You should read this for 12/22/2018:
Art and Film
A neighbor anonymously called Christmas dragons in her yard ‘demonic.’ So she put more up.
Books, Writing, and Language
The ‘Future Book’ Is Here, But It’s Not What We Expected
The Minefield Of Mime: ‘Halt’ To An American Signifies ‘Hi’ To An Arab “Dictionary of Gestures: Expressive Comportments and Movements in Use Around the World by François Caradec reviewed”
Education
DeVos To Rescind Obama-Era Guidance On School Discipline “The recommendations on discipline form part of a broader effort by the Trump administration and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to back away from Obama-era policies aimed at reducing racial disparities in suspensions and expulsions.”
Florida lawmakers mandated armed guards in schools after Parkland. One just killed three people.
Food and Drink
Via Twitter: Hilary Clinton, Hot Saucer, Peppers and Stupid People
In 2016, a host asked Hillary Clinton what’s something she always has in her bag. “Hot sauce,” she said. Critics claimed she said this to pander to black voters because of Beyoncé’s “hot sauce in my bag” lyric.
But she has been talking about hot sauce in her bag for 20+ years.
Irish-American Whiskey Celebrates Shared Heritage
In a nod to both sides of the Atlantic, distillers are blending whiskey from each country, using American wine barrels and reviving old Irish recipes. Explore the world of Irish-American whiskey with these five bottles.
History and Archaeology
Egypt announces discovery of 4,400-year-old tomb
Egypt has announced the discovery of a private tomb belonging to a senior official from the 5th dynasty of the pharaohs, which ruled roughly 4,400 years ago. There are photographs
Science and Nature
Pterosaurs: Fur flies over feathery fossils
Two exceptionally well preserved fossils give a new picture of the pterosaurs, the flying reptiles that lived at the time of the dinosaurs.
Scientists believe the creatures may have had feathers, and looked something like brown bats with fuzzy wings.
The surprise discovery suggests feathers evolved not in birds, nor dinosaurs, but in more distant times.
H/T to SJS: The Northern Cardinal Is Actually Multiple Species, Evidence Suggests
The actual paper title is: Genomic divergence in allopatric Northern Cardinals of the North American warm deserts is linked to behavioral differentiation. Basically, it’s looking like there are at least two distinct species, separated for c. 1 million years, based on genetics and song behavior.
Society
‘Self-promoters’ do nothing but still get ahead at work
But about one in five teams was a conundrum – where staff appeared to be very engaged, but where teamwork and productivity were poor.
The study found when “lifting the lid” on these groups of workers, that they were undermined by staff who were successfully “gaming the system” but not really getting anything done.
They might constantly appear in a circuit of meetings, or get involved in conversations that were to their own advantage — but apart from playing the corporate culture, it was difficult to see what they actually achieved.
Via BuzzFeed: Hate To Break It To You, But The Amazing Glitter Bomb Package Video Is Pretty Much Staged
This is why we can’t have nice things.
Technology
Via Motherboard: We Should Replace Facebook With Personal Websites “Personal websites and email can replace most of what people like about Facebook—namely the urge to post about their lives online.
Women’s Work
Gladys West, the ‘hidden figure’ of GPS, inducted into Air Force hall of fame
Life on the land with the Lama Lama rangers – a picture essay
💩🔥💰 Trumpery 💩🔥💰
Amphibian that buries head in sand named after Donald Trump Newly discovered Panama amphibian Dermophis donaldtrumpi buries its head in the sand has been named after 💩🔥💰, because of his comments about climate change.
The small, blind, creature is a type of caecilian that primarily lives underground, and Mr Bell drew an unflattering comparison between its behaviour and Mr Trump’s.
“Burrowing [his] head underground helps Donald Trump when avoiding scientific consensus on anthropomorphic climate change,” [Bell] wrote.
Russian Agents Sought Secret US Treasury Records On Clinton Backers During 2016 Campaign
In an astonishing departure from protocol, documents show that at the same time the requests were being made, Treasury officials were using their government email accounts to send messages back and forth with a network of private Hotmail and Gmail accounts set up by the Russians, rather than communicating through the secure network usually used to exchange information with other countries.
Pay It Forward and Make It Better
Jackets left on lampposts in Inverness for homeless “Winter jackets have been left buttoned and zipped round lampposts in Inverness along with a note inviting any finders in need of a coat to take it.”
Penn Library Will Return 9th-Century Documents Found to Have Been Stolen From Italian Archive
