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You should read this for 11/24/2018:
Art and Film
Classic film streaming service FilmStruck rises from the dead…sort of
While FilmStruck is still toast, the folks that own the Criterion Collection–a company that focuses on historically important classic films–is launching the next best thing: The Criterion Channel
YouTube quietly added free, ad-supported movies to its site
France will have to change its laws to return its looted African art “France is set to make good on president Emmanuel Macron’s promise to return Africa’s stolen art and artifacts.”
Books, Writing, and Language
Via Open Culture: Free: Download 15,000+ Free Golden Age Comics from the Digital Comic Museum
Education
Texas schools make slavery a ‘central’ fact of the Civil War and no one can believe it
Lawrence Allen Jr., the only black member of the board, hopes the new standards will reinforce the connection between slavery and the Civil War since there’s no “consensus” over the war’s causes.
I can’t think of an accredited Civil War historian has a consensus who doesn’t cite the slavery as the motivating cause for the war.
Food and Drink
Aquafaba: the miracle vegan ingredient you’ve been throwing away “The cooking water from chickpeas is nutritious, delicious and whips up into a brilliant mayonnaise.”
In praise of vintage cookbooks “The pictures might be kitsch, the ingredients might be basic, but there is a value in simplicity”
Why Most of America Is Terrible at Making Biscuits Ultimately, it’s all about the flour; soft-wheat flour, aka as White Lily all over the southern states of America.
History and Archaeology
First ever Celtic chariot burial to be found in Wales This is a very important find, and includes the chariot, the tack for the horses, some of it ornamented with red enamel, and possibly human and equine remains. We’ll have to wait for spring for the full excavation. This would have been an important person, buried with a fair amount of ritual, some 2,000 or more years ago, c. the century of the Roman invasion of Wales; in other words, we don’t know yet if this pre-Roman or post-Roman.
Science and Nature
Out on the dark Gloucestershire hills on badger patrol as culling row returns… “With the number of cattle infected with bovine TB still rising, farmers and campaigners remain divided on the cause.”
Iain McGill, a former government vet, found that there were 22 herds with TB in the zone in the first 10 months of 2018, up from 17 herds during the whole of the 2016-17 culling year. . . .
Instead [Mcgill] blames the government’s testing regime, which he claims allows infected cattle to be bought and sold. “The standard screening test used by the government only detects approximately 50% of infected cattle. This is a disaster because it means the infected cattle are being moved to market and on to other farms in the country,” he says.
Via Scott: Every day’s Thanksgiving for the animal world’s extreme eaters
Society
Productivity woes? Why giving staff an extra day off can be the answer “Firms that operate a four-day week with no cut in pay or benefits, as proposed last week by John McDonnell, can see improvements in staff morale and health as well as revenue”
“We have these promised productivity benefits, and we wanted to think about ways workers can get a fair share of them,” she says. “If the weekend was the achievement of the 20th century, the four-day week should be our aim for the 21st century.”
Technology
You Snooze, You Lose: Insurers Make The Old Adage Literally True
Last March, Tony Schmidt discovered something unsettling about the machine that helps him breathe at night. Without his knowledge, it was spying on him.
From his bedside, the device was tracking when he was using it and sending the information not just to his doctor, but to the maker of the machine, to the medical supply company that provided it and to his health insurer.
💩🔥💰 Trumpery 💩🔥💰
Via Vox: Sean Illing interviews linguist George Lakoff about how journalists can respond to Trump’s strategy of lying to distract from the truth he doesn’t want covered: How the media should respond to Trump’s lies “A linguist explains how Trump uses lies to divert attention from the “big truths.”
Journalists could engage in what I’ve called “truth sandwiches,” which means that you first tell the truth; then you point out what the lie is and how it diverges from the truth. Then you repeat the truth and tell the consequences of the difference between the truth and the lie.
Read the interview, but first read this piece Lakoff wrote about A Blitzkrieg Strategy Of Lies and Distractions “Trump counts on reporters to chase his lies and distractions like dogs chase balls. Too often, they meet his expectations.”
The key takeaway:
It’s a numbers game. The more he can get his key terms and images repeated in the media — even as “fact checks” — the more he wins. That’s just how our brains work. The more we hear about something, the more it sticks. Even if it’s not true. When I say “don’t think of an elephant,” it forces you to think of an elephant. Repeating lies, even to debunk them, helps spread and strengthen them. The scientific evidence is clear.
Donald Trump’s $12 billion bailout of farmers who were hurt by his trade wars has been a big failure “very little of Trump’s $12 billion bailout has gone to struggling farmers.” See also the original New York Times report.
Women’s Work
Michelle Obama Answers the Questions that Matter
Stacey Abrams Says She Was Almost Blocked From Voting In Georgia Election
Pay It Forward and Make It Better
Here’s how to better support people who are suicidal
Some oil rigs in California are absolutely teeming with sea life
In the hazy distance off the coast of Southern California, a couple of dozen drilling platforms loom as dark shadows on the horizon, a reminder of the state’s once friendly relationship with the oil industry. But beneath the surface, some of the rigs are teeming with biological life. Dozens of fish species, thousands of different kinds of invertebrates, and sea lions all call the rigs home.
TOMS founder makes an emotional announcement pledging $5 million to tackle gun violence
. . . the TOMS website now has a way for people to easily and quickly let Congress know they want to see legislative action on gun control. Filling out a simple form with your name, address, and email will automatically send a physical postcard to your state’s representatives to tell them you want them to support universal background checks—a legislative move more than 90% of Americans say they support. Sending the postcard literally takes 30 seconds—less if you have autofill provide your info.
