#thayer legacy

[finchfin]

Phoenix finally recovered from their nicotine addiction! Obviously it's a lifelong battle from now on, but they've got a great support system through their family and friends :)

[igglemouse]

"What are they doing?" I blurt out, probably a little sharper than intending. The air seemed thicker now and it was adding to a growing uneasiness I was having about all of this. None of this feels...good. I don't mean in a comforting way, I mean in a way of good and evil, right and wrong.

Alana on the other hand doesn't seem bothered by my botheredness, in fact her face lights up at my question and she turns back to the source of my query. "Ah!" she exclaims, looking back at the trio of women behind us. Only moonlight exposes them and now they are without any kind of clothes. Their palms are flat against each other as they make a circle and begin to chant. What they chant I cannot possibly know.

"They've expanded a great deal of energy," Alana explains as if she were a proud mother. "Now they rely on another to replenish it. It's a form of bonding, my dear, a bond of spirit and strength. We trust each other with our very lives."

I look past her and to that circle of women that includes my lifelong friend Triple V. There was something tempting about it I must admit. The way their voices blend, the way they seem almost stuck together and all dedicated to one singular goal. There is something raw about it, something human about it and yet...

"Sisters, huh?"

Gracelyn Matlock ~ Next Post

[huffpuffstarr]

new mc (again)

nathaniel thayer

mods: Modern Hairstyles for Male Characters - kedavravravra / Tieless Uniforms - miss__soapy / Photo Mod Enhanced - nathdev

[biglenny93]

Vlastimir: Let me check if you'd make a perfect wife for a future descendant.

Meadow Thayer: Ugh, what are you talking about, you old creep? I'm just a teen.

Selena: Honey, please leave this lovely young lady alone, would you?

[sureuncertainty]

so as a former employee of RMS Titanic Inc, I have some thoughts I need to get out about this whole current situation, or I will literally explode.

for context, I worked for RMST Inc. for a year and a half as a tour guide and artifact specialist. The company owns the salvage rights to the wreck site, and partners with Oceangate and other companies to retrieve artifacts. the artifacts are used for educational purposes only, in the museum that I worked at, although they weren’t above selling little bits of coal from the Titanic in stupid little tchotchkes like snowglobes and hourglasses.

i dedicated so much of my life and passion to that company and that museum and was treated like absolute dirt lol. and I didn’t even get the worst of it, I had friends and coworkers whose safety and wellbeing was consistently disregarded for the sake of profit, fighting desperately for corporate to stop pretending to care about the legacy of Titanic when all they really cared about was making money

so despite my initial shock at reading about what was going on with the missing submersible, I can’t say I’m surprised. This is what fucking happens when you cut corners and put profit over everything else. If only there was some big historical event that we could look to that would show us just exactly how dangerous that can be...  oh wait.

Jack Thayer, who was 17 when he survived Titanic, said that “the world woke up on April 15, 1912″, which pretty much sums up how SURE people were in 1912 that they would never make those same mistakes again. They realized had gotten complacent and swore things would be different. They enacted safety laws, pointed fingers at survivors, created conspiracy theories to try to explain what happened, all out of fear of it happening again. And yet, history always repeats itself

and now people are fucking OBSESSED with the Titanic, they find it fascinating,  they won’t fucking leave it alone, and the company I worked for, and Oceangate, and others, capitalize on that because they’re greedy and want to make money off of it. all they care about is how to profit off of it. they PRETEND to care about Titanic but they don’t. They never did.

I also actually have a personal connection to one of the five members of the team in the submersible. I met P.H. Nargeolet at the event our museum did commemorating the 110th anniversary of the sinking, I spoke to him and heard firsthand some of his accounts of dives to the wreck site, I even took a picture with him. He cared, he cared so much about Titanic and its legacy, and so do I and so did so many of my friends I worked with. The company we worked for took advantage of our caring, it took advantage of how passionate we were about it in order to line its executives’ fucking pocket

I’m horrified, I’m devastated, I’m vindicated.

on the one hand, I hope this ruins them. i want to watch the company die. there’s a satisfaction in that. but the shitty thing is how much suffering has to happen for things to change. i just wish good people didn’t have to die to make change happen. I wish people cared first, before tragedy strikes. I wish our world wasn’t so fucked up and shit like this didn’t happen. But it did. And it does. And money won’t save any of those people any more than it saved John Jacob Astor or Benjamin Guggenheim, or any of the other rich greedy assholes who died on Titanic. I’m not celebrating their deaths. But I won’t ever forget who suffers the most. The coal trimmers and the stewards and the minimum wage guest service associates at the museum I worked at.

