#Canadian Heraldic Authority

[sebastocrat]

#canadian heraldry #coat of arms #crest #double headed eagle #family history #heraldry #heraldic #se ipsum extollit qui perstat #armiger #armigerous #governor general of canada #canadian heraldic authority #letters patent #grant of arms

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Benjamin Ryan

Published: Apr 23, 2024

The prominent American transgender activist Erin Reed has repeatedly and insistently made demonstrably false claims about pediatric gender medicine.

During the two weeks since the publication of the Cass Review, England’s mammoth report about this controversial and politicized medical field, Reed has emitted a fusillade of false claims about the review, its findings and the systematic literature reviews on which it was partially based. Reed has only doubled down when fact checked, even when the corrections have come from lead author of the report, pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, herself.

Reed publishes a popular daily Substack, “Erin In The Morning,” focusing on trans legislative, civil-rights and medical issues. Over the past couple of years, as access to gender-transition treatment by children has become a major political fight in U.S. statehouses, Reed has amassed a large following, both through her coverage of these issues and her activism against such laws and for gender-distressed children’s access to such treatments.

The Cass Review was four years in the making and published to considerable fanfare in the UK on April 9. The 388-page report scrutinized the field of pediatric gender-transition treatment and found it was based on “remarkably weak evidence,” as I reported for The New York Sun.

The report has heralded the end of an era in England. It helped shutter the troubled pediatric gender clinic, known as GIDS, that once provided puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to members of a burgeoning population of thousands of British minors distressed about their gender. Going forward in England, holistic psychological care will be prioritized for such young people, as it now is in multiple Scandinavian nations.

For gender-distressed minors in England, puberty blockers will only be available through a planned clinical trial. And the nation’s National Health Service looks likely to heed Cass’s counsel to reverse its recently announced policy to permit cross-sex hormones to 16 and 17 year olds. Furthermore, signs from Parliament suggest that the government will likely crack down on any private and overseas clinics prescribing of puberty blockers for gender distress. Even members of the Labour party have expressed support for Cass’s findings and recommendations.

Reed stands at the forefront of a full-court press by British and North American activists and online influencers to undermine and cast doubt on the Cass Review, including through falsehoods. This comes as English politicians and medical societies, the NHS, and even major UK LGBTQ organizations have fallen in line and pledged their support of the report’s findings, or at least refrained from fighting them. U.S. medical societies, meanwhile, have remained notably silent on the matter. They all unwaveringly support pediatric gender-transition treatment.

Most notably, Reed has falsely claimed on repeated occasions that the Cass Review simply “disregarded” a substantial proportion of the available medical literature on pediatric gender-transition treatment. Sometimes phrased as the notion that Cass tossed out 98% of available studies, some version of this false claim ran rampant during the first week after the report’s publication. The game of falsehood telephone stormed across social media, showed up in the opinions of LGBTQ charity leaders and English MPs, and in an error-laden Canadian Broadcasting Corporation article that I fact checked on X.

Finally, Dr. Cass herself cried foul.

In an interview with The Times published April 19, Dr. Cass did not mince words. She denounced those who had falsely claimed she had not included 100 papers on pediatric gender medicine in her review. (I explained the finer details of why this claim is egregiously incorrect in my Substack from last week, so I’ll go into only just a bit of explanatory detail about this later in this report.)

The Times reported:

Calling the assertion “completely wrong”, Cass said that it was “unforgivable” for people to undermine her report by spreading “straight disinformation”. The physician, 66, who has spoken about the toxic debate around the issue, also revealed that she had been sent “vile” abusive emails and been given security advice to help keep her safe. Of her critics, Cass said: “I have been really frustrated by the criticisms, because it is straight disinformation. It is completely inaccurate.

Reed’s false claims, about the Cass Review in particular and pediatric gender-transition treatment in general, have likely had a substantial impact on the global conversation about the care of young people with gender distress, given the wide reach of her platform. She has many eager followers and her tweets routinely rack up tens or hundreds of thousands of views. She is taken seriously by media outlets and even doctors and is routinely asked to speak at medical conferences.

I spoke with Erica Anderson, a trans woman, psychologist and the former head of USPATH, the U.S. branch of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, about Reed’s influence on the larger conversation about pediatric gender medicine.

Dr. Anderson, who has become a vocal critic of WPATH’s full-throated support for pediatric gender-transition treatment, told me:

“It’s unfortunate that Erin Reed in her mistaken efforts to advocate for transgender persons repeatedly and demonstrably promotes falsehoods, including most recently about the Cass Commission report.”

Referring to the fact that, in every tweet thread that Reed posts promoting her Substack essays, Reed asks people to pay for a subscription, Dr. Anderson continued: “She asks the trans community to support her efforts financially. There is no way I can do so.”

[ All of Reed’s tweet threads about her Substack articles, which are often laden with errors, come with with a financial ask. ]

Reached for comment, Reed said: “Readers should not trust a fact check done by somebody like Benjamin Ryan, who himself has consistently misrepresented studies on gender affirming care and gotten basic facts about them incorrect.”

I stand by my own 23 years of professional science reporting and am proud that I have never had to run a major correction.

Erin Reed’s Two-Week Marathon of Falsehoods About the Cass Review

Over the past two weeks, Reed has repeated various versions of the false claim that Dr. Cass simply “disregarded” a stack of papers about pediatric gender medicine. Why did the author of the Cass Review do such a thing? Because, Reed claimed, those studies didn’t suit her “predetermined conclion [sic] ”—meaning conclusions.

Without going into too much detail, here is the truth:

Two systematic literature reviews, conducted by the University of York on behalf of the Cass Review and published by the BMJ the same day as the Cass Review, examined puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as treatments for gender distress in minors.

Between them, these two reviews examined 103 studies. Using a validated scoring method, they identified two high-quality papers, 58 moderate-quality papers, and 43 low-quality papers.

Only the high-quality and moderate-quality papers were included in the review papers’ syntheses.

When reaching their ultimate conclusions—essentially that the evidence base was largely unreliable and inconclusive, although there was some evidence that hormones were associated with psychological benefits—the review papers leaned on the high-quality papers, but did not discount the moderate-quality papers.

[ The conclusion of the systematic literature review on cross-sex hormones. ]

Cass considered all these papers in her own analysis and did not simply disregard or discard any of them, as I reported on Substack last week.

That said, the central purpose of an evidence-based medicine approach is to discern which studies are more likely to provide reliable results and which are less likely to do so. This is meant to keep false study results, such as those driven by bias, from influencing medical practices. Reed and other activists mischaracterize this effort as capricious and biased, one that starts with a desired outcome and then reverse engineers it.

Discernment of study quality is particularly important, evidence-based medicine experts have insisted, when caring for the particularly vulnerable population of gender-distressed children. And it is of paramount importance, these experts say, to prioritize higher quality research when devising treatment guidelines for this group, considering that children cannot consent to their own care and may lose their fertility and sexual function as a result of treatment with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

These systematic reviews were conducted independently and were structured to be agnostic about their results.

Reed was not convinced.

On April 18, she denounced the Cass Review as a member of a collection of “sham reports concocted to justify escalating crackdowns on their care.”

The day after the Cass Review was published, Reed published a Substack condemning it. The false or misleading claims Reed made in this report included:

The report did not, as Reed claimed, “call for restrictions” on social transition. It advised that families observe “caution” when considering the social transition of a child.

The Cass Review did not “[advocate] for the blocking” of trans young adults receiving cross-sex hormones,” as Reed claimed. It advised a review of young-adult gender services, suggesting that the problems that have plagued the pediatric clinic may be similar in young-adult care.

The theory of rapid-onset gender dysphoria has not been “discredited”, as she claimed. It remains a hypothesis under investigation by researchers.

Systematic literature reviews are considered the gold-standard source of scientific evidence. They are not mere “reviews”, as she wrote—in scare quotes meant to dismiss them.

The Cass Report stated that there was not sufficient research to determine the rate at which young people who receive cross-sex hormones will detransition—meaning revert to identifying and presenting as their biological sex.

But Reed insisted that an audit of some 3,500 GIDS patients, mentioned in Appendix 8 of the Cass Review, showed that only 8 out of 3,000 detransitioned, for a rate of just 0.27%. (Approximately 9,000 patients were seen at GIDS since 2011.)

As I explained in the tweet below, Erin had the denominator wrong, and the true rate was about 1.6%.

Regardless, the 1.6% figure is woefully incomplete. Because this audit only considered GIDS patients assessed upon discharge, including because they turned 18 and aged out. And as Cass stated, her interviews with clinicians suggested that detransitioning can take 5 to 10 years. So the young people would likely need to be followed into their mid- to late-20s to establish a true detransitioning rate. But such data was unavailable to Dr. Cass’s team, because the NHS adult gender services refused to share it with them. (It looks likely the British government will ultimately force those clinics to hand over the data. However, activists have sought to convince these patients to forbid the NHS to share their personal, if anonymized, health records.)

In an April 18 appearance on the super-lefty Majority Report podcast with the super-cranky Emma Vigeland, Reed claimed that Dr. Cass was secretly conspiring to ban pediatric gender-transition treatment. Reed also falsely claimed that the Cass Review did not factor in the voices of trans people or their care providers.

