Curio Cabinet
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November 29, 2022
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
From the BBC World Service: Beijing vowed today to boost the COVID vaccination rate for people 80 and older. Brazil’s president-elect has presented a new bud...
From the BBC World Service: Beijing vowed today to boost the COVID vaccination rate for people 80 and older. Brazil’s president-elect has presented a new bud...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : November 29, 2022
motley \MAHT-lee\ adjective
What It Means
Motley usually means "made up of many different people or things," and often...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : November 29, 2022
motley \MAHT-lee\ adjective
What It Means
Motley usually means "made up of many different people or things," and often...
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
There’s no denying his songs could make you dance, but they could make you cry just as easily. American songwriter Irving Burgie, who passed away on this day in 2019, proved that with his nostalgic Jamaican Farewell. Considered one of the foremost composers of Caribbean music, Burgie, sometimes called Lord Burgess, wrote 34 songs for Jamaican-American pop star Harry Belefonte. Many of them became hits, including Day O!, which remains his most famous (and arguably most danceable) tune. However, Burgie’s genius shines through just as much in Jamaican Farewell, in which a lonely narrator sings about the sadness of having to sail away from his homeland and his girlfriend. The song includes vivid imagery of everyday Jamaican life: “Down at the market you can hear/Ladies cry out while on their heads they bear/Ackee, rice, saltfish are nice…” A gentle acoustic guitar creates immediate nostalgia, whether or not the listener has ever visited the West Indian Islands. The song is considered a mento, or Jamaican folk song, and while its tune was borrowed from various existing Caribbean folk songs, the lyrics were Burgie’s alone. It's a tune heavy on both heart and history.
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of Harry Belafonte singing] Credit & copyright: Carl Van Vechten Photographs Collection, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
There’s no denying his songs could make you dance, but they could make you cry just as easily. American songwriter Irving Burgie, who passed away on this day in 2019, proved that with his nostalgic Jamaican Farewell. Considered one of the foremost composers of Caribbean music, Burgie, sometimes called Lord Burgess, wrote 34 songs for Jamaican-American pop star Harry Belefonte. Many of them became hits, including Day O!, which remains his most famous (and arguably most danceable) tune. However, Burgie’s genius shines through just as much in Jamaican Farewell, in which a lonely narrator sings about the sadness of having to sail away from his homeland and his girlfriend. The song includes vivid imagery of everyday Jamaican life: “Down at the market you can hear/Ladies cry out while on their heads they bear/Ackee, rice, saltfish are nice…” A gentle acoustic guitar creates immediate nostalgia, whether or not the listener has ever visited the West Indian Islands. The song is considered a mento, or Jamaican folk song, and while its tune was borrowed from various existing Caribbean folk songs, the lyrics were Burgie’s alone. It's a tune heavy on both heart and history.
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of Harry Belafonte singing] Credit & copyright: Carl Van Vechten Photographs Collection, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
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FREEUS History Daily Curio #2556Free1 CQ
California is literally fighting fire with fire. Native American tribes in The Golden State are starting traditional controlled burns again, bringing back a millennia-old tradition that once kept wildfires in check. California wildfires have been getting worse year after year, leaving millions of people at risk of losing their homes. Part of the problem is climate change, which results in hotter, drier summers that help the fire spread, but another major factor is that in the early 1900s, the state government banned Native American tribes from starting controlled burns. For at least a thousand years, the tribes set the land aflame in part to cultivate certain plants that benefit from fire, but also to clear the dead, dry vegetation that builds up on the ground. The ban on controlled burns wasn’t just about wildfire management. Because the burns were also considered a spiritual tradition, the state’s ban was a tool used to stifle Native American culture. Unfortunately, without the smaller, more predictable fires to keep the build-up of dry vegetation at bay, wildfires started to get worse as the landscape essentially filled up with fuel every year, waiting to be ignited by a lightning strike or a careless camper. Now, armed with drip torches and traditional knowledge, Native Americans are working with the Forest Service to manage wildfires. One of the people helping to reignite the tradition of controlled burns is Ron Goode of the North Fork Mono. Goode told NPR, "When I was a kid, I learned from my mother. But my mother got in trouble when she burned because the fire department didn't want her doing what we're doing today…We don't put fire on the ground and not know how it's going to turn out. That's what makes it cultural burning, because we cultivate." It’s the biggest “we told you so” in California history.
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of smoke rising from a burned section of forest.] Credit & copyright: ojkumena, PixabayCalifornia is literally fighting fire with fire. Native American tribes in The Golden State are starting traditional controlled burns again, bringing back a millennia-old tradition that once kept wildfires in check. California wildfires have been getting worse year after year, leaving millions of people at risk of losing their homes. Part of the problem is climate change, which results in hotter, drier summers that help the fire spread, but another major factor is that in the early 1900s, the state government banned Native American tribes from starting controlled burns. For at least a thousand years, the tribes set the land aflame in part to cultivate certain plants that benefit from fire, but also to clear the dead, dry vegetation that builds up on the ground. The ban on controlled burns wasn’t just about wildfire management. Because the burns were also considered a spiritual tradition, the state’s ban was a tool used to stifle Native American culture. Unfortunately, without the smaller, more predictable fires to keep the build-up of dry vegetation at bay, wildfires started to get worse as the landscape essentially filled up with fuel every year, waiting to be ignited by a lightning strike or a careless camper. Now, armed with drip torches and traditional knowledge, Native Americans are working with the Forest Service to manage wildfires. One of the people helping to reignite the tradition of controlled burns is Ron Goode of the North Fork Mono. Goode told NPR, "When I was a kid, I learned from my mother. But my mother got in trouble when she burned because the fire department didn't want her doing what we're doing today…We don't put fire on the ground and not know how it's going to turn out. That's what makes it cultural burning, because we cultivate." It’s the biggest “we told you so” in California history.
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of smoke rising from a burned section of forest.] Credit & copyright: ojkumena, Pixabay
November 28, 2022
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : November 28, 2022
wheedle \WEE-dul\ verb
What It Means
Wheedle means "to use soft words or flattery," usually for the purpose of persuad...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : November 28, 2022
wheedle \WEE-dul\ verb
What It Means
Wheedle means "to use soft words or flattery," usually for the purpose of persuad...
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9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
The aviation industry argues that 5G cell phone network will mess with altimeters. The BBC reports from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, which is still mostly ...
The aviation industry argues that 5G cell phone network will mess with altimeters. The BBC reports from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, which is still mostly ...
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FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
If you showed this painting in a movie, it would be a welcome matte! Czech-American painter and art director Emil J. Kosa, Jr. was born on this day in 1903. His piece above, Old Chinese Gulch, shows a rural landscape with several wooden buildings at the foot of a hill. Behind the hill, the distant peak of a mountain pokes out, partially obscuring the sun behind it, casting a shadow towards the viewer from every object in the scene as light flows down over the hill. Kosa specialized in watercolors and landscapes, but he had a varied career throughout his life. For 35 years, he worked as an art director at 20th Century Fox Studios, even winning an Oscar in 1963 for his work in Cleopatra. Looking at Old Chinese Gulch, it’s easy to see why: Kosa was a master of scene-setting lighting. Some things just can’t be replaced with CGI.
