Chapter 101: January 2011 – August 2011
Chapter 101: January 2011 – August 2011
“Don’t go along to get along; avoid the chloroform of conformity!”
– Henry Howell (OTL)
…President Wellstone had wanted to continue his predecessor’s push for police reform at the state level. While the federal government no longer issued contracts to private prisons, state governments were not barred from following suit. Calls from those in his cabinet and WH inner circle who were to the farthest to the left wanted to nationalize America’s prison system, along with doing the same for rail and even interstate travel. Such ideas, however, were put on hold in the wake of the 2010 midterm losses. Wellstone’s new plan – pass as much as possible through the hostile majority-Republican chambers and with the Democrats win back the Senate and House in 2012. Thus, the “great progressive push” was put on hold for the time being…
– Roberta Gillespie’s Watershed: An Assessment of The Wellstone White House, Princeton University Press, 2016
US TREASURY DEPARTMENT WARNS: INFLATION IS A “RISING CONCERN”
– The Wall Street Journal, 1/5/2011
Mother was happy that she no longer had to drive the car every day. The long bus rides in and out allowed her to spend time with us. I remember how scared she was – how all the grownups were – when everyone began talking about “SARS” and soon began wearing masks. Suddenly, Mother feared the bus terminal, and the cramped quarters of the city bus. Soon by brother Uri and I were introduced to what it is like to be chaperoned around, but with your parent behind the wheel instead of sitting between you and your bratty sibling. Instead of getting whiplash from turning her head back and forth, Mother would hurt her throat telling us to stop bickering, because she had to watch the road. Trips with Mother stopped being as fun as they once were. By the time she finally felt that the buses were safe enough to take again, I was 16, my brother was 14, and two more siblings, David and Noa, were in the picture.
Mother sat with them on the bus ride home like how once did with Uri and I; with no other seats nearby being vacant, I stood. When Mother asked David about school, complained about his latest math class, whining “Why do we have to learn how to read an old-fashioned clock, with a big and little hand? When will I ever not have a phone with me?”
“He has a point, Mother,” I say, noting the digital display on my minicomp.
Mother just smiled slightly at his innocence and reminisced about her own time in school, back in the early 1990s, right before I showed up. “I remember being shown how to turn on the computer being installed – just one computer for the whole class. I thought it was the most bizarre thing in the world. And it was so much bigger than what the children have today. Do you remember when we were in Blumshtot visiting your Uncle Yosef? We went to that one shop – Tamar, you remember, they had a similar model there.”
“I remember I wasn’t impressed by its large size and bulbous shape.”
Pow!
Mother’s eyes widened and looked like she was about to shriek. When someone on the other side of the bus bellowed, “Fender bender! Fender bender, everyone.” Mother breathed a sigh of relief, like an awful weight was being raised off her chest. “For a moment there, I thought…”
“Thought what, Mommy?” asked Noa with those baby-doe-like eyes of hers.
“Oh, nothing, sweetie,” went Mother’s white lie. “Nothing.”
As we approach our stop, my mind wanders to my primary school years. I remember looking at a photograph of Colonel Sanders on my teacher’s desk and wondering, “Wait, why is The Colonel’s face everywhere?” I asked my mother about it later that day, and she told about how important he was at a crucial moment in our nation’s history. She told me that, the day when it was announced that The Great Chef had died, everyone was sad, especially her teachers and her own parents, who remembered the Before-Times, the pre-treaty days, even more vividly than did Mother. “Some people even looked scared,” Mother said. I was more confused than anything else; I already knew that the man behind the face on so many fast-food product packages had played an important role in recent history, but I couldn’t understand the details, not yet anyway.
[snip]
Father’s carpool soon dropped him off, and Mother soon said to him the same tired line she had said hundreds of times before. “Be ready to help me in the kitchen. If I’m not the only one eating, why should I be the only one cooking?” She soon added an addendum: “You remember my friend, Suhana, down the block? Her husband often doesn’t help with the meal prep – that’s why he’s made their couch area into his own second bedroom.”
Father silently brushed off the remark and said, “You didn’t forget the extra spot on the end did you?”
“Of course not. But remind me – you said you’re brother’s dropping by on his own, or are you picking him up?”
“He’s taking a cab from the airport. He said he can’t hit on women while in our quote-unquote ‘lame-mobile.’”
“How charming.”
“Do you think the meat should be prepped now or in a few minutes?”
“Eh. Give it half an hour.”
“Won’t that be cutting it close?”
“Trust me, it’ll be ready by the time he arrives.”
As Mother predicted, given his history with schedules, Uncle Yosef arrived 41 minutes later than expected. Good timing goes a long way. We sat down and Father asked his younger brother how university had been treating him.
“Yes,” I chimed in, “I’m actually really interested in what you have to say about that, Uncle Yosef.” I then proceeded to express a spiel about “the unadulterated majesty and history” I believed would await me in Tel Aviv.
Father’s brother sighed, and replied, “If you have to go to extra school,” his term for university, given that going to college, to him, meant spending more time in school when you don’t have to, “Go to one in America.”
“Why’s that,” I asked him.
“They have all the good stuff over there. One of my classmates in my one history class went there last summer, and he said he went dozens upon dozens of malls, water parks, stadiums, bar-" catching a glance from Mother, “-llrooms, and uh, lots and lots of other cool places.”
“We have cool places here,” I defended the only country I wished to know. “We have malls, and parks and stadiums here.”
My uncle simply shook his head and said, “They’re not the same as the ones found in The Colonel’s Country.”
– Tamar Kohen’s A Mix of Flavors, 2021 autobiography
If inflation continued to chip away at the value of the American dollar, it was possible that the US government would fall into the red, thus violating the Balanced Budget Amendment. Wellstone sought to curtail deficit concerns by investing even further into the economy, by billions if not trillions of dollars, but to do so would require approval from the US Senate Budget Chair, who now was a conservative Republican who had mixed – and thus unpredictable – views on austerity measures.
“We need to be investing in deficit spending in order to generate economic growth. Borrowing rates are low right now, and there’s clearly a need for an economic infusion now,” the President lamented to his inner circle.
“The problem, though,” noted US Secretary to the Treasury David Carson, “Is that deficit spending needs to come out of the red by the end of the first fiscal year. It’s note enough time for it to be as impactful as we want it to be. And the inflation rate certainly isn't helping.”
“Damn the BBA,” Wellstone said bitterly. “I never had to deal with something like that thing when I was governor.”
– Roberta Gillespie’s Watershed: An Assessment of The Wellstone White House, Princeton University Press, 2016
[pic: imgur.com/mPfrInx.png ]
– investopedia.co.usa
…Inflation concerns soon clashed with budgetary concerns. The White House had until February 14 to submit the budget proposal for the 2012 fiscal year, and his administration was certain that House Speaker McMaster would direct the 112th congress to challenge it...
– Roberta Gillespie’s Watershed: An Assessment of The Wellstone White House, Princeton University Press, 2016
“Inflation can be eased by pausing the printing of money and, if necessary, scaling back the power of central banks,” Commerce Secretary Gloria Tristani observed. “That can be framed as a form a deregulation. Do you think McMaster will bite that?”
“Maybe,” suggested Chief Economic Policy Advisor Margaret Flowers, who then pondered aloud to herself “If to reign in rising inflation is ‘disinflation,’ not ‘deflation,’ then it’s slowing it down, not reversing it. How can we make that sound more Republican-y?”
Secretary Carson offered one more solution in this brainstorming session in the White House cabinet room. “Central banks could attempt to keep inflation ‘on target,’ as in not too fast but not reversing, by selling bonds in the open market, thus reducing the money supply.”
“Would that work?” OMB Director Robert Z. Lawrence asked inquisitively.
“We don’t want deflation because if money is rising in value, prices drop, and people begin postponing investments – why buy something now when the price will be lower a week from now or month from now?” Curson answered. “That kind of activity, a loss in consumer spending, would slow down the economy, a most definitely lead to recession! No, to combat deflation, I think we have to adopt lower interest rates, and possibly even implement negative interest on deposits until it is warded off.”
The other economic advisors nodded in deliberation.
Advisor Paul Krugman broke the nodding with a less conventional solution to making the ends of the federal budget meet. “How about a billion-dollar coin?”
Everyone in the room looked over to him.
Krugman continued, “Yes – we make a special, one-time-only coin to get rid of the debt. The Treasury Department mints it and sends it to the Federal Reserve, thus paying off the debt. It’d be an unorthodox method, but I’m not the first person to suggest it. In fact, Senator Bo Gritz first mentioned it, or at least popularized it, back in the 1980s. He also suggested the notion while a state senator in the 1990s, and in 2005, in his first year in the Senate.”
“So it’s actually a Goetzite Republican idea?” asked a curious Tristani.
“We can certainly spin it that way.”
“But is it legal?” Tristani’s curiosity continued.
“As far as I can tell, yes, yes it is.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea even if it would work,” opined Director Lawrence. “It’s such a cop-out. It would weaken the institution of the American checks and balances system, and could be seen as the executive branch stepping over the legislative branch. It could even damage our reputation abroad.”
Krugman countered, “So minting the coin would be undignified, but so what? At the same time, it would be economically harmless – and would both avoid catastrophic economic developments and help head off government by blackmail.” [1]
“But on the other hand, it is possible that using a coin would lead to an inflation crisis,” suggested Secretary Curson.
“How so?” Asked Krugman.
“Commercial bank reserves would increase as The Treasury spent the proceeds from the coin’s purchase by the Federal Reserves. If banks loan out these reserves, the money supply increases and if the money supply increases too rapidly, the economy could overheat, adding to inflation and increasing expectations of future inflation. In order to avoid this, the Federal Reserve would have to prohibit banks from lending out excess reserves via paying interest on their reserves at the Fed so that the return commercial banks receive on them is greater than what they could receive from alternative uses.”
“Then what would be the problem?”
“As always, the problem is the BBA,” Lawrence spoke. “Because of the Balance Budget requirement, the Treasury can’t use borrowing to buy the coin back from the Federal Reserves and return it to the Mint to be melted in time to meet the deadline. It would create an even bigger budget crisis for us!” [2]
Eyes again turned to Krugman.
“In another country, or after the BBA gets repealed – God willing – the trillion-dollar coin gimmick would work. But here, and now, we have to go for a much simpler approach,” Curson proclaimed with certainty in his voice.
Krugman sighed disappointedly. “Ockham’s razor,” he begrudgingly agreed.
With social programs on the line, the administration siphoning away more funding from the military budgets, while the President stripped away a segment from his own salary and traveling expenses fund to make up the remaining difference.
– Billie Lofi’s The Wellstone Way: The Life of a Passionate Progressive, University of Minnesota Press, first edition, 2017
…In January 2011, peace talks between the US Secretary of State Harvey Gantt, the government of Sudan, and the region of Darfur broke down in the wake of the Jebel Marra Massacre, in which roughly 400 Darfurians were slaughtered by members of the Sudanese Armed Forces in what appeared to be a clear and obvious following of order from higher-up – of an organized and coordinated attack. The heinous act of Sudanese soldiers being ordered to fire upon nonviolent Sudanese citizens sparked outrage among the leaders of Darfur, who subsequently assembled in the regional capital of el-Fasher to declare Darfur to be an independent nation called, quite simply, Darfur. With tension rising and both sides refusing to reconvene peace talks, Gantt reluctantly returned to the District of Columbia…
– David Tal’s US Strategic Arms Policy After the Cold War: Globalization & Technological Modernization, Routledge, 2020
…Amid budgetary squabbles and foreign policy snafus, another subject, one closer to Wellstone personally, became a major concern for the administration as well. The House GOP’s proposed Education Reform Bill, introduced in early 2011, aimed to deregulate and defund the US education system established under Bellamy and tweaked under Jackson and Wellstone. The President earnestly met with moderate Republicans to try and convince four of them to not vote “yea” on the bill. With four defections looking unlikely, Wellstone next planned a “public exposure” campaign, making speeches and and having surrogates appear on TV to denounce the bill. If the court of public opinion did not pressure the Senate into striking down the bill, then Wellstone would have to veto it upon it reaching his desk; he was confident that Republicans would fail to override the veto due to the narrowness of their majorities in both chambers…
– Billie Lofi’s The Wellstone Way: The Life of a Passionate Progressive, University of Minnesota Press, first edition, 2017
“One central cost of high taxation is inefficiency – as well as more human suffrage, as honest citizens work even harder for less money kept in their pockets. The Republican Party must adhere to its values and challenge oppressive taxation proposals. To do otherwise would be a grave disservice to the American people.”
– US House Speaker H. Dargan McMaster (R-SC), 1/30/2011
As President Katumbi worked diligently to repair the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jackson became more vocally supportive of the latter’s administration, urging African-American CEOs to invest in the DRC’s infrastructure and improving farms. With Katumbi’s middle-lane reforms yielding overall positive results, the former President VidCalled his successor in early 2011 to congratulate him for his contributions to ending the warfare plaguing that African nation during the 2000s decade.
Jackson reported remarked, “I’m sorry I doubted you at the time.”
Wellstone allegedly replied more jovially, by responding “I’m sorry I disappointed your doubt!”
– researcher Brenda J. Hargis’ Emboldening: The Jesse Jackson Presidency, Sunrise Publications, 2017
AMERICA ALL AROUND
Album type: studio
Performers: Toby Keith
Producer: Toby Keith
Record label: Show Dog-Universal Music
Released: February 2, 2011
Genre: country
REVIEW AVERAGE: 3.8-out-of-5
REVIEWS:
[snip]
REVIEW 41:
It looks like the general consensus here is that this album is just a platform for Keith to espouse his political views, but I don’t see it. Sure, there’s American flags all over the cover, he sings about how great America is in every song, and he praises the military, but where’s the political stuff? Anyway, regardless of their intent or whatever, you have to admit they’re really catchy! 5-out-of-5.
– albumreviews.co.usa, a public music review site, 2011 post
…On February 12, two days before the deadline, Wellstone submitted the federal budget proposal for the 2012 fiscal year. The administration requested $3.8trillion for expenditures, only for McMaster to offer up a $2.1trillion “counterplan,” which would have stripped several social services and other programs of their meat and effectiveness. Democrats continued the back-and-forth for the next several months…
– Roberta Gillespie’s Watershed: An Assessment of The Wellstone White House, Princeton University Press, 2016
…Amid the feuding over the federal finances, the Federal Reserve Chair Thomas Rukavina seemed stress. As a result, soon after the 2012 budget proposal was submitted, Rukavina celebrated with the same substance with which he would suppress disappointment and stress – the drink. And a few days later, on the 15th, Rukavina was arrested for drunk driving. The incident was an embarrassment for the administration, and Rukavina knew. As a result, he informed Wellstone, who was both the President and a good friend of his, that he would step down from his Chair… [3]
– Billie Lofi’s The Wellstone Way: The Life of a Passionate Progressive, University of Minnesota Press, first edition, 2017
GOVERNOR BROWN SIGNS CBD OIL BILL INTO LAW
…Senate bill 1116b legalizes CBD oil for persons with severe epilepsy… The Governor decides to sign the bill into law concludes months of lengthy and emotional hearings held on the floor of both chambers of the state legislature…
– The Idaho Statesman, 2/19/2011
“Standardized tests evolved historically as one way to ensure more equal opportunity in education. They are supposed to be an instrument of fairness because they are graded objectively and allow any person, regardless of background, to demonstrate their skill. When used correctly, standardized tests are critical for diagnosing inequality and for identifying where we need improvement. They enable us to measure achievement across groups of students so that we can help ensure that states and districts are held accountable for improving the achievement of all students regardless of race, income, gender, limited English proficiency and disability.
However, they are not a panacea. The policies that were in place under Presidents Dinger, Denton, and even Walter Mondale have tragically proven that using a single standardized test as the sole determinant for graduation, promotion, tracking and ability grouping is not fair and has not fostered greater equality or opportunity for students. First and foremost, I firmly believe that it is grossly unfair to not graduate, or to hold back a student based on a standardized test if that student has not had the opportunity to learn the material covered on the test. When we impose high stakes tests on an educational system where there are, as Jonathan Kozol says, savage inequalities, and then we do nothing to address the underlying causes of those inequalities, we set up children to fail.
We must never stop demanding that children do their best. We must never stop holding schools accountable. Measures of student performance can include standardized tests, but only when coupled with other measures of achievement, more substantive education reforms and a much fuller, sustained investment in schools.
For a party that prides itself in upholding individuality and being the current holder of the mantle of states’ rights, their insistence of forcing students of diverse skill take the same test would be funny for its irony if its past results had not been so tragic. Studies indicate that public testing encourages teachers and administrators to focus their instruction on test content, test format and test preparation instead of on the importance and real-world applicability of the lesson in the first place. Teachers tend to overemphasize basic skills, and as a result underemphasize problem-solving and complex critical thinking skills that simply cannot be assessed well on standardized tests. Furthermore, these kinds of tests neglect subjects and content areas that are not covered, such as science, social studies and the arts. I call upon all sensible Republicans in the House to make the sensible decision and reject the bill for the sake of our children and their futures.”
– President Wellstone, 2/21/2011 speech [4]
EMANUEL JACQUES
…rising from humble origins as the son of poor Portuguese immigrants in Toronto to become the CEO of the EJ Shoe Company, Mr. Jacques is a billionaire philanthropist who aims to help “thousands of immigrants” rise out of poverty through his various charitable organizations…
– forbes.co.usa/profiles, posted 2/23/2011
In 2011, leaders at McDonald’s and KFC took note of a franchise that was on the rise nationally. Most members of the Board of Directors at Finger Lickin’ Good, Inc. were uneasy. “Culver’s is a privately owned casual fast food restaurant chain originating in the Midwest,” Director William Kirk Hannon explained.
“It’s a chain founded by a married couple, a husband and wife team, George and Ruth Culver of Sauk City, Wisconsin,” his assistant added.
Hannon nodded, “Yeah. Real ‘sweet and successes power couple’ angle goin’ for ’em. Now they’ve been around since 1984, but they didn’t begin to really franchise until the end of the 1990s, with their first outlet outside of the Midwest opening in Texas in 1999. Slowly but surely, though, their franchise is developing, ladies and gentlemen. And very recently, their popularity is exploding.”
“But why?” Asked one Board member.
“We’re not too sure. Maybe it’s because American taste buds are picking up on something we and the folks at R&D aren’t. Maybe Midwestern cuisine is just in vogue thanks to President Wellstone being from Minnesota. Maybe the brand itself is doing something right.”
“Ontech polls rate their outlets high in customer satisfaction,” noted the aforementioned assistant.
“Right, but what’s it got going for it?” Another board member derided as she picked up a Culver’s menu with the caution and care of one pulling a tangled hair clump from a bathtub drain. “Look at this: ‘butter burgers.’ What in blue blazes is that?!”
Hannon answered, “As it turns out, it’s actually a classic Wisconsinite staple, one that Culver’s is bringing to national attention. Some call it a beautiful, mouthwatering burger dripping with cheese that is smothering soft, tender, buttery beef patties. And what it lacks in nutritional value it makes up for with deliciousness.” Hannon eyed one board member reflex by licking a corner of his mouth. He continued, “Also, its signature and most famous dish is the least healthy thing on the menu. It’s also known for frozen custard, cheese curds, and offerings of chicken sandwiches and fish sandwiches. The rest of the menu is basically just much healthier burgers, sandwiches, and offerings of soups and salads, and even some baked goods like cookies and muffins.”
“An ‘overall’ thing,” said the assistant, “a wide selection.”
Hannon also mentioned that their number of locations had doubled in the past five years to nearly 400 across half the country [5]. He concluded, “Gentlemen, I do believe this is a competitor we best keep an eye on. The next time they bring out a popular product, we have to bring out one of our own.”
All directors on the Board nodded in unison.
– Marlona Ruggles Ice’s A Kentucky-Fried Phoenix: The Post-Colonel History of Most Famous Birds In The World, Hawkins E-Publications, 2020
…Another casualty of the partisan arguing over the budget was a bill co-sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats that would implement an across-the-board Federal Aid Dividend clear across the board. Though the suggestion was popular among the co-sponsors and among many Americans polled, the proposed law received significant pushback from Rep-majority House, and ultimately was rejected. Tellingly, though, 21 Democrats voted against it in the House, and five voted against it in the Senate…
– Roberta Gillespie’s Watershed: An Assessment of The Wellstone White House, Princeton University Press, 2016
PALIN DRONES: The Story Behind The Fisherman Now Changing The Skies
…Todd Palin (b. 1964) graduated from the University of Alaska, Anchorage in 1987 before becoming an oil field production worker and commercial fisherman (salmon). At the start of the 1990s, he began entrepreneurial pursuits concerning oil-related technological developments before branching out into drone technology, after reading about early drone prototypes being tried out by the US Army during the Second Korean War. Palin finally founded Palin Drones, Inc. in 2009, and in the past two years, his company has exploded in size and scale…
– Time Magazine, early March 2011 issue
“We should at least demand that we get an independent, thorough study of the impact of high stakes tests on children and on education if Republicans are adamant and sincere about reforming the education system.”
– Vice President Ross, in private talks with House Democrats, 3/2/2011 (multiple sources) [6]
GLOBAL EFFORTS TO CURB PLASTICS POLLUTION COULD MAKE WAY FOR HEMP PRODUCTS
…biodegradable hemp plastics are on the rise, with various materials being made available ontech and five US states (Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Vermont, and, most recently, Michigan) passing state legislation to offer tax incentives to companies that produce “pro-Earth” (as in biodegradable and renewable) hemp products…
– The New York Times, 3/4/2011
SENATOR BRAUN TO RETIRE AFTER WAVE POWER PROJECT (FINALLY) BEGINS OPERATIONS
…the Pacific Phoenix energy company has at long last begun the operation phase of Project Heronemus – the construction and use of massive water turbines to harness the energy of ocean currents off the coast of northern California. Construction began in 2009, four years after Senator Harry W. Braun (D-AZ) led the passing of a bill in 2005 to grant tax breaks to companies that produced wave energy projects – not just concepts or proposals, but actually constructed ones.
Water turbines are even more difficult to construct than wind turbines, due to additional difficulties regarding materials scale and logistics. As a result, only five water turbines are being built for Project Heronemus. Nevertheless, Senator Braun believes that this project will be enough to provide electricity for half of California, all of Las Vegas, and the entirety of Arizona. Critics believe he is too optimistic, though, as each turbine takes three years to install, which requires buoy systems and special wiring to transmit the energy to the mainland, in a manner similar to the technet wires that run along the sea floor [7]. Pacific Phoenix’s west-coast turbine project is called Project Heronemus after William Heronemus (1920-2010), the engineering pioneer often considered to be “the father of modern windpower.”
Braun’s retirement also follows BMW renewing their hydrogen-fueled vehicle R&D projects. Hydrogen fuel cells in experimental cars emit only water vapor, and, if they can be lowered to a more economically feasible price tag, would have the fuel economy equivalent of about twice that of a gas car…
[snip]
…Wind turbines require open oceans and strong winds. The first project of this kind began two years ago [8] off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, in the North Atlantic, where there is potentially enough wind energy to power the entire United States. However, because wind turbine engineering requires special equipment to build and install towers (as tall as the Statue of Liberty) and accompanying propellers, the price of these projects depend on how far down is the seabed. Furthermore, the ocean depth drops much closer to the shoreline on the west coast than it does on the east coast, about a hundred miles, which is too deep for fixed-bottom wind turbines; thus, the Heronemus’ use of floating turbines to harvest wave energy, as opposed to the Block Island project’s use of smaller, fixed/grounded turbines to produce wind energy. [9]
Fortunately, with help from MIT and Pacific Phoenix, the process of building giant floating turbines in boatyards, launching them, and towing them out to sea (and back in during storms), is now a reality, if one that is still in its relative infancy...
– The Arizona Republic, 3/7/2011
Governor Brown again showcased his leadership skills in March 2011, when a forest fire broke out south of Nampa, near the state’s Utah border. Despite recent snowfall, the forest fire raged across several dozen acres prior to it being put out, and in a most spectacular on manners.
[pic: imgur.com/PXbCaLC.png ]
“Before I became Governor, you would see only one aircraft at a time dropping fire-retardant chemicals on out-of-control deadly forest fires that kill people, scorch hundreds of square miles of fine timber beyond recognition, destroy lovely homes and estates, and relegate thousands of our fellow Americans down to becoming homeless refugees,” Brown said at a press meeting soon after the state forest department announced that the forest fire had been extinguished after ravaging the landscape for less than 100 intense hours. “I came up with what has turned out to be a very effective solution – round up military reserve aircraft and mechanically good but out-of-service military tankers and older bombers and even suitable commercial aircraft and rig either internal (bombers) and/or temporary removable external fire-retardant tanks and then bomb the living hell out of the forest fires around the clock in hundred or even thousand-plane loose (for safety) formations day and night around the clock. The military pilots love to fly and we could justify the tremendous fuel consumption, aircraft maintenance and personnel costs as ‘training’ expenditures from the budgets of various relevant departments.” Brown also noted, “I’ve been told that some of our brave men and women took up my recommendation, that all the pilots and air crews should view the 1949 movie "Twelve O'clock High" within 24 hours of scheduled takeoff.”
One reporter interrupted him to ask, “Since forest fires usually break out between June, July and August, is it possible that this happening so early in the year is a result of GCD?”
The Governor answered, “Nah, nah, it’s too soon to start makin’ assumptions like that. Let’s let the fire department find out if this was climate-related, or the result of some city punks camping and not taking care of their campfire the right way. Have patience. And don’t worry, you’ll get someone to point your finger at one way or another.”
