February 19, 2020
A Whole New World
Witness to Vitesse
Hewers of Wood, Screwers of Everyone
I can forgive Americans for being clueless. I can forgive them their ignorance about this big, cold, confusing place just to the north of them. And that’s why I want to clear something up, once and for all, so I can put your minds at rest and save us all a lot of time and energy.
Here it is: Canada is fake.
"This was the first time I've had a patient play an instrument"
Marketing His Way to Monopoly
Tom Scocca on what it means for democracy when pundits, politicos, and the powers that be tell voters that “Michael Bloomberg is the only person who can beat Donald Trump, because he has the power to beat Donald Trump, because he has the money”: Can he alone fix it? As Charles M. Blow asks, are Democrats willing to forego their party values, and do they even need to? [more inside]
Marble racing is now the pinnacle of motor sports
With the Daytona 500 in the rearview and the start of the Formula 1 season yet a few weeks away, race fans are finding their fix with the brand new, zero emissions Marbula One marble racing series. First, the racers must qualify, and then they face off in a ten lap grand prix race. (via Jalopnik)
"fully analyze the living text that is a man, it must be done four ways"
To Dream of a Jewish President, Talia Lavin (on twitter as @chick_in_kiev) writes for The New Republic: "What would it mean for Bernie Sanders, America’s most famous Jewish politician, to become its commander in chief?" [more inside]
Rarely is the question asked: why is there so much Xtian Sonic fan art?
Dancing right on the border of “extremely online” and “extremely offline,” you will find the Christian Sonic the Hedgehog fandom.
The sweaters, the dancing in socks, the keyboard guitar...
As the final of Iceland's qualifying contest for Eurovision 2020 draws near, one song and (especially) video has received some attention - Think about Things. Wiwibloggs: “Last weekend, Daði Freyr and his group Gagnamagnið qualified for the Söngvakeppnin grand final with the Icelandic version of their song, also titled 'Gagnamagnið'. But they’ll be taking the English version, 'Think About Things' to Iceland’s grand final on 29 February.” However, other entries such as Oculus Videre stand in their path to representing Iceland...
"Librarians, too, are often exposed to trauma."
As Compassion Fatigue Takes its Toll, Schools and Public Libraries Take Steps to Support Librarians (School Library Journal): "Caring for others is often part of the job of being a school and youth librarian. In librarianship, as in some other professions such as nursing, there’s growing awareness that this caregiving is a form of work layered on top of other job responsibilities. It’s emotional labor, and when librarians are overworked and drained from dealing with others’ needs and not having time for their own, it can lead to what researchers call compassion fatigue. ¶ Librarians are often counseled at professional conferences, on blogs, and on social media that to ward off compassion fatigue, they must practice self-care: go for a walk during lunch hour, take a five-minute meditation break, drink enough water. Although these tips are useful on an individual level, not everyone is able to take advantage of them, and to some, they seem like Band-Aid suggestions that don’t address the underlying causes of burnout. However, some schools and public libraries are taking compassion fatigue seriously and using effective strategies to support their staff and insulate them from burnout." [more inside]
A new kind of WMDs – Weapons of Mass Disruption
Digital technologies are changing global politics — and the United States is not ready to compete.
As a first step, U.S. government officials need to understand how authoritarian regimes are using these tools to control their populations and disrupt democratic societies around the world.
1. Finding Our way Out of the Darkness.
2. China is a Challenge but not the only challenge
3. Rolling Back Digital Authoritarianism
As a first step, U.S. government officials need to understand how authoritarian regimes are using these tools to control their populations and disrupt democratic societies around the world.
1. Finding Our way Out of the Darkness.
2. China is a Challenge but not the only challenge
3. Rolling Back Digital Authoritarianism
Re-envisioning construction as a circular economy
[Reducing the impacts of buildings on the world] is not just about adding more solar panels, biomass boilers, and all the other bolt-on gadgets to tick the green assessment boxes. It requires a fundamental shift in our attitude to materials. “We have to think of buildings as material depots,” says Thomas Rau , a Dutch architect who has been working to develop a public database of materials in existing buildings and their potential for reuse. There are now over 2.5m square metres of building matter logged in his Madaster database [....] He has developed the concept of “material passports”, a digital record of the specific characteristics and value of every material in a construction project, thereby enabling the different parts to be recovered, recycled and reused. The case for ... never demolishing another building (The Guardian)
"It’s still so beautiful, a pink version is just one step cooler"
Trendiness and the prospect of Instagram clout have led to photogenic plants like the pink princess and monstera oblique being sold for ten or a hundred times what they were going for a decade ago, and the sale of unusual houseplants is now a big business. But with the rise in rare plants comes the rise of rare plant scams.
Talk Tree to Me
New York City parks are using a designer's "tree font" to plant secret messages with real trees. Katie Holten, a visual artist, has created a New York City tree font. Each letter of the Latin alphabet is assigned a drawing of a tree from the NYC Parks Department’s existing native and non-native trees, as well as species that are to be planted as a result of the changing climate. For example, A = Ash. Now, the NYC Parks Department plans to actually plant some of the messages as real trees in parks and other public spaces. Everyone is invited to download the free font, NYC Trees, and to write words, poems, messages, or love letters, in Trees.
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