General Geekery

The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands is a micronation near Australia.  This is their flag:

The Gay Kingdom (as it is colloquially known) was founded in 2004 in protest against Australia’s legal stance against same-sex marriage.

Here are some of their stamps:

They are currently ruled by Emperor Dale I, and their currency is the Pink Dollar.

they have a declaration of independence that talks a bit about gay rights and then just flat out copies the “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness” part from the american declaration of independence. and here’s the best part: the founding group actually elected their emperor. he was originally going to be called the “administrator” of a republic. their website, however, says that “upon legal advice, his title was changed to that of Sovereign on the grounds that under Australian law a defacto prince trying to claim his crown cannot be charged with treason”. so they made it a kingdom and he now claims to be a descendent of edward ii.

everything about this is glorious and everyone should know about it.

As previously mentioned, the idea originated at Pride (Brisbane 2003) in reaction to punitive anti-marriage legislation

“On the 14th day of June 2004, at this highest point in the Coral Sea, Emperor Dale Parker Anderson raised the gay rainbow flag and claimed the islands of the Coral Sea in his name as homeland for the gay and lesbian peoples of the world. God Save our King!”

The campsite/capital Heaven was named after the London nightclub

War was declared on Australia in September 2004

The aforementioned stamps were issued in July 2006 “with the aim of creating a high and distinctive reputation amongst the philatelic fraternity”

They were never recognized legally/internationally as a micronation (and in fact Anderson refused to attend a conference in 2010 because they weren’t actually trying to be a sovereign nation)

In Feb 2017, Abetz was objecting to the flag of a “hostile nation” being flown

Say what you will about Hunter Biden, he can talk in honesty, defend his lifestyle choices.

Comic version of this post made by @penny-anna.

They didn’t want to rehearse. They could be talking about the price of eggs, the state of the weather… Kinda 30 seconds before the board is clapped, and they would go straight to the scene and do it. And ‘cut’ is called, and then they’d be, ‘what were we talking about?’ or ‘whose turn is it with Bitch?’

Reply images are from a post from a google group from kittyVogue. It reads: Play the game “Bitch” all the time. So here are the rules that we play by: Need two decks of playing cards including jokers. [1] Each player is dealt 13 cards. With one facing up in the center. [2] Start play to the left as in any card game. [3] On your turn, pick up card from deck. Throw one in center/discard pile. [4] To go into play, you must first lay down three of a kind. Known as three originals. [5] After this, you may use deuces as wild cards. [6] Jokers are put down by themselves. Must be down with three originals first.

[7] Lay down as many three of a kind as you can, keep in mind can add more. For example, if have five kings in your hand, they all go down together. When it is your turn, lay down any three of a kind you have in your hand. [8] You can only pick up the cards in the middle if you have two cars in your hand, that match the top card. If you pick up the cards in the middle you must use the top card with others into play immediately. Remember you must pick up all the cards in the middle, even if you only wish to use the top one. [9] You cannot pick up any cards from the middle unless you have at least three originals down first, and there must be at least three cards in the middle. [10] When dealing, cut the cards to deal. If you deal 13 cards to everyone, and have one left to put in the center, then this is considered to be a perfect deal. Worth 100 points. [11] Jokers worth 50 points, deuces worth 25 points, aces worth 20 points, face cards - 10 points, and all other cards (from 3-9] are worth 5 points. [12] First player to get 2100 wins the game. [13] If you wish to block someone from picking up the cards in the discard pile, lay out a card that matches one in their set of three of a kind. They can’t pick up the pile if the top card matches one of their three of a kind. They are blocked.

air travel is a mess? shortage of air traffic controllers - for some mysterious reason

logistics a mess? shortage of truck drivers - for some mysterious reason

public transit can't meet demand? shortage of bus drivers - for some mysterious reason

We even mysteriously have shortages of doctors, nurses, teachers... FOR SOME MYSTERIOUS REASON

Jonathan Joss was an Indigenous, gay man who was murdered on the first day of Pride month as well as Indigenous History Month. He died protecting his trans husband. Homophobia and racism aren’t marks of the past, and this is a heart breaking reminder of that.

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

Marcia Lucas was the editor on 1983’s "Return of the Jedi" and the pre-"Star Wars" George Lucas-directed films "THX 1138" and "American Graffiti."

She was also part of the editing team for director Martin Scorsese’s 1970s films "Taxi Driver," "Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore" and "New York, New York."

Marcia Lucas was often called the unsung hero of "Star Wars," the original film that after sequels, prequels and spinoffs has come to be known by its subtitle, "A New Hope."

She convinced husband George that he should have Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Alec Guinness, in his light saber battle with Darth Vader and become a spirit guide to Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker.

And she had to make sense of the raw footage that could’ve been a mess in the wrong hands, including the climactic rebel attack on the Death Star.

[....]

Archery x flower arranging

This was actually really fun!

Anyway, don’t forget I’m still raising money to test a bunch of things in a suit of armour: