#11 years of Watershed

[renegadesstuff]

“Katherine Houghton Beckett...Will you marry me?” 💍🤍

S5E24, “Watershed” aired 11 years ago (May 13, 2013) ❤️

[usnatarchives]

The WAVES of Change: Women's Valiant Service in World War II 🌊

When the tides of World War II swelled, an unprecedented wave of women stepped forward to serve their country, becoming an integral part of the U.S. Navy through the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) program. This initiative not only marked a pivotal moment in military history but also set the stage for the transformation of women's roles in the armed forces and society at large. The WAVES program, initiated in 1942, was a beacon of change, showcasing the strength, skill, and patriotism of American women during a time of global turmoil.

The inception of WAVES was a response to the urgent need for additional military personnel during World War II. With many American men deployed overseas, the United States faced a shortage of skilled workers to support naval operations on the home front. The WAVES program was spearheaded by figures such as Lieutenant Commander Mildred H. McAfee, the first woman commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Under her leadership, WAVES members were trained in various specialties, including communications, intelligence, supply, medicine, and logistics, proving that women could perform with as much competence and dedication as their male counterparts.

The impact of the WAVES program extended far beyond the war effort. Throughout their service, WAVES members faced and overcame significant societal and institutional challenges. At the time, the idea of women serving in the military was met with skepticism and resistance; however, the exemplary service of the WAVES shattered stereotypes and demonstrated the invaluable contributions women could make in traditionally male-dominated fields. Their work during the war not only contributed significantly to the Allies' victory but also laid the groundwork for the integration of women into the regular armed forces.

The legacy of the WAVES program is a testament to the courage and determination of the women who served. Their contributions went largely unrecognized for many years, but the program's impact on military and gender norms has been profound. The WAVES paved the way for future generations of women in the military, demonstrating that service and sacrifice know no gender. Today, women serve in all branches of the U.S. military, in roles ranging from combat positions to high-ranking officers, thanks in no small part to the trail blazed by the WAVES.

The WAVES program was more than just a wartime necessity; it was a watershed moment in the history of women's rights and military service. The women of WAVES not only supported the United States during a critical period but also propelled forward the conversation about gender equality in the armed forces and beyond. Their legacy is a reminder of the strength and resilience of women who rise to the challenge, breaking barriers and making waves in pursuit of a better world.

Read more: https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2023/11/06/historic-staff-spotlight-eunice-whyte-navy-veteran-of-both-world-wars/

[empirearchives]

Is it true that Napoleon Bonaparte used to know and associate with the Robespierre brothers? Like from what I've heard, he was pretty serious about it, to the point that it hampered his career post-thermidor. (It would make the stereotypical depictions of the Terror in Napoleon 2023 pretty hillarious, honestly.)

Yeah, it’s true. According to Saliceti (a Montagnard politician from Corsica), Napoleon was “their man” (1).

The first known mention of Robespierre by Napoleon was on 23 January 1791. He wrote a piece called Lettre à Buttafuoco. Matteo Buttafuoco was a Corsican politician. In it, he writes: “O Lameth! Oh Robespierre! O Pétion! O Volney! O Mirabeau! O Barnave! O Bailly! O La Fayette! This is the man who dares to sit next to you!” (2)

Napoleon was a political ally of the Robespierre brothers. As far as I know, he never met the older Robespierre brother in person, but he did meet and know the younger brother. They were associates and even became friends. Augustin Robespierre wrote to his older brother “the citizen Bonaparte commanding the artillery is of transcendent merit.” (2)

In 1794, Napoleon accepted an “unofficial” position in the Committee of Public Safety’s war office, specifically at the historical and topographical office. While he worked there, he wrote to his brother “I am swamped with work at the Committee.” (3)

This is how Pontécoulant, who oversaw him at the topographical bureau, described Napoleon at this job:

“It was not a mere sinecure that he had accepted, he sometimes worked fifteen hours a day, . . . and the considerable number of memoranda, reports, letters, and documents of all kinds that he wrote . . . would fill several volumes. Never, even during the campaign of 1794, had the topographical office of the Committee of Public Safety . . . deployed such activity; he maintained continuous communications with the leaders of the different armies, and their staffs, astonished, learned from then on to know this nervous style, full of precision, movement and masculine energy.” (4)

It was during this time that he was asked to write a general memorandum on grand strategy. It was titled Sur la position politique et militaire de nos armées de Piémont et d'Espagne (On the political and military position of our armies of Piedmont and Spain). The person he submitted it to was Augustin Robespierre in June 1794.

Frank McLynn’s description of the memoranda:

“Basing his strategy on the writings of Guibert de Bourcet, Napoleon devised a plan that enabled the Army of Italy to advance to the watershed of the Maritime Alps, having secured control of the passes of Col d'Argentière, Tende and St-Bernard. With the enthusiastic support of Augustin Robespierre, who took Bonaparte's memorandum to Paris with him, Napoleon argued that if the French attacked in Piedmont, Austria would be forced to come to the aid of her Austrian possessions and thus weaken her position on the Rhine, allowing the French to strike a knockout blow there. Napoleon's chances of getting the plan accepted looked good, for his new commander-in-chief, General Dumerbion, deferred in all things to the political commissars; Saliceti and Augustin Robespierre, in turn, nodded through anything military that came from the pen of Napoleon.” (5)

Augustin sent Napoleon to Genoa for a diplomatic mission on 11 July 1794. So, the Robespierres were behind the beginning of Napoleon’s long diplomatic career. In fact, Napoleon was still on this mission when he learned about the death of the Robespierre brothers (28 July 1794).

Earlier that year, the younger Robespierre brother had actually proposed that Napoleon take command as head of the Paris National Guard and replace François Hanriot in Paris. Napoleon considered it, but decided to keep his post instead.

Hanriot was executed the same day as the Robespierre brothers. Who knows, perhaps the same fate would have happened to Napoleon had he accepted the offer.

Nevertheless, according to Jean Tulard “the 9th of Thermidor opens a difficult period for him”. (2) He was arrested in the south of France for his association with the Robespierre brothers. The order was signed on August 6th, and he was imprisoned for over a week (August 9th-20th).

The fact that Napoleon had been in a foreign country (Genoa) on a mission for the Robespierre brothers at the time of 9 Thermidor was used against him.

According to Patrice Gueniffey, “Napoleon spent his spare time reading the history of Marshal Maillebois’s campaigns in Italy and writing a long, self-justifying memorandum addressed to the representatives […] without saying anything against Robespierre”. (3)

The appeal which released him specified his military acumen. He was considered too crucially important to the war effort to kill or keep imprisoned.

“We are convinced of the possible utility to us of this soldier's talents, which, we cannot deny it, are becoming very necessary in an army that he knows better than anyone, and in which men of this kind are extremely difficult to find.” (3)

So he was released, with his head still attached to his body. But, the situation had definitely changed for him. The representatives were cautious about him and refused to reemploy Napoleon as commander of the artillery. Nevertheless, he continued to work on the campaigns as part of the staff of General Dumerbion, and working his way up from there.

In 1797, Napoleon evoked Robespierre in a speech in Ancona to a surprised dinner party. He defended Robespierre for his “alleged crimes” and said of him:

“Since its origin,” he tells us, “France has had only one strong government: that of Robespierre.”

The impression of horror that the memory of this man had left on everyone’s minds was so recent, so profound, that it is difficult to imagine the painful surprise this opinion excited, and with what ardor it was opposed. Far from abandoning it, General Bonaparte tenaciously supported it:

“What,” he said, “is a strong government? It is one which has a well-determined useful purpose; the firm will to achieve it; the force capable of making will triumph; finally, the intelligence necessary to properly lead this force. Let’s examine if Robespierre combined all these advantages: What was his goal? The triumph of the revolution. He felt that a counter-revolution would be more bloody, would lead to more cruel, more lasting evils than those that our revolution had demanded and would still require. So he wanted to accomplish it at all costs.” (6)

Did this association have an effect on Napoleon’s career? I would say it definitely impacted his reputation and the perception everyone had of him.

To Madame de Staël (and eventually Victor Hugo), Napoleon was “Robespierre on horseback” (2). Mallet du Pan calls Napoleon “a Corsican terrorist” (7). The royalist pamphleteers had titles like “Robespierre and Buonaparte or the two tyrannies” and “The Jacobins and Buonaparte or historical essay on the alliance of the two tyrannies which oppressed the French nation” (2). In them, Napoleon was described as a “worshiper of Marat, accomplice of Robespierre, vile complacent of Barras” (2). To Metternich, “Napoleon seemed to me the incarnation of the Revolution” (8). He tried to warn the other countries in Europe against making peace with France, because, to him, “No peace is possible with a revolutionary system, whether with a Robespierre who declares war on chateaux or a Napoleon who declares war on Powers” (9). William Pitt the Younger spoke of the “jacobinism of Robespierre, of Barrere” and called Napoleon “the child and the champion of all its atrocities and horrors” (10).

This is a royalist caricature of Napoleon created by Pierre-Marie Bassompierre Gaston. The caption says “One is always faithful to one's first love”. (Source)

Here is Napoleon’s stance on Robespierre:

“Robespierre died because he tried to stop the effects of the Revolution, and not as a tyrant. Those who wanted to bring him down were crueler than he was: Billaud-Varenne, Collot d'Herbois, etc. He had against him Danton's party, which was powerful and immense. Probably he could not have acted otherwise. I believe that Robespierre was without ambition. . . . Everything I read in the Moniteur teaches me nothing, but it confirms me in the opinion that I had, and settles me in it even more. To be sure, Robespierre was not an ordinary man. He was very superior to everything around him. His discourse on the Supreme Being proves it. Disgusted by what he was hearing, he felt the necessity of a religious system among people who did not want anything, either religion or morals. Morality had to be raised up again. He had the courage to do it and he did it... That was great politics. No doubt he shed blood; that is the other side of the coin, but he is certainly less guilty than Tallien, who slaughtered Bordeaux, or Fréron whom I saw in Marseille taking poor unfortunates by the collar to have them shot. Those men were real killers. Had he [Robespierre] not succumbed, he would have been the most extraordinary man who appeared.” (3)

Sources:

(1) Adam Zamoyski, Napoleon: A Life

(2) Jean Tulard, De Napoléon et de quelques autres sujets: Robespierre vu par Napoléon

(3) Patrice Gueniffey, Bonaparte: 1769–1802

(4) Le Doulcet de Pontécoulant, Souvenirs historiques et parlementaires

(5) Frank McLynn, Napoleon: A Biography

(6) J. P. Collot, La chute de Napoléon

(7) Albert Sorel, L'Europe et la Révolution française, V. 5

(8) Memoirs of Prince Metternich 1773-1815 Vol. 1

(9) Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace 1812–1822

(10) The speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons, V. 3

[beardedmrbean]

Maria Kalesnikava became a symbol of defiance in Belarus when President Alexander Lukashenko used the full force of his security apparatus to smash mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 2020.

Now she's starving in prison and being held incommunicado in a tiny, stinking cell where the toilet is a hole in the floor, according to her sister, Tatsiana Khomich.

Her weight has dropped to just 99 pounds though she's five foot nine, Khomich said, putting her life at risk.

The Belarus interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment on her conditions.

"During the last year and a half, my sister Maria is isolated. She’s kept incommunicado - there are no calls, there are no letters, no visits of relatives or lawyers. And I just must maybe remind that Maria had surgery at the end of 2022 on a perforated ulcer. So she needs now special diet, special food which she cannot receive actually and we know that she cannot eat much from the prison menu."

Kalesnikava gained further renown when masked officers snatched her from the street to deport her to Ukraine.

She tore her passport into tiny pieces at the border so they couldn't.

At her trial, she smiled and danced in a courtroom cage.

She was sentenced to 11 years on charges including conspiracy to seize power.

Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, denied this week that there are political prisoners in Belarus.

Since early July, he has released 78 people convicted for protest activity, out of around 1,400 designated by human rights groups as political prisoners.

But all the leading pro-democracy figures, like Kalesnikava, languish behind bars and Lukashenko's critics say they see no real change.

Khomich said Kalesnikava was last allowed to write to her family in February last year.

"She also asked about letters and packages, the answer she got was, like, ‘Everyone has forgotten about you’. We know that also that some women saw that the administration brought her some letters from outside but they didn’t give it to her, they just tore it up in front of Maria."

"They torture her, basically. It's psychological, but also physical torture as well."

For Lukashenko the mass demonstrations of 2020, triggered by an election that the opposition and the West accused him of stealing, marked a watershed in three decades of authoritarian rule.

Some analysts believe that by crushing them, he burned bridges with the West and became beholden to Putin – a dependence they say could be making him uneasy, and prompting the so-far limited prisoner releases.

[mariacallous]

Dianne Feinstein, California’s longest-serving U.S. senator who led San Francisco through its darkest and most violent days as mayor in the 1970s and later authored a federal ban on assault weapons that lasted a decade, died Thursday night, according to multiple reports.

At 90, she was the oldest member of Congress and the longest-serving female in the chamber’s history.

...

At the start of her career, Feinstein was a trailblazer for women and gay rights, and after the 1978 assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, she emerged as a reassuring leader and formidable force who pulled together the city that was still reeling from the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana 10 days earlier, where 900 people connected to the San Francisco-based People’s Temple died.

In what would become known as “The Year of the Woman” in 1992, she shared a historic moment with Barbara Boxer when they were both elected to the U.S. Senate and California became the first state with two women senators. Feinstein won in a special election and was sworn in first.

“She had tenacity. She never gave up,” especially in passing the Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, Boxer said in an interview with the Bay Area News Group. “I will always remember how proud I was when she stood her ground on the floor of the Senate, when some of the men said, ‘Well, you don’t even understand what an AR-15 is,’ and she said, ‘I understand what gun violence is. I had to put my finger through a hole in the wrist (of Harvey Milk).’ It was very emotional.”

Feinstein also pioneered a number of other firsts: first woman mayor of San Francisco, first woman to chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the first woman to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, a watershed moment after public outrage over the handling of Anita Hill’s testimony during the male-dominated Supreme Court nomination hearings of Clarence Thomas in 1991.

In 1994, the same year she passed the weapons ban, Feinstein wrote the California Desert Protection Act that established Death Valley and Joshua Tree as national parks. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, she publicly released the “Torture Report” that exposed the CIA’s interrogation program that failed to work on terrorist suspects and, along with the late Sen. John McCain, authored legislation outlawing the CIA’s use of torture.

For those old enough to remember the shocking assassinations at San Francisco City Hall in 1978, however, it was her brief videotaped news conference and its aftermath that launched her national political career. Standing outside the supervisors offices, news cameras illuminating her face, she delivered the shocking news: “As president of the board of supervisors, it’s my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed,” she said as the media erupted in gasps and shouts. “The suspect is Supervisor Dan White.”

She would later detail her actions that morning, that when she heard the shots, she raced into Milk’s office. “I tried to get a pulse,” she said, “and put my finger through a bullet hole.”

Duffy Jennings, a former San Francisco Chronicle reporter who was in the crowd when Feinstein made the announcement, said her leadership through a tumultuous era would come to define Feinstein.

“She was incredibly resilient, strong and decisive,” Jennings said in an interview with the Bay Area News Group. “It wasn’t just Jonestown and Dan White. The ‘70s had the Zodiac killer, Patty Hearst, the SLA, the New World Liberation Front, counterculture extremism. It was a horrific decade in San Francisco and the Bay Area. And politically, she was as strong as anybody in holding the town together.”

At one point, New World Liberation Front – an anti-capitalist terrorist group – planted a bomb on the windowsill of her daughter’s bedroom. It failed to explode.

Born in San Francisco in 1933, Feinstein was the daughter of a prominent surgeon. Feinstein was Jewish but attended the prestigious Convent of the Sacred Heart Catholic girls school, where she acted in plays and – because of her 5-foot-10-inch height – often played male roles. She attended Stanford University in the early 1950s, where she was elected vice president of the student body.

When Feinstein entered San Francisco politics in the late 1960s, “nobody took her seriously,” said Jerry Roberts, the Chronicle’s former executive editor who wrote an early biography called “Never Let Them See You Cry,” named for one of Feinstein’s tips for businesswomen.

Early media reports of her campaigns, he said, were “unbelievably sexist,” and often characterized her as a “raven-haired beauty” with a “slender figure.” Her husband at the time, Dr. Bertram Feinstein, was widely mocked as a “first husband.”

“Just in terms of the cultural obstacles that she had to overcome to be taken seriously and to win is something people don’t think a lot about now,” Roberts said. “She was never a movement feminist, but she was a feminist.”

She kept a firefighter’s turnout jacket and helmet in her trunk to race to fires, and once gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a man she saw collapse in the Tenderloin. She listened to a police scanner in her office.

Although she opposed domestic partnership legislation for the city in 1982, when the AIDS epidemic broke out, Feinstein “got right on it. I mean, instantly,” said Louise Renne, whom Feinstein appointed as San Francisco’s first woman City Attorney. “The folks at San Francisco General were pulled in to deal with the AIDS epidemic, and San Francisco took a leadership role in solving that problem.”

Feinstein was considered moderate politically, supporting environmental causes but also encouraging commercial high rise development in downtown San Francisco. She is credited with completing the Moscone Convention Center project, renovating the city’s cable car system and retrofitting Candlestick Park before the Loma Prieta earthquake struck during the third game of the 1989 World Series.

Feinstein ran for governor of California in 1990 and lost to Republican Pete Wilson, whom she would replace in the Senate. In 1996, she was one of only 14 senators who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act that prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Feinstein’s leadership opened doors for two San Francisco women who would become the most powerful female politicians in the country – Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House and Kamala Harris as vice president.

...

Looking back, Boxer recalls when she and Feinstein were first elected to the Senate, her colleague sat her down and told her, “You’ve got to stick with this. The longer you stay, the better you’ll feel, the more you’ll get done.”

Feinstein stuck with it on Capitol Hill for three decades, perhaps summing up why in her final acceptance speech before her re-election in 2018, years before the political implications of her frail health in her final years threatened her legacy.

In the speech, she called serving in the Senate “the greatest honor in my life.”

[newmusickarl]

Mercury Music Prize 2024: Ranking The Contenders

My favourite time of year has arrived – the season of the Mercury Music Prize. Back in July, the twelve albums nominated for the 2024 prize were revealed and, as ever, served up a highly diverse and eclectic list of some of the best British and Irish music released over the last 12 months. Each of these nominated records is now vying for the prestigious title of Album of the Year, the overriding criteria for which has greatly deviated throughout the award’s history.

In terms of the competition, last year felt like a big watershed moment. With myself and many others previously writing off the jazz nomination as soon as the annual shortlist is announced, Ezra Collective’s pleasantly surprising victory set a new precedence for the prize – any album can win. Not only that, but this year’s Mercury Prize shortlist presents arguably the most open contest for some years, making it almost impossible to predict. But hey – let’s try and predict it anyway!

As I do each year, I’ve now listened to all 12 albums and tried to rank them based on what I think are their chances of winning. To be clear, this is not a “Worst-to-Best” countdown – this ranking is based solely on how likely I think they are to win the overall prize.

To determine this, I’ve considered:

The impact and artistic achievement attained by the album

The popularity of the artist

The level of critical acclaim the album has received

How similar albums have fared over the years

All clear? Good!

Without further ado, here’s my final thoughts and analysis on this year’s nominees.

12. Lives Outgrown by Beth Gibbons

The debut solo album from the Portishead frontwoman is an absorbing work, a heavy listen that can be tricky to love at first but will eventually win you over. It’s certainly won the critics over too, becoming one of the most positively reviewed albums of the year thus far.

So why bottom of the list? Well for me, Beth has several factors working against her. Firstly, she’s a well-established artist who wouldn’t gain much from earning Mercury Prize recognition this late into her career. Secondly, and most importantly, she’s a former Mercury Prize winner, having lifted the trophy with Portishead’s Dummy back in 1995.

There’s only ever been one two-time winner in the prize’s history (PJ Harvey for those wondering) and at this juncture in her career, I personally don’t see Beth becoming the second person to achieve this feat – particularly given the strength of some of the debutants on this year’s shortlist.

11. Bad With Names by Corto.alto

Having already been so familiar with a lot of the records on this year’s shortlist, this debut from Glaswegian multi-instrumentalist Liam Shortall has been my favourite discovery through this year's prize. Recorded in his bedroom, it’s a mesmerising collision of jazz and electronic music that is genuinely unique and pulls you back in for repeated listens.

However, why it is so far down on my list is mainly due to Ezra Collective winning the prize last year. Whilst this album from Corto.alto isn’t solely a jazz project, of all the records on the list it is the one that falls the most into that genre. While Ezra Collective historically bucked the trend last year of jazz records never prevailing and winning the overall prize, another longstanding trend is that Mercury Prize wins rarely come from the same genre in back-to-back years. So, with a jazz record taking home the trophy last year, it makes me think the judges will go in a different direction in 2024.

10. On Purpose, With Purpose by Ghetts

The fourth studio album from the acclaimed, MOBO-award winning rapper, On Purpose, With Purpose is an ambitious project that showcases Ghetts' prowess for strong storytelling and cutting social commentary. It also features a stacked list of collaborators, including Mercury Prize alumni Kano and Sampha.

Now Ghetts is one of the few artists on this year’s shortlist who has been nominated for the Mercury Prize previously, having been shortlisted for the 2021 prize with Conflict of Interest. While recent history would suggest this could work in his favour (Little Simz and Michael Kiwanuka both won on their second and third times of trying), I feel this is a weaker effort compared to Conflict of Interest. Not only that but it seems fans and critics agree, with this album one of the lowest scoring on review aggregate site albumoftheyear.org. With this being the case, this is one I am filing under unlikely to win.

9. Early Twenties by Cat Burns

Talk about sneaking in there – this debut album from British singer-songwriter Cat Burns was released on the 12th of July this year, the final day for eligible entries into the 2024 prize. Obviously the judges would have listened to it before that date though, and they were clearly taken in by the record’s uplifting pop melodies and soul-baring lyricism.

Now, there actually isn’t too much working against Cat Burns when it comes to winning the overall prize. It is a debut album which always fair well and she’s also had good success in recent years with critic-led awards, having come fourth in the BBC Sound of 2023 and earning three Brit Award nominations just last year.

However, with the late release date you do wonder if the album would have had chance to make an impact on the judging panel in the same way as some of the other records on this list. Additionally, the album hasn’t had too long to make an impact culturally on the wider music world either, which leads me to think this is another album that is unlikely to prevail.

8. Who Am I by BERWYN

Like Ghetts, British rapper, producer and songwriter BERWYN is another artist who has been on the shortlist before, having also been nominated in 2021 for his impressively raw mixtape, Demotape/Vega. Now back with what is being billed as his debut studio album, WHO AM I is a powerful force that is as lyrically spellbinding as it is emotionally impactful.

However unlike Ghetts, BERWYN for me actually has a lot pulling for him. Again it’s another debut, he’s a previous nominee and rap records have typically done well in recent years (see wins from Little Simz, Dave and Skepta). So why is it only 8th on the list I hear you ask? Well, I think it simply boils down to there being some stronger records on this list that you can argue are more deserving. Whilst a BERWYN win (or a BER-WIN if you want to be cheesy) is certainly possible, my gut tells me its also improbable given the strength of the field.

7. Black Rainbows by Corinne Bailey Rae

A record that made my own year-end list back in December finishing an impressive 16th, Black Rainbows is one of the most acclaimed albums on this year’s shortlist. Inspired by an exhibition on Black history by artist Theaster Gates at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, the album is a mesmerising collage of eclectic sounds that range from soul and R&B to frantic garage rock and sprawling electronica.

Corinne is also a previous nominee, having had her sophomore record The Sea shortlisted for the 2010 prize. Given the love and acclaim Black Rainbows has received too, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Corinne announced as the winner on the night.

However given the other nominees, my gut instinct says the judges may favour a newer artist, with Corinne almost in the same category as Beth Gibbons as already being too well established at this point. Whilst a Mercury win would certainly be deserving, my instincts are telling me this likely won’t be Corinne’s year.

6. When Will We Land? by Barry Can’t Swim

An album I’m personally a massive fan of and would love to see win tomorrow night. When Will We Land, the debut from Scottish musician and producer Joshua Mainnie AKA Barry Can’t Swim, is a vibrant and joyous experience like no other. Filled with a globe-trotting mix of sonic influences and textures, it is an incredible debut that has cemented Barry Can’t Swim as a household name in the electronic music world over the last year.

Now much like jazz albums, electronic records are good at getting nominated, but rarely do they win. In fact, you have to go all the way back to James Blake’s win in 2013 for Overgrown to find the last triumph from the popular genre. So not only is an electronic record long overdue a win, Barry’s debut has had such an impact in the space, not just for him but for the genre on the whole, it would be a well-received victory.

That said, as much as I would love Barry to walk away the overall prize winner, I think his chances are sadly fewer than some of the others on this year’s shortlist.

5. Silence Is Loud by Nia Archives

We’re into the real contenders now and this debut from record producer, DJ and singer-songwriter Nia Archives is certainly in with a chance. Heralded for its groundbreaking fusion of Jungle and Britpop with sincere lyricism at the heart, it’s an album that is truly unlike any other released in 2024.

With Nia such a trailblazer and pioneer for this Jungle revival that British music is now seeing, not just bringing the genre back to the fore but moving it forward as well, you have to wonder if Nia will get the nod in the same way Skepta won in 2016 for Konnichiwa. While that was arguably not the best record on the shortlist that year, it seemed like the judges were keen to recognise Skepta’s impact on the British rap and grime scene, helping to really bring it to a worldwide audience. I could easily see this reasoning repeated and with Nia’s record a debut too, it’s definitely one of the frontrunners in this very open contest.

Again, the only thing working against a Silence Is Loud win is the impact and quality of the others on the shortlist.

4. Brat by Charli XCX

An album that needs no introduction at this point. Let’s face it, has there been a British record in the last five years – or even decade - that has had as big of a cultural impact, in such a short space of time too, than Charli XCX’s Brat?

Although only released in June, the album has already cemented itself as one of the defining albums of 2024, and indeed the 2020s. From the iconic green artwork that has inspired festival fashion to instantly iconic lyrics entering the internet zeitgeist, to even politicians using the album’s lore in their political campaigns - the last few months have truly been a “brat summer”.

As we look ahead to tomorrow, Brat is currently the bookie’s favourite to take home the prize. In any other year, I would discount Charli simply for being too commercially successful and the judges tending to favour lesser-known artists when it comes to granting the overall prize. While I still ultimately think that will be the case, there is also a part of me that thinks the judges may see the impact of Brat and think it would be crazy to not award it the title of Album of the Year. In addition to this, Brat has received extreme acclaim too from critics, so it would be an incredibly popular win.

Back in 2006, Arctic Monkeys had the fastest-selling debut album ever at that time and as a result, would go on to win the Mercury Prize that year. Commercially successful albums winning when they’ve achieved cultural significance isn’t unheard of throughout the history of the Mercury Prize, so don’t be surprised if Charli walks away with it tomorrow - despite being one of the biggest popstars on the planet right now.

3. Prelude To Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party

Speaking of fast-selling debuts, upon it’s release back in February, Prelude To Ecstasy became the UK's biggest first week-selling debut album in nine years. Considering the buzz surrounding it, this came as no surprise as there are few bands as vehemently discussed as The Last Dinner Party. Yet in many ways they still feel slightly underappreciated, often criticised for the wrong reasons. When you focus on the musicianship of the record itself, there are few debut albums as anthemic, as dazzling and as accomplished as Prelude To Ecstasy.

Much like Brat, The Last Dinner Party’s debut feels like one of the defining records of the last 12 months and although also commercially successful, you could see the critic darlings crowned the overall winners for that reason. They are also less established than Charli, so may feel like a compromise as they are still technically a “new” artist. However, you also feel the judges may recognise awarding the London quintet the overall prize may sadly have an adverse effect, leaving them prone to more criticism and intense scrutiny from their naysayers.

This again makes me think the judges will ultimately go in a different direction, but personally I think this record deserves all the praise and awards in the world. Without a doubt, one of the year’s finest albums.

2. This Could Be Texas by English Teacher

Into the top two then and now we have arrived at the two albums I think have the best chance of winning the overall prize tomorrow. One is a choice of head, the other is a choice of heart. 

If I’m going with my head, everything points me in the direction of this debut album from rock quartet, English Teacher. Hugely acclaimed, particularly by the British music press, it’s an album that has captivated due to it’s soaring originality, poetic lyrics and broad eclecticism. In fact, when you look at the genres that typically make up the Mercury Prize shortlist each year – rock, jazz, electronic, pop, soul, R&B, folk, punk and post-punk – This Could Be Texas has a little bit of all of that.

This for me is a record tailor-made to win the Mercury Prize. It is a debut album, from a band that is still up-and-coming, that would benefit massively from the greater exposure, and an album which will surely tick a lot of boxes for the diverse music tastes on the judging panel.

It’s also interesting to note that there is a strong Leeds/Bradford contingent on this year’s shortlist, with a quarter of the artists nominated heralding from the area – which makes me think the winner is likely to come from one of those three albums. So, if you’re a betting person and are still trying to decide where to put your money, my head says English Teacher’s debut is the album to back.

1. Crazymad, For Me by CMAT

But that is what my head says, my heart says something different. While a good part of me thinks English Teacher is the one to prevail tomorrow, the one I am really rooting for is Crazymad For Me by Irish singer-songwriter, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – AKA, CMAT.

Having finished as my 12th favourite Album of 2023, it’s a record that I still find myself frequently returning to almost a year later. In fact, if I was to redo that list today, it would be in the Top 5. This is because with each new spin it feels more and more like a modern classic, with songs like California, Rent, Where Are Your Kids Tonight and, of course, Stay For Something, all timeless in nature.

It’s not just me with a great affection for this record either. It’s another album that has seen huge love and acclaim over the last year, even getting nominated for the Irish Choice Prize back in March. Which brings me onto another important point regarding CMAT’s album within wider Mercury Prize folklore, and that is the fact that an Irish artist is still yet to win the overall prize. That’s right, despite plenty of nominations throughout the 30+ years it has been granted, an Irish artist is still yet to take home the coveted Album of the Year title.

So, with a jazz record finally winning in 2023 and bucking the long-standing trend, surely it is time for an Irish artist to be recognised as the overall winner. At a time as well where Irish music is thriving – just look at recent albums from the likes of Fontaines D.C., Kneecap, Sprints, NewDad and The Murder Capital, to name just a few – it feels like the right time. With CMAT’s incredibly infectious and warm personality, as well as her clear love for music, performing and mastering her songcraft, I couldn’t think of a more deserving person and artist to make this little piece of history.

That’s my thoughts anyway ahead of the annual ceremony tomorrow night; I guess we’ll soon find out as always just how close – or not close – I was with my predictions. Best of luck to all the artists and as ever, I look forward to watching!

Watch the 2024 Mercury Prize be presented on BBC Four tomorrow night from 8pm.

[kiki-de-la-petite-flaque]

"Everything we've ever done," says Debbie Harry, "has been criticized. I'm not afraid of it. We don't try to be safe; we try to be different."

The approach succeeds admirably. In three years, beginning with the band's watershed disco-New Wave fusion, Heart of Glass, Blondie has sold more than 11 million records.

- People Magazine 1981

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Once a month for nearly two years, Evan Clark, the Waterkeeper at Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a water quality advocacy organization based in Pittsburgh, has traveled by boat along the Ohio River to Shell’s enormous new plastics plant in Beaver County. 

This facility is a cracker plant, using ethane from fracked gas to make ethylene and ultimately to manufacture up to 1.6 million tons of plastic per year. In his boat, Clark looks for tiny plastic pellets called nurdles and monitors the plant’s outfalls, the places where its wastewater is discharged into the river. 

Since the plant became operational in the fall of 2022, Clark has noticed strong chemical odors at the outfalls—potentially a sign of contaminants like volatile organic compounds, or VOCs—and found many, many nurdles, a feedstock used to make everything from soda bottles to car parts. 

This winter, Clark and the team he works with at the Mountain Watershed Association collected samples from 11 square feet of soil from the Ohio’s shorelines both upstream and downstream of the plant. Three Rivers Waterkeeper works to protect the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, while the Mountain Watershed Association focuses on protecting the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela. 

They found more than 700 nurdles, of all different colors, shapes and sizes. “They start to get kind of a white chalky appearance after they’ve been in the water for a long time,” he said, and nurdles also appear different depending on where they were made.

It was an alarming discovery that has implications beyond Shell, Clark said, although recently the team has been seeing more fresh, similar-looking nurdles that seem to have been in the water for a shorter period of time and could be linked to the Beaver County plant. They haven’t yet been able to procure a sample from Shell to match the nurdles definitively. 

“That is a tiny area, smaller than half a sheet of plywood, and our preliminary analysis of what we’re looking at there didn’t point directly to a problem at Shell,” he said. “But it pointed to a plastics problem that we have throughout the whole region.” 

To Clark, the “incredible” concentration of nurdles was evidence of the industry’s role in contributing to plastic pollution. “If we’re finding that amount of plastic spread through our environment that is the responsibility of manufacturers—these are plastic nurdles, they’re not from consumers—we have a real serious issue with the lack of regulation of plastics manufacturing,” he said.

[freneticfloetry]

Lone Star fandom is starting a rewatch next week, and the Tumblr tag games are playing along! Every week, a different prompt will be posted to feed the fic rec gods.

Rules: This week’s prompt: a begins fic that you loved. A begins fic (‘begins’ coming from the 9-1-1 origin-story episodes) will delve into the backstory of a character before canon. Please feel free to use the banner above, to make your own, or to not use one at all! Finally, please use the tag ‘Rewatch Read-Along Begins’ and at the end of the week @911lonestarrewatch will post the link to the tag for the comprehensive list of fic recs!

(Header gif courtesy of @guardian-angle22!)

Okay, not only am I still wading through all the wonderful @tarlos-santa fics, I’m still making my way through this fandom’s deep back catalog. I don’t actually have many Begins fics to reference just yet, where Tarlos is concerned, but I couldn’t let this tag game go by without reccing two of my favorite fics ever far and wide. (Thanks to cig and @lemonlyman-dotcom for said tags.)

Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines by @carlos-in-glasses

There’s a very particular backstory that unfolds here for both of our boys, told through the watershed moment of 9/11. The way it shapes and changes them in the days and years that come after, colors the way they both see and show grief, is just astounding. It’s breathtaking. It’s masterclass, galaxy-brained shit. And the same can be said about the fic as a whole, which sees their separate experiences coalesce in the aftermath of TK’s fateful flight. Just gorgeous.

What Is Sown, What Is Grown by @never-blooms

Is it a question of nature vs nurture? Is it an ode to the weariness of cultural code-switching? Is it both hard look at and love letter to all the things in our blood that make us before we’re even born? All of the above, and so much more. This is Carlos, before, and during, and after, and all the ways he reconciles those states inside himself. Beth’s point of view and personal history shine through every single syllable here, no matter what language they’re in, and the result is something hauntingly beautiful and altogether unique in this fandom.

Open tag!

[sahonithereadwolf]

What is at stake with the icwa

Please read the preliminary report from the department of the interior's initial investigation to understand the very surface level of what it is the ICWA (indian child welfare act) is defending against. It is not an easy read. It in fact will be very upsetting. https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/inline-files/bsi_investigative_report_may_2022_508.pdf But know no matter how upsetting you find the horrific abuse and death, this is the surface of a very deep trauma. There are many aspects it did not touch. And the academic language used to insulate mutes a level of horror. These schools did not end. Some are still in operation. Some closed in the 80s. Many of them became adoption agencies. There use to be vans that grabbed kids off the street. Estimates place 25-35% of native children were taken out of their communities. Forced sterilization was something that happened to about 1 in 4. There were whole communities that lost all their children. The reason we don’t have examples of exact numbers were that people didn’t think it was important enough to track or purposefully obfuscated and buried it. --- Please understand this about the supreme court. These are men, who will never feel the consequences nor guilt of their actions arguing in favor of genocide. And should be treated as such. They feel no shame over this nor the racist propaganda they propagate. Only see a smug righteousness and oil money in their future. And it is oil money. https://lakotalaw.org/news/2021-09-17/icwa-sovereignty The ICWA has been under attack for a while by people claiming it's "for the children". But the documented truth is native kids need the support of their community and there is a long paper history over-policing of indigenous communities. The ICWA isn’t some poorly thought out patch job. It in many ways is a gold standard of child welfare. Plenty of advocacy groups, be it child welfare, mental health, or transracial adoptees agree. Last count  I checked was 486 tribal nations, 59 Native orgs, 11 child welfare orgs, 26 states In fact the only people that seem in favor of it is the state of Texas, a conservative think tank, and a law firm funded by big oil? Now what would all these these people have a vested interest in a face that on the surface level seems to be about custody? Well, the case is arguing that the policy is reverse racism and that indigenous identity is racial instead of, what it actually is, a political and social identity as we are sovereign nations and political entities. They say this to enforce exterminationist policies like blood quantum. The practice of determining indigeneity by blood fractions. Something that is racist, has no basis in science, indigenous models of nationhood or belonging, and again, is made to be exterminationist. That indian can be bred out.   This, would be key to undermining Indigeneity as an identity at all. Basically, legally, native folk would be tied to (by the US's definition) an identity that couldn't exist in a sustainable or politically defensible way. Thus undermining every bit of sovereignty or civil rights protection that has been fought for over hundreds of years. Or, more direly, leaving it up to the states. Something oil has a monetary interest in as this has been the cornerstone of indigenous nations to stonewall oil pipelines going through, lands, sacred sites, and watersheds. It is one of the keys to success for pipeline protest all over the country. Standing rock put the fear of god into these folk. Indigenous nations are politically sovereign entities with our our rights, cultures, languages, and definitions of belonging and community. We're not purebred dogs nor can we be bred to extinction. We have the right to our children and they have a right to their future. Please don't let some clowns arguing "reverse racism" without the first clue over indigenous identity, belonging, or kinship being backed by oil money and a racist lawyer with a grudge against natives take our children our undermine our sovereignty. I do not have faith in american government on issues of indigenous rights. Especially in this supreme court. Indigenous racism has long been defined by a hyper invisibility which silences our struggles. Do not let this be one of them. All I ask is you pay attention and listen to the people actually affected by this case. And question the motives of anyone that says a civil rights ruling is unneeded. Indigenous people are not inherently less capable of providing for and loving our own children.

[aslamat]

World Cup Winner and Premier League Icon Announces MLS Move

French striker Olivier Giroud has confirmed his switch to Major League Soccer (MLS) after departing AC Milan this summer. The 37-year-old, known for his success with Chelsea and the French national team, will reunite with former teammate Hugo Lloris at Los Angeles FC. Owned by Hollywood star Will Ferrell, LAFC secures Giroud until December 2025 with a reported annual salary of $3.2 million.

Career Highlights

Giroud boasts an illustrious career, clinching titles for club and country:

- World Cup Winner (2018): A pivotal player in France's 2018 victory, starting in the final against Croatia. - Champions League Winner: Secured the Champions League with Chelsea in 2020-21, netting in the semifinal versus Real Madrid. - Europa League Winner: Contributed to Chelsea's 2018-19 Europa League triumph, bagging 11 goals in the competition. - FA Cup Winner (4 times): Lifted the FA Cup four times with Arsenal (2013-14, 2014-15) and Chelsea (2017-18, 2018-19). - Serie A Winner: Helped AC Milan claim Serie A glory in the 2021-22 season, tallying 11 goals in 29 appearances.

MLS Move

Giroud's MLS venture enriches the league's roster of international stars, alongside Lionel Messi at Inter Miami and Zlatan Ibrahimović's stint with LA Galaxy. His seasoned expertise promises to elevate MLS's competitiveness and entertainment value.

What's Next?

As Giroud readies for MLS action, fans anticipate a thrilling season ahead. With LAFC positioned fifth in the MLS Western Conference, his arrival could fortify their pursuit of success. The spotlight shines brightly on Giroud's debut, eagerly awaited by fans eager to witness his adaptation to MLS's unique style of play. LAFC's formidable squad, featuring talents like Carlos Vela and Denis Bouanga, coupled with Giroud's inclusion, positions them as formidable contenders for the MLS Cup.

Impact on MLS

Giroud's transition to MLS marks a milestone for the league, amplifying its global allure. His distinguished track record and goal-scoring prowess promise to captivate fans in Los Angeles and beyond, contributing to MLS's sustained growth and popularity worldwide.

In summary, Olivier Giroud's MLS move signifies a watershed moment for the league, with his seasoned skill set poised to leave an indelible mark. As he embarks on his journey with Los Angeles FC, fans eagerly anticipate an electrifying season ahead, certain that Giroud's presence will elevate MLS's status on the world stage.

[usafphantom2]

F-35 and F-22 fly successfully with common software during innovative test project

AFMC's innovation team revolutionizes the fleet of poachers.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 10/06/2023 - 11:15 in Military

An F-35A Lightning II of the 461º USAF Flight Test Squad recently flew with a complement of government-developed software applications and industry vendors previously tested on the F-22 Raptor - demonstrating for the first time the ability to use the same tactical software applications on both stealth fighters.

This success was immediately followed by another milestone when these applications were updated by software developers at Hill Air Base, Utah and flew at Edwards Air Base less than 24 hours later.

These F-35 flights were the latest successes of an innovation project developed by a team of test pilots from Edwards Air Base, software developers from the 309º Software Engineering Group and the Federal Laboratory of the Air Combat Command. This project has already achieved three important advances that team members call watersheds for the future of the stealth fighter fleet and, potentially, of all Department of Defense aircraft.

These innovations are the ability to use the same software on different military aircraft; the ability to obtain this software from a diverse set of suppliers, including software industry leaders and government laboratories; and the ability to update this software in less than a day, 30 to 60 times faster than was previously possible. Together, these improvements are ready to provide cutting-edge technology to the stealth fighter fleet at a fraction of the current time and cost, team members said.

Historically, military aircraft rely exclusively on the aircraft manufacturer to perform software updates or modifications, with limited ability to integrate software from external suppliers. In addition, due to the integrated nature of stealth aircraft software, the development and implementation of software changes previously required a time-consuming process, limiting frontline aircraft to annual software updates, regardless of developments and operational requirements.

In short, each aircraft required a unique development and testing process, increasing costs and delaying implementation.

To change this dynamic, the team team teamed up to develop and implement a "application store" owned and controlled by the government for these fighters. This was achieved by combining government-owned software architecture with advanced processing on board these aircraft and creating a government software space for new tactical software. The team is now working to fill this space with the advanced features that these fighters need to maintain their dominance in the skies.

“The ability to use common software on the F-35 and F-22 will dramatically change the way we bring resources to the front line,” said Lieutenant Colonel Raven LeClair, co-founder of the F-35 project and test pilot. "Now, instead of defining, buying, testing and fielding a software capacity on each aircraft individually, we can gain a lot of efficiency by developing a capacity once and putting it on all 5ª generation fighters, saving hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more, in development costs and saving years in development time."

The team also highlighted the benefits brought by access to a larger group of software vendors.

"There has been a lot of attention to how the military can take advantage of the best contributions from the government, industry and academia to maintain its advantage, but historically there are considerable barriers to entry into the defense market," said Major Allen Black of the F-22 co-founder and test pilot project. "This is especially true with aircraft software, since only the aircraft manufacturer can develop and integrate software into the aircraft. They produce a fantastic product, but being able to add to this baseline features created by software leaders in areas such as AI/autonomy and cybersecurity will be transformative. This has the added benefit of increasing the number of companies and personnel working to modernize and improve our fleet of combat aircraft, resulting in greater performance and faster progress in the modernization of our aircraft."

While emphasizing the significant benefits of cross-platform compatibility and a more open market for software, the team is quick to point out that speed of delivery is perhaps the most important.

"This project helps to establish the necessary foundation for the use of agile combat. We need to be able to quickly adapt and update our weapon systems based on emerging information or variable conditions during the execution of distributed operations," said Marine Corps Major Kyle McLeod, F-35 Lightning II Test Pilot and Project Leader.

"The National Defense Strategy identifies the need to quickly experiment and expedite acquisitions to provide capabilities to the combatant on strategically relevant deadlines," said Major Cameron Jones, F-22 test pilot and part of the founding team. "It is vital that we are able to develop and deliver capacity quickly, because using the best software in the world will not make a difference if it is too late for the fight."

The team has taken on this mission and is working to establish this capability in existing weapon systems that were not originally built to accommodate the modern pace of software innovation.

"This project allows us to load new software and update existing software, separate from the safety of the aircraft's flight systems, so that we can make changes in a matter of hours, instead of months," Jones said. "This feature means that developers will be able to make quick changes based on pilot feedback, drastically reducing the time to obtain a usable product."

“This project helps to establish the necessary foundation for the use of agile combat,” said Marine Corps Major Kyle McLeod, the project's main F-35 test pilot. "We need to be able to quickly adapt and update our weapon systems based on emerging information or variable conditions during the execution of distributed operations. We demonstrated exactly that with this test. We flew with a set of applications in Edwards, updated the simulated threat data set in the development site software at Hill Air Base, and flew the software again in less than 24 hours."

"One of the team's top priorities has been to leverage this new technology to help protect these aircraft from cyber attacks," said Omar Morales, a leading software engineer of the 309º SWEG F-35 Lightning II.

"In addition to ensuring cyber best practices in the software development pipeline, we are also using this new software environment to add cyber protection tools from industry leaders," Morales said. "Our test included cybersecurity applications that we are evaluating that can monitor the aircraft and identify anomalous behaviors. We are working to leverage these types of products to allow us to identify and correct possible cyber problems quickly, even between missions, while also defending the aircraft in real time."

Team members say that the benefits of this project go beyond the improved software features they bring to the aircraft. The project is proving to be a source of inspiration and motivation for those who have joined the world of testing to make a difference.

"Working on this project has been incredibly rewarding for our team, as our people genuinely believe that they are making a difference for our nation," said Jarron Lembke, leader of the 309º SWEG project team.

The idea was submitted to the annual Spark Tank competition of the Air Force, advancing to become a finalist, where it was presented to the senior leaders of the Air Force, including the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General CQ Brown, Jr. General of Operations John "Jay" Raymond. The project is now part of the Innovation Portfolio of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force and continues to revolutionize the development and field of software, including continuous work on software to control unmanned wings.

Tags: Military AviationF-22 RaptorF-35 Lightning IIUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air Force

Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work around the world of aviation.

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[streetcurrencies1]

The 9/11 Attacks: A Nation In Shock

On the fateful morning of September 11, 2001, the world watched in horror as a series of coordinated terrorist attacks unfolded on U.S. soil.

The attacks, orchestrated by the extremist group Al-Qaeda, targeted the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

These events would come to be known simply as "9/11" and would leave an indelible mark on the United States and the world.

The Twin Towers: The World Trade Center towers, iconic symbols of economic prowess and architectural achievement, were the primary targets. Two hijacked commercial airliners were flown into the towers, causing catastrophic damage and eventually leading to their collapse. The attacks on the Twin Towers claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people, making it one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in history.

The Pentagon Attack: In addition to the attacks on the Twin Towers, another hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. The strike resulted in significant damage and loss of life, further escalating the national crisis.

Flight 93's Heroic Sacrifice: Amidst the chaos, a fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was also hijacked. Passengers on board, learning of the other attacks via phone calls, bravely fought back against the hijackers. The plane ultimately crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, preventing another potential target, likely in Washington, D.C.

Immediate Impact: The 9/11 attacks sent shockwaves through the United States and the world. In the immediate aftermath, there was a profound sense of grief, fear, and anger. The nation was united in mourning, and a strong sense of solidarity emerged.

Response and Consequences: The U.S. government, under President George W. Bush, launched a war on terror, with a focus on eliminating Al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden. The Patriot Act was enacted to strengthen national security, but it also raised concerns about civil liberties.

Homeland Security and Airport Security: The attacks prompted a significant overhaul of U.S. security measures, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Airport security was enhanced with more rigorous screenings and the establishment of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Global Implications: Internationally, the 9/11 attacks had far-reaching consequences. The United States engaged in military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, leading to a prolonged period of conflict in the region. The attacks also reshaped global politics and intensified discussions on counterterrorism efforts.

Memorials and Remembrance: In the years following the attacks, several memorials were erected to honor the victims and remember the events of 9/11. The National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City stands on the site of the former Twin Towers, serving as a poignant reminder of the tragedy.

Never Forget: As the years have passed, the phrase "Never Forget" has become synonymous with 9/11. It serves as a solemn reminder of the lives lost, the heroism displayed, and the enduring impact of that tragic day.

In conclusion, the 9/11 attacks were a watershed moment in American history, leaving the nation in shock and reshaping its policies and security measures.

The scars of that day remain, but so does the resilience and unity of a nation determined to stand strong in the face of adversity.

[coochiequeens]

“ According to the PSNI, 26 officers are suspended amid allegations of sexual misconduct.” Societies are not going to make any real progress on combating Violence Against Women until they restructure and retrain their law enforcement.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has published its first ever action plan aimed at reducing violence against women and girls.

It commits the police to "relentlessly pursuing perpetrators" and rooting out inappropriate behaviour in their ranks.

Between 2017 and 2021, 34 women and girls across Northern Ireland were killed by men.

The Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland welcomed the plan but said that action was also needed from Stormont.

Sarah Mason of Women's Aid said: "This is an historic day for all women and girls in Northern Ireland, finally bringing Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK."

A domestic abuse survivor from County Down, Jenny Hunter, said that the night she separated from her husband in August 2017 was the first she was physically attacked by him.

However, she said he had previously thrown beer around her, smashed vases and kicked and punched holes in walls.

Ms Hunter said there had been tension that day and she had texted him earlier warning him not to cause any trouble.

"He had come home that night after being out for a few drinks," she added.

"He had gone to look into my phone and came into the bedroom and said: 'That's trust for you', because I had changed the password and he couldn't get into it."

Ms Hunter told BBC News NI she remembered her children "squealing" as her husband forced her into their bedroom. 

"He was sitting on my chest and put his two hands around my throat and told me that he was going to kill me, that I had drove him to this and asked me was I ready to die and it was my fault."

Ms Hunter said she was shocked and believed she was going to be killed.

"All I could think was that the children were going to be in the house while this happened and what was going to happen to them."

Jenny said her neighbours rang the police and that she and her former partner have been separated since that night.

The PSNI said that on 22 March 2018, Jenny's perpetrator was sentenced to 18 months probation.

It said he then went on to abuse his next partner and was sentenced to 10 months in prison on 11 March 2020 for offences against her.

The PSNI said women and girls were "disproportionately affected" by violence, abuse and intimidation, accounting for 78% of all victims of sexual crimes and 68% of victims of domestic abuse.

Chief Constable Simon Byrne described the publication of the plan as "a watershed moment".

He said the 40-page plan makes addressing the issue a "top priority".

'Bettering our own culture'

An advisory group is being established to oversee the progress of the PSNI's plan over the next two years.

The murder last year of Sarah Everard in London by a Metropolitan Police officer brought the issue to the fore in the UK.

It also damaged trust and confidence in policing among women and girls.

Mr Byrne said part of the plan involved "bettering our own culture", acknowledging that officer behaviour has "at times fallen short of public expectation".

According to the PSNI, 26 officers are suspended amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Under the new plan vetting processes will be reviewed.

All frontline officers will also receive specialist training in dealing with domestic abuse incidents, which in Northern Ireland occur at a rate of one every 16 minutes.

Other action includes improving the quality of investigation files for prosecutors and prioritising the arrest of people wanted for offences involving violence against women and girls.

Sex education should be part of strategy to end violence against women

Violence against women: Men and boys urged to speak out

Domestic abuse strategy needs 'combined effort'

There will also be a new media campaign to raise awareness of drink spiking.

Mr Byrne said: "To effectively tackle complex societal issues like this we need everyone to actively champion the change that is needed.

"Policing can't end violence against women and girls on its own.

"For this to really work, to really make a change for all women and girls, we need to work in partnership with all parts of society," he added.

[noaasanctuaries]

California Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grants are available now!

The Fiscal Year 2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity is now open. The deadline for submissions is February 23, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern. If you have any questions, please contact Seaberry.Nachbar@noaa.gov.

Learn more about the CA B-WET program and NOAA resources that you can connect to in your application:

[mariacallous]

The March 22 terrorist attack targeting concertgoers in Moscow, which was later claimed by the Islamic State, was an eerily familiar shock for Russians. In 2002, approximately a year after 9/11, Islamist terrorists claiming allegiance to a separatist movement in Chechnya besieged the crowded Dubrovka Theater in Moscow. More than 130 people were killed in the operation to clear the theater.

Last month’s attack, which killed at least 144 people, opened multiple geopolitical fissures. The Kremlin, having caught—and tortured—at least a few of the suspected perpetrators, claimed that the terrorists were looking to head toward Ukraine, where Russia is embroiled in its own endless war. Online, the story took a life of its own as conspiracy theories overwhelmed facts.

As attention shifted eastward toward the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISK), the group’s branch based in Afghanistan, contrarian views, mostly in Russian media but amplified on social media platforms, of this being a false-flag operation designed by the West simultaneously took off.

In between such distractions, the victor was the Islamic State. The group’s spokesperson, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari, released a 41-minute audio message a few days after the Moscow attack. Curiously, the message, titled “By God, this religion [Islam] will prevail,” mentioned Russia only in passing. It however congratulated Islamic State ecosystems and wilayas (Arabic for provinces), or offshoots, on a successful 10 years of the caliphate.

The message takes the listener on a world tour of sorts, highlighting the group’s presence across regions from Africa to Southeast Asia, challenging the notion that it is a spent force. Ansari also congratulated the group’s fighters for their campaigns against the Chinese, Russians, Sikhs, and Hindus. It also chastised the very idea of democracy—a long-standing ideological position for most jihadi groups.

Only a few hours prior to this, ISK had released a separate 18-minute propaganda video in Pashto targeting the Afghan Taliban’s outreach with India. This is particularly noteworthy after India facilitated the evacuation of Sikhs and Hindus from the country, specifically after ISK claimed an attack against a Sikh temple in Kabul in 2022. Islamic State propaganda has also long stoked communal divisions in India to instigate Muslims against the state.

The video took the format of a first-person narrative, discussing how the Taliban regime was working with the Indian state, which ISK views as an anti-Muslim institution. This was not the first time either the Islamic State or ISK had targeted India in its propaganda, but interestingly, the latter’s primary aim here was the Taliban’s behavior and not necessarily India, its democracy, or its perceived Hindu-nationalist political bent by itself.

The chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan and subsequent return to power of the Taliban in 2021 was a watershed moment. But the negotiated exit was not a difficult decision for the U.S. government, which was clear in its vision on what it wanted out of leaving, as Washington looked to pivot toward new areas of strategic competition in Asia.

The challenge fell to powers within the region, which were left to deal with an extremist movement in control of a critical neighboring state. For more than 20 years, Afghanistan’s neighbors, including China and Russia, benefited from the expansive U.S. and NATO military umbrella. This allowed them to pursue their own strategic interests such as developing influence within Afghanistan’s ethnic divisions and the power brokers representing these groups without any significant military commitment. On Aug. 30, 2021, then-Maj. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue was the last U.S. soldier to leave the country. Afghanistan was now an Asian problem.

But Russia, China, and Iran—the three primary adversaries of the United States, and by association Western geopolitical constructs—were in fact happy. After two decades, there were no massive U.S. military deployments on Iran’s eastern border at a time when its relations with Washington were at their worst. Tehran’s own history with Afghanistan, and specifically the Taliban, is confrontational.

Throughout the 1990s, the Iranians supported anti-Taliban groups, particularly rebel leaders such as Ahmad Shah Massoud and the Northern Alliance. Tehran was not alone, as others, including India, Russia, and Tajikistan among others, supported these groups against the Taliban and its sponsors in Pakistan.

Fast forward to 2021, and Iran decided to go the opposite way. It opened diplomatic and economic channels with the new regime in Kabul and looked to build support in exchange for a healthy level of anti-Western patronage and relative calm on the borders.

Iran’s two other closest allies in Moscow and Beijing followed suit. Iran, Russia, and China have all, in a way, recognized the Taliban as the quasi-official rulers of Afghanistan. Beijing has gone a step beyond, with Chinese President Xi Jinping officially accepting the accreditation of the new Taliban-appointed ambassador to his country.

Russia, still a little wary due to its history of fighting against and losing to the U.S.-backed mujahideen between 1979 and 1989 and more vocal in its criticism, accepted Taliban diplomats in Moscow in 2022 and is now even considering removing the Taliban from its list of banned terrorist organizations.

The stance these three states have adopted is a calculated risk; they see Taliban rule as a more palatable crisis to deal with than an expansive U.S. military presence at a time when great-power competition is once again taking hold of contemporary international relations.

Other countries, such as many of those in Central Asia, have also grudgingly taken the path of engagement with Kabul so as to try to avoid a return of regional conflict and proliferation of extremist ideologies by using the Taliban itself as a buffer as they try to keep one foot in and the other out the proverbial door.

Pakistan, long the Taliban’s patron, is already caught in a lover’s feud with its own protégés in Afghanistan as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan continues a militant campaign against Islamabad. Meanwhile, India has begun to balance between naked strategic interest and the long-term costs of the political normalization of such entities.

A trend of political victories for militant groups such as the Taliban is expanding. In the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the latter has in many respects come out on top by gaining more legitimacy than it ever expected despite the bloodiness of its attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas has managed to move its own narrative away from being a proscribed terrorist group to being viewed as a revolutionary movement for the liberation of Palestine. Its political leadership, based out of Qatar, even condemned the terrorist attack in Russia.

The spectacle of an Islamist terrorist group publicly condemning another Islamist terrorist group underscores the absurdity of this situation. Hamas leaders, such as Ismail Haniyeh, have visited Iran and Russia to drum up support. Beijing, while asking for a secession of hostilities, has yet to denounce Hamas by name for its actions. At some level, all these states are happy to engage with such militant groups if it aids in the weakening of U.S. power and hegemony.

A significant level of global cooperation against terrorism, which was achieved in the aftermath of 9/11 and during the so-called global war on terrorism, is fast eroding. For example, up until 2015, Moscow had allowed NATO military supply flights meant for Afghanistan to use its airspace. Multilateral forums such as the United Nations are now repeatedly questioned over their purpose and worth.

For groups such as the Islamic State, this is a boon. Even though most of these competing powers see the group as a security threat that requires military solutions, a lack of uniformity creates a tremendous vacuum in which such entities can thrive. And while most of Afghanistan’s neighbors today are forced to view the Taliban as the “good Taliban,” considering its fundamental aversion to the Islamic State and its ideology (due to tension between Deobandis and Salafi jihadis), these new realities will make cohesive and effective global cooperation against terrorism far less likely.

This raises a critical question: Who is going to lead the global counterterrorism push? Militarily, the kind of capacity the United States deploys against terrorist groups remains unchallenged. From the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 to the new Islamic State caliphs being degraded to faceless, often nameless personas, the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve in Syria has been effective—and it continues to this day. But the expansion of Islamic State wilayas and their own individual clout, as highlighted by Ansari, challenges these successes.

In Africa, Russia is empowering local warlords and dilettantes to take on the Islamic State while it simultaneously cements its own presence, particularly as Western powers such as the United States and France struggle to hold on to their military footing. Propping up regimes in places such as Mali and Burkina Faso by offering political stability and pushing them to fight groups such as the Islamic State is a model both Russia and China seem to gravitate toward.

As the Moscow attack revealed, an era of increased rivalry between major powers that tolerate terrorist groups that target their adversaries could ultimately spawn a resurgence of Islamist terrorism. This new geopolitical landscape, by default, will give terrorist groups more chances of political compromise through negotiations than ever before.

The popular yet often frowned-on adage of “one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter” seems to be a winning formula for those who were widely seen as critical threats yesterday but now are aspiring to be the stakeholders of tomorrow.