November 4, 2019
"Seeing what's right in front of us in portraits from the past"
Patricia A. Matthew, "Look Before You Leap" (Lapham's Quarterly, 11/4/2019): "Louise-Renée de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, is the subject of fifteen portraits in London's National Portrait Gallery. She is alone in fourteen of them ... In the one National Portrait Gallery painting where the duchess is not alone she stands next to a black child. A curatorial note suggests the little girl is primarily there as a status symbol" [via @Bigger6Romantix]. By the same author: "AbLit: Course Materials" (patriciamatthew.blog, 2/7/2019), "Serving Tea for a Cause" (Lapham's Quarterly, 2/28/2018), "On Teaching, but Not Loving, Jane Austen" (The Atlantic, 7/23/2017), "What Is Faculty Diversity Worth to a University?" (The Atlantic, 11/23/2016), and "Teaching While Black" (The New Inquiry, 2/18/2014).
what on earth is this: ‘⋮’?
"[I]f the character in question is a vertical ellipsis then it has endured one of the most precipitous falls from grace I’ve yet come across. Every other symbol on Sholes’ original QWERTY keyboard survives in one form or another, and yet the vertical ellipsis, if that is what it was, has effectively disappeared from typographic use."
The water is safe. It's only dangerous when it comes out of the taps.
A massive cross-Canada investigation has revealed multiple cities with lead levels comparable to Flint, Michigan. Given the number of people affected, there's particular concern about lead levels in Montreal tapwater. There is no known safe level of lead exposure.
Don't You Forget About Christmas...
And lo, with Halloween over, Christmas ads arrived. Mariah Carey for Walkers Crisps, Northern Light theft for Asda (in labour dispute), Iceland won't let it go while an online shop of some repute goes Blues Brothers - but Argos go nostalgic Scottish Soft Rock. The John Lewis Christmas Ad - who is the singer - is ... here? Maybe not, but the Very animated one is. Elsewhere, there's a million less lights in Turves, but foods include tempura sprouts and roast dinner Yorkshire pudding. Or buy a hamper of food and booze. However, outrage concerns the number of potatoes per Christmas diner. Maybe just get it all delivered instead. Or enjoy drinking what's behind the windows. Can't wait till the big day for satisfaction? Here's an impressive hot twelve inches to swallow. (previously)
"But these look like the real courtroom colors"
The Women Who Sketch Justice at Work [WNYC News] Article about "three courtroom artists with long careers in New York City: Williams, Jane Rosenberg and Aggie Whelan Kenny [...] all women with decades of experience — whose work is used by TV stations, websites and newspapers because cameras aren’t allowed in federal courts."
It's no stranger to you and me
Completing her series of seasonal covers for 2019 (previously), Lucy Dacus has released two singles to mark Halloween and Christmas, respectively: "In the Air Tonight" and "Last Christmas". An EP with all of the seasonal covers comes out Friday.
Tattooing and the art of sensing within the skin
Sensors worn on the surface of the skin -- aka temporary e-tattoos -- can measure a variety of electrical and biomechanical signals in the human body. But now researchers have discovered how to make inks inside the skin alter their color when blood chemistry changes (Wiley Online Library). Researchers created tattoo inks that progressively change from yellow to blue (image) as pH levels change. Inks that target glucose levels transition from pale green to dark green and albumin-sensing inks go from white to pale blue. [more inside]
Greetings Comrades, Like And Subscribe
Since Leftist Youtube has become a thing as Breadtube or Leftube, why not pull some smaller and lesser known accounts? On Strategies for Post-Capitalism by Mexie "Even if we take all their money we still have to deal with the super-rich as people." - Capitalist Realism by Radical Reviewer - "Anti-Capitalism is popular within capitalistic art. We need to talk about Cyperpunk" by Yaz Minksy on science fiction's trans, queer, anarchic roots - The Cult Of Work and why Frank Grimes is the bad guy by Renegade Cut - So, What is Good Praxis? by Bemundolack - Neolberalism, The Highest Stage Of Capitalism by Ray Ramses - What does Totalitarianism look like in mass media? by Tash Renyolds - The Paradox of Punishment by The People's Bayonet (with additional ASL work) - Well There's Your Problem "The Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse" with special guest Kate "McMansion Hell" Wagner- "So what happens when I find a text which isn't a euphemism? And what would it feel like to close the loop? To act on those ideas?" Subtlety is Dead: Communism and 'A Bewitching Revolution'
Pakistanis of TikTok
What TikTok tells us about Pakistan. Sanam Maher writes in the Dawn about TikTok's exploding popularity in Pakistan, and how, in a radically unequal society, it serves as a way for those who are otherwise unseen to make their voices heard. [more inside]
Maria Orosa, Filipina food technologist, chemist, humanitarian, war hero
She Invented Banana Ketchup & Saved Thousands of Lives. Why Have We Never Heard of Her? The legendary story of María Orosa, the Philippines' greatest war hero. (Amelia Rampe for Food52). Freedom fighter María Y. Orosa and her life-saving ‘darak’ cookies. Orosa incorporated darak (rice bran) not only in cookies but also in hotcakes and muffins. It was considered an effective treatment for those with beriberi, a disease caused by lack of thiamine. (Norma Chikiamco for the Philippine Daily Inquirer) Advances in modern Filipino food technology owe a great deal to the creative researches and salutary inventiveness of a woman chemist and pharmacist from Batangas – María Y. Orosa (archived PDF). [more inside]
When Hyperemesis gravidarum is treated as Hysteria
Hyperemesis gravidarum is dangerous, and treatable. Why does the medical community still ignore it? It wasn’t until the third OB-GYN discounted my symptoms with a casual, “Morning sickness is a doozy isn’t it?” that I started feeling mildly conspiratorial. It had only been three weeks since my positive pregnancy test, but I had already lost 17 percent of my body weight. My urine was orange. I constantly felt dizzy and lightheaded and was unable to keep water down without vomiting. Food was out of the question. Somehow, all these symptoms were met with cheery suggestions to “try ginger” or “power through.” [more inside]
runa simi
"The way we cover crime is intrinsically broken."
Crime is at its lowest rate in four decades. Yet it remains the number one topic on local news. Given racist patterns in law enforcement, the Columbia Journalism Review asks what responsibility journalists have in reporting on arrests and allegations - especially given so little reporting on exoneration (related: the trailer for Out of Omaha, the film mentioned in this piece). [more inside]
Can't see my nose in front of my face
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