It’s really hard not to make “The Boys are back in town” jokes whenever this series reappears. But they are! And things are really just not good for Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) at the moment. Not least because Jeffrey Dean Morgan is making fun of his team’s name. Here’s the synopsis for season four: The world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander‚ who is consolidating his power. Butcher‚ with only months to live‚ has lost Becca’s son as well as his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever‚ they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late. The Boys may or may not have some plot threads to pick up from its spinoff Gen V. Butcher and Homelander (Antony Starr) both played roles in that show’s finale—but frankly it seems like they’ve got enough going on outside of the Godolkin University grounds. Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is on a march toward the White House. There’s a girl with alien tentacles coming out of her face. And Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) gives a real peppy talk about how the masses are necessary‚ “fucking stupid‚” and ready to tear themselves apart. Also there’s something crawling around in Butcher’s head. And someone does want to get his balls crushed! Good times. Along with new arrivals Morgan and Heyward‚ Valorie Curry joins the cast this season as Firecracker. I’m sure she’s a super nice person with very kind and helpful powers. The Boys is based on the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson; Erik Kripke is the creator and showrunner. No premiere date has been announced for the fourth season of The Boys‚ but it’ll be here in 2024.

Every place has its own magic‚ and just about every place has its own mermaids‚ too. Even the desert‚ according to Kim Antieau and her friends and fellow storytellers. The Old Mermaids were born in the writers’ community in Tucson‚ Arizona in the early years of this century. They’re still there‚ and still welcoming writers and artists to their sanctuary. The novel that started it all is a delightful combination of magic and realism—magical realism‚ just the way it should be. It gives you Tucson’s landscape and people as they really are‚ cactus‚ creosote‚ coyotes‚ and all. And it gives you magic that’s as real as a flash flood roaring and rolling down a dry wash. The heart of the novel is a geological truth. This part of Arizona was once a sea. You can still find shells high up in the mountains. In Antieau’s world‚ the sea was inhabited by mermaids. When the water receded‚ the mermaids found themselves stranded in the dry land. Their tails shrank into legs and feet. They became‚ more or less‚ human. They had to learn to live on the land. They built a sanctuary out of whatever they could find‚ and made it beautiful‚ because mermaids live in beauty. But humans came‚ and they had to learn to live in that world‚ which did its best to destroy what they made. The novel begins with Myla Alvarez‚ woman of a certain age‚ ten years out from a messy divorce. Myla looks after a cluster of houses for their absentee owners‚ and lives in a studio apartment in the barn of one of the houses. A wash runs past them‚ a dry riverbed that floods during the seasonal rains. Myla coped with her divorce by following a dream and founding the Church of the Old Mermaids. She sells treasures that she finds in the wash‚ setting up a table on Fourth Avenue in Tucson. With each treasure‚ she offers a story about the Old Mermaid who found or made or used it. In mundane reality‚ they’re just flotsam. An old empty bottle‚ a coil of orange rope‚ a cracked marble. But Myla imbues them with magic. There are thirteen Old Mermaids‚ living together like nuns in a convent. Their names are wicked and funny and true‚ like drag-queen names: Sister Sheila Na Giggles Mermaid‚ Sister Ursula Divine Mermaid‚ Mother Star Stupendous Mermaid‚ and one we’ve met before: Grand Mother Yemaya Mermaid. Each has her own gifts and predilections. And each has her own collection of stories. Around the tenth anniversary of Myla’s divorce‚ her life changes. An old friend returns‚ and she begins to question some of her choices—including the reality of the Old Mermaids. Myla has been using her employers’ houses as a literal sanctuary. She finds and shelters illegal immigrants‚ refugees found in the desert; she cares for them‚ nurses them to health‚ and sends them on to jobs and lives under the radar of la migra‚ the Border Patrol and Homeland Security. She is also‚ as the novel begins‚ looking after an abused Anglo wife and her teenaged son. There’s danger in what Myla does‚ both legal and physical. She’s using her employers’ houses‚ which could cost her her job‚ at the very least—not to mention betraying their trust. And she’s doing it in the name of the Old Mermaids‚ who may be imaginary. Buy it Now But are they? Lily‚ the small daughter of one of the migrants whom Myla is sheltering‚ says they’re real. She sees and hears them. Myla used to think she could‚ too‚ but she isn’t sure anymore. She isn’t even sure she should continue with the Church‚ even without the parts that are against the law. We learn a great deal about mermaids‚ and about love‚ and about chosen families. Antieau’s mermaids are explicitly not Little. They aren’t exactly celibate‚ either. We never do discover the truth about mermen‚ but we get the impression they sometimes have lovers. We learn about the Old Sea from which they came‚ too‚ and how they’ve preserved it now it’s dried into desert. Mermaids’ tears are sea water‚ after all‚ and deserts flood in season‚ and mermaids don’t completely lose their tails. Sometimes they can bring them back. Grand Mother Yemaya Mermaid is so powerful that she even has two. These mermaids have learned to survive in the dry land‚ but they never forget the sea. They’ve bridged the worlds of land and water; they inhabit a liminal space‚ a place between‚ like the borderlands they live in. I’ve only read a very few books that capture what it’s like to live in Tucson. This one does—both the reality and the magic. It’s a strange place‚ compared to the temperate woodlands and northern seacoast I come from. Like the Old Mermaids‚ I’ve settled here. I’ve learned to live in the dry land. I’ve made it home. Judith Tarr is a lifelong horse person. She supports her habit by writing works of fantasy and science fiction as well as historical novels‚ many of which have been published as ebooks. She’s written a primer for writers who want to write about horses: Writing Horses: The Fine Art of Getting It Right. She lives near Tucson‚ Arizona with a herd of Lipizzans‚ a clowder of cats‚ and a blue-eyed dog.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Last Thursday afternoon‚ The Gateway Pundit‚ a prominent conservative news platform‚ discovered that its website was covertly being blocked on the network within the US House of Representatives. Through reliable insiders present in the halls of Capitol Hill‚ this unsettling news reached the team at The Gateway Pundit. It began with an email from a staffer working for Congressman Paul Gosar. Addressing the news platform directly in his email‚ he drew attention to his prolonged inability‚ continuing for two weeks‚ to access The Gateway Pundit on the House network. This electronic missive was bolstered with a snapshot of the aforementioned restriction as seen on the staffer’s computer while attempting to visit the site. Jordan Conradson‚ a Washington DC-based reporter for The Gateway Pundit‚ established contact with Anthony Foti‚ Communications Director for Congressman Gosar. After confirming that a similar error manifested on various government-distributed computers utilized by the Congressman’s staff‚ Foti went on to explain a startling reality. According to his information‚ obstruction of this nature transpired whenever these computers‚ controlled by a House Admin Office-sanctioned firewall‚ identified any website as “unofficial.” Bringing further light to this matter of censorship‚ Representative Matt Gaetz acknowledged on Friday that his own office experienced the unseen blockade of The Gateway Pundit website. During an insight-laden podcast‚ he expressed his intent to probe deeper into this unexpected techno-political anomaly. In Rep. Gaetz’s words‚ he elaborated on his plans to rectify this block: “We’re going to fix that. I don’t know who thought that was an appropriate action. But we’re gonna get to the bottom of it. I’m going to be speaking with the House Administration Committee Chairman [Bryan] Steil‚ Speaker of the House if necessary. We’re not going to have the House censoring our access to conservative news and to conservative analysis.” The post US House of Representatives Blocks Prominent News Website‚ The Gateway Pundit appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. BitChute‚ a platform championing free speech in video sharing has introduced new features called “Rants and Raves.” This feature is unique in its ability to provide a safe space for user expression. Accessible on all BitChute channels‚ it opens a door for the platform’s extensive user base‚ numbering in the tens of millions monthly‚ to engage in candid‚ unmoderated discussions‚ all the while maintaining their anonymity and upholding free speech principles. Ray Vahey‚ BitChute’s co-founder and CEO‚ emphasized the platform’s commitment to free speech‚ stating‚ “As the industry’s only true free speech platform‚ we are always challenging ourselves to create innovations for users to enjoy and that further the importance and our mission of free speech. Rants and Raves does just that and is designed in a way that we believe people will enjoy using it. We are the only ones providing a private conversation in a public sphere.” The essence of Rants and Raves lies in its anonymization process. Users‚ identified only through pseudonyms generated by the system‚ can freely share their views and reactions to videos. These comments‚ however‚ are ephemeral‚ visible only for 60 minutes before vanishing‚ and are neither stored nor tracked by BitChute‚ reinforcing the commitment to user privacy and free speech. This design also helps reduce the burden of content moderation‚ while still adhering to regulatory standards for content moderation in certain countries. The post BitChute Launches Rants and Raves‚ An Anonymous‚ Ephemeral‚ Real-Time Chat Feature appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

When Navy Cmdr. Alexander Slidell Mackenzie and the crew of the brig-of-war Somers pulled into Brooklyn Harbor in December 1842‚ he arrived with an alarming report: his crew had just barely escaped a mutiny. Mackenzie reported that he had quashed the mutiny and prevented the slaughter of his crew by hanging the three mutineers: Acting Midshipman Philip Spencer‚ the alleged ringleader‚ and his accomplices‚ Boatswain’s Mate Samuel Cromwell and Seaman Elisha Small. In turn‚ he received a hero’s welcome‚ with the New York Herald comparing Mackenzie’s actions to those found in the “early history of the Roman Republic.” But the praise didn’t last‚ and conflicting accounts of what went down aboard Somers began to emerge‚ ultimately sparking a chain of events that would lead to one of the biggest and largely untold controversies in the Navy’s history and the creation of the U.S. Naval Academy a few years later. The story of the Somers’ cruise and the subsequent fallout are detailed in “Sailing the Graveyard Sea: The Deathly Voyage of the Somers‚ the U.S. Navy’s Only Mutiny‚ and the Trial that Gripped the Nation‚” which was released Nov. 21. Days after the Somers arrived in New York reporting the attempted mutiny‚ a letter appeared in the Madisonian newspaper — a partisan mouthpiece of then-President John Tyler’s administration — and offered a very different account of the incident. The letter was penned by the mutiny ringleader Spencer’s father‚ who happened to be Secretary of War John C. Spencer. He claimed the mutiny allegations were “wholly destitute of evidence‚” according to the book‚ elevating the Somers’ travails to a high-profile status in the process.Secretary Spencer’s counter-claims would amount to little more than a dad sticking up for his son‚ but his weighing in on the incident helped capture America’s attention‚ the book’s author‚ Richard Snow‚ told Navy Times. “[Philip Spencer] was a midshipman‚ and by God‚ he turned out to be the son of the Secretary of War‚” Snow said. “So you knew now this wasn’t going to be some quiet story…this was going to gather momentum.” The incident became the greatest scandal New York City had witnessed in years‚ and naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison claimed no other incident in the 19th century aroused such passion in America‚ outside of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination‚ according to the book. ‘Nothing alarming‚ at first’ Midshipman Philip Spencer commissioned in 1841 and joined the crew of the Somers in August 1842 — just a few months before he’d be accused of mutiny. The ship was a sort of training ground for prospective sailors‚ according to the Naval Academy‚ and Midshipman Spencer’s obsession with pirates and their ways of life soon became evident‚ as he would regularly ask shipmates to share their best pirate stories‚ according to the book. “There was nothing alarming at first‚” said Snow‚ an author of several books who previously served as the editor-in-chief of American Heritage magazine. “But as they got further and further away from shore‚ he became more and more reckless in what he’d say and do. And he started talking about how his ship‚ the Somers‚ would make a great pirate ship.” While some crew members reported to Mackenzie that Spencer discussed pirates and plans to take over the ship‚ the skipper initially brushed off such claims.“ Anxiety began to crackle through the ship‚” Snow said. Although Snow said Mackenzie wrote very detailed accounts of his life‚ no reason is expressly given for why he suddenly took Spencer’s pirate aspirations seriously and came to believe his ship was under siege. Either way‚ on Nov. 26‚ Mackenzie ordered that Spencer be placed in double irons on the quarterdeck on charges of intended mutiny. Small and Cromwell faced the same fate the next day‚ and on Dec. 1‚ all three were hanged without a court-martial‚ per Mackenzie’s orders. A later inquiry and Mackenzie’s court-martial ultimately exonerated the captain‚ and Snow’s book details how the entire affair became a source of shame for the Navy. However‚ Snow’s book also notes that the incident paved the way for the Navy to overhaul how it trained its officers‚ leading to the creation of the U.S. Naval Academy a few years later. Before the grim circumstances of Somers’ cruise‚ the Navy had trained its sailors using a model similar to the one the British Royal Navy employed‚ Snow said.“As far as training their officers went…it was basically throw them in the water and see if they can swim‚” he said. “You drop somebody down with a bunch of sailors and hope he worked out alright.” But according to the U.S. Naval Academy’s website‚ the incident aboard the Somers “cast doubt over the wisdom of sending midshipmen directly aboard ship to learn by doing.” Less than three years after the Somers’ voyage‚ the Naval School kicked off its first class with 50 midshipman. In 1850‚ the Naval School became the U.S. Naval Academy and implemented a curriculum where midshipmen would spend the academic school year training at the academy and summers aboard naval vessels. “Did any good come out of this?” Snow said of the Somers affair. “Well yes‚ there is…Almost exactly 100 years later‚ [Annapolis] proved to be the seabed of the mightiest Navy the world has ever known. And that was one very good outcome.” Originally published by Federal Times‚ our sister publication.

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