I’m glad I don’t work there anymore. But some of my best friends still do. And I don’t want them to suffer more because of this. All I can hope is that it enacts meaningful change that actually lasts. But I know that’s just wishful thinking.

[shibazoid]

Legacy of Manwich {2.5} Like No One's Watching

If I be waspish, best beware my sting.

Welcome back to Legacy of Manwich, where I'm not nearly inebriated enough. Last time, Goneril and Regan grew into a couple of weird, angry sluts, just like their namesakes.

Look who's finally working towards his stupid Lifetime Want! Try not to have sex with a dolphin, Martin, I know that's shockingly difficult for people in your career path.

King Martin: "SHUT UP IT HAPPENED LIKE ONCE OKAY!"

Regan: "Now, I don't believe in Agartha, I think that's Nazi bullshit, but the Hollow Earth diplomats did sign a non-disclosure agreement with the Vatican in 1632 to hide the locations of the entrances. Everyone knows there's the two in the south and north poles, but I believe there's at least one in every major city that world leaders use to travel the globe. That takes us to Operation Highjump... Wait, what did you say about a country album? Sorry, I don't listen to anything other than black metal and harsh noise."

Baby girl, I don't think Cletus the Slack-jawed Yokel wants to hear about your theories, or Rotting Christ for that matter. Why don't you go spend some time with your sister?

Regan: "Wow, Cordelia! It says right here in the book of Revelation that you're a filthy stink goblin sent straight from toilet hell!"

Cordelia: "I'm sick of the Bible, can we read Dr. Seuss instead?"

I'm reasonably sure the only books Regan owns are the Bible and The DaVinci Code.

Goneril's putting all 9 of her nice points to good use.

Goneril: "And who let YOU out of anime club, you goofy bitch?"

Toni: "You're just jealous I have friends!"

And now she comes by every night to steal the newspaper or kick over the trash can. Thanks, Goneril!

Goneril: "I don't need anyone except for my beloved sisters! <3"

I need to get you girls some friends or dates or something because you're way too insular. Not to mention entirely socially stunted, good lord.

Regan: "Hey! I have friends! Look who I brought home from school!"

Oh yeah? What's her name?

Regan: "Oh! Uh, um... Hmm... Meadow Thayer?"

Nice try. Go watch your little sister grow up.

Cordelia: "I wish to be super hot, and for Shiba to install ReShade soon so these screenshots look nicer!"

Yeah, it's gonna be like Gen 3 before I get around to that, and even then I forget to turn it on most times. What was the other wish?

Aww, she turned out very cute! She looks a lot like her mom, but she has Martin's nose! Cordelia rolled Pleasure/Knowledge and her LTW is to be a Criminal Mastermind. I don't think I ever mentioned what the twins' were, but Goneril wants to be a Cult Leader (lmao) and Regan wants 20 Simultaneous Lovers.

Just in case you were wondering what Martin and Lillie have been up to this whole time. And yes, their weird ass daughters STILL come into the room when it happens!

Goneril: "If y equals -3x plus 4, and x plus 4y equals -6, then what are x and y? Mom? Dad? How do I solve this?"

Martin and Lillie: "ooohh hehehe mm smooch smooch hehe <3"

Goneril: "Shiba? Do you know?"

Sorry, kid, I failed Algebra II twice.

Meanwhile, Regan remembered she's a Romance sim and started charming the pants off Agamemnon.

Regan: "I heard how you called my dad a creep at the gas station. That's very sexy and masculine of you."

Agamemnon: "Oh! Gee, um, thanks?"

Goneril: "Did I just hear you insulted my dad? That's pretty hot, actually!"

Agamemnon: "I am confused, but aroused!"

Regan ultimately won out over her sister, because she is by nature a Huge Skank.

Agamemnon: "I am in townie heaven either way!"

Regan: "Uh, Mom!!! You are totally embarrassing me right now!!"

In defense of your parents, this is THEIR room and the door was closed. Why don't you go apply for some scholarships so I can get you voyeurs the hell out of here?

Oh, never mind, the game glitched the fuck out. OFF TO COLLEGE YOU GO, POOR AND DESTITUTE LIKE THE REST OF US!

