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The Weird, Random, and Interesting things that Fit Nowhere Else Thread


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Posted

On that general spreading of the signal...

 

Just One Book

 

 


I live in a town of 1200 people in the Northern Sierra Nevada –where it meets the Cascade Range near Mt. Lassen National Park and about two hours drive northwest of Reno, NV.  Two hundred of that population is students. Over the years as the population dwindled after mines closed, then mills–nothing except tourism and retirement have emerged as ‘industries.’ Many businesses have closed down and with it many things we take for granted—like libraries.

 

The local junior/senior high school has not been able to purchase new books since the 90s. Some of the “check outs” for old books are in the 1980s. There are no books by people of color in the library. Hardly any books by women are in the few book cases except your standard Austen and Lee. It’s an uninviting place. There hasn’t been a librarian for nearly a decade. And volunteers weren’t allowed. The last eight years students couldn’t even check out books.

But all that is changing now.

 

Greenville Junior/Senior High School and Indian Valley Academy, which share the library space have new leadership which are welcoming the idea of revamping the library. Both principals want to see the area’s students supported and reading. Like most of rural America we have no budget for such things as books, film, music , and other media and arts.

 

I’ve lived here 13 years. I’ve watched kids succumb to despair. Our suicide and alcohol abuse is rampant as it is in many small rural communities. 75% of our county is beautiful national forest. 44% of jobs are government jobs—mostly forest service. There used to be mills but they closed down in the 90s. So much of that other 56% is underemployed and unemployed. It’s a beautiful place to live but it’s also a scary place for the mind to atrophy. We have a median income of under 30K. At the local elementary school 2/3 of students qualify for free lunch. Getting the picture?

 

What we’re good at:

Because we live in a forest we do have great resources about natural resource management, forestry, conservation. We have a number of environmental organizations that help with a good deal of education and hands on learning experiences related with the great outdoors. We also have organic farms and sustainable ranches. Yay! So there’s the silver lining.

 

What we’re lacking is pretty much everything else.

We need racially diverse books. We need graphic novels. We need women’s studies. We need science. We need series. We need film. We need comics. We need music. We need biographies of important people. Looking for Young Adult. Classics. We want zines! Contemporary. Poetry. Everything that would make a difference in a young person’s life. Writers send us YOUR BOOK. We have many non-readers who we’d love to turn on to reading. We need a way to take this tiny area and bring it into the 21st century. We have a whole bunch of kids who don’t like to read because all they’ve ever been given is things that are either dull , dated, or dumbed down.

 

The students who are excelling are doing so because they have supportive parents at home and access to books and tablets elsewhere. But most students are without.

So here’s what I’m asking. Will you donate a book? A real book. Something literary or fun—something that speaks to your truth, their truths. Something that teaches them something about the world. Makes them feel less alone?

 

I’m not asking for money. I’m asking for you to send a new book or film or cd to us to help us build a library we can be proud of. Just one book.

We want things that will make a difference and get kids wanting to read and wanting to create. We want to engage.

 

We also are getting students onboard to design their new space. Students will be actively part of reimagining and recreating their library space. Some students did a project based learning assignment a few weeks back to come up with ideas for the space that would enhance comfort, make the space user friendly, be more pleasing to the eye, and enhance learning.

So who is with us?

 

Send us one book.

Greenville High School/Indian Valley Academy

Library Project Attn: Margaret Garcia

117 Grand Street

Greenville, CA 95947

Thank you for your support.

If sending during the month of July (when school is closed) please send to

Library Project/Margaret Garcia

PO Box 585

Greenville, CA 95947

 

Email me for more information. Teachers are coming up with wish lists for books they’d like to see on our shelves too. writerchickmama@gmail.com . Our schools will send you a receipt too and our students are poised to send thank you letters. We now have an Amazon wish list up:

Amazon Wish List

…and there’s also updates on this blog to show you what we’re doing and with directions regarding our nearest bookstore (30 minutes away).

  • Like 2

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted

94 year old former Auschwitz guard gets 5 years in prison

 

 


DETMOLD, Germany — A 94-year-old former SS sergeant who served as a guard at Auschwitz has been found guilty of more than 170,000 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he helped the Nazi death camp kill 1.1 million Jews and others.

 

The dpa news agency reported that the Detmold state court sentenced Reinhold Hanning to five years in prison, though he will remain free while any appeals are heard.

During his four-month trial, Hanning admitted serving as an Auschwitz guard. He said he was ashamed that he was aware Jews were being killed but did nothing to try to stop it.

He had faced a maximum of 15 years.

 

Hanning's defense had called for an acquittal, saying there is no evidence he killed or beat anyone, while prosecutors sought a six-year sentence.

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted (edited)

This might be one that a few people would like to discuss... A group that tries to teach methods in how to deal with active shooters and if you find yourself in a mass shooting type event.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjK9gTXORsI

Edited by Raithe

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted

Canada changes it's national anthem: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2016/0616/Why-Canada-is-changing-its-national-anthem

 

My take? It goes something like this: F-----g whatever. No. You know what? F--k that! It's just a f-----g song. And a good one at that. It's been fine for over a hundred and eight years. Nobody ever thought the use of the words "sons" was meant to exclude anyone. For God's sweet f-----g sake can we not just have one mother f-----g thing the whimpering PC crowd won't stick it grubby fingers into and completely f--k up?

 

Just my $.02

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

Posted (edited)

This might be one that a few people would like to discuss... A group that tries to teach methods in how to deal with active shooters and if you find yourself in a mass shooting type event.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjK9gTXORsI

I work at a U.S. federal agency in DC, and, after the Navy Yard shooting in 2013, "Lockdown" in event of an active shooter became one of the building security protocols that we are briefed on annually.  (Along with Evacuate and Shelter-in-Place.)  We didn't get any physical training like that, but they do go through the Run, Hide/Barricade, or Fight decision.  

Edited by Enoch
Posted (edited)

Hmm

 

Whitehall fears Russian football hooligans had Kremlin links

 

 


Senior government officials fear the violence unleashed by Russian hooligans at Euro 2016 was sanctioned by the Kremlin and are investigating links with Vladimir Putin’s regime.

It is understood that a significant number of those involved in savage and highly coordinated attacks on England fans and others in Marseille and Lille have been identified as being in the “uniformed services” in Russia.

 

The theory is that the sanctioning of hooliganism by Putin is a continuation of what has been described as Russia’s campaign of “hybrid warfare”. Whitehall experts fear the tactic is a ploy to demonstrate Russian strength while building on a narrative inside the country that the rest of the world is lining up against it.

Following the violence in Marseille, fake Twitter accounts were reportedly set up to spread the view that Russian fans had been provoked. A senior Russian parliamentarian tweeted, “Well done lads, keep it up!”

 

Two England fans, Andrew Bache, 51, from Portsmouth, and Stewart Gray, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, were left in comas fighting for their lives after being attacked with hammers and iron bars by Russian hooligans.

 

Uefa, the European football authority, threatened to throw Russia out of the competition should there be a repeat of the scenes inside the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, where their fans tried to storm the English end of the stadium at the end of the England-Russia match.

 

A Whitehall source told the Observer that social media had been scrutinised to discover the backgrounds of those involved. “It is difficult to prove this was sanctioned by the Kremlin but we can see that a number of them are in the uniformed services in Russia,” the source said. “It looks like a continuation of the hybrid warfare deployed by Putin.”

 

The head of Britain’s Euro 2016 policing operation, Cheshire’s assistant chief constable Mark Roberts, said the attacks were the most serious and coordinated he had seen in 10 years specialising in football violence. He told how UK police spotters saw some 150 Russia fans “tooling up” with gum shields, fingerless martial arts gloves and bandanas.

 

A notorious leader of a Russian supporters’ group, Alexander Shprygin, was expelled from France after he was stopped on a bus travelling to Lille from the south of France after the trouble. He was among 43 fans detained. Shprygin, who was accompanying the official Russian delegation at the championships, was pictured alongside Putin at a football fan’s funeral in 2010.

 

Moscow has denounced the detaining of Russian fans and accused the French authorities’ actions as “further stoking of anti-Russian sentiments”.

On Friday Putin laughed off fan violence at the Euros and urged local authorities in France to treat supporters from all countries equally. He said the violence was a disgrace, but added: “I don’t know how 200 fans could hurt several thousand Englishmen.”

 

He also said he was willing to reach out to Europe to mend relations following the Ukraine crisis but insisted the west was responsible for the bad blood: “European business wants and is ready to work with our country. European politicians need to reach out to business, to show wisdom, far-sightedness and flexibility,” he said. “We remember how all this started. Russia did not initiate today’s collapse. We hold no grudge and are willing to reach out to our European partners, but obviously this can’t be a one-sided game.”

Uefa has fined Russia €150,000 (£119,000) and imposed a suspended disqualification as punishment for its supporters’ part in the mayhem in Marseille.

Edited by Raithe

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted

I sincerely hope no one complains about this !!!!

"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss”

John Milton 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -  George Bernard Shaw

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead" - Nelson Mandela

 

 

Posted

Damn those red shirts!

 

That is sad though,

  • Like 1

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

Posted

As a friend said:

 

"All I can say is, Death had better be casting an awesome movie with a damn fine soundtrack..."

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted

This might be knee-jerk, but Chrysler may have killed Anton. His Grand Cherokee vehicle model is under recall for faulty gearshifts ... falsely indicating Park mode when physically still in neutral.  ;(

All Stop. On Screen.

Posted

13568935_1460186670674228_44404881002545

  • Like 1

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted

 

This year is the seventy-fifth anniversary of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Captain America Comics #1 and to honor one of the nation’s greatest fictional heroes, a bronze statue is being erected in Captain America‘s honor. The statue will make its debut at San Diego Comic Con later this month, before finding a permanent residence in Steve Rogers’ native Brooklyn at Prospect Park.

 

Announced today via USA Today, the bronze statue of Cap will be thirteen feet tall and will weigh one ton, and features the hero in an iconic shield raised pose similar to iconic pieces of work by the likes of John Cassaday and Tim Sale. The statue itself was designed by Comicave Studios with the help of Marvel artists and features Captain America in a costume more akin to his World War II attire in the movie Captain America: The First Avenger as opposed to the design of his first appearance seventy five years ago.
 
After the unveiling at San Diego Comic Con, the Captain America statue will depart on a cross country trip which will be documented via social media before arriving in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for a dedication on August 10th. If you can’t make it out to either events, then Comicave Studios will be releasing a limited edition line of replicas. The 12 inch bronze replicas will be limited to 750 statues, and there will also be 100 made-to-order 35 inch pewter replicas on sale also.
 

Kieran Shiach, Comics Alliance

All Stop. On Screen.

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