#washington county news break

[queersatanic]

Queer Satanic is dead; long live Queer Satanic

It’s official and it’s final: We won.

If The Satanic Temple were going to appeal its loss against the defendants it called “Queer Satanic”, the notice of appeal was due in King County Superior Court by 4:30 p.m. today. We have received no electronic notice of a filing, so we are very pleased to say that the case is finally concluded.

The nontheistic religious organization used its for-profit corporation “United Federation of Churches LLC d/b/a ‘The Satanic Temple’ ” to sue four former members of its Washington State chapter from April 2020 till September 2024. They sued us in federal court, the Ninth Circuit Court, dragged us into giving depositions for the Southern District of New York, and sued us in King County Superior Court, but TST has lost everywhere it went. The claims that we always maintained were frivolous and without merit have been found so in every court TST made those claims by every judge who has looked at them. Now, a month after TST’s most recent loss, the deadline for the Temple’s appeal has come and gone, and so we’re done.

Years ago in dark times where it seemed like there would be no end to this and The Satanic Temple and its owners would never stop being vexatious litigants against us, we wrote the bottom section. The website’s administrator was supposed to add some sort of explainer and then publish it, keeping the site up and running for as long as that was feasible for them since we would be in no position to be involved anymore.

What it talks about has not come to pass — but in other ways, it certainly has. This was not sustainable indefinitely. The machine was breaking down for a long time, grinding metal on metal without pause, but it can be turned off now. “Non serviam” — until further notice, this machine is out of service.

Certainly, there is still research to be done and still other articles to be written about The Satanic Temple, its owners, and how they actually operate in contrast to how they present themselves. But to be done by us? That’s less clear.

We don’t plan to completely disappear, and there is still some tidying up to do, but mostly, there’s some much needed rest. Just as likely, there will be other fights that now we can focus on, given the way the world is going. In either case, this sabbatical may be indefinite.

“Queer Satanic” was never an organization, never a hierarchy, only a vibe. We were Heretical Satanists, heretics of heretics, so in the midst of defending ourselves from a lawsuit, we tried to put forward positive ideas and examples about what a more useful Satanism might look like; we tried to show a radical and rebellious way of approaching and acting in the world beyond just aesthetics of painting it black or upside-down Christianity slapped on bog-standard reactionary and liberal politics.

We didn’t do enough of it, and there is still so much more to be done.

For now at least, we leave you to it.

If you’re reading this, it means we lost.

Maybe a judge ruled against us. More likely, we ran out of money to keep paying for our own legal defense and had to capitulate. Or, after more than two years — and the devil only knows how much more if you’re reading this — of assault in and outside of the courtroom, we wore down and could not find resilience between us all to go on.

For whatever reason, if you’re reading this, we lost. And we’re sorry. For whatever reason, we were not strong enough and good enough to win this fight. Maybe we weren’t even good enough to see it through to the end.

And yet the work continues. We will not be able to continue it, or at least not all of us, but the work is the work, and it never depended solely on us anyway. The Satanic Temple is a horrid, abusive organization. If we say something otherwise because we can no longer defend ourselves to prevent it, it should be obvious this was a statement made under duress. Fuck our future selves for what they say, but have compassion for them as well. Literally years and tens of thousands of dollars must separate us from each other; bravery is much easier on this side of the chasm of time.

The work continues, and you’ll have to do it. Yes, you. No one else can build what you want to see. Certainly not us anymore.

You are Queer Satanic just as you always have been.

A queer satanic antifascist is someone who detests and opposes fascism, white supremacy, cishetropatriarchy, clericalism, and capitalism. A queer satanic antifascist looks on all forms of domination and hierarchy and chooses to oppose them — actually — even if it seems the structures they oppose are omnipotent.

Lucifer fought all of heaven; can you not fight an egregore of capitalism?

Find people who want the same things you do. Work with those people to create the world you want around you. Sometimes, that is petty resistance to hegemony — vandalism, graffiti, a heckle. Sometimes it’s filling potholes or cleaning pots after a free feeding. Sometimes it’s open carrying at a queer protest. Sometimes it’s things not to be talked about digitally at all.

Be the insurrection you want to see. Be Lucifer the Light-Bringer, rebelling against ineffable tyranny at all costs.

Push grifters like the The Satanic Temple out of radical spaces with your teeth bared, call out their leaders for abuses everywhere so no one is fooled. Feed people. Shelter people. Protect people. Do it actually, not just for clout or to funnel money up a pyramid.

Use any symbol or meme or paragraph of ours that’s ever inspired you. Make your own new things to inspire others.

We are done. If you’re reading this, we lost.

But if you continue to do the work we did, we will never, ever lose.

Hail Satan! — the work continues.

Ave Satanas! — so do you.

[louis--wifey]

WTTT Incorrect Quotes but it's just things that people in my real life have said

It's so long I'm so sorry 😭😭

~~~~

Illinois, cleaning his shoes: Last time I wore these shoes I got apple butter on them..

Ohio: I remember that song. *singing* Apple butter shoes, boots with the fur.

~~~~

Florida: *yapping*

New York, who forgot his phone in the car: I'm going to get my phone so I can ignore you for a minute.

~~~~

South Carolina: Georgia and I are dressing at Waylon and Willie for Halloween!

North Carolina: I could be Johnny Cash and just lay there in a coffin... *To the tune of Hurt by NIN covered by Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash impression.* I hurt myself, today

~~~~

Washington, helping Nevada with his math homework: Let's break it down

Nevada: I'll break it down *gets off of his chair and starts break dancing*

~~~~

Kansas: That sounded like a car commercial...

Oklahoma: I can write car commercials all day long.

~~~~

Maryland: Nothing says hot like harmonica!

(I have no context for this btw. My professor said it a couple weeks ago and I tuned into the conversation as soon as he said it and I have no idea what was happening before hand)

~~~~

Michigan: Hey, Ohi-

Ohio: And all of the sudden I heard an irritating, grading voice. And it was yours.

~~~~

Illinois: My grandma has chickens, and she's obsessed with chickens.

Minnesota: Tell your grandma to call me.

~~~~

Arizona: If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go lock myself in the cooler.

Utah: Bang on the door if you need anything.

~~~~

Florida: *lands on go to jail in Monopoly* Noooo in jail again!?

Gov: That's something we need to talk about. If you keep driving so fast you're going to end up in jail.

Florida: Oh I thought this was gonna be about me puking in the county jail parking lot...

~~~~

California: What three characters have omniscience?

Florida: Your mom

California: What four characters have omniscience?

~~~~

Colorado: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Wisconsin: FOOD TRUCK!

~~~~

Missouri: Guess what my dream car is

Indiana: A Lamborghini

Missouri: No

Indiana: A Kia Soul

~~~~

Washington: New York with the leadership skills!

New York: I just know where I'm going -_-

Washington: Say "I'm New York and I'm a baddie"

~~~~

Texas: Can you count change? *Looks down at the change California gave him* You can!

California: I'm great at counting change, I used to do it for fun when I was little. Because I didn't have any friends.

Texas: Pfff-

~~~~

Oregon: A Monster a day keeps the straightness away.

~~~~

Nevada: You look like a clown.

California: Am I a pretty clown?

~~~~

Gov, to Louisiana and Florida: I would stop whining so much if you two stopped drinking alcohol.

California: Sometimes your whining makes me wish I liked alcohol.

~~~~

Florida: Gov, I'm helping!

Alabama: By... Making it harder?

Florida: Yep!

~~~~

Florida, singing: Everybody was kung fu fighting

New Jersey, to the tune Kung Fu Fighting: Everybody should shut the fuck up

~~~~

Washington's cat: *killing a bug.*

Washington: "Rip in half! Rip in half! Rip in half! When I say "beat" you say "that ass" Beat! *Long pause, points to Oregkn* Fill in for him!

Oregon: *slowly turns around in his spinny chair*

Washington: Aw, come on! You can say donkey instead. Beat!

*silence*

Oregon: No.

Washington: Fine. *dances out of the room* K-I-C-K-Y-O-A-S-S Oh yeeessss!

~~~~

Maryland: *playing a cheap toy recorder on a make-shift stage*

Massachusetts: MORE COWBELL!!

~~~~

California: I just love feeling like a menopausal woman.

~~~~

Oregon, sick: The crystal ladies said if you got sick after the eclipse, it's your ancestors banishing evil from your body.

Idaho: They're praying the gay away

~~~~

South Dakota: Wish me luck in war

Minnesota: You're not going to war, you're asking for a box

South Dakota: It's the same thing, damn it!

~~~~

Alaska: Penny for your thoughts?

Hawaii: I don't have any pennies.

Alaska: I don't have any thoughts!

~~~~

Louisiana: We can bring the baguette to and beat California with it...

Florida: Or Utah.

~~~~

Gov: If you could make any crime legal what would it be?

New York, Florida and Louisiana at the same time: Arson!

Gov: *mortified expression*

~~~~

Iowa, about chicken: Are you a thigh person?

Nebraska: I like legs... ThEy TrIeD tO pUt Me On ThE cOvEr Of VoGuE bUt My LeGs WeRe ToO LONGGGGG!

~~~~

Colorado: I need a stick!

California: I need a boyfriend, your point?

Colorado: ...Not that kind of stick.

~~~~

Oregkn: In high school my favorite past time was kissing boys.

Washington: *turns to California* Is that your favorite past time too?

~~~~

Texas: Why aren't bananas called yellows?

Florida: Because then Gwen Stefani couldn't use it in her song.

Louisiana: She'd just have to spell it different: This shit is yellows! Y-E-L-L-O-W-S!

~~~~

California: He's gay and he committed suicide.

New York: He's you... Don't commit suicide, please.

California: I WILL BECOME A MUSICAL!

New York: NOOO DO NOT BECOME A MUSICAL!

~~~~

North Carolina: I seriously hate you sometimes.

South Carolina Aww I love you too!

~~~~

Vermont: You wanna know the biggest dingus I know?

New Hampshire: You?

~~~~

Wisconsin: You're a yeasty beer

Illinois: You're a zesty beer

Wisconsin: Yeah well, your light in the loafers!

~~~~

Arizona: *says something dumb*

Nevada: Shaking my as- shaking my head.

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New York: *takes a drink of my pumpkin spice latte* Oh, that's delightful!

California: Look who's a white woman now?!

[later]

California: You basic white woman!

New York: I don't wanna talk about it...

~~~~

Louisiana: *throws a packet of French dressing at Florida, in a French accent* French

Florida: AAAAA IT'S FRENCH!!!

~~~~

Florida: Oh, I thought you were committing arson without me

Gov: If I ever decide to commit arson, I'll call you

~~~~

Florida: Ah yes, my favorite crime, trespassing. I'm joking... it's not my favorite crime

Georgia: What is your favorite crime?

Florida: Arson!

~~~~

Arizona: Finally a good song

New Mexico: Then why do you keep playing bad ones?

~~~~

*Either someone brought up Pedro Pascal*

California: He's the daddiest of daddies.

Texas: Don't say that ever again.

~~~~

Maine: There are more animals on the planet than humans and just think you could have been born a crab, but you were born a human"

Maryland: I wish I was a crab, then I could be crabby all day long

Maine: I'm all ready crabby all day long

Maryland: Yeah but if you were a crab you could crawl around and pinch people *walks away sideways with hands held like pinchers*

~~~~

Alaska: Why are you getting cologne

Hawaii: I want to smell like a masc lesbian.

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California: I've had morning sickness for the past five years

Florida: Are you pregnant-

~~~~

Washington: You can choose what you eat, whether it's vegetables, meat, or ass.

Nevada: *dying laughing* That threw me off guard.

~~~~

New York: PA, your turn to tell a word that means something bad

Pennsylvania: Would you consider emotional manipulation bad?

New Jersey: Yeah, I mean no, it turns me on

Pennsylvania: I guess my mom will really turn you on then

~~~~

Tennessee: Don't panic but there's a spider on your-

Kentucky: *Proceeds to scream bloody murder*

~~~~

Virginia: *sniffs bread.*

Virginia: "It's sourdough."

~~~~

New York: You know I'm insane, right?

California: I'm aware, but I don't care. It's one of your redeeming qualities.

[eugenedebs1920]

It’s just crazy. Crazy how one guy can cause so much chaos and disruption, such hostility and hatred, break the law habitually and never face accountability.

“I just need you to find, 11,780 votes. That’s one more than we have” were the words spoken by Donald Trump to the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. This was a pressure campaign launched by Donald Trump to bully Secretary Raffensperger into violating the Constitution, and going against the will of the people of Georgia, and the United States.

Secretary Raffensperger, in what is sadly a rarity in Republican leadership, and Republicans as a whole, stood in fealty to the United States Constitution, and did not bend to the whim of the Tangerine Tyrant.

For his allegiance to the rule of law, the Constitution, and to the United States of America, he received countless death threats from so called patriots. These cosplay patriots threaten his family, his life, and all that he held dear.

It’s sad to say that a man, doing his job as he should. deserves a deep gratitude from this nation, but he does. He could have done what so many Republicans have, and bent the knee to Dementia Don. 

Fani Willis was born in Inglewood California. Her father was founded a chapter of the Black Panthers for that section of California. He grew weary of the infighting and lack of substantive positive impact the Black Panthers were making and moved his family to Washington DC where he would practice law as a defense attorney.

Needless to say Ms. Willis grew up with a vast understanding and respect for the rule of law and a drive for justice.

She would attend Howard University studying political science and would graduate cum laude. In 1993. After graduating from Howard she attended Emory University College of Law and receive her Juris Doctorate degree.

Subsequently she would spend 16 years in Fulton County’s district attorney’s office before being elected as District Attorney. Her previous experience had led her to pursue Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) beyond just organized crime and directed at any muti faceted criminal activity.

Upon the lawlessness Trump perpetrated in trying to subvert democracy, Ms. Willis was appalled. Her admiration to the rule of law, and the binding order laid out in the United States Constitution brought her to go after this egregious act of sedition. 

The Raffensperger call was not the only act of treason Trump and others engaged in. These exploits were not only implemented in Georgia. A slate of fake electors was devised to circumvent the actual electoral count. These fake electors were to swap the official results with ones falsely claiming Trump had won that state. This occurred in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and of course, Georgia.

The conspiracy was extensive. Not only the fake electors scheme had transgressed, but a beakin and breach of voting equipment happened as well.

There was over 30 people named as, culprits, co-conspirators or conspirators. Including the disgraced former president, 19 were indicted.

Donald Trump was charged with under the RICO Act, 4 counts of false statements, 2 being false documentation, 2 counts of forgery, 1 count of impersonating a public officer, with 5 other charges dropped.

Rudy Guliani was co-conspirator #1 and charged under the count RICO, 3 counts false statements, 2 counts false documents, 2 counts forgery, 1 count of impersonating a public officer.

Ray smith III, a lawyer for Trump was charged with RICO count, 3 counts of false statements, with 2 counts false documentation, 1 count impersonating a public officer, 2 counts forgery

Cathy Latham, one of the fake electors and Leader of the Republican Party in Coffee County, was charged with RICO, 1 false documents, I impersonating a public officer, and 1 count forgery.

Robert Cheeley, another lawyer was charged with RICO, 1 count false statements, 2 counts false documentation, 1 count impersonating a public officer, 2 counts forged, and 1 count perjury.

John Eastman, one of the leaders in the whole plot, a lawyer, was charged under the RICO Act, 1 count false statements, 2 counts false documents, 1 count impersonating a public officer, and 2 counts forgery.

David Shafer, one of the fake electors and Republican state chairman, was charged under the RICO Act, 1 count false documents, 1 count false statements to the district attorney, 1 count impersonating a public officer, and 2 counts of forgery.

Kenneth Chesebro, another architect in the national scheme, and lawyer was charged under the RICO Act, 2 counts false documentation, 1 count impersonating a public officer, and 2 of counts forgery.

Mike Roman, a devious campaign staffer and odd private investigator, was charged under the RICO Act, 2 counts false documents, 1 count impersonating a public officer, andn2 counts of forgery.

Shawn Still, another fake elector, and Republican state senator, was charged under the RICO Act, 2 counts false documents, 1 count impersonating a public officer, and 2 counts forgery.

Jenna Elis, a big player nationally with the plot to circumvent democracy, was charged under the RICO Act. Same as White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Jeffery Clark was also charged under the RICO Act, with 1 count false statements.

Then there was the Coffee County election equipment breach (which by the way they have had access to since the 2020 election to find any flaws. Just saying.) The indictments were charged to.

Cathy Latham, the Republican lead of Coffee County, under RICO, 2 counts election fraud, 3 counts computer crimes, 1 count defrauding the state of Georgia.

Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, charged under RICO, he was subsequently charged with 2 counts election fraud, 3 counts of computer crimes, and 1 count defrauding the state of Georgia.

Misty Hampton, the Coffee County elections supervisors charged under RICO act, 2 counts of election fraud, 3 counts of computer crimes, 1 count of defrauding the state of Georgia.

Sidney Powell, a massive instigator, main perpetrator and known kook, was charged under RICO, 2 counts of election fraud, 3 counts of computer crimes, and 1 count defrauding the state of Georgia.

This case was pretty cut and dry. These morons video taped some of their crimes, some were on national tv, some were recorded, and some confessed to their crimes.

Of those who confessed and plead guilty were.

Scott Hall, the bail bondsman, plead guilty to, conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties. This was 5 misdemeanor charges landing him 5 years probation, a $5,000 fine, 200 hours of community service, a public apology to the state of Georgia, and to testify truthfully in future trials.

Sidney Powell also plead to conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties, charges with 6 misdemeanors and sentenced to 6 years probation, a $6,000 fine, a $2,700 restitution, a public apology to the state of Georgia and to testify truthfully in future trials.

Kenneth Chesebro plead guilty to conspiracy to file false documents, a felony, a deli charge. He was ordered to serve 5 years probation, a $5,000 restitution, 100 hours of community service. A public apology to the state of Georgia, and to testify truthfully in future trials.

Jenna Elis plead guilty to aiding and abetting false statements and writings, a felony, and was ordered to 5 years probation, a $5,000 restitution payment, 100 hours of community service, a public apology to the state of Georgia, and to truthfully testify in future trials.

Like I said previously. The case was pretty much open and shut. The evidence was overwhelming, some recorded, and all the acts were easily followed. It seemed justice would be served to the United States.

Then came the sleazy actions from Mike Roman. He had served as an adviser and campaign staffer on many Republican tickets. He had also worked for the Koch brothers as an intelligence gatherer. He would get dirt on liberals opponents and conservative policies.

Through his dirtbag tactics he found out that early on in the RICO case Fanni Willis, and a fellow attorney Nathan Wade, working on the case had engaged in romantic relations.

These were 2 consenting adults, who happened to cop feelings for each other while working together. These things happen. You work with someone, day after day, they start looking good if the conditions are right.

This was brought to the attention of the court, and frankly the world. Trump and some co-conspirators claimed it was a conflict of interest. Also claiming that Wade received improper payments due to it.

The cases against Trump for the theft, illegal retention, and refusal to return classified information, as well as the election interference, January 6th 2021 insurrection case cost upwards of $50 million dollars to date. In contrast, Fanni Willis and the Fulton County DA’s case, as of mid summer was under $5 million. There are accusations that Wade was paid more than some people in the district attorney’s office. This is true as he was a special prosecutor and not paid by Fulton County directly.

Either way, two consenting adults, on the same side of the isle, having an office romance is absolutely not a conflict of interest.

Just as that slimy pig that Trump is, he found a way to delay the case indefinitely until the investigator was investigated. He has done this before. Lord f*ckin knows he’s going to do it again.

Fani Willis went from prosecuting one of the largest acts of sedition ever perpetrated upon our nation, against 30 conspirators, with mountains of evidence. To being asked how many times she had sex with Nathan Wade, in a disgusting contortion of the law.

The fact that Judge McAfee even entertained the dismissal of the case is unprecedented.

A bunch of well off, white men found out that a powerful, smart black woman was sleeping with her coworker and raised a ruckus about it. Trump being found guilty of sexual assault himself, and accused by over 20 other women of the same. The irony hurts it’s so grave.

In the stolen classified documents case out of Florida, the judge, Aileen Cannon, had been put on the bench by Trump. She dismissed the case. The Supreme Court, where Trump installed 3 of the justices, ruled for Trump in Anderson v Trump, where the Colorado Supreme Court had declared Trump was ineligible to run for office under the 14th amendment, section 3, which clearly states that anyone who has participated in “insurrection or rebellion against the United States” is barred from holding ANY federal office again. That same Supreme Court would drag its feet for 6 month, after deciding the Anderson case in under 6 weeks, in Trump v the United States, and rule that the president has absolute immunity for crimes committed while in office. With blatant disregard for what the entire premise of our nation beholds.

Now Fanni Willis is being ordered to turn over documents due to a lawsuit filed by an ultra conservative group. Again, making her out to be the person guilty of a crime.

The only crime Fanni Willis is guilty of is being a black lady, trying to take down a criminal organization. That and sleeping with a handsome, tall, mature black man.

Trump skirting accountability, as he always does, just further emboldens him to commit more crimes against our country. Now with absolute immunity to do so.

