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OPINION: The ‘good old days’ are what we make them – Anchorage Daily News
Posted: May 23, 2022 at 12:07 pm
The lights of downtown Anchorage reflect in the waters of Knik Arm as seen from Point Woronzof in Anchorage, AK on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. The Chugach Mountains rise above the city after sunset.
With all thats wrong in the world today, its therapeutic to focus on the positive and count our blessings. This could be especially true for those of us in advanced years, who remember what life was like when glaciers were closer and Alaska was not yet a state.
In 1946, when I was one year old, my family moved to Alaska from Pennsylvania. We arrived in Seward in late March via DC-3 aircraft.
Forsaking the amenities and relative comfort of a city like Pittsburgh to build a life in a frontier town like Seward was an abrupt change for my parents and 12-year-old sister. At that time Alaskas entire population was about 100,000, and Sewards was less than 2,000.
My father was drawn to Alaska because of its wildness and mystique. But he had more pragmatic reasons. His employment in the defense industry ended at the close of World War II, and he learned that there was plenty of work on Sewards docks as a longshoreman.
In the mid-1940s, Seward was Alaskas principal port. Almost everything for the territory came through the small towns docks by steamship, and my dad had all the work he could handle.
I think my parents were grateful that Seward already had public services comparable to Anchorage and even Seattle, such as electricity, telephone, plumbing, water, sewer and even garbage collection.
We had dial telephones, and our service was on a party line. Calls to homes were identified by the number of rings. I think ours was three. Although no one would admit it, it wasnt unusual for folks to listen in on others conversations. Town secrets didnt seem to last very long.
In 1948, my mom opened a music studio and was one of the towns first private piano teachers.
Television didnt exist, so radio was our main source of evening entertainment. Newsreels at the movie theater also linked us to the outside world. There was one local radio station, a library, hospital, post office, jail, civic center/gym, one school, two grocery stores, a barber, a bowling alley (opened in 1948), a few restaurants and shops, a meat market, two clothing stores, a local newspaper, dusty gravel streets, and my mother often complained that there were more bars than churches.
Food shipments to Seward were sometimes delayed at sea, so we had to be careful about items that spoil, such as eggs. At our chosen grocery store, Seward Trading Co., I recall there being only a couple of brands of bread on the shelf. Food was also delivered to homes, and my mother listed that item simply: bread. Milk came from a local dairy with a location appropriately named Dairy Hill.
We used fuel oil for cooking and heating our home. My mom didnt have a clothes dryer, so wash was hung out on a line when it wasnt raining.
Absent TV, computers and video games, as kids we spent most of our time outdoors summer and winter. In summer we crafted spears, bows and arrows and slingshots from alder bushes; built forts, climbed trees; made up games; and when we were a bit older, climbed Mount Marathon. In winter we went sledding, ice skating and had epic snowball fights that included construction of elaborate snow forts.
Back then, Seward had a curfew for anyone under 18 years old. When we were about nine, a friend and I summoned courage and sneaked out of our houses on the night of the summer solstice. We boldly roamed around the sleeping town for several hours and managed to get back into our homes without detection. Most residents didnt lock their doors in those days.
I guess what struck me on our night out, when it didnt get dark, was how days dont really have beginnings or endings that we create those divisions.
The first and most important transportation artery originating in Seward was the Alaska Railroad, completed in 1923. As everyone knows, it was vital to Alaskas development, including the establishment of Anchorage.
Construction of the Seward Highway seemed to drag on forever. Seward folks fortunate enough to own cars could travel over a rough and rocky road to Moose Pass, Hope and finally Cooper Landing. By 1948, they could drive all the way to Kenai a section of road later named the Sterling Highway. But the Seward Highway to Anchorage wasnt opened until 1951.
On my first road trip to Anchorage in the 1950s, I stared in awe at two skyscrapers, the McKinley Building, later named the McKay Building, and the L Street Apartments, today called Inlet Tower Hotel and Suites. Having left Pittsburgh at age one, Id never seen structures so large.
Today, as I easily access information on my computer, peruse amusing Facebook posts, stream a vast assortment of videos on my flat-screen TV; become distressed after misplacing my iPhone; wander brightly-lit supermarket aisles that display countless varieties of bread and breakfast cereal; heat my coffee in a microwave oven; ride a bicycle with a battery; tune the radio past a score of FM stations, I think about that simpler time so many years ago and count my blessings those of yesteryear, and those of today.
I cant recollect my parents complaining about our life in Seward. They had persevered through the Great Depression of the 1930s. For them, Alaska was probably a refuge and promise of a new beginning. In later years, my sister and I would be eternally grateful that they brought us to what was then a rather unknown, far-flung place. I think my two children, both living in Alaska today, feel the same.
It would be great to be around when humans colonize Mars; to see the day when most diseases are eliminated; when we begin to show more kindness to the environment and each other. But I believe I have lived during a good period of time, and in an ideal place.
On a fundamental level, however, I dont think there is a best time or place to live. I learned that from my parents. You try to make the most of wherever you are, whenever you are. It seems obvious, but I think we sometimes forget that simple axiom. For the better part of five years in furtherance of my career, I lived in pancake-flat Houston, Texas. Hot. Humid. Crowded. I discovered bicycling and made it work.
Undeniably, its extremely hard to look past COVID-19, the Ukraine war, inflation, homelessness, urban violence, racism, political divisiveness and other troubling issues to hold up ones head and make the best of things. But I believe as human beings, were built to do just that. We prove it every day in myriad ways.
For many of us, its easy to block out current woes by looking backward. But as poet Emily Dickinson wrote, forever is composed of nows. Were fortunate to live in a special place where our nows can be quite extraordinary.
Frank E. Baker is a freelance writer who lives in Eagle River.
The views expressed here are the writers and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.
