The GAP Band was an iconic funk/R&B band started by three brothers (Charlie, Ronnie & Robert Wilson) from Tulsa, Oklahoma. But beyond their music (which you should check out if you haven't), and hidden in plain sight was a reference to one of the darkest moments in US history: a two night "pogrom" of looting, murder, arson and all manner of fuckery called the Tulsa Race Massacre.
The "GAP" in the band name was an acronym for "Greenwood, Archer & Pine". These were the prominent streets in the Greenwood district, which was the home to the Black community of Tulsa (segregation laws essentially prevented Blacks from living outside Greenwood). Greenwood was home to one of the financial hubs of Black business called "Black Wall Street" where the Tulsa Race Massacre occurred.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Tulsa Race Massacre: here's a Wikipedia link on the incident. Bear in mind this was never taught in US history. It's still VERY rare to see in a high school history text book.
link to thewrap Article on the GAP Band and the inspiration for their name.
Link to an MSN article on Black Wall Street
RIP Ronnie Wilson.
[edit] grammar, spelling, clarity etc.
An Australian government is elected on a platform of splitting from the UK and the US. A republican referendum passes, replacing the governor general with an elected president. US troops are evicted from Darwin and Pine Gap. The ADF is restructured to focus on continental defence, what little power projection assets remain are repurposed for providing aid and humanitarian assistance in the south pacific.
Ross Coulthart on Fade to Black (Jimmy Church) mentioned Naval Communication Station, Harold E. Holt. I was not familiar with it although I see it has some past press, primarily because it looks so freaky. If you have not yet seen this base from the air, it's worth taking a look at Google maps satellite view. You can then share the image with your kids and scare the hell out of them explaining how the invasion is already underway. Just kidding. Don't do that! But do have a look. Plug these coordinates into Google maps -21.818248,114.168138 or just search by name.
The interview was interesting and newbies to the subject (I still count myself amongst the newbs) will learn a bit about Australia's experience and handling of UAPs . A couple hours in, there is discussion of the base being used to detect UAPs as part of a larger project and system upgrades that tie in Pine Gap with Holt and other assets located in Australia. This includes the Space Surveillance Telescope that was moved from New Mexico to Holt in Australia. The telescope had been a DARPA project but was transferred to the United States Air Force Space Command before the move to Holt. It's public facing purpose was to identify and map space debris and meteors. Holt was built to transmit VLF (very low frequencies), part of a communication network used to contact US and Australian surface vessels and submarines. Perfectly sensible that they would need a Space Command Telescope. As I understand it, the base is now primarily run by Boeing Australia. Part of the discussion on Fade to Black addressed the advantages of moving black projects to private industry, where they may fall outside legal efforts to declassify information. Wish me well as I now seem to be pulled into the rabbit hole of Australia's best known cases. Cheers.
My house has old (“vintage”) pine floorboards that vary in width between 11-17”. I’ve found that while some boards fit together snugly, others have gaps of up to a full 1/4” between them. It appears they were installed with these gaps rather than occurring due to shrinkage - the gaps are uniform along those boards.
I’m wondering if there is a way to fill or seal the gaps without ruining the floors. They collect dust, crumbs, and recently a bead (for a bracelet) got wedged in there. I’ve read of a waxed rope technique, wood putty/filler, and long pieces of caulk, but I’m not sure what is a “proper” method. They’ll be professionally refinished in a couple of years so if there is a pro option I’d be interested to hear it as well. Thanks in advance.
Pictures with US Quarter for scale. https://imgur.com/a/4cQijGL
I had the carpets in my old victorian tenement pulled up and the pine flooring sanded and varnished - the contractor did put down polyfiller to fill in where boards were cracked, but even after all this there are large gaps (up to a cm) between many of the boards to the extent that the joists are visible in places. The advice from the contractor throughout was that I could just get a silicon filler to cover up any cracks, but from looking online it seems that those products are really only for very thin gaps. I wasn't expecting a 100 year old floor to come out perfectly, but I'm worried that it kind of looks dreadful up close. Is there any way to mitigate it? I'm honestly half thinking about covering it all up with carpet again
Curious to know if anyone has heard or experienced anything out of the ordinary near/around/related to the Pine Gap military base?
