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Christopher Nolan
2012.05.12 08:37 chazzwa Christopher Nolan
Subreddit dedicated to British-American filmmaker Sir Christopher Nolan, known for Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar, and Inception
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2024.05.18 21:34 Michtrk 1946-1952 The Rest of the World
JAPAN
12 April 1946 – surrender of Japan, brief premiership of Naruhiko Higashikuni (14 April to 9 June 1946), followed by Kijūrō Shidehara. Occupation mostly carried by US troops, but also Commonwealth zone (UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand), led by Douglas MacArthur as the SCAP (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers)
Situation is even way worse than in our reality thanks to all the destruction. First effort is gíve relief to the starving population. Even greater than in our reality are efforts to remove Hirohito (and it is impossible to imagine for the most of Allied leaders including Truman and Churchill to keep him on the throne after this brutal invasion), and despite opposition of MacArthur, Allies force the emperor to abdicate (and renounce divine status) in favour of regency headed by Takahito, (27 July 1946), when Akihito comes to age, he would become the Emperor. Hirohito’s abdication marks the beginning of Seika era, era of Emperor Akihito.
Hirohito is still given all possible protections against any trials for war crimes by MacArthur and is basically sent to comfortable retirement. Institution of monarchy is protected by Allies. Through 1946-1947 many westernisation reforms by MacArthur, based largely on FDR’s New Deal, as in our reality. April-May, political prisoners were released, and Communist Party of Japan was legalised and became politically active organising strikes. 10 February 1947 the first election with women suffrage, victory of Democratic Liberal Party headed by war criminal Hatoyama, who was eventually purged by Allied administration, so Shigeru Yoshida became new prime minister (22 March 1947).
By mid-1947 many officials connected to war crimes were purged, however since then, the course was reversed due to American need for the creation of a powerful Ally against the USSR and many regained power or at least avoided persecution. Through 1947 Americans wrote a new Japanese constitution (later in American myths it was MacArthur completely by himself), 3 August 1947 it was presented. Major shift from our reality is that Article 9, although considered, is not included in such sense as in our reality, it states only that “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” second part about demilitarisation is missing. Since summer 1947, US authorities adopt “Reverse Course” policies - aforementioned rehabilitation of officials, also protection of Zaibatsu (which Americans originally wanted to break-up and weaken), and reconstruction. Tokyo Trials 26 September 1946 to 12 January 1950 – MacArthur’s cover up of Japanese war crimes to a lesser extent, but it still does happen (including Unit 731). Taft also, like in Germany, attacks trials as “victor's justice”. From 25 December to 31 1950 Khabarovsk war crimes trials in the USSR about war criminals from Manchuria.
Persecution of growing Japanese communist movement starts. 1948-1951 “Red Purge”. Since March 1949 Dodge Line plan of right-wing economic reforms (cutting public spending, limiting public consumption, and reorienting industrial production in favour of export-oriented), also increase in unemployment and law against unions passed. In 1949 conflicts between communists and authorities escalated into many strikes, pro-communist politicians and officials began to be fired, after summer strike waves also purges of workers and academics. 1 July 1949 Japanese Self-Defence forces established – official remilitarisation. 23 October 1949 election, victory of DLP, electoral success of communists.
Peace Treaty with Japan
President Taft was eager to restore Japanese Independence – SCAP already transferred large amount of authority to Japanese trough 1949, secretary of the state William Richards Castle Jr took initiative. Despite Taft’s initial opposition to idea of continuous military presence, he is persuaded to keep limited number of stationed troops. Peace Treaty with Japan was scheduled after Treaty with Germany. Talks began in August 1950, however talks collapsed over China, despite at the time everyone recognised KMT, Soviets wanted PRC representatives to also attend. Other negotiations were called for January 1951, which resulted into calling for a Peace Conference with Japan in San Francisco analogous to the previous one with Germany. 6 March to 8 August 1951 San Francisco Conference, USSR and its allies boycotted them due to not including Chinese representatives. Despite Chinese and Soviets not being present, their interests were considered. Taiwan was ceded to China, Sakhalin, and Kuril Islands to USSR, unlike OTL Okinawa and more territories were already given back to Japan. Treaty was signed 8 August 1951, valid since 8 March 1952. Separate peace treaties were signed between Japan and ROC (30 January 1953), the Soviet Union and Korea “Vladivostok Treaties” 28 April 1952, these treaties recognised Soviet control over former Japanese territories and entitled Japan to pay reparations to Korea.
8 September 1951 U.S.-Japan Security Treaty was signed, which dictated Japan to accept continuous American military presence. This treaty caused a wave of resistance in Japan, uniting Japanese from right to left. Bloody May Day – over a million protestors in all of Japan, in Tokyo these protests escalated into violence and protests were massacred by police. 1 October 1952 election victory of Yoshida’s Liberal Party. 10 November 1952 coronation ceremony of Emperor Akihito, it marks symbolic beginning of new post-war Japan.
Philippines – 4 July 1947 United States gave official independence to Philippines and retained there many military bases (agreement from 1946 establishes bases for 99 years!) and the US still keeps a degree of political and economic dominance. 28 June 1946 Manuel Roxas became president of Philippines (still under US control then), communists were expelled from Congress despite being democratically elected – Hukbalahap Rebellion resumes (June 1946) and gained substantial strength, United States interferes and supports the government. On 15 April 1948 Roxas died of a heart attack; he was succeeded by vice-president Elpidio Quirino (re-elected in a fraudulent election 8 November 1949). Since the Taft Presidency, interests of Americans in Philippine affairs decreased, aid against Huks drained. President Quirino initiated major social reforms during his second term and attempted mostly useful land reform. 1950-1951 Huks successfully boosted their strength with seizing and keeping control over the centre of Laguna province – Santa Cruz. In 1952 Huks controlled sizable parts of the country and due to government corruption and brutality against rebels had also popular support. In 1951 they started to obtain massive support from China (from 1948 they were also backed by Korea).
Indonesia
Independence
As Japan surrendered, two days later on 14 April 1946 Indonesia (then with its majority under Japanese control) Indonesia declared independence, Sukarno became president and Hatta vice-president. Indonesians took advantage of the lack of established authority. Indonesia was occupied by Commonwealth forces (started in late May 1946). 27 June to 20 July 1946 a large battle between Indonesian and British forces – Battle of Surabaya, under significant losses results into a British victory. Churchill wanted to restore Dutch colonial rule and was ready to back them.
Important is Dutch reaction, Dutch government at the time was coalition between all parties formed after liberation by the Red Army in September 1945 (in wikibox there is 1946, another mistake overlook until I needed that), all parties with exception of CPN supported re-conquest of Indonesia, while communists wanted to grand them independence. CPN is vigorously opposed to continued colonisation and due to CPN securing second place in 1946 election and to lesser degree Soviet pressure on Dutch to recognise Indonesia, talks began in February 1947. Coincidentally with the December 1946 election there was a Malino Conference in which representatives of Dutch controlled territory backed the plan for creation of Dutch aligned federal states. 15 February 1947 Linggadjati Round Table Agreement is signed, in which Netherlands recognises Indonesian Republic controlled territory and both sides agree on formation of the Federal Republic of Indonesia (Republic, East Indonesia and Kalimantan) by 1 January 1948, FRI would newly formed Netherlands-Indonesian Union with the Dutch monarch as head. Similar agreement was reached in our reality but failed. In this timeline everything goes through, despite the fall of the Dutch coalition in summer 1947.
Federation
First Indonesian prime minister under Sutan Sjahrir (April to 3 December 1946), replaced by Amir Sjarifuddin, his cabinet included leftist forces, eventually even communists, who were instrumental in making agreement with the Netherlands (as part of the Dutch coalition were also communist negotiators). This cabinet stayed in power, avoiding real life events of the Madiun Affair. New government headed by Mohammad Hatta was formed after the creation of the federal republic. Creation of this republic was met with criticism from Islamists, who launched the Darul Islam rebellion led by Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosoewirjo (7 August 1948). Overall, young Indonesia was a very unstable country. Anti-unitary forces attempted a failed coup in January 1950. Federation was not popular among Indonesians, so it was quickly dissolved and replaced with a unitary republic (14 April 1950). The Republic of South Maluku attempted to break away with Dutch support, however failed to do so.
Liberal Democratic Period (to 1952)
Newly declared Indonesian republic adopted its constitution and became a free parliamentary democracy. First government was a leftwing one again under Sjarifuddin, however eventually collapsed due to Indonesian National Party (12 October 1950, replaced by cabinet of Mohammad Natsir), but this government managed to pass electoral law, so first Indonesian legislative elections were held (29 September 1951), lot of parties ran and get seats – four largest were PNI (left wing nationalism), Masyumi (liberal Islamism), Nahdlatul Ulama (Islamism), PKI (communists) and PSI- Parsi (democratic socialism). Result was a right leaning coalition under Sidik Djojosukarto (PNI- Masyumi and several minor parties), in 1952 Indonesia officially left “Union” with Netherlands.
British Malaya
1 November 1946 British colonies were united into the “Malayan Union”, strengthening and centralising British control, stripping local sultans of their powers. This created another opposition movement under nationalist United Malays National Organisation, they applied massive resistance and did not participate in British institutions. Unlike OTL, during the Churchill years, there was no reform. In 1952 (1 February) it was transformed due to this massive and long resistance (and also due to large scale communist uprising) to Federation of Malaya, attempting to appease at least conservative nationalists.
Anti–British National Liberation War (early years)
Postwar economic turmoil, powerful communist organisation, brutal response of colonial authorities to strikers. Malaya was a key British source of resources, to pay for US debts (even way more rising in importance after Taft). 17 June 1948 Sungai Siput incident – revenge killing of plantation managers lead to massive British anti-communist arrests, and communists went into hiding. Also, the uprising in Burma (1947) also plays a role as another new motivation. February 1949 Malayan National Liberation Army under Chin Peng is formed (reformed from anti-Japanese resistance movement), MNLA has support of the population and is based in jungles and areas very hard to access for colonialists. Britain imposes very harsh repression against the population, leading to even more widespread support for MNLA. April 1950 “Briggs Plan” adopted forced deportations of ethnic Chinese to camps (up to half million people). The UK also uses Agent Orange (as the first country in the World), murders and tortures countless civilians, and destroys villages.
6 October 1951 British High Commissioner Henry Gurney survives MNLA ambush, this is actually damaging to the British as his replacement Gerald Templer was more competent in fighting with partisans. British forces are aided by other commonwealth nations. By 1953 the UK had problems dealing with communists and communists were stronger compared to our reality.
British Sarawak, North Borneo, Brunei
These territories were separated from Malaya in 1946. This was opposed by Malays but supported by the Chinese. Resistance by Malays culminated in assassination of Duncan Stewart. Small communist rebellion also started.
Thailand – After the war in June 1946 king Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) returned back to Thailand, however, was found shot dead on 26 March 1947 his death was blamed on prime minister Pridi Banomyong, who was forced to resign being replaced by Luang Thamrong.
In 1946 Thailand had to return territories to France. The 20 October 1946 election resulted in the victory of the People's Party, the first government was formed by Khuang Aphaiwong, he was however replaced by Pridi Banomyong after a lost vote of confidence (6 January 1947). Pridi was supportive of Vietnamese Independence, so he ended up being overthrown in a US backed coup (8 November 1947), this coup brough Plaek Pibulsonggram back to power. Military allied with royalists and Khuang Aphaiwong was appointed prime minister. New constitution gave back powers to Monarchythat were decreased in the 1932 revolution. To counter the power of royalist military and Pridi allied supporters, another coup was carried out on 6 April 1948, fully returning Plaek to power; he eventually secured power and foced Pridi into exile. Plaek attempted to fully secure power and destroy opposition, but due to lack of US support since 1949, he was eventually ousted by Pridi and his supporters (11 February 1949). New Direk Jayanama-led left-wing democratic government, managed to secure limited support of USSR and larger one of China (but also Britain due to their previous alliance with Allies) and tried to adopt non alignment foreign political stance. Internal political reforms – reduced power of monarchy, new legislature (in June 1950 democratic election), thanks popular policy of land reform government gained widespread support from the rural population. 29 November 1951 anti-Pridi parts of the military attempted a coup against him as returned from exile Plaek Phibunsongkhram, but eventually failed and Plaek was banished. In 1952 the government turned against conservative royalists and attempted to even further weaken the monarchy.
Vietnam
March Revolution 16 March to 15 April, Abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại (already before surrender of Japan because of fears of French invasion) -> creation of Vietnamese Democratic Republic. In late April North Vietnam was occupied by Chinese forces to accept the surrender of the Japanese. In March also general Leclerc arrives. Fontainebleau Agreements in mid-1946 between Vietnam and France, Vietnam as part of the French Union. With the return of France (November 1946) fighting erupted, war erupted in March 1947. By October France took over main population centres.To increase French support, State of Vietnam was created under emperor Bao Dai (2 August 1949) In 1950 Vietnam recognised by the soviet bloc. Same year the UK recognised the State of Vietnam. In late 1950 Viet Minh launched a successful offensive. In January 1951 de Tassigny was appointed to command, under his leadership France had limited military success. Hower financing the war became a major problem around this time. In March 1951 Viet Minh won in the crucial battle of Vĩnh Yên (17 March) and Viet Minh got close to Hanoi, but the French eventually managed to hold the city after heavy losses.
Change came in 1952 from Paris, talks started in February and eventually ceasefire was declared (28 February). Paris Conference – France officially recognised Democratic Republic of Vietnam, State of Vietnam was not invited as France and DRV both agreed that it was French colony (this was heavily criticised). End of war was also connected with referendum about future of Vietnam, if people support State of Vietnam in union with France or DRV. Referendum was held 14 June 1952 and resulted into landslide victory for Vietminh. Emperor abdicates and State of Vietnam dissolves, but some members of its military continue to resist DRV.
Newly independent Vietnam became a key ally for all of the socialist bloc in Asia and supported anti-colonial movements. In 1952 land reform began – often turned violent with execution of landlords. In 1953 the first five-year plan was launched, focusing on developing the country.
Laos – After the defeat of Japanese anti-colonial Lao Issara emerged. Lao monarch king Sisavang Vong however agreed with restoration of the French protectorate, Lao Issara with aid from China and Viet Minh attempted to resist re-imposition of French rule, however movement was weak and failed to do so and eventually dissolved itself in 1949. In January 1947 an agreement was signed that pledged France to give Laos autonomy inside the French Union. 1950 – Pathet Lao is formed and joins Viet Minh against French forces. In 1952 French officially withdrew from the country.
Cambodia – In 1946 king Norodom Sihanouk attempted to negotiate independence with the French, December 1946 election was held that resulted in victory of the left-wing Democratic party over conservative Liberal party. 23 October 1947 Democratic party dominated assembly passed a constitution modelled on the French one. After the death of Democratic party founder Sisowath Yuthevong, the party divided itself and cannot agree on a concrete program. In 1948 Cambodia was given autonomy by the French. After independence in April 1952, Democratic Party was largely boosted by this success. This avoided the fall of parliamentary democracy.
Ceylon (Sri Lanka)– Sri Lankan leaders led by Don Stephen Senanayake attempted to reach independence through negotiations. However, negotiations with secretary of colonies Oliver Stanley led only to self-governance and the British initially rejected granting Ceylon status of dominion. On 24 September 1947 Senanayake became the first prime minister of the newly formed Ceylonese government. In 1948 granting Dominion status to India led to demonstrations in Ceylon, Senanayake increased his pressure towards Britain. Eventually Ceylon was given the same status as India and Pakistan 4 February 1949. The Senanayake family had a lot of power, after the death of Senanayake (26 March 1952) his son Dudley was chosen by the British governor.
OCEANIA AND AMERICAS (Basically restating history with occasional minor changes, brief)
Australia – 5 July 1945 death of prime minister John Curtin, he was succeeded by Frank Forde until Labour elected Ben Chifley as its new leader. 28 October 1946 Labour government was re-elected against the emerging Liberal Party. His government was characterised by successful Keynesian social democratic politics, similar to later Attlee in UK, (social welfare, universal healthcare – in real life modelled after British one, this timeline it is vice versa, ie. The Chifley government serves as an example for Attlee elected in 1951) starting Australian postwar economic growth. Australia also supports migration to increase its population (Europeans due to the still existing “White Australia” policy). Left-wing policies, such as nationalisations, created opposition from capitalists and their conservative affiliates in politics and media. Criticism also comes from the left due to the government's anti-communism and breaking of strikes. 10 December 1949 Liberal prime minister Robert Menzies was elected. Anti-communism, in 1950 Communist party was banned, it was ruled unconstitutional. 28 April 1951 a new election, triggered the failure of the banking bill, still a victory for Liberals, however they weakened themselves with this move. In 1951 Menzies declared a referendum about banning communist parties and this timeline people agreed, leading to persecution of many communists, it was criticised as a major attack on freedom of political expression. Red Scare was similar to the US at the time, but pushed by Menzies' government. Liberal economic policies, this time taking inspiration from Taft.
New Zealand – 27 November 1946 election, victory of ruling Labour Party, Labour declined and lost popularity due to continuous post-war rationing and Fraser’s support for compulsory military service. 30 November 1949 National Party led by Sidney Holland was elected. The Legislation was changed from bicameral to unicameral, economic reforms, however the National government still supported the welfare state. Conflict with Unions, culminating into the waterfront dispute of 1951, the government responded harshly against workers with strong anti-union legislation, even outright criminalising support for them. 11 July 1951 the government was re-elected and gained more seats as a large part of the public supported their stance against workers, due to widespread anti-communism.
Oceania – “Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands” established in 1948 was originally controlled by the USA as OTL, but eventually transferred to the United Kingdom in 1950, as the US was not interested in its administration.
Canada – economic boom, social welfare Keynesian economic policies. 20 May 1946 first postwar election, victory of Liberals, however failed to obtain majority and had to rely on leftwing Co-operative Commonwealth, resulting in Canada building the strongest welfare state from Commonwealth states and becoming the most progressive one (and also becoming a major destination for European immigrants). On 15 November 1948 King retired and was succeeded by Louis St. Laurent, a French Canadian strongly opposed to communism. Due to this anti-communist however the ruling coalition collapsed, triggering snap election on 27 June 1949, which resulted in victory of Liberals, who yet again could form government without making coalitions. Shortly before the election, 31 March 1949 Canada united with NewFoundland. Canada took an important role while the US was absent in TATO.
Mexico – 1 December 1946 Miguel Alemán Valdés became president. Pro-business policies and industrialisation, development of infrastructure (dubbed Mexican miracle), however also corruption and elitism. Pro-American foreign policy. 1 December 1952 he was succeeded by Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, he was popular due to his strong stance against corruption and rapid economic development.
Guatemala – In 1944 the country was ruled by dictator Jorge Ubico, who was overthrown by a junta that was overthrown in a popular revolution (20 October 1944), 15 March 1945 Juan José Arévalo became the country's first democratically elected president, who introduced many reforms. He developed the political ideology of Arevalismo "spiritual socialism" -it can be considered a form of democratic socialism. 12 November 1950 Jacobo Árbenz was elected president, he continued the policies of Arévalo and was even more ambitious with his democratic socialist reforms. Largest one was Land Reform (17 June 1952) which greatly benefited hundred of thousands poor Guatemalan people especially indigenous ones, however made very angry American United Fruit Company that controlled majority of land and basically country itself, UFC began to lobby for his overthrown...
British Honduras – Rise of voice for independence and People's United Party
Honduras – Rule of pro American dictator Tiburcio Carías Andino, unlike OTL he did not gave power to his puppets and continued to rule the country directly. Rise of discounted with his regime, even greater due any reforms instituted by his successor Juan Manuel Gálvez were not passed.
El Salvador – Authoritarian rule of Salvador Castaneda Castro (1945-1948), suppression of strikes and opposition, eventually he was deposed by military coup (14.12.1948), after rule of military, Óscar Osorio was appointed president (14.9.1950), he instituted some social reforms, but continued corrupt regime and persecution of opposition.
Nicaragua – Dictatorial rule of pro-American Somoza dynasty. 1947-1950 figurehead presidency of Leonardo Argüello Barreto (after Truman’s pressure for liberalisation).
Costa Rica – 12 March – 24 April 1948 civil war, after an attempt to annul victory of opposition candidate José Figueres Ferrer in election, it ultimately led to victory of rebels with US help. José Figueres Ferrer became provisional president. and pushed many important reforms: abolished the military, gave women suffrage, welfare, nationalisations of banks and also outlawed communist party. 1949-1953 presidency of Otilio Ulate Blanco that upheld these reforms.
Panama – pro-American parliamentary democracy dominated by oligarchy.
Colombia – 9 April 1948 popular democratic socialist presidential candidate of the Liberal Party Jorge Eliécer Gaitán was assassinated. This triggered the “La Violencia” (1948-1958) period of massive unrest between the left and the right, over 200 000 died, at the start of the Colombian conflict. On 9 November 1949 Liberal opposition attempted to impeach president Ospina Pérez, he dissolved Congress, creating a presidential dictatorship. Liberal leaders launched an uprising in rural areas (originally it was intended to be a military coup, that however in real life did not take place and here took place and failed). 7 August 1950 new Conservative dictatorial president Laureano Gómez Castro, admirer of Franco, suffered a major heart attack and power was transferred to Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez in 1951.
Venezuela – 18 October 1945 military coup that brought democracy to Venezuela (October 1946 and December 1947 democratic elections) under president Rómulo Betancourt. The 1940s economy also boomed thanks to oil. However, on 24 November 1948, the military staged a coup and Marcos Pérez Jiménez became dictator, under his oppressive regime there was great economic development, and he was close to the US.
Ecuador – President José María Velasco Ibarra was ousted in military coup (23 August 1947), 1947-1948 unstable country was ruled by military Carlos Mancheno Cajas, eventually military gave power to former vice-president Mariano Suárez Veintimilla, who gave his powers to Congress that elected Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola (31 August 1947). His presidency was strongly allied with the United States. 1 September 1948 Galo Plaza, another strongly pro-American figure, became the next president. He supported technocratic approach, democracy and was very open to foreign (mostly American) influence, exporting bananas to America. 1 June 1952 José María Velasco Ibarra (former deposed president, established politician and Ecuadorian nationalist) won election and became president for third term, his term was stable and brought progress, mostly in great development of infrastructure.
Brazil – Fourth Brazilian Republic, president Eurico Gaspar Dutra (1946-1951). Close relations with the US, liberal economic policy. 31 January 1951 Vargas returned after victory in the 3 October 1950 election. Keynesian economic policy, 1953 creation of PETROBRAS. Rua Tonelero shooting an assassination attempt on leading opposition member Carlos Lacerda (5August 1954) blamed on Vargas by opposition in a strong campaign, 24 August 1954 he committed suicide.
Perú – 1945 leftwing president José Luis Bustamante y Rivero, restoration of democracy. 29 October 1948 military seized power in a coup after murder of a prominent right-wing editor. Manuel Odría's regime strongly persecuted leftwing APRA, supported powerful oligarchy and gained favour of people thanks to populist rhetoric and policies.
Bolivia – 1947 to 1949 rule of Enrique Hertzog, conservative American aligned government. Economy in a terrible state, social unrest and intensified class struggle. Dominant opposition group was Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MRN) with a program of nationalisations and land reform. Next president Mamerto Urriolagoitía installed military rule (16 May 1951) under Hugo Ballivián. 9 April 1952 Bolivian National Revolution overthrew the junta. Víctor Paz Estenssoro became president. Many left-wing and democratic reforms transformed the country: universal suffrage, nationalisation of mining, large land reform (however created farms were eventually again taken over by large landowners), great influence of trade unions and workers.
Paraguay – Dictator Higinio Morínigo was pushed by the US to liberalise his regime, he legalised political parties and formed a coalition between Colorado and Febreristas. Later ones resigned from the government (11 January 1947) and united with opposition forces (Liberals and Communists) and attempted to topple his regime starting a civil war (7 March – 20 August 1947), despite opposition having popular support, and the government was saved by the US and Argentina. All parties with exception of Colorado were banned and the country became one party state. 16 August 1948 leader of Colorado Juan Natalicio González was elected president. He promoted nationalist policies; several American companies were nationalised. Due to American non-interventionism, three attempted coups against the president failed due to lack of any outside support. In other ways Paraguay was a stable country during his presidency.
Uruguay – functioning democracy, dominance of liberal Colorado party. Presidents: Juan José de Amézaga (1943-1947) – social reforms, economic stability and growth. Tomás Berreta (1947) died in office, Luis Batlle Berres (1947-1951) continued social and leftwing economic reforms.
Chile – Democratic presidential republic. September 1946 presidential election, Gabriel González Videla (Radical) elected. During his presidency many communist strikes, under US pressure Videla passed “Permanent Defense of Democracy Law” (8.9.1948) that banned the communist party, many imprisoned, strikes brutally suppressed, relations with socialist bloc broken. Radicals created alliance with Liberals and Conservatives. 4 September 1952 resulted in the victory of former president nationalist general Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. He repealed the ban on communists and also gained support from the left.
Argentina – Peron and Peronism. Nationalism, populism, social welfare, improvement of working conditions, development of local industry, growing power of the trade unions, authoritarian rule and persecution of opposition etc. Non-aligned foreign policy stance. 26 July 1952 death of Eva Peron.
Cuba – Presidents Ramón Grau (44-48) and Carlos Prío Socarrás (48-52) of left-wing nationalist Partido Auténtico. 10.3.1952 democracy overthrown by Batista’s coup. Pro-American authoritarian regime, serving interests of American elites owning majority of the county.
Haiti – 1946 revolution (11.1) – military seized power and new National Assembly was elected, Dumarsais Estimé became president (16 August 1946 to 10 May 1950), attempts of reforms, focused on expanding education, expansion of worker’s rights, creation of social security system (no passed), major nationalisations. His presidency was marked by growth and economic development. In foreign policy he was allied towards the US. After he tried to extend his time in office, he was removed by the military. General Paul Magloire became new president, he was elected president in 1950 first direct election.
Dominican Republic – Totalitarian far-right dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Ally of the US.
INDEPENDENT STATES IN AFRICA
Ethiopia – Emperor Haile Selassie. 15 September 1952 Federation Between Ethiopia and Eritrea formed.
Liberia – US aligned. President William Tubman (1944-1971), stable period.
South Africa – 26 May 1948 Reunited National Party won election. Daniël François Malan became prime minister, 1948-1953 apartheid instituted.
Colonial Africa would be addressed in the next part (since there aren’t too much events 1946-1952, 1953 to 1956 is extremely eventful on the other hand) North Africa covered in another post
submitted by Michtrk to pobeda1946 [link] [comments]
12 April 1946 – surrender of Japan, brief premiership of Naruhiko Higashikuni (14 April to 9 June 1946), followed by Kijūrō Shidehara. Occupation mostly carried by US troops, but also Commonwealth zone (UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand), led by Douglas MacArthur as the SCAP (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers)
Situation is even way worse than in our reality thanks to all the destruction. First effort is gíve relief to the starving population. Even greater than in our reality are efforts to remove Hirohito (and it is impossible to imagine for the most of Allied leaders including Truman and Churchill to keep him on the throne after this brutal invasion), and despite opposition of MacArthur, Allies force the emperor to abdicate (and renounce divine status) in favour of regency headed by Takahito, (27 July 1946), when Akihito comes to age, he would become the Emperor. Hirohito’s abdication marks the beginning of Seika era, era of Emperor Akihito.
Hirohito is still given all possible protections against any trials for war crimes by MacArthur and is basically sent to comfortable retirement. Institution of monarchy is protected by Allies. Through 1946-1947 many westernisation reforms by MacArthur, based largely on FDR’s New Deal, as in our reality. April-May, political prisoners were released, and Communist Party of Japan was legalised and became politically active organising strikes. 10 February 1947 the first election with women suffrage, victory of Democratic Liberal Party headed by war criminal Hatoyama, who was eventually purged by Allied administration, so Shigeru Yoshida became new prime minister (22 March 1947).
By mid-1947 many officials connected to war crimes were purged, however since then, the course was reversed due to American need for the creation of a powerful Ally against the USSR and many regained power or at least avoided persecution. Through 1947 Americans wrote a new Japanese constitution (later in American myths it was MacArthur completely by himself), 3 August 1947 it was presented. Major shift from our reality is that Article 9, although considered, is not included in such sense as in our reality, it states only that “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” second part about demilitarisation is missing. Since summer 1947, US authorities adopt “Reverse Course” policies - aforementioned rehabilitation of officials, also protection of Zaibatsu (which Americans originally wanted to break-up and weaken), and reconstruction. Tokyo Trials 26 September 1946 to 12 January 1950 – MacArthur’s cover up of Japanese war crimes to a lesser extent, but it still does happen (including Unit 731). Taft also, like in Germany, attacks trials as “victor's justice”. From 25 December to 31 1950 Khabarovsk war crimes trials in the USSR about war criminals from Manchuria.
Persecution of growing Japanese communist movement starts. 1948-1951 “Red Purge”. Since March 1949 Dodge Line plan of right-wing economic reforms (cutting public spending, limiting public consumption, and reorienting industrial production in favour of export-oriented), also increase in unemployment and law against unions passed. In 1949 conflicts between communists and authorities escalated into many strikes, pro-communist politicians and officials began to be fired, after summer strike waves also purges of workers and academics. 1 July 1949 Japanese Self-Defence forces established – official remilitarisation. 23 October 1949 election, victory of DLP, electoral success of communists.
Peace Treaty with Japan
President Taft was eager to restore Japanese Independence – SCAP already transferred large amount of authority to Japanese trough 1949, secretary of the state William Richards Castle Jr took initiative. Despite Taft’s initial opposition to idea of continuous military presence, he is persuaded to keep limited number of stationed troops. Peace Treaty with Japan was scheduled after Treaty with Germany. Talks began in August 1950, however talks collapsed over China, despite at the time everyone recognised KMT, Soviets wanted PRC representatives to also attend. Other negotiations were called for January 1951, which resulted into calling for a Peace Conference with Japan in San Francisco analogous to the previous one with Germany. 6 March to 8 August 1951 San Francisco Conference, USSR and its allies boycotted them due to not including Chinese representatives. Despite Chinese and Soviets not being present, their interests were considered. Taiwan was ceded to China, Sakhalin, and Kuril Islands to USSR, unlike OTL Okinawa and more territories were already given back to Japan. Treaty was signed 8 August 1951, valid since 8 March 1952. Separate peace treaties were signed between Japan and ROC (30 January 1953), the Soviet Union and Korea “Vladivostok Treaties” 28 April 1952, these treaties recognised Soviet control over former Japanese territories and entitled Japan to pay reparations to Korea.
8 September 1951 U.S.-Japan Security Treaty was signed, which dictated Japan to accept continuous American military presence. This treaty caused a wave of resistance in Japan, uniting Japanese from right to left. Bloody May Day – over a million protestors in all of Japan, in Tokyo these protests escalated into violence and protests were massacred by police. 1 October 1952 election victory of Yoshida’s Liberal Party. 10 November 1952 coronation ceremony of Emperor Akihito, it marks symbolic beginning of new post-war Japan.
Philippines – 4 July 1947 United States gave official independence to Philippines and retained there many military bases (agreement from 1946 establishes bases for 99 years!) and the US still keeps a degree of political and economic dominance. 28 June 1946 Manuel Roxas became president of Philippines (still under US control then), communists were expelled from Congress despite being democratically elected – Hukbalahap Rebellion resumes (June 1946) and gained substantial strength, United States interferes and supports the government. On 15 April 1948 Roxas died of a heart attack; he was succeeded by vice-president Elpidio Quirino (re-elected in a fraudulent election 8 November 1949). Since the Taft Presidency, interests of Americans in Philippine affairs decreased, aid against Huks drained. President Quirino initiated major social reforms during his second term and attempted mostly useful land reform. 1950-1951 Huks successfully boosted their strength with seizing and keeping control over the centre of Laguna province – Santa Cruz. In 1952 Huks controlled sizable parts of the country and due to government corruption and brutality against rebels had also popular support. In 1951 they started to obtain massive support from China (from 1948 they were also backed by Korea).
Indonesia
Independence
As Japan surrendered, two days later on 14 April 1946 Indonesia (then with its majority under Japanese control) Indonesia declared independence, Sukarno became president and Hatta vice-president. Indonesians took advantage of the lack of established authority. Indonesia was occupied by Commonwealth forces (started in late May 1946). 27 June to 20 July 1946 a large battle between Indonesian and British forces – Battle of Surabaya, under significant losses results into a British victory. Churchill wanted to restore Dutch colonial rule and was ready to back them.
Important is Dutch reaction, Dutch government at the time was coalition between all parties formed after liberation by the Red Army in September 1945 (in wikibox there is 1946, another mistake overlook until I needed that), all parties with exception of CPN supported re-conquest of Indonesia, while communists wanted to grand them independence. CPN is vigorously opposed to continued colonisation and due to CPN securing second place in 1946 election and to lesser degree Soviet pressure on Dutch to recognise Indonesia, talks began in February 1947. Coincidentally with the December 1946 election there was a Malino Conference in which representatives of Dutch controlled territory backed the plan for creation of Dutch aligned federal states. 15 February 1947 Linggadjati Round Table Agreement is signed, in which Netherlands recognises Indonesian Republic controlled territory and both sides agree on formation of the Federal Republic of Indonesia (Republic, East Indonesia and Kalimantan) by 1 January 1948, FRI would newly formed Netherlands-Indonesian Union with the Dutch monarch as head. Similar agreement was reached in our reality but failed. In this timeline everything goes through, despite the fall of the Dutch coalition in summer 1947.
Federation
First Indonesian prime minister under Sutan Sjahrir (April to 3 December 1946), replaced by Amir Sjarifuddin, his cabinet included leftist forces, eventually even communists, who were instrumental in making agreement with the Netherlands (as part of the Dutch coalition were also communist negotiators). This cabinet stayed in power, avoiding real life events of the Madiun Affair. New government headed by Mohammad Hatta was formed after the creation of the federal republic. Creation of this republic was met with criticism from Islamists, who launched the Darul Islam rebellion led by Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosoewirjo (7 August 1948). Overall, young Indonesia was a very unstable country. Anti-unitary forces attempted a failed coup in January 1950. Federation was not popular among Indonesians, so it was quickly dissolved and replaced with a unitary republic (14 April 1950). The Republic of South Maluku attempted to break away with Dutch support, however failed to do so.
Liberal Democratic Period (to 1952)
Newly declared Indonesian republic adopted its constitution and became a free parliamentary democracy. First government was a leftwing one again under Sjarifuddin, however eventually collapsed due to Indonesian National Party (12 October 1950, replaced by cabinet of Mohammad Natsir), but this government managed to pass electoral law, so first Indonesian legislative elections were held (29 September 1951), lot of parties ran and get seats – four largest were PNI (left wing nationalism), Masyumi (liberal Islamism), Nahdlatul Ulama (Islamism), PKI (communists) and PSI- Parsi (democratic socialism). Result was a right leaning coalition under Sidik Djojosukarto (PNI- Masyumi and several minor parties), in 1952 Indonesia officially left “Union” with Netherlands.
British Malaya
1 November 1946 British colonies were united into the “Malayan Union”, strengthening and centralising British control, stripping local sultans of their powers. This created another opposition movement under nationalist United Malays National Organisation, they applied massive resistance and did not participate in British institutions. Unlike OTL, during the Churchill years, there was no reform. In 1952 (1 February) it was transformed due to this massive and long resistance (and also due to large scale communist uprising) to Federation of Malaya, attempting to appease at least conservative nationalists.
Anti–British National Liberation War (early years)
Postwar economic turmoil, powerful communist organisation, brutal response of colonial authorities to strikers. Malaya was a key British source of resources, to pay for US debts (even way more rising in importance after Taft). 17 June 1948 Sungai Siput incident – revenge killing of plantation managers lead to massive British anti-communist arrests, and communists went into hiding. Also, the uprising in Burma (1947) also plays a role as another new motivation. February 1949 Malayan National Liberation Army under Chin Peng is formed (reformed from anti-Japanese resistance movement), MNLA has support of the population and is based in jungles and areas very hard to access for colonialists. Britain imposes very harsh repression against the population, leading to even more widespread support for MNLA. April 1950 “Briggs Plan” adopted forced deportations of ethnic Chinese to camps (up to half million people). The UK also uses Agent Orange (as the first country in the World), murders and tortures countless civilians, and destroys villages.
6 October 1951 British High Commissioner Henry Gurney survives MNLA ambush, this is actually damaging to the British as his replacement Gerald Templer was more competent in fighting with partisans. British forces are aided by other commonwealth nations. By 1953 the UK had problems dealing with communists and communists were stronger compared to our reality.
British Sarawak, North Borneo, Brunei
These territories were separated from Malaya in 1946. This was opposed by Malays but supported by the Chinese. Resistance by Malays culminated in assassination of Duncan Stewart. Small communist rebellion also started.
Thailand – After the war in June 1946 king Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) returned back to Thailand, however, was found shot dead on 26 March 1947 his death was blamed on prime minister Pridi Banomyong, who was forced to resign being replaced by Luang Thamrong.
In 1946 Thailand had to return territories to France. The 20 October 1946 election resulted in the victory of the People's Party, the first government was formed by Khuang Aphaiwong, he was however replaced by Pridi Banomyong after a lost vote of confidence (6 January 1947). Pridi was supportive of Vietnamese Independence, so he ended up being overthrown in a US backed coup (8 November 1947), this coup brough Plaek Pibulsonggram back to power. Military allied with royalists and Khuang Aphaiwong was appointed prime minister. New constitution gave back powers to Monarchythat were decreased in the 1932 revolution. To counter the power of royalist military and Pridi allied supporters, another coup was carried out on 6 April 1948, fully returning Plaek to power; he eventually secured power and foced Pridi into exile. Plaek attempted to fully secure power and destroy opposition, but due to lack of US support since 1949, he was eventually ousted by Pridi and his supporters (11 February 1949). New Direk Jayanama-led left-wing democratic government, managed to secure limited support of USSR and larger one of China (but also Britain due to their previous alliance with Allies) and tried to adopt non alignment foreign political stance. Internal political reforms – reduced power of monarchy, new legislature (in June 1950 democratic election), thanks popular policy of land reform government gained widespread support from the rural population. 29 November 1951 anti-Pridi parts of the military attempted a coup against him as returned from exile Plaek Phibunsongkhram, but eventually failed and Plaek was banished. In 1952 the government turned against conservative royalists and attempted to even further weaken the monarchy.
Vietnam
March Revolution 16 March to 15 April, Abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại (already before surrender of Japan because of fears of French invasion) -> creation of Vietnamese Democratic Republic. In late April North Vietnam was occupied by Chinese forces to accept the surrender of the Japanese. In March also general Leclerc arrives. Fontainebleau Agreements in mid-1946 between Vietnam and France, Vietnam as part of the French Union. With the return of France (November 1946) fighting erupted, war erupted in March 1947. By October France took over main population centres.To increase French support, State of Vietnam was created under emperor Bao Dai (2 August 1949) In 1950 Vietnam recognised by the soviet bloc. Same year the UK recognised the State of Vietnam. In late 1950 Viet Minh launched a successful offensive. In January 1951 de Tassigny was appointed to command, under his leadership France had limited military success. Hower financing the war became a major problem around this time. In March 1951 Viet Minh won in the crucial battle of Vĩnh Yên (17 March) and Viet Minh got close to Hanoi, but the French eventually managed to hold the city after heavy losses.
Change came in 1952 from Paris, talks started in February and eventually ceasefire was declared (28 February). Paris Conference – France officially recognised Democratic Republic of Vietnam, State of Vietnam was not invited as France and DRV both agreed that it was French colony (this was heavily criticised). End of war was also connected with referendum about future of Vietnam, if people support State of Vietnam in union with France or DRV. Referendum was held 14 June 1952 and resulted into landslide victory for Vietminh. Emperor abdicates and State of Vietnam dissolves, but some members of its military continue to resist DRV.
Newly independent Vietnam became a key ally for all of the socialist bloc in Asia and supported anti-colonial movements. In 1952 land reform began – often turned violent with execution of landlords. In 1953 the first five-year plan was launched, focusing on developing the country.
Laos – After the defeat of Japanese anti-colonial Lao Issara emerged. Lao monarch king Sisavang Vong however agreed with restoration of the French protectorate, Lao Issara with aid from China and Viet Minh attempted to resist re-imposition of French rule, however movement was weak and failed to do so and eventually dissolved itself in 1949. In January 1947 an agreement was signed that pledged France to give Laos autonomy inside the French Union. 1950 – Pathet Lao is formed and joins Viet Minh against French forces. In 1952 French officially withdrew from the country.
Cambodia – In 1946 king Norodom Sihanouk attempted to negotiate independence with the French, December 1946 election was held that resulted in victory of the left-wing Democratic party over conservative Liberal party. 23 October 1947 Democratic party dominated assembly passed a constitution modelled on the French one. After the death of Democratic party founder Sisowath Yuthevong, the party divided itself and cannot agree on a concrete program. In 1948 Cambodia was given autonomy by the French. After independence in April 1952, Democratic Party was largely boosted by this success. This avoided the fall of parliamentary democracy.
Ceylon (Sri Lanka)– Sri Lankan leaders led by Don Stephen Senanayake attempted to reach independence through negotiations. However, negotiations with secretary of colonies Oliver Stanley led only to self-governance and the British initially rejected granting Ceylon status of dominion. On 24 September 1947 Senanayake became the first prime minister of the newly formed Ceylonese government. In 1948 granting Dominion status to India led to demonstrations in Ceylon, Senanayake increased his pressure towards Britain. Eventually Ceylon was given the same status as India and Pakistan 4 February 1949. The Senanayake family had a lot of power, after the death of Senanayake (26 March 1952) his son Dudley was chosen by the British governor.
OCEANIA AND AMERICAS (Basically restating history with occasional minor changes, brief)
Australia – 5 July 1945 death of prime minister John Curtin, he was succeeded by Frank Forde until Labour elected Ben Chifley as its new leader. 28 October 1946 Labour government was re-elected against the emerging Liberal Party. His government was characterised by successful Keynesian social democratic politics, similar to later Attlee in UK, (social welfare, universal healthcare – in real life modelled after British one, this timeline it is vice versa, ie. The Chifley government serves as an example for Attlee elected in 1951) starting Australian postwar economic growth. Australia also supports migration to increase its population (Europeans due to the still existing “White Australia” policy). Left-wing policies, such as nationalisations, created opposition from capitalists and their conservative affiliates in politics and media. Criticism also comes from the left due to the government's anti-communism and breaking of strikes. 10 December 1949 Liberal prime minister Robert Menzies was elected. Anti-communism, in 1950 Communist party was banned, it was ruled unconstitutional. 28 April 1951 a new election, triggered the failure of the banking bill, still a victory for Liberals, however they weakened themselves with this move. In 1951 Menzies declared a referendum about banning communist parties and this timeline people agreed, leading to persecution of many communists, it was criticised as a major attack on freedom of political expression. Red Scare was similar to the US at the time, but pushed by Menzies' government. Liberal economic policies, this time taking inspiration from Taft.
New Zealand – 27 November 1946 election, victory of ruling Labour Party, Labour declined and lost popularity due to continuous post-war rationing and Fraser’s support for compulsory military service. 30 November 1949 National Party led by Sidney Holland was elected. The Legislation was changed from bicameral to unicameral, economic reforms, however the National government still supported the welfare state. Conflict with Unions, culminating into the waterfront dispute of 1951, the government responded harshly against workers with strong anti-union legislation, even outright criminalising support for them. 11 July 1951 the government was re-elected and gained more seats as a large part of the public supported their stance against workers, due to widespread anti-communism.
Oceania – “Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands” established in 1948 was originally controlled by the USA as OTL, but eventually transferred to the United Kingdom in 1950, as the US was not interested in its administration.
Canada – economic boom, social welfare Keynesian economic policies. 20 May 1946 first postwar election, victory of Liberals, however failed to obtain majority and had to rely on leftwing Co-operative Commonwealth, resulting in Canada building the strongest welfare state from Commonwealth states and becoming the most progressive one (and also becoming a major destination for European immigrants). On 15 November 1948 King retired and was succeeded by Louis St. Laurent, a French Canadian strongly opposed to communism. Due to this anti-communist however the ruling coalition collapsed, triggering snap election on 27 June 1949, which resulted in victory of Liberals, who yet again could form government without making coalitions. Shortly before the election, 31 March 1949 Canada united with NewFoundland. Canada took an important role while the US was absent in TATO.
Mexico – 1 December 1946 Miguel Alemán Valdés became president. Pro-business policies and industrialisation, development of infrastructure (dubbed Mexican miracle), however also corruption and elitism. Pro-American foreign policy. 1 December 1952 he was succeeded by Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, he was popular due to his strong stance against corruption and rapid economic development.
Guatemala – In 1944 the country was ruled by dictator Jorge Ubico, who was overthrown by a junta that was overthrown in a popular revolution (20 October 1944), 15 March 1945 Juan José Arévalo became the country's first democratically elected president, who introduced many reforms. He developed the political ideology of Arevalismo "spiritual socialism" -it can be considered a form of democratic socialism. 12 November 1950 Jacobo Árbenz was elected president, he continued the policies of Arévalo and was even more ambitious with his democratic socialist reforms. Largest one was Land Reform (17 June 1952) which greatly benefited hundred of thousands poor Guatemalan people especially indigenous ones, however made very angry American United Fruit Company that controlled majority of land and basically country itself, UFC began to lobby for his overthrown...
British Honduras – Rise of voice for independence and People's United Party
Honduras – Rule of pro American dictator Tiburcio Carías Andino, unlike OTL he did not gave power to his puppets and continued to rule the country directly. Rise of discounted with his regime, even greater due any reforms instituted by his successor Juan Manuel Gálvez were not passed.
El Salvador – Authoritarian rule of Salvador Castaneda Castro (1945-1948), suppression of strikes and opposition, eventually he was deposed by military coup (14.12.1948), after rule of military, Óscar Osorio was appointed president (14.9.1950), he instituted some social reforms, but continued corrupt regime and persecution of opposition.
Nicaragua – Dictatorial rule of pro-American Somoza dynasty. 1947-1950 figurehead presidency of Leonardo Argüello Barreto (after Truman’s pressure for liberalisation).
Costa Rica – 12 March – 24 April 1948 civil war, after an attempt to annul victory of opposition candidate José Figueres Ferrer in election, it ultimately led to victory of rebels with US help. José Figueres Ferrer became provisional president. and pushed many important reforms: abolished the military, gave women suffrage, welfare, nationalisations of banks and also outlawed communist party. 1949-1953 presidency of Otilio Ulate Blanco that upheld these reforms.
Panama – pro-American parliamentary democracy dominated by oligarchy.
Colombia – 9 April 1948 popular democratic socialist presidential candidate of the Liberal Party Jorge Eliécer Gaitán was assassinated. This triggered the “La Violencia” (1948-1958) period of massive unrest between the left and the right, over 200 000 died, at the start of the Colombian conflict. On 9 November 1949 Liberal opposition attempted to impeach president Ospina Pérez, he dissolved Congress, creating a presidential dictatorship. Liberal leaders launched an uprising in rural areas (originally it was intended to be a military coup, that however in real life did not take place and here took place and failed). 7 August 1950 new Conservative dictatorial president Laureano Gómez Castro, admirer of Franco, suffered a major heart attack and power was transferred to Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez in 1951.
Venezuela – 18 October 1945 military coup that brought democracy to Venezuela (October 1946 and December 1947 democratic elections) under president Rómulo Betancourt. The 1940s economy also boomed thanks to oil. However, on 24 November 1948, the military staged a coup and Marcos Pérez Jiménez became dictator, under his oppressive regime there was great economic development, and he was close to the US.
Ecuador – President José María Velasco Ibarra was ousted in military coup (23 August 1947), 1947-1948 unstable country was ruled by military Carlos Mancheno Cajas, eventually military gave power to former vice-president Mariano Suárez Veintimilla, who gave his powers to Congress that elected Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola (31 August 1947). His presidency was strongly allied with the United States. 1 September 1948 Galo Plaza, another strongly pro-American figure, became the next president. He supported technocratic approach, democracy and was very open to foreign (mostly American) influence, exporting bananas to America. 1 June 1952 José María Velasco Ibarra (former deposed president, established politician and Ecuadorian nationalist) won election and became president for third term, his term was stable and brought progress, mostly in great development of infrastructure.
Brazil – Fourth Brazilian Republic, president Eurico Gaspar Dutra (1946-1951). Close relations with the US, liberal economic policy. 31 January 1951 Vargas returned after victory in the 3 October 1950 election. Keynesian economic policy, 1953 creation of PETROBRAS. Rua Tonelero shooting an assassination attempt on leading opposition member Carlos Lacerda (5August 1954) blamed on Vargas by opposition in a strong campaign, 24 August 1954 he committed suicide.
Perú – 1945 leftwing president José Luis Bustamante y Rivero, restoration of democracy. 29 October 1948 military seized power in a coup after murder of a prominent right-wing editor. Manuel Odría's regime strongly persecuted leftwing APRA, supported powerful oligarchy and gained favour of people thanks to populist rhetoric and policies.
Bolivia – 1947 to 1949 rule of Enrique Hertzog, conservative American aligned government. Economy in a terrible state, social unrest and intensified class struggle. Dominant opposition group was Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MRN) with a program of nationalisations and land reform. Next president Mamerto Urriolagoitía installed military rule (16 May 1951) under Hugo Ballivián. 9 April 1952 Bolivian National Revolution overthrew the junta. Víctor Paz Estenssoro became president. Many left-wing and democratic reforms transformed the country: universal suffrage, nationalisation of mining, large land reform (however created farms were eventually again taken over by large landowners), great influence of trade unions and workers.
Paraguay – Dictator Higinio Morínigo was pushed by the US to liberalise his regime, he legalised political parties and formed a coalition between Colorado and Febreristas. Later ones resigned from the government (11 January 1947) and united with opposition forces (Liberals and Communists) and attempted to topple his regime starting a civil war (7 March – 20 August 1947), despite opposition having popular support, and the government was saved by the US and Argentina. All parties with exception of Colorado were banned and the country became one party state. 16 August 1948 leader of Colorado Juan Natalicio González was elected president. He promoted nationalist policies; several American companies were nationalised. Due to American non-interventionism, three attempted coups against the president failed due to lack of any outside support. In other ways Paraguay was a stable country during his presidency.
Uruguay – functioning democracy, dominance of liberal Colorado party. Presidents: Juan José de Amézaga (1943-1947) – social reforms, economic stability and growth. Tomás Berreta (1947) died in office, Luis Batlle Berres (1947-1951) continued social and leftwing economic reforms.
Chile – Democratic presidential republic. September 1946 presidential election, Gabriel González Videla (Radical) elected. During his presidency many communist strikes, under US pressure Videla passed “Permanent Defense of Democracy Law” (8.9.1948) that banned the communist party, many imprisoned, strikes brutally suppressed, relations with socialist bloc broken. Radicals created alliance with Liberals and Conservatives. 4 September 1952 resulted in the victory of former president nationalist general Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. He repealed the ban on communists and also gained support from the left.
Argentina – Peron and Peronism. Nationalism, populism, social welfare, improvement of working conditions, development of local industry, growing power of the trade unions, authoritarian rule and persecution of opposition etc. Non-aligned foreign policy stance. 26 July 1952 death of Eva Peron.
Cuba – Presidents Ramón Grau (44-48) and Carlos Prío Socarrás (48-52) of left-wing nationalist Partido Auténtico. 10.3.1952 democracy overthrown by Batista’s coup. Pro-American authoritarian regime, serving interests of American elites owning majority of the county.
Haiti – 1946 revolution (11.1) – military seized power and new National Assembly was elected, Dumarsais Estimé became president (16 August 1946 to 10 May 1950), attempts of reforms, focused on expanding education, expansion of worker’s rights, creation of social security system (no passed), major nationalisations. His presidency was marked by growth and economic development. In foreign policy he was allied towards the US. After he tried to extend his time in office, he was removed by the military. General Paul Magloire became new president, he was elected president in 1950 first direct election.
Dominican Republic – Totalitarian far-right dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Ally of the US.
INDEPENDENT STATES IN AFRICA
Ethiopia – Emperor Haile Selassie. 15 September 1952 Federation Between Ethiopia and Eritrea formed.
Liberia – US aligned. President William Tubman (1944-1971), stable period.
South Africa – 26 May 1948 Reunited National Party won election. Daniël François Malan became prime minister, 1948-1953 apartheid instituted.
Colonial Africa would be addressed in the next part (since there aren’t too much events 1946-1952, 1953 to 1956 is extremely eventful on the other hand) North Africa covered in another post
2024.05.18 21:10 BaseballBot Game Thread 5/18 ⚾ Mets (20-24) @ Marlins (14-32) 4:10 PM ET
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Mets (20-24) @ Marlins (14-32)
First Pitch: 4:10 PM at loanDepot park| Team | Starter | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mets | Luis Severino (2-2, 3.00 ERA) | WPIX | WCBS 880, WINS 92.3 (ES) |
| Marlins | Braxton Garrett (0-0, 8.44 ERA) | BSFL | FOX940AM, WAQI (ES) |
| MLB | Fangraphs | Reddit Stream | IRC Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameday | Game Graph | Live Comments | Libera: ##baseball |
Line Score - Middle of the 9th
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 10 |
| MIA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 5 |
Box Score
| MIA | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CF | Chisholm Jr. | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .256 |
| DH | De La Cruz, B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .257 |
| 1B | Bell | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .224 |
| RF | Sánchez, J | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .226 |
| 3B | Burger | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .180 |
| LF | Gordon | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .237 |
| 2B | Lopez, O | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .267 |
| SS | Bruján | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .258 |
| C | Fortes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .153 |
| MIA | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garrett, B | 4.1 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 90-62 | 10.24 |
| Cronin | 1.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22-17 | 1.64 |
| Maldonado, A | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25-17 | 3.75 |
| Faucher | 0.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 29-19 | 3.31 |
| Nardi | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11-9 | 6.11 |
| NYM | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS | Lindor | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .190 |
| 1B | Alonso | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 |
| LF | Nimmo | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .216 |
| DH | Martinez, J | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .315 |
| PR | Taylor, T | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .256 |
| 3B | Vientos | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
| RF | Marte, S | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .266 |
| CF | Bader | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .273 |
| 2B | McNeil | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .239 |
| C | Nido | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .232 |
| NYM | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Severino, L | 6.2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 95-60 | 3.48 |
| Garrett, R | 0.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7-5 | 0.78 |
| Ottavino | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6-6 | 2.95 |
Scoring Plays
Highlights
| Attendance | Weather | Wind |
|---|---|---|
| 72°F, Roof Closed | 0 mph, None |
| HP | 1B | 2B | 3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Muchlinski | Jansen Visconti | Paul Clemons | Andy Fletcher |
Remember to sort by new to keep up!
2024.05.18 18:47 Aginagala WWF In Your House - Canadian Stampede 1997 Review
Welcome back to my running series of WWF PPV Reviews from a ‘blind’ perspective (I have no idea what’s going to happen; the results, the feuds or how good any of the matches will be). I have always heard stories of the attitude era and golden age but never watched it myself so I set myself to watching every single PPV event chronologically. I am also watching Wrestling Bios ‘reliving the war’ series to keep me updated inbetween the events with the feuds, and to get excited about upcoming matches.
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
I don’t actually think there’s been a 10-man tag team match yet in the WWF and with the amount of star power in it it has to be the main event I’m most excited for.
This may surprise you but the feud in most excited to see is Vader Vs Undertaker; whilst it hasn’t had the biggest build up I think we’re going to see some sort of big development in the story of undertaker and Kane in this match so that’s the reason.
WWF In Your House - Canadian Stampede 1997 Match Ratings
HHH vs Mankind 3.75/5
Take Michinoku vs Great Sasuke 4/5
Vader vs Undertaker 4.5/5
10-man Tag Team Match 5/5
Immediately starting off I can’t help but notice people are really into this feud; the crowd is absolutely loving mankind and really behind him. Cant blame them not only is he a great in ring performer and the king of insane bumps but his series of interviews on raw was really intriguing and he’s one of the best characters in the WWF right now. And with HHH acting as an excellent heel it’s a great combo of characters, the crowd are absolutely eating it up.
I gotta say as well these two (HHH and mankind) have really stepped up their game compared to the last match, right from the bell this match is fast paced, brutal and the crowd are really into it, and for an opener it’s great to see!
Although the ending of this match was an annoying decision and it would’ve really benefitted from being a NO DQ Match I thought it was so entertaining. There was almost no down time and at one point Chyna fkin body slams mankind into the steps and after the distraction HHH hits him with a chair and mankind is such a great seller, he never forgets to sell the leg. This was way better than their KOTR match even if it was shorter it was much more physical and fast paced. Definitely the best I’ve seen triple H so far and every event he seems to be improving, his timing is better his selling is fantastic I can’t wait to see the game begin. I absolutely loved the brawling after the match as well, just great entertainment, one of the best openers I’ve seen in the WWF and like I said it usually takes a few matches with star power to really get the crowd going but the crowd was immediately invested just making this match even more entertaining.
The next match is about to kick off and yet again we see Mankind and HHH still fighting, this is f***ing brilliant, they seem to just be getting more and more physical.
For the actual match I was extremely surprised how entertaining it was, debuts notoriously haven’t gone that well in the WWF so far and considering these two haven’t competed in the WWF it was so good! High flying action, great bumps, very impressive moves and no botches at all wow what a great showcase from the Japanese wrestlers. While it isn’t an essential watch it was a fantastic wrestling match and a great exciting mid card.
These two were able to come in as unknown characters to a crowd that didn’t really welcome them and completely turn them around in 10 minutes with nothing but in ring ability and fantastic chemistry, consider me very impressed I hope they stick around in the WWF. Whilst it started off slow with a load of holds and the crowd chanting “BORING” they seriously got going to a whole other level. Well done to these two.
Mankind and triple H are STILL brawling outside the arena now and into the parking lot and HHH is busted wide open, this event is just pure fun right now I’m absolutely loving it. What a treat!
Before the title defence between Vader and undertaker JR and Lawyer exchange some absolutely killer commentary it had me laughing so hard. The crowd is absolutely electric in Canada going into the match as well, this should be good.
Just before I get into the match while watching this the crowd was actually shaking with how much noise the crowd was making it was amazing!
Paul bearer was on fire tonight as usual selling his character development perfectly, undertaker was looking so clean with all his spots, Vader was firing on all cylinders and wow this match was so good. It’s so great to see undertaker having a really entertaining title defense as he hasn’t had a lot of main event wrestlers to really work with during this run. This is definitely the best match I’ve seen from undertaker and Vader together they were working so unbelievably well together on this ppv. The undertaker SOMEHOW picks Vader up for a tombstone piledriver which is INSANE with Vader being over 400lbs and not only that, it looks like he barely even struggled with it. Once again though the crowd was just on fire for this match they love the undertaker. The only complaint I had was that I would’ve liked to see a little more offence from Vader as there wasn’t a moment I was in doubt that undertaker would win, but other than that what an entertaining match. I wish it was longer!! A classic ‘big man’ matchup, if you haven’t seen this it’s definitely worth a watch, and so far the whole event is! If the main event can hit I can see this being one of my favourite PPVs.
Now onto the main event and I know I’ve said it multiple times but this is one of the loudest crowds I’ve ever heard!! Every competitor coming out gets a cheer and especially Bret Hart which is strange considering he’s a Heel right now but I suppose he is Canadian so it makes sense. WHAT A POP!! You can barely hear when the wrestlers hit the ring the arena is so loud.
WOW! What a tag team match this was complete insanity I loved every second of it. I didn’t think the wwf was capable of putting on banger tag team matches during this era but this just hit for the entire matchup. Literally you had no second of wasted time, the way it was booked made it so it didn’t slow down at all but every wrestler brought their absolute a-game to the match so it all just worked brilliantly. Starting off the match with Bret and Austin and having them go at it was a fantastic choice to start the match, and Austin was a standout this match too he was just electric in the ring; fighting with members of the crowd, running in after the match ALONE to fight every single person in the ring and he gets escorted out in handcuffs because he’s just completely lost it, f***ing brilliant. At one point Austin and Owen are taken out of the match due to leg injuries but they both return to disrupt the match even more. What a great choice having the hart family on the side of the ring too, it made for some great dramatic and real moments when they got involved. If you haven’t seen this match go and watch it right now it’s a must see for sure. So much happened I couldn’t even keep up with it but what a great main event this was, I’m struggling to talk about specific moments because there were so many!
Overall this event was amazing, every single match was great, and with HHH and mankind continuing to brawl in between matches it filled the parts where there weren’t people wrestling with more action! 2 hours went by in what seemed like half an hour. Complete entertainment from when it started to when it ended, this has been my favourite event I’ve seen from this era so far and I think it really benefitted from having less matches that were way better booked. There was no filler and it was awesome, must watch event!
Overall rating 5/5
submitted by Aginagala to WWE [link] [comments]
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
I don’t actually think there’s been a 10-man tag team match yet in the WWF and with the amount of star power in it it has to be the main event I’m most excited for.
This may surprise you but the feud in most excited to see is Vader Vs Undertaker; whilst it hasn’t had the biggest build up I think we’re going to see some sort of big development in the story of undertaker and Kane in this match so that’s the reason.
WWF In Your House - Canadian Stampede 1997 Match Ratings
HHH vs Mankind 3.75/5
Take Michinoku vs Great Sasuke 4/5
Vader vs Undertaker 4.5/5
10-man Tag Team Match 5/5
Immediately starting off I can’t help but notice people are really into this feud; the crowd is absolutely loving mankind and really behind him. Cant blame them not only is he a great in ring performer and the king of insane bumps but his series of interviews on raw was really intriguing and he’s one of the best characters in the WWF right now. And with HHH acting as an excellent heel it’s a great combo of characters, the crowd are absolutely eating it up.
I gotta say as well these two (HHH and mankind) have really stepped up their game compared to the last match, right from the bell this match is fast paced, brutal and the crowd are really into it, and for an opener it’s great to see!
Although the ending of this match was an annoying decision and it would’ve really benefitted from being a NO DQ Match I thought it was so entertaining. There was almost no down time and at one point Chyna fkin body slams mankind into the steps and after the distraction HHH hits him with a chair and mankind is such a great seller, he never forgets to sell the leg. This was way better than their KOTR match even if it was shorter it was much more physical and fast paced. Definitely the best I’ve seen triple H so far and every event he seems to be improving, his timing is better his selling is fantastic I can’t wait to see the game begin. I absolutely loved the brawling after the match as well, just great entertainment, one of the best openers I’ve seen in the WWF and like I said it usually takes a few matches with star power to really get the crowd going but the crowd was immediately invested just making this match even more entertaining.
The next match is about to kick off and yet again we see Mankind and HHH still fighting, this is f***ing brilliant, they seem to just be getting more and more physical.
For the actual match I was extremely surprised how entertaining it was, debuts notoriously haven’t gone that well in the WWF so far and considering these two haven’t competed in the WWF it was so good! High flying action, great bumps, very impressive moves and no botches at all wow what a great showcase from the Japanese wrestlers. While it isn’t an essential watch it was a fantastic wrestling match and a great exciting mid card.
These two were able to come in as unknown characters to a crowd that didn’t really welcome them and completely turn them around in 10 minutes with nothing but in ring ability and fantastic chemistry, consider me very impressed I hope they stick around in the WWF. Whilst it started off slow with a load of holds and the crowd chanting “BORING” they seriously got going to a whole other level. Well done to these two.
Mankind and triple H are STILL brawling outside the arena now and into the parking lot and HHH is busted wide open, this event is just pure fun right now I’m absolutely loving it. What a treat!
Before the title defence between Vader and undertaker JR and Lawyer exchange some absolutely killer commentary it had me laughing so hard. The crowd is absolutely electric in Canada going into the match as well, this should be good.
Just before I get into the match while watching this the crowd was actually shaking with how much noise the crowd was making it was amazing!
Paul bearer was on fire tonight as usual selling his character development perfectly, undertaker was looking so clean with all his spots, Vader was firing on all cylinders and wow this match was so good. It’s so great to see undertaker having a really entertaining title defense as he hasn’t had a lot of main event wrestlers to really work with during this run. This is definitely the best match I’ve seen from undertaker and Vader together they were working so unbelievably well together on this ppv. The undertaker SOMEHOW picks Vader up for a tombstone piledriver which is INSANE with Vader being over 400lbs and not only that, it looks like he barely even struggled with it. Once again though the crowd was just on fire for this match they love the undertaker. The only complaint I had was that I would’ve liked to see a little more offence from Vader as there wasn’t a moment I was in doubt that undertaker would win, but other than that what an entertaining match. I wish it was longer!! A classic ‘big man’ matchup, if you haven’t seen this it’s definitely worth a watch, and so far the whole event is! If the main event can hit I can see this being one of my favourite PPVs.
Now onto the main event and I know I’ve said it multiple times but this is one of the loudest crowds I’ve ever heard!! Every competitor coming out gets a cheer and especially Bret Hart which is strange considering he’s a Heel right now but I suppose he is Canadian so it makes sense. WHAT A POP!! You can barely hear when the wrestlers hit the ring the arena is so loud.
WOW! What a tag team match this was complete insanity I loved every second of it. I didn’t think the wwf was capable of putting on banger tag team matches during this era but this just hit for the entire matchup. Literally you had no second of wasted time, the way it was booked made it so it didn’t slow down at all but every wrestler brought their absolute a-game to the match so it all just worked brilliantly. Starting off the match with Bret and Austin and having them go at it was a fantastic choice to start the match, and Austin was a standout this match too he was just electric in the ring; fighting with members of the crowd, running in after the match ALONE to fight every single person in the ring and he gets escorted out in handcuffs because he’s just completely lost it, f***ing brilliant. At one point Austin and Owen are taken out of the match due to leg injuries but they both return to disrupt the match even more. What a great choice having the hart family on the side of the ring too, it made for some great dramatic and real moments when they got involved. If you haven’t seen this match go and watch it right now it’s a must see for sure. So much happened I couldn’t even keep up with it but what a great main event this was, I’m struggling to talk about specific moments because there were so many!
Overall this event was amazing, every single match was great, and with HHH and mankind continuing to brawl in between matches it filled the parts where there weren’t people wrestling with more action! 2 hours went by in what seemed like half an hour. Complete entertainment from when it started to when it ended, this has been my favourite event I’ve seen from this era so far and I think it really benefitted from having less matches that were way better booked. There was no filler and it was awesome, must watch event!
Overall rating 5/5
2024.05.18 18:28 Al_n_TedBundy Woofleball Tournament - Sun May 19 (Jack Clark first pitch!)
 | ✨THIS SUNDAY✨ 1325 Schiller Ave Edwardsville submitted by Al_n_TedBundy to StLouis [link] [comments] Helping Handlers Foundation and Hope Animal Rescues presents the 1st Annual Woofleball Tournament 10am-4pm at Winston brown fields near the watershed in Edwardsville, Illinois 🐾14 teams face off (one team with MLB White Sox Pitcher Mark Buehrle) ✨Jack Clark throws the first pitch 10am 🐾 Beer at 12pm (it’s Sunday) ✨bring the chairs and leave the coolers at home 🐾 Nachos, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Chips, Cakes, Donuts, Soda, Water, and Coffee for sale ✨CARDS ACCEPTED 🐾50/50 tickets the length of Jason Momoa (he’ll be there) 🤣 ✨Raffles and Silent Auctions including: ✅ Taylor Swift Basket ✅ Cards vs Dodgers tickets ✅Cards vs Rockies tickets ✅Game used and signed hockey stick FROM the St Louis Blues of Pavel Buchnevich ✅ 18 holes of golf of good for 4 players the Woodlands ✅ Animal Wellness Basket ✅Margarita Pool day basket ✅ Massage Basket ✅Game night Basket ✅Knives ✅Mark Buehrle Signed Bobblehead ✅Roberto Clemente Jersey and graded cards shadow box ✅Hank Aaron Jersey and graded cards shadow box ✅Ken Griffey Jr Jersey and graded cards shadow box ✅Paul Goldschmidt Jersey and graded cards shadow box ✅Nolan Ryan Jersey and graded cards shadow box ✅Ricky Henderson Jersey and graded cards shadow box ✅ gift cards from Bella Milano, Cleveland Heath, NFUZE Wellness, Teaspoons, Phillips 66, sports clips socal soul, nothing Bundt cakes and more ✅Kendra Scott Jewelry ✅Scentsy ✅Misc Pet supply and toys baskets ✅Sacred Grounds Coffee basket ✅Rustic Roots Basket ✅Purina Basket And many more items!!!! ✨⚡️We take Cash and Cards!✨⚡️ please come eat, drink, buy, and be merry. 🐾Raffle and silent Auction ends at 3pm (DO NOT have to be present to win) 🐾50/50 cash only MUST be present to win ends at 3pm PLEASE come support this charity effort!!! |
2024.05.18 15:15 como365 Republican infighting marked 2024 legislative session
JEFFERSON CITY — The 2024 legislative session that ended Friday seemed more a referendum on Republican Party loyalty than a collective venture toward policy.
Constant infighting among Republicans over priorities and which ones were truly conservative led to days-long filibusters, name calling and the death of many conservative bills, including a top party priority: making it more difficult to amend the Missouri Constitution.
The divisions were so ingrained that the Senate Democrats, holding 10 seats in a 34-person body, delivered the deciding votes on some of the session's most important bills.
The hard-right Freedom Caucus has said their issue with mainstream Republican leaders in the legislature is a lack of dedication to “big red” policies like reducing personal property tax and preventing foreign countries from owning Missouri land.
Looking back at previous sessions, that argument doesn’t quite stack up. In the last several years Republicans have passed one of the nation's most strict abortion bans, limitations on transgender health care and enacted several income tax cuts.
The Freedom Caucus went to great lengths to disrupt Senate procedure and strong-arm leadership in an effort to pass their highest priority, changes to the initiative petition process. The impact was that they were tossed off Senate committees by the Republican leadership and later in the session failed to convince their Republican colleagues to embrace their priorities.
Less than two weeks before the constitutional deadline for the budget and with an important federal health care reimbursement that creates over $4 billion in revenue, Freedom Caucus members filibustered for 41 hours with the demand that leadership first bring up a resolution changing the approval threshold for state constitutional amendments.
Going into the last week of session, initiative petition reform still had not passed.
This week, the Freedom Caucus supported a motion among Republicans to end the Democratic filibuster on the issue through an extraordinary motion — the previous question — that hasn’t been used in the Senate since 2020. But only 16 Republicans would support that plan, which needed 18 votes, so it was never brought before the floor.
With that failure on Wednesday, the resolution was sent back to the House, which refused to budge on Thursday and sent it back to the Senate. On Friday the Senate adjourned without any further action and the effort died.
The failure to pass the resolution making initiative petition changes showed the inability of even a supermajority to act when splintered on such chaotic, disruptive lines.
Senate President Pro Tem. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said that this session showed that more can get done through compromise than confrontation.
"I'm walking out of here as a guy that has basically accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish and I did it in a way that was respectful and collegial," Rowden said in a press conference after adjournment.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, R-Independence, backed up that point saying, "I don't think Democrats won or Republicans lost (the session), I think decorum won."
Fiscal Year 2025 budget
A set of constitutionally mandated bills that fund the state's operations passed just three hours before the May 10 deadline. The final budget is $51.7 billion, $1 billion less than what the governor proposed, and about $2 billion less than last year's budget.
Three things stuck out in this year's budget: Infrastructure continued to be a major focus, spending was reduced to come in line with revenue projects and numerous members on both sides of the aisle were frustrated by the lack of transparency in the process.
Over the last two years, about $3.5 billion has been put into widening I-70 to six lanes statewide and I-44 in the southwestern part of the state. Both projects are about equally funded through debt and general revenue. The budget that was approved is expected to reduce the state surplus to about $1.5 billion.
Up-to-date numbers from the Office of Administration show a more rosy revenue picture than anticipated. So far Fiscal Year 2024 revenue receipts are up 2.7% year over year. That's far higher than the projected .2% growth in revenue used to craft the budget. If that revenue continues at the same pace and with a current general fund balance of over $4 billion there is a chance the state's surplus will hardly be tapped over the next year.
The declining budget also represents a return to normal state budgeting. Since the pandemic, states have received an unprecedented influx of federal COVID relief and infrastructure cash. That has led to record high appropriations that oftentimes don't get spent. In the FY 2023 budget, $10 billion of the $48 billion appropriated was never used. In 2018, only $2 billion of the $28 billion budget was left unspent.
No public comment was taken during the budget process and meetings between the House and Senate where the final budget package was finalized only existed behind closed doors. Senators only had a few minutes to review the bills before voting on them and House members had little time to debate as they passed the budget just hours before the constitutional deadline.
This backdoor process drew criticism from Democrats, Freedom Caucus members and the governor as many felt out of the loop.
Elections and initiative changes Fighting over changes that would make it harder to amend the Missouri Constitution again put the brakes on normal operating procedures on the Senate floor this session.
The Freedom Caucus has more than once sent the Senate into disarray over a piece of legislation that again failed to cross the finish line after years of attempts.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, would have asked voters whether the current threshold to amend the state constitution — a simple majority, or 50% plus one — should be raised to also require a majority vote in at least five of the state’s eight congressional districts.
This year’s proposal included two provisions that led the chamber to several lengthy filibusters totaling more than 100 hours. In addition to the threshold requirement, the provisions would ask voters to bar noncitizens from voting on constitutional amendments and to ban constitutional amendments sponsored by foreign governments.
These provisions are already state law and Democrats made a point of filibustering against those provisions.
Republicans this session also pushed a resolution that would ban ranked-choice voting in Missouri. SJR 78 was passed by the House on Friday. The question will now go to voters to decide.
Ranked-choice voting is a practice where voters rank their preferred candidates on a single ballot until a winner is declared after receiving a majority of the vote. The idea is to give voters more options once their top-ranked choice is eliminated by distributing their vote to their next preferred candidates. Opponents said the practice does the exact opposite by splitting the vote.
While it is not in state law, St. Louis practices a version of ranked-choice voting that will be protected if the ban passes.
Education bill An omnibus education bill, SB 727, raising the minimum teacher salary, allowing charter schools in Boone County and providing private school scholarships to low-income students, has already been signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson. The provisions of the bill, approved by the minimum vote required in the House, are estimated to cost the state $468 million.
The new state minimum salary for teachers is set at $40,000 a year beginning with the next school year and includes additional incentives for teachers with longer careers and those with master’s degrees.
The voucher-like scholarship program for private school students offers up to $6,375 per child for expenses such as tuition, textbooks and transportation. The program is funded by private donors who can claim tax credits.
The size of the bill ballooned from 12 pages to more than 150 because of amendments in the Senate. House leaders blocked amendments so that the bill would not have to be returned for another vote in the Senate out of concern it would die because of filibusters on other topics.
The law requires a public vote to approve any switch to four-day school weeks while providing incentives to schools that stick with five-day weeks.
New crime provisions A major public safety bill that passed during the final House session on Friday made changes to how children are viewed in the court system, increased punishment for various crimes and limited the authority of citizen police review boards, among other items.
The bill tracks legislation passed last year, except for two technical provisions that prompted a veto by Parson. The law increases the age under which children could be considered adults in felony offenses from 12 to 14.
On July 4, 2011, Blair Shanahan Lane was killed by reckless celebratory gunfire. A portion of the bill dubbed "Blair's Law" creates penalties for such activity. After the bill passed on a bipartisan basis Friday, House members rose for a round of applause directed at Blair Lane's mother, who was in attendance.
The bill also creates "Valentine's Law" raising punishments for fleeing a law enforcement stop. It is named for St. Louis County Detective Antonio Valentine, who died in a crash pursuing a person fleeing police.
And there is a provision known as "Max's Law" that increases punishment for injuring or killing law enforcement K-9 dogs.
Sludge regulations House Bill 2134, which would create new regulations for wastewater sludge under the Missouri Clean Water Act, gained bipartisan approval and was signed by Parson.
The bill gained traction as concerns about waste lagoons and land application practices by Arkansas-based Denali Water Solutions have been brought to light. The new law prevents companies like Denali from applying waste as fertilizer without a regulatory process and testing.
Denali was previously forced to cease operations in Missouri after 6,000 gallons of slaughterhouse waste spilled into a field, causing residents to complain about the smell and runoff concerns.
Regulatory Sandbox Act The House Friday gave final approval to SB 894 creating an avenue for new companies offering innovative products to be excused from meeting some state regulations for the first 24 months that they begin offering innovative products to consumers.
Companies would be required to apply and meet certain criteria to participate in the program.
The bill also creates an Office of Entrepreneurship within the Department of Economic Development that will promote policies and initiatives to support the growth of entrepreneurship of Missouri-based businesses with less than ten employees.
Eviction moratorium A bill passed on Friday barred any municipality from enacting an eviction moratorium. The bill, SB 865, comes in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic when cities across the country prevented landlords from evicting tenets. Realtors and apartment associations spoke in favor of the bill as they feel moratoriums violate the rights of property owners.
National Guard deployment Parson signed a bill on May 8 approving additional funding for a Missouri National Guard deployment to the southern border. The governor traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas, to sign House Bill 2016 into law and visit with members who have been deployed since March.
“The battle that we’re fighting down here at the border is keeping it from happening in our own borders, in our own state in Missouri,” Parson said before signing the bill.
Members of the National Guard are assisting with Operation Lone Star after being invited by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Operation Lone Star is a state-level border security effort at the Texas-Mexico border that began in 2021.
The $2.2 million in funding supports the operations of approximately 200 National Guard members and 22 Missouri State Highway Patrol officers for 90 days. Since the start of their mission, only around 50 guardsmen and 22 members of the highway patrol have served in Texas.
Sports wagering moves ahead After years of failed attempts to get legalization through the Missouri General Assembly, sports gambling appears to have found a more promising path.
Early in May, the Winning for Missouri Education committee along with a coaltion of Missouri professional sports teams submitted over 340,000 signatures for a ballot initiative to the Secretary of State's office desk.
If the Secretary of State verifies that enough signatures are genuine, the question would be put to voters in November. Thirty-eight other states have legalized some form of sports wagering.
The petition proposes a 10% tax on wagers to be collected by the Department of Revenue, deposited into the state treasury and credit to the "Gaming Proceeds for Education Fund," raising a projected $35 million.
Approximately $5 million in funds from the sports wagering tax would go into a fund to help compulsive gamblers and the rest would go to public school and higher education programs.
Child tax credits Bipartisan support and a State of the State address plug by Parson helped two bills, SB 742 and HB 1488, which would add provisions allowing for tax credits related to child care services to reach the Senate floor for consideration.
However, opposition from Freedom Caucus members of the Senate stalled action both in an effort to advance bills they felt deserved more priority and out of a general dislike of tax credits. The Senate version is sponsored by Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City, while the House bill is sponsored by Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph.
Protecting IVF House and Senate bills to protect in vitro fertilization clinics got a flurry of attention but did not advance following an Alabama state court ruling that relied on a state abortion ban to restrict in vitro fertilization clinics.
The Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled in 2016 that IVF-created embryos were a matter of “marital property of special order.” This has provided legal protection for doctors and patients in the IVF field.
However, that court ruling cited abortion protection offered by Roe Vs. Wade, which was overturned in 2022. With Missouri having a similar abortion ban to the one in Alabama, leading advocates and lawmakers alike are concerned about what could lie ahead.
Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, filed SB 1486 which would specify that Missouri's abortion ban does not have a definition that includes in vitro fertilization embryos that have not been implanted in a body. Rep. Bill Allen, R-Kansas City, filed House Bill 2845 which states that the IVF process is protected under law and no one can be prosecuted for undergoing or administrating IVF.
Here is what happened to other legislative topics that garnered attention during the session but did not pass:
Protections for pesticide maker: HB 2763, sponsored by Rep. Dane Diehl, R-Butler, would have protected pesticide manufacturers from claims that they failed to warn consumers of possible cancer risks in their products as long as the federal Environmental Protection Agency has approved those products.
Much of the debate before the House approved the bill focused on Bayer, the company with U.S. headquarters in St. Louis that purchased Monsanto, the original manufacturer of RoundUp pesticide. According to The Associated Press, the company is seeking to stem a tide of lawsuits claiming that Bayer’s products cause cancer.
Diehl, a farmer, said he drafted the legislation out of fear that Bayer would be forced to pull RoundUp off of the market, harming farmers ability to grow crops. The bill never made it to the Senate floor for consideration.
Presidential primaries: New voting laws passed in 2022 eliminated the presidential primary in Missouri. Following low voter turnout in this year’s Republican presidential caucus, SB 1120 and HB 2618, which would reinstate presidential primaries, passed out of their respective committees. The House bill passed with amendments that would create new residency restrictions for candidates vying for U.S. Congress. Ultimately, neither bill got floor consideration.
The Taylor Swift Act: Bills in both the House and Senate sought to address the impact of problematic images created by artificial intelligence but did not make it into law. While ten states provide some form of retribution for this type of crime, only Minnesota and New York statutes allow for both civil and criminal relief.
The Taylor Swift Act, House Bill 2573, offered by Rep. Adam Schwadron, R-St. Charles, targeted fake pornographic images. The bill was approved by the Special Committee on Innovation and Technology but never received a floor vote. The name of the bill referred to explicit AI-created images of the singer that went viral in January.
A similar bill, Senate Bill 1424, sponsored by Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, did not get a hearing.
Media Literacy: Companion bills, House Bill 1513 and Senate Bill 1311, aimed to teach students about media and digital literacy. Neither bill advanced.
Danny's Law: Legislation that sought to protect 911 callers from prosecution when calling to report a hazing incident stalled in the House. The bill was named after former University of Missouri student Danny Santulli, who suffered irreparable brain damage after drinking too much when pledging a fraternity at MU in the fall of 2021.
Danny’s Law was meant to offer exoneration to those involved in hazing incidents if they’re the first to call for emergency help.
“As the mother of three college-age men, I understand this is a major issue,” said Rep. Jo Doll, D-St. Louis, who spoke during a March 7 committee hearing. “It’s really important to give kids the ability to call 911 without being afraid of the consequences to them.”
Protecting major water users: House Bill 2669, which sought to limit information being released to the public about major water users, was approved by a House committee but failed to get a floor vote. The bill was meant to protect the information of Missouri’s family farmers and would keep information about individually identifiable water users from being disclosed to the public.
Highway Commission changes: A bill, House Bill 2568, that would have changed the makeup of the Missouri Highways & Transportation Commission was voted down in a committee in Apri. Two other bills that would have either changed the makeup of the commission or done away with it altogether failed to move forward after being the subject of public hearings in early February.
Nursing restrictions: Missouri is one of only a few states not to allow nurse practitioners to practice independently without the authority of a physician. A House committee passed an amended version of one bill, HB 1773, sponsored by Rep. Chad Perkins, R-Bowling Green, that would allow nurses to practice independently after 6,000 hours of work under a physician's supervision. The bill was never placed on the House calendar, a roadblock which some nurses point to opposition from House Floor Leader Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit.
Dmitry Martirosov, Molly Miller, Aidan Pittman, Grant Green and Madeline Shannon contributed to this story.
Cover image: State Representative Chantelle Nickson-Clark(cq) throws her papers at the end of the legislative session on Friday, May 17, 2024 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. Nickson-Clark was the first Black woman elected to represent District 67 in St. Louis County in Nov. 2022.
submitted by como365 to missouri [link] [comments]
Constant infighting among Republicans over priorities and which ones were truly conservative led to days-long filibusters, name calling and the death of many conservative bills, including a top party priority: making it more difficult to amend the Missouri Constitution.
The divisions were so ingrained that the Senate Democrats, holding 10 seats in a 34-person body, delivered the deciding votes on some of the session's most important bills.
The hard-right Freedom Caucus has said their issue with mainstream Republican leaders in the legislature is a lack of dedication to “big red” policies like reducing personal property tax and preventing foreign countries from owning Missouri land.
Looking back at previous sessions, that argument doesn’t quite stack up. In the last several years Republicans have passed one of the nation's most strict abortion bans, limitations on transgender health care and enacted several income tax cuts.
The Freedom Caucus went to great lengths to disrupt Senate procedure and strong-arm leadership in an effort to pass their highest priority, changes to the initiative petition process. The impact was that they were tossed off Senate committees by the Republican leadership and later in the session failed to convince their Republican colleagues to embrace their priorities.
Less than two weeks before the constitutional deadline for the budget and with an important federal health care reimbursement that creates over $4 billion in revenue, Freedom Caucus members filibustered for 41 hours with the demand that leadership first bring up a resolution changing the approval threshold for state constitutional amendments.
Going into the last week of session, initiative petition reform still had not passed.
This week, the Freedom Caucus supported a motion among Republicans to end the Democratic filibuster on the issue through an extraordinary motion — the previous question — that hasn’t been used in the Senate since 2020. But only 16 Republicans would support that plan, which needed 18 votes, so it was never brought before the floor.
With that failure on Wednesday, the resolution was sent back to the House, which refused to budge on Thursday and sent it back to the Senate. On Friday the Senate adjourned without any further action and the effort died.
The failure to pass the resolution making initiative petition changes showed the inability of even a supermajority to act when splintered on such chaotic, disruptive lines.
Senate President Pro Tem. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said that this session showed that more can get done through compromise than confrontation.
"I'm walking out of here as a guy that has basically accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish and I did it in a way that was respectful and collegial," Rowden said in a press conference after adjournment.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, R-Independence, backed up that point saying, "I don't think Democrats won or Republicans lost (the session), I think decorum won."
Fiscal Year 2025 budget
A set of constitutionally mandated bills that fund the state's operations passed just three hours before the May 10 deadline. The final budget is $51.7 billion, $1 billion less than what the governor proposed, and about $2 billion less than last year's budget.
Three things stuck out in this year's budget: Infrastructure continued to be a major focus, spending was reduced to come in line with revenue projects and numerous members on both sides of the aisle were frustrated by the lack of transparency in the process.
Over the last two years, about $3.5 billion has been put into widening I-70 to six lanes statewide and I-44 in the southwestern part of the state. Both projects are about equally funded through debt and general revenue. The budget that was approved is expected to reduce the state surplus to about $1.5 billion.
Up-to-date numbers from the Office of Administration show a more rosy revenue picture than anticipated. So far Fiscal Year 2024 revenue receipts are up 2.7% year over year. That's far higher than the projected .2% growth in revenue used to craft the budget. If that revenue continues at the same pace and with a current general fund balance of over $4 billion there is a chance the state's surplus will hardly be tapped over the next year.
The declining budget also represents a return to normal state budgeting. Since the pandemic, states have received an unprecedented influx of federal COVID relief and infrastructure cash. That has led to record high appropriations that oftentimes don't get spent. In the FY 2023 budget, $10 billion of the $48 billion appropriated was never used. In 2018, only $2 billion of the $28 billion budget was left unspent.
No public comment was taken during the budget process and meetings between the House and Senate where the final budget package was finalized only existed behind closed doors. Senators only had a few minutes to review the bills before voting on them and House members had little time to debate as they passed the budget just hours before the constitutional deadline.
This backdoor process drew criticism from Democrats, Freedom Caucus members and the governor as many felt out of the loop.
Elections and initiative changes Fighting over changes that would make it harder to amend the Missouri Constitution again put the brakes on normal operating procedures on the Senate floor this session.
The Freedom Caucus has more than once sent the Senate into disarray over a piece of legislation that again failed to cross the finish line after years of attempts.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, would have asked voters whether the current threshold to amend the state constitution — a simple majority, or 50% plus one — should be raised to also require a majority vote in at least five of the state’s eight congressional districts.
This year’s proposal included two provisions that led the chamber to several lengthy filibusters totaling more than 100 hours. In addition to the threshold requirement, the provisions would ask voters to bar noncitizens from voting on constitutional amendments and to ban constitutional amendments sponsored by foreign governments.
These provisions are already state law and Democrats made a point of filibustering against those provisions.
Republicans this session also pushed a resolution that would ban ranked-choice voting in Missouri. SJR 78 was passed by the House on Friday. The question will now go to voters to decide.
Ranked-choice voting is a practice where voters rank their preferred candidates on a single ballot until a winner is declared after receiving a majority of the vote. The idea is to give voters more options once their top-ranked choice is eliminated by distributing their vote to their next preferred candidates. Opponents said the practice does the exact opposite by splitting the vote.
While it is not in state law, St. Louis practices a version of ranked-choice voting that will be protected if the ban passes.
Education bill An omnibus education bill, SB 727, raising the minimum teacher salary, allowing charter schools in Boone County and providing private school scholarships to low-income students, has already been signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson. The provisions of the bill, approved by the minimum vote required in the House, are estimated to cost the state $468 million.
The new state minimum salary for teachers is set at $40,000 a year beginning with the next school year and includes additional incentives for teachers with longer careers and those with master’s degrees.
The voucher-like scholarship program for private school students offers up to $6,375 per child for expenses such as tuition, textbooks and transportation. The program is funded by private donors who can claim tax credits.
The size of the bill ballooned from 12 pages to more than 150 because of amendments in the Senate. House leaders blocked amendments so that the bill would not have to be returned for another vote in the Senate out of concern it would die because of filibusters on other topics.
The law requires a public vote to approve any switch to four-day school weeks while providing incentives to schools that stick with five-day weeks.
New crime provisions A major public safety bill that passed during the final House session on Friday made changes to how children are viewed in the court system, increased punishment for various crimes and limited the authority of citizen police review boards, among other items.
The bill tracks legislation passed last year, except for two technical provisions that prompted a veto by Parson. The law increases the age under which children could be considered adults in felony offenses from 12 to 14.
On July 4, 2011, Blair Shanahan Lane was killed by reckless celebratory gunfire. A portion of the bill dubbed "Blair's Law" creates penalties for such activity. After the bill passed on a bipartisan basis Friday, House members rose for a round of applause directed at Blair Lane's mother, who was in attendance.
The bill also creates "Valentine's Law" raising punishments for fleeing a law enforcement stop. It is named for St. Louis County Detective Antonio Valentine, who died in a crash pursuing a person fleeing police.
And there is a provision known as "Max's Law" that increases punishment for injuring or killing law enforcement K-9 dogs.
Sludge regulations House Bill 2134, which would create new regulations for wastewater sludge under the Missouri Clean Water Act, gained bipartisan approval and was signed by Parson.
The bill gained traction as concerns about waste lagoons and land application practices by Arkansas-based Denali Water Solutions have been brought to light. The new law prevents companies like Denali from applying waste as fertilizer without a regulatory process and testing.
Denali was previously forced to cease operations in Missouri after 6,000 gallons of slaughterhouse waste spilled into a field, causing residents to complain about the smell and runoff concerns.
Regulatory Sandbox Act The House Friday gave final approval to SB 894 creating an avenue for new companies offering innovative products to be excused from meeting some state regulations for the first 24 months that they begin offering innovative products to consumers.
Companies would be required to apply and meet certain criteria to participate in the program.
The bill also creates an Office of Entrepreneurship within the Department of Economic Development that will promote policies and initiatives to support the growth of entrepreneurship of Missouri-based businesses with less than ten employees.
Eviction moratorium A bill passed on Friday barred any municipality from enacting an eviction moratorium. The bill, SB 865, comes in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic when cities across the country prevented landlords from evicting tenets. Realtors and apartment associations spoke in favor of the bill as they feel moratoriums violate the rights of property owners.
National Guard deployment Parson signed a bill on May 8 approving additional funding for a Missouri National Guard deployment to the southern border. The governor traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas, to sign House Bill 2016 into law and visit with members who have been deployed since March.
“The battle that we’re fighting down here at the border is keeping it from happening in our own borders, in our own state in Missouri,” Parson said before signing the bill.
Members of the National Guard are assisting with Operation Lone Star after being invited by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Operation Lone Star is a state-level border security effort at the Texas-Mexico border that began in 2021.
The $2.2 million in funding supports the operations of approximately 200 National Guard members and 22 Missouri State Highway Patrol officers for 90 days. Since the start of their mission, only around 50 guardsmen and 22 members of the highway patrol have served in Texas.
Sports wagering moves ahead After years of failed attempts to get legalization through the Missouri General Assembly, sports gambling appears to have found a more promising path.
Early in May, the Winning for Missouri Education committee along with a coaltion of Missouri professional sports teams submitted over 340,000 signatures for a ballot initiative to the Secretary of State's office desk.
If the Secretary of State verifies that enough signatures are genuine, the question would be put to voters in November. Thirty-eight other states have legalized some form of sports wagering.
The petition proposes a 10% tax on wagers to be collected by the Department of Revenue, deposited into the state treasury and credit to the "Gaming Proceeds for Education Fund," raising a projected $35 million.
Approximately $5 million in funds from the sports wagering tax would go into a fund to help compulsive gamblers and the rest would go to public school and higher education programs.
Child tax credits Bipartisan support and a State of the State address plug by Parson helped two bills, SB 742 and HB 1488, which would add provisions allowing for tax credits related to child care services to reach the Senate floor for consideration.
However, opposition from Freedom Caucus members of the Senate stalled action both in an effort to advance bills they felt deserved more priority and out of a general dislike of tax credits. The Senate version is sponsored by Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City, while the House bill is sponsored by Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph.
Protecting IVF House and Senate bills to protect in vitro fertilization clinics got a flurry of attention but did not advance following an Alabama state court ruling that relied on a state abortion ban to restrict in vitro fertilization clinics.
The Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled in 2016 that IVF-created embryos were a matter of “marital property of special order.” This has provided legal protection for doctors and patients in the IVF field.
However, that court ruling cited abortion protection offered by Roe Vs. Wade, which was overturned in 2022. With Missouri having a similar abortion ban to the one in Alabama, leading advocates and lawmakers alike are concerned about what could lie ahead.
Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, filed SB 1486 which would specify that Missouri's abortion ban does not have a definition that includes in vitro fertilization embryos that have not been implanted in a body. Rep. Bill Allen, R-Kansas City, filed House Bill 2845 which states that the IVF process is protected under law and no one can be prosecuted for undergoing or administrating IVF.
Here is what happened to other legislative topics that garnered attention during the session but did not pass:
Protections for pesticide maker: HB 2763, sponsored by Rep. Dane Diehl, R-Butler, would have protected pesticide manufacturers from claims that they failed to warn consumers of possible cancer risks in their products as long as the federal Environmental Protection Agency has approved those products.
Much of the debate before the House approved the bill focused on Bayer, the company with U.S. headquarters in St. Louis that purchased Monsanto, the original manufacturer of RoundUp pesticide. According to The Associated Press, the company is seeking to stem a tide of lawsuits claiming that Bayer’s products cause cancer.
Diehl, a farmer, said he drafted the legislation out of fear that Bayer would be forced to pull RoundUp off of the market, harming farmers ability to grow crops. The bill never made it to the Senate floor for consideration.
Presidential primaries: New voting laws passed in 2022 eliminated the presidential primary in Missouri. Following low voter turnout in this year’s Republican presidential caucus, SB 1120 and HB 2618, which would reinstate presidential primaries, passed out of their respective committees. The House bill passed with amendments that would create new residency restrictions for candidates vying for U.S. Congress. Ultimately, neither bill got floor consideration.
The Taylor Swift Act: Bills in both the House and Senate sought to address the impact of problematic images created by artificial intelligence but did not make it into law. While ten states provide some form of retribution for this type of crime, only Minnesota and New York statutes allow for both civil and criminal relief.
The Taylor Swift Act, House Bill 2573, offered by Rep. Adam Schwadron, R-St. Charles, targeted fake pornographic images. The bill was approved by the Special Committee on Innovation and Technology but never received a floor vote. The name of the bill referred to explicit AI-created images of the singer that went viral in January.
A similar bill, Senate Bill 1424, sponsored by Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, did not get a hearing.
Media Literacy: Companion bills, House Bill 1513 and Senate Bill 1311, aimed to teach students about media and digital literacy. Neither bill advanced.
Danny's Law: Legislation that sought to protect 911 callers from prosecution when calling to report a hazing incident stalled in the House. The bill was named after former University of Missouri student Danny Santulli, who suffered irreparable brain damage after drinking too much when pledging a fraternity at MU in the fall of 2021.
Danny’s Law was meant to offer exoneration to those involved in hazing incidents if they’re the first to call for emergency help.
“As the mother of three college-age men, I understand this is a major issue,” said Rep. Jo Doll, D-St. Louis, who spoke during a March 7 committee hearing. “It’s really important to give kids the ability to call 911 without being afraid of the consequences to them.”
Protecting major water users: House Bill 2669, which sought to limit information being released to the public about major water users, was approved by a House committee but failed to get a floor vote. The bill was meant to protect the information of Missouri’s family farmers and would keep information about individually identifiable water users from being disclosed to the public.
Highway Commission changes: A bill, House Bill 2568, that would have changed the makeup of the Missouri Highways & Transportation Commission was voted down in a committee in Apri. Two other bills that would have either changed the makeup of the commission or done away with it altogether failed to move forward after being the subject of public hearings in early February.
Nursing restrictions: Missouri is one of only a few states not to allow nurse practitioners to practice independently without the authority of a physician. A House committee passed an amended version of one bill, HB 1773, sponsored by Rep. Chad Perkins, R-Bowling Green, that would allow nurses to practice independently after 6,000 hours of work under a physician's supervision. The bill was never placed on the House calendar, a roadblock which some nurses point to opposition from House Floor Leader Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit.
Dmitry Martirosov, Molly Miller, Aidan Pittman, Grant Green and Madeline Shannon contributed to this story.
Cover image: State Representative Chantelle Nickson-Clark(cq) throws her papers at the end of the legislative session on Friday, May 17, 2024 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. Nickson-Clark was the first Black woman elected to represent District 67 in St. Louis County in Nov. 2022.
2024.05.18 06:00 Guinness Game Thread: Pirates @ Cubs - Fri, May 17 @ 01:20 PM CDT
Pirates @ Cubs - Fri, May 17
Game Status: Final - Score: 9-3 Pirates
Links & Info
- Current conditions at Wrigley Field: 77°F - Sunny - Wind 6 mph, In From CF
- TV: National: MLBN (out-of-market only), Pirates: SportsNet-PIT, Cubs: Marquee Sports Network
- Radio: Pirates: 100.1 FM/KDKA-AM 1020, Cubs: WRTO 1200 (es), 670 The Score
- MLB Gameday
- Game Graphs
- Savant Gamefeed
| Pirates Batters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | LOB | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McCutchen - DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .213 | .320 | .378 |
| 2 | Reynolds, B - LF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .254 | .341 | .414 |
| 3 | Cruz, O - SS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .251 | .298 | .425 |
| Williams - SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .245 | .273 | .340 | |
| 4 | Joe - RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .296 | .364 | .504 |
| 5 | Gonzales, N - 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .269 | .286 | .538 |
| 6 | Suwinski - CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .168 | .252 | .275 |
| 7 | Grandal - C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .212 | .229 | .424 |
| 8 | Tellez - 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .188 | .258 | .241 |
| 9 | Triolo - 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .201 | .291 | .257 |
| Totals | 41 | 9 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 15 |
| Pirates |
|---|
| BATTING: 2B: Gonzales, N (1, Hendricks). HR: Triolo (2, 3rd inning off Hendricks, 1 on, 0 out); McCutchen (6, 8th inning off Leiter Jr., 0 on, 2 out). TB: Gonzales, N 3; Grandal 2; Joe 3; McCutchen 4; Reynolds, B 2; Suwinski; Tellez 2; Triolo 5. RBI: Gonzales, N (6); Grandal 3 (9); McCutchen (11); Triolo 3 (15). 2-out RBI: Triolo; Grandal 3; McCutchen. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Grandal; McCutchen. SF: Gonzales, N. Team RISP: 4-for-8. Team LOB: 7. |
| Cubs Batters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | LOB | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tauchman - DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .263 | .382 | .416 |
| 2 | Happ - LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .216 | .330 | .314 |
| 3 | Bellinger - RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .256 | .338 | .480 |
| 4 | Morel, C - 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .215 | .296 | .417 |
| 5 | Busch - 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | .250 | .327 | .465 |
| 6 | Mastrobuoni - SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .147 | .256 | .176 |
| 7 | Madrigal - 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .222 | .282 | .264 |
| 8 | Crow-Armstrong - CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .236 | .295 | .364 |
| 9 | Amaya - C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .187 | .248 | .297 |
| Totals | 31 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 6 |
| Cubs |
|---|
| BATTING: 2B: Morel, C (4, Ryan). HR: Amaya (2, 8th inning off Mlodzinski, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Amaya 4; Morel, C 3; Tauchman. RBI: Amaya (12); Morel, C 2 (31). 2-out RBI: Amaya; Morel, C 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Busch 2; Mastrobuoni. Team RISP: 1-for-3. Team LOB: 5. |
| FIELDING: E: Crow-Armstrong (1, throw). |
| Pirates Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skenes (W, 1-0) | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 100-67 | 2.70 |
| Mlodzinski | 1.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48-28 | 10.80 |
| Ryan | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18-8 | 3.46 |
| Stratton, H | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15-10 | 3.74 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 1 |
| Cubs Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendricks (L, 0-4) | 4.2 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 89-64 | 10.57 |
| Cuas | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 32-19 | 6.17 |
| Little | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8-6 | 5.91 |
| Leiter Jr. | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20-13 | 1.00 |
| Neris | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22-16 | 2.81 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| Game Info |
|---|
| Pitches-strikes: Skenes 100-67; Mlodzinski 48-28; Ryan 18-8; Stratton, H 15-10; Hendricks 89-64; Cuas 32-19; Little 8-6; Leiter Jr. 20-13; Neris 22-16. |
| Groundouts-flyouts: Skenes 6-1; Mlodzinski 3-1; Ryan 0-0; Stratton, H 0-0; Hendricks 9-1; Cuas 0-1; Little 0-0; Leiter Jr. 0-0; Neris 1-1. |
| Batters faced: Skenes 19; Mlodzinski 9; Ryan 3; Stratton, H 4; Hendricks 25; Cuas 7; Little 2; Leiter Jr. 5; Neris 4. |
| Inherited runners-scored: Ryan 1-1; Stratton, H 2-0; Cuas 1-0; Little 1-0. |
| Umpires: HP: Brian O'Nora. 1B: Chris Conroy. 2B: Charlie Ramos. 3B: Brennan Miller. |
| Weather: 77 degrees, Sunny. |
| Wind: 6 mph, In From CF. |
| First pitch: 1:20 PM. |
| T: 2:57. |
| Att: 35,372. |
| Venue: Wrigley Field. |
| May 17, 2024 |
| Inning | Scoring Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Top 3 | Jared Triolo homers (2) on a fly ball to left field. Rowdy Tellez scores. | 2-0 PIT |
| Top 4 | Yasmani Grandal singles on a fly ball to left fielder Ian Happ. Nick Gonzales scores. | 3-0 PIT |
| Top 4 | Jared Triolo singles on a line drive to center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Yasmani Grandal scores. Rowdy Tellez scores. Jared Triolo to 3rd. Throwing error by center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. | 5-0 PIT |
| Top 5 | Nick Gonzales out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Bryan Reynolds scores. | 6-0 PIT |
| Top 5 | Yasmani Grandal singles on a line drive to right fielder Cody Bellinger. Connor Joe scores. Jack Suwinski scores. | 8-0 PIT |
| Top 8 | Andrew McCutchen homers (6) on a fly ball to left field. | 9-0 PIT |
| Bottom 8 | Miguel Amaya homers (2) on a line drive to left center field. | 9-1 PIT |
| Bottom 8 | Christopher Morel doubles (4) on a sharp line drive to center fielder Jack Suwinski. Mike Tauchman scores. Ian Happ scores. Cody Bellinger to 3rd. | 9-3 PIT |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 7 | |
| Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Decisions
- Winner: Paul Skenes (1-0, 2.70)
- Loser: Kyle Hendricks (0-4, 10.57)
Division Scoreboard
MIL 4 @ HOU 5 - FinalBOS 6 @ STL 10 - Final
CIN 3 @ LAD 7 - Final
Last Updated: 05/17/2024 11:49:19 PM CDT
2024.05.18 02:37 Alone-Competition-77 Ousia pharmacy
Given the recent dust up with Ousia pharmacy not providing proper labeling, I thought I’d do a couple quick Google searches.
First, the Florida filing page for them has documents going back to 2015. (Which is the first odd thing since they should know about labels if they have been around that long) As has been mentioned on here, they are supposedly owned by a company called Total Compliance Solutions in Minnesota. They both list someone named Denise Shrade as the owner, so that makes sense.
If you google around you find this lawsuit and this which I think is part of the same lawsuit. Apparently a Medical Surgical company is suing them or something for not paying their bills? Here is a thread where someone has some unkind things to say about Denise and Mark Schrade and a financial deal they got involved with.
Edit: Also this user found several lawsuits against them for several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Also, here is another lawsuit filed in Florida against the same Denise Schrade.
Also, here is an odd story about the Schrades trying to buy the Worcester Warriors which contains the disturbing revelation:
At the very least, it would be nice to see some proof of the facilities at Ousia pharmacy to make everyone feel better. I still think SlimDownRx is a good company run by good doctors.
Edit 2: I got rated down for posting this link in a comment (some certain someone’s must be lurking) so I am posting it here at the top:
You can search the name Denise Shrade here and find about 8 lawsuits: https://publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch
submitted by Alone-Competition-77 to tirzepatidecompound [link] [comments]
First, the Florida filing page for them has documents going back to 2015. (Which is the first odd thing since they should know about labels if they have been around that long) As has been mentioned on here, they are supposedly owned by a company called Total Compliance Solutions in Minnesota. They both list someone named Denise Shrade as the owner, so that makes sense.
If you google around you find this lawsuit and this which I think is part of the same lawsuit. Apparently a Medical Surgical company is suing them or something for not paying their bills? Here is a thread where someone has some unkind things to say about Denise and Mark Schrade and a financial deal they got involved with.
Edit: Also this user found several lawsuits against them for several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Also, here is another lawsuit filed in Florida against the same Denise Schrade.
Also, here is an odd story about the Schrades trying to buy the Worcester Warriors which contains the disturbing revelation:
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that two of the individuals in Jim O’Toole’s consortium, a couple called Denise and Marc Schrade, were running a weapons store and private medical centre out of the same building in Minneapolis as recently as 2018. The couple also failed to turn up for a recent court case.So it sounds like Denise and Mark (Marc?) have several interesting business things going on in Minnesota and Florida. What does all this amount to? Maybe nothing. This was about 10 minutes of googling so I probably missed some other stuff.
At the very least, it would be nice to see some proof of the facilities at Ousia pharmacy to make everyone feel better. I still think SlimDownRx is a good company run by good doctors.
Edit 2: I got rated down for posting this link in a comment (some certain someone’s must be lurking) so I am posting it here at the top:
You can search the name Denise Shrade here and find about 8 lawsuits: https://publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch
2024.05.18 01:43 Leather_Focus_6535 The currently 105 inmates executed by Florida since the 1970s and their crimes (warning, graphic content, please read at your own risk) [part 2, cases 53-105]
This is the second half of my list for Florida's execution roster. As stated in the first part, I split it into two halves in order to follow reddit's character count limitations. Link to part 1.
The currently 105 executed offenders, cases 53 to 105:
53. Aileen Wuornos (~1974-2002, lethal injection): Wuornos murdered 7 men between the ages of 47-65. She was a street prostitute that enticed her victims with promises of sexual favors. After a victim was entrapped, Wuornos shot them dead, and robbed them of their money and their vehicles. Although Wuornos initially claimed that she killed the victims in self defense, she later admitted that they were murdered for their valuables. Her criminal history was extensive, and she had several convictions for armed robbery, assault, DUIs, reckless discharge of firearms, and disorderly conduct. She was also accused of domestic violence by an ex husband, and he placed a restraining order on her within weeks of their marriage.
54. Linroy Bottoson (~1971-2002, lethal injection): In a robbery of a post office, Bottoson stole $14,000 in money orders and $100 in cash, and abducted the post mistress, 74 year old Catherine Alexander. After holding her captive for 3 days, Bottoson stabbed Alexander 16 times, and ran her over with his car. He had several robberies on his criminal record.
55. Amos King Jr. (~1972-2002, lethal injection): After he escaped from a minimum security prison, King broke into the home of 68 year old Natalie Brady and assaulted her. She was raped, stabbed, and savagely beaten in the attack. King then set her house on fire, and returned back to the prison. At his arrival, the prison counselor confronted him about his absence and bloodied clothing. He was stabbed 25 times by King, but managed to survive his injuries. Despite her injuries, Brady managed to crawl out of her burning home, but succumbed to blood loss shortly before help could arrive. King had a previous conviction for robbery.
56. Newton Slawson (1989-2003, lethal injection): Slawson went over to the home of the Wood family (consisting of parents, 23 year old Gerald and 21 year old Peggy, and their children, 4 year old Jennifer and 3 year old Glendon) to buy some cocaine. During an argument over the transaction, Slawson shot and killed Gerald, Jennifer, and Glendon, and wounded Peggy. Slawson then stabbed Peggy (who was 8 months pregnant) with such force that he tore her unborn child out of her womb.
57. Paul Hill (1994-2003, lethal injection): During an attack on an abortion clinic, Hill shot and killed John Britton, a 69 year old abortionist, and his bodyguard, 74 year old James Barrett. Britton’s wife, 68 year old June, was also wounded in the shooting. Hill was a hardline pro life activist and Christian fundamentalist, and saw ending abortion by any means necessary as his personal divine mission.
58. Johnny Robinson (~1980s-2004, lethal injection): Robinson and his teenage accomplice picked up 31 year old Beverly St. George when they found her broken down on the side of the road. They then raped St. George and shot her to death. He tried to claim that they had consensual relations and St. George was hit by an accidental discharge during intercourse. If Robinson's "recollection" was to be believed, he then shot her again to cover up an "accidental" shooting of a white woman. The courts weren't convinced by the defense, and the accomplice admitted that the murder was entirely deliberate and calculated from the beginning. Robinson had several rape convictions and accusations before St. George's murder.
59. John Blackwelder (~1970s-2004, lethal injection): While incarcerated for molesting a 10 year old boy, Blackwelder tied up his cellmate, 39 year old Raymond Wigley, under the alleged pretenses of a bondage session and strangled him to death with makeshift rope. According to Blackwelder, Wigley had been sexually harassing him, and he wanted to put a permeant end to the unwanted advances. Blackwelder had several sexual assault convictions dating back to the 1970s, and was also previously convicted for threatening former vice president Dan Quayle. His victim was the accomplice of another executed offender, John Marek, and was serving a life sentence for assisting him in the torture murder of a woman [for more details on Marek and Wigley's crimes, please see section 68] at the time of his own death.
60. Glen Ocha (1999-2005, lethal injection): Ocha picked up 28 year old Carol Skjerva from a bar and they had sex in his home. However, Skjerva allegedly made mocking remarks towards his genitals and threatened to tell her fiance of their encounter. In a drunken rage and under the influence of ecstasy, Ocha hung her with rope from his kitchen door.
61. Clarence Hill (1982-2006, lethal injection): During an attempted bank robbery with an accomplice, Hill engaged in a shootout with the responding policemen. One of the officers, 26 year old Stephen Taylor, was killed and another was wounded.
62. Arthur Rutherford (1985-2006, lethal injection): Rutherford was hired by a widow, 63 year old Stella Salamon, to do odd jobs around her home. He then drowned Salamon in her bathtub and tried to cash in a check of $2,000 from her account. Salamon's nude body was found with a broken arm, bruising all across her face, and three head wounds.
63. Danny Rolling (~1960s-2006, lethal injection): Rolling murdered a total of 8 people between the ages of 8-55. In 1989, Rolling stabbed 55 year old William Grissom, William’s 24 year old daughter Julie, and his 8 year old grandson Sean to death in their home. Julie’s body was ritualistically mutilated and posed during the attack. A year later, he shot his estranged father, 59 year old James. Although James survived, he was left permanently blind. Rolling then burglarized several student dorms in a week long rampage. Five students, 23 year old Tracy Paules, 23 year old Manuel Taboda, 18 year old Sonja Larson, 17 year old Christa Hoyt, and 17 year old Christina Powell, were bound, raped, and stabbed to death. Only Taboada was spared from any sexual abuse. As with Julia Grissom, Rolling posed the female victims into provocative positions and mutilated their bodies. Roiling decapitated Hoyt and placed her head on a cabinet shelf for the sole purpose of shocking witnesses stumbling across the scene. He had a long history of robberies, assaults, and voyeurism, and some of his earliest convictions occurred when he was a teenager.
64. Ángel Díaz (~1960s-2006, lethal injection): In his native Puerto Rico, Díaz stabbed an unidentified man, who was a director of a local drug rehabilitation center, 19 times while the victim was asleep. Díaz was sentenced for second degree murder, but he escaped after beating a guard near death, and fled to Florida. During his stay in Florida, Díaz and his accomplices robbed a strip club at gunpoint, and shot and killed the manager, 49 year old Joseph Nagy. After Nagy’s murder, he and his accomplices relocated themselves to Connecticut. However, they were arrested for a possession of illegal firearms charge. Díaz and 3 other inmates briefly managed to escape by beating up a guard and threatening another at knifepoint, but were quickly recaptured. After a cellmate testified that Díaz confessed to Nagy’s murder, he was deported back to Florida and sentenced to death. His execution sparked controversy, as it took him 34 minutes to succumb to the lethal drugs. Díaz’s other criminal convictions include shooting and injuring an officer during an armed robbery and several drug possession charges. Authorities also suspected him of being involved with several Puerto Rican nationalist insurgent groups.
65. Mark Schwab (1987-2008, lethal injection): Schwab lured 11 year old Junny Rios-Martinez into a motel room by posing as a photographer for a surfing magazine. He bound Rios-Martinez, anally penetrated him, and smothered the boy to death with a pillow. Schwab also had a conviction for the sexual battery of a 13 year old boy, and he was released after serving 3 out of an 8 year prison sentence months before Rios-Martinez's murder.
66. Richard Henyard (1993-2008, lethal injection): Henyard and his teenage accomplice carjacked 35 year old Dorothy Lewis, and her two daughters, 7 year old Jamilya and 3 year old Jasmine. The pair raped Dorothy, and shot and killed both of her daughters. Dorothy was also shot in the head, but was able to survive. Dorothy recounted that she tried praying for her and her children's safety, and Henyard taunted her by mockingly claiming to be Satan himself.
67. Wayne Tompkins (~1980s-2008, lethal injection): While helping his girlfriend move from their home, Tompkins made sexual advances on her 15 year old daughter, Lisa DeCarr. When she rejected him, Tompkins raped and strangeld her to death with a bathrobe, and tried to report DeCarr as a runaway. Tompkins also had several sexual assault convictions and accusations prior to the murder. One incident involved him abducting and abusing a gas station clerk.
68. John Marek (~1980s-2008, lethal injection): Marek and his accomplice, Raymond Wigley, picked up 47 year old Adela Simmons. They forced Simmons to perform oral sex on them, burned her fingers and pubic hairs, and strangled her to death with a bandana. The pair then dumped her body near a beach. Marek was sentenced to death for Simmons' murder, while Wigley was given a life sentence. While in prison, Wigley himself was strangled to death by the above mentioned John Blackwelder.
69. Martin Grossman (1984-2010, lethal injection): Grossman was given probation after a spree involving the burglary of an ex girlfriend's home and stealing cars. While out shooting a stolen handgun with a friend, they were confronted by Margaret Park, a 26 year old wildlife ranger. Wanting to avoid being arrested and put back into prison for violating his parole, Grossman and his friend attacked Park with a flashlight. They wrestled her service pistol away from her and shot and killed Park with it. Due to Grossman being Jewish, his death sentence outraged several Jewish organizations across the globe, and they petitioned ceaselessly for his clemency.
70. Manuel Valle (1978-2011, lethal injection): While driving a stolen car, Valle was pulled over by Louis Pena, a 41 year old police officer, for a traffic violation. In the confrontation, Valle shot Pena and his partner. Although Pena was killed in the shooting, his partner's life was saved by a bullet proof vest.
71. Oba Chandler (~1960s-2011, lethal injection): Chandler enticed a woman, 36 year old Joan Rogers, and her two daughters, 17 year old Michelle and 14 year old Christe, with the promise of a boat ride. On board, he bound the family with rope and raped all three of them. Chandler then tied concrete blocks around Joan and her daughters' necks and tossed them into the ocean to drown. He also raped and strangled 20 year old Ivelisse Berrios–Beguerisse after abducting her from a mall, and was linked to the murder by a 2014 DNA test 3 years after his execution. Chandler was an inveterate sexual predator with a very long criminal history, and was first arrested for car theft in his early teens. Many of his other crimes include several convictions of armed robbery, burglary, rape, counterfeiting, and kidnapping. In one incident, he broke into a couple’s house, and sexually assaulted the wife in front of her husband. One surviving victim, a 24 year old Canadian tourist, helped investigators tie Chandler to the Rogers’ murders with her reports.
72. Robert Waterhouse (~1966-2012, lethal injection): In 1966, Waterhouse snuck into the home of 77 year old Ella Carter, and raped and strangled her to death. He was paroled after serving 8 years of a life sentence. A few years later, Waterhouse picked up 29 year old Deborah Kammerer from a bar and assaulted her on a nearby beach. He stabbed and violated Kammerer with a broken bottle, shoved a tampon down her throat, and drowned her in the ocean waters.
73. David Gore (1981-2012, lethal injection): Gore and his cousin abducted and murdered 4 teenage girls (17 year old Ying Hua Ling, 17 year old Lynn Eilliot, 14 year old Angelica LaVallee, 14 year old Barbara Byer) and 2 grown women (48 year old Hsiang Huang Ling and 35 year old Judith Daley). The victims were kidnapped through force, picked up while hitchhiking, or tricked into thinking that Gore was a police officer detaining them. They were then tied up, raped, and shot or strangled to death. The cousins dismembered the bodies in their attempts to destroy them and buried the scattered remains in shallow graves. Two of their victims, Ying Hua Ling and Hsiang Huang Ling, were a mother and daughter pair of Taiwanese immigrants, and the cousins murdered them together. A 7th victim, 14 year old friend of Eilliot, was also abducted and sodomized, but she managed to escape with Eilliot's help.
74. Manuel Pardo Jr. (1986-2012, lethal injection): Pardo was a corrupt cop heavily involved in the drug trade. After his department fired him for his abuse of power and suspected tampering of investigations, Pardo went on a crime spree. He shot and killed at least 9 men and women in robberies and interpersonal disputes. The victims he murdered in robberies were 39 year old Ulpiano Ledo, 37 year old Luis Robledo, 33 year old Mario Amador, and 28 year old Roberto Alons. In every robbery incident, he stole the victims’ credit cards. Pardo killed 28 year old Fara Quintero in an argument over a ring he pawned to her and 30 year old Sara Musa for refusing his demands of buying him a VCR set with a credit card stolen from one of his previous robberies. Another victim, Michael Millot, a 38 year old Haitian refugee that took up work as a gunsmith, was slain out of Pardo’s fears of him being a police informant. His last murders were 40 year old Ramon Alvero, a drug dealer that he work for, and Alvaro’s girlfriend, 38 year old Daisy Ricard. Pardo turned on the couple after Alvaro stiffed him of a meeting. He shot Alvaro dead, but Padro’s gun jammed when he tried to shoot Ricard as well. As he was beating Ricard to death with his gun, it discharged and hit Pardo’s foot. On death row, Pardo tried to fashion himself as a vigilante trying to rid Florida of all drug related crimes.
75. Larry Mann (~1970s-2012, lethal injection): Mann ambushed 10 year old Elisa Nelson while she was biking from school to a dentist appointment. He raped Nelson and beat her to death with a pipe. Authorities also initially suspected Mann in the murders of several girls in the area, such as 16 year old Janie Sanders and 13 year old Rose Levandoski, but the current thinking is that another (still unknown) predator was likely responsible. Although he had convictions against adult women, Mann was a pedophile with a history of mostly preying on young girls.
76. Elmer Carroll (~1972-2012, lethal injection): Carroll broke into the room of 10 year old Christine McGowan. He raped and strangled the girl to death, tucked the body underneath the bedsheets, and stole her stepfather's construction truck. McGowan's body discovered was by her stepfather when he came to check on her. At the time of the murder, Carroll had two separate convictions (including one against his then 5 year old niece) for child molestation and was first accused of rape at the age of 16.
77. William Van (~1971-2013, lethal injection): Poyck Van Poyck and another man, Frank Valdez, ambushed a prison van that their incarcerated friend was being transported in with the intent of freeing him. The pair shot and killed a guard, 40 year old Fred Griffis and wounded another. Despite overtaking the van, they were forced to retreat without their friend with the arrival of police reinforcements. Both were captured after a brief shootout with the police and were given death sentences for Griffis’ murder. The case sparked controversy when Valdez was beaten to death by other prison guards in his cell. The officers involved were all fired but acquitted for murder in their trials. Van Poyck had several convictions of armed robbery on his record.
78. John Ferguson (~1960s-2013, lethal injection): Ferguson was the mastermind of the Carol City massacre that his above mentioned accomplices, Marvin Francois and Beauford White, participated in. He also committed a series of murders on his own. Two of his other victims, 17 year old Brian Glenfeldt and 17 year old Belinda Worley, were a couple that were ambushed in the parking lot of an ice cream shop. Ferguson raped Worley, shot her and Glenfeldt dead, and ran off with her jewelry and Glenfeldt’s wallet. Another couple, 82 year old Katherine and 75 year old Raymond Perry, were assaulted by Ferguson in their motel room, robbed, and shot dead execution style. Authorities also believe that Ferguson was responsible for the murders of James Ward, a 40 year old runaway from a mental institution, and Joseph Walters (age unknown), but was never convicted of them in court. Ferguson had a troubled upbringing, was stealing cars at the age of 13, and convicted for the attempted murder of an officer. Due to allegations of him being a schizophrenic, his execution was delayed numerous times, which is why he was put to death decades after his accomplices.
79. Marshall Gore (1988-2013, lethal injection): Gore abducted and murdered two women, 30 year old Robyn Novick and 19 year old Susan Roark. Both women were last seen in his company, and they were raped, beaten, and stabbed to death. He also carjacked 32 year old Tina Coralis while she was driving with her 2 year old son Jimmy. Gore raped Tina, beat her with a rock, slit her throat, dumped her on the side of the road, and drove off with her car while Jimmy was still in it. Tina survived the attack and notified the police about her kidnapped son and stolen car. The police were able to rescue Jimmy unharmed and capture Gore without incident.
80. William Happ (~1980s-2013, lethal injection): Happ dragged 21 year old Angela Crowley out of her own car window in a convenience store parking lot. He anally raped and strangled Crowley to death with her pants. A corner's report mentioned that Crowley received over 20 blows to her head during the assault. Happ had several convictions of armed robbery, one of which pertained to an abduction incident.
81. Darius Kimbrough (1991-2013, lethal injection): Kimbrough climbed into the apartment window of 28 year old Denise Collin with the help of a ladder. He raped and repeatedly slammed her head against the wall. She was found bloodied and nude by the paramedics called to the scene. Collin died of her injuries in the hospital a day after the attack. Her murder went unsolved until samples of Kimbrough’s DNA were collected from another one of his rapes. With the presence of additional pubic hairs found in Collin’s room, at least two other men were also certainly involved, but they remain at large to this day.
82. Thomas Knight (~1960s-2013, lethal injection): Knight began his string of murders by abducting his former employer, 64 year old Sydney Gans, and Sydney's wife, 60 year old Lillian. After her forced them to withdraw $50,000 from their bank accounts, Knight shot the Gans' dead. He was apprehended and, but he managed to escape from jail while awaiting trial. While on the run, Knight gunned down a clerk, 54 year old William Culpepper, while holding up a liquor store, and $640 from the cash register. A month later, Knight was recaptured following an armed standoff with police, and sentenced to death for the Gan killings. On death row, he stabbed a correctional officer, 48 year old Richard Burke, to death with a sharpened spoon over the prison allegedly barring him from seeing his mother. Knight had numerous theft and burglary convictions that date back to when he was 9 years old.
83. Juan Chavez (1995-2014, lethal injection): Chavez accosted 9 year old Jimmy Ryce when the boy was dropped off at a stop by a school bus, and abducted him at gunpoint. He took Ryce to a trailer on his employers' property and raped him. When Ryce tried to signal a passing helicopter for help, Chavez shot him in the back of the head, and muffled his cries as he died. The body was then decapitated and dismembered, and Chavez buried the remains near his trailer.
84. Paul Howell (~1990s-2014, lethal injection): Howell was part of a drug smuggling gang. One of the members had a falling out with the ring and made an agreement with law enforcement to testify against them. Howell constructed a microwave bomb to assassinate the witness in her home, and he assigned an associate to carry out the hit. As he was transporting the bomb to its intended destination, the associate was pulled over and detained by deputies. While being processed, the bomb detonated prematurely, and killed a deputy, 35 year old James Fulford, Jr.
85. Robert Henry (1987-2014, lethal injection): As part of his plan to assault the gas station that he worked at, Henry tricked his co workers, 53 year old Phyllis Harris and 35 year old Janet Thermidor, into thinking that a robber was holding him hostage. He duped the women into allowing themselves to be tied up and gagged, as Henry claimed to them that the fictitious "robber" was forcing him to do it. Both women were beaten with hammers as Henry ransacked the station’s store. After he stole a total of $1,269 from the register, he poured gasoline all over the building, and set it on fire. Thermidor and Harris were burned alive in the blaze and died of their injures, but Thermidor survived long enough to identify Henry as the assailant.
86. Robert Hendrix (1990-2014, lethal injection): To prevent his cousin, 25 year old Elmer Scott Jr., from testifying against him in a then upcoming burglary trail, Hendrix broke into the home that he shared with his wife, 18 year old Susan, with an accomplice. He shot Susan and Elmer, beat them with the butt of his rifle, and slashed their throats. In the case that he was about to be tried for, Elmer and Hendrix burglarized a home together, and Elmer agreed to testify against him in exchange for a reduced sentence.
87. John Henry (~1975-2014, lethal injection): In 1975, Henry got into an argument with his first wife, 28 year old Patricia Roddy, while they were driving with her daughters. Henry pulled over and stabbed Patricia to death in front of her children. After he plead guilty, Henry was given a 15 year sentence for second degree murder, and was released in 1983 after serving 8. Shortly after his release, he married 28 year old Suzanne Overstreet. As what happened with his first wife, he fatally stabbed Suzanne during an argument in 1985. He then took his stepson, 4 year old Eugene Christian, to a chicken farm and stabbed him to death as well. Henry also had several convictions for the possession of drugs and illegal firearms.
88. Eddie Davis (~1980s-2014, lethal injection): Davis kidnapped his ex girlfriend's daughter, 11 year Kimberly Waters, from her home and gagged her with a rag. He took the girl to a trailer that he used to live in, and raped and strangled her to death. His criminal activity before the murder included several arrests for burglary and autotheft.
89. Chadwick Banks (1992-2014, lethal injection): Banks shot his wife, 30 year old Cassandra, in the head while she was sleeping on their couch. He then crept into the room of his stepdaughter, 10 year old Melody Cooper, and sexually assaulted her. Melody was also shot dead during the abuse.
90. Johnny Kormondy (~1989-2014, lethal injection): Kormondy and his two accomplices invaded a house that Gary McAdams, a 38 year old banker, shared with his wife, 38 year old Cecilia. The couple were ambushed after they returned home from a high school reunion. Gary was shot and killed by Kormondy, while Cecilia was forced to orally copulate the other intruders. Several items were stolen in the robbery, but my sources didn’t disclose any specifics. Kormondy had several previous convictions of robberies and auto thefts, and the earliest occurred when he was 14.
91. Jerry Correll (1985-2015, lethal injection): Correll shot and killed his ex wife, 25 year old Susan, their daughter, 5 year old Tuesday, Susan's sister, 29 year old Marybeth Jones, and their mother, 58 year old Mary Lou Hines. All four victims were murdered in a home they shared together.
92. Oscar Bolin (~1977-2015, lethal injection): Bolin was sentenced to death for the abductions and murders of 26 year old Teri Matthews, 25 year old Natalie Holley, and 17 year old Stephanie Collins. All 3 victims were kidnapped while they were getting off from work, raped, and killed in beating and stabbing attacks. He raped and strangled a fourth victim, 30 year old Deborah Stowe, to death in Texas, but wasn't charged due to already facing the death penalty in Florida. Bolin also took part in the non fatal abduction and gang rape of a waitress in Ohio, was charged for kidnapping his girlfriend (which were later dropped by the courts), and had several theft convictions that started when he was 15.
93. Mark Asay (1987-2017, lethal injection): Asay shot and killed a black man, 34 year old Robert Booker, during a racially charged fight that he picked at a bar. After Booker's murder, Asay, his brother, and their friend went cruising for prostitutes. They encountered a cross dressing sex worker, 26 year old Robert McDowell, they were acquainted with and picked him up. McDowell was also shot dead by Asay when they got into an argument over payment for an oral sex act.
94. Michael Lambrix (1983-2017, lethal injection): While intoxicated, Lambrix beat one of his friends, 35 year old Clarence Moore, to death with a tire iron, and fatally strangled another friend, 19 year old Aleisha Bryant, with a t-shirt in their trailer. He was previously arrested for welfare fraud and was detained for an unspecified "unrelated charge" during the murder investigation.
95. Patrick Hannon (1991-2017, lethal injection): 27 year old Brandon Snider vandalized the bedroom of his ex girlfriend while she was away on vacation. The ex girlfriend's brother was friends with Hannon, and he convinced him to launch a revenge attack on Snider with the help of another friend. They broke into Snider's apartment, stabbed him, and slit his throat. Snider's roommate, 28 year old Robert Carter, witnessed the murder, and tried hiding underneath his bed. Hannon dragged Carter out and shot him to death.
96. Eric Branch (1991-2018, lethal injection): In 1993, Branch abducted and carjacked 21 year old Susan Morris. He raped, beat, and strangled her to death, and then buried Morris' body in a shallow grave near a nature trail. Branch used Morris' car to flee back to his native Indiana, but was captured for a traffic violation. A registered sex offender, Branch had previous convictions for sexually abusing a 14 year old girl, and raped an unidentified woman 10 days before Morris' murder.
97. José Jiménez (~1990-2018, lethal injection): Jiménez fatally strangled Marie Debas, a 32 year old French woman who was allegedly in a relationship with a Medellin cartel drug runner, during a burglary of her apartment. Two years later, he burglarized the home of 63 year old Phyllis Minas, and stabbed her to death.
98. Bobby Long (~1990-2018, lethal injection): As the “Classified Ad Rapist”, Long raped over 50 women. He was given that epithet due to contacting and luring his victims through classified ads. After one of his victims sought charges that initially convicted him (though were later dropped on appeals), Long’s pattern of sexual violence escalated to murder. Long murdered at least 10 women and teenage girls between the ages of 18-28 and non fatally assaulted a 33 year old woman, Linda Nuttall, and a 17 year old girl, Lisa McVey. The victims were picked up through hitchhiking, forcibly grabbed while walking alone on streets, or were prostitutes lured with promises of payment for sexual favors. Long’s sparing of his last victim, McVey, provided to be his downfall, as it was her meticulously detailed reports that led law enforcement to him.
99. Gary Bowles (~1970s-2019, lethal injection): Bowles lured 6 men, 72 year old Milton Bradley, 59 year old John Roberts, 47 year old Walter Hinton, 47 year old Alverson, 39 year old David Jarman, and 38 year old Albert Morris by prostituting himself to them. Once a victim was enticed, Bowles strangled them, and stole their credit cards. He also had several convictions for armed robbery, hospitalized his stepfather in his early teens, and served a 6 year prison sentence for sexually assaulting his girlfriend.
100. Donald Dillbeck (~1979-2023, lethal injection): In 1979, Dillbeck stole a car, and was pulled over by a deputy, 31 year old Dwight Hall. After a prolonged chase and scuffle, Dillbeck shot and killed Hall with his own gun. He was then given a life sentence for Hall's murder. Dillbeck escaped from prison in 1990, and stabbed 44 year old Robbie Vann to death while trying to seize her car. The pursuing officers recaptured him shortly after the killing, and he was sentenced to death for Vann's murder.
101. Louis Gaskin (~1986-2023, lethal injection): Gaskin started his burglary spree by breaking into the home of couple, 56 year old Robert and 55 year old Georgette Sturmfels. He shot them both dead, and stole their lamp, VCR set, and some jewelry and money. His second target was a house owned by 38 year old Joseph Rector and his wife Mary (age unknown). Although Gaskin shot Joseph, the couple both managed to escape him with their lives. Due to him wearing a ninja costume as a disguise during the robberies, he was dubbed as the "Ninja Killer" by media outlets. Gaskin also had a few robbery convictions at the time of the murders.
102. Darryl Barwick (1983-2023, lethal injection): Barwick stalked 24 year old Rebecca Wendt as she was sunbathing in a pool, followed her to her apartment, and forced himself inside to rob it. He stabbed Wendt 37 times and raped her. At the age of 16, Barwick had committed a similar act of rape and burglary against an unidentified woman, and was released from prison 3 months before Wendt's murder.
103. Duane Owen (1984-2023, lethal injection): Owen raped 14 year old Karen Slattery while burglarizing a home she was babysitting at, and stabbed her to death. A few months later, Owen burglarized another home owned by 38 year old Georgianna Worden. She was sexually assaulted and fatally beaten with a hammer. He was captured while breaking into another house on the same day, and confessed to Worden and Slattery's murders
104. James Barnes (~1988-2023, lethal injection): In 1988, Barnes invaded the home of 41 year old Patricia Miller, and tied her up with her own shoelaces. She was sexually assaulted, beaten to death with a hammer, and Barnes set her bed on fire to destroy any evidence of the crime. 9 years later, Barnes strangled his estranged wife, 44 year old Linda, to death in her home, and stuffed the body into a closet. He stayed in the house until he was arrested by police officers. Barnes also admitted to the shooting deaths of Chester Wetmore, a 14 year old runaway, and Brenda Fletcher, a 50 year old prostitute, but was never charged for their killings. According to Barnes, he killed both victims for stealing from him.
105. Michael Zack III (1996-2023, lethal injection): Zack befriended two women, 40 year old Laura Rosillo and 31 year old Ravonne Smith, while hanging out at bars. He lured Rosillo to the beach with the promise of drugs, and assaulted her with a tire iron. Rosillo was raped, strangled to death, and he buried her body in a sand dune. A day later, he tricked Smith into letting him inside her house. She was smashed in the head with a glass bottle, raped, and stabbed to death. Zack then fled with her car, television set, VCR, and her purse. On a different note, when he was a child, Zack’s older sister dismembered their mother with an ax over an argument regarding the sister’s boyfriend. He used that story to gain the sympathy of his victims. His sister (who was simply institutionalized rather then incarcerated for the murder) also testified about their stepfather’s alleged abuse of them at his trial, though the prosecutors debunked most of her stories.
submitted by Leather_Focus_6535 to TrueCrimeDiscussion [link] [comments]
The currently 105 executed offenders, cases 53 to 105:
53. Aileen Wuornos (~1974-2002, lethal injection): Wuornos murdered 7 men between the ages of 47-65. She was a street prostitute that enticed her victims with promises of sexual favors. After a victim was entrapped, Wuornos shot them dead, and robbed them of their money and their vehicles. Although Wuornos initially claimed that she killed the victims in self defense, she later admitted that they were murdered for their valuables. Her criminal history was extensive, and she had several convictions for armed robbery, assault, DUIs, reckless discharge of firearms, and disorderly conduct. She was also accused of domestic violence by an ex husband, and he placed a restraining order on her within weeks of their marriage.
54. Linroy Bottoson (~1971-2002, lethal injection): In a robbery of a post office, Bottoson stole $14,000 in money orders and $100 in cash, and abducted the post mistress, 74 year old Catherine Alexander. After holding her captive for 3 days, Bottoson stabbed Alexander 16 times, and ran her over with his car. He had several robberies on his criminal record.
55. Amos King Jr. (~1972-2002, lethal injection): After he escaped from a minimum security prison, King broke into the home of 68 year old Natalie Brady and assaulted her. She was raped, stabbed, and savagely beaten in the attack. King then set her house on fire, and returned back to the prison. At his arrival, the prison counselor confronted him about his absence and bloodied clothing. He was stabbed 25 times by King, but managed to survive his injuries. Despite her injuries, Brady managed to crawl out of her burning home, but succumbed to blood loss shortly before help could arrive. King had a previous conviction for robbery.
56. Newton Slawson (1989-2003, lethal injection): Slawson went over to the home of the Wood family (consisting of parents, 23 year old Gerald and 21 year old Peggy, and their children, 4 year old Jennifer and 3 year old Glendon) to buy some cocaine. During an argument over the transaction, Slawson shot and killed Gerald, Jennifer, and Glendon, and wounded Peggy. Slawson then stabbed Peggy (who was 8 months pregnant) with such force that he tore her unborn child out of her womb.
57. Paul Hill (1994-2003, lethal injection): During an attack on an abortion clinic, Hill shot and killed John Britton, a 69 year old abortionist, and his bodyguard, 74 year old James Barrett. Britton’s wife, 68 year old June, was also wounded in the shooting. Hill was a hardline pro life activist and Christian fundamentalist, and saw ending abortion by any means necessary as his personal divine mission.
58. Johnny Robinson (~1980s-2004, lethal injection): Robinson and his teenage accomplice picked up 31 year old Beverly St. George when they found her broken down on the side of the road. They then raped St. George and shot her to death. He tried to claim that they had consensual relations and St. George was hit by an accidental discharge during intercourse. If Robinson's "recollection" was to be believed, he then shot her again to cover up an "accidental" shooting of a white woman. The courts weren't convinced by the defense, and the accomplice admitted that the murder was entirely deliberate and calculated from the beginning. Robinson had several rape convictions and accusations before St. George's murder.
59. John Blackwelder (~1970s-2004, lethal injection): While incarcerated for molesting a 10 year old boy, Blackwelder tied up his cellmate, 39 year old Raymond Wigley, under the alleged pretenses of a bondage session and strangled him to death with makeshift rope. According to Blackwelder, Wigley had been sexually harassing him, and he wanted to put a permeant end to the unwanted advances. Blackwelder had several sexual assault convictions dating back to the 1970s, and was also previously convicted for threatening former vice president Dan Quayle. His victim was the accomplice of another executed offender, John Marek, and was serving a life sentence for assisting him in the torture murder of a woman [for more details on Marek and Wigley's crimes, please see section 68] at the time of his own death.
60. Glen Ocha (1999-2005, lethal injection): Ocha picked up 28 year old Carol Skjerva from a bar and they had sex in his home. However, Skjerva allegedly made mocking remarks towards his genitals and threatened to tell her fiance of their encounter. In a drunken rage and under the influence of ecstasy, Ocha hung her with rope from his kitchen door.
61. Clarence Hill (1982-2006, lethal injection): During an attempted bank robbery with an accomplice, Hill engaged in a shootout with the responding policemen. One of the officers, 26 year old Stephen Taylor, was killed and another was wounded.
62. Arthur Rutherford (1985-2006, lethal injection): Rutherford was hired by a widow, 63 year old Stella Salamon, to do odd jobs around her home. He then drowned Salamon in her bathtub and tried to cash in a check of $2,000 from her account. Salamon's nude body was found with a broken arm, bruising all across her face, and three head wounds.
63. Danny Rolling (~1960s-2006, lethal injection): Rolling murdered a total of 8 people between the ages of 8-55. In 1989, Rolling stabbed 55 year old William Grissom, William’s 24 year old daughter Julie, and his 8 year old grandson Sean to death in their home. Julie’s body was ritualistically mutilated and posed during the attack. A year later, he shot his estranged father, 59 year old James. Although James survived, he was left permanently blind. Rolling then burglarized several student dorms in a week long rampage. Five students, 23 year old Tracy Paules, 23 year old Manuel Taboda, 18 year old Sonja Larson, 17 year old Christa Hoyt, and 17 year old Christina Powell, were bound, raped, and stabbed to death. Only Taboada was spared from any sexual abuse. As with Julia Grissom, Rolling posed the female victims into provocative positions and mutilated their bodies. Roiling decapitated Hoyt and placed her head on a cabinet shelf for the sole purpose of shocking witnesses stumbling across the scene. He had a long history of robberies, assaults, and voyeurism, and some of his earliest convictions occurred when he was a teenager.
64. Ángel Díaz (~1960s-2006, lethal injection): In his native Puerto Rico, Díaz stabbed an unidentified man, who was a director of a local drug rehabilitation center, 19 times while the victim was asleep. Díaz was sentenced for second degree murder, but he escaped after beating a guard near death, and fled to Florida. During his stay in Florida, Díaz and his accomplices robbed a strip club at gunpoint, and shot and killed the manager, 49 year old Joseph Nagy. After Nagy’s murder, he and his accomplices relocated themselves to Connecticut. However, they were arrested for a possession of illegal firearms charge. Díaz and 3 other inmates briefly managed to escape by beating up a guard and threatening another at knifepoint, but were quickly recaptured. After a cellmate testified that Díaz confessed to Nagy’s murder, he was deported back to Florida and sentenced to death. His execution sparked controversy, as it took him 34 minutes to succumb to the lethal drugs. Díaz’s other criminal convictions include shooting and injuring an officer during an armed robbery and several drug possession charges. Authorities also suspected him of being involved with several Puerto Rican nationalist insurgent groups.
65. Mark Schwab (1987-2008, lethal injection): Schwab lured 11 year old Junny Rios-Martinez into a motel room by posing as a photographer for a surfing magazine. He bound Rios-Martinez, anally penetrated him, and smothered the boy to death with a pillow. Schwab also had a conviction for the sexual battery of a 13 year old boy, and he was released after serving 3 out of an 8 year prison sentence months before Rios-Martinez's murder.
66. Richard Henyard (1993-2008, lethal injection): Henyard and his teenage accomplice carjacked 35 year old Dorothy Lewis, and her two daughters, 7 year old Jamilya and 3 year old Jasmine. The pair raped Dorothy, and shot and killed both of her daughters. Dorothy was also shot in the head, but was able to survive. Dorothy recounted that she tried praying for her and her children's safety, and Henyard taunted her by mockingly claiming to be Satan himself.
67. Wayne Tompkins (~1980s-2008, lethal injection): While helping his girlfriend move from their home, Tompkins made sexual advances on her 15 year old daughter, Lisa DeCarr. When she rejected him, Tompkins raped and strangeld her to death with a bathrobe, and tried to report DeCarr as a runaway. Tompkins also had several sexual assault convictions and accusations prior to the murder. One incident involved him abducting and abusing a gas station clerk.
68. John Marek (~1980s-2008, lethal injection): Marek and his accomplice, Raymond Wigley, picked up 47 year old Adela Simmons. They forced Simmons to perform oral sex on them, burned her fingers and pubic hairs, and strangled her to death with a bandana. The pair then dumped her body near a beach. Marek was sentenced to death for Simmons' murder, while Wigley was given a life sentence. While in prison, Wigley himself was strangled to death by the above mentioned John Blackwelder.
69. Martin Grossman (1984-2010, lethal injection): Grossman was given probation after a spree involving the burglary of an ex girlfriend's home and stealing cars. While out shooting a stolen handgun with a friend, they were confronted by Margaret Park, a 26 year old wildlife ranger. Wanting to avoid being arrested and put back into prison for violating his parole, Grossman and his friend attacked Park with a flashlight. They wrestled her service pistol away from her and shot and killed Park with it. Due to Grossman being Jewish, his death sentence outraged several Jewish organizations across the globe, and they petitioned ceaselessly for his clemency.
70. Manuel Valle (1978-2011, lethal injection): While driving a stolen car, Valle was pulled over by Louis Pena, a 41 year old police officer, for a traffic violation. In the confrontation, Valle shot Pena and his partner. Although Pena was killed in the shooting, his partner's life was saved by a bullet proof vest.
71. Oba Chandler (~1960s-2011, lethal injection): Chandler enticed a woman, 36 year old Joan Rogers, and her two daughters, 17 year old Michelle and 14 year old Christe, with the promise of a boat ride. On board, he bound the family with rope and raped all three of them. Chandler then tied concrete blocks around Joan and her daughters' necks and tossed them into the ocean to drown. He also raped and strangled 20 year old Ivelisse Berrios–Beguerisse after abducting her from a mall, and was linked to the murder by a 2014 DNA test 3 years after his execution. Chandler was an inveterate sexual predator with a very long criminal history, and was first arrested for car theft in his early teens. Many of his other crimes include several convictions of armed robbery, burglary, rape, counterfeiting, and kidnapping. In one incident, he broke into a couple’s house, and sexually assaulted the wife in front of her husband. One surviving victim, a 24 year old Canadian tourist, helped investigators tie Chandler to the Rogers’ murders with her reports.
72. Robert Waterhouse (~1966-2012, lethal injection): In 1966, Waterhouse snuck into the home of 77 year old Ella Carter, and raped and strangled her to death. He was paroled after serving 8 years of a life sentence. A few years later, Waterhouse picked up 29 year old Deborah Kammerer from a bar and assaulted her on a nearby beach. He stabbed and violated Kammerer with a broken bottle, shoved a tampon down her throat, and drowned her in the ocean waters.
73. David Gore (1981-2012, lethal injection): Gore and his cousin abducted and murdered 4 teenage girls (17 year old Ying Hua Ling, 17 year old Lynn Eilliot, 14 year old Angelica LaVallee, 14 year old Barbara Byer) and 2 grown women (48 year old Hsiang Huang Ling and 35 year old Judith Daley). The victims were kidnapped through force, picked up while hitchhiking, or tricked into thinking that Gore was a police officer detaining them. They were then tied up, raped, and shot or strangled to death. The cousins dismembered the bodies in their attempts to destroy them and buried the scattered remains in shallow graves. Two of their victims, Ying Hua Ling and Hsiang Huang Ling, were a mother and daughter pair of Taiwanese immigrants, and the cousins murdered them together. A 7th victim, 14 year old friend of Eilliot, was also abducted and sodomized, but she managed to escape with Eilliot's help.
74. Manuel Pardo Jr. (1986-2012, lethal injection): Pardo was a corrupt cop heavily involved in the drug trade. After his department fired him for his abuse of power and suspected tampering of investigations, Pardo went on a crime spree. He shot and killed at least 9 men and women in robberies and interpersonal disputes. The victims he murdered in robberies were 39 year old Ulpiano Ledo, 37 year old Luis Robledo, 33 year old Mario Amador, and 28 year old Roberto Alons. In every robbery incident, he stole the victims’ credit cards. Pardo killed 28 year old Fara Quintero in an argument over a ring he pawned to her and 30 year old Sara Musa for refusing his demands of buying him a VCR set with a credit card stolen from one of his previous robberies. Another victim, Michael Millot, a 38 year old Haitian refugee that took up work as a gunsmith, was slain out of Pardo’s fears of him being a police informant. His last murders were 40 year old Ramon Alvero, a drug dealer that he work for, and Alvaro’s girlfriend, 38 year old Daisy Ricard. Pardo turned on the couple after Alvaro stiffed him of a meeting. He shot Alvaro dead, but Padro’s gun jammed when he tried to shoot Ricard as well. As he was beating Ricard to death with his gun, it discharged and hit Pardo’s foot. On death row, Pardo tried to fashion himself as a vigilante trying to rid Florida of all drug related crimes.
75. Larry Mann (~1970s-2012, lethal injection): Mann ambushed 10 year old Elisa Nelson while she was biking from school to a dentist appointment. He raped Nelson and beat her to death with a pipe. Authorities also initially suspected Mann in the murders of several girls in the area, such as 16 year old Janie Sanders and 13 year old Rose Levandoski, but the current thinking is that another (still unknown) predator was likely responsible. Although he had convictions against adult women, Mann was a pedophile with a history of mostly preying on young girls.
76. Elmer Carroll (~1972-2012, lethal injection): Carroll broke into the room of 10 year old Christine McGowan. He raped and strangled the girl to death, tucked the body underneath the bedsheets, and stole her stepfather's construction truck. McGowan's body discovered was by her stepfather when he came to check on her. At the time of the murder, Carroll had two separate convictions (including one against his then 5 year old niece) for child molestation and was first accused of rape at the age of 16.
77. William Van (~1971-2013, lethal injection): Poyck Van Poyck and another man, Frank Valdez, ambushed a prison van that their incarcerated friend was being transported in with the intent of freeing him. The pair shot and killed a guard, 40 year old Fred Griffis and wounded another. Despite overtaking the van, they were forced to retreat without their friend with the arrival of police reinforcements. Both were captured after a brief shootout with the police and were given death sentences for Griffis’ murder. The case sparked controversy when Valdez was beaten to death by other prison guards in his cell. The officers involved were all fired but acquitted for murder in their trials. Van Poyck had several convictions of armed robbery on his record.
78. John Ferguson (~1960s-2013, lethal injection): Ferguson was the mastermind of the Carol City massacre that his above mentioned accomplices, Marvin Francois and Beauford White, participated in. He also committed a series of murders on his own. Two of his other victims, 17 year old Brian Glenfeldt and 17 year old Belinda Worley, were a couple that were ambushed in the parking lot of an ice cream shop. Ferguson raped Worley, shot her and Glenfeldt dead, and ran off with her jewelry and Glenfeldt’s wallet. Another couple, 82 year old Katherine and 75 year old Raymond Perry, were assaulted by Ferguson in their motel room, robbed, and shot dead execution style. Authorities also believe that Ferguson was responsible for the murders of James Ward, a 40 year old runaway from a mental institution, and Joseph Walters (age unknown), but was never convicted of them in court. Ferguson had a troubled upbringing, was stealing cars at the age of 13, and convicted for the attempted murder of an officer. Due to allegations of him being a schizophrenic, his execution was delayed numerous times, which is why he was put to death decades after his accomplices.
79. Marshall Gore (1988-2013, lethal injection): Gore abducted and murdered two women, 30 year old Robyn Novick and 19 year old Susan Roark. Both women were last seen in his company, and they were raped, beaten, and stabbed to death. He also carjacked 32 year old Tina Coralis while she was driving with her 2 year old son Jimmy. Gore raped Tina, beat her with a rock, slit her throat, dumped her on the side of the road, and drove off with her car while Jimmy was still in it. Tina survived the attack and notified the police about her kidnapped son and stolen car. The police were able to rescue Jimmy unharmed and capture Gore without incident.
80. William Happ (~1980s-2013, lethal injection): Happ dragged 21 year old Angela Crowley out of her own car window in a convenience store parking lot. He anally raped and strangled Crowley to death with her pants. A corner's report mentioned that Crowley received over 20 blows to her head during the assault. Happ had several convictions of armed robbery, one of which pertained to an abduction incident.
81. Darius Kimbrough (1991-2013, lethal injection): Kimbrough climbed into the apartment window of 28 year old Denise Collin with the help of a ladder. He raped and repeatedly slammed her head against the wall. She was found bloodied and nude by the paramedics called to the scene. Collin died of her injuries in the hospital a day after the attack. Her murder went unsolved until samples of Kimbrough’s DNA were collected from another one of his rapes. With the presence of additional pubic hairs found in Collin’s room, at least two other men were also certainly involved, but they remain at large to this day.
82. Thomas Knight (~1960s-2013, lethal injection): Knight began his string of murders by abducting his former employer, 64 year old Sydney Gans, and Sydney's wife, 60 year old Lillian. After her forced them to withdraw $50,000 from their bank accounts, Knight shot the Gans' dead. He was apprehended and, but he managed to escape from jail while awaiting trial. While on the run, Knight gunned down a clerk, 54 year old William Culpepper, while holding up a liquor store, and $640 from the cash register. A month later, Knight was recaptured following an armed standoff with police, and sentenced to death for the Gan killings. On death row, he stabbed a correctional officer, 48 year old Richard Burke, to death with a sharpened spoon over the prison allegedly barring him from seeing his mother. Knight had numerous theft and burglary convictions that date back to when he was 9 years old.
83. Juan Chavez (1995-2014, lethal injection): Chavez accosted 9 year old Jimmy Ryce when the boy was dropped off at a stop by a school bus, and abducted him at gunpoint. He took Ryce to a trailer on his employers' property and raped him. When Ryce tried to signal a passing helicopter for help, Chavez shot him in the back of the head, and muffled his cries as he died. The body was then decapitated and dismembered, and Chavez buried the remains near his trailer.
84. Paul Howell (~1990s-2014, lethal injection): Howell was part of a drug smuggling gang. One of the members had a falling out with the ring and made an agreement with law enforcement to testify against them. Howell constructed a microwave bomb to assassinate the witness in her home, and he assigned an associate to carry out the hit. As he was transporting the bomb to its intended destination, the associate was pulled over and detained by deputies. While being processed, the bomb detonated prematurely, and killed a deputy, 35 year old James Fulford, Jr.
85. Robert Henry (1987-2014, lethal injection): As part of his plan to assault the gas station that he worked at, Henry tricked his co workers, 53 year old Phyllis Harris and 35 year old Janet Thermidor, into thinking that a robber was holding him hostage. He duped the women into allowing themselves to be tied up and gagged, as Henry claimed to them that the fictitious "robber" was forcing him to do it. Both women were beaten with hammers as Henry ransacked the station’s store. After he stole a total of $1,269 from the register, he poured gasoline all over the building, and set it on fire. Thermidor and Harris were burned alive in the blaze and died of their injures, but Thermidor survived long enough to identify Henry as the assailant.
86. Robert Hendrix (1990-2014, lethal injection): To prevent his cousin, 25 year old Elmer Scott Jr., from testifying against him in a then upcoming burglary trail, Hendrix broke into the home that he shared with his wife, 18 year old Susan, with an accomplice. He shot Susan and Elmer, beat them with the butt of his rifle, and slashed their throats. In the case that he was about to be tried for, Elmer and Hendrix burglarized a home together, and Elmer agreed to testify against him in exchange for a reduced sentence.
87. John Henry (~1975-2014, lethal injection): In 1975, Henry got into an argument with his first wife, 28 year old Patricia Roddy, while they were driving with her daughters. Henry pulled over and stabbed Patricia to death in front of her children. After he plead guilty, Henry was given a 15 year sentence for second degree murder, and was released in 1983 after serving 8. Shortly after his release, he married 28 year old Suzanne Overstreet. As what happened with his first wife, he fatally stabbed Suzanne during an argument in 1985. He then took his stepson, 4 year old Eugene Christian, to a chicken farm and stabbed him to death as well. Henry also had several convictions for the possession of drugs and illegal firearms.
88. Eddie Davis (~1980s-2014, lethal injection): Davis kidnapped his ex girlfriend's daughter, 11 year Kimberly Waters, from her home and gagged her with a rag. He took the girl to a trailer that he used to live in, and raped and strangled her to death. His criminal activity before the murder included several arrests for burglary and autotheft.
89. Chadwick Banks (1992-2014, lethal injection): Banks shot his wife, 30 year old Cassandra, in the head while she was sleeping on their couch. He then crept into the room of his stepdaughter, 10 year old Melody Cooper, and sexually assaulted her. Melody was also shot dead during the abuse.
90. Johnny Kormondy (~1989-2014, lethal injection): Kormondy and his two accomplices invaded a house that Gary McAdams, a 38 year old banker, shared with his wife, 38 year old Cecilia. The couple were ambushed after they returned home from a high school reunion. Gary was shot and killed by Kormondy, while Cecilia was forced to orally copulate the other intruders. Several items were stolen in the robbery, but my sources didn’t disclose any specifics. Kormondy had several previous convictions of robberies and auto thefts, and the earliest occurred when he was 14.
91. Jerry Correll (1985-2015, lethal injection): Correll shot and killed his ex wife, 25 year old Susan, their daughter, 5 year old Tuesday, Susan's sister, 29 year old Marybeth Jones, and their mother, 58 year old Mary Lou Hines. All four victims were murdered in a home they shared together.
92. Oscar Bolin (~1977-2015, lethal injection): Bolin was sentenced to death for the abductions and murders of 26 year old Teri Matthews, 25 year old Natalie Holley, and 17 year old Stephanie Collins. All 3 victims were kidnapped while they were getting off from work, raped, and killed in beating and stabbing attacks. He raped and strangled a fourth victim, 30 year old Deborah Stowe, to death in Texas, but wasn't charged due to already facing the death penalty in Florida. Bolin also took part in the non fatal abduction and gang rape of a waitress in Ohio, was charged for kidnapping his girlfriend (which were later dropped by the courts), and had several theft convictions that started when he was 15.
93. Mark Asay (1987-2017, lethal injection): Asay shot and killed a black man, 34 year old Robert Booker, during a racially charged fight that he picked at a bar. After Booker's murder, Asay, his brother, and their friend went cruising for prostitutes. They encountered a cross dressing sex worker, 26 year old Robert McDowell, they were acquainted with and picked him up. McDowell was also shot dead by Asay when they got into an argument over payment for an oral sex act.
94. Michael Lambrix (1983-2017, lethal injection): While intoxicated, Lambrix beat one of his friends, 35 year old Clarence Moore, to death with a tire iron, and fatally strangled another friend, 19 year old Aleisha Bryant, with a t-shirt in their trailer. He was previously arrested for welfare fraud and was detained for an unspecified "unrelated charge" during the murder investigation.
95. Patrick Hannon (1991-2017, lethal injection): 27 year old Brandon Snider vandalized the bedroom of his ex girlfriend while she was away on vacation. The ex girlfriend's brother was friends with Hannon, and he convinced him to launch a revenge attack on Snider with the help of another friend. They broke into Snider's apartment, stabbed him, and slit his throat. Snider's roommate, 28 year old Robert Carter, witnessed the murder, and tried hiding underneath his bed. Hannon dragged Carter out and shot him to death.
96. Eric Branch (1991-2018, lethal injection): In 1993, Branch abducted and carjacked 21 year old Susan Morris. He raped, beat, and strangled her to death, and then buried Morris' body in a shallow grave near a nature trail. Branch used Morris' car to flee back to his native Indiana, but was captured for a traffic violation. A registered sex offender, Branch had previous convictions for sexually abusing a 14 year old girl, and raped an unidentified woman 10 days before Morris' murder.
97. José Jiménez (~1990-2018, lethal injection): Jiménez fatally strangled Marie Debas, a 32 year old French woman who was allegedly in a relationship with a Medellin cartel drug runner, during a burglary of her apartment. Two years later, he burglarized the home of 63 year old Phyllis Minas, and stabbed her to death.
98. Bobby Long (~1990-2018, lethal injection): As the “Classified Ad Rapist”, Long raped over 50 women. He was given that epithet due to contacting and luring his victims through classified ads. After one of his victims sought charges that initially convicted him (though were later dropped on appeals), Long’s pattern of sexual violence escalated to murder. Long murdered at least 10 women and teenage girls between the ages of 18-28 and non fatally assaulted a 33 year old woman, Linda Nuttall, and a 17 year old girl, Lisa McVey. The victims were picked up through hitchhiking, forcibly grabbed while walking alone on streets, or were prostitutes lured with promises of payment for sexual favors. Long’s sparing of his last victim, McVey, provided to be his downfall, as it was her meticulously detailed reports that led law enforcement to him.
99. Gary Bowles (~1970s-2019, lethal injection): Bowles lured 6 men, 72 year old Milton Bradley, 59 year old John Roberts, 47 year old Walter Hinton, 47 year old Alverson, 39 year old David Jarman, and 38 year old Albert Morris by prostituting himself to them. Once a victim was enticed, Bowles strangled them, and stole their credit cards. He also had several convictions for armed robbery, hospitalized his stepfather in his early teens, and served a 6 year prison sentence for sexually assaulting his girlfriend.
100. Donald Dillbeck (~1979-2023, lethal injection): In 1979, Dillbeck stole a car, and was pulled over by a deputy, 31 year old Dwight Hall. After a prolonged chase and scuffle, Dillbeck shot and killed Hall with his own gun. He was then given a life sentence for Hall's murder. Dillbeck escaped from prison in 1990, and stabbed 44 year old Robbie Vann to death while trying to seize her car. The pursuing officers recaptured him shortly after the killing, and he was sentenced to death for Vann's murder.
101. Louis Gaskin (~1986-2023, lethal injection): Gaskin started his burglary spree by breaking into the home of couple, 56 year old Robert and 55 year old Georgette Sturmfels. He shot them both dead, and stole their lamp, VCR set, and some jewelry and money. His second target was a house owned by 38 year old Joseph Rector and his wife Mary (age unknown). Although Gaskin shot Joseph, the couple both managed to escape him with their lives. Due to him wearing a ninja costume as a disguise during the robberies, he was dubbed as the "Ninja Killer" by media outlets. Gaskin also had a few robbery convictions at the time of the murders.
102. Darryl Barwick (1983-2023, lethal injection): Barwick stalked 24 year old Rebecca Wendt as she was sunbathing in a pool, followed her to her apartment, and forced himself inside to rob it. He stabbed Wendt 37 times and raped her. At the age of 16, Barwick had committed a similar act of rape and burglary against an unidentified woman, and was released from prison 3 months before Wendt's murder.
103. Duane Owen (1984-2023, lethal injection): Owen raped 14 year old Karen Slattery while burglarizing a home she was babysitting at, and stabbed her to death. A few months later, Owen burglarized another home owned by 38 year old Georgianna Worden. She was sexually assaulted and fatally beaten with a hammer. He was captured while breaking into another house on the same day, and confessed to Worden and Slattery's murders
104. James Barnes (~1988-2023, lethal injection): In 1988, Barnes invaded the home of 41 year old Patricia Miller, and tied her up with her own shoelaces. She was sexually assaulted, beaten to death with a hammer, and Barnes set her bed on fire to destroy any evidence of the crime. 9 years later, Barnes strangled his estranged wife, 44 year old Linda, to death in her home, and stuffed the body into a closet. He stayed in the house until he was arrested by police officers. Barnes also admitted to the shooting deaths of Chester Wetmore, a 14 year old runaway, and Brenda Fletcher, a 50 year old prostitute, but was never charged for their killings. According to Barnes, he killed both victims for stealing from him.
105. Michael Zack III (1996-2023, lethal injection): Zack befriended two women, 40 year old Laura Rosillo and 31 year old Ravonne Smith, while hanging out at bars. He lured Rosillo to the beach with the promise of drugs, and assaulted her with a tire iron. Rosillo was raped, strangled to death, and he buried her body in a sand dune. A day later, he tricked Smith into letting him inside her house. She was smashed in the head with a glass bottle, raped, and stabbed to death. Zack then fled with her car, television set, VCR, and her purse. On a different note, when he was a child, Zack’s older sister dismembered their mother with an ax over an argument regarding the sister’s boyfriend. He used that story to gain the sympathy of his victims. His sister (who was simply institutionalized rather then incarcerated for the murder) also testified about their stepfather’s alleged abuse of them at his trial, though the prosecutors debunked most of her stories.
2024.05.18 00:47 eddino55 Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight card: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. UFC alum Darren Till set for undercard
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2024.05.18 00:15 Hakaribiggestfan Are the mavericks the most underrated team in basketball right now?
We all know that luka doncic is a demon come post season time, and he will always show up in the big games like game 2 and game 5 in each series this postseason even if he is playing on one leg. But the media criticizes how his heliocentric playstyle doesn’t lead to winning which makes absolutely no sense, and collectively ignore the mavs and write them off especially through their predictions in the clipper and thunder series.
Mavs recent history:
During the bubble, luka had to face off against prime kawhi and prime Paul George with Tim hardaway jr as his second best player. (Nope, porzingis was on record for saying he was actively sabotaging the team). Obviously, luka couldnt win this one alone. This is the series where Luka hit an iconic game winning shot to steal game 3.
The following year, luka played the clippers, and averaged 36 ppg and took the series to 7, but unfortunately blew a 2-0 lead.
Right there, that’s two first round exits, but a lot of it was due to a lack of help.
Now here in 2022, this is the most iconic mavs run since dirk’s finals run. Luka misses a few games in the jazz series, but he has help from Brunson who is able to win those games, and when luka is back, they wrap up the series. However, they move onto the suns, and face off against arguably the most toxic fanbase at the time. They go down 3-2 after a 30 point blowout in game 5, and Devin Booker goes viral for “the luka special”. Luka responds back by saying “everybody acting tough when they up”. And the mavs win game 6, and embarrass the franchise through a near 60 point blowout before the 4th quarter in arguably the worst game 7 loss of all time. The media was raving about luka at this time, they compared him to bird, they compared him to lebron, this was amazing. Sadly, he had to face off against the eventual champions and sort of struggled vs the warriors coverages and Andrew wiggins. He shot below 40% twice, but still got 30 10 9 on average in both of those games. The mavs went on to lose by 5.
2023, this was the worst luka year since his rookie season in terms of actual winning. Mavs didn’t make the playoffs, and tension boiled within the team. There were concerns over keeping Kyrie, and concerns over keeping their own pick. However, they lucked out, and kept their own pick and selected a game changer who would be able to fit in with Luka’s offensive system.
2024, they made new additions such as grant Williams and seth curry. However, both were traded for 2 other game changing pieces for the mavs: Daniel gafford and pj Washington. These guys would go onto to be pivotal to the current run the mavs are making. From mid March up until the mavs resting luka and kyrie in April, the mavs were 16-2 and the number 1 defense in basketball. It was clear these additions have significantly impacted the team.
Lets move onto the current playoffs. Luka goes in with a sore Achilles lingering since mid March, and does not play super efficient in game 1 and game 2, but with an outstanding 4th quarter from luka and Kyrie, they win game 2. Game 3, he produces one of his worst playoff performances by his standard after spraining his knee from a Russell Westbrook collision, but the game was a win. Game 4, the mavs end up losing after completing a near 30 point comeback where kyrie had 38 points, and luka played pretty well with 29/10/10 but shot inefficiently. This is where he said “he needs to better”, and game 5, luka dominates and shows up in the most pivotal game of the series, and that momentum carries onto game 6. Fast forward to round 2, Kyrie isn’t the one stepping up offensively, but it’s a combination of pj Washington and Derrick Jones jr. Pj Washington from games 2-4, and Derrick Jones jr in this game 5. Luka dominated game 2 and game 5 as well. But what’s most impressive is kyrie and luka playing some of their best defense ever. This unlocks a new ceiling for the mavs that is simply overlooked because of people thinking the nuggets and wolves will simply crush this mavs team without giving the mavs a better look.
Why the mavs are a championship level team and not a team to write off:
The biggest thing holding this mavs team back is Luka’s injury. He’s playing with 4 different injuries right now, and when your top 3 player in the world is not 100%, obviously this team may have their ceiling capped. But people overlook how deep the mavs roster is.
You have Kyrie irving, arguably the best closer in basketball who is 13-0 in close out games. He’s averaging over 20 ppg in the second half of basketball games this postseason. You have pj Washington who is one of the best defenders in basketball, and hes developed an insanely good corner 3 this postseason. He’s shooting the ball well from the wing already, and his corner 3 average in the thunder series has been close to 38% compared to his 21% average in the regular season. You have Derrick jones jr who plays hard defensively, and is the recipient of numerous luka lobs on offense and cut out passes from the 3. You have Derrick lively and Daniel gafford, two of the most athletic bigs in basketball combined with Luka’s insane lobbing ability, this is lob city 2.0. On the bench, you have Josh green who has made corner 3s this post season, and before the injury of kleber, you had defensive versatility and size which is why the mavs were the #1 defense during their hot streak. Kleber was also able to space the floor.
The way people talk about this team. They act like everyone outside of kyrie is above 30 years old. When they talk about the thunder being young, this team is extremely young. If I told you gafford was only 25 and pj was only 25, you wouldn’t believe me. If I said luka just turned 25 and is younger than Shai, most people forget he’s so young because he’s been AT LEAST a top 7 player ever since his sophomore year.
What I’m saying is when we talk about western conference finals predictions, do not write this mavs team off. This the most help luka has ever had, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they win the championship this season.
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Mavs recent history:
During the bubble, luka had to face off against prime kawhi and prime Paul George with Tim hardaway jr as his second best player. (Nope, porzingis was on record for saying he was actively sabotaging the team). Obviously, luka couldnt win this one alone. This is the series where Luka hit an iconic game winning shot to steal game 3.
The following year, luka played the clippers, and averaged 36 ppg and took the series to 7, but unfortunately blew a 2-0 lead.
Right there, that’s two first round exits, but a lot of it was due to a lack of help.
Now here in 2022, this is the most iconic mavs run since dirk’s finals run. Luka misses a few games in the jazz series, but he has help from Brunson who is able to win those games, and when luka is back, they wrap up the series. However, they move onto the suns, and face off against arguably the most toxic fanbase at the time. They go down 3-2 after a 30 point blowout in game 5, and Devin Booker goes viral for “the luka special”. Luka responds back by saying “everybody acting tough when they up”. And the mavs win game 6, and embarrass the franchise through a near 60 point blowout before the 4th quarter in arguably the worst game 7 loss of all time. The media was raving about luka at this time, they compared him to bird, they compared him to lebron, this was amazing. Sadly, he had to face off against the eventual champions and sort of struggled vs the warriors coverages and Andrew wiggins. He shot below 40% twice, but still got 30 10 9 on average in both of those games. The mavs went on to lose by 5.
2023, this was the worst luka year since his rookie season in terms of actual winning. Mavs didn’t make the playoffs, and tension boiled within the team. There were concerns over keeping Kyrie, and concerns over keeping their own pick. However, they lucked out, and kept their own pick and selected a game changer who would be able to fit in with Luka’s offensive system.
2024, they made new additions such as grant Williams and seth curry. However, both were traded for 2 other game changing pieces for the mavs: Daniel gafford and pj Washington. These guys would go onto to be pivotal to the current run the mavs are making. From mid March up until the mavs resting luka and kyrie in April, the mavs were 16-2 and the number 1 defense in basketball. It was clear these additions have significantly impacted the team.
Lets move onto the current playoffs. Luka goes in with a sore Achilles lingering since mid March, and does not play super efficient in game 1 and game 2, but with an outstanding 4th quarter from luka and Kyrie, they win game 2. Game 3, he produces one of his worst playoff performances by his standard after spraining his knee from a Russell Westbrook collision, but the game was a win. Game 4, the mavs end up losing after completing a near 30 point comeback where kyrie had 38 points, and luka played pretty well with 29/10/10 but shot inefficiently. This is where he said “he needs to better”, and game 5, luka dominates and shows up in the most pivotal game of the series, and that momentum carries onto game 6. Fast forward to round 2, Kyrie isn’t the one stepping up offensively, but it’s a combination of pj Washington and Derrick Jones jr. Pj Washington from games 2-4, and Derrick Jones jr in this game 5. Luka dominated game 2 and game 5 as well. But what’s most impressive is kyrie and luka playing some of their best defense ever. This unlocks a new ceiling for the mavs that is simply overlooked because of people thinking the nuggets and wolves will simply crush this mavs team without giving the mavs a better look.
Why the mavs are a championship level team and not a team to write off:
The biggest thing holding this mavs team back is Luka’s injury. He’s playing with 4 different injuries right now, and when your top 3 player in the world is not 100%, obviously this team may have their ceiling capped. But people overlook how deep the mavs roster is.
You have Kyrie irving, arguably the best closer in basketball who is 13-0 in close out games. He’s averaging over 20 ppg in the second half of basketball games this postseason. You have pj Washington who is one of the best defenders in basketball, and hes developed an insanely good corner 3 this postseason. He’s shooting the ball well from the wing already, and his corner 3 average in the thunder series has been close to 38% compared to his 21% average in the regular season. You have Derrick jones jr who plays hard defensively, and is the recipient of numerous luka lobs on offense and cut out passes from the 3. You have Derrick lively and Daniel gafford, two of the most athletic bigs in basketball combined with Luka’s insane lobbing ability, this is lob city 2.0. On the bench, you have Josh green who has made corner 3s this post season, and before the injury of kleber, you had defensive versatility and size which is why the mavs were the #1 defense during their hot streak. Kleber was also able to space the floor.
The way people talk about this team. They act like everyone outside of kyrie is above 30 years old. When they talk about the thunder being young, this team is extremely young. If I told you gafford was only 25 and pj was only 25, you wouldn’t believe me. If I said luka just turned 25 and is younger than Shai, most people forget he’s so young because he’s been AT LEAST a top 7 player ever since his sophomore year.
What I’m saying is when we talk about western conference finals predictions, do not write this mavs team off. This the most help luka has ever had, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they win the championship this season.
2024.05.18 00:10 BaseballBot Game Thread 5/17 ⚾ Mets (20-23) @ Marlins (13-32) 7:10 PM ET
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Mets (20-23) @ Marlins (13-32)
First Pitch: 7:10 PM at loanDepot park| Team | Starter | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mets | Christian Scott (0-1, 2.84 ERA) | SNY | WCBS 880, WINS 92.3 (ES) |
| Marlins | Jesús Luzardo (0-3, 5.97 ERA) | BSFL | FOX940AM, WAQI (ES) |
| MLB | Fangraphs | Reddit Stream | IRC Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameday | Game Graph | Live Comments | Libera: ##baseball |
Line Score - Game Over
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| MIA | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 9 |
Box Score
| MIA | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CF | Chisholm Jr. | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| DH | De La Cruz, B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .257 |
| 1B | Bell | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .218 |
| 1B | Rivera, E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .203 |
| RF | Sánchez, J | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 |
| 3B | Burger | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .188 |
| 3B | Gray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| LF | Gordon | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .225 |
| 2B | Lopez, O | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .268 |
| SS | Bruján | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .264 |
| C | Fortes | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .159 |
| MIA | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luzardo | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 89-59 | 5.02 |
| Bender | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12-9 | 5.50 |
| Smith, B | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12-6 | 3.92 |
| Maldonado, A | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14-6 | 4.50 |
| NYM | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LF | Taylor, T | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .256 |
| 1B | Alonso | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .226 |
| SS | Lindor | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .195 |
| DH | Martinez, J | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .309 |
| PH | Stewart, D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .205 |
| 3B | Vientos | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .294 |
| RF | Marte, S | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .255 |
| PH | Baty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .233 |
| CF | Bader | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .276 |
| 2B | McNeil | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .232 |
| C | Nido | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .216 |
| NYM | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott | 4.0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 84-55 | 4.32 |
| Walker, J | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 40-26 | 3.60 |
| Hartwig | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 39-22 | 6.75 |
Scoring Plays
Highlights
Decisions
| Winning Pitcher | Losing Pitcher | Save |
|---|---|---|
| Luzardo (1-3, 5.02 ERA) | Scott (0-2, 4.32 ERA) |
| Attendance | Weather | Wind |
|---|---|---|
| 72°F, Roof Closed | 0 mph, None |
| HP | 1B | 2B | 3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Fletcher | Mike Muchlinski | Jansen Visconti | Paul Clemons |
Remember to sort by new to keep up!
2024.05.18 00:02 spartachilles Summary of President Charles Edward Merriam's First Term (May 4th, 1948 - February 10th, 1949) A House Divided Alternate Elections
 | Charles Edward Merriam, the 37th President of the United States, Official Presidential Portrait submitted by spartachilles to Presidentialpoll [link] [comments] The Poisoned Chalice Upon taking the presidential oath of office after the resignation of President Alvin York, Charles Edward Merriam found himself at the helm of a rudderless ship. Civil unrest was at an all-time high due to mass protests against York’s preemptive nuclear strike and large-scale labor strikes, much of the cabinet had been left vacant by a wave of resignations following York’s controversial decision not to consult his own advisors on the decision, and an already uneasy economy had been thrown into chaos by the total obliteration of a major trading partner. Even the sky itself had visibly darkened while global temperatures dropped, bringing about cries of the end times being visited upon Earth for man’s folly. In this moment of national crisis, Merriam took to the airwaves with a radio address to the American people asking them to unite with him in a national effort for the first 100 days of his presidency to right the course of the country amidst the national crisis. Moving with alacrity to fill the vacancies within his cabinet and bring his administration into full gear, Merriam leaned upon his network of academic contacts to appoint a ring of economic, industrial, and social science experts — Jacob Viner, Bessie Louise Pierce, George W. Taylor, and Leo Wolman — into several key cabinet positions. Similarly, rather than appoint a political operative as his Secretary of State or War, he instead chose to elevate career diplomat and acting Secretary of State Joseph Grew into his position permanently while promoting War Department General Counsel William Marbury Jr. to be Secretary of War. Finding both Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal and Secretary of Agriculture John Marvin Jones to be highly competent and sufficiently disentangled from the chaos of the York administration, Merriam requested that the pair remain in their positions. However, Postmaster General Thomas Perkins Henderson would not be so lucky, as Merriam distrusted his close ties to President York and felt the office was wracked by cronyism, thus requesting his immediate resignation to be replaced with former Louisiana Governor and highly regarded reformist Sam H. Jones. To round out his cabinet, Merriam appointed California Governor Earl Warren as his Attorney General due to Warren’s wealth of experience in suppressing syndicalist insurrectionists in his home state, as well as Delaware Senator and businessman J. Allen Frear to manage the Department of the Interior with an eye towards economizing a bloated department. Secretary of State Joseph Grew, a defining member of the Merriam administration with his foreign policy expertise during the world’s darkest hour. Calming a Roiling Sea Believing that anxiety surrounding a national economy plagued by boundless problems was at the root of the national malaise that might yet inspire a resurgence of syndicalism, Merriam quickly moved to restore confidence for both consumers and businesses. As a first step to move past the combative relationships that President Hughes and York held with organized labor, Merriam invited newly minted American Federation of Labor President George Meany for a symbolic meeting to discuss labor issues and establish an informal political alliance to raise wages and working standards as a means to settle the persistent labor unrest. Thus, President Merriam and his Secretary of Labor George W. Taylor began applying the National Labor Arbitration Act to settle hundreds of strikes across the country resulting in a moderate nationwide increase in wage levels and the proliferation of employer-provided healthcare as a commonly provided benefit. Taylor even proved successful in earning the begrudging respect of Congress of Industrial Organizations President Walter Reuther’s respect despite the organization’s more explicitly confrontational approach to industrial relations. Despite this success in the application of labor arbitration, Merriam’s ambition of comprehensive legislation to establish a formal system of corporatist economic structures was repeatedly frustrated by the inability to secure enough bipartisan support in the House of Representatives to pass several successive iterations of his proposals. Yet as a longtime proponent of executive power, Merriam was not entirely thwarted by this setback and notably issued an Executive Order forming the Office of National Research headed by MIT President Karl T. Compton and complemented by a number of figures in both the natural and social sciences to direct national research efforts towards answering pressing questions of the new atomic age. Perhaps the most significant of its achievements were the pioneering of new sanitation, public health, and antibiotic techniques to finally stamp out the bubonic plague epidemic that had persisted since the initial Japanese bioweapon attack. Furthermore, Speaker of the House Wright Patman was successful in passing a budget through the House substantially scaling back wartime spending and taxation in light of the transition of the United States military from a combat force to an occupation force abroad. Anticipating a corresponding decrease in inflation, Merriam worked with his Secretary of Commerce Leo Wolman to begin the process of relieving wartime price controls that had remained in place throughout the York administration while encouraging the development of private industrial codes of conduct for businesses to self-regulate prices. A wartime propaganda poster supporting labor arbitration that continued distribution under the Merriam presidency. Sewing A Tattered World America was not the only country suffering in the aftermath of the Second World War. The decade-long war had wreaked havoc upon the entire world and left entire nations virtually leveled by bombs and depleted of their resources. American efforts at international reconstruction had been haphazard and largely left in the hands of private charities during the York administration, much to the consternation of its allies and the occupied peoples. Thus, out of a mixture of humanitarian reasons, a desire to restore America’s international reputation, and a calculation that such destruction could breed communist movements such as the syndicalist revolt that had embroiled the United States, Secretary of State Joseph Grew proposed a much more ambitious plan that would soon bear his name. With the strong support of President Merriam, Congress earmarked a staggering $15 billion with wide bipartisan support to be distributed to European governments for necessary imports of food and basic materials from the United States as well as for industrial investments to rebuild the European economy. An ancillary fund was likewise also established to support the reconstruction of China, which had been ravaged by brutal warfare with Imperial Japan. As a committed supporter of free trade, President Merriam also used the leverage of the Grew Plan to compel the recipients of the funding to lower trade barriers between one another and with the United States in order to stimulate international trade. The sole major holdout would be the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Aneurin Bevan remained committed to an autarkic system of steep trade barriers outside the Imperial system since the country had suffered far less damage than its peers in the Second World War. Another guiding principle of President Merriam’s approach to international reconstruction would be a wide-ranging program of technical assistance. With the country’s decades-long commitment to widely available public education and a sophisticated network of universities engaged in industrial research, the American economy had come to be regarded as the most technologically advanced in the entire world. Already under President Dewey, the United States had begun programs of sharing its technical expertise in production methods and industrial organization to China and the countries of Latin America. Thus, Merriam’s formalization of an Office for Technical Assistance under the Department of State was an extension of an already well-established practice. With support from personnel and agencies in the Departments of Labor and Commerce, the Office of Technical Assistance undertook a wide-ranging and sophisticated statistical analysis of European industries to identify weaknesses in productivity while arranging for large-scale observation visits by European industrial leaders as well as the collation and distribution of technical literature in order to disseminate best practices across continents. Following the initial success of the program in Europe over the first months of his term, Merriam proceeded with an extension of the program to developing nations in the Middle East and South Asia in order to modernize their economies as well. A meeting of Grew Plan information chiefs in the American Embassy in France. Year Without Summer While atomic weapons had been deployed several times throughout the Second World War to destroy French, Russian, and Japanese cities, they had never been used on the scale ordered by President Alvin York to destroy the German Empire. As a result of the simultaneous destruction of dozens of German cities in fiery infernos, the atmosphere of the planet itself became choked by a layer of ash and soot that demonstrably lowered global temperatures in the following months. With the effect coined as a “nuclear winter” by British chemist Samuel Glasstone, a world food supply already challenged by the disruptions of war experienced a dramatic shortfall in agricultural production sending many war-ravaged areas teetering into famine. However, this presented a unique opportunity for the United States, which had for decades struggled with chronic overproduction of agricultural products causing dim economic prospects for the nation’s farmers. Now, there was a ready market for the surplus in the United States that persisted even through the nuclear winter. Though European governments were already using their Grew Plan funds to import American food products in large amounts, Secretary of Agriculture John Marvin Jones was determined to employ the powers of the federal government in assistance of this shift. Backed by a series of executive orders from President Merriam, Jones vastly expanded the neglected Populist-era Sub-Treasury system to grant easy credit and storage solutions to farmers who lacked sufficient capital to take advantage of the vastly increased demand for their product while also using wartime legislation to purchase eroded land for its rehabilitation and resale for food production by government experts. Much like the rest of the executive branch, at Merriam’s direction the Department of Agriculture also leaned into partnerships with dozens of agricultural colleges spread throughout the United States to collect and publish a corpus of literature on improved farming practices and fertilizer production techniques to further stimulate production. Electrical lines going up on a rural farm as part of a program pioneered by Secretary of Agriculture John Marvin Jones to further develop American agriculture. New World Order Having earned widespread popularity among the American public for his statesmanship at home and thus leaving the November elections with a decisive popular mandate, Merriam turned to the pressing issue of foreign affairs in the latter half of his term. In the chaos of the Second World War and its immediate aftermath, the powers of the Grand Alliance had failed to conclusively agree on the structures of the post-war world. Even after the destruction of the German Empire, which had been the largest obstacle in the effort to conclude new international agreements, debate raged on what form these would take as the world federalist movement took root across the globe. In order to lay the foundation of future global cooperation, Merriam began by reviving the institutions of the Hague Treaty that had been rendered inoperative by the withdrawal of participation by several countries and subsequent outbreak of the Second World War. While the Permanent Court of International Arbitration would be restored largely unchanged from its original construction, the International Monetary Fund would be greatly transformed due to President Merriam’s influential support for John Maynard Keynes’s proposal to formulate a supranational currency called “bancor” to be the unit of account for an International Clearing Union tasked with regulating international trade. While many nationalists and isolationists decried Merriam’s move towards the internationalization of monetary policy, the circle of Atlanticists within the party led by Vice President Edward J. Meeman was urging him to go even further towards world government. Compelled by a promise made to the Atlanticist faction during his party’s National Convention, President Merriam authorized the summoning of an international conference to discuss the concept of an Atlantic Union between the western democratic countries of the world. However, where many expected that Merriam might appoint a coterie of apathetic diplomats to undermine the movement, the President instead shockingly sent a delegation filled with committed Atlanticists led by New York Senator Grenville Clark, Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver, and the proposal’s first author Clarence Streit to Brussels for the conference, much to the outrage of opponents of world federalism within his party. After weeks spent deliberating the minutiae of the Atlantic Union, the conference emerged just before the holiday season with a proposed constitution and hundreds of pages of documentation surrounding the historical precedents and contemporary reasoning behind the proposal to electrify the debate surrounding a world government. A Time Magazine feature of Clarence Streit, one of the leading theorists behind the Atlantic Union proposal. God’s Instrument or War Criminal? The most controversial question hanging over the term of President Charles Edward Merriam was the fate of former President Alvin York. To many Americans, York had committed a crime against humanity comparable to those against which they had fought against for a decade and the incident ignited a debate surrounding presidential authority to deploy nuclear weapons. Throughout the initial months of his presidency, Merriam dodged questions surrounding the President and declined to make substantial public comment aside from occasional suggestions that the President had sole command over the United States military. At Merriam’s private urging, Speaker of the House Wright Patman also squashed suggestions that a President could still be impeached after leaving office. Likewise, Merriam directed the Justice Department not to open a federal prosecution against York and thus leaving the ailing former President’s case in legal limbo. Speaking out more strongly after his successful reelection campaign, Merriam clarified that while he found the act personally abhorrent it remained a legal exercise of the President’s powers as commander-in-chief and that as the victims were nationals of another country there was no basis for either a prosecution or a pardon in the name of crimes against the United States. Beyond just the conduct of the President himself, the atomic bombing of Germany brought with it new concern around the governance of nuclear weapons. Believing that tight-lipped military control over nuclear weapons under wartime authority was a large factor in York’s ability to unilaterally strike Germany, the Senate’s sole independent Brien McMahon led the charge to place nuclear weapons and energy development under the control of an independent civilian commission appointed by both the President and the legislative officers. Though his bill died in committee, it inspired the Federalist Reform Party to counter with their own bill introduced by Kentucky Senator Andrew J. May replacing McMahon’s proposed commission with a board to be dominated by military officers exclusively appointed by the President. While the Federalist Reform majority in the Senate quickly passed the May bill over an attempted filibuster by McMahon, the bill came to a screeching halt in the House of Representatives where the opposition parties unified to fiercely oppose its passage. With Congress at an impasse, President Merriam issued executive orders continuing the status quo of the wartime project board that had been initiated by President Howard Hughes. Independent Connecticut Senator Brien McMahon, who took leadership of the fight for civilian control over nuclear energy Note: Not strictly bound by Merriam’s term, the following sections are meant to summarize the state of the world after the conclusion of the Second World War. The Red Stars of Europe Throughout the decade-spanning Second World War, the United Kingdom had been under the leadership of Conservative Prime Minister Duff Cooper. In order to maintain control against the irascible anti-war opposition led by Labour’s Oswald Mosley, Cooper had resorted to the royal authority of King Edward VIII to unilaterally bring the country into the war and cancel elections throughout its duration. While he had been successful in prosecuting the war to victory and securing the downfall of Mosley’s control over the Labour Party, when Cooper was finally forced to call elections at the war’s end he found voters profoundly unsympathetic to his accomplishments and his Tory government was defeated in a staggering landslide by the Labour Party. Thus, King Edward was reluctantly forced to appoint the Labour Party leader, Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, as the Prime Minister of the country. As an ally to former party leader Oswald Mosley, Bevan quickly embarked on the domestic implementation of the “Mosley Memorandum” to nationalize wide stretches of the British economy while also pursuing a massive expansion of the British welfare state. Following the atomic bombing of the German Empire, Bevan forcefully attacked the wanton use of weapons of mass destruction in a surprise attack and relations remained frosty even after York’s resignation as President Merriam cut off the United Kingdom from any knowledge sharing regarding nuclear power and weaponry. Yet even the radicalism of Nye Bevan paled in comparison to that of the Spanish Republic, where a blossoming social and economic revolution was years underway. Following the victory of the leftist Republic against Nationalist forces in the country’s civil war, thanks in no small part to the decisive support of President Frank J. Hayes, agriculture was rapidly collectivized by the Spanish government while a combination of state support and syndicalist initiative led to over 75% of the industrial economy being brought under worker control. Taking inspiration from the writings and political efforts of American President John Dewey, the Spanish also imported many of his principles of progressive child-centric education while undertaking the community construction of centers of adult learning woven into forums of political debate. However, standing in stark contrast to the system of government on the mainland would be the so-called “Spanish State” existing in Spain’s African colonies. With their heavy conservative military presence, the colonies had formed a powerbase for the Spanish Nationalists and thus served as a natural place of refuge after their defeat in the war, while the socialist Republican government held little interest in reconquering a system of colonies that it found morally repugnant. Thus, the colonies became the host of a rival government and ruthless colonial state that came under the leadership of Falangist Agustin Aznar after he successfully orchestrated the murder of his political rivals to become the Jefe Nacional. Prime Minister Aneurin Bevan of the United Kingdom, the sole power offering a serious challenge to American hegemony over the post-war world. Integralism Lives? After the surrenders of the Kingdoms of France and Italy during the Second World War, the Allied powers were too pressed for manpower in their colossal struggle against Russia and Japan in the East to administer a full military occupation. Thus, instead the administration of Howard Hughes accepted the continuation of their governments so long as they cooperated with American occupation authorities. As a result, Italian Integralism and its monarchy would continue under the auspices of General Pietro Badoglio who was vested by King Victor Emmanuel III and the Grand Council of Fascism as Italy’s new prime minister after the downfall of Benito Mussolini. However, Badoglio’s position would become increasingly unstable after the large-scale effort of the German Empire to fund and arm leftist Italian insurgents and increasingly dependent upon the United States occupation forces for support to avert their overthrow. While France would likewise retain its newly crowned King Henri VI, his political strategy would be markedly different from that of the Italians. Believing that the monarchist right would have no choice but to support him, Henri appointed socialist Vincent Auriol as his Prime Minister and issued a new liberal constitution to endear the political left to him as well. Final peace treaties with both countries, forced to be renegotiated after the destruction of the German Empire, would not yet be concluded by the end of President Merriam’s first term though the recognition of separatist movements in Brittany and Corsica was viewed as an implicit precondition by the American government. As the political and military leadership of the German Empire had been devastated by the atomic bombings, the continuance of the Kaiserreich was not only seen as undesirable by President Alvin York but also simply impractical. Although York would not be able to oversee the country past its initial occupation, President Merriam held much the same opinion and negotiated the de jure abolition of the German Empire alongside the British and divided the country into two zones of occupation. Though relying on the expertise of the limited number of German experts who were both still alive and willing to cooperate with the occupation authorities, much of the day-to-day administration of the occupation zones would be carried out by the military forces of the occupying powers. Yet while the occupying forces made great strides in repairing the utterly destroyed nations and stabilizing its food supply, the occupation faced never before seen challenges with enormous incidence rates of cancer and a newly identified “atomic bomb disease” with poorly understood symptoms and little understanding of its treatment. King Henri and Queen Isabelle of France, wearing a more austere style in an appeal to the French working class. Blood Tide of the East After Russia’s humiliating defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1934-1935, the country slipped into a dark period of brutal dictatorship at the hands of Anastasy Vonsyatsky and Ivan Solonevich. Yet few could have imagined that the horror could grow worse. The employment of strategic bombing against its crucial oil supply, the nuclear bombing of several of its cities, and worst of all an enormous anthrax attack targeted at its food supply caused the disintegration of Russia into famine and anarchy. As the powers of the Grand Alliance had declared victory and withdrew their troops from active fighting upon the surrender of Andrew Vlasov’s warlord band to western forces, the turmoil in Russia remained raging throughout President Merriam’s term with little outside intervention. Forces ranged from the claimed Romanov regent Mikhail Drozdovsky to the classical Integralist Boris Savinkov to the bloodthirsty racialist Bronislav Kaminski and dozens more in between fighting for the desiccated scraps of the once mighty country. Ever vigilant on the frontier of this anarchy was the Reichskommissariat Muskowien, the former German puppet state instated by the Kaiser to facilitate the colonization of occupied Russian lands by German settlers. After its Reichskommissar was killed during the nuclear attack while visiting Berlin, his secretary Erich Koch seized control alongside a junta of military officers proclaiming the Reichskommissariat as a haven for the German people and embarking on a program of ethnic cleansing of the local Slavic population. Fearing that a military response would not only require another costly and unpopular war in Europe but also embroil the United States in the Russian frontier, President Merriam opted to continue the York administration’s position of withholding recognition from the Reichskommissariat while instead extending American influence in Eastern Europe under the auspices of his newly formed Office of Strategic Services. With the German puppet governments in the Baltics, Poland, and Ukraine deeply unpopular and dependent on German support, their governments quickly collapsed under American and British influence leading to the establishment of new governments in each of the nations. Taking inspiration from the British program to unify the three Baltic nations under a single Baltic Union, President Merriam undertook a nation-building program of his own to attempt to unify Poland, Ukraine, and Romania into a single federation. However, the project remained stalled throughout his term due to a lack of enthusiasm from the member countries. Meanwhile, in an accord with the countries of the Grand Alliance, President Merriam and Secretary of State Joseph Grew took to settling the geopolitical situation of the Balkans. With the restoration of the Tsardom of Bulgaria already settled and Greece still preoccupied by civil war, the chief question would be the status of the former Triune. Striving for a balance between the competing claims of Austria and Hungary which had spiraled the world into war ten long years before, Grew negotiated the formation of a Danubian Confederation to replace the former Triune with substantial autonomy granted to the Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Hungarian, Croatian, Triestine, and Austrian states composing it but unifying them with a common citizenship and foreign policy. The ruins of what was once a Russian home, a testament to the country’s seemingly interminable anarchy. Self-Determination For Whom? Over the course of the Second World War, British and American forces had come to occupy virtually all of the vast continent of Africa and with the end of the war it fell upon them to oversee its fate. With the recent independence of the United States of the Congo under President Alvin York serving as an example, both President Charles Edward Merriam and British Prime Minister Aneurin Bevan were committed to the eventual decolonization of the African continent but they also agreed that the bulk of the diverse African peoples needed further “instruction” on democratic governance and western culture before being granted independence. Thus, the colonial system of rule remained largely unchanged on the continent, though German colonies would be transferred to the United Kingdom as trust territories and French and Italian colonies remained occupied until the settlement of a final peace treaty. The sole exception came in the German colony of Tanganyika, where former German Ambassador to the United Kingdom Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck escaped the destruction of his home in Bremen through a chance visit to his former Askari soldiers and worked with a group of veterans to proclaim a biracial Republic of Tanganyika in the aftermath of the German Empire’s destruction. Recalling Lettow-Vorbeck’s famous guerilla warfare campaign in the First World War, both the United Kingdom and the United States begrudgingly recognized this new African Republic. Though the British were slow to release their colonies in Africa, the immense pressure building up within India could not be contained any longer as the Indian National Congress refused to tolerate the continuation of the home rule status quo. Thanks in large part to the close personal relationship of Prime Minister Bevan and Indian nationalist leader Jawaharlal Nehru, negotiations proceeded smoothly albeit without significant consultation of Muslim authorities that Nehru had clashed with previously. In the final agreement, India was granted independent Dominion status within the British Empire as a united polity and quickly forced the remaining princely states to comply. Under pressure of a possibly violent revolt in Burma, Bevan also pressed for an act to give independence to the Union of Burma soon thereafter. Even less consent from the colonizing power was required for the Indochinese Federation under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, which had already successfully cast off both French rule and a later Japanese invasion. Though cautious of Ho Chi Minh’s socialist principles, President Merriam and Secretary Grew remained concerned about the more dangerous Marxist-Hansenist opposition in the country and decided to recognize his leadership to bolster his position against the radicals. This anti-colonialist streak would also extend itself to Indonesia, where American troops were instructed not to turn the country over to the former Dutch colonial administrators and instead support the independence movement to foster a loyal American ally in Southeast Asia. An independence procession in the newly formed Dominion of India. Democracy in the Far East Ever since the fateful day in 1939 when the United States declared war upon Japan, the Tiger of the East had become entrenched in the minds of the American people as their mortal enemy. Yet even despite cries for the execution of Emperor Hirohito and the visitation of revenge upon the Japanese people among the public, cooler heads prevailed in the State Department. The initial stages of Japan’s occupation were overseen by President Alvin York, who magnanimously saw Japan as a country that ought to be reformed rather than punished. Pressing for the shattering of its culture of militarism, the installation of structures of democracy, and even the Christianization of the nation, York’s program for the occupation proved massively influential for the future state of the country. Yet it would be President Charles Edward Merriam, eager to draw down United States military commitments, who would finish the process and finalize the treaty with Japan. Among the provisions of the treaty were the independence of Hawaii as a republic under American influence, the annexation of several Pacific islands including the Ryukyu Islands to serve as American naval installations, the placement of the remaining Pacific islands into trust territories, and the total demilitarization of Japan under a democratic system. The presidency of Tasker H. Bliss had ushered in a special relationship between the United States and China that had persisted for the next twenty years. Yet under President Charles Edward Merriam, it had begun to fray. Upon hearing reports of American aid dollars being embezzled by the Chiang Kai-Shek administration for lavish personal corruption and believing Chiang to be a fundamentally self-interested and unreliable ally, Merriam quickly soured upon the Chinese Premier. Yet with the death of Vice Premier Feng Yuxiang, the opposition to Chiang remained too scattered for there to be any viable alternative. Thus, Merriam began maneuvering to install a set of new East Asian allies to reduce the monolithic power of China in the region. Chief among these was the Republic of Manchuria, which had been declared by a multi-ethnic group of local leaders seeking to avoid Chinese domination and given patronage by both Presidents York and Merriam. A further spite to Chiang would come with President Merriam’s support of the declaration of Taiwanese independence by Lei Chen, as the island had remained occupied by United States Marines after the end of the war. Despite these affronts, tensions between China and the United States were somewhat assuaged by American support for the return of French Yunnan, British Canton, Japanese Fujian, and Japanese Shandong to the Chinese Republic. A woman voting in Japan’s first free and fair elections in decades. World Revolution, of Two Sorts During the Great Depression, the Dominion of Newfoundland found itself in total collapse and was forced to surrender its independence back to its colonial overlord in the United Kingdom. Yet the war years remained hard for the Dominion and its people remained deeply unsatisfied with its governmental arrangement. As the concept of the Atlantic Union spread through the world with the impending end of the Second World War, a local movement under the leadership of Chesley Crosbie began preaching for a declaration of independence and subsequent application for United States statehood as a demonstration of support for the Atlanticist concept. Though initially dismissed as a fringe movement, a rapid growth of support led the Atlantic Union Party to carry independence to victory in a 1948 referendum. A subsequent victory in the first elections of the Dominion brought the Atlantic Union Party into power and it made its application for American statehood shortly thereafter. Once again angering the anti-Atlanticist section of the party, President Merriam urged that statehood be introduced as a joint resolution of the House and Senate, which ensured its passage even despite the opposition of a critical bloc of Senators who may have made a regular treaty ratification impossible. Yet a similar attempt at statehood for the island of Sicily would be blocked by Merriam, who argued that the referendum used for its justification was illegitimate due to an opposition boycott. Long suffering under the neo-colonialism of their former colonial masters in France and a newer clique of German elites dominating the local economy, the nation of Haiti became a hotbed for the ideology of Marxism-Hansenism, which preached a violent and permanent world revolution to secure control of the means of production under the democratic management of the workers. After succeeding in its own revolution to overthrow the capitalist class, Haiti became a haven for Hansenists across the Americas seeking to plot their own revolutions by supporting them with revolutionary praxis, arms, and propaganda. After the outbreak of a revolution in Cuba, President Merriam recognized the threat that Haiti posed to the stability of the Americas and ordered the imposition of trade sanctions to strangle the suspected flow of funds and materiel from American Hansenists to the island. Furthermore, Secretary of State Joseph Grew orchestrated a vote in the International Association of American States to expel revolutionary Haiti from the organization due to its support for world revolution and undermining the government of other member states. Map of the world by the end of President Charles Edward Merriam’s first term in 1949. Credit and many thanks to Some_Pole for helping create the map! How would you rate President Charles Edward Merriam’s first term in office? View Poll |
2024.05.17 23:47 TheSexyMario777 Mario: A Character Analysis (Part 2)
Note: This is part 2 of this post. Please read Part 1 first. Also, this post was, again, much longer than I intended it to be.
Now, despite caring for his friends, Mario was still mostly seen as a jerky, negative character; often choosing spaghetti over his own friends and family, and generally seeming to care about spaghetti more than anything else. However, that would all change with the introduction of one character: Meggy.
As soon as she was introduced, it was clear that Meggy was very different than any character that came before her. She was more of an emotionally driven character, which led to much more emotionally driven scenes with her and her friends. And it just so happened that her best friend (at the time) happened to be Mario.
Now, Meggy's introduction episode, If Mario Was In... Splatoon, starts out like any normal If Mario Was In... episode. It follows Mario travelling to a new world, meeting the main charactes that inhabit that world, and unintentionally messing everything up with his stupidity. However, this time, things were a bit different. Mario and Meggy actually started forming a friendship; and Mario wanted to help Meggy achieve her dreams of winning the Splatfest. However, despite their efforts, it wasn't enough. They lost. Meggy begins to cry, as she didn't understand how, after training so hard, she still lost. This makes Mario feel bad, as he knows that it was probably his fault for goofing off too much in the first half of the game. Mario walks over to Meggy and comforts her, trying to cheer her up, only to forget what he was doing and start talking about spaghetti. Mario's stupidity in this scene actually cheers Meggy up, and makes her laugh. And this scene, right here, is the first time we ever see Mario get emotional or care about anything else other than spaghetti.
In the episodes that follow Meggy's debut, we see her getting closer and forming relationships with Mario, as well as the rest of his friends. They had a few wholesome moments here and there, with Meggy usually having to save Mario from danger (and Mario even saving her from danger on one occasion in Wild, Wild Mario.) And overtime, we get to see Mario change; becoming a more loving, caring, and emotional character. In the previous part, all those moments where Mario was shown actually caring about Luigi were after Meggy's introduction. In the Mario convention, Mario was deeply disturbed after finding that Luigi and Meggy had been transformed into T-Pose zombies, even crying about it. Meggy brought out the best in Mario, and Mario taught Meggy to be more carefree and not worry about things so much. However, the peak of their relationship as friends has yet to come.
In the episode Meggy's Bootcamp, during the Anime Arc, Meggy attempts to train Mario, Luigi, and Tari for the Splatfest. However, she is too hard on them. She treats them without consideration of their own limits and boundaries instead of encouragement. Luigi and Tari are too wimpy, and Mario doesn't take it seriously enough. Meggy ends up snapping at her friends over the Splatfest, before running away after realizing what she did. Mario, after seeing her clear discomfort, decides to go over there to console her. Meggy explains that she thought she would've won Splatfest by then, but that it's been two whole years and she still hadn't won a single game, making her feel like a total loser. She tells him that she felt bad about the way she treated her friends, and her feelings shouldn't have given her the right to act that way. So, to console her, Mario does something that nobody would've ever seen him doing; something that he hasn't done before or since this moment. Mario gives Meggy the one thing that he seems to care about more than anything in the whole world; Mario gives Meggy his spaghetti.
This moment shocked the fanbase, as it showed that, despite everything, Mario did have a heart somewhere in there. In episodes following this, Mario would continue to show the same care for Meggy that he did in these aforementioned episodes. He was the only one who remembered Meggy in Final Hours, the finale to the Anime Arc, as not even Saiko, who Meggy just helped to unban anime despite not caring for it at all herself, put any thought into Meggy in that moment. In Meggy's Destiny, Mario helps Meggy win the Splatfest, and even uses his brain, even if for just one moment, to find out that one of the teams cheated, allowing for Meggy to finally win the Splatfest. Their relationship was in its prime.
(The following is slightly outdated because the problem has calmed down a bit since I originally posted this, but it's still valid enough to include, and I'm not just going to erase it all, anyways.)
However, if you look into more recent episodes, you can see Mario getting beat up and pushed around by just about EVERYONE he considers his "friend". Even TARI is guilty of this. At the end of the most recent episode at the time of originally writing this (I wrote this on fandom first), The Day My Arm Went Psycho, Tari is seen yelling out Mario to apologize to the gorilla that was attacking him, despite literally doing nothing wrong, and she doesn't even help him escape the gorilla at the end of the episode.
And that's not all, either. Saiko, back when she used to appear in episodes, never was actually friends with Mario, and was usually the main one antagonizing him. Even SMG4, despite being best friends with Mario for over 10 years, hasn't been treating him the best recently. However, there is no character that treats Mario worse nowadays than Meggy.
Now, it started off as more of a friendly "sibling-rivalry", which shows Mario and Meggy increasingly going at each other's throats over mundane issues, such as chocolate or McDonald's. While at first, this wasn't that much of a big deal, as it could be funny sometimes, many people who were fans of Mario and Meggy's previously wholesome relationship were not happy. Little did they know, however, the worst was yet to come.
In recent episodes, it has gotten to the point where Meggy essentially attacks Mario for existing. This really started in Boys vs. Girls, in which, after losing to the girls in a competition, Mario, Bowser, and Axol mess up the girls' room, starting a friendly prank battle with them. However, the girls immediately take it way too far, feeding the boys to a fish, setting Mario on fire, breaking both of Bowser's hands, and getting Axol raped. The boys pranks, on the other hand, consisted of much more lighthearted pranks, such as scaring Tari. Now, usually, none of this would even matter, as this was just classic SMG4's nonsensical, slapstick humor. However, the ending of the episode is what changes everything.
The boys end up getting a bear, which ends up attacking the girls. While Saiko and Meggy were able to move out of the way, Tari isn't so lucky. The girls instantly act as though Mario and the boys "went too far", despite that being exactly what the girls had been doing throughout the ENTIRE episode, and showing Saiko even wanting to HURT the boys for doing this. The boys end up apologizing, despite the girls being the ones who did the MAJORITY of the mean pranks. And just when we thought the episode couldn't get any worse, the girls don't even accept the apology until using the boys as HUNTING targets, having them dress up in embarrassing bunny outfits and everything.
Since this episode, Meggy has been more prone to mistreating Mario in general. In POV: You're Mario, when Mario and Meggy switch places for a day, and Mario admits that it's too hard being her, Meggy's first instinct is to immediately laugh at and bully Mario, despite her literally just about to admit that it was hard being him. In Mario Goes On a Diet, Meggy forces Mario to go on a diet despite him clearly not wanting to. In episodes like Mario Goes Fishing, Meggy stops Mario and Bob from eating the fish (despite that literally being the point of fishing). Even in the most recent episode (at the time, which was The Day My Arm Went Psycho), Meggy sprays Mario with a water gun for NO REASON when he was LITERALLY TRYING TO HELP HER CONSOLE TARI. And it really doesn't help that Meggy is nearly impervious to all the cruel slapstick humor that Mario is practically haunted by at this point. That's why Tari's arm punching the life out of Meggy was the most satisfying in an SMG4 moment in a looong time, in my opinion. Easily the best part of that otherwise God-awful episode.
I remember when people used to say that Mario deserved better than Peach, and that Peach was just a negative, bossy person, and showing him with Meggy instead. But at this point, Meggy has become exactly what Peach was.
And that's not all, either. Mario's friends, in general, mistreat Mario all the time. Mario's friend should be accepting Mario as a friend for who he is despite his stupidity (the same stupidity that was CURSED onto him by the SMGs, btw). But instead, it's something that they constantly berate, get annoyed at, and even DEHUMANIZE him for.
In the 2022 Christmas Special, for instance, Meggy literally CHAINS MARIO TO A POLE, and treats him like an ANIMAL, just to stop him from eating the food before it was time to eat. Then, Mario uses Axol Jr. to get some food, and accidentally throws it at Bob. Meanwhile, shenanigans at the other table end up causing SMG3 to kick SMG4 at Bob, causing Axol Jr. to go flying and get injured. Melony gets mad at Mario for this, and his "friends" immediately shift all the blame onto him. Now, don't get me wrong; Melony has every right to be mad at Mario. But the blame should've been SHARED. Even SMG3, who's literally the one who kicked SMG4 into Bob and caused Axol Jr. to be injured, shifts all the blame onto Mario, calls him an idiot, and even accuses him of ruining Christmas. Don't forget that all of this is AFTER they found out about Mario's origins.
In Smart Mario, the entire group agrees that Mario's stupidity is too much, and they get E. Gadd to "fix" him. Granted, this was before they found out about his origins, but still. Then, when Mario's newfound smartness is too much for them to handle, they force him to become an idiot again, despite him begging and pleading for them not to. In If Mario was the Last Man on Earth, all of Mario's friends ditch him because they're scared that he's going to mess up a PIZZA world record, which causes him to slowly slip into insanity from the loneliness that they left with him with.
Again, it would be different if all this stuff was actually funny. After all, I said in the previous part that part of what made SMG4 so funny and memorable is that it was a cast of objectively bad people getting themselves into crazy, nonsensical situations. But it's not funny. None of this is funny, even if they're trying to be. We're watching a mentally challenged guy get beat up and tortured by his so-called "friends" for entertainment.
Now, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Mario is some perfect angel who is always in the right, and the world is just constantly beating down on him completely undeservedly. We all know that's not true. (In fact, there have been times in more recent episodes where Mario has been very annoying, and sometimes completely insufferable. However, I'll get into that a bit more later.)
But the very worst example of this is in the Lawsuit Arc; specifically in the episode "If Mario Was In Splatoon 3." In this episode, Mario has already been reverted back to his original personality by Lawyer Kong. When Meggy and SMG4 find him, they immediately try to turn him back, despite them usually hating his stupidity, besides when it entertains them.
Now, we all know that in real life, the reason that Mario is reverted back to his stupid self is so the show can continue. But in the canon, what is the reason? Now, the reason that the writers seem to push is that SMG4 and Meggy just want Mario to remember them and their adventures; however, that's selfish, as Meggy (and especially SMG4) know how much Mario was hurt by the Guardian Pod and SMG4's arrival. Mario went from the beloved hero of the Mushroom Kingdom who was known for being heroic and fighting off evil; he went from having a loving girlfriend, Peach, as well as a wonderful relationship with his brother, Luigi; to becoming a fat idiot that nearly the entire Mushroom Kingdom despised. His relationship with his brother was damaged immensely; Peach, Toad, and others who used to love and look up to him began to hate him, and his only "friends" treated him like shit. If SMG4 and Meggy were really his friends, they would've tried to befriend the NEW Mario by explaining the situation to him, telling him about past adventures, and try to reintroduce themselves to him. But instead, they try and revert him back into the saddest, most pathetic version of himself.
And it's not just Mario who was negatively affected by the Guardian Pod, but the entire kingdom! Luigi began to be bullied more by the people around him for his wimpy personality. Peach went from a kind, loving person to being bossy, naggy, stupid, and insane. Toad went from being the most loyal citizen in the Mushroom Kingdom to absolutely hating his life due to the newfound stupidity spread all around the kingdom, how poorly he was treated by Princess Peach, and how he was stuck in a loveless relationship with a crazed Toadette (who was most likely also affected by the Guardian Pod) who would probably kill him he attempted to break up with her. The only person who WASN'T negatively affected by the Guardian Pod was Bowser, who became a much more carefree, wholesome, and down to earth character after SMG4's arrival. Unfortunately, however, as much as we all love Bowser, one person is not worth an entire kingdom.
The truth is that Lawyer Kong, despite how much of a terrible person he was, and how immoral his ethics were, was right. Life in the Mushroom Kingdom was better before SMG4 arrived. Everybody was much happier before the bastardization of the entire world. And sure, they "saved the Earth a bunch of times", but even THAT was caused by SMG4. The truth is that the Waluigi Arc, the Anime Arc, the YouTube Arc, and even smaller issues like the Bob the Rapper arc, would've never happened if SMG4 didn't arrive. Now, as for Niles, it is unknown if he would've come whether SMG4 was there or not, or if regular Mario and the others would've been enough to defeat SMG0. So, that's gonna be left as a big question mark for now. But either way, Lawyer Kong was right. I feel like having him say it out of all people was the writer's way to get people to immediately disagree with him no matter what just because he's the villain. But just because the villain is saying something doesn't make it wrong; Lawyer Kong just handled it in an antagonistic way.
So anyways, if SMG4's arrival had this much of a negative affect on the world, and SMG4 knows this, then why would he be so quick to revert everyone back to the way they were AFTER he arrived when he's literally being given a second chance to make things right? It's because of the content. Without all these characters being stupid, he can't make content using them. As for Meggy, Mario's stupidity merely entertains her, and gives her an excuse to treat him like a punching bag.
And the worst part is that in this state, Mario can't even properly defend himself. Sure, he ends up siding with SMG4, and claims he doesn't want to be his original self anymore, but the truth is that Mario doesn't know what's best for him anymore. Mario was happier on an average day in his past life than he ever was in his current life.
Really, it seems that Mario's only actual friend is, ironically, Bowser. In SMG4, while Mario and Bowser have antagonized each other in the past, this is usually only when Peach is involved, and the two usually have a great friendship otherwise. Whether they're doing their cooking show, or just hanging out, Mario and Bowser seem to have a better friendship than any other character in the show; lately, even Mario's friendship with SMG4 is in decline for the reasons stated above.
Even in the most recent episode starring the two, "Mario Steals the Constitution", all the rest of Mario's friends are too busy to do anything. Or at least, everyone except for Bowser. Throughout the episode, Mario and Bowser have a mutual respect for each other, something that Mario doesn't currently have with any of the other characters in the series. They fought alongside each other, and saved each other when the other was in danger. It is also important to note that the reason Mario stole the constitution in the first place is because none of Mario's other "friends" even cared enough to celebrate it with him. The only exception for this is, again, Bowser, who talks about it without Mario even needing to remind him.
However, Mario's friends aren't the only detriment to him. The biggest detriment to the character of Mario is his own flanderization.
In the past, Mario has always been stupid. But it wasn't the only character trait he had. In addition to the jokes about his stupidity and love for spaghetti generally being funnier and more creative, they also made jokes about other character traits; for instance, his short temper, self-proclaimed "sexiness," and his bizarre pride of his obesity, as well as other general flaws that they could mold into funny situations. During the 2017-2021 era, Mario, despite being a flawed idiot, was shown to deeply care about his friends, showing that he was more than just a spaghetti-loving idiot; he was a spaghetti-loving idiot with a big heart. And while Mario was extremely stupid, he was never afraid to get into fights and have some seriously badass moments when it was necessary. For instance, in the original Freddy's Spaghettiria, when he gets fed up by all of the animatronics's crap and takes over the Spaghettiria; or in Bad Stars 2, when he in SMG4 defeat an army of Teletubbies in a fight scene that would nowadays be preserved for Meggy and only Meggy. Mario also had moments of self-awareness, such as in Mario's Train Trip, in which he pulls out the train controls to stop the train, only to instantly regret his decision and realize he did something stupid.
In most modern depictions, however (2022-some of 2024), Mario is an incredibly stupid, fat, pathetic blob who gets pushed around by everyone, can't fight, and cries over spaghetti. We rarely get something like the scene I described in Mario's Train Trip nowadays, as he would likely just get beat up over his stupid decision instead of having a moment of clarity and regret about it. By far his worst appearance is probably How To Train Your Mario. In this episode, Mario is straight up insufferable, as we're forced to listen to him cry, whine, and complain like a literal baby, and we're supposed to find this funny? He doesn't stand up for himself at all, and is depicted as completely pathetic.
Though, I have to admit, following the whole Puzzlevision thing, Mario has been starting to really feel a lot like himself. Mario's subplot in the Puzzlevision movie was phenomenal (even if I do think he should've been the star of this movie instead of SMG4), and his performance in the most recent episode NOW, Super Mario 64 Poorly Explained, was great. I really hope we see more of this from Mario, as well as the series as a whole, in the future. Because I don't know about you all, but I miss the Mario whose stupidity and misadventures always made me laugh. I miss the Mario who was competent enough to be serious at times and not annoying. I miss the idiot with the big heart. And honestly, I'm tired of missing this Mario. I really hope the following episodes continue this trend.
(And now, here's a rant about Mario's power-level because I spent 2 weeks researching all the SMG4 characters in order to rank them in a super-accurate power-level tier list one time and I know care way too much about the subject.)
You know, while I am disappointed about this Saturday's upload being the Power Ranking Tier List (when I wrote this), and while I don't agree with some of the rankings and am disappointed that some characters didn't even get ranked at all, one thing that I am glad about is the fact that they fixed Mario's ranking and moved him to the top of S-Tier. If you weren't aware, a few years back, Luke and James did a similar Power Level Tier List, where they placed Mario in B-Tier. And this was after the Genesis Arc, where he was revealed to be the Universe Avatar. This decision never made sense to me for a multitude of reasons. For one, in that same ranking, they placed Sans in S-Tier. However, in the Undertale episode, when Sans and Mario fought, Mario BEAT Sans. This event ALONE should've automatically placed Mario above Sans in S-Tier.
And if that wasn't enough, Mario is literally invincible; the only being in the entire universe that had the power to kill him is dead, and if he dies, the entire universe dies with him. Not only that, but Mario has a multitude of completely overpowered power-ups, such as Cappy, which allows him to literally possess people, the Giga Bell, which allows him to go Super Saiyan, power-ups that allow him the ability of flight, fire, ice, invincibility, and so much more. And even without power-ups, Mario has already been shown to be incredibly strong in both SMG4 and Regular Mario canon. In the Freddy's Spaghettiria series, Mario was able to throw around animatronics (that must of weighed HUNDREDS of pounds) around with ease. He can break bricks with his bear hands, and in Super Mario World, he kicked an ENTIRE CASTLE into the sky without power-ups. So the fact that the writers have been depicting him as this babbling, pathetic weakling who can't stand up for himself, as well as the flanderization they've added to the character, is just immensely disrespectful to the character. The truth is that the character development that Meggy brought to Mario softened him A LOT, to the point of where he doesn't even stand up to himself when people are physically attacking him. Because the truth is, if Mario wanted to kill the entire cast, in-between his immense power and his invincibility, he would easily solo. If Mario and Meggy met by Mario seeing Meggy take the last plate of spaghetti, I have a feeling that Meggy wouldn't be appearing in current episodes.)
Y'know, I've been doing a lot of thinking, lately, and I realized that SMG4 isn't going to last forever. And one thing that I want to happen before it ends is for Mario to finally snap from the horrible treatment he's been getting from his friends, and either demand apologies or ditch them entirely. I also want him to realize that he's stronger than he knows, and that he shouldn't let people just walk all over him whenever they please.
So, that's about it really. This ended up being WAY longer than I thought, but I will be doing more of these. Tell me which character you'd like to see analyzed next. Anyways, later.
submitted by TheSexyMario777 to SMG4 [link] [comments]
Now, despite caring for his friends, Mario was still mostly seen as a jerky, negative character; often choosing spaghetti over his own friends and family, and generally seeming to care about spaghetti more than anything else. However, that would all change with the introduction of one character: Meggy.
As soon as she was introduced, it was clear that Meggy was very different than any character that came before her. She was more of an emotionally driven character, which led to much more emotionally driven scenes with her and her friends. And it just so happened that her best friend (at the time) happened to be Mario.
Now, Meggy's introduction episode, If Mario Was In... Splatoon, starts out like any normal If Mario Was In... episode. It follows Mario travelling to a new world, meeting the main charactes that inhabit that world, and unintentionally messing everything up with his stupidity. However, this time, things were a bit different. Mario and Meggy actually started forming a friendship; and Mario wanted to help Meggy achieve her dreams of winning the Splatfest. However, despite their efforts, it wasn't enough. They lost. Meggy begins to cry, as she didn't understand how, after training so hard, she still lost. This makes Mario feel bad, as he knows that it was probably his fault for goofing off too much in the first half of the game. Mario walks over to Meggy and comforts her, trying to cheer her up, only to forget what he was doing and start talking about spaghetti. Mario's stupidity in this scene actually cheers Meggy up, and makes her laugh. And this scene, right here, is the first time we ever see Mario get emotional or care about anything else other than spaghetti.
In the episodes that follow Meggy's debut, we see her getting closer and forming relationships with Mario, as well as the rest of his friends. They had a few wholesome moments here and there, with Meggy usually having to save Mario from danger (and Mario even saving her from danger on one occasion in Wild, Wild Mario.) And overtime, we get to see Mario change; becoming a more loving, caring, and emotional character. In the previous part, all those moments where Mario was shown actually caring about Luigi were after Meggy's introduction. In the Mario convention, Mario was deeply disturbed after finding that Luigi and Meggy had been transformed into T-Pose zombies, even crying about it. Meggy brought out the best in Mario, and Mario taught Meggy to be more carefree and not worry about things so much. However, the peak of their relationship as friends has yet to come.
In the episode Meggy's Bootcamp, during the Anime Arc, Meggy attempts to train Mario, Luigi, and Tari for the Splatfest. However, she is too hard on them. She treats them without consideration of their own limits and boundaries instead of encouragement. Luigi and Tari are too wimpy, and Mario doesn't take it seriously enough. Meggy ends up snapping at her friends over the Splatfest, before running away after realizing what she did. Mario, after seeing her clear discomfort, decides to go over there to console her. Meggy explains that she thought she would've won Splatfest by then, but that it's been two whole years and she still hadn't won a single game, making her feel like a total loser. She tells him that she felt bad about the way she treated her friends, and her feelings shouldn't have given her the right to act that way. So, to console her, Mario does something that nobody would've ever seen him doing; something that he hasn't done before or since this moment. Mario gives Meggy the one thing that he seems to care about more than anything in the whole world; Mario gives Meggy his spaghetti.
This moment shocked the fanbase, as it showed that, despite everything, Mario did have a heart somewhere in there. In episodes following this, Mario would continue to show the same care for Meggy that he did in these aforementioned episodes. He was the only one who remembered Meggy in Final Hours, the finale to the Anime Arc, as not even Saiko, who Meggy just helped to unban anime despite not caring for it at all herself, put any thought into Meggy in that moment. In Meggy's Destiny, Mario helps Meggy win the Splatfest, and even uses his brain, even if for just one moment, to find out that one of the teams cheated, allowing for Meggy to finally win the Splatfest. Their relationship was in its prime.
(The following is slightly outdated because the problem has calmed down a bit since I originally posted this, but it's still valid enough to include, and I'm not just going to erase it all, anyways.)
However, if you look into more recent episodes, you can see Mario getting beat up and pushed around by just about EVERYONE he considers his "friend". Even TARI is guilty of this. At the end of the most recent episode at the time of originally writing this (I wrote this on fandom first), The Day My Arm Went Psycho, Tari is seen yelling out Mario to apologize to the gorilla that was attacking him, despite literally doing nothing wrong, and she doesn't even help him escape the gorilla at the end of the episode.
And that's not all, either. Saiko, back when she used to appear in episodes, never was actually friends with Mario, and was usually the main one antagonizing him. Even SMG4, despite being best friends with Mario for over 10 years, hasn't been treating him the best recently. However, there is no character that treats Mario worse nowadays than Meggy.
Now, it started off as more of a friendly "sibling-rivalry", which shows Mario and Meggy increasingly going at each other's throats over mundane issues, such as chocolate or McDonald's. While at first, this wasn't that much of a big deal, as it could be funny sometimes, many people who were fans of Mario and Meggy's previously wholesome relationship were not happy. Little did they know, however, the worst was yet to come.
In recent episodes, it has gotten to the point where Meggy essentially attacks Mario for existing. This really started in Boys vs. Girls, in which, after losing to the girls in a competition, Mario, Bowser, and Axol mess up the girls' room, starting a friendly prank battle with them. However, the girls immediately take it way too far, feeding the boys to a fish, setting Mario on fire, breaking both of Bowser's hands, and getting Axol raped. The boys pranks, on the other hand, consisted of much more lighthearted pranks, such as scaring Tari. Now, usually, none of this would even matter, as this was just classic SMG4's nonsensical, slapstick humor. However, the ending of the episode is what changes everything.
The boys end up getting a bear, which ends up attacking the girls. While Saiko and Meggy were able to move out of the way, Tari isn't so lucky. The girls instantly act as though Mario and the boys "went too far", despite that being exactly what the girls had been doing throughout the ENTIRE episode, and showing Saiko even wanting to HURT the boys for doing this. The boys end up apologizing, despite the girls being the ones who did the MAJORITY of the mean pranks. And just when we thought the episode couldn't get any worse, the girls don't even accept the apology until using the boys as HUNTING targets, having them dress up in embarrassing bunny outfits and everything.
Since this episode, Meggy has been more prone to mistreating Mario in general. In POV: You're Mario, when Mario and Meggy switch places for a day, and Mario admits that it's too hard being her, Meggy's first instinct is to immediately laugh at and bully Mario, despite her literally just about to admit that it was hard being him. In Mario Goes On a Diet, Meggy forces Mario to go on a diet despite him clearly not wanting to. In episodes like Mario Goes Fishing, Meggy stops Mario and Bob from eating the fish (despite that literally being the point of fishing). Even in the most recent episode (at the time, which was The Day My Arm Went Psycho), Meggy sprays Mario with a water gun for NO REASON when he was LITERALLY TRYING TO HELP HER CONSOLE TARI. And it really doesn't help that Meggy is nearly impervious to all the cruel slapstick humor that Mario is practically haunted by at this point. That's why Tari's arm punching the life out of Meggy was the most satisfying in an SMG4 moment in a looong time, in my opinion. Easily the best part of that otherwise God-awful episode.
I remember when people used to say that Mario deserved better than Peach, and that Peach was just a negative, bossy person, and showing him with Meggy instead. But at this point, Meggy has become exactly what Peach was.
And that's not all, either. Mario's friends, in general, mistreat Mario all the time. Mario's friend should be accepting Mario as a friend for who he is despite his stupidity (the same stupidity that was CURSED onto him by the SMGs, btw). But instead, it's something that they constantly berate, get annoyed at, and even DEHUMANIZE him for.
In the 2022 Christmas Special, for instance, Meggy literally CHAINS MARIO TO A POLE, and treats him like an ANIMAL, just to stop him from eating the food before it was time to eat. Then, Mario uses Axol Jr. to get some food, and accidentally throws it at Bob. Meanwhile, shenanigans at the other table end up causing SMG3 to kick SMG4 at Bob, causing Axol Jr. to go flying and get injured. Melony gets mad at Mario for this, and his "friends" immediately shift all the blame onto him. Now, don't get me wrong; Melony has every right to be mad at Mario. But the blame should've been SHARED. Even SMG3, who's literally the one who kicked SMG4 into Bob and caused Axol Jr. to be injured, shifts all the blame onto Mario, calls him an idiot, and even accuses him of ruining Christmas. Don't forget that all of this is AFTER they found out about Mario's origins.
In Smart Mario, the entire group agrees that Mario's stupidity is too much, and they get E. Gadd to "fix" him. Granted, this was before they found out about his origins, but still. Then, when Mario's newfound smartness is too much for them to handle, they force him to become an idiot again, despite him begging and pleading for them not to. In If Mario was the Last Man on Earth, all of Mario's friends ditch him because they're scared that he's going to mess up a PIZZA world record, which causes him to slowly slip into insanity from the loneliness that they left with him with.
Again, it would be different if all this stuff was actually funny. After all, I said in the previous part that part of what made SMG4 so funny and memorable is that it was a cast of objectively bad people getting themselves into crazy, nonsensical situations. But it's not funny. None of this is funny, even if they're trying to be. We're watching a mentally challenged guy get beat up and tortured by his so-called "friends" for entertainment.
Now, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Mario is some perfect angel who is always in the right, and the world is just constantly beating down on him completely undeservedly. We all know that's not true. (In fact, there have been times in more recent episodes where Mario has been very annoying, and sometimes completely insufferable. However, I'll get into that a bit more later.)
But the very worst example of this is in the Lawsuit Arc; specifically in the episode "If Mario Was In Splatoon 3." In this episode, Mario has already been reverted back to his original personality by Lawyer Kong. When Meggy and SMG4 find him, they immediately try to turn him back, despite them usually hating his stupidity, besides when it entertains them.
Now, we all know that in real life, the reason that Mario is reverted back to his stupid self is so the show can continue. But in the canon, what is the reason? Now, the reason that the writers seem to push is that SMG4 and Meggy just want Mario to remember them and their adventures; however, that's selfish, as Meggy (and especially SMG4) know how much Mario was hurt by the Guardian Pod and SMG4's arrival. Mario went from the beloved hero of the Mushroom Kingdom who was known for being heroic and fighting off evil; he went from having a loving girlfriend, Peach, as well as a wonderful relationship with his brother, Luigi; to becoming a fat idiot that nearly the entire Mushroom Kingdom despised. His relationship with his brother was damaged immensely; Peach, Toad, and others who used to love and look up to him began to hate him, and his only "friends" treated him like shit. If SMG4 and Meggy were really his friends, they would've tried to befriend the NEW Mario by explaining the situation to him, telling him about past adventures, and try to reintroduce themselves to him. But instead, they try and revert him back into the saddest, most pathetic version of himself.
And it's not just Mario who was negatively affected by the Guardian Pod, but the entire kingdom! Luigi began to be bullied more by the people around him for his wimpy personality. Peach went from a kind, loving person to being bossy, naggy, stupid, and insane. Toad went from being the most loyal citizen in the Mushroom Kingdom to absolutely hating his life due to the newfound stupidity spread all around the kingdom, how poorly he was treated by Princess Peach, and how he was stuck in a loveless relationship with a crazed Toadette (who was most likely also affected by the Guardian Pod) who would probably kill him he attempted to break up with her. The only person who WASN'T negatively affected by the Guardian Pod was Bowser, who became a much more carefree, wholesome, and down to earth character after SMG4's arrival. Unfortunately, however, as much as we all love Bowser, one person is not worth an entire kingdom.
The truth is that Lawyer Kong, despite how much of a terrible person he was, and how immoral his ethics were, was right. Life in the Mushroom Kingdom was better before SMG4 arrived. Everybody was much happier before the bastardization of the entire world. And sure, they "saved the Earth a bunch of times", but even THAT was caused by SMG4. The truth is that the Waluigi Arc, the Anime Arc, the YouTube Arc, and even smaller issues like the Bob the Rapper arc, would've never happened if SMG4 didn't arrive. Now, as for Niles, it is unknown if he would've come whether SMG4 was there or not, or if regular Mario and the others would've been enough to defeat SMG0. So, that's gonna be left as a big question mark for now. But either way, Lawyer Kong was right. I feel like having him say it out of all people was the writer's way to get people to immediately disagree with him no matter what just because he's the villain. But just because the villain is saying something doesn't make it wrong; Lawyer Kong just handled it in an antagonistic way.
So anyways, if SMG4's arrival had this much of a negative affect on the world, and SMG4 knows this, then why would he be so quick to revert everyone back to the way they were AFTER he arrived when he's literally being given a second chance to make things right? It's because of the content. Without all these characters being stupid, he can't make content using them. As for Meggy, Mario's stupidity merely entertains her, and gives her an excuse to treat him like a punching bag.
And the worst part is that in this state, Mario can't even properly defend himself. Sure, he ends up siding with SMG4, and claims he doesn't want to be his original self anymore, but the truth is that Mario doesn't know what's best for him anymore. Mario was happier on an average day in his past life than he ever was in his current life.
Really, it seems that Mario's only actual friend is, ironically, Bowser. In SMG4, while Mario and Bowser have antagonized each other in the past, this is usually only when Peach is involved, and the two usually have a great friendship otherwise. Whether they're doing their cooking show, or just hanging out, Mario and Bowser seem to have a better friendship than any other character in the show; lately, even Mario's friendship with SMG4 is in decline for the reasons stated above.
Even in the most recent episode starring the two, "Mario Steals the Constitution", all the rest of Mario's friends are too busy to do anything. Or at least, everyone except for Bowser. Throughout the episode, Mario and Bowser have a mutual respect for each other, something that Mario doesn't currently have with any of the other characters in the series. They fought alongside each other, and saved each other when the other was in danger. It is also important to note that the reason Mario stole the constitution in the first place is because none of Mario's other "friends" even cared enough to celebrate it with him. The only exception for this is, again, Bowser, who talks about it without Mario even needing to remind him.
However, Mario's friends aren't the only detriment to him. The biggest detriment to the character of Mario is his own flanderization.
In the past, Mario has always been stupid. But it wasn't the only character trait he had. In addition to the jokes about his stupidity and love for spaghetti generally being funnier and more creative, they also made jokes about other character traits; for instance, his short temper, self-proclaimed "sexiness," and his bizarre pride of his obesity, as well as other general flaws that they could mold into funny situations. During the 2017-2021 era, Mario, despite being a flawed idiot, was shown to deeply care about his friends, showing that he was more than just a spaghetti-loving idiot; he was a spaghetti-loving idiot with a big heart. And while Mario was extremely stupid, he was never afraid to get into fights and have some seriously badass moments when it was necessary. For instance, in the original Freddy's Spaghettiria, when he gets fed up by all of the animatronics's crap and takes over the Spaghettiria; or in Bad Stars 2, when he in SMG4 defeat an army of Teletubbies in a fight scene that would nowadays be preserved for Meggy and only Meggy. Mario also had moments of self-awareness, such as in Mario's Train Trip, in which he pulls out the train controls to stop the train, only to instantly regret his decision and realize he did something stupid.
In most modern depictions, however (2022-some of 2024), Mario is an incredibly stupid, fat, pathetic blob who gets pushed around by everyone, can't fight, and cries over spaghetti. We rarely get something like the scene I described in Mario's Train Trip nowadays, as he would likely just get beat up over his stupid decision instead of having a moment of clarity and regret about it. By far his worst appearance is probably How To Train Your Mario. In this episode, Mario is straight up insufferable, as we're forced to listen to him cry, whine, and complain like a literal baby, and we're supposed to find this funny? He doesn't stand up for himself at all, and is depicted as completely pathetic.
Though, I have to admit, following the whole Puzzlevision thing, Mario has been starting to really feel a lot like himself. Mario's subplot in the Puzzlevision movie was phenomenal (even if I do think he should've been the star of this movie instead of SMG4), and his performance in the most recent episode NOW, Super Mario 64 Poorly Explained, was great. I really hope we see more of this from Mario, as well as the series as a whole, in the future. Because I don't know about you all, but I miss the Mario whose stupidity and misadventures always made me laugh. I miss the Mario who was competent enough to be serious at times and not annoying. I miss the idiot with the big heart. And honestly, I'm tired of missing this Mario. I really hope the following episodes continue this trend.
(And now, here's a rant about Mario's power-level because I spent 2 weeks researching all the SMG4 characters in order to rank them in a super-accurate power-level tier list one time and I know care way too much about the subject.)
You know, while I am disappointed about this Saturday's upload being the Power Ranking Tier List (when I wrote this), and while I don't agree with some of the rankings and am disappointed that some characters didn't even get ranked at all, one thing that I am glad about is the fact that they fixed Mario's ranking and moved him to the top of S-Tier. If you weren't aware, a few years back, Luke and James did a similar Power Level Tier List, where they placed Mario in B-Tier. And this was after the Genesis Arc, where he was revealed to be the Universe Avatar. This decision never made sense to me for a multitude of reasons. For one, in that same ranking, they placed Sans in S-Tier. However, in the Undertale episode, when Sans and Mario fought, Mario BEAT Sans. This event ALONE should've automatically placed Mario above Sans in S-Tier.
And if that wasn't enough, Mario is literally invincible; the only being in the entire universe that had the power to kill him is dead, and if he dies, the entire universe dies with him. Not only that, but Mario has a multitude of completely overpowered power-ups, such as Cappy, which allows him to literally possess people, the Giga Bell, which allows him to go Super Saiyan, power-ups that allow him the ability of flight, fire, ice, invincibility, and so much more. And even without power-ups, Mario has already been shown to be incredibly strong in both SMG4 and Regular Mario canon. In the Freddy's Spaghettiria series, Mario was able to throw around animatronics (that must of weighed HUNDREDS of pounds) around with ease. He can break bricks with his bear hands, and in Super Mario World, he kicked an ENTIRE CASTLE into the sky without power-ups. So the fact that the writers have been depicting him as this babbling, pathetic weakling who can't stand up for himself, as well as the flanderization they've added to the character, is just immensely disrespectful to the character. The truth is that the character development that Meggy brought to Mario softened him A LOT, to the point of where he doesn't even stand up to himself when people are physically attacking him. Because the truth is, if Mario wanted to kill the entire cast, in-between his immense power and his invincibility, he would easily solo. If Mario and Meggy met by Mario seeing Meggy take the last plate of spaghetti, I have a feeling that Meggy wouldn't be appearing in current episodes.)
Y'know, I've been doing a lot of thinking, lately, and I realized that SMG4 isn't going to last forever. And one thing that I want to happen before it ends is for Mario to finally snap from the horrible treatment he's been getting from his friends, and either demand apologies or ditch them entirely. I also want him to realize that he's stronger than he knows, and that he shouldn't let people just walk all over him whenever they please.
So, that's about it really. This ended up being WAY longer than I thought, but I will be doing more of these. Tell me which character you'd like to see analyzed next. Anyways, later.
2024.05.17 23:19 ChiCubsbot Postgame Thread: 5/17 Pirates @ Cubs
Line Score - Game Over
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Box Score
| CHC | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | Tauchman | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .263 |
| LF | Happ | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .216 |
| RF | Bellinger | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .256 |
| 3B | Morel, C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .215 |
| 1B | Busch | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .250 |
| SS | Mastrobuoni | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .147 |
| 2B | Madrigal | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .222 |
| CF | Crow-Armstrong | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .236 |
| C | Amaya | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .187 |
| CHC | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendricks | 4.2 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 89-64 | 10.57 |
| Cuas | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 32-19 | 6.17 |
| Little | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8-6 | 5.91 |
| Leiter Jr. | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20-13 | 1.00 |
| Neris | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22-16 | 2.81 |
| PIT | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | McCutchen | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .213 |
| LF | Reynolds, B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .254 |
| SS | Cruz, O | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .251 |
| SS | Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .245 |
| RF | Joe | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .296 |
| 2B | Gonzales, N | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .269 |
| CF | Suwinski | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .168 |
| C | Grandal | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .212 |
| 1B | Tellez | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .188 |
| 3B | Triolo | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .201 |
| PIT | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skenes | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 100-67 | 2.70 |
| Mlodzinski | 1.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 48-28 | 10.80 |
| Ryan | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18-8 | 3.46 |
| Stratton, H | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15-10 | 3.74 |
Scoring Plays
Highlights
Decisions
| Winning Pitcher | Losing Pitcher | Save |
|---|---|---|
| Skenes (1-0, 2.70 ERA) | Hendricks (0-4, 10.57 ERA) |
2024.05.17 22:08 BaseballBot No-H****r Alert - Skenes (Pirates) vs. Cubs
Pirates (20-25) @ Cubs (25-20)
First Pitch: 2:20 PM at Wrigley Field| Team | Starter | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | Paul Skenes (0-0, 2.70 ERA) | SNP | 100.1/1020 |
| Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (0-3, 10.57 ERA) | MARQ | WSCR, WRTO (ES) |
| MLB | Fangraphs | Reddit Stream | Discord |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameday | Game Graph | Live Comments | /baseball Discord |
Line Score - Game Over
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Box Score
| CHC | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | Tauchman | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .263 |
| LF | Happ | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .216 |
| RF | Bellinger | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .256 |
| 3B | Morel, C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .215 |
| 1B | Busch | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .250 |
| SS | Mastrobuoni | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .147 |
| 2B | Madrigal | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .222 |
| CF | Crow-Armstrong | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .236 |
| C | Amaya | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .187 |
| CHC | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendricks | 4.2 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 89-64 | 10.57 |
| Cuas | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 32-19 | 6.17 |
| Little | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8-6 | 5.91 |
| Leiter Jr. | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20-13 | 1.00 |
| Neris | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22-16 | 2.81 |
| PIT | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | McCutchen | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .213 |
| LF | Reynolds, B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .254 |
| SS | Cruz, O | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .251 |
| SS | Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .245 |
| RF | Joe | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .296 |
| 2B | Gonzales, N | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .269 |
| CF | Suwinski | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .168 |
| C | Grandal | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .212 |
| 1B | Tellez | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .188 |
| 3B | Triolo | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .201 |
| PIT | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skenes | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 100-67 | 2.70 |
| Mlodzinski | 1.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 48-28 | 10.80 |
| Ryan | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18-8 | 3.46 |
| Stratton, H | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15-10 | 3.74 |
Scoring Plays
Highlights
Decisions
| Winning Pitcher | Losing Pitcher | Save |
|---|---|---|
| Skenes (1-0, 2.70 ERA) | Hendricks (0-4, 10.57 ERA) |
Remember to sort by new to keep up!
2024.05.17 19:20 BaseballBot Game Thread 5/17 ⚾ Pirates (20-25) @ Cubs (25-20) 2:20 PM ET
Join us on Discord!
Pirates (20-25) @ Cubs (25-20)
First Pitch: 2:20 PM at Wrigley Field| Team | Starter | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | Paul Skenes (0-0, 6.75 ERA) | SNP | 100.1/1020 |
| Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (0-3, 10.04 ERA) | MARQ | WSCR, WRTO (ES) |
| MLB | Fangraphs | Reddit Stream | IRC Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameday | Game Graph | Live Comments | Libera: ##baseball |
Line Score - Game Over
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Box Score
| CHC | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | Tauchman | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .263 |
| LF | Happ | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .216 |
| RF | Bellinger | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .256 |
| 3B | Morel, C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .215 |
| 1B | Busch | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .250 |
| SS | Mastrobuoni | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .147 |
| 2B | Madrigal | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .222 |
| CF | Crow-Armstrong | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .236 |
| C | Amaya | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .187 |
| CHC | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendricks | 4.2 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 89-64 | 10.57 |
| Cuas | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 32-19 | 6.17 |
| Little | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8-6 | 5.91 |
| Leiter Jr. | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20-13 | 1.00 |
| Neris | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22-16 | 2.81 |
| PIT | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | McCutchen | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .213 |
| LF | Reynolds, B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .254 |
| SS | Cruz, O | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .251 |
| SS | Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .245 |
| RF | Joe | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .296 |
| 2B | Gonzales, N | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .269 |
| CF | Suwinski | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .168 |
| C | Grandal | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .212 |
| 1B | Tellez | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .188 |
| 3B | Triolo | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .201 |
| PIT | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skenes | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 100-67 | 2.70 |
| Mlodzinski | 1.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 48-28 | 10.80 |
| Ryan | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18-8 | 3.46 |
| Stratton, H | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15-10 | 3.74 |
Scoring Plays
Highlights
Decisions
| Winning Pitcher | Losing Pitcher | Save |
|---|---|---|
| Skenes (1-0, 2.70 ERA) | Hendricks (0-4, 10.57 ERA) |
| Attendance | Weather | Wind |
|---|---|---|
| 77°F, Sunny | 6 mph, In From CF |
| HP | 1B | 2B | 3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian O'Nora | Chris Conroy | Charlie Ramos | Brennan Miller |
Remember to sort by new to keep up!
2024.05.17 18:20 BuccosBot Game Thread: Pirates @ Cubs - Fri, May 17 @ 02:20 PM EDT
Pirates @ Cubs - Fri, May 17
Game Status: Final - Score: 9-3 Pirates
Links & Info
- Current conditions at Wrigley Field: 77°F - Sunny - Wind 6 mph, In From CF
- TV: National: MLBN (out-of-market only), Pirates: SportsNet-PIT, Cubs: Marquee Sports Network
- Radio: Pirates: 100.1 FM/KDKA-AM 1020, Cubs: WRTO 1200 (es), 670 The Score
- MLB Gameday
- Game Graphs
- Savant Gamefeed
| Pirates Batters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | LOB | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McCutchen - DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .213 | .320 | .378 |
| 2 | Reynolds, B - LF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .254 | .341 | .414 |
| 3 | Cruz, O - SS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .251 | .298 | .425 |
| Williams - SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .245 | .273 | .340 | |
| 4 | Joe - RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .296 | .364 | .504 |
| 5 | Gonzales, N - 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .269 | .286 | .538 |
| 6 | Suwinski - CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .168 | .252 | .275 |
| 7 | Grandal - C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .212 | .229 | .424 |
| 8 | Tellez - 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .188 | .258 | .241 |
| 9 | Triolo - 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .201 | .291 | .257 |
| Totals | 41 | 9 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 15 |
| Pirates |
|---|
| BATTING: 2B: Gonzales, N (1, Hendricks). HR: Triolo (2, 3rd inning off Hendricks, 1 on, 0 out); McCutchen (6, 8th inning off Leiter Jr., 0 on, 2 out). TB: Gonzales, N 3; Grandal 2; Joe 3; McCutchen 4; Reynolds, B 2; Suwinski; Tellez 2; Triolo 5. RBI: Gonzales, N (6); Grandal 3 (9); McCutchen (11); Triolo 3 (15). 2-out RBI: Triolo; Grandal 3; McCutchen. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Grandal; McCutchen. SF: Gonzales, N. Team RISP: 4-for-8. Team LOB: 7. |
| Cubs Batters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | LOB | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tauchman - DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .263 | .382 | .416 |
| 2 | Happ - LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .216 | .330 | .314 |
| 3 | Bellinger - RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .256 | .338 | .480 |
| 4 | Morel, C - 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .215 | .296 | .417 |
| 5 | Busch - 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | .250 | .327 | .465 |
| 6 | Mastrobuoni - SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .147 | .256 | .176 |
| 7 | Madrigal - 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .222 | .282 | .264 |
| 8 | Crow-Armstrong - CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .236 | .295 | .364 |
| 9 | Amaya - C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .187 | .248 | .297 |
| Totals | 31 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 6 |
| Cubs |
|---|
| BATTING: 2B: Morel, C (4, Ryan). HR: Amaya (2, 8th inning off Mlodzinski, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Amaya 4; Morel, C 3; Tauchman. RBI: Amaya (12); Morel, C 2 (31). 2-out RBI: Amaya; Morel, C 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Busch 2; Mastrobuoni. Team RISP: 1-for-3. Team LOB: 5. |
| FIELDING: E: Crow-Armstrong (1, throw). |
| Pirates Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skenes (W, 1-0) | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 100-67 | 2.70 |
| Mlodzinski | 1.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48-28 | 10.80 |
| Ryan | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18-8 | 3.46 |
| Stratton, H | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15-10 | 3.74 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 1 |
| Cubs Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendricks (L, 0-4) | 4.2 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 89-64 | 10.57 |
| Cuas | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 32-19 | 6.17 |
| Little | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8-6 | 5.91 |
| Leiter Jr. | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20-13 | 1.00 |
| Neris | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22-16 | 2.81 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| Game Info |
|---|
| Pitches-strikes: Skenes 100-67; Mlodzinski 48-28; Ryan 18-8; Stratton, H 15-10; Hendricks 89-64; Cuas 32-19; Little 8-6; Leiter Jr. 20-13; Neris 22-16. |
| Groundouts-flyouts: Skenes 6-1; Mlodzinski 3-1; Ryan 0-0; Stratton, H 0-0; Hendricks 9-1; Cuas 0-1; Little 0-0; Leiter Jr. 0-0; Neris 1-1. |
| Batters faced: Skenes 19; Mlodzinski 9; Ryan 3; Stratton, H 4; Hendricks 25; Cuas 7; Little 2; Leiter Jr. 5; Neris 4. |
| Inherited runners-scored: Ryan 1-1; Stratton, H 2-0; Cuas 1-0; Little 1-0. |
| Umpires: HP: Brian O'Nora. 1B: Chris Conroy. 2B: Charlie Ramos. 3B: Brennan Miller. |
| Weather: 77 degrees, Sunny. |
| Wind: 6 mph, In From CF. |
| First pitch: 1:20 PM. |
| T: 2:57. |
| Att: 35,372. |
| Venue: Wrigley Field. |
| May 17, 2024 |
| Inning | Scoring Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Top 3 | Jared Triolo homers (2) on a fly ball to left field. Rowdy Tellez scores. | 2-0 PIT |
| Top 4 | Yasmani Grandal singles on a fly ball to left fielder Ian Happ. Nick Gonzales scores. | 3-0 PIT |
| Top 4 | Jared Triolo singles on a line drive to center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Yasmani Grandal scores. Rowdy Tellez scores. Jared Triolo to 3rd. Throwing error by center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. | 5-0 PIT |
| Top 5 | Nick Gonzales out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Bryan Reynolds scores. | 6-0 PIT |
| Top 5 | Yasmani Grandal singles on a line drive to right fielder Cody Bellinger. Connor Joe scores. Jack Suwinski scores. | 8-0 PIT |
| Top 8 | Andrew McCutchen homers (6) on a fly ball to left field. | 9-0 PIT |
| Bottom 8 | Miguel Amaya homers (2) on a line drive to left center field. | 9-1 PIT |
| Bottom 8 | Christopher Morel doubles (4) on a sharp line drive to center fielder Jack Suwinski. Mike Tauchman scores. Ian Happ scores. Cody Bellinger to 3rd. | 9-3 PIT |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 7 | |
| Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Decisions
- Winner: Paul Skenes (1-0, 2.70)
- Loser: Kyle Hendricks (0-4, 10.57)
Division Scoreboard
MIL 4 @ HOU 5 - FinalBOS 6 @ STL 10 - Final
CIN 3 @ LAD 7 - Final
Last Updated: 05/18/2024 12:48:57 AM EDT
2024.05.17 17:20 ChiCubsbot GDT: 5/17 Pirates (20-25) @ Cubs (25-20) 1:20 PM
Pirates (20-25) @ Cubs (25-20)
First Pitch: 1:20 PM at Wrigley Field| Team | Starter | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates | Paul Skenes (0-0, 6.75 ERA) | SNP | 100.1/1020 |
| Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (0-3, 10.04 ERA) | MARQ | WSCR, WRTO (ES) |
| MLB | Fangraphs | Baseball Savant | Reddit Stream | IRC Chat | Channel Finder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gameday | Game Graph | Strikezone Map | Live Comments | Libera: ##baseball | Channel Finder |
Line Score - Game Over
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Box Score
| CHC | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | Tauchman | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .263 |
| LF | Happ | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .216 |
| RF | Bellinger | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .256 |
| 3B | Morel, C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .215 |
| 1B | Busch | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .250 |
| SS | Mastrobuoni | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .147 |
| 2B | Madrigal | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .222 |
| CF | Crow-Armstrong | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .236 |
| C | Amaya | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .187 |
| CHC | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendricks | 4.2 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 89-64 | 10.57 |
| Cuas | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 32-19 | 6.17 |
| Little | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8-6 | 5.91 |
| Leiter Jr. | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20-13 | 1.00 |
| Neris | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22-16 | 2.81 |
| PIT | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | McCutchen | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .213 |
| LF | Reynolds, B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .254 |
| SS | Cruz, O | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .251 |
| SS | Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .245 |
| RF | Joe | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .296 |
| 2B | Gonzales, N | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .269 |
| CF | Suwinski | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .168 |
| C | Grandal | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .212 |
| 1B | Tellez | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .188 |
| 3B | Triolo | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .201 |
| PIT | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | P-S | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skenes | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 100-67 | 2.70 |
| Mlodzinski | 1.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 48-28 | 10.80 |
| Ryan | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18-8 | 3.46 |
| Stratton, H | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15-10 | 3.74 |
Scoring Plays
Highlights
Decisions
| Winning Pitcher | Losing Pitcher | Save |
|---|---|---|
| Skenes (1-0, 2.70 ERA) | Hendricks (0-4, 10.57 ERA) |
Remember to sort by new to keep up!
2024.05.17 15:49 Aginagala WWF King of The Ring 1997 Review
Welcome back to my running series of WWF PPV Reviews from a ‘blind’ perspective (I have no idea what’s going to happen; the results, the feuds or how good any of the matches will be). I have always heard stories of the attitude era and golden age but never watched it myself so I set myself to watching every single PPV event chronologically. I am also watching Wrestling Bios ‘reliving the war’ series to keep me updated inbetween the events with the feuds, and to get excited about upcoming matches.
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
The match I’m most excited to see has to be Michaels vs Austin, the same again can be said with the most exciting feud. I know I sound like a broken instrument but how can you not pick this? Two legends meeting in the ring on top of their game before any bad injuries or anything… it’s gotta be a classic I’m calling it.
WWF King Of The Ring 1997 Match Ratings
HHH vs Ahmed Johnson 1.25/5
Mankind vs Jerry The King Lawler 2/5
Crush vs Goldust 0.5/5
Six man tag team match 2/5
Mankind vs HHH 3/5
Shawn Michaels vs Steve Austin 4.25/5
Undertaker vs Farooq 1.75/5
The crowd are really behind Ahmed Johnson at the moment he just makes for a very good baby face character and I think it works really well with HHH playing his Heel character very well too; they have good in ring chemistry (character wise not wrestling wise).
Ahmed Johnson is an absolute unit by the way, he’s literally shoulder pressing triple H above his head for a set of 3 before slamming him down to the ground, and Hunter isn’t a small guy so that’s seriously impressive.
Their match however isn’t that impressive, it’s very short and to the point, but in this case it doesn’t work that well at all. Ahmed throws literally one of the worst spinebusters I’ve ever seen, and afterwards is distracted by Chyna, which allows triple H to hit a running knee and a pedigree. He wins and runs off followed by Ahmed. I didn’t really even get to see what these two had but Ahmed, apart from showing off his strength didn’t really showcase much more than that. This definitely wasn’t one of hunters best matches either but he didn’t really have much to work with.
I’m watching the king walk down to the ring after a decent promo as per usual and is as expected from mankind, and I’m calling it already this is going to be over in about 1 minute.
Okay so maybe I was wrong. We actually got a pretty entertaining match as well which was completely unexpected. The king is such a good heel that an actual psychopath is getting cheered over him. He just plays his character so well it’s so funny seeing him go around insulting random members of the audience, gets me every time. Mankind takes his usual over the top bumps which continues to entertain, and the king, in all fairness, to him isn’t looking bad in this match; he’s hitting clean piledrivers on a big man like foley, hitting drop kicks like a pro, consider me pleasantly surprised. The match ends with the mandible claw and Jesus man this submission is so overpowered. I got some enjoyment out of this match though but maybe it’s because my expectations were so low 😂.
After the match Stone cold lays into Brian Pillman during a promo and takes him into the toilet to dunk his head in and we get… a toilet cam?? God you gotta love how stupid old WWF was sometimes. Like why in the hell would they have a toilet cam just there, some peeping Tom type stuff, this made me laugh so hard.
The Goldust vs crush match was really really bad. Crush is just so boring to watch and I’m not lying when I say he spent over half the match doing rest holds, nerve holds, chin locks etc etc it was just so bad. I don’t even think there was a highlight… maybe marlena? 😂 I yawned multiple times and this was a tough one to sit through, if you ever watch this ppv just skip this. The LOD promo afterwards was good though.
Going into the 6 man tag match I actually had some decent expectations but it ended up just being your average tag match. This was set up to be pretty entertaining but for whatever reason everyone was being sloppy, popping straight out of bulldogs big moves was really weird and the chemistry just wasn’t there.
I’m also not enjoying this new Sid character it doesn’t make any sense; suddenly after losing the championship he’s just his happy-go-lucky nice guy? He’s just beaming a massive smile around to everyone and idk it just didn’t work for me. I do like the new hart foundation and LOD being back it’s definitely an improvement over 1996 tag action in the WWF but this wasn’t a great showcase.
The mankind HHH match I have mixed feelings about. The last 10 ish minutes were great with some good looking bumps, pace picked way up and the crowd was well into it by the end; definitely HHHs best match so far. However the first 10-15 minutes were painfully slow and it didn’t really look like it was going anywhere. But like I say it really picked up in the last 5 minutes especially and was very entertaining. The heel ends up winning and I can see a feud forming from this match. It was pretty fitting that HHH won considering his gimmick. It’s really nice seeing triple H slowly improving and getting his game sorted, I’m wondering when he drops this gimmick for the game, and when D Generation X begins. Seeing the origins of all my favourite childhood wrestlers for the first time is such a treat.
Mankind took more great looking bumps this match as per usual, he’s just a complete nutcase isn’t he 😂😂. Actually a pretty fun match just had a very slow start.
The hart foundation makes their way to the ring before Austin and Michaels and to be fair I’m really enjoying having a big heel group in the WWF; they really needed something like this to mix it up. Whether or not it was inspired by nWo is I’m sure up for debate, but I think it fits really well and has formed in a way that makes sense. Never seen any of this play out so I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Stone cold makes his way to the ring after yet ANOTHER banger promo and the crowd is absolutely behind him now. Its crazy to me that in the space of a year he went from a crowd having little to no reaction to him to being absolute superstar and he did it though fantastic promos and legendary matches, just brilliant.
Just want to say as well it was so wholesome seeing Shawn helping out the kid that was clearly struggling and overwhelmed taking him down the ramp, and then Austin holding the ropes for him as a show of respect. Good show gentlemen o7.
The Shawn and Austin match of course was f***ing great. So enjoyable pretty much the whole way through. There were a few moments it was a little slow but it was a really good show. I hated the ending though, the double DQ finish is so lame and lazy but I suppose it makes sense for the way the story is going showing Shawn and Austin being the strongest men in the WWF but it would’ve been good to see a winner.
The action itself was awesome and both wrestlers pre injury are just absolute superstars in their prime battling it out. The crowd was electric and JR says something so funny “the Michaels fans with a bit more squeak in their voice” and it’s so true whenever Austin was in control you could hear the guys cheering and whenever Michaels made his iconic baby face comebacks the women would cheer, f**ing brilliant. It looked like a really even match and it was just a joy to watch you really didn’t know who was gunna win this. The ending was so good the last 10 minutes was 5 action with both men performing finishers on referees and each other, big bumps on the outside, just amazing action. Also Shawn’s selling is so iconic it’s so cheesy but it’s so good as well. Great match and definitely worth a watch, if not for the end of the match it would be 5*.
Before the main event I just wanted to mention I’d seen an undertaker interview where he said if he thought a match wasn’t gunna be as good he would take his time walking to the ring and build anticipation more and he REALLY takes his time with this entrance which is so funny to me, but you never know, I’ll give it a chance. It’s a bit of a bland storyline behind this, with Farooqs motivation just pulling the race card but it is what it is let’s see what they got.
And… we certainly saw what Farooq had… not a whole lot at all. An exceedingly average match for a main event, felt like a normal weekly show kind of main event. The highlight was probably undertaker doing a backward splash into the NOD members. Honestly the post match was much more exciting than the actual match, with Paul bearer fuelling undertaker to attack farooq after the match, it’s still cool seeing the undertaker Paul bearer story play out. But yeah just an average/below average main event. It’s a shame undertaker isn’t actually having a lot of good matches during his reign as champion knowing how good of a wrestler he is. I really don’t have much to say about this one though. Farooq just isn’t exciting to watch and the NOD is a boring group.
Overall the event was very up and down, a couple of standout matches, HHH vs Mankind and Austin vs Michaels which was bound to be a classic, and apart from that not really anything noteworthy happened. Once again a ppv where it feels like it was just setting up future matches and storylines, which is cool but it hurts the matches on the night.
Overall rating 2.75/5
submitted by Aginagala to WWE [link] [comments]
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
The match I’m most excited to see has to be Michaels vs Austin, the same again can be said with the most exciting feud. I know I sound like a broken instrument but how can you not pick this? Two legends meeting in the ring on top of their game before any bad injuries or anything… it’s gotta be a classic I’m calling it.
WWF King Of The Ring 1997 Match Ratings
HHH vs Ahmed Johnson 1.25/5
Mankind vs Jerry The King Lawler 2/5
Crush vs Goldust 0.5/5
Six man tag team match 2/5
Mankind vs HHH 3/5
Shawn Michaels vs Steve Austin 4.25/5
Undertaker vs Farooq 1.75/5
The crowd are really behind Ahmed Johnson at the moment he just makes for a very good baby face character and I think it works really well with HHH playing his Heel character very well too; they have good in ring chemistry (character wise not wrestling wise).
Ahmed Johnson is an absolute unit by the way, he’s literally shoulder pressing triple H above his head for a set of 3 before slamming him down to the ground, and Hunter isn’t a small guy so that’s seriously impressive.
Their match however isn’t that impressive, it’s very short and to the point, but in this case it doesn’t work that well at all. Ahmed throws literally one of the worst spinebusters I’ve ever seen, and afterwards is distracted by Chyna, which allows triple H to hit a running knee and a pedigree. He wins and runs off followed by Ahmed. I didn’t really even get to see what these two had but Ahmed, apart from showing off his strength didn’t really showcase much more than that. This definitely wasn’t one of hunters best matches either but he didn’t really have much to work with.
I’m watching the king walk down to the ring after a decent promo as per usual and is as expected from mankind, and I’m calling it already this is going to be over in about 1 minute.
Okay so maybe I was wrong. We actually got a pretty entertaining match as well which was completely unexpected. The king is such a good heel that an actual psychopath is getting cheered over him. He just plays his character so well it’s so funny seeing him go around insulting random members of the audience, gets me every time. Mankind takes his usual over the top bumps which continues to entertain, and the king, in all fairness, to him isn’t looking bad in this match; he’s hitting clean piledrivers on a big man like foley, hitting drop kicks like a pro, consider me pleasantly surprised. The match ends with the mandible claw and Jesus man this submission is so overpowered. I got some enjoyment out of this match though but maybe it’s because my expectations were so low 😂.
After the match Stone cold lays into Brian Pillman during a promo and takes him into the toilet to dunk his head in and we get… a toilet cam?? God you gotta love how stupid old WWF was sometimes. Like why in the hell would they have a toilet cam just there, some peeping Tom type stuff, this made me laugh so hard.
The Goldust vs crush match was really really bad. Crush is just so boring to watch and I’m not lying when I say he spent over half the match doing rest holds, nerve holds, chin locks etc etc it was just so bad. I don’t even think there was a highlight… maybe marlena? 😂 I yawned multiple times and this was a tough one to sit through, if you ever watch this ppv just skip this. The LOD promo afterwards was good though.
Going into the 6 man tag match I actually had some decent expectations but it ended up just being your average tag match. This was set up to be pretty entertaining but for whatever reason everyone was being sloppy, popping straight out of bulldogs big moves was really weird and the chemistry just wasn’t there.
I’m also not enjoying this new Sid character it doesn’t make any sense; suddenly after losing the championship he’s just his happy-go-lucky nice guy? He’s just beaming a massive smile around to everyone and idk it just didn’t work for me. I do like the new hart foundation and LOD being back it’s definitely an improvement over 1996 tag action in the WWF but this wasn’t a great showcase.
The mankind HHH match I have mixed feelings about. The last 10 ish minutes were great with some good looking bumps, pace picked way up and the crowd was well into it by the end; definitely HHHs best match so far. However the first 10-15 minutes were painfully slow and it didn’t really look like it was going anywhere. But like I say it really picked up in the last 5 minutes especially and was very entertaining. The heel ends up winning and I can see a feud forming from this match. It was pretty fitting that HHH won considering his gimmick. It’s really nice seeing triple H slowly improving and getting his game sorted, I’m wondering when he drops this gimmick for the game, and when D Generation X begins. Seeing the origins of all my favourite childhood wrestlers for the first time is such a treat.
Mankind took more great looking bumps this match as per usual, he’s just a complete nutcase isn’t he 😂😂. Actually a pretty fun match just had a very slow start.
The hart foundation makes their way to the ring before Austin and Michaels and to be fair I’m really enjoying having a big heel group in the WWF; they really needed something like this to mix it up. Whether or not it was inspired by nWo is I’m sure up for debate, but I think it fits really well and has formed in a way that makes sense. Never seen any of this play out so I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Stone cold makes his way to the ring after yet ANOTHER banger promo and the crowd is absolutely behind him now. Its crazy to me that in the space of a year he went from a crowd having little to no reaction to him to being absolute superstar and he did it though fantastic promos and legendary matches, just brilliant.
Just want to say as well it was so wholesome seeing Shawn helping out the kid that was clearly struggling and overwhelmed taking him down the ramp, and then Austin holding the ropes for him as a show of respect. Good show gentlemen o7.
The Shawn and Austin match of course was f***ing great. So enjoyable pretty much the whole way through. There were a few moments it was a little slow but it was a really good show. I hated the ending though, the double DQ finish is so lame and lazy but I suppose it makes sense for the way the story is going showing Shawn and Austin being the strongest men in the WWF but it would’ve been good to see a winner.
The action itself was awesome and both wrestlers pre injury are just absolute superstars in their prime battling it out. The crowd was electric and JR says something so funny “the Michaels fans with a bit more squeak in their voice” and it’s so true whenever Austin was in control you could hear the guys cheering and whenever Michaels made his iconic baby face comebacks the women would cheer, f**ing brilliant. It looked like a really even match and it was just a joy to watch you really didn’t know who was gunna win this. The ending was so good the last 10 minutes was 5 action with both men performing finishers on referees and each other, big bumps on the outside, just amazing action. Also Shawn’s selling is so iconic it’s so cheesy but it’s so good as well. Great match and definitely worth a watch, if not for the end of the match it would be 5*.
Before the main event I just wanted to mention I’d seen an undertaker interview where he said if he thought a match wasn’t gunna be as good he would take his time walking to the ring and build anticipation more and he REALLY takes his time with this entrance which is so funny to me, but you never know, I’ll give it a chance. It’s a bit of a bland storyline behind this, with Farooqs motivation just pulling the race card but it is what it is let’s see what they got.
And… we certainly saw what Farooq had… not a whole lot at all. An exceedingly average match for a main event, felt like a normal weekly show kind of main event. The highlight was probably undertaker doing a backward splash into the NOD members. Honestly the post match was much more exciting than the actual match, with Paul bearer fuelling undertaker to attack farooq after the match, it’s still cool seeing the undertaker Paul bearer story play out. But yeah just an average/below average main event. It’s a shame undertaker isn’t actually having a lot of good matches during his reign as champion knowing how good of a wrestler he is. I really don’t have much to say about this one though. Farooq just isn’t exciting to watch and the NOD is a boring group.
Overall the event was very up and down, a couple of standout matches, HHH vs Mankind and Austin vs Michaels which was bound to be a classic, and apart from that not really anything noteworthy happened. Once again a ppv where it feels like it was just setting up future matches and storylines, which is cool but it hurts the matches on the night.
Overall rating 2.75/5
2024.05.17 13:38 TearRepresentative56 I'm a full time trader and this is everything I'm watching and analysing in premarket 17/05 including positioning analysis and updates
ANALYSIS:
AMAT:
submitted by TearRepresentative56 to WallStreetbetsELITE [link] [comments]
- CPI update:
- Core CPI came in line with survey, at 0.3%, heading slightly lower in MOM terms vs last month (0.3% vs 0.4% before).
- We can see its a similar scenario as before, with service inflation there, but goods in deflation.
- https://imgur.com/a/3hAiquW
- Significantly, shelter inflation MOM is finally below 0.4%, which was the main headline of the print.
- https://imgur.com/a/GYHD12y
- Following the print, Inflation swaps now price in lower CPI for next month, so traders are more optimistic on inflation to continue lower than they were before, especially as we see oil prices come down this month.
- Market continues to move on the number of rate cuts being priced in for this year. Right now markets continue to price 1 or 2 rate cuts.
- So what does this mean for positioning, as we saw equities push higher?
- Well, as was the case before CPI, we continue to see very bearish positioning on VIX. Traders expect VIX to continue lower, which will increase the liquidity that market makers add. This should support the market higher. nOt much anxiety and fear in the markets.
- Volatility should therefore remain suppressed, for this opex.
- 5300 is the wall to get above, but We see traders buying calls on 5400 now so traders are optimistic in medium term.
- Probably when we look at today, skew is flat, but positioning bullish. We can see choppy day as VIX delta ITM puts are still elevated.
- Sentiment v bullish over next month or more.
- When we look at FX, we see That EURUSD has pared gains, because DXY moved higher. This was mostly because EURUSD had got overbought, and DXY was starting to get short term oversold. When we look at positioning, we see traders still buying calls on 1.09. 1.08 will act as support now.
- GOLD and Silver still see strong positioning, 2400 is wall on Gold. Skew on both gold and silver point higher but seeing low volumes.
- On Oil, traders are looking bullish. The skew points higher, whilst price consolidates. Traders are expecting a bullish breakout soon as seasonal demand tends to pick up in summer. Oil is just currently stuck below 79 on WTI.
- On German market, we see traders still buying calls on 19k but low volumes. Needs v high volume to get to this 19k level. 19k is a massive wall. Today and yesterday, it comes down, but soon it will try to test again. Euro strength will help GER40 go higher.
- China Industrial production YOY came 6.7% up, vs 5.5% expected
- China Retail sales came 2.3% YOY vs 3.8% expected
- So retail sales came weak, industrial production was strong
- Unemployment rate in China fell to 5% from 5.2%, back to lowest level since November.
- NOTE: China also announced measures from PBOC to support housing market.
- Final revision to inflation rate in Eurozone came in in line with preliminary readings. No change.
- US leading index comes out later, after market opens. Expected to show deteriorating leading economic indicators
- SPX: Following CPI, we saw markets push from 5246, to close above 5300. Yesterday, we aw market reach 5325, partly as result of softer jobless numbers, which points to more rate cuts, before sell off lower below 5300. Now at 5295. 5300 will be resistance again that it will try to break above.
- Nasdaq: Before CPI was at 18,310 just below resistance, pushed higher to reach 18,650, before coming lower again to 18,555. 18600 is a resistance, before 19k as the key resistance.
- Dow: was trading at 39600 before CPI, pushed higher to 40k. Got rejected below 40k. 40k is key resistance to get above.
- GER40: Pushed higher with US markets to 18,910, close to the key 19k resistance which is v strong, before paring gains back to 18,662.
- UK100 just been flat amongst the highs at 8400-8450
- China50 higher with lower unemployment rate and higher industrial production, trading up by 1.5% to 12,850. Main resistance now is going to be 13k. China also announced measures to support housing market.
- HKG50: Trading at 19,500. Key resistance is 20k.
- OIL: still trading flat, skew pointing higher.
- GOLD trading higher after CPI, bounced close to 2400.
- Price of Copper surges to new highs.
- EURUSD hit 1.09 yesterday, before coming down back to 1.084 now. 1.09 was the wall.
- GBPUSD hit 1.27, before coming down to 1.265 now.
- USDJPY fell from 156 to 153.5, before recovering higher to 156 again now.
- AUDUSD moved higher above 0.67 before paring the gains.
- The paring of gains came as DXY fell to almost 104, before pushing higher from there to 104.8.
- NVDA lower in premarket as Microsoft unveils AMD powered AI chips to rival NVDA. Theyre offering their cloud customers AMD AI processors as an alternative to NVDA.
- TSLA - raised price of Model 3 performance for 2nd time in US by $1k, bringing it to $54,990. Increased price fo white interior for model 3 by $500, now priced at $2000.
- META - starting to test a Tweetdeck like experience for threads.
- NFLX - adds more buy side partners to its budding advertising business. Includes TTD, which had been MSFT’s role exclusively up until this point. GOOGL also added to programmatic partners for advertisers.
- MSFT - EU demands clarity from Microsoft on AI risks in bing.
- MSFT - As mentioned, Microsoft unveils AMD powered AI chips to rival NVDA.
AMAT:
- EPS of 2.09 was up 5% YOY, beat estimates of 1.99
- Revenue of 6.65B was flat YOY, beat estimates of 6.52B
- Semiconductor systems revenue, their main segment was 4.9B, beating estimates of 4.8B
- Q3 Guidance:
- Sees adjusted EPS of 1.83-2.19 (vs estimate of 1.83). So ahead of expectations
- Revenue of 6.65+400M, beat estimates of 6.57B. So strong guidance
- Strong results. Said their technologies for chips underpin the major secular shifts we are seeing in AI, IOT, EV and Clean energy
- Crypto stocks slightly higher as BTC up 1.5% to 66,500.
- BABA continues higher. Was up a lot as Michael Burry increased his stake in the company
- UAL - Wolfe Research raises to outperform from peer perform
- ARRY - Wells Fargo cuts price target to 14 from 16, still way above current price of 11.34, buy rating maintained
- Nio - China FAW to join Nio battery swap alliance
- SNOW - in talks to acquire AI startup Reka AI for over $1B. Was valued at 300M last June.
- RDDT - OPenAI will integrate Reddit content into ChatGPT and other products. OpenAI will become a reddit advertiser too.
- AMD - Wolfe Research replaced NVDA with AMD on its Wolfe Alpha List.
- AMD - Mcirsofot offers cloud cusomters amd alternative to NVDA AI processors.
- AVGO - say they expect AI chips to account for 35% of semiconductor evneues in 2024, up from 15% in 2023.
- XPEV - aims to deliver their first flying car in 2026, will start taking pre orders this year.
- HSBC down 3% amid reports that shareholder Ping An is looking to trim its stake.
- AMGN - FDA approves Amgen’s treatment for the most deadly form of lung cancer.
- Canada goose - jumps 16% after they reported growth surge in China.
- GS - looks to expand private equity credit lines as dealmaking picks up.
- DXC down on earnings after issuing weak outlook, forecasting revenue to decelerate and is forecasting financial challenges
- TTWO down on earnigns after cutting bookings forecast for Fy 2025. announced a fall 2025 release date for its highly anticipated GTA VI video game
- Li down as is hit with class lawsuit over Li Mega debacle
- STLA - gets buy rating from Piper Sandler
- CHINA PROPERTY RESCUE PACKAGE.
- China announced multiple measures from PBOC to support Housing market: set up 300B Yuan resending scheme for public housing. Removed mortgage rate floor for individual home buyers. Minimum down payment reduced to 15% for first time.
- THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO BUY HOUSES.
- Bostic yesterday said that he is pleased with inflation progress in April, but the Fed isn’t there yet. Said he doesnt see a recession, and said that lower shelter inflation in recent print was the most significant development for him. Said it will be appropriate for rate cuts later this year, but nothing locked in.
- DOJ yesterday, planned to issue notice of proposed rule making, to reclassify marijuana into a less restrictive category, from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3.
- Luxury brand Richemont, which owns Cartier, posts record full year sales and new CEO
- ECB’s Schnabel says that there is little chance of back to back rate cuts from ECB, even if the first rate cut comes in June.
- Uk’s Jeremy Hunt says that he will cut national insurance in Autumnn if he is able to. Says conservatives will cut taxes if they win the election.
2024.05.17 13:36 TearRepresentative56 I'm a full time trader and this is everything I'm watching and analysing in premarket 17/05, including positioning updates for SPX, Gold, Oil, VIX, GER40 etc
ANALYSIS:
AMAT:
submitted by TearRepresentative56 to Daytrading [link] [comments]
- CPI update:
- Core CPI came in line with survey, at 0.3%, heading slightly lower in MOM terms vs last month (0.3% vs 0.4% before).
- We can see its a similar scenario as before, with service inflation there, but goods in deflation.
- https://imgur.com/a/3hAiquW
- Significantly, shelter inflation MOM is finally below 0.4%, which was the main headline of the print.
- https://imgur.com/a/GYHD12y
- Following the print, Inflation swaps now price in lower CPI for next month, so traders are more optimistic on inflation to continue lower than they were before, especially as we see oil prices come down this month.
- Market continues to move on the number of rate cuts being priced in for this year. Right now markets continue to price 1 or 2 rate cuts.
- So what does this mean for positioning, as we saw equities push higher?
- Well, as was the case before CPI, we continue to see very bearish positioning on VIX. Traders expect VIX to continue lower, which will increase the liquidity that market makers add. This should support the market higher. nOt much anxiety and fear in the markets.
- Volatility should therefore remain suppressed, for this opex.
- 5300 is the wall to get above, but We see traders buying calls on 5400 now so traders are optimistic in medium term.
- Probably when we look at today, skew is flat, but positioning bullish. We can see choppy day as VIX delta ITM puts are still elevated.
- Sentiment v bullish over next month or more.
- When we look at FX, we see That EURUSD has pared gains, because DXY moved higher. This was mostly because EURUSD had got overbought, and DXY was starting to get short term oversold. When we look at positioning, we see traders still buying calls on 1.09. 1.08 will act as support now.
- GOLD and Silver still see strong positioning, 2400 is wall on Gold. Skew on both gold and silver point higher but seeing low volumes.
- On Oil, traders are looking bullish. The skew points higher, whilst price consolidates. Traders are expecting a bullish breakout soon as seasonal demand tends to pick up in summer. Oil is just currently stuck below 79 on WTI.
- On German market, we see traders still buying calls on 19k but low volumes. Needs v high volume to get to this 19k level. 19k is a massive wall. Today and yesterday, it comes down, but soon it will try to test again. Euro strength will help GER40 go higher.
- China Industrial production YOY came 6.7% up, vs 5.5% expected
- China Retail sales came 2.3% YOY vs 3.8% expected
- So retail sales came weak, industrial production was strong
- Unemployment rate in China fell to 5% from 5.2%, back to lowest level since November.
- NOTE: China also announced measures from PBOC to support housing market.
- Final revision to inflation rate in Eurozone came in in line with preliminary readings. No change.
- US leading index comes out later, after market opens. Expected to show deteriorating leading economic indicators
- SPX: Following CPI, we saw markets push from 5246, to close above 5300. Yesterday, we aw market reach 5325, partly as result of softer jobless numbers, which points to more rate cuts, before sell off lower below 5300. Now at 5295. 5300 will be resistance again that it will try to break above.
- Nasdaq: Before CPI was at 18,310 just below resistance, pushed higher to reach 18,650, before coming lower again to 18,555. 18600 is a resistance, before 19k as the key resistance.
- Dow: was trading at 39600 before CPI, pushed higher to 40k. Got rejected below 40k. 40k is key resistance to get above.
- GER40: Pushed higher with US markets to 18,910, close to the key 19k resistance which is v strong, before paring gains back to 18,662.
- UK100 just been flat amongst the highs at 8400-8450
- China50 higher with lower unemployment rate and higher industrial production, trading up by 1.5% to 12,850. Main resistance now is going to be 13k. China also announced measures to support housing market.
- HKG50: Trading at 19,500. Key resistance is 20k.
- OIL: still trading flat, skew pointing higher.
- GOLD trading higher after CPI, bounced close to 2400.
- Price of Copper surges to new highs.
- EURUSD hit 1.09 yesterday, before coming down back to 1.084 now. 1.09 was the wall.
- GBPUSD hit 1.27, before coming down to 1.265 now.
- USDJPY fell from 156 to 153.5, before recovering higher to 156 again now.
- AUDUSD moved higher above 0.67 before paring the gains.
- The paring of gains came as DXY fell to almost 104, before pushing higher from there to 104.8.
- NVDA lower in premarket as Microsoft unveils AMD powered AI chips to rival NVDA. Theyre offering their cloud customers AMD AI processors as an alternative to NVDA.
- TSLA - raised price of Model 3 performance for 2nd time in US by $1k, bringing it to $54,990. Increased price fo white interior for model 3 by $500, now priced at $2000.
- META - starting to test a Tweetdeck like experience for threads.
- NFLX - adds more buy side partners to its budding advertising business. Includes TTD, which had been MSFT’s role exclusively up until this point. GOOGL also added to programmatic partners for advertisers.
- MSFT - EU demands clarity from Microsoft on AI risks in bing.
- MSFT - As mentioned, Microsoft unveils AMD powered AI chips to rival NVDA.
AMAT:
- EPS of 2.09 was up 5% YOY, beat estimates of 1.99
- Revenue of 6.65B was flat YOY, beat estimates of 6.52B
- Semiconductor systems revenue, their main segment was 4.9B, beating estimates of 4.8B
- Q3 Guidance:
- Sees adjusted EPS of 1.83-2.19 (vs estimate of 1.83). So ahead of expectations
- Revenue of 6.65+400M, beat estimates of 6.57B. So strong guidance
- Strong results. Said their technologies for chips underpin the major secular shifts we are seeing in AI, IOT, EV and Clean energy
- Crypto stocks slightly higher as BTC up 1.5% to 66,500.
- COIN -price target raised to 217 from 110 by BoA
- BABA continues higher. Was up a lot as Michael Burry increased his stake in the company
- UAL - Wolfe Research raises to outperform from peer perform
- ARRY - Wells Fargo cuts price target to 14 from 16, still way above current price of 11.34, buy rating maintained
- Nio - China FAW to join Nio battery swap alliance
- SNOW - in talks to acquire AI startup Reka AI for over $1B. Was valued at 300M last June.
- RDDT - OPenAI will integrate Reddit content into ChatGPT and other products. OpenAI will become a reddit advertiser too.
- AMD - Wolfe Research replaced NVDA with AMD on its Wolfe Alpha List.
- AMD - Mcirsofot offers cloud cusomters amd alternative to NVDA AI processors.
- AVGO - say they expect AI chips to account for 35% of semiconductor evneues in 2024, up from 15% in 2023.
- XPEV - aims to deliver their first flying car in 2026, will start taking pre orders this year.
- HSBC down 3% amid reports that shareholder Ping An is looking to trim its stake.
- AMGN - FDA approves Amgen’s treatment for the most deadly form of lung cancer.
- Canada goose - jumps 16% after they reported growth surge in China.
- GS - looks to expand private equity credit lines as dealmaking picks up.
- DXC down on earnings after issuing weak outlook, forecasting revenue to decelerate and is forecasting financial challenges
- TTWO down on earnigns after cutting bookings forecast for Fy 2025. announced a fall 2025 release date for its highly anticipated GTA VI video game
- Li down as is hit with class lawsuit over Li Mega debacle
- STLA - gets buy rating from Piper Sandler
- CHINA PROPERTY RESCUE PACKAGE.
- China announced multiple measures from PBOC to support Housing market: set up 300B Yuan resending scheme for public housing. Removed mortgage rate floor for individual home buyers. Minimum down payment reduced to 15% for first time.
- THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO BUY HOUSES.
- Bostic yesterday said that he is pleased with inflation progress in April, but the Fed isn’t there yet. Said he doesnt see a recession, and said that lower shelter inflation in recent print was the most significant development for him. Said it will be appropriate for rate cuts later this year, but nothing locked in.
- DOJ yesterday, planned to issue notice of proposed rule making, to reclassify marijuana into a less restrictive category, from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3.
- Luxury brand Richemont, which owns Cartier, posts record full year sales and new CEO
- ECB’s Schnabel says that there is little chance of back to back rate cuts from ECB, even if the first rate cut comes in June.
- Uk’s Jeremy Hunt says that he will cut national insurance in Autumn if he is able to. Says conservatives will cut taxes if they win the election.