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OPINION: The 'good old days' are what we make them - Anchorage Daily News
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Ron Paul: Why Did Rand Paul Delay Washington’s $40 Billion Ukraine Giveaway? OpEd – Eurasia Review
Posted: at 12:06 pm
Even by Washington standards, the Biden Administrations recent request for $33 billion for military aid to Ukraine was shocking. Surely a coalition of antiwar progressives and budget-hawk Republicans would oppose the dangerous and expensive involvement of the US in the Russia/Ukraine conflict? No! Not only did Congress not object: they added nearly seven billion MORE dollars to the package!
In the end, not a single House Democrat voted against further US involvement in the war, and just 57 Republicans said no to funding yet another undeclared war.
On the Senate side, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) both demanded immediate passage of the huge giveaway to Ukraine. Thats Washingtons bipartisanship for you.
Then the junior Senator from Kentucky came to the Senate Floor and did the unthinkable in Washington: he delayed the vote.
My oath of office is to the national security of the United States of America, Sen. Rand Paul said. We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the US economy. He went on to point out that the US has spent nearly as much on Ukraines military as the entire military budget of Russia and that the US government has sent more military money to Ukraine than it spent in the entire first year of the US war in Afghanistan.
Sen. Paul put the package into perspective: this massive giveaway to Ukraine equals nearly the entire yearly budget of the US State Department and is larger than the budget of the Department of Homeland Security!
Schumer was furious with Paul, accusing him of preventing swift passage of Ukraine aid because he wants to add at the last minute his own changes directly into the bill.
What was he trying to add to the bill? In his own words, All I requested is an amendment to be included in the final bill that allows for the Inspector General to oversee how funds are spent.
He wanted at least a bit of oversight on the nearly $50 billion in total that Washington has sent to what Transparency International deems one of the most corrupt countries on earth. Is that really too much to ask?
For Washington, the answer is yes. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) was an endless thorn in Washingtons side, because he actually did his job and reported on the billions of dollars that were stolen in Afghanistan.
In its final report on the 20 year Afghanistan war, SIGAR reviewed approximately $63 billion of the total $134 billion appropriated to Afghanistan and found that nearly $19 billion of the amount was lost to waste, fraud, and abuse. Nearly one third of the funds they reviewed were outright wasted or stolen by corrupt Afghan officials. Does anyone think it would be any different in Ukraine?
Maybe thats why they were so furious that Sen. Paul proposed that we perhaps keep track of this $40 billion to make sure its not wasted: Washington doesnt want to know. And, more importantly, Washington doesnt want us to know.
The temporary pause is important. It gives Americans a little time to let their Senators know that they do not support this ridiculous and wasteful giveaway to Ukraine. Inflation is ripping through the country. Gas prices are through the roof. Our infrastructure is crumbling. The dollar is teetering. And were giving money away?
The vote appears set for Wednesday. Time to let your Senators know what you think about it!
This article was published by RonPaul Institute
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Ron Paul: Why Did Rand Paul Delay Washington's $40 Billion Ukraine Giveaway? OpEd - Eurasia Review
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The Typhoid Mary of Disinformation: Nicolle Wallace. Nobody Spreads it More Relentlessly. – Scheerpost.com
Posted: at 12:06 pm
From her days as Bush/Cheney propagandist, to her stint on The View, to her role as beloved-by-Democrats MSNBC host, Wallace has perfected the art of sociopathic lying.
By Glenn Greenwald / Substack
The most blatant and shameless liarsfrom the first term of the Bush/Cheney administration have, revealingly, enjoyed great success in media and journalism. That is because serial deceit is not a liability for a thriving career in corporate journalism but rather a vital asset provided that the lies are in service of ruling class policies. Tawdry propagandists who helped drive post-9/11 America into a bottomless pit of lies and self-destruction have become the most highly-paid and beloved stars of liberal media. They include:
But few Bush-era propagandists have thrived more, made more money, and developed a more devoted and swooning liberal fan base than the official Communications Director of the Bush/Cheney White House and 2004 Bush/Cheney-reelection campaign, Nicolle Wallace. Having catapulted from her work as Jeb Bushs Press Secretary to the White House to senior adviser to John McCains presidential campaign (working for her close friend, Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt, who recently performedone of the most public and sustained nervous breakdownsin the history of the internet), Wallace was always beloved by the DC press corps.
In 2005, when she was named Bush White House Communications Director,The New York Timeslavished her with praise,claiming thatshe comes from a different mold than the small band of Texans who carry out the White House press policy and admiringly noted that she was once fired for being too nice to reporters. She endeared herself further to corporate journalists by repeatedly sabotaging the McCain campaign from which she was collecting a paycheck, leaking negative stories about McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (whose selection as Vice Presidential candidate was driven primarily by liberal iconsBill KristolandSteve Schmidt).
As Wallace seeing the medias love affair with Obama began shrewdly repositioning herself as a liberal, sheclaimed in 2010that she did not even vote for McCain due to her misgivings about Palin (a claim which Schmidtrepeated about himselffor the first time last week during his multi-day psychological erosion). When Wallace published a self-glorifying novel about the first female chief of staff (modeled after herself) to the first female president in 2011, liberal corporate journalists includingMSNBCs Rachel Maddowgushed over it, whileThe New York Times reporter Ashley Parker, now ofThe Washington Post,heralded heras the tough, savvy and hard-charging conservative political operator who enjoys a close friendship with CNNs Dana Bash.
So beloved was Wallace by the corporate press that she was rewarded in 2014 with a highly lucrative contract to be a co-host on ABCsThe View. She then joined NBC News. Quickly adapting to her new role as a Republican who vehemently despised Donald Trump easily the most lucrative Trump-era archetype - MSNBC bestowed her with her own afternoon cable show in 2017. She quickly became one of Democratic viewers most popular hosts constantly giving a platform to Schmidt and other Lincoln Project sleaze merchants as part of the #NeverTrump gang, a faction so beloved by corporate media employees that they filled cable green rooms and newspaper op-ed pages while having little to no representation among the actual voting populace. Liberals love Wallace so much that she was given a second hour to host in 2020.
