blog. vibe: southern reach trilogy: acceptance (ghost bird + the leviathan biologist), venom, bridge to terabithia (jesse + leslie), the skeleton twins, legion (michael) potential triggers: references to suicidal ideation (primarily backstory), possession/body manipulation + related body horror

CHAS CHANDLER (hellblazer comics) — canon-critical. early-50s, he/him, british, taxi driver, closeted bisexual, married but separated, dad. pissy dickhead who likes to pick fights and is secretly in love with his best friend. just a guy. fc: comics + owain yeoman.

tags. vibe: the world's end (andy knightly), peaky blinders potential triggers: past maternal abuse, toxic masculinity, internalized homophobia

CHAS CHANDLER (nbc constantine) — 42, he/him, american, taxi driver, repressed bisexual, divorced dad. 6'6". soft sweater guy and good cook, functionally immortal with 47 extra souls shoved in him like a walking cannoli. limited powers of self-resurrection & speed-healing. fc: charles halford.

tags. vibe: insidious (josh), the world's end (andy knightly) potential triggers: divorce, absent fathers, internalized homophobia

ELLIE (hellblazer comics) — she/her, british, disgraced succubus, ex-denizen of hell, widow of the angel tali. as treacherous as she is pretty, and still kinder than most. bummed about not being allowed home to hell, but has plenty of fun conning people here on earth. fc: comics + maggie q.

tags. vibe: it follows, hotel artemis (nice) potential triggers: backstory references to pregnancy, traumatic birth, loss of a child, stalking/being stalked, mistreatment of a sex worker

FRANK NORTH (hellblazer comics w/ nbc verse) — 43, he/him, american, former/current biker gang guy depending on whether you meet him alive or as a ghost. laid-back veteran who's just here to have a good time. fc: comics + michael trucco with a ponytail.

tags. vibe: the lost boys, ferris bueller's day off potential triggers: references to the vietnam war (?)

CHERYL MASTERS (hellblazer comics w/ nbc verse) — 56, she/her, british, human or ghost (timeline dependent), housewife and stay-at-home mum who is always about five minutes from divorce. john constantine's big sister, fiercely independent, doting mother figure, and always substituting everyone else's problems for her own. fc: comics + andrea riseborough.

tags. vibe: the haunting of hill house (olivia crain), little shop of horrors (audrey) potential triggers: mention of religious cults, unhappy marriage, backstory references to intimate partner violence ending in uxoricide

TALI (hellblazer comics + canon divergent) — he/him, fallen angel, a former guardian at the gate destroyed for falling in love with the demon chantinelle, and later resurrected by the first of the fallen to punish her. running a halfway house for supernatural strays out of the back of a laundromat while he tries to locate his wife & child and recover the powers he still retains. fc: rahul kohli.

tags tba. vibe: legion 2010 (michael), potential triggers: familial trauma, critical discussions of religion, loss of a child

NAT (2019 hellblazer comics) — testing. 27, she/her, glaswegian scottish, bouncer/former bouncer (verse dependent) at the long lugs artisanal microbrewery while doing her literature degree. hot temper and a mean golf swing, and just fucking fine until constantine showed up. fc: comics + evan rachel wood.

tags. vibe: the green room, the magnus archives (melanie king) potential triggers: N/A

TOMMY WILLOWTREE (2019 hellblazer comics) — testing. 32, he/him, southern english, hipster wizard, pun magician, and guardian of the merlintrove for the last 5 years (so he thinks, anyway). an idealist with more enthusiasm than sense, who lives above and works at the grokk & roll occult bookstore + cafe with his partners. fc: comics + matt biedel.

tags. vibe: legends of tomorrow (ray palmer) potential triggers: N/A

SECONDARIES

BENEDICK OF PADUA ( much ado about nothing ) — 36, any pronouns (introduces themself as he/him), scottish-italian, a lord, loyal soldier, class clown, perennial bachelor, and truly loyal friend who wants nothing more than to party his way through high society for the rest of her life. scoffs at the idea of love, but loves to be loved; enjoys flexing their wit, but hates to be outdone. moonlights as a drag queen named nonny nonny. formerly mustnotbeproud. fc: david tennant.

tags. vibe: romeo + juliet (mercutio) potential triggers: incessant drinking, references to recreational drug use, immaturity

RITCHIE SIMPSON (hellblazer comics) — he/it, british, quantum magic pioneer, techno-demon-slash-very-unhappy-siri-substitute. pissy little gremlin who burns sim cards like cigarettes, will correct you on everything and ruin your search algorithms for fun. electronic manipulation & digital astral travel. fc: comics + santiago cabrera.

tags. vibe: videodrome, the x-files (the lone gunmen) potential triggers: unreality, body-snatching

RITCHIE SIMPSON (nbc constantine) — 43, he/him, american, computer genius, quantum magic pioneer, and occultism professor. the georgia equivalent of a shaking chihuahua but lord if he won't bitch you out given the opportunity. fc: jeremy davies.

tags tba vibe: the x-files (the lone gunmen), mission impossible (benji dunn) potential triggers: n/a

JACK VINCENNES (adapted from la confidential + vertigo-based oc) — 48, he/him, american, closeted vice detective and professional tabloid informant. a disillusioned glory hound seeking redemption, a purpose in life, and dirt on one john constantine. fc: simon baker.

tags tba vibe: la confidential, se7en potential triggers: cop/ex-cop (verse dependent)

REVEREND RICK "THE VIC" NILSEN (hellblazer comics) — 46, he/him, british, un-priestly priest with the church of england, collector & dealer of occult paraphernalia. sardonic, sacrilegious, with a shitty little mustache and a happy poly relationship with his girlfriend and his best friend. fc: comics + con o'neill.

tags tba vibe: monty python & the holy grail, the devil all the time potential triggers: religious themes, disrespect for religion

FIONA NANTES (vertigo-based oc) — 200+, she/her, irish, ancestrally cursed to live out the lives of everyone her family has ever killed. serial killer trying to buy her and her son more time while she searches for how to break the curse by any means necessary. fc: carla gugino.

tags. vibe: doctor sleep (rose the hat) potential triggers: murder, generational trauma, references to filicide

DAMIEN WHITE A.K.A "THE PROFESSOR" (hellblazer comics + oc) — 58, he/him, british, former archaeologist and professor of anthropology bouncing between johannesburg and the british museum. paranoid occult specialist who took one look at constantine and noped out of the country. fc: jeffrey wright.

tags tba vibe: it (adult mike), the mummy (1999, dr. chamberlain) potential triggers: the british museum

EMMA KNIGHT (vertigo-based oc) — 34, she/her, scouse, divorced, formerly-possessed seamstress with lingering psychic abilities and, recently, fashion designer to hell. vain, proud, deep-in-denial wannabe-girlboss blaming everyone else in the world for her problems. fc: jodie comer.

tags. vibe: black swan, censor potential triggers: possession, past-body horror, parental abandonment

[unwilting]

Settler colonialism is a distinct form of colonialism. Whereas in the “traditional” colonial economy, extraction of resources is the primary focus of the occupying power and indigenous labor utilized in that extraction is a central component, settler colonialism is concerned with complete control and assimilation of the land as the foundation of a new settler nation. Under settler colonialism, the Indigenous populations are eradicated, in whole or in part, by a series of deliberate policies enacted by the settlers to drive them off the land and claim it for themselves.