Here's the girls, all grown up! I gave them some appropriate make-overs, declared their majors, and set them loose on the dormie population!

You out-of-shape motherfuckers don't even know what horrors have been unleashed. (I don't remember what most of their names are because they are all dead, spoilers.)

This guy here that Regan's got in her clutches is Kit Reznor. I just wanted to mention that because I like his edgy name and also he's a big fucking loser.

Goneril: "Ugh! Ew! This guy smells like piss and BO!"

Come on, Kit, it's the morning of the second day of the term, you can't be doing this shit already.

Kit: "Please don't touch me, I'm really not in the mood."

Regan: "Huh? Why? What's wrong?"

He's soaked in fucking urine, dude, what's wrong with you?

Regan: "Cordy, can you fucking believe it? Kit turned me down!"

Cordelia: "Kit? The piss guy? You tried to get with him?"

I'm not sure what's more embarrassing, being so desperate that you're hitting on the pants-wetter or being turned down by said pants-wetter.

She moved on pretty quickly, with some guy named Odo who might be even more humiliating to be seen with. You'll be seeing a lot of Odo later, but he doesn't currently live in their dorm building. (Which is kind of a blessing because this place is Hell)

Don't worry, Cordelia and Goneril are also getting ass with these nerds. Cordelia's boytoy is Terrance and Goneril's is Pacey. I hate both of them terribly.

Terrance: "Wow, are you guys sisters? Sexiness really runs in the family, huh?"

Regan: "Legacy eugenics will do that, yeah."

Cordelia: "I'M WATCHING YOU BITCHES!"

WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?!

Goneril: "I DON'T KNOW BUT IT FEELS STRANGELY FAMILIAR!"

She put it out, miraculously, but that's all I have room for today! Until next time!

[spacedoutman]

Picture a Disney movie—Your family’s business, their and your entire legacy, is crashing downhill like a roller coaster and you need SOMETHING to save it and get on your feet again or that’s your entire life and hell, retirement plan gone.

But you need the help of a friend. Who do you reach out to to save your business and why?

[yakumtsaki]

We're back for the last update before Barflina fucks off to college! This is one giant update I have to split in 2 parts them thanks to the liferuining new 30 pics limit, I will post part 2 right after this one. I don't mean to be dramatic but the universe cannot contain my hatred for the new post editor. At least I have Wendi looking all cute and regal.

-I will NEVER have kittens with Shinok, I hate him and his stupid, not coordinated grey leg coloring!

What?? WHO CARES

-I care, look at my beautiful cohesive coat! His genes would ruin it and our kids would be freaks!

-Jimbo, on the other hand, is a perfect specimen! Now that's a good addition to my gene pool!

Jimbo, the leopard print, custom slider freakshow DOG is a perfect specimen for you, Wendi the CAT. I'm starting to suspect you're a cross-species perv and Shinnok's legs aren't the problem here.

-Shut it! Leave that elderly deer bitch Veronica, Jim, and run away with me!

-Oh Wendi, I don't know, it seems wrong..

-I hear you, baby, but maybe it's so wrong.. it's right?

-KEEP YOUR SLUTTY PERVERTED WIFE AWAY FROM MY MAN, SHINNOK

-HOW AM I THE ONE GETTING BEAT UP I HATE THIS HOUSE I HATE MY LIFE

-I'M RUNNING AWAY AND NEVER COMING BACK, YOU CAN KISS THE CAT LEGACY GOODBYE!!!

10 seconds later:

-Ok I'm back, just in time for my birthday!

Happy birthday, Shinnok, your present is your dad dying at the exact same time. WTF @ game timing.

-Daddy no!

-I'm off to join your mother in cat heaven, Shinnok!

-But Mom hated you!

-Oh right she did, well she's probably in Hell anyway. Guard those mismatched grey legs you got from me, they are my legacy!

-I will Dad! I will!!

RIP Klaus, you were a sweetheart, I'm sorry you had to mate with Kitana💔

Xander and Sandy are each other's fav and Sandy is constantly late for work because she's fucking around playing with him. I'd like to remind you guys that I've been trying to get her to the top of the culinary career since SOPHITO AND SUGAR WERE CHILDREN

-B̷U̴T ̸I ̷L̷O̷V̴E̵ XA̴N̸D̵E̶R̵🧟‍♀️

Will you get your zombie ass to work, Xander will be here when you come back!