Old Chinese Gulch, Emil Kosa Jr. (1903-1968), 1940, Oil on canvas, 32 x 37.875 in. (81.2 x 96.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Below: Another of Kosa’s paintings, Home.
If you showed this painting in a movie, it would be a welcome matte! Czech-American painter and art director Emil J. Kosa, Jr. was born on this day in 1903. His piece above, Old Chinese Gulch, shows a rural landscape with several wooden buildings at the foot of a hill. Behind the hill, the distant peak of a mountain pokes out, partially obscuring the sun behind it, casting a shadow towards the viewer from every object in the scene as light flows down over the hill. Kosa specialized in watercolors and landscapes, but he had a varied career throughout his life. For 35 years, he worked as an art director at 20th Century Fox Studios, even winning an Oscar in 1963 for his work in Cleopatra. Looking at Old Chinese Gulch, it’s easy to see why: Kosa was a master of scene-setting lighting. Some things just can’t be replaced with CGI.
Old Chinese Gulch, Emil Kosa Jr. (1903-1968), 1940, Oil on canvas, 32 x 37.875 in. (81.2 x 96.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Below: Another of Kosa’s paintings, Home.
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FREESinging Daily Curio #2555Free1 CQ
¡Azúcar! As part of the Entertainment Nation exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Celia Cruz, the Cuban-American “Queen of Salsa”, is being honored with a display featuring her iconic costumes. Although Cruz passed away in 2003 after a decades-long, award-winning career, the echoes of her music can still be heard. Cruz was born in Havana, Cuba, to a working-class family and ditched her original plans to become a literature teacher, instead opting for a career in music after winning a talent show. From these humble beginnings, she made history everywhere she went. While in Cuba, she became the first Black frontwoman of the popular orchestra La Sonora Matancera, singing guarachas, a Cuban music genre known for its rapid tempo and comedic style. Cruz was touring with La Sonora Matancera in Mexico when the Cuban Revolution broke out, and after publicly criticizing Fidel Castro’s regime, she was unable to return to her home country. She, along with her partner and the rest of the band, fled to the U.S. where she continued to record albums and collaborate with other Latin American artists like Tito Puente. Starting in the 1970s, she started being heavily associated with salsa and Afro-Caribbean music as well as her elaborate costumes which showed off her cultural heritage and personal flair. With her catchphrase “¡Azúcar!” (“Sugar!” in Spanish) and her exuberant onstage persona, she broke through into mainstream success, bridging cultural gaps as a Black Hispanic woman whose music transcended the language barrier. During her career, she recorded 188 songs, including hits like “La Negra Tiene Tumbao” (“The Black Woman’s Got Style”) and “Yo Viviré,” a Spanish language cover of “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, for which she received 23 gold records, three Grammy Awards, and four Latin Grammys Awards. Moreover, her success paved the way for other Latin American musicians in the U.S. Cruz was proof that music really is the universal language.
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of Celia Cruz wearing an evening gown with her hands wrapped around two poles.] Credit & copyright: Ibrahim Arce, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain¡Azúcar! As part of the Entertainment Nation exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Celia Cruz, the Cuban-American “Queen of Salsa”, is being honored with a display featuring her iconic costumes. Although Cruz passed away in 2003 after a decades-long, award-winning career, the echoes of her music can still be heard. Cruz was born in Havana, Cuba, to a working-class family and ditched her original plans to become a literature teacher, instead opting for a career in music after winning a talent show. From these humble beginnings, she made history everywhere she went. While in Cuba, she became the first Black frontwoman of the popular orchestra La Sonora Matancera, singing guarachas, a Cuban music genre known for its rapid tempo and comedic style. Cruz was touring with La Sonora Matancera in Mexico when the Cuban Revolution broke out, and after publicly criticizing Fidel Castro’s regime, she was unable to return to her home country. She, along with her partner and the rest of the band, fled to the U.S. where she continued to record albums and collaborate with other Latin American artists like Tito Puente. Starting in the 1970s, she started being heavily associated with salsa and Afro-Caribbean music as well as her elaborate costumes which showed off her cultural heritage and personal flair. With her catchphrase “¡Azúcar!” (“Sugar!” in Spanish) and her exuberant onstage persona, she broke through into mainstream success, bridging cultural gaps as a Black Hispanic woman whose music transcended the language barrier. During her career, she recorded 188 songs, including hits like “La Negra Tiene Tumbao” (“The Black Woman’s Got Style”) and “Yo Viviré,” a Spanish language cover of “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, for which she received 23 gold records, three Grammy Awards, and four Latin Grammys Awards. Moreover, her success paved the way for other Latin American musicians in the U.S. Cruz was proof that music really is the universal language.
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of Celia Cruz wearing an evening gown with her hands wrapped around two poles.] Credit & copyright: Ibrahim Arce, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
November 27, 2022
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : November 27, 2022
onomatopoeia \ah-nuh-mah-tuh-PEE-uh\ noun
What It Means
Onomatopoeia means “the creation or use of words that imitate ...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : November 27, 2022
onomatopoeia \ah-nuh-mah-tuh-PEE-uh\ noun
What It Means
Onomatopoeia means “the creation or use of words that imitate ...
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FREEDogs PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
Did you catch the National Dog Show on Thanksgiving Day? If so, you’ll know that Winston, a cream-colored French bulldog, took the Best in Show spot. In recent years, French bulldogs have exploded in popularity. In fact, as of 2021, they were America’s second-most-popular breed according to the American Kennel Club (AKC). French bulldogs, or “Frenchies” as they are popularly known, have a complicated history involving dog fighting, factory workers, and high society. Despite their popularity, frenchies are also embroiled in controversy thanks to their myriad of health problems which many say is the result of extreme breed standards.
Frenchies’ closest canine ancestor didn’t originate in France, but in Britain, home of the first bulldogs. These stalky dogs were bred to help butchers control their livestock, but they quickly became popular for a less savory reason: dog fighting. With their powerful jaws and facial wrinkles that helped direct blood away from their eyes, bulldogs were unfortunately perfect fighting dogs. Sometimes bulldogs would be made to fight one another, but more often they were used in the blood sport of bullbaiting, in which a bull would be pitted against one or more bulldogs. Bulldogs were bred to be stalkier, with more exaggerated, wrinkly faces for use in the sport. Luckily, bullbaiting was banned in Britain in 1835, and breeders began to breed non-fighting characteristics into the dogs. Mixing bulldogs with terriers, a group of dogs created for hunting small vermin, created smaller, more spirited dogs. Craft workers and artisans adored these smaller bulldogs, and often took the dogs with them while working in their shops. Lace workers in Nottingham, a city in the East Midlands of England, were particularly fond of the new, miniaturized bulldogs. Soon, most bulldogs in England only weighed between 12 to 25 pounds.