But lurking beneath her perky smile, multi-million-dollar media contracts, gushing liberal fan base and a long list of media admirers is something extremely dark and pernicious. In a swamp of professional liars and sleaze merchants, Nicolle Wallace has distinguished herself easily as one of the most seamless and casual liars in the world of Washington politics and media. She thrived in the Bush/Cheney administration precisely because she was so adept at selling the White Houses deadly lies to liberal corporate media employees, dressing up those lies in a pleasing-to-liberals packaging that she learned from growing up in a affluent town near San Francisco, and then at Berkeley and Northwesterns School of Journalism. She was the vintage conservative who liberals could love a smiling sophisticate, someone willing to betray her GOP employers to impress liberal journalists, an amicable young woman touting degrees from the types of schools that impress coastal media elites and it was virtually inevitable that she would thrive within media corporations that need women who can credibly claim to be conservatives yet appeal to liberal sensibilities and flatter liberal audiences.
Wallace has employed those personality traits in service of the most toxic and insidious of all tasks: ahappy,relentless purveyor of official disinformation. When the CIA wants the American public contaminated with its lies and disinformation, Nicolle Wallaces lips begin moving. She delivers the anonymous disinformation campaigns of the U.S. security state with a tone of empathy, compassion, and liberal elegance, all in the language and with the affectations which affluent liberals most admire.
She has an unsurpassed ability to broadcast to audiences outright lies whispered to her by Deep State operatives one after the next without flinching or betraying the slightest sense of a conscience or moral compass. She lies like only a sociopath can: exuding charm and warmth yet utterly vacant on the inside, except for a soul festering in rot. Over the last twenty years from her perches at the White House, onThe View, and now at MSNBC nobody has made liberals eat up Pentagon and neocon war propaganda more eagerly and uncritically than Nicolle Wallace.
There is literally not a single liberal/CIA disinformation campaign over the last six years that she did not fully and uncritically embrace. Each time the U.S. Security State and Democratic Party fabricated blatant lies and embarked on injecting their poisonous brew into the American bloodstream, Nicolle Wallace was at the forefront. Using the skills she harnessed to help lead Americans into one of its most destructive and immoral wars in U.S. history the invasion and 15-year destruction of Iraq the former Bush/Cheney shill, now a DNC and CIA shill, has played a starring role in virtually every lie American liberals have been led to believe.
Because Wallace is primarily a video performer she rarely writes or speaks extemporaneously, instead clinging loyally to talking points and teleprompter scripts video is the only medium that can really convey the full extent of her brazen contempt for the truth. After we began compiling many of the examples of Wallaces leading role in spreading official disinformation, we asked Matt Orfalea who came to prominence as a young videographer for the 2016 Sanders campaign and who has since become a much more heterodox voiceon his Rumble page, which he began after repeatedly being censored by YouTube to produce a video with the goal of viscerally conveying who Nicolle Wallace really is and the dark arts on which she relies for her careerist and ideological project.
Orfalea is an artist: a highly creative and unorthodox videographer. The videos he produced for journalist Matt Taibbi regarding themedias disinformation orgyabout the Kyle Rittenhouse trial andits even more deceitful effort to lie to the publicabout the materials on Hunter Bidens laptop are two of the best political videos I have seen in years. The video he produced for us on Nicolle Wallace the Typhoid Mary of Disinformation is, in my view, at least of the same quality. The tone and tenor of this video are obviously quite different from those we typically employ to do our reporting here, but the video so perfectly conveys who Wallace is, and how she spews and disseminates disinformation, that I am very proud to present it and eager for you to watch it.
The free trailer, available to all, is below. The full mini-documentary, for subscribers only, follows after that. Above all else, it demonstrates the key point about this new discourse about disinformation. Those who most flamboyantly warn of the dangers of disinformation and seek to censor the internet in the name of fighting it are, (through such tactics as thedefunct-for-nowHomeland Security Disinformation Board) in fact, the most aggressive and destructive purveyors of disinformation in the world.
The trailer for The Typhoid Mary of Disinformation:
The full video, The Typhoid Mary of Disinformation, produced by this Substack andMatt Orfalea:
Glenn Greenwald is a journalist,former constitutional lawyer, and author of fourNew York Timesbestselling books on politics and law. His most recent book, No Place to Hide, is about the U.S. surveillance state and his experiences reporting on the Snowden documents around the world. Hisforthcoming book, to be published in April, 2021, is about Brazilian history and current politics, with a focus on his experience inreporting a series of expossin 2019 and 2020 which exposed high-level corruption by powerful officials in the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, which subsequently attempted to prosecute him for that reporting.
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Top 12 Paul Bettany movies and TV shows ranked worst to best: ‘Master and Commander,’ ‘WandaVision’ – Gold Derby
Posted: at 12:06 pm
Its hard for Paul Bettany to play a lunkhead. With his dashing good looks and sophisticated air, the British actor practically exudes intelligence in a way that few major film actors of his generation possess. That patrician vibe has been a major plus for the actor in his transition to films, but what has made him such an in-demand star is his attention to character detail. Scroll through our photos below to see the Top 12 Paul Bettany movies and TV shows ranked worst to best.
Whether hes playing a troubled hero or a dastardly villain, Bettany is one of those actors who digs deep into his roles, probing the character of the man hes playing to find out what makes him tick and slowly revealing that to the audience. That skill has led him to shine in a wide variety of films, from standout performances in such Oscar-winning films as A Beautiful Mind and Master and Commander (both opposite Russell Crowe) to popcorn movies of the finest kind as a member of both the Star Wars and Marvel Comic universes.
