Kentucky Fried Politics: A Colonel Sanders Timeline

[PNWKing]

What singers have performed at the White House ITTL?

 

[gap80]

Chapter 114: July 2017 – December 2017​

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well.”

– Stephen King (OTL)



…we now return to our coverage of the terrible tragedy that occurred in the Golden State this morning. Independence Day celebrations in Crescent City, California were marred and disrupted by a knife attack earlier today that left six people hospitalized for injuries, including the stabber, and at least three people dead from stab wounds. The knife attack, which occurred in a public park at an event billed as family-friendly, has left friends and relatives frightened and a community in shock…

– NBC News, 7/4/2017 broadcast



VOLKSWAGEN AIMS TO ONLY BE SELLING RENEWABLE-ONLY VEHICLES BY 2030

…the German automaker has announced its plan to have “100%” of their vehicle sales to be that of electric and/or solar-powered vehicles. “We are making the future now instead of waiting for it later,” said one of the company’s spokespersons. “We are embracing the benefits and the inevitability of e-mobility”…

– RNS: Real News Service, 7/7/2017 e-article



NASA SAYS GOODBYE TO MARS ROVER

…the administration received the Ascertain land rover’s final communication early yesterday after a successful number of year’s documenting Mars’ southern hemisphere…

– scientificamerican.co.usa, 7/8/2017 e-bulletin



HOISTED BY HIS OWN LEOTARD?: Incumbent President and Green Party Candidate Advance To Runoff In French Election

…in the first round of voting, the scandal-riddled incumbent President of France, Francois Leotard of the Republican Party, came in first place with a plurality of 36% over divided opposition.

With France’s Socialist Alliance seemingly falling apart, the left wing of the nation’s body politic failed to rally behind a single candidate. As a result, the liberal vote was divided among four challenger – Joseph “José” Bové (Green), Benoit Hamon (Socialist Alliance), former Socialist Alliance member Dominique Voynet (Democratic Socialist) and Francois Bayrou (Democratic Union). With Bové performing exceptionally well in pre-election debates, the Green party candidate has edged out Hamon for the position of second place by a margin of 1%.

Other prominent candidates included Jean-Christophe Napoleon (Centrist) and Jeremie Renier (Independent), while the remaining minor candidates were Jacques Cheminade (National Front), Laurent Fabius (Sensible) and Romain Duris (Action).

Early hypothetical polling taken three weeks ago that matched Bové with Leotard showed the former losing by a sizeable margin. However, the most recent polling shows the race to be neck-and-neck, which is more likely due to Leotard’s declining popularity than to Bové’s impressive political rise…

– The New York Post, 7/9/2017



A TASTE OF ISRAEL: Saudi Arabia’s Go-To Spots For Jewish And Israeli Cuisine

– Arab News, 7/10/2017 e-article



MEXICO’S BEST KFC LOCATIONS, RANKED

– americaneats.co.usa, 7/12/2017



UN’S SATHIRATHAI BACKS GLOBAL SPACE AGENCY PROPOSAL

Despite human beings traveling into outer space for decades, there is no global space agency, with only prominent nations like the US and Russia, or major united “blocs” of nations like the Middle East, being capable of operating manned missions to the I.S.S., to the Moon, and to Mars.

That all may change in the near future, as UN Secretary-General Surakiart Sathirathai of Thailand today endorsed a UN resolution to form such an entity. With the unoriginal title of United Nations Outer Space Exploration Agency (UNOSEA), the agency would operate missile launches via the voluntary collaborations any and all nations. The UN having its own Space Agency could in theory allow smaller nations to pool in their resources and better coordinate multinational efforts to venture into outer space.

The idea, first proposed by Jan Woerner, head of the multinational E.U.-centric European Space Agency, in 2015, shortly after Russia’s President Nikolayev entered office and began eyeing a return to lunar exploration for his country in 2021. Nikolayev’s talks of reviving the proposed Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex (OPSEK) for their own nation’s ventures into the stars [1] may have also played a role in several nations coming forward since then and expressing support for a truly “global” space agency.

The proposed new agency should not be confused for the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, which merely promotes peaceful space use and space exploration, and focuses more on the legal side of space-based matter. In fact, the UNOOSA was only created in order to assist the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCPUOS), which is only tasked with responding to legal issues concerning space exploration...

– The Guardian, UK newspaper, 14/7/2017



…In the summer of 2017, the horrific images of the Independence Day Stabbings – the blood-splattered “Happy July 4” banner with the first victim dead on the grass beneath it, the brave father of three tackling the wild-eyed assailant to the ground, the partially-hidden face of a frightened little girl refusing to come out from behind an overturned table – caught national attention, and with it came calls for law enforcement and politicians to do something about. As had become expected, some conservative talking heads – such as occasional contributor Bill Krystal of The Overmeyer Network, and several police officers chiming in to THN – soon enough claimed that the crime occurred due to President Jesse Jackson’s police precinct efforts, regardless of how truthful or untruthful their statements were. In Washington, D.C., Republicans and Democrats sparred over how to best respond to the grisly images being shared across the technet.

“This is ridiculous. What exactly do the technetters think can be done about this?” Vice President Brown offered his two cents at a meeting with several high-ranking US Senators. “We already have Mental Health Laws in place, and some of them are, to be honest, already way too restrictive. Hell, if I lived in California, I myself would have probably been committed as soon as their state MHL went into effect back at the start of the century.”

US Senate Majority Leader Webb Franklin (R-MS) explained as best he could. “I think they want more regulations on who purchases certain knives, since that killer’s weapon of choice was a butcher knife, and not something like a butter knife.”

“State or fed?” Brown inquired.
“Excuse me?” Franklin requested clarification.

Brown clarified, “Are the technetters calling for ridiculous knife protection laws at the state of federal levels?”

“We’re not sure,” answered Franklin’s second-in-command, Jackie Walorski (R-IN), “since different technet groups are calling for either the one of the other. So, generally-speaking, um...both?”

“Hold on, someone show me exactly what they’re proposing.” Brown leaned over to his interns. Never much of a software expert, the only technology he cared for was the internal workings of motorcycle. Which made for a technet-illiterate VP who, ironically, had a strong ontech political following. Usually dictated his ideas to interns who would post them onto social media netsites for him (verbatim, complete with divisive rhetoric, swear words and run-on sentences), Brown was shown a brief rundown of the most circulated proposals. He chuckled a little, then frowned. “Well how in God’s name is any government supposed to run like that? ‘Monitor all purchases of all people with even mild mental issues?’ You don’t even have to read ‘1984’ to know that’s oppressive.”

“And it would make it easier for anyone with a grudge to accuse another of mental issues for more ulterior motives. Is someone at work more likely to get promoted to a position you want? Call them crazy? Want to claim your inheritance early? Have your estranged parents committed. Want your spouse’s lover out of the picture? Claim you saw them walking around with a knife and that’s that,” Senator Allen West (R-FL) gave an alarmist summation of the proposal.

“Even I think that’s too far, and I voted for Kathleen Brown’s MHL when I was in the state senate,” noted US Rep. Steve Knight (R-CA).

“On the other hand, sir,” observed Brown’s Chief of Staff, Lisa Marie, “I think left-leaning people ontech are finally beginning to question the effectiveness of California’s mental health law.”

“Well, that would be a good thing,” Brown replied, “It could spark a movement to get that thing repealed.”

“It’s more than just this one incident, though,” countered US Senator Tom Suozzi (D-NY), “People are scared by things like this every time. They want to live in a society that’s not afraid of dangerous people. These tragedies remind them that they don’t.”

“All people want to be safe. It’s the same in every nation. But dangerous people are a part of every society. A knife is meant to cut meat and rope and things like that, but not people. But knives don’t kill people, people kill with knifes. So let’s not blame knives for what people do with them,” Brown remarked.

“Yeah, some of these technetters’ ‘demands’ are too much even for me,” noted US Senator Tony Pollina (D-VT).

“Really?” Asked Franklin.

“I’m from a progressive state, but it’s rural state, too. No sane hunter would agree to needing a special permit to owning a knife.”

“Well what about just keep a register of people who own knives?” Suozzi parroted one technet-based proposal.

Walorski shook her head at the idea. “Tracking would need to be implemented, inflating whichever government they’re attacking, and opening up the door to other kinds of social restrictions.”
In a dramatic fashion, West added, “Never since the days of SARS have people ontech been so supportive of being enslaved by their own government.”

On this point, US Senator Bill Tong (D-CT) chimed in to the conversation with, “No, I agree with you, Allen. This knife attack is not at all reflective of typical knife use or of knife death stats. 55%, a majority, of knife-related deaths are suicides, while roughly 15% are accidental and the remaining quarter or so are homicidal.” [2]

“Are knives the leading method of choice for suicides?” Walorski asked.

“Them and razor blades, I believe, yes, with poison, carbon monoxide, and ledges being the next most common ones, followed then by firearms due to accessibility issues for the mentally troubled,” Tong said coldly but accurately.

“That makes sense,” Walorski commented, “our gun rights are so restricted nowadays it’s no wonder the leading method of suicide is a messy wrist-slash instead of a clean gunshot to the head.”

“Well those kind of statistics are another part of the debate ontech,” Suozzi noted. “Some backers of further knife restrictions claim too many people take to knives to kill themselves.”

“didn’t you hear Tong? If somebody is so messed up in the head that they are adamantly bent on killing themselves, they’ll seek out any means of doing so. No knife? They’ll drink the stuff under the kitchen sink. They’ll walk out onto the highway during rush hour. They’ll leap off a bridge or a tall building. Are we supposed to outlaw all of those things – cleaning fluids, roads, bridges and buildings? No – we just promote state government programs that aim to help those in need to address their mental issues,” Senator West said, “So maybe we should give more funding to the Veterans’ Administration.”

Brown nodded, before saying almost to himself, “I never realized how many psychiatrists my fellow Americans need. Things are more messed up than I thought.”

Midge Osterlund (D-DE), US Senate Minority Leader, also countered fellow Democrat Tom Suozzi by stating “Elderly Americans can buy knives despite them often hurting themselves when cooking with them. We can’t outlaw old people owning knives. If they have serious problems, that’s what assisted living facilities are for, and they’re to be used voluntarily, via a family decision, not a government decision.”

Seeking a compromise of some sort to wrap up the discussion, Tong proposed, “So how about we just promote more responsible knife ownership.”

“‘Responsible knife ownership’? What next, ‘responsible car ownership’?” Brown made sort of snort-chuckle sound. “How would it even work? Are we going to be taking away everybody’s kitchen knives? Is there going to be a limit of how many knives you can own? What about chefs and restaurants, will they need a special permit to have so many knives at one location?”

Tong clarified what he believed would address the issue better than any restrictions. “I mean Knife Safety Education. Knowledge is power. So let’s inform the masses of the basics, offer safety courses at Adult Education Centers and cooking classes and the like. We’ll tell people how to not let dangerous or troubled people get their hands on any knives.”

“So let it be the people’s problem, not the government’s problem,” Franklin nodded in what was becoming another demonstration of bipartisanship.

Suozzi misread the room again to say, “Well if you describe any aspect of life in that way it sounds bad. Let a stubbed toe be your own problem, not the government’s problem. See what I mean?”
Brown surmised, “The creation and maintenance of databases or any other kind of oppressive thing would be costly to implement and way too un-American and draconian – am I using that word right – for real Americans to tolerate.”

“So instead, we’ll introduce a law to provide more funds for states to promote more public awareness of knife safety,” West nodded.

The Senate leaders agreed upon the notion, and soon enough, such a bill was introduced in the US Senate…

– Kathryn Millstone’s The Grammer Administration, Borders Books, 2021



IS WEST VIRGINIA REALLY BECOMING THE VERMONT OF THE SOUTH?

…the achievements of West Virginia’s progressive Governor Charlotte Pritt were on display this summer, as it was reported that a historically high number out-of-state visitors dropped by The Mountain State for Independence Day celebrations. This could be a very clear sign that Pritt’s efforts to shift West Virginia’s economic focus from coal to tourism and technology is already working.

“This is a beautiful state that is located conveniently close to major population centers like Potomac and Philadelphia. We are already seeing more people permanently move out here the more we promote its natural beauty, potential, and possibilities,” Pritt boasted last week in a state radio interview.

The promotion of a “new” West Virginia additionally seems to be slowing the trend of the state’s population declining, as the rate and number of people moving out of the state are at the lowest they have been in decades, even though they are still on the decline.

…Controversially, Pritt recently commented that “Strengthening unions is becoming much easier in West Virginia because the mining corporations are abandoning our state as mines dry out. They are not staying around to hire our workers. Got the companies are got, but the workforce remains. And the workers of that workforce, um, it is the government’s responsibility that they get jobs working in the new and growing industries of this state.”…

– Time Magazine, mid-July 2017 issue



RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT PROPOSAL PASSES HOUSE, MOVES TO SENATE

…the bill, if passed into law, would further shield “organized religions” and “legitimate religious groups” from taxes, grant such groups several additional tax breaks, and grant them easier access to other tax exemptions on a controversial “percentile-based” qualification system…

– The Washington Post, 7/17/2017



RADICAL LEFTIST WINS FRENCH PRESIDENCY

Paris, FRANCE – In tonight’s French Presidential runoff election, Joseph “José” Bové of the Green Party defeated the controversial and increasingly unpopular incumbent President Francois Leotard of France’s Republican party in a 52%-to-48% rejection of the past seven years of conservative leadership.

President-Elect Joseph “José” Bové (b. 1953) began his career as political activist in 1976, soon afterward becoming a sheep farmer and cheese producer near Hérault in the south of France. He co-formed a local farmers’ union and began to oppose GMOs in the early 1990. The “syndicalist” socialist gained national attention and notoriety in 1999 when he peacefully occupied and dismantled a McDonald’s outlet that was under construction near Rodez, Aveyron, to protest US restrictions on imports, claiming that they were harming French farmers and forcing consumers and other businesses owners to give up domestic products for foreign ones. The incident reportedly left an impact on French trade laws; furthermore, the positive feedback to the incident convinced Bové to run for office, leading to him serving as a member of the European parliament (European Greens) from 2003 to 2009 before being elected to French parliament in 2009…

– The Daily Telegraph, UK newspaper, 23/7/2017



HOUSE PASSES TECHNET DEFENSE BILL, 242-199

– The Washington Post, 7/26/2017



…When the UK announced that a “minor hack attack” that had struck London’s cargo rail systems on July 27 was “most likely” of Russian origin, China’s Premier Yang Gang condemned the attack, claiming that, if the attack was government-sanctioned or not, “this kind of behavior is inexcusable in either case.” The statement, made at the UN, received both cheers and jeers alongside the smattering of applause. American diplomats were not alone in being more than aware of the high level of hypocrisy put on display by Yang’s comments; shortly following Yang’s remarks, the French delegation suggested that any and all governments suspected of supporting cyberwarfare in any way should be investigated by the International Court. The offended looks on the PRC’s delegates match those of the Russian diplomats…

– Lee Kim’s Keyboard Campaigns: The Worlds of Cyberwarfare, Created Space Independent Press, 2020



“The growth model China has relied on for the last 30 years – one predicated on low-cost exports to the rest of the world and investment in resource intensive heavy manufacturing – is unlikely to serve it well in the next 30 years.” [3]

– US Senator Gary Locke (D-WA), 7/30/2017 interview



BROWN: “Haha, yeah, well, at least this next bill will do some good.”

GRAMMER: “Uh, which one?”

BROWN: “You know, the Religious Freedom bill. Back in ’05, Jackson and the Democrats in power passed a 0.5% property tax on all religious organizations. The greedy church-traitor. This bill will repeal that earlier unjust bill. I was talking to, uh, Senator Beavers yesterday, she had a lot of good things to say about this new bill.”

GRAMMER: “Well, she would.”

BROWN: “What do ya mean?”

GRAMMER: “I mean, um, well she’s not libertarian-minded, she’s a member of the Religious Right. I mean, she co-wrote the bill for Pete’s sake, so of course she backs it. Naturally.”

BROWN: “Whoa, wait, what does libertarianism got to do with it?”

GRAMMER: “Well, Harley, the bill would actively empower certain religious institutions to an extent – a biased extent – that I don’t think the Founding Fathers would have supported. Tax exemptions is one thing, but showing open preference to Christian institutions at the federal level is just, well it goes directly against the libertarian idea of minimizing government involvement in personal issues like, well, like faith.”

BROWN: “Heh, but, you see, Kelsey, the main focus of the bill is the outlawing of taxing all religious groups.”

GRAMMER: “Yes – on a percentile, so the larger religious groups get more exemptions and less privileges. And the largest religious groups in this country are Christian. So unless it’s meant to incentivize non-Christian groups doing a better job recruiting members, it’s effectively pro-Christian.”

BROWN: “Sure, sure.”

GRAMMER: “Harley, but it’s basically just extra tax breaks and privileges for evangelicals. It makes them exempt from any income tax by making it so even income from businesses tangentially owned by churches will not be subject to federal taxation.”

BROWN: “And that’s a good thing because it’s anti-tax.”

GRAMMER: “No, it’s a bad thing because it shows federally-sponsored religious bias.”

BROWN: “What?”

GRAMMER: “It’s not a good bill, Harley, not for this administration. It’s not a good look and –”

BROWN: “I can’t believe you, Kels. Thought you had my back on this. Especially after I had to meet with all those Senators over that knife legislation.”

GRAMMER: “You keep saying you want to be elected President someday. Think of that kind of stuff as practice!”

BROWN: “Wait, Kelsey, are you saying you’re not gonna back this bill?”

GRAMMER: “I have some reservations about doing so.”

BROWN: “But this bill will defend our First Amendment right to religion!”

GRAMMER: “Right to religion for people, not for religion itself. There’s a difference between an individual person’s religion and a religious organization.”

BROWN: “How can you say that? I thought you were a religious man like me!”

GRAMMER: “I am religious! I overcame drug addiction through the power of Jesus! [4] I read parts of The Bible every night! But religious bias in our law system can’t be tolerated because it goes completely against the idea of separating church and state!”

BROWN: “What separation?! We’re all sworn into office on bibles! We got ‘in god we trust’ on our money! Over 3/4ths of Americans identify as Christian!”

GRAMMER: “Exactly! We can’t ignore or marginalize that other one-fourth.”

BROWN: “How would this bill do that?”

GRAMMER: “I just explained why!”

BROWN: “Oh it’s impossible to talk logic into your head!”

GRAMMER: “What?! My head?!”

BROWN: “Oh, to hell with this, I’m leaving!”

GRAMMER: “Fine, we’ll talk about this later!”

BROWN: “Yeah, maybe or maybe not!”

GRAMMER: “Or maybe so!”

[sound of door opening and closing as Brown exits and another person enters]

SECRET SERVICEMAN: “You okay, Mr. President?”

GRAMMER: “I’m fine. I’m doing better than he is, at least.”

– transcript of White House audio recording, possibly from an A/V security device, recorded 8/1/2017 (leaked 4/7/2021)



BROWN SEEMINGLY SPLITS WITH GRAMMER OVER “RELIGIOUS FREEDOM” BILL; VP Claims The President Is “Just Plain Wrong” On The Status Of Religious Institutions In The US

[pic: imgur.com/nFtFHTD.png ]

Above: Vice President Brown During a TON-TV Interview Earlier Today

– usarightnow.co.usa, 8/3/2017



KENYAN ENGINEERS RECYCLE PLASTIC INTO BRICKS STRONGER THAN CONCRETE

…turning the plastics pollution problem on its head, the team of engineers have unlocked the secret to repurposing massive amounts of used plastics into building materials. Kenya’s Environmental Management Agency reports being “overjoyed” at the breakthrough, seeing as how recent studied show that over 50% of cattle near urban areas in Kenya have small plastic pieces in their stomachs …Kenya’s government hopes that this new technology will help to end the cattle crisis by turning plastic into strong building materials for a variety of products, including housing… [5]

– popularmechanics.co.usa, 8/4/2017 e-article



…In August 2017, the Hasbro toy company was found guilty of violating Federal Trade Commission regulations, concluding a months-long investigation into allegations of union-busting, threatening workers, and firing other laborers attempting to organize a worker’s union. President Grammer commented on the indictments and courtroom drama with the slip “managers have rights, but so do workers.” Polling conducted by the White house found that his comment upset Democrats sympathetic to the President, but did not significantly impact his standing within the GOP…

– Kathryn Millstone’s The Grammer Administration, Borders Books, 2021



THE MAXIMUM FREEDOM BILL: Proposed Reform Would Cut Taxes At A Historic Rate

– National Review, early August 2017 issue



…Grassroots initiatives to restore native forests of the high altitude of South America’s High Andes are bearing fruit, as the government of Chile today announced that over 25,000 hectares of High Andean forests have been restored from the effects deforestation in the ten years since restoration efforts began…

– BBC World News, 8/9/2017 broadcast



…In a vein similar to the “Playhouse Theater” programs of 1950s TV, “Child’s Play” was an interactive entertainment program on both TV and the technet, where viewers voted ontech on story ideas sent in and posted by people confirmed to be between the ages of 5 and 15. The show’s writers then contacted and worked with the winners of the poll to write out the script. Next, the show would film the story with cheap effects and a cast featuring at least one celebrity of some kind to pull in more viewers. Each episode was either ten, twenty or forty minutes long, each one was self-contained, and different actors were used for each of them.

Child’s Play isn’t remembered for being this state-of-the-art show or for being ahead of its time. It wasn’t at all costly at first (its season 1 budget was even smaller than that accumulated for Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Yeah, that Tommy Wiseau). And even though it was described by The Overmeyer Network, in collaboration with ourvids.co.can, as a “social entertainment project,” the idea of combining TV broadcasting with direct audience involvement had in fact been around for decades. It had even been tried with technet activities many years before – especially in Bollywood, where the lengthy municipal lockdowns brought on by the SARS pandemic of 2002-to-2005 was a boon to technet-based engagement that soon found its way to the entertainment industries of the west by the end of that decade.

Instead, Child’s Play caught on and was best remembered for its imaginative and over-the-top ridiculousness, which was brought on by technetters testing the commitment of its writing staff. They wanted the people of the technet to vote on what show to put on, and the technetters almost always voted for the most surreal, the most ludicrous, the most balls-to-the-walls insane stories that could be found on the polls.

The first episode premiered on 11 August 2017. Its ten-minute story, sent in by a 7-year-old boy from Kenosha, Wisconsin, was about traveling to an island made entirely out of ice cream; the writing team expanded on it to be about a mad doctor attempting to use lactose to combat Global Climate Disruption, only for his 7-year-old nephew to become stranded after his machine malfunctions, and the nephew must be rescued before “Ice Cream Island” melts away into the ocean. The episode had a very quick pace and very hammy acting, but little kids loved the premise and older kids loved its aesthetic. The sight of guest star Terry Crews worriedly knee-deep in CGI “Strawberry Swirl” quicksand became an iconic image practically overnight, and spurred interest in the series.

The initial popularity of its first season, consisting of ten episodes of varying length and quality and ranging in themes and appropriateness, from kid-friendly to dark, led to critics failing to figure out how to categorize the show. A bigger budget was granted for season 2, allowing the show to air 2 episodes a month from August 2018 to March 2019. Season Three aired from September 2019 to May 2020, and had an even bigger budget.

Perhaps too big a budget. The abstract, nearly avant-garde fun ended with The Overmeyer Network cancelling the series in December 2020. They were mid-way through airing Season 4, with the final episodes being released earlier this year for remaining fans of the show. The official explanation was that the show’s began to fall sharply. As it turned out, its supporters were loud in sound, but small in number.

Retrospectively, it became known as a platform where many celebrities got their start; the show was praised for its level of audience interaction and for its sense of self-awareness, going for broke whenever an over-the-top idea won a poll and capitalizing on its time length flexibility.

Fans are still furious of Child’s Play’s fanfare-free finale, refusing to bid farewell to such a trippy and thematically-diverse concept. The CP community ontech is more of a niche community today, but it is a very passionate one. Already, they are demanding that T.O.N. greenlight a fifth season, but will the network actually do it? Probably not. The show was already expensive in its third and fourth season, and T.O.N. seems uninteresting in returning to what some former CP writers claim was a logistical nightmare behind the scenes.

With that in mind, maybe the show’s premise and concept should stay right where it currently is – not in the compost bin of history, but securely in the hands of its fans. Already, CP fans are compensating for the anthology series’ cancellation by sharing and circulating home videos, scripts, even comic book pages depicting stories based on the winners of polls conducted on their own, with an even smaller shoe-string budget than that of CP Season 1 in a renewed sense of community among these enthusiastic – and imaginative – technetters...

– transcript of video essay What on Earth Was “Child’s Play?” uploaded to ourvids.co.can on 6/6/2021



GOP PASSES PARTISAN ALTERATIVE TO E.P.I.C. JOBS BILL: Dems Call It “Weak” And “Watered-Down,” But “Still Better Than Nothing”

– The Washington Post, 8/14/2017



…However, in order to avoid allegations of favoritism, President Grammer also travels to Iran that month as well. Flying to Tehran to meet with the Shah of Iran for a quick photo-op, the American President next sat down with Iranian Prime Minister David Samadi [6]. A conservative ex-physician, Samadi rose to power after being praised for overseeing SARS vaccination efforts while serving as the Mayor of Tehran in the later half of the 2000s decade. Samadi capitalized on the sit-down, as it was ahead of the September 2017 Chicken Dinner Summit, to reaffirm Iranian commitment to maintaining “peace in the region and dominance in the cosmos,” referring the Middle Eastern Bloc’s space projects. President Grammer also took the opportunity before the cameras to again emphasize American support for “lasting peace for all who live in the Middle East”…

– Madawi al-Rasheed’s The History of Modern Saudi Arabia, Sunrise Books, 2019 edition



…we can now confirm that another terrible maritime tragedy concerning a cruise ship had unfolded, as a United Korea cruise ship is sinking off the coast of the Philippines. With roughly 800 passengers onboard, the relatively small cruise vessel is slowly taking on water ten miles off the coast of the city of Surigao, and local government officials are attempting to organize emergency rescue operations, redirecting nearby boats to the sight of the incident. While we cannot confirm the exact cause of the ship’s water breach, our panel of experts still believe that it is not due to Chinese hacking or Russia cyber-warfare, which is what many technetters are claiming in baseless and unsubstantiated false claims…

– BBC World News, 17/8/2017 broadcast



MOTHER-POST: Breaking!: Steve Irwin production company has hired former “SpongeBob” animators for cartoon project

The Crocodile Hunter is venturing into the world of animation with plans for an animated TV series. The project will aim to “educate young children about the awesomeness of wild animals,” says Irwin, 55. See the full article here.

>REPLY 1:

I wouldn’t be surprised if he switched to less extreme things like this. He is getting on in years.

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 1:
Yeah, this is probably because of that leg he broke a few years back. You watch his latest live-action show and if you compare it to his earlier work you can see that he’s starting to slow down a bit.

>REPLY 2 to REPLY 1:
He’s only 55? Dear God, I thought he was in his mid-60s!

>REPLY 2:

It looks like it’s going to be for really little kids. I don’t get it.

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 2:
I think it’s because he’s getting on in years and he’s having trouble doing live-action stunts and tricks. But with the SB kind of stretchy and energetic animation he could still entertain people.

>REPLY 2 to REPLY 2:
I heard he’s planning on retiring in a few years and handing over his empire to his wife and kids.

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 2 to REPLY 2:
I don’t think he’s going to retire completely, he’ll still be involved – he IS The Crocodile Hunter, after all – but yeah, he’s already getting his sons and daughter more involved on his shows both behind and in front of the cameras, so I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that happened.

– euphoria.co.usa, a public pop-culture news-sharing and chat-forum-hosting netsite, 8/18/2017 posting



21 August 2017: On this day in history, The Great American Eclipse of 2017, a total solar eclipse, was visible to the (protected) human eye in a path across the contiguous United States, with the eclipse “traveling” from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast; the Moon was just 3 days past perigee, so it was a relatively large eclipse; it was the first solar eclipse to be visible across the entirety of the United States since 1918, and the first total eclipse to be visible from anywhere in the mainland US since 1979; the experience was the first of its kind for many Americans, leading to parties and road trips to celebrate the path of totality.

– onthisdayinhistory.co.uk



JEREMIAH DENTON, US PRESIDENT #38, IS DEAD AT 93

– The Washington Post, 8/22/2017

[pic: imgur.com/MmVUVAQ.png ]

– clickopedia.co.usa



Hurricane Harvey was a record-breaking Category 4 hurricane that formed on August 17, 2017 made landfall in Texas, and dissipated on September 2, 2017, after laying waste to the US states of Texas and Louisiana, along with several other locations. It remains the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the US.

The hurricane caused severe floods across Texas, especially in Houston and southwestern Texas, killed 52 people in total, and inflicted roughly $100billion (2017 USD) in damages, making it the costliest hurricane to hit the US since Katrina swept through the state of Louisiana in 2005. Due to the extent of the record-breaking floods, which proved “catastrophic” to the local government of Houston, the name “Harvey” was retired later in the year and replaced with “Harold” for the 2023 hurricane season...

– clickopedia.co.usa



…The White House responded to the wrath of Harvey by trying to work with state governments and private enterprises to coordinate a more effective federal response. Grammer soon proposed an emergency funding bill to be passed through Congress by the end of the month.

In one vidcall with US Senator Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Grammer opposed Thornberry’s reservations on promoting “federal intervention” over concerns that it would “hurt the budget in 2018.” Grammer, who had heard Thornberry voice a similar concern on TON the day before, condemned the Senator’s priorities, saying “first of all, the economy is booming, and second of all, why are you more concerned about the BBA when people are literally drowning in your own home state. Mac, guess what? We can worry about the cost later! We don’t have loan sharks breathing down our necks; we’re the government – we breathe down other people’s necks! So listen – either get off your ass and help me send this help to your constituents or I promise I’ll remind them of your priorities the next time your name shows up on a ballot!”

– historian Jane Mackaman’s What Principles Endure: An Examination of The Grammer Presidency, Vintage E-Books, 2022



…Immediately, President Bové advanced his agenda through a parliament that only partially friendly toward his goals. Implementing a tax on foreign exchange transactions was the first proposal, but stalled to the point that the raising of tariffs on several foreign imports occurred before the tax passed through parliament in late August. From there, Bové took to the French court in opposition to the fossil-fuel companies…

[snip]

…Bové’s relationship with some world leaders was different than it was with others. The anti-globalist got along well with US President Grammer, the Canadian Prime Minister, and even with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, but often found himself publicly opposing UK PM Alastair Goodland and the leaders of Spain, Italy and Ireland, along with UN Secretary-General Surakiart Sathirathai and the leaders of several global brands and corporations…

– Marie Luneau and Francois Dufour’s France Is Never For Sale, Verso Books, 2022



GRAMMER SIGNS FEDERAL EMERGENCY RELIEF BILL INTO LAW

…however, the President is still urging private businesses to contribute to charity drives to help provide basic needs for the victims of Hurricane Harvey…

– The Washington Post, 8/31/2017



INTERVIEWER: “Dolph Lundgren, you’ve just been cast against type in a new science drama on the Trojan Tower Disaster miniseries! What can your fans and other TV watchers expect from you in this new vehicle?”

LUNDGREN: “I think they’re going to be in for a very good time, a very eye-opening time. I’ve read the script, and it’s a good script, very informative and very exciting. I mean, it’s based on a real event, a very tragic event, but it was an event steeped in drama and suspense that I think will really keep people on the edges of their seats even if they already do know what’s about it happen here and there.”

INTERVIEWER: “Did you have to do any special training for this role?”

LUNDGREN: “I like to do research for projects I’m invested in, but the thing is, I already have a master’s degree in chemical engineering, so I actually know what I’m talking about in this role. I’m already familiar with the material.”

INTERVIEWER: “Really?”

LUNDGREN: “Yes, I studied chemical engineering at Washington State University, at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and at the University of Sydney” [7]

INTERVIEWER: “Fascinating. So will you have any action scenes at all in this series, in any episodes?”

LUNDGREN: “My character is one of the inspector scientists who worked to determine the deadliness of a potential meltdown at the Trojan Tower Nuclear Plant and repeatedly warned the plant owners of their need to shut down. I won’t be running into the building itself, trying to manually turn off valves or trying to cool the reactor core.”

INTERVIEWER: “Well, rewrites are possible, so you never know.”

LUNDGREN: “That is true.”

– People Magazine, early September 2017 issue



Republican Senators Just Passed a Massive Tax Cut Bill. Here Are The Social Programs It Hits Hardest.

– tumbleweed.co.usa, 9/3/2017



MILLIONS PREPARE FOR TOMORROW’S ALBERT-AND-ANNE WEDDING

…Prince Albert, Duke of Cambridge, at age 35, will marry Anne Panter, a former professional field hockey player, age 33, at St. George’s Chapel, in England, UK. Second in line to the throne after his father, Albert, named after his grandfather, is a bachelor no more, as people around the world are set to tune in to watch the marriage ceremony. The BBC expects an estimated global audience of 1.6 billion will watch the royal wedding...

[pic: imgur.com/6xx5PhY.png ]
Above: Anne Panter

…The soon-to-be-Princess Anne, born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, first met Prince Albert at the 2011 Commonwealth Games but did not begin to date one another until re-meeting in 2014 for a multisports charity event in London…

– The New York Times, 9/4/2017



PRINCE ALBERT MARRIES ANNE PANTER!; TV Audience Shatters Records!

– The Toronto Star, 9/5/2017 “wedding special”



The Family Tree of Charles, Prince of Wales

CHARLES, Prince of Wales (b. Prince Charles of Edinburgh, 1948), m. Sarah, Princess of Wales (b. Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia “Sarah” Spencer, 1955) 1981-present

> Son Albert, Duke of Cambridge (b. Prince Albert of Wales, 1982), m. Anne Panter (b. 1984) 2017-present

> Daughter Rosemary, Duchess of York (b. 1984), m. Thomas Henry Robin Kingston (b. 1978) 2015-present
> > Granddaughter Elizabeth “Bethie” (b. 2016)

> Daughter Emily “Emmy,” Duchess of Gloucester (b. 1987)

> Son Aloysius “Lou,” Duke of Sussex (b. 1989)

> Son Alexander “Lex,” Duke of Kent (b. 1991)

– lineage.co.usa, c. September 2017



…several American and Mexican studies published in 2017 strong indicated that, due to both American intervention into Mexico’s recreadrug crisis at its peak in the 1990s followed by post-SARS economic expansion, the stabilization of Mexico’s markets and “community security” (1995-2005), roughly 17,000 of American workers from both lower and upper classes had gradually moved from the US to Mexico between 2005 and 2015…

– Novelist, researcher and former journalist John Clay Walker’s Recreadrug Lords And The Cartels of Today, 2019



Hurricane Irma was a powerful that caused widespread destruction in September 2017, especially in the northeastern Caribbean and the Florida Keys. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, with Hurricane Maria being the second, hitting the islands two weeks later. Irma was one of the most powerful hurricane on record in the open Atlantic region, outside of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico until Hurricane Dorian beat its records two years later. It was also the third strongest Atlantic hurricane at landfall ever recorded, just behind the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and Hurricane Dorian, and the most intense hurricane to strike the continental United States since Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005. Technetters labelled the storm “Irmageddon” as a way of describing the extent of its intensity and the damage it left behind.

Irma developed from a tropical wave on August 30, and weather patterns and conditions allowed the storm to alternate between rapidly intensifying and plateauing in strength as it travelled along its path, fluctuating between Categories 2 and 3 for several days before becoming a Category 5 hurricane on September 5. Peaking on September 6 with record-breaking 1-minute sustained winds of 180 mph (285 km/h).

Despite Irma briefly weakening to a Category 2 storm while making landfall on Cuba, the storm returned to being a Category 4 Hurricane just as it crossed the warm waters of the Straits of Florida and making landfall in the United States on September 10. The system then degraded into a remnant low over Alabama and ultimately dissipated on September 13 over Missouri.

The storm caused catastrophic damage across several nations, and caused at least 79 deaths overall…

[snip]

…In the US’s Virgin Islands, residents and tourists were “shocked” by the extent of the storm and its deadly damage to the territory. The US government responded relatively swiftly. Almost immediately, the USS Dinger amphibious assault ship traveled to the USVI to provide supplies, assess damage, and assist in evacuations and rescue operations. Three other warships docked in Texas to assist that US state with post-Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, were sent to the USVI a day later. ODERCA airlifted in supplies for residents and rescue workers over the course of the next several days, in coordination with the National Guard and the Coast Guard...

– clickopedia.co.usa [8]



IOC Session No. 132

Date: September 14, 2017

Location: Lima, Peru

Subject 1 of 1: bidding for hosting the 7/26/2024-8/11/2024 (or XXXII) Summer Olympics

Results Breakdown:

Jakarta, Indonesia – 14 (Round 1) – 15 (Round 2) – 18 (Round 3) – 21 (Round 4) – 25 (Round 5) – 36 (Round 6) – 52 (Round 7)

Paris, France – 11 (Round 1) – 12 (Round 2) – 15 (Round 3) – 20 (Round 4) – 28 (Round 5) – 32 (Round 6) – 45 (Round 7)

Casablanca, Morocco – 17 (Round 1) – 18 (Round 2) – 19 (Round 3) – 19 (Round 4) – 23 (Round 5) – 29 (Round 6)

Guadalajara, Mexico – 10 (Round 1) – 12 (Round 2) – 15 (Round 3) – 19 (Round 4) – 21 (Round 5)

Tokyo, Japan – 15 (Round 1) – 16 (Round 2) – 17 (Round 3) – 18 (Round 4)

Baku, Azerbaijan – 12 (Round 1) – 14 (Round 2) – 13 (Round 3)

St. Petersburg, Russia – 7 (Round 1) – 10 (Round 2)

Nairobi, Kenya – 7 (Round 1) (withdrew ahead of Round 2 to avoid a “side vote” to break the tie between Nairobi and St. Petersburg)

Doha, Qatar – 4 (Round 1)

End Result:

Jakarta, Indonesia won hosting duties on the 7th round

– aldaver.co.usa/votes.html



“…A leadership election for the Progressive Conservative party has been called after a motion of no confidence was made against Prime Minister Rogers over his poor handling of implementing his party’s tax plans…”

– CBC, Canadian TV channel, 9/15/2017 broadcast



16 September 2017: On this day in history, Hurricane Irma, which formed on August 30, dissipates after creating a path of destruction across the Caribbean; on the island of Barbuda, every single building is damaged by the storm to some degree, seven are killed – including the former PM, who is the son of former PM Vere Bird; because the storm’s destruction matches the description of a prediction made by convict Arthur Nibbs, a diehard cult worshipping him sprouts up virtually overnight

– onthisday.co.uk



SENATE PASSES TECHNET DEFENSE BILL, 60-44

– The Washington Post, 9/17/2017



…In September 2017, a Russia separatist group in the Caucasus Mountain region of the region called The Circassian Liberation Front (dubbed and popularized as “the CLF” by the US’s CIA) increased their more violent activities in the Russian “republics” of Adygea, Cherkkessia and Kabardino, three tiny pockets in southwestern Russia that were more ignored by the rest of the NDRR than even Ingushetia. While investigating the reasons behind the rise in CLF support in the region, INTERPOL operative uncovered links that prominent members of the CLF had to weapons smugglers operating in Tajikistan and Eritrea. This was when it was first suggested that the CLF “terrorist” group was trying to acquire nuclear weapons.

While INTERPOL kept the links under wraps, UN rules dictated that relevant world leaders be informed of such probes. During the subsequent VidCall, Nikolayev condemned such activities and compliantly answered any questions that came his way. His cooperativeness prompted a majority of the members of the UN Security Council to believe him when he said that he had no connections to the CLF. The fact that two businessmen associated with two former business acquaintances from Nikolayev’s days in the logging industry being implicated in the possible weapon smuggling scheme was purely circumstantial...

– Victor Cherkashin’s Relentless: The Leaders of Post-Soviet Russia, Basic Books, 2020



FRANCE’S BOVÉ TO EXTEND TARIFFS ON IMPORTED ITEMS TO 17 MORE COUNTRIES, STARTING AT MIDNIGHT

– theguardian.co.uk, 18/9/2017



GRAMMER SIGNS TECHNET DEFENSE ACT INTO LAW

– The Washington Post, 9/19/2017

[vid: youtube.com/watch?v=umzgPQrXduM ]

– ourvids.co.can, 9/22/2017



…In response to the damage and crisis Hurricane Maria has unleashed upon the US state of Puerto Rico, with the storm essentially retracing most of Hurricane Irma’s path of destruction just a few weeks ago, President Grammer and Vice President Brown have called for an immediate emergency session of congress to pass a federal assistance and relief bill for the island’s citizens…

– KNN Breaking News, Saturday 9/23/2017 broadcast



GRAMMER VISITS SAN JUAN; Pres. “Shocked” By Damage Extent

…in a showcasing of his libertarian streaks, the President is urging all private businesses to contribute to emergency relief efforts…

– The Miami Herald, 9/25/2017



GOP PASSES EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE BILL

…covering the cost of transporting 1.6 million gallons of water, 23,000 cots, and several dozen generators to Puerto Rico, the resolution concludes several intense days in the Beltway as federal agency leaders met with congressional leaders and communicated with community and emergency services organizers on the ground in Puerto Rico. The bill also offers tax credits for private businesses and enterprises that make donations to charities and other groups attempting to get the 52nd state back up onto its feet…

– The Washington Post, 9/29/2017



MANUFACTURING COMPANY GIVEN “RECORD-BREAKING” FINE FOR ROLE IN KOREAN CRUISE SINKING

…the company that produced the faulty engine that exploded onboard the United Korean vessel The Floating Petal in August has been issued the most expensive fine in Korea’s history… Trials and investigations are still ongoing to determine precisely how much both the CEO of the company and the United Korean shipbuilders who ordered the engine actually knew concerning the cheap product’s explosive internal issues…

– The Asahi Shimbun, Japanese newspaper, 10/1/2017



Mikhael Mirilashvili [9]

Born: May 1, 1960; Kulaski, Georgian SSR

Education: qualified medical doctor specializing in pediatrics, St. Petersburg University

Background: This Israeli-Georgian businessman originally worked in medicine before joining his family’s real estate business, which he grew into a multinational corporation by developing casinos and shopping malls in Russia and other parts of the world. In the early 2000s, he expanded into the renewable energy sector and into the media industry, promoting social networking sites such as BuddyTalk and Vkontakte. Developing a net worth of over 4.5billion (as of late 2016), Mirilashvili has also become a generous philanthropist for the scientific community, offering grants at his alma mater and at the University of Moscow. His major contributions to projects in Israel, via his real estate, tech innovation, and construction companies, such as Kitaim, Flarium Global, Joshes Argaman, and Be’er Isaac Energy, have all contributed to transforming southern Israel from a sparely populated desert to a bustling center of living and commerce for that nation…

– Scientific American, monthly popular science news magazine, “innovator” profile, October 2017 issue



…Audio description technology has come a long way since MIT created DOTSYS software in the 1960s. The current “fifth-generation” CRAVITS (Computer-Reading Assistant for Visually Impaired Technetters System) provides voice description for any netsites its users visit, assuring technet accessibility for the blind. Even video-hosting sites such as ourvids are compatible thanks to Raymark, one of the most popular debugging/antivirus company, partnering with longtime contributor Reed Hastings to assure A.D. software flexibility…

– Joy Lisi Rankin’s Computers: A People’s History of the Information Machine, Westview Press, 2018



…Over the years, one internal debate that repeatedly arose without a proper resolution was whether or not KFC should allow other countries to alter the recipe. While Colonel Sanders was using vegetable oil for frying chicken at the time of his death in 1990, economic factors were leading to a push to change to recipe yet again, with many KFC outlets in places such as Canada and the UK repeatedly requesting that the parent company allow them to use a blend of palm and soybean oil.

In October 2017, Finger Lickin’ Good, Inc. CEO William Kirk Hannon, in office since January of that same year, made the historic decision to review and approve of KFC-Japan’s request to amend the recipe for their outlets. The oil used in KFC in Japan became the more expensive cottonseed and corn oil, as KFC Japan believes that this offers superior taste quality. Soon after, KFC-UK’s request to use their palm-soybean blend at their outlets was reviewed and approved as well.

The decision from the head office established a precedence of KFC outlets outside of the US selling food made with recipes amended for either economic or culinary reasons. Internal responses to this major policy shakeup was mixed. Some execs, such as Jan Fields (the Head Executive of FLG’s Smokey Mountain BBQ Steakhouse and a former McDonald’s executive) embraced the notion as a way of trying out alternate recipes in markets abroad. Fields reportedly told former KFC CEO Adrien McNaughton “this way, if we see something bringing in revenue, we can try it out at home [in the US] with minimal fear of it performing poorly. On the opposite side of that coin, a different recipe performing poorly oversees will do well to warn us not to try it out over here.”

Others, however, were more wary of the policy change. “I think decentralizing KFC’s kitchens may lead to a decline in quality control,” Vipul Chawla, Wendyburger COO at the time, wrote to the famous Hatton Salt later that month, “I can clearly image a tourist trying KFC in one country, then in another, and being surprised and disappointed by the lack of uniformity in how our food taste. It will make many customers who can travel around begin to question our commitment to maintain top-notch standard for all of our products at all of our locations.”…

– Marlona Ruggles Ice’s A Kentucky-Fried Phoenix: The Post-Colonel History of Most Famous Birds In The World, Hawkins E-Publications, 2020 [10]



AUTOMATION: Good For Business In The Short Run Only?

…more studies are finding that customer loyalty drops the more automated a company becomes... Financial experts and business leaders disagree on how businesses should react to this phenomenon in the upcoming years…

– The Wall Street Journal, 10/12/2017



TEXANS ARE NOW USING MORE WIND THAN COAL FOR ENERGY

…The University of Texas announcing earlier this month that the state of Texas is now receiving more energy from wind than from coal comes just a few years after wind power capacity in Texas surpassed coal production in the Lone Star state. Wind farms have been popping up across Texas for roughly two decades now, with more than 60,000 acres being owned by several thousand landowners and being dedicated to wind farm usage. Additional reports from Texas A&M and Texas Tech show that wind turbines generated 35.2% of Texas’ power during the last two fiscal quarters, while coal generated only 27.9%, according to ERCOT. “Credit for the rise in wind turbine use must be given to recent advancements in battery technology to extent energy storage,” says the head of the Texas A&M study, who cited recent improvements in the 100-megawatt lithium-ion battery used by a plurality of wind farms located in Texas…

– Time Magazine, mid-October 2017 issue



…Another major cyberattack occurred on October 14, 2017. Striking several western and Scandinavian banking accounts and personal business files, the attack revealed in detail how several European companies that sought to benefit during the 2013 recession with tactics such as buying or selling certain stocks and other financial investments and actions. The hackers also leaked to the presses the offshore financial activities of several northern European law firms, politicians, corporate giants, and business leaders in an event described by the UK’s Daily Telegraph as “shaking Scandinavian society to its core almost into the ground in a near-crushing moral blow to the citizens of these countries.” With faith in and approval of several institutions across Norway, Sweden and Finland dropping almost to 2013-era levels as the press gobbled up the grim and grisly details found throughout the leaked documents and the court dragging them even further for public display, the CIA became convinced that the attackers were anti-capitalist in nature.

“Whoever did this wants to take down the freedom-loving Western World,” as America’s spritely young CIA Director, the effervescent Evan McMullin, put it during a meeting with Grammer and others. “So this must have been the work of the Chinese.”

“We’ve got to reiterate our goals,” the President moved on from the culprits to the solutions. “We have better encourage private companies and businesses to take advantage of our cybersecurity departments’ resources. We’re offering assistance to state and local governments to impede the effectiveness of the kind of cyber-attacks from both foreign and domestic elements.”

“And we’ve put to ramp up our anti-attack software systems,” Secretary of Defense Collins nodded. “The Norwegians didn’t see it coming, but we’re staying vigilant.”

“Right,” the Deputy National Security Advisor for Emerging Technology, US Army Gen. Ron Kovic (ret.), bellowed out. “Enhance encryption and multifactor authentication! Protect all potential targets – aerospace tech, biotech, telecommunications, medical systems, and energy systems in the business sectors. All those places got hit in Scandinavia, all of them might be targets over here!”

The US DET’s Undersecretary of Cybersecurity concurred…

– Kathryn Millstone’s The Grammer Administration, Borders Books, 2021



Donald R. Katz (b. January 30, 1952) is the founder audible.co.usa and the CEO of Audible, Inc., which were both founded in 1995 and are headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. In 2001, Katz was awarded the Fritz & Newsom Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Illinois. Named one of illinois.co.usa's “25 Most Influential People in Illinois” in 2014, Katz was also recognized as one of America's Top 25 Disruptive Leaders by “Living Cities” for his work on behalf of urban transformation in southern Chicago, Illinois.

Katz was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 30, 1952. He graduated from New York University in 1974, where he studied with Ralph Ellison, who had been made Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities. Katz credits his decision to work in the field of audiobooks to his studying under Ellison, with his emphasis on literature being “something more than text [and] something that should be heard and performed,” according to Katz in a 2001 interview. Katz also said, in that same interview, “I studied literature with Ralph as much as I read his work and talked about writing… Audible is a testament, in many ways, to what I learned from him.” Before founding Audible, Katz was an author and journalist for twenty years.

Katz founded audible.co.us in early 1995. The netsite exploded in use and popularity in 2004, amid the post-SARS exercise craze. Audible.co.usa has served millions of listeners nationally and worldwide since its founding; the netsite currently offers over 500,000 downloadable audiobooks, audio editions of periodicals, audio description software, and other audio programs and services. Audible.co.usa also commercialized portable digital audio players, contributing to the ontech downloading culture of the late 1990s. Audible.co.usa operates seventeen global outlets, including websites in the UK, Spain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Germany and most recently Mexico.

[notice: this article is cluttered; editing is welcomed] [notice: the article is a stub; further sources and information is welcomed]

– clickopedia.co.usa, c. October 2017 [11]



EX-WBK STAR ROBERT HEGYES RETIRES FROM ACTING AMID DECLINING HEALTH

…the announcement, which Hegyes described as a “painful decision,” comes two weeks after being spotted apparently collapsing on the set of “Windigo 4” in Chihuahua, Mexico, in what was described as a “health-related incident” at the time… Hegyes, 66, is suffering from “the long-term effects of” Type 2 diabetes, and says he has “got only a few more years left, and I want to spend them with my family.” …Hegyes is arguably best known for portraying Juan Epstein, the multiethnic “sweathog”-turned-cop-turned-teacher of the “Welcome Back, Kotter” TV/film franchise. …Upon hearing of the announcement, actor John Travolta, a WBK co-star of Hegyes whose career reached its apex in the 1980s before a sex scandal in 1986 to cost him several prominent roles, leading to his career prospects not picking back up again until the late 2000s, posted his condolences onto social media condolences. Following suit soon after were WBK co-stars Gabe Kaplan (D-NY) and Ronald Polillo (D-CA). Kaplan, best known as the titular Mr. Kotter, is a former US Senator who ran for President in 2000, while Polillo is a prominent BLUTAGO-Rights activist who unsuccessfully ran for a US Congressional seat once…

– The Hollywood Reporter, side article, 10/21/2017



“…the field of PC MPs running to try and unseat the increasingly unpopular PM became less crowded today when Jean-Francois Archambault announced that she would not challenge Prime Minister Rogers for the leadership role. This now leaves only four challengers: three MPs – Peter Stoffer, Pierre Ducasse, and current frontrunner André Bachand – and 17-year-student Noah Ryan Scott, who is running a ‘protest’ candidacy. Two other MPs, Jim Prentice and Mario Beaulieu, initially expressed interest in running, but in the end decided to support Rogers’ efforts to preserve his administration…”

– CBC, Canadian TV channel, 10/22/2017 broadcast



GRAMMER: “I’m going to be perfectly honest with you, Harley. I’m only meeting with you today because Marissa insisted I bury the hatchet.”

BROWN: “Not into my back, right?”

GRAMMER: “Oh come now, let’s not be so boorish over some piece of legislation.”

BROWN: “The legislation, Kelsey, could do a lot of good for a lot of people.”

GRAMMER: “What an excellent rendition of one of the vaguest law descriptions ever uttered.”

BROWN: “There you go again with the fancy talk. Turn off the Frasier switch and answer one question – do you still think that churches should pay some taxes, period?”

GRAMMER: “A small amount of taxes, yes.”

BROWN: “Second question, then – a follow-up question, actually, so it still counts as part of the first.”

GRAMMER: “Sure.”

BROWN: “Do you still plan on opposing, or possibly even vetoing, this bill?”

GRAMMER: “No, actually.”

BROWN: “Wait, really? What changed your mind?”

GRAMMER: “I took a look at the bill’s margin of victory in both sides of the house. Overwhelming majorities in both chambers. It’s a clear mandate. It is what is wanted. If I deny what so many want, I may have a difficult time passing anything next year. Spite is a very powerful thing in D.C., you know.”

BROWN: “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

GRAMMER: “Especially in our party.”

BROWN: “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

GRAMMER: “And in this room.”

BROWN: “I get it, I get it, but you’ve got to admit, you’re a stubborn fella, too.”

GRAMMER: “Alright, I admit it: I can be stubborn at times.”

BROWN: “Okay. And, in the spirit of honesty, I’ll tell you, my wife wanted me to make amends with ya, too.”

GRAMMER: “She’s a smart woman.”

BROWN: “Yours ain’t too bad, either.”

GRAMMER: “Mm. So, are we good?”

BROWN: “I guess.”

– transcript of White House audio recording, possibly from an A/V security device, recorded 12/6/2017 (leaked 4/22/2021)



…By October 2017, the rift between the President and Vice President began to mend in the wake of the Religious Freedom Bill making its way from congressional committee with President Grammer making only some changes to it. With the help of the retiring US Senator Olympia Snowe and other party members whose identities are still not yet disclosed, some provisions that were slyly attached to the taxation reform during its final pre-vote revision was the retaining of Jesse Jackson-era property tax codes for religious organizations that own more than 500,000 acres of land, among other retentions…

[pic: imgur.com/6YITqsf.png ]

A briefly clean-shaven President Grammer sits in the White House, watching the Senate vote on the Religious Freedom Bill of 2017 on a video monitor...

– historian Jane Mackaman’s What Principles Endure: An Examination of The Grammer Presidency, Vintage E-Books, 2022



Religious Freedom Act Passes Senate, 55-47

…the fact that not all Republicans voted “yea” of the bill hints at the rift between the libertarian and deeply-conservative wings of the Senate GOP, and sheds light on the question of religion’s place in the modern Republican party…

– The Washington Post, 10/24/2017



FREE LOVE: The Utopia of John Noyes

Rated: OEO (Over Eighteen Only)
Premiered: October 25, 2017
Genre(s): drama/romance/erotic thriller

Directed by: Payton Reed
Written by: Jeremy Garelick and Erika Mitchell
Produced by: Tumbleweed Media

Cast:
Johnny Depp as John Humphrey Noyes, the leader of an unconventional community
Debralee Scott as Harriet Noyes, the “den mother” of the community
James Franco as Charles
Sasha Alexander as Mary
Betsy Brandt as Maybelline
Harland Page as Clemson Stout
Rashida Jones as Omara, a “mixed race” escaped slave struggling to find a place in society where she belongs
See Full List Here

Synopsis:
In 1848, American preacher and liberal religious philosopher John Humphrey Noyes (1811-1886), with several followers, flees from arrest warrants in Vermont and settles in Oneida, New York, to found The Oneida Community, a utopian proto-socialist commune described as “The Kingdom of God on Earth.” The group’s highly unusual practices lead to conflict with nearby settlers, primarily over Noyes’ invention of a practice called “free love.” Oneida’s social structure is stable, but privately creates tension, suspicion, and heartbreak among the main characters over the course of many years. Focus on “perfecting” the commune slowly leads to it becoming corrupted by eugenics talking points. Escalating conflict between the commune members mirrors rising hostilities from local authorities, culminating in an almost-fatal confrontation. In 1879, Noyes is forced to dissolve the community and flee to Canada to avoid arrest, living there until his death. His son, Pierrepont Noyes, later co-founds the Oneida silverware cutlery company.

Reception:
The film saw decent success at the box office, but face criticism for its “dramatization” of historical material.

Trivia Facts:

Trivia Fact No. 1: Historical Omissions and Inaccuracies From The Get-Go

While the film includes the fact that John Humphrey Noyes’s father, John Noyes, was a former US Congressman from Vermont, the film fails to mention the fact that his mother was an aunt of President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881), whom the film alleges pushed to have Noyes arrested in 1879.

– mediarchives.co.usa [12]



DEBATE IS RISING IN GREECE OVER THEIR “SEXIST” MONARCHY SECESSION LAW

…King Constantine II of Greece, age 76, has ruled from a disputably shaky throne ever since his ascension to it following the death of his father just over 50 years ago. Constantine II’s lukewarm popularity has in recent years been joined by weakening health. These developments in the monarch’s well-being have fueled rumors that the King will advocate any day now. His personal charm, and his leadership during the recent near-invasion from Bulgaria’s short-lived junta certainly boosted his personality, would certainly make such a transition easy.

However, Greece’s male-preference primogeniture states that the King’s oldest child, Princess Alexia, will be passed over in favor of her younger brother, Prince Paul. Alexia, age 53, is much more popular among the Greek people than Paul, age 50, with the former being one of the most-followed individuals on Greek social media due to her many charitable and philanthropic works, while her younger sibling, arguably best known for his yachting ventures, received controversy in early 2003 for crashing his personal yacht into a fisherman’s boat, and again in 2014 for accidently sinking another yacht off the coast of Mykonos.

As a result of this law preventing Alexis from becoming King should her father abdicate, calls to change the monarchy’s succession laws have garnered support among the Greek populace, with many more active members of the nation’s populace demanding action. So far, the King, the royal family, and Greek PM Ioannis Plakiotakis (b. 1968) have all declined to comment on the calls. Nevertheless, the demand for amending the royal line of succession is interesting in that already polls show that supporters and opponents of such reform fall on “gender lines” – a large majority of women polled by Greek poll companies expressed support for Alexia succeeding her father, while an overwhelming majority of men polled expressed support for Prince Paul…

– The Daily Telegraph, UK newspaper, 10/26/2017



“It’s been roughly five years exactly since Hurricane Sandy, and the implementing of storm barriers has still not occurred. Despite the Grammer administration’s support for state-level projects, can’t the federal government do anything to help this process along, given the fact that New York City is a financial center vital to the national economy, not a state-level economy?”

“While there are many more immediate and pressing issues to address first, we will provide any help that we can to the area once the state and municipal agencies agree to a project proposal that works them and does not interfere with the decision-making of said state and municipal agencies. Regional problems require regional solutions, not federal interruptions. It is up to the state governments to find a solution, and it is up to the federal government to assist without interfering with their laws.”

– exchange between a reporter and the spokesperson for the US Department of Community Development, 10/29/2017



“…Turning now to political news – several off-year elections are to be held next week, including two US Senate seats, and polling shows that even this close to Election Day, the winner for many major races is pretty much anyone’s guess, as both the Republican party and the Democratic party share very similar approval/disapproval ratings…”

– CBS Evening News, 10/30/2017 broadcast



ANDRÉ BACHAND BEATS OUT PM ROGERS IN PC LEADERSHIP CONTEST

…Prime Minister George Rogers will exit office on the eleventh, after failing to challenge a motion of no confidence from several members of the Progressive Conservative party. Rogers’ raising of taxes alienated many Canadian voters and politicians given that the top campaign issue that he ran on in 2013 was “lower all taxes, not lowering some taxes and raising others,” as his former Deputy PM observed last week… Our next Prime Minister, the 23rd Prime Minister overall, and the leader of tonight’s leadership contest will be André Bachand of Quebec. Bachand was the Mayor of Asbestos, Quebec from 1986 to 1997, and has served in parliament since 1999…

– The Toronto Star, Canadian newspaper, 11/1/2017



RIETH WINS RACE FOR GOVERNOR IN BLOW TO RULING DEMOCRATS

…Glenn K. Rieth (R, b. 1957), the former Dean of West Point, Virginia, served in the US Army from 1980 to 2008, reaching the height of Adjutant General of New Jersey and Commander of the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard in 2002 before retiring in 2006 to protest President Jesse Jackson’s slashing of the US military budget. Rieth was strongly supported by former US Deputy Attorney General Chris Christie. Both Christie and Rieth were raised in Livingston; their families knew each other, and the two have been close allies with the Garden state’s Republican Party… Lieutenant Governor-Elect Anna Campbell Little has already received congratulatory vidcalls from Democratic nominee Stephen M. Sweeney (b. 1959) and his running mate, Shavonda E. Sumter (b. 1974)…

– The Star-Ledger, New Jersey newspaper, 11/7/2017



…In tonight’s gubernatorial contest in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Democratic nominee Anne Bright Holton has just been declared the winner. Holton has defeated Republican nominee Jill Vogel in a narrow contest, with a margin of less than 3% separating the two major-party candidates…

– CBS Evening News, 11/7/2017 broadcast



“THE DOCTOR IS IN”: Voters Pick “Medicine Manny” For HRC’s Seat

…In tonight’s U.S. Senate Special Election, voters selected Republican nominee Dr. Manny Sethi to finish the six-year term that Hillary Rodham-Clinton was re-elected to in 2012 but vacated early this year to become the US Secretary of Commerce…

– The Commercial Appeal, Tennessee newspaper, 11/7/2017



OLETHA FAUST-GOUDEAU WINS SPECIAL ELECTION TO US SENATE SEAT

…in a dramatic demonstration of the growth of Nebraska’s urban areas, an African-American female Democratic US Representative has won a US Senate seat from the deeply conservative and consistently Republican-voting state of Nebraska. Faust-Goudeau’s surprise rise in the political arena can also be due to her support for policies and programs and protect and aid elderly Americans, who came out droves across the state to back the moderate Democratic lawmaker…

– The Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska newspaper, 11/7/2017



…Election Eve 2017 was The Moment of Truth 2.0, the test to see if the people of New York City were truly satisfied with Mayor McMillen’s allegedly “radical” changes to the Big Apple’s “rental-industrial complex,” from raising vacancy costs on landlords to capping rent and restructuring zoning laws… [snip] …At 3:05 A.M. on November 8, the Democratic/Liberal nominee, city councilperson Trisha Ellen Meili, conceded the race to McMillan; Republican/Conservative nominee Richard A. “Bo” Dietl followed suit an hour later. In the face of a multitude of media attacks from establishment-friendly liberals and conservatives critical of his attacks on landlords and police precincts, the people of New York City stood firm alongside their mayor. McMillan, officially running as an Independent endorsed by the Working Families party, secured a second and final term with 51% of the vote – a majority of first-preference votes, thus avoid any instant-runoff counting from occurring, much to the consternation of some Democratic and Republican psephologists who were certain that McMillan’s implementation of RCV in 2016 would be his own undoing. Trisha Ellen Meili came in second place with 30% of the vote, and Bo Dietl came in third place with 17% of the vote, while several minor candidates receiving the remaining 2% of the vote…

– Maria Stevenson and John Capozzi’s TRITDH: The Jimmy McMillan Story, Vagabond Books, 2021



YOUNG BEATS CUSHINGBERRY!

…In a “David-vs-Goliath”-like fight for the Mayor’s seat, incumbent Mayor George Cushingberry Jr. lost a bid for a third term (which would have been his sixth nonconsecutive term in total) to city councilman Coleman Alexander Young II, the progressive son of former Mayor Coleman Young. Young faced an uphill climb against Cushingberry, a longtime staple of Detroit politics who was reportedly on Gary Locke’s running mate shortlist last year. However, Young was able to mobilize a coalition of supporters ranging from active technetters to voters nostalgic for the good times Detroit had under his Mayorship, allowing for “Young the Younger” to best Cushingberry by a 7% margin despite being outspent by a margin of more than 2-to-1…

– The Detroit Free Press, Michigan newspaper, 11/7/2017



RICHARD ROMERO WINS ALBUQUERQUE MAYORSHIP

…the Democrat’s victory in tonight’s election comes over a month after winning a plurality of 47% in the city’s blanket primary on October 3rd…

– The Albuquerque Journal, 11/14/2017



“…in the aftermath of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake striking the nations of Iran and Iraq, the Shah of Iran is offering US$5million worth of emergency provisions to their neighbor in light of the roughly 200 dead and roughly 30,000 made homeless on both sides of the border, but mostly on the Iraqi side. The offering is either an honest act of goodwill, or a political maneuver to try and bring Iraq closer into Iran’s sphere of influence and farther away from Saudi Arabia’s sphere of influence…”

– BBC World News, 15/11/2017 broadcast



…The “off-year” elections of 2017 were a surprisingly mixed bag for an overall popular Presidential administration. In the Mayoral elections, the truth found in the old term “all politics is local” was on full display, as several election defied the pro-Republican trends found at the national levels.

In Los Angeles, the incumbent Mayor Herb Wesson (D) defeated the more centrist Mitchell Schwartz (D). In Albuquerque, New Mexico, progressive activist Richard Romero (D) secured easy victories in the October 3 primary and November 14 general elections. In Detroit, Michigan, voter backlash to lackluster moderates overall saw the city’s longtime political staple, Mayor Cushingberry, finally lose a citywide election.

Farther South, Houston voters chose progressive reformist Dwight Boykins (D) over Adrian Garcia (D) and incumbent Gene L. Locke (D) in their Mayoral election held on November 7; Locke reportedly came in third place largely due to his allegedly “horrid” handling of Hurricane Harvey hitting Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle, which endorsed the more moderate Garcia.

In Louisiana, Mitchell J. “Mitch” Landrieu (D) was an exception to the overall anti-establishment sentiments reverberating across the country’s cities in the autumn of 2017. Landrieu, the child of one former Mayor and the younger sibling of another former Mayor, won the October 14 and November 18 primary and general elections by wide margins, though many credited these easy victories more on name recognition than on his “progressive but vague” platform…

– Kathryn Millstone’s The Grammer Administration, Borders Books, 2021



GRAMMER SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM BILL INTO LAW, “THROWING A BONE” TO THE RELIGIONS RIGHT

…The President most likely waited until after the November elections in order to minimalize the effects that signing the legislation could have on voting tendencies and turnout in said political races…

– The Boston Globe, 11/17/2017



CARNIVAL IN HOT WATER: U.S. Cruise Ship Parent Company To Face Legal Charges For Negligence In Italian Incident, International Court Rules

[pic: imgur.com/YwrBcqS.png ]

...in a landmark ruling pertaining to a massive multinational class-action lawsuit, the multinational cruise liner company is allegedly responsible for the actions of those under its employ, including the captain and senior officers onboard the Pinnacle during the Pinnacle-Sirena Disaster of January 2017. However, it is not known if the United States Justice Department will recognize the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction… If found guilty of negligence, the US-based Carnival company could lose millions of dollars in litigation and other fees, fines and payments…

– The New York Times, 11/19/2017



GRAMMER AND BROWN ALL SMILES AGAIN AT D.C. FUNCTION

…celebrating Thanksgiving at a Washington, D.C. political function, it seems that the ice between POTUS and the VP has thawed…

– usarightnow.co.usa, 11/22/2017 e-article



PASOK WINS MAJORITY OF SEATS IN GREEK GENERAL ELECTIONS: Gennimata Set To Become P.M.

…the elevation of Fotini “Fofi” Gennimata and the left-wing PASOK (an acronym for the Panhelenic Socialist Movement) political party over incumbent PM Ioannis Plakiotakis comes amid a rising wave of feminism in Greece…

– The Guardian, UK newspaper, 25/11/2017



“…Governor Raul Labrador of Puerto Rico is praising President Grammer’s ‘swift and effective’ response to Hurricane Maria ravaging his state in September, posting onto PalChat to thank Grammer for his ‘pragmatic efforts to aid the most vulnerable and the worst hit.’ The Governor has in recent days credited Grammer, a fellow Republican, and his home state’s emergency services for the island’s speedy recovery from the damage received in what Labrador calls ‘one of the worst hurricane seasons in recent memory’...”

– ABC Morning News, 11/27/2017 broadcast



ARMS TRAFFICKER TOMMY GUN TOMMY’S SENTENCE REDUCED TO TEN YEARS FOR ASSISTING POLICE

…for assisting law enforcement officers in arresting other arms smugglers, T.G.T. has had his sentenced reduce in a move that is leading to a mixture of public outcry and public support for the infamous gun runner…

– The Chicago Tribune, 12/1/2017



…The expensive Guggenheim Guadalajara Museum finally held its grand opening in Mexico today, after over 12 years in development. Wealthy local philanthropist and businessman Jorge Vergara presided over the ceremonies…

– NBC News, 12/2/2017 broadcast



“…moving on to political news, where Lisa Borders, where the Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia was won a second term. Borders, the former President of the WNBA, won a blanket primary on November 7 after winning praise for her city’s smooth applicating of ‘police precinct reform measures’ introduced by Georgia Governor Shirley Franklin all the way back in 2011…”

– CBS Evening News, 12/5/2017 broadcast



Katherine DENTON: “Alright, all current former First Ladies gather round now.”

Joanne KEMP: “We’re not sheep, dear, you don’t have to corral us in.”

Sheila WELLSTONE: “I’m keeping the minutes!”

Paula DINGER: “Wait, where are the Iacocca sisters?”

DENTON: “They were unable to partake in organizing these festivities due to prior engagements.”

Jacqueline JACKSON: “That’s what they say every time we all try to work on something here.”

DINGER: “Well, their track record when it comes to visiting their former abode does strongly support the notion that the White House is just too sad and tragic a place for them to visit.”

JACKSON: “I get that. I just would like to hear it from their words just once. You can’t get over a problem without admitting you got one, and those girls have got one.”

DENTON: “So do we. While Katy and Lia visit their relatives in Italy, we still have to come up with one last thing – the theme for the main Christmas tree, the main focus of the decorations.”

WELLSTONE: “What’s wrong with ornaments showing how Christmas is celebrated around the world again?”

Karen GRAMMER: “Too international.”

DENTON: “Ah, Karen, so good for you to finally join us after such a long, long, long delay.”

Marissa Joan HART-GRAMMER: “Whoops, sorry for being tardy again, Mrs. Denton, ma’am. Should we go to the principle’s office now or later?”

JACKSON: “Heh-heh.”

DINGER: “What was that you said coming in, Karen?”

Karen GRAMMER: “A global theme would be too international. The administration wants to avoid the notion of America trying to influence the globe or having some sort of claim to it.”

KEMP: “What hogwash.”

DENTON: “But it’s the hogwash that this White House wants to avoid, Joanne. Now let’s concentrate of this, ladies. What would best represent Christmas and America?”

HART-GRAMMER: “How about humanitarianism at home and abroad? That’s not too similar, is it?”

KEMP: “Well, we already sort of did that last month.”

WELLSTONE: “Yeah, remember? We all pitched in to help organize all those charity drives for the victims of The Big Three.”

JACKSON: “That was one wild Hurricane season, I was having Katrina flashbacks all summer long.”

WELLSTONE: “Yeah, even Katy and Lia helped out with that to deal with homelessness and other problems.”

DINGER: “And Marissa, you did a wonderful job working with all those woman Senators, Reps, and Governors to get all those feminist activist causes off their keisters.”

HART-GRAMMER: “Aw, thanks.”

DENTON: “Mm. Obvious brownnosing aide, can anyone think of any positive to say about our current dilemma?”

JACKSON: “I would suggest the theme of bipartisanship, but as one of only two Democrats here, I’ve got the feeling that that would get voted down.”

KEMP: “Well, Katherine – you said the tree should represent Christmas and America, right?”

DENTON: “Uh, another obvious thing. I mean, yes.”

KEMP: “Well then why not have it be about this Christmas and this year in America. Have each ornament highlight the high-points of America in 2017, from humanitarianism, like Marissa suggested, strides in civil rights – there you are Jacqueline – and this administration’s standing on the world stage – uh, if you want to, Karen.”

HART-GRAMMER: “That might work!”

DINGER: “We still have time to get custom ornaments from that, um, that place, right?”

DENTON: “The tree’s to be revealed in 16 days. Even if we finalize the order today we’ll be cutting it close, but…definitely close enough.”

GRAMMER: “Alright, so let’s wrap this up already before we waste any more time. All in favor of going with the theme of ‘2017’?”

WELLSTONE: [tapping] (quietly) “seven”

GRAMMER: “All opposed?”

WELLSTONE: [tapping] (quietly) “zilch”

DENTON: “So it’s agreed. Alright. Meeting adjourned, then.”

– transcript of White House audio recording, possibly from an A/V security device, recorded 12/6/2017 (leaked 4/22/2021)



“We have seen more and more trucking jobs disappear every year, and this year saw the numbers climb to numbers that cannot be ignored for much longer. The more trucking jobs that are lost, the more common that strikes and protests are going to pop up in states across the country. Towns reliant on truck stops, and families reliant on these incomes are going to go hungry without direct action of some kind from some place. They need help paying for bills, because automation cannot be stopped, and at this point it cannot even be slowed, but it can be prepared for. Because the fourth industrial revolution is here. It’s happening now. It’s been happening for years. And it affects all of us because it’s been ongoing everywhere, in every region, in every state. Labor leaders like Mary Kay Henry and Janice Fine have the right idea in demanding that management provide ‘ramp-off’ programs to teach their workers new skills prior to their current job being automated away. Members of the IBT, the SEIU, and the AFL-CIO all need to revisit the CBA table. We need to expand the NITR and pass more Federal Aid Dividend-like programs statewide if not federally, and we have to better teach our current workers, not just our future workers, how to survive in our increasingly robot-run worlds.”

– prominent businessman Andrew Yang, TumbleweedTV interview, 12/9/2017



DUNEDIN RESIDENT FATALLY STRUCK BY SELF-DRIVING CAR

…Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 27, jaywalked in a move that the car did not anticipate. “Tarrant broke a rule of the road, something that someone behind the wheel of a car would not have even had the time to react to and hit the break in time. This automated car stopped immediately, but even as it was traveling at a below-limit speed, the limitations of friction and physics could not prevent the car from hitting this jaywalker,” says one of the company’s representatives.

Nonetheless, the fatal incident will likely lead to a court case, and could very possibly damage the self-driving car’s reputation of being safer than human drivers…

– The Southland Times, New Zealand newspaper, 12/12/2017



REPORT: COAL USE DOWN 11% GLOBALLY!

…continued use by China and India is being offset by major reductions and slowdowns in use elsewhere, most notably in Europe, New Zealand and North America…

– The Boston Globe, 12/14/2017



THE BATTLE OF POINT JUDITH – 3.9 out 5 Stars

Released: December 15, 2017

Director: Clint Eastwood
Producer: Zach Snyder

[snip]

Top-Liked Review (5 out of 5 stars):

While this movie is best known for the on-set fighting that often exploded between Eastwood and Snyder, it really must be viewed on its own merits. Despite problems with budgeting and deadlines, the film itself holds up very well to scrutiny. A dramatic acknowledgement of a little-known real-life confrontation between American forces and a Nazi German U-boat off the coast of Rhode Island at the close of WW2, the film is not only historically accurate – an aspect of the story that Eastwood achieved despite Snyder’s attempt to “dramatize” it – but it is an entertaining and well-paced action flick that makes the most of its two-hour runtime. With a talented ensemble cast and a brilliant use of suspense, this movie had me on the edge of my seat!

– filmreviews.co.usa



SOCIAL DEMOCRAT WINS KOREA PRESIDENCY

…the voters of United Korea have chosen Roh Hoe-chan of the Social Democratic Party to be the sixth President of the reunified peninsula. Roh defeated four other prominent candidates in a competitive contest that Roh won with a plurality of 38%. In second place was Moon Sung-hyeon (DLP) with 21% of the vote, followed by Chung Dong-young (CDP) with 17% of the vote, Park Won-soon (GNP) with 14% of the vote, and Lee Jae-oh (Populist) with 9% of the vote; the remaining 1% of the vote was split among several minor candidates…

– The Asahi Shimbun, Japanese newspaper, 12/19/2017



“…In Sacramento, California Governor Cruz Bustamante today signed into law a bill that gives tax breaks and write-offs to Golden State high schools, universities, and adult education centers that teach knife safety programs, with specifications ranging from mandatory or voluntary inclusion in home economics curricula and in security guard/police officer training courses. The bill aims to help educate people on how to uphold knife safety, better detect mental health ‘red flags,’ and how to safely defuse knife-related crises…”

– KNN, 12/20/2017 broadcast



…The Culver’s chain continued to rise in the late 2010s thanks to another economic factor – a dairy surplus brought on by 2017 being an above-average year for dairy farms in the Midwest. With farmers having more milk than they could sell, Culver’s was the first fast food chain to purchase the excess products in bulk, leading to the company soon heavily promoting “with cheese” items, milkshakes, yogurt special, and their iconic Butter Burgers.

[pic: imgur.com/ixvMgYM.png ]

Above: A Culver’s Butter Burger

Sales spiked soon after the December 21, 2017 announcement that the typical price of a Culver’s butter burger was to be “slashed” (reduced) by 25% from December 21 to January 21, with similar price drops being announced for other products in the days that followed. Other fast food chain reacted to the resulting “rush” on Culver’s locations by mimicking their actions – purchasing surplus from dairy farms, temporarily reducing prices, and launching advertising campaigns to lure in more customers with said price drops – in a move that intensified the Burger Wars of the 2010s…

– Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Sunrise Publishers, 2021



"BEFORE THE COLONEL" CASTS LIGHT ON COLONEL SANDERS' UPBRINGING

…Starring Jennifer Bini as the main character of this dive into the formative years of our 36th President, “Before The Colonel” is a religious drama film following the life of Margaret Ann “Maggie” Dunlevy, the mother of Harland David “Colonel” Sanders. Marrying Wilbur David Sanders (played by James Corden) in 1889, the couple relied on each other during economic hardships and health crises until Wilbur’s abrupt death in 1895. Corden, who plays a serious role surprisingly well, gives a (midwestern?) American accent his best shot, and though it slips at times, he keeps it up fair enough. Now alone with three young children, Maggie turns to her faith in God and family to support her daughter and two sons, and teaches her oldest, The Colonel, important lessons he vows to uphold throughout his life.

The film’s unique story focuses on how the future President’s upbringing impacted, influenced and molded his morals and ideas, led by the most prominent person of his early life, his mother. Along with stellar performances from supporting players such as the well-known character actor Brad Dourif and the prolific Robert Clotworthy, the cinematography and directing alone makes this religious movie stand out among other offerings produced by the conservative Faith Flix film studio. The sweeping views of rural Indiana and Bini’s success at reflecting the stress felt by widowed single mothers – especially during one scene set appropriately at Christmas – must be singled out for their ability to be dramatic without falling into hammy “soap opera” territory. However, its heavily religious and pro-Christian undertones do make the film’s pacing screech to a halt at times. 3.5/5 stars.

– Variety, 12/22/2017 review



I was wrong about spending Christmas with Great-Aunt Josephine. Everything here is so huge! The tree inside the living room is taller than our house! Everything is bigger – the presents, the turkey, everything! I got the latest Skullkicker VidGame and a new bicycle and I got to ride it around Great-Aunt Josephine’s backyard (Ma calls it an “estate.” Whatever). She’s got so much on her property. I don’t get why we don’t visit all the time. Something about our wing of the family not getting along with the rest of the family. The word “blacksheep” comes up a lot. I just thought it’s because she lives in Florida, we live in Oregon, and the rest of the “extended family” live mostly in Lewieville and Florence, Kentucky.

But anyway, the backyard has this trail along the side of this stream, and bigger pathway-thing through what I think were tennis courts. The pathway links back up to the side place on the estate, so I was just cycling around and around until I threw up a bit of the turkey. Fun times!

– Darrell Harvey Winger Jr., private journal, 12/25/2017 entry



…I was in the room. I took notes. Granted, I was later ordered to destroy them and their copies, and under watchful eyes, I had to do so before I could make any extra copies, but the fact remains that I took them. So what I profess to be the truth is in fact the truth: Nikolayev did in fact have contact with the Eritrean dictator Sebhat Ephrem throughout the year 2017. But then, in late December, my boss ordered that I and the rest of the technet support team remove all records of vidcalls from his schedule and his computers' logdrives that had anything to do their direct discussions. A clean sweep…

– Marina Lebedev’s tell-all memoir My Time In The Nation of Nikolayev, Perspective Publishers, 2022



NOTE(S)/SOURCE(S)
[1] OTL thing! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_Piloted_Assembly_and_Experiment_Complex
[2] IOTL, 60% of gun-related deaths are suicides, while less than 10% are accidents!: https://gunsandamerica.org/story/19...ut-a-new-poll-suggests-few-americans-know-it/
[3] An OTL comment: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/gary-locke-quotes
[4] OTL!
[5] Based closely on this OTL article!: https://www.ecowatch.com/plastic-bricks-in-kenya-2650645441.html
[6] David Samadi was 15 when his family fled Iran in 1979 IOTL; here, he stays and enters politics as well as medicine
[7] OTL!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolph_Lundgren
[8] Some passages here were lifted directly from this hurricane’s OTL wiki article
[9] This is a real-life person, BTW: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhael_Mirilashvili
[10] Italicized snippets were pulled from here!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFC_Original_Recipe
[11] Some passages here were pulled directly from his OTL Wikipedia article, others are edited passages, and the rest is original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Katz
[12] Based on the OTL thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneida_Community



The next chapter’s E.T.A.: April 30 at the very latest!

Hello, I'm new here. I've been on this forum reading this TL for a while now and I have to say, this is incredible! Very accurate and detailed, and even the premise of a fast food mogul becoming a politician is nicely handled.
It'd be nice if some topics such as game shows, other TV series such as The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, other defunct restaurants including Howard Johnson's, toys, including Transformers, My Little Pony (yes, I'm one of those people), licenses, action figures and more, motorsports, including NASCAR and IndyCar, and those old pizza place animatronics from Chuck E. Cheese's, ShowBiz Pizza Place, etc. to be covered, but if you're unfamiliar with any of these, it's fine. Not everyone's familiar with them; I wasn't even familiar with pizza joint animatronics until a few months ago, and I'm not demanding. It'd also be nice if the voice casts for these animated series such as The SpongeBob Zone and Life in Heck were covered as well.
That being said, I'm looking forward to future updates!

Sure thing! And welcome to the site!

 

[Kennedy Forever]

Great update. Really enjoyed the disagreement between Brown and Grammer over the Religious bill. Interesting insight into the discussions. I also enjoyed Grammer traveling to Iran. Keep up the good work

 

[ajm8888]

@gap80

This is an unexpected birthday present for me, thank you.

 

[Sunstone77]

In the UK, there has been numerous knife surrender programs over the years in areas where knife crime is high. Maybe a similar program can be encouraged by Grammers administration which could be spun as reducing crime without impinging on personal freedoms and cheaper alternative to other programs and legislation. Having a memorial to the July 4th knife attack victims be some form of sculpture cast from said knives is also something that might play well (not to mention, there's always the opportunity for humor when someone turns in a pop-culture prop made deadly, like the bat'leth allegedly taken in during one knife amnesty).

Also, is it wrong that I kind of want to see a thumbnail for a Internet Historian style video on the Pinnacle-Sirena Collision?

 

[President Eternal]

And here I thought Grammer and Brown were going to permanently split.

I'm still anticipating big problems in Russia with how openly corrupt Nikolayev is. But we'll see what happens.

 

[historybuff]

Love the update.
If possible, a version of someone based on me, if that can work. If not, I don't mind. If it can work, I'll PM you ideas.

 

[PNWKing]

Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 27, jaywalked in a move that the car did not anticipate. “Tarrant broke a rule of the road, something that someone behind the wheel of a car would not have even had the time to react to and hit the break in time. This automated car stopped immediately, but even as it was traveling at a below-limit speed, the limitations of friction and physics could not prevent the car from hitting this jaywalker,” says one of the company’s representatives.

Nonetheless, the fatal incident will likely lead to a court case, and could very possibly damage the self-driving car’s reputation of being safer than human drivers…

Couldn't of happened to a nicer piece of s***.

 

[Trevor807]

Hello, I'm new here. I've been on this forum reading this TL for a while now and I have to say, this is incredible! Very accurate and detailed, and even the premise of a fast food mogul becoming a politician is nicely handled.
It'd be nice if some topics such as game shows, other TV series such as The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, other defunct restaurants including Howard Johnson's, toys, including Transformers, My Little Pony (yes, I'm one of those people), licenses, action figures and more, motorsports, including NASCAR and IndyCar, and those old pizza place animatronics from Chuck E. Cheese's, ShowBiz Pizza Place, etc. to be covered, but if you're unfamiliar with any of these, it's fine. Not everyone's familiar with them; I wasn't even familiar with pizza joint animatronics until a few months ago, and I'm not demanding. It'd also be nice if the voice casts for these animated series such as The SpongeBob Zone and Life in Heck were covered as well.
That being said, I'm looking forward to future updates!

 

[Bbone91]

Couldn't of happened to a nicer piece of s***.

Did I miss something, who isBrenton Tarrant?

 

[Trevor807]

Did I miss something, who isBrenton Tarrant?

Attacked a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019.

 

[Bbone91]

Attacked a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019.

Ah.

 

[Kennedy Forever]

Couldn't of happened to a nicer piece of s***.

Definitely glad New Zealand is spared that horrific tragedy

 

[hagersalthist]

Biden decided to run for the US Senate again because he was aware that he was not relevant on the national level even among Democratic politicians; according to his son Hunter, “Even some of his fellow Governors couldn’t remember who he was.” Biden considered a run for the Senate, a body closer to more nationwide issues, would be an easier undertaking than facing off against the candidates running in the crowded Democratic primaries. Additionally, incumbent Senator J. Caleb Boggs was now 75, and considered vulnerable due to recent health scares and his record of missed votes. Finally, Biden’s wife, Neilia Hunter, did not think their family was “ready” for the White House. With five children – Beau, b. 1969; Hunter, b. 1970; Naomi, b. 1971; Catherine, b. 1973; and Mary, b. 1975 – and their youngest suffering from numerous health issues, Neilia believed that a run for the Senate would place considerably less pressure and stress on the family than would a Presidential run “at that point in time,” according to Hunter Biden, “but if things got better, Ma thought, then Dad could run ’88 or ’92.”

She lives! I'm so happy! I wonder what the kids are up to lately.

 

[hagersalthist]

@gap80 Yesterday, I saw on the news that Walter Mondale passed away. Do you plan on doing a special chapter dedicated to him?

 

[gap80]

Great update. Really enjoyed the disagreement between Brown and Grammer over the Religious bill. Interesting insight into the discussions. I also enjoyed Grammer traveling to Iran. Keep up the good work

Thanks

@gap80

This is an unexpected birthday present for me, thank you.

Your welcome!

In the UK, there has been numerous knife surrender programs over the years in areas where knife crime is high. Maybe a similar program can be encouraged by Grammers administration which could be spun as reducing crime without impinging on personal freedoms and cheaper alternative to other programs and legislation. Having a memorial to the July 4th knife attack victims be some form of sculpture cast from said knives is also something that might play well (not to mention, there's always the opportunity for humor when someone turns in a pop-culture prop made deadly, like the bat'leth allegedly taken in during one knife amnesty).

Also, is it wrong that I kind of want to see a thumbnail for a Internet Historian style video on the Pinnacle-Sirena Collision?

Thank you for this interesting information!

Well then, expect such a thumbnail in one of the 2019 chapters!

And here I thought Grammer and Brown were going to permanently split.

I'm still anticipating big problems in Russia with how openly corrupt Nikolayev is. But we'll see what happens.

Indeed!

Love the update.
If possible, a version of someone based on me, if that can work. If not, I don't mind. If it can work, I'll PM you ideas.

How exactly would that work?

Couldn't of happened to a nicer piece of s***.

I agree

Hello, I'm new here. I've been on this forum reading this TL for a while now and I have to say, this is incredible! Very accurate and detailed, and even the premise of a fast food mogul becoming a politician is nicely handled.
It'd be nice if some topics such as game shows, other TV series such as The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, other defunct restaurants including Howard Johnson's, toys, including Transformers, My Little Pony (yes, I'm one of those people), licenses, action figures and more, motorsports, including NASCAR and IndyCar, and those old pizza place animatronics from Chuck E. Cheese's, ShowBiz Pizza Place, etc. to be covered, but if you're unfamiliar with any of these, it's fine. Not everyone's familiar with them; I wasn't even familiar with pizza joint animatronics until a few months ago, and I'm not demanding. It'd also be nice if the voice casts for these animated series such as The SpongeBob Zone and Life in Heck were covered as well.
That being said, I'm looking forward to future updates!

Sure thing! And welcome to the site!

Definitely glad New Zealand is spared that horrific tragedy

I am too

She lives! I'm so happy! I wonder what the kids are up to lately.

I'll mention them in a future chapter, maybe 2019.

@gap80 Yesterday, I saw on the news that Walter Mondale passed away. Do you plan on doing a special chapter dedicated to him?

Mondale passes away ITTL in 2022 or possibly 2023 due to the US Presidency having the tendency of actually extending human life, as described in this article here: https://www.lifeinsure.com/american-presidents-and-life-expectancy/

Thanks for replies, everyone; I really appreciate them!

Good point on my idea not working out. Oh well, I don't mind.

I didn't say it wouldn't, I merely asked how it would.

 

[historybuff]

Good point on my idea not working out. Oh well, I don't mind.

 

[ajm8888]

I am happy with this TL I will be sad when it ends eventually but I look to the wonders we’ll see on the journey

 

[Trevor807]

Even if it does end (and I do want it to keep going for as long as gap80 can do it), we ought to be grateful for the story. A ride it has been. From TTL having a President Sanders (not that Sanders. Or Sandurz, for that matter) to Trump and Wiseau joining forces to craft three so-bad-it's-good films that make The Room look forgettable by comparison; seriously, imagine all the memes (or what they're called ITTL) that would come from just one of these movies, let alone a trilogy. These little details add to the timeline, and if it were a book, I'd imagine it'd require thousands of pages and lots of volumes. And months to read, probably.

 

[Sunstone77]

I am happy with this TL I will be sad when it ends eventually but I look to the wonders we’ll see on the journey

Hopefully we will get to see a spin-off, The Kentucky Fried Future, in which Cyborg-Sanders leads humanity to the stars

For real though, gap80, this timeline has been an absolute blast and will be very sad the day it ends