Then came the Industrial Revolution. The formation of large factories caused many small artisan shops to shut down. Lace workers in Nottingham suddenly found themselves without work. Luckily, France still valued artisan lace, and so they migrated across the English channel, bringing their small bulldogs along. The dogs caught on with working class French people, and many were imported from English breeders. Once the dogs became popular in Paris, French breeders sprung up, catering to their country’s insatiable love for Bouledogue français or French bulldogs, as they were now known.
After famed French painter Toulouse Lautrec began depicting French bulldogs in his work, the little dogs found their way into French high society. Yet, it wasn’t until the 19th Century that the breed got its now-famous “bat ears”. Americans traveling to Paris around this time brought French bulldogs back to the U.S. with them. Some of the dogs had erect ears, while others had floppier “rose ears.” Soon, American breeders made bat-ears a must for French bulldogs—which is ironic considering that French people at the time seemed to prefer floppier ears. Whatever sort of ears they had, French bulldogs became a status symbol in both France and the U.S.
They remain so today, as the beloved companions of instagram influencers everywhere as well as celebrities like Paris Hilton and Taylor Swift. However, the little dogs have also found themselves at the center of controversy. This is because French bulldogs are not a particularly healthy breed, thanks in large part to selective breeding of exaggerated features. Frenchies’ heads are so large that the dogs must give birth via C-section. Their muzzles have been drastically reduced in size via selective breeding, meaning that the dogs are brachycephalic, a term for animals with broad, short skulls. Brachycephalic dogs are prone to breathing problems. These issues can be life-threatening, especially in high heat, since brachycephalic dogs can’t pant properly to cool down, as other dogs do. Their bulging eyes make them prone to conditions like cherry eye (prolapsed eye glands) and corneal ulcers. Because Frenchies were bred to have short back legs, they often suffer from spinal problems, such as intervertebral disc disease, which can cause sudden paralysis. While other dogs of similar weight, like beagles, can live from 12 to 15 years, French bulldogs typically live for just 10 to 12. Luckily, some breeders in Europe are pushing for healthier features in Frenchies, including longer muzzles and back legs. Only time will tell whether Frenchie enthusiasts will be willing to part with their beloved canines’ flat faces, though.
[Image description: The face of a cream-colored French bulldog against a black background.] Credit & copyright: Harald_Landsrath, PixabayDid you catch the National Dog Show on Thanksgiving Day? If so, you’ll know that Winston, a cream-colored French bulldog, took the Best in Show spot. In recent years, French bulldogs have exploded in popularity. In fact, as of 2021, they were America’s second-most-popular breed according to the American Kennel Club (AKC). French bulldogs, or “Frenchies” as they are popularly known, have a complicated history involving dog fighting, factory workers, and high society. Despite their popularity, frenchies are also embroiled in controversy thanks to their myriad of health problems which many say is the result of extreme breed standards.
Frenchies’ closest canine ancestor didn’t originate in France, but in Britain, home of the first bulldogs. These stalky dogs were bred to help butchers control their livestock, but they quickly became popular for a less savory reason: dog fighting. With their powerful jaws and facial wrinkles that helped direct blood away from their eyes, bulldogs were unfortunately perfect fighting dogs. Sometimes bulldogs would be made to fight one another, but more often they were used in the blood sport of bullbaiting, in which a bull would be pitted against one or more bulldogs. Bulldogs were bred to be stalkier, with more exaggerated, wrinkly faces for use in the sport. Luckily, bullbaiting was banned in Britain in 1835, and breeders began to breed non-fighting characteristics into the dogs. Mixing bulldogs with terriers, a group of dogs created for hunting small vermin, created smaller, more spirited dogs. Craft workers and artisans adored these smaller bulldogs, and often took the dogs with them while working in their shops. Lace workers in Nottingham, a city in the East Midlands of England, were particularly fond of the new, miniaturized bulldogs. Soon, most bulldogs in England only weighed between 12 to 25 pounds.
Then came the Industrial Revolution. The formation of large factories caused many small artisan shops to shut down. Lace workers in Nottingham suddenly found themselves without work. Luckily, France still valued artisan lace, and so they migrated across the English channel, bringing their small bulldogs along. The dogs caught on with working class French people, and many were imported from English breeders. Once the dogs became popular in Paris, French breeders sprung up, catering to their country’s insatiable love for Bouledogue français or French bulldogs, as they were now known.
After famed French painter Toulouse Lautrec began depicting French bulldogs in his work, the little dogs found their way into French high society. Yet, it wasn’t until the 19th Century that the breed got its now-famous “bat ears”. Americans traveling to Paris around this time brought French bulldogs back to the U.S. with them. Some of the dogs had erect ears, while others had floppier “rose ears.” Soon, American breeders made bat-ears a must for French bulldogs—which is ironic considering that French people at the time seemed to prefer floppier ears. Whatever sort of ears they had, French bulldogs became a status symbol in both France and the U.S.
They remain so today, as the beloved companions of instagram influencers everywhere as well as celebrities like Paris Hilton and Taylor Swift. However, the little dogs have also found themselves at the center of controversy. This is because French bulldogs are not a particularly healthy breed, thanks in large part to selective breeding of exaggerated features. Frenchies’ heads are so large that the dogs must give birth via C-section. Their muzzles have been drastically reduced in size via selective breeding, meaning that the dogs are brachycephalic, a term for animals with broad, short skulls. Brachycephalic dogs are prone to breathing problems. These issues can be life-threatening, especially in high heat, since brachycephalic dogs can’t pant properly to cool down, as other dogs do. Their bulging eyes make them prone to conditions like cherry eye (prolapsed eye glands) and corneal ulcers. Because Frenchies were bred to have short back legs, they often suffer from spinal problems, such as intervertebral disc disease, which can cause sudden paralysis. While other dogs of similar weight, like beagles, can live from 12 to 15 years, French bulldogs typically live for just 10 to 12. Luckily, some breeders in Europe are pushing for healthier features in Frenchies, including longer muzzles and back legs. Only time will tell whether Frenchie enthusiasts will be willing to part with their beloved canines’ flat faces, though.
[Image description: The face of a cream-colored French bulldog against a black background.] Credit & copyright: Harald_Landsrath, Pixabay -
9 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
The week of Thanksgiving is typically the busiest in terms of travel, but remote work has found ways to take the pressure off. Then, we look into the importa...
The week of Thanksgiving is typically the busiest in terms of travel, but remote work has found ways to take the pressure off. Then, we look into the importa...