Brown ended the press meeting by remarking, “I knew that the fires wouldn't stand a chance and even the most hard core Sierra Club tree-hugger would be overjoyed to welcome thousands of tons of chemical dumped from on high by American air-power on his beloved ecosystems rather than suffer the alternative colossal conflagration and intense inferno.” [10]
Brown was praised for putting out the forest fire by national news, with the waves of converted water bombers becoming an iconic emblem of his conventional but effective governing. With his theory proven to have worked, many left-leaning talking heads on TV tried and failed to claim that it was a fluke, or even that the fire was not as severe as photographic evidence suggested it was.
The scale of the water-bombing operation was credited to Brown “beefing up” the Idaho National Guard in lieu of supporting state militias, which his aides convinced him could lead to radical violent sects and offshoots. Nevertheless, Brown remained a critic of large centralized governments, and was especially critical of the State Department of Health and Welfare’s child protective services division. Furthermore, Governor Brown pushed for schools to better teach our children the constitution and how it both guarantees personal freedoms and places restrictions onto the federal government, especially via the Tenth Amendment. Such passion for our long-held national values often led to Brown going on rants that led to the left-leaning media outlets branding him with words that had an “anarcho-” in front of them: anarcho-Goetzite, anarcho-populist and anarcho-conservative, etc. This labeled was outright false, as Brown is a lifelong ally of police and the military.
The colorful profanity from the former Navy Seabee only highlights his opposition to the status quo of corrupt do-nothing politicians...
– Bill O’Reilly’s Ascension from the Asphalt: The Harley Brown Story, Borders Books, 2011
…President Sergei Gaidukevich of Belarus maintained a solid relation with Russian President Oleg Malyshkin. Both supported veterans and the military, and were beloved by their respective nations’ labor unions. In December 2010, Belarus signed a bilateral agreement with Russia that aimed to improve the transfer and transportation of oil and natural gas into Russia via long and extensive pipelines. Months later, Malyshkin was at a rally in Minsk, endorsing Gaidukevich over his primary challenger, the charismatic Aleksandar Milinkievich…
– Alexander Korzhakov’s After The Pact: Post-Cold War Russia And The Twenty-First Century, St. Petersburg Press, 2020
“My brother Joe [b. 1951] recalled that a wealthy family offered to buy for our grandmother some stock in a start-up hamburger restaurant in gratitude for her sewing their daughter’s wedding dress. ‘My grandmother told them to just keep their money because it didn’t sound like something to spend good money on,’ Joe said. ‘She felt that good money should be spent on shelter and food and not to take a risk. Cash was king and accepting that gift seemed foolish to her. The stock turned out to be in McDonald’s.’ That’s why I find it quite ironic that I’m now joining the McDonald’s Board of Directors.”
– former Governor Wellington Marion Webb (D-CO), KXKL Radio Denver, local talk/news program, 3/31/2011 broadcast [11]
…Senate Republicans countered Democratic efforts to cut the military’s budget farther by proposing legislation to reverse federal funding for social programs in order to “manage the national debt.” However, with Republicans having a majority too small to override a Presidential veto, many House Republicans prematurely went onto media outlets such as THN and The Overmyer Network to complain that the President was “going to act irresponsibly” in the months ahead. Essentially they were trying to set up a self-fulfilling prophecy by voting on legislation that they knew would die on the President’s desk…
– Roberta Gillespie’s Watershed: An Assessment of The Wellstone White House, Princeton University Press, 2016
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 55%
DISAPPROVE: 36%
UNDECIDED: 9%
– Gallup national poll, 4/4/2011
“New York City needed a whole bunch of amenities for these Olympics. They needed an aquatics center in Brooklyn, and the construction of a West Side stadium to redevelop the far west side of Manhattan. You know, I tried to get my stadium – Trump Stadium – to be used, but you know what they said? They said it was not big enough for hosting duties for the Olympics. The IOC, Mayor Hamberg, they didn’t know what they were talking about. Because, come on, not big enough?! Seriously?! Believe me, I was very offended by that – Trump Stadium is one of the best stadiums in the world if not the best! And I wanted to prove them wrong and show them what they were missing out on, so that’s when I decided to have a lot of the third Americana Overdrive shot at Trump Stadium. Make it a showcase of what they passed up!”
– Donald Trump, 2016 interview
VP BOB ROSS DONATES SALARY TO NATIONAL LUNG CANCER CHARITY DRIVE
…himself a survivor of lymphoma, Ross has been working tirelessly to protect America’s highly-popular Universal Healthcare system from its opponents in Congress…
– The Juneau Empire, Alaska newspaper, 4/12/2011
…On April 14, Wellstone issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination against transgender people employed by the federal government and its contractors. Several Cabinet Departments issued similar letters recognizing and protecting BLUTAGO-Americans soon afterward…
– Billie Lofi’s The Wellstone Way: The Life of a Passionate Progressive, University of Minnesota Press, first edition, 2017
…Lebanon experienced a brief succession crisis in April 2011 when the “incorruptible” anti-corruption President, Nassib Lahoud (b. 1944) unexpected passed away roughly a year before leaving office. While the position was officially vacant until Parliament could elect a new President to serve until the next regularly scheduled election, Prime Minister Elias Murr presented himself as the unofficial President during the interim in a clear attempt to position himself as the person parliament should elect. Opposition leader, former Prime Minister and longtime Member of Parliament Selim Hoss vocally denounced this “usurpation,” and soon became a figure that anti-Murr MPs rallied behind ahead of the vote.
However, due to internal divisions between the Murr, Hoss, and former Lahoud factions of parliament, no quorum could be reached. As a result, the position of President remained vacant until after the next parliamentary general elections were held. These were originally scheduled for December, and Murr refused to move up the date…
– David Tal’s US Strategic Arms Policy After the Cold War: Globalization & Technological Modernization, Routledge, 2020
April 22, 2011: On this day in history, the B-47 Terror Hoax of London began; it would last for 60 hours.
[see further details below]
On April 22, 2011, a small group of religious Uzbek radicals from the nation of United Turkestan informed London’s police. The radicals accused Prime Minister Heseltine and the British government in general of promoting anti-Muslim espionage worldwide, and falsely claimed that the assassination of the U.T.’s President in 2008 was part of a UK-led conspiracy despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The group of fanatics claimed to have discovered and collected carrying cases containing the capsules of nuclear material that were lost in 1956, when a Boeing B-47 Stratojet disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea on 10 March 1956and never recovered [12]. The terrorists claimed that if their demands (that several high-profile political officials be arrested for various crimes, plus 20million pounds) were not met, they would “level London.”
The conflict was resolved fairly quickly due to the fanatics’ poor hideout location; British counter-terrorist agents were able to detect a faint train whistle near the end of their second phone call to the London police. Viewing train schedules and train models led to agents discovering their location in Brixton, and the terrorists were soon surrounded by snipers. After several hours of recon, London’s police officials and experts called in determined that the terrorists were bluffing due to the lack of any signals of radioactive material in the area. The location was stormed, and the threat was determined to indeed a bluff, as the nuclear material shown in the VidCalls were, in fact, replicas.
