#d.c. thomson

[corey-45]

My Recent Weird Sonic-Related Dream

So recently, I had one of those weird dreams. I guess it wasn't really that weird - in fact, it seemed semi-plausible in parts - but I'll let you judge for yourselves.

Anyway, in that dream, I learned of a lost SNES game titled Mickey's Magical Adventure (not to be confused with the actual VTech game with that name). Apparently, it was a collab between Disney, Nintendo, and Sega, and even featured Sonic and Tails - and, for some strange reason, Dennis the Menace (the UK comics character, not the US one) - as guest characters. Apparently, it was considered "lost media" because while there were videos and magazine articles, there were no ROMs to be found anywhere on the Internet.

The thing that stuck out the most to me was that there were so many butts in the game. When you selected your character, there was a short animated cutscene of them with their back turned to the viewer, strutting down a corridor while shaking their behind (and yes, Mickey, Sonic, Tails, and even Dennis - who, strangely enough, was wearing his usual outfit, except that he'd apparently forgotten to put on his shorts, meaning that everyone could see his underpants - strutted while shaking their butts, too). I also saw a "Game Over" screen that consisted of a close-up of Sonic and Tails's butts as the duo wiggled them around (much like the "The End" screens in the obscure Sega Saturn platformers Bug! and Bug Too!), while the words "TRY AGAIN?" were on the top of the screen. I assume that was the same for all the characters.

As for the levels, I only remember one vertical grassy biome level, and another level where you were on the mast of a sinking wooden ship, which swayed left and right in Mode 7 fashion.

One more thing I remember about this dream is that I learned that the reason this game was "lost media" was that all parties involved, shortly after the game was released, became ashamed of it for whatever reason (perhaps they got a lot of complaints from soccer moms about the gratuitous booty-shaking?), and order that all future copies were to be destroyed, and all present copies be prohibited from sale.

So yeah, that's pretty much what I remember about my dream. Like I said earlier, it wasn't really all that weird - parts of it even seemed semi-plausible - but I just can't get those butts out of my mind.

[all-action-all-picture]

Spellbound No. 6, dated 30 October 1976. Cover art by Norman Lee.

D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.

[materia-y-sus-interacciones]

Modelo atómico de Thomson (1904 d.C.)

Propuesto por J. J. Thomson, descubridor del electrón en 1897, este modelo es previo al descubrimiento de los protones y neutrones, por lo que asumía que los átomos estaban compuestos por una esfera de carga positiva y los electrones de carga negativa estaban incrustados en ella, como las pasas en el pudín. Dicha metáfora le otorgó al modelo el epíteto de “Modelo del Pudín de Pasas”.

[scotianostra]

Happy 58th Birthday to the multi-talented Scottish actor Alan Cumming born on January 27, 1965 in Aberfeldy.

Alan Cumming has an amazing volume of work under his belt, last year alone he was involved in 8 different projects and TV and Cinema, add to that he appears on stage, writes, produces, directs things, as you'd imagine there is a lot to go through in his bio.........

Born to Mary (Darling), an insurance company secretary, and Alex Cumming. a forester for Atholl Estate, Alanspent his infant years in Dunkeld before the family moved to Fassfern near Fort William, before moving to the east coast of Scotland in 1969, where Alan's father took up the position of Head Forester of Panmure Estate; it was there that Alan grew up. He went to Monikie Primary School and Carnoustie High School, where he began appearing in plays, and soon after that began working with with the Carnoustie Theatre Club and Carnoustie Musical Society, and never looked back.

In 1981, he left high school with some great exam results in several subjects, but because he was too young to enter any university or drama school he worked for just over a year as a sub-editor at D.C. Thomson Publishers in Dundee. There he worked on the launch of a new magazine, “Tops”, and was also the “Young Alan” who answered readers’ letters. 

In September 1982 he began a three-year course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He graduated in 1985 with a B.A. (Dramatic Studies) and awards for verse speaking and direction. He also had formed a cabaret double act with fellow student Forbes Masson called Victor and Barry, which went on to become hugely successful with tours (including two Perrier Pick of the Fringe seasons in London and a month-long engagement at the Sydney Opera House as part of an Australian tour), records and many TV appearances throughout the British Isles. Before graduating Alan made his professional theatre and film debuts in Macbeth at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and in Gillies MacKinnon’s Passing Glory. 