Not surprisingly, for his work in both film and television, Bettany has seen his share of awards and nominations. For his performance in the ensemble of A Beautiful Mind he was recognized at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and for Master and Commander he was nominated for both a BAFTA and a Critics Choice Award, as well as being named British Actor of the Year by the London Film Critics Circle. In television, his performance as Vision in Marvels Disney+ series WandaVision earned Bettany Best Actor bids from the Emmys, Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.
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Top 12 Paul Bettany movies and TV shows ranked worst to best: 'Master and Commander,' 'WandaVision' - Gold Derby
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Obituaries in Reno, NV | The Reno Journal-Gazette and Mason Valley News – Reno Gazette Journal
Posted: at 12:06 pm
Larry Gerhard Moen
Sparks - Larry Gerhard Moen (61) died May 17, 2022, at his home in Sparks, Nevada.
Larry was born to Ron and Liz Moen on March 14, 1961, in Augusta, Georgia. Larry was the third of four children.
Larry graduated from Reed High School in 1979. He joined the US Army in 1981 and served in counterintelligence at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Hanau, West Germany, and Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Moen continued his military service over the next 32 years in both the Nevada Army National Guard and the Nevada Air National Guard unit, achieving the rank of master sergeant.
After Larry's discharge from active duty in 1985, he began a career in law enforcement. Larry started his career at Nevada State Prison in Carson City in the maximum security unit as a guard. Larry left prison guard duty to work as a Deputy Sheriff for Washoe County. Larry departed the Sheriff's
Office for the Nevada Office of Parole and Probation. In the final step in his career, Larry served as a Senior Investigator for Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval, retiring in 2009. One of the highlights of his career was to work in security at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Larry also participated in the Olympic Torch Run.
Larry was a do-it-yourself guy. Larry had as many tools as Tim "The Toolman'' Taylor. Larry liked to work on his cars and those of his kids. He enjoyed home improvement projects and liked picking up new skills. Larry was not only quick to help friends and family, but also strangers. Larry knew all of his neighbors and was quick to lend a hand or even one of his tools to his neighbors. Larry was fondly known as Opa to his six grandchildren. Larry invested in their lives helping them with their school work, driving them to various activities and working with them on their game. Larry enjoyed cooking and barbecuing for his family and friends.
Larry and his wife Stephanie loved to travel. Their trips included visiting five different continents. They also enjoyed taking to the open road in their RV, often taking the grandkids along.
Larry was preceded in death by his mother, Liz and is survived by his wife of 33 years, Stephanie; daughter Courtney (Victor); son Paul (Lesley); his father Ron; his brother Ken (Denise); sisters Eva and Patty (Dave); and grandchildren Austin, Kody, Baylee, Cameron, Grant, and Charlotte. Larry is also survived by his in-laws, numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
A memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at 1:30pm at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Reno, Nevada. Larry will be buried with full military honors at the Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, Nevada at a later date.
Posted online on May 23, 2022
Published in Reno Gazette-Journal
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Obituaries in Reno, NV | The Reno Journal-Gazette and Mason Valley News - Reno Gazette Journal
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Paul Wight Reflects On Being Pushed Off Of The Roof Of Cobo Hall By Hulk Hogan In 1995 – Fightful
Posted: at 12:06 pm
Paul Wight is older and wiser.
While The Big Show, Paul Wight, is considered to be one of the more legendary giant wrestlers in the history of the industry, at the start of his career, he was involved in a lot of campy angles in WCW. As part of the Dungeon of Doom, Paul, then known as Giant, took part in a Monster Truck Match against Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc 1995 and that segment would end with him being pushed off of Cobo Hall and supposedly onto the concrete.
Bron Breakker Says Rick Steiner Is Retired, Won't Return For Potential Tag Match
The night would end with him and The Yeti, Ron Reese, giving Hulk Hogan a very suggestive double bear hug.
Speaking to Shakiel Mahjouri for ET Canada, Paul Wight reflected on getting shoved off the roof by Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc 1995.
I definitely wouldnt even consider doing that now at my age with my wisdom, Wight told ET Canada. Like, No. Why are we doing that? But at 22, 23-years-old, Im like, Yeah, whatever you want to do. Push me off a building? Awesome. You know, because youre just so excited.
The thing was for me to fall off the building," he continued. "It was about four stories into a big airbag. Im not a stunt man. Ive never done anything like that, you know? Youre young and you think youre bulletproof Just being young and being funny, when I went over and Hulks looking over the top at me, I was flipping him a bird on the way down Its a wonder he didnt bust out laughing when I did it.
During his younger years, Paul Wight was also eager to bust help moves like moonsaults. Learn about the one time he actually tried to pull that off at this link.
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Paul Wight Reflects On Being Pushed Off Of The Roof Of Cobo Hall By Hulk Hogan In 1995 - Fightful
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Chilly weekend temps; lows in the 30s in many areas Sunday morning – MPR News
Posted: at 12:06 pm
Potted flowers
Ron Trenda/MPR News
Our chilly weekend temps will affect some tender outdoor plants that arent covered overnight.
Lows were in the 30s Saturday morning in much of northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, with a few spots in central Minnesota also dipping into the 30s. Twin Cities metro area lows were mainly in the lower 40s.
Saturday highs are forecast to be in the 40s in roughly the northern third of Minnesota, with 50s elsewhere in Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin.
Cold Saturday night and early Sunday
Low temps late Saturday night and early Sunday morning will be in the 30s in most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:
Forecast lows early Sunday morning
National Weather Service
Minneapolis and St. Paul and the inner ring suburbs may see lows close to 40 degrees, with mid to upper 30s in the outer suburbs.
When winds are light, the temperature near the ground can be several degrees colder than the official temp which is measured 5 feet above the ground. Check forecast updatespeople in some areas may want to cover tender outdoor plants and possibly bring small potted plants into the garage or house Saturday night.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio Newsnetwork, and you can see updated weather info on the MPR Newslive weather blog.
Shower chances?