The possible seriousness of the situation, however, was not picked up by media outlets due to the high-security, high-classified nature of the incident. Instead, police told media outlets that “unbalanced individuals attempted self-harm and were apprehended after a brief standoff that was thankfully nonfatal but nevertheless unfortunately violent.” The details of the incident were not disclosed to the public until 2019.
– onthisdayinhistory.co.uk
LEOTARD’S “INWARD” POLICY LOCKS HORNS WITH GROWING GIANT MOROCCO
…market watchers have a fair share of reservations over French President Francois Leotard’s approach to foreign policy… As Morocco produces over 70% of Western Europe’s imports [13], Leotard’s conservative and “inward-thinking” commerce and trade positions could hurt France’s economy if Morocco-based products begin drying up in a market atmosphere that is now becoming, at least at the top, less welcoming to exports…
– The Daily Telegraph, UK newpaper, 4/28/2011
1 May 2011: On this day in history, Disneyland Hong Kong opened; it was the sixth Disney Theme Park to open overall, after Disneyland (California, US), Disney World (Florida, US), Tokyo Disneyland (Japan), Euro-Disneyland (Barcelona, Spain), and Disneyland Sidney (Australia). [14]
– onthisdayinhistory.co.uk
SAN FRANCISCO BANS FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
– The Los Angeles Times, 5/5/2011
…In the most prominent showing of bipartisanship this year, Congress has passed a bill offering tax breaks to medical personnel who relocate to remote clinics in low-population rural areas. The effort to pass the bill, which does not affect UHC, was co-led by Vice President Bob Ross… President Wellstone is expected to sign the bill into law next week…
– NBC News, 5/8/2011 broadcast
SENATE PASSES EDUCATION REFORM BILL; WELLSTONE EXPECTED TO VETO IT DOWN
– The Washington Post, 5/9/2011
…May 11, 2011 saw a minor incident grow into international criticism when Israeli police shot an injured two Palestinian citizens working in Jerusalem after a Muslim radical goaded an Israeli schoolteacher into starting a verbal kerfuffle that caught the idea of police. The Muslim radical reportedly got other nearby Muslims to contribute to the heated argument, but most Jewish and Muslim people in the area refused. Nevertheless, the incident’s lack of coverage by local media led to Indian and Chinese government outlets accusing Israel of launching a cover up. Three days after the incident, India’s Ambassador to the UN claimed that “The Middle East is a fauxtopia,” which led to condemnation by several countries in defend of Israel. Furthermore, Israel’s Prime Minister at the time suggested that India’s “attacks” on Israel were economically motivated due to Israel becoming a major player in the industry of customer service at the time…
– David Tal’s US Strategic Arms Policy After the Cold War: Globalization & Technological Modernization, Routledge, 2020
WELLSTONE VETOES “BACKWARDS-THINKING” EDUCATION REFORM BILL
– The Washington Post, 5/14/2011
BELARUS PRESIDENT RE-ELECTED
…incumbent President Sergei Gaidukevich of the Liberal Democratic party won a second five-year term tonight, defeating his more conservative challenger, Aleksandar Milinkievich of the Unity Party, by a margin of roughly 4%...
– The Guardian, UK newspaper, 15/5/2011
US TORNADOES BY DEATH COUNT:
1: Tri-State (Illinois, Indiana and Missouri) (March 18, 1925) – 695 deaths
2: Natchez, Mississippi (May 6, 1840) – 317 deaths
3: St. Louis (MO) and East St. Louis (IL) (May 27, 1896) – 255 deaths
4: Tupelo, Mississippi (April 5, 1936) – 216 deaths
5: Gainesville, Georgia (April 6, 1936) – 203 deaths
6: Woodward, Oklahoma (April 9, 1947) – 181 deaths
7: Amite (LA) and Purvis (MS) (April 24, 1908) – 143 deaths
8: New Richmond, Wisconsin (June 12, 1899) – 117 deaths
9: Flint, Michigan (June 8, 1953) – 116 deaths
10: Joplin, Missouri (May 22, 2011) – 114 deaths
– Sources: Storm Prediction Center: The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes, SPC Annual U.S. Killer Tornado Statistics, Tornado Project, 2012
…One positive aspect of recent months seemed to be his handling of foreign policy. Secretary of State Harvey Gantt was still trying to get the government of Sudan and representatives of Darfur to form a long enough ceasefire for negotiations to make some inroads, but other than that, the US was seemingly at peace with its fellow nations of the world.
[snip]
The President accepted the latest prescription medication with a sigh of complacency. “I wish I didn’t need these.”
“Has any patient ever not thought that at some point?” his doctor said kindly.
“You tell me, you’re the doctor here.”
With a stretch, Wellstone looked at the little bottle of pain relievers meant to combat the recent rise in inflammation and headache. “It’s not just the MS, though,” he said, “It’s the stress from dealing with Dargan and all the Republicans purposely creating gridlock and shooting down every good idea I’ve got. At least the Supreme Court’s on our side. They’ve approved every executive order I’ve passed.”
“Why aren’t you using substitutes?” Asked the doctor. “State for every time Dargan opposes military budget cuts. Labor for every time Republicans try to reverse pro-labor policies. You know?”
“I do know. I know that the last time I tried it, Dargan accused me of cowardice for not approaching directly. So this time, I’m meeting with everybody.”
The doctor finally asked. “Do you really have to do all of that?”
“If I’m the best one for the job, then I guess so, yes…”
– Billie Lofi’s The Wellstone Way: The Life of a Passionate Progressive, University of Minnesota Press, first edition, 2017
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 53%
DISAPPROVE: 35%
UNDECIDED: 12%
– Gallup national poll, 5/30/2011
…With the general election being two months away, early polling suggests that the race for control of parliament remains a toss-up…
– BBC, 1/6/2011 broadcast
“Yes, I’m meeting with the governors of the Carolinas and the Virginias this week to discuss stronger health education programs. Secretary Huerta is doing something similar with other governors right now. We have to meet with them and work with governors because of how difficult congress has been with us. Under the leadership of Dargan and Webb, the House and Senate have been very uncooperative with this administration. And, as Governor Woods put it the other day, ‘When the federal government fails, the governors must pick up the mantle of democracy and pragmatic action.’ So until the Republicans remember that this isn’t some game, and that the people elected them into a majority because the people want them to work, we have to go around them.”
– US Secretary of Education Jim Hunt (D-NC) to a reporter for RNS (Real News Service), 6/2/2011
“It’s back! KFC’s classic Zinger chicken sandwich is back! The delicious chicken breast fillet burger topped with hash brown, cheese, and salsa is now available at all participating KFC outlets in the US and Canada. KFC – It’s finger-lickin’ good!”
[pic: imgur.com/0jN6Z3d.png ]
– KFC commercial, launching the re-introduction of the Zinger sandwich to US outlets due to their popularity in Latin America, first aired 6/6/2011
DEFENSE SECRETARY JONES TO RESIGN!
The District of Columbia – Retired US Marine Corps General James Logan Jones Jr. has announced that he is stepping down from his position heading the US Defense Department, reportedly amid internal disagreements with President Wellstone over foreign policy issues, a source close to Jones tells us. According to a second reputable source, Jones and the President have had a falling out over how to best address the crisis unfolding in the Sudanese region of Darfur, in eastern Africa, with Jones reportedly wanting to “put America’s foot down” and Wellstone wanting to attempt a ceasefire and negotiations first…
– The Washington Post, 6/8/2011
…President Wellstone worked with Democrats in both chambers to keep federal pension plans from being tapped into in order to avoid a deficit in the 2012 budget. He made note of the fact that Republican Senator Jan Brewer of Arizona was a vocal supporter of increasing barriers between employees and their pensions, allegedly for the sake of “protection from fraud.” Rumors that Republicans wanted to impose limitations and caps on lump-sum payouts and monthly annuity payments for federal employees as well as pension contributions caused great concern among these workers, and these concerns only fueled anti-McMaster content ontech…
– Roberta Gillespie’s Watershed: An Assessment of The Wellstone White House, Princeton University Press, 2016
THE EDGE
Premiered: June 18, 2011
Genre(s): action/adventure/apocalyptic/sci-fi/disaster/survival
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
[snip]
Synopsis:
Another end-of-the-world thriller by the Master of Disaster himself. In the not-too-distant future, Earth begins to slow down faster than it is supposed to, creating global catastrophes and leading to mass evacuations to bases on Mars and The Moon, while the main characters, a rag-tag team of engineers and industrial designers, work with world leaders and scientists to create and develop moveable, livable housing units to be placed along “The Edge,” the only place on Earth that will be hospitable when the planet’s rotation eventually stops, causing one side of the Earth to be constantly exposed to night, and the other side exposed to sunlight.
Reception:
The film performed better than expected at the box office, nearly doubling the money spent on it, and in a case unusual for an Emmerich film, critics viewed it slightly more favorably than audiences. Roger Ebert noted “the premise only covers the first half of this nearly-three-hour-long movie in a type multi-viewpoint manner; the rest actually shows character development as we see how the survivors stuck on The Edge react to perpetual twilight conditions as everything freezes over on one side and everything burns on the other side.” Critics also considered the film’s ending – with survivors making contact with the lunar bases in a way that keeps the door open for a sequel – to be surprising poignant, “combining a warning of environmental awareness with a glimmer of optimism and hope in human ingenuity,” as Variety put it. Conversely, some viewers used to Emmerich’s glitzy action films were underwhelmed by the drama and character development showcased in the second half of the film.
– mediarchives.co.usa
CO-ANCHOR 1: “More horrifying pictures coming out of Colorado today that highlight the extent of federal government waste occurring under Jackson-Wellstone administration. Look at this. That is Vice President Ross spending his workday lollygagging about in a glen with disease-riddled vermin. Horrible, absolutely atrocious.
[pic: imgur.com/l0STMST.png ]
Ross is known for wasting time, energy and money on personal tastes, on hobbies like carpentering and camping, hosting auctions at poorly-organized charities to showcase is alleged artistic skills, and hosting tours and nature hikes for students instead of teaching them important things like fiscal responsibility and the greatness of America. And now this – cavorting about in a glorified petting zoo, and on a workday, no less!”
CO-ANCHOR 2: “I agree! This abuse and misuse of time perfectly symbolizes the do-nothing approach of the President and his lackeys. In my opinion, they must be voted out if not impeached before they do more harm to even more of our national institutions!”
CO-ANCHOR 1: “Yes! Now, we all know that this is clearly the irresponsible spending of taxpayer money, but in accordance with the FCC’s possibly-unconstitutional Fairness Doctrine, we once again present to you the “Alternate Viewpoint” segment of our program, where we allow some bleeding-heart to try and defend the actions of those who are ruining the country. If you want to change the channel or mute the screen or take a snack break or bathroom break, now’s the time to do so. You have 2 full minutes, 120 seconds, we won’t blame or judge you. And now, Alternate Viewpoint.”
– The Herring Network, 6/30/2011 broadcast
“Let’s break down your marriages real quick. You first husband a one James Dougherty, which was from 1942 to 1946. Your second husband was Joe DiMaggio, from 1954 to 1955 and again from 1963 to 1967. Between those years you were wed to the writer Arthur Miller, from 1956 to 1961.”
“Yes, good times. Problematic, hectic, sad in some place, but overall good. At least, that’s how I remember it.”
“Then you were married to the African-American singer Roy Hamilton.”
“During what turned out to be the last few weeks of his life.”
“A terrible tragedy.”
“I stopped acting for nearly a year.”
“But you got back into it, and you married Dean Jagger soon afterw – ”
Yes, yes, and then there was Nick Ray, who also died, then Elia Kazan, then John Huston until his death, too. That was when all those Black Widow jokes began in earnest, the paparazzi bastards. After Huston, it was Montaud, and now – and for forever – it’s Harry, Harry Belafonte.”
“But are there any other men you almost married that most don’t know about?”
“Well, I think everybody fantasizes about marrying their boyfriend, or girlfriend if that’s the case, just to see if they like what they’re imagining. And while working on sets, if one of the actors removed their shirt, I’d, h, well let’s say I’d think about marrying him. Overall, I must have had crushes on, or had lusted over, maybe, at least – well, dozens at least. And, I’ll admit, there’s a little list in my head of who I would have wanted to at the very least do dinner with. Charles Bickford, for instance. Charles Laughton and Clifford Odets, may they rest in peace. Zero Mostel was another, but he was happily married for years. Eli Wallach, Charles Boyer, and Jean Renoir even. All very charming men. But I’m not thinking of ‘doing dinner’ with anyone but my husband and my husband only from now on. Harry’s the one for me.”
