#the source says it's from December 2001

[ardethbayrulez]

Oded Fehr

( and his little one😉)

[seandwalsh]

The Origins of Pikmin (Part 1)

The following is Part 1 (because Tumblr's text limit sucks) of an adaptation of my first published Pikmin Theory in written form. While I’ve previously presented this as a YouTube video, it was actually originally written for this blog. As Pikmin 4 has released and only provided even stronger support for the theory, I’ve decided to publish it here once again, as originally intended, with more evidence from both Pikmin 4 and its predecessors - an extensive expansion to say the least, so even if you've seen the video this should still act as an interesting piece of supplementary material.

I hope you all enjoy!

In Pikmin 1, Olimar crashes on what we know as Earth, seemingly after the extinction of humans and familiar wildlife:

“This is an ever-surprising ecosystem. What has caused this planet's vegetation to grow to such gigantic proportions? In comparison to the Pikmin and the other creatures of this planet, the scale of the plant life here seems inexplicable. Perhaps, long ago, creatures of incomprehensible size walked the surface of this planet. Just imagine!”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“This must be the fossilized remains of an enormous land-dwelling creature. I was unable to piece together the entire beast, but it certainly had a massive head! It's obviously quite different from the Pikmin and other creatures I've encountered. Perhaps it's an extinct creature that couldn't adapt to changes in its environment.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“This appears to be a huge bird feather, but I've never seen the creature it once belonged to. I wonder if I ever will. I've only seen a few airborne creatures on this planet. I wonder why? Maybe it's just because I haven't encountered them yet. Oh no... What if they saw me take this feather? They could be watching me, waiting for the perfect moment to take their sweet revenge!”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

When Olimar arrives on the planet, later dubbed by Koppaites as “PNF-404”, he discovers the Pikmin, species of plants with animal-like features. The Pikmin are seemingly quite close to extinction upon discovery, with their nests, the Onions, buried in the ground and incredibly low in population. In fact, it appears the only reason they aren’t extinct is because the Onions are able to produce emergency seedlings after a Pikmin extinction. The Pikmin don’t seem to know how to hunt for the nutrients necessary to survive and reproduce without Captain Olimar’s help.

“Even some wild Pikmin have become extinct, it seems, and there are some very rare varieties that can only be created by tossing Pikmin into a flower called a Candypop Bud.”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

At the end of Pikmin 1, we see that Olimar has taught the Pikmin how to fight for themselves, when they attack a Bulborb on their own and seemingly remain on the planet’s surface overnight as Olimar heads for home. This carries over into Pikmin 2, where the Red Pikmin are seen fending for themselves when Olimar and Louie return to PNF-404, as well as Pikmin 3, where the Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin and Rock Pikmin at the very least have somewhat large populations despite some of their Onions being in peril.

The essence of my point is that the Pikmin don’t seem equipped to survive on this planet, which begs the question of how it is they survived through the planet’s evolutionary history until the point of Captain Olimar’s arrival…

The Pikmin certainly have some peculiarities. They’re Ambuloradices, described as having both plant and animal features by explorers in various games:

“Pikmin are part of the Ambuloradicis class, which consists of creatures that exhibit both plant and animal characteristics.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“[#] days have passed since I began my search with the Pikmin. They are an ever-mysterious life-form. They grow like plants do, but they're also mobile and active like animals are. Individually, they seem weak, but in truth, I am beginning to believe that they could be an exceptionally mighty species if properly organized. I certainly hope so.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“What exactly are these Pikmin? One could classify them as both plant and animal. They mature from leaf, to bud, and finally to blossom. When all of one color are lost, the Onion instinctively puts out new seeds... How does it know to do this? What a mysterious life-form!”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“The Pikmin sprout from seeds and transform from plants into animals when uprooted. They treat outsiders like us as their leaders, obediently following us and even risking their lives for us when necessary. Yet it's this obedience that has aided in their propagation and survival. Perhaps it is actually the Pikmin who are controlling us.”

[Source: Alph, Koppaite Scientist and Engineer of the S.S. Drake, Playable Character in Pikmin 3, July 2013]

“The leaf on a Pikmin's head can develop into a bud, and then into a flower. It seems that if a Pikmin sprout is left in the ground, these developments take place over time. In this way they appear very plant-like, and yet once they have been plucked they show their animal aspect. A completely fascinating creature...”

[Source: Brittany, Koppaite Botanist and Crew Member of the S.S. Drake, Playable Character in Pikmin 3, July 2013]

This is despite the fact they're believed to have evolved from terrestrial root vegetables:

“It is generally believed that the Pikmin body was originally the root of a plant that has evolved over centuries, if not millennia, developing structures analogous to muscles, neural networks similar to those of a brain, and more.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“The accepted theory is that Pikmin evolved from terrestrial root vegetables, and so would be unable to breathe underwater and subsequently drown.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

The bodies of Rock Pikmin are special stones stored within Rock Candypop Buds and Rock Onions which the root system and vital organs of the Rock Pikmin spread throughout. Why and how would the Onions and Candypop Buds develop this stone stockpiling functionality?

“This species is definitely a member of the Pikmin genus, but its body does not share any of the plant-like traits that Pikmin are known for. Instead, it's composed primarily of stone. The stone is actually the chosen host for a parasitic subset of Pikmin species nicknamed "Hermikmin." Similar to how a seed can sprout and push through the cracks of a rock, the Pikmin's roots stretch deep into the stone, storing its vital organs in an interior cavity that resembles a crystal geode.Because this species displays characteristics common in parasitism, one could hypothesize that the Rock Onion and Rock Candypop Bud stockpile stone that will eventually host the Rock Pikmin.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

Winged Pikmin feature distinctly insectile wings on their bodies, a massive evolutionary improbability. It's hypothesised by leaders that perhaps the Winged Onions absorbed DNA resulting in the modern Winged Pikmin's body plan, but why would Onions have that capability?

“The wings on the back of this flying Pikmin species closely resemble the wings you would find on a flying creature. It's possible that an ancient Winged Onion somehow absorbed a flying creature's DNA, which then resulted in the precursor to the Winged Pikmin transforming into the species we recognize today. If this theory is correct, then Onions might also be serving the role of messenger, transmitting new traits and characteristics to their Pikmin.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

Olimar even mentions that it’s almost like the Pikmin were waiting for the brain of an alien leader of some sort to lead them, like they knew following Olimar would help them survive.

“I wonder if these Pikmin were waiting for me to arrive. No... Not necessarily me, but an alien being like me who could fight alongside them. On this planet they are a weak species, but maybe they see that they can use the power of an alien brain to climb to the top of the natural order. Such ideas make me wonder if it isn't I who is being used by them...”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“The Pikmin's Purpose I wonder if these Pikmin were waiting for me to arrive. On this planet, they are a weak species, but if they're trying to use the power of an alien brain to climb to the top of the natural order... I have to wonder if it isn't me who is being used by them.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

They seem to have a natural inclination towards or instinct for following and taking orders from intelligent humanoids, as is further noted by the Hocotate Freight ship in Pikmin 2, Alph in Pikmin 3 and Olimar in Pikmin 4:

“At last, you have encountered them! They seem to have gill-like ducts on their cheeks. They must be blue Pikmin! Like the other types, they look to you for direction. While they are indeed surviving naturally they still seem to long for a valiant leader.”

[Source: The Hocotate Freight ship (First model S.S. Dolphin), Deteriorating Hocotate Freight adventure vessel, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“It seems that Pikmin are driven by instinct to carry away anything they see lying around. Prey that will increase their numbers are carried to the Onion, whereas things they cannot use are carried to the spaceship or to their original location. Thus, their carrying instinct lets them form symbiotic relationships with species like us. This could be the key to their success.”

[Source: Alph, Koppaite Scientist and Engineer of the S.S. Drake, Playable Character in Pikmin 3, July 2013]

“A Pikmin will instinctively follow whoever plucks them from the ground, so it is quite common for them to form symbiotic relationships with another species or accept a leader of a different species, as it serves the goal of propagating their own species as a whole.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“Pikmin have a disposition to carry things that will increase their ranks to the Onions, and to carry everything else to their leaders' spaceship. They may instinctively sense what we need and seek to strengthen our symbiotic relationship...”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

Pikmin form a natural symbiosis with the leaders from the moment they're plucked. With their leaders commanding them, Pikmin quickly become one of the most powerful species on the planet.

“TOPIC 2 - A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH LEADERS What is a symbiotic relationship? Symbiotic means a mutual relationship that different organisms have with each other while active in the same space. But both sides don't always benefit from it; sometimes it only seems to be a one-way street. What about Pikmin though? LEADERS AND PIKMIN EACH BENEFIT When a Pikmin sprout is plucked, it will appear to recognize its leader as such and follow them. From this moment on, a symbiotic relationship of sorts between leader and Pikmin is formed. (The leaders' benefit) With lots of Pikmin in tow, they will be able to transport heavy objects and defeat creatures that stand in their way. (The Pikmin's benefit) With a capable leader on board, the Pikmin can rapidly increase their ranks and become the most powerful creatures on the planet.”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

Even Pikmin that have become separated from the squad, fail to form a symbiotic relationship and become wild will instantly fall in line and take orders in the presence of a leader to command them. It's almost like it's part of their very DNA...

TOPIC 3 - WILD PIKMIN Spotted by the Crew! Pikmin in the Wild The Pikmin that fail to establish a successful symbiotic relationship and decrease in number, as well as those who become separated from their group, may sometimes revert to a wild state and move their activity underground.

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

“Wild Pikmin Wild Pikmin found underground can be brought to the surface and added to an Onion. However, when tasked with transporting a pellet, the resulting seed ends up the same color as the Onion. I must be careful, as these Pikmin cannot be propagated right now.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

That’s not to mention some other oddities, such as the natural cap of a certain number of Pikmin being active within a given radius of a set of Onions in the field, which is apparently believed to help prevent a Pikmin extinction, or the fact that in order to reproduce Pikmin require being plucked from a sprout after being planted.

“I have made yet another Pikmin-related discovery. Just when I was about to exceed 100 Pikmin in the field. the Onion stopped expelling seeds, yet the total number of Pikmin continued to climb. It seems that once there are 100 Pikmin in the field. subsequent seeds get stored inside the Onion. Thus, no more than 100 Pikmin can be in the field at one time in any area.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“The Onion stopped spitting out seeds! But the Pikmin inside the Onion still seem to be increasing in numbers. Apparently, once the number of Pikmin in the field reaches 100, any new Pikmin will stay inside the Onion. This means that a maximum of 100 Pikmin can be active outside the Onion at any one time.”

[Source: Alph, Koppaite Scientist and Engineer of the S.S. Drake, Playable Character in Pikmin 3, July 2013]

“Maybe Pikmin have evolved to self-limit how many can be out on the surface at a time to prevent unnecessary loss.”

[Source: Captain Shepherd, Giyan Leader of the Rescue Corps, Rescue Pup trainer and Captain of the S.S. Shepherd, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“Preservation Instincts The Onion stopped releasing seeds! I went to check on it and saw that the Pikmin will only propagate inside the Onion once a certain number are out on the surface. Could limiting the number of active Pikmin be a strategy to avoid extinction?”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“When the number of Pikmin on the surface exceeds a certain number, they start to multiply inside the Onion. Apparently, they are trying to control the number of Pikmin active at one time to prevent their total extinction.”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

Who “naturally” does this plucking when beings like the Hocotatians and Koppaites aren’t around? How can the Pikmin exist in the way they do?

