#R Radical Records

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

MILLIONS OF DEAD CHILDREN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MULTI-DEATH CORPORATION.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on back cover sleeve art/B-side to the "Chicken Squawk" 7 inch EP by American hardcore punk band MILLIONS OF DEAD CHILDREN (MDC), released in 1984 under R Radical Records. 

7 INCH EP OVERVIEW: "It was 1984 and there was a gigantic famine going on in parts of Africa especially Ethiopia. M.D.C. attacked the problem head on. This was all due to greed by multi-death corporations and corrupt governments. If not for this greed this problem could easily be solved. Musically you would see M.D.C. continue to get faster and more thrash-like. Their lyrics would continue to tackle the cause of these problems and offer solutions. This record first came out in 1984 and went out of print shortly after."

-- GRAVE MISTAKE RECORDS (label & distro)

Source: www.picuki.com/media/2978683209197657532.

[bestfuckinmusic]

Offenders - We Must Rebel - 1983

Amazing, Texan hardcore on R Radical Records.

[heroes-fading]

alright your rockstar anon is back to talk except off anon bc you have provided me with a new set of brain rot

wouldve couldve shouldve?????? being That song was so real and !!!!!!! one of the things I love about it is the universality of the bridge - “give me back my girlhood it was mine first” can apply to SO MANY THINGS, theres so much relatability to it and there’s probably a trend that blows up to Ellie’s song with people resonating with the song

so I’m just imagining the wave of social media support Ellie gets during that law suit, and while the entire situation is horrendous, the public outside of the courts understands and they support Ellie fully

also cant remember if this is on your spotify playlist but may I propose a song rec: praying by Kesha

hmmmm just re-listened to song rec (I only remembered the vibes when suggesting it) and I feel like the religious undertones are either1) ignore the song rec2) a way to say fuck you to handing out bibles at a festival David

---

LOVE thank you so much for being invested in this lil universe it makes me so happy!!! praying is a BANGER and dr l*ke was exactly one of the people I was thinking of when writing this iteration of david. kesha's court battle was really top of mind for me.

tbh I would love to believe in unanimous public support for ellie but after living through the past two years on social media...i think a lot of people would get it and for others it'd take the article and a lot of other women and girls coming forward to break through to them. and it shouldn't have to. but this is the world we live in. it helps that a record producer would be without the built in fanbase of movie stars or directors or big acts, so the backlash to ellie publicly wouldn't be that bad.

the support would probably outweigh the backlash, especially with another big act in her corner (joel's fanbase of random anti mainstream middle aged dudes and the Depressed Community would probably have her back and follow his example) but others would stay entirely silent for fear of retribution until tides really turned.

the saddest part of it is how common it is with women who come forward - and now we suddenly have the precedent of defamation lawsuits for women even daring to speak now even in vague terms. the closest we get to justice is when multiple women speak out and the solidarity that exists there but like...by that point that shit is serial.

the people that get it though fucking get it.

[kemetic-dreams]

Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F♯7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use of the whistle register and has been referred to by the media as the "Queen of the Whistle Register."

Minnie Riperton grew up in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side. As a child, she studied music, drama and dance at Chicago's Lincoln Center. The youngest of eight children in a musical family, she embraced the arts early. Although she began with ballet and modern dance, her parents recognized her vocal and musical abilities and encouraged her to pursue music and voice. At Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Center, she received operatic vocal training from Marion Jeffery. She practiced breathing and phrasing, with particular emphasis on diction. Jeffery also trained Riperton to use her full range. While studying under Jeffery, she sang operettas and show tunes, in preparation for a career in opera. Jeffery was so convinced of her pupil's abilities that she strongly pushed her to further study the classics at Chicago's Junior Lyric Opera.

The young Riperton was, however, becoming interested in soul, rhythm and blues, and rock. In her teen years, she sang lead vocals for the Chicago-based girl group the Gems. Eventually the group became a session group known as Studio Three and it was during this period that they provided the backing vocals on the classic 1965 Fontella Bass hit "Rescue Me".

After graduating from Hyde Park High School (now Hyde Park Academy High School), she enrolled at Loop College and became a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. She dropped out of college to pursue her music career.

Her early affiliation with the legendary Chicago-based Chess Records afforded her the opportunity to sing backup for various established artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. While at Chess, Riperton also sang lead for the experimental rock/soul group Rotary Connection, from 1967 to 1971.

On April 5, 1975, Riperton reached the apex of her career with her No. 1 single "Lovin' You". The single was the last release from her 1974 gold album titled Perfect Angel. Riperton's third album, Adventures in Paradise was released in 1975. Despite the R&B hit "Inside My Love", some radio stations refused to play "Inside My Love" due to the lyrics.

Her fourth album for Epic Records, titled Stay in Love (1977), featured another collaboration with Stevie Wonder in the funky disco tune "Stick Together".

In 1978, Richard Rudolph and Riperton's attorney Mike Rosenfeld orchestrated a move to Capitol Records for Riperton and her CBS Records catalog. In April 1979, Riperton released her fifth and final album, Minnie. "Memory Lane" was a hit from the album.

Riperton provided backing vocals on Stevie Wonder's songs "Creepin'" from 1974's Fulfillingness' First Finale and "Ordinary Pain" from 1976's Songs in the Key of Life. In 1977, she lent her vocal abilities to a track named "Yesterday and Karma", on Osamu Kitajima's album, Osamu.

In January 1976, Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer and, in April, she underwent a radical mastectomy. By the time of diagnosis, the cancer had metastasized and she was given about six months to live. Despite the grim prognosis, she continued recording and touring. She was one of the first celebrities to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis but did not disclose she was terminally ill.

In 1977, she became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. In 1978, she received the American Cancer Society's Courage Award, which was presented to her at the White House by President Jimmy Carter.

Riperton died of cancer on July 12, 1979 at the age 31.

During the 1990s, Riperton's music was sampled by many rap and hip-hop artists, including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, Blumentopf, The Orb

[thatdeadaquarius]

When I’m playing genshin, I’m mostly listening to either Paternity Court, or Steve Wilkos. Imagine the characters hearing all of the stuff and being so scandalized by the results and comments. Or being genuinely disgusted and heartbroken for the victims in more serious cases. I can def see a good chunk of them being invested

I don’t think I’ve listened to those yet! I do occasionally get on a true crime binge listen, however the weirdest thing my characters have heard has gotta be Game Grumps episodes or compilations lol

What if i listened to every season of Buzzfeed Unsolved.

What would we do then my Genshin characters, my people, what then.

I saw someone else write about this true crime documentary thing but they described everyone being pretty terrified or disgusted by the podcasts

Which I definitely think some would be literally horrified lmao

But also I think a lot of them definitely would be invested-

I mean shit,

you're listening to your God and they just start playing this like uncomfortably detailed intricate crime case/murder report???

I would be so interested in what kind of person they were, and why they were listening to true crime stuff, 

so needless to say characters like Heizou and Yelan would definitely be into it, maybe Kujou Sara as well?

I can see Zhongli getting into it too and Raiden

I mean don't get me wrong plenty would be disturbed

like rest in peace Barbara 🙏

but like it would be fascinating to them too!!

cuz they don't know anything about our world so they could learn a lot about it thru listening to this stuff

tho it probably cause a lot of confusion whenever they hear things like phone or computer or car lol

you know stuff that hasn't been invented yet for them or there is no equivalent, but they

would deffo interrogate u about ur world when u get to Teyvat

♤

okay but on a more silly motherfucker note-

what if I was playing Game Grumps around them lol, would they be like oh my God our Creator has the best comedians or hilarious friends

like you know how a king has jesters? 😭

I feel like they would think that instead of a recording definitely, especially because most of these things are just people talking and not like, a speech or something

because audio recordings could exist for them, they would probably get it in concept, they do have Ley lines that do that afterall (and now Kameras)

♧

Omg,

oh no, would they think that you're getting these reports in person??  Or even like your SOLVING all these crimes?? 

esp bc I know myself and I tend to sometimes be talking to Genshin characters like,

"damn that's how he got arrested? How stupid he could've blah blah blah i sound like a hardened cop playing a gacha game lmao blah blah...."

it'd be so funny to see that one play out

when u get whisked away to teyvat and Heizou and Yelan are just:

"oh my God can you help us with all these cases we love your mind, or get your servants to help us?"

THEY WOULDNT EVEN BELIEVE U IF U TRIED TO BE LIKE "no no please ur the professionals idk wtf im doing guys-"

Heizou/Yelan: 🤨🤨

"likely story Most Honorable God, but we heard quite the fascinating theories just last week before u descended, hmmm...."

u cant win, 

honestly everyone would probably just assume ur not only the god who created/built teyvat but also have a domain in justice, comedy or honestly whatever u be playing all the time, including music, people would definitely think ur a music god too

esp if ur like me and u just turn on a cool Spotify playlist while u play sometimes, like they've probably never heard so many radically different genres songs, and so many back to back

(could definitely see a myth about u having an immortal inexhaustible musician band that has access to all the songs of the universe that u make them play for you, once again, would be hard to deny bc that's a pretty accurate description of spotify lol)

♡

srry abt my ✨️ass writing✨️ anon!!

I am getting to these old asks so late I hope u guys r alright with getting answered so late, ya boy has been busy 

Im busy partially bc i have a end of year art exhibition!

Basically at my university, if ur an art major, u have to have some of ur best work from ur time at university and display it in a Senior year art exhibition in the university's art museum! Its super cool! And stressful! :D!!

Anyway im so happy i have no object permanence bc everytime i open my drafts or my inbox, even the old asks :( , are  a new surprise every time :D lmao

Safe Travels,

💀♒️

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist

[hauntedestheart]

Artist Development (Male Possession)

Fame can change people. More specifically, fame can change people into me.

Who am I? I'm nobody and everybody. The biggest star in the world and a complete mystery at the same time. I've sold millions of records without anyone learning my name– you've heard my music, you just didn't know it was mine.

Wondering how this is possible? Let me tell you. I will remain anonymous and names will be redacted, but here's the tea on one of the industry's best kept secrets.

I was just a kid from Nowhere, Iowa (so to speak) who thought music was going to be my ticket out, and I was so sure about it that I dropped out of school and chased my dreams all the way to LA. After all, I was a great singer, played twelve instruments, wrote my own songs... surely I had everything it took to become the next big sensation in music!

Cue the laugh track.

Labels were always excited to meet with me after hearing my demos, but the second they saw my face they couldn't get me out of the room fast enough. I wasn't ugly, just... plain. Unremarkable. Average. And labels aren't interested in signing someone you could see walking down the street.

See, the sad thing about the music industry is that talent is only about 10% of what it takes. Maybe 15% on a good day. Having a successful career is 50% image (a fancy way of saying "being hot"), and that was something that I lacked.

But that remaining 40%? That's how willing you are to play the game, and that ended up being my saving grace.

My career was going nowhere fast, and after years of being beaten down by the industry I was on the verge of calling it quits and limping back home to Iowa. Then I got a call from a label (that shall remain nameless) asking for a meeting.

After years of rejecting me they were now offering me a deal: a guaranteed album release, collaborations with the best writers and producers in the business, a national tour, and a multi-million dollar marketing push.

The catch? I wouldn't be doing it as me.

Apparently the label had snapped up some kid that they were convinced had tons of star potential, but executives were nervous that he was a bit too green to succeed in the industry and they had come up with a radical new solution that could revolutionize artist development. Their r&d team had developed certain technology that could transfer consciousness from one human to another, effectively allowing them complete control over another person's body and live as them indefinitely.

The plan was to implant someone else into the kid's body and have them bear the brunt of his early years– someone with talent, experience, and most importantly, someone desperate that they could control. Someone just like me.

Though what we were doing was entirely legal (just a tip to any aspiring artists out there, always read the fine print in your contracts), for obvious reasons the label wanted to keep it on the down-low. The deal was that I'd "help" him through his first album, and then disappear into the shadows... but during that time I'd get to be a superstar.

Naturally I was conflicted. It was a tempting offer, but it was strange knowing that none of the success would truly be mine. No one would ever know my name. Was a hollow victory better than a defeat? Was I willing to sacrifice my artistic integrity for success?

Turned out the answer was "yes."

What sealed the deal for me was when they showed me a picture of the kid... a tall, strapping white boy who looked like he was built in a lab by thirsty gay men. I'd get to live my dream, and I'd get to do it looking like that? I'd be an idiot to pass that up.

So I accepted and turned him into the superstar he is today. Perhaps you've heard of him.

I spent two years piloting his body while he got his career off the ground, and with his face and my talent it wasn't long until I was topping the charts... and plenty of groupies as well. Fame is the ultimate aphrodisiac, but having tight abs doesn't hurt either! His penis was actually smaller than mine (bummer) but the rest of the package more than made up for it; the face of the boy next door with a body built for sin.

After years of being unremarkable, being a star went to my head fast and I'm not ashamed to admit that I became a bit of a slut... but trust me, if you could experience what it's like to be the hottest young thing on the scene, you'd do the same. I used that guy's body to fuck men and women in every city across America, and I even managed to do it without tarnishing his good boy image.

As long as I never missed a show or appointment, the suits were happy– and it helped that I was sucking them off behind their wives' backs.

(Like I said, you have to be willing to play the game.)

Eventually my contract ended and the label allowed the artist to resume control of his own body, but they were so pleased by my performance that they asked me to help them out with someone else– an established artist whose wild behavior was becoming a bit of a liability. Would I mind stepping in for him for a bit and helping get his career back on track after a few scandals?

And since then my life has been a whirlwind of different bodies. I've become the industry's invisible hatchet man, the enforcer who gets called in to deal with singers who need a bit of extra attention.

I've done it all: broken in newbies, rebranded stars, stood in for legends. I did a year in South Korea as a Kpop star– didn't speak a word of Korean, but that doesn't matter when you're as beautiful as he was. Name a boy band, I've probably spent at least a week as one of their members. I'm everywhere.

By this point I've lived so many lives that it would be pointless to list them all, so I'll stick to the greatest hits.

I took over the body of the frontman of a rock band who didn't want to "sell out" by going in the more sexual, commercial direction that the label wanted for them– which I, of course, had no qualms about. His shirt came off, and everyone was happy about what was underneath.

The other members of the group were skeptical at first, but I can be very persuasive when I put my mind to it. A lot of their fans wound up absolutely hating the new music, but hey, that wasn't any of my business!

Being onstage as a rock star is electrifying, when the music pounds and the crowd screams I feel like an absolute god. When I was up there shaking that wiry body around I knew that every single person in that room wanted to fuck me, and the second I got offstage I did my best to let them. Even if they didn't like the music, none of them complained when I invited them back to my dressing room.

And let me tell you, alt-rock groupies? They're freaky.

A lot of the artists I get assigned to are skinny young men (because every label thinks they're going to launch the next teen idol) so it's always a treat when I get to work as someone a bit more... let's say mature.

Once a popular r&b singer got into a dispute with his label over not wanting to film a certain feline related movie, so I was brought in to smooth things out in my own special way.

His voice wasn't that great but damn, could he move. I had to take a crash course in dancing but thanks to his body's muscle memory in a few weeks I was doing flips and splits I'd never dreamed of. The things his body could do were insane, and I took full advantage of that.

Strictly speaking about bodies, his was the best I've had. He was big in a way a lot of the other guys weren't, huge biceps and rippling pecs that I loved to show off. A hell of an ass too, though I didn't get much use out of it because he had the biggest penis I'd ever seen on a man and I wanted to cram that elephant trunk into everything I could.

A lot of the time, when I look in the mirror at the bodies of these superstars, I wish that I could suck on their dick. But in his body? If I bent over I actually could.

Honestly I hated the music I made as him– but man, I miss that dick.

I had similar motivations for spending a few months as an up and coming country music star– a bit more indie than my usual jobs, but I jumped at the chance to try out being a bigger guy (because let's face it, there aren't enough of those in the industry).

After years of cycling between bodies with abs it was a bit of a shock to suddenly have a gut, but the experience was even better than I could have dreamed. It's sensual in a different way– the feeling of all that soft flesh sliding under my hands still haunts my dreams.

Plus he was openly gay (another rarity, look at that) which meant I didn't have to keep my usual nighttime escapades on the down low. I didn't feel any less sexy– quite the opposite actually, I've never had people worship my body as hard as the guys I hooked up with when I was a scruffy bear cub.

Being gym trained hunks isn't exactly a hardship, but I did tell my management to keep an eye out for any more jobs like this one.

But probably my favorite experience was when I spent eight months helping a certain reggaeton artist break into the US market. The sex I had using that body? Out of this world.

I'm not sure what it was but his body was just built for sex. It oozed out of every inch of him, from those bulging tattooed arms to the hefty seven inches (soft!) he was packing down below. There was even a music video where someone sucked on my toes, because apparently even his feet were sexy.

This was the closest I ever came to getting fired, but I couldn't help it! I was constantly horny, all I could think about was drinking and screwing. I ended up overindulging a bit and the paparazzi caught some snaps of me stumbling out of a party naked and well... even though this guy had nothing to be ashamed of, it wasn't my proudest moment.

My ass was saved because the pictures blew up on Twitter in a good way, so his management decided that having a sexy bad boy image was actually good for him. Getting paid to party, have one night stands, and dance around shirtless? I have the best job in the world, and I never want to lose it.

Currently I'm assigned to a new guy, some viral online sensation that the label is worried will be just a one-hit wonder and needs the help of my special brand of direction.

I'm excited because I'm already seeing tons of "potential" in him... we're gonna make sweet music together, I can tell.

Gif sources: (x) (x)

[declanscunt]

do you have any headcanons about kenstewy post-finale?

BOY DO I‼️‼️‼️ THANK U FOR ASKING STRAP IN

okay. in alignment with the shows values and characterization (as in, if we continued observing these characters post gojo sale), i think stewy would fully ignore kendall until he called. he might text him a couple times to make sure he was alive or whatever but he’s gonna be partying and living his best life. also, to stewy this is the best outcome ever. he gets his money (i don’t know enough about business to know if he stays on as a shareholder but either way i think he doesn’t lose anything from this. except for a few years of his life thanks to roy shenanigans) and KENDALL GETS OUT. which is what he asked him to do way back in season 1. stewys so happy and content post-finale literally cat that got the cream. AND he didn’t alienate kendall bc he still voted with him. anyways, kendall’s gonna ghost (schrödinger’s suicide) and go off the rails! for sure!! because this is not something he can come back from, there’s no more pretend demons to fight—logan’s dead and the company’s out of family hands forever there isn’t anything he can do. but colin is not letting another roy die on his watch no way so unfortunately for kendall he’s gonna live. and eventually he will find his way back to stewy and stewy will offer him sex drugs whatever to fill his time and the logan shaped hole inside of him. the end.

alternatively. NOT in alignment with jesse armstrongs vision. kendall goes to stewys place immediately after the events of the finale and becomes his best boyfriend whose new purpose is to make stewy feel good forever and ever and ever. they go on vacation and make pancakes and waffles and kissssssss. kendall and stewy sitting in a tree. k i s s i n g.

my personal headcanons include: they get caught out by paparazzi who have lots of fun speculating about them until they literally just start making out alll over the place which ppl r into for a very short period of time before they get annoyed. and then mostly nobody cares anymore except a subsection of insane gay people who wanna see old men yaoi as they should. i think kendall starts up a flop rap career which stewy wholeheartedly supports and indulges, and then he starts a record label and signs a billion flop acts but somehow lucks out with one really talented musician who manages to boost kendall’s reputation even though his job at the label is literally Do Not Do Anything Or Say Anything Or Touch Anything just let the professionals work Please. eventually a producer convinces him to record and release L to the OG which blows up. kendall records an album that’s mostly covers with some originals (that are actually kind of good) and goes on tour. the tour flops because he runs out of steam halfway through and becomes manic again but we can’t have it all. stewy is there the whole time enabling him of course.

also i wanna believe kendall would patch things up with his kids and they all hang out with him and stewy. my pipe dream headcanon is that sophie and iverson somehow become radicalized and vow to give away all their generational wealth and become nepo baby activists or whatever. all the roy children turn out to be gay. etc. this got away from me it was meant to be kenstewy whoops

[beardedmrbean]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) didn't report a staggering $7 billion in award-level obligations and outlays during fiscal year 2022, according to an inspector general audit released this week.

The EPA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) determined that the agency underreported its award-level outlays by $5.8 billion, or 99.9%, and its award-level obligations by $1.2 billion, or 12.9% during FY22, the period between October 2021 and September 2022. The agency further failed to report any of its Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act outlays and under-reported its coronavirus pandemic-related outlays.

"The lack of complete and accurate reporting also led to taxpayers being initially misinformed about the EPA’s spending, and policy-makers who relied on the data may not have been able to effectively track federal spending," the OIG report concluded.

In response to the audit, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., blasted the EPA and called for increased transparency into its activities. 

"It’s outrageous and unacceptable that the EPA cannot keep track of its spending or inform Congress — and the American people — of how it is using taxpayer dollars," McMorris Rodgers said in a statement Thursday. "This eye-opening report only further highlights the need for more transparency at the EPA."

"It also raises questions about whether the agency is incapable of managing its record-high budget or if the agency is attempting to hide the amount of taxpayer dollars it is spending to advance the administration’s radical rush-to-green agenda," she added. "The Energy and Commerce Committee will continue holding this administration accountable for its actions that are driving up costs across the board and hurting Americans."

MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT SIGNED NDA INVOLVING CCP-TIED COMPANY, DOCUMENTS SHOW, CONTRADICTING HER PAST CLAIMS

The EPA ultimately corrected its FY22 figures in May 2023 as a result of the OIG audit while making configuration changes a month later. Overall, the inspector general made five recommendations which it said the agency agreed to make.

The report, meanwhile, comes as the EPA both manages a massive green energy fund and continues to request a larger budget. The Inflation Reduction, Democrats' massive climate and tax bill passed in 2022, created the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which in turn establishes a national green bank to fund green projects nationwide.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS OPEN PROBE INTO BIDEN ADMIN FOR OPENING PUBLIC LANDS TO FOREIGN OWNERSHIP

And the White House is requesting that Congress approve a FY24 EPA budget of more than $12 billion, a record level. Republicans have aimed to reduce the EPA budget to about $6 billion, which would be the agency's smallest budget since the early 1990s.

"The Biden administration is using EPA as a pass through for taxpayer dollars to fund left-wing groups that aim to get Democrats elected, not improve the environment," Mandy Gunasekara, a Heritage Foundation visiting fellow who served as the EPA's chief of staff during the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital.

"A failure to report $7 billion is absurd and unacceptable, but also symbolic of how Team Biden operates: prioritizing their political goals over the needs of the American people," she continued. "I’m glad Chair Rodgers is monitoring this and hope the committee brings forth the agency’s Chief Financial Officer to account for this serious oversight."

The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Josephine Harvey at HuffPost:

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) complained on Fox News Thursday that American infrastructure is in disrepair. But as viewers pointed out, he was one of the Republican senators who voted against a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed in 2021. “It just strikes me that more and more, nothing really works in America anymore,” Hawley told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “I mean, our roads are falling apart, our bridges are falling down right in front of our eyes. Pieces of airplanes are falling out of the sky.”

“And yet, at the same time, the Congress of the United States and the president, what do they want to do? Spend hundreds of billions of dollars more on foreign wars,” he continued. He went on to complain that “things are falling apart all around us,” but all President Joe Biden wants to do is focus on “Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.” Hawley was one of 30 Republican senators who voted against a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill in 2021, which contained money for upgrades to highways, bridges, airports and other major projects. The legislation, backed by President Joe Biden, passed with the support of 19 Republican senators and all Democrats. At the time, Hawley called it a “radical left woke politics bill.”

Appearing on Fox "News"'s The Ingraham Angle Thursday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) complained about the state of American infrastructure while attacking Ukraine funding. In 2021, Hawley was one of the 30 Republicans who voted against the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

From the 04.18.2024 edition of FNC's The Ingraham Angle:

[plainemmanem]

hello it is me modern!steve anon. my hc's r as such:

- steve is the hawkins middle assistant baseball coach . the boys are all obsessed with him bc they want to be just like him (also how did he pull such a baddie?)

- he dresses mostly like how joe dresses but sometimes a little more on the athletic side ? def owns lulu 5 in inseam shorts that he wears with big vintage shirts and nike blazers

- WORSHIPS the strokes and tame impala . julian casablancas is his idol

- unabashedly loves harry styles . would buy tickets "for his gf" but definitely wanted to go . he would coordinate outfits and wear a boa . harry's house is his fav album

- would play mlb the show like. religiously

- is either a cubs or cardinals fan but would make fun of anyone who would willingly admit to being a reds fan

- would still drive a bmw but it's like a 2009 that he bought himself when he turned 17

- def wears his glasses all the time

- gets mad about the colts record even thought he doesn't understand football at all

- is a feminist but when u start dating he becomes like . radical . before he was just like "yeah pro life pay women yadda yadda" but i think he would go to the indianapolis womens march with u and robin no questions asked

- helps robin set up her tinder profile . i'm talking like photoshoot

- literally always taking candids . whether it's u or robin or the kids he's always taking photos and he def has different albums in his phone so he remembers different events

- his lockscreen is his favorite photo of u which is definitely from a late night diner trip where u think u look gross and exhausted but he thinks ur the prettiest thing to ever exist

- he's teaching himself how to play guitar and it's very hard but he's trying okay

- tries to like modern rap but it just doesn't click with him . i think he would like older, softer stuff like a tribe called quest and maybe like wutang . definitely into vibey music

okay i think that's it but if i think of more ill let u know . if u can't tell i'm a big baseball fan therefore am projecting but i'm p sure that it's canon that steve plays baseball anyways?????

ok. Ok . OK. OK! OK!

so many more thoughts under the cut

i also see him being really into basketball, has a little group of guys he plays with and everything. they have a scrimmage every week and he’ll wear an old grey shirt that you cut the sleeves off of and really old, baggy basketball shorts that you can most definitely see his bulge through and he comes back all gross and sweaty and he’s so excited to tell you how he played bc he has that rush of endorphins after:)

loves baseball, takes you to all the games and wears a baseball cap and everything. makes you split nachos with him and he will literally yell at the players as if they can hear him. when things get real intense, he’ll stand up with his arms crossed or his hands on his hips, so into it. and every time there’s a bad play, he throws his hands up all annoyed like “cmon now, what are we paying you for???” and he cups his hands around his mouth and yells it. he’s so obnoxious i love him.

i can also really see him joining a band. he definitely teaches himself how to play bass and it’s quite honestly the hottest thing imaginable. i feel he also dapples in the drums, he loves the theatrics of it lmfao.

i can also see him being kind of.. basic when you first meet him BAHHAH like stereotypical “guy” — dresses in like plain shirts and jeans and his music taste is wack and a little basic and he’s kind of just normal. but then once he starts hanging out with robin and dating you, he changes a lot. i can kind of see him embracing more of his “non-masculine” interests and traits that he never knew he had bc that stuff really wasn’t accepted by his parents. he wears a gold necklace you got him (it’s a little dainty and a bit feminine and it looks so crazy hot on him) and he wears true outfits rather than whatever he has lying around in his room — he wears converse and nicer slacks and t shirts that are a little baggy and he has a nice watch with a brown leather band and he wears the ring you got him for christmas on his ring finger and another gold band on his thumb. he’s not really too much of a hat guy, but if he doesn’t really feel like styling his hair, he wears a cap, maybe a beanie if it’s cold. in the winter he’ll wear a white undershirt under a sweater and white wash jeans:)

he has “old man” glasses, as you like to call them. he’s tried contacts, but you told him a while ago before you started dating how handsome you thought he looks in his glasses, and you haven’t really seen him wear contacts since.

takes pics of EVERYTHING — even if it’s just a dog he saw on the street on his way to work or the funny way they spelled his name on his starbucks in the morning or a cloud that looks like a dick — he sends you them CONSTANTLY throughout the day. loves taking pics when you all hang out and he loves to do a photo dump at the end of the month (it’s mostly just you or funny pictures of robin. he’s also a sucker for a good sunset photo, he can’t help it)

i feel like he also gets more into more “feminine” hobbies or just things he wasn’t really allowed to do when he was younger. he likes to take care of plants and write little song lyrics throughout the day when they come to him and i feel he tries origami and he’s slowly teaching himself guitar and maybe tries drawing a bit — just things his parents never really approved of or saw any value in.

i also feel modern!steve is really into cars. like has a dream car all picked out for when he hits the lottery and every time you’re out, at least once, he sees a nice car on the street and does a little wold whistle like “damn. a 2016 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.” and you’re like “what? is that a good one?” and he’s like “…. yeah, y/n, that’s a 55 thousand dollar car.” he will point them out to you ALWAYS, without fail. sometimes you’ll see a car you like when you’re out and you’re like “ooo wait steve what’s that one called?” and he looks up for a split second, squinting a little to get a better look at it and then he’s like “oh, yeah, a Lexus LC, you like that one?”

he also really loves making little spotify playlists for every occasion and he loves playing them for you and seeing if you think they’re any good (he thinks your music taste is so cool). he always loves when you aux in the car bc he loves listening to your music and finding new stuff and adding it to a little playlist of songs he gets from you/reminds him of you:) but then there’s also times he really loves to aux and he really does love his guilty pleasure music, he sings along to barry manilow without shame he’s just like me fr he is my new obsession

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

FROM FOGHORN TO FRICASSEE ON 7 INCHES -- WELCOME TO 1984, KIDS.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on the "Chicken Squawk" 7 inch vinyl EP by American hardcore punk band MILLIONS OF DEAD CHILDREN (MDC), released in 1984 under R Radical Records. 

MINI-REVIEW: "MDC deliver a funnypunk classic in “Chicken Squawk,” an uproarious C&W (Country&Western) thrash tune which belies a more serious argument for vegetarianism — it even has banjo lead breaks! On the flip, “Kleptomaniac” rates as a strong, catchy thrasher, although “Death of a Nun” suffers from lackluster performance and production values. A mandatory EP, however, and the foldout sleeve is extremely interesting and informative."

-- MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL, c. summer 1984

REVIEWER: Steve Spinali

LABEL: R Radical

ISSUE: MRR #15 • July 1984

Source: www.picuki.com/media/2978683209197657532.

[different-sound-hemispheres]

Milwaukee-based electronic artist Thane returns for quite the tape this past NYE. The record is described as “exploring the meaning of freedom in an algorithm run world”. Throughout, it appears Thane is taking certain EDM genre tropes and contorting and re-contextualizing them in an almost “hyperpop” way, to form his own original style. For example, in “THANE-MAX 5000”, (which feels maximalist even in the title) the song bounces from techno, trance, to drum and bass with textured left-field electronic sensibilities scattered throughout the atmospherics making for a fresh, hyper-rave feel that takes on its own personality. The result of the album is something incredibly fresh, reminiscent (just in terms of texture and sonic palate)to that of Jamie xx’s “In Colour”. Previously collaborating with the likes of Anderson .Paak, BJ the Chicago Kid, Mick Jenkins, and Kojey Radical on 2016’s “Topia”, “The Algorithm Isn’t Working” shares no spotlight with other musicians, but immediately demands your attention. Listen to my personal favorite, “Limitless”, above. It is a brooding, dark garage-tinted song with eclectic Gospel/R&B samplings that is at once inspiring and darkly moody at the same time.

[mappingthemoon]

Zines Read 2023

Unemployment / Aaron Lake Smith

Behind the Zines #14 / ed. Billy McCall

Zisk #31 / ed. Mike Faloon & Mike Fournier

Zisk #32: Remembering Bob Gibson / ed. Mike Faloon & Mike Fournier

Zisk #33: Bartolo Colon: Hall of Famer? / ed. Mike Faloon & Mike Fournier

Brief Text Descriptions of Everyday Events / Keith Helt

Flotation Device #18 / Keith Helt

Denacola: Menagerie / Dena Zilber

Nothing Spinning #1: Hydrogen / Lindsey Richter

Nothing Spinning #2: Helium / Lindsey Richter

Scenes from the Late Devonian Period / Lindsey Richter

Stoneybrook Looks / Lindsey E. Richter

sixteen years sober and i was thinking about relapsing / enola dismay

A Cookbook Christmas #5 / Peter & Ansley

QRK5 #6 / Ed Tillman

Save the USPS: A small business’s love letter to an essential American institution / Danny Caine

How to Resist Amazon and Why (rev. 2nd ed.) / Danny Caine

The Paruretic #1: The story of a guy who’s pee shy / Mark Cunning

The Paruretic #2: College / Mark Cunning

The Paruretic #3 Vacation / Mark Cunning

The Paruretic #4: The Search for Help / Mark Cunning

The Paruretic #5: Dating

I Could’ve Killed Alex Jones / Mark Cunning

Gut Bucket Research #10 / David Tighe

I Want an Army Out of Caves… #12/Unclassifiables #3 / ed. David Tighe

Unclassifiables #13 / ed. David Tighe

The Secret of the Moon’s Rotation #33 / ed. David Tighe

Behind the Zines #15 / ed. Billy McCall

Brides of the Mystery / Lydian Brambila

zines in libraries: collecting, cataloging, community / Zine Librarians Interest Group ; Joshua Barton, Violet Fox, Anissa Malady, Kelly McElroy, Matthew Moyer, Sarah G. Wenzel

Zine Librarians Code of Ethics Zine / Heidy Berthoud, Joshua Barton, Jeremy Brett, Lisa Darms, Violet Fox, Jenna Freedman, Jennifer LaSuprema Hecker, Lillian Karabaic, Rhonda Kauffman, Kelly McElroy, Milo Miller, Honor Moody, Jude Vachon, Madeline Veitch, Celina Williams, Kelly Wooten

Ornery Cuss / K Ratticus

Against the Logic of the Guillotine / crimethInc.

Bound to Struggle: Where Kink and Radical Politics Meet #1 / ed. simon strikeback

Bound to Struggle: Where Kink and Radical Politics Meet #2 / ed. simon strikeback

Bound to Struggle: Where Kink and Radical Politics Meet #3: Language / ed. simon strikeback

Bound to Struggle: Where Kink and Radical Politics Meet #5: Praxis / ed. simon strikeback

Men I Think Are the Same Man: Men I Have Mistaken For Each Other (and some women) / aggie

Every Thug Is a Lady: Adventures Without Gender / Julia Eff

tear the petals off of you / Julia Eff

People Like Us: David Byrne’s 1986 Cult Film True Stories as a Search for Autistic Connection / Lewis Attilio Franco

Tracing this Body: Transsexuality, pharmaceuticals & capitalism & New Flesh, New Struggles self discovery thru porn & kink / michelle o’brien

Brides of the Mystery / Lydian Brambila & Ariel Ackerly

An Otherworldly Light #1 / R. P. Schneider (ed.), ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion

An Otherworldly Light #2 / R. P. Schneider (ed.), ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion

Welcome to Our Dimension Party (2nd ed.) / Samantha Hensley

Behind the Zines #16: Zines Saved My Life! / ed. Billy McCall

Weirdo du Jour #3: “Line Cook Love” / K Ratticus

Cathode Ray Mission #1: A Horror and Sci-Fi Fanzine / K Ratticus

Cathode Ray Mission #2: A Horror and Sci-Fi Fanzine / K Ratticus

Testimony, v. 1 / ed. Ryan Avery

Postcards from Irving, v. 5 / Tyler

The Desert Sun #51 / Billy

Proof I Exist #42: Five Days in Chicago / Billy McCall

Zisk #34: If Ichiro Journaled Like Henry Rollins / ed. Mike Faloon & Mike Fournier

Selected list of zine distros and other places to find most of these titles:

Antiquated Future

Behind the Zines Distro (Billy McCall)

Bound to Struggle (simon strikeback)

Crapandemic (Julia Eff)

Dena Zilber

Flotation Device (Keith Helt)

Gut Bucket Research (David Tighe)

Honeycraft (Lindsey Richter)

Lydian Brambila

Policymaker (Mike Fournier)

Related Records (Ryan Avery)

SAMSKETCHBOOK (Sam Hensley)

Weirdo du Jour (K Ratticus)

ZineLibraries.info

PS I'm moonmoth on LibraryThing.

[girlactionfigure]

“Don't ever let injustice go by unchallenged," his mother told him.

He was a rebel, a self-described “angry misfit”.

He and a friend would survive an ambush by KKK members who tried to force their vehicle off the road.

Born in Manhattan on March 1, 1927, and raised in Depression-era Harlem, he said he spent his life “in a constant state of rebellion.”

“His parents were mixed-race undocumented immigrants who constantly changed jobs, apartments and even their names to avoid authorities,” wrote Andrew R. Chow in Time Magazine. “Throughout my childhood we lived an underground life, as criminals of a sort, on the run,” [he would] write in his 2011 memoir.

Life for him as a child “was rife with hardship and sorrow, . . . His alcoholic father beat him bloody; his schoolyard years were full of fights waged with “bottles, garbage cans, rocks, hands and feet.” When he was a toddler, he accidentally cut himself in the eye with scissors, blinding himself in one eye for the rest of his life. [He] was also dyslexic, and his poor eyesight led him to drop out of school in the ninth grade, leaving him few career prospects.”

Poverty “defined” him, he wrote in his memoir.

“A day after his 17th birthday, he enlisted in the Navy and soon was disabused of romantic notions of military fellowship,” wrote Adam Bernstein of The Washington Post. “Minor infractions landed him for two weeks at the Naval Prison in Portsmouth, Va., where he saw German POWs receiving better treatment.”

“The injustice of this sickened me,” he wrote, adding that the experience “radicalized” him politically.

“Despite his service he was often turned away from segregated restaurants or concert venues.”

“The all-too-frequent incidents of prejudice kept me in an almost constant state of simmering rage,” he wrote.

When he returned, he found work as a janitor in a Harlem apartment building. A grateful tenant gave him tickets to the American Negro Theatre, where he started connecting with like-minded people. One of those, another janitor at the theater, became a life-long friend.

While looking for an acting job, he and his newlywed wife lived on her teacher’s salary in a $55-a-month apartment.

“In the meantime, he found a mentor in the African American entertainer Paul Robeson, a leading activist for civil and union rights who was hounded by federal authorities for his alleged socialist sympathies,” wrote Bernstein. Urged by Robeson, [he] began using folk songs to decry racism, poverty and other social ills.”

“In 1956, [he] decided to record an entire album of Caribbean island songs, much to the chagrin of his label, RCA, who felt it would be too “ethnic,” according to Chow. But [his album] was a runaway success: It made history as the first album to sell a million copies in the U.S., and embarked on a 99-week Billboard chart run that wouldn’t be matched until Michael Jackson’s Thriller more than a quarter-century later.”

Wrote Joshua Jelly-Schapiro of New York Magazine:

“In 1956, a Harlem-bred child of Caribbean immigrants [became] bigger than Elvis. But where Elvis built Graceland, [he] used the proceeds from [his album]” to assist a young Martin Luther King Jr. and his movement for civil rights. Along with his friend, the former janitor, Sidney Poitier, they became outspoken voices for justice and racial equality.

This Harlem-bred child of undocumented immigrants was born as Harold George Belanfanti Jr., but his parents had Americanized his name.

Harry Belafonte smashed “a series of barriers during five decades as a movie, TV and stage star, “ wrote Bernstein. “His artistic and humanitarian work frequently overlapped, reflecting his belief that ‘the role of art isn’t just to show life as it is but to show life as it should be.’”

He became “a dynamic force in the civil rights movement,” according to the New York Times.

This is a new story from the Jon S. Randal Peace page to honor the life and achievements of Harry Belafonte, who died of congestive heart failure Tuesday, April 25, at the age 96 at his New York home, according to his longtime spokesman.

The Peace Page focuses on past and present stories—some seldom told, others simply forgotten, still others intentionally ignored. The stories and chapters are gathered from writers, journalists, and historians to share awareness and foster understanding—to bring people together—and, as such, they are available all year in the Peace Page archives with new stories appearing each week throughout the year. We encourage you to learn more about the individuals and events mentioned here and to acknowledge the writers, educators, and historians whose words we present. Thank you for being here and helping us share awareness.

~~~~~

Growing up, Belafonte would refer to “my people” as “gangsters”, but clarified that by saying, “I don’t mean major American crime; I mean, as an immigrant, if you can’t find work inside the law, you find work outside the law. Running numbers and so on. Which is, of course, a characteristic of the poor, who find ways to break the rules, since the rules are always stacked against them.”

When he joined the Navy in 1944, he was hoping for adventure and glory on the Eastern front of World War II. “But the armed forces were still segregated, with African Americans often relegated to dangerous grunt work like handling live ammunition.”

When he “later enrolled in the Dramatic Workshop of the New School of Social Research,” his classmates included “Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau, Bea Arthur, Rod Steiger and Tony Curtis,” according to writer Drew Weisholtz.

When he released his history-making album “Calypso,” he said “It’s a song about my father, my uncles, the men and women who toil in the banana fields, the cane fields of Jamaica.”

"The song is a work song," he said. "It's about men who sweat all day long, and they are underpaid. They're begging for the tallyman to come and give them an honest count: 'Count the bananas that I've picked so I can be paid.' When people sing in delight and dance and love it, they don't really understand unless they study the song — that they're singing a work song that's a song of rebellion."

"When people thought he was just singing about good times in the islands, he was always like infusing messages of protest and revolution in everything he did," John Legend said.

“There had never before been any singer that popular with White middle-class audiences as well as Black audiences,” the cultural critic and scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. said in an interview. “In that sense, he was an agent of change, the musical voice of civil rights.”

“Using music to espouse universal brotherhood, Mr. Belafonte encouraged audiences to sing along to calypso, protest and chain-gang songs, the ballad ‘Danny Boy’ and the Hebrew folk song ‘Hava Nagila’, according to The Washington Post.

“A two-time Grammy Award winner, Belafonte also won a Tony Award for best actor in a featured role in a musical for ‘John Murray Anderson’s Almanac’ in 1954,” according to Weisholtz.

“The first Black producer in television, he also won an Emmy Award in 1960 for his special ‘Tonight with Belafonte.’ In 2015, he was recognized with a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars, giving him coveted EGOT status.”

Despite his popularity, Belafonte “still met with plenty of resistance, especially as he entered previously segregated spaces,” wrote Chow. “While walking up Coldwater Canyon while filming his first Hollywood role, Bright Road, he was arrested and charged with illegal loitering. In Las Vegas, he was turned away from the resort he was playing at and instead told to stay at a dingy colored motel across town. A Chicago club’s manager initially refused to let him into his own show.”

In one famous incident, “Mr. Belafonte and White British singer Petula Clark were performing a duet of the antiwar song ‘Paths of Glory’ on an NBC special,” according to Bernstein. “An advertising manager for the automaker Chrysler-Plymouth, which was sponsoring the show, objected when Clark spontaneously touched Mr. Belafonte’s arm.

“The executive, who interrupted the song and had called for a retake, was later reprimanded by Chrysler and called Mr. Belafonte to apologize. ‘Your apology comes 100 years too late,’ the singer replied. NBC kept the scene when the show was televised. Mr. Belafonte later told an interviewer, “It is essential to television and industries to know that people like [this] exist. I’m tired and frustrated by what I’ve had to go through in this medium.”

~~~~~

“At the height of his mainstream fame, Belafonte stepped back from entertainment to devote the bulk of his time to the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement,” according to Time Magazine. “He became a key economic engine and behind-the-scenes organizer for many of the sit-ins, freedom rides and marches that would sweep the South and propel social and federal change.”

“He became one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most trusted confidants, serving as a mediator between King and John F. Kennedy’s White House; he stood at the front lines at the March on Washington and the final march from Selma to Montgomery.”

“Belafonte’s global popularity and his commitment to our cause is a key ingredient to the global struggle for freedom and a powerful tactical weapon in the civil rights movement here in America. We are blessed by his courage and moral integrity,” King once said.

“In the immediate wake of the Birmingham protests in 1963, when thousands of children were jailed by Bull Connor’s police forces, [Belafonte] raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and worked closely with King, Attorney General Robert Kennedy and union leaders to bail scores of children out of jail,” wrote Chow.

“He also brought Brando, Charlton Heston, Paul Newman and Tony Bennett to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech — a critical show of White support that made King’s address all the more universal in its appeal,” according to the Washington Post.

And, he “used his friendships with Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Lena Horne and Henry Fonda to raise more than $100,000 to fund the Freedom Rides in 1964 that challenged racial segregation in interstate transportation.”

This was the time he and Poitier sped down the highway as a pursuing group of the Ku Klux Klan fired gunshots at them.

“Whenever we got into trouble or when tragedy struck, Harry has always come to our aid, his generous heart wide open,” Coretta Scott King wrote of Belafonte in her autobiography.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Bernice King remembers, "When I was a child, Harry Belafonte showed up for my family in very compassionate ways. In fact, he paid for the babysitter for me and my siblings . . . I won’t forget.”

“­Belafonte also persuaded JFK to approve airlifting a planeload of Kenyan students to America in 1961,” according to Joshua Jelly-Schapiro of New York Magazine.

Belafonte remembered, “We had the airlift, right. Myself, Jackie Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and a woman called Cora Weiss. And we brought Kenyan students, before independence . . . we got them visas to enter American universities. And one of our lifts—and we didn’t have many—on one of those planes, we had Barack Obama’s father.”

“In the decades to come he would expand his empathetic push to a global scale, fighting against apartheid in South Africa, famine in Ethiopia, and genocide in Rwanda,” wrote Chow. “He became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador . . . and railed fiercely against the Iraq War.”

He “was also one of the driving forces behind ‘We Are the World,’ the star-studded charity single that raised more than $60 million for Ethiopian famine relief after its 1985 release,” according to Larry McShane and Peter Sblendorio of the New York Daily News. “He appeared in the video with an assortment of fellow musical legends, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan.”

And, speaking of Dylan, “during the recording of his 1962 album ‘Midnight Special,’ Belafonte brought in a recently-transplanted Minnesota musician to play harmonica. The young man, named Bob Dylan, made his recording debut playing on the title track.”

“At pivotal moments, he was one of the most critical supporters of the civil rights movement,” said Taylor Branch, a Pulitzer Prize-winning civil rights historian. “Harry was a strong force for keeping people on an even keel.”

“After King’s assassination in 1968, Mr. Belafonte became a roving humanitarian without portfolio,” wrote Bernstein. “He helped start TransAfrica, a lobbying group that pressed for economic sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid regime. He lobbied for the release of Nelson Mandela and then helped coordinate the future South African president’s first visit to the United States after his liberation in 1990.”

“Belafonte also created the Gathering For Justice in 2005 to stop child incarceration and put an end to racial inequity in the justice system,” wrote Weisholtz.

~~~~~

“There was never a performer who crossed so many lines as Harry,” Bob Dylan wrote in his 2004 memoir.

“He could play to a packed house at Carnegie Hall one night and then the next day he might appear at a garment center union rally,” Dylan wrote. “To Harry, it didn’t make any difference. People were people. He had ideals and made you feel you’re part of the human race.”

“You know,” Dylan added, “he never took the easy path, though he could have.”

“I wasn’t an artist who became an activist,” Belafonte reflected on his 90th birthday. “I was an activist who became an artist.”

Harry Belafonte was an activist into his 90s. He told NPR in 2011 that was something he learned from his mother.

"She was tenacious about her dignity not being crushed. And one day, she said to me — she was talking about coming back from a day when she couldn't find work. Fighting back tears, she said, 'Don't ever let injustice go by unchallenged.'"

"Harry Belafonte, a Trailblazer and Hero to us all," said Oprah Winfrey. "Thank you for your music, your artistry, your activism, your fight for civil rights and justice—especially risking your life back in the day to get money to the movement. Your being here on Earth has Blessed us all."

He once said, “I’ve always looked at the world and thought, ‘What can I do next? Where do we go from here? How can we fix it?’”

“And that’s still how I look at the world, because there is so much to be done.”

~ jsr

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) announced that he and six other state attorneys general have sent a letter advising Target that their Pride display could violate state laws. The letter accuses Target of violating laws that “protect children from harmful content meant to sexualize them and prohibit gender transitions of children.”

The at-times incomprehensible letter accuses Target of selling Pride gear for kids, promoting products from a brand that sells “Satanist-Inspired” merchandise, and helping GLSEN, an LGBTQ+ youth advocacy group that the attorneys general say has a “purpose of undermining parents’ constitutional and statutory rights by supporting ‘secret gender transitions for kids.'”

In May, it became something of a trend for conservative influencers to record themselves going into Target to express disgust at the store’s LGBTQ+ Pride displays, sometimes vandalizing them or harassing Target employees.

The attorneys’ general letter appears to draw inspiration from those videos, citing some of the products that conservatives were outraged by, including a tucking swimsuit sold in adult sizes, which some conservatives thought would turn kids transgender. The letter also complains about “LGBT-themed onesies, bibs, and overalls,” all products the conservative influencers expressed distaste for. The letter also mentions an adult T-shirt with a drag queen on it.

The letter says that Target carried products with “anti-Christian designs such as pentagrams, horned skulls, and other Satanic products,” citing a Reuters article. The Reuters article, though, doesn’t back the Republicans’ claims and actually says that Target was selling products from the brand Abprallen, which has associated in the past with British designer Erik Carnell, who has sold the above-mentioned Satanic merchandise through his own channels.

While the connection between Target and Carnell doesn’t seem strong enough to include in a letter sent for legal reasons, the idea that Target is selling Satanic products was part of an internet rumor earlier this year. AI-generated images of T-shirts with inverted pentagrams and goat heads and of a store display with a red, goat-headed mannequin were shared on social media last month and caused outrage in conservative Facebook groups, even though the images were fake and the products weren’t really being sold by Target.

The letter states that Target “has no duty to fill stores with objectionable goods, let alone endorse or feature them in attention-grabbing displays at the behest of radical activists.” It says that Target has a duty to its shareholders that it violated because some conservatives said they were boycotting Target on social media and therefore the Pride displays “negatively affected Target’s stock price.”

“It is likely more profitable to sell the type of Pride that enshrines the love of the United States,” the letter states. “Target’s Pride Campaign alienates whereas Pride in our country unites.”

It’s unclear what the legal argument is in the letter since businesses make unprofitable decisions all the time without facing prosecution. The letter says that “as the chief legal officers of our States, we are charged with enforcing state laws protecting children and safeguarding parental rights” including laws that “penalize the ‘sale or distribution… of obscene matter.'” But it doesn’t threaten to prosecute Target or its executives for selling “obscene” rainbow onesies.

Furthermore, it cites Indiana’s recently passed ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, but Target wasn’t selling hormones or puberty blockers in its Pride displays. The gender-affirming healthcare ban doesn’t ban people under the age of 18 from identifying as LGBTQ+.

The letter is signed by Rokita and the attorneys general of Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and South Carolina. They are all Republicans.

“Transanity doesn’t sell,” Rokita said in announcing the letter. “Let’s all unite around pride in America instead of falling into the trap of dividing along lines of identity politics.”

[madamlaydebug]

REMEMBERING MINNIE RIPERTON

Photograph of Minnie Riperton with her daughter actress Maya Rudolph and her son Marc Rudolph.

Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F♯7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use of the whistle register and has been referred to by the media as the "Queen of the Whistle Register."

Minnie Riperton grew up in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side. As a child, she studied music, drama and dance at Chicago's Lincoln Center. The youngest of eight children in a musical family, she embraced the arts early. Although she began with ballet and modern dance, her parents recognized her vocal and musical abilities and encouraged her to pursue music and voice. At Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Center, she received operatic vocal training from Marion Jeffery. She practiced breathing and phrasing, with particular emphasis on diction. Jeffery also trained Riperton to use her full range. While studying under Jeffery, she sang operettas and show tunes, in preparation for a career in opera. Jeffery was so convinced of her pupil's abilities that she strongly pushed her to further study the classics at Chicago's Junior Lyric Opera.

The young Riperton was, however, becoming interested in soul, rhythm and blues, and rock. In her teen years, she sang lead vocals for the Chicago-based girl group the Gems. Eventually the group became a session group known as Studio Three and it was during this period that they provided the backing vocals on the classic 1965 Fontella Bass hit "Rescue Me".

After graduating from Hyde Park High School (now Hyde Park Academy High School), she enrolled at Loop College and became a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. She dropped out of college to pursue her music career.

Her early affiliation with the legendary Chicago-based Chess Records afforded her the opportunity to sing backup for various established artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. While at Chess, Riperton also sang lead for the experimental rock/soul group Rotary Connection, from 1967 to 1971.

On April 5, 1975, Riperton reached the apex of her career with her No. 1 single "Lovin' You". The single was the last release from her 1974 gold album titled Perfect Angel. Riperton's third album, Adventures in Paradise was released in 1975. Despite the R&B hit "Inside My Love", some radio stations refused to play "Inside My Love" due to the lyrics.

Her fourth album for Epic Records, titled Stay in Love (1977), featured another collaboration with Stevie Wonder in the funky disco tune "Stick Together".

In 1978, Richard Rudolph and Riperton's attorney Mike Rosenfeld orchestrated a move to Capitol Records for Riperton and her CBS Records catalog. In April 1979, Riperton released her fifth and final album, Minnie. "Memory Lane" was a hit from the album.

Riperton provided backing vocals on Stevie Wonder's songs "Creepin'" from 1974's Fulfillingness' First Finale and "Ordinary Pain" from 1976's Songs in the Key of Life. In 1977, she lent her vocal abilities to a track named "Yesterday and Karma", on Osamu Kitajima's album, Osamu.

In January 1976, Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer and, in April, she underwent a radical mastectomy. By the time of diagnosis, the cancer had metastasized and she was given about six months to live. Despite the grim prognosis, she continued recording and touring. She was one of the first celebrities to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis but did not disclose she was terminally ill.

In 1977, she became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. In 1978, she received the American Cancer Society's Courage Award, which was presented to her at the White House by President Jimmy Carter.

Riperton died of cancer on July 12, 1979 at the age 31.

During the 1990s, Riperton's music was sampled by many rap and hip-hop artists, including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, Blumentopf, The Orb and Tragedy Khadafi.