NEVER MIND. WHY CAN'T THIS GAME SPACE OUT THE PET DEATHS A LITTLE GOOD GOD.

RIP Xander, you were the best dog we've had so far, you were so good and loyal and kept running into fires with your dumbass owners. I'll miss you💔

-I ̴D̶I̵D̶ ̶I̷T, I F̷I̸N̷A̴L̷L̶Y̵ ̵D̴I̸D̵ ̶I̸T̶! W̴H̵E̷R̷E̵'̸S̶ M̵Y ̸D̵O̷G̷ ̴BA̷B̷Y🧟‍♀️

Sandy I'm so happy for you, and also I'd like to talk to you about the law of equivalent exchange.

Could it be that there are too many people in this house?? Could it??? I'm starting to feel it's possible.

OH FFS, VERONICA

AWWWW they have Jimbo's spots, so cute! God this lot is gonna explode.

SO CUTE. MY HEART

Time for Liz's cucky birthday party with no guests because I'm already tempting fate with this lot.

-Thank you, balloons, for protecting the viewing public from Failina's face. -This face has been making out with Meadow Thayer while you're getting rejected by the Tricou Don clones. -SHUT UP I'LL KILL YOU -Can I blow my candles now? -Not yet, Mom, I'm not done bringing up Barf's humiliating dating failures.

Please go ahead, Liz, and also where the hell is your husband.

-Playing catch with Sugar.

Of course he is.

-Happy birthday to me!

Do you feel any different, other than this awful outfit that I'm changing asap?

-Now that you mention it I do..

-..I feel the inexplicable need to fight with my 100yo mother-in-law despite the fact we're friends!

Liz wtf WHY

-There can only be one cunty matriarch around here and it is I! And also I'm a way better lawyer than you ever were! Now let me just get my makeover-

-So I can berate you some more!

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING. Liz wtf is your problem??? It's literally like a switch flipped as soon as she aged up, what on earth.

-I EAT LITTLE 60YOS LIKE YOU FOR BREAKFAST, BITCH

She does, Liz, she really does. You come at the queen, you best not miss! But I still don't get why this feud erupted out of nowhere??

Oh my God.. IT'S BARFLINA. We have the quite possibly first case in history where it isn't the adults exposing the children to violence and setting abusive patterns, it's the other way around!!! YOU TWO ARE TEARING THIS FAMILY APART, EVEN SHAJAR AND HER 1 NICE POINT ARE HORRIFIED -GOOD, THIS FAMILY CAN GO TO HELL!!! FROM ITS ASHES MY NEW DYNASTY WILL RISE -SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT YOUR DYNASTY ALREADY -YOU'LL NEVER HAVE A DYNASTY BECAUSE NO ONE WILL EVEN DATE YOU -THEY SO WILL AND THEY'LL BE BETTER THAN YOUR BIMBO -TAKE HER NAME OUT OF YOUR GROSS MISSHAPEN MOUTH -WE HAVE THE SAME MOUTH, MORON -YA BUT MINE HAS BEEN KISSED, INCEL -I'LL KILL YOU -I'LL KILL YOU MORE

-Dad, someone will date me, right?? -Of course they will, son! You'll be a hoe, like your dad was before you! -But no one wants to date me! You had 50 first dates, I clearly get my genes from you but not the success! -Well, you'll have to relax and play it cool. You come across a little neurotic and/or psychotic. You get that from your mom. -You're right, Dad, I won't call the matchmaker until I'm as relaxed as one of those pimples chilling on Failina's gross oily forehead!

-Ah, nothing more relaxing than a nice, hot cup of tea..

-..with the view of Uncle Sugar setting Sandy's spine back in place. -I̸T FE̵L̸L ̴O̸F̷F🧟‍♀️ -Ok, I'm ready for my date!

See you in part 2, coming right up!

[greatwyrmgold]

Halcyon Dreams

When you watch any artist for a long enough time, you start to notice patterns in their work—methods they reuse, ideas they return to, themes they fixate on. Watching Harris Bomberguy's plagiarism video made me think about that.

The obvious point of comparison is that Tommy Tallarico exposeé masquerading as a video about a funny oof, since that is the last video Mr. Bomberguy put on YouTube before the plagiarism video. But watching the ROBLOX_OOF.mp4 had reminded me of an even older hbomberguy video, Halcyon Dreams: The Legacy of Dragon's Lair.

