Highway to Hell: Hunting Evil Creatures with the Winchester Boys

Com o apoio RAADRI.Supernatural is a contemporary TV series that is rife with gothic undertones. The main characters, the Winchester boys, do not correspond to the usual hero prototype, who generally displays some type of super power. Actually, they are two brothers who ride in their black Impala (their true home) and believe to be on a mission to save people’s lives and do away with the monsters afflicting them. The only thing they carry in the boot of the Impala is a suitcase with holy water, salt, stakes and fake IDs. Sam and Dean (the Winchester brothers) did not have an ordinary childhood: from a young age they were introduced by their father to the hunter’s lifestyle. Moreover, their mother died at the hands of some mysterious yellow-eyed demon. In fact, Supernatural shows us that monsters abound in contemporary landscape: werewolves, ghosts, vampires, witches, and demons. In truth, all of these evil creatures can be said to mirror, to a certain extent, the fears tied in with the global crisis that the world is undergoing these days. In this light, we can say that the Winchester boys have some serious challenges ahead, since Supernatural showcases this crisis as a sign of an impending apocalypse. In addition, the brothers find out that one of them is doomed to be the vessel for the devil. Given the sinister omens that Supernatural hints at, it is then important to raise some questions: What kind of hero is liable to emerge in a dystopian world? What kind of metaphors do monsters embody? What challenges must these brothers ultimately face in order to stay alive in a predatory environment? These are some of the questions that this paper aims at addressing, in keeping with the idea that the gothic still works as a mirror for our daily fears and anxieties

Road to glory or highway to hell? Global road access and climate change mitigation

Transportation infrastructure is considered a key factor for economic development and poverty alleviation. The United Nations have explicitly included the provision of transport infrastructure access, e.g. through all-season road access, in their Sustainable Development Goal agenda (SDGs, target 9.1). Yet, little is known about the number of people lacking access to roads worldwide, the costs of closing existing access gaps and the implications of additional roads for other sustainability concerns such as climate change mitigation (SDG-13). Here we quantify, for 250 countries and territories, the percentage of population without road access in 2 km. We find that infrastructure investments required to provide quasi-universal road access are about USD 3 trillion. We estimate that the associated cumulative CO2 emissions from construction work and additional traffic until the end of the century amount to roughly 16 Gt. Our geographically explicit global analysis provides a starting point for refined regional studies and for the quantification of further environmental and social implications of SDG-9.1

Fred Farr Scrapbook, 1965 Clippings, Legislative Session & Year

Majority of clippings pertain to Farr\u27s legislative efforts throughout 1965, particularly in the areas of environmental conservation and highway beautification. Farr\u27s bill mandating that growers provide toilets and washing facilities for field workers, investigations into incidents involving the Hell\u27s Angels Motorcycle Club, and Farr\u27s work with the Senate Interim Committee on Natural Resources are also represented. An article on Farr\u27s son, future congressman Sam Farr, highlighting his work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia, is included on page 8. Clippings date from January 1, 1965, to December 2, 1965.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/fredfarr_scrapbooks/1004/thumbnail.jp

Investing in Mobility: Freight Transport in the Hudson Region

Proposes a framework for assessing alternative investments in freight rail, highway, and transit capacity that would increase the ability to improve mobility and air quality in the New York metropolitan area