Northeastern Minnesota and far northwestern Wisconsin could see a few scattered showers Saturday morning. Then a few scattered showers are possible anywhere in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Saturday afternoon and evening. Sunday still looks dry in most areas.
Temperature trends
Our average May 22 high temp is 71 degrees in the Twin Cities. Parts of the metro area could touch 60 on Sunday. Highs in the 50s are forecast for most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with the best chance of 60 to the southeast:
Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the lower 60s on Monday, followed by mid 60s Tuesday and Wednesday, then upper 60s Thursday and lower 70s on Friday.
Scattered showers are possible in the metro area late Monday and on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Flood warning in the Rainy River Basin
Flood warnings (shaded green) continue in the Rainy River Basin of northern Minnesota:
Flood warnings (light green)
National Weather Service
Here are details of the flood warning:
Flood Statement National Weather Service Duluth MN 408 PM CDT Fri May 20 2022 MNC071-075-137-252200- /O.CON.KDLH.FA.W.0011.000000T0000Z-220525T2200Z/ /00000.0.RS.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/ Koochiching MN-Lake MN-St. Louis MN- 408 PM CDT Fri May 20 2022 ...FLOOD WARNING FOR PROLONGED FLOODING IN THE RAINY RIVER BASIN... * WHAT...Flooding caused by rain and snowmelt is occurring. Namakan Lake has already surpassed the level reached in the 2014 flood and is continuing to rise. Rainy Lake is expected to exceed the 2014 level. * WHERE...Rivers and lakes within the Rainy River Basin including Lake Vermilion, Crane Lake, Namakan Lake, Kabetogama Lake and Rainy Lake. * WHEN...Flooding is occurring now and is expected to continue for the next several days and weeks. * IMPACTS...Strong lake level rises are ongoing. Flooding continues on areas lakes and rivers. Widespread impacts are ongoing for shoreline residents. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 335 PM CDT, Emergency management reported ongoing flooding across the warned area. - Lake levels on Namakan Lake are expected to rise 6 to 7 inches between May 20th and May 27th. Namakan Lake inflows are expected to decline but remain high for the remainder of the month. Rainy Lake is expected to rise 12 inches between May 20th and May 27th. The 2014 level on Rainy Lake will be exceeded early next week and continue at a slower rate beyond the 7 day forecast. Expect minimal rainfall amounts over the next 7 days. - Areas affected include Rainer, Island View, Voyageurs National Park, Crane Lake, Kabetogama Lake and Lake Vermilion. - http://www.weather.gov/dlh/RainyRiverBasin PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Use extreme caution if venturing our on these water bodies as many hazards exist.
And here is additional info on the flooding:
Flooding update for the Rainy River Basin
National Weather Service
Weather nugget
One year ago today, the Twin Cities official high temp was 81 degrees. It was the first of five consecutive days with Twin Cities highs in the 80s. The warmest of those five days was May 24, with a high of 87.
Programming note
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Chilly weekend temps; lows in the 30s in many areas Sunday morning - MPR News
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Founders of Hope Sheds Light and Point Pleasant Beach Mayor will be on Shore Time – wobm.com
Posted: at 12:06 pm
Welcome to Shore Time!
EverySundayfrom 6-8 am on 94.3 The Point and 105.7 The Hawk on 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave', Dave Crossan ofShoreline Wealth Managementand myself speakwith great guests andhave some fun in waking you up and getting your day started.
Send us an email: shoretime@townsquaremedia.com.
Our First Guests for Show #16 coming up this Sunday morning 5/22, will be Steve Willis, Ron Rosetto, and Pamela Capaci from Hope Sheds Light who has offices in Toms River and Manasquan.
Hope Sheds Light is a non-profit that helps people find short-term and long-term recovery while also helping families of loved ones battling the disease of drug addiction.
They provide Hope and Help in all kinds of situations and actively try to spread awareness and education in hopes of bringing communities together as we all battle through this epidemic and help people find recovery.
Steve Willis and Ron Rosetto are Co-Founders of Hope Sheds Light and along with third Co-Founder Arvo Primalost a son -- (Marc A. Rosetto in 2012, Mark Kyle Willis in 2013, and Paavo Jaan Prima in 2017) -- to their battle with addiction and want to help keep their memories and fight going by helping others.
They also want to work to take away the fear and stigma associated with addiction and in asking for help.
Steve, Ron, and Hope Sheds Light CEO Pamela Capaci will be joining us to discuss their ongoing mission, various programs and services, and events coming up as well.
(Photo: Pam Capaci/Hope Sheds Light)
OurSecond Guest in Show #16 coming up this Sunday morning 5/22,will be Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra who will be joining us to discuss the upcoming summer season in the borough, which kicks off next weekend.
On a busy weekend in the summer in Point Pleasant Beach, there could be crowds of 50,000 to 60,000 people visiting this northern Ocean County borough, Mayor Kanitra previously told Townsquare Media News.
There's exceptional beaches and Jenkinson's Boardwalk and Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach as well as many other summer parks and venues making this a family-friendly destination.
Last year, we also saw the return of the Point Pleasant Beach Offshore Grand Prix featuring some of the best speedboats/race-boats out there -- Mayor Kanitra and I got a sense of just how fast those boats can go when we took them test driving last year.
We've also asked to join us to discuss summer rules and safety in the borough and to talk about his mission trip to the border in Poland earlier this year to help Ukrainian refugees as well as the benefit concert for Ukraine heput together when he got back to help those fleeing their war torn homeland.
(Photo Courtesy: Paul Kanitra)
In Hour 2 of Show 15 of 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave' on Sunday morning, Dave provides his weekly 'Financial Wake Up Call' and then Vin Ebenau and Dave Crossan welcome in New Jersey Hall of Famer, Southside Johnny, to the show.
In Hour 1 of Show 15, Vin and Dave discuss their favorite concerts over the years and then welcome in John Bergmann and Danny Mendez from the Popcorn Park Zoo and Animal Refuge in Forked River to the show.
In Hour 2 of Show #14 of 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave', we have Dave's 'Financial Wake Up Call'. We then welcome Andrea Verdone Gorsegner of Infinite Love For Kids Fighting Cancer in Middletown to the show to discuss the non-profit and big upcoming 5K.
In Hour 1 of Show #14 of 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave', we discuss memories of summers in Ocean County and Monmouth County. We then welcome Lori Pepenella, the CEO of the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce, onto the show to discuss the summer ahead in LBI and Southern Ocean.
In Hour 2 of Show 13 of 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave', we start with Dave's 'Financial Wake Up Call' and we then speak with Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone on what's ahead for the summer of 2022.
In Hour 1 of Show 13, Vin Ebenau and Dave Crossan discuss their favorite summer memories in Ocean and Monmouth County. Vin and Dave then speak with Ocean County Commissioner Joe Vicari on what's ahead for the summer of 2022.
In Hour 2 of Show 12 of 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave', Dave provides his 'Financial Wake Up Call', and then Vin and Dave welcome Recalibrate Founder and Jackson Police Officer John Roth to the show.
In Hour 1 of Show 12, Vin Ebenau and Dave Crossan open up the show by discussing sports life goals and then welcome in Phil O'Hara, a Peer Recovery Specialist with Hazlet's Hope Network , to discuss his journey from drug addiction to recovery.
In Hour 2 of 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave' this past Sunday, Vin Ebenau and Dave Crossan speak with a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist Ilissa Nico of 'Rising Roots Counseling and Wellness', and Dave provides his 'Financial Wake Up Call'.
In Hour 1 of Show 11 of 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave', Vin and Dave discussed the new Ocean County Sheriff's Office SHERP ATV, Triada Stampas CEO of Fulfill joined the show as did Charlie O'Rourke "Mr. Middletown".
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Founders of Hope Sheds Light and Point Pleasant Beach Mayor will be on Shore Time - wobm.com
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Secrets and Lies Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ghosts of Illyria – Tor.com
Posted: at 11:55 am
Back in 1989, D.C. Fontanawho was the story editor for most of the original series first two seasons, the show-runner for the animated series, the uncredited co-creator of TNG, and who wrote for all those shows as well as one DS9 episode, many of which were excellent and influential episodeswrote a Trek novel called Vulcans Glory. It took place prior to The Cage (and retroactively, shortly after the Short Trek Q & A), and chronicled Spocks first mission on the Enterprise.
It also established that Number One was a genetically engineered human from the colony of Illyria, a backstory that was used in several other works of tie-in fiction (notably 2010s The Children of Kings by David Stern and 2016s Legacies trilogy by David Mack, Greg Cox, and Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore).
Said backstory has now been incorporated into the onscreen canon, with an interesting twist
One of my biggest issues with the first two episodes of SNW is the lack of focus on Number One. As I said back when SNW was formally announced as a thing that was happening, Number One is the one member of SNWs big three that is a totally blank slate, as prior to Discovery season two we had no idea what the characters fate was after The Cage.
The fleshing out of Number One had already taken one cue from the novelsthe first name Una, from Legacies, which means one and also a tribute to Trek novelist Una McCormackand this episode gives her the last name of Chin-Riley, and also establishes that shes Illyrian.
But theres one big difference between Trek now and Trek in 1989 when Fontana created that backstory for Number One: it wasnt yet established that the Federation had banned genetic engineering, a rather huge overreaction to the Eugenics Wars (and, out of the box, a reason for the lack of any kind of genetic engineering in a show populated by actors who are from contemporary Earth).
Ghosts of Illyria combines those two notions (and apparently ignores the Illyrians seen in Enterprises Damage) by establishing that Illyrians have been denied Federation membership because they genetically engineer themselves. Number One has kept her Illyrian heritage secret, but is forced to reveal it this week for reasons of plot.
That plot, ironically, involves an Illyrian colony that is on a planet regularly wracked by that original series standby, ion storms! Said colony was wiped out and Pike and the gang beam down during one break in the ion storms in an attempt to find out what happened. However, a stormfront moves in and everyone except Pike and Spock are able to beam backthe latter two are stuck because Spock was in a library reading, which is the most Spock thing ever, and by the time they made it to the beam-out point, the storm was too brutal.
Image: CBS
Unfortunately, the landing party brings a contagion back onto the Enterprise, one that causes people who have it to seek out light, often to the exclusion of common sense. It starts with one ensign shoving his head through glass to get closer to a light source, and ends with Hemmer trying to beam a piece of the planets mantle on board and Laan trying to make the warp core explode.
The key to stopping the contagion is in Numbers Ones genetically engineered immune system, which aggressively wipes out any disease or virus. The problem is, its so aggressive that theres nothing left for MBenga to work with by the time she admits her heritage. But Laans attempted warp-core breach results in radiation flooding engineering (something we also saw happening in The Wrath of Khan) and Number Ones hyper-immune system cures both her and Laan and its sufficiently complicated that her antibodies are still at it long enough for Chapel to get a sample and use it to cure the crew.
This is the third time in the last three weeks that a Secret Hideout Trek show has referenced the Eugenics Wars. There was Adam Soongs Project Khan folder in Picards Farewell and Pike referencing it as part of Earths ramp-up to nuclear armageddon shortly before first contact in Strange New Worlds. And given that its part of the backstory of both Number One and Laan, I suspect it may come up again, and Im wondering if theres an endgame to that
Yes, Laan, too. From the beginning, she was established as having the same family name as Khan Noonien Singh from the original series Space Seed and the movies The Wrath of Khan and Into Darkness. In this episode its established that she is a descendant of that tyrant, and it was a source of merciless teasing when she was a child, and on into adulthood where she was accused of being an Augment, even though she isnt one. (Why she didnt just change her name is left as an exercise for the viewer.)
Upon finding out that Number One is an Illyrian, and while still under the influence of the virus, which makes everyone who gets it more than a little binky-bonkers, Laan says some pretty nasty things to her. After being made fun of for so much of her life, to find out that her mentor is in reality what she was accused of being is a bitter pill to swallow.
Number Ones response is to point out that genetic engineering doesnt have to lead to tyranny. What Illyrians do is adjust themselves to fit their environment betterrather than terraform planets they terraform themselves. They make themselves better, helping the evolutionary process along with less risk.
Image: CBS
When Number One comes clean to Pike and offers her resignation, Pike refuses to accept it. When she reminds him that that makes him an accessory to her lying to Starfleet, his glorious response is, I welcome that conversation. Shes the best first officer in the fleet, and she just saved everyones asses. And the implication there is that he agrees with her that the genetic engineering ban is a silly goose. Though Number One does muse in a personal log (that she immediately deletes) that Pikes response might have been different if she hadnt just saved everyones asses, though I think thats not giving the captain enough credit.
Rebecca Romijn is superb in her long-awaited spotlight, as the characters cool confidence and no-nonsense leadership and easy professionalism is leavened nicely by her conflicted impulses with regard to revealing her heritage.
But shes not the only one with a secret, as we find out how the contagion got on board the Enterprise despite there being bio-filters in the transporters: the emergency medical transporter didnt get the same upgrades as the other transporters when the ship was upgraded prior to Strange New Worlds. And the reason why is also a potential explanation for why MBenga has a lower position in the sickbay hierarchy when we see him in the original series A Private Little War and That Which Survives, to wit, hes keeping his sick daughter in the medical transporters buffer. She has an incurable disease, so hes keeping her in the bufferrematerializing her periodically to prevent the pattern degradation that would happen if she spent too long in there, as established in TNGs Relics. Number One not only doesnt punish him for this, she promises to find a way to make it a more stable proposition. Earlier in the episode, Number One hesitated to do everything she could to save lives because of Starfleet regulations, and most of the crew got really sick and almost died. She wont make that hesitation again, and so she more aggressively chooses MBengas daughters life over regs.
The B-plot here is Pike and Spock down on the planet, and not only does it continue to solidify the Pike-Spock dynamic that would lead to Spock breaking dozens of regs to help Pike a decade hence in The Menagerie, but its also a master class by Ethan Peck in continuing the character of Spock. Every line of dialogue is delivered in a manner that is at once very Leonard Nimoy-like, and yet totally Peck as well. (Credit also to screenwriters co-executive producer Akela Cooper and supervising producer Bill Wolkoff for penning very Spock-y dialogue.)
This part of the story is also a poke in the eye to the Federations ban, as Spock learns from his reading that the Illyrians on this colony wanted to join the Federation, and as a good-faith gesture attempted to de-engineer themselves by removing their genetic modifications. It kinda failed, and resulted in them either dying from the same virus that nearly wipes out the Enterprise or turning into energy creatures.
Screenshot: CBS
The genetic engineering ban has been a bit of an odd duck since it was established in DS9s Dr. Bashir, I Presume? in 1997. I can see why they thought it would work for that episode and for the character of Julian Bashir in particular, but it doesnt make a lot of sense when you think about it in the larger context of the Trek universe, for the very reasons Number One enumerates to Laan. One wonders if the show is going to continue to challenge that twenty-five-year-old plot point
Points also to giving everyone something to do, even if its minorOrtegas only scene, for example, is discovering that one of the landing party has the virus, while Uhura only has two sceneswithout making it feel like theyre being sledgehammered in. Everyone has a role to play, and it works nicely.
Im still not entirely sold on Hemmer as a character. Hes still not much beyond arrogant genius, a character type that can wear out its welcome pretty quickly without something to ameliorate it. Hemmer hasnt really had much to do yet, and its mostly been the usual Im so brilliant, and Im just humoring the dummies around me stuff. Bruce Horak is playing the part very well, mind you, and the producers seem determined to give everyone a spotlight (Pike two weeks ago, Uhura last week, and Number One this week), so lets hope that Hemmer gets his day in the sun.
Weve also got now three crew members who are defying regulations in a manner that should probably have consequencesNumber One for hiding her heritage, MBenga for hiding his sick daughter, and Pike for not doing anything about either oneand one wonders when those chickens might come home to roost
Keith R.A. DeCandido has an essay in the new collection Unauthorized Offworld Activation: Exploring the Stargate Franchise, edited by Rich Handley & Joseph Dilworth Jr. Keithwho did a Stargate Rewatch for this site in 2015wrote about how the three leaders of the expedition in Stargate Atlantis were let down by their writers. The collection also features essays by Jo Duffy, Dr. Anastasia Klimchynskaya, Robert T. Jeschonek, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Mark L. Haynes, Brandon Jerwa, Ren Cummins, Bryanna Elkins, Frank Schildiner, Edward Dodds, Val Nolan, and Darren Sumner, and has a foreword by Alexis Skarra Cruz.
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Secrets and Lies Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ghosts of Illyria - Tor.com
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The Three Factors That Drive Violent Extremists – TIME
Posted: at 11:53 am
By some counts, the horrific attack at a Buffalo supermarket was the second terrorist attack, and the 202nd mass shooting, that happened in the United States this year. Given Americans easy access to weapons, growing political divisions, racism, and rates of mental illness, there will almost certainly be more. So understanding why this is happening is critical.
In the aftermath of a bloodbath, it is hard to have a nuanced discussion. As has been shown by many scholars, in recent years, our political affiliations have become all-encompassing. We live in partisan bubbles, often geographically defined, and this poses a problem. According to Harvard University political scientist Ryan Enos, Theres a lot of evidence that any separation between groups has a lot of negative consequences. We see this in race and religion, he notes, but we also see this in regard to partisanship in the U.S. Our political affiliations have become so entrenched and calcified that it is often possible to guess what will be said in the wake of a tragedy like the recent attack in Buffalo, NY. Specifically, if the perpetrator is white, the right will emphasize mental illness and the left will focus on gun control. The problem is that both sides are right, and we need to be talking about both the psychosocial variables that help explain why someone would want to commit an act of violence, and also the gun control policies that make it possible for this to happen on a horrific scale.
There isnt much known about the Buffalo shooter at this point, but reporting suggests that he was recently held for a mental health evaluation after making generalized threats at his high school. Understanding the relationship between mental illness and domestic terrorism is critical. We are part of a research team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that is seeking to understand how and why people radicalize, commit acts of violence, and deradicalize. The former violent extremists weve interviewedincluding jihadis, white-identity violent extremists, and othershave complicated stories to tell about their paths into and out of extremism. Some have histories of debilitating mental illness, and they have clear diagnoses reflecting their struggles; others dont have debilitating histories, and because they havent had sustained contact with mental health professionals, they lack the kinds of diagnoses that researchers can use to look for patterns and trends.
Nearly all the formers weve interviewed cite underlying social and emotional difficulties; they talk about experiences of racism and persecution (whether real or imagined); they mention poverty and drugs and childhood trauma; they tell stories about exposure to extremist content; and they talk about the meaning and community that they found in their respective extremist movements. All of these factors are at least as important as intellectual endorsement of the specific theories or conspiracies or beliefs that they came to endorse to justify their violence. Debilitating mental illness (one that interferes with daily functioning and demands professional help) may not be part of every extremists story, but a struggle with mental health is common among the former extremists weve interviewed.
Mental health is only part of the story. Terrorists (even lone actors) adopt and adapt ideologies endorsed by a group, a network, or a movement. These ideologies might be loosely held, and might be adopted to provide a gloss of significance to an act of pure, hateful savagery. Terrorists are increasingly justifying violence with ideologies that combine far right views (such as white supremacy) and violent far left ones (such as radical environmentalism), and their rationalizations may shift over time. The rationale that the Buffalo shooter used to justify his violencehis wish to protect the white race from a perceived threat posed by other racesis a common theme among the network of violent white supremacists weve studied. Rationales for political violence often mask deeper fears, such as the fear of being outclassed, outnumbered, or humiliated by some other. To be clear, such fearscouched by white supremacists in terms of white genocide or the great replacement conspiracy theoriesare no justification for heinous acts of hate. But by studying why people endorse such conspiracy theories, we may be able to find effective ways to stop this kind of violence before it starts.
This type of research has yielded surprising results. as Karen Stenner have shown that diversityracial, ethnic, gender, and even moralis most aversive to those who are innately authoritarian, a latent trait shared by around 30 percent of the population. This is not unique to America; authoritarianism is found all over the world. When a society becomes more diverse or multicultural than such authoritarians can bear, they are prone to becoming overtly racist and even violent. According to polls carried out by University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape and his research team, an estimated 21 million people hold two radical beliefs, which, when held together, are defined by the researchers as insurrectionist: they believe the election was stolen and that violence is justified to restore Donald Trump to power. Interestingly, 10 percent of the 21 million who hold both these views are Democrats. The strongest driver for subscribing to these views is the unfounded fear that African American people or Hispanic people in our country will eventually have more rights than whites.
These fears are based on perception, not reality, and are no justification for heinous acts of hate. Understanding what really motivated the Buffalo shooter wont undo his actions, heal a community, or make families whole. But it does offer a chance to help those engaged in the work of preventing these acts before they occur.
That said, there is one final piece to this particular story: guns.
The Buffalo shooters manifesto was 180 pages long: 81 were dedicated to discussions of race, ideology, and motivation; and 99 were dedicated to a discussion of plans, weaponry, and gear. The U.S. has a long and complicated history with guns, with a robust gun culture that can be found in both online and offline spaces. More than half of the document was focused on explaining why he made specific choices about his weapons (20 pages), helmet (24 pages), and body armor (38 pages) and suggests an intimate familiarity with the gear he was discussing. Additionally, the manifesto notes that the shooter radicalized on 4chan, and that he started in the /k/ community (one focused on weapons, where guns are the primary topic) before transitioning to /pol/ (a politically incorrect community renowned for its racism) where he learned the truth about the threat to white Americans. Thus a gun community was the gateway from which he transitioned to ideologically extremist content.
Moreover, the Buffalo shooter notes that he chose to use a gun because (1) they work and there are very few weapons that are easier to use and more effective at killing than firearms and (2) he imagined that his attack would be followed by a call for gun reform that would rally sympathetic Americans to violence in order to protect their rights. Finally, he writes in multiple instances about laws related to gun control: he writes about circumventing these laws in order to secure the firearm he wanted; he writes about exploiting local gun laws to increase his likelihood of success; and he writes about manipulating the U.S. debate on firearms in order to recruit more people to his agenda.
The path forward from here is complicated. It is critical that we reject simplistic explanations, whether they focus on access to mental-health care, or the spread of dangerous political ideologies, or access to guns. There is no single variable that explains why this terrible massacre occurred, and so there will be no single answer. But this doesnt mean that there is nothing we can do. A mental-health crisis among adolescents and the shortage of mental-health practitioners has been widely covered in the media. Our research team has found that there are especially few clinicians trained and willing to work with individuals who subscribe to violence-endorsing ideologies. We need to support policy decisions that will increase the availability of mental-health clinicians, especially those willing to work with this potentially dangerous community. We also need to both improve digital literacy (which might have prevented the Buffalo shooter from believing the false narratives he found online) and reject the mainstreaming of heinous ideologies like that of replacement theory. And finally, we need to advocate for the kinds of gun control policies that are already supported by more than half of America. Preventing future terrorist attacks of all kinds will require policy changes on all these fronts.
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The Three Factors That Drive Violent Extremists - TIME
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