The thesis of that video is similar to ROBLOX_OOF.mp4 and Plagiarism and You(Tube). It's about how people with money and fame can use those things to erase the contributions of others, claiming that they alone are responsible for the accomplishments of entire teams.

In the introduction and conclusion of Halcyon Dreams, Mr. Bomberguy mentions how Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed that Stonehenge was constructed by a single legendary wizard, rather than a bunch of skilled but otherwise unremarkable masons and architects.

He compares the way Don Bluth receives credit and recognition for projects that dozens of other animators and other artists worked on (and, in the case of Dragon's Lair, programmers and other technicians). He compares Bluth to Merlin, and it wouldn't be hard to apply that same analogy to Tommy Tallarico or any of the youtubers mentioned in the latest video.

But there's a crucial difference. OOF and Plagiarism are focused on Tallarico and the plagiarists, on Merlin, on showing the depth of the lies by these self-proclaimed wizards, focusing on the man behind the curtain. And Halcyon Dreams does talk about Don Bluth's wizardry for the first bit of the video, but then he pivots to someone else. One of the architects that helped him build Dragon's Henge.

Rick Dyer has similarities to the wizards. Like Tallarico, he named his company after himself. Like Bluth, he mortgaged his house to fund an ambitious creative project, after leaving a more famous company. But there are two crucial, interlinked differences between Dyer and the wizards. First is how few people have herd his name, second is how his creative project failed.

Most of Halcyon Dreams is about the Halcyon, and about Thayer's Quest and Kingdom: Shadoan, the remnants of Dyer's ambitious plan. It's the story of Rick Dyer, or part of it. Most of the video isn't focused on anything directly related to his thesis; Dyer's story isn't really a story about stolen valor. He just talks about Rick Dyer's creation, and just brings up the thesis to explain why he thinks it should be talked about.

OOF and Plagiarism are about people left in obscurity as others take credit for their work, in the sense that they talk about people taking credit for work done by obscure people. Halcyon Dreams is about that, in the sense that it talks about someone left in obscurity as someone took credit for (the most successful part of) his work.

If you want a palette cleanser after watching Plagiarism and You(Tube), I'd like to recommend Halcyon Dreams.

[finchfin]

Phoenix finally pulled off a prank without getting caught!

[igglemouse]

The incantation, spoken in what I knew to be an ancient tongue, sent shivers down my spine. No, not in that cliche way of fear, quite the opposite, they were good shivers. Pleasurable shivers. Odd. A moment ago I was scared to come closer but now I wanted to. I suppose the more it reached my ears the more it drew me forward. The more it asked me to submit. To what, I can't say...

This, this is magic. It's not overrated. It's not dull. It's real and powerful and...dangerous.

Gracelyn Matlock ~ Next Post

[huffpuffstarr]

i totally didnt almost forget to post these

more nathaniel

mods: Modern Hairstyles for Male Characters - kedavravravra / Tieless Uniforms - miss__soapy / Photo Mod Enhanced - nathdev

[star-xdd]

guys, this is actually the end.

i am forever grateful for this band. im someone who has been through some of the hardest moments in my life, and discovering this band and the band just existing was like the second coming of jesus (lol)

i collected merch, later started a blog, dreamed of seeing them in concert, spent so long researching kisstory, collecting all the autobiographies

then the day i went to see them in seattle my world actually changed. i cried during the concert, blew out my voice, and finally realized my dream actually came true.

from the bottom of my heart, i am thankful to everyone apart of kisstory. thank you paul stanley, gene simmons, ace frehley, peter criss, eric carr, vinnie vincent, bruce kulick, tommy thayer, eric singer, and so many others who have carried on the legacy of kiss for 50 years and forever.

rest in peace to eric carr, a wonderful drummer who put his love into this band, and may his memory live on. he would've been proud to see where the band is now, and the legacy he helped create.

thank you to the kiss fandom, kissblr, and other fans, young and old.

thank you to paul stanley, someone who suffered bullying all his childhood, to gene who moved to the U.S knowing no english, his mother a holocaust survivor. to the empire they were able to build with what they loved most, music.

Truly a bittersweet moment we are living through.

THANK YOU KISS

[ask-nyc-boroughs]

🦅🦅🦅 I AM BACK 🦅🦅🦅 been traveling around, officially graduated undergrad, & moved ! so been busy ! last week I was feeling super self-indulgent and I wanted to get back into drawing + face practice so I decided to draw a bit of my human au that I share with @gardenkeeper .

I’ll give some details of it below. Only warning is, this is my self-indulgent au and I think I tend to have a very canon divergent view to begin with so if you don’t like it cool I just don’t wanna hear it lol

Ramona “Mona” Sanchez is California in the normal verse & Margaret Ferguson is North Carolina in the normal verse

Alfred is a bit of a chaotic immature mess for most of this.

Alfred’s family background in this is very much upper class - Kennedy-esque. The Thayers are Boston Brahmans. And the Joneses in this universe are like a military legacy family hence why Alfred ends up at West Point.

Alfred’s mother was very fragile in mind and body. Alfred’s father was a bit of a playboy. Their marriage was disastrous and Alfred’s father was a cheater.

Like in my normal universe, Alfred’s first love is Maisie (Margaret). He however freaks out and decides not to commit to her cause she’s of a very different socioeconomic background than him and he’s too immature to just stand up to people who would question their Union. So this leads him to later marrying Mona instead - but they’re not particularly compatible with each other.

Alfred also didn’t want to end up like his father so he ends up with a lot of commitment issues. As he gets older he grows out of this, but it takes many years and it does cost him a good relationship with his daughter cause he moves back to the east coast after he divorces Mona and for a number of years he doesn’t do a good job of building a relationship with Marta.

Marta comes to resent her dad. Although lowkey she’s also a rebellious grumpy shitass like her dad (Alfred is better at hiding this aspect of himself).

Maisie and Alfred do get together in the end, it just takes them both to get divorced and get old lol. They have 1 surprise baby.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

WhatMatters

Your guide to California policy and politics

By Lynn La

February 19, 2025

Presented by Uber, California Water Service and Advanced Energy United

 

 

Good morning, California.

How Newsom has responded to the LA fires

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom tour the downtown business district of Pacific Palisades as the Palisades Fire burned on Jan. 8, 2025. Photo by Eric Thayer, Getty Images

In the days and weeks following the January Los Angeles County wildfires, Gov. Gavin Newsom and his office moved quickly to manage the response and begin recovery efforts after the blazes were contained. Since then, the governor has been singularly focused on the region, describing his approach as “an extended period of engagement” with L.A. during a press conference in Altadena last week.

As CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff explains, the wildfires are expected to be one of the costliest natural disasters in the country’s history, and they have the potential to define — or redefine — one’s political career. 

When the fires first ignited, Newsom lived and worked from L.A. for three weeks, issuing executive orders and announcements around the clock. Newsom also greeted President Donald Trump in L.A. in January to discuss federal disaster aid, even as the state Legislature met for a special session Newsom called for late last year to prepare the state for litigation against the Trump administration.

The governor also flew to Washington D.C. to lobby for aid; recorded two episodes about the fires for his podcast; and has barely issued a non-fire-related press release for more than a month.

Before the fires, amid declining job approval ratings, Newsom was fending off rumors of a presidential bid. Now with less than two years before the governor terms out, all eyes may be on Newsom as he navigates a politically and fiscally complex situation. 

For Bob Salladay, however, Newsom’s senior advisor for communications, the governor and his staff aren’t thinking about his legacy in response to the fires.

Salladay: “I guarantee he doesn’t think about that. He’s doing his job.”

Read more here.

Focus on Inland Empire: Each Wednesday, CalMatters Inland Empire reporter Deborah Brennan surveys the big stories from that part of California. Read her newsletter and sign up here to receive it.

CalMatters events: On Feb. 25 CalMatters’ Adam Echelman will hold a panel to discuss what the state is doing to help employment outcomes for young Californians. Register here to attend in person at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles or virtually. Then on Feb. 26, CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang speaks with Assemblymember Mia Bonta about the state’s maternity care crisis. Register here to attend virtually.

Other Stories You Should Know=

Mobility-challenged Californians at risk during disasters

Caregiver Michelle Hollis stands in front of her patient’s home in Pasadena on Feb. 3, 2025. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters

When the Eaton Fire broke out, Michelle Hollis, a caregiver with more than 30 years of experience, helped her patient evacuate from her Pasadena home. The patient was one of the roughly 2,500 nursing home residents who had to evacuate during the wildfires, according to the county’s aging and disabilities department. 

As CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra explains, caregivers often must assume the role of first responders when disasters strike and their patients are disabled or have limited mobility. A 2019 state audit found that state and county emergency response agencies have historically struggled to adequately assist people with disabilities and limited mobility. 

The deaths of those age 65 and older killed in the L.A.-area fires underscore this shortcoming, prompting advocates and caregivers to push for more resources and centralized planning for disasters in a letter to Gov. Newsom and state legislators. 

Read more here.

 

Meanwhile, in the Legislature…

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks talks with another lawmaker on the Assembly floor at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 3, 2024. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

Let’s dive into some legislative news:

Housing bond: Assemblymember Buffy Wicks of Oakland and Sen. Christopher Cabaldon of Napa, both Democrats, introduced two companion bills Tuesday to place a $10 billion housing bond issue on the 2026 ballot. The measure would enable the state to borrow money to support its affordable housing rental program, farmworker housing and homeownership assistance, among other things. Wicks proposed a similar measure in 2023, but it failed to land on the ballot the following year.

High-speed rail project: After the president earlier this month called California’s high-speed rail project “the worst managed project I think I’ve ever seen,” the state’s GOP lawmakers saw a fresh opportunity to potentially kill a project they have been trying to smother for years, sending a letter to Trump urging his administration to investigate the project. A majority of Californians still support the high-speed rail, according to a new poll. 

Dude, where’s my food?: Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a San Ramon Democrat, aims to rein in food delivery companies such as DoorDash and Uber Eats with a bill that would require them to refund customers in the original payment method if their food orders are not delivered or incorrect — instead of partial credits for a future order.

 

And lastly: Wildfire recovery

The Eaton Fire burns in the community of Altadena on Jan. 8, 2025. Photo by Ted Soqui for CalMatters

Using Texas as a model, a California bill aims to create a state-led task force to speed up housing recovery after disasters such as wildfires. CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on the proposal as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out another video about the safety concerns of wildfire cleanup workers in L.A. from CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang and Robert. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.

 

California Voices

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Modesto native and Musk insider is at the center of DOGE’s access controversy // The Modesto Bee

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[xewohsims2]

The Kirigoe Legacy: Gen 4, or: It could just be aliens

So, Part 4 (or, gen 4!) of this legacy challenge entails Barry - one of the younger of Maya and Alvin's children - becoming the heir of the family and taking on the reins of carrying on the family legacy.

So, weirdly, Barry ended up being a complete clone of his father, Alvin - they looked extremely alike, with only the eyes of his mother.

Barry, much like his father, became a Knowledge Sim when he hit his teens - possibly inspired by his father's interest in science and the unknown, and perhaps with a curiosity to know more of his half-siblings.

Barry chose to go to college with his teenage sweetheart, Meadow Thayer. They went through college together, having endured the chaos of university halls, and then moving into their own student home where Barry, with the help of his parents, made a little party pad where the two students would celebrate and throw the occasional party where they had passed and made top grades.

After graduating with honors from Sim State University, Barry and Meadow returned to the Kirigoe family home, where they continue to reside to this day. Not only following in his father's footsteps with aspiration, he also soon got abducted by aliens - an experience which was enjoyable only for him, and to the abject horror of his entire family barring Alvin, who himself had met aliens, he returned an expectant parent to two alien babies. Barry gave birth to Stacey and Henry, who, much like their aunt and uncle, were aliens like them.

Both children grew up and were raised with the help of Meadow, who herself wanted children. Once Henry and Stacey grew a little older and achieved an element of independnce, Meadow fell pregnant with the first of her three children - Leon. This was soon followed by Marina and Camilla.

Knowing the struggles of his predecessors, Barry wanted a good life for his children and ailing parents, and therefore used some of the vast family savings to renovate the Kirigoe family home. He made a vegetable garden for his parents, although neither he nor Meadow had the time to tend to it, it proved to be a positive hobby for Maya and Alvin, who had long since retired and were looking for hobbies around the home.

He then ensured all five of his children made it into private school, a venture that proved fruitful, as Leon and Marina ended up in business jobs (although it could be argued that some sweet talk to some old friends from Maya's time as a media magnate was what sealed the deal), and Camilla going off to Académie Le Tour, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, renowned for its world-class teaching, and with a very strict entry criteria - very few students who apply make it through to attend, although it is an open secret that a little bit of.. "financial aid" may help a student's chances...

Barry and Meadow reside on the Kirigoe family land to this day, attending to the house and living out their final days of work before retirement whilst Camilla attends college with her roommate Orlando Centowski.