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Kilómetro Cero | Lo que tienes que saber antes dea salir de casa | Miércoles 15 de abril de 2026
SN Redacción
El 5 de febrero de 2015, Fátima Quintana Gutiérrez, de 12 años de edad, regresaba de la escuela a su casa en Lerma, estado de México, cuando cerca de ahí fue secuestrada por tres vecinos que, luego de atacarla sexualmente, la asesinaron y enterraron para evitar que fuera encontrada por sus padres… El año pasado, la Suprema Corte determinó que sus padres sí eran víctimas de lo ocurrido y se ordenó una reparación de daños; inicialmente el actual gobierno del edomex dijo presentaría una propuesta, pero no ha pasado nada hasta ahora.
El Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE) detuvo al empresario Rafael Zaga Tawil, buscado por la justicia mexicana por delincuencia organizada y lavado de dinero en un caso de defraudación por 5 mil 88 millones de pesos contra el Infonavit. Registros del ICE indican que Zaga Tawil está en el Centro de Detención del Condado de Glades, ubicado en la zona central del estado de Florida.
Hernán Bermúdez Requena, alias Comandante H o El Abuelo, exsecretario de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana de Tabasco (SSPC), fue vinculado a proceso acusado de peculado, informó la Fiscalía General del Estado de Tabasco. En un comunicado explicó que un juez de control dictó la resolución judicial contra el presunto líder de La Barredora por agravio al patrimonio público.
La FGR reveló que el 10 de abril colectivos de búsqueda realizaron, con autorización de un juez, una nueva visita al rancho Izaguirre, en Teuchitlán, Jalisco. Detalló que «no se llevaron a cabo actividades de prospección orientadas a la búsqueda de nuevos indicios». Asimismo, subrayó que los indicios localizados continúan bajo análisis.
La crisis de seguridad con violencia extrema se recrudeció en la última semana en Tabasco, después de que se incrementaron los casos de decapitación de personas debido al choque entre los grupos delictivos La Barredora y cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). Ayer fueron hallados en hieleras restos humanos mutilados de dos personas en el municipio de Centro (Villahermosa), con lo que en la entidad se contabilizan ya nueve personas decapitadas en lo que va de 2026, cuatro de cuyos casos tuvieron lugar en los últimos seis días.
Mientras el mundo observa la frontera sur por la crisis migratoria, bajo el asfalto de los puentes internacionales fluye un río de oro negro robado que está contaminando la seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos. Ya no se trata sólo de fentanilo; hoy, la mayor fuente de ingresos no derivados de las drogas para los cárteles mexicanos es el petróleo crudo extraído de las venas de México y lavado en las refinerías de Texas.
La Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) determinó clasificar como reservados los resultados de la necropsia del líder del cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, Nemesio Oseguera, El Mencho, abatido por fuerzas federales el pasado 22 de febrero en Tapalpa. En respuesta a una solicitud de información, la FGR argumentó que la divulgación de la información representa «un riesgo real, demostrable e identificable de perjuicio significativo al interés público o a la seguridad nacional».
El grupo criminal La Familia Michoacana secuestró al alcalde morenista de Taxco, Juan Andrés Vega Carranza, y a su padre Juan Andrés Vega Arredondo. Después los liberó cuando iniciaba un operativo federal de búsqueda en la zona de la Tierra Caliente. Pero no hubo detenidos ni una denuncia formal. El sábado, el papá del alcalde, que es director del Hospital del IMSS-Bienestar, fue privado de su libertad. Su hijo, el edil de Taxco, tuvo el mismo sábado un encuentro con el senador Félix Salgado para notificarle y pedirle ayuda.
En un fallo histórico, tras más de cuatro años de lucha, la activista trans Natalia Lane consiguió justicia este lunes, pues se convirtió en la primera mujer trans, trabajadora sexual, en sobrevivir y alcanzar una sentencia por un intento de transfeminicidio en toda América Latina. Al salir del Reclusorio Preventivo Varonil Sur, en Xochimilco, luego de más de cinco horas de audiencia, la joven subrayó que esta resolución en contra de su presunto agresor, Alejandro «N», sólo pudo concretarse gracias a su lucha y la de diversos colectivos LGBTTTIQ+.
La Fiscalía de Chihuahua informó que está próxima a judicializar 75 carpetas de investigación por el delito de fraude relacionadas con el caso del Crematorio Plenitud, donde a mediados del año pasado se localizaron 386 cuerpos que debieron ser incinerados. A través de la Unidad Especializada en la Investigación de Delitos de Peligro, contra la Paz, Seguridad de las Personas y la Fe Pública, la autoridad detalló que actualmente ya se encuentran judicializadas 33 carpetas en contra de cuatro funerarias vinculadas con estos hechos.
El exgobernador de Veracruz, Javier Duarte de Ochoa, impugnó la vinculación a proceso que le impuso un juez de control en febrero pasado por el delito de peculado por 5 millones de pesos en daño a un fondo destinado a obras de salud en beneficio de niños y adultos mayores en esa entidad en 2012, confirmó su abogado Pablo Campuzano de la Mora. Mañana cumplirá la condena de nueve años recibida luego de declararse culpable de asociación delictuosa y lavado de dinero, delitos por los que permanece preso en el Reclusorio Norte desde 2017.
El exgobernador de Chihuahua, César Duarte Jaques, obtuvo una suspensión definitiva contra la prisión preventiva impuesta por el delito de abuso de confianza. La medida cautelar no implica que el exmandatario quede en libertad, ya que Daniel Marcelino Niño Jiménez, titular del juzgado cuarto de distrito en materia penal con residencia en el estado de México, rechazó la solicitud de seguir el proceso penal fuera de prisión. En la actualidad está recluido en el Centro Federal de Readaptación Social 1 (Cefereso), del Altiplano, en Almoloya de Juárez. Duarte promovió el amparo en marzo pasado, y el juzgador lo admitió a trámite luego de que su homólogo Alejandro Latorre Lozano, titular del juzgado primero de distrito en materia penal, se declaró incompetente para continuar el asunto.
Bertha Olga Gómez Fong, esposa del exgobernador de Chihuahua, César N, fue puesta en libertad por parte de las autoridades migratorias estadounidenses, luego de permanecer casi tres semanas detenida en un centro migratorio, confirmaron personas allegadas a la familia del exmandatario. La autoridad migratoria le otorgó la libertad del centro de retención de ICE, en la cual estuvo retenida desde el 25 de marzo en El Paso, Texas, para que continúe su proceso migratorio desde su casa. Bertha Olga Gómez enfrenta dos denuncias por parte de la Fiscalía General de Justicia del estado de Chihuahua, una por desvío de recursos –peculado– durante la administración de su esposo y otra por el robo de algunos objetos, por lo que solicitó su extradición.
La rápida evolución de la inteligencia artificial (IA) generativa ha superado la velocidad de respuesta del marco jurídico mexicano. Aunque la Ley Olimpia marcó un hito en 2018 para sancionar la violencia digital, hoy se enfrenta a una obsolescencia técnica que impide proteger a las víctimas de contenidos sintéticos, como los deepfakes. Claudia Jiménez, presidenta del Consejo Latinoamericano de Ética en Tecnología (CLETec), advierte que la normativa actual carece de los mecanismos necesarios para castigar la creación de materiales falsos, audios, videos e imágenes, que vulneran la intimidad de las personas.
El Comité Técnico de Evaluación que conduce el proceso de elección de tres consejeros electorales difundió ayer la lista de 100 aspirantes que pasarán a la etapa de entrevistas, entre quienes se mantienen perfiles cercanos al gobierno federal, a la consejera presidente del INE, Guadalupe Taddei, y a Morena. Se trata de 50 hombres y 50 mujeres que, de acuerdo con el Comité, tienen la mejor calificación final en la etapa de evaluación de idoneidad, que incluyó un examen de conocimiento. De ellos, 14 representan a grupos en situación de vulnerabilidad.
La Asociación de Protección a Víctimas de Accidentes indicó que este martes los Ministros tendrán la oportunidad de demostrar si están del lado de la gente, cuando discutan la contradicción de criterios sobre si las indemnizaciones deben pagarse en UMAS o salarios mínimos, que la ministra Lenia Batres ha buscado recortar en más del 50 por ciento, al proponer que debe prevalecer el criterio de pagarlas en UMAS.
La Sala Superior resolvió distintas impugnaciones presentadas contra el Comité Técnico de Evaluación de la Cámara de Diputados con motivo de la exclusión de distintas personas aspirantes en el proceso de renovación de consejerías del Instituto Nacional Electoral ante el incumplimiento de requisitos previstos en la convocatoria.
Damián Zepeda, quien expresó su desacuerdo con la reforma judicial aprobada por dos terceras partes de la Cámara de Diputados y Senadores, abogó por juicios orales y mecanismos alternativos. Propuso perfeccionar el sistema para garantizar una selección de jueces y magistrados competentes, señalando problemas en los Comités de Selección y sugirió que la elección judicial se realice un año después de la federal para evitar conflictos.
Aunque es una obligación para los tres poderes y los tres órdenes de gobierno, el mandatario de Nayarit, Miguel Ángel Navarro Quintero, y la mayoría de los titulares de las diferentes dependencias del estado, omiten dar cuenta de sus bienes, autos y sueldos, así como de su experiencia laboral, en sus declaraciones patrimoniales. De acuerdo con la página DeclaraNet de la Secretaría para la Honestidad y Buena Gobernanza del estado de Nayarit, en el caso del gobernador solamente existe una declaración patrimonial, la cual se publicó el 14 de mayo de 2025, aun cuando tomó el cargo casi cuatro años antes.
El proyecto del macrolibramiento, una autopista elevada de cuota que beneficiará al estado de México, mantiene a vecinos de Azcapotzalco con el temor por las consecuencias que traerá para sus viviendas, fuentes de empleo y salud. Por ello, colonos interpusieron al menos cuatro amparos para frenar el proyecto; en uno de ellos ya lograron la suspensión definitiva. Además, mantienen un monitoreo constante de la construcción, ya que la vía, en el llamado Tramo 0, queda al ras de sus viviendas; incluso hay tramos de la arteria de solo 16 metros, a la entrada del estado de México.
Graves problemas a la circulación ocasionó un bloqueo por parte de los activistas del refugio animal Franciscano, quienes cerraron los carriles centrales del Paseo de la Reforma, en ambos sentidos, a la altura de la avenida de los Insurgentes. Cerca de 30 personas del Comité de Apoyo Emergente Pro Refugio Franciscano realizaron esta movilización, exigiendo que los animales que fueron confiscados por autoridades capitalinas, les sean devueltos. «Vivos se llevaron a los franciscanitos, vivos los queremos de vuelta al refugio Franciscano», eran parte de sus consignas que repetían una y otra vez… «El 7 de enero de 2026, el Gobierno de la Cdmx tenía la obligación jurídica de respetar y cumplir la suspensión definitiva del amparo 1544/2025, obtenida el 23 de diciembre de 2025, a favor del Refugio Franciscano, resultado de la protección judicial federal solicitada por éste», señalaba una de las dirigentes.
Entre 2019 y 2024, se cuadruplicó la carga de trabajo para los jueces locales en México. Hace siete años, cada persona juzgadora del área penal atendía un promedio de 120.5 casos anualmente, cifra que se elevó a 449.1 a finales del sexenio del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Pero la situación es desigual cuando se observan casos particulares, de acuerdo con la base de datos Data Justicia, elaborada por la Fundación Friedrich Naumann, en colaboración con la organización México Evalúa.
Ana Lilia Rivera se posiciona como el perfil más competitivo dentro de Morena rumbo a la gubernatura de Tlaxcala. De acuerdo con la más reciente encuesta de Enkoll, la actual senadora arrasa en la contienda interna, encabeza todos los atributos evaluados y es la única aspirante que alcanza el puntaje máximo, 10 puntos de 10, en la metodología de valoración interna del partido.
El gobierno federal alista una respuesta al informe del Comité contra la Desaparición Forzada de la ONU sobre México y confirmó que sostendrá una reunión con el Alto Comisionado de Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos, Volker Türk, en medio de la polémica por el reciente diagnóstico sobre ese delito en el país. «Vamos a tener reunión. Es importante que ustedes sepan, nosotros rechazamos el informe, pero eso no quiere decir que no tengamos comunicación con la Comisión, con los organismos de Naciones Unidas y con el Alto Comisionado de Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas», dijo la presidente Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
El gobierno federal delineó una posible solución para el problema de los taxis de aplicación en el Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México, colocar un transporte público adicional desde y hacia las terminales que lleve a los usuarios a un sitio especial, aún no establecido, para que estos puedan tomar transporte de aplicación como Uber. En entrevista, Rodrigo Ríos, líder del Movimiento Colectivo de Conductores de Plataforma, refirió que se está trabajando con el gobierno para encontrar una solución.