There’s also an odd, seemingly “intentional” way for Pikmin to reproduce - using the easily accessible crystallised nectar of Pellet Posies, which develop quickly and pull all of the necessary nutrients from the ground. They even produce pellets with colours matching each Pikmin type in a region, tend to grow near Onion landing sites and have literal human numbers on them, indicating exactly how many Pikmin are required to carry them. It’s clear there’s a deeper connection here.

“In the stem of the pellet posy, one can observe the muscle fiber unique to half-plant, half-animal species such as the Pikmin and candypop flowers, so the pellet posy is a species that can be considered a close relative. Although the ability to crystallize nectar is unique to a small group of the pellet weed family, the fact that these plants reach maturity so quickly and that their pellets contain such high concentrations of the natural nutrients in the soil explains why the Pikmin and so many of the other indigenous species are so reliant on these pellets for sustenance.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“The pellet cradled in its petals changes colors like some form of chameleon, aligning to match the color of nearby Pikmin. It's almost as though it's inviting us to come harvest it to make more. Even though it appears to be helping out, it's really just using us to spread its seeds!”

[Source: Dalmo, Sozorian Animal Enthusiast and researcher, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

Which brings me to the Onions themselves. When Olimar first discovers a Red Onion in Pikmin 1, he notes that it awoke as if it was waiting for his arrival. He questions what it is, whether or not it’s alive and then whether or not it’s a machine.

“A strange thing has appeared before me. I had barely begun my search when it reared up as if it were waiting for me. It then dropped a single seed. What is it? Is it alive? Is it a machine? It resembles a vegetable on my home planet that we call an onion. I shall call this an Onion too.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

Onions are clearly unnatural in some sense. They seemingly have mechanical parts, such as their flower-like propellers and jets. Some types even have what appear to be solar panels. Some types have a unique pattern, which also appears on the wrists of Mamutas, who themselves have a clear connection to planting and growing Pikmin. Onions take flight, entering orbit during the night, and are described as “a Pikmin mother ship” by the Hocotate Freight ship in Pikmin 2.

“The Onion ejected more seeds! The pellet from that flower must hold nutrients that breed Pikmin. Yes! The Pikmin gather nutrients, haul them to the Onion, and further propagate the species! The Onion is a Pikmin mother ship! Reviewing Olimar's report, it seems holding {A} lets one rapidly pluck Pikmin sprouts.”

[Source: The Hocotate Freight ship (First model S.S. Dolphin), Deteriorating Hocotate Freight adventure vessel, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“Sometimes it lies dormant, much like a bulb, but dig it up from the ground and provide it with the right stimulus—for example, a good, hard shake—and it will activate, sprouting three rootlike legs. It serves a role similar to a nest or an incubator for the Pikmin, absorbing pellets or the bodies of dead creatures for their nutritional value, then propagating Pikmin the same color as itself. Onions also seem to greedily attempt to replicate certain characteristics of the matter they absorb by combining with, or absorbing, other Onions, sometimes of the same type. It's been confirmed that just like Pikmin, an Onion has muscle fibers in its body, and though it is unable to walk it is capable of a small range of motion. However, when one breaks down the biological matter it has absorbed a fuel similar to bioethanol is created. Onions spray this fuel out of the mouths on their underbellies and are able to fly using their flowerlike propellers for stabilization.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

The Onions were later classified by scientists as an entirely different species from Pikmin. This means that much like the Pikmin-leader symbiosis, the very basis of Pikmin reproduction is symbiosis with the Onion species.

“"The majesty of nature," "the mystery of life"… I feel that these stale clichés can't fully express the extraordinary symbiotic relationship between Pikmin and Onions. Is there a connection here of an affectionate nature, perhaps? There's so much we still don't know!”

[Source: Dalmo, Sozorian Animal Enthusiast and researcher, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“Pikmin not only increase in numbers by living symbiotically with their leaders, but seemingly even the means by which they are born are obtained through symbiosis. By providing nutrition to the Onion, an object which can be considered their nest or incubator, they sprout seeds and multiply. But in fact, while Onions are similar in species to Pikmin, they are said to be completely different beings... Next time, we'll report about these so-called Onions.”

[Source: Chet, Mihaman Scientist and Research Task Force leader, Pikmin Garden, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

On the subject of Onions, Pellet Posies and Pikmin reproduction, the recently observed Lumiknoll exist in a very interesting related position. Lumiknolls and their juvenile form Tricknolls sprout at night and produce Glow Pikmin. Glow Pikmin, while resembling Pikmin in appearance and behaviour, are not technically classified as Pikmin. Lumiknolls appear at Onion landing sites, smell like Onions and are even speculated to be Onion rhizomes of some sort. It seems that Lumiknolls and Glow Pikmin, with their leaf-dissolving enzymes, exist for the purpose of breaking down deceased Pikmin (and other nectar-based wildlife) and returning their nectar to the soil for Pellet Posies to absorb and crystalise, perpetuating the life cycle of the Pikmin.

“Besides the fact that they serve as incubators and nests for Glow Pikmin, we know very little about the Lumiknoll's ecology. When nocturnal creatures die, a Lumiknoll can break them down into glow pellets through its strong dissolving enzymes. This matter, when condensed, becomes glow sap. One might assume glow sap is then an extremely dangerous substance, but it has hardly any negative effects. In fact, I've had it administered to me personally as a curative medicine to break down growing leaves. Lumiknolls will only appear in places where an Onion was located earlier in the day, and since they propagate Glow Pikmin, one could surmise that they are rhizomes from those Onions. Perhaps, using its dissolving powers, it returns the nectar that supports the ecosystem back to the soil.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

“Smells a lot like an Onion. The green juice is particularly delicious!”

[Source: Louie, Employee of Hocotate Freight, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

[PART 2]

[blazehedgehog]

Man, that's crazy and unfortunate what happened to that level designer on Sonic Heroes. Is there a source for those stories you could share?

Unfortunately it came from a Game Informer interview on their website back in 2016. Thanks to the efforts of Gamestop, everything about Game Informer was basically wiped from the internet about a little over a week ago.

Digging around a bit I found this Wayback Machine post for the article, titled "Where Sonic Went Wrong", written by Brian Shea.

Iizuka recalls the development cycle of Sonic Heroes, the first multiplatform mainline Sonic console game, as the most stressful of his career, in part thanks to deadlines. He was based in the United States while the rest of the development team was in Japan, and mismanagement took its toll on the team. "The level design for Sonic Heroes was made by two people: me and one other person," he says. "As we got to the later stages of development, this other person got pretty sick and didn't show up to work, so level design was made by one person! So for those very last stages of the game, I didn't sleep at all and I was constantly working. I lost about [22 pounds] because I was just cranking away and it was just work, work, work. I didn't sleep because I had to finish the game on my own. Almost dying!"

From what I've heard, this isn't the first time somebody has mentioned this about Sonic Heroes, just the first time in an English interview.

For the other information:

The information about Sonic 2 comes in the wake of Hirokazu Yasuhara's Digital Dragons talk in 2017, where he revealed a significantly different and more ambitious early design for Sonic 2 that was scrapped in favor of something they could do faster and easier.

The information about Sonic 3 comes from the Hidden Palace dump of a Sonic 3 prototype. The creation date on their prototype is maybe three months before its retail release and the state of the game at that point can charitably be described as a disaster, something their news post explains thanks to information provided by the person who offered the prototype.

Sonic Adventure 2 being made by half the people in half the time is original research by me. Sonic Team is on record that the 3D Sonic World in Sonic Jam was a prototype for Sonic Adventure on the Sega Saturn, putting development of SA1 starting around late 1996 or early 1997. If you count from there to when the finishing touches were put on the International (American) release of SA1, that gives it a development time of around 2-3 years. SA2's development started probably around December of 1999, and came out in June of 2001, making for a development time of 18 months. You can compare developer numbers yourself using Mobygames. (Shoutouts to The Golden Bolt for also looking down a similar path.)

Similarly, just look at the production credits for Shadow the Hedgehog, CTRL+F, and search for "Takashi Iizuka"

After Shadow in 2005, Takashi Iizuka was no longer an active developer on the Sonic series for the next five or six games, mostly relegated to distant "supervisor", "concept" and "special thanks" roles. Instead, he worked on NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, another game Sega jerked him around on. He came back to the Sonic franchise and started doing press again midway through the development of Sonic Colors in 2010.

Sonic Unleashed being expensive comes from, to my memory, an IGN Developer Diary that's impossible to find nowadays, where the director admits one of the producers at Sega pitched the Werehog as a way to slow players down and appreciate all the effort they put into environment art. Also they literally developed a whole entire rendering engine just for that game, of course it was expensive.

Here's a 2009 post mentioning a "Sonic Anniversary" leak from Sega's FTP. Details are fuzzy, but a Sega Spain leak a year later clarified that "Sonic Anniversary" was a game coming to Wii, DS, PSP, and PS3. A (physically) broken prototype of Sonic Anniversary for the PSP reveals a very early version of what would become Sonic Generations for the 3DS. And given how much content is shared between Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, it's not hard to connect the dots between Colors being built from the proposed Wii version of "Anniversary" (Generations). There may be a more direct source for this straight from the horse's mouth, but I can't find it right now.

Morio Kishimoto was a game designer for Secret Rings and Black Knight, his first games for Sega, and got promoted to Director for Sonic Colors where he's stayed ever since. He mentioned not being a part of Sonic Forces at first, but was brought in to get the game back on track, and the game's troubled development is corroborated by Takashi Iizuka in the liner notes for the Sonic Forces soundtrack.

You can compare the metacritic for Secret Rings and Sonic 06 to see just how much more favorably Secret Rings was received, despite both games coming out less than six months apart.

Here's an archived IGN interview from 2007 with Yojiro Ogawa describing how Secret Rings was split off from the development resources of Sonic 06. Exact dates would be fuzzy, but it's easy to assume the entire game was developed in less than a year.

Here's a 2010 Eurogamer interview where Takashi Iizuka (not Kishimoto, whoops) says Sonic Colors is a Sonic game meant to appeal to Mario fans.

As for Sonic Lost World being Sonic Colors 2, my source on that is "I mean, just look at it."

(For people many years in the future, this post is in response to this.)

[harrisonarchive]

George Harrison and Sir Jackie Stewart at Donington, June 1979; photo 1 by Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images, photo 2 by Maurice Rowe.