Some believe that because the “settlement” of the U.S. is complete, the colonial relation in the country has ceased. On the contrary, through the reservation system and the indigenous reserve labor force kept in perpetual poverty, through the continued subjugation of the Black interior semi-colony by the survival of slavery in the prison industrial complex and the continued denial of land rights in the Black Belt, and through the exploitation of immigrant labor largely consisting of indigenous South and Central Americans, the colonial relation is thriving. This relation is most clear through the antagonization of these colonized populations by the armed wing of the state — the DHS, the BIA, and the federal, state, and municipal police — which takes up its legacy as an occupying colonial military.

…we should not be surprised that the zionists appear to be brothers in arms to the U.S. ruling class. After all, the same economic exploitation of Indigenous people is the basis for both.

The anatomy of the colonial system consists of the economic, social, and political domination of the colonized by the colonizers. To abolish this relation, the political, economic, and social spheres must be taken hold of by the subject nation…the land and who controls it is the most important aspect of the settler colonial context.

During the CPUSA’s discussion of the resolutions being adopted at the convention, the question of settler colonialism in the United States was presented. Following this discussion, a CPUSA delegate who was present at the convention tweeted “After an investigation the Communist Party USA has rejected settler colonialism as the primary contradiction in the United States”. Again, backlash from communist circles on social media was responded to by hand-waving and justification by party members, calling any who criticized this decision “ultras” and “wreckers.”

Defenders of the party’s resolution on Twitter made a point of railing against Anything But Class (ABC) Marxists. While ABC as an ideological trend does constitute a liberal distortion of Marxism, the Nothing But Class (NBC) position lacks any basis in reality. Proponents of NBC argue that all oppression and oppressive institutions arise from capitalism, and thus through waging class struggle, all oppressive contradictions will be resolved. What this deviation ignores is the reality of social classes, and the particularity of the nature of class in the colonial context. The Wretched of the Earth, written by Martiniquais revolutionary Frantz Fanon, who developed his analysis from his participation in the national liberation struggle against the French settler colonial project in Algeria, argues that in the colonial context a person’s race in part dictates a person’s class. An analysis of the colonial relation reveals this fact to be true. In colonial Africa, all of the enterprises were owned by Europeans, whereas all of the industrial and agricultural workers were African. They were workers and not owners because they were members of an oppressed nation; because of their indigeneity. As a result, class was stratified along national lines, meaning that a national liberation struggle also constitutes a class struggle…In the US settler colonial system, Black and Indigenous people are corralled into reservations and ghettos, flushed into the prison system to work as money-printing slaves, and are oppressed along national lines. As a result, a national liberation struggle must be waged as PART of the class struggle. National liberation IS class struggle, and must be taken up and supported by Communists. When CPUSA and its membership reject an in-depth analysis and discussion of settler colonialism, reject the principles of national liberation, and embrace only a simplified analysis of class, they are, in effect, abandoning the class struggle.

“Therefore be it resolved that the CPUSA fully supports the struggles of the Native American people for full social, economic, and political equality and national sovereignty over Native lands. We demand expansion of federal and state funds and services for all the reservations. We oppose schemes to nullify tribal treaty rights.” —While paying lip service to national sovereignty for indigenous nations, this resolution reveals deep issues within the party’s understanding of settler colonialism. In their message of support for the struggles of the Indigenous people of the Americas, CPUSA takes care to specify that this only extends to the borders of so-called “Native land”, a distinction that legitimizes the settler control of land not specified as “Native”. The resolution also calls for the expansion of federal and state funds with regards to the existing reservation system. Instead of calling to abolish this violent colonial institution, the CPUSA takes the position that the system should be expanded! Funneling funds into the existing genocidal reservation system can do nothing but strengthen it in its purpose: exercising control over the indigenous populations held captive inside of them.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Handcuffed and sent to the ER—for misbehavior: Schools are sending more kids to the hospital (AP) Three times a week, on average, a police car pulls up to a school in Wicomico County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. A student is brought out, handcuffed and placed inside for transport to a hospital emergency room for a psychiatric evaluation. Over the past eight years, the process has been used at least 750 times on students. Some are as young as 5 years old. The state law that allows for these removals, known as petitions for emergency evaluation, is meant to be limited to people with severe mental illness, who are endangering their own lives or safety or someone else’s. It’s the first step toward getting someone involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. But advocates say schools across the country are sending children to the emergency room for psychiatric evaluations in response to behaviors prompted by bullying or frustration over assignments. The ER trips, they say, often follow months, and sometimes years, of their needs not being met.

Former U.S. ambassador arrested on charges of being an agent for Cuba since 1981 (NBC News) Victor Manuel Rocha, the former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, was arrested and charged with secretly working for Cuba. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the arrest “exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.” Rocha has been accused of working to promote the Cuban government’s interests since 1981, which is not a crime…unless it's done on U.S. soil and without registering with the Justice Department as a foreign lobbyist. Rocha reportedly has boasted that he “strengthened the revolution immensely.”

Britain’s nuclear break-in (Guardian) According to an investigation by The Guardian, hackers linked to Russia and China have infiltrated the U.K.’s most hazardous nuclear site. The investigation shows that officials detected the breaches into Sellafield, but they still don’t know when they first began or if all of the malware has been removed from the systems. The Guardian’s sources indicate that the hackers were able to access the highest level of confidential information from the site. This means that foreign entities have accessed activities including the movement of radioactive waste, monitoring for leaks of nuclear material, and processes that check for fires around the site. Sellafield spans about 6 square kilometers (2 square miles) across the U.K.’s Cumbrian coast. It houses the largest store of plutonium on Earth, and also stores the waste from years of testing by the U.K.’s nuclear weapons programs and power plants. Parts of the site also house emergency planning documents, which would be used by the government if a massive disaster or foreign power hit the U.K.

A Prison at War: The Convicts Sustaining Putin’s Invasion (NYT) Aleksandr Mokin had lost the will to live. Convicted of selling drugs and ostracized by his family, he endured abuse from guards and frequent spells in solitary confinement at a high-security Russian prison. Then, in the summer of 2022, Mr. Mokin and other inmates in Penal Colony No. 6 in the Chelyabinsk region started hearing that Russia was offering pardons for prisoners who survived six months of fighting in Ukraine. Mr. Mokin and 196 other inmates enlisted the same day. Two months later, Mr. Mokin was dead. A social media post showing his grave is the only known public tribute to his short life. Mr. Mokin was one of tens of thousands of convicts powering the Kremlin’s war machine. Even now, Russian inmates are still enlisting in what has become the largest military prison recruitment program since World War II. In Ukraine, these former inmates have been used mostly as cannon fodder. But they have bolstered the ranks of Russia’s forces, helping President Vladimir V. Putin postpone a new round of mobilization, which would be an unpopular measure domestically. And since many of the inmates come from poor families and rural areas, it has helped Mr. Putin to maintain the veneer of normalcy among well-off Russians in major cities.

Stalemate: Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive (Washington Post) On June 15, in a conference room at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, flanked by top U.S. commanders, sat around a table with his Ukrainian counterpart, who was joined by aides from Kyiv. The room was heavy with an air of frustration. Austin, in his deliberate baritone, asked Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov about Ukraine’s decision-making in the opening days of its long-awaited counteroffensive, pressing him on why his forces weren’t using Western-supplied mine-clearing equipment to enable a larger, mechanized assault, or using smoke to conceal their advances. Despite Russia’s thick defensive lines, Austin said, the Kremlin’s troops weren’t invincible. Reznikov said Ukraine’s military commanders were the ones making those decisions. But he noted that Ukraine’s armored vehicles were being destroyed by Russian helicopters, drones and artillery with every attempt to advance. Without air support, he said, the only option was to use artillery to shell Russian lines, dismount from the targeted vehicles and proceed on foot. The meeting in Brussels, less than two weeks into the campaign, illustrates how a counteroffensive born in optimism has failed to deliver its expected punch, generating friction and second-guessing between Washington and Kyiv and raising deeper questions about Ukraine’s ability to retake decisive amounts of territory. As winter approaches, and the front lines freeze into place, Ukraine’s most senior military officials acknowledge that the war has reached a stalemate.

At least 6 people have died as heavy rains from Tropical Cyclone Michaung hit India’s coasts (AP) Torrential rains and strong winds lashing India’s southern and eastern coasts have killed at least six people, officials said, as states there braced for a powerful storm expected to make landfall later Tuesday. The southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, as well as Odisha in the east, experienced heavy downpours Monday as authorities issued warnings for Tropical Cyclone Michaung, which is likely to hit the southern coast with maximum sustained winds of 90-100 kph (56-62 mph) and gusts up to 110 kph (68 mph), the Indian Meteorological Department said. On Monday night, authorities in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, said six people in the city had died as the impending storm unleashed rains that caused trees to topple and walls to collapse, and submerged roads and cars in knee-deep waters.

23 hikers presumed dead after Indonesian volcano erupts (Washington Post) Search and rescue personnel combed Mount Marapi in Indonesia after a volcano erupted with dozens of hikers on its slopes. Five bodies have been recovered and an additional 18 are missing and expected to be found dead, authorities said on Tuesday. There were 75 hikers on the mountain at the time of the eruption on Sunday, Abdul Mahari, head of communications at Indonesia’s disaster management agency, said in a briefing. About 50 have been brought down alive for medical care, Indonesian national newspaper Kompas reported. Mount Marapi, located in West Sumatra and one of that island’s most active volcanoes, erupted for four minutes and 41 seconds, spewing ash 9,800 feet upward, which rained down on the surrounding area. It had been showing increased volcanic activity since January, when it had a smaller eruption, the agency said. On Nov. 16, it was assessed at an alert level which meant tourism was not recommended within two miles of the peak, the agency added.

China’s Colossal Hidden-Debt Problem Is Coming to a Head (WSJ) China is trying to defuse a financial time bomb that could severely damage its banking system. Cities and provinces across the country have accumulated a massive amount of hidden debt following years of unchecked borrowing and spending. The International Monetary Fund and Wall Street banks estimate that the total outstanding off-balance-sheet government debt is around $7 trillion to $11 trillion. No one knows what the actual total is, but it has become abundantly clear over the past year that local governments’ debt levels have become unsustainable. Economists say a significant chunk of the hidden debt—their estimates range from $400 billion to more than $800 billion—is particularly problematic and at high risk of default.

Israel’s Netanyahu is fighting two wars (Washington Post) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting two wars. He is at the head of a wartime cabinet, leading the operation against the militant group Hamas. But, after nearly two months of conflict and more than 15,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, Netanyahu has waded into another battle: Trial proceedings over long-standing corruption allegations involving the prime minister resumed Monday. “Netanyahu was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in late 2019, making him the first Israeli prime minister to be indicted while in office. Netanyahu has denied all allegations and dismissed the claims as a ‘witch hunt,’” my colleagues reported. “He has been indicted in two other cases in Israel.” Netanyahu’s legal dramas have shadowed Israeli politics for close to half a decade. They are the subtext to the prime minister’s angry campaigns against the country’s judiciary and independent media. And they have probably motivated Netanyahu’s quest for continued power and potential immunity, leading him to engineer a return to office after elections in 2022 at the head of the most far-right coalition in Israel’s history. He can be forced to resign only if convicted, which could be years from now.

Israel’s assault forced a nurse to leave babies behind. They were found decomposing. (Washington Post) The nurse in the besieged hospital was caring for five fragile babies. Infants, born premature, their parents’ whereabouts after a month of war unknown. It was the height of Israel’s assault on northern Gaza last month, and al-Nasr Children’s Hospital was a war zone. The day before, airstrikes had cut off the Gaza City facility’s oxygen supplies. Israeli tanks had surrounded the hospital complex, and the Israel Defense Forces were calling and texting the doctors, urging them to leave. But ambulances couldn’t safely reach al-Nasr to transport the wounded, and doctors refused to leave the facility without their patients. The five premature babies were particularly vulnerable. They needed oxygen, and medication administered at regular intervals. Without life support, the nurse feared, they wouldn’t survive an evacuation. Then the IDF delivered an ultimatum: Get out or be bombarded. An Israeli official, meanwhile, provided an assurance that ambulances would be arranged to retrieve the patients. The nurse saw no choice. He assessed his charges and picked up the strongest one—the baby he thought likeliest to bear a temporary cut to his oxygen supply. He left the other four on their breathing machines, reluctantly, and with his wife, their children and the one baby, headed south. Two weeks later, the pause in hostilities allowed a Gazan journalist to venture into the hospital. In the neonatal intensive care unit, Mohammed Balousha found the decomposing bodies of the four babies. He took video. The grim discovery was a reminder of the harrowing civilian toll of Israel’s war to eradicate Hamas, a campaign that has spared neither hospitals nor children. Thousands have been killed.

Nigeria’s president calls for investigation after drone attack kills 85 (Reuters) Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday called for a thorough investigation into a military drone attack that killed at least 85 civilians gathered for a Muslim festival in a village in northwest Kaduna State over the weekend. The state’s governor, a religious leader and witnesses told Reuters on Monday that dozens of civilians were killed following the military drone attack that was targeting insurgents and bandits on Sunday night. Nigeria’s military, which is backed by the United States, Britain and other non-Western allies in a long war against Islamist insurgents in the northeast, has been unleashing deadly aerial assaults for years in parts of the country.

[pipelinelaserraygun]

MUST READ: 🆕 revelations.

Despite the numerous times we have FALLEN short, we're in a position to DEFEND the honor of Heaven on 🌎 Earth.

The more I think about this, 🤔 I consider the timing:

I think stunts like these are being rolled out to provide DISTRACTION, for the IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS of 👺👺👺 the bidens.

This is ALSO a disingenuous "photo op". It makes the department of justice/DOJ ⚖️ look like they are "impartial", when they have been looking the other way UNDER hussein/joey.

👺 "stunt"ED growth: joey/+ hussein are tugging @ 🇺🇸 our 👛 purse strings, and they'll continue until WE 🛑 stop it.

It's an uninterrupted robbery in progress, as of today...

What other stunts are there?

Ambassador Gandalf added,

"Economic direction WITHIN the controlling administration is obviously diabolic, in nature (Eph.6 12). Most pathetic is the fact that masses of the public are so ADDICTED to the gaslighting by those who dole out the pittance of 'social aide' to keep them in line with the lies (2Thes.2:7-12)! Political and economic gaslighting keeps those addicted to eating table scraps/tares satisfied with 'social aid' programs.

Why bother working our own gardens, when the enemy FILLS us with applesauce?

Filled my gas tank, went to 🛒 Ralph's, and got a couple bags of staple foods = $200 spent! Milk, bread, eggs & gas up 91% from October 2020. Mortgage rates up 180% since Oct 2020. My Social Security up a whopping 18% since Oct 2020. Watched ABC, CBS & NBC all report from White House press secretary that "Our economic plan is working!" Secretary of the Treasury Yellen (with a $220k salary) reports that "our economy is heading in the right direction." I just must have taken the wrong math and economics classes!

Not intended as a political commentary, just a measure of mathematics and economics. Oh, just noticed a barrel of oil on open market topping at $91 each vs $35.80 Oct 2020. Is all this "heading in the right direction"? Are we to just borrow MORE at today's higher rates to pay for daily deficits?"

MANY demo-🐀 RAT stunts are ABOVE everyone's "pay grade". 🕎✝️🛐 Father God, help dig us out of a hellhole.

Refresh your 🧠 memory: 👀 Look no further than your childhood to recall that bad guys endlessly pull STUNTS.

Broken political promises amount to 👺 MISTRUST.

[the-firebird69]

Schedule - NBC Sports RSN

https://www.nbcsports.com/schedule/boston/celtics

The Celtics and 76ers game that happened in the movie has occurred and the movie uncut gem says occurred and it's because the Midwest and the upper Midwest will be empty and probably a week and you won't be able to get there to look at your emerald at all. Right now it's the final game and so on tonight and it's what he's used to seeing is if he's not keeping track of it Mac would help get him there it's also Miami helping but if he wants to see it for a different reason it's in Denver and it's symbolic it's supposed to be us unfortunately at this time they're still the ones in Colorado so the symbolism didn't work out so good and they are having a summit difficult game on the competing pretty hard and they are having some trouble not using violence and they are playing a half decent game even though they're not used to being tall. The Celtics game was a week or so ago and this game is important in this famous but it is not as important as the sixers 76ers that is versus the Celtics. It's going to be a very eventful month this coming month and this month was just humongous towards the end.

Right now there are a huge amount of people trying to get into this state they are trying to use Force and they're trying to use a lot of it it's not really working for them there's a lot of people like that.

There's about 400 million people trying to get in that's a lot and you're attempting to tire and mess with our kid has changed our viewpoint of what you're doing more luck and why and we geared up to go to war with you because of it you don't care of course but we do and we're tired of you.

Although those people will be stopped it's foolishness and should not be occurring now we're going to put some guidelines down for you to follow and if you don't it's simply won't make it going to get on to something else and you idiots won't talk about nothing how you're bothering us and people don't want you to and say they do and they end up beating you up it's kind of a mystery where you're so dumb

Several things going on here in Charlotte county one of them is these people are excruciatingly annoying I mean they just don't give it a rest no matter what they're talking smack telling people off doing their numbers and they're ignoring what's happening to them it's very despicable it's almost no way on Earth that years that you're surviving there's no way you should survive so what's going after you I'm going to make sure you feel the pain this afternoon was proof you're you're just huge assholes you're wondering around him at the park and just saying stupid s***. So you start hitting you and you couldn't figure it out and I started getting rid of you and I couldn't figure it out while you were half dead I couldn't figure it out and you're attacking each other even when you're in abject poverty and we really don't want to deal with you ever again at all we don't want to face your stupid s*** or tell you all sorts of dumb things that you want to hear we're going after you with a vengeance. He's a huge repercussion to what Jason was doing I'm saying cuz it's put out there and said if it's put out there I guess I'll put it out there more it's really not why because people are telling people they're real story. That's understandable you're not very bright you've seen this a million times a million times. I'm going after some people a lot harder than others right now Jason is going to town in New York and they got ready for it during the day and all fighting. It's a huge fight up in New York. A lot of people are getting totaled as in crushed and they keep going at it tons and tons of times. Is a massive number of people around who are fighting to try and get at each other but here it goes under eating a lot of mayonnaise it's a stupid thing and they say nothing about it but they'll run to the restroom it's ridiculous.

Michelle has started tonight and Friday the 13th and Halloween and you're not doing well and it's the same story same place.. the story is being repeated all over the world that this particular fight different locations is happening

More shortly

Thor Freya

Zues Hera

Olympus

[epistolizer]

The Study Of The History Of The End Of The World, Part 8

Though history is linear in that it is moving towards an ultimate destination rather than circular in the sense of rigid absolute recurrence, it cannot be denied that the dynamics of human development and unfolding events do often follow a cyclical path over time. For example, eventually the sects of the nineteenth century that began with considerable apocalyptic and utopian fervor such as the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses tempered these impulses to an extent in favor of the stabilization brought about by leadership focusing more upon continuity of organization rather than the cessation of human affairs as presently known. The cultural change of the nineteenth century continued onward well into the twentieth. As such, it was to be expected that fringe movements outside the mainstream of conventional American religious life would continue to increase. But given the exaggerated pace of contemporary life, a number of these would prove to be far deadlier than their counterparts originating in what might be considered more tranquil bygone eras. In his analysis of the fringe groups embracing a form of apocalypticism arising from the tumult of the counterculture, Richard Kyle categorizes these as Western, occult, or racist.

The groups described as Western would be those that would be described as cults deriving inspiration from Christian theological terminology even if these sects no longer imbued the words with their original meanings. A number of these ended tragically in episodes of dramatic violence. Foremost among these ranked Jonestown in the jungles of Guyana and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.

In the early days of his ministry, one would not have necessarily thought that the name Jim Jones would become synonymous with cultic violence and abuse. Jones began his ministry loosely affiliated with the Disciples of Christ with a concern regarding what he perceived as the racism of his day. Eventually, Jones' apocalyptic views focused more upon pending disaster rather than Christ's actual return. Initially, this prompted Jones to uproot his congregation from Indiana to settle in California where Jones thought it would be more likely to survive an inevitable nuclear catastrophe. However, it was this desire to protect his flock from the perils of the world through the fanatical withdrawal from society without relying on the power of Christ that would ultimately doom this experiment in integrated communal living.

As a result of increasing allegations of abuse within the People's Temple and out of a fear that even California would not prove to be a refuge from the pending tribulation, Jones relocated to the sect's compound in the Guyanese wilderness known as Jonestown where he descended into deeper levels of insanity and evil. The straw that broke the camel's back occurred when Senator Leo Ryan and an NBC news crew arrived to investigate claims of abuse alleged by families of group members as well as those residing at the compound. The desperate there reached out to the legislator after an initial meeting actually seemed to go well. These souls confided that they had not found a sanctuary from the hardships of the world but had actually become trapped in a Hell on earth.

Fearing retaliation on the part of authorities for assassinating the Senator along with others at the remote jungle airstrip, Jones attempted to convince his followers to commit what he categorized as an act of revolutionary suicide. It is often assumed that the residents of Jonestown embraced death in this manner willingly as it is what comes to mind when admonishing someone not to drink the Kool Aid, a reference to the toxic potion concocted to bring about this disturbing end. However, many only relented at gunpoint and others were actually shot. And though Jonestown no doubt stands as perhaps the most infamous example of the tragedy likely to result when people surrender good judgment and discernment for promises of a blissful tomorrow if all they do is surrender in total to a leader claiming direct revelation from or a unique understanding of God to which other believers are not privy, it would certainly not be the last.

Another example of such a group meeting a tragic demise as a result of an out of control belief in the Apocalypse was the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas. The Branch Davidians were themselves derived from Seventh Adventism, which adherents of this splinter group believed had grown lax in doctrine over the years as the emphasis of the mother movement switched from eagerly awaiting the pending Advent to organizational expansion. Deadbeat Vernon Howell was able to smooth talk his way into the sect's leadership by pitching woo at the elderly matriarch. With his knack for quoting Scripture (even if pulling it out of context), Howell was able to rebrand himself as David Koresh, claiming that he was the Lamb referenced in the Book of Revelation who would open the seven seals described in that prophetic text. As a result of a series of tactical blunders on the part of both Koresh and the government, eighty-eight Branch Davidians died in this attempt at actualized eschatology when the compound caught fire after a siege lasting well over a month.

Another form of fringe eschatology to gain a foothold towards the close of the twentieth century was noticeably racialist in nature. One of the early forms of what might be categorized as genetic apocalypticism could be found in the Worldwide Church of God as established by Herbert W. Armstrong. Central to the teaching of Armstrongism was the doctrine of Anglo-Israelism, the belief that the Anglo peoples of the world such as Great Britain and the United States were the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. As such, these nations were as every bit as eligible for the promises made to the Chosen People as were the Jews. Like the Jews that Armstrong hoped to mimic, his sect also held to Old Testament dietary laws, Sabbatarianism, and the rejection of the Trinity. In terms of his eschatology, Armstrong was influenced by dispensationalist notions of history spanning roughly for six thousand years with Christ returning at the Second Advent to establish the Millennial Kingdom which would follow the Tribulation during which the Antichrist would rule the world from his power base of a European confederacy consisting of ten nations.

But whereas Armstrong's form of ethnic millennialism might have admired the Jews a little too enthusiastically to the point of wanting to be part of a pan-Israelite family, the other forms of End Times speculation focused upon ethnicity actually went to the other extreme of explicit hostility towards the Jews and the exclusion of those not belonging to a preferred racial group. These movements were Christian Identity and the Black Muslims.

Christian Identity was similar to Anglo-Israelism in that both believed that the Caucasians of northern Europe were the true Chosen People of God. However, Christian Identity parted ways with the Worldwide Church of God in insisting that those now categorizing themselves as Jews in fact had no connection to Biblical Israel genetically. Instead, the vast majority now identified as part of that nation or ethnicity are actually descendants of a group known as the Khazars that converted to Judaism in the seventh century (Kyle, 160). Unlike traditionalist Christians who (despite instances of racial animosity or misgivings) admit that all humanity shares a common ancestry back to Adam and Eve and most directly from Noah following the Deluge, Christian Identity believed that non-Whites are not fully human in that such groups are the result of carnal relations between Satan and Eve in the case of the Jews or the result of a creation prior to the divine intervention resulting in Adam and Eve.

Interestingly, the tyrannical government known as the New World Order warned of by adherents of Christian Identity sounds quite similar to that of the Tribulation period under the Antichrist probably described in the greatest detail by dispensationalist scholars. However, beyond that, the two schools of eschatological interpretation have little else in common. For example, Christian Identity rejects the Pretribulational Rapture outright. Perhaps most disturbingly, in order to being about the Kingdom of God the faithful will be required to wage a race war, a prospect most often eagerly anticipated rather than dreaded by those mired in this spiritual delusion. The hope of the practitioner of Christian Identity is not that the Jew will be brought to Christ during the time of upheaval but will instead be eliminated so that the Earth and the surviving bloodlines might be spared genetic contamination or purified.

At the other end of the spectrum of racialist Armageddon could be found the Black Muslim movement. Despite being called the Nation of Islam, the sect was rather more of a cult than an expression of of orthodox or mainstream Islam. The Nation of Islam was founded in the 1920's by Wallace Farad, a mysterious figure many within the sect believed to be a theophany or God manifested in human form. His chief prophet and successor as leader was Elijah Muhammad.

In terms of eschatology and doctrine, the Nation of Islam advocated a militant anti-Caucasian Afrosupremacism. Whites are believed to be a genetically engineered inferior subspecies that will be obliterated when pious Blacks are taken up in a Rapture-like event to the Motherwheel --- a craft reminiscent of a UFO inspired in part by the Book of Ezekiel --- which will rain nuclear annihilation down upon those remaining upon the Earth at that time. Unlike orthodox Islam, the Nation of Islam held that there was no life after death and thus no literal Heaven or Hell. The religion's golden age would consist of the Black subjugation of the planet Earth.

The third variety of apocalyptic group to arise in the contemporary world could be categorized as New Age or occult. The groups, sects, and teachers falling into this particular category foretold of a pending golden age often proceeded by cataclysmic upheaval. However, unlike those drawing their prophetic inspiration from Christian sources, the primary focus of those in the occult or New Age was not so much the Second Coming of Christ but rather more about communal or personal transformation. Richard Kyle writes, “The coming New Age will be based not on some doomsday scenario but on a paradigm shift (154).” Through this paradigm shift, humanity will actualize the deity within. The result will be a new order characterized by equality, ecological restoration, international cooperation and galactic harmony.

Unlike strict Marxist Communism with its absolutist materialism, the New Age movement allowed for the existence of higher order intelligences or spirit beings it believed would guide humanity along the path to cosmic awareness. Most often now such entities are depicted as extraterrestrials like those their proponents believe responsible for UFO phenomena. The movement that developed surrounding the study of encounters began to take on characteristics noticeably beyond that of mere scientific curiosity and more like those of a religion or form of spirituality following George Adamski's claim in 1952 that he had met and talked with an extraterrestrial (Kyle, 157). Soon a sort of gospel affirmed by a number of others also claiming to be contactees developed professing for the need of our species to move beyond crass materialism and hostility into a more comprehensive awareness of reality if we wanted to avoid widespread destruction such as that embodied by nuclear weapons the recent development of which on Earth brought the planet to the attention of interstellar authorities.

At this point, Christian and New Age eschatology seem to parallel one another but diverge in distinct interpretative directions. In Dispensationalism, prior to the Tribulation, Christ catches His saints both the living and the dead into the air so that they might escape the judgments about to be poured out upon the Earth. In the spin placed on events by adherents of the New Age, Christians are still the the ones removed from the Earth at that time. However, that action on the part of extraterrestrials is not seen as a reward for dedication to Christ but rather as punishment. For it is the tendency of the true Christian to stick to morality as described in the pages of the Bible and that belief in Jesus Christ is the only way to gain access to Heaven. These notions are perceived as a profound impediment to the kinds of changes that need to take place in order for this utopian golden age to be actualized. Likewise, the cataclysms described in passages such as the Book of Revelation will not so much be viewed as God deliberately instigating the judgments. Instead, these disasters will be viewed as the Earth repairing itself after centuries of neglect at the hands of a culture based on Judeo-Christian principles rather than the balance claimed to be found in pantheism.

by Frederick Meekins

Bibibliography

Abanes, Richard. End-Times Visions: The Doomsday Obsession. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1988.

Kirsch, Jonathan. A History Of The End Of The World: How The Most Controversial Book In The Bible Changed The Course Of Western Civilization. San Francisco, California: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.

Kagan, Donald, Ozment, Steven and Turner, Frank. The Western Heritage Since 1789 (Fourth Edition). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991.

Kyle, Richard. The Last Days Are Here Again: A History Of The End Times. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1988. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1996.

Ladd, George. The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of The Second Advent and The Rapture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1956.

Thompson, Damian. The End Of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium.

[mearcatsreturns]

PERMISSION TO PUSH HIM OFF A CLIFF

[mrultra100]

What waiting for Surviving Earth feels like at times

[mundo-misterio]

Surviving Earth: NBC ordena serie documental prehistórica - Cancelada + Programas de TV renovados

Surviving Earth: NBC ordena serie documental prehistórica – Cancelada + Programas de TV renovados

por Regina Ávalos, 29 de junio de 2022 Surviving Earth fue encargado por NBC. La nueva serie documental prehistórica, un evento de ocho episodios, volverá a los eventos de extinción masiva en la historia de nuestro planeta. NBC reveló más sobre la próxima serie en un comunicado de prensa. “NBC retrocede en el tiempo para ver cómo la vida no solo sobrevivió a eventos cataclísmicos, sino que…

[snowshinobi]

The Triangle of Cannibalism: Death, Desire, and Dinner

K here's my wildly underbaked reasoning as to why cannibalism imagery is so taboo and horrific while also being deeply intimate, tender, and alluring.

I PRESENT TO Y'ALL THE TRIANGLE OF CANNIBALISM:

The way I see it, cannibalism sits at the center of a three-way venn diagram composed of Death, Dinner, and Desire. Let's talk definitions:

Death: I view Death similarly to how Tarot does, it's a change of states. Death can be the end of life, it can also be a fundamental transformation of a nonlethal kind. What you once were you will no longer be ...

Dinner: ok fine, I went with "Dinner" for the alliteration bc you gotta! The more accurate term would be consumption. Just food in general works too. Food is lovingly prepared and then eaten, parts of bodies turned into fuel for other bodies. Food fulfills hunger. One craves it ...

Desire: I use Desire here to mean desire for the body, carnally, as well as for personhood, for companionship, to feel and be felt. Desire in the context of cannibalistic imagery is often sexual but doesn't have to be. Desire is potent and stubborn and raw. It can consume you ...

There's tons of fun ways to overlay these ideas. Here's what I've been chewing on:

The Desire/Dinner overlap: food is sexy, y'all. it takes time and care to prep, things heat up, the flavors build to an electric conclusion ... and yeah there's so much food terminology in sex talk. eating people out, wanting to know how someone tastes, calling sexy bits "meat" and fruit/veggie names, etc etc. Beyond sexual connotations, the idea of hunger--literal and metaphorical--brings Dinner and Desire together too. To care for someone is to (partially) consume them, to consider their wants and needs in the scope of your own, and to allow them to consume you in turn ...

The Dinner/Death overlap: well, obviously, in order to eat just about anything, that thing has to cease living. Animals, plants, bacteria, fungi. Cooking involves chemical processes that break and form molecular bonds, which is a pretty fundamental transformation. It's through the death of these creatures that you continue to live, absorbing their nutrients into your body. Digestion is a cycle ... much like how Life and Death are a cycle ...

The Death/Desire overlap: this one's the hardest for me to pin down, conceptually. Get it (; pin down (; for serious, though: desire to be with another person, carnally or otherwise, can morph into obsession. It can develop within it a deathly weight, becoming a relentless pursuit. On a happier note, wedding vows cheerfully declare partners wed til death do they part. One ties themselves so closely to their loved ones that they hold on until--and perhaps beyond--transformations as fundamental as Death.

Wrap-up thoughts, I guess? Sometimes ya just watch all of NBC's adaptation of Hannibal in under a week and go on a 6-month overthinking spree. So often I lie back, get comfy, and think about the power behind the image of someone eating someone else.

Is it out of love? Is it the act of love to bring another person inside yourself, to connect them to you so intimately? It is an act of survival? Is the meat of this loved one received as a bittersweet gift of life? I think of the survivors of that 1972 plane crash in Argentina's Andes Mountains, whose story Caitlin Doughty of Ask A Mortician made a brilliant video about.

Is it out of hatred? Is it the act of wiping someone's existence from this earth, of besting them, of preventing them from rising up against you, Zeus-like, to end your crumbling reign? In the show, Hannibal Lector specifically chooses rude people to use in his dishes. I also think of Francisco Goya's haunting painting "Saturn Devouring His Son." I think of all the species human carelessness has destroyed, precious stones in an arch that we won't live to regret ruining.

Maybe it's just meat. Maybe it only means something to us because our gut reacts to it, because the ideas of consumption and death loom larger in our minds than they do as simple acts here on the ground, in our mouths and in our hands.

Maybe I think too much. I hope I never stop thinking about it.

On that note, if anyone's got books/articles/podcasts/art/literally anything related to cannibalism to recommend me, please do! Feed me (;

[skyfire85]

-A Bell X-2 at Edwards AFB. A Boeing B-47 is visible in the background. | Photo: NACA/USAF

FLIGHTLINE: 159 - BELL X-2 STARBURSTER

The X-2 was built to investigate the "thermal thicket" at speeds above Mach 2, but the two examples completed had a short service life.

Building on the work of the Bell X-1 and Douglas D-558 aircraft, the X-2 (nicknamed Starburster, though it was rarely used) was designed to explore speeds in excess of Mach 2. Engineer calculations, backed up by flights of the former aircraft, indicated the existence of a "thermal thicket"; that is: escalating aerodynamic heating as speeds increased. As a result, Bell devoted extensive time to development of advanced materials, aerodynamics, and control systems all with the goal of creating an aircraft capable of flying faster and higher than any human had done previously.

-Orthograph of the X-2. | Illustration: NASA-DFRC

The X-2 incorporated numerous advances over the X-1, including a swept wing and horizontal stabilizer. The airframe was built from K-Monel, an alloy of coper and nickel, as well as stainless steel. An XLR-25 two-chamber throttleable rocket motor provided 2,500 to 15,000 pounds of thrust, burning a mix of liquid oxygen and alcohol. The XLR-25, produced by Curtiss-Wright, was actually based on a WWII RATO bottle developed by Robert Goddard for the US Navy. The aircraft were designed with a skid rather than main landing wheels, though a nose gear was equipped, as well as skids on the wingtips.

-An XLR-25 motor on display at the Aviation Hall of Fame in New Jersey. | Photo: Bill Maloney

In a worst-case scenario, the cockpit section of the X-2 could be ejected. With stability provided by a parachute, the pilot could then eject the canopy and bail out. Like the Skyrocket and X-1 before it, the X-2 would be carried aloft by a bomber (in this case a Boeing B-50), then dropped to begin its flight.

-One of the X-2s, its ground support personnel, the B-50 and its crew, F-86, F-80 and F-100 chase planes, and H-19 rescue helicopter. | Photo: NACA

FLIGHT TEST PROGRAM

X-2 number 1 was chosen to have the first engine installed, so ship #2 was sent to Edwards AFB for initial unpowered tests. The first glide test of the X-2 was on 27 June 1952, and ended rather inauspiciously. During the landing on Muroc dry lake bed, the aircraft pitched unexpectedly, forcing the right wingtip to contact the ground, breaking off the bumper. The nose gear collapsed as well, and the aircraft slid along the lakebed on its fuselage for some distance before coming to rest. The second flight was delayed while repairs were completed, and took place on 8 October, followed by the third flight two days later.

-Bell test pilot Jean Ziegler sits in the cockpit of the damaged X-2 #2 after the 1st rough landing. | Photo: NACA

X-2 number 2 was returned to Bell's factory in New York state afterwards, and the XLR-25 engine was installed. A captive carry flight over Lake Ontario on 12 May 1953 resulted in the loss of aircraft #2, Ziegler, and Frank Wolko from the B-50 crew. During a test of the liquid oxygen system, an explosion rocked the combined aircraft, jettisoning the Starburster, Ziegler and Wolko. The remains of the X-2 fell into Lake Ontario, and neither it, nor the bodies of the two men were recovered. The B-50 mother ship was able to return to the Bell facility, but was judged to be uneconomical to repair, and was scrapped. Similar explosions destroyed one of the X-1s, the X-1A and X-1D, and were eventually traced to Ulmer leather gaskets in the fuel system. The gaskets, treated with tricresyl phosphate (TCP), would react with liquid oxygen, making them explosive if sufficiently jarred. The Ulmer leather gaskets were replaced, and the explosions stopped.

-A Bell X-2 is loaded aboard the Boeing B-50A-5-BO Superfortress “mothership,” 46-011. | Photo: USAF

Modifications to the first X-2 and the engine delayed flights until 1955, with the first powered flight occurring on 18 November, reaching a speed of Mach 0.95. The test series began in earnest at this point, with the Starburster showing both its promise but also its limitations. On his final flight in July 1956, Lt. Col. Pete Everest was propelled to Mach 2.87, earning him (temporarily at least) the title of "Fastest Man Alive". Everest reported that the controls were only marginally effective at those speeds however, as the center of pressure for the aircraft changed at high speed, coupled with aeroelasticity of the empennage rendered the flight surfaces ineffective.

-Photo of the first X-2, showing shock diamonds in both exhaust plumes. | Photo: NACA

Testing continued however, with Captain Iven Kincheloe crossing 100,000 for the first time on 7 September 1956 and Captain Milburn Apt setting a new (unofficial) speed record of Mach 3.2. This mark came a grave cost however, as Apt, likely the victim of a lagging or miscalibrated instrument, attempted a banked turn above Mach 3, far in excess of what the X-2 could achieve. The aircraft tumbled out of control, with Apt unable to counter the control coupling, inertial roll coupling and supersonic spinning faced by the aircraft. Apt triggered the ejection of the nose, but was incapacitated by the forces he encountered, and was unable to release the canopy and free himself to activate his own parachute, and was killed when the capsule struck the lakebed. The nose-less X-2 continued on, eventually returning to Earth with little damage. A proposal was made to salvage the plane and modify it for hypersonic research, but was not funded, and the first X-2 was scrapped.

-Color photo of an X-2 still coupled to the B-50D mothership prior to launch. | Photo: USAF

LEGACY

The two X-2s completed 20 flights between 1952 and 1956, and although they set records in both altitude and speed, their contribution to the knowledge of high speed aerodynamics and heating was debatable. The unmanned X-7 and research variants of the Bomarc missile were capable of the same speeds, and the destruction of both X-2s meant that much of NACA's planned test program was left unflown. Manned exploration of hypersonic speeds and ultra-high altitudes would have to wait for the North American X-15, still several years off.

The X-2 was made a part of the 1956 film "Toward the Unknown", as the movie depicts several real and fictional test programs taking place at the USAF Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB. The climax of the movie depicts and accident roughly similar to Mel Apt's, although the pilot survives the crash.

-Film crews surround the X-2 during filming for Toward the Unknown. | Photo: Bob Rohrer

The plane was later included in the pilot movie "Genesis" for the NBC series "Quantum Leap", in which the main character time travels into the body of a fictional pilot for the aircraft. A full-scale mockup of the X-2 was created for the show, and was later acquired by the Planes of Fame Museum in California. The prop is still in the museum's collection, though years of exposure have not been kind to the faux-X plane, which was not built to last in the first place.

-Photo of the X-2 mockup at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, CA, some time in 1994. | Photo: Jon Goto

[chibitabathasloves]

i think when it comes to learning a language it's better to learn smth fun than smth u "should" i never was able to get into spanish. and theres no real reason for me to learn lithuanian but its fun ! gl w danish !!

if you do end up reading the books i'll have to warn you of p much every trigger warning on earth ? thomas harris managed to trigger me on things i didn't even know could be a problem. so be safe out there. i haven't watched SOTL in a way that matters so i can't say anything about it (i know) or hannibal rising for that matter (havent even read the book version of that) but manhunter is also another hannibal i love ! he's in it for 8 minutes though. up to you if thats worth it. feed the book notes ! :) also i wouldnt be able to judge u for ur handwriting ! i have severe dysgraphia so i understand how it is sometimes. i can't promise id be able to read it though. (also unrelated and a bit late but if you want to share the italian will/hanna nicknames i think i'd love that knowledge)

my favorite part about NBC lecter is definitely his self control. his need for control actually. and to me the most important part about lecter is his survivability. that's why to me its always funny to think "oh old man needs his fancy silk and fine dinners, he'd crumble like feta if he didn't have them" but if this turns into serious analysis of his character then its glossing over the fact that hannibal lecter has reached almost perfect ataraxia ? like, he has perfect control at all times. he has control over the situation (his constant manipulation and schemes) but if the situation slips from him (getting tied up christ style and slashed at the wrists, getting kidnapped and tied up in the stables), then it doesn't matter, he still has control. because... he doesn't care ! hannibal doesn't lose his shit pulling his hair out crying screaming if his plans don't go according to plan because he's reached perfect control over his emotions. therefore he doesn't care if things go wrong, it's just another interesting thing happening in his life. if he doesn't allow himself to feel upset, if he doesn't allow himself to freak out over the loss of control, then he's never lost control in the first place, he can't get traumatized, and it's like nothing bad happened. that's why i think any upset he might have felt over the assassination attempt was played up/acted out so he could lure alana (who is attracted to pathetic men in need of fixing like a moth to the light). thats also why i think hannibal couldn't have suffered THAT much from being in jail for three years because... idk like sure it cost him something, it cost him his freedom and everything. freedom from murder. but the fact he gave it up willingly is so much more important to who hannibal lecter is - someone who will never be in a traumatic situation ever again and never get hurt again - than any luxury he might have had when he was free and has now lost. i think in comparison the s2 finale was more of a loss of control albeit partial and i think it affected him more negatively. what are ur thoughts

Okay, so I actually have my notes out, because I am an absolute little gremlin. And you're right about the sense of control over his emotions. When he had a noose around his neck he was still cracking jokes. And you're also right about playing up the trauma. If you watch him with Jack, he has his regular collar, buttoned all the way up with a tie. With Alana he wears the shirts open with a scarf to cover up the bruises that may or may not still be there. He acts like the idea of having something constricting around his neck is unappealing, but still steps into his tailored suits and ties a scarf around his neck anyways. Its a very shallow and easily seen through disguise (bruises from a noose would be much high up his neck).

When he was in the straight jacket at the pig pen he only had eyes for Will. Understanding that despite the fact that Will could easily dispose of him, it is still not the reckoning he was promised. So its only a matter of time until that happens. Its part of the reason I think he ledt Will unconscious while abducting Mason. A lot of season 2 is about the pull between Will and Hannibal I think.

The culmination of that tug of war leads to the first time that Hannibal is let down. It was a loss of control over his emotions, after all, one cannot help with who they fall in love with. He thought that Will would join his side, or kill him. Instead he had to deal with Jack Crawford in his kitchen. Hannibal smelled the betrayal on Will’s skin and gave him a choice. But what Hannibal couldn't see was Will trying to sort out his affairs, asking Freddie to not write about Abigail, to only write about him. I think Will was getting ready to leave with him, but unfortunately due to Jack it was taken from him in the form of a knife wound. Gutting him in the literal sense compared to the emotional gutting Hannibal received.

I think the second time he is let down is around the time that Will decides that he doesn't want to know where Hannibal is. Will went to forgive Hannibal, to see if he could love him, even if he wasn't aware of the love he carried just yet. And he was met with a bone saw and the promise of having his brain eaten. Will had enough, but Hannibal thought they could move on from it. I think that Hannibal knew that despite the fact that Will said he was cutting ties, that he didn't mean it. It's really hard to tell, but Will isn't making eye contact. And I think that's really telling.

I think that part of the reason that Hannibal gives himself up in front of Will is to show that he doesn't need all the trappings, just Will's regard. Its a cheap shot, but it clearly works. He seems to grow into his ability to roll with how his love for Will makes him feel. Reveling in the unpredictable nature of it and the man who causes it. I do believe Hannibal when he said he has found Will in his mind palace, victorious. Even if its just a shade of the man he desires. Which is why I agree that the S2 finale was much more rife with trauma for them both.

I am going to stop rambling now before this turns into a dissertation oh my god