Librarian. Texan. @ofcs Member. RT/Likes are not endorsements.
Joined January 2015
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I'm going to steal THIS from both @AntiSocialCriti AND @AHeavyMetalPen . A bit behind but hope to catch up.
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Fire Escape Collapse is a famous photograph taken by photographer Stanley Forman on July 22, 1975, during a fire in Boston. The image captures 19-year-old Diana Bryant and her 2-year-old goddaughter, Tiare Jones, falling after a fire escape suddenly collapsed about 50 feet above the ground as firefighters tried to rescue them.
The dramatic photo won the Pulitzer Prize and was named World Press Photo of the Year. Published in more than 100 newspapers, it shocked the public and helped lead to stricter fire escape safety laws across the United States.
More photos just before tragedy struck: bit.ly/4502B4j
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
The director of Godzilla Minus Zero embarrasses other directors again by making a $150m-looking film for an estimated $19m. Takashi Yamazaki is on another level.
Interesting given how GONE WITH THE WIND today is condemned today. History is a twisted thing.
126 years ago today, the woman who wrote "Gone With the Wind" was born. Her biggest secret took nearly 50 years to come out.
Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta on November 8, 1900. Her novel sold millions. The 1939 film won eight Oscars, including Hattie McDaniel's, the first ever won by a Black actor.
But in 1942, a letter reached her from Benjamin Mays, president of Morehouse College, a struggling Black men's college in Atlanta. Could she pay for one $80 scholarship?
A week later, a check came back. With one condition: tell no one.
She kept giving. When her family's longtime laundress, Carrie Holbrook, was dying of cancer, Mitchell couldn't find her a hospital bed. In segregated Atlanta, there simply weren't enough for Black patients.
It broke something in her.
In 1946, she pledged $2,000 to put young Black men through medical and dental school. Her terms: pick them for character, not grades, and have them practice in Georgia, to care for their own people.
She was killed by a speeding car on Peachtree Street in 1949. The gifts kept coming from arrangements she'd made.
The secret held until the 1990s, when a researcher found her letters with Mays. Dozens of Black doctors had been helped. One, Dr. Otis Smith, became Georgia's first Black board-certified pediatrician. He'd been about to drop out when an anonymous donor paid his way.
It was Margaret Mitchell.
The most generous thing you ever do might be the thing nobody knows you did.
Disclaimer: Based on the Mitchell–Mays letters and Morehouse College records; scholarship counts vary by source.
Photos: Margaret Mitchell, Al Aumuller/New York World-Telegram & Sun (public domain); Graves Hall, Morehouse College, c. 1900, Library of Congress (public domain). The letter-writing scene is an AI-generated recreation in a 1940s home-movie style; only hands are shown.
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Muslim raider just destroyed the skeleton of the actual St. Nick.
BONES attributed to Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, kept since 1098 in Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, were STOLEN from their reliquary inside the basilica, then DESTROYED.
The suspect, arrested at his home, admitted to SMASHING the display case protecting the reliquary, then stealing its contents, BURNING the bones and CRUSHING them out of a “desire to destroy.”
(Source: L'Est Républicain)
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Randy Spears started doing p*rn because he had nothing left to eat - just a can of beans and potatoes. His first scene paid $400. He made around 1,000 films over two decades, spending his money on dr*gs to cope with the next shoot. His ex-wife said he was so drained from filming that he didn't even want s*x with her. One day he pulled over after a shoot and broke down crying. He quit.
In the video below Randy Spears - the most decorated male p*rn star of all time - speaks about what the industry did to him.
He came to California to act. Got a manager, an agent, and a movie in his first week. Then the writer's strike hit and everything shut down.
After a month of starving, a makeup artist slipped him a card. He knew using it would end his acting career. He used it anyway.
The phone never stopped ringing. His mother, grandmother and brothers had no idea until they found out. He said it shocked her, hurt her. The shame only got worse from there.
He said prn changed how he saw women completely. Lost the ability to feel anything in a relationship. Called himself a prostitute. The cycle was the same every time - film to buy drgs to survive the next film.
He pulled over two blocks from set, sat in his car, and cried. Drove home. Never went back.
Was Randy Spears a man the industry chewed up and spat out, or did fame and money make it too easy to stay too long?
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Fans brawl outside 49ers-Raiders game in horrific scene leaving multiple people unconscious trib.al/g6Lhuwi
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Just a reminder that Democrats called a massive climate spending and healthcare subsidy bill the “Inflation Reduction Act.”