November 26, 2022
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1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : November 26, 2022
sustain \suh-STAYN\ verb
What It Means
Sustain means "to provide what is needed for something or someone to exist or c...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : November 26, 2022
sustain \suh-STAYN\ verb
What It Means
Sustain means "to provide what is needed for something or someone to exist or c...
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
As holiday shopping kicks off today, we check in on what could await consumers and retailers alike. Most of the people responding to a University of Michigan...
As holiday shopping kicks off today, we check in on what could await consumers and retailers alike. Most of the people responding to a University of Michigan...
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FREESoccer Daily CurioFree1 CQ
Who officiates the officials? The FIFA World Cup, soccer’s biggest competition, is overflowing with controversies this year. There have been so many complaints, in fact, that things are getting hard to keep track of. First, after agreeing to allow alcohol sales in the tournament’s eight stadiums, the Qatari government reneged on their promise just two days before the start of the tournament. The Qatari government has also reneged on their agreement to allow players to wear rainbow armbands in support of the pro-LGBTQ+ “OneLove” campaign. Several teams, like England and Germany, were set to wear the armbands during their matches, but after being told that their captains would be given yellow cards for the violation, they backed out. Yet another unfulfilled promise affects those who were paid to travel to Qatar through the Fan Leader Network, which offered room, board, and daily stipends in exchange for attending matches at the World Cup. Just before recruits were set to travel, their stipends were canceled, with officials citing negative publicity. Finally, the most serious and gut-wrenching controversy involves slave labor. Laborers from countries like Bangladesh, India, and Nepal have been subjected to human rights abuses, having been lured to Qatar with promises of lucrative employment only to have their passports confiscated on arrival. While in Qatar, they are forced to work under threat of legal reprisal, and most are unable to leave the country because they cannot obtain exit visas or because they are indebted to their recruiters. By the standards of the Internaional Labour Organization, this makes them indentured slaves. It is estimated that around 6,500 slaves have died during the construction of the World Cup’s eight stadiums and other related projects. So far, at least one construction firm, a French subsidiary of a company called Vinci, is under investigation regarding the abuses. Only time will tell who else may be held responsible.
[Image description: A soccer ball sits on green grass.] Credit & copyright: brokerx, Pixabay
Who officiates the officials? The FIFA World Cup, soccer’s biggest competition, is overflowing with controversies this year. There have been so many complaints, in fact, that things are getting hard to keep track of. First, after agreeing to allow alcohol sales in the tournament’s eight stadiums, the Qatari government reneged on their promise just two days before the start of the tournament. The Qatari government has also reneged on their agreement to allow players to wear rainbow armbands in support of the pro-LGBTQ+ “OneLove” campaign. Several teams, like England and Germany, were set to wear the armbands during their matches, but after being told that their captains would be given yellow cards for the violation, they backed out. Yet another unfulfilled promise affects those who were paid to travel to Qatar through the Fan Leader Network, which offered room, board, and daily stipends in exchange for attending matches at the World Cup. Just before recruits were set to travel, their stipends were canceled, with officials citing negative publicity. Finally, the most serious and gut-wrenching controversy involves slave labor. Laborers from countries like Bangladesh, India, and Nepal have been subjected to human rights abuses, having been lured to Qatar with promises of lucrative employment only to have their passports confiscated on arrival. While in Qatar, they are forced to work under threat of legal reprisal, and most are unable to leave the country because they cannot obtain exit visas or because they are indebted to their recruiters. By the standards of the Internaional Labour Organization, this makes them indentured slaves. It is estimated that around 6,500 slaves have died during the construction of the World Cup’s eight stadiums and other related projects. So far, at least one construction firm, a French subsidiary of a company called Vinci, is under investigation regarding the abuses. Only time will tell who else may be held responsible.
[Image description: A soccer ball sits on green grass.] Credit & copyright: brokerx, Pixabay
November 25, 2022
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: South Korea’s capital, Seoul, is offering cash rewards of around $150/month to people who leave their cheap basement properties. ...
From the BBC World Service: South Korea’s capital, Seoul, is offering cash rewards of around $150/month to people who leave their cheap basement properties. ...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : November 25, 2022
jejune \jih-JOON\ adjective
What It Means
Jejune is a formal word often used as a synonym of juvenile to describe thin...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : November 25, 2022
jejune \jih-JOON\ adjective
What It Means
Jejune is a formal word often used as a synonym of juvenile to describe thin...
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FREEComposition Photo CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
Many of us may think of a hotel or gas station shop as just places that help us get from one location to the next, but for Stephen Shore, these are the perfect artistic subjects. Prior to the first publication of his Uncommon Places in 1982, Shore was considered a pioneer in color photography, and a prodigy who sold his first work to the Museum of Modern Art in New York at the age of 14. With this series, Shore was also the first to capture unseen scenes in semi-industrial American towns and cities in the latter half of the 20th century. In the above photo, he shows off his composition skill, centering an orange and green palette amid trucks, produce, a muscle car, and well, wood pallets. These days, it's not hard to find Shore, who turns 71 today, reinventing the food or cat picture on Instagram and continuing ceaselessly to push the line between landscape photographer, photojournalist, and curious traveler.
Below: more shots from Uncommon Places.
Image credit & copyright: Stephen Shore
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
Many of us may think of a hotel or gas station shop as just places that help us get from one location to the next, but for Stephen Shore, these are the perfect artistic subjects. Prior to the first publication of his Uncommon Places in 1982, Shore was considered a pioneer in color photography, and a prodigy who sold his first work to the Museum of Modern Art in New York at the age of 14. With this series, Shore was also the first to capture unseen scenes in semi-industrial American towns and cities in the latter half of the 20th century. In the above photo, he shows off his composition skill, centering an orange and green palette amid trucks, produce, a muscle car, and well, wood pallets. These days, it's not hard to find Shore, who turns 71 today, reinventing the food or cat picture on Instagram and continuing ceaselessly to push the line between landscape photographer, photojournalist, and curious traveler.
Below: more shots from Uncommon Places.
Image credit & copyright: Stephen Shore
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FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
Title: Calder's Ascension
Artist: Clive Head (b. 1965)
Created: 2017
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 52 x 56 in (132.1 x 142.2 cm)
Current location: Hollis Taggart, New York City, New York
Excuse us, pardon us—coming through! As dizzying as Clive Head's depictions of congested public spaces are, they actually offer an intimate view of the many narratives lost to urban bustle. For Calder's Ascension, shown above, Head pinpointed an everyday setting, a coffee shop, before reproducing it as a fractured panorama that employs multiple united perspectives. As a woman gazes off pensively, her form blends with that of a man occupying the same space at a different time: both of them passing through the tangled ephemera of each other's lives. Head's cerebral style was influenced by Cubism and draws comparisons to multiple-exposure photography; but unlike either, his paintings function as cohesive wholes that draw their lifeblood from the many interconnected, yet unspoken, stories of their subjects. Traversing life in the 21st-century, it's easy to feel isolated amongst tides of foot traffic, aloof faces, and reflexive greetings; but Head's paintings give life to these background persons. After all, when we remember crowds consist of individuals instead of indifferent masses, they begin to inspire wonder, and perhaps a sense of belonging.
Below: more paintings by Head, including Wonder Woman (2018), The Cherry Train (2017), and Flee to Banbury X (2017).
Image credit & copyright: Clive Head
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
Title: Calder's Ascension
Artist: Clive Head (b. 1965)
Created: 2017
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 52 x 56 in (132.1 x 142.2 cm)
Current location: Hollis Taggart, New York City, New York
Excuse us, pardon us—coming through! As dizzying as Clive Head's depictions of congested public spaces are, they actually offer an intimate view of the many narratives lost to urban bustle. For Calder's Ascension, shown above, Head pinpointed an everyday setting, a coffee shop, before reproducing it as a fractured panorama that employs multiple united perspectives. As a woman gazes off pensively, her form blends with that of a man occupying the same space at a different time: both of them passing through the tangled ephemera of each other's lives. Head's cerebral style was influenced by Cubism and draws comparisons to multiple-exposure photography; but unlike either, his paintings function as cohesive wholes that draw their lifeblood from the many interconnected, yet unspoken, stories of their subjects. Traversing life in the 21st-century, it's easy to feel isolated amongst tides of foot traffic, aloof faces, and reflexive greetings; but Head's paintings give life to these background persons. After all, when we remember crowds consist of individuals instead of indifferent masses, they begin to inspire wonder, and perhaps a sense of belonging.
Below: more paintings by Head, including Wonder Woman (2018), The Cherry Train (2017), and Flee to Banbury X (2017).
Image credit & copyright: Clive Head
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FREEMarketing Daily CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
Victor Gruen, the pioneer of the modern shopping mall, was born on July 18, 1903, in Vienna, Austria. Ironically enough, he was a socialist who was never happy with his legacy. Born Jewish, he immigrated to New York City after Nazi Germany invaded Austria in 1938. In the Big Apple, he gained a reputation for designing lucrative stores with glass facades and dazzling window displays. He flourished in America, but detested our love of automobiles. Gruen believed that cars led to sprawling suburbia, which isolated individuals. So he started drafting blueprints for a hub where suburban individuals could connect with each other and the global community. Modeled after the ancient Greek agora, this center would simulate the feel of pedestrian cities like Vienna and Paris. In 1956, Gruen seized the chance to create it. He was commissioned to build the Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota, the first enclosed, air-conditioned shopping center. It contained art exhibits, apartments, libraries, and more alongside a modernist aesthetic (shown above). The outside was boxy and dull, to exaggerate the sense of wonderment shoppers experienced upon entry. Fountains, music, and a confusing layout caused shoppers to lose their sense of time and space, and purchase trinkets they otherwise wouldn't. This disorientation is now known as the Gruen Effect. The success of the Southdale Mall led to hundreds of similar shopping centers popping up around the world between the '70s and '90s. Only, they had less social benefits than Gruen had hoped for. Gone were the childcare centers, art shows, and medical facilities. Community remained, but at the cost of runaway consumerism. Gruen swore off his brainchild in 1978, arguing that malls had only contributed to the suburban sprawl he detested so much. Today, malls are in steep decline. Half of the surviving locations are expected to close over the next decade. Would that satisfy Gruen? Probably not. Thanks to Amazon, Apple, and other online retailers, we now carry the shopping mall in our pockets wherever we go!
Image credit & copyright: Minnesota Historical Society
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
Victor Gruen, the pioneer of the modern shopping mall, was born on July 18, 1903, in Vienna, Austria. Ironically enough, he was a socialist who was never happy with his legacy. Born Jewish, he immigrated to New York City after Nazi Germany invaded Austria in 1938. In the Big Apple, he gained a reputation for designing lucrative stores with glass facades and dazzling window displays. He flourished in America, but detested our love of automobiles. Gruen believed that cars led to sprawling suburbia, which isolated individuals. So he started drafting blueprints for a hub where suburban individuals could connect with each other and the global community. Modeled after the ancient Greek agora, this center would simulate the feel of pedestrian cities like Vienna and Paris. In 1956, Gruen seized the chance to create it. He was commissioned to build the Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota, the first enclosed, air-conditioned shopping center. It contained art exhibits, apartments, libraries, and more alongside a modernist aesthetic (shown above). The outside was boxy and dull, to exaggerate the sense of wonderment shoppers experienced upon entry. Fountains, music, and a confusing layout caused shoppers to lose their sense of time and space, and purchase trinkets they otherwise wouldn't. This disorientation is now known as the Gruen Effect. The success of the Southdale Mall led to hundreds of similar shopping centers popping up around the world between the '70s and '90s. Only, they had less social benefits than Gruen had hoped for. Gone were the childcare centers, art shows, and medical facilities. Community remained, but at the cost of runaway consumerism. Gruen swore off his brainchild in 1978, arguing that malls had only contributed to the suburban sprawl he detested so much. Today, malls are in steep decline. Half of the surviving locations are expected to close over the next decade. Would that satisfy Gruen? Probably not. Thanks to Amazon, Apple, and other online retailers, we now carry the shopping mall in our pockets wherever we go!
Image credit & copyright: Minnesota Historical Society
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FREEMarketing PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
1993 must have felt like the end of an era. Sears, the Chicago-based department store chain, released the final edition of their mail-order catalog—commonly referred to as the "Big Book." The two-pound, 1,555-page Spring/Summer catalog sold out quickly—not because people were interested in buying the clothes and refrigerators within, but because they expected it to become a valuable antique. After all, the catalogs were already nostalgic reminders of a different time in America.The first Big Book was released in 1888, when Sears was just a mail-order watch-and-jewelry company. All the copy was written by Richard Sears himself. Long before the days of online shopping, customers would send a list of desired products and a check to Sears headquarters; the items would appear on the customer's' doorstep weeks later. The service was especially popular with rural shoppers who appreciated the efficiency of one-stop-shopping, but lacked an alternative in town. As the company grew, so did the catalog's pages, expanding its offerings to include everything from children's toys to home construction materials.
By World War II, the Big Book was firmly ingrained in the American psyche. President Franklin Roosevelt once referred to the catalog as a weapon against communism, stating the best way to combat the Soviet Union was to airdrop editions of the Sears catalog as evidence of the rewards of capitalism. Catalog pages also, ironically, became a popular rural alternative to toilet paper. For many, the switch from newspaper to glossy pages was not a welcome decision.
But when the company's sales declined in the early '90s, the Big Book was one of the first things to go. To Sears, the catalog was a remnant of an obsolete business. In the 1970s, the company redirected its focus to serving urban and suburban populations with massive outlets. The Christmas-seasonal Sears Wish Book is the only version of the catalog that still exists today.