In the words of Bob Dylan, “it makes you feel ashamed to live in a land where justice is game.”

[evilkitten3]

things to do by places you're going - a travel guide

alaska - be killed by animals in silence

bangor - have fresh cranberries in your mouth

bogotá - hear the fire-eyed macaw sing

bolivia - have your room invaded by wildcats

brazil - touch your hair

bridlington - have blood all over your hands

bristol - break a coffee cup

buffalo - get in a taxi

california - stand on dry land and reap dividends under a cloudless sky

california (back to) - mourn randy rhoads

catalina - see a stranger in your eyes

chino - say hello to all your friends

cleveland - gnaw little holes in a net

dade county - look out at the front lawn at 6:31 am on a saturday

dallas - go to montana

denmark - be in a red brick building by a green field with a stream running through it

east rutherford - instructions unclear; check with nall

federal prison - run out of land

france - keep promises

georgia - have two big hands and a heart pumping blood and a 1967 colt .45 with a busted safety catch

hell - instructions unclear; move on

hungary - head straight to hell in a lincoln continental

jamaica - steal flowers from children

japan - get left behind in the sand

kansas - see the world pass by

kirby sigston - let the special chicken build a nest right by the window

lebanon - hear the city call

lebanon 2 - take note of what will be gone

lubbock - dig up a human skull bigger than a basketball

maine - get mailed flat rate right down to hell

malibu - sense the continent eroding

marrakesh - try to kill the same thing twice

mars - instructions unclear; send tumblr ask

maryland - hope no points repeat

mexico - burn in the morning

miami - imagine the bright pink color of the sky

michigan (or detroit) - know what i mean about the burning white rose

monaco - ask me to hold you (that's the devil's work)

morocco - have a guttural stop in your throat

niles - get chased out of town

norwalk - see a pair of raccoons heading to the gutter

palestine - smell oranges on the breeze

pomona (through) - remember who you were and what you came here for

port washington - have something on your mind

queens - know who you are yet

reykjavik - make yourself up again, brand new

san diego - don't believe your friends

santiago - get laughed at by birds

scotland - watch the night unfold

some damned english city - have a sad, sad friend in front of you

south carolina - instructions unclear; go away

spain - go on and board the plane

spirit lake - be on fire

tennessee - wash your face with that apricot scrub again

utrecht - look down through the third story window overlooking town

wisconsin - don't know where you are until you arrive

[dangerousartisanwerewolf]

To all the Americans on tumblr rn...

I am not American, nor am I old enough to vote yet as I missed being the legal voting age for my province by only about a week- curse my extremely late birthday.

(which weirdly enough has also had such an incredibly tight election that they are still counting the votes right now even though it happened 2 weeks ago because the two parties are basically tied. }

but I am also very worried for you guys way down south. Hopefully America will put the right person into power this time and everything ends up being ok for you all. Not to be too cliché but I am sending thoughts and prayers and I hope you guys all stay safe down there. I honestly can't even imagine how you guys fell- I don't even live there and I've been feeling increasingly nauseous as the hours go by and I have had to offline for the most of the day.

Remember:

To take care of yourselves. Just in general, in whatever way you see fit

You absolutely do not have to live stream the election polling/results thing on TV, doom scroll election content the whole day long, watch the news, or consume any other election related content. As horrible as it feels to say this; the results will be the same regardless of whether or not you are watching it. Sometimes it is just better for you and your mental health to just log off of sm/screens for the night

If it all does feel like its getting too much for you, please log off/take a sm/screentime break

Most importantly, if you haven't already, please vote!!!! I am not American and am barley old enough to be considered a legal voter (Missed my own countries election *tears*) so I can't really help in terms of providing resources but I am sure there are all sorts that can help you I'm sure. I know that its getting late at night; some polls have closed already but not as many as you would think. I found out that most are actually open way later than I thought. As it turns out, some are even open til 1! You learn something new every day I guess!

Just Please, Please, Please go out and cast your ballot and make your voice known, with how close this is quite literally every voice matters!!! GO VOTE!!!

Poll closing times in case you need it (I only included ones that close 8pm and upwards because it is 7:30 at the time of writing this)

8 p.m. ET

Alabama

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida (Polls in Eastern time zone close at 7 p.m. ET; part of Panhandle are in Central time zone)

Illinois

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Mississippi

Missouri

New Hampshire (Polling hours vary by municipality and are listed by location here)

New Jersey

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee

8:30 p.m. ET

Arkansas

9 p.m. ET

Arizona

Colorado

Iowa

Kansas (Polling locations close at 8 p.m. ET in all except four counties in the west)

Louisiana

Michigan (Polling locations close at 8 p.m. ET in all except four counties)

Minnesota

Nebraska

New Mexico

New York

North Dakota (Polls close at 8 p.m. ET in all but eight counties)

South Dakota (Polls close at 8 p.m. ET in the east)

Texas (Polls close at 8 p.m. ET for most of the state except three counties in the west)

Wisconsin

Wyoming

10 p.m. ET

Montana

Nevada (The polling location at City Hall in West Wendover closes at 9 p.m. ET)

Utah

11 p.m. ET

California

Idaho (Polling locations in the south close at 10 p.m. ET)

Oregon (Polling locations in Malheur County close at 10 p.m. ET)

Washington

12 a.m. ET

Hawaii

1 a.m. ET

Alaska (Polling locations close at 12 a.m. with the exception of Adak)

I'm not really sure what other useful info I could put as I don't know much about America or it's electoral system but I hope that helps.

A lot of people I have seen have been posting about how they feel sick to their stomach's and that they can't get off the news and how they just feel terrible so...

Things you can do to distract yourself for the rest of the night (And possibly the next few days, idk how long it takes to count votes)

Have an early bedtime/take a late nap (Only go to bed after 9 at least though, otherwise you'll mess up your sleep schedule and make you feel worse.) Just sleep your way througb it if you cant help it.

To add on to point one I often use asmr if I can't fall asleep right away/to distract myself. My favorites are: Jaden Aliana Asmr, Oceans Asmr, Kaitlynn Reha asmr, and my absolute favorite Goodnight Moon ASMR (Check out her babble brook, 1920's, or valley girl series')

Listen to a podcast (I like Rotten Mango- informative true crime, Buzzfeed unsolved- funny true crime/ghost hunting, Look behind you- also true crime, and Chris Chan; a comprehensive history)

Never too late for some cleaning! Clean your house, bathroom, bedroom, closet, do a deep clean.

If your a student like me- do your schoolwork! I know you have some studying or homework that needs to be done! Get on it!! I use the pomodoro method if that does anything

Have a self care night- do an everything shower or fancy bath, make facemasks, mani pedi's ect.

Watch a movie or marathon t.v shows you love/that are comfort shows (Some of my comfort shows are; Bobs burgers, Gravity falls, the moomins 1990, the office, what we do in the shadows, black books, derry girls, moone boy, and all creatures great and small and M.A.S.H. Some of my comfort movies are; Little women, the cornetto trilogy, Emma, Legally blonde, Pride and Prejudice)

Never too late for some cooking! One of my favorite hobbies is cooking and baking (Mostly baking) Make some chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies, muffins, cupcakes or try a fun cake.

Go for a night walk! Just make sure you bring a buddy and some flashlights of you're in total darkness like I am right now. (Love me a Canadian fall! Already snow where I am so of course that means everyone now needs to immediately put up Christmas decorations lol. At least the lights are nice at night)

Spend time with loved ones. Call or text a friend, spend time with your family, roommates, whoever. If your on campus at a uni see if there's literally any activities or clubs open at this hour you can go to

Read. I know you have a tbr you keep meaning to get to

Go on a research rabbit hole about something interesting. Try to learn something new. Some topics to get you started relating to where I live cause why not; Try to learn about : The Animals of Canada, Indigenous cultures and peoples of Canada- ex: try to learn some Cree or Halqemeylem phrases, try to memorize all of our provinces and territories.

Get through any chores you still have to do

Make/do something creative: Play an instrument, record a song, make a collage, paint, draw

Play some music, listen to your favorite songs on loop (Spotify's still collecting data for wrapped!)

Download a videogame on your phone- just one to pass the time even if its total addictive trash. Some ones I like: Moomin town- Idle, relaxing, town building, slowpaced, free, Miriam webster quizitative- free, wordgames, has an end to it, Toca boca hair salon- not free, hair salon game, endless, Toca boca town- not free but there are dupes, dollhouse game, bird bnb- townbuilding, slowpaced, as well theres all sorts of cute isle cat games; I like the grocery store and cafe ones

Make sure to:

Drink water

Eat at regular intervals

take breaks from screens (It'll hurt ya eyes)

get some sleep at some point

Don't sleep all day (Try to get up at a normal time)

if you feel like you need- put screen time limits on your phone. Or as well, turn down the brightness if you feel you have to doom scroll.

That's all for now. Hope you guys are doing ok and that the results are what we are all hoping for. Just know that you are in pretty much everyone's minds and we are all thinking of you (Even if we don't live in America). Stay safe and take care of yourself and your mental health.

Love, thoughts, prayers, and support from Canada/Tumblr and have a good night.

Congrats if you managed to get through this absolute brick of text. I commend you. I'll probably check back in tomorrow.

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

I know this is an unpopular opinion but we do need to change the electoral system

I’ll try to explain why i think it should be this way the best I can

you have seen the county maps and how many counties are Red compared to the number of Blue counties?

in 2016, 2020, and 2024 a TON of counties went red

My point is this we should have an election system depending on how many counties a candidate wins

let’s say there are 5 counties and each counties Rhode Island, and this is hypothetical I know it’s a blue state but I’m using it as an example

each county has 1 point and it doesn’t matter how populated it is or what city lies in it the county has 1 point

