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Deze ridderorde, in het stichtingsbesluit van 30 november 1969 de "Orde van Trouw en Verdienste van het Huis Oranje-Nassau" geheten, is door koningin Juliana ingesteld als Huisorde van het Huis Oranje-Nassau en deel van de Huisorde van Oranje.
De orde wordt voor 12 en 24 jaar trouwe dienst toegekend. In de praktijk is voor de eerste klasse van de orde ook een dienstverband van 20 jaar voldoende.

De Huisorde van Oranje werd door Koningin Wilhelmina, in samenspraak met Prins Hendrik, in 1905 ingesteld. Dat gebeurde in een "Hofbesluit" en buiten verantwoordelijkheid van de ministerraad. De orde werd naar de geest van de tijd sterk hiërarchisch ingericht en telde niet minder dan 20 verschillende graden, kruisen en medailles.
De koninginnen Wilhelmina en Juliana wilden in latere jaren van hun huisorde af. De kosten waren de vorstinnen te hoog en zij hechten kennelijk niet aan "hun" orde. Jaar-in-jaar-uit vonden de koninginnen voor hun wens geen gehoor bij hun Hofcommissie.

In oktober 1968 kreeg de door de ministerraad benoemde Commissie Houben, die adviseerde over het hervormen van het decoratiestelsel, van Juliana opdracht om ook over haar huisorde te adviseren.
Merkwaardig genoeg heeft de commissie deze opdracht, die staatsrechtelijk niet door de beugel kan omdat de Huisorde van Oranje een particulier instituut is, aangenomen. Juliana heeft door een staatscommissie te benaderen voor advies haar hofhouding, die aan hervorming van de huisorde niet meewerkte, weten te omzeilen.

De koningin liet weten dat zij van de vele graden en de graad van "Eredame" af wilde.
De koningin opperde dat de graden anders genoemd zouden kunnen worden.
De koningin wenste langdurig dienstverband te blijven belonen en bij de hogere graden verdienste in plaats van dienstjaren zwaar te laten wegen.

De commissie kwam met twee adviezen; dat aan de regering verdween in een diepe la, maar Koningin Juliana volgde het advies dat de commissie haar in het voorjaar van 1969 liet toekomen op zeer eigengereide wijze op.

De huisorde werd in vieren gedeeld en drie van deze eenheden heten "orden" te zijn.
Voor langdurig dienstverband kwam er de "Orde van Trouw en Verdienste van het Huis Oranje-Nassau" met de graden Gouden Erekruis en Zilveren Erekruis. De orde kent in de door Juliana gekozen vorm geen ridders of leden, geen kapittel en geen zelfstandig bestaan. De kenner van ridderorden J.A. van Zelm van Eldik bespreekt de gekozen vorm daarom met de woorden "gewrongen", "ongebruikelijk", "niet passend" en "niet reëel". Hij noemt de statuten en bepalingen "ordetechnisch onjuist zodat de orde hier ten lande niet tot voorbeeld mag dienen". Hij vraagt zich ook af of wezen en kenmerk van een orde hier geen "geweld is aangedaan".

De versierselen
Het kruis is gelijk aan dat van de huisorde maar in plaats van oranjerode emaille is nassaublauwe emaille aangebracht. Het lint is oranje en de decoraties worden aan een lint of een strik op de linkerborst gedragen.

Ridderorde in Nederland
Nederlands koningshuis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


No athlete is immune from the risk of sustaining a concussion, but contact sports represent the area of highest risk. In the United States, the sport associated with the greatest number of traumatic brain injuries (e.g. sports concussion) is tackle football. Multiple research studies have linked head trauma sustained during contact football with brain disease. These findings beg the question: What is it about football that makes it worth the risk of developing brain disease at some point during life?
Some doctors suggest that protecting kids from a sports concussion is equally, if not, more important than protecting them from the dangers of drinking alcohol, using tobacco products, and overeating. Who can argue? During adolescent and teenage years the human brain is not fully developed. Yet, it is during this time that kids are introduced to tackle football and invited to play it. The cumulative effect of concussions and /or sub-concussive hits sustained from adolescence through a high school, college or professional career can be devastating and include the loss of normal brain function limiting the capacity to think, remember, and communicate in an effective manner that is required for a productive lifestyle.
Granted, certain aspects of football are appealing in terms of learning about physical fitness, teamwork, competition, strategy, and good sportsmanship. However, other sports (e.g. basketball, baseball, tennis, volleyball, track & field) offer the same benefits without incurring the high risk of concussions and injury to the brain as seen in football. Helmets, no matter how expensive, do not prevent concussions. In fact, no method exists to completely eliminate the risk of a sports concussion during athletic activity, especially football.
Concussions can result from a number of mechanisms, not just by a direct hit to the head. Regardless of the mechanism, the medical research has irrefutably demonstrated a connection between recurrent concussions and brain injury. Some people may argue that the majority of concussions are "mild" and resolve within 1-2 weeks. In a sense those factors erroneously convey a feeling that getting a head injury is not a big deal. The subjective classification of severity (e.g. mild) and the time course for resolution should not allow us to be complacent or to downplay the significance of any brain injury and its long-term impact on the overall health of athletes.
The decision of whether kids should play tackle football or not is one for parents to make using the current information on injuries relevant to the sport. The primary goal of sports medicine doctors as well as parents, coaches, and school administrators who oversee youth athletic programs is to keep athletes safe. Part of achieving that goal is to provide appropriate education on injuries incurred during the sport of choice. In the case of football, since no means exists by which to prevent a sports concussion, education is crucial to making a responsible and competent decision about participation.
Below you will find resources that provide general information on sports concussions. Please read the material, ask your doctor questions, talk to your kids, and then make an informed decision.
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Peter Capaldi Is Doctor Who's Twelfth Doctor, So Who The Hell Is Peter Capaldi?
By David Wharton | 7 years ago
Earlier this afternoon, the BBC officially announced that actor Peter Capaldi will be taking on the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who, playing the twelfth incarnation of the iconic character and taking over the role from the departing Matt Smith. Capaldi had been the early favorite among British bookmakers, and many Who fans are thrilled to see him taking on the role. But there were also quite a few folks commenting here and on Facebook with the question: "Who the hell is Peter Capaldi?"
It's a totally understandable reaction. Capaldi is a very talented actor, but he isn't that well known unless you're a regular consumer of British television. But fear not: GFR has got your back. We've put together a quick guided tour of some of the actor's best roles. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Peter Capaldi.
The Thick of It / In the Loop
One of the Capaldi roles you'll see mentioned the most is the character of Malcolm Tucker in the 2005 British political comedy series The Thick of It. Capaldi won a BAFTA for his performance as the British Prime Minister's enforcer/spin doctor, a foul-mouthed thorn in the side of Hugh Abbot (Chris Langham), who heads of the fictional "Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship." Capaldi reprised the role in the American adaptation In the Loop, where he was joined by actors such as Tom Hollander and James Gandolfini. As Tucker, Capaldi is a never-ending font of hilariously creative profanity, wielding his caustic dialogue with the same poetic aplomb as Ian McShane's Al Swearengen in Deadwood. Needless to say, the clip below is not remotely safe for work…
Easily one of my favorite Capaldi roles ever, the actor played the angel Islington in the 1996 BBC Two fantasy series Neverwhere, which was created and written by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry. The premise of the series is that there is a mystical "London Below" that exists beneath/alongside the city, populated by strange people and creatures who regular Londoners can't see. Many London landmarks are echoed in magical form in London Below: "Knightsbridge" becomes a dangerous crossing known as "Night's Bridge," and the central London district called "the Angel, Islington" is mirrored by an actual angel. Capaldi plays Islington, who has become the protector of London Below after having failed to protect his previous charge: Atlantis. I won't go any further into spoilers for those of you who aren't familiar with Neverwhere, but it's absolutely worth tracking down a copy of the show and/or Gaiman's novelization. Neverwhere also recently became a BBC radio drama starring James McAvoy, Natalie Dormer, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, and Anthony Head.
Torchwood: Children of Earth
Capaldi has two previous intersections with the world of Doctor Who, and by far the more substantial of the two is his turn in the excellent Torchwood: Children of Earth. Capaldi played Home Office Permanent Secretary John Frobisher, the man trying desperately to deal with the return of the alien race known only as the 456. The British government struck a secret deal with the 456 decades ago, and now the mysterious aliens have come to call in their debts. As part of his attempted cover-up, Frobisher orders the assassination of anyone involved with that initial contact and bargain…including the immortal Jack Harkness. Capaldi is top notch as an increasingly desperate man facing the ramifications of a deal with the devil that just keeps getting worse. Warning: the clip below is spoiler-y if you haven't seen Children of Earth (which you totally should).
Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii
Capaldi also appeared in Torchwood's parent series, and the show he just becamet the lead of, Doctor Who. In the episode "The Fires of Pompee," the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) travel back to the doomed city of Pompeii, and naturally enough they arrive not long before the town's unfortunate date with an active volcano. Capaldi plays Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, a merchant who purchases the Doctor's TARDIS when after the time lord leaves it unsupervised. (Caeciulius purchases it as a sculpture.) Against his own instincts, Donna talks the Doctor into saving Caecilius and his family from the destruction of Pompeii. In a particularly bizarre bit of Who history, the episode also featured Karen Gillan in the role of a soothsayer. Both a future Doctor and a future companion in the same episode. Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey…
First Look At Captain Jack Harkness Back On Doctor Who
Doctor Who Will No Longer Use A Police Box For The TARDIS
The Doctor From Doctor Who To Come Out Of The Closet
Jodie Whittaker Pressured To Leave Doctor Who, It's A Sinking Ship