Here is how the Cass Review diagrammed all the sources Dr. Cass and her team drew upon when crafting the report, including trans people and their care providers:

Reed then suggested to a super-credulous Vigeland that the Cass Review was aligning itself with an anti-trans propaganda machine, because in a footnote it referred to a video posted by that account’s YouTube channel.

Below is the video in question, which is an unedited, 37-minute video of GIDS director Dr. Polly Charmichael speaking at the 2016 WPATH conference. The YouTube account’s politics notwithstanding, the video itself is provided with no extra editorial comment by the account; it is just the words and slides of Dr. Charmichael.

In an April 18 Substack that she characterized as an opinion piece, Reed argued that “England’s Anti-Trans Cass Review Is Politics Disguised As Science.”

In the single paragraph below from that Substack, she made at least six false or misleading claims.

Reed falsely claimed that the Cass Review was crafted with a predetermined conclusion. In fact, as I mentioned, Dr. Cass commissioned seven independent systematic literature reviews on various facets of pediatric gender medicine from the University of York. Their findings informed Cass's conclusions.

Reed falsely claimed the systematic literature reviews were “highly susceptible to subjectivity.” The reviews used a validated scoring method, the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS), and two independent reviewers each. The paper on the NOS scale to which Reed linked in her Substack actually states much more modestly that there is apparent “room for subjectivity in the NOS tool.”

She falsely claimed the Cass Review disregarded all research not deemed high quality.

She falsely claimed that the theory that gender dysphoria and trans identity may be influenced by social contagion has been "debunked". This remains an open question subject to ongoing research.

She makes the misleading suggestion about the YouTube footnote.

She falsely claims that the Cass Review asserts that rates of detransition are high. In fact, Cass states that the detransition rate is “unknown due to the lack of long term follow-up.”

In an April 19 Substack, Reed began pushing the particularly far-fetched claim that Dr. Cass had somehow, after publishing a nearly 400-page report following a four-year effort, suddenly reversed herself and endorsed the prescribing of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors outside of a clinical trial.

“Dr. Cass Backpedals From Review: HRT, Blockers Should Be Made Available,” Reed trumpeted in her headline.

Her source for this claim was a supposed transcript from an interview Dr. Cass had apparently given to The Kite Trust. The transcript was inexplicably written in the third person, referring repeatedly to “Dr. Cass.” Reed mischaracterized statements that Dr. Cass apparently made about how she envisioned children receiving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in clinical trials of such drugs; Reed presented those statements as if they applied to everyday prescribing of drugs.

Fact Checked By Cass, Reed Doubles Down, Repeats the Same Falsehoods

Reed has remained resolute that she is right and Dr. Hilary Cass is wrong regarding the evidence backing pediatric gender-transition treatment.

After Cass castigated those who propogate such “disinformation” in her interview with The Times, Reed repeated her false claim that Cass discarded perfectly good research.

In response to an April 22 BBC tweet thread that painstakingly diagrammed how the misinformation about the Cass Review spread around the world, and why it was wrong, Reed responded:

“Not accurate.”

Reed then proceeded to mischaracterize the systematic reviews syntheses, describing them as if they were capricious processes and not structured to weed out study results that are unreliable. Referring to the 58 moderate-quality studies that were factored into the syntheses, Reed wrote: “Much of what was in the moderate section was also discarded, especially in Cass’s conclusions.”

This tweet came as the UK LGBTQ charity Stonewall backed off of its previous claims that Cass had egregiously discarded a large crop of research.

“We are grateful to Dr Cass for taking the time to clarify that both ‘high’ and ‘moderate’ quality research were considered by as part of the evidence review, both in the media and directly to trans and LGBTQ+ organisations,” a contrite Stonewall tweeted.

That same day, the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists also backed the Cass Review. Its president, Dr. Lade Smith CBE, stated in a press release: “It is a comprehensive and evidence-based assessment that needs to be acted upon with a fully resourced implementation plan.”

Who Is Erin Reed?

Reed has been Substacking for a relatively short time, but has quickly amassed a large following. She has 54,000 subscribers, among whom a group that is apparently in the thousands pays either $50 per year or $5 per month for their premium subscription.

She is recommended by doctors.

In the wake of the March publication of the so-called WPATH Files by Michael Shellenberger’s nonprofit Environmental Progress, Dr. Carl Streed, the current USPATH head, wrote in a letter to USPATH colleagues that he was “grateful” for Reed’s reporting about the Files—for correcting the “numerous false claims running rampant in the media.”

(Dr. Streed, whom I’ve interviewed a couple of times, took a clear swipe at me in the letter. First he called into question the findings of a recent Finnish study that found no independent association between receiving gender-transition treatment and the suicide death rate among gender-distressed youths. Then he wrote, “I seriously question the motives and ethics of any reporter, legislator, or professional citing it as evidence.” I was the only reporter to cover the study for a major U.S. media outlet, the New York Post. Reed was no fan of the article either and, as she noted in her message to me about this Substack, published her own takedown of my work in the Los Angeles Blade. I stand by my reporting. My motive is to report the truth. As it happens, Cass also found that there was no evidence backing the suggestion that gender-transition treatment impacts suicide deaths in youths.)

The Cass Review excoriated WPATH, saying that it exaggerated the strength of the research backing its influential guidelines for treating gender distress in children.

The LGBTQ nonprofit GLAAD, which has falsely claimed the “science is settled” on pediatric gender-transition treatment, is also a vocal supporter of Reed’s writing.

However, not all doctors see Reed as a trustworthy intellectual. Last October, at the Society for Evidence Based Medicine conference in New York City, I cited Reed when asking a question of a panel of researchers and physicians. When I noted that one major media outlet refers to Reed as a “legislative analyst,” the room broke out into derisive laughter.

Reed is no fan of SEGM’s and repeatedly claims they are a hate group. I got no such impression from the conference in particular, which provided a crash course on evidence-based medicine practice. Politics came up only briefly. This was a science conference.

Reed recently became engaged to Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat.

Reed, whose writing has also been published by Harper’s Bazaar, was recently lionized as a journalistic force to be reckoned with by The Nation. The progressive outlet (which I have written for a few times) charactered Reed’s Substack as one of “the most reliable sources for information on the exploding campaign against trans rights.”

Don’t tell that to Laura Edwards-Leeper. She is a child psychologist who was part of the team to first import to the U.S., in 2007, the so-called Dutch model for prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to treat gender-related distress in children. More recently, Edwards-Leeper, who practices in Oregon, has become one of the most prominent voices calling for reform and caution in the pediatric gender-care field from within its ranks.

[ Laura Edwards-Leeper ]

Dr. Edwards-Leeper is no fan of Reed’s.

“Erin Reed is harming children with her false claims about the Cass Review,” Dr. Edwards-Leeper told me. “Because many providers, parents, and even professional organizations are believing these claims without taking the time to read the actual review themselves. By ignoring the Cass Review, the most comprehensive examination of the evidence for treating gender-distressed youth medically to date, providers and parents who believe Erin’s false synopsis are making decisions that are not accurate and will undoubtedly harm children.”

Echoing Dr. Cass, who said, “This must stop,” of the toxic bullying that has intimidated many health professionals out of speaking out about the subject of pediatric gender medicine, Dr. Edwards-Leeper said of Reed’s routine publication of falsehoods about the Cass Review and pediatric gender medicine:

“This behavior is unforgivable and must stop immediately.”

I encourage you to retweet a thread about this Substack: https://x.com/benryanwriter/status/1782653360207761431

==

Ben brought the receipts.

Follow-up:

PSA: Reed is most correctly addressed as Globally Discredited Shill Blogger "Erin" Reed.

#Benjamin Ryan #receipts #Erin Reed #Christopher Reed #compulsive liar #pathological liars #misinformation #dishonesty #disinformation #debunked #Cass review #Cass report #Hilary Cass #Dr. Hilary Cass #religion is a mental illness

[officiallordvetinari]

Here are 10 featured Wikipedia articles. Summaries and links are below the cut.

The Astronomica (Classical Latin: [astrɔˈnɔmɪka]), also known as the Astronomicon, is a Latin didactic poem about celestial phenomena, written in hexameters and divided into five books. The Astronomica was written c. AD 30–40 by a Roman poet whose name was likely Marcus Manilius; little is known of Manilius, and although there is evidence that the Astronomica was probably read by many other Roman writers, no surviving works explicitly quote him.

The Apollo 15 postal covers incident, a 1972 NASA scandal, involved the astronauts of Apollo 15, who carried about 400 unauthorized postal covers into space and to the Moon's surface on the Lunar Module Falcon. Some of the envelopes were sold at high prices by West German stamp dealer Hermann Sieger, and are known as "Sieger covers".

The Battle of Hayes Pond, also known as the Battle of Maxton Field or the Maxton Riot, was an armed confrontation between members of a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) organization and Lumbee people at a Klan rally near Maxton, North Carolina, on the night of January 18, 1958. The clash resulted in the disruption of the rally and a significant amount of media coverage praising the Lumbees and condemning the Klansmen.

Canadian heraldry is the cultural tradition and style of coats of arms and other heraldic achievements in both modern and historic Canada. It includes national, provincial, and civic arms, noble and personal arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays as corporate logos, and Canadian blazonry.

General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as "Cazique". Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor's invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. Seen as a contributory factor to the "Panic of 1825", MacGregor's Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history.

Aluminium (or aluminum) metal is very rare in native form, and the process to refine it from ores is complex, so for most of human history it was unknown. However, the compound alum has been known since the 5th century BCE and was used extensively by the ancients for dyeing.

The Hitler Diaries (German: Hitler-Tagebücher) were a series of sixty volumes of journals purportedly written by Adolf Hitler, but forged by Konrad Kujau between 1981 and 1983. The diaries were purchased in 1983 for 9.3 million Deutsche Marks (£2.3 million or $3.7 million) by the West German news magazine Stern, which sold serialisation rights to several news organisations.

The Keldholme Priory election dispute occurred in Yorkshire, England, in 1308. After a series of resignations by its prioresses, the establishment was in a state of turmoil, and the Archbishop of York, William Greenfield, appointed one of the nuns to lead the house. His candidate, Emma de Ebor' (Emma of York), was deemed unacceptable by many nuns, who undermined her from the start to the extent that she resigned three months later.

Sir Osbert Lancaster CBE (4 August 1908 – 27 July 1986) was an English cartoonist, architectural historian, stage designer and author. He was known for his cartoons in the British press, and for his lifelong work to inform the general public about good buildings and architectural heritage.

Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell (22 May 1905 – 12 August 1976) was a British journalist, politician, High Anglican churchman and possible Soviet spy, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1942 to 1955, and again from 1959 to 1974. A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain for more than twenty years, he was first elected to parliament as an Independent and joined the Labour Party in 1945. He never held any ministerial office, but rose to senior positions within the Labour Party and was a popular and influential figure in left-wing politics for many years.

#wikipedia polls

[mariacallous]

There’s an international socialist conspiracy afoot, and it wants to make it easier to walk to the shops. Fringe forces of the far left are plotting to take away our freedom to be stuck in traffic jams, to crawl along clogged ring roads and trawl the streets in search of a parking spot. The liberty of the rush-hour commute, the sanctity of the out-of-town shopping centre and the righteousness of the suburban food desert is under threat as never before. The name of this chilling global movement? The “15-minute city”.

Westminster can often seem like a badly scripted spoof of itself, but rarely has parliament descended into parody as far as it did last week, when the Conservative MP for the South Yorkshire constituency of Don Valley, Nick Fletcher, launched a plucky tirade against the concept of convenient, walkable neighbourhoods. “Will the leader of the house please set aside time for a debate on the international socialist concept of so-called 15-minute cities and 20-minute neighbourhoods?” he asked, in an ominous tone. “Sheffield is already on this journey, and I do not want Doncaster, which also has a Labour-run socialist council, to do the same.”

It is not the first time that an online conspiracy theory has made it into the Commons chamber, but it may be one of the most surreal. Simply put, the 15-minute city principle suggests you should have your daily needs – work, food, healthcare, education, culture and leisure – within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from where you live. It sounds pleasant enough, but in the minds of libertarian fanatics and the bedroom commentators of TikTok, it represents an unprecedented assault on personal freedoms.

“Creepy local authority bureaucrats would like to see your entire existence boiled down to the duration of a quarter of an hour,” warned a furious presenter on GB News last week, as if describing a plot line from Nineteen Eighty-Four. The 15-minute city, he suggested, was a “dystopian plan”, heralding “a surveillance culture that would make Pyongyang envious”.

Never before has a mundane theory of urbanism been such a lightning rod for outrage. It’s like suggesting that public parks are part of a sinister plant-worshipping plot to demolish our homes and replace them with grass. Or that public transport is the work of a satanic bus cult. Some online forums have claimed that the 15-minute city represents the first step towards an inevitable Hunger Games society, in which residents will not be allowed to leave their prescribed areas. They see it not as a route to a low-traffic, low-carbon future, but as the beginning of a slippery slope to living in an open-air prison.

As one irate TikToker shrieked, while jumping around his room in disbelief: “You’re going to have to apply for a fucking permit to leave your zone!” (Although he also ascribed the 15-minute city plans to the Tories, so it’s not quite clear which deranged Reddit forum he got his information from).

There are lots of good reasons to interrogate the cute logic of the 15-minute city – could it actually lead to further social segregation? Would wealthy residents, and their money, remain in the prosperous enclaves? Who is providing the services and where do they live? – but the threat of our rights being curtailed by travel permits isn’t one of them.

The conspiracy theory pot was given a powerful stir in December, when the Canadian rightwing culture warrior Jordan Peterson decided to get involved. “The idea that neighbourhoods should be walkable is lovely,” he tweeted, in a post that has since clocked up 7.5m views. “The idea that idiot tyrannical bureaucrats can decide by fiat where you’re ‘allowed’ to drive is perhaps the worst imaginable perversion of that idea,” he continued, “and, make no mistake, it’s part of a well-documented plan.” Peterson quoted a tweet that featured the telltale hashtag #GreatReset, referring to the World Economic Forum’s post-pandemic economic recovery plan – widely used in the stranger corners of the internet as a byword for a shadowy global conspiracy intent on robbing us of our freedoms. The anti-vaccine, pro-Brexit, climate-denying, 15-minute-phobe, Great Reset axis is a strong one.

So where did the fear come from? Many of the UK conspiracy theorists highlight that these “un-British” ideas of urban walkability emanate from France, so they must be distrusted on principle. Worse than that, they point out, the ideology has been driven by a bearded Colombian scientist with radical roots. The ideas had been around since the 1920s, but the 15-minute city phrase was coined by Carlos Moreno, esteemed professor at the Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, who was once a member of a leftwing guerrilla group in the 1970s. And now he’s coming for your cars.

“Their lies are enormous,” Moreno said in a recent interview , describing some of the claims made by his critics. “You will be locked in your neighbourhood; cameras will signal who can go out; if your mother lives in another neighbourhood, you will have to ask for permission to see her, and so on,” adding that they “sometimes post pictures of concentration camps.”

Moreno first promoted his concept of la ville du quart d’heure in 2016, but it gained international attention when the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, adopted it as part of her re-election campaign in 2020. She promised she would close off roads and turn them into public plazas, plant more trees and turn schools into the “capitals of the neighbourhood”, open to everyone for sports and recreation in evenings and at weekends.

The pandemic proved to be a powerful trial for how a 15-minute city might work in practice, and led to bodies such as UN Habitat, the World Economic Forum, the C40 Global Cities Climate Network and the Federation of United Local Governments championing the cause – which also helped to boost unhinged fantasies that it is all part of a grand global scheme of totalitarian oppression.

More recently, the principles have gained traction in the UK, with Oxford, Birmingham, Bristol, Canterbury and Sheffield councils considering 15-minute city ideas. Cue outrage from those with no other cause left to flog. “The climate change lockdowns are coming,” tweeted Nigel Farage, in response to Canterbury’s innocuous traffic filtering scheme, while Oxford’s plans triggered similar ripples of incredulous fury.

“Oxfordshire County Council yesterday approved plans to lock residents into one of six zones to ‘save the planet’ from global warming,” screamed one alarmist headline. “The latest stage in the ‘15-minute city’ agenda is to place electronic gates on key roads in and out of the city, confining residents to their own neighbourhoods.” The claims had zero basis in fact, but they poured further fuel on the fire of those battling low-traffic neighbourhoods, and their fellow band of assorted culture warriors.

It seems fitting that a leaflet drop warning against Oxford’s traffic filters plan was organised by Not Our Future – a new pressure group led by none other than Fred and Richard Fairbrass of 1990s band turned anti-vaxxers Right Said Fred. Too sexy for their car? Maybe they could try cycling to the shops instead.

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Like, literally all of them? Go fuck yourself?

"Less representation than Gravity Falls..."

So...

I guess all of the crippled queer kids are just going to have to be okay with Tyrone (strangely appropriative and fetishistic name for the disfigured clone of your 13 y/o white boy character) happily exclaiming something like how he's apparently "Better Off Dead!" when he gets a soda poured on him and destroyed, huh? Oh Wait! I forgot.. That was Paper-Jam Dipper!

Nope. I think crippled queer kids would much rather appreciate Toby and Minty being there just fine. After all, I think that it must be the first time we've ever seen any visible wheelchair users in a Queer Coded Disney Show since Kim Possible. Let alone this queer coded and let alone twice. And they're two separate characters existing at the same time and their presence doesn't even revolve around teaching anyone anything! They're just ALLOWED to EXIST!

Didn't see anything like this in Grabbity Balls though, did see a stereotypical man-ish little girl with a big, deep man-ish voice be implied to have "something wrong with her" by an adult authority figure character who's voiced by the same straight, white, openly anti-black Canadian man that you all have been heralding as the ultimate alley for your fictional LGBTQ+ Cartoon Characters' rights, for some reason.

At least the Star Crew tried to give us this:

Which in my opinion was a bit more forwarded and impactful than some dude bro frat boy "love guru" type character just wearing a bunch of symbols and ornaments around his neck, even if they both didn't get through the censors ... You all know this is way more explicit than that.

Speaking of in your face and explicit Queer Coding:

Golly gee... I wonder why such cute and beefy but shy Little Leather Monster Complete with his own Harness and what appears to be a Gimp Mask just had to be regulated to the back?! So funny how Daron Nefcy literally said Disabled Rights, Trans Rights, and Leather/Kinkster Rights while Alex Hirsch only said Eugenics, "Trans Rights" (if you can pass to him, if he can pronounce your name, and you don't say "bae" ) and of course, let's not forget Cops at Pride, despite how little they could apparently both get away with... :)

... But of course, the last and most important Queer Reading to me in Star vs. :

The whole idea of being forced to be with someone you don't love to the point where you have to take a Secret Lover and elope with them and preserve your own sanity because you're a"Bad Girl" who likes a lot of dirty, kinky things to the point where your own voice actress is herself an open kinkster who likes dirty kinky things and that shows through her fun performance, as well as the canonical writings of this kinky character.

And we're not even getting into all of the WAM and Food Fetish stuff in Star vs. The Forces of Evil but it's there, and it's 'glorious'

And after the show is over ,like the actual Queen of Darkness you are, you gotta go sue your old washed up has-been rock star ex boyfriend for misusing the forces of what he says is kink to abuse you ... Because kink is great actually and he's just evil.

Anyway, Esmé Bianco is amazing.

Don't even get me started on Meteora and the blatant disrespect. Especially after Jessica Walter's passing.

I'm writing this post because I'm just ... So fucking sick of people shitting all over the wonderful representation that Star vs. was able to even achieve in favor of praising Alex Hirsch, every time... When in reality, Star vs. The Forces of Evil has overall better representation and overt, and, as some have even said, both in out the show, literally abject Queerness in it than Hirsch will ever have in whichever eye y'all tried to put the eye-patch on your sexy twink Bill Ciphers only to have Hirsch shit on all that and immediately "fix it" by redesigning it as some disfigured ablest caricature before literally switching over to yet another anti-black one.

Dana broke up with Hirsch for a reason: He's a jerk!

If you think that Daron didn't do a "queer enough" narrative with Star vs. despite it being so by it's nature since day one, despite that being already being promised by it's very nature in it's influence being Sailor Moon and Scott Pilgrim, and if you read the Book of Spells even and still say shit like: "I don't see how Star vs. is QUEER????"

Then like, I'm sorry you can't look a little deeper to find that queerness already everywhere in the narrative all around you and if you actually think that Alex Hirsch ever did Representation TM better than Daron Nefcy, all I can say is that I'm sorry you're like a misogynist with shit taste in men and I'm so glad Dana Terrace is free from her shitty boyfriends shadow now at least.

Saying something even more petty about this because I'm gay: A giant, "Size Shifting", People Eating, Purple Pussy Monster who spends his time in mostly just booty shorts, his Chocolate Fountain Jumping Wife who orgasms when she eats candy and left her arranged marriage so that could have more orgasms, and their Giantess, Purple Pussy Monster of a daughter who sucks the souls out of people and spent most of her life as the Milfier than her own Mom, Terrifying Headmistress of a reform school, where she sucked the life of her own students in a Bathory-uqse fashion, before blowing up her cyborg simp, with his own heart, then probably being able to use the severed arm of her Lizard Cyborg Ex Boyfriend as a make-shift dildo to get a final wank in before ultimately experiencing a growth spurt, losing her mind, and killing everyone ... Will always be more Queer in their very nature, than a floating stale dorito in a top hat and two "gay" cops that are designed to be classicist, racist stereotypes for the sake of the unspoken running "joke" that they could even get along, ever were...

And again... If you're an adult and 'Star Vs.' still isn't enough for you... Then maybe you should STOP looking to cartoons and Disney for your ideal representation and make your own...

I'm done.

#star vs. the forces of evil #star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #gravity falls #alex hirsch #alex hirsch is a jerk #media comprehension #media literacy #the magic book of spells #magic book of spells #svtfoe magic book of spells #svtfoe the magic book of spells #disney #'How is svtfoe even QUEER???' #'Why do you want kids cartoons to have k*nk in them?????' #Like have you been paying attention it already is and they already do?! #'Hi. I'm Spike Balls ...... I'm usually in the back.' #Or: That feel when your favorite characters voice actress has the exact same Kink #As you ... As me ....Esmé .... ;) 💜 ♠🌹🍰 🍫 #Moon's Favorite Toon #undescribed

[gerec]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

Thank you Anon! Tagging the following writers to self rec @turtletotem, @certainlyanotp, @hraishin, @x-populuxe, @midrashic !!!

Here are my five favorites in no particular order:

Gods or Mortals

They say that his birth was foretold by the Great Seer of this Age, an omega child born unto the House of Xavier and most beloved of the gods. Powerful amongst the Gifted Ones the child will grow to rule a kingdom mighty and vast, a legacy of dominion over land and sea. That he will be beautiful beyond mortal countenance and desired by all who see his face. Empires will fall by his command and kings by his design; the world torn asunder by war and then made new from its ashes.

These are the words that herald the arrival of Charles Francis Xavier, 124th of the line of Xavier and heir to the throne of Westchester.

This is his story.

I love this story so damn much! My new year's resolution is to focus on it and get part 1 finished.

We'll Always Have Paris 

Charles Xavier disappears from Paris without a word, leaving Logan to start his new life alone. Six months later, in a tiny bar in the Canadian Rockies, Logan gets an unexpected visitor - a man he's tried very hard to forget.

I don't usually do romance but darn if this isn't romance with a capital 'R'. LOVE Logan in this story; he definitely deserves all the hugs.

It's Been A Long Time

It's been fifteen years since Erik last saw Charles Xavier, when they fell in love over the course of one unforgettable summer. Since then their lives have gone in very different directions, though their short love affair left an indelible mark that still ties them together.

All my favorite tropes - exes still in love, youthful regrets, angsty love affair - it's all there.

An End Comes to All Good Things

Sometimes love isn't enough, and good relationships still end. For Erik it happens sooner than expected, when he begins an affair with his boss and mentor, Sebastian Shaw.

For Charles, it happens later than it should, after a proposal that never happens.

I loved writing this ugly, ugly breakup...probably my best/most mature writing.

The Painter (Masterpiece Remix)

A painter falls in love with his work. His creation loves him in return.

IMO, the imagery in this one just really works for the story.

#gerec rambles #cherik #fic authors self rec #memes #thank you Anon! #xavierine

[the-real-tc]

Bad Business: A Heartland Murder Mystery

Author's Note: This story has quite honestly been years in the making. It's been on my back burner, cooking away for so long, the world as we know it now is not the same world that my characters are inhabiting in this tale, as you will see from the timeline. This will obviously be considered an alternate universe, anyway, since things will happen that are clearly not canonical. That said, I try to maintain what we know about the Heartland universe in a general sense, as in people are still the same people, and the relationships they share are intact.

From the title, you can probably guess this will be a different sort of Heartland story, as it's a murder mystery. I will also warn there will be sensitive events taking place that might be triggering for some, so reader discretion is advised.

Abusive comments will not be tolerated. And now, onto the story!

***

Prologue: Distant Rumblings

Calgary Herald—Online Edition

Prominent Businessman and Wife Slain in Apparent Home-Invasion Robbery

Erika Volmeyer

Published March 25, 2018

Local businessman and oil magnate Lanny Barick and his wife, Paige, were found dead in their Rideau Park home early Sunday morning. Neighbours in the upscale Calgary residential area reported sounds of gunshots around 2:00 a.m.

Kenneth Pemberton, the Baricks' closest neighbour, says he was awoken by what he describes as two loud, explosive noises: "Two distinct shots. I jumped right out of bed, they sounded so close. Like fireworks going off. I was pretty much on the phone right away, calling 911."

Further inspection of the home revealed the bodies of the couple in the master bedroom. Officials say it appears the Baricks surprised their assailant.

Property records reveal the Baricks purchased the Rideau Park home in 2012. They had no children, and reportedly divided their time between Calgary and a residence in Hudson.

A family member who wished not to be identified revealed to The Herald that the Baricks had just returned from a vacation in Switzerland. No arrests have been made, nor did police name any suspects at this time. The Homicide Unit is currently investigating.

More details to come.

• Email: e_volmeyer

With files from The Canadian Press

***

"Something wrong, Lou?"

Lou Fleming shook her head once and looked up from her laptop, startled by her grandfather's question. "W-What?" she sputtered.

Jack Bartlett repeated his question, regarding his eldest granddaughter with concern. There had been a look of pure horror on her face he could not help but notice.

"Oh, I—I'm reading the news…" Lou mumbled. "Something awful has happened. You remember Lanny Barick?"

Jack paused for a moment, brushing his moustache with his thumb as he dug into his memory banks. "He's the 'weekend cowboy' who bought that dud of a bull for his ranch, isn't he?"

"Yes," Lou confirmed. "Grandpa, he and his wife were murdered early yesterday. Police are saying it was a home-invasion."

"You're joking," Jack said with a deep frown that intensified the wrinkles on his forehead.

"I wish I were."

"I'm real sorry, Lou," Jack uttered with sincerity, thinking of the easy-going man with whom he'd crossed paths some years ago. "I know he was a good client."

"And his wife, Paige… Amy taught her how to ride," Lou sighed. Lanny and Paige had not been particularly close friends of hers, but she nevertheless felt an oppression of spirit at the tragic news.

"Do the police know who did it?" Jack asked.

"No," answered Lou glumly. "The article says the Calgary Homicide Unit is investigating, though. Not a whole lot of details, really."

Jack expelled a breath. "Well, that's a shame. I hope they catch the guys responsible."

Lou shut down the laptop, having read enough. "Yeah. Me, too."

***

Calgary Herald—Print Edition

No Suspects in Double Homicide

Published April 8, 2018

Erika Volmeyer

Calgary Homicide detectives are still without suspects in the slaying of a prominent Calgary businessman and his wife. Laurence and Paige Barick were shot to death early on the morning of Sunday, March 24 by what police allege was an armed burglar.

"We now believe we're dealing with a highly sophisticated thief," Chief Millar said. "The alarm and surveillance systems were disabled, indicating a technical skill set not typically held by your average smash-and-grab thief. It is possible the Barick home held something of particular value to the killer. It could also be the home was being watched before being hit, as it was not widely known that the Baricks were out of town."

Police have canvassed the Rideau Park neighbourhood where the slayings took place and obtained several street-view camera video files. A single black Ford Explorer has been identified as a vehicle of interest, as it appears to be fleeing the general vicinity of the Barick home. No driver or license plate could be identified in the videos due to poor lighting conditions. Police are still hopeful with the release of these images someone will come forward with more information.

"We know this is a common model on Calgary streets," Chief Millar said, "but it is a lead, and we'd like anyone with more details about this SUV and its driver to please contact us."

A funeral was held in Calgary last week Wednesday for the couple.

• Email: e_volmeyer

With files from The Canadian Press

***

One Year Later

Calgary Herald—Online Version

Family Seeks Justice in Couple's Slaying: Reward Being Offered

Erika Volmeyer

Published March 25, 2019

The family of slain couple Lanny and Paige Barick held a memorial service and press conference today in Calgary to mark the one-year anniversary of the as-yet-unsolved murders.

Conrad Boucher, father of Paige, spoke to reporters about how his wife and surviving children have been hoping someone comes forward with information in the case which has stymied authorities.

"It's been a year, and no concrete leads," said Boucher. "The police are saying the trail has gone cold, but somebody out there knows something. We just want closure. We want justice. Paige and Lanny, they didn't deserve this."

A group of wealthy investors and business friends of Barick attending the memorial service took the opportunity to announce a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Tanner Gunn, self-made millionaire and long-time associate of Barick spoke on behalf of the private investors' group about the offer: "Lanny was a good friend of mine and Paige was a sweetheart. With this reward, it is our hope that anyone with information feels further compelled to speak up. Bring the suffering of this family to an end. If you have information that can help the police catch this killer, please come forward."

The slain couple was returning from a vacation in Switzerland last year when police say they surprised a thief who had disabled the alarm and security camera system before entering the premises. The Baricks were found shot to death in the master bedroom. Police were called to the scene when a neighbour reported hearing the shots around 2:00 a.m., but the killer escaped capture.

Calgary detectives who canvassed the Rideau Park community at the time obtained some surveillance from the street-view cameras of several neighbouring residences. A black SUV believed to have been driven by the shooter was seen fleeing the area, but neither the driver nor a license plate could be identified.

"The case has unfortunately gone cold," said Homicide Det. James Prescott. "It is our hope that with the reward being offered there will be renewed interest in the case and that some memories will be jogged."

Individuals with information are asked to call Calgary police or local RCMP.

• Email: e_volmeyer

***

Chapter 1: Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 2: For Better

Chapter 3: Or Worse

Chapter 4: Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead

Chapter 5: Moving Target

Chapter 6: Fragile

Chapter 7: Every Breath You Take

Chapter 8: Hunter and the Hunted

Chapter 9: Dark Horse Candidate

Chapter 10: There the Vultures Will Gather

Chapter 11: Sing Me to Heaven

Chapter 12: A Place Called Heartland

EPILOGUE

#heartland #heartland fanfiction #my fanfiction #JISA Fanfiction #Bad Business: A Heartland Murder Mystery #Jack Bartlett #Lou Fleming #Prologue #Lanny Barick #Paige Barick

[canadianroyal]

The new Canadian Royal Crown incorporates uniquely Canadian elements, including stylized maple leaves and a wavy blue line representing the country’s lands and waterways. The design also includes a nod to Indigenous teachings about the importance and connection to water and to the land. The Crown was created by the Canadian Heraldic Authority as a symbol of the Canadian monarchy and was approved by His Majesty the King.

#king charles iii #crown in canada

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.5

610 – Heraclius arrives at Constantinople, kills Byzantine Emperor Phocas, and becomes emperor. 816 – King Louis the Pious is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope. 869 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to depose patriarch Photios I. 1143 – With the signing of the Treaty of Zamora, King Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognises Portugal as a Kingdom. 1450 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria expels Jews from his jurisdiction. 1607 – Assassins attempt to kill Venetian statesman and scientist Paolo Sarpi. 1789 – French Revolution: The Women's March on Versailles effectively terminates royal authority. 1813 – War of 1812: The Army of the Northwest defeats a British and Native Canadian force threatening Detroit. 1838 – The Killough massacre in east Texas sees eighteen Texian settlers either killed or kidnapped. 1869 – The Saxby Gale devastates the Bay of Fundy region in Canada. 1869 – The Eastman tunnel, in Minnesota, United States, collapses during construction, causing a landslide that nearly destroys St. Anthony Falls. 1877 – The Nez Perce War in the northwestern United States comes to an end. 1900 – Peace congress in Paris condemns British policy in South Africa and asserts Boer Republic's right to self-determination. 1905 – The Wright brothers pilot the Wright Flyer III in a new world record flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes. 1910 – In a revolution in Portugal the monarchy is overthrown and a republic is declared. 1911 – The Kowloon–Canton Railway commences service. 1914 – World War I: An aircraft successfully destroys another aircraft with gunfire for the first time. 1921 – The World Series is the first to be broadcast on radio. 1930 – British airship R101 crashes in France en route to India on its maiden voyage killing 48 people. 1936 – The Jarrow March sets off for London. 1938 – In Nazi Germany, Jews' passports are invalidated. 1943 – Ninety-eight American POWs are executed by Japanese forces on Wake Island. 1944 – The Provisional Government of the French Republic enfranchises women. 1945 – A six-month strike by Hollywood set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of the Warner Brothers studio. 1947 – President Truman makes the first televised Oval Office address. 1962 – The first of the James Bond film series, based on the novels by Ian Fleming, Dr. No, is released in Britain. 1962 – The first Beatles single "Love Me Do" is released in Britain. 1963 – The United States suspends the Commercial Import Program in response to repression of the Buddhist majority by the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem. 1966 – A reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station near Detroit suffers a partial meltdown. 1968 – A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in Derry is violently suppressed by police. 1970 – The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded. 1970 – The British Trade Commissioner, James Cross, is kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec, triggering the October Crisis in Canada. 1974 – Bombs planted by the PIRA in pubs in Guildford kill four British soldiers and one civilian. 1982 – Tylenol products are recalled after bottles in Chicago laced with cyanide cause seven deaths. 1984 – Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space. 1986 – Mordechai Vanunu's story in The Sunday Times reveals Israel's secret nuclear weapons. 1988 – A Chilean opposition coalition defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt. 1990 – After 150 years The Herald newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, is published for the last time as a separate newspaper. 1991 – An Indonesian Air Force C-130 crash kills 135 people. 1999 – The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in West London kills 31 people. 2000 – Mass demonstrations in Serbia force the resignation of Slobodan Milošević. 2011 – In the Mekong River massacre, two Chinese cargo boats are hijacked and 13 crew members murdered.

#Events

[birdzflycom]

Elevate Your Memory, Learning, and Cognitive Prowess with Ease: Insights from Neuroscience on Embracing These 5 Unconventional Practices

Maintain Your Memory, Learning, and Cognitive Prowess Crafting sagacious decisions epitomizes intelligence; therein lies the wisdom behind Jeff Bezos' advocacy of recognizing bifurcated pathways. (Bezos also opines that the most astute individuals frequently recalibrate their perspectives, not owing to vacillation but driven by an ongoing evaluation of novel data, knowledge, and encounters. This theme finds resonance in Adam Grant's treatise, 'Think Again.') The faculty to orchestrate expeditious, ostensibly intuitive judgments - underscored by the term 'ostensibly' - similarly mirrors cognitive acumen. So too does the capability to harness erudition and experiences in the pursuit of ingenious problem-solving. Indeed, Steve Jobs heralded this as the quintessential hallmark of elevated intelligence. However, underpinning all manifestations of intelligence lies the bedrock of memory. Triumph in any endeavor hinges on the art of deploying one's cognizance, which, in turn, hinges on one's retentive capacities. Hence, memory's importance is unequivocal. Herein, we divulge five facile techniques to enhance this cerebral asset.

Articulate Your Thoughts Aloud

It transpires that intellectual luminaries do engage in self-dialogue. A study chronicled in the Journal of Experimental Psychology posits that vocalizing words, or merely mouthing them, imbues them with indelibility. The rationale behind this phenomenon remains enigmatic, yet neuroscientists postulate that vocalization demarcates and distinguishes these expressions from mere cogitations. (One did not merely conceive it; one also vocalized it.) Consequently, the idea, the information, or the scheme assumes an even more indelible quality. When confronted with the imperative of remembrance, vocalize it, or silently articulate it. Your cerebral cortex will facilitate its prolonged retention.

Prognosticate Your Recall Capacity

This facet delves into the metaphysical realm. A study featured in the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology unveils that the act of introspectively pondering whether one shall recall something significantly augments the likelihood of its retention, at times augmenting it by up to 50 percent. Indeed, ruminating upon the prospect of memory retrieval enhances the odds of realization. This phenomenon particularly resonates in the context of future-bound recollections, such as preserving intentions to execute planned tasks in the future - monitoring a shipment's status, addressing employee concerns, or reconnecting with a patron. The rationale behind this predictive exercise remains elusive. Perhaps prognostication parallels self-assessment, as research corroborates that self-examination accelerates the learning trajectory. What remains lucid is that this predictive act fortifies the hippocampus's capacity to methodically catalog these episodic memories for subsequent retrieval. If you wish to engrain a future obligation in your memory, dedicate a moment to foresee your likelihood of recall. This single act substantively enhances the probability of recollection.

Reenact for 40 Seconds

Memory consolidation, the transmutation of ephemeral recollections into enduring, tenacious memories, is an inherently time-consuming process. Nevertheless, an efficacious tactic to expedite this procedure exists. Repeating whatever you aspire to remember for a span of 40 seconds constitutes a practical stratagem. Additional research featured in the Journal of Neuroscience posits that a concise rehearsal period - akin to reenacting an event within one's mind, revisiting conversational dialogues, or mentally delineating sequential phases - dramatically heightens the likelihood of subsequent recollection. According to the authors, a brief rehearsal interval exerts a profound influence on our aptitude to retain intricate, lifelike occurrences over one to two-week intervals. This rehearsal effect is correlated with cerebral processing localized within a specific cranial region, the posterior cingulate. This temporal frame should suffice for the material to be utilized in a purposeful manner.

Indulge in Reverie for One to Two Minutes

A comprehensive investigation detailed in Nature Reviews Psychology underscores that even a few minutes of repose, eyes gently shuttered, culminates in memory enhancement, rivalling the restorative effect of a complete nocturnal slumber. Psychologists have christened this phenomenon 'offline waking rest.' This takes on the form of brief interludes wherein you close your eyes and lose yourself in contemplation for a brief interlude. Alternatively, one may delve into daydreams, meditation, or indulge in serene cogitation. Although these activities might not immediately strike one as productive, transient lapses in focus bolster memory consolidation. To elucidate, incessantly oscillating between tasks creates cognitive discord, hampering the brain's capacity to synchronize with these transitions. As posited by the researchers, intervals of attenuated attentiveness to the external milieu constitute a ubiquitous facet of human existence. This suggests that dedicating a fraction of time to disconnect from sensory stimuli fosters the reactivation of nascent memory imprints. This iterative rekindling of memory traces reinforces and stabilizes recently formed memories over time, consequently contributing to the incipient phases of memory consolidation within the initial minutes post-encoding. The crux lies in purposefulness: replay the material you seek to retain for approximately 40 seconds, predict your recall prospects, briefly disengage, and partake in a minute or two of offline waking rest.

Slumber Over It

A study documented in Psychological Science demonstrates that individuals who engage in pre-sleep learning sessions, followed by slumber and a subsequent brief revision the following day, curtail their study duration. Simultaneously, this approach bolsters long-term retention by a staggering 50 percent. Attributed to sleep-dependent memory consolidation, this phenomenon entails the reprocessing of memory during slumber, an integral component of memory formation and refinement. In layman's terms, sleeping on new knowledge facilitates its assimilation and enhances accessibility when needed. This principle extends to long-term memory preservation, transcending the scope of short-term memory acquisition. To illustrate, if you endeavor to acquire a new skill or comprehension, following a study session, revisit key facets of your learning, gauge your retention potential, perhaps subject yourself to self-assessment quizzes, and momentarily lapse into contemplation. Subsequently, indulge in a restful night's sleep, revisit the material on the subsequent day, and proceed to tackle the next segment of information. This cycle, as corroborated by neuroscience, promises a streamlined learning process, requiring less temporal investment and affording superior retention. In essence, the value of knowledge is unequivocal; yet, it is one's capacity to harness knowledge that holds paramount significance. Read the full article

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“FACTS SHOULD BE GIVEN,” (From The Calgary Herald) There is a growing suspicion throughout tho country that the recent serious penitentiary riots were planned from the outside in order to make trouble for the authorities. The theory finds substantiation in the fact that the prisoners in Dorchester penitentiary staged an uprising some time after the Ottawa announcement of more lenient regulations for the inmates of penal institutions. The rebellions followed similar lines and suggest a definite programme, the object being to intimidate the officials and coerce public opinion. 

There have been departmental investigations into the outbreaks at Portsmouth and St. Vincent de Paul, but so far the Minister of Justice has refused to take the people of the Dominion into his confidence. Apparently something is wrong and a fuller inquiry is needed. The Canadian taxpayers are entitled to know whether the re volts have had any measure of justification or whether they were concerted defiance on the part of the inmates. The recent concessions in the form of relaxed regulations suggest the former. The Minister of Justice should order an Impartial inquiry, divorced from departmental dictation or interference, and let the public know the real facts.

- from the Montreal Gazette. January 24, 1933. Page 10.

#prison riots #government investigation #public inquiry #st vincent de paul penitentiary #kingston penitentiary #dorchester penitentiary #1932 kp riot #1932 laval pen riot #1933 dorchester riot #let in the light #minister of justice #penal reform #great depression in canada #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada

[college-girl199328]

Reality Check: Are fertility problems on the rise?

Is our society becoming more infertile? While people may not always feel comfortable sharing their fertility struggles, one in six Canadian couples is believed to be affected by them. And there’s no shortage of advice online for them--every day it seems there’s a new article on how to improve fertility--what to eat, what not to eat, what may help, what may hinder.

Despite the onslaught of information, there is still a ton we don’t know about the topic. The last known study (in 2011) on the prevalence of infertility in Canada acknowledged that. Researchers, who attempted to estimate the country’s infertility rate, concluded it had increased to 15.7 percent, up from 5.4 percent in 1984.

However, Canadian fertility experts with whom Global News spoke say there is no conclusive evidence that infertility has increased since then. Doctors do admit more people are turning to fertility clinics than a generation ago. The number of those clinics across the country has also doubled (to 37) in the past 15 years, according to the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS).

Heather Shapiro, former CFAS president, attributes that to the “rapid evolution” of in vitro fertilization (IVF) technologies and their success rates.

But Mark Evans of CFAS points out that "increased usage of IVF is not correlated to with an increase in infertility." Quebec and Ontario remain the only two provinces that specifically cover IVF. Ontario’s system allows a woman to take advantage of one covered IVF cycle in her lifetime, while Quebec’s offers a sliding scale of tax credits.

Hannam has his own theories on why fertility clinics have become busier in recent years. Better reproductive technology means more people are turning to surrogacy and fewer are turning to adoption due to the latter process having grown more lengthy (the list of children up for adoption is also shorter).

This summer, one Toronto couple actually turned to social media in the hopes of fast-tracking an adoption rather than putting themselves on a provincial wait list.

Much of the fertility focus in recent years has been on men. More guys aged 18 to 45 have infertility than diabetes. Last month, a Belgian study of 54 men aged 19-22 suggested male infertility might be inherited. It found men conceived with the help of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a type of assisted reproductive technology that forms part of IVF; men who used the procedure had almost half the total sperm count of those who conceived "naturally."

André Van Steirteghemat, a co-author of the findings published in the Human Reproduction journal, believes this gives credence to what’s long been speculated: since many cases of male fertility are caused by genetic defects, men born thanks to ICSI “might inherit such defects from their fathers.”

An Australian professor also warned last week against becoming too reliant on assisted conception techniques, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

"We are taking recourse to IVF in increasing numbers," said the University of Newcastle’s John Aitken. Aitken expressed concern as well over "ongoing health problems with IVF children." He argued that research has shown that boys whose fathers smoked and used assisted conception techniques have a greater risk of developing cancer.

But he cautions that "there’s a lot of bias in where the data comes from," which he says is often fertility clinics. When it comes to females, the number of first babies born to women between 30 and 49 years of age has risen significantly. More than half of all live births in Canada in 2013 were to mothers in this age group, up from 39.6 percent in 1993.

Mothers over 40 increased their share of first-time births as well. About 3.5 percent of all live births in 2013 were to women between 40 and 49 years old. A decade prior, that number was 2.7 percent.

Reproductive endocrinologist Marjorie Dixon, of the Anova Fertility clinic in Toronto, has seen another shift. More younger people come into her fertility clinic to discuss family planning than when she started her practice eight years ago. To her, though, that doesn’t mean there’s been an increase in infertility, which she says is not "scientifically proven."

She believes the trend is due to couples being better educated on the topic of fertility and feeling more empowered to talk to their doctor about family planning.

The majority of Dixon’s clients are still 35 and over. They’re often people “who have traveled, met their mates later in life, and focused on their academic and professional careers."

Dixon and Hannam both stress that couples who want to have kids shouldn’t delay consulting a doctor if they’re struggling to get pregnant.

Up to 60 percent of the patients Dixon sees have been helped through low-intervention methods that sometimes cost as little as a couple hundred dollars (that’s how much a 10-day round of ovulation medicine can cost).

"Often, we just keep calm and carry on," she said. "We’re busy taking care of our careers and partners." She says the sooner a fertility problem is addressed, typically, the better the prognosis.

“Knowledge is power.”

[fscte]

A Culture of Defensive Leadership

My friend Tim Neufeld, from my @U2 fan site and podcast days, posted his thoughts about an article published in the MB Herald detailing the mess that the Canadian Conference of of Mennonite Brethren Churches and their US equivalent, USMB, made of a recent book they published, and then quickly pulled and removed 3 pages, and have now republished - all without talking to the author, editor, or anyone involved in the publishing of the book.

Setting that mess aside, my point in mentioning all of that is part of what Tim wrote hit way too close to home here in my own church that I was compelled to document it below:

…but one value I have always prioritized is to honor voices of diversity, not just in theory but in practice. Many leaders are fearful these days. That fear shapes a leadership culture of defensiveness rather than openness. Voices of disagreement are threatening when denominations and churches face peril on multiple levels (declining attendance, closure of facilities, damage control after scandals, reduction of budgets and staff, challenges to old patriarchal assumptions, etc.).

Three critical qualities are needed in both local and national leadership as we hurl through the chaos and upheaval of these changing times. (1) Absolutely essential is the capacity for self-reflection and the ability to see oneself as others would see them. We are dead in the water without the wind of self-awareness. (2) Similarly, the need for empathy and the desire to empathically hear and feel those that are voiceless, marginalized, and victimized on the edges, without leaders projecting their own pain onto those that have been hurt by leaders' actions (red flag warning: “It hurts me to do this, but…"). (3) Finally, rather than belittling and controlling, leaders should focus on empowering members into new thoughts and experiences without feeling threatened and without seeing leadership’s primary role as theological gatekeeper.

When leadership acts out of fear, and without empathy, the community they are trying to lead are pushed to anger or apathy - neither of which bring peace or love back to the community.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

November 27th marks a dark day in the history of the Battlefords. It is the anniversary of the executions which took place at Battleford in 1885, which were also the largest mass execution in Canadian history.

Six nêhiyawak (Plains Cree) and two Assiniboine men were hung at Battleford and their bodies dumped into an unmarked grave that remained undiscovered until the 1970s when erosion on the riverbank exposed some of the remains.

The men were named:

Kah - Paypamahchukways (Wandering Spirit)

Pah Pah-Me-Kee-Sick (Walking the Sky)

Manchoose (Bad Arrow)

Kit-Ahwah-Ke-Ni (Miserable Man)

Nahpase (Iron Body)

A-Pis-Chas-Koos (Little Bear)

Itka (Crooked Leg)

Waywahnitch (Man Without Blood)

Some facts about the hangings at Battleford:

1. Judge Rouleau, the man who sentenced the eight men to die at Battleford, had his house in Battleford burned during the Resistance: The local newspaper at the time reported that Judge Rouleau: "is reported to have threatened that every Indian and Half-breed and rebel brought before him after the insurrection was suppressed, would be sent to the gallows if possible. In view of all the circumstances, and particularly as Judge Rouleau was a heavy loser pecuniarily by the Indian outbreak at Battleford, it is contended that he should not have been allowed to preside at the trial of the prisoners. A memorial has been received by the Department of Justice asking that the matter be investigated."

2. Although the men spoke Cree - not English, none were provided with a translator at their trials.

3. Almost all of the historical writings about the hangings were written from the perspective of settlers. "Blood Red the Sun" and other narrative accounts paint the men as criminals. Barry Degenstein, local author of "In Pursuit of Riel," as one relatively recent example, has continued to assert the men were "cold blooded murderers of innocent civilians." (See: https://www.newsoptimist.ca/opinion/letters/grave-not-that-of-heroes-and-warriors-1.1568415) It is important to remember that the North West Mounted Police (now Royal Canadian Mounted Police) played a major role in colonizing the region around the Battlefords and committed serious violent acts against Indigenous people here. The history of the Battle of Cut Knife Hill and other major events are primarily told in history books and other accounts from the perspective of the colonizers and settlers. (See also: Views from Fort Battleford: Constructed Visions of an Anglo-Canadian West - https://archive.org/details/ViewsFromFtBattleford)

4. Hayter Reed, the Assistant Indian Commissioner in 1885, wanted a public execution. He asked the Lieutenant Governor to send any Indians who were sentenced to death during the second series of Regina trials so they could be executed with those sentenced to die in Battleford. He insisted that "the punishment be public as I am desirous of having the Indians witness it - no sound thrashing having been given them, I think a sight of this sort will cause them to meditate for many a day and besides have ocular demonstration of the fact." This was echoed in the local newspaper. The Saskatchewan Herald’s P.G. Laurie understood the importance to the government of making the hangings a public spectacle. “We are not in favor of public executions as a rule,” wrote Laurie, “but we believe that in this instance it would have a wholesome influence on the Indians at large to have the extreme penalty of the law so carried out on those whom the court may find guilty.” Laurie viewed the hangings as a type of deterrence to further violence, arguing that the calm administration of punishment would impress the Native population more than further battlefield bloodshed. Laurie also agreed with the government that the executions should happen at the place of the capital trials, in Battleford. Laurie argued, “[I]f the Department of Justice will.. .permit the executions to be public, the sight will have such an effect upon the native beholders as will make them think twice before they again take up arms.” (See "A Lesson They Would Not Soon Forget" Chapter 3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yvqkd4LfbfO4YC5mWcQS0QfCPVEWNo_k)

5. The biography of Senator John Tootoosis notes at page 77 that among the witnesses at the hangings were "the Indian children from the Battleford Industrial School who had also been brought to see the eight men die. It was a part of their education that none of them would soon forget!"

6. One week prior to the hangings, Prime Minister John A. MacDonald wrote in a confidential letter to the Indian Commissioner: "The executions... ought to convince the Red Man that the White Man governs."

7. Little Bear continued to assert that he was innocent until his death.

8. "Loyal Til Death" (a thoughtful account of the true history of this period by Blair Stonechild and Bill Waiser - https://www.amazon.ca/Loyal-Till-Death-North-West-Rebellion/dp/1897252730/) discusses the terrorizing effect the hangings had on Indigenous people in the region: "As for the Indians assembled in front of the gallows, they watched in quiet horror as the men dropped to their doom and then silently moved off once the bodies had been placed in the coffins. Nothing was said or done. They simply returned to their reserves, trying to put behind them the shock of the executions. But to this day, the executions have remained a numbing event, comparable to an old scar on the soul of a people. Elder Paul Chicken of the Sweetgrass reserve recalled how the Indians of the area lived in morbid fear of being picked up and tried before "Hanging Judge Rouleau." Dressyman's grandson, meanwhile, related how his reprieved grandfather and several other men were forced to watch the executions and threatened with a similar fate if there was any more trouble. "My grandfather was there, he saw them hung, he watched it all," he recounted. "They didn't like the hanging... the law overdone it." Don Chastis, a descendent of one of the Cut Knife warriors, said that he often heard the Elders speak of the bravery of the condemned men, how they all sang on the platform in the face of death. He also speculated that the police refused to release the bodies for a traditional burial because the government did not want the men glorified as braves. "So they were forbidden to have anything to do with them. That's why they buried them right there in a mass grave," Chastis said. "It would have defeated the whole purpose of the hanging if they let these people [bodies] go." The Battleford trials and executions accelerated the exodus of Indians to the relative safety of the United States." (At page 226-227 of 'Loyal Til Death.')

9. There are almost no artistic works or photographs that depict the hangings other than the attached illustration from "Loyal Til Death" by Blair Stonechild and Bill Waiser - https://www.amazon.ca/Loyal-Till-Death-North-West-Rebellion/dp/1897252730/

We remember the eight men who were executed at Battleford, and encourage people to consider the perspective of the historical accounts and begin working to decolonize the accounts of this history.

Is it time to consider exonerating or posthumously pardoning the eight warriors executed at Battleford?

(See: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pm-trudeau-exonerate-tsilhqotin-chiefs-1.4593445)

CBC Saskatchewan APTN Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations - FSIN Office of the Treaty Commissioner

#battleford massacre #genocide #rcmp #Canadian history #child abuse #submission

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.5

610 – Heraclius arrives at Constantinople, kills Byzantine Emperor Phocas, and becomes emperor. 816 – King Louis the Pious is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope. 869 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to depose patriarch Photios I. 1143 – With the signing of the Treaty of Zamora, King Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognises Portugal as a Kingdom. 1450 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria expels Jews from his jurisdiction. 1607 – Assassins attempt to kill Venetian statesman and scientist Paolo Sarpi. 1789 – French Revolution: The Women's March on Versailles effectively terminates royal authority. 1813 – War of 1812: The Army of the Northwest defeats a British and Native Canadian force threatening Detroit. 1838 – The Killough massacre in east Texas sees eighteen Texian settlers either killed or kidnapped. 1869 – The Saxby Gale devastates the Bay of Fundy region in Canada. 1869 – The Eastman tunnel, in Minnesota, United States, collapses during construction, causing a landslide that nearly destroys St. Anthony Falls. 1877 – The Nez Perce War in the northwestern United States comes to an end. 1900 – Peace congress in Paris condemns British policy in S. Africa, asserts Boer Republic's right to self-determination. 1905 – The Wright brothers pilot the Wright Flyer III in a new world record flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes. 1910 – In a revolution in Portugal the monarchy is overthrown and a republic is declared. 1911 – The Kowloon–Canton Railway commences service. 1914 – World War I: An aircraft successfully destroys another aircraft with gunfire for the first time. 1921 – The World Series is the first to be broadcast on radio. 1930 – British airship R101 crashes in France en route to India on its maiden voyage killing 48 people. 1936 – The Jarrow March sets off for London. 1938 – In Nazi Germany, Jews' passports are invalidated. 1943 – Ninety-eight American POWs are executed by Japanese forces on Wake Island. 1944 – The Provisional Government of the French Republic enfranchises women. 1945 – A six-month strike by Hollywood set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of the Warner Brothers studio. 1947 – President Truman makes the first televised Oval Office address. 1962 – The first of the James Bond film series, based on the novels by Ian Fleming, Dr. No, is released in Britain. 1963 – The United States suspends the Commercial Import Program in response to repression of the Buddhist majority by the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem. 1966 – A reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station near Detroit suffers a partial meltdown. 1968 – A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in Derry is violently suppressed by police. 1970 – The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded. 1970 – The British Trade Commissioner, James Cross, is kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec, triggering the October Crisis in Canada. 1974 – Bombs planted by the PIRA in pubs in Guildford kill four British soldiers and one civilian. 1982 – Tylenol products are recalled after bottles in Chicago laced with cyanide cause seven deaths. 1984 – Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space. 1986 – Mordechai Vanunu's story in The Sunday Times reveals Israel's secret nuclear weapons. 1988 – A Chilean opposition coalition defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt. 1990 – After 150 years The Herald newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, is published for the last time as a separate newspaper. 1991 – An Indonesian Air Force C-130 crash kills 135 people. 1999 – The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in west London kills 31 people 2000 – Mass demonstrations in Serbia force the resignation of Slobodan Milošević. 2011 – In the Mekong River massacre, two Chinese cargo boats are hijacked and 13 crew members murdered.

#Events

[joshuahyslop]

BOOKS

The last 10 books I’ve read:

1. Wolf - Jim Harrison  I found this book in one of the little neighbourhood book exchanges that are all around Vancouver. They look like little log cabins and it’s a loose “take a book, leave a book” policy. I’ve liked some of Harrison’s other books as well as some of his poetry so I picked it up. It’s fairly well written but it’s one of the most depraved and depressed characters I’ve read in a long time. It’s like a darker more depraved version of “On The Road”. More misogynistic, more obsessed with sex and completely lacking of anything philosophic. One of the reviewers on the back cover said it was (paraphrasing) a poetic depiction of a joyful life. I guess I must have read a different book.

2. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon The first book of Pynchon’s I’d picked up. This was such an enjoyable read. I’ve steered clear of his books for fear of not being able to understand them. Every time I’ve talked about wanting to read his book “Gravity’s Rainbow”, I’ve been asked if I’ve read anything else by him. As if that’s a requirement. When I bought this book the teller asked me the same question. When I said no, he said “This is a good place to start.” I don’t know why that is, but now I’ve read one of his books and enjoyed it. I’ve eased into the Pynchon. I think I’m allowed to read another one now.

3. Joyland - Stephen King This was incredibly disappointing. I’ve read a lot of King’s books. They’re often hit or miss but they’re almost always enjoyable as brain candy. Books like, “The Shining”, “Carrie” or “Misery” are well written and suspenseful. It makes sense why he’s heralded as the King of Horror. But this one does not measure up. In fact, it falls very short of the rest of his work that I’ve read. I felt myself cringing at some of his dialogue. It was just so cheesy. Even though it was set in the 70′s, no one’s ever spoken like that. There’s very little suspense and the story itself isn’t very engaging. When you finally get to the action it’s only a couple of pages and then it’s done. It’s a very quick read, but definitely skippable.

4. The Truth About Stories - Thomas King A friend of mine who loves to read gave me a bag full of books to check out. This was one of them. It’s one of the CBC Massey Lectures and I love that series. I have a bunch of them already so I was excited to check this out. I also have King’s book, “The Inconvenient Indian” on my bookshelf in my “to read” pile. A pile that does nothing but seem to grow. But it’s still a ways down in the pile. So I thought I’d check out this little book because it’s only 5 essays and it would give me a sample of his writing. I’m very glad that I did. It’s so well written. It’s funny, it’s sad, it makes you think. If you care about stories, politics, religion, and the treatment of First Nations people by the US and Canadian governments, you should give this a read. I can’t wait to get to his book.

5. Deadeye Dick - Kurt Vonnegut In my last post I mentioned liking Vonnegut a lot and being surprised at how few of his books I’d read. It turns out I’m just very bad at using technology. I keep a Word document of all the books I’ve read to avoid reading the same book twice, accidentally. I’d tried using the “find” function and somehow did it wrong, so only a few Vonnegut titles showed up. As it turns out, this was the ninth book by Vonnegut that I’d read. That makes way more sense to me. I enjoyed this one a lot. It’s pretty funny and pretty sad. A good combination, if you ask me.

6. 69 - Ryu Murakami One of my favourite local used bookstores offers store credit if you bring in some books and they decide to buy them from you. You can either take cash or store credit. If you choose credit, you have to spend it all before you go. It’s fun. On this particular visit I had about $60 worth of credit. I’d picked the books I wanted and still had $14 left. They recommended this book. i’d never read anything by this Murakami (no relation to Haruki) so I had no idea what to expect but I was excited to check it out. I loved it. It takes place in 1969 and follows the path of some high school students looking to join or start some kind of counter-cultural movement. The two main characters actually reminded me a lot of my own experience in high school. I’ll be checking out more of his writing for sure.

7. Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace Good lord. This was a mountain I’d tried to climb once before and failed. To have finally finished this book is no small feat. Standing at the top, looking back down I’m actually amazed I made it all the way through. It’s not that it’s an unenjoyable read. On the contrary. It’s very well written and quite enjoyable. It’s just that it’s over 1100 pages and contains 388 footnotes, many of which are several pages long and some even have footnotes of their own. At times it can feel like you’re reading two or three books at once. Another challenge is that there are at least 3 plots taking place all at once. Each story can jump ahead or backwards in time which can be tricky to track, PLUS there are character’s plot-lines that are introduced in great detail (one that comes to mind takes 11 pages to describe a young man addicted to marijuana anxiously waiting for his dealer to arrive) that are never again revisited. The three main story lines are loosely connected but the book takes its sweet time revealing that fact. All of that, mind you, and we still haven’t even mentioned the deep themes of addiction, suicide and capitalism that run throughout the book. I’m very glad I’ve read it. I usually enjoyed doing so. But if you’re not committed, if you don’t have some serious time to lean in, or if you don’t like his style of writing then perhaps you should steer clear. It’s an uphill climb, for sure.

8. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things - Lafcadio Hearn This book caught my eye while I was taking my son for a walk. It was in the window of another one of our local bookstores, so I stopped in and checked it out. It’s a book of Japanese ghost stories and myths from hundreds if not thousands of years ago. The stories themselves are sometimes scary, sometimes funny, sometimes very confusing, but always enjoyable. Although the last three chapters completely disregard all things Japanese and consist of the authors philosophical rumination regarding Butterflies and the afterlife, Mosquitoes and the taking of innocent life (even when it seems to serve no purpose), and Ants and their altruistic existence vs our individualistic societies. There are other books in this series and I plan to check out at lease one more. I’ve always wanted to go to Japan so I’ve got a definite bias here, but if you like myths or ghost stories there’s a good chance you’d enjoy this book.

9. Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer I know I’m late to the party on this one, but this is a fantastic book. It’s one that I’ll be recommending for years to come. Its subtitle is: “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants”. It is all of that and so much more. I truly loved reading this book. I took notes. I underlined. I had to stop to think and reflect. I’d definitely encourage you to do the same.

10. Masters of Atlantis - Charles Portis This book is hilarious. Very dry, very droll. It’s a tongue-in-cheek look at the people who organize and who believe in secret societies, cults and religion in general. I didn’t know what to expect when I started it. The only other book by Portis that I’ve read was True Grit. This book is absolutely nothing like that. It’s completely it’s own. The only thing it has in common is Portis’ sense of humour. I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything quite so dry as this before. Maybe something by S.J. Perelman or something like that. This book was recommended to me by M.C. Taylor from Hiss Golden Messenger so I was pretty confident it would be good. It’s safe to say I would never have picked it up without the recommendation but also, I’m glad that I did.

more soon, -joshua