Since its release in May‚ I have played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom a normal number of hours. Playing Tears of the Kingdom is pretty much the same experience as playing Breath of the Wild‚ and I mean that in the best possible way. Don’t worry: I still don’t know how to use shields; at this point I’m never going to learn. I love TotK’s addition of new regions‚ new powers‚ new monsters‚ and new ways to totally and completely fail at engineering rational and efficient solutions to problems. Most of all I love how playing feels like rambling aimlessly around a familiar‚ magical landscape‚ only this time I sometimes have to stop and build an off-road Jeep for a traveling folk band. I don’t know what other people wanted from TotK‚ because I don’t really keep up with gaming news or chatter‚ but it is exactly what I wanted. I’m too poor for therapy‚ so I have to settle for self-care in the form of the intense satisfaction I get from strapping rockets to Koroks and watching them fly‚ or exiting a conversation by ascending directly through the ceiling without warning‚ or killing a Lynel using a weapon diabolically constructed from the bones of another Lynel. I have a few friends who are also 100+ hours deep into TotK. We talk about it a lot: who cleverly builds a little motorcycle to get around‚ who has avoided the underground regions due to a fear of the dark‚ who will go out of their way to ride around in mine carts at every opportunity. None of us are terribly invested in making plot progress‚ but we were all very excited to be able to invent pizza. The other night some friends and I were hanging out after dinner and I watched one of them angrily yet painstakingly build Hyrule’s longest lava bridge because she didn’t feel like finding a more efficient way to get from one place to another. Through all of this‚ I have come to a realization that is somehow both expected and startling: I’m a video game person now. I’m a gamer. The signs were there already. I progressed quite naturally from disinterestedly watching other people play‚ to interestedly watching people play‚ to writing about it‚ to playing on my own‚ and now I’ve reached the point where I am sometimes so invested I almost—almost—feel sorry for the Yiga clan idiots who think they are springing a clever trap only to get turned into a banana smoothie with a single blow from my Lynel smasher. But it’s not really a new hobby for me. It’s a very old hobby‚ one that I sort of forgot about for a good thirty years before discovering it again. I think the first video game I played was Space Invaders. Maybe Frogger or Pac-Man or Asteroids. It could have been Pitfall‚ which we didn’t have for our Atari at home but our grandparents had in their basement rec room‚ there for us to play when we visited once a year. They also had the historically terrible E.T. game; I remember trying (and failing) to play that once or twice‚ decades before I learned anything about its pop culture notoriety. There’s a small chance my first video game was Donkey Kong‚ which we played as an arcade game in a dark room at the back of the video rental place in our neighborhood. We played Donkey Kong for pocket change long before we had any need for the video rentals‚ as it would be years before we got a VCR. But I think the first was Space Invaders. That Atari joystick‚ that single red button‚ that dashed line of defense‚ the sounds. I remember it pretty clearly. I was very young‚ but I have older siblings; my memories of playing are mixed up with my memories of watching them play. Then came an NES and the delirious joy of that first successful beginning-to-end Super Mario Bros. 3 playthrough without using any of the level skips. A few years later it was the classic computer games of the ’90s: The Secret of Monkey Island‚ King’s Quest‚ Myst. I was one of those kids absolutely obsessed with Myst‚ which in retrospect was a pretty good sign of what would bring me back to gaming after decades away. I always loved the experience of being dropped into a strange new world and left to figure things out. Those were the last games I really played until a few years ago. There was a brief foray into the Professor Layton puzzle-solving series‚ and the usual puzzle games when smartphones became a thing‚ but that was it. There was never any particular reason for it‚ except for the same reason that infects all of adulthood: It always felt like there were other things I ought to be doing‚ other ways to use my time‚ other ways to spend my money. I don’t have any particular video game nostalgia; I have no desire to play those old games again. Nor do I have a very competitive nature; I don’t care about getting the best score or the fastest time or even finishing if it stops being fun. I certainly don’t have any desire to get into multiplayer online games; the thought of having other people intrude on my video game time makes me shudder. What I do have is a very sincere fondness for just fucking around. People often joke about how writers spend a lot of time staring out the window and doing absolutely nothing. And there is‚ of course‚ some truth to that‚ because quite a lot of the process of writing happens entirely within in the squishy‚ soggy folds of the brain‚ rather than between the hands and the keyboard. You would think it would be the perfect vocation for something who really enjoys just fucking around. And it some ways it is‚ because being a writer requires a great deal of unstructured time. But in other ways‚ it’s a terrible career choice‚ because being an author means existing in a constant state of never-ending hustle in which you are endlessly bombarded by reminders from every side that You Should Be Writing. It’s ingrained in literary culture‚ impossible to escape‚ but it is a bit disconcerting‚ during this period of historically significant labor action across many industries‚ to still see authors still cheerfully sharing that they haven’t taken a day off from writing in months and only wrote 4000 words today and feel like failures because they only have three novels and seventeen short stories planned for publication. This is not an essay about ongoing and unaddressed labor exploitation in the publishing industry. It’s just some necessary context‚ because it is no coincidence that my rediscovery of video games after decades of adulthood without them coincided with the pandemic‚ which means it coincided with the realization that late capitalist hustle and grind culture is blisteringly stupid. It’s so very stupid. There is nothing stupider than the grind. Can we agree on that? Are we at that point yet? It’s stupid and harmful and makes everybody miserable except for a very tiny number of people at the top‚ who are also miserable and always will be‚ because they are terrible humans who kill every spark of joy before it has a chance to grow. At some point I started thinking: What could I be doing with my time instead? What could my life look like? What would happen if I actually enjoyed some hours of my day without guilt or regret? What would I enjoy‚ if I let myself enjoy life? It turns out one thing I really enjoy doing in my free time is smashing those fucking Lynels with weapons fashioned out of their own bones. Playing video games is not revolutionary praxis. But creating space for pleasure in a world that demands nonstop productivity in service of distant and often unachievable goals is. I’m talking about fun. It’s good to have fun. Fun without a purpose. Fun that does not contribute in any material way to your economic status or career progress. Fun that does not serve any boss except itself‚ does not need or ask to justify its existence on any moral or practical axis‚ does not exist only as a stepping stone to a specific achievement. It’s so easy to forget how to do that. It’s so easy to fall into the habit of evaluating everything we do according to those external pressures that demand we assess everything we do in terms of visible productivity and measurable value. Everybody does it to some extent‚ although some people‚ situations‚ and life stages lean toward it more than others. It tends to seep into everything‚ because we live in a world that is always demanding that we justify our choices in terms of their utility. That includes those things that are ostensibly about pure leisure. Yes‚ of course‚ we are allowed to pamper ourselves with in self-care—because our families and jobs and communities need us to be active and productive and present. We can sit down and read a book—so long as we can identify who will benefit from the message in the book‚ which means our scifi should be about Fixing The World‚ our romance about Promoting Relatable and Aspirational (Heteronormative) Relationships‚ our horror about Allegorizing Society’s Ills‚ our kidlit and YA about Helping Young People Grow Up Right. Watching TV is acceptable‚ because it is necessary for us to participate in the cultural zeitgeist now that we’ve all agreed it’s a so-called golden era. Doesn’t it get a bit uncomfortable when the language we use to talk about the things we do for fun is indistinguishable from the language of diet culture? “Of course you can indulge from time to time—but make sure it’s good for you!” I’m exaggerating a bit‚ of course‚ because it is easy to be overly salty when considering the uneasy intersection between the very persistent human desire to enjoy things and our pleasure-killing modern existence. What’s interesting to me is that video games have always been right in the middle of that intersection‚ dodging all the traffic Frogger-style. Ever since their invention people have been researching‚ opining‚ and arguing about what video games do to us and our world: rot our brains or develop our brains; make us violent or teach us patience; turn us into zombies or develop useful skills; destroy childhood playtime or encourage healthy problem-solving; make us all loser loners or create vibrant healthy communities; cause our mental illnesses or treat our mental illnesses; and so on‚ and so on‚ and so on. What I love about Tears of the Kingdom‚ and Breath of the Wild before it‚ is that when I’m playing none of that matters. Is the game moral? Who cares. I will happily ignore a kingdom suffering apocalyptic turmoil to collect silly hats and cook forty-seven mushroom-themed meals in a row‚ so maybe morality is a meaningless measure of what the game is trying to achieve. Is it relatable? The only character I relate to in TotK is that dude who stands around in rainstorms and on snowy mountaintops trying to build signs despite apparently not knowing anything about how to build signs. Is this game good for me? Well. It makes me hate the world less. Video games are simply another form of art—and I’m saying simply not to minimize‚ not at all‚ but to revel in the expansiveness of it. There is so much delight is in this particular creative and technological medium that invites us in to play make-believe for hours on end. As with any other kind of art‚ the medium does not dictate the subject matter‚ the purpose‚ the impact‚ or the importance. Like novels‚ poems‚ songs‚ paintings‚ dances‚ fashion‚ all kinds of art‚ everywhere‚ a video game can be about anything‚ for anyone‚ intended to provide any kind of experience‚ capable of eliciting any kind of emotional reaction. And‚ yes‚ “I am having a nice time doing fuck-all of significance in a magical world where I surely won’t be attacked by a bear‚ oh shit‚ there’s a bear‚ time to run‚” is an emotional experience‚ because fun and relaxing escapism is as an emotional experience. All the heavier stuff—the weighty purpose of art‚ the importance of interpreting the human experience—it’s all still out there. It’s not going away. I think about it when I sit down to write‚  because I very much want to write books that say truthful and genuine things in powerful and interesting ways. But that’s not all there is‚ and it’s important to remember that. This is particularly true‚ I think‚ when there is very little space between an act of artistic creation such as writing and the Sisyphean reality of trying to earn a living from it. It’s important to maintain enough perspective to make that space ourselves‚ even if the world would rather we didn’t. In the words of the 21st-century philosopher Kim Namjoon‚ “I wanna be a human before I do some art.” Playing Tears of the Kingdom is not going to make me a better writer. It’s not going to make me a better person either. It is not going to pay my rent or progress my career; it’s not going to deepen my friendships or expand my consciousness. It is not particularly intellectually challenging or emotionally engaging‚ although there is both challenge (many failed attempts) and heightened emotion (many‚ many curse words) in those shrines where you have to go beat down killer robots with a stick while wearing nothing but your underwear. The 165+ hours I’ve spent playing since May haven’t produced anything tangible except this essay and the many‚ many balls of fluff I harvested while brushing my cats during cut scenes. And that’s fine‚ because all this game has to do‚ it’s only real purpose‚ is to remind me of what I knew when I was seven years old and shooting alien invaders out of the sky: It’s okay to have fun. The chores will still be there later. With that in mind‚ I have to go do battle alongside a ghost-possessed mecha in an underground temple. Wish me luck. Originally published August 2023 Kali Wallace studied geology and earned a PhD in geophysics before she realized she enjoyed inventing imaginary worlds more than she liked researching the real one. She is the author of science fiction‚ fantasy‚ and horror novels for children‚ teens‚ and adults‚ including the 2022 Philip K. Dick Award winner Dead Space. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld‚ F&;SF‚ Asimov’s‚ Tor.com‚ and other speculative fiction magazines. Find her newsletter at kaliwallace.substack.com.

Governments expanding powers to restrict the movement of citizens, a key tenet of the WEF's Great Reset.

Not much of a clothing item‚ but at least it will get the job done. Here is how to get DG-58 LSW Ugliest Sweater Blueprint in COD MW3 Warzone. COD MW3 Warzone: How to get DG-58 LSW Ugliest Sweater Blueprint With a new Holiday season upon us‚ Call of Duty turned everything into Christmas‚ and CODMAS is now live! New bundles‚ new skins‚ new modes‚ and a brand new blueprint for you to collect! We are talking about the Ugliest Sweater blueprint for the DG-58 LSW‚ and there are a lot of challenges available for you to complete on Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer mode‚ Zombies‚ and even Warzone. To get the Ugliest Sweater blueprint‚ you will have to complete all seven challenges available in the Event tab for you to check out. Thankfully‚ depending on what’s your favorite‚ you can pick up which specific mode you can play on to complete it. For example‚ the Underbaker challenge has three different ways you can unlock it‚ but you only need to pick one of them to count (...

The Vampire Survivors developers show no signs of stopping with new content. We’re going to have a meeting and take a look at all weapon evolutions in Vampire Survivors Among Us DLC. Part of what makes Vampire Survivors easy to pick up and hard to master‚ are weapon evolutions. Essentially‚ every time you find a new weapon you’ll be able to evolve it into an even greater ability. Evolutions happen when you find a specific item and upgrade the item to its max level‚ along with the base weapon. Not only does this give you a sweet advantage in your current run‚ but it will unlock new characters within the DLC. Vampire Survivors — All Among Us DLC Weapon Evolutions Screenshot: Poncle There are a total of 15 new weapons in the DLC‚ but the number we’re going to focus on is the seven weapon evolutions you can obtain. Here are all Among Us DLC weapon evolutions in Vampire Survivors (all items need to be at max level): Report (Weap...

A very goofy-looking reindeer with some very naughty intentions. Here is how to get the Paindeer Sleigh Operator Skin in COD MW3 Warzone CODMAS. COD MW3 Warzone: How to get the Paindeer Sleigh Operator Skin in CODMAS If silly-looking Operator skins that will certainly blow your cover during your Multiplayer matches are your thing — and to be honest‚ it is totally my thing as well — then the Paindeer Sleigh Operator skin is just what you need to be forever happy‚ or at least while the Holiday season remains live. Not only does Santa Claus make a crossover with Call of Duty — although in a zombified way — but one of his fellow reindeer also joins the party. Of course‚ this is more like a meme type of Operator skin compared to the gruesome and awesome design of the Undead Saint Santa Claus skin. Well‚ just like the Santa Claus one‚ the Paindeer Sleigh Operator skin is available as part of a bundle that you will have to purchase. Contrary to th...

Gale in Baldur’s Gate 3 may not be everyone’s first pick‚ but personally‚ I can’t enter a fight without him anymore. So‚ here’s the best Gale build you can create in Baldur’s Gate 3. His amazing Wizard spells come in handy‚ and Counterspell is a must-have in your party. But do you find your Gale to be a little squishy‚ or just not as powerful as you want? Luckily‚ we’re here to help! Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3): Best Wizard Gale build Personally‚ when it comes to Wizard subclasses‚ the best build for Gale in Baldur’s Gate 3 has to be either Evocation or Abjuration. If you choose Evocation‚ Gale’s AoE spells won’t damage his allies. And if you go for Abjuration (which I went with)‚ you can create Arcane Wards for you and your party members to reduce attack damage. Both are great choices! Screenshot via Larian Studios Best Ability Scores for Gale Since Wizards use Intelligence as their spell...

As cities across the country reel from explosive crime rates‚ many politicians at the local‚ state‚ and federal levels are too preoccupied with disarming peaceable American gun owners to identify‚ arrest‚ and prosecute actual criminals adequately.   Two masked attackers met their match last month when they attacked Los Angeles resident Vince Ricci as he walked toward the front door of his house. The pair brandished a firearm at Ricci‚ who pulled out his own gun and shot at the thugs‚ who ran away. Ricci successfully defended not only himself but his wife and baby daughter‚ who were inside.   Like millions of other Americans‚ Ricci is a law-abiding gun owner who carries a firearm for protection. Well‚ he used to be.  After the attack‚ the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department suspended Ricci’s concealed carry permit for reasons that are still unclear. His attackers were still at large‚ and he said he worries that his family will “become a statistic” because of this unfair treatment as a crime victim.  Despite repeated attempts by gun control advocates to downplay the importance of armed self-defense‚ successful defensive gun uses such as Ricci’s actions are far from a rare occurrence. Almost every major study has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between?500‚000 and 3 million times?annually‚ as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has acknowledged. In 2021‚ the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the issue concluded that?roughly 1.6 million defensive gun uses?occur in the United States every year.  For this reason‚?The Daily Signal?publishes a monthly article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read other accounts here?from past months and years. You also may follow?@DailyDGU?on X‚ formerly Twitter‚ for daily highlights of defensive gun uses.)  The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use that we found in November. You may explore more using The Heritage Foundation’s interactive?Defensive Gun Use Database. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s multimedia news organization.)  Nov. 2‚ Mesquite‚ Texas: A jewelry store owner shot at thieves attempting to steal his merchandise‚ police said. Two young men‚ one armed‚ entered as the owner was preparing his golf bag for a tournament the next day. The owner exchanged gunfire with the armed man until both would-be robbers ran. It was the second time the store owner had shot at armed thieves in his store; earlier this year‚ $75‚000 worth of merchandise was stolen from his car.  Nov. 4‚ Walton County‚ Florida: After a criminal fled during a traffic stop initiated because he was driving a stolen car‚ police said‚ the ensuing manhunt ended in a citizen’s arrest. The car thief tried to break into a nearby home‚ and police officers arrived to find three residents holding the suspect at gunpoint.  Nov. 5‚ Los Angeles: In the Ricci case described above‚ two robbers charged a concealed carry holder as he walked to his front door‚ police said. One attacker pointed a gun at the homeowner‚ who pulled out his own gun and fired until the two fled. His wife‚ 5-month-old baby‚ and a nanny were inside the residence.  Nov. 8‚ Chicago: Police said a group of armed robbers attacked a man who had just crashed his car. The concealed carry holder and the robbers then exchanged more than 30 rounds. One of the man’s assailants sought medical attention and was taken into custody.   Nov. 12‚ Allegre‚ Kentucky: A property dispute turned into a physical altercation in which a man shot three assailants in self-defense‚ police said. He was treated for  injuries that weren’t life-threatening. The three assailants involved were charged with trespassing‚ assault‚ and terroristic threatening.  Nov. 17‚ Issaquah‚ Washington: Police said a woman fatally shot her ex-boyfriend when he tried to break into her apartment. Authorities questioned and released her after determining that she acted in self-defense. “From now on‚ I will be walking the neighborhood with a gun‚” one neighbor said. Nov. 19‚ Philadelphia: A man fired his gun in self-defense as a group of teenagers attacked him in a transit station‚ police said. He scared the teens away‚ and there were no reported injuries. The week before‚ another man was robbed and pulled down a stairway in the same area.  Nov. 20‚ Shady Cove‚ Oregon: A homeowner shot and killed an intruder during a home invasion‚ investigators said. One resident had a “valid protection order” against the slain intruder‚ the Jackson County Sherriff’s Office said.    Nov. 25‚ Hampton‚ Virginia: A driver shot and wounded an armed carjacker‚ police said. Critically wounded‚ the thief fled in the stolen vehicle and was caught minutes later after driving to a local hospital.  Less than two hours before‚ police said‚ the same man had carjacked another automobile at gunpoint.  He was charged with both carjackings and with using a firearm in committing a felony. Nov. 26‚ Richland County‚ South Carolina: Police said a woman shot and killed a man who had followed her home‚ aggressively approached‚ and tried to hit her. The woman had obtained a protective order against the man‚ who had a history of domestic violence.  Nov. 29‚ Nashville‚ Tennessee: A man was shot in his home when his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend broke in and attacked him‚ police said. The wounded man and his girlfriend both shot back at the intruder‚ who fled. Three warrants for the attacker’s arrest were active at the time‚ all involving his behavior toward the former girlfriend. From Chicago and Philadelphia to Issaquah‚ Washington‚ and Shady Cove‚ Oregon‚ ordinary Americans routinely use their firearms to defend themselves‚ their homes‚ and their families.  In many of these instances‚ the victims either had orders of protection against their attacker‚ or the attacker otherwise had a clear history of violent‚ criminal behavior. In one incident‚ another crime had been committed in the same area less than a week earlier.   If law enforcement can’t keep people safe‚ especially from a demonstrated threat‚ it is up to ordinary Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves and their loved ones.  Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post 11 More Examples of Defensive Gun Use to Fend Off Criminals appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Treasury Department under President Joe Biden has refused to hand over documents showing how officials decided to alter the definition of a recession after the first two quarters of 2022 saw declines in gross domestic product‚ the traditional definition of a recession. The Heritage Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act request on July 6‚ asking Treasury for internal communications containing the terms “recession‚” “alternative definition of recession” and “alternative recession measurements.” (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s news outlet.) The Treasury Department first asked Heritage to narrow the scope of its request‚ which Heritage did. Yet Treasury failed to hand over the documents‚ so Heritage filed a lawsuit on Dec. 1‚ claiming the department violated the Freedom of Information Act. “The Treasury’s job is to collect taxes and allocate revenue per the dictates of Congress‚ not engage in Orwellian word games to distract from the economic failures of the leftist agenda‚” E.J. Antoni‚ a research fellow with Heritage’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget‚ told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. The lawsuit quotes the International Monetary Fund‚ which notes that while “there is no official definition of recession … most commentators and analysts use‚ as a practical definition of recession‚ two consecutive quarters of decline in a country’s real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product.” In the first quarter of 2022‚ U.S. inflation-adjusted GDP declined by 1.6%‚ and it declined by an additional 0.6% in the second quarter of last year. In July 2022‚ however‚ the White House stated that “it is unlikely that the decline of the GDP in the first quarter of this year—even if followed by another GDP decline in the second quarter—indicates a recession.” “This position is in extreme tension with conventional wisdom and the position of the Board of the Federal Reserve‚” the lawsuit states. The National Bureau of Economic Research‚ a nonprofit that aims to determine America’s business cycles‚ defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.” The bureau claimed that the decline in 2022 did not fit its definition. The White House has repeatedly claimed that the economy is improving due to Biden’s economic policies it brands “Bidenomics.” President Joe Biden has touted declines in the rate of inflation—which in this case do not mean that prices have declined‚ but that they are rising at a slower pace—as if they meant inflation is no longer a factor affecting Americans. “The Biden administration clearly isn’t too proud of their destructive ‘Bidenomics’ if they are hiding documents related to the most basic questions‚” Mike Howell‚ director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project and a signatory on the lawsuit‚ told The Daily Signal. “If ‘Bidenomics’ was so great‚ why do we have to sue them for this?” Since Biden took office in 2021‚ inflation has outpaced wage increases in 27 of the past 31 months. According to Antoni‚ the Heritage researcher‚ the average American worker pays $4.97 per hour under Biden in the hidden tax of inflation‚ effectively doubling how much he or she pays in federal income tax. The typical American family with two parents working has lost more than $5‚000 in annual income. A Monmouth University poll surveying 803 U.S. adults between Nov. 30 and Dec. 4 found that 68% of respondents disapproved of Biden’s handling of inflation. Filed-Complaint-and-exhibits3381Download Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.  The post WHAT ARE THEY HIDING? Biden Admin Refuses to Hand Over Docs Showing How It Altered the Definition of a Recession appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The concept of the general-purpose fighter—a long-range‚ heavily armed airplane capable of achieving air superiority while at the same time shouldering other tasks‚ such as bombing and reconnaissance—came into vogue with the development of the twin-engine Polish PZL P.38 Wilk (wolf) in 1934.  Over the next few years‚ that design would inspire a variety of twin-engine fighter designs in other countries‚ such as the French Potez 63 series‚ the German Messerschmitt Me-110‚ the British Westland Whirlwind‚ Japan’s Nakajima J1N and Kawasaki Ki-45‚ and the American Bell YFM-1 Airacuda and Lockheed P-38 Lightning. If the versatility of a multi-role fighter seemed attractive to the major powers‚ it was even more so to small or intermediate powers such as the Netherlands‚ offering the prospect of wringing more usefulness per airplane from their limited defense budgets.  When the prototype of the Dutch-built Fokker G.I twin-engine fighter was first unveiled at the 1936 Paris Salon‚ however‚ it caused an international sensation.  Conceived in 1934 by Fokker’s chief designer‚ Dr. Erich Schatzki‚ as a twin-boom heavy fighter with a central nacelle that could be modified to fulfill a variety of tasks‚ the G.I made its first flight on March 16‚ 1937‚ and entered service with the Dutch air force in 1938. Powered by two 825-hp Bristol Mercury VIII nine-cylinder radial engines‚ the G.1‚ as the air force designated it‚ had no fewer than eight 7.9-millimeter FN-Browning M36 machine guns in the nose of the nacelle‚ as well as a ninth gun in a rotating tail cone. In addition‚ it could carry an internal bomb load of 880 pounds. Fokker also produced 12 somewhat smaller G.1s to be powered by two 750-hp Pratt &; Whitney R-1535-SB4-G Twin Wasp Junior 14-cylinder radials and packing a nose armament of two 23-millimeter Madsen cannons and two 7.9-millimeter FN-Brownings for Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War. Fokker negotiated sales to Finland‚ Estonia‚ Sweden‚ Denmark‚ Hungary and war-torn Spain‚ but none of them panned out before World War II broke out‚ leaving all the G.Is built to guard the Netherlands’ neutrality. The Reaper’s first victim was British: a Whitworth Whitley Mark V of No. 77 Squadron‚ Royal Air Force‚ that strayed into Dutch airspace on the night of March 27‚ 1940‚ and was brought down by a Fokker G.IA flown by First Lieutenant Piet Noomen‚ of the 3rd JachtVliegtuig Afdeling (fighter squadron)‚ or JaVA. A total of 62 Fokker G.1s are believed to have been built to one degree of completion or another‚ but only 23 were available to the Dutch—11 with the 3rd JaVA at Waalhaven and 12 with the 4th JaVAat Bergen—when the Germans invaded. Considering the circumstances‚ they gave an outstanding account of themselves‚ shooting down at least 13 German aircraft in their first chaotic two hours of combat. Heavily armed and easy to fly‚ though too slow to compete with single-engine fighters‚ the G.1 lived up to its nickname of Le Faucheur (‘the reaper’)‚ but it only had five days in which to do its reaping before the Germans overran the Netherlands. After that‚ most surviving G.1s—including 12 Twin Wasp powered versions still under construction for possible export to Finland‚ which the Germans completed for their own use—became part of a growing trove of war booty serving the Luftwaffe as twin-engine fighter trainers. No Fokker G.Is survive today‚ but a replica can be seen on display at the Nationaal Militair Museum in Soesterberg. this article first appeared in AVIATION HISTORY magazine See more stories Subscribe now  

At the 11th hour on Monday‚ a federal judge in Alexandria‚ Va. issued a temporary restraining order to halt workers’ efforts — which had begun several hours prior — in removing the controversial Confederate memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. The memorial remains one of the nation’s most prominent monuments to the Confederacy on public land and has been criticized “for its sanitized depiction of slavery‚” writes The New York Times. The removal‚ which was set to be completed by the end of the week‚ comes at the tail end of efforts across the United States for the past several years to remove symbols‚ flags and monuments honoring slaveholders and Confederate leaders. According to NPR‚ a group called Defend Arlington‚ which is affiliated with a group called Save Southern Heritage Florida‚ brought their suit before U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston Jr. on Sunday. The group is suing the Department of Defense‚ arguing that the “The removal will desecrate‚ damage‚ and likely destroy the Memorial longstanding at ANC as a grave marker and impede the Memorial’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.” They were granted the injunction by accusing the Pentagon of rushing its decision and circumventing federal law by not issuing an environmental impact statement. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Fourteen years after Congress authorized Confederate remains to be reinterred at Arlington in 1900‚ the statue was dedicated by President Woodrow Wilson and funded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy — an organization that helped to largely forge the Lost Cause ideology. According to Karen L. Cox‚ a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte‚ the statues around the United States didn’t appear in great numbers for more than 30 years after the war. Founded in 1894‚ “an early objective of the UDC was the erection of monuments as tangible signs of pride and appreciation‚” Cox writes.  As such‚ during the early 20th century‚ more than 700 monuments were erected across the South before World War II. The 1914 Arlington unveiling‚ however‚ served as a watershed moment for the UDC. By allowing the burial of Confederate soldiers in Arlington and “accepting the monument to honor them‚ the federal government had fulfilled the Daughters’ conditions for reconciliation‚” Cox posits. The bronze and granite memorial stands in what is now known as section 16‚ towering over the remains of the Confederate soldiers buried there. Last week more than 40 Republican members of Congress signed a letter demanding that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III halt the removal‚ the NYT reported. They argued that the memorial did not commemorate the Lost Cause ideology but rather the “reconciliation and national unity” between North and South. Others‚ however‚ find the 32-foot pedestal more controversial. The 32-foot pedestal‚ designed by Confederate soldier Moses Ezekiel‚ features a bronzed statue of a beautiful woman that represents the South‚ standing over a frieze of figures that include two African Americans: “an enslaved woman depicted as a “Mammy‚” holding the infant child of a white officer‚ and an enslaved man following his owner to war‚” the cemetery website reads. Virginia governor‚ Glenn Youngkin‚ has been steadfast in his opposition to the removal but had secured a plan for the Virginia Military Institute — where Ezekiel was once a cadet — to take ownership of the statue and place it at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War at New Market Battlefield State Historical Park‚ writes The Washington Post. The debate over “heritage‚ not hate” continues to play out on the national stage‚ yet‚ as David W. Blight‚ professor of American history at Yale University‚ tells HistoryNet‚ “History and memory are not the same thing. History is based on reasoned research. Memory is born of groups and forged in myriad ways; passed down generation to generation‚ it tends to be more emotional and sacred. “Heritage” can make us want to own a past‚ a story‚ a place against all other possible narratives or interpretations. A person using a symbol in public or in official ways must understand how the public views their actions. There is always going to be more memory than there is history‚ but those of us who are devoted to the craft of history have a deep responsibility to push back against memory even as we genuinely respect its power.” historynet magazines Our 9 best-selling history titles feature in-depth storytelling and iconic imagery to engage and inform on the people‚ the wars‚ and the events that shaped America and the world. subscribe today