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A blood pressure chart is a must if you are diagnosed with high blood pressure. To maximize your chances of successfully lowering your hypertension you will need to work with your physician and also follow your own progress. To do this you need to learn to take your own blood pressure, keep a daily or weekly record of your blood pressure morning pulse, weight, and amount of exercise.
You are the one who is ultimately responsible for your own health and you can change the odds of suffering from complications or dying from high blood pressure. So monitor your progress by keeping a chart.
A blood pressure chart helps to pinpoint the range of risks associated with your blood pressure, whether you have normal blood pressure readings or not.
The blood pressure reading chart helps doctors and patients to plot the place they are in, physically, in terms of their high blood pressure readings. These charts have organization with one side representing systolic blood pressure and the other side representing diastolic.
A line goes between the two numbers from your blood pressure reading to show the risks associated with that level.
So now let me explain and tell you the importance of how to read blood pressure.
If a person has a systolic blood pressure reading (the first number) that is 130 and a diastolic blood pressure reading (the second number) of 85, a line may be drawn on the high blood pressure chart connecting these two numbers.
This elevated level of blood pressure indicates a "high normal" reading. Doctors may diagnose this as pre-hypertension, a condition that can progress into high blood pressure quickly.
In addition, even a free chart will provide information on a total range of blood pressure numbers. This includes low blood pressure or hypotension.
For example, a reading of 70/45 may indicate that the individual is at risk of being weak and tired, perhaps even likely to faint. This information comes directly from the charts.
You knowing how to read blood pressure will help your doctors to monitor your overall health, for it is very important to have accurate numbers to compare.
So having and writing your measurements onto a printable chart will help immensely. They may make several recommendations prior to obtaining your blood pressure reading.
Take your evening blood pressure, which is often significantly higher than your daytime blood pressure.
Blood pressure readings taken after exercise to establish the "high" for it.
A morning blood pressure reading, or one that occurs after eating salty or fatty foods, may provide a much higher degree of risk.
Your doctor will explain blood pressure readings to you in detail before making any recommendations.
In short, doctors need to know where you stand right now. This allows the doctor, as well as you, to understand how much risk of developing a heart condition or having a stroke is evident.
A chart can help to bring together both the first and second number of your blood pressure and tell doctors where the actual problem is. This helps pinpoint your health status and allows doctors to make wise decisions about treatment.
So a blood pressure chart is just one tool available to doctors to examine and diagnose an individual's health. Many free charts are available that you can use to see where your risks lie.
Also do your own research and read as much as you can on blood pressure links and resources that may help keep you off medications and reverse your condition.
Do You Know Your Blood Pressure Guidelines?
Return to Home from "Blood Pressure Chart".


