#NATIONAL AMELIA EARHART DAY

[gerard-lange-art-journals]

Celebrating aviation on National Amelia Earhart Day, 24 July 2024 — Gerard Lange art journals, Book 23: Texas Mythos, spread 9 (pp. 18–19), 2020–2021, 28 x 44 x 2.3 cm (11 x 17 x 1 in.).

[thepastisalreadywritten]

By Rachel Hartigan

Published: 9 March 2023

The history of the first women who flew is a tale of breathtaking bravery and lives cut tragically short.

On 8 March 1910 — 113 years ago today — Raymonde de Laroche, a former Parisian stage actress, became the first licensed female pilot in the world.

Nine years later, she was killed when the experimental aircraft she was flying dove into the ground.

Harriet Quimby, a well-known journalist, became the first American woman to obtain a pilot’s license in 1911.

She died a year later when her new plane pitched her into Boston Harbor.

In 1921, Bessie Coleman was the first Black woman to receive a pilot’s license — she had to travel to France to find a flight school that would teach her.

But five years later, she was killed when a wrench got caught in her plane’s controls, sending the plane plummeting.  

Flying was perilous in aviation’s earliest days.

"The planes were flimsy contraptions fashioned from bamboo, wire and fabric,” according to the late historian Eileen Lebow.

They didn’t have seat belts or even a roof to hold the pilot should the aircraft flip over.

Yet women like Laroche, Quimby and Coleman were willing to risk their lives for the freedom that flights promised.

“Aviation was a new profession seemingly free from the gender expectations and sex typing that limited women elsewhere,” noted historian Susan Ware at the National Air and Space Museum’s inaugural Amelia Earhart Lecture in Aviation History in 2022.

“Women were getting in at the beginning.”

For many of them, the thrill of flying was intoxicating but so was the opportunity to be assessed on their own merits.

“These women wanted to be judged as human beings rather than as women,” says Ware.

Coleman especially saw flight as a path toward broader gender and racial equality.

"I knew we had no aviators, neither men nor women, and I knew the Race needed to be represented along this most important line,” she said shortly after she returned to the United States from France in 1921.

“I thought it my duty to risk my life to learn aviating and to encourage flying among men and women of the Race who are so far behind.”

Before she died, she’d planned to open a flight school that would welcome African American aviators.

Many early women fliers shared the dream that achievement in this field would lead to more independence.

As one journalist and amateur pilot wrote in 1930, “A woman who can find fulfillment in the skies will never again need to live her life in some man’s spare moments.”

Some of that independence would come from the ease of travel that aviation promised in its earliest incarnation.

Many people, including Amelia Earhart, believed at first that airplanes would become as commonly owned by families as bicycles and automobiles already had.

Other women embraced the financial independence that they thought the new field would offer.

Neta Snook, whose first solo flight was in a plane she rebuilt, made her living by offering up her plane for aerial advertising, test flying experimental aircraft, taking paying passengers up for aerial tours, and teaching beginning fliers, including Earhart.

Gladys Roy, on the other hand, earned good money as a stunt pilot, dancing the Charleston and playing tennis on the wings midflight for amazed crowds at air shows.

(Snook retired from aviation when she became pregnant in her mid-twenties and lived to be 95; Roy died at 25 when she accidentally stepped into a propeller.)

Sisters Katherine and Marjorie Stinson took a more long-term approach, establishing a flight school in Texas with their mother and brother that trained, among others, Canadian pilots in the run up to World War I.

When the U.S. entered the war, the country’s civil aviation — including the Stinson School for Flying — was shut down.

Katherine went to Europe to serve as an ambulance driver while Marjorie became an aeronautical draftsman for the Navy.

War and the development of commercial aviation conspired to dampen women’s hopes of equality in the air.

Experienced women pilots such as LaRoche and Katherine Stinson volunteered to serve in their countries’ nascent air forces during World War I.

They were denied, the military preferring to train unseasoned men.

The same pattern occurred in World War II, although Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) did ferry U.S. military planes as civilian pilots during the conflict.

(The Soviet Union, however, had three female air combat regiments.)

The dream of every family owning a private plane never did materialize; the infrastructure required would have been too extensive.

Instead, the commercial aviation industry developed, hiring men — many of whom had been trained as pilots by the military.

It was no use pointing out, as Earhart did, that "if women had access to the training and equipment men had we could certainly do as well."

Helen Richey became the first female commercial pilot in 1934 but was hounded out of her job.

The U.S. Commerce Department, under pressure from the all-male pilots’ union, decreed that women weren’t allowed to fly scheduled routes in bad weather.

(They’d previously considered “grounding female pilots for nine days a month during menstruation,” according to Ware).

There wouldn’t be another female commercial pilot until 1973, when Emily Howell Warner was hired by Frontier.

[the-halfling-prince]

I'm finally watching the hotdaga. Wow. Chaos. I'm obsessed.

[subby-sab]

Today is 24th July.

Today is National Tequila Day, Amelia Earhart Day, International Self Care Day, National Thermal Engineer Day.

[jiangwanyinsimp]

An Incomplete (and Very Long) list of thing Edwin Payne missed while he was stuck in Hell

This list emerged because I was talking about how he would have missed the end of World War One and then the list kept going. It is not complete or in order, and is provided simply for posterity

ww2

spanish flu

the hindenburg disaster

the rise of public radio

Irish independence

fast food as a concept

the hinterkaifeck murders

the extinction of the california grizzly

the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb

television

jet aircraft

supersonic aircraft

the moon landing

THE OFFICIAL FOUNDING OF THE SOVIET UNION

the jazz age

surrealism

the first woman to swim the english channel

the BBC

Amelia Earhart

Tintin

the discovery of Pluto

the crash of airship R101

the founding of porsche

the geneva convention

UK abandonment of the gold standard

the discovery of 22 elements on the periodic table

technicolor

Australia starting and losing the Emu war

the creation of the Royal Christmas message

the Great Depression

FM radio

the first canned beer

pre-sliced bread

the recognition of stress as a biological condition

the extinction of the thylacine

the destruction of the Crystal Palace

the first full feature length animated film (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

the nylon bristle toothbrush

Batman

the last use of the guillotine for an official state execution

Gone With the Wind (the book AND the film)

the founding of Greggs

Looney Tunes

the discovery of the Lascaux cave paintings

Agatha Christie's works

Cheerios

the discovery of nuclear fission and all subsequent nuclear discoveries

the airplane ejection seat

The Little Prince

LSD

the lifting of the prohibition of married British women working as teachers

the disappearance of flight 19

the first formula one grand prix

Mensa

the invention of the magic 8 ball

the Doomsday Clock

the AK-47

the first commercial microwave

the Kinsey reports

the first time Idaho Fish and Game parachuted beavers into the wild

humanity's entry to space

the beginning of the broadcast of the Archers (the longest running present day drama by number of episodes)

the Korean War

the polio vaccine

the first nuclear powered submarine

The Lord of the Rings

Moomins

transistor radio

the TV dinner/ready meal

ICBMs

the entire life of Elvis Presley

Kermit the Frog

My Fair Lady (the film and musical adaptations)

Grace Kelly's wedding

the Entire Life Of Marilyn Monroe

the Beat Generation

Eurovision

Helvetica typeface

the peace symbol

the Cod Wars

computer games

Dyatlov Pass incident

Barbie

Missile Mail

the Declaration of the Rights of the Child

the MOSFET

particle accelerators

the Beatles

the recovery of the Vasa

the first Six Flags

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Catch-22

the Vietnam War

Silent Spring

The Rolling Stones

the night of the long knives

Vatican II

James Bond

the Cuban Missile Crisis

Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation

the "I Have A Dream" speech

JFK Assassination

the smiley face

Mary Poppins (1964)

IntelSat

the last British execution

high speed rail

the first time "fuck" was said on british tv

the Moors Murders

the Grateful Dead

the British parliament decriminalizing homosexuality

most of the literary career of Pablo Neruda

Fleetwood Mac

the Parker Morris Standards

the end of steam passenger travel in the UK

Led Zeppelin

Earth Day

the first temporary artificial heart

the first person to row an ocean solo

Woodstock

the Zodiac Killer

the nationalization of Rolls-Royce

decimalisation of UK currency

the first e-book

the first microprocessor

DB Cooper

the first email

the Biological Weapons Convention

Watergate

the start of the Troubles

The Joy of Sex

all attempts to climb Mount Everest and the eventual first ascent

ABBA

the invention of the Rubik's Cube

the Moorgate tube crash

the first Cricket World Cup

the global eradication of Smallpox

Star Wars

the Tenerife airport disaster

the discovery of the rings of Uranus

Red Rum winning three Grand Nationals

the Concorde

the start of the broadcast of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Jonestown

Synthetic insulin

the Thorpe affair

the release of God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols

Monty Python

the election of Margaret Thatcher

Star Trek

Iron Maiden

the incident where the dingo ate a baby in Australia

the end of iron and steel production in the UK's Black Country

the first London Marathon

Charles and Diana's wedding

the church of England votes to elect women to holy orders

the 1981 UK tornado outbreak

the first child born by IVF

the Falklands War

the raising of the Mary Rose

the invention of ciabatta bread

the discovery of the Titanic

the King's Cross Fire

Top Gun

Lockerbie bombing

[blueiscoool]

Have Researchers Found Amelia Earhart’s Long-Lost Plane?

A new sonar image shows an airplane-shaped object resting on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, not far from where Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, went missing in 1937.

On July 2, 1937, pioneering pilot Amelia Earhart vanished somewhere over the Pacific Ocean near the end of her historic around-the-world flight. For decades, her mysterious disappearance has perplexed explorers, who have spent millions of dollars trying to find her missing Lockheed 10-E Electra plane.

Now, a possible new clue has emerged in the case: A sonar image captured during an expedition last fall shows an airplane-shaped object sitting on the ocean floor, not far from where experts believe Earhart likely crashed, reports the Wall Street Journal’s Nidhi Subbaraman.

The blurred object is far from definitive proof, but Dorothy Cochrane, an aeronautics curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, tells Smithsonian magazine it’s “an intriguing image” that warrants a second look.

The expedition was led by Tony Romeo, who is a former intelligence officer with the U.S. Air Force, a pilot and a commercial real estate investor from South Carolina. In 2021, he sold his real estate properties and spent $11 million to fund the trip, including buying high-tech equipment to aid in the search.

“This has been a story that’s always intrigued me, and all the things in my life kind of collided at the right moment,” Romeo tells Business Insider’s Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert and Rebecca Rommen. “I was getting out of real estate and looking for a new project, so even though I really started about 18 months ago, this was something I’ve been thinking and researching for a long time.”

Last September, a team from the exploration company Deep Sea Vision, which Romeo founded, departed from Tarawa, Kiribati, in the South Pacific aboard a research vessel. Working in 36-hour shifts, the 16-person crew used an underwater autonomous vehicle equipped with sonar to scour the sea floor, scanning roughly 5,200 total square miles.

About 90 days into the trip, the team was reviewing sonar images and noticed something unusual in the data from some 60 days prior. The mysterious object looked to be about the same shape and size as an aircraft, and it was identified roughly 100 miles from Howland Island, which is within the region where experts think Earhart’s plane went down. The object is around 16,400 feet below the water’s surface.

By then, however, the crew had determined it was too late to return to the site for a closer look. The camera on the underwater vehicle was also broken, which meant they wouldn’t be able to see anything if they did circle back, reports the Post and Courier’s Tony Bartelme.

But Romeo is undeterred and hopes to revisit the area in the future.

“This is maybe the most exciting thing I’ll ever do in my life,” he tells the Wall Street Journal. “I feel like a 10-year-old going on a treasure hunt.”

In the meantime, the sonar image is not detailed enough for experts to draw any definitive conclusions.

“It definitely appears to be an aircraft of some sort,” David Jourdan, who has searched three times for Earhart’s missing plane and is the co-founder and president of the ocean exploration company Nauticos, tells the Post and Courier. “It has aircraft-like features. But sound is funny. It can mislead you. We can’t say it’s her plane until you put a camera on it.”

To truly identify the object, future missions would ideally capture detailed images that contain the registration number of the plane, says Cochrane. Or, at the very least, they might more clearly show the submerged object’s dimensions and shape to see if it matches the model of Earhart’s vehicle.

“It really requires further research,” says Cochrane. “Finding something that’s really worth investigating further is step one. Verifying it’s the actual craft is step two. And step three becomes: Is it possible to recover this or not, or should it just be left where it is?”

At the time of her disappearance, Earhart was a global celebrity—speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Romeo likens her to Taylor Swift today. In June 1928, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean (as a passenger of pilots Wilmer Stultz and Lou Gordon), a feat that propelled her to international stardom.

Nearly four years later, in May 1932, she made history again by becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Later that year, she became the first woman to fly solo across North America and back. And in 1935, she became the first person, regardless of gender, to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California.

In the summer of 1936, the renowned pilot began to plan her most ambitious trip yet: a circumnavigation of the globe. On May 20, 1937, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, departed from Oakland for the first leg of the trip. They flew nearly 22,000 miles, making stops in Miami, South America, Africa and India along their eastward route.

By late June, they had made it to Lae, Papua New Guinea. After a few days’ rest, they departed for Howland Island, a small, uninhabited outcrop in the Pacific where a refueling station had been built for their journey. The U.S. Coast Guard had a vessel, the Itasca, stationed nearby to help with the landing.

Operators aboard the Itasca heard Earhart’s radio messages as she got closer and closer to the island. But eventually, they lost contact. Earhart and Noonan were never seen or heard from again.

The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard spent 16 days searching for the missing duo without success. About one and a half years later, on January 5, 1939, Earhart was declared dead.

Theories abound about her mysterious disappearance—some onlookers have speculated that she was a spy or that she was captured by a foreign military. But Cochrane believes the simplest explanation is the most plausible: that Earhart and Noonan ran out of fuel near Howland Island.

“She’s got to be around there somewhere,” she adds.

By Sarah Kuta.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Nick Anderson

* * * *

Billionaire props up Trump and RFK Jr.

June 21, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

If there was any doubt about RFK Jr.’s status as a stalking horse to promote Donald Trump's presidential aspirations, all vestiges of such doubt evaporated on Thursday. The New York Times reported that Timothy Mellon donated $50 million to a Trump-related super PAC. Mellon previously donated $25 million to super PACs for both RFK Jr. and Trump!

The $50 million donation to Trump was made the day after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies for interfering in the 2020 election by falsifying documents to conceal his sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels. (Flashback: Remember when the media breathlessly and uncritically reported that Trump raised $52.8 million in the 24 hours after the guilty verdicts? We now know that $50 million came from a single donor, meaning that Trump raised only $2.8 million in “real” donations in the first 24 hours.)

Per the Times (accessible to all),

Mr. Mellon is now the first donor to give $100 million in disclosed federal contributions in this year’s election. He was already the single largest contributor to super PACs supporting both Mr. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent. Mr. Mellon has previously given $25 million to both.

It is difficult to imagine that RFK Jr.’s candidacy would still be viable but for Mellon's $25 million donation. And Trump's campaign was lagging in fundraising until the guilty verdict prompted Mellon to make the largest single political donation in American history.

In essence, a single donor is keeping the campaigns of both RFK Jr. and Trump afloat to defeat President Biden. If anyone believed that RJK Jr. was a legitimate candidate, it is unreasonable and untenable for them to hold that belief in good faith after today’s revelation.

Timothy Mellon is the heir to Andrew Mellon’s banking fortune and appears to have spent much of his life “investing” his inheritance in flaky ventures like the search for Amelia Earhart and paying for Trump's border wall to nowhere in Texas. The hard work of squandering his inheritance has made Mellon resentful of poor people, a fact he made plain in his self-published autobiography. Mellon wrote the following about “social safety net” programs (like Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act):

Mellon called social safety net programs "Slavery Redux," adding: "For delivering their votes in the Federal Elections, they are awarded with yet more and more freebies: food stamps, cell phones, WIC payments, Obamacare, and on, and on, and on. The largess is funded by the hardworking folks, fewer and fewer in number, who are too honest or too proud to allow themselves to sink into this morass.” Per Wikipedia, Timothy Mellon.

Ah, yes! From a perch atop a $14 billion inherited fortune, it is understandable why Mr. Mellon resents poor people being given the opportunity to purchase affordable healthcare. It makes perfect sense that he has donated $50 million to Trump, whose party has pledged to cut Social Security and Medicare—the dreaded “safety net” programs despised by Mellon.

Mellon’s support for Trump is also consistent with Mellon’s substantial financial support to defend Arizona’s first-in-the-nation anti-immigrant bill SB 1070 (passed in 2010).

Many billionaires are voting with their dollars to support Trump, who promises to extend tax cuts that favor the most affluent taxpayers. But on Thursday, the reactionary majority on the Supreme Court gave another hint regarding the motivations of the Billionaire Boys Club for supporting Trump.

It takes a bit of explaining, but here is the bottom line: Democrats have proposed a “wealth tax” to ensure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of the nation’s tax revenue. Trump—and the reactionary majority—oppose a wealth tax. The big winners in defeating a wealth tax would be beneficiaries of multi-generational fortunes like Timothy Mellon.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld a tax that applied to investors in foreign corporations. Justice Kavanaugh wrote an opinion upholding the federal government’s authority to tax such investments. So far, so good. But here’s the catch: The case was brought by taxpayers hoping to convince the Court to rule that wealth taxes are unconstitutional.

Although the majority did not take that bait, Kavanaugh’s opinion clarifies that the reactionary majority is sympathetic to challenges to a wealth tax. See Ian Millhiser, Vox, The Supreme Court's new tax case, Moore v. US, is great for billionaires.

Per Millhiser,

Moore was widely viewed as a stalking horse for an attack on wealth taxes. [¶] Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s majority opinion in Moore . . .  claims that it leaves the question of whether wealth taxes are constitutional unresolved. The opinion even includes a footnote stating that “our analysis today does not address … taxes on holdings, wealth, or net worth.” But that’s not true. Kavanaugh’s Moore opinion includes a bonanza of loaded language that any competent tax lawyer can seize upon to protect their richest clients from wealth taxes, should Congress ever actually enact such a federal tax in the future.

Like many recent opinions by the reactionary majority, opinions that do not grant all the relief sought by MAGA plaintiffs contain “Easter eggs” that point the way for future attempts to achieve the result denied in the current case. See, e.g., Axios (6/24/2022), Clarence Thomas wants SCOTUS to reconsider decisions on gay marriage, contraceptives.

So, on the day Trump disclosed that a single billionaire donor gave the largest-ever donation to a campaign, the Supreme Court’s reactionary majority gave a wink-and-a-nod to billionaires, indicating its opposition to a wealth tax. What a coincidence!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[rustbeltjessie]

Today is Memorial Day. Take time to remember those brave souls who gave their lives for freedom. -Dear Abby

Remember Sacco & Vanzetti Remember Haymarket Remember John Brown Remember the slave revolts Remember Malcolm Remember Paracelsus Remember Huey & Little Bobby Hutton Remember Crazy Horse & Chief Joseph Remember the Modoc & the Algonquin Nation Remember Patrice Lumumba Remember the dream of Africa Remember Tina Modotti Remember Makhnov & Tsvetaeva & Mayakovski yes, goddammit, even remember Trotsky

Hey, do you remember Hypatia?      Socrates? Giordano Bruno? Remember my buddy, Esclarmonde de Foix Remember Seton the Cosmopolite Remember Edward Kelly, alchemist murdered in prison

Remember to take yr life back into yr hands It’s Memorial Day, remember           what you love & do it—don’t wait

Remember life hangs by a thread -           anybody’s life & then remember the poets: Shelley & Bob Kaufman

Remember Van Gogh & Pollock Remember Amelia Earhart Remember it’s not a safe time & all the more reason To do whole-heartedly what you have to do Remember the women & men of Wounded Knee, Kent State, remember where you stand : in the midst of empire, & the Huns are coming

Remember Vercingetorix, Max Jacob Apollinaire & Suhrawardi, remember

that all you need to remember is what you love Remember to Marry the World

—Diane di Prima, “Memorial Day, 2003" (as appears in The Poetry Deal)

[adventuressclubamericas]

Adventuresses We Love - Jerrie Mock

60 years ago this week, Adventuress Jerrie Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world. On March 19,1964, Mock took off from the Columbus, OH, airport in her single engine Cessna 180, the "Spirit of Columbus." She headed east, spending several days crossing the Atlantic before touching down for her first stopover in Morocco, where "…there were no nightmares of thunderheads over the Atlantic. Dressed in red satin, I danced in marble palaces." From there, she continued on, her route taking her over Egypt (where she touched down at a secret military base she'd mistaken for the Cairo airport,} Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and the Pacific, before finally returning to Columbus. She touched down in Columbus on April 17, 1964 - two weeks ahead of Joan Merriman Smith, who was circling the globe at the same time, following Amelia Earhart's westerly route.

Mock would go on to set several more records in the world of flight. Among her many honors, she was awarded the Louis Blériot medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the Federal Aviation Agency Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, and the Amelia Earhart Memorial Award. In 2022, she was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Jerrie Mock died September 30, 2014. The "Spirit of Columbus" is on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center outside of Washington, DC.

[nyoheadcannonsaph]

Allied Forces Human Names (+ my reasons for them)

Here is my take on the human names of the Nyotalia Allied countries.

Mind you that I've not been able to do a very thorough research on on each character, but I've tried to do each one of them justice - and I also included the way their names should be written in their native languages.

Feel free to argue, debate and suggest changes, if you want to. I just tried to get some of my opinions and ideas accross.

Also, a small disclaimer: I imagine human names exist for countries only when they need to pass as regular humans, and they are used by other humans mostly. Countries call each other by their country/nation names, because they identify with them. They also use nicknames and aliases (especially when spying on each other), so it's just something that was constantly changing through the years for some of them. At least, that's my theory.

Enjoy!

America - USA - Ameriko

Amelia L. Jones

The eternal question of "Emily" or "Amelia" for Nyotalia fans must be addressed first. "Amelia" is a more English form of a Germanic name "Amalia", the root of which, "amal", translates to "unceasing, vigorous, brave". "Emily", however, is the anglicized version of the "Aemilia", from the Latin genus (family name) of "Aemilius", which is translated to "enemy". The beggining of USA as a country are those of the Anglo-Scottish and Dutch colonisers, so it would historically make more sense for Nyo!America to be called "Amelia" - but there is one more obvious reason for this name: Amelia Earhart. The famous female pilot is certainly someone young country such as Nyo!America would definitely look up to.

As for the mysterious "L." in the name, I wanted to pay homage to both how many American politicians and public figures use their middle names as sole letters in their official names, but also to a lesser known historical figure of Lucretia Mott (nee Coffin). She was a white abolitionist and women's rights activist, back in the 19th century. I thought Nyo!America, who is just as keen on freedom and heroism as her male counterpart, would like to pay homage with her name to someone like Mrs Mott.

With that said, I believe before Amelia and Lucretia, Nyo!America was given various names (especially by Nyo!England, while under her care, and later under various governments); but I would imagine that since 1940s she opted towards making Amelia her official name and it stuck with her.

China - Chugoko (?)

王  春艳 --- Wang Chun-Yan

That's a country that has been using a hell lot of names in her long history - either names inspired by important women from her past like Wu or Xian, but also names that reminded her of some happy memories. Around the time of British and French colonialism knocking on her doorstep, she settled on the name Chun-Yan, written with signs "春" (chūn), meaning "spring" and "艳" (yàn), meaning "beautiful, gorgeous", but also "fascinating". It was meant a bit to be a lucky charm type of name for her, as she wished for rebirth as a fully capable country (and spring is associated with new beginnings in Chinese culture). It stood the test of time under communist revolution, as it correlated with the theme of reforms and she kept it in the current state up to this day.

Obviously there is more than just one Chinese culture and this is why I leave all her possible names and nicknames a mystery - I'm not skilled or knowledgable to make an informed opinion on that. I can only imagine it is one of the most complex characters here and her story deserves more digging into it. I just did the most modern human name option here.

As for nicknames, I can imagine some other countries (*cough* Nyo!America for once *cough*) calling Nyo!China "Mulan", as it's much easier to properly pronounce than "Chunyan", but also because of Disney movies, which fairly enough annoys Nyo!China. That's one more reason why countries prefer to use their country names over the human names.

England - UK - Igiko

Rosamund/Rose Kirkland

No, not Alice. Deal with it. Maybe it was one of her aliases for spying, but the first name Nyo!England ever used for herself was historically "Rosamund" or "Rosamond", which was popularised upon the Norman conquest. Before that, she was a young nation and called herself "Anglia", as that's what people called England at the time. After some time, she tried to differentiate herself from the French, so she began to use name Elizabeth, which the French used as "Isabelle" (and that was how Nyo!France sometimes called her). During the 19th century and the Victorian era in particular, she began using Rose as her name again, inspired by the Victorian floral code and different meanings of different flowers in it (she was quite keen on that btw).

So thus Rosamund finally became Rose, and as you probably know, white and red rose is one of the symbols of the UK as a whole (a.k.a. the Tudor rose and all that history stuff). It makes a lot of sense, when you think about that name in this context.

France - Franiko

Marion/Marie/Manon Bonnefoy

The big sister of Europe, and Nyo!Canada's motherly figure, France happened to grow up earlier than some of her neighbours and thus she adapted the name Mary, or rather Marion in medieval French, after the mother of Jesus Christ. You know, the oldest Catholic country, older than Italian siblings and so on... But since the time is changing and so changes the fashion, she adapted her name to different eras. And so during the renaissance and early baroque she used "Marie", then she swiched to "Marie Anne" or simply "Marianne" under Bourbons and then in revolution, she then used "Mariette" for some time in 19th century, and finally in the most recent times, she began using "Manon", making this a cultural phenomenon as the name got popular shortly after (and she wholeheartedly believes it's her claim to fame).

Btw, one of the theories says the name Mary, depite coming from Hebrew to European languages, is of Egyptian origin and meands something like "love" or "beloved". Quite fitting for Nyo!France, I must admit.

Russia - Kolko/Roshiko

Аня Брагинская --- Anya Braginskaya

Last, but not least, we got Russia and as we started with a young, ambitious nation, we're ending with another relatively young and also quite ambitious nation, which shows in the name. The name "Anne" or "Anna", from which Russian form "Аня" (Anya) comes, is of Hebrew origin, in the form of "Channah" (חַנָּה) meaning "favour, grace". This is a name which is technically a religious one in Russian orthodoxy, although it has been popularised to a degree most people don't even acknowledge it as such. My idea is that under tsarist times she was using "Соня" (Sonya), a Russian diminutive of "София" (Sofiya), meaning "wisdom" from Greek, as this was the name rather popular in medieval and early modern Russian elites, but after the revolution, she would differentiate herself from a typical "kulak" name and started using much more regular name like "Anya" instead.

And no, I don't think she would use "Anastasia" as her name, given how unpopular tsarist family was right after the revolution. I mean, she was likely told to change her name, so it wasn't up to her, and Sonya or Natalya were much more popular among the nobilty around the time of Peter the Great, as that is when I think she first had the need to use a human name.

[brookston]

Holidays 7.24

Holidays

Amelia Earhart Day

Asarnha Bucha Day (Thailand)

Body Painting Day

Boycott SeaWorld Day

Carnival of Awussu (Tunisia)

Children’s Day (Vanuatu)

Cousins Day

Drive-Thru Day

Feast of the Trickster of Liberty

Fellowship of the Ring Day

Guayaquil Day (Ecuador)

Horsetail Day (French Republic)

International FemDom Day

International Save the Vaquita Day

International Security Officers Day

International Self-Care Day

Life Peerage Day (UK)

Midsummer Day (Denmark)

National Day of Motoring

National Drive-Thru Day

National Kebab Day

National Madison Day

National Private Investigator Day

National Seasonal Affective Disorder Awareness Day (UK)

National Thermal Engineer Day

National Water Gun Fight Day

National YOLO Day (Indonesia)

Navy Day (Venezuela)

Pioneer Day (Utah)

Police Day (Poland)

Pop A Wheelie Day

Public Opinion Day

Puzzle Day

Resident Evil Day

Samaritans’ National Awareness Day (UK)

724 Day (Pennsylvania)

Simón Bolívar Day (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador)

Tell an Old Joke Day

Tenjin Matsuri (Japan)

Treaty of Lausanne Anniversary Day

Virtual Love Day

World BDSM Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Instant Coffee Day

National Drink Watermelon Day

National Frozen Margarita Day

National Tequila Day

Pie 'n' Beer Day

Independence & Related Days

Restoration of Democracy Day (Greece)

Tennessee (Readmitted to Union; 1866)

4th Wednesday in July

Bubble Tea Day [3rd Wednesday]

Cat Yoga Day [3rd Wednesday]

Festivals Beginning July 24, 2024

Cinehill Motovun Film Festival (Gorski Kotar, Croatia) [thru 7.28]

Days of '47 Parade (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Gage County Fair (Beatrice, Nebraska) [thru 7.28]

Hood River County Fair (Odell, Oregon) [thru 7.27]

Kotka Maritime Festival (Kotka, Finland) [thru 7.27]

NYC Restaurant Week (New York, New York) [thru 8.20]

Ohio State Fair (Columbus, Ohio) [thru 8.4]

Tenjin Matsuri (Osaka, Japan) [thru 7.25]

Tolminator (Tolmin, Slovenia) [thru 7.28]

Feast Days

Alexandre Dumas (Writerism)

Alex Katz (Artology)

Alphonse Mucha (Artology)

Asalha Puja Day (Buddhism)

Banana Yoshimoto (Writerism)

Boris and Gleb (Christian; Martyrs)

Charbel (Maronite Church/Catholic Church)

Christina the Astonishing (Christian; Saint)

Christina of Bolsena (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Pioneer Day

Cunegundes of Poland (a.k.a. Kings; Christian; Saint)

Day of Bast (Pagan)

Day of Mourning (Orthodox)

Declán of Ardmore (Christian; Saint)

Eugene J. Martin (Artology)

Expensive Hugs Day (Pastafarian)

Feast Day of Vatiaz (Mongolia; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Francis Solano (Christian; Saint)

Jakaba Diena (Ancient Latvian Hay Harvest Festival)

Jilwalla Jinks’ Jamboree (Shamanism)

John Boste (Christian; Saint)

Kinga (a.k.a. Cunegunda) of Poland (Christian; Saint)

Lewine of Britain (Christian; Saint)

Lord Dunsany (Writerism)

Lupus, Bishop of Troyes (Christian; Saint)

Martyrs of Daimiel (Christian; Saint)

Mel Ramos (Artology)

Menefrida of Cornwall (Christian; Saint)

Michaelangelo (Positivist; Saint)

Mourning Day (Greek Orthodox)

The Old Mothering (Celtic Book of Days)

Pat Oliphant (Artology)

Piganini (Muppetism)

Romanus and David of Muscovy (Christian; Martyrs)

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (St. John the Baptist Day; Quebec)

Sigolena of Albi (Christian; Saint)

Sylvester Graham Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Tequila Day (Pastafarian)

Vladimir Borovikovsky (Artology)

Wulfhad and Ruffin (Christian; Martyrs)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Baby Wants a Battle (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1953)

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (Film; 1947)

Begin the Beguine, recorded by Artie Shaw (Song; 1938)

Bewitched Bunny (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

The Black Cauldron (Disney Animated Film; 1985)

Blow Out (Film; 1981)

Corn on the Cop (WB MM Cartoon; 1965)

Cupid Gets His Man (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1936)

Donald’s Gold Mine (Disney Cartoon; 1942)

Existentialism is a Humanism, by Jean-Paul Sartre (Philosophy Book; 1946)

Eye of the Needle (Film; 1981)

Folklore, by Taylor Swift (Album; 2020)

Franken-Stymied (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1961)

Friedenstag (Day of Peace), by Richard Strauss (Opera; 1938)

G-Force (Film; 2009)

High Noon (Film; 1952)

How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, recorded by Marvin Gaye (Song; 1964)

Jungle Jitters (Ub Iwerks MGM Cartoon; 1934)

La Bamba (Film; 1987)

La Feet’s Defeat (The Inspector Cartoon; 1968)

Le Ball and Chain Gang (The Inspector Cartoon; 1968)

Let’s Get Movin’ (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1936)

The Masks of God, Vol. 1: Primitive Mythology, by Joseph Campbell (Science Book; 1959)

A Maze of Death, by Philip K. Dick (Novel; 1970)

Olivia, by Dorothy Strachey (Novel; 1949)

Paper Towns (Film; 2015)

Pixels (Film; 2015)

Porky’s Bedtime Story (WB LT Cartoon; 1937)

Puddy Pup and the Gypsies (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1936)

Saving Private Ryan (Film; 1998)

Sherlock (BBC TV Series; 2010)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Film; 1978)

Spring is Here, featuring Farmer Al Falfa (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1932)

Summer School (Film; 1987)

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Film; 1987)

A Time to Kill (Film; 1996)

Tire Trouble (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1942)

Today’s Name Days

Christoph, Christophorus (Austria)

Boris, Kristina, Ljudevit, Mirjana, Sarbelije (Croatia)

Kristýna (Czech Republic)

Christina (Denmark)

Kersti, Kerstin, Kirsti, Krista, Kristel, Kristi, Kristiina, Kristin, Kristina, Rista, Riste (Estonia)

Kiia, Kirsi, Kirsti, Krista, Kristiina, Tiina, Tinja (Finland)

Christine, Ségolène (France)

Christine, Christoph (Germany)

Christina (Greece)

Kincső, Kinga (Hungary)

Cristina (Italy)

Krista, Kristiāna, Kristīne, Krists (Latvia)

Dargvilas, Dargvilė, Kristina, Kristoforas (Lithuania)

Kristi, Kristin, Kristine (Norway)

Antoni, Kinga, Krystyna, Kunegunda, Olga, Wojciecha (Poland)

Elena, Olga (Russia)

Vladimír (Slovakia)

Cristina (Spain)

Kerstin, Kristina (Sweden)

Christine (Ukraine)

Chrissie, Chrissy, Christabel, Christelle, Christene, Christi, Christie, Christine, Christy, Cis, Cissy, Declan, Kirsti, Kirstie, Kirstin, Kirsty, Kristel, Kristie, Kristine (Universal)

Amalia, Amelia, Boris, Chris, Christa, Christen, Christian, Christina, Christine, Christy, Cristina, Cristian, Declan, Kiersten, Kirsten, Krista, Kristian, Kristen, Kristi, Kris (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 206 of 2024; 160 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 30 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 18 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 19 (Ji-Chou)

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

Hebrew: 18 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 17 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 26 Red; Fryday [26 of 30]

Julian: 11 July 2024

Moon: 87%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 9 Dante (8th Month) [Michaelangelo]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 35 of 94)

Week: 4th Week of July

Zodiac: Leo (Day 3 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Thorn (Defense) [Half-Month 14 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 8.7)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.24

Holidays

Amelia Earhart Day

Asarnha Bucha Day (Thailand)

Body Painting Day

Boycott SeaWorld Day

Carnival of Awussu (Tunisia)

Children’s Day (Vanuatu)

Cousins Day

Drive-Thru Day

Feast of the Trickster of Liberty

Fellowship of the Ring Day

Guayaquil Day (Ecuador)

Horsetail Day (French Republic)

International FemDom Day

International Save the Vaquita Day

International Security Officers Day

International Self-Care Day

Life Peerage Day (UK)

Midsummer Day (Denmark)

National Day of Motoring

National Drive-Thru Day

National Kebab Day

National Madison Day

National Private Investigator Day

National Seasonal Affective Disorder Awareness Day (UK)

National Thermal Engineer Day

National Water Gun Fight Day

National YOLO Day (Indonesia)

Navy Day (Venezuela)

Pioneer Day (Utah)

Police Day (Poland)

Pop A Wheelie Day

Public Opinion Day

Puzzle Day

Resident Evil Day

Samaritans’ National Awareness Day (UK)

724 Day (Pennsylvania)

Simón Bolívar Day (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador)

Tell an Old Joke Day

Tenjin Matsuri (Japan)

Treaty of Lausanne Anniversary Day

Virtual Love Day

World BDSM Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Instant Coffee Day

National Drink Watermelon Day

National Frozen Margarita Day

National Tequila Day

Pie 'n' Beer Day

Independence & Related Days

Restoration of Democracy Day (Greece)

Tennessee (Readmitted to Union; 1866)

4th Wednesday in July

Bubble Tea Day [3rd Wednesday]

Cat Yoga Day [3rd Wednesday]

Festivals Beginning July 24, 2024

Cinehill Motovun Film Festival (Gorski Kotar, Croatia) [thru 7.28]

Days of '47 Parade (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Gage County Fair (Beatrice, Nebraska) [thru 7.28]

Hood River County Fair (Odell, Oregon) [thru 7.27]

Kotka Maritime Festival (Kotka, Finland) [thru 7.27]

NYC Restaurant Week (New York, New York) [thru 8.20]

Ohio State Fair (Columbus, Ohio) [thru 8.4]

Tenjin Matsuri (Osaka, Japan) [thru 7.25]

Tolminator (Tolmin, Slovenia) [thru 7.28]

Feast Days

Alexandre Dumas (Writerism)

Alex Katz (Artology)

Alphonse Mucha (Artology)

Asalha Puja Day (Buddhism)

Banana Yoshimoto (Writerism)

Boris and Gleb (Christian; Martyrs)

Charbel (Maronite Church/Catholic Church)

Christina the Astonishing (Christian; Saint)

Christina of Bolsena (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Pioneer Day

Cunegundes of Poland (a.k.a. Kings; Christian; Saint)

Day of Bast (Pagan)

Day of Mourning (Orthodox)

Declán of Ardmore (Christian; Saint)

Eugene J. Martin (Artology)

Expensive Hugs Day (Pastafarian)

Feast Day of Vatiaz (Mongolia; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Francis Solano (Christian; Saint)

Jakaba Diena (Ancient Latvian Hay Harvest Festival)

Jilwalla Jinks’ Jamboree (Shamanism)

John Boste (Christian; Saint)

Kinga (a.k.a. Cunegunda) of Poland (Christian; Saint)

Lewine of Britain (Christian; Saint)

Lord Dunsany (Writerism)

Lupus, Bishop of Troyes (Christian; Saint)

Martyrs of Daimiel (Christian; Saint)

Mel Ramos (Artology)

Menefrida of Cornwall (Christian; Saint)

Michaelangelo (Positivist; Saint)

Mourning Day (Greek Orthodox)

The Old Mothering (Celtic Book of Days)

Pat Oliphant (Artology)

Piganini (Muppetism)

Romanus and David of Muscovy (Christian; Martyrs)

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (St. John the Baptist Day; Quebec)

Sigolena of Albi (Christian; Saint)

Sylvester Graham Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Tequila Day (Pastafarian)

Vladimir Borovikovsky (Artology)

Wulfhad and Ruffin (Christian; Martyrs)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Baby Wants a Battle (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1953)

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (Film; 1947)

Begin the Beguine, recorded by Artie Shaw (Song; 1938)

Bewitched Bunny (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

The Black Cauldron (Disney Animated Film; 1985)

Blow Out (Film; 1981)

Corn on the Cop (WB MM Cartoon; 1965)

Cupid Gets His Man (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1936)

Donald’s Gold Mine (Disney Cartoon; 1942)

Existentialism is a Humanism, by Jean-Paul Sartre (Philosophy Book; 1946)

Eye of the Needle (Film; 1981)

Folklore, by Taylor Swift (Album; 2020)

Franken-Stymied (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1961)

Friedenstag (Day of Peace), by Richard Strauss (Opera; 1938)

G-Force (Film; 2009)

High Noon (Film; 1952)

How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, recorded by Marvin Gaye (Song; 1964)

Jungle Jitters (Ub Iwerks MGM Cartoon; 1934)

La Bamba (Film; 1987)

La Feet’s Defeat (The Inspector Cartoon; 1968)

Le Ball and Chain Gang (The Inspector Cartoon; 1968)

Let’s Get Movin’ (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1936)

The Masks of God, Vol. 1: Primitive Mythology, by Joseph Campbell (Science Book; 1959)

A Maze of Death, by Philip K. Dick (Novel; 1970)

Olivia, by Dorothy Strachey (Novel; 1949)

Paper Towns (Film; 2015)

Pixels (Film; 2015)

Porky’s Bedtime Story (WB LT Cartoon; 1937)

Puddy Pup and the Gypsies (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1936)

Saving Private Ryan (Film; 1998)

Sherlock (BBC TV Series; 2010)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Film; 1978)

Spring is Here, featuring Farmer Al Falfa (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1932)

Summer School (Film; 1987)

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Film; 1987)

A Time to Kill (Film; 1996)

Tire Trouble (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1942)

Today’s Name Days

Christoph, Christophorus (Austria)

Boris, Kristina, Ljudevit, Mirjana, Sarbelije (Croatia)

Kristýna (Czech Republic)

Christina (Denmark)

Kersti, Kerstin, Kirsti, Krista, Kristel, Kristi, Kristiina, Kristin, Kristina, Rista, Riste (Estonia)

Kiia, Kirsi, Kirsti, Krista, Kristiina, Tiina, Tinja (Finland)

Christine, Ségolène (France)

Christine, Christoph (Germany)

Christina (Greece)

Kincső, Kinga (Hungary)

Cristina (Italy)

Krista, Kristiāna, Kristīne, Krists (Latvia)

Dargvilas, Dargvilė, Kristina, Kristoforas (Lithuania)

Kristi, Kristin, Kristine (Norway)

Antoni, Kinga, Krystyna, Kunegunda, Olga, Wojciecha (Poland)

Elena, Olga (Russia)

Vladimír (Slovakia)

Cristina (Spain)

Kerstin, Kristina (Sweden)

Christine (Ukraine)

Chrissie, Chrissy, Christabel, Christelle, Christene, Christi, Christie, Christine, Christy, Cis, Cissy, Declan, Kirsti, Kirstie, Kirstin, Kirsty, Kristel, Kristie, Kristine (Universal)

Amalia, Amelia, Boris, Chris, Christa, Christen, Christian, Christina, Christine, Christy, Cristina, Cristian, Declan, Kiersten, Kirsten, Krista, Kristian, Kristen, Kristi, Kris (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 206 of 2024; 160 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 30 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 18 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 19 (Ji-Chou)

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

Hebrew: 18 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 17 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 26 Red; Fryday [26 of 30]

Julian: 11 July 2024

Moon: 87%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 9 Dante (8th Month) [Michaelangelo]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 35 of 94)

Week: 4th Week of July

Zodiac: Leo (Day 3 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Thorn (Defense) [Half-Month 14 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 8.7)

[edijobs-blog]

Women's History Month

Image: CanvaKey Moments and Remarkable Achievements In the hallowed halls of the East Room of the White House on March 18, 2013, history was made once again. It wasn't just a gathering; it was a celebration of resilience, courage, and the indomitable spirit of women across the United States. The occasion? The Women's History Month reception, a momentous event that underscored the importance of recognizing and honoring the contributions of women throughout history. As we celebrate Women's Month and International Women's Day, let us draw inspiration from the extraordinary women who have left an indelible mark on history. But before delving into their remarkable achievements, let's take a moment to reflect on the key moments that led to the establishment of National Women's History Month. Key Moments in the Establishment of National Women's History Month: - March 8, 1857: Female textile workers in New York City stage one of the first organized strikes by working women to protest unfair working conditions and unequal rights. Their demands include a shorter workday and decent wages, marking a pivotal moment in labor history and women's rights activism. - March 8, 1908: Women workers in the needle trades march through New York City's Lower East Side to protest against child labor, sweatshop working conditions, and advocate for women's suffrage. This demonstration underscores the intersectionality of women's rights issues and the ongoing struggle for social justice. - 1910: March 8th is officially designated as International Women's Day, marking a global celebration of women's achievements and a call to action for gender equality and women's rights around the world. - 1978: Women's History Week is established in the United States as an initiative to incorporate women's history into educational curricula. This recognition highlights the importance of acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of women throughout history. - 1987: The National Women's History Project successfully lobbies Congress to expand Women's History Week into National Women's History Month, recognizing the economic, political, and social contributions of women throughout the entire month of March. This designation serves to elevate the visibility of women's achievements and promote gender equality in all spheres of society. Now, let's celebrate Women's History Month by honoring some of the remarkable women who have blazed trails, shattered glass ceilings, and inspired generations to come.Remarkable Achievements of Extraordinary Women: - Rosa Parks (1913-2005): Known as the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement," Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked a wave of protests and led to significant advancements in the fight for racial equality. - Marie Curie (1867-1934): A pioneering physicist and chemist, Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields. Her groundbreaking research on radioactivity laid the foundation for advancements in medical science. - Malala Yousafzai (1997-present): At just 17 years old, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy of education for girls in her native Pakistan, despite facing assassination attempts by the Taliban. - Amelia Earhart (1897-1937): A trailblazing aviator, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Her courage and determination inspired generations of women to pursue their dreams, both in the skies and beyond. - Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005): In 1968, Shirley Chisholm made history as the first African American woman elected to the United States Congress. She was a fierce advocate for civil rights, women's rights, and social justice throughout her trailblazing political career. - Frida Kahlo (1907-1954): Renowned for her vibrant and introspective artwork, Frida Kahlo remains an icon of feminist art and Mexican culture. Despite facing numerous challenges, including chronic pain and disability, Kahlo's paintings continue to resonate with audiences around the world. - Audre Lorde (1934-1992): A poet, essayist, and civil rights activist, Audre Lorde used her writing to address issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Her work remains influential in feminist and queer theory, inspiring countless individuals to speak out against injustice. - Ada Lovelace (1815-1852): Often regarded as the world's first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace developed algorithms for Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine, in the mid-19th century. - Michelle Obama (1964-present): As the first African American First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama championed causes such as education, health, and military families during her time in the White House. Her advocacy work and inspiring speeches continue to resonate with people worldwide. - Jane Goodall (1934-present): A primatologist and anthropologist, Jane Goodall's groundbreaking research on chimpanzees revolutionized our understanding of primate behavior and conservation. Her lifelong dedication to wildlife preservation and environmental activism has made her a global icon. These remarkable women and countless others have paved the way for progress and inspired future generations to dream big and defy expectations. As we honor their legacies during Women's History Month, let us recommit ourselves to the ongoing pursuit of equality and justice for all. Read the full article

[ultraheydudemestuff]

Westlake Hotel Condominium and Villas

19000 Lake Rd.

Rocky River, OH       

The Westlake Hotel, built in 1925 and dubbed the "pink palace" by locals, was one of the first luxury suburban hotels in the nation. Built of brick and stucco, with a steel frame and reinforced concrete, the Westlake Hotel is one of several residential Hotels built in the Cleveland area in the 1920s.  Located at Detroit Ave. and Wooster Road near the mouth of the Rocky River, the Hotel typifies the Rocky River, Ohio, suburb more than any other single landmark.  The Westlake was not the first building on the site. Since 1816, there has been an inn, tavern, or hotel where the Westlake building is today. The first of these was Wright’s tavern, known far and wide for its unrivaled view of the Lake and as the principal tavern in the area. Wright’s tavern was the site of many township meetings back when Rocky River and Lakewood were part of Riockport Township. When Rufus Wright built the Tavern, there was no bridge over the lower Rocky River; the Tavern could only be accessed from the east by a river ferry or ford. Wright’s Tavern, besides serving as a local meeting place, also filled the role of inn, stagecoach stop, and U.S. post office.

     In 1853, Jacob Silverthorne purchased Wright’s Tavern, renamed it the Silverthorne Inn (sometimes spelled Silverthorn with no “e”), and moved his family from Bratenahl to Rocky River to run it. The Silverthorne soon became known for its delicious chicken dinners. For 66 years, the Silverthorne Inn remained a popular social center until it was torn down to make way for the Westlake Hotel. Advertised as “Greater Cleveland’s Pre-eminent Apartment Hotel,” the Westlake Hotel features Spanish Renaissance architecture.  In 1925, Rocky River was still countrified. Some referred to the city as Cleveland’s “vegetable garden,” but guests at the Westlake were treated with luxury. They could have the valet press and launder their clothes, have their car washed in the adjacent garage, and get a haircut in the barber or beauty salon downstairs. There was a playground in the back, next to the tennis courts. Stables were next door, and patrons were able to use the hotel’s boat dock. In addition, a miniature golf course and terrace tea service provided extra entertainment. The ballroom with its grand staircase was the scene of many weddings and cotillions, and guests could dine or play cards in the Marine Dining Room, the Lacquer Room, and the Commodore Room.

     The nearby railroad and Interurban lines provided easy access to downtown Cleveland. There was so much activity that the residential hotel had its own weekly ten or 12-page magazine, “From the Windows of Westlake.” The publication included timetables for the railroads, boat, bus and air lines in addition to upcoming events.  In the early days, many aviators made their home at the Westlake. The 20-foot-high Hotel Westlake sign on the roof aided planes flying into Cleveland Municipal Airport (not yet named Hopkins), and the National Air Races drew thousands to the Hotel. Early guests included Amelia Earhart, James H. Doolittle, Jr., Carl F. Egge, Roy Mitchell, Byron K. Newcome, Edwin H. Bassett, Dean C. Smith, Admiral Richard Bird, Wiley Post, and Charles Lindbergh. The Hotel also served as headquarters for chapters of the leading women's flying clubs - the Ninety-Nines and Betsy Ross Aviators. 

     On January 25, 1962, a 6:00 a.m. kitchen grease fire made its way to the roof of the Hotel and caused $500,000 in damage, including destroying the Hotel Westlake sign on the roof. Extensive fire and water damage throughout the building caused 175 guests – 160 permanent - to find quarters elsewhere. Fortunately, no one was injured; the Silverthorne Bar reopened the next day.   In November 1962, Union Financial Corporation and Westlake Investment Corp. purchased the Hotel for $1 million and converted it into an apartment building.   In the 1970s, the building slipped into seediness. Even the exterior was a dingy pale gray. One columnist wrote, "It was growing into an old folks home. People lived in tiny rooms for 40 years and longer, and when they died, their bodies were not discovered for weeks." Another referred to it as “looking like a Midwest matron in a New York singles bar.”  Rising like a phoenix from a succession of owners, the disastrous 1962 fire, and various attempts to turn it into public housing, the Westlake was revived in 1983 when Rocky River developer Scott Maurer bought the building. Maurer turned the building into a 98-unit condominium complex including 12 penthouses, spending $13 million to renovate it and add an 85-slip marina on the river below. He later built The Villas, a 17-unit condominium complex on the water's edge. On October 20, 1983, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it possible for buyers to take advantage of Federal tax credits in buying the condominium units.  Today the 115 condominium units of the Westlake Condominium and Villas are one of Cleveland's most prestigious and historic waterfront buildings.

[skiplo-wave]

Tony Romeo had me for just 24 hours until he got on News Nation explaining how they are going to send down cameras to confirm if the wreckage is Amelia Earhart's airplane. He said they are going to see if it can be moved or not. And he's interested in seeing if the maps she had is retrievable.

I knew it. I fucking knew that one day they would disturb the resting spot if they ever found Amelia's airplane. It's a grave! Take pictures. Do what you need to do. But do not lift it or take anything from it. It's going to make millions off of it. Wait and watch. This airplane is 16,000 feet down in the Pacific. That is further down than the Titanic.

Oceangate 2: Earheat bugaloo

[xtruss]

Has Amelia Earhart’s Plane Really Been Found? 6 Key Things To Know

A New Grainy Sonar Image Claims to Solve the Mystery of the Famed Aviator’s Disappearance, But Experts Say it’s Too Soon to tell. Here's What We Do Know.

— By Rachel Hartigan | January 29, 2024

Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in this Lockheed Electra 10e airplane on July 2, 1937. Experts say it's too early to know for sure whether claims that the wreckage has been found are true. Photograph Courtesy PF-(Aircraft), Alamy Stock Photo

With the Release of a Grainy Gold Image, news headlines around the world are trumpeting the possible discovery of Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10e, the plane she was flying in 1937 when she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared during the most difficult leg of their round-the-world flight.

Deep Sea Vision, a new venture founded by pilot and commercial real estate investor Tony Romeo, captured the sonar image during a hundred-day expedition in the central Pacific, the region where Earhart was lost. “It was definitely a surreal moment for all of us,” says Romeo, who sold his real estate holdings to purchase a cutting-edge autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) equipped with highly advanced sonar technologies.

The remotely operated vehicle Hercules is retrieved from the waters off Nikumaroro Island onto the deck of the E/V Nautilus in 2019 after a day of searching for Amelia Earhart’s missing airplane. Explorers have long sought to solve the mystery of the famed aviator's fate. Photograph By Gabriel Scarlett, National Geographic Image Collection

Still, it’s too soon to say whether this discovery of an object 16,000 feet deep means one of the great historical mysteries has been solved. Here’s what we do know.

1. Sonar Images Have Limitations.

Sonar images are not photographs. The sound waves sent by sonar are at a low frequency, which translates to low resolution.

“The sound wave, because it’s so big, can’t see fine detail,” says David Jourdan, an engineer whose company Nauticos has led three expeditions in search of Earhart. “It can be distorted by reflections, like taking a picture of a mirror.” Promising images, on a second look, sometimes turn out to be something else entirely, like a geological formation.

Amelia Earhart is shown in the cockpit of her autogiro on April 8, 1931, after setting a new altitude record for women in planes of this type. Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

2. Deep Sea Vision Didn’t Confirm The Object’s Identity.

Romeo and his team found the image in their data storage files as they were transitioning to another expedition. They thought that data from one of the AUV’s earlier sorties had been corrupted. When they discovered it wasn’t—and that they had a potential blockbuster find—it was too late to return to the site.

“We were out of time. We were out of resources,” says Romeo. “And we didn’t have a camera on our [AUV]. It broke really early in the expedition.” Returning to go over the target again with just sonar didn’t seem worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars he estimated it would cost. Deep Sea Vision plans to go back to the sonar image site this year, this time with an operational camera on the AUV to confirm the finding.

National Geographic Explorer at Large Bob Ballard, pictured here in the control room of the E/V Nautilus, led a major expedition in 2019 to find the remains of Amelia Earhart's airplane. Photograph By Gabriel Scarlett, National Geographic Image Collection

3. Some Experts Say The Plane, If It Is A Plane, Doesn’t Resemble The Electra.

“The proportions aren’t quite right,” says Jourdan, pointing to the way the wings are swept back rather than straight across, as the Electra’s were.

Others are even more skeptical. “For the wings of an Electra to fold rearward as shown in the sonar image, the entire center section would have to fail at the wing/fuselage junctions,” according to an email blast from The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), an organization that has put forward the theory that Earhart died a castaway on an island to the east of the sonar image site. “That’s just not possible.”

Romeo dismisses this criticism. Both the wings and the tail look swept back due to distortion caused by the AUV moving through the water, he says, pointing to the twin fins on the back of the plane instead. “That’s very distinctive of her aircraft,” he says. “There’s only a couple of planes that’ve ever been made like that.”

Amelia Earhart is photographed with her Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, the aircraft she used in her attempted flight around the world. Earhart and the plane went missing on July 2, 1937. Underwood & Underwood/Alamy Stock Photo

4. The Object’s Location Is Roughly On Earhart’s Flight Path—But Beyond The Range Suggested By Her Radio Signals.

Earhart and Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, flying from Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island, a one-and-a-half-mile long island some 2,500 miles away. After flying 20 hours, Earhart thought they were close and radioed the Itasca, the Coast Guard ship awaiting them at Howland, “We must be on you but cannot see you.” Her voice was so loud, the Coast Guard radiomen thought she was very near too. She wasn’t, but the strength of the radio signals suggest that she was just beyond visual range.

Deep Sea Vision’s search area was roughly a hundred miles west; Romeo won’t reveal exactly where to avoid someone else making the crucial find. But he does acknowledge that they were guided by a theory that Noonan had failed to account for how the International Date Line would affect his calculations. That theory, however, doesn’t account for the strength of Earhart’s radio signals.

A deep-sea exploration company has captured a sonar image of an anomaly on the ocean floor that resembles an aircraft. The team believes the object could be Amelia Earhart's Lockheed 10-E Electra that went missing nearly 87 years ago. Deep Sea Vision/PR Newswire

Tony Romeo holds a model of Amelia Earhart's plane, which resembles sonar images he and his crew captured with high-tech equipment. Tony Romeo/CEO Deep Sea Vision

5. Others Have Claimed To Solve This Mystery.

Over the nearly 90 years since Earhart and Noonan vanished, many people have claimed to have proof of what happened to them.

Members of the Ballard-led expedition dive in the primary search area just off Nikumaroro Island, an isolated ring of coral and sand surrounding a turquoise lagoon where some suspect Earhart may have been landed. Photograph By Gabriel Scarlett, National Geographic Image Collection

People who believe the Japanese captured and killed the aviators have pointed to everything from a generator retrieved in a Saipan harbor in 1960 to a photograph on a Jaluit dock revealed in 2017. TIGHAR, meanwhile, has claimed various smoking guns over the years but now argues that a preponderance of historical and archaeological evidence puts Earhart on Nikumaroro Island, 400 hundred miles south of Howland, where they believe she starved to death.

Then there’s the simplest explanation: that the aviators simply crashed into the ocean. Elgen Long, an airline pilot who with his wife Marie did the most extensive research into where that might have happened, wrote a book called Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved. Over three expeditions, Jourdan has looked where Long suggested (and elsewhere) and come up empty.

6. The Mystery Is Still Unsolved. That Doesn’t Mean Its Unsolvable.

Jourdan’s team believes they’ve narrowed down where the Electra went down based on recent radio signal testing. Meanwhile, when Deep Sea Vision returns to the site this year, they will bring a documentary crew to capture the moment. “This is definitely something that we need to go back and look at,” says Romeo. “We’ve got to get out there before … you know, there is some urgency.”

Top: The Romeo Brothers are planning another Pacific Ocean expedition to get better sonar images to confirm whether they have discovered the ruins of Earhart's doomed voyage. Bettmann Archive

Bottom: Deep Sea Vision believes they may have come across Amelia Earhart's wrecked plane in the Pacific Ocean. Photo: Bettman via Getty Images/Deep Sea Vision

Tony Romeo holds a model of Amelia Earhart's plane, which resembles sonar images he and his crew captured with high-tech equipment. (Tony Romeo/CEO Deep Sea Vision)