August 10, 2023
Perils of Not Being Attractive or Athletic in Middle School
Surely it's just incompetent AI. Surely.
Details emerge of Clarence Thomas' received gifts
The / picturesque / decay / remains / an idea / of the / beautiful
blackout.tilde.town is "a tool for making blackout poetry using nine million chunks of text extracted from Project Gutenberg." [more inside]
Duong Van Ngo started working for the postal service at the age of 16
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The last public writer for the Vietnamese postal service passes away at the age of 94. In 1990, he retired but was given special permission to continue to work in the Saigon central post office as a "public writer," a position he retired from in 2020. From 2019: Every morning, he tapes a piece of paper with the words “Public Writer” in French, Vietnamese and English near his table at the Saigon Central Post Office. Ngo has written letters for hundreds of people in Vietnamese, English and French in the past 28 years. From 2007: A Day with Saigon's Last Public Letter Writer.
The last public writer for the Vietnamese postal service passes away at the age of 94. In 1990, he retired but was given special permission to continue to work in the Saigon central post office as a "public writer," a position he retired from in 2020. From 2019: Every morning, he tapes a piece of paper with the words “Public Writer” in French, Vietnamese and English near his table at the Saigon Central Post Office. Ngo has written letters for hundreds of people in Vietnamese, English and French in the past 28 years. From 2007: A Day with Saigon's Last Public Letter Writer.
Physicists Move One Step Closer to a Theoretical Showdown
The deviance of a tiny particle called the muon might prove that one of the most well-tested theories in physics is incomplete. (NYT gift link)
Let's say gay!
With Hillsborough County Public Schools only allowing excerpts of Shakespeare's plays in Florida classes due to "Don't Say Gay" and other rightwing laws, I thought it was time for us to loudly say gay and check out some 2023 books with LGBTQ+ themes! [more inside]
A Steppe Ahead
The authors of the study therefore proposed a new hybrid hypothesis for the origin of the Indo-European languages, with an ultimate homeland south of the Caucasus and a subsequent branch northwards onto the Steppe, as a secondary homeland for some branches of Indo-European entering Europe with the later Yamnaya and Corded Ware-associated expansions. “Ancient DNA and language phylogenetics thus combine to suggest that the resolution to the 200-year-old Indo-European enigma lies in a hybrid of the farming and Steppe hypotheses”, remarked Gray. from New insights into the origin of the Indo-European languages [more inside]
Jamie Reid led no cut n paste life
Jamie Reid’s Sex Pistols artwork was a glorious assault on authority. Taking dada and adding a snotty British energy, the late artist gave punk its sharp edges and revolutionary force. Here's a dive into Jamie's history and artwork.
How Queer Pro Wrestlers Are Handling America’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Heel Turn
Pollo del Mar wants to be hated. As a bad guy (or heel) in the NWA—the National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling company owned and operated by the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan (no shit!)—it’s her job to get heat, i.e. the boos and jeers and chants that separate professional wrestling’s villains from its heroes. There’s just one problem: She’s a drag queen, and it’s made her too popular. (archive.today link)
Human Genome Recovered From 5700-Year-Old Chewing Gum
Human Genome Recovered From 5700-Year-Old Chewing Gum [Smithsonian Magazine]. The piece of Birch tar, found in Denmark, also contained the mouth microbes of its ancient chewer, as well as remnants of food to reveal what she ate.
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