#women in fisheries

[farmerstrend]

Eunice Auma's Journey: Leading the Charge for Women in Fish Farming in Homa Bay County

Discover how women in Homa Bay County are transforming the fishing industry through cage fish farming, breaking free from the traditional “jaboya” practice and leading Kenya’s blue economy revolution. Learn about the inspiring journey of women in Gwassi Ward, Homa Bay, as they rise to become fish farmers and entrepreneurs, driving economic empowerment through sustainable cage fish farming on Lake…

[dhallblogs]

NITI Aayog announces revised composition.

New Delhi: The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) has unveiled its revised composition, aimed at enhancing its strategic leadership and effectiveness. The Indian government has reconstituted the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), with Prime Minister Narendra Modi remaining as the chairperson and economist Suman K Bery continuing as the vice-chairperson.

ALSO READ MORE- https://apacnewsnetwork.com/2024/07/niti-aayog-announces-revised-composition/

[serpentface]

Four culturally significant aquatic birds in Imperial Wardin- the skimmer gull, the albatross, the reed duck, and the hespaean.

The skimmer gull is a small seabird, distinguished by bright red beaks and a single, trailing tail plume. These are sacred and beloved animals with a long history of symbiosis with local fishers. They will intentionally attract the attention of fishermen, bringing them to shoals of fish that are too deep below the surface for the birds to reach. They then will snatch fish fleeing or caught in the nets, and will often be directly fed by their human assistants in an act of gratitude. They benefit tremendously from their sacred status and a taboo against killing or harming them, and can become absolute food-stealing menaces in seaside towns and cities.

The albatross is a seasonal visitor to the region, with this population migrating to small rocky islands in the White Sea to breed. The specific species occurring in this region is on the smaller side, and has a pale pink beak and soft orange legs. Albatrosses are common characters in regional animal folktales (usually as foolish, romantic types), and sometimes appear in tales as shapeshifters, usually turning into young women who have tumultuous affairs with lonely sailors.

Skimmer gulls and albatross are the most sacred animals of Pelennaumache, the face of God which looks upon the ocean, the winds, storms, maritime trade, fisheries, and broader concepts of luck and the infliction and deflection of curses. Killing either of these birds is considered to bring about disastrous bad luck (unless in the context of a proper sacrifice, most commonly in rites to bless ships and/or sailors with good winds and against ill fortune). The eggs of skimmer-gulls are free game and considered delicacies, while the preciousness of the albatross' single egg clutch is recognized and their consumption is generally discouraged (this isn't to say it doesn't happen).

Feathers of rightly sacrificed albatross and skimmer gulls are minor holy relics (ESPECIALLY gull tail plumes), and considered to be the ultimate good luck charm. The fortuitous find of a shed feather can also impart good luck and can be very valuable (the birds are sometimes poached for their feathers, though fears of the consequences are enough that this poaching is limited in scope). You will often see wealthier people wearing the feathers in hats and headdress, and any seafaring vessel worth its salt should have at least one aboard.

Both birds are evoked in the apotropaic Skimmer-Woman motif (in practice it generally has albatross characteristics, though is sometimes depicted with the tail plume of the gull).

The hespaean is a very unusual bird with two distinct species native to the region, one found exclusively in the western Black river system and its estuaries, and one found in the eastern Brilla and Kannethod river systems. They have very small pointed teeth in their bills, a trait virtually unknown outside of the flightless, beakless classes of birds (most prominently qilik). Their wings are vestigial and virtually nonexistent (with only two bony spurs remaining). These birds are almost exclusively aquatic and do not normally emerge onto land (they cannot walk upright at all, and must push themselves on their bellies). The legs of the Black river hespean develop blue pigmentation from their diet (the brighter the blue, the better fed and healthier the bird), which are waved above the surface during elaborate courtship displays. Both species are known for their haunting, warbling cries (very much like a loon, but more of a howling noise that develops into a shrill warble).

Hespaean build their nests in dense beds of reeds or small, vegetation-heavy river islands that provide some protection from predators. They raise their young during the height of the dry season (when more nesting surfaces are available and they can feed their young with more concentrated fish populations), which is an image of hope and resiliency during harsh dry times and the promise of the river's eventual bounty.

It is known that hespaean used to be caught as chicks and raised to help people catch fish (with ropes around their necks to prevent them from swallowing their catch). This practice is now very rare in the Imperial Wardi cultural sphere (mostly still practiced by the Wogan people along the Kannethod river, to whom these birds are also venerated animals) and has been largely replaced with the import of domesticated cormorants from the Lowlands to the southeast (which are more easily trained and can Usually be trusted not to attempt to swallow their catch).

These birds require large rivers that flow year round and have healthy, dense fish stocks. The population is in decline and they are now relatively rare, largely due to development and overfishing around rivers (and on a much larger timescale, the region becoming drier and water levels more irregular, and their competition with more versatile freshwater tiviit).

The reed duck is a migratory freshwater duck whose coming heralds the beginning of the wet season. They come to mate along rivers and wetlands during the final stretches of the dry season, timing their eggs to hatch with the rise in water levels and growth of the vegetation and insects they feed on. They have striking red-brown and gray plumage and very little sexual dimorphism (though the male is somewhat brighter in color and the flesh around the bill turns bright red during the breeding season).

Reed ducks are not domesticated, but some populations are semi-tamed and encouraged to return to certain sites to breed (the riverside temple to Anaemache in Ephennos attracts a massive flock of the ducks every wet season, continually blessing it with their presence and coating its grounds in droppings), and these stocks are the primary source of sacrificial ducks and coveted shed feathers.

Hespaean and reed ducks are the most sacred animals of Anaemache, the Face of God which looks upon freshwater (particularly rivers), rains, seasonal flooding, fertile earth/seasonal fertility, and wild plant life.

The hespaean is representative of Anaemache as the River Itself and the river as a provider of fish. This association comes down to their all-seasons presence in the rivers, and their population density being a signal of a healthy, well-flowing river with good fish stocks. Lands adjacent to hespean territory is often the most reliable and bountiful for human subsistence.

The reed duck in particular is the most venerated sacred animal of Anaemache, as representatives of Anaemache as a Face of seasonal fertility. Its coming announces the return of the rains and seasonal flooding that the region's agriculture relies on, and their cycle of fertility closely matches the cycles of the rivers and that of the earth itself (with their new life emerging with rains, flooding, and new vegetation in the wet season). There is no prohibition on hunting reed ducks (though proper rites and respect are expected for a sacred animal), and their meat and eggs is said to support female fertility and a healthy pregnancy.

[scotianostra]

September 2nd 1724 Maggie Dickson climbed the gallows in Edinburgh's Grassmarket, ready to take “The last drop”

Her downfall came when she got pregnant and tried to conceal the fact. Maggie’s husband had deserted her to work in the Fisheries in Newcastle in Northern England.

Consequently she had to leave Edinburgh and moved to Kelso in the south of Scotland. Whilst there she had an affair with an innkeepers son.

As the Innkeeper was her employer she felt compelled to keep the pregnancy quiet as she would lose her job. Tragically the baby died after being born prematurely and she decided to dispose of the body. She intended to cast it into the River Tweed but instead left it on the riverbank. It was soon found and the authorities quickly determined that Maggie was the mother. At that time such an action in Scotland contravened the 'Concealment of Pregnancy Act' of 1690 which made it tantamount to murder.

"Her reason for concealing the birth of the child was for fear of being made a public example in the church, and a laughing-stock to all her neighbours The legal and religious institutions were severe on women concerning matters of their pregnancy. Even the natural occurrences of miscarriage or still-born infants could incur the wrath of the law.

And so it was, Maggie was tried, convicted and sentenced to hang. The execution took place on the 2nd September 1724 in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh. This was the favoured location for hangings at that time and normally took place on market day to ensure a sizeable crowd.

Her body was then taken in a coffin for burial to the town of Musselburgh which was east of Edinburgh. Apparently this was only after an unseemly scuffle between her family and local medical students keen for a young body to dissect. The corpses of the condemned were regularly passed to the Schools of Anatomy in the name of science in the 18th century.

The family had their way and took possession of Maggie's remains for burial. They set off on the journey and on the way stopped off at a pub for some refreshments in the Peffer Mill area. All of a sudden there came a knocking and banging on the coffin lid from the inside. Astonished, they opened up the coffin to discover that she was not dead.

Miraculously it seemed that Maggie Dickson had not succumbed to the gallows but had cheated death at the hands of the law. She was alive and well as confirmed by a local gardener on the scene who cut a vein to check for a flow of blood. After spending a night to recover Maggie actually walked back to Musselburgh the next day.

But what would happen next? As the death certificate had already been issued it was impossible to re-execute Maggie. This was because Scots Law is based on Roman Pandects and in this case it prohibited further action. Therefore the King's Advocate could not pursue the matter any further.

Instead he filed against the Edinburgh Sheriff in the High Court of Justiciary for not efficiently conducting the public execution. The ruling also meant that as Maggie was technically dead then her marriage was dissolved.

Furthermore, the prevailing opinion amongst people in Edinburgh considered her survival to be the result of divine intervention. Local people believed it had been 'God's will' that had spared her from an early grave.

Rumours persist that she actually seduced the ropemaker and convinced him to make the noose weak enough not to kill her. We will never know if that's the truth.

Whatever the facts of her hanging Maggie lived for another 40 years and had many children. Her husband remarried her despite that fact that she now sported rope burns and her neck was permanently crooked for the rest of her life. She is said to have ran an alehouse in Musselburgh for the rest of her life.

If you have ever visited Edinburgh’s Grassmarket you will have no doubt seen the names of the bars have a historical connection, The White Hart connects with King David I and his encounter with a White Stag, The Last Drop is of course a nod to the execution place and Maggie Dickson is for our erstwhile subject today, who the people of Edinburgh remember as “ Half-hangit Maggie “

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from The Revelator:

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As a legislative policy fellow and anthropologist who studies women’s well-being in coastal communities of Chile and Indigenous salmon management in Alaska and Canada, I’ve witnessed how genocidal attempts to eradicate Indigenous peoples and their cultures have also damaged the environment. We see it in current management’s low returns in fish, high levels of runoff and nutrient input into ocean systems, and generally unsustainable levels of resource extraction.

I’ve also seen the opposite: I interviewed managers and biologists in Vancouver, Canada, who described the substantial improvements of Indigenous-led, bottom-up approaches to conservation. They see fish return and people fulfilling their well-being and nutrition needs. They see political and economic reform and a revitalization of social and cultural practices.

Unfortunately this is still not the norm, as we saw in a recent international agreement between the United States and Canada that placed a seven-year fishing moratorium on Chinook salmon to encourage fish populations to rebound. Most people would agree that this is a worthy goal for the conservation of both the species and the people who depend on Chinook. However, the new agreement fails to factor in Indigenous access to resources for ceremonial and subsistence harvest, which is mandated by law, nor did legislators acknowledge public comment that supported that access.

The marginalization of Indigenous peoples today, as seen in this agreement’s failures, can be traced back to colonialism.

The history of colonialism is steeped in human-rights violations such as the outlawing of Indigenous salmon-management practices that settlers later appropriated for their own economic gain. Settler wealth was achieved only through the exploitation of resources and forced relocation of Indigenous peoples out of economically advantageous spaces and acculturation into oppressive colonial ones.

“Settler governments [are] primarily concerned with economic gain,” a British Columbia-based project manager focused on salmon restoration told me during an interview. “Their mandate is to work commercial fisheries or recreational ones that generate economic value for their states, provinces, or countries…That’s the starting point; when human well-being is the starting point — like it is with Indigenous people — then it leads to a very different kind of management.”

[bioshook-wynand]

Since my friend and I are playing Bioshock 1, i wanted to share some of the things that have happened so far:

- We sat and watched the plane fully sink

- "OUGH?!" < her reaction to the giant Ryan statue

- Right off the bat she didn't trust Atlas and said his wife and child aren't real

- Every security bot is named Jeff

- The wrench is also Jeff(rey Bezos)

- We spent 30 minutes trying to get to Steinman because I forgot I has to throw the bombs at the debris blocking the entrance

- We went through 4 nitro splicers before I realized something wasn't right. I do this everytime. I literally replayed Bioshock like 2 weeks ago and forgot how to do that

- I've died more times in this playthrough than I ever have in Bioshock 1

- Keeps asking me if Atlas is evil, I keep telling her no and that he's my babygirl

- I've been spoon feeding her Atlas propaganda so hopefully she'll trust him by the end

- LOVES the little sisters, terrified of big daddys. She screamed the first time we had to fight one

- I tried to get the first bouncer stuck behind the register in the Medical Bay, but absolutely shredded him before I could

- The women were too stunned to speak

- We sat under the floor of the McCracken Crab trying to kill a Rosie. I died.

- I also hid under the floor of the Fisheries and smacked Splicers that walked overhead

- I got killed by a (different) Rosie like 5 times before I finally killed her

- Also ran from the third Rosie repeatedly before I finally killed him

- She chose target dummy for our first real plasmid

- I've only ever used it when losing control of the plasmids. So I've only used it once-

- Me: God I hate Andrew Ryan

Her: Bash his brains in

Me: *Hephaestus flashbacks* Oh I'm gonna

- Spider splicer: *angry screeching*

Me: New wife for you

Her: Great, thanks

- Hates it everytime I say "Snappies"

- I spent way too long looking for the final spider splicer before realizing I could take a picture of a dead one

- She did trust Peach Wilkins though (Somehow??)

- "I've got a really bad feeling about this" intensifies

- Yelled "THIS IS YOUR MAN⁉️" When Atlas walked out and almost missed Ryan's speech and the splicers bc of it

- Predicted the sub would blow up, but was shocked when it actually did

- I think she begrudgingly trusts Atlas now, his acting is peak

- I also went on a 2 minute rant about him and she made fun or me the entire time

- *finds a crawlspace full of Atlas posters*

Me: Oh my god, this is where I live!!

Her: NO

Me: With my Atlas posters and my.. Pistol bullets??

Her: N O !!

- #1 Langford stan (she's in love with her)

- Got jumpscared by the Houdini splicer that appears behind you (We both screamed)

- I was laughing bc his shadow was looming over us, then slowly turned around and we had a staring contest before I finally shot him in the face

- I've literally never seen him just sit there before?? He always disappeared as soon as I turned around. Wild

- She compared Langford writing the code on the window to 11307 from Danganronpa (iykyk)

- Cue disappointed sighing (Not really, I laughed really hard)

- This entire playthrough has just been me aggressively hitting on Atlas and her reevaluating our friendship

- Not even the posters are safe

- "Who is Atlas?"

Me: My husband

Her: UGH

- Saying "This is for me!!" every time I see an Atlas poster

- She is genuinely considering killing me

- Made me harvest a little sister to see what would happen 😔 We reloaded tho it's okay

- I've found so many secrets in this playthrough, including a vent that goes to a meat locker in the Farmers Market

- It felt like I was getting chased by everyone in Rapture while trying to make the Lazarus Vector

- I also (somehow) shot the big daddy in Langford's office while fighting splicers

- That was terrifying

- *Enters Fort Frolic* Me: It's about to get real silly

- I've been hyping up Cohen this entire time because I knew she would like him

- Unfortunately, she does

- She gagged at the "expectant mama" line

- Got jumpscared AGAIN by the splicer in the basement of Sinclair Spirits

- "SINCLAIR WHAT THE FUCK"

- I can never find the record store when I play Bioshock, this time was no different

- I gave up and went after Hector instead

- When we met Silas Cobb she yelled "KITTENS??"

- She agrees Silas is a discord mod

- We spent like 2 minutes straight trying to catch Hector and Silas

- I also got jumped by a bunch of splicers every time I tried to kill a bouncer

- She lost it at Cohen walking down the stairs

- "HIS GAY ASS WALK"

- I smacked Cohen after his speech and immediately ran

That's all so far, but we'll hopefully play some more this week!

[ovaruling]

last night, during the street outreach, we had a woman come up to us, incredibly agitated that the undercover footage we were showing of slaughterhouses and dairy, egg, and fishing industries was visible to children.

two of the activists had brought their healthy, intelligent, wonderfully well-adjusted vegan children, who have both previously seen the footage with their parents and asked questions and received honest answers.

and i approached her to ask her—if she cared so much about the welfare of children, as she claimed, why was she not boycotting these industries?

if you are against child labor in any real way, you WOULD boycott industries that require labor in slaughterhouses, meat-packing facilities, fisheries, egg farms, dairy farms, fur and wool farms.

because guess who makes up a significant portion of that labor? CHILDREN. illegally and legally both, depending on the state or regional laws.

i’ve seen it with my own eyes at slaughterhouses, up close—i’ve seen children no older than 12 made to haul the dead bodies of pigs, still bleeding. i’ve seen them working in those farms.

there are innumerable minors “employed”—or enslaved—to animal agriculture and the resultant slaughterhouses and meat-packing and chick-grinding and animal skinning. PTSD doesn’t even begin to cover what these children come home with. to say nothing of how unsafe these jobs are—would anyone like to look into how many injuries and outright limb amputations are caused by slaughterhouse work each year? cuz it sure isn’t zero.

do you think Big Meat insures their workers and pays for medical bills and a pension when these incidents occur? how much do you think they care about safety code violations? the USDA and ASPCA approved slaughterhouses i’ve seen in person are in violation of at least 40 codes, minimum.

and let’s talk about the field farming of the immense amount of food required to sustain the animals imprisoned within these industries—lest we forget, most of the world’s food and calories go to feed these animals, not us.

and guess who they rely on most to farm that animal feed.

these industries will ALWAYS find a way to use children for their labor, because it’s cheap and it’s easy. they will NEVER stop using child labor. ever. it doesn’t matter how many laws are “in place”—these places will always get away with it bc they literally cannot exist without extensive and wildly cheap labor. you cannot invent an animal agriculture that won’t find a way to silently exploit minors for cheap labor.

these businesses are at the top of the capitalist heap—it’s a business that, once again, cannot exist without human slavery on a large scale, with much of that burden resting on children and immigrants (particularly women, btw).

if you actually care even a little bit about child labor, really, one of the most effective things you can do is to boycott animal product industries.

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 30 December 1913, Spanish revolutionary and resistance activist Isabel Mesa was born. Starting work as a seamstress aged 11, she became a leading organiser in the anarchist union CNT. During a strike at the tuna fishery in her town, Isabel spoke to the North African women who had been brought in as strikebreakers and persuaded them to join the strike. Forced to flee right-wing general Francisco Franco's advance during the civil war, she refused to leave the country and instead joined the underground resistance movement. In her activities she was arrested, tortured and even given two death sentences which she avoided by changing her name. She remained active until her death in 2002, guided by her anarchist beliefs: "Anarchism is a beautiful path, but very rough. But you have to follow it and once you're on it you cannot leave it, it envelops you, it intoxicates you . Anarchism is love, freedom, equality, humanity in all conditions. Neither borders, nor colour, nor race, nor flags! ... In anarchism there is only humanity, human feelings, hope for all, the maximum you can get ..." Learn more about the Spanish civil war in episodes 39-40 of our podcast, available on all podcast apps or on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/2020/06/17/e39-the-spanish-civil-war-an-introduction/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.1819457841572691/2174663029385502/?type=3

[ltwilliammowett]

The Real Women of Petticoat Row

An article in The Inquirer and Mirror put it in 1976, “Petticoat Row has been the nick-name of Centre Street from Main Street north towards Broad Street since the 18th Century, so called because the shop keepers were mostly ladies, usually the wives or widows of the men who were away for years at a time with the whale fishery.”

This is only half true when talking about the ladies of Nantucket, because the famous Petticoat Road only got its name in the 19th century. In this wonderful work, Michael R. Harrison has recorded the history of these ladies and examined several of them in detail. Highly recommended to read.

[bookcub]

A Rude Rescue

for @logarithmicpanda

a little fic for the kkc fandom

When Fela saw Ambrose had cornered a girl outside the Medica, she knew she had to intervene. She took a deep breath, threw back her shoulders, and channeled all the false bravado she could find.

"There you are," she said breathlessly, running up to the girl. She looked young, with her long brown hair, big brown eyes, and thick brows. She gently placed her hand on the girl's arm, her face turned away from Ambrose, acting as though he had interrupted their conversation instead of her rude rescue. "I have been looking everywhere for you! We need to head down to the Archives."

The girl's face lit up in relief and took Fela's hand in hers. They could hear Ambrose objecting as they raced off.

They stopped to catch their breaths around the Fishery when the girl broke out laughing. "You should have seen the look on his face. He was fuming!!"

Fela couldn't help but laugh along. "I've been cornered by him before, I figured I would assist you in escaping."

The girl smiled widely. "My knight in shining armor. You read the scene well."

Fela blushed, feeling her heart skip. She quickly changed the subject. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you around. I know all the women who study here by name at least."

The girl looked startled. "No, I never learned well in a classroom. I was just a little curious. I wanted to see what the fuss was about. And then Ambrose saw me and wanted to 'catch up.'" She made a face. "I was looking to make an exit when you appeared."

Fela looked down. "I know too many people he has hurt. I was hoping to avoid another."

She felt a hand on hers. "That is quite kind of you. And brave."

Fela felt herself blush again fron all the flattery. "I could show you around, if you'd like. Most of the company is better than Ambrose." She paused to consider. "Actually, all of the company is better than him, come to think of it."

The girl laughed again, loud and clear. "I would like that. I've found being here has only inspired more questions than answers. The first of which is the name of my mysterious rescuer." The flirty tone of her voice was unmistakable and this time, Fela wanted to flirt back, but was much out of practice.

"I'm Fela," she said. "What should I call you?"

The girl held her gaze for a moment. "Dinae. You can call me Dinae."

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.21

Holidays

Arbor Day (Brazil)

Battle of Kulikovo Day (Russia)

Biosphere Day

Bleeding Hearts Club Day

Celebration of Honors (French Republic)

Celu Press Freedom Day (Philippines)

Commemoration of th Declaration of Martial Law (Philippines)

Customs Service Day (Poland)

Daily Newspaper Day

Day of Inventors and Innovators Day (Ukraine)

Devil’s Nutting Day (UK)

Do You Remember Day (the 21st night of September; Earth, Wind & Fire)

Earth, Wind & Fire Day

Eleven Days of Global Unity, Day 11: Peace

Emoticon Day

Escapology Day

Farm Safety Day for Kids

Feast of the Ingathering (UK)

Founder's Day (Ghana)

George Harrison Day (Illinois)

Get Out Of Town Day

International ‘Ask a Satanist’ Day

International Biodiversity Day

International Day of Peace (UN)

International Day of Progressive Rock

International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day (Ghana)

Long Count Day

Medusa Asteroid Day

Miniature Golf Day

Myositis Awareness Day

National Brittany Day

National Cat & Dog Gut Health Awareness Day

National Day of Civic Hacking

National Day of the Radio Broadcasting Worker (China)

National Deaf Dogs Rock Day

National Disaster Prevention Day (Taiwan)

National Farm Safety Day for Kids

National Fisheries Day (Thailand)

National Garage Condo Day

National Gymnastics Day

National Hannah Day

National Imperfection Day

National Kristina Day

National Myositis Awareness Day

National New York Day

National Opioid Awareness Day

National Radio Day (Chile)

National Singles Day

National Surgical Technologists Day

National Volunteer Day (Ghana)

Observe the Speed Limit Day

Pause the World Day

Peace One Day

Pharmaceutical Worker’s Day (Ukraine)

Secret Note Day

Spring Day (a.k.a. Student’s Day; Argentina)

Sree Narayana Guru Samadhi Day (Kerala, India)

Student’s Day (Argentina; Bolivia)

Telegraph Pole Appreciation Day

Throw Something Away Day

Victory Over the Golden Horde in the Battle of Kulikovo (Russia)

Volunteer Day (Ghana)

Watticism Day

World Alzheimer's Day

World Day of Pagan Pride

World Day of the Plastic Artist

World Gratitude Day

World Minigolf Day

World Myositis Day

Zero Emissions Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cask Ale Week begins (UK; through 10.1)

International Banana Festival

Juice Day (Russia)

National Chai Day

National Pecan Cookie Day

National Sponge Candy Day

Oktoberfest begins (Munich, Germany; until 10.6)

St. Matthew's Beer Festival Day (patron saint of publicans)

Independence & Related Days

Armenia (from USSR, 1991)

Belize (from UK, 1981)

Malta (from UK, 1964)

3rd Saturday in September

Abergavenny Food Festival (Wales) [3rd Saturday]

America’s Day For Kids [3rd Saturday]

Batman Day [3rd Saturday]

Big Whopper Liar Day [3rd Saturday]

Boys’ and Girls’ Club Day for Kids [3rd Saturday]

Curiosity Day [3rd Saturday]

Day of Love & Friendship (Colombia) [3rd Saturday]

Ember Day (Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches) [Saturday after 9.14]

German-American Steuben Parade [3rd Saturday]

Idaho Spud Day [3rd Saturday]

International Coastal Cleanup Day [3rd Saturday]

International Eat An Apple Day [3rd Saturday]

International Red Panda Day [3rd Saturday]

International Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Day [3rd Saturday]

Locate An Old Friend Day [3rd Saturday]

National Cartonnage Day [3rd Saturday]

National Clean Up Day [3rd Saturday]

National Dance Day [3rd Saturday]

National Gymnastics Day [3rd Saturday]

National Hunting, Trapping & Fishing Heritage Day (Canada) [3rd Saturday]

National Lacrosse Day (UK) [3rd Saturday]

National Multivitamin Day [3rd Saturday]

National Neighborhood Day [3rd Saturday]

National Pool Closing Day [3rd Saturday]

National Seat Check Saturday [3rd Saturday]

National Sew a Jelly Roll Day [3rd Saturday]

National Singles’ Day [3rd Saturday]

National Tell a Police Officer ‘Thank You’ Day [3rd Saturday]

National Women’s Friendship Day [3rd Saturday]

Puppy Mill Awareness Day [3rd Saturday]

Qaumee Dhuvas (National Day; Maldives) [1st of Rabi I]

Quarter Tense (Ireland) [Saturday after 9.14]

Responsible Dog Owners Day (AKC) [3rd Saturday]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Sentimental Saturday [3rd Saturday of Each Month]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Software Freedom Day [3rd Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Steak Saturday [3rd Saturday of Each Month]

Surgeon Day (Russia, Ukraine) [3rd Saturday]

Thank a Police Officer Day [3rd Saturday]

Usher Syndrome Awareness Day [3rd Saturday]

Von Steuben Day (New York, New York) [3rd Saturday]

World Clean Up Day [3rd Saturday]

World Marrow Donor Day [3rd Saturday]

World Pathfinder Day [3rd Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 21 (3rd Full Week of September)

National Farm Animals Awareness Week (thru 9.27) [3rd Week]

Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany) [thru 10.6]

Festivals Beginning September 21, 2024

Augusta Harvest Festival (Augusta, Missouri)

Bines and Brews Beer Fest (Monument, California)

Black Walnut Festival (Bethania, North Carolina)

Brew at the Bridge (Oswego, Illinois)

Brookston Apple Popcorn Day (Brookston, Indiana)

Cane Hill Harvest Festival (Cane Hill, Arkansas)

Cape Cod Brew Fest (Cape Cod Fairgrounds, Massachusetts)

Cider Days (Springfield, Missouri) [thru 9.22]

Colorado Mountain Winefest (Palisade, Colorado)

Crystal Lake Home Show (Crystal Lake, Illinois) [thru 9.22]

Cuba Garlic Festival (Cuba, New York) [thru 9.22]

Dublin Peanut Festival (Dublin, North Carolina)

Fair Oaks Chicken Festival (Fair Oaks, California)

Fall Family Festival (Kansas City, Missouri)

Fall Festival & 19th Smokin' Hot BBQ Challenge (Nisswa, Minnesota)

Festival of Grapes and Hops (Petersburg, Virginia)

Festival of the Sea (Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey)

Garlic Festival (Mystic, Connecticut) [thru 9.22]

Glassboro Craft Beer Festival (Glassboro, New Jersey)

Haralson Country 8th Annual Fried Pie Festival (Buchanan, Georgia)

Harvest Food & Wine Festival (Stonington, Connecticut) [thru 9.22]

The Hermitage Food Truck Festival (Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey)

Homemade Pie Baking Contest (Augusta, Missouri)

Idaho Spud Day (Shelley, Idaho)

Johnny Appleseed Festival (Fort Wayne, Indiana) [thru 9.22]

Johnny Appleseed Festival (Lisbon, Ohio) [thru 9.22]

Killington Brewfest (Killington, Vermont)

Lafayette Art & Wine Festival (Lafayette, California) [thru 9.22]

Lake City Uncorked Wine & Music Festival (Lake City, Colorado)

Lowville Cream Cheese Festival (Lowville, New York)

Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers’ Film Festival (Bitola, North Macedonia) [thru 9.27]

Montana Brewers Fall Rendezvous (Missoula, Montana)

NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days (Ostrava, Czech Republic) [thru 9.22]

’49er Festival, Chili Cook-Off! (Groveland, California)

NYC Hot Sauce Expo (Brooklyn, New York) [thru 9.22]

Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany) [thru 10.6]

Oregon Grape Stomp Championships & Harvest Celebration (Turner, Oregon) [thru 9.22]

Pacific Islander Festival (San Diego, California) [thru 9.22]

Pacific Wine & Food Classic (Newport Beach, California)

Paxton Swine 'n Dine (Paxton, Illinois)

Persimmon Festival (Mitchell, Indiana) [thru 9.28]

Preble County Pork Festival (Eaton, Ohio) [thru 9.22]

Pumpkin Fest (Caseville, Michigan)

Putnam County Wine & Food Fest (Cold Spring, New York)

Salem Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival (Salem, Massachusetts) [thru 9.22]

Sample the Sierra: South Lake Tahoe Farm-to-Fork Festival (South Lake Tahoe, California)

Seafood Throwdown Competition (Boston, Massachusetts)

Sugar Beet Days (Sterling, Colorado) [thru 9.22]

Taste of the Seaport (New York, New York)

Thresheree & Harvest Festival (Richfield, Wisconsin) [thru 9.22]

Tiel Fruit Parade (Fruitcorso Tiel) [Tiel, Netherlands]

VegTO Fest (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)

Vintage Illinois (Utica, Illinois (thru 9.22]

Whiskey Wine & Fire (Cary, North Carolina)

Wild Rice Festival (Roseville, Minnesota)

Wine & Harvest Festival (Cedarburg, Wisconsin) [thru 9.22]

Feast Days

Adopt a New Phobia Day (Pastafarian)

Alban Elfred (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Athena Festival (Everyday Wicca)

Barbara Longhi (Artology)

Birthday off Athena (Greek Goddess of Wisdom)

Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper Day (Goblins; Shamanism)

The Bun-Bun Brothers (Muppetism)

Cigoli (Artology)

Edgar Valter (Artology)

Ephigenia of Ethiopia (Christian; Saint)

Fannie Flagg (Writerism)

Feast of Kuodor-gup (God of Riches; Siberia)

Feast of Nyamuzinda (God of Famine & Epidemics; Zaire)

Feast of the Divine Life (Filianism)

Feast of the Divine Light (Ancient Egypt)

Hans Hartung (Artology)

H.G. Wells (Writerism)

Jerry Garcia Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Julio González (Artology)

Kharisteria (Feast of Aremis Agrotera; Ancient Greece)

Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert (Christian; One of the Korean Martyrs)

Leonard Cohen (Writerism)

Light of the Water (Celtic Book of Days)

Lo (a.k.a. Laudus), Bishop of Coutances (Christian; Saint)

Lodovico Cigoli (Artology)

Matthew the Evangelist (Christian; Saint; Matthew’s Beer Festival Day) [publicans] *

Maura of Troyes (Christian; Saint)

Meán Fómhair (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Mielikki’s Day (Pagan)

Metastasio (Positivist; Saint)

Michael of Chernigov and Theodore (Christian; Martyrs)

Nativity of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox Church, Julian calendar)

Pavel Tchelitchew (Artology)

Sarcasm Day (Pastafarian)

Stephen King (Writerism)

World Peace Day (Baha’is)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 18 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [18 of 24]

Lucky Day (Philippines) [52 of 71]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [44 of 60]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 44 of 60)

Premieres

All Along the Watchtower, by Jimi Hendrix (Song; 1968)

All Apologies, by Nirvana (Song; 1993)

All of Me (Film; 1984)

Amadeus (Film; 1984)

American Idiot, by Green Day (Album; 2004)

Andor (TV Series; 2022)

As You Like It (Film; 2007)

Bat Out of Hell, by Meatloaf (Album; 1977)

Blindspot (TV Series; 2015)

Caroline in the City (TV Series; 1995)

Cold Turkey (Disney Cartoon; 1945)

Colonel Bleep (Animated TV Series; 1957)

Creep, by Radiohead (Song; 1992)

The Delivery Man, by Elvis Costello (Album; 2004)

Dog Day Afternoon (Film; 1975)

The Fire-Eaters or Hot Lips (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 304; 1964)

Fishbone, by Fishbone (EP: 1985)

The Fragile, by Nine Inch Nails (Album; 1999)

From a View to a Kill (a.k.a. James Bond and the Murder Before Breakfast), by Ian Fleming (James Bond Short Story; 1959)

Ghost World (Film; 2001)

Gold, by ABBA (Greatest Hits Album; 1992)

Herzog, by Saul Bellow (Novel; 1963)

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkein (Novel; 1937)

Hockey Homicide (Disney Cartoon; 1945)

The House with a Clock in Its Walls (Animated Film; 2018)

Il Sogno, by Elvis Costello (Album; 2004)

Into the Wild (Film; 2007)

In Utero, by Nirvana (Album; 1993)

Kiddie Revue (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1936)

The King of Queens (TV Series; 1998)

Madam Secretary (TV Series; 2014)

The Medium is the Massage, by Marshall McLuhan (Manifesto; 1967)

Message in a Bottle, by the Police (Song; 1979)

Miller’s Crossing (Film; 1990)

Millionaire Droopy (Droopy MGM Cartoon; 1956)

The Old Plantation (Happy Harmonies MGM Cartoon; 1935)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Film; 2012)

Places in the Heart (Film; 1984)

Presto, by Rush (Album; 1989)

Push and Shove, by No Doubt (Album; 2012)

Raising Hope (TV Series; 2010)

A Red Letter Day or Drop Us a Lion (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 303; 1964)

Road to Ruin, by the Ramones (Album; 1978)

Rushes, by The Fireman (Album; 1998)

SCTV (CBC TV Series; 1976)

Sidewalk Blues, records by Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers (Song; 1926)

Small Change, by Tom Waits (Album; 1976)

Spooks (Ub Iwerks Flip the Frog MGM Cartoon; 1931)

Rabbit (WB Cartoon; 2015)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson (Novel; 1962)

Will & Grace (TV Series; 1998)

Wintersmith, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2006) [Discworld #35]

Yankee Doodle Swing Shift (Swing Symphony Cartoon; 1942)

Today’s Name Days

Deborah, Jonas, Matthäus (Austria)

Jona, Matej, Matiša, Matko, Maura (Croatia)

Matouš (Czech Republic)

Matthæus (Denmark)

Lembit, Lembitu, Lembo, Lemmert, Lemmik, Lemmo (Estonia)

Mervi (Finland)

Déborah, Jonas, Matthieu, Mélissa (France)

Deborah, Jonas, Matthäus (Germany)

Jonas (Greece)

Máté, Mirella (Hungary)

Matteo (Italy)

Matīss, Modris, Nara (Latvia)

Mantvilas, Matas, Viskintė (Lithuania)

Trine, Trond (Norway)

Bożeciech, Bożydar, Hipolit, Hipolita, Ifigenia, Jonasz, Laurenty, Mateusz, Mira (Poland)

Matúš (Slovakia)

Jonás, Mateo (Spain)

Matteus (Sweden)

Maira, Maura, Maureen, Mayra, Mira, Moira, Moreen, Morena, Myra, Norna (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 265 of 2024; 101 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 38 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 19 (Wu-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 18 Elul 5784

Islamic: 17 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 25 Gold; Foursday [25 of 30]

Julian: 8 September 2024

Moon: 82%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 13 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Schiller]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 15 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 94 of 94)

Week: 4th Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 31 of 32)

[focsle]

So, 19th century whaling stuff huh? (purely on recommendation from a reblog from ltwilliammowett) Got any recommendations for visual references about the different kinds of whaling ship at the time? Looking for stuff that could of existed around the 1870s towards the 1890s

I’ll unpaywall a longish essay I wrote about a year ago on patreon about the general design of whaleships, that includes images as well as ship register lists that describe them. It’s written from the angle of design decisions I made for a graphic novel, but reading beyond the artmaking conversation I share information about how whalers tended to be shaped and the identifying features they carried.

For additional visual references I’d check out the photo collections of the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the Charles W. Morgan at Mystic Seaport. The photos from the NBWM are early 20th century, but the ships within them are older. Mid 19th century vessels were used well into the late part of the century and into the early 1900s with very little change, though by that point the industry was fully on its way out the door. The sketches in whaling logbooks or on scrimshaw are also a good way to get a sailor’s interpretation of the vessels. Whaleships and Whaling by Albert Cook Church and Sperm Whaling from New Bedford by Elton W Hall (that is a collection of Clifford Ashley’s photographs from his time on the whaler Sunbeam) are good visual books too. ANYWAY, onto the Essay under the readmore, if you’re so inclined.

Melville described Captain Ahab's ship the Pequod as having an “old-fashioned claw-footed look about her." It's a description I always hold in my mind whenever I draw a whaler. Melville, of course, added more whimsy to his iconic vessel, ‘a cannibal of a craft, tricking herself forth in the chased bones of her enemies’. With sperm whale teeth in the place of belaying pins, blocks made of sea-ivory instead of wood, and a whale’s jawbone in place of a tiller. While whalebone blocks and belaying pins were absolutely made on occasion, whaleships in general were not so unique from one another.

In looking at the long list of Ship Registers out of New Bedford, 1796-1850, it seems that if you saw one whaleship you more or less saw ‘em all.

Photo of the bark Sunbeam hove to at sea, 1904, Clifford Ashley. Via New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Typically 19th century whaleships were three-masted ships or barks, and many ships were eventually re-rigged as barks in the latter half of the century as it required a smaller crew to handle. Whalers tended to be squat and broad, built for stability rather than speed. They were going to be at sea for years, with big cavernous holds for hundreds upon hundreds of barrels of oil, as well as equipment and provisions set to last many months without resupply. Thus, sturdiness was the primary focus in their design.

A cross section of the bark Alice Knowles from G.B. Goode's The Fisheries and Fishery Industry of the United States. Look at all that needed storage space!

With square sterns and a typical ratio of 1:4 for beam to length (as opposed to sleek merchant ships that often were more of a 1:6), describing them as a ‘tub’,--as many whalers grudgingly did when speaking of their floating home--is rather fitting (though perhaps a bit uncharitable). On average, whaleships were 100-115 ft in length, 25-30ft wide, with a tonnage ranging from 180-400.

They were built with few frills. Rarely did they have galleries or figureheads, instead having a simple billet-head or doing without the flourish entirely. My biggest indulgence was giving the Valor a bit more of an elegant prow, which I might regret a little bit since now I have to draw it all the time.

Billet-head vs figurehead...

A distinct lack of fanciness!

I wanted to draw a lady tho. The one of……three women in GTW. Does she count?

Sometimes whalers were painted with false gun ports along their hull, a traditional holdover from when they had to worry more often about wartime enemies in the late 18th century. The hope was that the paint job in combination with her chunky appearance would lead to her being mistaken for a small warship at a distance and thus spared harassment. Even when no longer really necessary, the design often made its appearance.

Drawing in the logbook of Captain James Coffin of his ship Washington, 1841.

I quite liked the look of the psuedo gun ports, and decided to give the Valor the same as an embellishment for some extra contrast.

The most identifying feature of a whaler was the tryworks—a large brick oven with heavy iron pots located aft of the foremast and in front of the main hatch. They were built with a pen that would be filled with sea water that flowed freely beneath a checker-board laid brick base to keep the extreme heat from setting fire to the ship. The tryworks would have to be rebuilt for each voyage, so there was sometimes a rather joyous moment at the end of a long trip when the crew would tear the structure apart and toss it in the sea.

Along the port side, three whaleboats would be slung on the davits. Fore, aft, and amidships. A fourth whaleboat would be located on the starboard quarter.

Screenshot of my desktop background that's some deck plans of a whaleship cos I got sick of digging for the reference every time I had to spatially orient myself when drawing a panel!

Deckhouses were built aft to house the galley and storage lockers, and there was also a ‘hurricane house’ built over the helm to protect whoever was steering during foul weather. Spare whaleboats, as well as harpoons, spades, lances, and other whaling gear would be stored on top of this cover or on hanging shelves beneath it.

A view of whalers and the afthouse, on the bark Greyhound. Via NBWM.

The final identifying feature of a whaleship was a pair of cross trees, a platform with hoops at the top of the mast where men would be stationed to look out for whales.

The ship that I’ve referenced the most in my design of the Valor is, of course, the Charles W. Morgan because she can still be visited! The last surviving wooden whaleship, she had a long life of 37 voyages (and a couple movie roles in her sunset years) spanning from 1841-1921 (and one more voyage in 2014! Heartbreak of heartbreaks that I was not on it!). She’s  now a crown jewel at the Mystic Seaport Museum. I was honored to meet her.

She had some lovely authenticating details that I was happy to put into my own worldbuilding, such as a reference to this gimballed bed. It was designed to always stay level even as the ship rolled, installed by one of the Morgan’s captains to try mitigating his wife's seasickness.

Another favorite detail of mine was how natural daylight was drawn into the cabins and forecastle via deck prisms. Set with their bases flush with the deck above, glass deck prisms were designed to bring light down below.

I remember being surprised at how effective they were. In the photo below, the yellow light is artificial, but the blue light is coming solely from the deck prism. This was on a dark rainy day.

As such, I really enjoy always thinking about how these prisms are lighting the areas below on the Valor.

During my visit I remember thinking that this old surviving whaleship looked quite comfortable and cozy.

Look at that.

Such homey little flourishes.

Look at how cute.

I’d live here.

That is, until I thought about the reality of this work and world. The fo'c'sle helped bring that reality forward. There wasn't anyone else on the ship and it was a cold spring day, but upon stepping into the space I could feel the humidity that had gathered there.

I could imagine the noise of it, the smell of it, the heaviness of the air that came with 20 men sharing such a space, eating and smoking in it, crushing cockroaches in it, dumping their wet gear in it, vomiting in it, keeping a communal urine barrel in it, reeking of blood and oil and smoke and ash as everything mouldered in the damp for for three to four years. The dimensions of the fo'c'sle was enough to set my imagination a’going. It was a perfect reference, and for the comic it just needed to be populated.

For the sake of having somewhat readable panels, my boys are lucky to have been given a much more spacious residence. But still, I try to build out the claustrophobia of the space. And this is just the first night. As time goes on, I’m looking forward to besmirching this place.

Superimposing the reality of a whaler was also necessary in drawing the decks (and will become even more so when I get to the whaling scenes). Now, as a museum, the ship is pristine...

But I must always remember the description given by a 19th century whaler grumbling that while cutting in a whale, ‘everything is beshit’. Documentary footage as well as photographs, coupled with the words from dead men's journals and one’s own imagination of the hellishness of the work is how I begin to paint the decks of this whaler, especially during the work of cutting in.

(warning for sensitive images below of a lot of blubber)

Photos by William H Tripp, 1925. Via NBWM

Photo by Albert Cook Church. NBWM.

This 1904 image, as described by its photographer Clifford Ashley, 'Rectangular blocks of blubber (lippers) are used to scrape up bits of blubber and slush from the deck so nothing is wasted'. Via NBWM.

But the place that made me feel the closest sense of reality on the Morgan was the blubber room. The deck prisms didn’t reach here, and in some places the beams were so low I had to duck my head.

This was where large 15ft sheets of blubber would be dumped below via the hatch, for men to hack them up into smaller 6ft ‘horse pieces’ and then pitch them back up on deck to be further minced. I couldn’t help but think of the movement of the ship in the dark, of the slabs of blubber filling the space, slick with oil. I thought of how much oil would be tracked across the deck and how slippery it’d be, and how a man would have to keep his head cocked to one side for hours to work in there. I thought of how he would get to the fo'c'sle through the blubber room and how the work would be tracked all over the ship and find its way into every bunk. How it would be absolutely inescapable. I thought about the hot sick closeness of having no air down there, the heat from the tryworks radiating mercilessly from above, a crick in your neck, your double-edged boarding knife handle too slick.

Being there and overlaying that work within it was one of the closest times I felt to time travel. And as I try to make the Valor feel alive, to feel real, I always try to capture what I felt here in every panel, and push each one just a little more to get as close as I can to that place.

[scotianostra]

16th July 1832 was a very sad day on Shetland when tragedy struck .

On tis day 31 Shetland "sixerns", the traditional fishing craft of Shetland and a total of 105 crewmen were lost in a storm.

There were between 300 and 500 sixareens or sixerns in Shetland. The Haaf fishing proved to be a hard life for these boats and they only tended to last 5 or 6 years. When they finished their lives as a fishing vessel some ended up being used as a flit boat for moving livestock, peats and other goods between islands or from ship to shore. The sixareens may eventually have ended up as the roof of shed or outbuilding. Nothing was ever wasted in Shetland, especially if it was wooden!

The men would travel up between 20 and 40 miles offshore. As the men were dealing with a prevailing wind, they could usually only sail in one direction. They were always happier if they could row out with a relatively light boat and sail back with a heavy load of fish!

When they reached the fishing grounds, the fishermen would barely be in sight of the highest hills in Shetland. They would have sea all around them.

Haaf fishing was very dangerous due to the unpredictable nature of the weather far out at sea. However, when you look at the numbers of men that fished and the length of time that they fished for, the actual disasters are relatively few.

On 16 July 1832 31 Shetland "sixareens" and a total of 105 crewmen were lost in a storm. The event is still remembered as "The Bad Day". A London Distress Fund was set up and raised the sum of £3000. The money was raised for the dependants of the crofter-fishermen lost. The crew of one boat in 1832, did manage a lucky escape from the storm as they were picked up by a passing American sloop. However, the Captain of the American vessel refused to alter his course to Philadelphia and so, despite passing close to Orkney, the survivors had to cross the Atlantic and endure a further six months away from home before returning.

During another storm on 20th July 1881, hurricane force winds caught the fishermen by surprise. The boats that tried to come home were mostly capsized or swamped, but those that stayed at their lines for the most part survived. In all ten boats foundered and 58 Haaf fishermen lost their lives. They left behind 34 widows and 85 orphans. Six of these boats and 36 of the men were from the fishing station at Gloup in North Yell. It was a tragic loss for a small community.

On the morning of 21st December 1900, boats from Firth, Mossbank and Toft set off for the winter haddock fishing. They were some 32 kilometres (20 miles) away, between the Horse of Burravpoe and Da Snap, when they were caught in a sudden and severe gale from the north-west.Many were lost during the storm which came on in the space of five minutes. The fleet were scattered. One made it to Whalsay, Skerries and Lunning but the rest were lost.

22 men were drowned, leaving 15 widows (5 of whom were pregnant), and 51 children. Firth was hit the hardest. Many of the men were great fishermen and the disaster devastated the Delting fishing industry, which never recovered. The women continued to work the crofts. Children grew up and moved away, leading to a rapid decline in population.

The plight of the families left destitute led to a lot of publicity in local and national press. The Delting Disaster Fund was set up to help those affected and it was one of Queen Victoria’s last public acts to appeal for support

These major fishing disasters signalled the beginning of the end for Haaf fishing. The herring fishery in the 1880s and the Crofter’s Act of 1886, which put an end to the truck system, were two more nails in its coffin.

Larger safer boats were introduced and undecked sixareens were replaced by fully decked smacks. Fishermen could finally install a few home comforts. However, when the steam trawler was introduced, longlining in large sailing boats couldn’t compete economically. Haaf fishing stopped quite quickly at this point.

There are few sixareens left in Shetland, a couple of replicas and bits and pieces lying around here and there. At the Shetland Museum and Archives there’s a replica sixareen called the Vaila Mae. She sails regularly in Lerwick Harbour and you can even get a trip on her during Shetland Boat Week!

One of the only surviving sixareens from the past can be seen in the Shetland Museum. She was built as the Foula mail boat, which fished for a little while and then ended up as a flit boat for shifting peats. She didn’t spend much of her life as a fishing sixareen.

You can find memorials all over Shetland to those lost at sea not just for the tragedies I have mentioned today but all in general, the Shetland way of life having strong heritage links with the sea that surrounds it.

[pscottm]

Who wants the U.S. Supreme Court to limit abortion pill access? Here’s the list. • West Virginia Watch

Students for Life of America — an organization that aims “to abolish abortion and provide policy, legal, and community support for women and their children” — wrote in its 32-page brief that the FDA has “failed to consider the impact Mifepristone could have on the environment, specifically on endangered species or listed habitats.”

Before the FDA approved the pharmaceutical, they claim, it should have consulted with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as well as the National Marine Fisheries Service.

[australianwomensnews]

When it comes to Australia’s national regulators, women rule.

Women now dominate the leadership of federal regulatory and oversight agencies that enforce rules for business and the economy, with 33 women holding chief executive or chair roles. This signals a profound shift for the nation’s top watchdogs, once almost solely the domain of male enforcers.

Rapid digitisation and rising globalisation are making traditional black letter enforcement approaches less effective, leading to women with so-called solid soft skills, such as influence, collaboration and communication, winning top-tier regulatory roles.

Women are now at the front line of the battles against scams, identity and data theft, cyber ransomware attacks, electronic espionage, digital surveillance, misinformation, social media abuse and dark web criminality.

“It’s very different to the skills base you needed a decade or two ago where it was just about telling people what to do, and they would toe the line,” says Ann Sherry, a former head of the Office of Status of Women in the Hawke and Keating governments.

“Those jobs were filled by a particular sort of person cast as a regulator. So, in a way, it was almost an enforcement role, whereas the jobs have changed.”

The leadership of the federal public service reached gender equilibrium last year.

Sherry, who is now QUT chancellor and chairs Queensland Airports, digital marketing firm Enero and UNICEF Australia, says that the public sector has been better at promoting women through the ranks but that many women have also built relevant skills in the private sector.

“Many women have had to broaden their careers and build a broad set of skills to be successful. There is now a body of capability to draw up. The talent pool has changed, and the jobs require broader skills. It is a confluence of events,” she says.

The surge in women leading federal regulators compares with 19 women (10 per cent) chairing ASX200 companies and 26 women (9 per cent) who are CEOs across the ASX300, as at the end of 2023.

Competition chief Gina Cass-Gottlieb and Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock (who also chairs the Payments System Board) are the first women to lead their institutions. Others, such as media watchdog Nerida O’Loughlin and energy regulator Clare Savage, have won second appointments.

A push to bring in new blood from outside the Australian public service helped veteran NSW regulator Elizabeth Tydd win an appointment as head of the Australian Information Commission. Carly Kind was tapped from a London think tank to be the new privacy commissioner.

They join a swag of women now overseeing vast swaths of the economy, including infrastructure (Gabrielle Trainor), aviation (Pip Spence), food (Sandra Cuthbert), petroleum (Sue McCarrey) and fisheries (Helen Kroger).

Others such as Rachel Noble (espionage), Julie Inman Grant (e-safety), Jayde Richmond (anti-scams centre) and Michelle McGuinness (cyber co-ordinator) are focused on rapidly emerging harms, including national security threats, identity and data theft, consumer abuse, online scams and fraud.

Workplace and safety regulators are now dominated by women too, including Anna Booth (Fair Work Ombudsman), Joanne Farrell (Safe Work Australia), Jeanine Drummond (maritime safety), Natalie Pelham (rail safety) and Janet Anderson (aged care).

The dominant role female regulators play has been part of a profound shift in the number of women in leadership roles in the Australian government. This has risen from a quarter of executive roles being held by women 20 years ago to over 50 per cent last year.

Battle ready

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb, who rose through the ranks as a competition lawyer at law firm Gilbert and Tobin, says her generation of leaders had battled their way through male-dominated workplaces.

“In those workplaces, to get ahead, we needed to target the areas we thought were most important to make an intervention and where we could most effectively make an impact.

“We actually had to build skills to succeed, which are beneficial skills in these roles.”

Ms Cass-Gottlieb says women have also had to differentiate themselves. “You needed to point to other ways of working, including creative and different solutions that drew from experience in various areas rather than a pure step-by-step standard career path.”

Australian Information Commissioner Tydd points to Columbia University research that measured creativity by analysing songs, finding that women created more songs than men.

“Digital government requires a creative use of proactive tools to identify and mitigate future harm. It’s the unforeseen or latent harms that are the most refractory and so we’ve got to look at diagnosis and predictive tools, and that’s where you start to get a bit creative.”

Tydd says she was attracted to regulatory work because of the value of promoting open government, transparency and accountability.

“I think that seeking service and purpose orientation are factors that drive people into this work and I do think seeking service is a very comfortable and well-established motivation within women.”

Demand for new approaches

According to ANU Crawford School of Public Policy director Professor Janine O’Flynn, the data on the importance of public motivation for women is mixed. However, she suggests that women’s more attuned risk and relationship skills help them to be more effective regulators.

“We certainly know that the most effective models of regulation are around how you can think about risk and how you build relationships with the parties that have been regulated.

“I don’t mean that in a sort of dodgy way. The higher the trust relationships you can get between regulators and those who are regulated, the more likely you are to get the outcomes that you’re looking for.”

Read the full article in the link above!

[luminalunii97]

Shervin Hajipour song "For..." (...برای) extended lyrics explanation

Early on the mahsa amini protests, people came up with an idea to keep the hashtag #MahsaAmini trending and to fuel the fire of the protests by going through reasons. "For..." Was a template people completed with reasons why they're protesting, things the regime fucked up and made us angry as a nation. Shervin, a 25 year old singer, did what artists in pain do. He made a song, with lyrics that were based on some of the tweets people made. It wasn't an official release, he posted a 2 minutes video singing this on his Instagram page. Since everyone was in the mindset and the song was musically moving, the video went viral and reached 40 million views in less than 3 days. He was arrested by security forces shortly after and was released on bail five days later. His song has become the anthem of this revolution. (TW violence and death)

برای توی کوچه رقصیدن

For dancing in the alley

(Because dancing is forbidden in iran. Any kind of festivity or street carnival that is a happy event and includes music and dancing is banned.)

برای ترسیدن به وقت بوسیدن

For the fear [you feel] when [you] kiss

(Because kissing in public is also prohibited. It's about both culture and law. Iranians are shy about showing romantic affection in general, though the new generation is a lot more open about that. But morality police would be up on your ass if they see you holding hands with someone of the opposite gender, let alone kissing. In case they're your spouse, you have to show them your marriage license and even then you'd be advised to not show that kind of affection on the streets. I'm talking about hands holding)

برای خواهرم ، خواهرت ، خواهرامون

For my sister, your sister, our sisters

برای تغییر مغزها که پوسیدن

For changing the rotten minds

برای شرمندگی ، برای بی پولی

For the shame of poverty

برای حسرت یک زندگی معمولی

For yearning for a normal life

برای کودک زباله گرد و آرزوهاش

For the kid who scaveng the garbage cans and their dream

(Child labor is a prominent social disaster. Seeing a small child bend over a big trash can, searching for anything valuable inside, or a kid standing near traffic lights and beginning people to buy their goods or wash their car windows has become part of daily life in many places in iran. Unofficial reports suggest that the number of working children has increased to 14.5k in Tehran only in recent years. It's specially shameful for the regime that's running a rich country. And don't put it on sanctions, if the government body in iran wasn't made up of a bunch of warmongering thieves who know nothing about running a country, we'd do just fine. Iran is rich with oil and gas, has many minerals, zinc, copper, iron, gold, and etc, agriculture and livestock, a fishery industry that is important because of the native marine ecosystems north and south. But the regime don't care about children's wellbeing, they only care about their pockets. Just a couple of years ago, there was a non-governmental women and children rights organization called Imam Ali's Popular Students Relief Society which got suspended by the islamic republic because "they were magnetizing societal problems therefore putting our safety in danger by making our enemies happy" and "insulting the supreme leader"! What they actually did was making reports on child labor and child abuse (things government pretend don't exist), fighting child marriage (which the regime advertise on tv), and child execution (which the regime defends as a crime-reducing solution)! The list of crimes against children done by regime is long. In the last two months, they've killed, tortured, and used them as soldiers. we don't have any popular organizations in iran. They're still kind of working underground. In my country real charities are underground organizations and the regime related ones are real thieves) (there's a video being shared in iran of a labor child looking longingly at a doll behind a window shop. That heartbreaking moment is this line in the song)

برای این اقتصاد دستوری

For this command economy

(Basically we have the opposite of freedom in economy. The government decides and control everything that's related to finance, it makes it easier for them to steal! It's safe to say that any big corp or successful production in Iran is linked to the government and IRGC is always there as an indirect shareholder or they just receive the profits for no reason. Last year, a report got out that Mobarake steel industry has been involved in heavy financial corruption, including rent, laundering, embezzlement, and handing out money to different governmental institutions like IRIB and IRGC for no absolute reason. The report was made by the parliament themselves which means someone felt left out there. We've been boycotting known brands during this protests. Right now one of these brands, who have a history in not paying back their loan is in a financial crisis. The stocks of one corp has fallen dramatically too)

برای این هوای آلوده

For this polluted air

(Air pollution has been a crisis in Iran in the past decade or so. This is specially worse in bigger cities like Tehran and Mashhad. In the western states of iran, like Khuzestan or Kermanshah, dust and sand haze is so bad you literally breath soil with air. This disaster has been caused mostly by Iran, Iraq, and Turkyie meddling with nature and also Saudi Arabia deserts. It's getting worse by year. These countries can't find a suitable solution it seems or maybe they don't care to bother. In bigger industrialized cities smoke and chemical haze is the main issue. This one is caused by both overpopulation and the unsuitable placement of factories and industries near city borders. These factories often times don't have suitable filters to reduce their pollution. According to official reports, in 2020 Tehran had only 15 clean days. And that is the year we were on covid lockdown and the air quality was significantly better. Majority of the days had "acceptable" level of toxicity. Air pollution causes many environmental issues, health problems and reduces life expectancy)

برای ولیعصر و درختای فرسوده

For Valiasr and its worn trees

(Valiasr street is one of the most beautiful streets in the heart of Tehran. I don't care if it's the longest street in middle east or the world or not. What matters is that for many people living in Tehran it represents home. This streets is lined on both sides with old trees. And these old trees are getting destroyed by both lack of good care and some fuckin business owners. And as usual the government doesn't care. Out of 18000 trees that were sitting along the street only about 8000 are left.)

برای پیروز و احتمال انقراضش

For "Pirouz" and his possible extinction

(Piruz means someone who gained victory, a winner. It's the name of a cheetah cub. Persian cheetah or Asiatic cheetah is an endangered subspecies. There are currently 12 of them left in Iran. There has been efforts to preserve them. In a recent effort, in Turan national park, two of them named Iran (female) and Firouz (male) mated and 3 cubs were born. Two of those cubs died, one at birth the other shortly after. But Piruz survived. He's a symbol of hope in Iran.) (And yes, Iran is a feminine name. Currently more than 90k iranian women are named Iran or some variation of it.)

برای سگ‌های بی‌گناه ممنوعه

For innocent banned dogs

(Dogs! these friendly loyal creatures, who probably insulted the supreme leader too, Since they are the regime's number 3 enemy after USA and Israel! Instead of gathering stray dogs, sterilizing, and putting them on shelters to control their population and environment health, they kill dogs, often a big number of them, with poison or guns. There are no protecting laws for stray animals, so lunatics run free to torture and kill these defenceless beings. Just last year, in a wild move, the parliament proposed the ban on keeping dogs, cats, and other controversial animals as pets and called it "protecting humans from dangerous animals" bill! Now taking your dog out for a walk is a criminal act! We have so many criminals in Iran!)

برای گریه‌های بی وقفه

For relentless crying

برای تصویر تکرار این لحظه

For the picture of repeating this moment

(This is about flight ps752 and Reera Esmaeilion, which I've posted about before. This tweet was accompanied by a photo of Reera sitting by his father's side, "this moment will never repeat again and can't be remade")

برای چهره‌ای که می‌خنده

For a smiling face

برای دانش آموزا؛ برای آینده

For students, for future

برای این بهشت اجباری

For this forced heaven

(In highschool they teach us what islamic republic means. In our sociology school book we learned something like this: "the Islamic Republic is a government system that the law is based on shari'a law and God's words. In areas that there isn't a direct order, we ask people's opinions. A republic on its own isn't good for humans happiness because it doesn't care about people's afterlives. But in an Islamic Republic we make your life good but since everyone is going to die and at last this life doesn't matter much, your afterlife is our main plan." Basically "we are medieval Pope and clergy resurfacing in 20th centery. We're gonna forcefully send you to heaven while we will all go to hell. Such giving people we are")

برای نخبه‌های زندانی

For jailed geniuses

(Other-thinkers, aka anyone who has the slightest objections to the regime, are easily arrested, jailed and executed here. Often with made up charges and always without a just trial. Among them there are lawyers, physicians, engineers, physicists, nuclear engineers, authors, philosophers, chemists, athletes, artists, movie directors, and etc. The most infamous prison in Iran that holds political prisoners is called Evin. We call it "Evin university" since most of the prisoners are academics there. Just recently, a couple of university professors who supported the student movement were arrested. Dariush Farhoud, 84, the father of genetics in iran, was one of them because he criticized the regime's policies. He was released in less than 48 hours but his capture was a shock. It's not to say that academic people have blue blood, but to say how this regime disrespects our people even the most educated ones. And they have the audacity to complain about the immigrations, as they put it the "brain drain")

برای کودکان افغانی

For Afghan children

(Immigrate Afghans have very bad situations in iran. Despite our government pose as "defender of helpless" and "protector of mistreated Muslims" Afghan immigrates and their children have lots of legal issues in Iran. Receiving health, education, and id papers has become a prominent problem Afghan kids face in iran. Poverty and lack of supporting law has made them the target of abuse. I mentioned about child labor in iran, many Afghan children are victims of child labor too. IR has also used child soldiers in Syria.) (Don't forget about #stophazaragenocide)

برای این همه " برای" غیر تکراری

For all of these different "for..."s

(There were so many "for" tweets and nearly non of them were repetitive)

برای این همه شعارهای توخالی

For all of these empty slogans

("Down with the USA", "death to [put a western country name, or Israel, or Saudi Arabia]", "I give my life for the supreme leader", "bless the supreme leading system". These are empty slogans. We replaced them with more relevant ones "death to the dictator", "down with Khamenei", "Khamenei is a murderer, therefore his leading is void", "this is the blood year, Khamenei is going down", "woman, life, freedom", "you're dishonored, you're corrupted, I'm a free woman", "no matter how many times you hit me with an ax, it didn't leave a wound [behind]. A bud grew [out of each spot]"! Much better!)

برای آوار خونه‌های پوشالی

For the rubble of the cardboard buildings

(Shoddy construction. You can pay a good bribe to authorities, they close their eyes on your defective construction work. Several months ago, half of a newly made building, Abadan Metropole, collapsed and took 41 lives. A couple of weeks ago, the other half of the same building collapsed but this time only few people got injured. That first collapse, as had become the usual, sparked a short lived protests. The incident was a representation of construction quality in Iran. According to Tehran municipality, many buildings in Tehran are in danger of conflagration. Tehran is already built on 3 major Faults that results in big earthquake every century or so, and we haven't had one in a long time now. Add that to the danger of uncontrollable fire, a Plasco building situation, you see what kind of catastrophe could happen in Tehran. All of this neglect just because of money. They spill our blood for profit.)

برای احساس آرامش

For the peace of mind

برای خورشید پس از شبای طولانی

For sunrise after long nights

برای قرص‌های اعصاب و بی خوابی

For antidepressants and insomnia

(Mental disorders like depression and anxiety have been growing rapidly for several years now. To the point that it's been estimated more than half the population to be depressed. Sui cide rate has been increasing fast and majorly in people under 30. I don't like to talk statistics so let's talk experience. A couple of kids, 14 or so, committed su i cide during covid lockdown which was horrifying hearing their stories in the radio. I, myself, had to take some time off the university because of severe anxiety and depression. Almost all of my classmates and friends are depressed and most of them deal with different degrees of anxiety. And 3 out of 4 of them take sleeping pills. How can you not be like this if you live under a government that not only oppress you with every mean possible, but they steal your money and fuck the economy so bad "it doesn't matter how fast you run, you'll never reach your dreams". And those dreams aren't big dreams. My generation, the generation before and the one after, we all saw our only chance to have a normal life in immigration but I didn't even have the energy to work for that. So out of everyone I know who dream about leaving here, only a handful had the mental strength to get up and get ready for it. Another thing my generation struggle with is religious trauma, even one of my hijabi classmates who did all of her prayers on time hated attending theology classes in uni. It's mandatory to take an appointed number of theology classes in order to get your degree no matter what major you study. And those classes plus all the ones we take in highschool and middle school are some of the most brainwashing traumatizing experiences many students have had. Talk about mental health!)

برای مرد، میهن، آبادی

For man, homeland, development

برای دختری که آرزو داشت پسر بود

For the girl who wished she was born a boy

(I don't think I need to talk about the regime sexism and misogyny. I've talked about it before, at length. I think most iranian girls have daydreamed about being born a boy once. How life would be easier. Guys normally tell us "then you should have done mandatory military service" which really sucks, but still, I think 2 years of hell is better than a lifetime) (I've seen some people attribute this line to the "blue girl". Since she's a symbol of sexism in Iran I think it's worth mentioning her story. Sahar Khodayari was a football fan and liked to attend football matches in stadiums. Even though there's no logical reason behind it, women are prohibited to go to football stadiums. So she would dress up as a guy to attend. In 2019, she got arrested and after being humiliated and threatened to be jailed in court she put herself on fire in front of the judiciary building. She died a week after that. She was just a fan.)

برای #زن_زندگی_آزادی

For #woman_life_freedom

برای آزادی، برای آزادی، برای آزادی

For freedom, for freedom, for freedom

I tried to add links that would lead you to an expanded version of stories or some resources to understand it better. I hope this helps you understand the song, the Iranian revolution, and the dept of our regime's corruption better.