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A BBC audience member unravels the entire Tory position on policing in less than a minute [VIDEO]
Ed Sykes
On BBC Question Time on 25 May, one audience member unravelled the entire Tory position on policing in less than a minute. And Home Secretary Amber Rudd was left floundering away from the truth.
"Does the government not expect this?"
Reacting to the 22 May terrorist attack in Manchester, the audience member said:
In 2015, Theresa May was then Home Secretary… [She] addressed the Police Federation and told them that they were scaremongering, because she was reducing the police numbers and community policing. And the Police Federation said at the time that low level intelligence is what gives them the information, and it's able to feed those on to the intelligence services about terrorist activity. And we're now 20,000 police officers down, and we get atrocities like this. Does the government not expect this?
The Conservatives' austerity programme has cut police numbers across the UK since 2010. There are now around 20,000 fewer police officers than there were in 2009. This, according to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), has left policing in England and Wales in a "potentially perilous state". And just recently, one Yorkshire police officer told current Home Secretary Amber Rudd:
There are not enough cops to deal with demand
#BBCqt Audience member explains to Theresa May's Home Secretary damage cutting 20,000 police did. Her reply is awful pic.twitter.com/aXkIBdGQmr
The centrists are still twisting the truth about the EHRC report. And people aren't having it.
Model 'pulled her hair out' after being secretly filmed by Met officer
— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) May 25, 2017
'Nothing to see here. Don't panic.'
Amber Rudd, who was a Question Time panellist, responded to the audience member by saying:
I have asked the head of counter-terrorism whether it is about resources. It is not.
But there is a massive question surrounding resources. And while we don't know what the head of counter-terrorism told Rudd, we do know what the police have said.
In 2015, police told Theresa May that forces had been cut so much that they'd find it harder to respond to a major attack on UK soil. And they said the army would have to be brought in for support. But May claimed the assembled officers were "crying wolf", arguing:
The Federation warned that spending reductions mean that we'll be forced to adopt a paramilitary style of policing in Britain. Today, you said that neighbourhood police officers are an endangered species.
I have to tell you that this kind of scaremongering does nobody any good.
But Police Federation Vice-Chair Will Riches said:
you can't reduce 17,000 police officers and expect nothing to change. While police are well-versed at contingency planning, the levels of cuts to officers means that we cannot police events in the same way.
Just two years later, police forces don't have the numbers to conduct the extensive patrols required as the UK terror threat reaches 'critical'. In the wake of the Manchester bombing, the armed forces are now on the streets. And in a statement on 24 May 2017, Police Federation Chair Steve White explained how austerity cuts underpin calling in the troops:
There is no ignoring the fact that we, the police, simply do not have the resources to manage an event like this.
And as The Canary has reported previously, it's not just the police who've been suffering under Tory austerity:
https://twitter.com/ToryFibs/status/867864287624273920
'Not now, not now'
Back on Question Time, Rudd said:
There may be a conversation to have about policing. We may have that at some stage. But now is not that conversation.
In other words, 'please don't talk about police cuts now – there's an election coming up'. But the fact is that we need a very serious chat about properly resourcing the people who protect the British public. And what better time to talk about this than in the run-up to a general election?
Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party has consistently asked the Conservatives to give the country's police forces "the necessary resources to do the job". Prime Minister Theresa May, meanwhile, has insisted that police budgets are safe and that police have adequate resources. But police officers say otherwise. As do the figures.
The current Conservative manifesto shows no costed plans to boost the resources of a police force that has already lost around 20,000 officers due to Tory austerity measures. And if the Conservatives return to power, police staffing levels could reduce by a further 17% by 2020, according to analysis from the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners. Labour, on the other hand, has pledged to recruit an extra 10,000 police officers.
In other words, there's a clear choice for the British people on 8 June. Give the people who defend us adequate resources. Or don't.
– Vote on 8 June.
– Discuss the key policy issues with family members, colleagues and neighbours. And organise! Join (and participate in the activities of) a union, an activist group, and/or a political party.
– Also read more Canary articles on the 2017 general election.
Featured image via screenshot
Joe Glenton , 21st January 2022
The Canary , 21st January 2022
Met facing legal action over 'failure' to probe Downing Street Christmas party
The Canary , 19th January 2022
Theresa May doesn't want you to vote. Luckily you have the chance to ruin her plans
A disturbing BBC video has resurfaced and it's a blow to Corbyn's critics [VIDEO]
Manchester Bombing


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Beyond the Flag
Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Top NASCAR Drivers Ever
NASCAR Cup Series Standings
IndyCar Series Standings
Formula One Standings
Formula E Standings
Supercross & Motorcross
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 25: Will Power of Australia, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet Dallara, James Hinchcliffe, driver of the #27 Andretti Autosport Honda Dallara, and Ed Carpenter, driver of the #20 Fuzzy's Vodka / Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet Dallara (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
NASCAR: Danica Patrick refuses to comment on Aaron Rodgers by Asher Fair
NASCAR: Joey Gase to race in Xfinity Series again in 2018 by Alex Herbst
IndyCar: Top 10 drivers of all-time
by Asher Fair 3 years ago Follow @asherfair
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MAY 25: Will Power of Australia, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet Dallara, James Hinchcliffe, driver of the #27 Andretti Autosport Honda Dallara, and Ed Carpenter, driver of the #20 Fuzzy's Vodka / Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet Dallara (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
Every sport has its greatest athletes of all-time, including racing. This is the case for IndyCar. Here are the 10 best drivers in the sport's history.
Another IndyCar season has officially ended, this one closing with Josef Newgarden winning his first career championship this past season and becoming the sport's first American champion since Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012.
But the 2018 season is quickly approaching, as it begins on Sunday, March 11th with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. In fact, none of the major racing series, including IndyCar, NASCAR and Formula One, are in action right now, as all are now in the offseason following the 2017 season waiting for the 2018 season to begin.
With everything pretty much at a halt right now and still a solid amount of time until the 2018 seasons begin, this is a perfect time to look back at the history of each of these three racing in terms of their top 10 drivers of all-time.
This article will rank the top 10 drivers in the history of IndyCar.
Note that these rankings involve only information from the IndyCar careers of each of these 10 drivers. Statistics from any other races series, such as Indy Lights, Pro Mazda or USF2000 are not factored into these rankings.
Without further ado, let's get started with the driver ranked in the #10 spot in the rankings.
Next: #10
Beyond the Flag 3 yearsIndyCar: The rise of Alexander Rossi
Bleacher Report 3 yearsTitans Hold Off Chiefs for Comeback Win Behind Derrick Henry's 156 Yards
Beyond the Flag 3 yearsIndyCar: René Binder to drive four races for Juncos Racing in 2018
Beyond the Flag 3 yearsIndyCar: Juncos Racing confirm Kyle Kaiser's four races in 2018
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Air China plans to increase frequency of flights between China and Brazil
Air China plans to increase the frequency of flights between China and Brazil, which currently stands at two a week – on Thursdays and Sundays – the director for Air China in Brazil, Calvin Tang said in Sao Paulo.
At a meeting with travel agencies that offer China as a destination, Tang said he was sure that the aviation business between the two countries would grow over the next few years and noted the impact of Brazilian soccer club Corinthians on Air China's flights.
"The Corinthians game in the Club World Cup took a lot of fans to Japan and many of them chose Air China, so we have attracted new customers," said the airline's director in Brazil according to tourism newspaper, Brasilturis Jornal.
Air China has been in Brazil for six years and has an office in Sao Paulo. The airline has a fleet of 432 aircraft operating on 282 routes in 30 countries and 1,300 destinations due to its involvement in the Star Alliance airline partnership. (macauhub)
China: Macau airport posts loss of US$5.5 million in 2007
Macau and Zhuhai cooperate in the development of Hengqin area in Zhuhai
World Bank announces support for Mozambique's state budget will resume
President of Mozambique visits Angola from 8 to 11 November
Third edition of Angola food fair generates business totaling US$5 million


