You should read this for 11/4/2017:
Art and Film
Via Literary Review: a book review o He Made Masterpieces with Manure: Traces of Vermeer by Jane Jelley “On the acknowledgements page of Traces of Vermeer, Jane Jelley thanks one friend who tracked down pig bladders and another who harvested mussel shells from a freshwater moat. Jelley, a painter, takes her research on the Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer (1632–75) out of galleries and archives and into the studio.”
Books, Writing, and Language
Texas Prisons Ban 10,000 Books. No ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ for Inmates.The books that are banned are an odd mix, particularly in the context of the ones that aren’t banned.
Food and Drink
How To Make Crispy Perfect Latkes Every Time “Latkes are traditionally cooked on Hanukkah, along with other fried foods, to commemorate the miracle of the menorah oil in the Jewish Temple.”
History and Archaeology
Ancient sword and other incredible items discovered during dig at Glenfield Park “ Prehistoric cauldrons, a complete ancient sword and third century BC brooch, and dress pins are among the nationally significant findings discovered by University of Leicester archaeologists.” There’s a photo gallery of the items.
Society
Hero cop of Pulse shooting is being terminated from force “An officer hailed as a hero for his actions during the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando is being let go just six months before he would have become vested in his pension.”
Supreme Court Seems Split In Case Of Baker Vs. Same-Sex Couple; Eyes Now On Kennedy This is one that I’m not really sure of the right thing to do. I’m leaning towards the idea that the baker has a right to say no to making a cake; but if the baker has that right, the baker needs to be prepared to be perceived as and identified as a bigot, and that customers have a right to take their business elsewhere.
Pay It Forward and Make It Better
Australia Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill by Massive Landslide – Just Four MPs Vote No The opposition was pretty vile, and underhands, resorting to mail-in polls, etc, but the people were pretty clear about what they wanted. Once again, love wins.
Science and Technology
Nighttime satellite images used for digital animations show the start and rapid spread of the first SoCal wildfires, and other images show banners of smoke crossing the Pacific.
Women’s Work
Facebook Is Filling Its “Jail” With Women Instead of the Men Harassing Them Once again, it’s all about protecting the poor, delicate mens and their feels.
From Boudicca to the Amazons, historian, author and broadcaster Bettany Hughes uncovers the truth behind some of the most famous warrior women in history. “Tracing the hard evidence of warrior women – real and imagined – helps us chart attitudes to women through time. Fascinatingly, thanks to the re-examination of bone evidence discovered in the 1960s, it seems mounted women warriors from the Sarmatian Danube might even have ended up fighting within the Roman army, stationed at the Roman fort of Brocavum, Cumbria, near Hadrian’s Wall. ”
How Neolithic farming sowed the seeds of modern inequality 10,000 years ago “A recent research paper examining inequality in early Neolithic societies confirms what early-20th century anthropologists already knew, on the basis of comparative studies of farming societies: that the greater the surpluses a society produced, the greater the levels of inequality in that society.”
A teacher moves from D.C. to a dream job in Paris. Is it what she expected?This is more about pedagogy than the travails of travel.