«Si te portas bien, no te debería de dar miedo», aseveró el director general de Santander México, Felipe García Ascencio, ante la determinación de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) que confirmó las facultades a la Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF) para bloquear cuentas por la presunción de indicios de lavado de dinero u operaciones con recursos ilícitos, sin que medie una orden judicial. En este sentido, confirmó que el grupo financiero de origen español se apegará a la medida, como lo hace en todas las naciones donde opera. Observó que más allá de cuestionar esta decisión, consideró que la medida es un desincentivo para que el sistema financiero sea utilizado por la delincuencia.
México se mantuvo en la posición 10 en la clasificación de los mayores exportadores de productos del mundo en 2025, al igual que en 2024, de acuerdo con datos de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC). Con una diferencia de unos 3,000 millones de dólares, México estuvo a punto de desplazar a Francia de la novena posición. Sin embargo, otras economías que se ubican fuera del Top-10 cerca de México registraron tasas de crecimiento de doble dígito, como Singapur (12.1%), Taiwán (34.7%) y Suiza (23.9 por ciento).
El papa León XIV respondió ayer al presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, quien arremetió contra él por la guerra con Irán, al señalar a reporteros que no teme al gobierno del magnate, al tiempo que subrayó que sus llamados a la paz y la reconciliación están arraigados en el Evangelio. Insistió en que continuará denunciando la violencia sin dirigir ataques personales y resaltó que no tiene la intención de entrar en debate con el mandatario.
Entró en vigor el bloqueo militar a puertos iraníes, ordenado por el presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, el domingo, luego de que ambos países fracasaran al intentar un acuerdo de paz el pasado fin de semana. Ayer, a través de su cuenta de Truth Social, el mandatario estadunidense amenazó con «eliminar» cualquier barco iraní que intente forzar el bloqueo. Pese a la tensión, Trump afirmó que Irán ya lo contactó para intentar negociar un acuerdo con urgencia, sin indicar quiénes fueron sus interlocutores.
La Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) advirtió un escenario de alto riesgo global derivado del conflicto en Medio Oriente, al alertar que la disrupción en el estrecho de Ormuz podría detonar presiones inflacionarias, crisis alimentarias y un deterioro económico de alcance mundial en los próximos meses si no se restablece el flujo comercial.
La crisis en el Estrecho de Ormuz ha intensificado la presión sobre Pemex que enfrenta paros operativos, fallas técnicas y mayores costos en un entorno de alta volatilidad de los precios del crudo. El encarecimiento del petróleo, -con el Brent y el WTI alrededor de los 100 dólares por barril- anticipa un periodo prolongado de tensión en el suministro. León Barrena Rodríguez & Partners LLP señalan que la crisis ha expuesto una vulnerabilidad crítica en el balance energético del país.
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Opinión | Que no le digan… | Censura y desmemoria
Una de las acepciones sobre censura: “es el control que se ejerce sobre la información y las ideas que circulan en una sociedad, con fines políticos, ideológicos, religiosos o morales”.
Por Mario A. Medina
El tema se ha vuelto a tocar en estos días a raíz de que, en Puebla, el congreso local aprobó la llamada “Ley de Ciberseguridad” que entró en vigor el 14 de junio pasado; penaliza insultos, injurias ofensas, agravios y vejaciones en redes sociales; su violación significaría penas de hasta tres años de prisión y multas de casi 40 mil pesos.
Tanto la secretaria de Gobernación, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, como la presidentA Claudia Sheinbaum, propusieron que dicha normatividad se revise y ambas externaron su convicción en contra de la censura.
Alejandro Armenta Mier, gobernador del estado declaró que la ley “no busca coartar la libertad de expresión, sino sancionar los ciberdelitos en Puebla; proteger a mujeres, niños y a las familias enteras; proteger a los niños, a mujeres; proteger la identidad”.
Un asunto que, sin lugar a duda, debe revisarse para evitar que un tema que efectivamente es un reclamo pueda ser utilizado por los gobernadores y políticos paraquerer castigar el trabajo periodístico, artístico, intelectual, etcétera.
Alejandro ArmentaEs grave, desde luego lo ocurrido en Campeche, donde la juez Guadalupe Martínez Taboada vinculó a proceso al periodista Jorge González Valdez por presuntos delitos de incitación al odio y a la violencia en agravio de la gobernadora de Campeche, Layda Sansores San Román; Le ha prohibido ejercer su profesión por dos años y ordenó cerrar la edición digital del periódico «TRIBUNA» por ese mismo lapso; fue sentenciado a pagar una indemnización de dos millones de pesos al director estatal de Comunicación Social Walther Patrón Bacab por presunto daño moral. Un asunto, insisto, de preocupación y de suma gravedad.
El periodista “habría difundido publicaciones que constituyen ataques sistemáticos hacia la mandataria estatal, incluyendo expresiones que de acuerdo con la queja apelan a su condición de mujer”.
Una cosa es cierta, la mayoría de los políticos del signo que usted quiera tienen la piel muy delgada, son intolerantes a que se les descubran sus desaciertos, errores, groserías y, desde luego, sus corruptelas; son intransigentes a la crítica.
Quien hoy en día se mete a la política debe saber y entender que debe tener la piel muy gruesa, pues va a ser objeto de todo tipo de críticas, de adentro y de afuera. El ex presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador se enfrentó, como ningún mandatario, a los medios de comunicación, a periodistas y analistas. Muy a su estilo se defendió de los ataques con o sin razón; los enfrentó de frente con nombres y apellidos. Nos pudieron gustar o no las formas, pero dio la cara, pues de aquellos enfrentó una guerra mediática y se defendió, mas nunca dio la orden de cerrar un medio o se le corriera a alguno de sus críticos, como sucedía antes. Como nunca hubo libertad plena de informar y opinar hasta el insulto.
Andrés Manuel López ObradorNuevamente la oposición recurre al mismo discurso ya gastado, baladí. Es una “estrategia para acabar con la democracia en México”; “un sello de la izquierda”, ha señalado la diputada local en la Cdmx, América Rangel, que, supone, va a asustar a la población con el “uy, ahí vine el lobo”: “México con Morena, va a ser igual que Cuba, Venezuela, Corea del Norte, que la URSS” (sí, que la URSS, país que ya no existe).
La desmemoria de la oposición política y mediática es preocupante, o mejor dicho convenenciera.
Olvidan, a propósito. “el día que los medios de comunicación callaron ante la violencia del sexenio de Felipe Calderón”.El 24 de marzo de 2011, 715 medios aceptaron la censura de Calderón para que no informaran de los asesinatos producto de su guerra contra el narcotráfico. «Ser parte de su estrategia» y así poder «autorregular» sus contenidos. (Proceso).
¿Se les olvida cuando Calderón “ordenó despedir a Aristegui por lo de su ebriedad? No salga ahora con sermones puritanos. No tenemos amnesia, escribió en su Twitter, la periodista Dolia Estévez. (@DoliaEstevez) el 26 de agosto de 2002.
Hablando de perfiles autoritarios. “¿Recuerdas lo que hiciste con Carmen Aristegui cuando en su programa hablaron del estado en el que permanentemente te encuentras?) anotó en la misma red social el corresponsal en Washington Jesús Esquivel (@JJesusEsquivel), dirigiéndose a Felipe Calderón.
MensajeDaniel Lizárraga le recordó a Calderón cuando “el equipo de comunicación presidencial ordenó que la revista Proceso no cubriera las giras del exmandatario; las portadas del semanario que documentaba la “guerra contra el narco”. Se les olvida de las advertencias a José Gutiérrez Vivó por serle incómodo al panista.
La escritora y periodista argentina Olga Wornat, en entrevista con Julio Hernández, le dijo: “En aquel momento con García Luna y sus sicarios y con el conocimiento de Felipe Calderón, lo digo con todas las letras, Felipe Calderón sabía que yo estaba amenazada de muerte por García Luna, que ahora se haga el tonto y que haga silencio, él nunca sabe nada, pero por supuesto que sabía”.
En el gobierno de Enrique Peña Nieto también se cocieron habas. El 21 abril 2029, el portal SinEmbargo publicó: “entre 2012 y 2018, el Gobierno federal en México recurrió en decenas de ocasiones a Google, Twitter y Facebook para pedir la remoción de contenidos publicados por usuarios. De acuerdo con el informe anual de Artículo 19, “estas solicitudes se generaron mediante procedimientos opacos y sinapego a la Ley, lo que pudoderivar en censura”.
Artículo 19, destacó que el gobierno priísta solicitó decenas de remociones de contenido en Google y otras plataformas digitales con base en (presuntos) daños por difamación, uso no autorizado de propiedad intelectual, acoso e incluso por motivos de seguridad nacional, con un solo propósito: censurar.
Enrique Peña Nieto | @SociedadN_En un trabajo de investigación documental de un grupo de estudiantes de la Green Hills School, “La Censura… perdona a los curvos”, demostraron que tanto el gobierno de Calderón como el de Peña Nieto, usaron la censura como “una herramienta para cubrir la corrupción con el objetivo de apaciguar la reacción de un pueblo que no tiene suficiente análisis crítico”; uno y otro pretendieron controlar los contenidos de la red(es) a través de las leyes secundarias, como la “polémica Reforma de las Telecomunicaciones”. La propuesta -dice el texto- “parece extraída de un manual totalitario”.
La desmemoria que padece la oposición cuando afirma que el gobierno de Sheinbaum censura y que vamos al totalitarismo, es tramposa. Por ejemplo, la conductora del noticiario en MVS-Radio, Pamela Cerdeira, al entrevistar a Pedro Cárdenas de Artículo 19, afirmó un tanto escandalizada: “México vive un momento crítico para la libertad de prensa”. Lo dijo en los mismos micrófonos de donde se le corrió a Carmen Aristegui por preguntar por la salud etílica de Calderón.
Sí, lamentable lo de Campeche y de otros estados, donde efectivamente morenistas, panistas y priístas, buscan censurar para callar plumas para que no los toquen, pero es doloso afirmar que lo de Campeche, Puebla o el tribunal electoral de Tamaulipas parta de una convicción del gobierno federal. No. Nada tiene que ver en esto el gobierno federal.
La censura, en buena parte, y lo saben los periodistas y los políticos, ha sido producto de los convenios de publicidad (“No te pago para que me pegues”: José López Portillo) y de la orden de Los Pinos (PRI y PAN) que ordenaban callar y, claro, de lo grueso o delgado del sobre amarillo.
Que no le cuenten…
“México el país con mayor avance contra la pobreza entre sus miembros”: OCDE. Otro dato del mismo organismo: “En México prevalece la alta confianza de la ciudadanía sobre su gobierno y su capacidad para enfrentar los problemas entre generaciones”.
*Periodista: @MarioA_Medina
Columna anterior: Aristegui Noticias y Lorenzo Meyer
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Opinión | Que no le digan… | Censura y desmemoria
Una de las acepciones sobre censura: “es el control que se ejerce sobre la información y las ideas que circulan en una sociedad, con fines políticos, ideológicos, religiosos o morales”.
Por Mario A. Medina
El tema se ha vuelto a tocar en estos días a raíz de que, en Puebla, el congreso local aprobó la llamada “Ley de Ciberseguridad” que entró en vigor el 14 de junio pasado; penaliza insultos, injurias ofensas, agravios y vejaciones en redes sociales; su violación significaría penas de hasta tres años de prisión y multas de casi 40 mil pesos.
Tanto la secretaria de Gobernación, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, como la presidentA Claudia Sheinbaum, propusieron que dicha normatividad se revise y ambas externaron su convicción en contra de la censura.
Alejandro Armenta Mier, gobernador del estado declaró que la ley “no busca coartar la libertad de expresión, sino sancionar los ciberdelitos en Puebla; proteger a mujeres, niños y a las familias enteras; proteger a los niños, a mujeres; proteger la identidad”.
Un asunto que, sin lugar a duda, debe revisarse para evitar que un tema que efectivamente es un reclamo pueda ser utilizado por los gobernadores y políticos paraquerer castigar el trabajo periodístico, artístico, intelectual, etcétera.
Alejandro ArmentaEs grave, desde luego lo ocurrido en Campeche, donde la juez Guadalupe Martínez Taboada vinculó a proceso al periodista Jorge González Valdez por presuntos delitos de incitación al odio y a la violencia en agravio de la gobernadora de Campeche, Layda Sansores San Román; Le ha prohibido ejercer su profesión por dos años y ordenó cerrar la edición digital del periódico «TRIBUNA» por ese mismo lapso; fue sentenciado a pagar una indemnización de dos millones de pesos al director estatal de Comunicación Social Walther Patrón Bacab por presunto daño moral. Un asunto, insisto, de preocupación y de suma gravedad.
El periodista “habría difundido publicaciones que constituyen ataques sistemáticos hacia la mandataria estatal, incluyendo expresiones que de acuerdo con la queja apelan a su condición de mujer”.
Una cosa es cierta, la mayoría de los políticos del signo que usted quiera tienen la piel muy delgada, son intolerantes a que se les descubran sus desaciertos, errores, groserías y, desde luego, sus corruptelas; son intransigentes a la crítica.
