You should read this for 6/15/2019:
Books, Writing, and Language
This special collection presents children’s books selected from the General and Rare Book Collections at the Library of Congress. The collection includes classic works that are still read by children today, and lesser-known treasures drawn from the Library’s extensive collection of historically significant children’s books. The books in this collection were published in the United States and England before 1924, are no longer under copyright, and free to read, share, and reuse however you’d like.
These are books that are historically important, not necessarily “great books for kids.” Some of them are offensive, and are preserved and presented in an effort to help us not repeat the errors of our past.
The strange “No Frills” series of totally generic genre fiction books from the 1980s
The Bookshop: The story of Australia’s oldest LGBTI bookstore
Food and Drink
900-Year-Old Grape Pips Reveal Unbroken History Of French Wine Variety
techniques such as grafting, rather than being planted from seeds, since this offers far greater consistency when it comes to the grapes.
That has led some to suggest that certain varieties might have remained essentially unchanged across two millennia since the Roman boom in wine production in the Mediterranean. Grapes were first domesticated more than 6,000 years ago in south-western Asia.
The latest research suggests that might not be too far-fetched. Scientists say they have discovered vines producing savagnin blanc grapes today are genetically identical to vines grown in Orléans 900 years ago.
See also: A Medieval Grape Is Still Used to Make Wine
Kale Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese, and Pecans
The Simply Recipes Guide to Fancy Salts
History and Archaeology
Human remains found on Canadian beach are confirmed to be Irish famine victims
Via Open Culture: A map of the locations in Homer’s Odyssey See also: An Interactive Map of Odysseus’ 10-Year Journey in Homer’s Odyssey
Science and Nature
Night owls: Simple sleep tweaks boost wellbeing
What’s Causing the Huge Mass Anomaly Beneath the Moon?
The South Pole-Aitken basin is a huge crater produced by an ancient impact on the Moon, whose longest axis would span from New York City to Omaha, Nebraska. Beneath this basin lies a strange anomaly—an excess of mass extending at least 300 kilometers down, more than 10 times the depth of the Earth’s crust.
Via BoingBoing: At-a-glance map of current planetary exploration spacecraft
Emily Lakdawalla and her colleagues at one of my favorite science nonprofits The Planetary Society prepared this fascinating map titled “Where We Are: An At-A-Glance Spacecraft Locator.”
Society
U.S. embassies defy State Department and continue to rock the Pride flag
Americans are too poor to survive whether or not they’re working
A new study from the United Way claims that 43% of American households are in a status called “asset limited, income constrained, employed” (ALICE), which denotes employed people who can’t afford housing, food, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and a cellphone — the basics of modern living.
An Expert on Concentration Camps Says That’s Exactly What the U.S. Is Running at the Border
Technology
Jeff Carlson in The Seattle Times on Apple’s WWDC announcements: Apple rolls out high-powered Mac Pro and revamps several software services
Carlson on the new Mac Pro:
Remarkably, Apple says the thermal system is so efficient that the Mac Pro will be quiet. In fact, the specifications come across as the product of development teams who have spent the last six years feeling like they have something to prove.
The problem is, the more places personal data flies, the harder it becomes to hold companies accountable for bad behavior – including inevitable breaches.
I Wrote This on a 30-Year-Old Computer
H/T BoingBoing; Calum Booth animationThe most popular social media networks each year, gloriously animated
That’s just scratching the surface though, I’ve watched that social media bar chart race multiple times and always find another interesting nugget. One thing’s for certain, judging by how many times the top spot changed hands over the past 16 years, none of the social media giants should be resting on their laurels. Really, anything can happen.
What I’d like to see is a comparison animation showing Blogger, Moveable Type, Tumblr, WordPress, and similar blogging/CMS platforms for the same era. I’m speculating we are seeing a small, steady return to individual content platforms.
Women’s Work
Women Have Fought to Legalize Reproductive Rights for Nearly Two Centuries
💩🔥💰 Trumpery 💩🔥💰
Key Nixon Accuser Returns To Capitol With Sights Set On Another President
Nixon lawyer John Dean explains the parallels between Trump and Watergate
“In many ways the Mueller Report is to President Trump what the so-called Watergate ‘Road Map’ was to President Richard Nixon,” Dean said, reading from his prepared testimony (pdf). “Stated a bit differently, Special Counsel Mueller has provided this committee a road map.”
Dean also compared Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey to Nixon’s firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973, in what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre. He also noted parallels between Trump’s attempts to shut down the Mueller investigation via White House counsel Don McGahn to his own experience as Nixon’s counsel. “I certainly hope Don McGahn is a key witness” to this hearing, Dean said.
The Many Lies Of Sara Huckabee Sanders: As Sarah Sanders Signs Off, A Look Back At Her Biggest Lies
Pay It Forward and Make It Better
The dad from that viral baby video is demonstrating a crucial parenting skill
H/T PNH for Arkady Martine: Everyone’s World Is Ending All the Time: notes on becoming a climate resilience planner at the edge of the anthropocene
Then, take note: in fact, lambkins, we will live. All despite ourselves, we will live—and be irrevocably changed, as we have irrevocably changed the world.
