It’s a big help to see things like this; it helps to understand why things are happening that don’t make sense. The other night, we had so much rain, my backyard was a shallow pond. Not a swamp, or rice paddies or whatever, but a literal pond. That hasn’t happened in years, for one thing, but I was mostly looking out and hoping it wasn’t going to turn into a brown ocean (which I learned of in another weather video on this site.)
Category: Questions
Joy & Fun & Learning
Yum.
I double-dog dare them, too!
This is one of the ones that has hilarious captions, along with excellent information about the subject.
Happy PRIDE On Wednesday!
Have a bit of bubbly for this one, even, maybe!
Democratic Campaign Ads That Write Themselves
All his campaign needs to do is append Platner’s point of view and what he’d like to do, and it’s an ad.
“The Day The War Began”
A spoken poem by friend of Playtime Bee Halton, The Bee Writes.
Your Josh Day, Next Day
3 Short Videos For Equality
Josh Johnson Explains The Upcoming Holiday:
From The Smart Ones:
Kickass Women in History: Carlota and Fermina
by Carrie S · Jun 6, 2026 at 6:00 am
TW/CW: slavery, shackles, torture, violence
The stories of rebellion by enslaved peoples has been largely erased or occluded from history, and when these stories are told, they usually center men. In Cuba, however, two women became legends because of the leadership roles they took in rebellion. Carlota and Fermina were decisive, brave, and brutal. Both women were kidnapped from the Yoruba Nation and given the last name ‘Lucumí’, a word which refers to Afro-Cubans of Yoruba descent.
The Triunvirato sugar plantation was a fucking hellscape. By the 1840s, one third of Cuba’s population consisted of enslaved persons, almost all of whom worked in the sugar trade in some capacity. The 1840s saw Cuba utilizing steam-powered mails and railroads and engaging in massive deforestation as the economy became reliant on sugar. The Triunvirato Plantation was one of many that subjected enslaved people to a starvation diet and horrific working and living conditions.
We know very little about Carlota and Fermina. We do know, however, that on November 6, 1843, Carlota and others launched the Triunvirato Rebellion, the last in a series of uprisings across Cuba. Carlota used talking drums to communicate with other plantations, bringing the neighboring Acaná plantation, where Fermina was enslaved, as well as several others into the plan.
Fermina had recently escaped from Acaná and may have planned a June rebellion, but it didn’t happen. She was recaptured and shackled for months. Her tormentors released her from the shackles just a few days before the Triunvirato Rebellion, which she helped lead on the Acaná Plantation. In all, the enslaved people on five plantations rose up against their oppressors on or near November 6.
Here is a good overview of what we know about Carlota:
The series of rebellions that took place in 1843 (including uprisings in March and May, as well as a thwarted uprising in December) were collectively referred to as La Escalera. In response, slavers tortured and murdered so many people that 1844 became known as “The Year of the Lash”. Fermina was tortured and then killed by a firing squad. Carlota died at some point during the Trinuvirato Rebellion. Slavery in Cuba wasn’t abolished until 1886.
However, Carlota’s memory was preserved in oral legend. She became a famous symbol of resistance in Cuba. In 1975, when Cuba sent troops to support the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), they called the operation ‘Operation Carlota.’
Writing about history is a messy business. For one thing, many historical figures, especially women, and most especially women of color, have been so systematically erased that the stories we still have of them are murky. This is certainly true of Carlota and Fermina. We don’t even know their real names – only the names their slavers forced them to bear. We know for sure that they existed, and everything else is a matter of sifting various stories together and trying to figure out where they overlap.
In this column, there is also the matter of who to choose as ‘Kickass.’ Carlota and Fermina were both said to have done terrible, violent things.
CW/TW
Their story can be seen as one in which brutality begets brutality, and it can also be seen as a human being refusing to break or to become passive with despair in the face of massive crushing forces. Carlota and Fermina were clever, resourceful, determined leaders. I only wish I knew their real names.
Sources:
Here is the situation at nearly 5: 30 pm my time. 1730 for the rest of the world
I barely got the cartoons / memes /news post out for the morning of the 13th on time. I have been struggling the last four days. I set my alarm and pulled my old ass out of bed this morning even though Ron protested I need far more sleep and I managed to get today’s cartoons / memes / news post out around noon my time. It takes 6 or more hours to put it together as I have to sort them as I put them in the post page. And if something comes up that needs to be inserted before hitting the post I have to work that in. I am not complaining. I love doing them and it seems many love seeing them. There are over 60 separate web pages with each having many things on each one.
Yesterday I went back through the comments and opened a new tab for everyone I could see addressed to me and a few to Ali that caught my attention. I really do love the comments. I will be honest if I could have a blog of just comments I would do that and not post. I love the interaction with people, and yes even with people I disagree with.
So today dealing with everything else I got the first one out. I listened to the mostly biased bulls**t corporate broadcast media and grew ever more upset over the lies and misinformation.
Then I started on the cartoons / memes / and news post for tomorrow. At some point Ron told me we had to do supper and we had agreed on ribs, ear corn, and small new potatoes chunked. As time for supper came near Ron had me take my blood sugar and because I am eating so little / infrequently it was 72, below what my endrochonoligest wants for me because of my pain levels. He again explained to me that the kind of pain I have causes my body to produce blood sugar to protect itself.
We started to eat. I ate two ribs, about four potato chunks and started on an ear of corn when I got so sleepy and tired. I couldn’t finish. Ron came to the door of my office and saw me sort of dozing over my plate and demanded I go to bed. I pointed to the nearly eaten ear of corn and the rest while pretending I had not fallen asleep. He asked me to eat the small amount of corn left on the ear as he knows how much I like that and then reached in front of me and took the plate with the other stuff away.
He has already set the bed up for the pile of cat towels that rest close to me on the king size bed because Ron’s cat Tupac clings to and cuddles me at night. But the multiple layers are needed because he is incontenate and when he wakes up noticing he is lying in his own pee soaked towels he will nudge me to remove them so he has fresh clean towels to then lie back down on. Why me and not Ron?
Tomorrow morning I have a pain doctor appointment where I hope they will be able to give me enough trigger point steroid injections that I will be able to walk again. After that I will try to finish the post I started today, but it will have to be after noon my time as my appointment is for 10 am. Plus I have new information on Ron’s eye surgery as well as mine.
I apologize to everyone for being so weak that I cannot get these posts out on time. My health has gotten so much better and I am starting to grow hair and fingernails again. I have more energy than even a month ago, but I still get so very tired that I need to go to bed at weird times. For example I was working on posting something a few days ago and suddenly I had to go laydown for an hour / half before I could get back up to finish it.
Thank you for understanding, especially about the comments. Please keep sending them in on posts even if you feel I have not responded. I try to go back through the WordPress dashboard to open those I missed in new tabs. I do miss some and if you think I missed your comment you want me to address please send it to me again. I am not ghosting you; I am just very tired.
Best wishes to everyone and hugs / love to all who want them. I really care about people and the people here seem like grand people to care about. Scottie
Scottie's Playtime 