Modern viewers may be horrified by medieval images of people hunting unicorns, but--to judge by medieval images of unicorns--medieval people may have seen unicorns as a little....murdery.

(BL, MS Sloane 3544, f. 4) #MedievalTwitter

When not being hunted, medieval unicorns mostly seem to be attacking other creatures, like this poor elephant.

(BL, MS Royal 2 B VII, f. 100v)

Or these bears.

(BL, MS Royal 10 E IV, f. 157)

Or this lion.

(BL, MS Royal 2 B VII, f. 190v)

Here's a whole troop of them fighting Alexander the Great.

(BL, MS Royal 15 E VI, f. 21)

https://t.co/PYBNUN0yJ7
Exodus 30:17-21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Make a large bronze bowl for washing. Make a bronze stand to put it on. Place the bowl between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Put water in it. “Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet

Wow. People are whining about 1984 because the Carrot Caligula got kicked off twitter.

Here's something I learned both 1) in high school civics, 2) college constitutional law class, 3) lifetime of being on the internet since before social media:

READ THE TERMS OF SERVICE.
1/

You will see two things:
1) that your social medium of choice is A BUSINESS, OWNED PRIVATELY. No, public trading doesn't make it publicly owned.
2) that said business has the right to DENY SERVICE TO ANYONE.

Which is legalese for "play nicely and we won't boot your ass"

2/

The First Amendment only protects you from the government censorship.

NOWHERE DOES IT PROTECT YOU FROM CONSEQUENCES ON A PRIVATELY OWNED PLATFORM.

Moreover, incitement of violence has never been protected speech.
3/

The "fire in a crowded theater" is court precedent.

So your so-called "rights" have never been absolute.

The other thing that everyone seems to forget:

NOBODY IS REQUIRED TO LISTEN TO YOUR SHIT.
You can't force people to be your audience.

4/

They can deplatform you. Fire you. Walk out on you. Cancel your contract.

This is protected in the 9th Amendment, which states that no one person's rights shall be used to infringe upon another person's rights.

So when you lose your account, your contract, etc...

5/

Thread on Mary Stuart aka Mary, Queen of Scotts because I watched a documentary about her and it was fascinating also because I think she was an interesting and brave woman

Mary Stuart, also known as Mary I of Scotland. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland, who died in battle within days of her birth. She inherited the throne of Scotland as it's queen at mere age of six days. As she was a child, her mother,

Marie of Guise, was the regent ruler. Mary spent most of her childhood in the French Court, being betrothed to Francis De Valois, the dauphin of France and the son of King Henry II of France. King Henry died in a game of joust when Francis was fifteen and thus, Mary became the

Queen Consort of France in 1588 by marrying Francis and acceding the throne, at the age of 17. Francis, however, fell ill and died as a result of an ear infection two years later in 1560. After his death, Mary returned to Scotland to continue her rule. Four years later, she

Married Lord Darnely, her half cousin and they had a son, James. Queen Elizabeth of England was not happy with this marriage as Mary and Darnely both being descendants of Margaret Tudor, had a strong claim to the English throne. Two years later in 1567, Darnely was killed in

Here's some New Year fun (which I'm sure we could all do with right now). When I was getting ideas together for the book, one of the potential chapter headings I had was 'Hawkwind's Thwarted Pop Career'... Here's a "what if?" alternative singles schedule for the 1970s ;-) 1/17

‘Mirror Of Illusion’ – July 1970. At the last minute, the A & B side of Hawkwind’s debut single are swapped when John Peel tells Doug Smith that ‘Hurry On Sundown’ takes “too long to get going.” It doesn’t chart, but Peel gives it lots of spins on Top Gear

‘You Know You’re Only Dreaming’ – Oct 1970. Their profile boosted by reports of their Isle Of Wight performances, Andrew Lauder suggests a standalone single. A re-recorded version of this track from the Trident sessions is rush-released and sells strongly

‘Master Of The Universe’ – Sept 1971. By now the biggest band in the underground, Hawkwind trail the release of their second album with an edited version of this soon to be classic track. To everyone's surprise, it charts for four weeks, peaking at no. 37

‘Silver Machine’ – June 1972. Hawkwind’s next single crashes into the charts, its space age boogie loved by teenyboppers and Hells Angels alike. Pan’s People perform a ‘sexy robot’ routine to it on Top Of The Pops, and the following week, it goes to no. 1

In June, 1965 a monk in Vietnam hoped to convince Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to speak out for the first time against the US war in Vietnam.

So he sent a letter, and a year later in 1966 he sat with Dr. King as he spoke out against the war.

Here’s what Thich Nhat Hanh wrote...

"The self-burning of Vietnamese Buddhist monks in 1963 is somehow difficult for the Western Christian conscience to understand. The Press spoke then of suicide, but in the essence, it is not. It is not even a protest."