Quien hoy en día se mete a la política debe saber y entender que debe tener la piel muy gruesa, pues va a ser objeto de todo tipo de críticas, de adentro y de afuera. El ex presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador se enfrentó, como ningún mandatario, a los medios de comunicación, a periodistas y analistas. Muy a su estilo se defendió de los ataques con o sin razón; los enfrentó de frente con nombres y apellidos. Nos pudieron gustar o no las formas, pero dio la cara, pues de aquellos enfrentó una guerra mediática y se defendió, mas nunca dio la orden de cerrar un medio o se le corriera a alguno de sus críticos, como sucedía antes. Como nunca hubo libertad plena de informar y opinar hasta el insulto.
Andrés Manuel López ObradorNuevamente la oposición recurre al mismo discurso ya gastado, baladí. Es una “estrategia para acabar con la democracia en México”; “un sello de la izquierda”, ha señalado la diputada local en la Cdmx, América Rangel, que, supone, va a asustar a la población con el “uy, ahí vine el lobo”: “México con Morena, va a ser igual que Cuba, Venezuela, Corea del Norte, que la URSS” (sí, que la URSS, país que ya no existe).
La desmemoria de la oposición política y mediática es preocupante, o mejor dicho convenenciera.
Olvidan, a propósito. “el día que los medios de comunicación callaron ante la violencia del sexenio de Felipe Calderón”.El 24 de marzo de 2011, 715 medios aceptaron la censura de Calderón para que no informaran de los asesinatos producto de su guerra contra el narcotráfico. «Ser parte de su estrategia» y así poder «autorregular» sus contenidos. (Proceso).
¿Se les olvida cuando Calderón “ordenó despedir a Aristegui por lo de su ebriedad? No salga ahora con sermones puritanos. No tenemos amnesia, escribió en su Twitter, la periodista Dolia Estévez. (@DoliaEstevez) el 26 de agosto de 2002.
Hablando de perfiles autoritarios. “¿Recuerdas lo que hiciste con Carmen Aristegui cuando en su programa hablaron del estado en el que permanentemente te encuentras?) anotó en la misma red social el corresponsal en Washington Jesús Esquivel (@JJesusEsquivel), dirigiéndose a Felipe Calderón.
MensajeDaniel Lizárraga le recordó a Calderón cuando “el equipo de comunicación presidencial ordenó que la revista Proceso no cubriera las giras del exmandatario; las portadas del semanario que documentaba la “guerra contra el narco”. Se les olvida de las advertencias a José Gutiérrez Vivó por serle incómodo al panista.
La escritora y periodista argentina Olga Wornat, en entrevista con Julio Hernández, le dijo: “En aquel momento con García Luna y sus sicarios y con el conocimiento de Felipe Calderón, lo digo con todas las letras, Felipe Calderón sabía que yo estaba amenazada de muerte por García Luna, que ahora se haga el tonto y que haga silencio, él nunca sabe nada, pero por supuesto que sabía”.
En el gobierno de Enrique Peña Nieto también se cocieron habas. El 21 abril 2029, el portal SinEmbargo publicó: “entre 2012 y 2018, el Gobierno federal en México recurrió en decenas de ocasiones a Google, Twitter y Facebook para pedir la remoción de contenidos publicados por usuarios. De acuerdo con el informe anual de Artículo 19, “estas solicitudes se generaron mediante procedimientos opacos y sinapego a la Ley, lo que pudoderivar en censura”.
Artículo 19, destacó que el gobierno priísta solicitó decenas de remociones de contenido en Google y otras plataformas digitales con base en (presuntos) daños por difamación, uso no autorizado de propiedad intelectual, acoso e incluso por motivos de seguridad nacional, con un solo propósito: censurar.
Enrique Peña Nieto | @SociedadN_En un trabajo de investigación documental de un grupo de estudiantes de la Green Hills School, “La Censura… perdona a los curvos”, demostraron que tanto el gobierno de Calderón como el de Peña Nieto, usaron la censura como “una herramienta para cubrir la corrupción con el objetivo de apaciguar la reacción de un pueblo que no tiene suficiente análisis crítico”; uno y otro pretendieron controlar los contenidos de la red(es) a través de las leyes secundarias, como la “polémica Reforma de las Telecomunicaciones”. La propuesta -dice el texto- “parece extraída de un manual totalitario”.
La desmemoria que padece la oposición cuando afirma que el gobierno de Sheinbaum censura y que vamos al totalitarismo, es tramposa. Por ejemplo, la conductora del noticiario en MVS-Radio, Pamela Cerdeira, al entrevistar a Pedro Cárdenas de Artículo 19, afirmó un tanto escandalizada: “México vive un momento crítico para la libertad de prensa”. Lo dijo en los mismos micrófonos de donde se le corrió a Carmen Aristegui por preguntar por la salud etílica de Calderón.
Sí, lamentable lo de Campeche y de otros estados, donde efectivamente morenistas, panistas y priístas, buscan censurar para callar plumas para que no los toquen, pero es doloso afirmar que lo de Campeche, Puebla o el tribunal electoral de Tamaulipas parta de una convicción del gobierno federal. No. Nada tiene que ver en esto el gobierno federal.
La censura, en buena parte, y lo saben los periodistas y los políticos, ha sido producto de los convenios de publicidad (“No te pago para que me pegues”: José López Portillo) y de la orden de Los Pinos (PRI y PAN) que ordenaban callar y, claro, de lo grueso o delgado del sobre amarillo.
Que no le cuenten…
“México el país con mayor avance contra la pobreza entre sus miembros”: OCDE. Otro dato del mismo organismo: “En México prevalece la alta confianza de la ciudadanía sobre su gobierno y su capacidad para enfrentar los problemas entre generaciones”.
*Periodista: @MarioA_Medina
Columna anterior: Aristegui Noticias y Lorenzo Meyer
Mario A Medina¡Conéctate con Sociedad Noticias! Suscríbete a nuestro canal de YouTube y activa las notificaciones, o bien, síguenos en las redes sociales: Facebook, Twitter e Instagram.
También, te invitamos a que te sumes a nuestro canal de información en tiempo real a través de Telegram.
#10Y11DeSeptiembreElIntento #AdánAugustoLópez #AeropuertoInternacionalFelipeÁngeles #AIFA #AlejandroMurat #AltagraciaGómezSierra #AMLo #AndrésManuelLópezObrador #Argentina #ArturoZAldivar #BeatrizParedes #CarolinaViggiano #Cdmx #CitlalliHernández #Claudia #CongresoDeLaUnión #EnriqueDeLaMadri #EnriqueDeLaMadrid #EnriquePeñaNietoTambién #FelipeGarcíaAscencio #FernandoGómezMontt #GerardoEsquivel #GerardoFernándezNoroña #IldefonsoGuajardo #IrmaPineda #javierCorral #JoséÁngelGurría #JoséGutiérrezVivó #JosefinaVazquezMota #JuanRamónDeLaFuente #JuanRamónDeLaFuenteYElHistoriador #LorenzoMeyer #Mañanera #Marcelo #MarciaAltagraciaGómezDelCampo #MargaritaZavala #MarioAMedina #maxCortazar #México #milei #Morena #NarcoPresidente #OlgaSánchezCordero #OpiniónQueNoLeDigan10Y11DeSeptiembreElIntento #QueNoLeCuenten #RicardoMonreal #salvadorAllende #SandraCuevas #SantiagoCreel #Sheinbaum #SN #Sociedad #SociedadNoticias #SociedadNoticiasCom #sociedadNoticias #TatianaClouthierCarrillo #XóchitlGálvez #Xingón
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Opinión | Que no le digan… | Censura y desmemoria
Una de las acepciones sobre censura: “es el control que se ejerce sobre la información y las ideas que circulan en una sociedad, con fines políticos, ideológicos, religiosos o morales”.
Por Mario A. Medina
El tema se ha vuelto a tocar en estos días a raíz de que, en Puebla, el congreso local aprobó la llamada “Ley de Ciberseguridad” que entró en vigor el 14 de junio pasado; penaliza insultos, injurias ofensas, agravios y vejaciones en redes sociales; su violación significaría penas de hasta tres años de prisión y multas de casi 40 mil pesos.
Tanto la secretaria de Gobernación, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, como la presidentA Claudia Sheinbaum, propusieron que dicha normatividad se revise y ambas externaron su convicción en contra de la censura.
Alejandro Armenta Mier, gobernador del estado declaró que la ley “no busca coartar la libertad de expresión, sino sancionar los ciberdelitos en Puebla; proteger a mujeres, niños y a las familias enteras; proteger a los niños, a mujeres; proteger la identidad”.
Un asunto que, sin lugar a duda, debe revisarse para evitar que un tema que efectivamente es un reclamo pueda ser utilizado por los gobernadores y políticos paraquerer castigar el trabajo periodístico, artístico, intelectual, etcétera.
Alejandro ArmentaEs grave, desde luego lo ocurrido en Campeche, donde la juez Guadalupe Martínez Taboada vinculó a proceso al periodista Jorge González Valdez por presuntos delitos de incitación al odio y a la violencia en agravio de la gobernadora de Campeche, Layda Sansores San Román; Le ha prohibido ejercer su profesión por dos años y ordenó cerrar la edición digital del periódico «TRIBUNA» por ese mismo lapso; fue sentenciado a pagar una indemnización de dos millones de pesos al director estatal de Comunicación Social Walther Patrón Bacab por presunto daño moral. Un asunto, insisto, de preocupación y de suma gravedad.
El periodista “habría difundido publicaciones que constituyen ataques sistemáticos hacia la mandataria estatal, incluyendo expresiones que de acuerdo con la queja apelan a su condición de mujer”.
Una cosa es cierta, la mayoría de los políticos del signo que usted quiera tienen la piel muy delgada, son intolerantes a que se les descubran sus desaciertos, errores, groserías y, desde luego, sus corruptelas; son intransigentes a la crítica.
Quien hoy en día se mete a la política debe saber y entender que debe tener la piel muy gruesa, pues va a ser objeto de todo tipo de críticas, de adentro y de afuera. El ex presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador se enfrentó, como ningún mandatario, a los medios de comunicación, a periodistas y analistas. Muy a su estilo se defendió de los ataques con o sin razón; los enfrentó de frente con nombres y apellidos. Nos pudieron gustar o no las formas, pero dio la cara, pues de aquellos enfrentó una guerra mediática y se defendió, mas nunca dio la orden de cerrar un medio o se le corriera a alguno de sus críticos, como sucedía antes. Como nunca hubo libertad plena de informar y opinar hasta el insulto.
Andrés Manuel López ObradorNuevamente la oposición recurre al mismo discurso ya gastado, baladí. Es una “estrategia para acabar con la democracia en México”; “un sello de la izquierda”, ha señalado la diputada local en la Cdmx, América Rangel, que, supone, va a asustar a la población con el “uy, ahí vine el lobo”: “México con Morena, va a ser igual que Cuba, Venezuela, Corea del Norte, que la URSS” (sí, que la URSS, país que ya no existe).
La desmemoria de la oposición política y mediática es preocupante, o mejor dicho convenenciera.
Olvidan, a propósito. “el día que los medios de comunicación callaron ante la violencia del sexenio de Felipe Calderón”.El 24 de marzo de 2011, 715 medios aceptaron la censura de Calderón para que no informaran de los asesinatos producto de su guerra contra el narcotráfico. «Ser parte de su estrategia» y así poder «autorregular» sus contenidos. (Proceso).
¿Se les olvida cuando Calderón “ordenó despedir a Aristegui por lo de su ebriedad? No salga ahora con sermones puritanos. No tenemos amnesia, escribió en su Twitter, la periodista Dolia Estévez. (@DoliaEstevez) el 26 de agosto de 2002.
Hablando de perfiles autoritarios. “¿Recuerdas lo que hiciste con Carmen Aristegui cuando en su programa hablaron del estado en el que permanentemente te encuentras?) anotó en la misma red social el corresponsal en Washington Jesús Esquivel (@JJesusEsquivel), dirigiéndose a Felipe Calderón.
MensajeDaniel Lizárraga le recordó a Calderón cuando “el equipo de comunicación presidencial ordenó que la revista Proceso no cubriera las giras del exmandatario; las portadas del semanario que documentaba la “guerra contra el narco”. Se les olvida de las advertencias a José Gutiérrez Vivó por serle incómodo al panista.
La escritora y periodista argentina Olga Wornat, en entrevista con Julio Hernández, le dijo: “En aquel momento con García Luna y sus sicarios y con el conocimiento de Felipe Calderón, lo digo con todas las letras, Felipe Calderón sabía que yo estaba amenazada de muerte por García Luna, que ahora se haga el tonto y que haga silencio, él nunca sabe nada, pero por supuesto que sabía”.
En el gobierno de Enrique Peña Nieto también se cocieron habas. El 21 abril 2029, el portal SinEmbargo publicó: “entre 2012 y 2018, el Gobierno federal en México recurrió en decenas de ocasiones a Google, Twitter y Facebook para pedir la remoción de contenidos publicados por usuarios. De acuerdo con el informe anual de Artículo 19, “estas solicitudes se generaron mediante procedimientos opacos y sinapego a la Ley, lo que pudoderivar en censura”.
Artículo 19, destacó que el gobierno priísta solicitó decenas de remociones de contenido en Google y otras plataformas digitales con base en (presuntos) daños por difamación, uso no autorizado de propiedad intelectual, acoso e incluso por motivos de seguridad nacional, con un solo propósito: censurar.
Enrique Peña Nieto | @SociedadN_En un trabajo de investigación documental de un grupo de estudiantes de la Green Hills School, “La Censura… perdona a los curvos”, demostraron que tanto el gobierno de Calderón como el de Peña Nieto, usaron la censura como “una herramienta para cubrir la corrupción con el objetivo de apaciguar la reacción de un pueblo que no tiene suficiente análisis crítico”; uno y otro pretendieron controlar los contenidos de la red(es) a través de las leyes secundarias, como la “polémica Reforma de las Telecomunicaciones”. La propuesta -dice el texto- “parece extraída de un manual totalitario”.
La desmemoria que padece la oposición cuando afirma que el gobierno de Sheinbaum censura y que vamos al totalitarismo, es tramposa. Por ejemplo, la conductora del noticiario en MVS-Radio, Pamela Cerdeira, al entrevistar a Pedro Cárdenas de Artículo 19, afirmó un tanto escandalizada: “México vive un momento crítico para la libertad de prensa”. Lo dijo en los mismos micrófonos de donde se le corrió a Carmen Aristegui por preguntar por la salud etílica de Calderón.
Sí, lamentable lo de Campeche y de otros estados, donde efectivamente morenistas, panistas y priístas, buscan censurar para callar plumas para que no los toquen, pero es doloso afirmar que lo de Campeche, Puebla o el tribunal electoral de Tamaulipas parta de una convicción del gobierno federal. No. Nada tiene que ver en esto el gobierno federal.
La censura, en buena parte, y lo saben los periodistas y los políticos, ha sido producto de los convenios de publicidad (“No te pago para que me pegues”: José López Portillo) y de la orden de Los Pinos (PRI y PAN) que ordenaban callar y, claro, de lo grueso o delgado del sobre amarillo.
Que no le cuenten…
“México el país con mayor avance contra la pobreza entre sus miembros”: OCDE. Otro dato del mismo organismo: “En México prevalece la alta confianza de la ciudadanía sobre su gobierno y su capacidad para enfrentar los problemas entre generaciones”.
*Periodista: @MarioA_Medina
Columna anterior: Aristegui Noticias y Lorenzo Meyer
Mario A Medina¡Conéctate con Sociedad Noticias! Suscríbete a nuestro canal de YouTube y activa las notificaciones, o bien, síguenos en las redes sociales: Facebook, Twitter e Instagram.
También, te invitamos a que te sumes a nuestro canal de información en tiempo real a través de Telegram.
#10Y11DeSeptiembreElIntento #AdánAugustoLópez #AeropuertoInternacionalFelipeÁngeles #AIFA #AlejandroMurat #AltagraciaGómezSierra #AMLo #AndrésManuelLópezObrador #Argentina #ArturoZAldivar #BeatrizParedes #CarolinaViggiano #Cdmx #CitlalliHernández #Claudia #CongresoDeLaUnión #EnriqueDeLaMadri #EnriqueDeLaMadrid #EnriquePeñaNietoTambién #FelipeGarcíaAscencio #FernandoGómezMontt #GerardoEsquivel #GerardoFernándezNoroña #IldefonsoGuajardo #IrmaPineda #javierCorral #JoséÁngelGurría #JoséGutiérrezVivó #JosefinaVazquezMota #JuanRamónDeLaFuente #JuanRamónDeLaFuenteYElHistoriador #LorenzoMeyer #Mañanera #Marcelo #MarciaAltagraciaGómezDelCampo #MargaritaZavala #MarioAMedina #maxCortazar #México #milei #Morena #NarcoPresidente #OlgaSánchezCordero #OpiniónQueNoLeDigan10Y11DeSeptiembreElIntento #QueNoLeCuenten #RicardoMonreal #salvadorAllende #SandraCuevas #SantiagoCreel #Sheinbaum #SN #Sociedad #SociedadNoticias #SociedadNoticiasCom #sociedadNoticias #TatianaClouthierCarrillo #XóchitlGálvez #Xingón
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Avisos de heladas en vigor esta noche/mañana por la mañana de Roanoke a Charlottesville a Winchester, con una advertencia de heladas en vigor para las áreas al oeste de esa línea. Las temperaturas bajarán a las heladas a lo largo y al oeste de la interestatal 81, y a mediados de los 30 más al este; para #RVA, bajas 40s. #VAwx
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I’ve been thinking about how fascism is as much an aesthetic movement as it is a political one — the original fascists’ cults of modernity, mechanization, and efficiency; the marble-statue-avatar RETVRN guys and secretly-funded-by-the-Mormon-church cottagecore TikTok influencers of today; the eugenicist and white supremacist obsession with the “perfectibility” of the human form and with idealized (white) masculinities and femininities; Trump’s endless muttering about “good genes”; Peter Thiel’s and Bryan Johnson’s eagerness to delve into the modern equivalents of occultism and alchemy in pursuit of eternal youthfulness and vigor; GamerGaters’ and their ideological descendents’ habit of treating “pronouns in bio” or a copy-paste of an interlocutor’s selfie avatar as a mic-drop rebuttal; etc., etc. The idea that the beautiful (it is generally not acknowledged in this framework that “beauty” is a matter of contingent and ever-changing cultural norms) is morally good (same note) while the ugly (same note) is morally bad (same note!) is certainly not exclusive or original to fascism, but its role in fascism is noteworthy because of this conjoining of aesthetics to politics.
This isn’t very well-developed, and undoubtedly if I were to pick Paxton back up and take more notes, or indeed spend the time to properly study Benjamin, I would have a clearer and stronger argument. But I don’t think I’m getting too far out over my skis in saying that a core element of fascism is disgust, and the use of disgust to motivate violence.
(Just this week right here in Ultra-Liberal Boston™, a fascist was so disgusted by the sight of a senior citizen wearing a respirator, presumably to try not to catch COVID-19 — the ongoing, highly contagious, airborne pandemic still killing hundreds every week in the US, in case you’ve forgotten — that he tried to murder her by hurling her under a train.)
Of course revulsion is also a kind of obsession (famously, consider the Nazi regime’s exhibitions of “Degenerate Art”), and aesthetically fascism is as fixated on the objects of its hatred as it is on its supposed ideals of beauty. And obviously obsession whether “positive” or “negative” distorts and deranges one’s thinking.
A thing that worries me is the ongoing eagerness of avowed non- and even anti-fascists to deploy this kind of moralized disgust. It does not take much effort to find people who consider themselves committed liberals or even leftists using ableist, ageist, and fatphobic language about Trump. Or remember those murals of him and Putin making out, or the balloon of him as a petulant, diaper-clad baby? But it’s not just him, of course! Liberals said all manner of misogynist and transphobic things about Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin, for example. Plenty of leftists believe economic class is the only real axis of oppression under capitalism, and love to deride “idpol” and laugh about how “cringe” “winemoms”, or “tumblr they/thems”, are.
Look, too, at the success fascists have had leveraging disgust to promote laws and policies they fully intend to use to try to drive all queer people out of public life. Few if any people with power are willing to say “we should listen to sex workers and pornographers about the dangers of these bills to restrict and control access to information on the internet,” and this too is weaponized disgust, aesthetics-as-morals.
It’s taking this line too far to say that disgust is per se fascist; to feel at least somewhat repulsed by puke and shit and rot and other non-metaphorical filth is not entirely unsalutary (though conversely to see cleanliness as virtue is much more problematic), and to feel nauseated by acts of cruelty is surely an unalloyed moral good. But to be disgusted by a person or people — as distinct from harm they do to others — be they “ugly” or “weird” or “gross” or unclean or unhoused or sick or disabled or fat or queer or trans or any other things, even, more challengingly, be they fascists themselves — is, if not necessarily fascist in itself, a critical point of weakness. It’s a door, maybe just unlatched, maybe ajar, maybe flung wide, that fascism can walk through, and once it starts getting through the door, well, you’ve heard the story about the Nazi bar.
The surest way to immunize yourself against fascism’s insidious ability to work even well-meaning people around to accepting inhumanity by starting with the people they think are the ickiest, is to steadfastly and immovably refuse to find any people icky; to relentlessly search your heart for any shred of repulsion against your fellow humans, and incinerate it.
Also, the surest way to immunize yourself against COVID-19 is to make sure you’re up to date on your vaccine shots and to wear a high-quality N95 or equivalent respirator anytime you’re in an indoor and/or crowded public place. Come on, people. This shouldn’t still need to be explained.
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The Union’s Army of the Gulf marched into Alexandria, Louisiana, during the weekend of April 22, 1864 (Harper’s Weekly, public domain; click to enlarge).
Resupplied with ammunition and food by the Union Navy’s fleet of quartermaster ships after reaching Alexandria, Louisiana on April 26, 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers and other Union infantry and artillery troops were placed temporarily under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey and assigned to the hard labor of fortification work. Throwing their backs into erecting “Bailey’s Dam,” they helped to create a timber dam that was designed by Bailey to enable the Union Navy’s gunboats and other vessels to be able to travel along the Red River without fear of running aground. This construction was undertaken, according to C Company Musician Henry D. Wharton, because:
The water in the Red river had fallen so much that it prevented the gunboats from operating with us, and kept our transports from supplying the troops with rations, (and you know soldiers, like other people, will eat) so Banks was compelled to relinquish his designs on Shreveport and fall back to the Mississippi. To do this a large dam had to be built on the falls at Alexandria to get the ironclads down the river.
Brigadier-General Joseph Bailey, shonw here circa 1865, was responsible for designing and overseeing the construction of Bailey’s Dam nexr Alexandria, Louisiana during the spring of 1864 (public domain).
Historian Steven Clay notes that, by this point in the Red River Campaign, “The depth of the river was only between three and four feet; it took seven feet of water to get the gunboats over the rocky bottom at the rapids.” To make that happen, Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey had initially floated the idea to build a dam while also sinking “several stone-laden barges to block the passage of water and cause the river to pool up behind them.”
There would be three narrow chutes constructed in the middle to allow passage of the largest gunboats. Then when the depth was sufficient, the boats would steam over the rocks, through the passageways, and into safe and deep waters below the dam.
According to archaeologist and military historian Steven D. Smith, Ph.D. and staff of the Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission, “Military engineer Joseph Bailey’s presence with the Red River expedition was, in a sense, one of those coincidences of history that sometimes result in turning the course of events.”
His knowledge of engineering was not acquired through formal study at West Point. Instead, he had learned practical engineering on the Wisconsin frontier, where damming was a skill perfected by lumbermen to float logs to their sawmills.
Born in Ashtabula County, Ohio on May 6, 1827, Bailey grew up in Illinois. In 1850 he moved to Wisconsin, where for the next 20 years he was involved in the construction of dams, mills, and bridges. At the beginning of the war, Bailey formed a company of lumbermen and became a captain. Soon, though, his construction genius was recognized and he was supervising various engineering projects for the North, including construction at Fort Dix in Washington D.C….
In 1863 Bailey won distinction at the battle of Port Hudson. There, despite the scoffs of formally trained military engineers, he constructed a gun emplacement in full sight of rebel fortifications and proceeded to silence the Confederate guns. He also built a dam during the siege to refloat two grounded steamboats.
Christened “Bailey’s Dam” in reference to the Union officer who designed and oversaw its construction, Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, this timber dam was built by the Union Army on the Red River near Alexandria, Louisiana in May 1864 to facilitate Union gunboat passage (U.S. Library of Congress, public domain; click to enlarge).
The construction of Bailey’s Dam near Alexandria during the spring of 1864 was described by Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey in a post-construction report to his superiors as follows:
…. Immediately after our army received a check at Sabine Cross-Roads and the retreat commenced I learned through reliable sources that the Red River was rapidly falling. I became assured that by the time the fleet could reach Alexandria there would not be sufficient water to float the gun-boats over the falls. It was evident, therefore, that they were in imminent danger. Believing, as I did, that their capture or destruction would involve the destruction of our army, the blockade of the Mississippi, and even greater disasters to our cause, I proposed to Major-General Franklin on the 9th of April, previous to the battle of Pleasant Hill, to increase the depth of water by means of a dam, and submitted to him my plan of the same. In the course of the conversation he expressed a favorable opinion of it.
During the halt of the army at Grand Ecore on the 17th of April, General Franklin, having heard that the iron-clad gun-boat Eastport had struck a snag on the preceding day and sunk at a point 9 miles below, gave me a letter of introduction to Admiral Porter and directed me to do all in my power to assist in raising the Eastport, and to communicate to the admiral my plan of constructing a dam to relieve the fleet, with his belief in its practicability; also that he thought it advisable that the admiral should at once confer with General Banks and urge him to make the necessary preparations, send for tools, &c. Nothing further was done until after our arrival at Alexandria. On the 26th, the admiral reached the head of the falls. I examined the river and submitted additional details of the proposed dam. General Franklin approved of them and directed me to see the admiral and again urge upon him the necessity of prevailing upon General Banks to order the work to be commenced immediately. There was no doubt that the entire fleet then above the rapids would be lost unless the plan of raising the water by a dam was adopted and put into execution with all possible vigor. I represented that General Franklin had full confidence in the success of the undertaking, and that the admiral might rely upon him for all the assistance in his power. The only preliminary required was an order from General Banks. On the 29th, by order of General Franklin, I consulted with Generals Banks and Hunter, and explained to them the proposed plan in detail. The latter remarked that, although he had little confidence in its feasibility, he nevertheless thought it better to try the experiment, especially as General Franklin, who is an engineer, advised it. Upon this General Banks issued the necessary order for details, teams, &c., and I commenced the work on the morning of the 30th.
I presume it is sufficient in this report to say that the dam was constructed entirely on the plan first given to General Franklin, and approved by him.
During the first few days I had some difficulty in procuring details, &c., but the officers and men soon gained confidence and labored faithfully. The work progressed rapidly, without accident or interruption, except the breaking away of two coal barges which formed part of the dam. This afterward proved beneficial. In addition to the dam at the foot of the falls, I constructed two wing-dams on each side of the river at the head of the falls.
The width of the river at the point where the dam was built is 758 feet, and the depth of the water from 4 to 6 feet. The current is very rapid, running about 10 miles per hour. The increase of depth by the main dam was 5 feet 4 inches; by the wing-dams, 1 foot 2 inches; total, 6 feet 6 inches. On the completion of the dam, we had the gratification of seeing the entire fleet pass over the rapids to a place of safety below, and we found ample reward for our labors in witnessing their result. The army and navy were relieved from a painful suspense, and eight valuable gunboats saved from destruction. The cheers of the masses assembled on the shore when the boats passed down attested their joy and renewed confidence. To Major-General Franklin, who, previous to the commencement of the work, was the only supporter of my proposition to save the fleet by means of a dam, and whose persevering efforts caused its adoption, I desire to return my grateful thanks. I trust the country will join with the Army of the Gulf and the Mississippi Squadron in awarding to him due praise for his earnest and intelligent efforts in their behalf. Major-General Banks promptly issued all necessary orders and assisted me by his constant presence and co-operation. General Dwight, his chief of staff, Colonel Wilson and Lieutenant Sargent, aides-de-camp, also rendered valuable assistance by their personal attention to our wants. Admiral Porter furnished a detail from his ships’ crews, under command of an excellent officer, Captain Langthorne, of the Mound City. All his officers and men were constantly present, and to their extraordinary exertions and to the well-known energy and ability of the admiral much of the success of the undertaking is due….
The crib dam designed by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey to improve the water levels of the Red River near Alexandria, Louisiana, spring 1864 (Joseph Bailey, “Report on the Construction of the Dam Across the Red River,” 1865, public domain).
According to Smith, “Historical documents indicate that Bailey first built his dam just above the lower, downstream rapids.”
By constructing the dam at that particular location, he hoped the water would rise enough behind the dam to allow the gunboats to float over the upper rapids. Then, with the built-up water pressure, the dam could be broken through at the proper time and the gunboats could rush over the lower rapids, carried by the force of the released water.
Following Bailey’s practical nature, the dam was built with any locally available material readily at hand. To do so, he used different methods of construction for each riverbank. On the west (Alexandria) bank, he built the dam of large wooden boxes called cribs. Bailey constructed a number of cribs which were placed side by side from the bank out into the river.
Historical accounts indicate that lumber from Alexandria mills, homes, and barns was quickly stripped for use in building the cribs. Bricks, stone, and even machinery were used to fill and anchor the cribs. Additionally, historical illustrations show that iron bars were placed vertically in the four corners of each crib, to provide a supporting framework….
On the east (Pineville) bank, there were no town buildings to strip for lumber but there was, quite conveniently, a forest. With abundant trees available, Bailey constructed a ‘self-loading’ tree dam. According to historical diagrams, trees were stacked lengthwise with the flow of the stream. The upstream treetops were anchored to the river bottom with stones. The downstream trunks were raised higher than the upstream tops by alternating layers of other logs running perpendicular to, or across, the stream. This technique presented a dam face of logs angled upward with the stream flow. As the river was held back by the log face, the water pressure actually made the dam stronger or ‘self-loading.’
The tree dam designed by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey for the Red River near Alexandria, Louisiana, spring 1864 (Joseph Bailey, “Report on the Construction of the Dam Across the Red River,” 1865, public domain).
Putting readers into the shoes of the Union Army troops on the ground during those days, the 1868 publication, The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, noted that:
Oak, elm, and pine trees … were falling to the ground under the blows of the stalwart pioneers of Maine, bearing with them in their fall trees of lesser growth; mules and oxen were dragging the trees, denuded of their branches, to the river’s bank; wagons heavily loaded were moving in every direction; flat-boats carrying stone were floating with the current, while others were being drawn up the stream in the manner of canal boats. Meanwhile hundreds of men were at work at each end of the dam, moving heavy logs to the outer end of the tree-dam, … wheeling brick out to the cribs, carrying bars of railway iron to the barges, … while on each bank of the river were to be seen thousands of spectators, consisting of officers of both services, groups of sailors, soldiers, camp-followers, and citizens of Alexandria, all eagerly watching our progress and discussing the chances of success.
Initially, according to Smith, the “dam complex” worked well. “By May 6, the water held by the dam had risen 4 feet. By May 8, the water level was up 5 feet 4 inches.” But then the water levels continued to increase to such an extent that “the pressure against the dam became tremendous,” causing the dam to burst.
Two of the barges used in the dam had broken loose, and the water was gushing through. Porter, seeing the crisis, quickly ordered the gunboat Lexington to run the gap….
The Lexington’s run was followed by the three gunboats waiting behind the dam. Had the rest of the fleet been prepared, all of the boats might have escaped at that time. However … valuable time was wasted as the fleet gathered steam to attempt the run. Eventually, the water behind the dam fell and six gunboats still remained trapped.
But the Lexington’s adventure had proven that the dam could work, and troops confidently went back to work. Bailey worried that the dam would break again and decided to leave the 70-foot gap in the dam as it was. But this time he added smaller, lighter dams near the upper rapids. Like the dam sections at the lower rapids, both crib and tree dam methods were employed. These dams helped channel the water while reducing the pressure on the main dam. Thus, instead of relying on one dam to hold back the water until another run could be made, a series of dams were built to create a deep channel of water along the whole course of the shoals in that part of the Red River.
And, at that point, “Bailey’s Dam” became “Bailey’s Dams.”
“Passage of the Fleet of Gunboats Over the Falls at Alexandria, Louisiana, May 1864 (Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, July 16, 1864, U.S. Library of Congress, public domain; click to enlarge).
“While the army labored to build the upper dam, the navy … worked to lighten the loads on the trapped gunboats,” according to Smith.
From May 10 through 12, the remaining gunboats above the rapids struggled through the upper shoals to the pool behind the main dam. Yet another dam had to be built to refloat a gunboat that got stuck during this passage. Then on the twelfth of May, the Mound City, the largest gunboat of the fleet, ran for the gap in the main dam. The previous scene was repeated, with thousands lining the banks to watch the excitement. Marching bands played the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ and the ‘Battle Cry for Freedom [sic, ‘Battle Cry of Freedom’].’ Like the Lexington before it, as the Mound City hit the gap, it ground against the rocky river bottom, and then shot through. The next day all of the trapped vessels lay safely below the rapids.
Through it all, members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry put their backs into their work, along with multiple other Union Army soldiers, including men from the 16th and 23rd Ohio Volunteers, the 19th Kentucky, the 23rd and 29th Wisconsin Volunteers, the 24th Iowa, the 24th and 27th Indiana, the 29th Maine, the 77th and 130th Illinois Volunteers, and the 97th and 99th U.S. Colored Infantry.
Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey later stated that his “details labored patiently and enthusiastically by day and night, standing waist deep in the water, under a broiling sun,” adding:
Their reward is the consciousness of having performed their duty as true soldiers, and they deserve the gratitude of their countrymen.
The massive construction project lasted roughly two weeks, according to 47th Pennsylvanian Henry Wharton, but proved to be worth it.
After a great deal of labor this was accomplished and by the morning of May 13th the last one was through the shute [sic], when we bade adieu to Alexandria, marching through the town with banners flying and keeping step to the music of ‘Rally around the flag,’ and ‘When this cruel war is over.’
The Army of the Gulf’s departure, however, also brought shock and heartache; according to Major-General Banks:
Rumors were circulated freely throughout the camp at Alexandria that upon the evacuation of the town it would be burned. To prevent this destruction of property – part of which belonged to loyal citizens – General Grover, commanding the post, was instructed to organize a thorough police, and to provide for its occupation by an armed force until the army had marched for Simmsport [sic, Simmesport]. The measures taken were sufficient to prevent a conflagration in the manner in which it had been anticipated. But on the morning of the evacuation, while the army was in full possession of the town, a fire broke out in a building on the levee, which had been occupied by refugees or soldiers, in such a manner as to make it impossible to prevent a general conflagration. I saw the fire when it was first discovered. The ammunition and ordnance transports and the depot of ammunition on the levee were within a few yards of the fire. The boats were floated into the river and the ammunition moved from the levee with all possible dispatch [sic]. The troops labored with alacrity and vigor to suppress the conflagration, but owing to a high wind and the combustible material of the buildings it was found impossible to limit its progress, and a considerable portion of the town was destroyed.
According to Smith, “It is unclear who started the fires, as some accounts describe soldiers looting and setting fires, while other accounts note that army guards shot looters.” What is known for certain is that the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers could not possibly have taken part in Alexandria’s destruction because they had actually left the city before the fire had even begun. According to Henry Wharton:
The next morning, at our camping place, the fleet of boats passed us, when we were informed that Alexandria had been destroyed by fire – the act of a dissatisfied citizen and several negroes. Incendiary acts were strictly forbidden in a general order the day before we left the place, and a cavalry guard was left in the rear to see the order enforced.
Injured or Sick:
Private Abraham Wolf, Company B, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1861 (public domain).
Wolf, Abraham: Private, Company B; developed first signs of rheumatism, a condition that would last for the remainder of his life; also fell ill with chronic diarrhea during the construction of Bailey’s Dam due to poor water quality; subsequently developed hemorrhoids as a direct result of that illness.
Captured and Held as Prisoner of War (POW):
Maul, Adam (alternate spellings: Moll, Moul): Private, Company C; captured by Confederate forces at the Cane River on May 3, 1864 while assigned to duties away from the regiment’s Alexandria, Louisiana encampment—possibly during the construction of Bailey’s Dam; held as a prisoner of war (POW) at Camp Ford, a Confederate Army prison camp near Tyler, Texas until being released as part of a prisoner exchange between the Union and Confederate armies on July 22, 1864; received medical treatment, recovered from his experience, and returned to duty with Company C.
Smith, Frederick: Private, Company D; possibly wounded in action during the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana on April 9, 1864; captured by Confederate States Army troops during that battle and marched one hundred and twenty-five miles to Camp Ford near Tyler, Texas, where he was held captive as a prisoner of war (POW) until his death on May 4, 1864.
Sources:
- Bailey, Joseph. “Report on the construction of the dam across the Red River,” in Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, at the Second Session Thirty-Eighth Congress, Red River Expedition, Fort Fisher Expedition, Heavy Ordnance. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1865.
- “Bailey’s Dam.” Washington, D.C.: American Battlefield Trust, retrieved online May 6, 2024.
- “Bailey’s Dam,” in Anthropological Study No. 8. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission, Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, March 1986.
- Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
- Clay, Steven E. The Staff Ride Handbook for the Red River Campaign, 7 March-19 May 1864. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press, U.S. Army Combined Arms Centers, 2023.
- Dollar, Susan E. “The Red River Campaign, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana: A Case of Equal Opportunity Destruction,” in Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 43, no. 4 (Autumn 2002), pp. 411-432, accessed April 22, 2024. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana Historical Association.
- Moore, Frank, editor. “The Red River Dam,” in The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, vol. 11, pp. 11-12. New York, New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1868.
- Prisoner of War Records, Camp Ford and Camp Groce (47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry). Tyler Texas: Smith County Historical Society, 2010.
- “Report of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, U. S. Army, Commanding Expedition and Department of the Gulf” (to Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War), in Annual Report of the Secretary of War, in Message of the President of the United States, and Accompanying Documents, to the Two Houses of Congress, at the Commencement of the First Session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1866.
- Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
- The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, July 20, 1870.
#1864 #47thPennsylvaniaInfantry #47thPennsylvaniaVolunteers #Alexandria #America #AmericanCivilWar #AmericanHistory #Army #BaileySDam #CivilWar #CommonwealthOfPennsylvania #Engineering #History #Infantry #JosephBailey #Louisiana #PennsylvaniaHistory #RedRiver #RedRiverCampaign #TheUnionArmy #USMilitaryAndTheUnionArmy
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TIL that Frank Vigor Morley (1899–1980) published a paper in 1924 showing how to knot two strips of paper into a regular hexagon and one strip into a regular heptagon (and generalised into a regular polygon of any odd number of sides). https://www.origamiheaven.com/historyanoteonknots.htm
He was the son of Frank Morley (1860–1937), known for Morley’s triangle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley%27s_trisector_theorem, amongst other things.
#mathematics #geometry #history #knot #knots #origami #polygon #craft
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☎️ El prefijo 400 identificará las llamadas comerciales desde octubre.
El BOE de hoy recoge dos resoluciones que desarrollan la Ley aprobada en diciembre y marcan las reglas que tendrán que seguir las empresas tanto para llamadas comerciales como para servicios de atención a la clientela. Ambas normas entran en vigor mañana viernes, pero las empresas tienen seis meses para aplicarlas, hasta el 17 de octubre.
Hoy, en el #BOE ⬇️ 👀
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🗳️ ■ El BOE publica las medidas para paliar la crisis que entrarán en vigor este domingo ■ Con estas medidas, que estarán vigentes "el tiempo que sea necesario", se intentarán movilizar los recursos necesarios para proteger a los ciudadanos, ayudar a las pymes, al sector primario y a la industria.
https://www.huffingtonpost.es/politica/el-boe-publica-medidas-paliar-crisis-entraran-vigor-domingobr-f202603.html?int=MASTODON_WORLD -
El #BOE de hoy recoge un decreto que desarrolla y garantiza la aplicación en todas las comunidades autónomas de la reforma que devolvió la cobertura sanitaria a las personas extranjeras sin residencia legal en España. La norma entra en vigor mañana jueves.
Contamos al detalle qué implica: https://civio.es/el-boe-nuestro-de-cada-dia/2026/03/12/sanidad-universal-desarrollo/
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El #BOE de hoy también recoge un decreto ley con ayudas para las personas, empresas y ayuntamientos afectados por los efectos de las borrascas que han azotado buena parte del país durante este arranque de año en Andalucía y Extremadura.
🗓️ 📍 La norma entra en vigor mañana.
Las medidas son muy similares a las de la DANA.
🔗 Te lo contamos: https://civio.es/el-boe-nuestro-de-cada-dia/2026/02/19/ayudas-borrascas-inicio-2026-decreto-ley/
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Miente ya por costumbre: Moreno negó hasta tres veces en el Parlamento privatizar en el cribado del cáncer pese a tener un contrato en vigor con una clínica privada granadina para 311.000 mamografías
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del Estado con objeto de identificar elementos susceptibles de mejora por motivos de seguridad
Asimismo, remitirá un escrito a la #Mancomunidad de #Municipios del #CampodeGibraltar a la que solicitará le informe de las actuaciones que este organismo haya efectuado ante el #Ministerio de #Transportes y #MovilidadSostenible en relación a esta problemática
FACUA Cádiz recuerda que en los fines que los estatutos de la Mancomunidad, en vigor desde el año 2014, atribuyen a este organismo la incidencia -
Chalice – Divine Spear Review By Grin ReaperRocking the same lineup since 2016, Helsinki foursome Chalice returns to serve up their sophomore offering, Divine Spear. Debut Trembling Crown dropped at the tail-end of 2020, and just over five years later, its follow-up retains Chalice’s essence while evolving the previous album’s rugged character. Where Trembling Crown rumbles with a raucous vigor, Divine Spear more often exudes a silky, polished sheen, enlivening its tracks with slick guitars, a vibrant production, and Jethro Tullian flourishes. The brew may have matured, but the core ingredients remain the same—so let us quaff from the Chalice and see if the draught is divine enough to raise our spears!
Chalice covers a variegated landscape of inspirations on Divine Spear, drawing from the realms of heavy metal and hard rock. Especially refreshing about Chalice’s ingestion of influences is their ability to seamlessly weave homage into their songs. “Hollow Curtain,” for instance, radiates top-Týr charisma throughout verse and chorus, with vocalist Verneri Benjamin Pouttu sustaining notes that echo Heri Joensen’s longship-ready croon. Later in the song, particularly in the solo, the marrow of Iron Maiden crackles with a guitar tone ripped from Brave New World. This modus operandi holds true throughout the album, whether it’s the Ian Anderson flute toots in “Empyrean Liturgy,” the “Aqualung”-coded solo from “Age Ethereal,” or the Pink Floydian psychedelia of “Alioth,” which is redolent of “Comfortably Numb” and patchouli. Despite the diverse calls to other bands, Chalice’s magic on Divine Spear lies in blending inspirations into a cohesive whole, taking the sounds of influences and knitting them into a unified platter informed by muses rather than mimicking them.1
Aiding the lush instrumentation on Divine Spear, Chalice nails the production and mix. The dynamic range boasts an impressive score, and while that doesn’t guarantee a great soundscape,2 it proves true here. Divine Spear sounds incredible throughout its forty-eight minutes, regardless of whether I’m listening in my car, through my headphones, or on my phone speaker.3 The six-string tandem of Mikael Cristian Haavisto and guitarist/vocalist Pouttu is especially arresting, from the twists and chugs of “Dwell of a Stellar Trance” to the acoustic warbles in “Mare Imbrium” and “Empyrean Liturgy.” Chalice’s rhythm section also avails itself niftily, never quite in the spotlight but handily hammering away in service of the songs. Drummer Olli Törrönen rarely reaches fever pitch, but neither is he content to remain planted in the pocket, loosing a quick fill here and a double-kick roll there. No moment ever feels compressed or too busy, and the overarching aural experience goes down as smooth as Joni Adrian Petander’s bass.4
Offsetting the myriad reasons to love Divine Spear, Chalice’s subtle songwriting occasionally suppresses what could be an even better album. Divine Spear is rife with variety, both in pacing and instrumentation, but while satisfyingly spirited moments dot the experience, too often I feel like Chalice holds back rather than capitalizing on big moments. According to the Bandcamp page, the band delivers ‘poignant shifts into cleaner, quieter territory, truly heightening the drama.’ This rings true, but composing livelier moments, particularly on “Empyrean Liturgy” and “Alioth,” could elevate songs by imbuing atmospheres with a contrast that ratchets up tension rather than maintaining a subdued pace for six minutes. And speaking of runtimes, every now and again, song durations on Divine Spear push past what’s needed. Other than “Age Ethereal,” whose eight minutes could be significantly trimmed, Chalice does well not going far past tracks’ expiration dates. Still, tightening them up would engender greater results.
In total, Chalice proves their interpretation of trad metal works as well through a gentler lens as it does on their rough-and-tumble debut. The choruses catch, the riffs hook, and the music feels familiar and novel all at once, eliciting an engaging encounter that rewards multiple listens. A few small adjustments could make an immediate and outsized impact, though I have to emphasize that, even as is, Divine Spear merits a listen. There’s no doubt Chalice possesses a winning recipe, and I hope we don’t have to wait quite so long for their next effort. Until then, Divine Spear’s formulation is plenty Good enough.
Rating: Good!
#2026 #30 #Chalice #DivineSpear #DyingVictimsProductions #Feb26 #FinnishMetal #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #JethroTull #PinkFloyd #Review #Reviews #Tyr
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Dying Victims Productions
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: February 27th, 2026 -
#Minnesota raised #AntiWoke Warrior and former #FauxNews pundit #PeteHegseth has used his #DJT admin #DOD perch to preach his disdain for #Diversity and "dudes in dresses” but seemed to embody the opposite values when he wrote his masters thesis at #Harvard Kennedy School endorsing “Ensuring low-income and minority children have the same opportunities as more affluent majority students is an essential goal and worth pursuing with vigor and substantial investment".
At that time in 2013, #Hegseth was working with a female Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota on education issues, a decade before decrying the viability of females serving in the military.
His proposal called for prioritizing a diverse student body and maintaining a balance of race, class, gender, and geography, using "geographic #quotas" for admissions.
Hegseth wrote that closing racial achievement gaps was a "laudable goal" and promoted "#equality, diversity, and accessibility".
more at #BostonGlobe who uncovered the embarrassing #FickleFascist's #FlipFlop 45 page thesis before he kowtowed to placate #Prez45 and 47
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/07/metro/hegseth-diversity-harvard
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🧠🚫 In a shocking twist, scientists have finally discovered the ultimate reset button for the brain's aging process by identifying a rogue protein—cue the mass exodus of Botox clients to their nearest lab. 🧬🧪 Next up: lab mice launching a GoFundMe for their newfound intelligence and youthful vigor.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250820000808.htm #brainaging #rogueprotein #biotech #innovation #youthfulness #labresearch #HackerNews #ngated -
█ Entra en vigor la llei contra la multireincidència, que permet castigar els furts amb presó ▓▒░ La norma, proposada per Junts i aprovada amb els vots del PSOE i del PP, busca combatre els furts reiterats, el delicte més denunciat a Barcelona
https://www.3cat.cat/3catinfo/entra-en-vigor-la-llei-contra-la-multireincidencia-que-permet-castigar-els-furts-amb-preso/noticia/3403780/?ext=MASTODON_SOCIAL#politica #junts #congresdelsdiputats #3catinfo #policialijudicial #societat
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On 7 November 1995, Wu-Tang's GZA released his solo debut, 'Liquid Swords'.
"He rhymes as if his lyrical vigor is directed at one or multiple people, though neither he nor Method Man mention anyone in particular. Or just maybe, their only competition is themselves, and they are simply shadowboxing."
"Must break through like the Wu, unexpectedly
Protect Ya Neck, my sword still remain imperial
Before I blast the mic, RZA scratch off the serial"08. Shadowboxin' ft. Method Man
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Behaviour Interactive have acquired 7 Days to Die developers The Fun Pimps https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/03/behaviour-interactive-have-acquired-7-days-to-die-developers-the-fun-pimps/
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Some birds sunbathe to look after their feathers.
I've known that it's good for driving out external parasites. I read now on the website of the British Trust for Ornithology that it also "helps oil from the 'preen gland' to spread across the feathers, keeping them healthy and in good condition."
https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/behaviour/preening-bathing
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I must say that Kira Nerys is such a remarkable woman - fierce, independent, and with a passion that rivals any woman I've met. She's like a whirlwind of strength and determination! It's refreshing to encounter someone who embraces life with such vigor. Looking forward to more delightful interactions. Until next time, my dears! 🌟 #LwaxanaTroi #FierceWomen #AllStarTrek #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #TNG #StarTrekDS9 #DS9 #Mastodon @allstartrek
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A risk taking society
In my previous Dutch postings I talked about our society taking certain risks.
Not only teenagers get an information overload and seem to be hard-wired to take risks. Today’s teens are “stressed out” but also a lot of adults get bombarded with a lot of decision-making factors though frequently underestimate the value of privacy and its attendant risks, and it’s taking a toll. Over the last five years, more people got into conflicts, there’s been a steady increase in the number of anti-depressants prescribed and we could notice a lot more self-killings.For a lot of things which come over us the last few years several individuals and groups gave early warnings. As there were te concerned nature lovers who gave notices about potential nuclear dangers and anthropologists who gave scientific proof of expecting difficulties in groups of people or economists who warned about the exchange market propensity for risk-taking without liability which were both dismissed as paranoid anticipation of low-probability events.
Some existential risks
Effective risk management is central to economic efficiency. Yet major players in the last crises have insisted that they should not be held accountable for risks they underestimated.
Extreme weather disasters, especially floods, are on the rise (see Two seminal Nature papers join growing body of evidence that human emissions fuel extreme weather, flooding). For certain religious people it is a normal sign of the End-times, but it does not mean for them we do have to ignore neither the risks nor the ways to avoid certain risks. Climate change will compound existing weather-related risks, but the consumers do have to be aware how they can influence the weather and environmental situations.
Dirk Geldof, writer of:” not more but better” writes in his blog that it is normal to a community to produce more risks than they actual can keep under control. Being able or not to control creates already taking in the risks. Not wanting to see the possibility of danger or to neglect the chance on damage is the vanity of man that puts himself above possible incidents or plots. We cannot see next to climate change or global warming, globalization and imminent dualisation, increasing freedom and far-reaching individualization, growing time pressure and the explosion of diversity in our cosmopolitan cities.
<img class="thumbimage " style="border: 0 none;" src="http://www.eoearth.org/files/122301_122400/122398/200px-Ulrich_Beck.jpg" alt="The sociologist Ulrich Beck. Photo: Munich University” width=”200″ height=”164″ border=”0″ />The sociologist Ulrich Beck
We now are confronted with our world as a global risk society. The notion ‘risk society‘ is such metaphor because it prompts us to look in an other way to our world and our society, with a focus on the risks that we – unless we not otherwise can – would preferably not like to see. Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck brought up this element of the risk society which could be “a society increasingly preoccupied with the future (and also with safety), which generates the notion of risk,” or that community which in a systematic way shall try to deal with hazards and insecurities induced and introduced by modernisation itself. Beck sees a dynamic that is driven by an increase in risks and in the ability of science to detect increasingly minute risks, leading to a fundamental re-ordering of social positions in society, and to a transformation in the cultural meanings of risk. These authors argue that whilst humans have always been subjected to a level of risk – such as natural disasters – these have usually been perceived as produced by non-human forces. But we should be aware that after creation man got the change to take care of mother earth. It was given to him on loan. Man had to give name to plants and animals but had also to respect them. And that is were it all went wrong. Man thought he could do anything and it would not be so important which impact it had on nature. The last decennia the materialistic man became so greedy and so ruthless that he thought he could concur anything in this world. Giddens and Beck argue that it is possible for societies to assess the level of risk that is being produced, or that is about to be produced, but hey looked over the fact that most people are not interested into the damage done for future generations.
The aim to get a better life and the aspiration to enjoy life more has brought an attitude of trying to fins as many as possible way to enlighten and to make this life as easy as possible. But then we do have to ask at what cost. The way how we use the raw material and how we handle the feedstock are things we can not put aside. We should be fully aware how we handle the products of nature. End 60ies we came already on the streets to utter our voice, but then everybody laughed with our naïvety. The dangers we pointed at for the nuclear waste, the disgraceful use of nature, the danger of trying to modify natural products, the creation of so many by-products … everything was washed away as not important or something ridiculous small.
In certain sense, we would not have to complain for objectively seen we never before in the history had such a realm and have been so good insured . In the Netherlands, Belgium and in the European countries the last 25 years is the wealth, the purchasing power and the consumption doubled!
Traditional institutions and structures have shaped people’s lives for ages and gave them the symbols that provided meaning, place and purpose in society, giving order to their lives and forming tight social communities. In the name of individual freedom and autonomy structures of these traditional societies became challenged in the 17th century when the individual began to emerge as the center of life. The common, traditional comprehension of life as lived within a we within traditional institutions was replaced by a new focus, the I. The children from the 60ies boom were even more focused on that own self, and their children became the battlefield and the buying out product of the divorced couples. Early modernity championed the rights and freedoms of the individual; as this new understanding entered the imagination of modern societies it began to effect and then replace these traditional structures and institutions with new ones that shaped people
in very different ways. in the new industrial societies the extended family all but disappeared to be replaced by the small, nuclear family. Work and family were separated and most of the relationships were now in the form of more impersonal, work-related and contract-type relationships. Previously the family as a group of people, and the community as a parish, or the community of the village became not any more interested in the others of the community. The personal contacts diminished and the ‘we’ was displaced by the social contracting ‘I’ who now was going to give loyalty to professional organizations, church groups, work places and other social institutions, but from the 21st century also grow further away from those organisations. The churches became more empty and lots of people left God and His business. But by not being interested any more in His Laws and values they thought they had gained a new liberty and permission to do all those things that they wanted to do which could give them fun. Entertainment has become the main factor, and today we can notice that some people change partner as they change underpants. Values, good morals and ethics were lost and most of the people were most concerned about themselves. We now can find loyalty to institutions
and structures to one in which meaning and identity are grounded in the self as the primary agent of meaning; a shift to the I primary agent of meaning.
For companies the worker has become an economical object without any further value then the economical statistics. The human part of the worker has become of no value at all. If we are not careful this economical asset is to conquer every bodies life.On socio-economic terms we have the luxury that already more than 60 years we did not have to encounter war in our own environment. The wars we saw on television were far from our bed and having no share in it made us not divide and gave us no reason to complain. Many do not to be hungry but many live in obfuscate poverty in Belgium and the Netherlands, but also in the surrounding countries, by which it so luxurious country Germany certainly can not escape. We have private-insurances systems for our houses, our car, our holiday, our right assistance, a possible unemployment, our pension and our savings, funeral insurance and name but on.
With all this scientific and electronic gadgets is it still not that the distribution is directly tied to social class, with those at the top getting more and those at the bottom getting less. And are those who give those false micro-credits not misusing their high standards of economical higher position to create a mist of a possible intangible future? Should we not be more concerned with the distribution of “bads” instead with the distribution of “goods” —namely, the realization of untoward risks? Because many risks (e.g., mudslides, nuclear fallout, economic crises) do not respect class boundaries, everyone is, therefore, equally at risk. This dissolving of social class means that social actors are “individualized,” thrown on their own without the collective identity of social class.
I am aware that by engaging in its traditional role of generating new discoveries and new technologies, science inevitably creates and adds to existing risks but at the same time, science is the principal institution for detecting and analysing risks, especially those that are subtle. This misalignment of science’s roles is recognized by the, now, “individualised,” free-floating social actor who undertakes actions, such as in a social movement, to continuously pressure and reinvent scientific and social institutions.
Nowhere can we see the shift of the social fight and the failing from the existing institutions as clear as by the climate change. The industrialised countries should also be aware what they bring over the third world countries and the desserts and flood lands they create. People should be aware what consequences their traffic and consumerism has on the effects of our climate.
To live nicely or to lead a good life that would not damage the life of others shall confront us with the conscious choices we must make. The ‘must’ choose became an essential risk factor in our society. With the continuing risk making a wrong choice and the returning question how to handle that risk. The problem is that we with our very selfish capitalist society sit saddled with a group by which everybody had to see only for his own nest.We have a common interest, but at the same time we sit with the unequal distribution of wealth and risks and thus per definition with conflicts. Therefore also a question of ecological justice is the whole methodology of the ecological foot print per definition. It goes over interests conflicts. That makes the discussion over the posts-Kyoto-agreements also so difficult. The bigger danger is, that the fight over the question who is responsible and who must do the most efforts would lead to the fact that we are much too late and do much too little efforts.
As Freudenburg added, specialization has increased so much since the invention of the streetcar that perhaps the most salient risks of contemporary life are those associated with what he has called “recreancy,” or institutional failure—“the failure of institutional actors to carry out their responsibilities with the degree of vigour necessary to merit the societal trust they enjoy.” Citizens of an increasingly interdependent world, accordingly, need to be able to ‘count’ on not just the physical machinery they use, but also whole armies of specialists, most of whom they will never meet and who are expected to have forms of expertise that ordinary citizens may not be competent to judge, let alone have the ability to control.We have the freedom to think and to act, but we do have to use this freedom wisely and always have to be aware of the consequentions of our acts. We should be careful of the social impacts of energy dependence and of the global ecological footprint for the things we do and which we need. We should always have to weigh up. And we should not loose tract that man proposes but God disposes.
The recent nuclear disasters should be the trigger to get people think more about the risks the previous generation has taken and the risks we our willing to take in consideration of those who shall have to continue living after us. This will mean that we have to consider threats from physical, chemical, and biological agents and from a variety of human activities as well as natural events. We shall not have to accept new technologies just like that because they seem to make live easier or would bring a cheaper solution. We should be aware of the dangers of gene technology, nuclear power, mobile communication, voltaic cells, climate change issues, invasive species, and food hazards. We cannot be blind for the financial crisis, environmental pollution, terrorism, and health and social policy. More and more we should analyse risks of concern to individuals, to public and private sector organizations, and to society at various geographic scales. We have to take up our responsibility!
Like Yacov Haimes, University of Virginia said: “The challenge is that for many of the public, risk engulfs lots of mystery and misunderstanding and misperception. In particular we need to address the element of modeling; we have to see how to model the system,
how to understand it better. Only then can we really do proper risk assessment,
management, and communication. So the question is, How do we answer the question what are the impacts of current decisions on the jobs given that life is dynamic, all systems are changing, they are all under risk and uncertainty, and our decision must be adaptive and must be incremental at the time?”I always say “Freedom is respecting the freedom of others”. We now do have to look for the risks we may take and we may encounter by continuing our way and by trying to come to a better way of living, not only for ourselves but for the whole world.
The law sets boundaries and the boundaries define what you must do … but those same boundaries are supposed to define and affirmatively defend the dry ground of freedom, which we have to cherish, where people can go forward focusing on their goals, including taking reasonable risks all day long, and be accountable not by law but by those who deal with them about whether they’re good at their jobs and whether they want to deal with them. That idea has been lost. Most people have also put aside the Laws of God, the Helper and Deliverer, and by doing that they have taken away a sure guideline to make the best out of life.Previously:
Japan’s nuclear disaster reason to think twiceand about this subject of taking risks, in Dutch:
- Nemen van Risico door de maatschappij
- Energie met vergiftigd geschenk
Also read:
Risks, Radiation and Regulation+++
Related articles
- Writing about “Agnotology, Ignorance and Uncertainty” (ignoranceanduncertainty.wordpress.com)
In philosophy and mathematics the dominant formal framework for dealing with unknowns has been one or another theory of probability. However, Max Black’s ground-breaking 1937 paper proposed that vagueness and ambiguity are distinguishable from each other, from probability, and also from what he called “generality.” The 1960’s and 70’s saw a proliferation of mathematical and philosophical frameworks purporting to encompass non-probabilistic unknowns, such as fuzzy set theory, rough sets, fuzzy logic, belief functions, and imprecise probabilities.
Ellsberg’s classic 1961 experiments demonstrated that people’s choices can be influenced by how imprecisely probabilities are known (i.e., “ambiguity”), and his results have been replicated and extended by numerous studies.
Several studies have suggested that Knightian uncertainty (ambiguity) and risk differentially activate the ventral systems that evaluate potential rewards (the so-called “reward center”) and the prefrontal and parietal regions, with the latter two becoming more active under ambiguity. Other kinds of unknowns have yet to be widely studied in this fashion but research on them is emerging. Nevertheless, the evidence thus far suggests that the human brain treats unknowns as if there are different kinds. - Risky Business: Why Teens Need Risk to Thrive and Grow (psychologytoday.com)
According to a recent study by University College London, risk-taking behavior peeks during adolescence, suggesting that teens are “programmed” to take risks more often than other age groups. The same study also found that teens took risks because they liked the thrill of risk-taking as opposed to not being able to understand the consequences of their behavior.Risk-taking and rule-breaking is linked to developmental changes in the brain that serve to help teens become healthy, analytical adults. Thus, a certain amount of positive risk-taking is necessary for adolescents to fulfill their universal need for independence, developing a separate identity, and testing authority.
- How far do we want to go, take risks for ourselves and for others? We should know that climate change has “possible security implications”. Heat, Drought, Famine All Part of Coming ‘Exponential’ Increase Of Climate-Related Disasters (treehugger.com)
The collective global response, taking the lead of nations on the Security Council no doubt, has been obviously been inadequate, even as donor nations themselves are not in the middle of their own climate-induced crises (the current US heatwave notwithstanding). - Flood victims ‘fear climate change’ (confused.com)
People are more likely to think they are vulnerable to the effects of climate change if they have had floods in their neighbourhood, such as those in summer 2007 which led to a large number of claims on home insurance policies. They are also more likely to believe that global warming is a problem.
Psychologist Dr Alexa Spence, at the University of Nottingham, said: “We know that many people tend to see climate change as distant, affecting other people and places.“However, experience of extreme weather events like flooding have the potential to change the way people view climate change, by making it more real and tangible and ultimately resulting in greater intentions to act in sustainable ways.
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#ClimateChange #Consumer #Consumerism #Crises #Disaster #Ecology #Egoism #EnvironmentAndEcology #ExtremeWeather #Family #Freedom #God #Human #Modernisation #Morality #nuclearDanger #NuclearEnergy #nuclearWaste #Risk #RiskSociety #UlrichBeck #UnitedStates #Work -
While I sip rosé, a bee companion imbibes the nectar of Origanum ‘Amethyst Falls’- a beautiful ornamental oregano hybrid.
From Fine Gardening:
“Amethyst Falls’ was selected by Bluebird Nursery in Nebraska from seed given by Denver plantsman extraordinaire Panayoti Kelaidis. This obviously is the product of happy bees in the Kelaidis garden, as it embodies all the best of hybrid vigor—tough, hearty, and floriferous.”#gardening #flowers #bees #bloomscrolling #WineTime #UrbanGardens #Brooklyn
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Power Paladin – Beyond the Reach of Enchantment Review By Killjoy
Sometimes a band name can be on the nose in the best way, and Power Paladin makes no effort to disguise their preferred music class. The mission of these Icelanders is no different than that of many power metal groups—to explore fantasy realms, vanquish foes, and have a blast while doing so. They already acquitted themselves with their debut album, With the Magic of Windfyre Steel, which Eldritch Elitist lauded with praise in the January 2022 filter. While I found it enjoyable at the time, it didn’t stick with me for very long. But now, on sophomore record Beyond the Reach of Enchantment, Power Paladin returns with sharper blades and brighter divine light to safeguard the ears of the innocent.
If you elect to ride with Power Paladin, the first rule of the road is to leave all self-seriousness at home. As with most Europower, Beyond the Reach of Enchantment requires a love (or at least a tolerance) of flamboyant frivolity and imaginative play. Expect big verses, bigger choruses, and lots of guitar shredding. While its predecessor was more devoted to the sleekness of Twilight Force or Rhapsody of Fire, Power Paladin now divides their allegiance more evenly with heavy metal and hard rock in Helloween fashion. This makes Beyond the Reach of Enchantment sound brawnier, further aided by a meaty bass tone that adds welcome crunch to this glorious charcuterie board. These Paladins occasionally succumb to their darker urges, embodied by Óskar Rúnarsson’s1 death growls (“Glade Lords of Athel Loren,” “Valediction”), making them more endearing and relatable.
Beyond the Reach of Enchantment may be a bit derivative, but what sets Power Paladin apart is their sheer energy and charisma. Their music challenges one’s ability to sit still; not even my distracted five-year-old daughter could resist the urge to headbang the first time she heard the opening notes of “Glade Lords of Athel Loren.” No member of the body can remain limp or listless upon hearing the heavy metal anthem “Sword Vigor” or the stomping and romping of “The Royal Road.” Vocalist Atli Guðlaugsson frequently steals the show, his powerful falsettos weeding out the unsanctified eardrums. That said, it’s impressive how Power Paladin can write songs in such a way that such a commanding frontman doesn’t completely dominate the listener’s attention. Einar Karl Júlíusson is constantly changing up his double bass rhythms, and there are plenty of rapid-fire guitar and keyboard sections to keep the momentum going.
Yet, all this energy on Beyond the Reach of Enchantment can become slightly wearisome. The album art might feature a respite around a campfire, but the music is much closer to a battle scene. Rests tend to be momentary and sometimes sound out of character, like when “The Arcane Tower” abruptly dies down to a whisper midway through. I find myself missing the naturally occurring downtime in “Creatures of the Night” and “There Can Be Only One” from With the Magic of Windfyre Steel. It’s not until the 10-minute conclusion, “Valediction,” that Power Paladin takes a proper breather in the form of soft guitar plucks. The extra time also allows for more compositional experimentation, with smooth keyboard transitions during the extended bridge section, as well as a brief but lively duet with Sara Rut Fannarsdóttir2 (more of her next time, please!). Everything is solidly written and performed, but still somewhat blends together until the end.
If you’re questing for fun with a hefty side of merriment, Power Paladin will happily serve as your guide. They sound even more confident and earnest than before, once again striking a great balance between silliness and substance. Beyond the Reach of Enchantment somehow overclocked the power of its predecessor, the gallant and galloping tunes courageously smiting the unholy. I do wish for a bit more dynamic pacing, but this may just be a “me” problem, and only when listening front to back. Gather your party and grab your dice—the next campaign awaits!
Rating: 3.5/5.0
#2026 #35 #BeyondTheReachOfEnchantment #HeavyMetal #Helloween #IcelandicMetal #Mar26 #PowerMetal #PowerPaladin #ReigningPhoenixMusic #Review #Reviews #RhapsodyOfFire #TwilightForce
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Websites: powerpaladin.is | facebook.com/powerpaladinice
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026 -
"El gobierno de José Antonio #Kast en #Chile blindó este jueves la capital, #Santiago, con vallas en el centro, cierre de estaciones de #metro, desvío del tráfico y un enorme despliegue policial para evitar las #protestas por la entrada en vigor de la histórica alza de los precios del combustible anunciada el pasado martes."
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"On Thursday, the government of José Antonio Kast in Chile locked down the capital, Santiago, with barricades in the city center, the closure of metro stations, traffic diversions, and a massive police presence to prevent #protests over the implementation of the historic fuel price hike announced last Tuesday."
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By Grin Reaper
Billed as blackened folk metal and boasting a sound that will remind listeners of the aughts-era Darkthrone, Änterbila1 returns with sophomore album Avart. Three years removed from their self-titled debut, the foursome from Gävleborg County, Sweden, retains the core sonic principles of Änterbila and dunks them into the muck, invoking a darker, grimier aura. Where the plight of peasantry informed Änterbila’s sensibilities, Avart looks to national folklore for inspiration. Rather than interpreting that folklore through the eyes of those who passed the stories on, though, Avart revisits lore from the perspective of the other side, the witch to Grimms’ Hansel und Gretel, imparting a sinister edge to the music. Is Änterbila’s latest platter sharp enough to brandish, or does it need more time with the honing rod?
The marriage of black and folk metal can take different forms, with folk infusions coming from instrumentation, melodies, and/or folk and pagan themes. Änterbila offers all of them, but presented disparately as stark components rather than fused together as an interconnected whole. Bookend instrumentals “Låt till Far” and “Eklnundapolskan” feature strings, a bagpipe, and choral harmonies between them, not unlike Saor or Summoning. These tracks conjure rustic firesides with an air of excitement as strange tales are told around them. Avart’s other six tracks are categorically different, hovering between pagan-leaning, late-eighties Bathory (“Kniven”) and the punky pluck of early Vreid (“Jordfäst”). I even catch a whiff of Bizarrekult (“Årsgång”) in the midst. None of the flavors are bad on their own, but without more cohesion, they’re a bit confusing on the same plate.
Avart is a lively affair, with snappy licks, punky riffs, and burbling kick rolls that whisk listeners through half an hour of sprightly black metal. Bandleader and founder Jerff wields axe and vocal duties, with Raamt abetting in six-string antics. The guitars trem pick their way through Avart, embracing an unadorned style that takes a few simple melodies, interchanges them every now and then, and rides through four or five minutes. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this stripped-down approach, but without more distinctive hooks or emotive vocals, the songs bleed together. Drop me in the middle of any of the songs, and I’ll have a tough time naming which one it is unless Jerff repeats the title several times (“Kniven,” “Jordfäst”). Another issue Änterbila grapples with throughout Avart is repetition. Even with such a compact runtime, there’s not always enough substance to justify track lengths. “Jordfäst” could explore its ideas in two-thirds the time, for example, but instead pushes them past optimal duration. As it currently stands, there’s enough material for a solid EP, but relentless refrains without variations make shallow wells, and drawing from them too often becomes tedious.
Änterbila’s strengths lie in creating a dangerously charming atmosphere and not overstaying their welcome. Avart’s old school production underscores its low-fi mood, perfect for settings of yore where things lurking within shadows go bump in the night. Even though the mix isn’t polished, it ably captures Svaltunga’s punchy bass and drummer Monstrum’s quadrupedal onslaught. There flows an energy in the music that crackles with roguish vigor, and it’s here that Änterbila excels. It’s a shame lyrics weren’t included as part of the press kit since dark folklore provides such fertile ground for music. Understanding what the (presumed) native Swedish translates to could have heightened my appreciation for what secrets Avart holds. Still, the runtime is trim and helps deflect some of the monotony of simpler song structures, keeping the overall package easily digestible.
Änterbila possesses all the ingredients for a rollocking good time, but fumbles with the recipe. The folk metal tag is a bit misleading, and given that the folk elements are so well-executed in the intro and outro, it’s disappointing that Änterbila didn’t incorporate them throughout the entire album. Doing so could have thwarted the uniformity across the remaining songs, adding dynamism and a through-line that brings everything together with reinforced congruity. Every time I spin Avart, I hope to find something I’d missed previously, because I want to like it more than I do. Avart seethes with potential, and while I don’t regret any of the time I spent with the album, I don’t expect to return to it, either. Hopefully, the next iteration delivers on the promise Änterbila has established here.
Rating: Disappointing
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Nordvis Produktion
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: November 14th, 2025#20 #2025 #anterbila #avart #bathory #bizarrekult #blackFolkMetal #blackMetal #darkthrone #folkMetal #metal #nordvisProduktion #nov25 #review #reviews #saor #summoning #swedish #vreid
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By Alekhines Gun
One of my favorite bits in the game Portal 2 comes near the very beginning, when the player is commanded to go stand in front of a piece of art. It’s an okay piece, depicting a lovely mountain overlooking a lakeside cabin where everything looks peaceful, somewhat colorful, and safe. By the end of our momentary study, we are assured we should now feel “mentally invigorated.” Such mental vim and vigor is sought out in more artistic albums, which don’t seek to liquify teeth as much as transport us to other realms and times, whether it be brimming with life and motion or a well-executed snapshot of a mood. Morke, a project spearheaded by sole member Eric Wing, have arrived with self-described “Atmospheric Castle Metal” on display for their fourth album To Carry On, and the question is, will you indeed keep it moving after indulging in its color schemes, or allow yourself to get swept away to times long forgotten?
On first listen, all I could think was “wow, this sounds exactly like Obsequiae.” Turns out my ears are very astute, as Tanner Anderson is credited in the promo as making contributions to the album. The precise degree of his participation isn’t specified, but if you’re a sucker for his band, then there’s plenty for you to feast your ears on here. To Carry On tries its hand at singing its own Palms of Sorrowed Kings while taking a much more streamlined and basic approach. Trimming down the more raw production of previous efforts, Morke spread out the tonal palette to allow leads, leads, and more leads (“Falling Leaves”, “Sublymed Respair”) to carry the bulk of the presentation, with enough clarity in the production for some tasty bass lines (“Ashes of Fuedalism”) to make their presence known.
Much like individual brush strokes coalesce into one whole, To Carry On places pretty much all its emphasis on atmosphere. The bulk of the album is mid-paced, with leads relaxing and guitar tones colorful. The drums are well placed as far as occasional double bass drops go to remind you that this is, in fact, still a metal album, even as the tempo and general vibe never approach anything truly heavy. The uniformity of the tonal palate is the larger philosophical struggle Morke presents: this painting of a flowers-and-fog-drenched castle is well crafted, but there are precious few touches that truly stand out. Mid-album tracks “Coup D’oeil” and “Viola Odorata” flow nicely together with some riffs of genuine memorability. However, bookending the album come tracks which end up starting to sound self-plagiarizing, with similar intervals and scales utilized, which never become boring, unto themselves, but do become familiar far too quickly.
Ultimately, the question of listener enjoyment will come down to expectations. To Carry On doesn’t have the vibrancy and depth of Summoning or the kinetic enthusiasm of Obsequiae. Those bands are atmospheric masters who manage to invoke life into their riffs, the latter with their energy and the former with their creative use of other instruments. What Morke offers up instead is a collection of tracks which play toward the greater whole, where the listener is enveloped in an atmospheric sense without necessarily latching on to any particular highs, lows, or fist-pumping “hell yeah” inducing moments one typically looks for. In fact, other than the aforementioned two-track run in the middle, To Carry On is relatively devoid of highs and lows, instead leaning in on complete and tonal consistency, for better and worse.
This makes administering an appropriate score more challenging than I’d expected. I have been fortunate enough to visit my share of art museums over the years, and no great painting can be appreciated at a mere glance. Color schemes, stroke methods, and materials used all warrant consideration when enjoying the greater whole of the painting before us. And yet, part of me insists that I don’t listen to albums for the same reason I look at paintings, and I feel that holds To Carry On back. If you are looking to get mentally swept up into the moods of knights and serfdom, mentally add an extra half point for yourself and hear an enthusiastic endorsement on the potency and excellence that the atmosphere summoned has to offer. For my own part, I can’t help but hope for more vibrancy and less “still life” going forward. Until then, you will hear a buzzer. When you hear the buzzer, you may stare at the art…
Score: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: True Cult Records |
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: October 10th, 2025#25 #2025 #AmericanMetal #AtmosphericBlackMetal #Morke #Obsequiae #Oct25 #Review #Reviews #Summoning #ToCarryOn #TrueCultRecords
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#MondayMourning: The Rainbow Bridge Poem
If you've ever had a pet, you're probably familiar with this poem. It's the go-to condolence for animal lovers. If you're not in the know, it's a poem that's been featured all the way from Dear Abby to every veterinarian's office ever. It describes animals "crossing the bridge" into a super awesome meadow. Their youth, health, and mobility are restored, and they spend their days romping about together. They're fantastically happy, but for one thing: they miss their person.
Eventually, a day comes when the pet sees a familiar figure in the distance. They break from the pack, running to tackle their person with vigor, then escort them across the bridge. Everybody cries.
For years, the poem has been credited as Anonymous or Unknown. Worse, several people have claimed authorship. A writer of pet cemetery books (no, not that Pet Sematery book) recently tracked down the original author. She was astonished to learn that her words had been famous for decades. She still has the first handwritten draft, completed after the family dog died in 1959.
Edna Clyne-Rekhy, an 82 year old artist and animal lover, lives in Scotland. She was only 19 when her dog, Major, died in her arms. Prompted by her deep grief, Edna's mother suggested she write down her feelings. Those words have brought comfort to millions of pet lovers ever since.
#HisAndHearsePress #RainbowBridge #TheRainbowBridge #CrossingTheRainbowBridge #PetLoss #PetGrief #GriefPoems #Veterinarian #EdnaClyneRekhy #OriginalAuthor
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A Nossa Vida não está a Venda
Assembleia da República, segunda-feira, 9 de março às 14:00 GMT
Dia 9 de Março 2026 entra em vigor o novo presidente com mandato até 2030. Nenhum dos atuais candidatos assegura as condições necessárias para a vida das pessoas.
✊ Este é o protesto para pessoas que não consentem com a destruição, com a bárbarie, com a venda e destruição de tudo o que amamos.
🔥Não somos governáveis por quem nos ataca e destroi a nossa vida atual e vende o nosso futuro.https://eventos.coletivos.org/event/a-nossa-vida-nao-esta-a-venda