All morning I did the three Sunday shows I watch. This Week, Meet the Press, and Face the Nation. Ranted while I wrote stuff to refute and talk about pushed by the republicans on the panels and interviewed as they crowed about how this was a clear mandate for them to take the country so far right the Puritans would be scared to come here. I stopped writing figuring I had recorded all of these shows. Then I spent an hour while listening to them trying to figure out how to record them from one computer to the other as I really need to change my desk configuration and have already ordered the ram to do drastically help one of my computers. Sadly my main computer is maxed out. I should have known better but it was on sale with great specs … so I bought it. Always. Yes always by a computer that is upwards expandable. I won’t make that mistake again. However even if I lose these recordings of the corporate media and on This Week Johnathan Carl was creaming his pants on the tRump win, so much for media impartiality, I need a break as Ron was telling me. So I am going to play Portal Two. It is a wonderful puzzle game using a portal gun to shoot an incoming portal and an outgoing portal. No shooting other players. This is a grand game for people not wanting to hurt others even in a game and for stretching the mind. If you don’t have a gaming console the game is also on PC, which is where I first played it. Hugs I am off to challenge my brain on more than politics. Hugs.
Category: Technology
“10 distractions, in case you need them for some reason”
In case you’re searching for things to take your mind off the immediate horrors of the real world for, you know, some reason, here are ten:
3D Workers Island is a horror story told in the form of late-nineties screenshots from forums, websites, and a mysterious screensaver.
Practical Betterments is a collection of very small one-off actions that improve your life continuously. Examples include putting a spoon in every container that needs a spoon or cutting your toothbrush in half. Gently unhinged.
Someone remixed a cover of Raffi’s Bananaphone with Ms. Rachel and it’s kind of a bop?
David Gilliver creates amazing light paintings — one of his latest was just shortlisted in the British Photography Awards. This article says he uses a lightsaber while dressed all in black; the pinnacle of Sith expression.
Witches on roller skates! Sure, Halloween’s over. But witches on roller skates!
That time Sir Terry Pratchett modded Oblivion is “the untold story of how Discworld author Terry Pratchett became an unexpected contributor to the world of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,” even as his Alzheimer’s progressed. The video is based on this older article.
After having a stroke at 25, Eilish Briscoe created a typeface to show the process of learning to write again — and has created a series of typographic exhibitions centered around the idea that “expression is a luxury”.
Halfbakery is “a communal database of original, fictitious inventions, edited by its users”. For example, the beardaclava, which is “a carefully woven balaclava that hangs as a thick and luxurious seamless extension to your existing beard, perfectly matching its colour and hair quality”.
Godchecker is here for you if you need to check a god. “Our legendary mythology encyclopedia now includes nearly four thousand weird and wonderful Gods, Supreme Beings, Demons, Spirits and Fabulous Beasts from all over the world.” Comprehensive.
Wigmaker is a game about making wigs. And it’s open source!
https://werd.io/2024/10-distractions-in-case-you-need-them-for-some-reason
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Lost the comments again
OK it happened again. Partly my fault, partly the tech gremlins that live in my computers. See I had 6 open windows, with many tabs each. I depend on the computer saving them. Well yesterday I was trying to pass on some stuff Kamyk wanted me to tell some of his friends. But when I went to open the program to do that it wouldn’t open it just flashed repeatedly. Nothing I could do would work including reinstalling the program would make the program work. In frustration I reset the computer only after realizing I had just lost all my saved open windows and tabs. All I can say is I was stupid to react that fast but also worried about not getting done what my friend in an ICU had asked me. So I will go open all the comments I can access and save them again. Hugs.
Return the SCOTUS to law and order-
(I don’t know if this is gonna work; I’m not on Instagram, but I went there, and could see, hear, read, and got the embed link. MomsRising is asking for shares, so if anyone cares to share, thank you!)