The sales catalog is far from dead, though. The past few years have seen a resurgence in the use of print catalogs by brands like Nordstrom, Restoration Hardware, and Bonobo. In a twist, marketers have found that the catalogs are a great way to bolster their brand, even if they don't result in any direct sales. Sears, on the other hand, may be in trouble—their stock is at $8 a share, compared to a pre-recession peak of nearly $200 a share. It's not too late to rekindle the old flame, guys!
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
1993 must have felt like the end of an era. Sears, the Chicago-based department store chain, released the final edition of their mail-order catalog—commonly referred to as the "Big Book." The two-pound, 1,555-page Spring/Summer catalog sold out quickly—not because people were interested in buying the clothes and refrigerators within, but because they expected it to become a valuable antique. After all, the catalogs were already nostalgic reminders of a different time in America.The first Big Book was released in 1888, when Sears was just a mail-order watch-and-jewelry company. All the copy was written by Richard Sears himself. Long before the days of online shopping, customers would send a list of desired products and a check to Sears headquarters; the items would appear on the customer's' doorstep weeks later. The service was especially popular with rural shoppers who appreciated the efficiency of one-stop-shopping, but lacked an alternative in town. As the company grew, so did the catalog's pages, expanding its offerings to include everything from children's toys to home construction materials.
By World War II, the Big Book was firmly ingrained in the American psyche. President Franklin Roosevelt once referred to the catalog as a weapon against communism, stating the best way to combat the Soviet Union was to airdrop editions of the Sears catalog as evidence of the rewards of capitalism. Catalog pages also, ironically, became a popular rural alternative to toilet paper. For many, the switch from newspaper to glossy pages was not a welcome decision.
But when the company's sales declined in the early '90s, the Big Book was one of the first things to go. To Sears, the catalog was a remnant of an obsolete business. In the 1970s, the company redirected its focus to serving urban and suburban populations with massive outlets. The Christmas-seasonal Sears Wish Book is the only version of the catalog that still exists today.
The sales catalog is far from dead, though. The past few years have seen a resurgence in the use of print catalogs by brands like Nordstrom, Restoration Hardware, and Bonobo. In a twist, marketers have found that the catalogs are a great way to bolster their brand, even if they don't result in any direct sales. Sears, on the other hand, may be in trouble—their stock is at $8 a share, compared to a pre-recession peak of nearly $200 a share. It's not too late to rekindle the old flame, guys!
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FREEPsychology Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
Ever felt that navigating a retail store or a shopping mall is like a maze? Then you've experienced the Gruen Effect. Those confusing layouts slow shoppers down and increase purchases. It’s named, unfairly, after Victor Gruen, who created the first shopping mall. Gruen was born in Vienna and trained with the famed modernist German architect Peter Behrens. But when Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, the Jewish Gruen left for New York with $8 in his pocket. Gruen found a niche designing retail shops, a particularly challenging task at the tail end of the Great Depression. But Gruen figured out how to get customers into stores with incredible window displays. Soon his storefronts were in demand all over the US. During his travels he noticed Americans spent huge amounts of time driving from store to store. So he conceived of a “third place” (after work and home) where people could "connect with others" while doing their shopping. The idea of the shopping mall was born. Gruen opened the 800,000 square-foot Southdale Center in Minnesota, in 1956. It had fountains, an aviary, a large art installation, and distant parking lots to encourage walking. Gruen's original drawings included a medical center, apartments, offices, child-care, libraries, and schools--but these plans were never realized. In the next few decades over 1,200 shopping centers were built across the US. Gruen was right: people did flock to these centers. But instead of creating a communal effect, they contributed to the suburban sprawl he was trying to fix. And he certainly was not in support of creating confusion to get customers to buy more, as his namesake effect implies. A few years before his death in 1980, Gruen said, “I disclaim paternity [of the shopping mall] once and for all. They destroyed our cities.” Gruen would be happy to know that the American shopping mall is dying, and being replaced by urban mixed-use centers very close to his original vision. These new centers allow residents to eat, work and shop within a few blocks of where they live. No car necessary. No green house gases either. In other words, the true Gruen Effect is finally taking place.
Image credit & copyright: reverent, Pixabay
It's Flashback Friday and Black Friday! In honor of the holiday buying season, enjoy these curios all about shopping and consumer crazes.
Ever felt that navigating a retail store or a shopping mall is like a maze? Then you've experienced the Gruen Effect. Those confusing layouts slow shoppers down and increase purchases. It’s named, unfairly, after Victor Gruen, who created the first shopping mall. Gruen was born in Vienna and trained with the famed modernist German architect Peter Behrens. But when Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, the Jewish Gruen left for New York with $8 in his pocket. Gruen found a niche designing retail shops, a particularly challenging task at the tail end of the Great Depression. But Gruen figured out how to get customers into stores with incredible window displays. Soon his storefronts were in demand all over the US. During his travels he noticed Americans spent huge amounts of time driving from store to store. So he conceived of a “third place” (after work and home) where people could "connect with others" while doing their shopping. The idea of the shopping mall was born. Gruen opened the 800,000 square-foot Southdale Center in Minnesota, in 1956. It had fountains, an aviary, a large art installation, and distant parking lots to encourage walking. Gruen's original drawings included a medical center, apartments, offices, child-care, libraries, and schools--but these plans were never realized. In the next few decades over 1,200 shopping centers were built across the US. Gruen was right: people did flock to these centers. But instead of creating a communal effect, they contributed to the suburban sprawl he was trying to fix. And he certainly was not in support of creating confusion to get customers to buy more, as his namesake effect implies. A few years before his death in 1980, Gruen said, “I disclaim paternity [of the shopping mall] once and for all. They destroyed our cities.” Gruen would be happy to know that the American shopping mall is dying, and being replaced by urban mixed-use centers very close to his original vision. These new centers allow residents to eat, work and shop within a few blocks of where they live. No car necessary. No green house gases either. In other words, the true Gruen Effect is finally taking place.
Image credit & copyright: reverent, Pixabay
November 24, 2022
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8 minFREEWork Business CurioFree5 CQ
From the BBC World Service: The U.K. is experiencing a turkey shortage due to its biggest-ever outbreak of bird flu. That’s impacting U.S. expats this Thanks...
From the BBC World Service: The U.K. is experiencing a turkey shortage due to its biggest-ever outbreak of bird flu. That’s impacting U.S. expats this Thanks...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : November 24, 2022
cornucopia \kor-nuh-KOH-pee-uh\ noun
What It Means
A cornucopia, also known as a horn of plenty, is a curved, hollow g...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : November 24, 2022
cornucopia \kor-nuh-KOH-pee-uh\ noun
What It Means
A cornucopia, also known as a horn of plenty, is a curved, hollow g...