"What the monks said in the letters they left before burning themselves aimed only at alarming, at moving the hearts of the oppressors and at calling the attention of the world to the suffering endured then by the Vietnamese."

"To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance. There is nothing more painful than burning oneself. To say something while experiencing this kind of pain is to say it with the utmost of courage, frankness, determination and sincerity."

"During the ceremony of ordination, as practiced in the Mahayana tradition, the monk-candidate is required to burn one, or more, small spots on his body in taking the vow to observe the 250 rules of a bhikshu..."

Playing a bit of Tower of Druaga, in the Namco Museum collection. Splatterhouse is in there too, and it makes a good comparison, because you know how Splatterhouse's only draw is the hyper-detailed violence? Druaga is like that except the only draw is the hyper-obscure secrets.

But the secrets made it a huge hit in Japan in 1984. This is supposedly the game that created the Japanese arcade culture of players sharing notes, because the only path to success was approaching the game as a community.

Tower of Druaga clearly draws inspiration from Pac-Man (it's a maze chase) and Rogue (the maze isn't randomized, but everything *in it* is, plus you bump into enemies to attack them) and Wizardry/D&D (theming and upgrades).

To advance past each floor, you need to find the key and the exit, dodging monsters. You can also find a secret item on each floor. These "optional" items are crucial, some are literally required to proceed, and the processes you need to guess at to unlock them are *ridiculous*.

A sampling:
- Kill 3 slimes.
- Touch the left and right dungeon walls.
- Don't touch the outside walls for 12 seconds.
- Swing your sword while standing on the exit.
- Press 1P start.
- Kill 6 colored slimes in a specific order.
- Step on 3 unmarked tiles in a specific order.

In 1982 I wrote a Report, which I also presented to the House of Commons Parliamentary Committee on 'children in care'. The evidence was highly commended & included in the Children's Act 1989. The excerpts below are #cep history & legacy. And our contribution to the CA 1989.
1/20

The Introduction. (Excerpt only)
Talks about the CA 1980 and the "welfare principle" and how practise falls behind intention.

"The problem is that decision making still lies with the professional and doesn't include the child/young person".

Policies.

The National Association of Young People In Care was the first organisation run for and by YP in or ex care. We started in 1979 in Bradford and London (I was in the London Office). These policies were based on NAYPIC members views at the time.

1) Rules, punishments & discipline (excerpt only):

"Young People should have a say in how the home is run and what form of rues & punishment are alowed"

2) Forms of Control (excerpt):

"Young People should learn their responsibilities and self control by having a greater involvement in the running of their own home and in their own lives. Residential Care workers are indespensible in this".

Won't it be a spectacular James Bond movie styled announcement if Klaus Gunther Schwab in his weird attire / uniform actually makes a dramatic landing on the green lawns of Rose Garden on Jan 20th, 2021 and makes a proclamation to the world "We have taken over all of you now"?

Will it be Klaus Gunther Schwab or Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos that would have a heart attack first? Or all of them at once?

"For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made. And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him."
Gen 7:4,5 (c. 2300 BC)

The Great Deluge ⬇️

Exhibit A⬇️

"...The flood came forth. Its power came upon the peoples like a battle,
one person did not see another, they could not recognize each other in the catastrophe..The deluge belowed like a bull...the darkness was dense, the sun was gone..."

From: The Epic of Atrahasis

The Epic of Atrahasis, an Akkadian/Babylonian poem recorded on clay tablets, tells the story of mankind's creation and a great flood sent by the gods to decimate humans on Earth.

The tablets are said to date back to the 18th century BC though the Flood tale itself is much older.

In the poem, Atra-hasis, the 'exceedingly wise' (a.k.a. Ziusudra, said to be the last Sumerian king before the deluge), had been warned by god Enki (a.k.a. Ea) of the coming disaster and instructed him to build an ark to save himself and his family.

Does it sound familiar? 🤔

Exhibit B ⬇️

"For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts. When the seventh day dawned the storm from the south subsided, the sea grew calm, the flood was stilled..."

When Pat Bowlen bought the Broncos in 1984, he inherited the best quarterback of that era of pro football and one of the greatest of all-time, John Elway.

In 9 of the next 15 seasons, the Broncos made. the postseason. They made it to five Super Bowls and won two

After John Elway retired, the Broncos missed the playoffs in 8-of-12 seasons including no winning record from 2007-2010.

Who did Pat Bowlen call at that point in time?

I don't like putting words in Pat Bowlen's mouth, saying he would have done this or wouldn't have done that. Fact of the matter is, both Pat Bowlen and John Elway hate losing.

It was Pat who fired Mike Shanahan after a playoff drought. It was also Pat who gave Josh McDaniels the keys to the franchise and let him dismantle the most talented roster the team had in nearly a decade.