– Marilyn Monroe interview, thehollywoodreporter.cco.usa, posted 7/1/2011
MUSICIAN TOBY KEITH LAUNCHED WHITE HOUSE BID
…country music singer-songwriter Toby Keith has thrown his cowboy hat into the Presidential ring. After weeks of criticizing the Wellstone administration for its foreign and domestic policies, Keith is officially breaking from the Democratic Party, has switched his voter registration to the Republican Party, and is officially running for the 2012 GOP nomination for President. Keith, who, in his announcement speech, expressed disappointment in “the shriveled-up Sensible Centrist wing” of the Democratic Party, made the announcement outside the Wilkerson Arena Sports Stadium, where he had concluded a tour promoting his latest album. Keith also announced “I’ll be taking a break from professional music making. If the people want me to, it’ll be a hiatus or four, or maybe even eight years.” To prove that he is a serious candidate, Keith purchased the netsite domain name Keith2012.co.usa; said site went up within hours of his presidential campaign launch, complete with several policy tabs and a donations page...
– The Oklahoma Daily, 7/5/2011
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL RATING:
APPROVE: 52%
DISAPPROVE: 34%
UNDECIDED: 14%
– Gallup national poll, 7/11/2011
…In international news, the President of South Africa is making progress in renegotiating their government’s contract with the Italian cultivation company Unigra amid rising claims of locals being cheated and abused, with claims that the company failed to create local jobs and have damaged local areas and communities, creating bad publicity for Unigra…
– BBC World News, 15/7/2011 broadcast
SOURCE: HOUSE DEMOCRATS SHELVE PROPOSED CREATOR PROTECTION BILL “FOR NOW”
…Copyright is work of the arts, patents are for inventions, and a trademark is for a brand... According to the close source, House Democrats had been working on the bill since just before the midterms, and had modeled it after a similar bill that was passed in New York last year. “The leading members of the House Democrats are hoping it will become a plank of the national party’s platform at the 2012 DNC,” says the reputable source…
– The Los Angeles Times, 7/16/2011
…When we finally establish permanent lunar bases on Mars and The Moon, we must remember to teach the children who grow up at those bases – who end up being conceived, born, raised, and educated at those bases – that Earth is the Mother World for humanity, that it is their true origin, their true home planet. It will make it so much easier for the people on Earth, and for businesses. With the proper mindset, that they live in a galactic community, they will comply with orders from Earth to send back to us any valuable metal and other precious elements mined on their “home” solar system bodies. And it will nip calls for “home”-rule for bases right in the bud to boot!...
– John McAfee’s autobiography Outer Space Deserves More Iguanas: My Life Being Me, numerous on-net publication sites, 2022
As the summer of 2011 continued to unfold, the GOP primary field continued beginning to form, with candidates either fully embracing a faction – most notably, the libertarian and populist factions – or attempting to bridge the divide between the factions. Across the party, candidates that had already officially launched their candidacies such as Toby Keith, Gary Johnson, and Harley Brown sought to appeal to blue-collar, working-class voters by focusing on issues that directly affected them – food prices, gas, insurance, and tax rates required to cover the budget and UHC. …Despite Keith’s background as a performer, he made no outlandish campaign promises in an endeavor to be “fun” or seem “cool.” The musician was running a “dead serious” campaign, as his campaign manager told The Post in late July...
– Anne Meagher Northup’s Chicken and Politickin’: the Rise of Colonel Sanders and Rational Conservatism in the Republican Party, 2015
…with Toby Keith putting his music career on hold to run for President, other Republican hopefuls are claiming that radio stations playing his music are putting them at an unfair disadvantage. The incident is reminiscent of when Colonel Sanders ran for Governor in 1955, and Kentucky Democrats requested a court injunction to limit radio broadcasting of KFC commercials. The courts threw out the case, and KFC avoided a repeat of the incident by airing Colonel-free commercials during The Colonel’s Presidential bid and scaling back the use of his likeness during his Presidential years. And now, it seems that history could repeat itself if Mr. Keith’s political opponents take these radio stations to court for violating FCC equal-time rules, which very well could happen…
– NBC News, 7/28/2011 broadcast
MALCOLM X, LIFELONG HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, DIES AT 86
...after a year of poor health, the controversial Muslim minister, Black Nationalist and social commentator passed away from natural causes, according to an official statement released to the press by his youngest son. …X’s passing comes ten months after Betty Shabazz, his wife of 52 years, died from diabetes-related complications at the age of 76...
– The New York Times, 8/2/2011
[pic: imgur.com/Ts05gsr.png ]
– clickopedia.co.usa
MALCOLM X “ALIVE” CONSPIRACY THEORY RESURFACES AFTER “BODY DOUBLE” SPOTTED IN CANCUN
– The Sun, UK tabloid, 12/12/2016
“Malcolm X’s a great guy. I thought it was weird that his funeral was private. Nobody saw a body or anything. I’m happy to see I wasn’t the only one who thought that, so if I’m crazy, at least I’m not crazy and alone. And, you know, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did fake his death, even if it makes no sense. I don’t know why he’d do that, what he’d get out of it, but if he did fake his death, he must have had his reasons.”
– Tupac Shakur, 2021 interview
SOURCE(S)/NOTE(S)
[1] OTL Paul Krugman quote, found on the wiki article for the proposed “trillion-dollar coin”!
[2] Italicized passages are from the wiki article mentioned in source [1]
[3] IOTL, Rukavina really was friends with Paul Wellstone, and was arrested for drunk driving in 2004
[4] Italicized parts are from here: http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2013/12/paul-wellstone-is-more-prescient-than.html
[5] IOTL, Culver’s currently (by which, in this instance, I mean to say “as of 2020”) has 771 spots in 25 states with, 26 more spots under construction.
[6] The italicized segments are from here: http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2013/12/paul-wellstone-is-more-prescient-than.html
[7] How the internet works in OTL! Really!
[8] Several years earlier than in OTL, but farther away from Block Island, meaning the view is not so damaged/interrupted as it is in OTL.
[9] Further details can be found here: https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/...om-of-the-ocean-hes-building-one-that-floats/
[10] The parts that are in italics were pulled from here: http://www.governorharley.com/us.htm
[11] Italicized bits are from his OTL autobiography https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wellington_Webb/nYw_NaCgJuMC?hl=en&gbpv=0, page 35
[12] OTL event!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_B-47_disappearance
[13] For further details, see the following: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_in_Morocco#Trade_with_the_EU (basically, as mentioned briefly in previous chapter’s Morocco’s economic strength is fairly similar to IOTL in regards to composition, but is much stronger due to the stabilization of Libya and the pro-free trade policies implemented by UK Prime Minister John Lennon)
[14] As mentioned in previous chapters.
The next chapter’s E.T.A.: Soon!
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Also interested to see who will be the Republican nominee. Great update! Welcome back my friend 