Spoiler alert: It didn’t deliver the inflation reduction.
But “Inflation Reduction” sure sounded better than “hundreds of billions in climate incentives and healthcare spending.”
So when politicians start promising to make life more affordable, read the fine print.
I know I will. We’ve seen this trick before.
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
" إذا أردتَ إهانة رجل قوي، فأخبره كذبة،
وإذا أردتَ إهانة رجل ضعيف، فأخبره الحقيقة."
- ماركوس أوريليوس
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
All this lawfare over the ballroom was only ever about one thing. They simply couldn’t stomach the idea of Trump leaving behind a grand, permanent addition to the White House that would be associated with him. That was all they cared about. Now, of course, a future Democrat president can give the ballroom whatever official name they want, but the real battle is going to be over what people actually call it. And on that front, the lawfare operatives may have spectacularly shot themselves in the foot. Because of their endless efforts to ruin the project, it is basically now known as the Trump Ballroom. Had they simply left the whole thing alone, people might have ended up calling it the New East Wing or something equally forgettable. Instead, thanks to the lawfare saboteurs, it’ll probably be known as the Trump Ballroom for generations to come.
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
CAN SOMEONE WALK ME THROUGH HOW THIS MAKES SENSE
By the time I retire at 65, I'll have paid roughly $480,000 into Social Security between my contributions and my employer's match.
If that same money had just sat in an index fund averaging 7%, it would be worth about $2.1M. The dividends alone off that would be $147,000 a year.
Instead, the government is projecting I'll get $2,600 a month at 65. That's about $31,200 a year.
Someone explain the gap between those two numbers, because I genuinely don't understand where the rest of it goes.
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Happy birthday to Esther Rolle, born November 8, 1920. The talented actress became a television favourite for her portrayal of Florida Evans on Maude and Good Times.
BITE-SIZED FACT | Rolle received an Emmy Award for her performance in the television movie Summer of My German Soldier in 1979. #70s
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
I have said this before, I'll say it again: I'm self-employed. Under the ACA, my premiums went from under $800/month (family of 7) to $3300/month in 4 years. My original plan was cancelled (catastrophic care.) Yet deductible was the same. After Trump in 2016, I was able to get a catastrophic care plan again -- though $800 for family of 2. I have lots of experience and more to say about this, but ultimately, the ACA raised costs exponentially across the board and can't sustain.
The claims of the ACA were:
1. Going to save families $2,500 a year
2. Going to lower the deficit
3. You could keep your doctor
The reality is:
1. 80% of doctors are employed
2. The costs of health insurance have exploded
3. The insurance companies are seeing record profits
4. One in five in-network claims are denied
5. One in three out-of-network claims are denied
We have to borrow money to subsidize the companies that are the problem.
Americans deserve better; eliminate the ACA!
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Paying $7.99 to rent a 40-year-old movie on Amazon when I already pay for Prime is absurd.
At this point, bring back Blockbuster. I’d rather wander the aisles for 30 minutes, read VHS boxes, and pick out snacks for the nostalgia.
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a Green Beret who once performed emergency surgery on his own shattered arm in combat, is telling the Republican Party to treat its midterm losses the same way he treated a battlefield wound: stop the bleeding, get up, and fight.
Collins, dubbed the "Chuck Norris of Florida politics" by Gov. Ron DeSantis, says the GOP now faces a choice after what DeSantis called a "near extinction-level" midterm cycle. His prescription is Florida's playbook: stand firm on conservative values, but aggressively court no-party affiliated voters instead of only preaching to the base.
"Hard times happen. Warriors, leaders get up and fight," Collins says. "That's what we have to do now."
Full story here foxnews.com/politics/gop-bru…
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
A film producer once told Judi Dench she had "everything wrong with her face." Eight Academy Award nominations, one Oscar, and a Damehood later, she's had the last laugh.
The actress, now 91, talks with @sethdoane about her extraordinary career, losing much of her eyesight, and her new memoir, "Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?," co-written with friend and fellow actor Brendan O'Hea.
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Dame Judi Dench opens up about the challenges of aging and her declining eyesight, which she says has prevented her from taking on new acting roles.
Despite her vision loss, the legendary actress proves her memory remains sharp as she flawlessly recites lines from Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra.”
Aragorn Aragon retweeted
Texas Democrats: Steer to the center or don’t get used to power | Opinion dallasnews.com/opinion/edito…