Peace & Justice History for 11/2:
November 2, 1920 Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs received nearly one million votes for President though he was serving a prison sentence at the time for his criticism of World War I and his encouraging resistance to the draft. More on Debs |
| November 2, 1982 Voters in nine general elections passed statewide referenda supporting a freeze on testing of nuclear weapons. Only Arizona turned it down.  Dr. Randall Forsberg, a key person behind the Freeze movement Dr. Randall Forsberg |
November 2, 1983 A bill designating a federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (to be observed on the third Monday of January) was signed by President Ronald Reagan. King was born in Atlanta in 1929, the son of a Baptist minister. He received a doctorate degree in theology and in 1955 organized the first major protest of the civil rights movement: the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott. Influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, he advocated nonviolent civil disobedience of the laws that enforced racial segregation. The history of Martin Luther King Day (pdf) |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorynovember.htm#november2
Lots of links here;
I’ve read 5 of them. One I clicked in particular is most excellent, and easy to read. Link below; there are fine pieces on Ten Bears’s page.
We The People Are Doin’ It!!
An Ask for Facebook Users
I’m not on Facebook; never have been. I do order from Penzey’s, and because of that, I get their emails, which are awesome. Here is the body of today’s email with links, and another shout-out to any Facebook users who are called to help out with this. And, I think anyone in a position to share in some fashion is welcome to do so!
| This really isn’t a standard email, it’s a Facebook post sent by email. But with one week to go and everything seemingly all tied up, sharing a glimpse of our past that’s at risk of becoming our future seems right. Please read and share.Thanks. October 25, 2024 George Mullins voted. June 6, 1944 George came ashore in Normandy. He voted by mail. He insisted that the ballot needed to be taken to the post office and handed directly to the postal worker. “Can’t take any chances in these times.” It was LST #311 that brought him 100 yards from the shore of Utah Beach on D-Day. The water was cold and up to his neck. He kept an eye on the shorter soldiers to make sure their heavy packs would not drag them under. Together they all made it ashore. So many of those George went ashore with never made it home. George Mullins lived through the unfathomable violence it took to face down fascism. He made it home but left so much behind. Forever since he has had to carry a hurt and a loss that thankfully most of us have never known. His experience has left him with thoughts on this election and about those who would once again intentionally unleash the unspeakable horrors he had hoped were forever in the past. Two weeks ago George posted his thoughts on his Facebook page for the book he wrote of his WWII experience, Foxhole. Buy his book, I highly recommend it. As is the nature of Facebook, and social media, and the times we live in, one of the most valuable pieces that will ever be written about this election now sits there with just 72 likes. George’s daughter and longtime Penzeys customer, Sheila, wrote hinting that maybe I could bring more attention to his words. Yes. A very big Yes. Coincidentally enough (if there are coincidences) his were exactly the words I was then searching for. Not eight hours before Sheila’s email arrived I had just finished rewatching Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. I’m convinced it is in the unspeakable sacrifice of so many Americans eighty years ago where the key to understanding just how much is at stake on 11.5.24 lives or dies. But where to find the words? I looked to Saving Private Ryan because Spielberg has good words, and there are good words there but his, like mine, are of an outsider looking in. Where could I find the words I needed? And as fate would have it they arrived all tied neatly with a bow and accompanied by a breathtaking photo. And I won’t give away all George Mullins’s words, please read all of them for yourself. But in short, today he is deeply troubled by the direction he sees our country heading. “I didn’t fight in World War II, standing on the front lines of history, so that we could one day find our country on the brink of dictatorship or authoritarian rule. The freedoms I defended, and believe in, the sacrifices my comrades and I made, were for the preservation of democracy—of freedom, fairness, and the right to live without fear of tyranny.” There’s so much we take for granted, but all that George and those he fought alongside achieved came at a terrible cost. And as much as we know words like fascism, and Nazi, and even freedom, how much do we really understand this is about the difference between living free and having to live in fear of your government? By 1944 everyone understood, but today it’s something we’ve forgotten, something we take for granted. George Mullins went ashore shoulder to shoulder with men like him willing to give their lives so that others may live free. Let that sink in. And now the leaders of the Republican party are not only throwing that sacrifice away, they are forcing our children to relive it. Why? Because they don’t have the strength to stand up to Donald Trump’s never-ending need for ever greater power. We must do better. We must share George Mullins’s warning. (snip; an offer I’m not sure is appropriate to include here, but I can put it in comments if someone’s interested. I’m trying to stay on topic, without appearing to advertise, though advertisement is not the author’s intent. -A) And two outstanding Steven Spielberg words. I’ve seen Saving Private Ryan several times since its release. Each time I’ve seen something new in it. This time I was struck by Tom Hanks’s Captain Miller’s words to Matt Damon’s Ryan. “Earn this.” This time against the backdrop of this election it hit home more than before that these two words weren’t between two people but between all those who gave so much and all of us who have lived our lives with the gifts their terrible sacrifice brought. Earn this. We truly do owe them that much. And I did ask George’s daughter Sheila about what was going through his mind as he cast his vote in this election. She asked him over dinner. He told her this: “When I voted I felt happy to place my signature on a ballot against the Dictator. I was hoping more people wake up and check the right box.” That one of those white men struggling ashore on the 6th of June so many years ago should live to vote for America’s first Black woman President is a testament to this country and to all who serve. And I admit that at first I felt uncomfortable with George’s word Dictator. It felt over the top. But then it set in that he is the one who knows, not me. He is the one with the knowledge, and the experience, and the words we all must learn if we are to go through what his generation went through and re-emerge once again as America on the other side. So much to earn. So much at stake. Please help us help George Mullins’s message reach everyone while it can still make a difference. And please visit George’s Facebook page and share a like, a hug, or even a heart. He has already earned it and so much more. What a life. Time for us to be worthy, Bill bill@penzeys.com |
Message-Not Unappreciated
mostly to Ten Bears;
Not taking this personally, but: I do not read every link in every post every time. I do read at least one link from each post with a link, as soon as I get there. I admire that you can do that! And if you’re ready to quit, I don’t blame you. Do as you will, but you are not unappreciated, FWIW. 🖖 ☮ 🌞 I hope we still get to see ya around!
From “The Nib” Newsletter
“The Nib” still comes in email sometimes. This is an item that could be of interest, also not about very current US election news (though there could be a tad here and there. I mean this item; “The Nib” still has plenty political for right now.) Anyway, back to this; I keep thinking there are people reading here who don’t comment, and that maybe any of us is an artist interested in moving forward with their art, and this can help. -A
🤷
So, I can’t tell what’s showing and what isn’t. On the posting page, I can see the little block with the title, the hyperlink, and the tiny blurb. When I look at the preview, though, all I can see is “Home” as a hyperlink; it goes to Crucial Comix. So, below, is a snip from Crucial Comix’s “About” page. Check it out!
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home for essential nonfiction comics and zines.
Founded in 2024, we are a cartoonist-run small press that publishes narrative nonfiction comics and offers compelling classes on comics-making and practice.
Our Values
We believe that comics are a powerful way to shape how we perceive ourselves and the world. Comics can capture emotional realities, offering a profound way express feelings and experiences that are impossible to depict in words alone. Comics connect with readers, drawing new eyes to stories about politics, history, and identity. Comics are made around the world by people who want to share their ideas and dreams. In short, comics are crucial.
As cartoonists face down book bans, political censorship, and financial difficulty in publishing boundary-pushing work, it’s more important than ever to build a community of artists that is rooted in mutual support and enthusiasm.
Crucial Comix is all about skill-sharing, accessibility, flexibility, and experimentation. We are a small press that aims to be always evolving so we can be a relevant and reliable resource for artists. Our pitches are always open. Our classes are all offered sliding-scale. Our comics are all free to read. Each season, we welcome a cohort of volunteer editors to guide up-and-coming artists through the process of making a nonfiction comic.
Get Involved
Are you looking to make comics based on real life? You take a class, submit or pitch a comic, or hire Crucial artists and writers to work on your project. You can also hire us to come teach classes or workshops at your school, library, or workplace.
Are you an artist or writer who wants to get involved in our community? You’re welcome to join our mailing list to find out about upcoming events and fun stuff. Everyone who completes a workshop or class with Crucial is invited to join our private Discord. If you’re interested in becoming an editor for Crucial someday, consider taking our editing class.
Want to ask us a question about your particular situation? Feel free to email us at editors@crucialcomix.com. If you’re looking to submit a comic, check out our submission guidelines.
Want to send us a copy of your zines? You can upload a zine to our submissions form or drop them in the snail mail: Crucial Comix, PO Box 17253, Portland, OR 97217
Scottie's Playtime 