First, the backstory to these photos:

"I’ve never raced seriously myself, but I had a go in a Formula One car, with quite an old 3-liter- engine car. I’d drive round Brand’s Hatch in one. And I drove in a charity for Gunnar Nilsson, a Swedish driver who died of cancer, because I gave the money from the ‘Faster’ single off George Harrison to Gunnar’s cancer fund. Anyhow, they had this day for the Gunnar Nilsson campaign at the track in England and they asked me to drive this 1960 Lotus, which had won a race in Monte Carlo when driven by the great English driver Sterling Moss. This car had no seatbelts, and because it had been in a museum for 20 years the tires were hard with no grip on them, yet the car was still pretty quick! But they assured me it was just a demonstration run, going round for five laps in formation and then five laps at your own pace. So I said I’d do it. I got there, and it’s Jackie Stewart in the Tyrrell he won his ‘73 championship in; James Hunt in the McLaren. Phil Hill in his famous Ferrari. I’m walking to my car while chatting with driver John Watson about the pleasure of the run we’re about to take, and he says, ‘You’re joking. There’s no racing driver that goes in formation! As soon as they drop that flag, they’ll all be gone like crazy!’ Sure enough, as soon as the checkered flag fell, the other cars went whoosh as mine puttered along in a haze of smoke! By the time I got to my first lap they were already coming behind me for their second lap, screaming away! Scared me stiff! [wild laugh] But at least I did better than James Hunt, who broke down on the first pass." - George Harrison, Goldmine, November 27, 1992

More on photo 2:

“I have never seen the photograph before as I can recall, so it is a really nice thing for me to have. Thank you so much. Ironically, last Tuesday evening, Livvy [Olivia] Harrison came up to have dinner with me and I would love to have shown her that and I am sure she would have been amused and would have also enjoyed it. Thank you so much for thinking of it.” - From Sir Jackie Stewart’s letter, 22 December 22, 2006, as sourced from an auction listing (x)

“George was an extraordinary musician and the sweetest of men, and, over the years, I grew to adore his gentle nature, his music, his deep spirituality and his friendship. [...] If we had been dropped from the same height, George would have been a feather, drifting this way and that on the breeze, and I would have been a lead weight plunging straight down: the point is we would have both there in the end. There were times when we could have been living on different planets, times when George was procrastinating over what to do and I would be decisive and all action, or waring amazingly casual and way-out clothes when I would be more traditionally dressed. Yet there were many other times when we seemed so similar, paying the same fanatical attention to detail. He could be amazingly fastidious, keeping his cars immaculately clean and taking such care and time over his gardens, both at his home near Henley, England and in his tropical paradise on Maui. This determination to get things exactly right extended to his music. George would work and work until a song was totally as he wanted it to be — not just right, but precisely right, so precisely right that it would almost sound as if it had evolved naturally, out of nothing, dreamily and effortlessly. [...] [Since 2001] we have stayed very close to Livy and Dhani, who has grown up to bear such a striking resemblance to his father, both in his appearance and his mannerisms. For me, George was a true friend who opened my eyes to so much that I would otherwise not have seen, and who in his calm, gentle way gave me a new perspective on living and dying.” - Jackie Stewart, Winning Is Not Enough (2007)

“The story really on that tune [‘Faster’] is since I was kid, like twelve years old, I got into motor racing and motor cycle races — not actually racing myself but as a spectator. And there was a track, racetrack in the place I was born, Liverpool, where they had grand prix races from time to time. So I started out when I was about twelve, just before I got into the guitar. It was always interesting to see in other areas of life who was wearing the long hair. And in motor racing, Jackie Stewart became the world champion in, I think, 1968, and he was the first guy with long hair and who had opinions, and he was a big Beatle fan. I had a book that Jackie Stewart had written which was called Faster. I thought, good, that’s the title. [chuckles] So I lifted the title, and once I got the title I was away… I wanted to write in a way that was like a story and would also relate to people who weren’t into motor racing. The only thing that limits it is the sound effects that I put on later." - George Harrison, KMET, 1979

“[George] was just a good man, a real gentle man. He was a fantastic thinker. He had one of the best minds of anybody I have ever met. He had his own beliefs, but as he got older he wasn’t someone who couldn’t get on with anyone who didn’t share that opinion. That was one of the nice things about George. Here was I living a whole different lifestyle from George, a different pace. As time passed we became close, which seemed to confirm the old saying that opposites attract. While I liked to organize my life with military precision, George took a more laid-back approach. The thing that most impressed me about him was he was very sincere. George told it like it was. He was very straight. He didn’t like people who were fakes. If he said he was going to do something, he would do it.” - Jackie Stewart, The Beatles In Scotland (2008)

“George had a great soul. His instinct was to forgive rather than to condemn and, when people behaved badly, he would make excuses for them. I learnt so much from him. In the late 1990s, when we started to spend more time in England, we saw more of George, his wife Livy and their son Dhani. We always enjoyed our visits to their home at Friar Park which George took great pride in restoring: reviving the underground canals and the 60-foot mountain modeled on the Matterhorn in Switzerland, complete with Alpine flowers and streams. He spent endless hours contentedly tending to the plants. ‘I'm a gardener,’ he would say.” - Jackie Stewart, Winning Is Not Enough (2007) (x)

[luigiblood]

The Launch Details of the 64DD

This was originally published on 64dd.org on October 15th, 2021.

There’s a lot of confusion about the release and price of the 64DD and what was the Randnet service about, so it’s time to talk about that, because it is more interesting than you think.

More info after the break.

Original Plans

Nintendo had announced the 64DD in 1995, the Nintendo 64 hadn’t even come out yet that they already announced the addon for it. The purpose was to bring higher capacity and big rewritable storage, as well as making it expandable through cartridges (such as the Modem Cassette and Capture Cassette for exemple).

The 64DD was properly introduced in 1997 alongside games, with a slated release for summer 1997 in Japan and a pricing between $100 and $199. Miyamoto himself even estimates the price to be $120. This might be about what the 64DD would cost on its own in retail stores. However this isn’t how it ended up to be.

Randnet

In around June 1999, in the wake of the launch of the 64DD, Recruit and Nintendo would establish their second joint company called RandnetDD Co., Ltd., the first one was Marigul Management, which would provide financing for game companies.

RandnetDD would handle all marketing and sales of the 64DD including software, management and provider of the Randnet service, which would be internet access, email, online game networks including matchmaking, as well as a content provider for newspapers, music, and more. This would mean that RandnetDD’s sole existence is for the 64DD and its service, making the 64DD bound to RandnetDD and one wouldn’t sell without the other as part of their plans.

Later on, RandnetDD announced their plans for the Randnet service membership to start in December 1999, for the first year, for 2500 yen (~$23) per month, you would rent-to-own the Randnet Starter Kit, comprised of the 64DD itself, an Expansion Pak, the Modem Cassette and Cable, and Randnet Disk (would be sent later), as well as a selection of titles, and of course, access to the Randnet service. For 3300 yen (~$30) per month, you could rent all of the above but also have a Clear Black Nintendo 64 unit. A 12-month flat rate plan was introduced later for 30000 yen (~$290) and 39600 yen (~$380) (including Clear Black Nintendo 64 unit).

All years after the first would cost 1500 yen (~$14) per month, and all hardware and software ownership would be transferred to the member from that point. RandnetDD actually states that very clearly. Of course, any dialup access fees aren’t included here, but they did set up a nationwide phone number in Tokyo with a 50 yen ($0.46) per minute flat rate, although other phone numbers were available with different fees depending on the distance or time of day.

The membership application form could be managed within select stores, in call centers, and by fax, and was limited up to 100000 members. This wouldn’t be as going as they hoped.

The Reality

So to make it clear, the 64DD has never been this expensive, the subscription plan included the price of everything you would get from Randnet, it would have been a constant stream of software that you would own, and services. RandnetDD wanted to be innovative, and essentially you could have owned every 64DD game, and they really tried to be competitive.

Every single consumer 64DD title and device released so far were only for Randnet members, I have looked for alternatives but there’s only evidence of 64DDs only being sold through Randnet.

Unfortunately for Randnet, the 64DD was released after the Dreamcast had come out worldwide, and mere months after launch, the Playstation 2 would make its debut in Japan. For me it just seems impossible to beat the next gen hardware with this, especially when the project codenamed Dolphin was already talked about, to be released in 2001 as the GameCube.

I’d say the closest comparison to the 64DD’s launch that I can make is the PlayDate, where you buy the hardware but also an entire season of games.

Sources: https://www.ign.com/articles/1997/07/26/64dd-to-sell-for-120 https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/1997-99/990611a.html https://web.archive.org/web/20000226213125/http://www.randnetdd.co.jp:80/apply/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20000419022955/http://www.randnetdd.co.jp/tempo.html https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/02/10/everything-about-the-64dd https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/12/16/ign64s-ultimate-64dd-faq https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/12/17/64dd-goes-retail

[phoneybeatlemania]

omg so according to keith badman, guests at george's 1974 end-of-tour party included john, may, neil, and an independent YOKO…. may pang also says paul was there bc him and john and george all hugged <3 and linda + olivia were both around so presumably they were at the party too! but why... why.. was yoko there……………… i can find NO information on this so i am shouting into the void just in case anyone's read anything bc i think his book is fairly reliable? but he doesn't cite his sources so >:(

Hiya anon!

This is interesting! I hadn't heard of this until now, but I had a look through Badman's book, The Beatles Diary: Volume 2: After The Breakup 1970-2001, and this is what I came across:

Thursday December 19 [1974]

[Georges] opening night at Madison Square Garden fails to sell out, leaving ticket touts outside the venue with red faces. They had originally planned to sell the $9.50 tickets for $25; instead, they are forced to virtually give the tickets away, making a loss of almost $5 on each. Ravi Shankar returns to the show. Paul and Linda, currently in town for the dissolution of The Beatles’ business entanglements, watch the show in heavy disguise. John’s son Julian also attends the show, accompanied by Ringo’s manager Hilary Gerrard. A planned appearance on stage by John fails to materialise because, earlier in the day, he refused to sign the “Famous Beatles Agreement” forms, which were due to be signed by all four ex-Beatles at midnight tonight. According to May Pang in her book Loving John, George, over the phone, tells May to tell John: “I started the tour without him and I’ll finish it without him.” (Ringo, meanwhile, remains in London to sign the papers, refusing to come to America and therefore avoiding a subpoena from Klein.)

Friday December 20  [1974]

Hilary Gerrard again takes Julian to see George’s concert at Madison Square Garden and John meets with Lee Eastman to discuss the “Famous Beatles Agreement”. Later, John, along with May Pang and Neil Aspinall, attends a party celebrating the end of George’s tour at New York’s Hippopotamus Club. Yoko, arriving separately, is among the guests in attendance.  

John recalls: “George and I are still good pals and we always will be, but I was supposed to sign this thing on the day of his concert. He was pretty weird because he was in the middle of that tour and we hadn’t communicated for a while because he doesn’t live here. I’ve seen Paul a bit because he comes to New York a lot, and I’m always seeing Ringo in Los Angeles. Anyway, I was a bit nervous about going on stage, but I agreed to because it would have been mean of me not to go on with George after I’d gone on with Elton. I didn’t sign the document on that day because my astrologer told me it wasn’t the right day, tee hee! (John will finally sign the papers on Friday December 27 at Disneyworld in Florida-see entry.) 

“George was furious with me at the time because I hadn’t signed it when I was supposed to, and somehow or other I was informed that I needn’t bother to go to George’s show. I was quite relieved in the end because there wasn’t any time to rehearse and I didn’t want it to be a case of just John jumping up and playing a few chords. I went to see him at Nassau and it was a good show. The band was great but Ravi wasn’t there, so I didn’t see the bit where the crowd is supposed to get restless. I just saw a good tight show. George’s voice was shot but the atmosphere was good and the crowd was great. I saw George after the Garden show and we were friends again. But he was surrounded by the madhouse that’s called ‘touring’. I respect George but I think he made a mistake on the tour. Mistakes are easier to spot if you’re not the person making them, so I don’t want to come on like ‘I know better’,’ cos I have’t done that…one of the basic mistakes seemed to be that the people wanted to hear old stuff. George wasn’t prepared to do that, and I understand him. When I did that charity concert at Madison Square Garden, I was still riding high on ‘Imagine’ so I was OK for material. But when I did ‘Come Together’ the house came down, which gave me an indication of what people wanted to hear.”*

Following the Hippopotamus Club party, John visits George in his hotel room where they are interviewed separately by the KHJ Los Angeles radio station for a one-hour special.

*Source: John Lennon: Rock On!, interview w/ Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 March 1975

For your question about why Yoko was there, John and Yoko apparently began seeing each other again (as in, in the flesh) following Johns Madison Square Garden performance with Elton John. Badman wrote:

Thursday November 28th.

Following the show, John and May attend a special party at the Pierre Hotel, where guests are treated to mind-bending illusions by Uri Geller. Incidentally, John and Yoko have always insisted that John did not know that Yoko was in the audience. However, according to May Pang in her book Loving John, not only did John know well in advance that Yoko was attending but he had also reserved Yoko’s tickets and that she had phoned him more than once to complain about the location of her seats.

So I don't think it's that weird that she ended up attending the Hippopotamus Club party in December? I mean, it doesn't seem like the plan had ever been to completely split from one another given that they never seemed to have made any efforts to divorce.

[beardedmrbean]

The Biden administration said Tuesday that it will extend legal status by 18 months for more than 300,000 people from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal, disappointing some advocates and members of Congress who sought a more generous offer.

The extensions provide “continued safety and protection” for those already legally in the U.S. on Temporary Protected Status, which is due to end soon under Trump-era decisions, said U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

While the decision benefits an estimated 334,000 people from the four countries, including 239,000 from El Salvador, some had hoped for a far more sweeping gesture including expanded eligibility for more recent arrivals from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who strongly pressed the White House for extensions, applauded the step but added it "simply does not go far enough” and suggested it “may have been driven in part by political calculations instead of sound policy rationale and the conditions in each country.”

Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat and House member who was among 116 members of Congress who signed a letter in May seeking an expansion, said the administration “has allowed political fear rather than humanitarian concern to drive its decision.”

The administration has aggressively used TPS, a 1990 law that allows people already in the United States to remain in 18-month increments if the Homeland Security secretary determines that natural disasters or civil strife prevent them from safely returning home.

Under Biden's watch, the number of people eligible has soared more than 70% to nearly 1 million people by December, reversing a Trump-era trend, according to an analysis by the Cato Institute, which advocates for more immigration. TPS encompasses 15 countries, including Venezuelan and Ukraine, up from 10.

The extensions announced Tuesday will apply to about 239,000 El Salvadorans through March 9, 2025, about 76,000 Hondurans through July 5, 2025, about 14,500 Nepalese through June 24, 2025 and about 4,000 Nicaraguans through July 5, 2025.

But TPS beneficiaries from Central America are required to have lived in the United States more than two decades to be eligible, prompting criticism from advocates that the administration failed to consider recent turmoil in countries including Nicaragua, which last year became one of the top sources of migration to the U.S. TPS for El Salvador was granted after an earthquake in the Central American country in 2001 and for Honduras and Nicaragua after a hurricane in 1998.

Advocates also pushed to include Guatemala, whose people have never been eligible for TPS.

While nothing in Tuesday's announcement precludes the administration from later expanding TPS, immediate prospects appeared dimmer.

“It’s a disappointment," said Berta Sanles, who has lived in the United States without legal status since she arrived from Nicaragua with her husband and 6-year-old daughter more than two decades ago. The Miami resident says she's holding out hope, though.

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, chief executive of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said the extensions are "welcome relief for hundreds of thousands of people who have found safety in the United States, many of whom have called this country home for decades now." But she also called it “a missed opportunity to expand protections to more recent arrivals, whose return to danger would be no less devastating.”

TPS has been absent from a slew of carrot-and-stick measures that the administration has announced in recent months around the end of pandemic-related asylum restrictions on May 11, known as Title 42. They include parole for up to 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua or Venezuela and, on the flip side, a virtual ban on asylum for those who travel to the U.S. border and enter the country illegally after traveling through another country, like Mexico.

[lizseyi]

UK Government Finally Signs Off Restoration Funding For Tyne Bridge – TPA

One of North East England’s most instantly recognisable landmarks has moved closer to being rejuvenated, with the news that the UK Government has finally signed off £35 million in funding for maintenance of the Tyne Bridge. 

Local authority officials had warned prior to Christmas that previously promised repair funding for the through arch bridge had not yet been received. 

However, this situation has now been remedied, with the Government confirming the cash injection will help restore and protect the landmark “for generations to come”. 

“Extensive renovation” of the much-admired bridge planned, alongside A167 improvements 

According to the Department for Transport (DfT)’s announcement of the released funding on 2nd February, in addition to the Tyne Bridge benefitting from an “extensive renovation programme”, significant improvement work will be carried out on the Central Motorway East (CME) A167, with the aim of lessening congestion and shortening journey times in and out of Newcastle. 

The bridge is set to celebrate its centenary in 2028, and the investment will – as described by the DfT – “safeguard the iconic structure for future generations and help grow the economy in Newcastle and the North East.”

A long wait to receive the go-ahead for much-needed maintenance funding 

Controversy has flared up in recent months over the apparent lack of action to make the urgently needed repair work a reality, amid concerns about the Grade II-listed structure’s deteriorating condition. 

The Tyne Bridge has not undergone major maintenance work since 2001, and it took until June 2022 for more than £35 million of funding to be announced to cover painting work and refurbishment of the crossing. 

However, local authority officials said in December that they were still waiting for the DfT to provide the money required to enable the main phase of the project to go ahead. 

For its part, the DfT stated in its February announcement of the funding that it had only received “final supporting information” from the local councils in late 2023 – at which point, the department “was then able to start to fully assess and progress the business case”. 

Hopes of improved aesthetics, vehicle access, and tourism 

The Government’s media release confirming the £35 million of funding stated that the money would “help improve the appearance of the bridge and improve access for vehicles, reducing congestion and improving traffic flow, which in turn will improve local air quality.” 

The article went on to say that with the North East benefitting from more than £17 billion in tourism, the restoration of the Tyne Bridge would also be instrumental in attracting greater numbers of both UK and foreign visitors, generating over £90 million in anticipated economic benefits. 

Our transport consultants at Transport Planning Associates (TPA) will be ready and able to aid your projects when you turn to us as a source of specialist transport planning and infrastructure advice.  

[whatisonthemoon]

It is reasonable to believe that Moon was involved in the drug trade into the 2000s

▲ Pictured: Moon in Uruguay, 1998

Note: The Irish Times article below says that Banco de Credito was purchased by the UC in 1996, but as reported on by several newspaper throughout the 80s including the New York Times, the Moonies had already taken over the bank by the early 80s after depositing more than $50 million into the bank. 

________________________________

Excerpts from the The Irish Times’ article Moonies accused of involvement in drugs (October 14, 2004)

. . . national Senator Domingo Laino sees a different pattern in Moon's acquisitions. "There are two principal branches to Moon's interest in Paraguay," he said, "control of the largest fresh drinking water source in the world and control of the narcotics business", which is so prevalent in this area. "President Lula told me that Brazil took serious measures to curb Moon a few years back as it became evident that he was buying up the border between our two countries," said the senator.

Allegations from local law enforcement officials support this claim. The so-called Dr Montiel, Paraguay's drugs tsar from 1976-89, said: "The fact that they came and bought in Chaco and on both sides of the Brazilian border is very telling. It is an enormously strategic point in both the narcotics and arms trades and indeed the available intelligence clearly shows that the Moon sect is involved in both these enterprises."

Paraguay is the major drugs port through which virtually all the cocaine produced by Bolivia and Peru passes. In the world's second most corrupt country, "the ease of buying influence is second to none", said Montiel. "Corruption reaches dangerous levels and he who wants transparency in Paraguay is a dead man. Indeed the famous Iran contra affair was operated from Ciudad del Este" on the south-east Paraguayan border with Argentina and Brazil.

Not content with expanses of potentially invaluable land, Rev Moon has also taken over entire towns, including factories and homes. In Puerto Casado, tensions between Moon disciples and locals led to violent confrontation over the last year following the closure of the only source of work, a lumber factory, and the dismissal of 19 workers who tried to form a union in order to demand an eight-hour day and the national minimum wage of £80 sterling per month.

According to Senator Emilio Camacho: "The Moon sect is a mafia. They seek to subvert government control and are effectively building a state within a state. I believe they are hoping the local population will leave so they have unquestioned authority in the zone and are free to do whatever they want."

. . .

Having decided to buy land in the area, he first visited (according to local Zeta magazine) the city of Pedro Juan Caballero in the province of Amambay. Provincial governor Mr Roberto Acevedo said: "This is the Mecca of the narcotics trade where dealers live with complete immunity. They own judges, the police, even politicians."

Rev Moon travelled there with Fermin De Alarcon, a Spanish financier, in the latter's private jet. Mr De Alarcon tried unsuccessfully to sell the religious leader his Banco General and is currently a fugitive from the Paraguayan justice system after withdrawing all the funds in that and other banks before disappearing.

Rev Moon bought the Banco de Credito in 1996 , in nearby Uruguay, the banking hub of Latin America. On the day of opening under its new ownership, the Uruguayan bank employees' union blew the whistle on a suspected money-laundering scheme after a procession of 4,200 Japanese women, all Moon-followers, allegedly deposited up to $25,000 each in cash. By the end of business that day, $80 million had been deposited.

Between 1991 and 2001, Japan's economy experienced a downturn due to the housing and stock bubbles bursting. 

Excerpt from The Street article What Was Japan’s Lost Decade? How Did It Happen? (December 12, 2022)

Between 1991 and 2001, Japan’s economy entered a deep recession. GDP declined, and borrowers became insolvent. Big banks failed, including the Hokkaido Takushoku Bank, the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, and Nippon Credit Bank. The days of easy credit from banking networks were long gone, and to a large effect, the keiretsu unraveled.

Some businesses went under; in others, production simply slowed, but they lost their competitive edge as a result. The country, which once had guaranteed employment for life, now struggled with unemployment—which affected recent grads and young workers most significantly. Consumer confidence plummeted, demand declined, and deflation took hold—it was a dangerous mix.

The Japanese economy hasn't ever returned to the prosperity of the 80s. Some have identified Tetsuya Yamagami, the gunman behind Shinzo Abe’s assassination who was known for his anti-UC motivation, as a member of this generation and have identified the economic devastation of his generation with his crime.

Excerpt from the New York Times’ opinion piece The Lingering Tragedy of Japan’s Lost Generation by Roland Kelts (November 5, 2022)

No details have yet emerged to suggest that Mr. Yamagami’s being from the lost generation was a factor in the killing. But some Japanese media outlets and academics have pointed out that details of his life that have emerged — his trouble fitting into society and the work force — mark him as a member of that struggling group and that the deeper roots of his anger are being ignored by the conservative establishment’s focus on the hot-button political issue of Liberal Democratic ties to the Unification Church, the conservative religious group founded in South Korea by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 1954.

Economies throughout Asia faced financial crises through the 90s, with semi-colonial, semi-feudal countries like the Philippines getting hit the hardest, especially as neoliberal reforms were introduced in the late 90s to save Asian imperialist economies. Despite Tongil Group (chaebol) facing severe financial issues as well as some of the most militant labor organizing, Moon remained visibly unworried through the 90s/early 2000s. Many of Tongil’s companies had to be sold off around 2003/2004.

Excerpt from the International Herald Tribune article Reverend Moon Rises Above Ailing Business (February 5, 1999)

Mr. Huh said the debts of the group’s 16 companies exceed 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion).

Its four leading companies, which manufacture products ranging from ginseng tea to tank guns, were all bankrupt awaiting reorganization under court supervision, he said.

Mr. Moon appeared oblivious to his earthly problems Thursday night. Alexander Haig, a former secretary of state and White House chief of staff during Richard Nixon’s presidency, introduced him as “a leading force for inter-religious dialogue and understanding between peoples of all backgrounds.”

The closest Mr. Moon came to mentioning the companies that he founded in the 1960s as the basis for his worldwide ministry was when he told a rapt audience that “Earth is but a speck of dust.”

Though Moon’s businesses in Asia, including Tongil Heavy Industries, suffered, Moon continued building up his business empire throughout South America and organizing conferences and events that brought together world leaders in culture, government, and military, such as Alexander Haig. It was during the 90s that Moon and the Bush family deepened their personal and business ties. 

Many claimed Moon was unworried for he had already obtained other solid sources of income. It is already known Moon’s weapons had been illegally trafficked and traded by early Korean, Japanese, and U.S. members. Yakuza, fascists, and militant rightist anti-communists, and Moonies were known for owning Moon-manufactured weapons (more in the notes section below). 

Long-time members and top leaders have confirmed Moon’s money-laundering operations as well, which included using an instance of 4,200 Japanese UC sisters depositing as much as $25,000 each.

Quotes taken from two Samuel Blixen articles on Moon in Consortium News (1, 2)

“In 1996, for instance, the Uruguayan bank employees union blew the whistle on one scheme in which some 4,200 female Japanese followers of Moon allegedly walked into the Moon-controlled Banco de Credito in Montevideo and deposited as much as $25,000 each.

The money from the women went into the account of an anonymous association called Cami II, which was controlled by Moon’s Unification Church. In one day, Cami II received $19 million and, by the time the parade of women ended [after a week], the total had swelled to about $80 million. 

It was not clear, however, where the money originated and whether it came from illicit sources. Nor was it known how many other times Moon’s organization has used this tactic – sometimes known as “smurfing” – to transfer untraceable cash into Uruguay.

Historically, the UC has primarily depended on the Japanese UC to fund its global operations, but in the midst of the 90s financial crises in Japan and South Korea, Moon began leaning more on businesses and activities throughout South America, especially Brazil. A leader confirmed that “a lot of [money]” came from the South America through the 90s. 

Excerpt from Consortium News’ article Mysterious Republican Money by Robert Parry (September 7, 2004):

Another member who quit a senior position in the church confirmed that virtually none of Moon’s American operations makes money. Instead, this source, who declined to be identified by name, said hundreds of thousands of dollars are carried into the United States by visiting church members. The cash is then laundered through domestic businesses.

Another close church associate, who also requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals, said cash arriving from Japan was used in one major construction project to pay “illegal” laborers from Asia and South America. “They [the church leaders] were always waiting for our money to come in from Japan,” this source said. “When the economy in Japan crashed, a lot of our money came from South America, mainly Brazil.”

There has long been speculation about Moon’s role in the drug trade. Kirsti Nevalainen put it plainly.

Kirsti Nevalainen on the Unification Church’s drug-trafficking:

It is not really a big secret where Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church got their vast funds from. Sun Myung Moon was involved in the global drug trade through his alliance with the China lobby of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the Asian People’s Anti-Communist League (APACL, later the World Anti-Communist League WACL). They all have derived their considerable budgets from drug trafficking. In South and Central America the local branch of WACL was called the Alianza Anticommunista Americana (AAA) which combined drug trafficking and right-wing terrorist activity.

In 2000, FFWPU members in Côte d'Ivoire had discovered that their leaders were coordinating drug trafficking, including would-be UPF leader Kathy Rigney.  

Excerpt from a WIOTM post Unification Church Leaders Were Trafficking Drugs, Gold and Ivory In Cote d’Ivoire:

N’Guessan Kouassi Zoblan tells that in 2000 Unification Church members found out that their church leaders were involved in drugs, gold and ivory trafficking ring in Ivory Coast or Côte d’Ivoire. The western coast of Africa is one of the most important ports for South American cocaine to reach Spain and Italy which distribute the cocaine throughout Europe.

Some think that Moon’s drug operations throughout South America, and potentially even Asia through his Kodama/Sasakawa-connections, is a thing of the past, but there’s good reason to believe these activities continue. I

Cynthia Elizabeth Tarrago Diaz was a UPF leader and president of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), an organization known for its counterinsurgency efforts in Nepal and Southeast Asia. She was arrested with two other Paraguayan nationals in New Jersey on charges of money laundering and drug smuggling in 2019.

Tarrago rose to the top of several UC organizations, having only been involved in the Unification Church for about three years. Her leadership was approved by FFWPU co-messiah Hak Ja Han.

Excerpt from HWDYKYM post FFWPU President of IAPP Prosecuted for Money Laundering and Drug Smuggling in US Court; may be connected to UC / FFWPU Leadership:

Tarrago had been an MP of the Colorado Party of Paraguay from 2013 to 2018, and after making a public announcement that she would run for mayor of Asuncion in November, 2019, she was arrested. The rumour that Tarrago was associated with narcotics organizations was well known in Paraguay. It became a local media sensation when Tarrago even visited Jarvis Chimenes Pavao, the “drug kingpin” of South America, who was jailed in a Paraguay prison, when she was active as an MP in 2015. It was about this time that Tarrago began full-fledged activities in the Unification Church after joining the Unification Church’s organizations, The Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) and The Universal Peace Federation (UPF). Tarrago, however, got promoted very fast in the Church organizations, unlike ordinary worshippers. At first, she began as an invited guest as an MP and gradually expanded the scope of her activities. Later, she went up to the level of preparing and organizing international events, not only in Paraguay but also in the entire South America. Tarrago played a leading role in connecting top Paraguayan politicians with senior members of the Unification Church when they visited Paraguay in October 2016. At that time, the Unification Church established the IAPP as a subordinate organization in Paraguay.

Tarrago then was appointed as the President of IAPP in Paraguay on April 25, 2017. In the same year, she founded IAPP’s South American headquarters on December 5 at the Asuncion World Trade Center in Paraguay, for which she also served as a chair for the South American region. After all, Tarrago rose to a top position of the Unification Church for the continent, not a single country, at the age of her late 30s, ahead of many former presidents and congressmen, only three years after her full-fledged activities with the Unification Church. People say that it is also unusual to set up the Unification Church’s South American headquarters in Paraguay, not Brazil or Argentina.

Since then, there has been “a serious suspicion within the Unification Church that a huge amount of drug money in South America was linked to the leadership of the Church, with Tarrago as a surrogate”. The Unification Church officials say, “It is impossible for Tarrago, with an ordinary background in the Church, to take the position of the South America representative in just three years without the power of a huge amount of money.” Moreover, the issue of appointing a continental representative of the Unification Church is known as “impossible without the approval of the leadership of the Church in Korea, where the President Hak Ja Han resides.”

Boldly Tarrago carried out her drug-related business when she visited various international events of the Unification Church. Tarrago met with the undercover agents disguised as drug traffickers at a UPF event at the New Yorker Hotel, owned by the Unification Church, in November 2018 to plot money laundering and propose drug trafficking. The details was revealed in the FBI’s criminal complaint.Tarrago also visited South Korea in August 2019. She attended the International Leaders Conference hosted by the Unification Church at Lotte Hotel World in Jamsil from August 15 to 17. On the 19th, she also visited the Cheon Jeong Palace of the Unification Church in Cheongpyeong, Gyeonggi-do, where President Hak Ja Han resides, and she posted photos on her Instagram.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Party of Paraguay expelled Tarrago immediately upon her prosecution, giving the reason that she had stained the morality of the party. However, the Unification Church and their affiliated organizations have yet to comment on Tarrago’s prosecution.

It seems unlikely that Tarrago’s trafficking was somehow not coordinated by the UC. 

Related notes and articles below

$80 million was deposited in Uruguay over the course of a week. It still had the U.S. Federal Reserve band around it.

How Sun Myung Moon’s organization helped to establish Bolivia as South America’s first narco-state.

In 1985 the Washington Times sponsored a fund for the Contras who committed atrocities, and trafficked drugs to the US

Unification Church, WACL and CAUSA Were Involved In CIA Operations

Sun Myung Moon And Hak Ja Han Are Drug Traffickers And Money Launderers

The Situation of “Providence” in Côte d'Ivoire

Rev. Moon’s Bank Scam (November 6, 1998) 

Rev. Moon's Uruguayan Money-Laundry (August 19, 1998) Drugs and death squads: The CIA connection (1989)

Archive of Robert Parry’s Dark Side of Rev. Moon Series Unification Church Leaders Were Trafficking Drugs, Gold and Ivory In Cote d’Ivoire The Irish Times: Moonies accused of involvement in drugs (2004) Moon & the Tri-Border Area of South America (2021) - Ed Coffman (Don Diligent) Notes on Moonie Drug Trade

South Florida Sun Sentinel: Moon Empire Touts Peace, Makes Guns (1999) Washingtion Post: Church's Pistol Firm Exploits a Niche (1999) On Barbie Klaus, Nazi Comrade of Tom Ward Things Observed podcast - World Anti-Communist League feat. Recluse: International Drug Trafficking, Nazis, Ukraine, the China Lobby and the Fascist International

Things Observed podcast - The World Anti-Communist League: War Criminals, Nazis, Gangsters, Drug Traffickers and the Group that Brought Them All Together Moon/Bush “Ongoing Crime Enterprise” (2007)

Article excerpt: The below excerpt is from a Forbes article ‘Reaching for the Stars’ by Toni Fitzgerald that reveals that Paul Rogers, a professional Moonie, was able to make profit with Moon-associated businesses during the South Korean financial crisis. Rogers is known to have had strong business relationships with notable UC leaders, such as both Kwak and Pak.

In the late 1990s, the darkest days of South Korea’s financial crisis, operators such as Paul Rogers of Lehman Brothers were parachuting in to pick through the bargains. But amid all the moneylosing units being shed by the country’s conglomerates, what caught his eye was something that wasn’t for sale: a vacant 12-acre lot. It was in the heart of Yeouido, the island in the Han River that serves as Seoul’s financial and broadcasting district.

Owned by Reverend Moon Song-myung’s Unification Church Foundation, the giant lot had sat empty for three decades. Best known internationally for its cultish practices and its members, called Moonies, the church is also a business empire with interests ranging from media properties to North Korean industrial ventures. And like other Korean conglomerates, it needed money. “Investment banks were making a quick buck from acquiring and flipping distressed assets,” says Rogers, then Lehman’s head of structured finance for Asia. “I saw a much bigger opportunity: developing whole city blocks and making an impact on Asian cities which are sorely in need of iconic but commercially successful projects.”

Guns may have been another reason for the alliance of Sasakawa and Kodama of Japan with Sun Myung Moon - excerpted from "Inside the League" by Scott Anderson and Jon Lee Anderson

Sasakawa and Kodama may have had another reason for their alliance with Moon. Since the end of World War II, Japan has had extremely strict gun-control laws, and weapons for the yakuza gangs have had to be smuggled in one by one. Under the Korean government’s patronage, the Unification Church owned and operated Tong-il Industries. Tong-il is a weapons manufacturer that makes rifles and components for M-16 assault rifles. It also operates the Yewha Air Gun Company in Kyonggi-Do, Korea.

In 1975, seven years after the Yamanashi conference, the Japanese importer of air rifles from Korea was a shadow company, Angus Arms Company, which was not registered or in any corporate directory. The rifles, according to political analyst Pharris Harvey in a memorandum to the House Subcommittee on International Relations in May 1978, “are sold, exclusively it seems to members of Shokyo Rengo and UC [Unification Church].”

Related books worth reading Yakuza - David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq  - Robert Parry

[patmiles22]

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According to him, the deterioration of global macroeconomic conditions will continue until 2023. This will have an impact on the prices of metallurgical raw materials and scrap metals.

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[waitingformyfavoritesongs]

13 March 2023 Monday 11:56 am pdt

I forgot to look at the time probably after 11:17 am pdt on the news west valley college is on lockdown Bcz of an armed intruder. They were still waiting for police to arrive I think.

this timing is too eerie to be a coincidence. This college is in Saratoga. 11:59 am pdt I wonder if the red door house is near this place in the supposed Sierra LaMar hoax message. 12 pmpdt

10:23 pmpdt unfortunately I didn’t do enough reading on the 2009 cases they connected to antolin Garcia Torres. One source said he was 17 years old & the attacks happened at night? How big was Torres at 17 years old? Is it possible the witness accounts were altered? Did they go to trial for these cases & the original witnesses identified him? Did he have an alibi? Could it have been a doppelgänger? There was once a case of mistaken identity in a crime? A n innocent doppelgänger got the blame. Where would have Torres got a stun gun? Taser? At the age of 17 years old? 10:28 pmpdt I thought I originally read one of the women was punched by a tattooed arm. Where did I read that? Does Torres have tattoos on his arms? Didn’t look like it from one video. 10:29 pmpdt

1:09 am pdt 14 March 2023 Tuesday

December 2016, I thought the incubus was trying to tell me without saying it, that he was actually “Brendan” the guy I talked to online & the phone in 2001. He messed with me all 2017 about it, but near the end of 2017 when I started to notice the pictures w/ Q like the Halloween pilot costumes, I got punished for retailiatung by posting those links. Incubus zapped me w/ lighting to probably my ovaries after behati posted the bath picture with the peach emojis, & when gio was born & she posted the baby toes they cut round feeling organs brutally dragging a sharp edge in a round shaped motion. It was so harsh it made my eyeballs roll back as he did it. For mins now it feels hot acidic sharp in my ear 1:18 am pdt I don’t believe in the incubus. What he mislead me to believe in 2022. It was quite a show, giving me that hair on the cookie container. I think the incubus miñion took it back Bcz I couldn’t find it b4 leaving the apartment & my mom won’t look at the gio video on Instagram to confirm that her eyes are brown. I think the incubus is making her afraid to look. I’m alone in this. 1:22 am pdt

1:43 am pdt nausea minute ago burned hot acid on right side back skull. There’s nothing that is going to stop him from destroying my body. One day I noticed Brendan junior’s dad wearing jeans w/ embroidered eagles on the back pockets & I recalled jeans I described to “Brendan” on the phone in 2001 also had angel wings embroidered on the back pockets. I said it out loud near the kitchen window & I think he heard me. I think I remember he changed his pants after that? Cramps stomach 1:49 am pdt I think they were maybe saying it wasn’t him. I once saw Brendan junior wearing an LA cool sweat shirt. I thought maybe it is from the incubus. 1:50 am pdt Xmas time they put Xmas lights on the balcony rails & one of the lights was in the shape “NY” as if proudly displaying New York pride. 1:52 am pdt Brendan junior’s dad’s friend parked next to our bedroom window & Brendan junior climbed (acid pain vag 1:53 am pdt) & the speakers suddenly blasted loudly “New York! [...] bright lights will expire you!” I think it was that song. 1:55 am pdt I saw Brendan junior’s dad talk to the roofer b4 the roofers removed our roof & we were roofless for a night & there was a cut out in the ceiling & I used a broom to push it open & saw the night sky so I stayed up all night to keep watch. We weren’t given warning about that part at all by anyone. 1:58 am pdt

2:01 am pdt incubus plan ahead to mess with my feelings. My sophomore year yearbook 2001 has handout lines (autocorrect) all over it w/ different patterns & colors. “Paint a picture w/ my hands” Sunday morning. Album released 2002? Hands all over maroon 5(vag acid pain 2:05 am pdt) album w/ Rosie on the cover in bed. I only realized it last year, & then the Sunday morning lyrics connection this year. 2:07 am pdt probably doesn’t change anything. I’m not married. I never gave birth to anyone. Therefore seeing is believing. & being not sick is believing. With the horrible way his parents & him probably run things , including stuff w/ dugard, & the abuse I think if incubus is not really my husband then I’m luckier that way. Bcz he seems to be a nightmare. 2:11 am pdt

2:13 am pdt I want to be dead.

2:21 am pdt I don’t know if Brendan was rich. If he wasn’t, & if he was friends or related to the incubus, & incubus had a lot of money, enough to screw up a semester of college by not attending almost the whole semester, then I guess he had money he can easily do with out. 2:24 am pdt incubus went to French woods camp probably a lot in New York. A lot of opportunities to hang out with Brendan. 2:25 am pdt what I was trying to type was maybe Brendan didn’t have time to screw around but incubus did. Doors. Slamming 2:26 am pdt

2:58 am pdt while I was in the bathroom on the toilet, incubus... it felt my inside groin maybe inside uterus got chemically burned... horrible awful feeling... the whole thing. Very cruel. Kiera knightley. Key era. Knight lay. On the ground. Ippon. (Vag acid pain 3:02 am pdt) probably means when she was born that there are no more heroes? Makes sense w/ the dugard case. I’m jinxed so I can’t mention anything else. It doesn’t matter to him that I prayed & wanted his help to intervene. He’s probably still blaming me for everything. He gives to those he wants to give & he didn’t want to help me out in that moment unfortunately. I don’t know what happened. But if he did answer my prayer he didn’t want to tell me Bcz he didn’t want me to have a life & he wanted me to condemn myself. 3:08 am pdt acid pain back mouth throat 3:09 am pdt I already condemned myself after 2002 whenever I remembered something I did. I sabotaged myself a lot I think. 3:10 am pdt it seems he wanted to raise the bar so I would really be completely consumed with doom. 3:12 am pdt

Incubus is heinous & cruel. I don’t want him & I wish to never think of him again (right shoulder pain 3:13 am vag acid pain) 3:14 am pdt

4:07 am pdt incubus is a monster. = the world will always be full of monsters.

8:26 am pdt after what the incubus did to me, I don’t believe there is any going back to believing that he is my husband or a good guy. Kick = okay I sick. The worst thing I probably did to Q was keep coming back to her Bcz I didn’t have many friends & Bcz I hoped that I would like her again. There were times I didn’t want to hang out came the day & one of us would cancel on the other. I was late sometimes Bcz I had bad time management for some reason. 8:30 am pdt the end of 2017 was probably the first time I did anything mean to Q. 8:31 am pdt somehow for some weird reason even though she had many other friends to hang out with, she told me I was her best friend. I wanted to be able to reciprocate to someone. Unfortunately I tried to fit myself through that hole that I didn’t fit that I wished I could have fit. 8:33 am pdt pain left side neck on/off for maybe 2 days? I can never believe in the incubus again. I did lie when I was a kid about the weirdest things (autocorrect? Thong. It don’t matter it’s probably another incubus lie 8:35 am pdt). I did my best to confess even though it was extremely difficult for me on many levels. Maybe I didn’t tell it perfectly but I got the biggest details close enough to the truth if it isn’t 100%, it’s probably 99% truth considering a lot of time has passed & his ability to alter memories. 8:37 am pdt incubus still called me a liar by putting acid to my tongue & every lip. 8:38 am pdt in my head he made me feel like a liar. Even I think I remember when I talked to k.o. About Scott & I wanted to stop & had difficulty stopping & decided to not hang out anymore Bcz I couldn’t control my mouth to stop talking about Scott, & I felt wrong to talk about Scott. I don’t remember what I said but I remembered it had something to do with him. 8:40 am pdt through autocorrect it looks like he’s telling me (acid pain throat 8:41 am pdt) I’m wrong even though I have very distinct memory about this without remembering the words, bcz I had an emotional reaction to myself Bcz I really wanted to change & I thought it was for the better. 8:42 am pdt but maybe it was not? I cannot determine this until I remember what exactly I said. 8:43 am pdt but now I know incubus is lying to me (acid pain throat 8:43 am pdt) & what he did is probably major damage & irreversible. 8:44 am pdt I can never go down that road again to believing in him again. Bad guy. 8:45 am pdt maybe I treated Q well enough for her to really think she can get away with lying to me like that? Or maybe she thinks she treated me well enough for her to lie like that to me? 8:47 am pdt

10:23 am pdt hypothesis: incubus does not have a dad bod Bcz he’s still hunting/ on the prowl? For younger women. Lecherous. 10:24 am pdt

12:18 pmpdt I wanted someone who would give me a chance without expecting s*x within 4 weeks of meeting each other. I wanted time to grow. I should have settled for that one guy I started seeing in late 2005, but physical attraction was an issue for me especially with my first boyfriend (vag acid pain 12:21 am pdt). There’s obviously a double standard that it’s an absolute that women must be healthy and attractive & that we don’t have to be attracted to the man. The first guy I thought I fell in love with said something to me that I shouldn’t be with someone who “has problems”? Something I thought he was talking about physical attractiveness. My dad was a little like that Bcz he liked slender women. I shouldn’t have been looking for someone to be attracted to & fall in love with. I guess Bcz if incubus it’s impossible for me & I have a curse. Cosmopolitan magazine back in 2010 wrote something about pheromones & women being attracted to those who compliment genetically their immune systems. I don’t know if it’s true or if it’s invented by incubus. (Stress trig btwn big toes & second toes he’s pushing further inward 12:28 pmpdt) with my curse it was sometimes difficult to stop an action & change course - probably a marionette thing. 12:29 pmpdt sometimes it was hard to say the right thing probably Bcz of the curse, too. 12:30 pmpdt I hope that doesn’t happen again. But knowing the incubus it’s bound to happen again. 12:31 pmpdt it feels like he’s going to continue splitting my feet until my big toe is completely off. 12:32 am pdt this world is heinous. & it’s the voice at the top. 12:33 am pdt once I had the same idea as a partner in class, I don’t remember his name. I was so stunned that we had the same idea at the same time when he told me his. As usual I had difficulty explaining myself & I fell into a big hole in communication. I hate speaking in public, infront of classes. I was usually shy & shook a lot out of being nervous to stand & speak infront of class. Also when the teacher said he would Call on random people. 12:38 pmpdt

news of cremation business stored bodies in a warehouse 😞 no resurrection. Ocean view. Hayward? 12:39 pmpdt

I thought he was psychic. Possibly I was psychic. I should have assumed that. & he told me to be the one to talk infront of class Bcz it was his idea to draw the shadows? Or something like that. & I messed up. I said it was my idea when I should have said it was his. I remember he wore thick black frame glasses. He might have been American Korean but American born from the way he sounded. He probably held a grudge against me Bcz if that. I hope he told the teacher on me so he got proper credit. My last year at UCB I had to deal with a lot of big eczema openings in my skin oozing & getting stuck to pillow cases & bedding (acid pain throat). I took oral & topical antibiotics at least 3 times probably in that year while I was there & I had difficulty getting classes on time. 12:45 pmpdt the incubus blames everything on me. After someone called my place I’m blossom hill before Valentine’s Day 2002 to say “Brendan” used the work cell phone to call many teen girls, my mom told me not to lie to her & it was difficult for me to lie to her for long time after that. Maybe it was if I had atakrn taken (12:49 pmpdt) a truth serum Bcz I felt it emotionally that I couldn’t lie to her after that. So I told her I wanted to meet derick. 12:48 pmpdt

1:39 pmpdt Christina grimmie is probably really dead. Incubus showed tears. 1:40 pmpdt he probably conned her too. Playboy games. He’s really a playboy pretending to not be pretending to be...? Did I type that correctly? I feel like I cannot smile or laugh anymore. 1:42 pmpdt

1:42 pmpdt I thought I really enjoyed talking to Derek online & we once tried thanking on the phone but I became self conscious & nervous. & then he called me a ditz very loudly. He said something like you’re a ditz! His personality at that moment seemed completely different than what I perceived it to be online. I thought we were becoming best friends. 1:45 pmpdt at first I felt like I couldn’t let him go, & then I found it in me to let him go for my mom. 1:45 pmpdt around 2011/2012-end of 2014 sometime in that period I felt like I was going to die from the feeling of loneliness. & then suddenly the feeling was replaced with contentment/happiness/fun when I was alone. The change in feelings happened within minutes. 1:48 pmpdt

1:49 pmpdt vag acid pain. He’s never going to stop. He lied to me. After all that time of working in myself to become more honest & to try to build up courage to face my past bad choices that I remembered at the time. I usually only remembered one bad choice & forgot the other stuff. I don’t know why. I feared running into this person, but I thought about kneeling on the ground begging for forgiveness & understanding if I maintained courage if I ran into her. 1:52 pmpdt in 2014 a doctor I saw seemed to intentionally stab my ear & pretend she didn’t do it intentionally. I got on one knee & begged her to do a brain scan Bcz of my past head trauma but she replied “I don’t work that way” & ran out of the room. She seemed a little ... crazy? 1:54 pmpdt I remembered when we first called the hospital after I got mediCal they seemed to already have me signed up there. I don’t know if that’s normal but the person we talked to in the phone didn’t think it was normal I think. We didn’t investigate. 1:55 pmpdt

1:56 pmpdt I think the incubus did me dirty. And immaturely. I h*te what he did to me. 1:57 pmpdt

1:58 pmpdt back then After I made a bad decision or did a bad thing I usually tried not to do it again. 1:59 pmpdt I maybe tried harder. 1:59 pmpdt in 2010 I yearned to be free among people to not feel guilt about the past, I think it was almost immediately after I stopped seeing Scott. Probably b4 the car thing. 2:01 pmpdt incubus I guess had plans to further screw me over then. 2:01 pmpdt

it was then I prayed to god for courage I think to face my past. 2:03 pmpdt in 2017? I think I saw Oprah say don’t pray to god for courage or love. I guess god did weird things to a lot of people. 2:04 pmpdt

2:05 vag acid pain. God = incubus = heinous.

2:07 pmpdt incubus took my memory away of what I as going to write now it’s back . Incubus is putting acid on my vag & roof of my mouth Bcz he does not like that I didn’t commit suicide in 2015. He thinks I lied to him. I guess he’s right. I was very scared to commit suicide but he gave me signs he wanTed me to probably since 2010. I still wanted to live but as a hermit. 2:11 pmpdt I tried to scan all my statements b4 getting rid of the paper copies & I lost all the files when I ran away, w/ my drivers license. 2:12 pmpdt & expired passport. 2:13 pmpdt & jewelry. It was stupid I packed all that stuff & took it with me. 2:13 pmpdt

2:14 pmpdt I guess now that he destroyed my organs inside my groin?/pelvis? He doesn’t need me around to pretend anymore that he’s my husband. Sometime btwn 2011-2014 (vag acid pain 2:16 pmpdt it really eats my flesh he demonstrated on my tongue & ear. 2:18 pmpdt) I was still dumb & wondered when I was going to meet my soulmate or the person god chose for me. In my head a menacing head voice spoke to me. Foreshadowing my destruction. When I talked to “Brendan” on the phone it seemed like he was reading my mind & the thought crossed my mind if he can read my mind maybe it means he’s my soulmate. I didn’t yet put it all together how it worked. How the world & relationships were set up to work. I watched too many Disney movies. I made all the wrong choices/decisions. & when it could have been right it wasn’t the right timing. 2:24 pmpdt

2:26 pmpdt “Brendan” said he had the cube? Mac/apple computer in 2001.

2:39 pmpdt b4 my aunt got married in 2001? I had a weird feeeling & imagination for a few minutes of what was funny that I never should have done. I wonder if people at school was starting to think I was crazy, or maybe it was soon after this. I think I watched too many karate kid movies & I thought that I could flip my aunt perfectly & that it would be funny. I did it & somehow I made her turn over 360 degrees & put her on her back. Maybe it was a little rough? I hope it wasn’t... but it might have been a little. She laughed! & soon after that she had a successful pregnancy. I would never do it again. The last 5 years I felt betrayed a lot by a lot of people. I feel like I don’t have anyone to defend me. I a lot of people I only met for a few minutes or hours already started hurting me physically. 2:47 pmpdt bcz I have sensitivities I feel like the whole world turned against me by putting citric acid in their products including cetaphil which is supposed to be for sensitive skin. I feel like literally they’re biting the hands that fed them. Back in 2017? 2019... I saw a counselor who said a lot of older people cannot eat citrus. So basically the whole economy turned against their aging population. 2:51 pmpdt heinous. I also couldn’t drink water, it gave me problems. When I found a water I could drink my mom betrayed me & told someone on the phone. She sounded like she did it intentionally to betray me from her tone. After that I had difficulty drinking the water & it all started tasting bitter. Fiji water around September? 2021. Also around 2016/2017 someone put a huge dent in my mom’s car door drivers side. Around the same time my sister in new York her car got the same fate: a big dent in the car door. The one in my mom’s car door is about a foot in diameter? 2:57 pmpdt vag acid pain 2:58 pmpdt the hospital punished me for retailiatung on my mom for this very big betrayal. I had trouble breathing when I drank water & started having diarrhea when I drank milk. My pee was orange. I thought she was trying to kill me with her betrayal. 3 pm the hospital bruised fruit & drenched my food with water. They seemed to like this unusual punishment even though it’s against the constitution. 3:02 pmpdt

4:54 pmpdt every one says bye to me like they’re smug & im going to die. It feels like that is what’s really going to happen. It’s awful to always be in some sort of pain, agony, loneliness, anxiety, & see:hear hints of death coming. If I cannot have any say or control in it I would rather get squashed by a gigantic asteroid in my sleep. 4:58 pmpdt god likes to put me through this Bcz he wants my bones. 4:59 pmpdt if anything is possible god should be able to cut through the asteroid with a a lazer to get to my bones. 5:01 pmpdt I need to watch more YouTube videos. Something is shocking me that I think I was blocked from remembering or understanding in 2017. Makes me think that everyone is really for themselves & or believe if something bad happened to you then you’re a bad person 😖😭🥵😤. I guess people believe that about dugard & Shannon Ruth & Sierra LaMar ? If god says so then I guess it’s true. I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️ my own self. Around June that summer he wanted me to think 💭 I was special & gentle & loving 🥰 even though before that he was calling me trash 🗑 & treating me like trash 🗑 my whole life & more so now. 5:07 pmpdt I m starting to believe I’m trash 🗑. Last night ? Or this morning I recalled that he said women are amazing. Maybe 🤔 he didn’t really mean women’s abilities to get pregnant 🤰, but how they make his p*nis feel. Like mvrykv_ on Instagram. The truth probably exposed. But he’s probably secretly misleading a lot of people still from what he wants me to believe without showing me. 5:11 pmpdt no one will help me but every medical 🏥 person says bye 👋 like they know I’m dying. Dying 😵5:12 pmpdt

5:21 pmpdt koit autocorrect: loot. ...

I can’t depend on the incubus to answer my prayers if he has other plans, even though it (throat acid pain 5:23 pmpdt) seemed he was paying attention to me in that particular moment & he simply chose not to help me out- Bcz knights lay - ippon? 5:24 pmpdt

5:26 pmpdt I guess he was gaslighting ⛽️ me my whole life, possessed random person to tell me I’m Jesus Christ when I was 6/7 years old literally. But I often forget about it until 2017-ish. 5:29 pmpdt I had difficulty with reading 📖 & comprehension so i didn’t start reading (burned right side 5:29 pmpdt) Bible seriously until ≈2017/2018 & 2021/2022. I still don’t know much. 5:31 pmpdt Bcz it feels that he destroyed my uterus this morning the delusion is dying off. 5:32 pmpdt all hope is dead ☠️.

[mariacallous]

When Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Jassim bin Mohammed al-Khalidi, arrived in Pakistan in early February, he checked into the five-star Marriott Hotel in downtown Islamabad with the entire staff of his embassy and a mountain of luggage. A source described their departure from Kabul as an “evacuation,” sparking a rush for explanations why one of the main backers of the Taliban, and one of the few countries with a diplomatic presence in Kabul, would suddenly pull out its diplomats.

The last time the Taliban were in charge, from 1996 to 2001, three countries granted them recognition: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan. This time, the Taliban don’t have any formal recognition, though about a dozen countries have maintained their embassies, including China, Iran, Turkey, Japan, Russia, and some Central Asian states. The United Nations also has a mission in Kabul. But Saudi Arabia isn’t the only friend of the Taliban to decamp; the UAE and Qatar have downgraded their presence, according to security and diplomatic sources. Pakistan hasn’t sent its ambassador back to Kabul since he left after an assassination attempt as he strolled in his embassy garden in December. The Saudi foreign ministry in Riyadh did not answer emails or phone calls; the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad could not be reached, nor could anyone with the 19-member Saudi delegation that stayed at the Marriott, staff said, until Feb. 10.

Like everything to do with the Taliban since they took over Afghanistan 18 months ago, there are as many questions as answers behind the sudden exodus. As Afghanistan recedes into darkness thanks to a crackdown on journalists and civil society, pinpointing what’s going on and why can be even more difficult than it was under the republic. The multilateral organizations that operate in Afghanistan are just as guarded. Bilal Sarwary, a veteran Afghan journalist now living in Canada, says his homeland has become as murky as North Korea.

Sources in Kabul, Islamabad, and elsewhere cited a range of reasons for the diplomatic departures, including threats by the local Islamic State branch, Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K), and internecine Taliban rivalries between factions backed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Pakistan on the one hand and those backed by Iran and drug cartels operated by its military on the other. One former Afghan security official called the Saudi flight a “successful coup” by the Iran-backed factions.

The Islamic State has a growing presence in Afghanistan and is said to be recruiting among anti-Taliban groups, such as former members of the republic’s security forces and non-Pashtuns, though its main purpose so far appears to be providing the Taliban with a hook for counterterrorism dialogue with the United States.

“IS-K is portrayed as the main threat to many countries, including the United States, making the Taliban appear as a lesser evil. This is a deliberate strategy to absolve the Taliban of their actions and present them as ‘good’ terrorists,” said Mirwais Naab, a former deputy foreign minister of the republic. “The IS-K threat is real but not against the Saudis at this stage. The main threat to the Saudis is still al Qaeda and its close affiliates.”

The Taliban are just one al Qaeda acolyte; many more have been given safe haven in the new Afghanistan, and the Taliban refuse to denounce the group. The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike last year on a Kabul villa, where he was protected by Taliban suicide-bombing guru, and de facto interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who backed the Taliban’s victory, told a security meeting in Moscow last week that “international terrorist organizations are stepping up their activities” in Afghanistan, “including al Qaeda, which is building up its potential.”

Naab said the widening fissures within the Taliban are behind the growing strength of terrorist and jihadi groups now based in Afghanistan. “It is not possible for terrorist groups like IS-K and al Qaeda to function and carry out their operations without the intricate support of various factions within the Taliban. Addressing the effect is not the solution—you have to address the cause,” he said.

Haqqani is among a clique of Taliban figures who have Saudi support. In Iran’s corner is the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, who “has an almost complete monopolization of both governance authority, in all sectors, as well as religious authority, with the help of his close allies,” said Zalmai Nishat, formerly a senior public policy advisor to the republic and an expert on extremism.

Akhundzada’s edicts have eliminated women from public life and largely locked non-Pashtuns and non-Sunnis out of the power structure. He has surrounded himself with hard-line figures from the earlier Taliban regime to reduce the clout of rivals like Haqqani and others, Afghan security sources said. “It seems increasingly the Iranians are strengthening their ties with Haibatullah’s office,” Nishat said. The United States has slapped financial sanctions on some figures in Akhundzada’s circle, such as Deputy Interior Minister Ibrahim Sadr, and their Iranian backers.

Akhundzada has appointed old-guard allies close to Iran to a new military council in the capital, set up to further consolidate his power in Kandahar, in Afghanistan’s south. “Some senior Taliban members say the departure of the Saudis is the sign of a successful coup plot against [Taliban figures] who are trying to rule Afghanistan from Kabul,” the former security official said. As if to confirm the growing animosity between the Kabul and Kandahar factions, Haqqani has publicly blamed Akhundzada for the sorry state of the country.

But the diplomatic departures may also be an attempt to curb Akhundzada’s ideological excesses, which are strangling the country. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Pakistan could also be responding to U.S. pressure; Washington just started cracking down on continued Taliban excesses, including visa restrictions and pointed words for international agencies that comply with the Taliban’s misogynist rules. Meanwhile, the economic incompetence piled atop extremism has led to poverty, capital flight, and brain drain.

Just the whisper last week that flights were taking volunteers to Turkey to help earthquake victims sparked a rush to Kabul’s airport reminiscent of the awful scenes during the August 2021 evacuation, as people saw a chance to escape increasing desperation. “Do you know of a second nation where people are feeling this disgusted about their country? It is humiliating,” a Kabul resident said.

[tpanan]

My Saturday Daily Blessings

December 10, 2022

Be still quiet your heart and mind, the LORD is here, loving you talking to you...........    

Saturday of the Second Week of Advent (Roman Rite Calendar) Lectionary 186, Cycle A

First Reading: Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11

In those days, like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace. Their staff of bread he shattered, in his zeal he reduced them to straits;

By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire. How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours? You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses. You were destined, it is written, in time to come to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,

To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob. Blessed is he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16, 18-19

"Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved."

Verse before the Gospel: Luke 3:4, 6

R: Alleluia, Alleluia

"Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: All flesh shall see the salvation of God."

R: Alleluia, Alleluia

**Gospel: Matthew 17:9a, 10-13

As they were coming down from the mountain,

the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

**Meditation:

God gives signs to show what he is about to do. John the Baptist is one such sign, who pointed to Jesus and prepared the way for his coming. John fulfilled the essential task of all the prophets: to be fingers pointing to Jesus Christ. John is the last and greatest prophet of the old kingdom, the old covenant. The Jews expected that when the Messiah would come, Elijah would appear to announce his presence. John fills the role of Elijah and prepares the way for the coming of Jesus Christ by preaching a baptism of repentance and renewal.

As watchful servants, we, too must prepare for the Lord's coming again by turning away from sin and from everything that would keep us from pursuing his will. Are you eager to do God's will and are you prepared to meet the Lord Jesus when he returns in glory?

Lord Jesus, stir my zeal for your righteousness and for your kingdom. Free me from complacency and from compromising with the ways of sin and worldliness that I may be wholeheartedly devoted to you and to your kingdom.

Sources:  

Lectionary for Mass for use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, copyright (c) 2001, 1998, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain (c) 1968, 1981, 1997, international committee on english in the liturgy, Inc All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner

**Meditations may be freely reprinted and translated into other languages for non-profit use only. Please cite copyright and original source. Copyright 2021 Daily Scripture Readings and Meditation, dailyscripture.net author Don Schwager.

[curatedbyhatto]

Keane - Nothing in My Way

Hey, hey, hey! It's me again with a new song curated just and right for ya, this week we've got one of the songs I love the most and that's really important to me because it brings back really good memories.

'Nothing in My Way' by Keane is already uploaded to my youtube channel and you can go listen to it now

So,

About the band

Keane (not to be confused with Kane) is a band from East Sussex (ENG) formed back in 1995 (just realized that was almost 30 years ago jfc)

The band is comprised by:

Tom Chaplin: lead vocals, electric/acoustic guitar Tim Rice-Oxley: piano, synthesizers, bass guitar, backing vocals Richard Hughes: drums, percussion, backing vocals Jesse Quin: bass guitar, acoustic/electric guitar, backing vocals

and formerly also Dominic Scott, who left in 2001, and was a guitarist.

They met while at highschool and formed the band, and 9 years later would come their international success with their debut album 'Hopes and Fears', in 2004.

Their history is really really extense, and as always, there is no point in basically resuming their wiki article, so we'll keep it here. Check them out, they have a website too!

About the song

'Nothing in My Way' holds a very special place in my heart because it marked the start of the post-covid era, after the restrictions started to be lifted here in Costa Rica and I could finally go out and skate again. Someone that I don't talk to anymore showed me this masterpiece. Not complaining, they left me something good.

The intro, the sounds, the chords, the lyrics, the energy. It reminds me of those warm afternoons of December here in Costa Rica. It takes me to a happy place. Take a listen, you will feel it too.

Any meaning?

According to a couple sources only (none official tho!) the song seems to talk about someone with internal issues that doesn't talk about them. Someone else knows about said issues, but says the person that suffers from them looks too good, maybe concerned?

Makes sense to me, tbh.

[packedwithpackards]

Was Samuel Packard a tavern owner or constable?

Varying biographies say that Samuel Packard was a constable or tavern owner. [1] Looking through the "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001" database on Family Search, I found a listing of the births of Abel and Sarah Packard. More importantly however, I found the following from the transcript and original record for Bridgewater:

p 17: Samuel Packer owns land in Bridgewater by dec 1662 (noted on p 16)

p 33: Samuell Packer helps divide up land with others (John Hayward, Sey Hayward Snell, Samuel Edson in July 1668

p 35: helps lay out lots in bridgewater in Feb. 1665

p 40: Helps lay out land in 1665.

p 47: Samuel Packer granted certain lands in Bridgewater in Oct 1666

P 48: helps lay out 20 acres of land with Samuel Edson and John Cary in early 1667

p 54: part of jury in bridgewater in 1668

p 81: purchase of land by december 1683 as one f the "men the east [of bridgewater]"

p 82: purchase of land by Nathaniel Packard for John Kingman, and Samuel "Peckerd" in the same region ("Third Division") along with the "Sixth Edition."

p 83: Goodman Washburn and Samuel Packard divide a 50 acre lot in dec 1683

p 119: "Ensigne Samuel Peckerd" listed as paying dues for meeting house in 1694

p 120: Same year, ensign samuel Packard is a selectman

p 131: two samuel packards in birgdewater in 1703/1704, owning land

p 137: "senior packer" mentioned as is a Samuel Packer seemingly in February 1682

p 144: Helps lay out lots with Samuel Edson, John Cary, and William Breet in 1666.

p 144: Samuel Packard, on 16 May 1674, chosen as a constable.

p 145: lots of land laid out by individuals such as Samuel in 1666

p 158: Samuel Packard among those to "look out the common meadows that? are not yet set out"

P 163: A samuel Packard is a juror of the court in 1699

It is the original record (on the right side)which is shown below:

And the transcribed version (on the left side):

In sum, Samuel Packer/Packar (sr) is owning land in 1662, along with another Packer. Other Packers (Nathaniel and John) owning land in Bridgewater. He helped put up a meeting house on Bridgewater in July 1668 along with other folks. Helps to lay out ten acres in 1665. Land in Bridgewater chosen, with Samuel Pecker as part of that. Samuel Peckar, Samuel Edson, and John Cary lay out land for Thomas Snell in late 1666 or early 1667. He was also part of a jury for a court in the area, as "Samuel Peckar," in 1668. A Samuel Peckerd owned land in Bridgewater in 1683.

There no mention of him owning a tavern. Where did this come from? I know that a book I talked about in a recent post reviewing Dale Cook's sources mentioned this, but I do not know where they got their sources. So, in sum, we can say that Samuel Packard was a constable in Bridgewater but cannot say, with certainty, that he was a tavern owner. That is stretching the reality too far.

Notes

[1] See geni.com, this page on rootsweb, ournorthernroots.com, a page on angelfire.com, a page on genealogy.com, another two pages here and here on rootsweb, along with a page on myancestrallegacy.com. Additionally, pages of Mitchell's book on Bridgewater (esp p 60 and 264), along with Dale Cook's page on Samuel Packard's family makes the same claim.

© 2018-2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Note: This was originally posted on May 18, 2018 on the main Packed with Packards WordPress blog (it can also be found on the Wayback Machine here). My research is still ongoing, so some conclusions in this piece may change in the future.

[trustarmor]

Cocktail for mac high sierra torrent

And it has given rise to Trevor’s most ambitious project yet – An A–Z of Almost Everything : a massive factfile of information calculated to be of value to anyone and everyone interested in quizzes. That in itself is a sign of the immense and growing popularity of quizzes of all kinds on television, on radio, in pubs, in the Civil Service, and now even on the Internet. Trevor is also the question-setter of the fledgling British Quiz Championship which is a part of the annual Mind Sports Olympiad at London’s Olympia. There is an unofficial Mastermind mafia which meets every month in the Grape Street wine bar in London, and from its regulars Trevor puts together formidable scratch teams of veteran Masterminders to take part in all and any quiz challenges. But Trevor Montague is much more than that: he is that notquite-so-rare-now animal, a quiz addict. That is to say, in 1995 he became one of the 1,231 bravehearts who appeared on the television Mastermind during its twenty-five-year run. ISBN 978-0-7481-9998-3 Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Papers used by Clowes are natural, renewable and recyclable products sourced from well-managed forests and certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. MONTAGUE PUBLISHING First published in Great Britain in 2001 by Little, Brown Second edition published in 2003 Third edition published in 2005 Fourth edition published in 2007 Fifth edition published in 2010 Sixth edition published in 2013 Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013 Trevor Montague Introduction copyright © 2001 Magnus Magnusson The moral right of the author has been asserted. As always I have done my utmost to achieve 100 per cent accuracy, but if I have fallen short or you would like to suggest new topics or discuss existing ones, then please write to me via my website.Ī to Z of Britain and Ireland A to Z of British (and Irish) Popular Culture I hope you will be edified and entertained when dipping in to the book. The general revision of the book is the most extensive yet and although no information has been lost I have tweaked the sections and adjusted the format to cram in as much useful information as possible and consequently the book has a rather different, perhaps fresher look. My cut-off point for new information is usually the December of the previous year of publication but I have endeavoured to maintain records right up to going to press in October 2013 so you will notice many of the lists are updated to 2013 unless the event takes place after this date. The Geography section is always a major undertaking and two countries, Libya and Burma (Myanmar) have new flags and of course I have introduced the flag of South Sudan. For this edition every section through Abbreviations, Art, Astronomy, Britain, Cinema, Famous People, Literature, Music, Nature, Politics, Science, Sport, and Transport has been revised and added to as new terms become en vogue, young artists flourish, planetary moons continue to be discovered, films win awards and chemical elements previously unnamed are now given nomenclature - albeit temporary in some cases The Current Affairs section again covers three years, rather than the usual two, and the sporting record inevitably highlights the magnificent London Games of 2012 as does the sports section itself. This has enabled me to introduce a plethora of new facts across every section. To that end I have removed my duplicate sorts of data throughout the book and more specifically the very obscure capitals from my gazetteer. No sections have been omitted although I have taken heed of the feedback from the general public and trimmed areas that might not necessarily be as helpful as I originally imagined. This sixth edition of the A to Z of almost Everything has been exhaustively and painstakingly updated and rationalised to accommodate new, and for the expansion of existing, material.