and let’s say 2 counties go blue

and the other 3 go red

the Republican candidate that won 3 counties means he has 3 points and is now the winner

and if you look at the map of red counties it would be up to 2000 red counties! Meaning Trump would win 2000 points

and the popular vote within those counties determine what the county will be

many don’t like this and sorry if I didn’t explain it good enough but that’s my idea

and also we need to get rid of mail in voting ALL together!, shorten early voting, make Election Day a federal holiday, and make everyone show their ID

I'm not fond of messing with the electoral system on a national level. I also think ensuring one party rule is bad no matter which party it is. Trump won't be around forever. Eventually there will be another Romney or a McConnell, a globalist Republican who doesn't give a shit about America, and this system will make it impossible to get rid of him because even in the bluest of elections, most counties still go red.

What we do need, however, is a state level electoral college in every state to break up the monopoly on power that a few blue cities have in places like New York, Washington, and California. One city should not be able to hold a governor's mansion hostage indefinitely.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Moye at HuffPost:

A conservative news website is getting thoroughly mocked on social media for attempting to gin up some controversy about Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Washington Free Beacon did a deep dive into Harris’ past work at McDonald’s that was breathlessly headlined, “‘I Did Fries’: Kamala Harris Claims She Worked at McDonald’s, but She Never Mentioned It Until She Ran for President. Did She Really Toil Beneath the Golden Arches?” The Democratic presidential nominee has previously mentioned that she worked at McDonald’s after her freshman year in college to earn extra money. She discussed the experience in an interview earlier this year with Drew Barrymore, saying, “I did fries, and then I did the [cash register].” Former President Bill Clinton mentioned Harris’ McDonald’s job during his speech at the Democratic National Convention, joking, “I will be so happy when she actually enters the White House as president, because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald’s.” Harris formerly working at a fast food restaurant may make her relatable to Americans, so apparently, the Beacon wanted to ensure she was on the up-and-up. The article noted that Harris didn’t mention the Mickey D’s gig until a labor rally in June 2019, and it wasn’t mentioned in either of her memoirs.

However, what likely aroused suspicion for the Beacon reporters is that she left her job at Mickey D’s off her October 1987 job application for a law clerk position in the Alameda County district attorney’s office. The Beacon notes that Harris did list several jobs in a section that asked for every position she had held in the last 10 years, but not McDonald’s. Snopes was also unable to verify Harris’ employment at McDonald’s. HuffPost also reached out to McDonald’s, which didn’t immediately respond. A Harris campaign official said on background that the vice president worked at McDonald’s during the summer of 1983 in Alameda, California, where she handled register duties and manned the fry and ice cream machines. But after Free Beacon editor Peter J. Hasson promoted the story on social media, many people expressed that the publication was grasping at straws to make Harris look bad.

The right-wing faux outrage machine continues to try to make Kamala Harris look bad, as the conservative Washington Free Beacon publication put out a hit piece on Harris for excluding McDonald’s on her résumé while applying for a job in the Alameda County DA’s office. If anything, her experience at McDonald’s makes her more relatable to Americans. #HarrisWalz2024

[rapeculturerealities]

Breaking: Travel bans proposed in Tennessee & Oklahoma

Tennessee Republican Rep. Jason Zachary introduced a travel ban yesterday—legislation that would make it a Class C felony to take a minor out-of-state for abortion care. That means a friend, aunt or grandmother who helps a teenager get an abortion could be sent to prison for 15 years. In Oklahoma, state Sen. Nathan Dahm introduced a similar bill that would punish anyone who helps a teen obtain care with up to 5 years in prison.

I want to be clear: When I say these laws target anyone who “helps” a teen get an abortion, I don’t just mean someone who physically takes them out of the state. You could be arrested for lending a teenager gas money, or texting them the url of an out-of-state clinic. That’s because both Tennessee’s HB1895 and Oklahoma’s SB1778 deliberately define ‘abortion trafficking’ as broadly as possible. Anyone who “recruits, harbors, or transports” a minor for the purpose of getting an abortion is guilty of ‘trafficking’.

In fact, that’s the exact issue at the center of the legal fight over Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law—which is currently blocked because a judge ruled it violated the First Amendment. An amicus brief filed by 20 Attorneys General in opposition to Idaho’s travel ban offered this example:

“A teenage girl in Moscow, Idaho, calls her aunt in Pullman, Washington, less than ten miles away, to say she is pregnant and feels she cannot safely tell her parents. If the aunt tells her niece about a clinic in Pullman that offers abortion care and counseling, is that ‘recruitment’? What if the aunt texts her niece a web link to the clinic’s informational material? Or if the niece books an appointment and the clinic’s office manager emails her a preappointment information sheet? If the aunt pays for her niece’s bus ticket to Pullman, is that ‘transportation’—or, as the Idaho law would have it, ‘trafficking’?”

This broad language isn’t just meant to scare off a teen’s friends and family from helping her; it’s about targeting abortion funds. Whether you’re talking about Idaho’s travel ban, the ordinances being passed in Texas counties, or the new proposed legislation in Tennessee and Oklahoma—all of these laws are about stopping funds from helping people, and making it possible to prosecute them.

[mariacallous]

Imani Smith, a rising senior at Howard University, was out grabbing food with friends when her group chats with her sorority sisters “started blowing up.” Smith, on a social media break at the time, rushed to re-download Instagram to see article after article about Vice President Kamala Harris running for president. She called her parents, excited.

“Representation is so important,” she said. “Just as a fellow Bison, just as young Black women, being able to see someone who looks like us rise to this level … seeing her take this on, it’s really inspiring. When we look at her, we see ourselves, we see our mothers, our grandmothers.”

Smith sees herself in Harris not just as a student at Howard, the historically Black university Harris attended. Smith is also the president of the Alpha chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a Black sorority more than a century old with chapters across the country. Harris joined AKA as a student in 1986 and has been an active presence in the group ever since.

Smith isn’t the only AKA member celebrating—and organizing. The sudden ascent of Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket has been met with enthusiasm from many Black women, not least of all her “sorors,” as AKA members call one another.

The sorority, founded at Howard, is part of the Divine Nine, a group of nine historically Black sororities and fraternities with vast networks across the country. Their up to two million members could prove a powerful force to galvanize Black and young voters—whose support for President Biden’s re-election had appeared to slip before he dropped out—to go the polls in November.

Black Greek life organizations are nonpartisan and nonprofit, so they can’t and don’t endorse candidates. But individual students and alumni involved are throwing their support behind the Harris campaign. Many AKA members convened on a Zoom call of roughly 44,000 people for the group Win With Black Women, which met the day Biden dropped out of the race. The group raised $1.5 million for the Harris campaign in one sitting, The New York Times reported. The Zoom inspired a spate of similar calls since that have raised millions of dollars for Harris. Social media has been buzzing with posts from sorority members calling on each other to organize and canvas and advertising get-out-the-vote swag in the sorority’s signature colors, pink and green.

“Seeing her rise to the possibility of holding the highest position in the land, you’re almost unable to even put it into words,” said Deidra Davis, graduate adviser to the Alpha chapter and a member of Xi Omega, Washington, D.C.’s Alpha Kappa Alpha chapter. “We have worked so hard for so many years for equal rights, for women’s rights, for civil rights. And to see this come to fruition, we are just bursting with pride and hope and just overall elation.”

Donna Miller, a county board commissioner for Cook County, Ill., who’s an AKA member, was at a party with friends from the sorority when she heard the news that Biden had endorsed Harris. Miller also attended the Win With Black Women call.

“We just all immediately said, ‘OK, now we have to get busy,’” she said. “We have to get to these swing states and volunteer and knock on doors and talk to voters.”

Harris is a regular at AKA events and spoke earlier this month, before Biden left the race, at the sorority’s annual Boulé, a national gathering. She gave a shout-out to those who attended Howard with her and spoke of how the organization influenced her since her “earliest days,” given her aunt joined AKA in 1950.

“Sorors, all of us here are clear: While we have come a mighty long way, we have more work to do,” she said. “For 116 years, the members of our sorority have been on the front lines of the fight to realize the promise of America. This year, let us continue that work.”

She was also greeted with enthusiastic applause when she addressed Zeta Phi Beta, another sorority in the Divine Nine, at their Boulé on July 24 after becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.

“In this moment, our nation, as it always has, is counting on you to energize, to organize, and to mobilize; to register folks to vote, to get them to the polls; and to continue to fight for the future our nation and her people deserve,” Harris told the Zeta Phi Betas. “And we know when we organize, mountains move. When we mobilize, nations change. And when we vote, we make history.”

During Harris’s vice presidency, leaders of the Divine Nine have visited the White House on multiple occasions, including a visit to the Oval Office in May. At that meeting, Harris recounted thanking the organizations in a speech after her selection as Biden’s vice president and reporters asking what the Divine Nine was.

“And to myself I say, ‘You’re about to find out,’” she quipped.

‘Anticipation and Expectation’

Danette Anthony Reed, international president and CEO of Alpha Kappa Alpha, said the sorority plans to focus on registering voters and “supporting and advocating for justice,” but “without centering on any particular individual.” Before the big news about Harris, it had already launched a campaign, called “Take 4 or more in 24,” which encourages each of its members to get at least four people to vote. The group is also asking members to canvass and make phone calls to register voters and walk them through their voting options. The sorority further plans to help would-be voters address any obstacles to voting, such as “transportation barriers and voter suppression tactics.”

Reed said that as the first Black sorority, the group sees itself as “at the forefront of breaking glass ceilings.” AKA members are meeting Harris’s campaign with “a mix of anticipation and expectation.”

Reed also emphasized that the sorority, which has upward of 300,000 members, and the Divine Nine as a whole have long been a political force to be reckoned with, “despite often going unnoticed.” They regularly lobby federal and state lawmakers in support of policies and raise significant amounts for causes to benefit Black communities. She pointed out, for example, that AKA once raised $1 million for HBCUs in a single day.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the Divine Nine, the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Presidents, were planning a major get-out-the-vote effort, which they announced the day after Biden left the race.

“We, the Council of Presidents of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (Divine 9), have met and agreed to meet this critical moment in history with an unprecedented voter registration, education, and mobilization coordinated campaign,” a statement from the council read. “This campaign will activate the thousands of chapters and members in our respective organizations to ensure strong voter turnout in the communities we serve.”

Davis said the Divine Nine are in lockstep, or “all singing from the same hymn book,” when it comes to focusing on “making sure that people are getting out and exercising this right that so many of us were denied just a few decades ago.” She noted that the Alpha chapter plans to launch an informational campaign to ensure out-of-state students at Howard understand the absentee ballot process.

Students are also mobilizing. Smith said her chapter hosts an annual event called Freshman Move In where members of the sorority bring water and help Howard freshmen move their belongings into their dorms as they settle in on campus. This fall, that event is going to include a voter registration drive for both the first years and their parents.

Tyrone Couey, founding member and president of the National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Alumni Associations Foundation, expects Divine Nine voter registration efforts will particularly pay off with young voters, both at HBCUs and the many predominantly white institutions with active chapters. He emphasized that this kind of activism from the Divine Nine isn’t new, but noted the groups are enjoying a new spotlight, given Harris’s proud affiliation with them.

Some aspects of that limelight have been fraught. For example, Fox news commentator Brian Kilmeade drew backlash from HBCU alumni and others for allegedly calling Zeta Phi Beta a “colored” sorority when discussing the recent event Harris attended. (Kilmeade claims he actually said “college sorority.”) Renewed attention to these groups has also prompted social media discussions about whether non-Black Harris fans should avoid using AKA symbols, like donning pink and green garb, doing signature step routines and invoking the sorority’s classic “skee-wee” call.

Davis sees this spotlight moment as a “great opportunity to educate” people about who these groups are, what they do and their history. “We’re not new on the scene,” she said.

Miller has no doubt the groups’ prominence and power will soon become clear. She believes the organizations’ get-out-the-vote initiatives and members’ personal efforts to support the Harris campaign are going to make a difference.

“There are so many individuals who are members of the Divine Nine in so many different capacities, whether they’re elected officials, whether they’re leaders in corporate America, whether they’re entrepreneurs. All of these different entities coming together … is what’s going to make a huge impact,” she said, “because they are organizing like never before.”

[scotianostra]

On July 1st 1884 Allan Pinkerton, the Scottish-born detective, died.

Not all Scots that I post about should be looked upon as good people, we do have to acknowledge this in our history, scratch beneath the subject in most cases and you will find fault, this is certainly true of Pinkerton.

Born in Glasgow, on the 25th of August 1819 his father was a sergeant of the Glasgow municipal police and died in 1828 of injuries received from a prisoner in his custody.

In 1842 Allan emigrated to Chicago, Illinois, before moving to Dundee, Kane County, Illinois, where he established a cooperage business. Here he ran down a gang of counterfeiters, and he was appointed a Deputy Sheriff of Kane County in 1846 and immediately afterwards of Cook County, with headquarters in Chicago.

In Chicago he organized a force of detectives to capture thieves who were stealing railway property, and this organization developed in 1852 into Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency, of which he took sole charge in 1853. He was especially successful in capturing thieves who stole large amounts from express companies. In 1866 his agency captured the principals in the theft of $700,000 from Adams Express Company safes on a train of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railway, and recovered all but $12,000 of the stolen money.

In February 1861 Pinkerton found evidence of a plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln upon his arrival in Baltimore on his way to Washington; as a result, Lincoln passed through Baltimore at an early hour in the morning without stopping. In April 1861 Pinkerton, on the suggestion of General George B. McClellan, organized a system of obtaining military information in the Southern states. From this system he developed the US Secret Service, of which he was in charge throughout the war, under the assumed name of Major E. J. Allen.

Pinkerton was not without controversy, one of his detectives, James McParlan, in 1873-76 lived among the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania and secured evidence which led to the breaking up of what was considered a criminal organization. His detectives were also used to escort strike breakers during the era.

In 1869 Pinkerton suffered a partial stroke of paralysis, and thereafter the management of the detective agency devolved chiefly upon his sons, William Allan and Robert. He died in Chicago on the 1st of July 1884. He published The Molly Maguires and the Detectives , The Spy of the Rebellion, in which he gave his version of President-elect Lincoln’s journey to Washington; and a memoir, Thirty Years a Detective. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency continues to trade in the US to this day.

Pics are of Pinkerton, on horseback then with, President Abraham Lincoln, and Major General John Alexander McClernand. Pinkerton was the head of Union Intelligence Services at the time. He also, allegedly, foiled an assassination attempt against Lincoln. His wartime work was critical in Pinkerton’s development, which he later used to pioneer his agency. Other pics include the firms logo old and new.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Hugh Hewitt Resigns as Washington Post Columnist After Storming Off Paper’s Livestream

‘I’M DONE’

The conservative had argued with two progressive columnists amid the backlash at the paper over owner Jeff Bezos’ endorsement decision.

Grace Harrington 

Breaking News Intern

Updated Nov. 1 2024 2:28PM EDT / Published Nov. 1 2024 12:52PM EDT 

Conservative columnist Hugh Hewitt resigned from The Washington Post on Friday, shortly after exiting a stormy livestream debate, the New York Post reports.

Hewitt‘s is the latest resignation to rock the Post but this time unexpectedly from the right. It shows Bezos’ crisis isn’t easing up but instead hitting both sides of the political divide.

Hewitt walked off the Post‘s show “First Look,” with liberal columnists Jonathan Capehart and Ruth Marcus, after a heated discussion on Donald Trump’s lawsuit about alleged voting irregularities in Pennsylvania.

Capehart started by asking Marcus if Trump is “laying the groundwork for contesting the election by complaining that cheating was taking place in Pennsylvania?” He cited Trump’s lawsuit against Bucks County for alleged irregularities.

“No election can be fair in Donald Trump’s mind unless Donald Trump wins it,” Marcus said. As Hewitt tried to interject, Capehart said, “Let Ruth finish, Hugh.”

“Well, I’ve just got to say, we’re news people, even though it’s the opinion section,” Hewitt said. “It’s got to be reported. Bucks County was reversed by the court and instructed to open up extra days because they violated the law and told people to go home. So that lawsuit was brought by the Republican National Committee, and it was successful... We are news people, even though we have opinions, and we have to report the whole story if we bring up part of the story. So, yes, he’s upset about Bucks County, but he was right and he won in court. That’s the story.”

After a pause, Capehart said, “I don’t appreciate being lectured about reporting when Hugh, many times, you’ve come here saying lots of things that aren’t based in fact.”

Hewitt then called the livestream the “most unfair election ad” he’s ever done and left the set.

Hewitt has been at the Post since 2017. He also hosts a radio show where he recently interviewed Trump.

The newspaper has been under fire this week over its owner Jeff Bezos’ decision not to allow it to endorse a presidential candidate.

[noumenawiki]

Axiom's End Timeline

This contains spoilers for Axiom's End. The completed timeline will be posted here when it's finished. You can make a submission here

Noumena Timeline - Earth years 1045 C.E.         – Ampersand’s creation 1352 C.E.         – humans are brought back to the superorganism for research around the time of The Black Plague affecting Europe *date unknown*    – Transients (Physterines) develop the electromagnetic pulses to incapacitate amygdalines, and begin to become aggressive against them. The Superorganism discovers the population explosion of transients, and views this as a threat. Ampersand and a few other Oligarchs petition that a stable population size is not a threat in and of itself, but the Superorganism ultimately decides to sterilize the entire planet. 1629 C.E.         – Fremdan Genetic Purge occurs due to those who opposed the sterilization of the Physterines 26 February 1971  – The Fremda group seeks refuge on Earth in Inarajan, Guam, not knowing just how advanced humans have become. 6 March 2007      – An email is sent regarding language samples of Pequod Phonemic which is included in Nils Ortega’s “Fremda Memo” in the Broken Seal, published 24 August 2007 23 August 2007    – The Ampersand Event Occurs 24 August 2007    – prompted by the Ampersand Event, Nils Ortega leaks the Fremda Memo 20 September 2007 – The Obelus Event Occurs at 1:13 pm PDT, Eli Gerald publishes “Follow the Noise” on the DeceptiNation Blog, and Nils publishes an Op-Ed titled “These Disparate Lives” 21 September 2007 – Nils publishes “Obelus” in the Broken Seal           – Cora’s house gets invaded during the early hours of the night by a (presumed) Ampersand           – Cora rides with Bard to Santa Crus in order to avoid the CIA, hoping to join her Aunt Luciana and lie low           – Douglas Siegel publishes “Expanding the scope of Ortega” in The New Yorker regarding Luciana Ortega           – Ampersand follows Cora to Santa Cruz, placing an earbud into Cora’s ear while she is under a sedation of his design

22 September 2007 – The Fremda Group loses four members to elective suicide, bringing their numbers to 27 total. The four are known by the US government as AG-ETI-008 “Scivo”, AG-ETI-015 “Logi”, AG-ETI-028 “Birdo”, and AG-ETI-042 “Verda”. The Fremda group is described as locking the government out of their shelter after the Obelus Event occurred, likely in an attempt to hide from Obelus. 24 September 2007 – Ampersand tries to control Cora in order to break into the Googleplex building in Silicon Valley in order to locate the Fremda group. She is the 3rd human under his control to attempt this. She is able to escape with an incapacitated Ampersand due to an electromagnetic pulse that causes a black out. 26 September 2007 – Cora and Ampersand use Luciana’s contact with CIA Agent Sol Kaplan to help Ampersand gain access to the Fremda group. He directs them to Vandenberg AFB.           – Nils publishes “Where’s the Revolution?” in The Broken Seal           – Lewis Callum publishes “The Revelation of Nils Ortega” on the DeceptiNation blog           – Ampersand is allowed to meet the Fremda group.           – ROSA is reinstated.           – The Fremda group and Cora, Luciana, and Kaplan are transported to the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex bunker in El Paso County, Colorado

27 September 2007 – Ampersand performs Cefo’s autopsy at NORAD, where Cefo and the rest of the Fremda are described as having a higher quantity of organic nervous system, body parts, and a microbiome.           – The rest of the former ROSA employees arrive at NORAD 2 October 2007    – Nils publishes “What did the president Know, and When Did He Know It?” in The Broken Seal which exposes President Bush in his lie of knowing about First Contact with extraterrestrials           – Luciana is arrested and held for 36 hours           – Aisha Jackson publishes “Hunt for Cause of Massive Guam Power Outage Begins” in The Washington Post           – Physterine sighting accounts codenamed “Sloop John B” are confirmed by Ampersand after Sol Kaplan shows him files of plausible extraterrestrial interactions           – Ampersand meets with the secretary of defense, telling him that opening up communication freely between humans and amygdalines will lead to a sort of colonization event. Despite this, the secretary of defense insists Ampersand give them a means of communication.           – George Walker Bush announces that he will officially resign as the 43rd president on 3 October 2007

5 October 2007      – Ampersand transports Cora out of NORAD for a moment to visit her empty home and see the stars in the desert.

6 October 2007    – Obelus breaks into NORAD using an electromagnetic pulse and Cora evacuates to Langley, the CIA headquarters. The Genome makes itself known as a small, partially natural amygdaline. Cora, the genome, Vincent, and Kaplan are given orders to leave. Their caravan of vehicles are taken out by another one of Obelus’s EM pulses. Cora, with the Genome in hand, runs from the scene to safety           – Vincent Park as well as a few other unnamed CIA employees are annihilated by Obelus and his Similars.           – Amygdaline Similar Brako is assumed deceased.

7 October 2007      – Luciana receives a text on her burner phone as to where Cora is located and picks her up, transporting them and the genome to one of Luciana’s contacts in Christianburg, Virginia. Luciana gives Cora coordinates to an abandoned warehouse two hours away that arrived with the text of Cora’s earlier location, suspecting that’s where Ampersand would like to meet.           – Cora meets Ampersand and Obelus appears. She is held captive with other Fremdans until Ampersand can bring Obelus the genome

9 October 2007           – Nils publishes “Open Letter” on The Broken Seal calling for his family to be released from government custody.   ?? October 2007      – Cora attempts to undermine Obelus by telling his similars that he is Fremdan and Ampersand’s symphyle, rousing suspicion amongst their ranks.           – Ampersand ultimately doesn’t comply, detonating an EMP allowing Cora will be able to evacuate the remaining Fremdans and the genome with transport plates.           – Cora attacks Obelus with a shovel while he is recovering from the EMP           – Cora is mutilated by Obelus, the Genome attempts to cause a distraction which ultimately results in her death           – In an attempt to get Ampersand to leave Earth, Obelus warns Cora that Ampersand was created to dominate and if he stays on Earth, any assimilation will result in his desire to take control of the Earth and that humans will hate him for it.           – Obelus’s similars return and challenge him. A fight ensues and he’s incapacitated. The similars take the genome, Obelus, and themselves back to the Superorganism.           – Cora is repaired by Ampersand.

~ 21 October 2007 – Cora awakens at a hospital with her mother Demi and Luciana with her who tell her that she’s been gone for two weeks.           – Cora is debriefed by the CIA           – On the second night of her hospital stay, Cora and Ampersand confirm that they have fusion bonded and are now symphyles.

[rjzimmerman]

High toxin levels are illegal in public water. But not for Americans using private wells. (Washington Post)

Excerpt from this Washington Post story:

On a Tuesday morning in May 2021, during a brief period when Cathy Cochrane’s chemotherapy sessions had paused, her hair was beginning to grow back and the intense pain from the treatments was subsiding, she nervously logged into a Cowlitz County commissioner meeting to testify about what she believed had caused her ovarian cancer and her fears that others were in danger too.

“The first thing you want to know when you hear the news is ‘why? Why me?’” she told the commissioners of her April 2019 diagnosis. “But worse than not knowing why, is finding out why and knowing it could have been prevented.”

The previous November, Cochrane discovered that the water she had been drinking for nearly a decade contained 638 parts per billion of arsenic, a toxin that can cause cancer and increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

The maximum allowable level of arsenic in water for public utilities is 10 parts per billion — or 10 micrograms of arsenic per liter of water— meaning their water had nearly 64 times what would be legal in public drinking water, though no amount of arsenic is considered safe. But Cochrane, 66, and her husband, John Brugman, 70,do not get drinking water from their municipality.

Instead, like over an estimated 43 million Americans, the water that comes out of their taps is drawn from a private well. In their case, it’s a 405-foot-deep shaft dug feet away from their rural home, situated in a small clearing surrounded by forest,that pulls from a natural aquifer deep underground.

They had never tested their water for arsenic; it wasn’t required during the well’s construction or at any point after, and they said they were not aware that arsenic occurred naturally in the area. Though public water utilities have to test for arsenic and follow strict federal standards for the toxin, private wells face no federal regulations, complicating efforts to ensure all Americans have reliable access to safe drinking water. Like in many communities, there were no requirements here at the state or county level either.

The EPA regulates the amount of toxins allowed in public drinking water to keep people safe, establishing the maximum levels for dozens of contaminants, requiring utilities to conduct regular testing and imposing consequences on those that break the law by failing to remove toxins.

But the agency doesn’t regulate the drinking water of the more than 1 in 10 people who get their water from their own private wells.

In lieu of any national laws, some states and municipalities across the country have issued their own regulations. A February study from the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology found 23 states have adopted requirements for water quality testing of private wells. But those requirements vary widely in scope, and only 10 states have laws that require notifying well owners about a potential contamination, the study found.

Though the proportion of people using private wells has declined, the number of wells has increased overall with the growth of the general population — and the levels and pervasiveness of some contaminants in those wells are increasing, studies show.

Some studies have found that they have become more contaminated as a result of climate change and the expanding use of chemicals in agriculture that pollute natural water sources.

[moonlight26posts-blog]

In Washington County, MD: Help Us Give Buck The Happy New Year He Deserves!

If you can offer a loving foster home for poor Buck, please email foster@charlietotherescue.org

Buck’s story is one that breaks our hearts. On Christmas Day, while most were home celebrating with loved ones, Buck was running through the cold streets of Hagerstown. A kind-hearted stranger stopped to help him, bringing him to our shelter to ensure his safety. Now, Buck waits patiently for a brighter future. This handsome brown merle boy with an unforgettable underbite has been nothing but sweet and spunky in our care. His tail wags with joy when he sees his favorite people and his playful personality shines even on his toughest days. Buck does get a little mouthy when he’s excited—a behavior easily addressed with positive reinforcement and consistency—but his charm more than makes up for it. Buck also has a great track record with other dogs! He arrived at the shelter alongside another dog from the same residence, and he has shown that he can share space and interact well with canine companions. Though Buck has remained happy and resilient, his health journey hasn’t been without challenges. A veterinary examination revealed he has hookworms, but he is currently being treated and showing great progress. We will gladly provide his veterinary summary to ensure his new chapter begins on the right foot. We refuse to let Buck’s story end here, waiting behind shelter walls for the love he deserves. This sweet, goofy boy is longing for a family or rescue who will turn his Christmas nightmare into a New Year’s miracle. Will you be the one to change Buck’s life forever? Please don’t let Buck wait another day. He’s counting on someone to see him for the special soul he is. If your rescue can pull Buck and give him the fresh start he deserves, contact us today.

Brittney Mair

Volunteer Coordinator

Join the Volunteer Voice Facebook group!

13011 Maugansville Road

Hagerstown, MD 21740

301-733-2060 Ext. 250 (p)

301-733-0248 (f)

www.hswcmd.org

CFC Charity #64669

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.31 (after 1950)

1951 – Cold War: The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Western Europe. 1955 – General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year. 1956 – The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest. 1961 – RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service. 1963 – The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia. 1965 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begin a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko. 1968 – The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world. 1968 – MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes near Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board. 1981 – A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. 1983 – The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government. 1983 – Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner. 1983 – In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic. 1991 – All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved. 1992 – Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. 1994 – This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively. 1994 – The First Chechen War: The Russian Ground Forces begin a New Year's storming of Grozny. 1995 – The final comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published. 1998 – The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency. 1999 – The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor. 1999 – The U.S. government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties. 1999 – Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ends after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan. 2004 – The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft). 2009 – Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur. 2010 – Tornadoes touch down in midwestern and southern United States, including Washington County, Arkansas; Greater St. Louis, Sunset Hills, Missouri, Illinois, and Oklahoma, with a few tornadoes in the early hours. A total of 36 tornadoes touched down, resulting in the deaths of nine people and $113 million in damages. 2011 – NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon. 2014 – A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others. 2015 – A fire breaks out at the Downtown Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates, located near the Burj Khalifa, two hours before the fireworks display is due to commence. Sixteen injuries were reported; one had a heart attack, another suffered a major injury, and fourteen others with minor injuries. 2018 – Thirty-nine people are killed after a ten-story building collapses in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, Russia. 2019 – The World Health Organization is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in Wuhan. This later turned out to be COVID-19, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[mightyflamethrower]

The last eight years at the Department of Justice have been a disaster for the rule of law. The sprawling intelligence and law enforcement agency ran the Russia collusion hoax, hamstringing President Donald Trump during his entire first term in office.

It interfered in the 2020 election by falsely telling social media companies that a laptop with incriminating information about the Biden family business was Russian disinformation, and telling them to censor speech and debate about the topic. Under President Joe Biden, the department ran two norm-obliterating politicized prosecutions against Trump in an effort to silence, bankrupt, imprison, and defeat him.

Instead of rooting out the corruption at the department, most of permanent D.C. did absolutely nothing in response. Yet somehow the chattering class was shocked when Trump nominated loyal foot soldier Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., to be attorney general in Trump’s second term and to fix DOJ.

Gaetz had proven to be one of the most effective advocates against corruption at DOJ and was unwilling to back down in the face of overwhelming public pressure. However, Gaetz does not fit the education or experience profile of many previous attorneys general and has limited experience practicing law.

Many Americans are sick and tired of elected officials and media pundits doing nothing as DOJ attempted to destroy the country with its abuse of the rule of law. Among the many powerful figures in Washington, D.C. opposed to the Gaetz nomination are some who are attempting to thwart it by releasing a report from the House Ethics Committee that will attempt to tie Gaetz to salacious allegations involving child sex trafficking.

The report comes years after DOJ dropped its investigation into the same claims on the grounds that the two central witnesses had serious credibility issues. Yet these are the same two central witnesses the House Ethics Committee has relied on for its critical report of Gaetz—the same report it is leaking to compliant reporters as part of a coordinated effort to thwart his nomination as President-elect Donald Trump’s next attorney general.

A John With a History of False Sex Smears

The two witnesses have massive credibility problems. The claims arose from Joel Greenberg, “one of the most corrupt Florida politicians of all time,” according to Florida reporter Marc Caputo, who is now with the anti-Trump media outlet The Bulwark.

Among many things the former Seminole County tax collector admitted to as part of a wide-ranging case for which he is currently serving 11 years in prison was falsely accusing local political opponent Brian Beute of having sex with a minor, similar to the outlandish claim he made against Gaetz. Greenberg also reportedly later attempted to frame his own attorney with pornographic images of children. One New York Times writeup of Greenberg was headlined, “Like the Tiger King Got Elected Tax Collector.“

According to the Washington Post, Greenberg admitted to “fabricating allegations against a schoolteacher who was running against him to be a tax collector. Greenberg had sent letters to the school falsely claiming the teacher had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student — a similar allegation to the Gaetz case.” U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell, appointed by President Bill Clinton, said Greenberg’s actions against that innocent victim were “downright evil.”

Too Ridiculous For Even The DOJ

The politicized employees at DOJ have shown themselves willing to explore novel legal theories and bend federal rules to the breaking point in pursuit of their most reviled political opponents, most notably former and future President Trump. Gaetz has a reputation as one of the most tenacious cross-examiners of DOJ officials from his perch on the House Judiciary Committee.

Yet even the DOJ was unwilling to exploit Greenberg’s unsubstantiated claims — apart from leaking them to the press to hurt Gaetz’s reputation. They announced their closure of the investigation in 2022.

The House Ethics Committee, however, decided to pick up the dropped and deflated ball and run with it a full year after DOJ dropped the investigation. The fact that the disgraced Greenberg was cooperating with the House Ethics Committee was shared for publication with The New York Times and other media outlets.

The news media “should not be laundering smears from people in prison,” a Gaetz spokesman said at the time. Gaetz speculated that the House ethics investigation was punishment for his leading role in the controversial defenestration of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a move that angered many of his Republican colleagues.

The colorful representative and Trump ally has also won few friends on the Hill by pointing out his colleagues’ suspicious stock trades. Prior to marrying Ginger Luckey in 2021 and settling down, he had a reputation in D.C. for being a partier and dating many women.

2023 Lawsuit Sheds Light On Accusers

A little-noticed lawsuit from 2023 gives some insight into Greenberg and two women involved in the scheme against Gaetz. Greenberg alleges one of these women had sex with Gaetz when she was a minor. The other woman is her longtime roommate and friend, two years older, who has reportedly corroborated her friend’s claims.

The crime spree Greenberg was convicted of included charges related to his ongoing sexual relationship with the 17-year-old. He met her on a site for older men with money and younger women needing money who are prepared to have sex with older men. The practice matches “sugar daddies” with “sugar babies” and is considered a form of prostitution. The woman lied about her age when she registered on the site, and the married Greenberg maintains he was not aware she was a minor when he began having sex with her.

The lawsuit shows that Greenberg “became insistent” that Gaetz help him obtain a pardon for his various crimes. When he was repeatedly told that wouldn’t happen, Greenberg reportedly said he would seek vengeance on those who refused to help him during his time of need.

It was at this point that Greenberg began claiming without evidence that Gaetz and a variety of other Republicans and local businessmen were involved in his criminal actions, the lawsuit says. Greenberg was paying the legal bills of Gaetz’s accuser. He allegedly lied about Gaetz to “reduce his own prison sentence,” according to the lawsuit.

The latter claim was supported by a September letter from Gaetz to the House Ethics Committee. Gaetz revealed a letter from a jailhouse informant who shared a holding cell with Greenberg when Greenberg admitted “making stuff up about” Gaetz as part of a plan to lighten what could have been as much as a 27-year sentence in federal prison. He was eventually sentenced to 11 years for his role in sex trafficking, identity theft, public corruption involving taxpayer money and contracts, stalking, and securing fraudulent federal business loans.

Two former federal agents interviewed the inmate, who told them Greenberg said the woman Greenberg was convicted of having sex with as a minor “would be willing to adopt Greenberg’s lie in hopes of a future financial benefit.”

The woman is referenced in news reports and legal documents as “A.B.” A 2023 lawsuit from Chris Dorworth, a former Florida state representative and friend of Gaetz, reveals that Greenberg said A.B. performed deviant acts on the internet for money and “would do whatever he said because he was paying her legal bills.” He even sent a text message to Dorworth confessing he was paying for her legal bills.

“I’m having to pay for [A.B.] to retain lawyer,” Greenberg wrote in a text to Dorworth. “They contacted her and are wanting her to talk. She doesn’t want to talk to them. Likely Venmo was the link. I need help with this.”

The lawsuit shows that various people Greenberg spoke to about his problems felt he was trying to ensnare them as having been complicit in his crimes, frequently to their confusion. After speaking with Greenberg’s lawyer, Dorworth texted Greenberg, “I have nothing to do with any of this and think it is incredibly uncool you are trying to lawyer me up to be part of it, Joel. Not. F–king. Cool.”

The younger woman has gone on to be an “active participant” on OnlyFans and has appeared in pornographic videos under a stage name, according to the lawsuit. News reports claim she told the House Ethics Committee the same information she told the DOJ before it closed the investigation on the grounds she and Greenberg had credibility problems. Judge Presnell referred to the woman as “essentially a prostitute.”

The DOJ decided that the people making the accusations against Gaetz had such massive credibility problems that they could in no way charge him with any crimes. All the House Ethics Committee has done is revive those same accusations from the same unreliable witnesses.

As they did with the salacious accusations contained in the Democrat-funded Russia collusion dossier and the Washington Post’s unsubstantiated report against then-federal judge Brett Kavanaugh, the people who run Washington appear not to be concerned about the validity of the accusations so much as the ability to use them to stop a political opponent.