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FREEScience Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
Water usually falls from the sky as rain or snow, but don’t forget about watery meteorites. After analyzing a meteorite that fell in rural England last year, scientists from the Natural History Museum in London have just published their findings in the journal Science Advances. They say that their examination supports the idea that Earth’s water originally came from outer space. Their research took a step forward after a small meteorite crashed into a driveway in Winchcombe, a small town in Gloucestershire, England. This meteorite was recovered from its impact site quicker than usual, with scientists from the Natural History Museum collecting it just 12 hours after it made impact. The scientific paper’s lead author, Ashley King, told Science News, “It’s as pristine as we’re going to get from a meteorite. Other than it landing in the museum on my desk, or other than sending a spacecraft up there, we can’t really get them any quicker or more pristine.” Upon analyzing the remains, King and her colleagues found that 11 percent of the meteorite’s weight was taken up by water in the form of hydrated minerals. Moreover, the composition of hydrogen isotopes in the water were similar to that of water found on Earth, suggesting that much of, if not all of, the water on this planet came from water-rich asteroids in the planet’s early days. It gives a whole new meaning to the term “meteor shower.”
[Image description: A photo of Meteor Crater, or Barringer Crater, in the desert of northern Arizona.] Credit & copyright: National Map Seamless Server, NASA Earth Observatory, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
Water usually falls from the sky as rain or snow, but don’t forget about watery meteorites. After analyzing a meteorite that fell in rural England last year, scientists from the Natural History Museum in London have just published their findings in the journal Science Advances. They say that their examination supports the idea that Earth’s water originally came from outer space. Their research took a step forward after a small meteorite crashed into a driveway in Winchcombe, a small town in Gloucestershire, England. This meteorite was recovered from its impact site quicker than usual, with scientists from the Natural History Museum collecting it just 12 hours after it made impact. The scientific paper’s lead author, Ashley King, told Science News, “It’s as pristine as we’re going to get from a meteorite. Other than it landing in the museum on my desk, or other than sending a spacecraft up there, we can’t really get them any quicker or more pristine.” Upon analyzing the remains, King and her colleagues found that 11 percent of the meteorite’s weight was taken up by water in the form of hydrated minerals. Moreover, the composition of hydrogen isotopes in the water were similar to that of water found on Earth, suggesting that much of, if not all of, the water on this planet came from water-rich asteroids in the planet’s early days. It gives a whole new meaning to the term “meteor shower.”
[Image description: A photo of Meteor Crater, or Barringer Crater, in the desert of northern Arizona.] Credit & copyright: National Map Seamless Server, NASA Earth Observatory, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
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FREEBiology Daily Curio #2554Free1 CQ
The turkey isn’t the only avian VIP this Thanksgiving. A bird last seen in the 19th century and thought to be extinct has just been spotted by researchers in Papua New Guinea. Called the black-naped pheasant-pigeon (Otidiphaps insularis), also known as the “Auwo” by locals, it was captured on camera on Fergusson Island after a grueling month-long expedition. Teams of scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy, as well as staff from Papua New Guinea National Museum took part. The bird had last been seen by scientists 140 years ago, in 1882, and few residents of the area had ever seen the creature. Tracking the bird down was challenging. The black-naped pheasant-pigeon is a ground-dwelling bird that lives in a mountainous region, and its population was thought to be in decline—if it still existed at all. However, there were some glimmers of hope, as there had been some unconfirmed sightings by local hunters. The co-leaders of the expedition, Jason Gregg and John C. Mittermeier, relied on these local accounts to locate the bird. Gregg told the press, "It wasn't until we reached villages on the western slope of Mt. Kilkerran that we started meeting hunters who had seen and heard the pheasant-pigeon. We became more confident about the local name of the bird, which is 'Auwo,' and felt like we were getting closer to the core habitat of where the black-naped pheasant-pigeon lives." In order to get a glimpse of the pheasant-pigeon, the expedition set up twelve camera traps on the slopes of Mt. Kilkerran and another eight in areas where hunters claimed to have seen the bird. But even after trekking around the wilderness of Fergusson Island for weeks, the expedition didn’t find anything until two days before they were scheduled to leave the island, when one of the camera traps finally captured an image of the elusive bird. The scientists give most of the credit for finding the bird to locals; in particular, a hunter named Augustin Gregory who led them to the location where it was ultimately caught on camera. Scientists say that the local community seems just as excited to hear that the black-naped pheasant-pigeon is still around, and are willing to help protect the rare species with the help of conservationists. Let’s just hope it’s not another 140 years before we spot another one!
[Image description: A vintage drawing of the black-naped pheasant-pigeon.] Credit & copyright: John Gerrard Keulemans, Wikimedia Commons, Public DomainThe turkey isn’t the only avian VIP this Thanksgiving. A bird last seen in the 19th century and thought to be extinct has just been spotted by researchers in Papua New Guinea. Called the black-naped pheasant-pigeon (Otidiphaps insularis), also known as the “Auwo” by locals, it was captured on camera on Fergusson Island after a grueling month-long expedition. Teams of scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy, as well as staff from Papua New Guinea National Museum took part. The bird had last been seen by scientists 140 years ago, in 1882, and few residents of the area had ever seen the creature. Tracking the bird down was challenging. The black-naped pheasant-pigeon is a ground-dwelling bird that lives in a mountainous region, and its population was thought to be in decline—if it still existed at all. However, there were some glimmers of hope, as there had been some unconfirmed sightings by local hunters. The co-leaders of the expedition, Jason Gregg and John C. Mittermeier, relied on these local accounts to locate the bird. Gregg told the press, "It wasn't until we reached villages on the western slope of Mt. Kilkerran that we started meeting hunters who had seen and heard the pheasant-pigeon. We became more confident about the local name of the bird, which is 'Auwo,' and felt like we were getting closer to the core habitat of where the black-naped pheasant-pigeon lives." In order to get a glimpse of the pheasant-pigeon, the expedition set up twelve camera traps on the slopes of Mt. Kilkerran and another eight in areas where hunters claimed to have seen the bird. But even after trekking around the wilderness of Fergusson Island for weeks, the expedition didn’t find anything until two days before they were scheduled to leave the island, when one of the camera traps finally captured an image of the elusive bird. The scientists give most of the credit for finding the bird to locals; in particular, a hunter named Augustin Gregory who led them to the location where it was ultimately caught on camera. Scientists say that the local community seems just as excited to hear that the black-naped pheasant-pigeon is still around, and are willing to help protect the rare species with the help of conservationists. Let’s just hope it’s not another 140 years before we spot another one!
[Image description: A vintage drawing of the black-naped pheasant-pigeon.] Credit & copyright: John Gerrard Keulemans, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
November 23, 2022
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7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
From the BBC World Service: Workers at the world’s largest iPhone factory in China have staged violent demonstrations to demand better conditions amid strict...
From the BBC World Service: Workers at the world’s largest iPhone factory in China have staged violent demonstrations to demand better conditions amid strict...
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2 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree2 CQ
Word of the Day : November 23, 2022
vamoose \vuh-MOOSS\ verb
What It Means
Vamoose is an informal word that means "to depart quickly."
// With the sherif...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : November 23, 2022
vamoose \vuh-MOOSS\ verb
What It Means
Vamoose is an informal word that means "to depart quickly."
// With the sherif...
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FREEFinance Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
There’s been a shakeup at the house of mouse. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is CEO once more after having retired in 2021. Despite joking that he was going to spend the next few years on his boat, Iger surprised the public by not only returning to Disney after the firing of CEO Bob Chapek, but agreeing to stay in the position for at least two years. With as large as Disney is, this decision could have far-reaching implications for the entertainment industry, especially considering that acquiring new properties and expanding Disney’s influence was Iger’s speciality during his first, 15-year tenure as CEO. It was on Iger’s watch that Disney acquired Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Entertainment, among other powerhouse properties. He also oversaw the launch of the Disney+ streaming service. Iger’s return likely has more to do with damage control than anything else, though, considering that it coincided with a disastrous quarterly earnings report, after which shares dropped to a 20-year low. Disney+ hasn’t turned a profit since its debut in 2019, and although it’s expected to turn profitable in 2024, it makes sense that the company would want a practiced hand at the helm to ensure that goal is reached. Disney theme parks have also faced criticism in recent years, due to what many fans have described as poor implementation of COVID-19 safety measures. According to a statement from the company, Iger’s new term as CEO will see him focused on “setting Disney on a path to renewed growth.” Only time will tell if he can turn Disney back into a place where shareholders’ dreams come true.
[Image description: Bob Iger speaks from behind a podium at the 2019 Disney Legends Awards Ceremony.] Credit & copyright: nagi usano, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size, this image is hereby distributed under the same license linked here.There’s been a shakeup at the house of mouse. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is CEO once more after having retired in 2021. Despite joking that he was going to spend the next few years on his boat, Iger surprised the public by not only returning to Disney after the firing of CEO Bob Chapek, but agreeing to stay in the position for at least two years. With as large as Disney is, this decision could have far-reaching implications for the entertainment industry, especially considering that acquiring new properties and expanding Disney’s influence was Iger’s speciality during his first, 15-year tenure as CEO. It was on Iger’s watch that Disney acquired Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Entertainment, among other powerhouse properties. He also oversaw the launch of the Disney+ streaming service. Iger’s return likely has more to do with damage control than anything else, though, considering that it coincided with a disastrous quarterly earnings report, after which shares dropped to a 20-year low. Disney+ hasn’t turned a profit since its debut in 2019, and although it’s expected to turn profitable in 2024, it makes sense that the company would want a practiced hand at the helm to ensure that goal is reached. Disney theme parks have also faced criticism in recent years, due to what many fans have described as poor implementation of COVID-19 safety measures. According to a statement from the company, Iger’s new term as CEO will see him focused on “setting Disney on a path to renewed growth.” Only time will tell if he can turn Disney back into a place where shareholders’ dreams come true.
[Image description: Bob Iger speaks from behind a podium at the 2019 Disney Legends Awards Ceremony.] Credit & copyright: nagi usano, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size, this image is hereby distributed under the same license linked here. -
FREEUS History Daily Curio #2553Free1 CQ
Think last minute Thanksgiving shopping trips are rough? That’s nothing compared to shopping under rationing! There’s been a lot to be thankful for since rationing ended this day in 1945 in the U.S., following the end of World War II. Shortly after the U.S. entered the war, the government started rationing consumer goods with the Emergency Price Control Act to meet the demands of the war effort. Signed into law on January 30, 1942, the act gave the Office of Price Administration (OPA) the authority to enforce a rationing system for everything from tires to groceries. Under the rationing system, each adult, child, and baby was issued a ration book of stamps worth a certain number of points in two color coded categories. Every month, each person would receive 64 red points for meat and dairy and 48 blue points for canned and bottled goods. At the store, shoppers would have to present these stamps along with payment to purchase the goods they needed—and to prevent hoarding, the stamps expired each month. Separate systems were introduced for other goods like tires, gasoline, and even shoes, each with varying degrees of complexity that left Americans frustrated, leading to the development of a black market for coveted items and even counterfeit stamps.
In addition to rationing, the government also promoted the practice of canning at home through the USDA Extension Services, who sent out demonstrators to rural communities and created canning centers to teach people how to preserve excess food. Along with the canning initiatives, the government encouraged those who had enough land to grow their own food in “victory gardens” instead of relying solely on ration stamps. To promote canning and gardening, posters and literature portrayed them as patriotic acts, holding up these domestic activities as integral parts of the war effort. While the conclusion of World War II in 1945 led to the end of the rationing program that same year, sugar would continue to be rationed until 1947, and consumers still faced shortages on certain products from time to time. Funnily enough, among the few goods that were never rationed during the war were cigarettes and whiskey. Now that would have been a losing battle.
[Image description: A 1943 poster explaining how to use a ration book.] Credit & copyright: Office of Price Administration, Online Archive of California, Wikimedia Commons, Public DomainThink last minute Thanksgiving shopping trips are rough? That’s nothing compared to shopping under rationing! There’s been a lot to be thankful for since rationing ended this day in 1945 in the U.S., following the end of World War II. Shortly after the U.S. entered the war, the government started rationing consumer goods with the Emergency Price Control Act to meet the demands of the war effort. Signed into law on January 30, 1942, the act gave the Office of Price Administration (OPA) the authority to enforce a rationing system for everything from tires to groceries. Under the rationing system, each adult, child, and baby was issued a ration book of stamps worth a certain number of points in two color coded categories. Every month, each person would receive 64 red points for meat and dairy and 48 blue points for canned and bottled goods. At the store, shoppers would have to present these stamps along with payment to purchase the goods they needed—and to prevent hoarding, the stamps expired each month. Separate systems were introduced for other goods like tires, gasoline, and even shoes, each with varying degrees of complexity that left Americans frustrated, leading to the development of a black market for coveted items and even counterfeit stamps.
In addition to rationing, the government also promoted the practice of canning at home through the USDA Extension Services, who sent out demonstrators to rural communities and created canning centers to teach people how to preserve excess food. Along with the canning initiatives, the government encouraged those who had enough land to grow their own food in “victory gardens” instead of relying solely on ration stamps. To promote canning and gardening, posters and literature portrayed them as patriotic acts, holding up these domestic activities as integral parts of the war effort. While the conclusion of World War II in 1945 led to the end of the rationing program that same year, sugar would continue to be rationed until 1947, and consumers still faced shortages on certain products from time to time. Funnily enough, among the few goods that were never rationed during the war were cigarettes and whiskey. Now that would have been a losing battle.
[Image description: A 1943 poster explaining how to use a ration book.] Credit & copyright: Office of Price Administration, Online Archive of California, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain