#technology news february 2019

[motorsportbarbie13]

What's A Soulmate? - Part 1

In which something magical begins.

Warnings: none, just a bit of mutual pining. but this will be an angsty one i think. Pairing: Lando Norris X SainzSister!Reader Words: 2.6k

Master List

(a/n: new series alert! friends to lovers featuring lando norris. this one will be several parts spanning from 2019 to present day. I've tried my hardest to make sure the timeline/race results are accurate but I may have adjusted something to make it work a bit better for the story line. this is a total work of fiction, purely for entertainment.)

February 2019 

Woking, Surry, England

“This is not going to be a year of partying and laziness, Chiquita.” Carlos throws you a sidelong glance as he pulls his new McLaren into a parking spot early one February morning. “You are here with me to work, not spend your gap year playing.” 

“If I’m here to work, then you can’t me ‘little girl’ while we’re here, Carlos.” You bite back, hauling your tote bag from the floor of the low slung sports car. 

Carlos chuckles, throwing his arm around your shoulder as you both begin the walk into his new workplace: the McLaren Technology Center. “Fair enough, Chiquita.” 

Last spring, you had graduated from high school and had spent one miserable semester at the University of Madrid in the fall before dropping out just a few months ago. 

Carlos dodges the swat that you aim at his bicep, taking a few quick steps ahead of you as you approach the front door of the large white building. The sprawling MTC is an intimidating building and you knew that if you hadn’t been here with Carlos, there was no way you’d be able to find your way. 

After spending a few listless months bouncing from Carlos’ couch in Monaco back to your parent’s estate in Spain, they had laid down the law. You needed to figure out what you were going to do for the foreseeable future if going back to University wasn’t in the cards for you at the moment. They were fine with you not going back to uni right away, in fact, they encouraged you to take a gap year but they expected you to do something productive with your life while you figured out what you wanted to do. 

And that had been when your older brother had entered the chat. He had finished third year as a Formula 1 driver a few months ago and would be changing teams come the new season in March. In December, he had parted ways with his long time assistant, who wanted to spend more time with her new husband and less time traveling. Carlos and you had always been the closest of the four Sainz siblings despite the six year age gap (his 25 years to your 19) so it had been the most natural thing in the world to have you be his assistant and social media manager for the 2019 F1 season. 

Up until today, Carlos had been attending pre-season meetings and putting time in at McLaren’s sim setup by himself but you had arrived at his flat five minutes from the MTC yesterday, suitcases in hand, ready to get started as your brother’s assistant. It had been ages since the two of you had spent this much time together and while you were mostly excited to spend the year traveling and reconnecting with your big brother, there was a bit of trepidation and anxiety sitting in your chest as you walked through those sliding glass doors this morning. 

You were barely 19 after all, little real world experience and you knew absolutely no one in this entire country beyond your brother. All of your friends were attending university in other countries, far away from the world you now found yourself in. Yes, you were excited but you were also insanely nervous. 

Carlos leads you down a long hallway, lined with trophy cases filled with motorsport winners trophies on one side and sleek F1 cars on the other. It was an entire shrine to McLaren history, of which there was a lot, and you were in awe as you followed after your brother. “Where are we going?” You ask as he turns down another quiet hallway, convinced you’d be utterly lost if Carlos asked you to show him how to get back to the front doors. 

“I have a little office tucked away back here next to Lando’s, I wanted to get you set up with the laptop and sync my calendar so you could get yourself ready.” 

You nod, ears perking up at the mention of your brother’s new teammate, Lando Norris. You knew a little about him from a few causal Google searches. He was 19 like you and this was his rookie season in Formula 1. From everything you read, he was a karting prodigy that had been signed by McLaren for a while and had been tapped to drive opposite of Carlos this year. Just knowing that there would be someone around the offices and on the road that was your age made the tight anxiety that sat in your chest ease just a touch, even if you two didn’t end up being more than acquaintances this year. 

Carlos hadn’t been lying about his ‘little’ office. It was barely more than a broom closet if you were being honest. Just enough room for a desk, a pair of chairs, and a bookshelf, but there was a large window that faced south so at least there’d always be sun spilling into the small space making it feel a little airier. 

You pull your MacBook out of the Dior tote Carlos had gotten you for your birthday last year as Carlos chatters away about schedules, press duties, and what he expected out of you. You listened carefully, taking notes in a little spiral bound notebook as you waited for your laptop to boot up. 

“Are you in here talking to yourself again, Carlitos?” 

Your head snaps up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice and you find yourself smiling at the boy standing in the doorway. He’s a few inches taller than you, with short brown hair, and bright green eyes surrounded by thick black eyelashes. The deep tan of his skin surprises you a bit, considering its February in England and you hadn’t seen the sun since you left Spain yesterday. 

The boy’s face instantly sobers when he sees that your brother isn’t alone. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He blushes, hand coming to cup the back of his neck. “I didn’t realize you had a guest.” 

Carlos laughs, “This isn’t a guest. This is my sister, the one I was telling you about Friday. She’s going to be my assistant this year.” 

“Of course, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Lando.” 

You stand, crossing the small office in just 2 quick strides to shake Lando’s outstretched hand, “Nice to meet you too, Lando.” You say, polite smile playing on your lips. 

Lando turned around then, not wanting to intrude on the sibling time but also needing a moment to collect himself. He had known that you would be spending the season with your bother and that you two were around the same age but what he hadn’t prepared himself for was for how pretty you were. Your hair was even darker than your brother’s and it tumbled over your shoulders in layered waves that shined in a way that made Lando’s mouth go a little dry. Those dark eyes, round and doe eyed, threatened to swallow Lando whole and he’d barely spent more than a handful of seconds in your orbit.

He leaned against the door frame leading into his office, the sound of your laughter drifting through the walls. He had been used to the constant travel that was required of drivers of his caliber, having spent most of his teenage years on the road but all that time, he always had someone with him. His father, mother, manager. Someone that was ‘in charge’ of him and his schedule.

Now though? Now everything is different. He’s of age, a driver in the pinnacle league of his chosen sport, and totally alone. His friends are either jealous of his success or away at school and Lando often finds himself spending the entire weekend alone in his little flat down the road from the MTC. He was happy, of course, ecstatic that he had been given this chance by McLaren but the truth of the matter was, Lando Norris was quite lonely. 

As the image of your face flickered through his mind, Lando felt the tight grip of anxiety ease just a little bit. There was something so open about the way you had greeted him, something about how easy your laugh seemed to come, that told Lando that you were a good person, someone that would somehow be very important to him this year. 

“That is your teammates sister, mate.” Lando mutters to himself as he pushes off the door frame, making a beeline for the sim rig that was on the other side of the MTC, hoping that the time spent focused on racing would be enough to get your image out of his brain. 

April 2019 

Baku City Circuit 

“Lando, I swear to God if you’ve slept in again I’m ordering fish whenever I eat with you for the rest of my life.” 

Somewhere between Australia and China, you had morphed into not only Carlos’ personal assistant but also the assistant and babysitter of sorts to his stupid, idiotic, hilarious teammate. You adored the boy but most of the time he drove you to the brink of absolute madness. 

“I didn’t sleep in! My alarm didn’t go off!” Lando groans, breathless on the other end of the phone. 

“That is literally the same thing. I have one simple job here, Norris: get you and my brother to where they belong during race weekends and right now? You’re making me look like an amateur.” 

“I just got into the paddock, relax darling, no one is even remotely close to being fined by the FIA. I’ll be on the fan stage in five minutes, meet me there?” 

Pinching the bridge of your nose, you desperately try to will away the Landache, the term you’ve come up with when you get a headache caused by the Brit. “Fine.” You breathe. 

It’s your fourth race of the season and while Lando and your brother were seemingly hell bent on driving you to an early retirement, you had never been happier. Managing the busy schedule and life of now two Formula 1 drivers had come naturally to you. Engineers and mechanics in the garage were always a little in awe of your ability to keep the two drivers in line and where they needed to be when. The communications team at McLaren loved you because sometimes, you were the only one who would be able to get the Carlando, as the duo was coming to be known as, to behave. 

It was total chaos pretty much all of the time but you were thriving. You and Carlos were closer than ever, working tighter like a well oiled machine. But Lando and you? You two were the textbook definition of Partners In Crime. While you were the picture of professionalism on the track and during business hours, you were the other half of the chaos gremlin duo that terrorized half the grid. 

Right now though? Now the chaos gremlin was the perfect paddock princess that had to make sure her best friend and brother got to the right places on time. You round the corner of the back stage area, desperately searching for the mop of wavy brown hair covered by a papaya colored hat. 

“Lando!” You call, relieved when your dark eyes catch with a familiar pair light colored eyes. Today, they were an icy blue thanks to the bright desert sun of Baku. “I didn’t think I had to add ‘alarm’ to my list of race weekend duties.” You grouse, brushing at the dust on his team polo. 

Lando shakes his head, easy smile spreading across his face. “Am I late though?” 

You glare at him, “No.” You huff. 

“I would never make you look bad, pretty girl.” He winks and your stupid stomach does its traitorous little flip that it’s been doing lately. It’s disgusting. 

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Norris.” 

“And please welcome to the stage, McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris!” The presenter calls from behind Lando’s shoulder, interrupting your sparring match. 

Lando gives you a wink before spinning around following your brother up the stairs of the stage. 

July, 2019

Germany 

“That was my fifth DNF this year.” The pain in Lando’s voice sends your stomach twisting. You follow behind him, hands wringing together, as he stalks down the hallway of the hotel in Germany. The race had finished up hours ago but Lando had just been released from media duties a bit ago. Carlos had been caught up in some post-race meetings so you had hitched a ride back to the hotel with Lando instead but now, as you followed his stiff frame stalk down the hall, you wondered if that had been a good idea. 

“Lando, it wasn’t your fault. Your car lost power, it’s not like you binned it into the wall or anything.” 

Reaching his room, Lando stops and pulls out the key before letting himself in. He leaves the door open though, indicating he wanted you to follow him. “I know that.” He groans, scrubbing his hands over his face. The hotel room is pretty normal where hotels are concerned, 2 queen sized beds dominate the space with a large flat screen tv on the opposite side. Lando flops down on the farthest bed, his eyes closed. 

“I’ve barely finished in the points yet this season. Haven’t had a sniffing chance at a podium. I feel like such a fucking fraud.” 

You had stopped just inside the door, wanting to give Lando some space as he had his tantrum but now, seeing how truly upset he is, you cross the carpeted floor and sit down next to your best friend. “Lan.” You coo, running your fingers through his hair, knowing how the scratches from your nails relaxes him. “Lan, it’s okay. You knew coming in, just like Carlos, that McLaren is in a bit of a rebuilding stage. This isn’t unexpected.” 

The problem with Lando is that he is utterly too hard on himself. You had clocked the fact quickly, by the time you had been landing in Australia for the first race of the season, you knew he needed to work on his confidence. 

“I know. I mean, I don’t know but I know that you know and I trust you enough to know that you know what you know is right.” 

Your head spins. “Pardon me?” 

Laughter spilling from your lips pops the bubble of tension in the room, Lando unable to keep the smile off his face either.

“You heard me.” He gripes, sitting up. “And I know -” He stops, glaring at you when you double over with laughter once again. “I know you understood me, you cheeky monkey.” 

“I’m sorry but I’m just so terrified by the fact that I did understand that whirlwind of a sentence and can’t decide how to process it.” You say, chest heaving from laughing so hard. “We’ve been spending too much time together.” 

Lando grabs the remote from your hand before turning on the movie you had both fallen asleep to last night before the race. “Are you going to be mean to me all night, or are we going to finish this movie?” 

You roll your eyes, but toe off your shoes before settling against the headboard of the bed, shoulder bumping with Lando’s as he joins you. “Pizza or sushi for dinner?” You ask, grinning because you already know the answer. 

“You’re an idiot.” 

“Love you too, Lan.” You counter, pulling out your phone to order some pizza. 

Tag List: @anilovessadbooks, @shelbyteller, @formulaal, @martygraciesversion381, @longhairkoo, @samantha-chicago, @stelena-klayley @dark-night-sky-99 @luckylampzonkland, @chlmtfilms , @inarabee @aykxz98 @forensicheart @cheer-bear-go-vroom @charlesgirl16

*as always, if you want to be added to the tag list, leave me a comment or send me a message*

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

note: i've had to increase the tempo very slightly in order to be able to upload it.

Bomfunk MC's - Freestyler 1999

"Freestyler" was released in Finland in 1999 as the third single from Bomfunk MC's debut studio album, In Stereo. It was released internationally in February 2000 and became a chart-topping hit worldwide, reaching number one in eleven countries. In Finland, the album resulted in Emma awards for best new band, best debut album, best song ("Freestyler"), and best producer.

The music video for the song was mainly filmed at the Hakaniemi metro station, an underground station on the Helsinki Metro line in Finland and with platforms 21 metres below sea level. For the twentieth anniversary in 2019, a new music video was produced featuring the original band members, with updates to reflect developments in technology and culture.

Despite the many nos from first time listeners, the poll won by a very slight margin; 51,6% total yes votes vs 48,4% total no.

[howtofightwrite]

For super-powered individuals, if we assume the standard of characters being stronger, faster, more durable than normal, is there a reasonably thin enough material (i.e. not just 5 inch thick hardened steel) that a super strong individual could carry to be bullet-proof (enough), presumably in some form of plate armor where you can still be agile?

Not exactly. The problem with armor (in the context of armored vehicles) is that you can just hit them harder. Something that can stop a .50 round might not do so well against a guided explosive munition, and if that fails an artillery strike. But, against a roughly human foe, those anti-material rounds would probably get the job done.

So, let's stick with your hardened steel solution for a moment. A .50 BMG round will penetrate ~1.5 inches, but for the sake of argument let's say 2 inches. That's a pretty good defense against a sniper with an AM rifle. However, this is also used in heavy machine guns, where you're looking at a cyclic rate of ~750-850rpm. In a situation like that, your armor might hold up to a short burst, but probably will not survive multiple bursts in the same area. As is often the case, the real problem isn't the bullet with your name on it, it's the 20 or 30 buddies who wanted to swing by for a fun time.

This leads to another problem. While bullets punching holes in you is bad, your armor taking a hit can be pretty unpleasant in its own right. A .50 BMG will deliver somewhere north of 14k joules of force into the target. That's enough for the bullet to do some pretty unpleasant things to a person in the armor, even if the armor itself isn't compromised. This a large part of why there isn't any armory rated to soak a hit from one of the AM rifles. (The Russians claimed that their Ratnik-3 armor would be able to... and then it never really appeared. The claim was someone dubious to begin with, but that's a much larger, and wilder, rabbithole than you're asking about.)

For a normal person, wearing high end body armor, hits from normal combat rifles (intermediate and high power rounds) can result in broken ribs and internal hemorrhaging. It's not just about your armor being bulletproof, it's about your armor being able to effectively dissipate kinetic force as it's received. If it doesn't do that effectively, the bullets may get the job done, even if they don't manage to penetrate the body armor.

On an individual level, simply adding more armor isn't a particularly efficient solution. It makes sense to a point, but if you're already saying someone is super-humanly strong, and tough, covering them in steel plate isn't going to make them immune to harm.

Beyond that, there have been experiments with developing combat exoskeletons, to allow normal soldiers this kind of protection. The aforementioned Ratnik-3 was the Russian program, while the American project was named TALOS. TALOS was scrapped sometime before February 2019, citing technological limitations. So, this isn't a new concept.

Something I found deeply amusing is the “See also,” section on TALOS's Wikipedia page includes a link to Crysis. For those unfamiliar, Crysis was a first person shooter set in the distant future year of 2020, which would have come dangerously close to matching the intended schedule for TALOS, if the project had continued.

Powered exosuit research is probably not dead, even if TALOS has been scrapped. It may be a bit further out than was originally expected, but it is a reasonable bet that it will happen at some point. There are a lot of technological hurdles, including both the issue with the armor failing under direct fire, and dealing with kinetic force, but, at least from an optimistic perspective, it's somewhat plausible.

Unless you're talking about vehicles, modern armor isn't about adding more metal, it's about being more efficient with dissipating the kinetic force from a hit, and still survive to do it at least a couple times.

That said, whatever you do come up with, it's likely that the old adage will hold true, if force doesn't solve your problems, you're probably not using enough of it. No matter how good your armor is, it won't survive sufficient application of high explosives.

Even ignoring all that, a Type IV plate will still take a hit from most rifles (up to and including .30-06 AP rounds.) You don't need fantasy armor for that, it's something that already exists. Real world body armor is designed to take hits. Full plate was designed for melee combat. Neither one is particularly good at doing the other's job. That's not a limitation of the materials or technology, it's a function of what the armor is designed to deal with.

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, one of my scoutmasters warned us that if you use a knife as a screwdriver, you'll break it. It has an intended purpose. Trying use that tool, (whether it's a knife or body armor) for a purpose other than it's intended ones, will usually end poorly. (Of course, I also remember a crayon eater who was rather vocal in his opinion that the USP's only effective use was as a hammer.)

If you want to put a character in fully enclosed armor, take a look at Ratnik-3 or TALOS armor. If you just want a character who's unusually durable, and you're willing to go for (low key) superpowers, you don't need special armor to get that idea across.

-Starke

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[jc-martin-og]

Disney TVA Universe Timeline (Forever and Always)

⚠ Contains spoilers from: Gravity Falls, Amphibia, and The Owl House.

Summer 2012: Gravity Falls events take place. A division of the FBI is sent to investigate the location, but they come back with apparent amnesia. Bill Cipher is defeated

2016: In Amphibia, a frog finds 3 strange numbered diaries with golden marks shaped like 6-finger hands on their front covers near Wartwood, storing them in the local library.

2017: Dipper and Mabel Pines finish school.

2018: Dipper and Mabel start attending college. Dipper pursues a career in journalism. Mabel pursues a career related to tourism and business management.

May/June, 2019: Anne steals the Calamity Box during her 13th birthday. Anne, Sasha and Marcy are teleported to Amphibia.

October/November, 2019: Anne returns to Earth with the Plantars, escaping King Andrias.

January, 2020: Anne and the Plantars return to Amphibia and join Sasha and Grime in the Wartwood Resistance. They plan how to defeat Andrias and rescue Marcy.

April/May, 2020: Frog-Vasion to Earth begins in Los Angeles. The Core is defeated. Anne, Marcy, and Sasha leave Amphibia and return to Earth. The Calamity Stones are destroyed.

June, 2020: Amphibian technology remains are taken to Area 51 in order to be studied.

Summer 2020: Marcy Wu moves to Massachusetts.

2021: Due to his actions during Frog-vasion, as well as his actions in covering an event of such magnitude months after, Mr. X is promoted to Special Agents in Charge (SAC) within the FBI, taking command of the Unidentified Supernatural Affairs Division (USAD).

Summer 2022: Luz Noceda gets trapped in the Boiling Isles.

September, 2022: Luz and the Hexsquad try to stop Belos and the Day of Unity, but they are forced to escape back to Earth by the Collector.

November, 2022: Dipper and Mabel graduate from their respective careers. Mabel returns to Gravity Falls, Dipper moves to San Francisco. March, 2023: DARPA develops the first successful hybrid technology prototype derived from Amphibian technology.