After graduating, Alan worked extensively in Scottish theatre and television, including a stint on the soap opera High Road before moving to London when Conquest of the South Pole, a play by German playwright Manfred Karge, transferred from the Traverse Theatre in, Edinburgh to the the Royal Court in London, earning him his first Olivier award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer of 1988. 

Alan performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and then the Royal National Theatre, where he starred in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which he also adapted with director Tim Supple. The production was nominated for Best revival at the 1991 Olivier awards and Alan won for Comedy Performance of the Year. His film career began with Ian Sellar’s Prague , in which he starred with Sandrine Bonnaire and Bruno Ganz. The film premiered at the 1992 Cannes film festival and went on to win him Best Actor award at the Atlantic Film Festival and a Scottish BAFTA Best Actor nomination. In the same year he made two films for the BBC. 

In the 1992 Olivier awards got his second nomination for Comedy Performance of the Year for La Bete. The next year he played Hamlet for the English Touring Theatre to great critical acclaim  going on to play the Emcee in Sam Mendes’ revival of Cabaret. He received a 1994 Olivier award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for “Cabaret”, and for Hamlet he received the 1994 TMA Best Actor award and a Shakespeare Globe award nomination.

In 1994, he made his first Hollywood film, Circle of Friends then two films released in quick succession Emma and GoldenEye as a talented hacker, Boris Grishenko, these films brought him to be noticed by further American producers, and he appeared in several Hollywood films, such as Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Buddy.

Returning home briefly in 1997 to work with Stanley Kubrick and the Spice Girls before reprising his role in Cabaret on Broadway. The show and his portrayal were a sensation, and he received the many plaudits and awards  for his performance including a Tony  for Best Actor in a Musical

Since then he has alternated between theatre and films, and also between smaller independent films and more mainstream fare.His films include Julie Taymor’s Titus, the Spy Kids trilogy, X-Men 2, Son of the Mask and the Showtime movie musical Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, and Battle of the Sexes. 

Cumming’s TV work includes Taggart, of course!  The short lived Scottish sitcom The High Life,  Travelling Man, Third Rock from the Sun, Sex and the City, Foyles War and Dr Who. He is probably best known for starring in the US  legal and political drama The Good Wife 

Alan lives in Manhattan  with his husband, illustrator Grant Shaffer, he has been nominated and won too many awards to mention here, and has champion causes for the  LGBT community worldwide. He published a novel,, Tommy’s Tale in 2002,  centring on the life of a bisexual guy living in London, and his biography  Not My Father’s Son, Cumming describes the emotional and physical violence his father inflicted on him in his childhood, he became estranged from his father in his early 20′s and it wasn’t until filming   Who Do You Think You Are in 2010 he spoke to him, his father telling him he suspected he wasn’t his biological father, Alan, along with his brother later had DNA tests which  proved they were indeed his biological children.

Alan today went up in my estimations when he announce he was sending back the OBE he was awarded in 2009 due to "the toxicity of empire".

He explained it in full on his Instagram account, posting;

Today is my 58th birthday and I want to tell you about something I recently did for myself. I returned my OBE. Fourteen years ago, I was incredibly grateful to receive it in the 2009 Queen’s birthday honours list, for it was awarded not just for my job as an actor but ‘for activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA’. Back then the Defence of Marriage Act ensured that same sex couples couldn’t get married or enjoy the same basic legal rights as straight people, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ensured that openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people were barred from serving in the military. (Incidentally both these policies were instituted by the Clinton administration). This is the statement I made at the time: ‘I am really shocked and delighted to receive this honour. I am especially happy to be honoured for my activism as much as for my work.  The fight for equality for the LGBT community in the US is something I am very passionate about, and I see this honour as encouragement to go on fighting for what I believe is right and for what I take for granted as a UK citizen. Thank you to the Queen and those who make up her Birthday honours list for bringing attention to the inaction of the US government on this issue. It makes me very proud to be British, and galvanised as an American’. The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes. Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, and the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire). So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place. I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again. Happy birthday to me!

If you want to see Alan let loose in oor ain land check out Channel 4’s Miriam & Alan: Lost In Scotland where we see the esteemed actor venturing around his native Scotland in a mobile home, with a new friend in tow – fellow thespian, the 80-year-old super Miriam Margolyes. The second series saw then explore the US.

I have to say I hope I look in as good shape as Alan when I reach my 58th birthday........but with just over 4 months left it's not going to happen is it!

[the-busy-ghost]

Look Dundee may be run down a bit in places (and the pandemic definitely did a number on the physical shops) but even when I was a kid I was convinced that parts of the city were peak late Victorian/Edwardian #aesthetic.

Loads of people seem to only visit to go to the V&A and the Discovery but the McManus gallery is also magnificent. The Verdant Works is interesting as are all the old jute and linen mills that are now turned over to housing, and I've always thought the brownstone tenements looked warm and homely even if many of them are rather battered now. The Caird Hall and Reform Street are impressive from an architectural perspective, even if the paint's peeling and many of the shops are empty (I've been to shows at the Caird Hall and the Dundee Rep for considerably less money than it would have cost in Edinburgh so that's also cool). The city's whaling and textile heritage is fascinating (though not always nice, but that's just British history everywhere) and it's also got a lot of women's history (jute mills meant a lot of the Victorian and early twentieth century workforce was female).

You're never far from the water or the countryside (ice cream in Broughty Ferry or Arbroath smokies anyone?) and of course the surrounding Angus and Perthshire countryside used to provide loads of berries for the jam and marmalade that once made Dundee famous (and it's still a perfect area to grow fruit today). Alternatively you could take a walk in Baxter Park when it's autumn and the leaves are falling.

And personally as a graveyard geek I think the Howff is a lovely place to sit, all the more so because you can look up and admire the D.C. Thomson headquarters, housed in an elegant early skyscraper from 1902. Maybe while eating a bridie or an empire biscuit or a pineapple tart from a stereotypical Scottish bakery (Fisher & Donaldson, Goodfellow & Steven, and many many more).

And I'm reminded of this again today (hence the rant) because I was in J.A. Braithwaite Ltd to buy tea and, though it's only a small shop, currently tucked away under some scaffolding on Castle Street, it's just such a wonderful blast from the past (been running for over 150 years and the interior doesn't seem to have changed much). It's like an Aladdin's cave of coffee and tea, and if you are ever in Dundee you should go, even though it's a bit hidden, because why not fully commit to the late Victorian aesthetic (though perhaps not the mores) for ten minutes. Anyway google images doesn't have very many great photos but:

And it smells FANTASTIC

[bunnziebobcat]

The Root Beers gang would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween 2023, with my OCs dressed as characters, including…

Ally Bobcat as Jack Box, the mascot from Jack In The Box restaurants

Carol Woole as She-Ra (1980s)

Fredrick Foxx as Squidward Tentacles (The Spongebob Squarepants Musical)

Morti Mouse as Chikn Nuggit

Nick Bunnzie as the Man in the Yellow Hat, along with Curious George puppet

Wallie T. Do-do as Hank Hill (King of the Hill)

Jane Quornbee as Minnie the Minx from the Beano comic (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.)

Gordon Bennett as Peter Davison as Dr Fifth (Doctor Who, 1982-84)

Season's Hauntings, folks. - Al.

[ulkaralakbarova]

Eric O’Neill, a computer specialist who wants to be made an agent is assigned to clerk for Robert Hanssen, a senior agent with 25 years in the FBI, and to write down everything Hanssen does. O’Neill’s told it’s an investigation of Hanssen’s sexual habits, however Hanssen is really suspected of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for years and being responsible for the deaths of agents working for the United States. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Robert Hanssen: Chris Cooper Eric O’Neill: Ryan Phillippe Kate Burroughs: Laura Linney Juliana O’Neill: Caroline Dhavernas Rich Garces: Gary Cole Dean Plesac: Dennis Haysbert Bonnie Hanssen: Kathleen Quinlan John O’Neill: Bruce Davison Geddes: Jonathan Watton Jim Olsen: Tom Barnett D.I.A. Suit: Jonathan Potts Photographer: David Huband Agent Nece: Catherine Burdon Agent Sherin: Scott Gibson Agent Loper: Courtenay J. Stevens Lisa Hanssen: Clare Stone Greg Hanssen: Jonathan Keltz Michael Rochford: Richard Fitzpatrick Jane: Melissa Thomson Gene Connors: Craig Eldridge Tim Bereznay: Jonathan Whittaker Beautiful Reporter: Reagan Pasternak Vivian O’Neill: Mary Jo Deschanel Libyan Man: Elie Gemael Libyan Wife: Oula Boubkraoui Trunk Cataloguer: Chris Owens SWAT Agent: Jonathon Ruckman Father McKee: Stan Coles Information Center Manager: Bart Bedford Agent Pack: David Frisch Director Louis Freeh: Scott McCulloch Richard: Mathew Lyons Special Agent in Charge: Greg Campbell Man in Car: David O’Neill Latin Speaking Man at Church: Guido Rossi Self (archive footage) (uncredited): John Ashcroft D.C. Driver on Bridge (uncredited): Paul D’Elia FBI Agent (uncredited): Aaron Michael Lacey D.C. Police Officer (uncredited): Mike Monroe Woman on Cell Phone (uncredited): Talia Russo FBI Agent (uncredited): Don Whatley Film Crew: Screenplay: Billy Ray Story: Adam Mazer Story: William L. Rotko Director of Photography: Tak Fujimoto Editor: Jeffrey Ford Producer: Scott Strauss Producer: Scott Kroopf Executive Producer: Adam Merims Executive Producer: Sidney Kimmel Executive Producer: William Horberg Producer: Robert F. Newmyer Casting: Cassandra Kulukundis Production Design: Wynn Thomas Costume Design: Luis Sequeira Art Direction: Andrew M. Stearn Set Decoration: Gordon Sim Music: Mychael Danna Co-Producer: Jeffrey Silver Associate Producer: David O’Neill Additional Casting: Robin D. Cook Set Decoration: Jay Klein Movie Reviews:

[mirandamckenni1]

Netflix made an educational history show. Let's assess the clothes 👀 (ft Lilla Crawford) Save up to 40% off Brooklinen's bundles by shopping their biggest sale of the year. Click my link to shop https://bit.ly/BernadetteBrooklinen . [*If you're watching this video after 11/29, you can still get a discount by using the code BERNADETTE for $20 off your orders over $100] More Lilla! https://ift.tt/307gJai ⤠ NEVER MISS AN UPDATE ⤟ 📜 (FREE) NEWSLETTER https://ift.tt/tXm7T1M 📸 INSTAGRAM @bernadettebanner https://ift.tt/VoYF1Qa ♥️ PATREON https://ift.tt/xap4rPJ RESEARCH ASSISTANT | Heathcliff McLean IG @mxheathcliff https://ift.tt/yUS1ohi ⤠ SOURCES ⤟ [1] British painter. 1572. Portrait of Walter Devereux (1539–1576), First Earl of Essex. Oil on Wood. New York, NY. Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://ift.tt/bmw1suL. [2] Osterkamp, Peggy. 2013. “What Is Velvet and How It Is Made? (Part One).” Peggy Osterkamp’s Weaving Blog. November 2, 2013. https://ift.tt/K5hUm8v. [3] After Hans Holbein the Younger. c. 1537. Portrait of Henry VIII. Oil on Canvas. Liverpool, UK. Walker Art Gallery. https://ift.tt/ODiM0Se. [4] Pickering, Henry. 1741. Sir Wolstan Dixie (1700–1767), 4th Bt, Market Bosworth. Oil on Canvas. Nottingham, UK. Nottingham City Museums & Galleries. https://ift.tt/1SanJr5. [5] Royal Ontario Museum. 2013. “A Pair of 18th Century French Panniers Arrives at the ROM!” Royal Ontario Museum. September 13, 2013. https://ift.tt/gM3DuGN. [6] Gautier-Dagoty, Jean-Baptiste-André. 1775. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (1755-1793). Oil on Canvas. Versailles, France. Palace of Versailles. https://ift.tt/19biAtS. [7] Unknown artist, European. c. 1770. Portrait of a Lady Holding an Orange Blossom. Oil on Canvas. Ontario, Canada. Art Gallery of Ontario. https://ift.tt/ViANtSW. [8] Unknown photographer. c. 1850. Emma Gurney (1803-1860). Photograph. Durham, UK. Darlington Centre for Local Studies. https://ift.tt/e1UKwS2. [9] Unknown photographer. c.1900. Woman with Straw Hat. Photograph. Private Collection. https://ift.tt/UMqskN5. [10] Wirth, Frederick. 1860. Two Children and Woman. Carte-de-visite Photograph. Seattle, WA. University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections. https://ift.tt/FeHCdiy. [11] Unknown illustrator. 1887. Susan B. Anthony. History of Woman Suffrage Volume 1 Edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage. https://ift.tt/7PS6k9s. [12] Purtich, Kirstin. n.d. “Thomson Cage Crinoline.” Bard Graduate Center. https://ift.tt/2FeB5rz. [13] N. Currier. 1851. The Bloomer Costume. Lithograph Print. Washington, D.C. Library of Congress. https://ift.tt/acn6Ovs. [14] Unknown artist. c. 1855. Amelia Bloomer. Chromolithograph. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://ift.tt/uVIUh7z. [15] Hilliard, Nicholas. 1598. Elizabeth I (1533–1603). Oil on Canvas. Derbyshire, UK. Hardwick Hall. https://ift.tt/xpBTVkR. [16] Unknown maker. 1603. Corset from Elizabeth I’s Wax Effigy. London, UK. Westminster Abbey. https://ift.tt/QNvG4XA. [17] Unknown maker. 1601-1800. Orthopaedic Corset to Fit Adult Male. Iron, Leather. London, UK. Wellcome Collection. https://ift.tt/KHp2WZ3. [18] Gheeraerts the Younger, Marcus. 1592. Queen Elizabeth I (“The Ditchley Portrait”). Oil on Canvas. London, UK. National Portrait Gallery. https://ift.tt/Y9fr7jV. [19] Unknown artist, English. 1588. Queen Elizabeth I. Oil on Panel. London, UK. National Portrait Gallery. https://ift.tt/oHKTCiX. [20] Unknown maker, English. 1750-1780. Woman’s Corset. Linen Twill and Baleen. Los Angeles, CA. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. https://ift.tt/9xTfnGb. [21] Unknown maker, Spanish. Late 16th Century. Verdugado. Linen, Reed. Zamora, Spain. Museo Etnográfico de Castilla y León. https://ift.tt/7shLGEQ. [22] Rabel, Daniel. 1626. The Royal Ballet of the Dowager of Bilbao’s Grand Ball. Pen and Black ink, Watercolour. Paris, France. Musée du Louvre. https://ift.tt/9udOgzV. via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0yAN8PHc2M

[democracyinternational]

Democracy International Wins USAID's Multi-Million Dollar IDIQ to Shape Prevention and Peacebuilding Initiatives Worldwide 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded Democracy International (DI) the Programming for Prevention and Peacebuilding (P4P2) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. The IDIQ spans five years with a combined ceiling value of $800 million. This recognition underscores DI's commitment to fostering development outcomes in fragile, conflict-affected regions and countries through innovative, flexible, and effective interventions.

DI is ready to begin work with USAID Missions and Operating Units globally to implement activities under the P4P2 IDIQ mechanism with its exceptional global consortium, which includes Abt Associates, Blumont Inc., Element 84, J. E. Austin Associates, Making Cents International, the Sentinel Project, TAG International, Thomson Foundation, and University of Maryland - National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).

"We are grateful to USAID for selecting us for this critical IDIQ," said DI CEO and President Eric Bjornlund. "At a time where threats to stability and democracy inhibit human development and equity, DI brings a sustained commitment to using innovation and evidence in our global efforts to prevent violence, address fragility, and advance peace."

The P4P2 IDIQ aims to enhance development outcomes in areas grappling with violence, conflict, and fragility by implementing tailored interventions, including cross-border initiatives focused on peacebuilding and prevention. Under this mechanism, USAID will be able to leverage the DI team’s expertise to address key objectives, such as preventing the outbreak, escalation, or recurrence of conflict and violence, promoting peaceful and resilient societies, and adapting traditional development approaches to account for their effect on conflicts. For more than 20 years, DI has worked with communities and institutions around the world, and we look forward to continuing that critical work as USAID advances its commitment to localization. Together, we are committed to building brighter and safer futures for communities around the world.

Democracy International supports active citizens, responsive governments, and engaged civil society and political organizations to achieve a more peaceful, democratic world. By developing and using new knowledge, tools, and approaches and drawing insights from behavioral science, we work to change people’s lives and improve development assistance.

[dertaglichedan]

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

Cameras, visitor logs searched after cocaine found at White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Cocaine discovered in the White House on Sunday was found in a cubby hole in a West Wing entry area where visitors place electronics and other belongings before going on tours, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the White House in Washington

© Thomson Reuters

The Secret Service is investigating the matter, the White House said. "They're checking visitor logs and ... looking at cameras. Those are the next steps. Cross-checking," said the source.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: "Where this was discovered is a heavily traveled area where many ... West Wing visitors come through."

Asked whether anyone had undergone drug testing as part of the investigation, Jean-Pierre said: "We will take any action ... that is appropriate and warranted, pending the outcome of Secret Service."

Possession of cocaine, which is classified as a "schedule II" drug under the U.S. Controlled Substance Act, is a misdemeanor in Washington, D.C.

[groc]

I remember him for Puss ‘n’ Boots.

[opedguy]

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Dilemma

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Jan. 8, 2023.--Special Counsel Jack Smith, 54, thinks he’ll have all the facts soon on whether or not to charge 76-year-old President Donald Trump with any crimes related to the Jan. 6 riots and the Aug. 8, 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago to confiscate classified White House documents.  Even if Smith urges Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland to charge Trump with various crimes, there’s no guarantee Garland with follow through, knowing the political  fallout of divided government.  Nothing would create more revolutionary fervor than charging the former president.  Besides charging Trump doesn’t mean, just like his two impeachment trials, he would be convicted.  When it comes to the FBI, does Garland really want to open that can of worms to a good defense attorneys to pick apart the Department of Justice? Garland know the FBI’s past abusive treatment of Trump’s 2016 campaign and presidency.

Trump should actually welcome the charges especially on the FBI’s Aug. 8, 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago. When it comes to the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, their charges are so vague, so generalized, so beyond any criminal statutes that Smith would be laughed out of court.  Charged with (a) aid and comfort to the mob, (b) obstructing Congress Jan. 6 joint session, (c) conspiracy to make false statements to the National Archives and (d) conspiracy to defraud the United States, all of which are not criminal acts but a political wish list for the Trump-hating Democrats and Republicans on the House Select Committee.  Can you imagine any U.S. prosecutor proving “conspiracy to defraud the United States?  Smith knows as a prosecutor he’s dead-in-the water from the get-go, not able to trust so-called evidence provided to the highly partisan and politically biased House Committee.

Lead Jan. 6 House Committee prosecutor 60-year-old Rep. Jamie Rasikin (D-Md.) said recently that Trump has led a “misanthropic life,” showing for all to see the kind of vicious partisanship and bias on the Committee.  Who is Raskin to say Trump led a “misanthropic life?”  House Jan. 6 Select Committee Co-Chair 56-year-old former Rep. Liz Cheney(R-Wy.) has told the public from Day One, over a year-and-a-half ago, that Trump organized and planned the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.  She cites as proof his Jan. 6 speech on Washington, D.C’s Ellipse that Trump incited a mob to attack the Capitol.  Trump told his audience to peacefully protest at the Capitol.  Cheney knows Trump was acquitted Feb. 13, 2021 in the U.S. Senate of his impeachment charge “incitement of insurrection.” Cheney knows the FBI gave the Committee proof that the Jan. 6 riots were planned by months by various groups.

Cheney and her former Co-Chair Rep. Bernie Thomson (D-Miss.) said Trump “incited an insurrection” without any proof that Trump had any involvement in the Jan. 6 riot.  Cheney and Thomson cited Trump’s inaction on Jan. 6 as proof that he conspired with the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers to overthrow the U.S. government.  Smith knows that Cheney and Thomson refer to the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters as “Trump supporters,” something also biased, partisan description, knowing the Jan. 6 Committee did not prove that Trump had anything to do with the planning the rabble-rousing on Jan. 6.  Whether Trump complained about a “rigged election” or not or had supporters that questioned election officials is not a crime.  Even coming up with alternative lists of electors is not a crime because they’re not certified by the Electoral College, so totally invalid, just a PR stunt for Trump backers.

Smith doesn’t have any evidence that Trump defrauded the United States, one of the most meaningless, vague charges imaginable.  How did Trump obstruct Congress when the Jan. 6 Committee did not provide Smith with any evidence that Trump planned, orchestrated or supported the criminals that ransacked the Capitol.  All Smith can say is that Trump held strong views about the Nov. 8, 2020 election but not evidence that he in any way participated in the criminal acts.  When 57-year-old Oathkeeper founder Stewart  Rhodes was convicted Nov. 29, 2022 of “seditious conspiracy,” it settled the legal question of who’s responsible for the Jan. 6 riots.  How can Smith charge Trump with aid-and-abetting the mob, when he wasn’t involved with the criminal any criminal activity Jan. 6?  When you look at all the cherry picked evidence, Smith can’t rely on anything supplied by the Jan. 6 House Committee.        

Smith has his work cut out for him tying to piece together a criminal case against Trump with all the biased and partisan evidence compiled by the Jan. 6 House Committee.  Democrats wasted millions, spending a year-and-a-half continuing Trump’s impeachment trial of “incitement of insurrection.”  When does delivering a speech prove that Trump told right wing groups to ransack the Capitol Jan. 6?   If you listen to Cheney and Thomson, the Jan. 6 criminals were all “Trump supporters,” when, in fact, they were part of the lunatic fringe that though they could take the law into their own hands.  Vigilante justice doesn’t pay off in a nation based on the Constitution and rule of law.  No matter what the pressure on Smith faces from Democrats and the press, he must resist the anti-Trump mob no matter how convinced Trump was responsible for Jan. 6.  Smith can only look at the facts.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[all-action-all-picture]

Warlord No. 370, cover dated 24 October 1981. Muller's Mob cover by Jeff Bevan. Looks like the letterer dropped a possessive comma.

D.C. Thomson.

[transportationunknown]

on Black in Place

Why I read Black in Place

Black in Place is a book centered on the presence of Washington D.C. as the Chocolate City aka a city who is politically, socially, and economically thrown for its majority Black/African American population and the various processes that are contributing to its conscious undoing through the focus on H Street, a formerly Black, working class commercial corridor. Central to this book is the time period, the 2000s into the 2010s. During this time, the subjects of gentrification, diversity, and authenticity are being roundly critiqued. 

Isn’t gentrification good? 

Don’t we want diverse communities? 

How can vibrant, multicultural corridors ever be a bad thing?

Really, those questions are distractions. I don’t think anyone would argue against any of that (except for gentrification), but I would ask, “Are Black people invited?”

I think Thomspon Summers would say Yes (No). Not yes or no; Yes (No). Yes, in that diversity (the context of the book being racial/ethnic) includes Black Americans. Yes, in that well, we’re in the “Chocolate City” with Black people involved in every socioeconomic group and the highest political offices, so naturally Black people are involved. But also, no. No because gentrification is “inherently contradictory” in that it invites diversity but suppresses it at the same time. No because as H Street changes over, Black-owned and Black-catered businesses are disappearing. No because the new development breeds a new (old) order that demands overt protection from *perceived* threats. Yes because Blackness is cool. No because Black bodies — not people; bodies — are a threat. 

Thomson Summers’ chief contribution, the “blackness aesthetic emplacement” defined as, “a mode of representing blackness in urban capitalist simulacra, which exposes how blackness accrues a value that is not necessarily extended to Black bodies." p. 3 is really outside of the bounds of my research. However, I connected with the book because of a broader interest in how we think about diversity and blackness, during this time period, even if my field of focus is transportation planning. I was also intrigued by how Thompson Summers weaved in the machinations of whiteness and, as George Lipsitz calls, the “white spatial imaginary” vs the “black spatial imaginary”. I, too, would like to delve into whiteness as a study to explain the reactionary force that is transportation justice while also staying with Black thought and experience as the central theme. 

Thomspson Summers utilized a variety of qualitative methods in her approach. These include

Below are the themes of the book that I took away, as well as key arguments that Thomspon Summers describes throughout. Starting in 2011, she delved into archival research, which includes 9 months of observation and document analysis through transcripts, neighborhood blogs, and listservs to “understand how diversity was framed and discussed and how the attachment of race to space takes place.”. Next, she immersed herself in 3 years of participant observation (2012-2015) by chatting with current and past residents, bartenders, waitstaff, and casual visitors on H Street. She also joined restaurant tours of the corridor. Thomspon Summers used cuisine, transportation, security, and historic preservation as anchors for her research. 

Chief contribution to literature/main focus: the black aesthetic emplacement. 

Thomspon Summers explains that Black in Place is dedicated to “Examining various practices of black aesthetic emplacement, I consider how blackness is aestheticized and deployed to fortify public order, organize landscapes, and foster capital. I theorize black aesthetic emplacement as part of the white hegemonic structuring and signifying of notions of blackness to increase the desirability of a particular location.” p. 3 (The location being the H Street, NE corridor). She illustrates the point of the blackness aesthetic in reference to the owners of Chocolate City Beer using a red, raised fist in the gentrifying H-Street corridor. Here she posits that “race operates as an aesthetic language and a visual logic within the neoliberal epstieme.” thus blackness “assumes the form of a distinct aesthetic that is influenced by, but not reduced to, race relations.” p.4. 

H Street, before the 1990s, was a commercial corridor that served working class to low-income Black consumers. We learn later in the historic overview that H Street was one of the few corridors that Black Washingtontonians could frequent, due to segregation. In the 2000s, H Street becomes the new site of a diverse, creative, commercial corridor for all. On the trajectory of H Street, Thompson Summers “explore[s] the tensions between a post–Chocolate City and constructions of blackness within the context of contemporary neoliberalism”, including the critique of what it means to be a post-Chocolate City, in that post means beyond or absent. 

Throughout the book, she provides several continuous critiques of gentrification as cultural displacement and the concepts of diversity and authenticity. In gentrifying corridors like H Street, “…poor and working-class Black residents experience cultural displacement, in which they feel unwelcome and uncomfortable in the areas where they have lived and roamed for years.” p. 12. She specifically calls out placemaking, a process for shaping public spaces that focus on “making places” livable, walkable, and most importantly as a cog in this wheel of displacement. Placemaking is critiqued under the section Black (im)mobility as an extension of how economic policy and mayoral politics contributed to the reimagining of H Street to the almost unrecognizable. Adonia Lugo shared her experience as a participant observer trying to share in Parking Day in a historically Black neighborhood in Los Angeles, only to be told to move along by the police. There are nuances there within her experience, mainly how the residents view Parking Day and how it, too, is wrapped up on the new multicultural urban experience of the late 2000s/early 2010s, but I think this tangent marries well. 

For all five chapters, I will provide summaries in subsequent posts. However, I may skip over sections that I either feel are not new information or are not integral to my research. 

Chapter 1

[diabolikdiabolik]

Robots on the cover of Starblazer which was a British comic magazine published between 1979 and 1991.

[bunnziebobcat]

A Genie of an Award

I wish to congratulate Jamie Smart on winning the British Book Awards for a couple of illustrated categories.

I celebrate the occasion with Brian, from My Own Genie, from D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd's The Dandy, where I first discovered Jamie's work.

(That, and Space Raoul in the Funday Times. Whatever happened to that paper? Maybe David Fickling Books' The Phoenix Comic ought to bring it back, right?)