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Souq.com Brings Shopping to the Palm of Your Hand
Chris N. Fernando February 18, 2014
The region's leading e-commerce portal and online megastore Souq.com has announced the official launch of its native mobile apps, available on both Android and iOS platforms.
The Apps, which are now available on Google Play and Apple's App Store, allows users to browse and buy from Souq.com's selection of more than 400,000 products among the Consumer Electronics, Fashion, Health & Beauty and Household Goods categories, along with many others.
Wisam Daoud, CTO of Souq.com said: "We wanted to provide a seamless shopping experience for our customers across devices. The Arabic and English apps include the full set of browsing, searching, buying, and order tracking functionality as the website. Customers can now start shopping on one screen and easily finish on another."
According to research conducted by IPSOS, the growing number of smartphone and tablet devices in use, is changing the purchasing habits of residents in the Middle East who are driven by a desire for convenience, the ease of getting information and the search for inexpensive products.
Due to the increased use of mobile devices, consumers are offered a greater number of channels through which they can shop for and purchase products. In the UAE specifically, e-commerce currently stands at 2.90Bn USD (10.7BnAED), and is expected to grow to 5.10Bn (USD 18.7Bn AED) in 2015. From its current base supported by high smartphone penetration, m-commerce is expected to grow to nearly 1.50Bn USD (5.5BnAED) by 2015, and will be driven up by a rise in tablet penetration and purchases.
Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO of Souq.com said, "As mobile customers continue to grow and now represent 40% of all purchases on Souq.com, we felt the launch of our iPhone and Android apps complements and capitalizes on the growth of mobile commerce in the region. Mobile Apps build relationships, loyalty, reinforce our brand, our accessibility and above all, provide a better service to our customers."
Android e-commerce portal featured iOS native mobile apps official launch online megastore platforms Souq.com
Chris N. Fernando
Non-Interest Banking in Nigeria Has an Exciting Future
Startup Idea: Temporary Tattoo That Could Replace Blood Tests for Diabetics
+ one = 3


Hero Future Energies Pvt. Ltd is in talks to acquire Fotowatio Renewable Ventures's 135 megawatt (MW) solar power project in India, two people aware of the development said. Owned by Abdul Latif Jameel Energy and Environmental Services, Fotowatio Renewables is the largest Arabian green energy utility.
Its only investment in the Indian solar power space is located in Andhra Pradesh. Greenstone Energy Advisors, an investment bank focused on the Indian renewable energy sector, is managing the sale.
Hero Future is interested in the Fotowatio Renewables project, said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity. The second person, who also didn't want to be named, confirmed the development.


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Category: Plutocracy
Meritocracy & Sanity
September 13, 2019 ~ readerjohn
When parents on the fortunate ledge of this chasm gaze down, vertigo stuns them. Far below they see a dim world of processed food, obesity, divorce, addiction, online-education scams, stagnant wages, outsourcing, rising morbidity rates—and they pledge to do whatever they can to keep their children from falling. They'll stay married, cook organic family meals, read aloud at bedtime every night, take out a crushing mortgage on a house in a highly rated school district, pay for music teachers and test-prep tutors, and donate repeatedly to overendowed alumni funds. The battle to get their children a place near the front of the line begins before conception and continues well into their kids' adult lives. At the root of all this is inequality—and inequality produces a host of morbid symptoms, including a frantic scramble for status among members of a professional class whose most prized acquisition is not a Mercedes plug-in hybrid SUV or a family safari to Maasai Mara but an acceptance letter from a university with a top‑10 U.S. News & World Report ranking.
George Packer, New York City Public Schools Have Embraced the New Left
Whether it's the resort town you vacation in or the private school you send your kids to, exclusivity is the pervasive ethos. The more the exclusivity, the thicker will be the coating of P.C. progressivism to show that we're all good people.
David Brooks, The Meritocracy Is Ripping America Apart
I sought to understand, but it was too hard for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
(Psalm 72:15-17, Adapted from the Miles Coverdale Translation, from A Psalter for Prayer)
Be an ordinary person.
Maxim 18, 55 Maxims by Fr. Thomas Hopko
You can read most of my more impromptu stuff at here. It should work in your RSS aggregator, like Feedly, should you want to make a habit of it.
I highly recommend blot.im as a crazy-easy alternative to Twitter (if you're just looking to get your stuff "out there" and not pick fights).
How To Avoid Being Called A Russian Agent Online
August 10, 2019 August 10, 2019 ~ readerjohn
Caitlin Johnstone, a down-under very-lefty, waives copyright. Her offering today made it irresistible to copy her, wholesale:
Continue reading "How To Avoid Being Called A Russian Agent Online" →
Surprised by food for thought
April 20, 2019 April 19, 2019 ~ readerjohn
… I was continuing to make my way through Shoshana Zuboff's great new book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. It's not an easy book to read, in part because the things Zuboff, a former Harvard Business School professor, talks about can be somewhat arcane, but also because it's damned depressing. This is a book about how a business model pioneered by Google has come in less than 20 years to dominate everything, with consequences we can scarcely comprehend. I'm not going to get into the book's weeds here; there are lots of weeds, and I am not sure that Zuboff is going to be able to offer a plausible way out of this mess.
The gist of it is that nearly everything we do and say is monitored by multiple corporations, who are taking that data — usually without our knowledge or permission — and using it to figure out how to sell us things and, more crucially, to guide us toward behaving in particular ways without knowing that we are being manipulated. There is no real way to opt out of the system. It is overwhelming — and Zuboff shows how the tech companies have spent ungodly sums to manipulate politicians and regulators in order to maintain maximum access to the personal data of everyone. (The Obama administration was in Google's pocket, for example.) Zuboff likens it to the Spanish conquistadores arriving in the New World.
I bring this up in light of Brooks's column because if you want to talk about the foundations of society being attacked, believe me, we should all worry about Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Silicon Valley on the whole a lot more than we worry about our buffoonish president. What the surveillance capitalists have done, and are doing, matters far more to the future of our democracy and its legitimacy than does Trump.
I find Donald Trump — lying, unstable, barely competent Donald Trump — to be less of a threat than I find the kind of progressive elites who hate him. He has the presidency, which is a powerful thing to have. But they control Silicon Valley. They command the US economy. They control major American institutions, including higher education and the media. And they trust in their own goodness.
Rod Dreher (Emphasis in original)
I continued reading Dreher's blog entry, despite my initially thinking "not one of his better ones," because I thought I might have missed something in the David Brooks column he quotes (of which I also thought "not one of his better ones").
I'm glad I continued because, although I cannot praise his prose or pace, there's nevertheless some nourishing if un-tasty "food for thought" in it, including a different vantage point from which to ask — yes, even 32 scant hours after release of the Mueller Report — whether Trump might actually be the lesser evil in 2020, both as a matter of self-preservation (as one whose Social Credit Score, as viewed by those who trust in their own goodness, is pretty low) and for the interests of America more generally.
As Freddie put it:
I have had a standing rule not to read anything with the word "Trump" in the headline since mid-2017. I have not kept to it 100% of the time, but I have been pretty compliant. But here's something I know.
The Trump-Russia collusion story became a national obsession because of two matters of psychic convenience: one, the belief that someone (even a Republican FBI agent cop like Robert Mueller) is going to ride in on a horse and save us; and two, that our problems are the problem of an outside force, some malevolent international entity working evil. Only a child could believe that either of those is true.
No one is coming to save you. This is what the world is now, and this is what the world will be long long after Trump is gone. And more: this is the world we deserve. We are not broken because of Russia, or Donald Trump. We are broken because of the evil this country has done and the evil this country is. You can work to change that. But if you try to hide from it behind the Mueller report you will only fail. Because no one is coming to save you.
The 2016 election had "God's Judgment" written all over it. 2020 may come packaged the same way. Lesser evils rather than affirmative goods may be all we'll get to choose. Democrats: This is mostly up to you as a practical matter: can you nominate someone less evil?)\
Anyway, I point you to Dreher's blog on the chance that you'll find food for thought as well.
Clippings & Comment, 2/9/19
February 9, 2019 February 9, 2019 ~ readerjohn
Coincidentally, I came across this Dilbert strip minutes later.
Adidas made two mistakes:
Making a Black History Month sneaker.
Making it white.
The sneaker has been pulled from the market.
[C]an we all snort derisively at a global corporation for making a Black History Month sneaker? Did George Washington Carver and Frederick Douglass live and die so Adidas could sell more shoes?
Anti-Catholicism now exists to a great degree as Catholic self-loathing. Like the Italians and Irish who have made their way into country clubs and now resent talk of gangsters such as Tony Soprano or Whitey Bulger, polite Catholics dislike the reminder that, despite all, they still profess an unfashionable faith. For these upwardly mobile souls, professing Christian sexual teaching is just shy of running an extortion racket or putting out a hit. They not only seek to dissociate themselves from such Catholics, they do what they can to silence and suppress them.
Matthew Schmitz
Went on FB, scrolled down my feed, wanted to like a bunch of jokes, make a couple of comments, and repost a funny picture but was too terrified of a prospective employer seeing it and thinking I'm not woke enough to be employed.
Quickly left FB and switched off the phone, shaking with fear. And if you don't know what I'm on about, you probably don't work in academia. But don't worry. It's soon coming to a workplace near you.
Clarissa at Merited Impossibility.
In case you hadn't gotten the memo yet, we've passed a tipping point and the greatest threat to free thought and speech is now corporate power, including colleges and universities vis à vis staff and students — not government.
Take Clarissa seriously. I may start boning up on what the Church Fathers have to say about "666."
By stretching the boundaries of normal conversation, [trolls] shift the "Overton window" — widening the range of ideas and policy considered acceptable in public discourse.
Ocasio-Cortez has done exactly that …
The thing is, trolling works. Consider that Trump is the first troll president, having risen to prominence on the strength of birther conspiracies and Russian memes (all aboard the Trump Train!).
… And though Ocasio-Cortez often seems to be at the extremes of our discourse, she's also speeding the movement toward change.
Whether we like it or not, provocation is how we conduct business today. Maybe we should be happy that someone is finally trolling for good.
Christine Emba.
Kimberly Strassel has a different take on AOC, "the secret Republican weapon for 2020."
I was so wrong about the electoral prospects of the clownish Trump that I'm not taking sides, though I lean toward Emba and suspect that Strassel is "whistling in the dark."
May the flawed prevail over the wicked.
Kathleen Parker on the "21st-century battle royal between good and evil, represented by" Jeff Bezos and David Pecker.
Through divine providence, the evil guy's last name eventuated in one of the all-time great New York Post screamers: "Bezos Exposes Pecker."
I've pretty much concluded, subject to dissuasion, that "cultural Marxism" is a meaningless epithet most of the time, and may not even be a real thing at all. It's sort of a successor to "secular humanism," "fellow traveler" and the like.
You may say terrible things about me if I ever use it without previously having repented of my skepticism and explained what the hell it is, because right now I haven't got a clue — despite some writers I follow having used it and even having tried to explain it: "Frankfurt School blah blah blah blah …."
People who are well-informed tend to say that North Korea will never denuclearize, mainly because its government has no meaningful incentive to do so in a world where Muammar Gaddafi was murdered in the streets as a direct result of US regime change interventionism shortly after relinquishing Libya's nuclear program. As bad as western sanctions are, they're nothing compared to what happened to Libya.
Caitlyn Johnstone, one of my favorite "Alternative News & Commentary" RSS feeds. I've picked up The Intercept, too.
They require more skepticism than even the rest of the media require, but if you haven't got some truly dissident voices in you news mix, I think your missing something potentially important.
Follow me on Micro.blog, too, where I blog tweet-like shorter items. Frankly, it's kind of becoming my main blog. If you prefer, those micro.blog items also appear now at microblog.intellectualoid.com. Both should work in your RSS aggregator, like Feedly.
Clearing the clipboard
October 28, 2018 ~ readerjohn
I'll be very busy for the next ten day so I'm clearing my clipboard:
Continue reading "Clearing the clipboard" →
Thoroughly modern misogyny and plutocracy
June 20, 2018 ~ readerjohn
Have you heard about the "Flipping Out" lawsuit? Ross Douthat sticks his neck out so I don't have to. (I'm sure that's what he had in mind.)
The "Flipping Out" lawsuit, sad and sordid, falls 31 years after a far more consequential surrogacy debate: The "Baby M" case, in which a surrogate mother, Mary Beth Whitehead, changed her mind after the birth and sued — ultimately unsuccessfully — for the right to keep her child. I was 7 during the case but I remember it vividly, mostly because my mother was obsessed with it. We were not Catholics then, or any kind of conservative, but opposing commercial surrogacy seemed like a natural extension of her feminist and liberal principles, which would of course oppose a system in which the rich paid poorer women to bear their children.
[T]he simplest way to describe what happened with the surrogacy debate is that American feminists gradually went along with the logic of capitalism rather than resisting it. This is a particularly useful description because it's happened so consistently across the last few decades: Whenever there's a dispute within feminism about a particular social change or technological possibility, you should bet on the side that takes a more consumerist view of human flourishing, a more market-oriented view of what it means to defend the rights and happiness of women.
… Feminists were divided over surrogacy and commercialized fertility, but the opposition to both practices gradually dissolved, and now only eccentric conservatives notice the weird resemblances between California-style surrogacy practices and the handmaids and econowives of Gilead.
I know that coming from a conservative columnist much of this reads like a long exercising in trolling. (Did you know, feminists, that you're all just slaves of capital? That you need less cultural Marxism and more of the genuine economistic article?) But the most serious form of cultural conservatism has always offered at most two cheers for capitalism, recognizing that its great material beneficence can coexist with dehumanizing cruelty, that its individualist logic can encourage a ruthless materialism unless curbed and checked and challenged by a moralistic vision.
Ross Douthat
I also blog short items at Micro.blog.
Some succinct standing advice on recurring themes.
Where I glean stuff.
The secret of Dreherbait revealed
Rod Dreher has a propensity so notorious that he sometimes mocks himself for it. The propensity is commenting indignantly on certain types of stories that he calls "Dreherbait."
Certain Dreherbait events at Dan Quayle's alma mater caught his scornful attention a few days ago (here and here), and another, this from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, caught his attention in the wee hours of Sunday. Those all fell in the Dreherbait category "campus Social Justice Warriors."
But in the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo indignation, he dove deeper, and explained why those stories are like flame to his moth, but without actually saying it that way.
Here's why I fear and absolutely loathe the mob, especially racialized mobs. This really happened in my town. I know the identities of every white person involved (they're all long dead), because one of them confessed on his deathbed to a friend of mine, who was shaken by the news. I do not know the name of the victim, and my attempts to discover his name went nowhere. None of this was publicly recorded.
Back in the 1940s, in my tiny Southern hometown, word reached the sheriff that a black man had been caught raping a white woman. The sheriff put out a call to some trusted white men to come help him track the rapist down and bring him to justice. The sheriff deputized two white men who showed up. They chased the black man through the woods, and upon catching him, bound him and took him back to the parish jail. There they lynched him. This was what they told themselves they had to do to protect the good order of the community.
A couple of days later, the truth came out: the black man and the white woman had been secret lovers. When they were discovered, she accused him of rape to protect herself. After his murder by the sheriff and his men, her conscience wouldn't let her rest. She confessed all.
In their shame, the white family moved away. Of course no one — not the sheriff, nor his deputies — faced any kind of justice for their murder of an innocent man. That's not how things worked under white supremacy.
The reason anybody alive today knows about it is because one of the murderers, as he lay dying decades ago, unburdened his conscience.
In a piece I wrote three years ago, "When ISIS Ran The American South," I talked about what it was like to be a black person living under white supremacy, specifically in the sense of being powerless in the face of unaccountable power, a power that was eager and willing to inflict severe violence, even death, upon you. What prompted the comparison was the news that ISIS had burned a captured Jordanian Air Force pilot alive in a cage. I wrote:
No, the American South (and other parts of America where racial terrorists ran rampant) was never run by fanatical theocrats who used grotesque public murders as a tool of terror. But if you were a black in the years 1877-1950, this was a distinction without much meaningful difference.
I had the case in my hometown in mind when I wrote that. In that post, I quoted a recent report on lynchings in the American South, 1877-1950. One category of lynchings investigators identified:
Lynchings Based on Fear of Interracial Sex. Nearly 25 percent of the lynchings of African Americans in the South were based on charges of sexual assault. The mere accusation of rape, even without an identification by the alleged victim, could arouse a lynch mob. The definition of black-on-white "rape" in the South required no allegation of force because white institutions, laws, and most white people rejected the idea that a white woman would willingly consent to sex with an African American man.
In the case I'm talking about, the mob — in this case, the sheriff and his deputies, as well as the (false) accuser — did not require a dispassionate examination of the evidence in the case. The accuser's word was enough. It was assumed by white Southern culture of the day that every black man sexually desired every white woman, and that no white woman was capable of sexually desiring a black man. Even black male desire itself was enough to merit execution; if a black man and a white woman had actually been caught in sexual congress, as in this particular case, that was even stronger evidence of rape. Or so that culture thought.
But again: white culture of that time and place was so racially paranoid that all it took was for white people to feel that a black man sexually desired a white woman for that man to be at risk of extrajudicial execution.
This surely is why he refers to analogous "the Social Justice mob" so often, and the analogy fits. But he's not a dispassionate observer:
It's important to me to say one more thing here. Back in the summer of 2002, I was reeling from rage over 9/11, and over the Catholic sex abuse scandal. I was so overcome by it that I had to see a dentist to get a mouthguard made for wearing at night, because I was grinding my teeth so fiercely that my wife couldn't sleep. She was so worried about what was happening to me on the inside. I couldn't rest. The injustices of these two catastrophic events was eating me alive. She compelled me to swallow my pride and go see a therapist.
The therapist was a Catholic, and, as it turned out, a quack. Long story. But he told me something in that first session that was offensive and painful to hear, and that I furiously rejected. But years later, I came to see that he was right.
What he told me was this: "You need to accept that under the right circumstances, you could have been flying one of those planes. You could have been Mohammed Atta."
No effing way! I said. No way! I refused to admit that I have anything in common with that monster. What is wrong with this guy? I thought. What kind of relativist is he?
He was right about that. I do, in fact, have that capacity for evil within me. So do you. So do we all. Not too many of us are the kind of sociopaths who choose evil for evil's sake. We first dress it up as good — as justice, perhaps. Read the final words left behind by Atta. This is a man convinced that he was acting for the sake of God, of justice, and his tribe (Muslims), against infidels, which at one point he described as "animals" to be slaughtered. It is one long rationale for mass murder as an act of high and selfless virtue.
If you don't think you have it within you to write the same sort of testament, you don't know yourself as well as you think you do. Nor do you know history, or the human heart. The men of my town who lynched that innocent black man slept peacefully every night for the rest of their lives — except for the man who, in his final days on this earth, confessed to his wicked deed, in preparation for meeting the great Judge. But they all escaped justice on this earth, because they were all living under a system that held the maintenance of white supremacy as justice itself.
What progressives advocated in 1964 was progress. What they advocate today is not progress, but returning to the older corruption, this time with different supremacists in power. It is still unjust. It is still evil. It always will be. The Social Justice Warriors and their fellow travelers in power at universities, in corporations, and even in government (see Mayor Harmon above), are summoning up demons that they cannot control.
(Emphasis added) The panics brought about by things like drunken frat boys and sorority girls in black face (or anything that can be so misrepresented) is akin to lynchings (later, mere felony convictions) based on fear of interracial sex. As Rod says,
I do, in fact, have that capacity for evil within me. So do you. So do we all. …
If you don't think you have it within you to write the same sort of testament, you don't know yourself as well as you think you do.
And that elite college students, the pool from which disproportionately comes our top leaders, know themselves so little is special cause for alarm, which Rod sounds often.
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
(Philip K. Dick)
The waters are out and no human force can turn them back, but I do not see why as we go with the stream we need sing Hallelujah to the river god.
(Sir James Fitzjames Stephen)
Place. Limits. Liberty.
Children don't do tragedy
April 6, 2018 ~ readerjohn
I have spent the past few days watching old videos of the civil-rights era, the King era, and there is something unexpectedly poignant in them. When you see those involved in that momentous time, you notice: They dressed as adults, with dignity. They presented themselves with self-respect. Those who moved against segregation and racial indignity went forward in adult attire—suits, dresses, coats, ties, hats—as if adulthood were something to which to aspire. As if a claiming of just rights required a showing of gravity. Look at the pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking, the pictures of those marching across the Edmund Pettus bridge, of those in attendance that day when George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door and then stepped aside to the force of the federal government, and suddenly the University of Alabama was integrated. Even the first students who went in, all young, acted and presented themselves as adults. Of course they won. Who could stop such people?
I miss their style and seriousness. What we're stuck with now is Mark Zuckerberg's .
The signal fact of Mr. Zuckerberg is that he is supremely gifted in one area—monetizing technical expertise by marrying it to a canny sense of human weakness. Beyond that, what a shallow and banal figure. He too appears to have difficulties coming to terms with who he is. Perhaps he hopes to keep you, too, from coming to terms with it, by literally dressing as a child, in T-shirts, hoodies and jeans—soft clothes, the kind 5-year-olds favor. In interviews he presents an oddly blank look, as if perhaps his audiences will take blankness for innocence. As has been said here, he is like one of those hollow-eyed busts of forgotten Caesars you see in museums.
But he is no child; he is a giant bestride the age, a titan, one of the richest men not only in the world but in the history of the world. His power is awesome.
His public reputation is now damaged, and about this he is very concerned. Next week he will appear before Congress. The Onion recently headlined that he was preparing for his questioning by studying up on the private data of congressmen. The comic Albert Brooks tweeted: "I sent Mark Zuckerberg my entire medical history just to save him some time."
His current problems may have yielded a moment of promise, however. Tim Cook of Apple, in an impressive and sober interview with Recode's Kara Swisher and MSNBC's Chris Hayes, said last week something startling, almost revolutionary: "Privacy to us is a human right." This was stunning because it was the exact opposite of what Silicon Valley has been telling us since social media's inception, which is: Privacy is dead. Get over it. Some variation on that statement has been made over and over by Silicon Valley's pioneers, and they say it blithely, cavalierly, with no apparent sense of tragedy.
Because they don't do tragedy. They do children's clothes.
(Peggy Noonan, If Adults Won't Grow Up, Nobody Will)
Another sign of major realignment
March 14, 2018 March 14, 2018 ~ readerjohn
More interesting … was Mrs. Clinton's commentary on the role of economic concerns in the 2016 contest. "There's all that red in the middle, where Trump won," she said. "But what the map doesn't show you is that I won the places that represent two-thirds of America's gross domestic product." To scattered applause, she continued: "So I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."
… She sees her electoral disappointment in economically downscale regions not as a political failure but a source of validation—and, apparently, an indication of those voters' failings. Similarly, last September she told Vox that the Electoral College is "an anachronism" in part because "I won in counties that produce two-thirds of the economic output in the United States." Should those voters have more of a say?
Since Andrew Jackson, the Democratic Party has usually been identified as the party of the "common man," and its adversaries as defenders of wealth and economic privilege. Jackson earned that reputation for his party by reducing property qualifications for the franchise for white men. But the Democrats' most recent standard-bearer sounds an awful lot like the 19th-century conservatives who thought political representation should be tied to wealth. This is a significant moment in America's partisan realignment.
(Jason Willick, What Happened to the Common Man?, Wall Street Journal — emphasis added, paywall)
It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.
Bigotry is an incapacity to conceive seriously the alternative to a proposition.
A man … is only a bigot if he cannot understand that his dogma is a dogma, even if it is true.
(G.K. Chesterton) Be of good courage, you who are called "bigots" by those who are unable to conceive seriously the alternatives to their dogmas.
Tuesday Supplement, 12/5/17
December 5, 2017 ~ readerjohn
Metanarratives
Sen. Grinch, R, Iowa
The right to be wrong
Spats and Top Hat
Looking for freedom outside the box
Moore's liberal enablers
Photios Markopulos, Mayan Orphan
Continue reading "Tuesday Supplement, 12/5/17" →


text:
GLMPI Girls Like Me Project
Since 2012, Girls Like Me Project Inc. has introduced 500 girls to International Day of the Girl, through our flagship program, Chicago Day of the Girl.
GLMPI will enroll 500 girls through membership by 2021.
Expose girls to a variety of media and digital technology programs and culture.
Examination of Self Awareness
Assist girls with developing a conscious knowledge of one's own authentic character, voice, and feelings.
Help them gain a desire to build, grow, and connect with girls and the community through workshops, mentoring, and girl circles.
The mission of GLMPI is to help African-American girls ages 11-17 critically examine social, cultural, and political ideologies in media so that they will be able to overcome stigmas and negative stereotypes. We equip them with the tools and strategies to become influential, independent digital storytellers who transform their communities and foster global sisterhood.
Girls Like Me Project believes that although African-American girls are disproportionately targeted by devaluing stereotypes and media messages of misogyny, self-hate, and destructive behavior that adversely normalizes circumstances of poverty and violence; a strong sense of self-efficacy and awareness can transform them into change agents for social good.
In 2008, as a volunteer at her children's school, La'Keisha Gray-Sewell started a "ladies lunch" program to help foster sisterhood, healthy self esteem, and interrupt mean girl behavior. The demand for the lunches grew attracting and retaining girls from 4th grade through their graduation from 8th grade. Later in 2012, La'Keisha collated the lunch and volunteer projects to formally create Girls Like Me Project, Inc. in answer to the acute need for schools and community organizations to provide gender-responsive programming for girls. Since incorporating as an Illinois NFP, Girls Like Me Project has convened three successful "On the Table" conversations in partnership with Chicago Community Trust since 2016. Subsequently we were awarded an On The Table Award to implement solutions...that award was the initial version of DIVAS in the City Summer Camp which we have successfully hosted for the past three years.
Other accomplishments include our established partnerships with University of Chicago Charter Schools (Carter G. Woodson and Donoghue); Chicago Coalition on Urban Girls (formerly South Side Coalition on Urban Girls); Academy 41 of Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church; Contexture Media Network; Africa International House, Global Strategists Association, Demoiselle 2 Femme, and The African Life that have helped the organization impact more than 600 girls across the South Side through ongoing workshops, girls circles, outreach, as well as their annual Chicago Day of the Girl and Pampered Power Talks.
When the United Nations declared October 11 as International Day of the Girl, GLMPI established the Annual Chicago Day of the Girl to locally connect to the global girls empowerment movement. In October 2015, Congressman Danny K. Davis, recognized GLMPI with a Congressional record as a pioneer for its efforts hosting the annual Chicago Day of the Girl.
Girls Like Me Project has been the recipient of the Safe and Peaceful Chicago Grant and is among the first organizations to be funded by the South Side Giving Circle of the Chicago Foundation for Women. In Summer of 2018, Girls Like Me Project sponsored two global travel for two local girls as a part of a community leadership travel program. In 2018, Girls Like Me Project was named Organization of the Year by the Tau Psi Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta, Sorority Inc.
All in all, more than 700 girls have been driectly impacted through our free programs and events.
The goal of Girls Like Me Project Inc is to directly reach 400 African-American girls residing in metropolitan Chicago (Englewood and Bronzeville) with the objective of raising their self-awareness and activism by 2022. Girls who complete our programming are trained in media literacy and digital storytelling, connected to activism, and exposed to cultural and career options beyond their neighborhoods.


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text:
Tags: Alfonso Iannelli, Animals, architect, Architecture, Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Art on Sedgwick, artist, artist loft, Carl St. Studios, Charlie Brenda, Chicago, Children, CityLab, Counterculture, cutlery, Edgar Miller Legacy, gentrification, Glasner Studio, graphic design, Idaho, interior design, Kogen-Miller Complex, live-work, medium, metalwork, North Side, Old Town, painting, Paris, printmaking, Radical Politics, sculpture, Sharon Bladholm, Sol Kogen, stained glass, The Atlantic, Theaster Gates, Tower Town, Zac Bleicher, Zach Mortice
The Brilliant Artist That Chicago, and the World, Nearly Forgot
The Atlantic's CityLab Ι June 18, 2018 Edgar Miller was a virtuoso in any medium he chose: painting, sculpture, stained glass, architecture, interior design, printmaking, metalwork, cutlery, graphic design. He put those prodigious skills toward building a creative community on Chicago's near-north side in the 1920s and beyond. Miller's handful of architecture projects (a series of live-work lofts) stretched th
Tags: Autodesk, Bear Stadiums, carbon sequestration, FIFA, football, glulam, low-carbon, Mass Timber, modular, pre-fabrication, Redshift, Rubner Holzbau, soccer, sport stadium, sports, spruce, UN Climate Neutral Now, Zach Mortice
Could Modular Wood Stadium Construction Be a Game Changer?
Redshift Ι June 19, 2018 Imagine a sports stadium that could expand and contract with its fan base and team's fortunes, one that could pick up and move to greener (and more lucrative) pastures. Given team owners' history of playing fans against each other, making stadiums more mobile isn't likely to give pennant-wavers a sense of security, but the concept is an incredible breakthrough for building technology. Endless
Tags: 1889 flood, Barry Gallagher, Bethlehem Steel, Bill Polacek, blight abatement, Cambria City, Cambria County, Cambria County Planning Commission, Carnegies, community engagement, Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, Concrete, Conemaugh RIver, Damon Rich, Disaster, Donald Trump, ecotourism, Frank Janakovic, Gautier Steel, grassroots, green infrastructure, Harvard Loeb Fellows, hiking trails, Infrastructure, John Murtha, Johnstown, Johnstown Area Regional Industries, Johnstown Flood National Memoria, Katie Kinka, Landscape Architect, Landscape Architecture, Landscape Architecture Magazine, landscape design, Little Conemaugh River, Mike Kane, office visit, Old Conemaugh Borough, park spaces, Pennsylvania, planning, poverty, public–private partnerships, Riverwalls, rustbelt, Ryan Kieta, South Fork Dam, South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club, Steel Mill, Stefani Danes, stone Bridge, Stonycreek River, streetscapes, Thaddeus Pawlowski, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vision 2025, volunteer, Wally Burlack, Zach Mortice
Let My Rivers Go
Landscape Architecture Magazine Ι May 2018 On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, gave way after a day of heavy rain. The dam had hemmed in the waters of Lake Conemaugh, a weekend retreat for western Pennsylvania's Gilded Age industrial barons (the Carnegies, the Mellons, the Fricks). Despite their means, the dam was neglected and mistreated. Its height had been lowered to make way for
Tags: Ann Lui, Architecture, civic history, civic scale, Cobblestone Landing, cotton, Dimensions of Citizenship, exhibit, Gia Biagi, gneiss, granite, History, Iker Gil, installation, Jeanne Gang, limestone, Material, Memphis, Metropolis Magazine, Mimi Zeiger, Mississippi River, Monument, Niall Atkinson, Park, riverfront, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Slavery, spirit of space, stones, the south, University of Chicago, US Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Zach Mortice
At the Venice Biennale, Jeanne Gang Uses Memphis's Cobblestones to Reflect on Monuments and Messy Civic Histories
Metropolis Magazine Ι May 23, 2018 "How do you make the stones talk?" asks the architect Jeanne Gang. It's not a philosophical posture, but an earnest question and one at the center of Studio Gang's soon-to-open 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale installation at the U.S. Pavilion. The stones Gang refers to were plucked out of storage, but they were originally lodged at Memphis Landing, also called Cobblestone Landing,
Tags: Architecture, Art Institute of Chicago, Bathroom, Chairs, Chaise Longue, Charlotte Perriand, Chicago, Decaso, exhibition, France, Furniture, Gallery, Grand Confort, Lecorbusier, Les Arcs, Matthew Rachman, Matthew Rachman Gallery, Metropolis Magazine, minimalism, Modernism, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Perriand in the Mountains, pine, Pre-fab, rattan, Salon d'Automne, Ski Resort, Table, Zach Mortice
Chicago Exhibit Spotlights Charlotte Perriand's Alpine Ski Resort
Metropolis Magazine Ι May 23, 2018 The most impressive item depicted at Matthew Rachman's exhibit of Charlotte Perriand–designed furniture is conspicuously absent from his Chicago gallery—it was too big to fit. The object in question, a gleaming red and white prefab bathroom produced for the designer's Les Arcs ski resort in the French Alps, was an inch too big to slide inside the Ukrainian Village space, even with