Summer 2023: Mr. X and the FBI initiate an undercover investigation related to an unidentified wildlife virus in Gravesfield, Connecticut.

October 31st, 2023: Luz, Camila, and the Hexsquad return to the Boiling Isles Belos is defeated, and the Collector becomes an ally.

2024: Project "Amber Genesis" becomes operational.

January, 2025: The US government stablishes "Protocol Black Moonlight."

February 2025: The FBI is rebranded as the "Federal Bureau of Intervention" by the US goverment. Shock Force 51, or the "Shock Division Against Unidentified Treaths" is created.

2026: Luz starts a new life in the Boiling Isles.

May/June, 2029: Anne Boonchuy celebrates her 23rd birthday. An unauthorised failed portal attempt to Amphibia is carried by Dr. Terri and Mr. X.

May/June, 2030: "Operation Calypso" takes place in the Bermuda Triangle after a series of strange quakes. The Scatter is awakened. Mr. X and his division are considered KIA. Protocol Black Moonlight is activated. Anne Boonchuy Celebrates her 24th birthday.

Well everyone, here's a brief timeline of everything related to the crossover universe, all carefully pieced together! 🕰️✨

Took me a sweet time to put everything in order and make it feel connected, as well as to figure out when did some things happened, given how shows like The Owl House in particular don't count with canon dates, only a few clues to figure out when did some stuff took place.

I also used the so-called "Recovered Files" videos I made as a way to to promote the fanfic, which back when I was just starting helped me organize everything and tie it all together now 😊

This timeline was inspired by requests from readers who wanted a clearer picture of when the events of the fanfic take place, so I hope it helps you navigate the story’s timeline and enhances your reading experience! Let me know what you think! o(*￣︶￣*)o💬💜

[fatehbaz]

In February 2024, creature enthusiasts and popular media outlets celebrated what has been described as the 200-year anniversary of the formal naming of the "first" dinosaur, Megalosaurus.

There are political implications of Megalosaurus and the creature's presentation to the public.

In 1824, the creature was named (Megalosaurus bucklandii, for Buckland, whose work had also helped popularize knowledge of the "Ice Ages"). In 1842, the creature was used as a reference when Owen first formally coined the term "Dinosauria". And in 1854, models of Megalosaurus and Iguanodon were famously displayed in exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London. (The Crystal Palace was regarded as a sort of central focal point to celebrate the power of the Empire by displaying industrial technology and environmental and cultural "riches" acquired from the colonies. It was built to house the spectacle of the "Great Exhibition" in 1851, attended by millions.)

The fame of Megalosaurus and the popularization of dinosaurs coincided at a time when Europe was contemplating new revelations and understandings of geological "deep time" and the vast scale of the distant past, learning that both humans and the planet were much older than previously known, which influenced narrativizing and historicity. (Is time linear, progressing until the Empire is at this current pinnacle, implying justified dominance over other more "primitive" people? Will Britain fall like Rome? What are the limits of the Empire in the face of vast time scales and environmental forces?) The formal disciplines of geology, paleontology, anthropology, and other sciences were being professionalized and institutionalized at this time (as Britain cemented global power, surveyed and catalogued ecosystems for administration, and interacted with perceived "primitive" peoples of India, Africa, and Australia; the mutiny against British rule in India would happen in 1857). Simultaneously, media periodicals and printed texts were becoming widely available to popular audiences. For Victorian-era Britain, stories and press reflected this anxiety about extinction, the intimidating scale of time, interaction with people of the colonies, and encounters with "beasts" and "monsters" at both the spatial and temporal edges of Empire.

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Some stuff:

"Shaping the beast: the nineteenth-century poetics of palaeontology" (Laurence Talairach-Vielmas in European Journal of English Studies, 2013).

Fairy Tales, Natural History and Victorian Culture (Laurence Talairach-Vielmas, 2014).

"Literary Megatheriums and Loose Baggy Monsters: Paleontology and the Victorian Novel" (Gowan Dawson in Victorian Studies, 2011).

Bursting the Limits of Time: The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Revolution (Martin J.S. Rudwick, 2010).

Assembling the Dinosaur: Fossil Hunters, Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle (Lukas Rieppel, 2019).

Inscriptions of Nature: Geology and the Naturalization of Antiquity (Pratik Chakrabarti, 2020).

"Making Historicity: Paleontology and the Proximity of the Past in Germany, 1775-1825" (Patrick Anthony in Journal of the History of Ideas, 2021).

'"A Dim World, Where Monsters Dwell": The Spatial Time of the Sydenham Crystal Palace Dinosaur Park' (Nancy Rose Marshall in Victorian Studies, 2007).

Articulating Dinosaurs: A Political Anthropology (Brian Noble, 2016).

The Earth on Show: Fossils and the Poetics of Popular Science, 1802-1856 (Ralph O'Connor, 2007).

"Victorian Saurians: The Linguistic Prehistory of the Modern Dinosaur" (O'Connor in Journal of Victorian Culture, 2012).

"Hyena-Hunting and Byron-Bashing in the Old North: William Buckland, Geological Verse and the Radical Threat" (O'Connor in Uncommon Contexts: Encounters between Science and Literature, 1800-1914, 2013).

And some excerpts:

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When the Crystal Palace at Sydenham opened in 1854, the extinct animal models and geological strata exhibited in its park grounds offered Victorians access to a reconstructed past - modelled there for the first time - and drastically transformed how they understood and engaged with the history of the Earth. The geological section, developed by British naturalists and modelled after and with local resources was, like the rest of the Crystal Palace, governed by a historical perspective meant to communicate the glory of Victorian Britain. The guidebook authored by Richard Owen, Geology and Inhabitants of the Ancient World, illustrates how Victorian naturalists placed nature in the service of the nation - even if those elements of nature, like the Iguanodon or the Megalosaurus, lived and died long before such human categories were established. The geological section of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, which educated the public about the past while celebrating the scale and might of modernity, was a discursive site of exchange between past and present, but one that favoured the human present by intimating that deep time had been domesticated, corralled and commoditised by the nation’s naturalists.

Text by: Alison Laurence. "A discourse with deep time: the extinct animals of Crystal Palace Park as heritage artefacts". Science Museum Group Journal (Spring 2019). Published 1 May 2019. [All text from the article's abstract.]

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[There was a] fundamental European 'time revolution' of the nineteenth century [...]. In the late 1850s and 1860s, Europeans are said to have experienced ‘the bottom falling out of history’, when geologists confirmed that humanity had existed for far, far longer than the approximately 6,000 years previously believed to represent the entire history [...]. ‘[S]ecular time’ became for many ‘just time, period’: the ‘empty time’ of Walter Benjamin. […] The European discovery of ‘deep time’ hastened this shift. [....] Historicism views the past as developments, trends, eras and epochs. [...] Victorians were intensely aware of ‘historical time’, experiencing themselves as inhabiting a new age of civilization. They were obsessed with history and its apparent power to explain the present […].

Text by: Laura Rademaker. “60,000 Years is not forever: ‘time revolutions’ and Indigenous pasts.” Postcolonial Studies. September 2021.

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At the time when geology and paleontology emerged as new scientific disciplines, [...] [g]oing back to the 1802 exhibition of the first Mastodon exhibited in London’s Pall Mall, […] showmanship ruled geology and ensured its popularity and public appeal [...]. Throughout the Victorian period, [...] geology was as much - if not more - sensational than the popular romances and sensation novels of the time [...]. [T]he "rhetoric of spectacular display" (26) before the 1830s [was] developed by geological writers (James Parkinson, John Playfair, William Buckland, Gideon Mantell, Robert Blakewell), "borrowing techniques from [...] commercial exhibition" [...]. The discovery of Kirkdale Cave in December 1821 where fossils of [extinct] hyena bones were discovered along with other species (elephant, mouse, hippopotamus) led Buckland to posit that the exotic animals [...] had lived in England [...]. Thus, the year 1822 was significant as Buckland’s hyena den theory gave a glimpse of the world before the Flood. [...] [G]eology became a market in its own right, in particular with the explosion of cheaper forms of printed science [...] in cheap miscellanies and fictional miscellanies, with geological romances [...] [...] or [fantastical] tropes pervading [...], "leading to a considerable degree of conservatism in the imagery of the ancient earth" (196). By 1846 the geological romances were often reminiscent of the narrative strategies found in Arabian Nights [...].

Text by: Laurence Talairach-Vielmas. A book review published as: “Ralph O’Connor, The Earth on Show: Fossils and the Poetics of Popular Science, 1802 - 1856.” Review published by journal Miranda. Online since July 2010.

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Dinosaurs, then, are malleable beasts. [...] [T]he constant reshaping of these popular animals has also been driven by cultural and political trends. [...] One of Britain’s first palaeontologists, Richard Owen, coined the term “Dinosauria” in 1842. The Victorians were relatively familiar with reptile fossils [...] [b]ut Owen's coinage brought a group of the most mysterious discoveries under one umbrella. [...] When attempting to rise to the top of British science, it helped to have the media on your side. Owen’s friendship with both Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray led to fond name-dropping by both novelists. Dickens’s Bleak House famously begins by imagining a Megalosaurus, one of Owen’s original dinosaurs. Both novelists even compared their own writing process to Owen’s palaeontological techniques. In the scientific community, Owen’s dinosaur research was first [criticized] by his [...] rival, Gideon Mantell, a surgeon and the describer of the Iguanodon. [...] Naming dinosaurs was a powerful way of claiming ownership [...]. Owen [...] knew the power of the press [...]. [M]useum exhibits [often] [...] flattered white patrons [...] by placing them at the apex of modernity. [...] Owen would not have been surprised to learn that the reconstruction of dinosaur bones is still an act that is entangled in politics.

Text by: Richard Fallon. "Our image of dinosaurs was shaped by Victorian popularity contests". The Conversation. 31 January 2020.

[poly-mc]

Lore dump

CW: Blurred line between IC and OOC under the cut; trauma

My OC, Poly MC, is basically just me. I came up with that, after figuring out that I have feelings for all the brothers in the game Obey Me. This lead me to believe that I'm ambiamorous🦋

For more info on me, you can see my intro🪷

Full name: Fairwish Chanzé Breytenbach

Birthday: 25 February 2002

Age: 22

Gender: A fairy sitting on a leaf, looking over a beach and the ocean, under a starlit nightsky. I am that fairy🧚🏽✨️

My own flavour of non-binary 💛🤍💜🖤

Pronouns: Sea/star

*Please see my intro for a more in-depth explanation on that

How to use: Sea is cooking for starself. Basically, you replace "she" with "sea" and "her" with "star"

Sexuality: Pansexual

Nationality: South African

Race: Mixed (50% Black, 50% White)

Culture: Afrikaans and Zulu

Height: 5'1 (157cm)

Things I like doing: Colouring🧑🏽‍🎨, painting 🎨 video games 🎮(I played A LOT of Nintendo 3Ds as a kid, but now I mostly play Genshin and Sky)🎮, mobile games; 420 (eating and smoking)🍃, jigsaw puzzles🧩, cooking 🧑🏽‍🍳(my parents never tought me how to cook, so now I'm experimenting and teaching myself)🍲, singing🎤 (I guess I'm okay🤷🏽), dancing🕺🏽 (at least I have fun😂), writing poetry✒️

Likes: My boys❤️, my rp kids💖, my Bubba🐱❤️my bio mom🫂❤️, food, music, anime, animals, making people happy, rain, the ocean

Dislikes: My adoptive mom (she's narcissistic), hurting people, pedophiles, bigots, Trump

What I look like/Selfie dump:

I don't take a lot of pictures of myself, because I don't really like the way that I look most of the time😅 Recently, that's been getting a lot better though, since I got top surgery, started showering regularly again and taking better care of my hair. This allowed me to find a look that I really like on myself🤩 These are the only pictures of me that I feel comfortable posting right now, though ☺️😅

I'm an AuDHD-er (autism is self-diagnosed) and am currently recovering from what I suspect is burnout. I'm pretty sure I burnt out during high school. When I was in school, I always had to work harder than everyone else in class, on account of being the slowest. I write slower, make more mistakes and sometimes it takes me longer to process information. A lot of times, this caused me to hold everyonein class back with lessons and made me feel very ashamed. Every year, with a new class, I knew that I was the slowest out of everyone there. I also have a really hard time studying, without writing everything down or highlighting everything.

Everything started going downhill in 10th grade (16 yrs). It was really scary, having to watch as my grades/marks went down more and more with every passing term. Mostly in Science and Maths and sometimes EGD (Engineering Graphics and Design). No matter how much or how hard or how smart I worked, they just kept going down. If they weren't going down, they were stagnant. And I was the nerd. I was constantly spending my time with my nose in a book, or doing some type of homework or studying. Every afternoon, immediately after school (and all evening), even during breaktime/lunch - I would sit and do homework. I never went out with friends, went to parties or sleepovers (in high school. I did have and go to sleepoves in primary school, though. Those were fun). My whole life revolved around school. In high school, I didn't really have close friends. You know when you're friends with someone, but you only ever see them in school? It was like that. Those were the only friends I had in high school. So, essentially, I didn't really feel like I belonged anywhere.

Electrical Technology was fun, though🙃 I was the only "girl" in class, so being the top student and getting better grades than the boys that bullied me, felt that much better 😆😂

Having my final year in 2020, really did it for me. 2019 is the last time I remember everything being "normal". I still have a semblance of regret for not being able to have that high school anime (love) story that everyone talks about. *Sigh🌸* It was also really tough, knowing that that was our year of lasts and we didn't get to do all the things that students usually do in that year. I still remember the feeling of not being able to hug my teachers or my friends, how empty, quiet and orderly the hallways felt. Lifeless...It was horrible.

I could go on, but I think I'm going to end it here🌿 I feel that's enough trauma for today😂 Remember, if you have any questions my asks are always open🌼 I'm pretty much an open book with people I feel safe around and I feel really safe and loved in this community🫶🏽 So, I don't really mind talking about my trauma and past experiences with you guys 🤷🏽 Don't expect that from other people, though 🙅🏽 They might not be as comfortable about it. Just because I am, doesn't mean that they will be too.

Okay, bye🌻

[pikespendragon67]

Pikes Small Fall 2024 Check-in Post!

I technically can still talk with friends but eh why not

IRL: o ye gods i have 2 interviews next week, one in person and one over the phone that may lead to an in person interview. They pay way more than my current job but I fear deceiving my supervisor to go to the in person ones. I'm in the middle of my annual review for my current job though so I think I'll get like. A very small raise and get asked why I've been coming in late for a while now (mainly due to traffic). Hrm.

It’s gonna rain for 2 weeks fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

In December I'm making up for not walking for my college graduation since I graduated during quarantine! I met Jamieson Price at my brother's graduation back in 2016 since he was announcing so my foolish hope is that he announces for mine. Sadly not a SoCal school so highly unlikely (especially with BS technology nowadays) but a fish can dream.

I also...spent way more than I realized this year so once I replenish enough funds I hope I can stick to a budget that my mom helped formulate. Getting the new jobs will help a bunch in those. Terrible timing since the Switch successor is coming out next year and who knows what guests will arrive at cons I can potentially go to. (Like if Jamieson Price, Akio Otsuka, Kenjiro Tsuda or Junichi Suwabe got invited to a con I might need to sell a kidney or 3). I tried using a Windows 11 laptop and it is somehow much slower than my 2019 laptop. Like. How. It's more recent. So I might need to invest in a tablet (like an iPad) or something instead since those tend to be faster. If it has HDMI ports I'd be set.

Also terrible timing for going on a budget since I want to get the Shunsui blind keychain in stores like GameStop or BoxLunch. I have Ukitake at least. I'd be willing to trade a spare Soifon that I have. Oh, and also Squishables plushies always tempt me as well as physical DVDs/games/manga but I am running out of storage space aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I want to get back into art but I need a bag to carry my art supplies and hopefully I can sneak in doodles when I run out of tasks at work. I'd draw on weekends but my computer takes up way too much space on my desk.

And I'm in a bit of a music rut, need to find new stuff to listen to. I usually like smooth cadences in things like electroswing, R&B or pop punk rock, but maybe with how hectic the world is becoming I can get into a new genre of music. Maybe folk? Maybe a ska renaissance that I keep hoping to happen in the public attention?

Animu: I just finished rewatching Digimon Adventure (1999)! I rewatched the dub since I'm nostalgic towards it. I recognized more voices than I did in my rewatch from 6th grade wrow. (I forgot Doug Erholz was in the OG series as Joe's brother and MachineSeaDramon). As a kid my favorite was probably TK or Kari but these days I relate way too much to Joe. I think my favorite arc is the Myotismon arc, and I really loved the Piedmon fight. The show really started feeling special after SkullGreymon appeared. It went from regular monster of the week show to something that explored more character depth, like when Sora felt she couldn't use the Crest of Love. Gonna start 02 next week.

I'm about to finish Delico's Nursery (thank GOD) and Moribito so I can finally move onto other stuff to either watch or rewatch. Maybe Big O, maybe ID: Invaded? Who can say. ...Probably after Beastars season 3 comes out.

Pokemon Horizons' next dubbed portion will air in February so I will see who voices Hassel and Larry then put it on hold until another character I like shows up. Unless something plot relevant happens. It's a good show but hhhhhhhh I only have so much time in my days now.

I'm liking Ranma 1/2! Originally I was a bit squicked about the bathing scenes but I really like the character interactions and the over-the-top jokes (like using your brother as a weapon, hilarious)

Tower of God season 2 is...there. Definitely in the gambler's fallacy where I want to finish this and have it be done with. I really miss season 1's animation.

Orb: On the Center of the Earth is a really intriguing drama. I'm hoping it has a scene that makes me think about life like with other dramas that I've enjoyed. It has sparks of it, so only time will tell.

I’m really enjoying Dandadan so far. I might not delve into the fandom side but I’m loving the art direction and the main character bickering. Dare I hope for a Mothman arc?

In my Jojo rewatch I’m 4 episodes away from finishing Battle Tendency. I’m not the biggest fan of Stardust Crusaders though so I’m gonna see if I can watch the OVAs instead

And finally, I'm not sure how many episodes Bleach TYBW part 3 will have but I'm lowkey waiting for when Shunsui's big moment happens. Hopefully it doesn't feel too rushed, as if we do follow the 13 episode structure we'd only have...5 episodes left to finish this. I'm also hoping that the light novels get animated. Or that Kubo makes the rest of the Hell arc an anime exclusive thing.

Videya games: I thought I could switch between Brothership and Dragon Quest 3, but hoo boy do I feel the grind more in 5 minutes of DQ3 than I do 20 in Brothership. Aside from the Luigi A controversy and odd way to do basic jumps/hammer attacks, I'm liking the combat again. Makes me want to go back to play Dream Team more.

I got Webfishing and I made my avatar Ogata. Life is goooooooooood. Also on some weekends I play with some buddies in either Granblue Versus, 100% Orange Juice, and recently we went through the prologue of Paranormasight. I grinded with some other friends in Granblue Relink and man I need to assemble that squad again so I can get Ambrosia.

Oh yeah, an IRL friend helped me start up collecting for Wii again! Meaning I can hopefully get Gamecube games too because while I do have Dolphin and Parsec, I still have trouble opening files, configuring my controller and configuring a memory card. True there's a risk of scratched discs and spending way more than I need to. Hm.

[beardedmrbean]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills Tuesday to crack down on the use of artificial intelligence to create false images or videos in political ads ahead of the 2024 election.

A new law, set to take effect immediately, makes it illegal to create and publish deepfakes related to elections 120 days before Election Day and 60 days thereafter. It also allows courts to stop distribution of the materials and impose civil penalties.

“Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation -– especially in today’s fraught political climate,” Newsom said in a statement. “These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI.”

Large social media platforms are also required to remove the deceptive material under a first-in-the-nation law set to be enacted next year. Newsom also signed a bill requiring political campaigns to publicly disclose if they are running ads with materials altered by AI.

The governor signed the bills to loud applause during a conversation with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at an event hosted the major software company during its annual conference in San Francisco.

The new laws reaffirm California’s position as a leader in regulating AI in the U.S., especially in combating election deepfakes. The state was the first in the U.S. to ban manipulated videos and pictures related to elections in 2019. Measures in technology and AI proposed by California lawmakers have been used as blueprints for legislators across the country, industry experts said.

With AI supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, lawmakers across the country have raced to address the issue over concerns the manipulated materials could erode the public’s trust in what they see and hear.

“With fewer than 50 days until the general election, there is an urgent need to protect against misleading, digitally-altered content that can interfere with the election,” Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, author of the law banning election deepfakes, said in a statement. “California is taking a stand against the manipulative use of deepfake technology to deceive voters.”

Newsom’s decision followed his vow in July to crack down on election deepfakes in response to a video posted by X-owner Elon Musk featuring altered images of Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

The new California laws come the same day as members of Congress unveiled federal legislation aiming to stop election deepfakes. The bill would give the Federal Election Commission the power to regulate the use of AI in elections in the same way it has regulated other political misrepresentation for decades. The FEC has started to consider such regulations after outlawing AI-generated robocalls aimed to discourage voters in February.

Newsom has touted California as an early adopter as well as regulator of AI, saying the state could soon deploy generative AI tools to address highway congestion and provide tax guidance, even as his administration considers new rules against AI discrimination in hiring practices.

He also signed two other bills Tuesday to protect Hollywood performers from unauthorized AI use without their consent.

[mariacallous]

Threatened by values that are at the core of the NATO alliance and shared by Ukraine and many other countries around the world, the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 with the intention to wipe the country off the map, crush freedom, and weaken democracy. In doing so, Russia receives significant support, including the provision of advanced technology, from its authoritarian friends, not least China, Iran, and North Korea. More than Ukraine’s survival, Europe’s security is at stake. As a global fight is being played out on the battlefield in Ukraine, innovative technologies are being rolled out at unprecedented speed.

For centuries, security in Western democratic societies has been tied to their ability to innovate. From the bow and arrow to battle tanks and from hand grenades to hypersonic missiles, new military inventions not only changed the way we fight and win wars. They also underpinned our ability to shape successful and resilient societies. Now, with a massive technological revolution underway, which has seen the rise of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and quantum technologies, it is not enough to just be able to innovate. We must remain at the forefront of innovation. By leading innovation, we can continue to shape our security environment. If we don’t, others will.

NATO nations, and the United States in particular, have long had technological primacy. But they are being challenged. China is not only rapidly developing technologies, but it is also connecting new technologies together, multiplying their potential disruptive impact on our societies, our economies, and our security. Semiconductors from China are a critical component of the phones and computers we use every day—but also of the high-end military systems and capabilities we rely on for our security. Russia’s war against Ukraine is shedding light on the incredible speed of innovation. Ukrainians are innovating fast but not fast enough. In just weeks, Russians managed to neutralize the innovative software that Ukrainians have been putting into drones.

To keep its 1 billion citizens safe, NATO must ensure it out-competes any strategic competitor and potential adversary. That is why we are doubling down on efforts to accelerate technological innovation in the field of security and defense. This is not something NATO does alone but together with the drivers of innovation in the private sector. Today, they produce 90 percent of the dual-use technologies used for our defense and security. The private sector is an indispensable partner.

When I took up my job as deputy secretary-general at NATO in 2019, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg asked me to be NATO’s innovation champion. One of my first tasks was to help establish the NATO Innovation Board. As its chair, I prioritized innovation across the alliance, and as a result, NATO has significantly sped up its technological transformation. At the Brussels summit in 2021 and after, NATO leaders launched two breakthrough initiatives to tighten the links between NATO and the dual-use innovation ecosystem. One was the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, which brings together innovators across the alliance to cooperate on critical technologies. The other was the NATO Innovation Fund, a 1 billion euro venture capital fund that provides strategic investments in start-ups developing technologies in areas that are critical to allied security. NATO has also already established a regular high-level dialogue with private sector leaders, including with companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services. More recently, NATO stood up a Transatlantic Quantum Community to ensure a secure, resilient, and competitive quantum ecosystem and launched a commercial space platform (SPACENET) to further cooperation with commercial space industries. The alliance has come a long way. Yet the epochal moment we are confronted with requires even bigger and bolder adjustments.

NATO needs to innovate more and faster. Above all, we need to dare to innovate differently. This means rethinking the way we structure our partnerships with the private sector in the area of defense. NATO has worked for decades to achieve interoperability between national militaries. Now, it needs to achieve interoperability with the trans-Atlantic innovation ecosystem to future-proof our security.

In particular, NATO needs to adjust the mechanisms and procedures it has built and relied on for decades to develop and purchase defense capabilities. Defense plans, procurement cycles, and acquisition models are important and necessary to guardrail innovation and help minimize financial risk. But they are also lengthy, rigid, and complex. They can be a roadblock to innovation and a risk for our security. Our procurement timelines are set to the acquisition of large pieces of hardware that we hang on to for decades. New aircraft that NATO is acquiring now to replace the aging fleet of Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft will only be operational in 2031. In the information technology arena, where requirements are different and change very rapidly, more flexible procedures are essential to ensure allied and partner nations get what they need when they need it—and not five or 10 years down the line.

At the same time, as we rethink our partnership with the private sector to accelerate innovation, we must stay aligned with our values. Technological innovation, especially in the field of defense, can be used to curb freedom and control and manipulate people. This is what our competitors do. Moscow and Beijing do not face up to the important ethical dimensions in their race to develop and deploy technologies. But NATO does. It has already integrated so-called principles of responsible use in all its strategies on emerging and disruptive technologies, including AI, autonomy, biotechnologies and human enhancements, space, and quantum. These principles ensure that the use of these new technologies complies with international law and respects our democratic values. Rather than stifling innovation, they enable it by creating a predictable, trustworthy, and responsible environment in which everyone—innovators, adopters, end users, and our publics—feels confident using these technologies and cooperating with one another.

Looking ahead to the next NATO summit in The Hague in June 2025, NATO will pursue its work to foster the development of the long-term revolutionary innovation required to maintain the alliance’s technological edge. A new Rapid Adoption Strategy, to be delivered at the summit next year, will provide recommendations to enable allies to streamline acquisition and procurement processes while at the same time respecting the fundamental principles of fairness, transparency, integrity, openness, competition, and accountability underlying acquisition and procurement in the defense and security environment. With work underway on this new strategy, the alliance is seeking to include small and medium enterprises developing battle decisive technology in the NATO procurement mechanisms. The immediate needs arising from the battlefield in Ukraine are lessons NATO is taking on board as it prepares for the future.

Last week, I concluded my tenure as NATO’s deputy secretary-general and ended my duties as NATO’s innovation champion. Looking back, I am impressed by how profoundly NATO has been adapting to technological advances in a fast-changing world. As threats have evolved and multiplied—on land, sea, and air and in space and cyberspace—so has NATO’s response, in both the physical and the digital world. I leave an alliance that is driving faster toward new, different, and responsible ways of innovating. Looking ahead, I am confident this will keep NATO competitive, our values safe, and the trans-Atlantic area more secure—now and for generations to come.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Communism or extinction

Therefore, the current and inexorable dilemma for humanity is: communism or extinction, revolution or death. But the revolution doesn’t only take place at exceptional moments in history. The revolution itself is an eruptive and decisive exception in the history of the class struggle and the capitalist social normality. But it’s not a fate or destiny but a possibility. It’s not inevitable but rather it’s contingent: it can as much as can’t happen. It depends on what the proletariat does or doesn’t do in respect. Because capitalism will not die by itself or peacefully.

The revolution is not an occurrence which happens overnight, instilling paradise on Earth either, but rather it’s a historical process, concrete, contradictory and even chaotic, that contains flows and ebbs, advances and retreats, ruptures and leaps, times of stagancy and new leaps. It’s a process of social transformation of a radical and total character which has always been, and above all at these heights of history, necessary and urgent, because it’s the only way that proletarianized humanity — which is the majority of humanity — can cease to self-alienate and self-destruct as humans, and at the same time to cease to destroy non-human nature.

Yes: communization is the only revolutionary exit from the crisis of capitalism or, which is the same thing, the only radical solution for the civilizatorian crisis, because it’s the only way to guarantee the reproduction of Life, or as Flores Magón would say, for its “regeneration” or reinvention.

It’s necessary to produce, then, that exception or historical eruption that is the revolution, no more and no less than for vital necessity. It must be gestated and born. Communism is the fetus and the revolution is the birth of the new world. But, as it has already been said, this depends on what the proletariat does or doesn’t do in order to transform the current social conditions and their own life, their own collective being and the ecosystem.

In the case that our class doesn’t fight for the total revolution until the end, the counterrevolution will continue to reign and the capitalist or dystopian catastrophe in course (systematic economic crisis, cutting-edge technology/”artificial intelligence,” massive unemployment and poverty, devastation of nature/ecological crisis, pandemics, wars, suicides, etc.) will finally end up making us as a species extinct. Perhaps there are only a few generations left before that. And the countdown increasingly accelerates.

Therefore, the current worldwide capitalist crisis and the current worldwide wave of proletarian revolts constitute possibly the last historical chance to finally start the irrevocable process of the global communist revolution, of the abolition or the overcoming of the society of classes and fetishes… or to perish.

Exaggerated? Apocalyptic? We’re already living in the capitalist apocalypse that is the the current crisis of civilization! The dystopian future is now! Our historical cycle of crisis and struggles will possibly be the cycle of 2019–2049…

Communism or extinction!

The self-abolition of the proletariat is the end of the capitalist world!

Proletarians of the world: Let’s self-organize in order to cease to be proletarians!

A proletarian fed-up with being one Quito, Ecuador February-April, 2020

[mightyflamethrower]

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) knows a thing or two about UFOs. After all, he sits on a House committee investigating UFO sightings and he’s attended some closed-door briefings. He hears things that you don’t hear.

And like any member of Congress, he loves to talk.The lawmaker appeared on the podcast “Event Horizon” last week and had some startling things to say. Here they are, below:

“We’ve been dealing [with government coverups] since 1947, probably since about 1897 in what was the Aurora Texas ‘UFO crash.'”

“They [the craft] can travel light years or at the speeds that we’ve seen defy physics as we know it.”

“They can fly underwater and don’t show a heat trail.”

They could “turn us into a charcoal briquette.”

“We are out of our league. … We couldn’t fight them off what we wanted to. That’s why I don’t think they’re a threat to us, or they would already have been.”

Well, at least that last one is good news.

Burchett said it’s time the government just comes clean and tells America what it knows.

“We don’t need to fund anybody anymore. Let’s just turn loose the reports, quit with the redacted reports that look like Swiss cheese with everything whited out or blacked out, and just give us all the information and let the American public decide,” he said on the Event Horizon podcast.

“We can handle it. Stop with the arrogance. Stop with the corruption. Let’s get it all out there,” Burchett said.

Back in March, Burchett claimed that UFO technology — that is, technology he believes the U.S. has captured — is possibly “being reverse-engineered right now” but we “don’t understand” how it functions. He maintains that the U.S. has “recovered a craft at some point, and possible beings.”

Burchett’s comments follow testimony on covert UFO programs from senior military and intelligence whistleblowers beyond David Charles Grusch.

Grusch said last month that he gave Congress reams of classified information about covert U.S. government programs that he says are now in possession of an intact craft of “non-human origin.”

Grusch, 36, is a decorated former combat officer in Afghanistan and a veteran of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office. He was the reconnaissance office’s representative to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force from 2019-2021. And then from late 2021 to July 2022, he was the NGA’s co-lead for UAP analysis and its representative to the task force.

The UAP expert said the information was illegally withheld from Congress, and he “filed a complaint alleging that he suffered illegal retaliation for his confidential disclosures,” The Debrief reported.

“Grusch said the recoveries of partial fragments through and up to intact vehicles have been made for decades through the present day by the government, its allies, and defense contractors. Analysis has determined that the objects retrieved are ‘of exotic origin (non-human intelligence, whether extraterrestrial or unknown origin) based on the vehicle morphologies and material science testing and the possession of unique atomic arrangements and radiological signatures,’ he said,” The Debrief reported.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who reportedly attended a classified UAP briefing on a military base in Florida on February 21, has also revealed a small bit of information he has received.

“I have seen evidence of craft that I am not familiar with any of our allies or adversaries or even our country possessing. I’ve seen that craft taken by air crews who have gotten quite close to it and we’ve got a lot more questions about why this information isn’t more broadly available to the American people,” Gaetz told Newsmax last week.

So, they’re here. Or these lawmakers just like to hear themselves talk.

[jules-has-notes]

2019 VoicePlay winter travels — let it snow, make it rain, feel the love

After a reasonably busy autumn and holiday season, VoicePlay eased into the new year by spending a little more time with their families. Then they got back to work with new musical arrangements, ambitious music video projects, and live shows.

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On the road again

As they did for many years, the boys began their travels with a trip to New York for the annual Association of Performing Arts Professionals conference. They did some networking with other artists, and performed a showcase set to allow potential bookers to see what they have to offer.

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During the few days they had at home, J.None and sound guy Paul released an original song they'd been working on. Then VoicePlay hit the road again for a weekend in Indiana.

First up was a return to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, where they'd last played three years earlier. An unexpected joy of the night was meeting a couple dozen high school singers from a town just across the state line in Illinois, who were brought by their teachers.

Terre Haute show — photo by Nancy Mongomery // choral students from Charleston (Illinois) High School — photo from the Journal Gazette & Times Courier

The following day, they drove up to Wabash for their next concert. Sadly, they had to hurry to the airport right after the show rather than doing the usual meet-and-greet, lest a nasty winter storm prevent them from getting home.

Wabash, IN show — photo by Carolyn Schult

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While they were home for the week, Layne and Tony finished up a fun video that PattyCake had produced for YouTuber Danny Gonzalez. On the VoicePlay side of things, Eli did an interview with a reporter from the Kitsap Sun about the group's origins and performance philosophy in advance of their two upcoming shows in western Washington state.

When the weekend rolled around, the boys took to the skies again. They started in Bellingham, near the Canadian border, then scooted down Puget Sound to Bremerton.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by J.None 🧈🎶 🎙📝🎬🎹🎸📽🤣 (@itsjnone)

While the other guys headed home again, Eli met up with Ashley and popped over to Seattle to begin their anniversary vacation travels.

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Night out, night in

In the middle of the week, J.None headed over to Clearwater to see a gaggle of friends. Echo were the local openers for DCappella at the second stop on their national tour. That allowed J to reunite with his colleagues in the first-wave DCap cast and musical director Deke Sharon, and let beatboxer Antonio Fernandez spend a night with his former bandmates.

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Meanwhile, Layne spent the evening at home doing a bit of culinary experimentation, using advice from fitness enthusiast Earl.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Layne Stein (@laynestein)

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Love is in the air

Over the next week, VoicePlay spent several days capturing footage for their first music video of the year, an expanded version of "Grow Old With You" from The Wedding Singer.

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They like us!

The end of the month brought a lovely surprise when the nominees for the Shorty Awards were announced. VoicePlay found themselves in fine company for the Best YouTube Musician category.

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Doing the work

February was comparatively quiet as the fellas worked on various projects that were in progress and planned for the months ahead. J.None played a few events with Paradigm Party Band, including a laser-tastic gig for Google at the House of Blues.

Later in the month, VoicePlay headed to the REBL HQ studio at Full Sail University for a day to film two new videos for their PartWork series. First up was ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky", which they'd been performing at live shows for a while. The second was a full version of "Any Way You Want It" by Journey. Fans had been requesting that for several years, since they'd included a portion of it in the polyphony section of "Don't Stop Believin'".

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Puttin' on the glitz

March started off swanky, as the guys were part of the entertainment for a gala / charity fundraiser in advance of the grand opening of a new IPIC movie theater in Delray Beach. Some other acts for the night were the lovely ladies of The American Sirens (who VoicePlay and PattyCake fans might recognize) and Rockette-style dancers from Zhantra Events.

photos courtesy of The American Sirens

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Congratulations all around

A few days later, Eli returned to the Full Sail campus to help their buddy Rek Dunn celebrate finishing his degree.

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And a few days after that, the boys were very pleased to learn that they'd advanced to the final round of their category for the Shorty Awards.

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That's a wrap

On the video production front, Layne and Tony finished up their next PattyCake project, a Disney-fied version of Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" featuring a cavalcade of animated ladies.

Then VoicePlay gathered at Rayne's Room to record their next "Aca Top 10" video, themed around Disney villains.

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Rollin', rollin', rollin'

In the middle of the month, VoicePlay hit the road once more, starting with a workshop and concert in Harrisburg, PA.

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Over the weekend, J.None and his family popped down to Tampa to support his Americal Idol buddy Clark Beckham at his album release show. J even jumped on stage for a song or two.

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The next week, they headed back to the Rockies for another high-altitude concert in Beaver Creek, CO. The air was still a bit thin, but that was balanced by getting to see their artist friend Leon.

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Their final gig of the season was closer to home, just a quick drive down to Naples, FL. In a fun coincidence, Layne's brother- and sister-in-law also had a show in town with their band on the same night, so the two groups met up for dinner.

backstage smiles // post-show dinner with family

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Fingers crossed

The cherry on top of a fun weekend was receiving two nominations for the A Cappella Music Awards. The five of them were up for Best Pop Group, and Earl was in the running for Best Male Vocalist. Several of their friends were also nominated in other categories, which gave them even more to root for.

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All in all, the year was off to a pretty great start. There was plenty more fun to come, but that's a tale for another time.

[xielexalt]

Xiel's Atelier Log #1 (April 2024)

I decided to start this blog detailing my creative endeavors and progress every so often, discussing the process and thoughts regarding recent releases and current WIPs!

1: "Buffer" ft. ZETHIEL ZERO (DiffSinger)

I commissioned Annoying Hyena to create this DiffSinger voicebank of ZETHIEL ZERO, based on 20 minutes of his Japanese singing data! He's obviously not the best quality DS, but I really like his vocal quality and how it differs from his RVC. I have some ideas for the future of creating an update of his DS that includes his English data, even more singing data created with RVC, and parallel training to help his vocal range, but that'd be for 2025 at the absolute earliest.

Regarding "Buffer," it's the first song Empty old City created as part of Kamitsubaki, and I fell in love with it instantly. I think I'm the first cover of it, and I really enjoyed tuning him as well to reflect some of the stylistic choices of Kahoca's singing. It's such an excellent song and I'm just. OBSESSED.

2: "Tera Tera" - Alcheglow SIDE B

I worked with Kezo, Pigeon, and Kori to make this chorus of Tera Tera for A Sekai Tour! I actually had two groups under "Alcheglow" entered in this event, but SIDE A had to be delayed a bit due to some circumstances. It's a super fun song that the rest of the team really liked, so I'm glad we made a fun final result.

In any case, I'm really proud of this mix and how it all came together. I did all the art and as well, and the simple video. I tuned Rikka and Pigeon tuned Chis-A, and one thing that's really fun about 2 tuners for a cover like this is that the vocalsynths blend into each other more "authentically" like they're actually two people singing, instead of their voices overlapping into one new resonance. Rikka is my darling favorite so I'm glad to use her. I also discovered ZETHIEL, arcdia, and Rikka's blend is pretty insane. I do have a ZETHIEL x Rikka duet planned at some point...

3: "Karen's Cleanup" - arcdia

arcdia's first solo cover coming back as a "revived" vocalist. The process to create her voice is to first sing normally as myself, then convert my voice with RVC into her voice. Although she and ZETHIEL ZERO share a voice essentially, it boils down to the song choice and expression that strongly differentiates them. arcdia leans into the sweeter charm and covers beautiful or sinister songs, while ZETHIEL ZERO leans into a "cooler" charm and covers melancholic and electronic songs? Additionally, ZETHIEL ZERO is strictly a vocalsynth, while arcdia is more of a "real" singer, especially because more "real" singing goes into her presentation than synthesized singing.

I really really love this song, and the comments I got on it during February Youtaite Rewind said her voice suits the song so well and could be the original. I'm glad arcdia's voice has a similar distinctive charm to SEKAI/Isekaijoucho in that case. It's a bit strange that I love listening to arcdia meanwhile ZETHIEL ZERO is a bit of a mixed bag due to dysphoria feelings.

4: "Ga1ahad and Scientific Witchery" - ZETHIEL x arcdia

For this cover, arcdia isn't revived through RVC, these are genuinely just vocals I recorded way back in early 2019 in the real. And then I rerecorded for the other part in late 2023 (4 years on T) to create this duet. This song has such a chokehold on my psyche and I'm obsessed with this song so much... I feel like it defines a part of my inner soul or essence so to speak, so I feel like by making an arcdia x ZETHIEL cover of this song, it's like I've created the perfect Ga1ahad and the perfect Witch.

It's because of this song, I decided to take arcdia's persona in the direction of a "witch" style. Incidentally, ZETHIEL with his emphasis on alchemy and technology suits the "scientific" side of this song. ZETHIEL and arcdia are my perfect duo.

5: "Kannagi" - ZETHIEL

I will not stop covering Hiiragi Magnetite songs. I have more in store.

I'm obsessed with this song in particular, and wanted to create an utaite/VSinger version I could listen to a lot, so I made this shortly after my trip overseas to attend an honor choir. I felt like that trip really awakened a new side of my voice and I think I showcased it here well. I think I listened to myself in this cover so much that it showed up in my YT Recap stats as a top song.

Although I can't belt super high like a lot of other tenor vocalists, I feel like my falsetto has its own appeal. When this was played at a Youtaite Showcase end-of-year stream, a lot of people commented on how insane my vibrato and falsetto is, which I was really happy about, as well as the unique youthful quality of my voice combined with the beauty and technique of the cover. I'm really, really glad people love ZETHIEL like this.

Kannagi is a super captivating song that I'm just really really obsessed with. I feel like it encompasses such a beautiful side of Hiiragi Magnetite. Yes, it's an electronic song, but it really just feels so similar to the beauty evoked by classical or orchestral songs -- which I love a lot too.

Speaking of which, Kannagi, Ga1ahad, and Buffer are all part of a new playlist I created called "Essence of ZETHIEL" -- which I think are the "key songs" for ZETHIEL's overall image and vibe. I think I worked really hard planning on ZETHIEL's image as a character, and I'm satisfied with where we're going with this now.

6: "Pale & Deep" - ZETHIEL (WIP)

This is the next "big" cover for ZETHIEL to define his character image, incidentally it's the same composer as his debut song Hana to Nare.

I carefully considered a lot of artists and decided to go with this artist for the music video. They captured ZETHIEL's vibe so exceptionally well, and it'll be the first music video featuring ZETHIEL's new design. I wanted him to have more of an "alchemist" vibe!

Regarding the song choice of "Pale & Deep," I was really excited Awairo became a proper musical duo (Yunosuke + WaMi) and under Sinsekai at that! Their visuals are so pretty and their music as well, I listened to Pale & Deep on loop for so long!!! The music video evoking "blue" and the lyrics too, makes it even more suitable for ZETHIEL.

I arranged the harmonies here myself, I kind of want to adjust things to make it more "proper" Yunosuke style. But it might be OK by itself, we'll see.

Trying to make an MV myself is difficult, but that's what I'm gonna try to test myself on this for this cover. I hope to release this by June or July. I downloaded a lot of assets for this cover in particular, inspired by my video editing class and the original MV of "Pale & Deep."

7: Various original song/arrangement works

Been unable to publish a lot of them just yet, but there's a lot of original song works I've been doing in the past half year or so. Keep in mind some of these are still WIPs and unmixed.

#1 is client work. #2 I hope to release as a single this year. #3 and #4 will be part of a collaboration album. #5 is also client work!

Also, I published "Aurora" onto Soundcloud, it's just been sitting around finished for at least a year so I decided to post it. It's a fansong for Tobias from Dragalia Lost.

I think I'll be able to release it onto streaming as a B-Side to another collaboration track.

Anyways, that's the atelier log for today!! See you in a bit more!

[idolsummons]

Records of Professor William Jones: 2019

Before reading over the below notes of Professor Jones, it is recommended to revise his records from both 2001 and 2003.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Will,

I am absolutely delighted to hear that you, Catherine and Jacob will be spending your holiday in France next year. I am so excited at the thought of seeing you again, and getting to meet your beautiful wife and son.

I think Alice is excited about having a boy around her age about, even if she doesn’t really show it, but, well, you know how teenagers are!

Keep in touch and let me know what your plans are. Maybe I can be your tour guide around Paris!

Alice sends her regards, in those words.

Sylvie

I have not returned to Europe since those fateful months back in 2001. Admittedly, as much as I would have loved to return, time simply got away from me; with my teaching career, the engagement and marriage to my beautiful wife and then the birth of our son, I found no time for such sojourns to other countries, even in the name of furthering research in the field. I am grateful, at least in this small part, that this particular field is not one which is of great interest to others.

Although, yes, this is to be a holiday with my family and the chance to spend time with an old friend, I do hope there will be some time in which I can further my research into La Cour de la Lune. Much time has passed since my last visit, of course, and I have formulated new theories in regards to the uncovering of information. I can only hope Sylvie is enthusiastic of being of some help - and perhaps the young Alice, who has spent her entire life within the congregation, will have some insight that even her mother does not possess!

Sylvie,

Rest assured that I am just as delighted as you are about the thought of seeing you again. As soon as I know of our plans, I will send you an email with regards to them so as to not delay the process.

Catherine and Jacob also send their regards, not in those words.

Will

P.S. The thought has just struck me as to how much technology has evolved since our first contact. It is almost amazing that we still write to each other in a way that anyone would consider old fashioned now!

Monday, January 21, 2019

Catherine is not particularly delighted about my plans to research the occult while we spend our family vacation in France. How lucky I am to have such a wonderful and understanding wife, though! We have come to an understanding that I might spend some downtime on my research, as long as I spend most of the time with herself and Jacob. I am, of course, amicable to this proposal; if there is one thing more important than my research, it is spending time with my beautiful family.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

I must apologise for the quality of my writing in this entry, for my hands cannot stop shaking after having read the most recent letter I have received from Sylvie. I will allow the letter to do the talking, lest I fill the page with nonsensical scribblings.

Will,

I must apologise. I will not be able to accompany you, Catherine and Jacob when you come to visit in the coming months.

I have made the decision to give my life to Vh’thra on the next new moon, falling on the 6th of March.

I understand that you might be saddened by this news, but you needn’t worry. My soul will be back in the hands of Vh’thra, and one day I might be reborn anew.

Alice will remain well and safe. She is a young woman who can make her own choices, but I understand she will continue to live among the others in our congregation. Of course, I will support her no matter which path her life might take from the moment I am no longer with her.

There will be no need to mourn me; rather, celebrate that I am one with my dear Vh’thra once more.

I wish you all the best with your family, research and any endeavours the future might hold.

Sylvie

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

I never did respond to the correspondence Sylvie had sent.

The next letter I received was on this day, though it is in a markedly different hand than the letters which I had received before it.

Mr Jones,

I felt as though it was my responsibility to inform you that my mother, Sylvie Delecroix, sacrificed herself to Vh’thra some few hours ago on this day, the 6th of March, 2019.

If you wish to continue the correspondence you had with my mother with me instead, I will happily answer any queries you might have. Likewise, I have been informed of your impending visit to France and that I should meet you if you so desire. For the purposes of preparation, I will be using my mother’s email address. For anything which is not of an urgent nature, please continue to write.

I have taken and sent photos both for your research and as proof. I hope you find them useful.

Regards,

Ms Alice Delecroix

I feel violently ill doing so much as recounting the contents of the accompanying images.

The images were numerated so that I might view them in the correct order. Though I have included the images in this bundle, I implore anyone in their right mind to not view these images. I have provided written descriptions for those curious.

The first image depicts a semi-clothed, seated Sylvie. She is being marked by a robed figure in symbols which I have come to learn over the years represent various ideas and creatures which relate to La Cour de la Lune. These symbols in particular relate to Vh’thra, defined by their long and pointed shapes.

The second image, which is particularly close, depicts Sylvie with the same lack of clothing, now laid upon the stone table. Unlike sacrificed beasts I have been sent images of over the years, Sylvie’s hands and legs are unbound. It appears that a robed figure is carving markings into her skin with a sacrificial blade. Blood has already begun to pool to the surface of her skin.

The third image is taken from a distance, behind other members of the congregation. It appears that a hooded figure has the same sacrificial blade which had been used to carve into Sylvie’s skin high above his head. It’s difficult to tell, given the distance, but Sylvie doesn’t appear to be struggling or distressed.

In the fourth image, Alice seems to have gotten to the front of the crowd. The blade is lodged well between Sylvie’s ribs. Although he is hooded, part of the executioner’s face can be seen. He, just like Sylvie (who now smiles towards the camera, or rather, her daughter), appears to be at peace.

The fifth image, like the second, is taken closer. Alice’s finger has partially obscured the lens, but this is just as well - it means that I have been spared seeing a friend dismembered.

I cannot bring myself to respond to Alice’s letter tonight. How can a child remain so calm in the face of their only parent being taken from them, particularly of their own choice? How can she take photos of the acts, and do so well enough that they are not blurred or otherwise obscured (except for in one very lucky situation)?

Is this the toll spending one’s entire life in a cult takes?

Thursday, March 28, 2019

I still feel ill and my hands still shake, if that is not proven by this entry. Sleep evaded me last night, and in those small moments when I did begin to drift, the images I had viewed burned themselves into my mind once more.

Thankfully, Alice has asked for correspondence by email for the time being, sparing me the trouble of having to write coherently by hand at the very least.

I try not to think about how she can so casually use the email address of her deceased mother, particularly in the present day when it is so common for people to have addresses of their own.

Ms A. Delecroix -

I must specify the Ms Delecroix I write to, otherwise I will feel like I am speaking to a recently deceased friend -

I thank you for the notification of your mother’s passing. Under ordinary circumstances, I would say that I am sorry for your loss, but I understand that is not what your mother wanted, nor what you believe. I hope that her soul finds its place among us again soon.

I would also like to thank you for the photos you sent.

They are grotesque, but do they not aid me in my research?

Please see below for details of the holiday I will be taking to France along with my wife, Catherine, and my son, Jacob.

…

Not too long after I send this email do I receive a response back.

Mr Jones,

Please keep in mind what I said about emails being for urgent matters only. I might be young, but I do appreciate receiving and sending handwritten letters much more than a soulless email.

To bring an end to this line of conversation - do not waste your worry or your pity on my mother. I hope for her to be among us once more soon enough.

I look forward to meeting you in Paris next month.

Kind regards,

Ms Alice Delecroix

Though I am curious to meet the child Alice of whom I have heard so much, I swear that my heart is no longer beating in my chest.

I cannot help but fear the person I am soon to meet.

[felipeandletizia]

Felipe and Letizia retrospective: February 22nd

2005: Departure; Arrival at Brasilia Air Base ahead of their Official Visit to Brazil and Uruguay & Arrival to an welcome dinner offered by Brazil’s president

2006: Opening of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Development: Society, Enterprise and Sustainability & Opening of the new headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of the Field of Gibraltar

2007: Audiences at la Zarzuela

2011: Lunch offered to the president of Israel Shimon Peres.

2013: Informative meeting with the Governing Council of the Banco de España in Madrid

2015: Final match of the “Copa de S.M. el Rey” of basketball in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

2016: Military audiences & Visited ‘Nino Jesus’ children’s hospital on the 50th anniversary of the school in the hospital in Madrid

2017: Received Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri and wife Juliana Awada at the Royal Palace; Meeting with Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri at la Zarzuela; Offered a lunch & a Gala dinner to Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri and wife Juliana Awada at the Royal Palace (1, 2).

2018: Received the President of the European Court of Human Rights Guido Raimondi at la Zarzuela & Opening of the 37th ARCO Madrid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

2019: Audiences at la Zarzuela

2021: Audiences at la Zarzuela

2022: Visited the Technological Institute of Packaging, Transport and Logistics in Valencia & Closed the General Assembly of the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs (AVE)

2023: Meeting and lunch with the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro

F&L Through the Years: 1136/??

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 15, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAY 16, 2024

All three of the nation’s major stock indexes hit record highs today after the latest data showed inflation cooling. Standard and Poor’s 500, more commonly known as the S&P 500, measures the stock performance of 500 of the largest companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. Today it was up 61 points, or 1.2%. The Nasdaq Composite is weighted toward companies in the information technology sector. Today it was up 231 points, or 1.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, often just called the Dow, measures 30 prominent companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. Today it was up 350 points, or 0.9%. The Dow has risen now for eight straight days, ending the day at 39,908, approaching 40,000. 

Driving the hike in the stock market, most likely, is the information released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Labor Department saying that inflation eased in April. Investors are guessing this makes it more likely that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year. 

People note—correctly—that the stock market does not reflect the larger economy. This makes a report released yesterday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, an important addition to the news from the stock market. It concludes that the goods and services an American household consumed in 2019 were cheaper in 2023 than they were four years before, because incomes grew faster than prices over that four-year period. That finding was true for all levels of the economy. 

That is, “for all income groups…the portion of household income required to purchase the same bundle of goods and services declined.” Those in the bottom 20% found that the share of their income required to purchase the same bundle dropped by 2%. For those in the top 20%, the share of their income required to purchase as they did in 2019 dropped by 6.3%. 

These statistics come on top of unemployment below 4% for a record 27 months, and more than 15 million jobs created since Biden took office, including 789,000 in manufacturing. According to Politifact, three quarters of those jobs represented a return to the conditions before the coronavirus pandemic, but the rest are new. Politifact noted that it is so rare for manufacturing jobs to bounce back at all, that the only economic recovery since World War II that beats the current one was in 1949, making the recovery under the Biden-Harris administration the strongest in 72 years. 

And yet, a recent Philadelphia Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College poll found that 78% of Pennsylvania voters thought the economy was “fair” or “poor.” Fifty-four percent of them said they trust Trump to handle the economy better than Biden, compared with just 42% who prefer Biden.

The divorce between reality and people’s beliefs illuminates just how important media portrayals of events are. 

In the landslide election of 1892, when voters elected Democrat Grover Cleveland to the White House for the third time (he won the popular vote in 1888 but lost in the electoral college) and put Democrats in charge of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Republicans insisted that the economy would collapse. The previous administration, that of Republican Benjamin Harrison, had openly and proudly worked for businessmen, and Republicans maintained that losing that administration would be a calamity. Democrats, the Republicans insisted, were really socialists and anarchists who wanted to destroy America. 

As Republican newspapers predicted an impending collapse, fearful investors pulled out of the market. Although economic indicators were actually better in 1892 than they had been for years, as soon as Cleveland was elected, the nation seemed to be in terrible trouble. Money began to flow out of the stock market, and the outgoing Harrison administration refused to reassure investors. By February 1893 the stock market was paralyzed.

In mid-February, financier J. P. Morgan rushed to Washington to urge Harrison to do something, but the calm of the administration men remained undisturbed. Secretary of the Treasury Charles Foster commented publicly that the Republicans were responsible for the economy only until March 4, the day Cleveland would take office. His job was to “avert a catastrophe up to that date.”

He didn’t quite manage it. On Friday, February 17, the stock market began to collapse. By February 23 the slaughter was universal. Investors begged Harrison to relieve the crisis, but with only eight days left in his term, Harrison and his men maintained that nothing important was happening. The secretary of the Treasury spent his last few days in office sitting for his portrait. The New York Times noted that “[i]f the National Treasury Department had been retained especially to manufacture apprehension and create disturbance it could not have done more effective work.” 

Secretary Foster had one more parting shot. When he handed the Treasury Department off to his Democratic successor, he told the newspapers that “the Treasury was down to bedrock.” 

When Cleveland took office on March 4, 1893, a financial panic was in full swing. As he tried to negotiate that crisis, Republicans sagely told voters the crash was the result of the Democrats’ policies. When Democrats turned to an income tax so they could lower the tariffs that were hurting consumers, Republicans insisted they were socialists. When unemployed workers and struggling farmers marched on Washington to ask for jobs or launched railroad strikes, Republicans insisted that Democrats stood with the mob, while Republicans were the party of law and order. 

Republicans promised voters that they would restore the health of the economy. The 1894 midterm elections reversed the landslide of 1892, giving Republicans 130 more seats in the House—a two-thirds majority—and a majority in the Senate. The economy had begun to recover before the election, and that uptick continued. The Democrats had plunged the country into a panic, the Chicago Tribune reported, but now “American manufacturers and merchants and business-men generally will draw a long breath of relief.”

How the media covers events matters. 

Allison Fisher of Media Matters reported today that with the exception of MSNBC, national television news failed to cover the extraordinary story reported by Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow on May 9 in the Washington Post that Trump had told oil executives that if they gave $1 billion to his campaign, he would get rid of all the regulations the Biden administration has enacted to combat climate change. 

In the 1920s, President Warren G. Harding’s secretary of the interior, Albert Fall, went to prison for a year for accepting a $385,000 bribe from oilman Edward L. Doheny in exchange for leases to drill for oil on naval reserve land in Elk Hills and Buena Vista, California, and Teapot Dome, Wyoming. Fall was the first former cabinet officer to go to prison, and the scandal was considered so outrageous that “Teapot Dome” has gone down in U.S. history as shorthand for a corrupt presidency.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON