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Monthly Archives: February 2017
Through the looking glass: Tower view showcases progress on Amazon’s unique biospheres – GeekWire
Posted: February 10, 2017 at 3:04 am
The Amazon biodomes as seen from the Doppler tower. (Rod Learmonth Photo)
The ever-changing view of the Amazon biospheres is worth marveling at from street level for those who happen to pass through Seattles Denny Triangle area north of downtown.
But viewing the glass orbs from on high creates a unique perspective for anyone who lives orworks around and above thetech giants evolving corporate campus.
The latest view, which showed up in our Facebook feed this week, was shot from Amazons Doppler tower and shows off the three spheres with what appears to be completed glass work. Lit from the inside, one of the domes glows a soft yellow, showcasing what should be a dramatic architectural spectacle when the project is complete.
Set to open in 2018, the 100-foot-tall orbs will house hundreds of species of unique plants, offering employees a one-of-a-kind venue for connecting with nature.
At the GeekWire Summit last October, Scott Wyatt, a partner with the architecture firm NBBJ, which designed the spheres, said they are not a merely a set piece or showpiece.
Its not a showcase for people to come in from the outside, Wyatt said during a talk on modern urban planning. This is for the people that work at Amazon.Its an alternative workplace, a place where you can go be among plants in a profound way.
Showpiece or not, its hard for those of us outside the sphere of Amazon to stop looking.
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Progress on vet’s Mustang to be unveiled – Indianapolis Star
Posted: at 3:04 am
Ken Mosier talks about his shop's progress restoring the 1967 Mustang for 95-year-old World War II veteran Harry Donovan who was previously ripped off by a scammer whom he had commissioned to restore the car. Jenna Watson/IndyStar
From left, Jay Webb and Scott Dowdy work on a mid-restoration Mustang at The Finer Details in Danville, Ind., Monday, Feb. 6, 2017. With the help of many donors and contributors, the shop is restoring the 1967 Mustang for 95 year-old World War II veteran Harry Donovan, who was ripped off by a scammer he paid to restore the car. (Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)Buy Photo
The story of Harry Donovan's 1967 Mustang raced fromripoff to remarkable last year.
This weekend, the longstrange journeywillturn another corner when progress on the restoration of the 95-year-old Indianapolis man's classic Ford is unveiled at the 58th annual World of Wheels show at the State Fairgrounds.
Work on the World War II vet's car isnt done yet. But the restoration is moving closer to a reality with the recent completion of extensive body work topped by a brilliant new paint job and vinyl top.
Donovan, who was ripped off by a manhe paid nearly $10,000 to restore the Mustang five years ago, will get his first look at progress on the car Saturday.
"Harry's really excited to see what all they've done," said Donovan's daughter-in-lawCheryle Donovan. "He can't wait."
It's a day, Donovan told IndyStar last fall, that he never thought he would see.
Donovan had just about given up on his dream of seeing the car restored before his daughter-in-law reached out to IndyStar Call for Action in a last-ditch effort to get help. The complicated case proved to be beyond the scope of what IndyStar Call for Action volunteers could do, but asubsequent story about the retired businessman'splight spurred an unexpectedresponse.
The story of the ripoff struck a chord among car enthusiasts, veterans and the general public. Within weeks, a team of volunteers coordinated by Ken Mosier, owner of The Finer Details Automotive Restoration in Danville, stepped up to right the wrong Donovan had suffered.And theyre doing the work at no cost to former B-17 pilot, thanks to dozens of businesses and individuals who have donated more than $20,000in cash, partsand labor.
But that feel-good project is only part of the story. There's also a justice component.
Donovan initially made a complaint to Indianapolis police in 2013, but they did not follow up with an investigation after his request for help.
But after learning about the ripofffrom IndyStar, the Hamilton County prosecutor opened an investigation and filed two felony theft charges against alleged perpetrator Dennis Lee.
Dennis Lee of Lafayette is facing felony charges of theft and auto theft in Hamilton County for allegedly ripping off a WW II veteran who paid Lee nearly $10,000 to restore a vintage car.(Photo: Hamilton County Sheriff's Department)
Lee, who Donovan claims disappeared with the car after accepting nearly $10,000, is scheduled for trial on the theft charges in April in Hamilton County Superior Court. If convicted, hefaces a sentence of six months to three years on each charge.
Donovan said he was lucky to just get the car back. And that happened only after he enlisted the help of a family friend with law enforcement ties uponlearning Lee had been sent to jail on an unrelated criminal conviction in Hamilton County.
The Mustang eventually was located at the home of Lee's former girlfriend, but it hadn't been restored as promised. Instead, the engine, transmission, hood and several other parts had been stripped from the car leaving it in worse condition than when Donovan handed it over to Lee about two years earlier.
This time around, the restoration is going much smoother.
Harry Donovan with his 1967 Mustang before it was taken to The Finer Details Automotive Restoration in Danville in August for a makeover.(Photo: Tim Evans/IndyStar)
The original plan of doing a nice, but modest overhaul of the car was scrapped along the way. With the support of so many, and because his business name istied to the work, Mosier and his crew decided to push ahead with a project that will make the Mustang a true show car like thoseMosier has been restoring for 30 years. That kind of project would normally run $50,000 or more.
Jay Webb begins painting Harry Donovan's 1967 Mustang.(Photo: Tim Evans/IndyStar)
Volunteers have already put about 800 hours into the car so far, according to Mosier, and still have to install thenew interior, engine and transmission.
"We started with a really rough old car that had sat for years and rusted away. Basically, what he's getting is a brand spanking new car," Mosier explained. "Were hoping to have it done by spring.
Tim Evans is IndyStar's consumer advocate. Contact him at (317) 444-6204 or tim.evans@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @starwatchtim.
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Transhumanism: Genetic Engineering of Man – the New …
Posted: at 3:02 am
Barbara H. Peterson
Farm Wars
There is a move afoot to reprogram humanity. To redefine it in the limited terms of scientific understanding, place it in a box, and then, all wrapped up in a pretty package, attempt to deliver this convoluted mess to us as progress.
There are those who think that, given the chance, they could and should genetically manipulate the earth and the creatures that inhabit it, including man, to suite a purpose of their own imaginings. They want to experiment on all of our precious resources, turn our rivers into streams of pollution, and take each and every living thing on earth and use it to create something better.
According to whose design? Well, the so-called scientific one, of course. And if this means combining cows and humans, goats and spiders, man and machine in order to achieve the goal? Well, so be it. After all, the only thing that is important is the end result. And the end result is that a few will obtain immortality or so they think. And if a few eggs get broken in the process, well, that is the price paid for success.
This is Transhumanism the natural culmination of something called reprogenetics. Some call it designer evolution.
What is Reprogenetics?
In short, reprogenetics is the genetic engineering of man to create a human race according to scientific design. Here is a definition from Lee M. Silver, author of the book Remaking Eden: How Genetic Engineering and Cloning Will Transform the American Family (1998).
Reprogenetics will involve advances in a number of technologies not yet achieved, but not inherently impossible. Among these are improvements in interpreting the effects of different expressions of DNA, the ability to harvest large numbers of embryos from females, and a far higher rate of reinsertion of embryos into host mothers. The end result, according to Silver, is that those parents who can afford it will be able to pick out the genetic characteristics of their own children, which Silver says will trigger a number of social changes in the decades after its implementation. Possible early applications, however, might be closer to eliminating disease genes passed on to children.
According to Silver, the main differences between reprogenetics and eugenics, the belief in the possibility of improving the gene pool which in the first half of the 20th century became infamous for the brutal policies it inspired, is that most eugenics programs were compulsory programs imposed upon citizens by governments trying to enact an ultimate goal.
It becomes quite apparent, after reading the quote above, that the main difference between reprogenetics and eugenics is consent, according to Lee M. Silver. Eugenics forced. Reprogenetics consented to. Same thing, different mode of action. From the forced culling of those deemed inferior to creating a superior race through genetic engineering, the end result is the same. Those deemed inferior are eventually culled from the system using DNA manipulation techniques.
Eugenics renamed and defined as scientific progress. A life-saving technique that can reprogram the human race and create the ideal human family. Thats the spin. Im sure the promoters said the same thing about nuclear energy. Dangerous? Naw. We know what we are doing. Arrogance.
So, lets take this technique of reprogramming humanity through reprogenetics/eugenics and dig a little deeper, shall we?
Meet Genome Compiler
OUR STORY:
Genome Compiler is built on the idea that biology is information technology. We can design and program living things the same way that we design computer code. Genetic designers today are still writing in 1s and 0s they lack the missing tools to design, debug, and compile the biological code into new living things.
At Genome Compiler, weve built just that a simplified solution for designing DNA.
We are inspired by the breakthrough research done by the JCVI and Harvard with their achievement of whole bacterial genome engineering, as required for functional changes in the form of new codes, new amino acids, safety and virus-resistance and a vision of making biological design easier, cheaper, and open to people outside the research labs.
http://www.genomecompiler.com/
After all, when all is said and done, DNA is simply DNA, and mixing it up has no inherent consequences, right? That is what we are supposed to believe. And who is to say what is human and what is not? Arent we all made of molecules?
The Transhumanist Agenda
The following quote pretty much sums up the Transhumanist attitude towards the relationship between you, me, the computer I am using to write this, and the chair I am sitting on:
Whether somebody is implemented on silicon or biological tissue, if it does not affect functionality or consciousness, is of no moral significance. Carbon-chauvinism, in the form of anthropomorphism, speciesism, bioism or even fundamentalist humanism, is objectionable on the same grounds as racism.
If we want to be half human, half frog, isnt that our right? If everything is the same, then anything goes. This is put forth in the guise of freedom of choice, freedom from disease, and freedom from suffering. Actually, this is a sure road to slavery, disease and suffering, and a path towards erasing who we are and simply becoming just another set of molecules on planet earth, much like a chair, or car, or vacuum cleaner.
The Transhumanist goal, based on this oneness of all things biologically and artificially created, is to use science and technology to control evolution of the species, because science is safer than nature.
Biological evolution is perpetual but slow, inefficient, blind and dangerous. Technological evolution is fast, efficient, accelerating and better by design. To ensure the best chances of survival, take control of our own destiny and to be free, we must master evolution.
This mastering of evolution is accomplished through a scientific dictatorship:
Scientific Dictatorship is the utopian concept of scientific managerism whereby all facets of political, social and economic life are managed solely by the scientific method and dictates of science. (Patrick Wood)
And precaution? Well, that goes out the window. Quote from Dr. Max Moore, a leader in Transhumanism:
Many factors conspire to warp our reasoning about risks and benefits as individuals. The bad news is that such foolish thinking has been institutionalized and turned into a principle. Zealous pursuit of precaution has been enshrined in the precautionary principle. Regulators, negotiators, and activists refer to and defer to this principle when considering possible restrictions on productive activity and technological innovation.
In this chapter, I aim to explain how the precautionary principle, and the mindset that underlies it, threaten our well-being and our future.
http://www.maxmore.com/perils.htm
Dr. Max More, the author of The Principles of Extropy, is one of the top leaders of the Transhumanist movement, and the two are tightly interconnected. One could consider Extropy as as the metaphysical backbone of Transhumanism. (Patrick Wood)
In other words, according to one of the top leaders in the transhumanist movement, the precautionary principle actually endangers us. How convoluted can you get?
So, throwing caution aside, onward we go by experimenting through DNA manipulation to create a world where the pseudo-science of a scientific dictatorship rules supreme.
Here are just some examples of DNA mixing going on right now:
http://s-special4you.com/10-insane-cases-of-genetic-engineering/
The future of war is going to look really, really weird. The super soldier research that DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is working on right now is unlike anything we have ever seen before. If DARPA is successful, and if the American people dont object, the soldiers of the future will be genetically modified transhumans capable of superhuman feats.
We are in for a lot more than those who actually believe in the medical benefits of DNA manipulation bargained for. All these examples are leading us down the road to the real Transhumanist agenda:
Transhumanism is the application of science to the condition of man to achieve characteristics of immortality, omniscience and omnipresence, among others, and to produce a God-like race of post-humans. (Patrick Wood)
Yes, there are people who are actively attempting a complete takeover of humanity in order to set themselves up as supreme beings. To transcend physical boundaries by intermixing any DNA that so-called scientists think is appropriate, discard the precautionary principle as too dangerous for proper evolution, full speed ahead, meld man, machine, computer, and eventually, transcend to Godhood. It doesnt matter if it works, it doesnt matter if it is sane, it is a plan in the works. And the people who are involved think that they know how to create a better man.
Here is a bit of the history of Transhumanism and its ties to eugenics:
Julian Huxley, brother of Aldous who authored Brave New World, first used this word (1957): Transhumanism. Huxley was a member of the British Eugenics Society, eugenics being the foundation of Transhumanism.
Quote:
Eugenics is a science dedicated to a Darwinist philosophy applied to humanity, that the strong should thrive and evolve, while the weak are culled and eradicated.
Eugenics rests on a necessity of there being superior and inferior genetic pools in the human population. It might be very socially unacceptable to speak publicly of there being some races, ethnic or cultural groups who are inferior to the rest, yet in secrecy this is exactly what elite Eugenicists believe.
The public is guided to love the idea of Transhumanism by being persuaded that it is not a goal attached to race or ethnicity, but simply a means of bettering all of humanity. This is quite untrue.
Elite Transhumanists have no desire to evolve all humankind, their goal is one which seeks to advance only their own bloodlines and to leave the rest in disadvantage to them so that these unfortunate ones have no choice but to become their slaves, their lab animals and their labor force.
The lowest strata are reproducing too fast. Therefore they must not have too easy access to relief or hospital treatment lest the removal of the last check on natural selection should make it too easy for children to be produced or to survive; long unemployment should be a ground for sterilization.
Julian Huxley
http://www.zengardner.com/transhumanism-techno-eugenics-usurping-humanity/
And wouldnt you know it, the Rockefeller Foundation can be found providing funding for the eugenics movement:
In 1927, the Rockefeller Foundation provided funds to construct the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics in Berlin, which came under the directorship of the appropriately named Eugen Fischer. Adolf Hitler read Fischers textbook Principles of Human Heredity and Race Hygiene while in prison at Landsberg and used eugenical notions to support the ideal of a pure Aryan society in his manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle).
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/topics_fs.pl?theme=41
What was termed in its early stages as a pure Aryan society, is now being repackaged as a pure Transhumanist society in which DNA is programmed to conform to the design of a scientific dictatorship, and sold as the salvation of man. The New Age of ascention. Same story, new box. When will we learn?
And the motivation for all of this? As usual, there are many:
Profit
Human transcendence
Control
Power
Eternal life immortality
The justification? Thats easy: Progress always requires sacrifice. To quote a famous activist:
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Even a superficial look at history reveals that no social advance rolls in on wheels of inevitability. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. Without persistent effort, time itself becomes an ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of irrational emotionalism and social destruction. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action. (MLK Jr.)
Except in this case, it is not the beneficiary of the technologys sacrifice that is required, but the sacrifice of dedicated and ignorant servants and an unwitting populace. We sacrifice our health, wealth, and minds to the slavery of junk science that says it is okay to maim, torture, and impoverish millions so that a few may gain. It is okay to run widespread experiments on humanity so that a few may benefit from those experiments and transcend to a God-like state and rule over the universe. It doesnt matter if you believe it, or if I believe it. It doesnt have to be rational or sane. What matters is that people with enough money and power to go forth with this agenda do believe it, are working steadily towards it, and know how to market it in order to get the public to accept it as beneficial.
Transhumanism is being sold to the public as bringing forth a new age of enlightenment. This story is as old as the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden, where Lucifer, masquerading as the angel of light, tells Eve that he knows a better way. It is also being touted as an extension of Darwinism: another step in the evolutionary process the better, scientific way, because the slow, biological way is simply too dangerous and inherently unpredictable.
Humans are about to decommission natural selection in favour of guided evolution. Darwinian processes gave humanity a good start, but Homo sapiens can be improved. Owing to advances in genetics, cybernetics, nanotechnology, computer science, and cognitive science, humans are set to redefine the human condition. Future humans can look forward to longer lives, enhanced intelligence, memory, communication and physical skills, and improved emotional control. Humans may eventually cease to be biological and gendered organisms altogether, giving rise to the posthuman entity. Human enhancement will irrevocably alter social arrangements, interpersonal relationships, and society itself. And theres also the added potential for nonhuman enhancement.
http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2007/01/must-know-terms-for-21st-century_11.html
Much better to trust in man and his scientific knowledge to create a better evolutionary path, and manipulating our DNA is that way. And just who comes to mind as an expert at manipulating DNA and public perception?
The Monsanto Connection
Remember when Craig Venture of Atlas Venture created Synthia, a synthetic life form, and partnered with Monsanto?
Monsanto and Atlas Venture
And now Monsanto has recently signed a deal with Atlas Venture for funding of, well, who knows? Monsanto does. And Monsanto isnt telling. But we do know that it will most likely be some sort of disruptive innovation because that is Atlas Ventures specialty. Atlas Venture is an early stage investment firm dedicated to financing disruptive innovation in Life Sciences and Technology.
Well, it appears that Monsanto and Atlas Venture are working on a new type of genetic engineering using RNA. Is this the disruptive technology that I mentioned in my article cited above?
Generations of high school kids have been taught that only about 3 percent of the human genome is actually usefulmeaning it contains genes that code proteinsand the rest is junk DNA. Cambridge, MA-based RaNA Therapeutics was founded on the idea that the so-called junk is actually gold, because it contains a type of RNA that can flip genes on inside cells, potentially offering a new approach to modulating diseases.RaNA is coming out of stealth mode today and announcing a $20.7 million Series A financing led by Atlas Venture, SR One, and agricultural giant Monsanto (NYSE: MON). Partners Innovation Fund also participated in the funding.
What is RaNA Therapeutics?
RaNA Therapeutics is pioneering the discovery of a new class of medicines that target RNA to selectively activate protein expression, thereby enabling the body to produce desirable proteins to treat or prevent disease. RaNAs novel therapeutics work by precisely activating the expression of select genes within the patients own cells, increasing the synthesis of therapeutic proteins. The companys proprietary RNA targeting technology works epigenetically to make it possible, for the first time, to increase the expression of therapeutic proteins with exquisite selectivity.
This has the potential to turn on and silence, with a great degree of accuracy, gene expression in anyones body. For example,
The patchy colours of a tortoiseshell cat are the result of different levels of expression of pigmentation genes in different areas of the skin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_expression
Monsanto is not working at Curing world hunger through biotechnology. That is a successful smokescreen and marketing slogan gone viral. Edward Bernays, the father of marketing propaganda to the masses, would have been proud.
The Inevitable Conclusion
Remember the definition of reprogenetics in the beginning of this article? Reprogenetics is the genetic engineering of man to create a human race according to scientific design. Well, it is 2013, and we now have the tools to silence and turn on genes through RNA manipulation. And its coming to us courtesy of Monsanto, the chemical/life sciences company that brought us Agent Orange, PCBs, and most of the genetically engineered ingredients in 80% of the processed foods we eat every day.
We know that a pseudo-scientific agenda called Transhumanism, which is bankrolled by some very rich and influential people, is intended to change us as a species, knows no bounds, is set to replace biology as we know it and is inexorably connected to eugenics. We know that this Transhumanist agenda is well on its way to changing the world in ways that we cannot fathom, and we know that Monsanto is involved through its research and application of DNA manipulation techniques in our food supply. Happy eating, America
2013 Barbara H. Peterson
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The Chinese Ford Raptor Website Is Profound And Crazy At The Same Time – Jalopnik
Posted: at 3:01 am
For every car that exists, theres a shotgun blast of marketing hype to make it sound like the greatest thing since sliced bread. When you try to chuck that nonsense across cultures and languages with an instrument as imprecise as Google Translate, hilarity ensues. Actually, you might call it poetry, and the new Ford Raptor proves it.
Here in the United States, Ford uses phrases like Not just leaner. Meaner, beast, part rocket and nasty outside. Nice inside. Which isnt what Id call inspired but, sure, its fine.
Now as you may have heard, the high-performance Raptor is just about to hit the market in China. So naturally, the company has set up a website in Chinese, too. And from the perspective of me, a person whose only knowledge of the Chinese language is provided by Google Translate, the site for the Peoples Republic seems way better than ours.
Google Translated: Indestructible, also unstoppable.
Get a load of the clackers on this crew! Why mess around with half-measures of hyperbole when you could just come out and call your car indestructible and unstoppable? Whos going to call you out? Some dumb journalist who bends the frame?
Who knows, but this is a hell of a lot stronger than a flaccid clich like Not just leaner. Meaner. I mean, its stronger than anything. Its indestructible.
Google Translated: Heart majestic, in order to unimpeded, self-confidence to conquer every place.
The word majestic is tragically underused in American advertising. Heart majestic is even better. Sounds like the title of a free Netflix movie Id begrudgingly agree to watch with my significant other and then end up loving and casually referencing in my Jalopnik posts. Or maybe a race horse.
Either way, Im inspired.
Google Translated: Born in the journey of the Ford F-150 Raptor, than the road, more love mountain.
Im going to go out on a limb here and say the sentence structure here probably makes a lot more sense in Chinese, but you cant argue with more love mountain.
Our mountains do need love. The kind of love only the tires of my Ford Raptor can provide. Man, is it ski season yet? It is? God, Ive got to leave Los Angeles more often.
Google Translated: Advance with the times, in order to make the footsteps of conquest to nothing.
Ouch, this one gets me right in the guilt-guts. A screw-you with a slap of nihilism at the end to make you feel even worse. Get with the times, geezer, so you can move through the pointless struggle we call life harder and faster and eventually get nothing out of it.
Do you think Im getting a little too reflective?
Google Translated: Enough to accommodate your world, it is enough to accommodate your conquest of the king of the world pride.
I feel like somebody took that excellent Peter Gabriel song Big Time and condensed it into one sentence. The usurping concept is pretty dark for a car ad, too. Bold. I like it.
Maybe I should start feeding my articles through a few more languages before publishing them. Obviously, Google Translate doesnt shy away from hilarious and profound hyperbole.
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Donald Trump and the Uses of the Past – New Republic
Posted: at 3:01 am
History is a methodology, a way of seeing thingsnot a cautionary tale.
Balickis job is to rescue objects and to safeguard them against future assaults. Founded in 1804, the New-York Historical Society is the oldest museum in New York. The hyphen in its name is a vestige of a time when New York had a hyphen in it. (The museums summer softball team is called The Hyphens.) Its collection is enormousover 1.6 million works of art.
What relevance does such an archive have nowadays? They say that if youre asked why you like history in a university interview, the only thing you should never say is because we can learn from the mistakes of the past. History is a methodology, a way of seeing thingsnot a cautionary tale.
But we seem to be living through a rupture. As the president pretends the traditional separation of the judiciary, executive, and legislative branches of government does not exist, the most basic lessons from historyby which I mean literal history lessons we all should have learned at primary schoolseem to need re-teaching. The New-York Historical Society has a very vibrant education program, and gears much of its exhibitions towards schoolchildren. It also recently ran an exhibition on the presidency, so that visitors could see for themselves the historical premises behind the office.
Our country also has subtler needs. When Donald Trump was elected, an artist named Matthew Chavez began a project in the Union Square subway underpass. He sat at a desk covered in colorful sticky notes and pens and invited travelers to write down their feelings and then stick them on the wall. Chavez discouraged his contributors from expressions of raw anger, and encouraged messages of love and solidarity. He called the project Subway Therapy.
Alan Balicki and his team had one and a half hours on January 23 to take the project down from the wall, after the Society partnered with Chavez, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority to place part of the work in its archive. Somewhat sadly, Balicki explained that he made the decision to break the original sequence of noteshe just did not have time to preserve them as they were. One of the PhDs with us observed that nobody owned the sequence or had declared that there was a wrong or right way to arrange the notes. She thought the project was beautiful as is, lumped pell-mell into gray archival boxes. The new display is called Messages for the President-Elect.
Alan Balicki with Messages for the President-Elect.
Some years ago, Balicki also put into the archive a rack of clothing from Chelsea Jeans that had been blasted in 9/11 and preserved by the owner as a kind of impromptu memorial.
This is the sort of thing that the New-York Historical Society saves: flotsam, jetsam, things left behind. The curators follow closely in the wake of the citys human activity, collecting the materials left behind by protests and vigils and attacks. The museum treats these items with a reverence rarely seen in any part of our culture. The archive turns objects into art the same way that a devoted servant might turn everything the king has touched into treasure.
A basic appreciation for the American states machinery is threadbare among those with the greatest power in this country, as well as the broader electorate. Not even the secretary of education believes in equal access to schools for the nations children. What does the past mean for a society like this, under a government like this? For this administration, American history functions as a backdrop for racist fantasythe greatness that will be made againnot as a foundation of government.
In such anti-historical moments it can be difficult to see why Alan Balickis passion is important. He and his staff pour their labor each day into a delicate life support system dedicated to holding the material past in stasis. Conservators do not evangelize for change, nor do they really even have conversations with the objects they so tenderly care for. Things are as they are, for such workers, and long may they stay that way.
America is suffering a crisis of belief, and the opposition has to face up to a new nihilism at the heart of things. Old gods governing taboos and traditions are deadit is no longer forbidden to express racist thoughts frankly and crudely. Shame seems to have gone out of style, and historical thinking with it.
Its tough to deal with nihilism, because everything multiplied by zero makes zero. But conservation is an action that expresses tenderness toward and assigns value to things that otherwise would signify nothing; a Post-it note, a grubby old letter, a drawing. Conservators treat the material world with a deeply erudite form of respect, which is their profession. Its an honorable way to relate to the physical world around us. Honor has a politics.
I could not take my eyes off Balickis cuffs. They seemed to have been fabricated with love, perhaps by a person who cared for the jackets wearer. Later, turning over the days events in my mind, I ended up emailing Balicki to ask who had hemmed them. To my total delight, he emailed back: My pal Viv, as in Westwood. Call it honor, or conservation, or respect, or art: Reverence poured into an object shines right back out of it, and that light gets into the world.
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Don’t become a pawn in the NHL’s Olympic Games – Fear the Fin
Posted: at 3:00 am
Were now 363 days until the opening ceremonies of the Pyeongchang Olympics and the National Hockey League and International Olympic Committee are as far apart today as they were a year ago. The writing has been on the wall since Sochi: the NHL doesnt want to go to the Olympics, much the same way it didnt want to go to Russia.
If youll allow me to put on my speculation hat, the only reason the negotiations have lasted this long is because the NHL desperately wants to go to Beijing, a market it covets. The IOC knows this as well as the rest of the world and if the NHL wants to keep its players home next year, the committee is comfortable allowing the league to do it for years to come.
Okay, Ill take my speculation hat off now. Heres the deal: the NHL doesnt want to send its players to the Olympics for one very simple reason ($ $ $ $ $ $ $). Taking weeks off the season hurts the NHL financially, or so they claim, and the owners dont feel taking the show on the road helps grow the sport.
The league could very well take some blame for the sport not growing further than the Etobicoke city limits, but Gary Bettman isnt likely to see it that way. Heres what we do know: the players want to go, the league executives dont want the players to go and the fans (generally) want the players to go. Sound familiar? It should. This is just about the same position we find ourselves in when rumblings of a work stoppage roll around, albeit with far less serious consequences.
Your personal feelings on the importance of NHL players taking part in the 2018 Olympic games aside, Bettman and the owners are nearly always the enemy of fans and the players. They will speak in grandiose terms about the growth of the game, the league and the respect of hockey on the national stage while caring about one thing only: the expanse of their wallets.
So lets call this article a preemptive strike on Bettmans particularly odious brand of rationalism. NHL players going to the Olympics wont hurt anyone but the NHL, and even then, does anyone believe three weeks off in February every four years actually hurts the on-ice product? Perhaps the better question is: Does anyone else believe the NHL actually gives a shit? The league introduced the World Cup of Hockey this season and as a result introduced the exact same problems while ostensibly pocketing the profits.
Its all about the money, baby. Dont let anyone tell you differently. If you dont mind NHL players skipping the Olympics (frankly, I dont) fair enough. But dont accept the NHLs arguments for doing so. The only thing the league cares about is its bottom line it doesnt care about the quality of its product, the disruption to the season or the respect it receives on the world stage. Frankly, it should be so lucky to be recognized on any stage at all.
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Laura Akin: Overwhelming majority of the Founding Fathers were Christian – Modesto Bee
Posted: at 3:00 am
Laura Akin: Overwhelming majority of the Founding Fathers were Christian Modesto Bee Of the 55 Continental Congress delegates, 28 belonged to the Church of England and 21 were protestants. The six remaining members supported theistic rationalism. So there you have it, only six of the signatures on the Constitution were not Christian. I ... |
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Alphabet’s Project Shield And Eliminating DDOS Attacks On Free Speech – Forbes
Posted: at 2:57 am
Forbes | Alphabet's Project Shield And Eliminating DDOS Attacks On Free Speech Forbes Most of the world's Internet-connected netizens know of Google through its wildly popular consumer-facing products like its search engine and YouTube video hosting platform. Yet, Google's parent company Alphabet also operates a fascinating think/do ... |
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Poll of High Schoolers: No, Free Speech Shouldn’t Protect ‘Offensive … – Townhall
Posted: at 2:57 am
One of the reasons that Mary Katharine Ham and I wroteEnd of Discussion in 2015was our rising concern that Americans -- younger ones in particular -- are gradually adopting an increasingly hostile posture toward free speech and the open debate. One of the Left's most cynical ploys in stifling political discussions is to brand ideas they oppose as hateful and offensive, and therefore morally unworthy of further consideration. They seek to "win" debates, we wrote, by short-circuiting the process and preventing those debates from happening in the first place. Ours is largely a cultural critique, leaving detailedconstitutional analyses andjournalistic exposes of bureaucratic abuses to others. But citizens' views of what the constitution does, or should, protect can be heavily influenced by cultural pressures, which is why some key bits of thissurvey of American high school students conducted by the Knight Foundation are ratheralarming:
Yikes. Some of these results are open to interpretation becausethe question doesn't really drill down too far. If kids think that "bullying" is synonymous with "specific threats of physical violence," they'd be right that free speech protections wouldn't apply. But if they think that "you're fugly" tauntsor "gay people are degeneratesinners" assertionsrise to the level of speech that can be banned orcriminalized, we're in more serious trouble. One of the positive data points in this poll is that 91 percent majority atop the bar graph. Allahpundit notes that the percentage of students who believe that unpopular speech is aprotected right(to reiterate, so much of this comes back to the degree of under-exploredoverlap between "unpopular" and "offensive" or "bullying") has risen by eight points since this survey's 2004 installment. That's real, hearteningprogress, as is theslow but steady incline in the blue line onthis chart:
Students are less disposed than ever to believe that the First Amendment's safeguards of fundamental rights are too excessive. That's reassuring, but only to a point. AP mines another nuggetfrom the results: "Worse yet, when the Knight Foundation asked students whether free speech is more important than protecting someone from being offended, just 64 percent said yes a majority, sure, but not even a two-thirds majority." That top line result is dragged down by smaller majorities of high schoolers of color (Asians, Hispanics and especially blacks) who believe that the value of upholdingfree speech trumps the value of insulating somebody from taking offense. One of the more insidious tactics of the anti-discussion mob has been to conflate offensive speech with physical violence, rooted in a capacious definition of what constitutes "safety." To the extent that this trick successfully and lastingly manipulatesyounger generations may determine whether free speech and expression remains a core American value. Remember, it's unpopular/offensive/bullying speech that tests the principle. It's relativelyeasy to protect anodyne, civilly-expressed speech; it's the nasty stuff that is much harder, and thereforeespecially vital, to shield from the bipartisanauthoritarian impulse to ban and silence. All said,findings of this survey are enough of a mixed bag as to nurture some cautious optimism and stave off outright despair, but there are some red flags flying, too. Via the inimitableIowaHawk,I'll leave you with this simple but incisive insight that ought to giveanyone inclined toward the"let's ban offensive or bullying speech" position serious pause:
This point cuts both ways. Do conservatives want these terms and standards set by hysterical triggered snowflakes who value "protection" from ideas over free speech? And do liberals want those definitions determined and enforced by, say, a thin-skinned populist/conservative president with little tolerance for criticism of any sort? The uniting solution is to link arms andkeep free speech as free as possible -- and the (needed and appropriate) exceptions to that rule (excluding hate speech)as narrow as possible because the principle,and everyone's right to open expression,is potentiallyat stake. Politics are cyclical. Ideological pendulums swing. Values must endure. Can we count on our high school teachers to convey this truth and pass along this American torch to the next generation? I'd like to hope so, but again...yikes.
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Shopify Won’t Remove Breitbart’s Online Shop, Claiming Free … – Fortune
Posted: at 2:57 am
Steve Bannon, former head of Breitbart News and senior counsel to President TrumpEvan Vucci AP
In recent days, Silicon Valley executives have been among the most vocal opponents of Trump administration policies, including its travel ban. At the same time, stores including Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom have backed away from selling Ivanka Trump merchandise, despite presidential protest .
But ecommerce company Shopify is heading in the opposite direction. Company co-founder Tobias Lutke is offering support to far-right website Breitbart News, and says it will continue to sell the sites political merchandise on its platform as a matter of free speech. Breitbarts merchandise includes politically themed t-shirts, mugs and doormats that support Trumps proposal for a border wall, and the Second Amendment right to own guns, among other things.
Steve Bannon, a senior counselor to President Trump, co-founded Breitbart in 2007. The site is known for its inflammatory views on women, racial and sexual minorities, immigrants, and Muslims.
In a blog post from Wednesday, Lutke said that despite more than 10,000 emails, tweets and messages urging him to terminate the relationship, Shopify's stance is about protecting free speech.
Related: How These 3 Bills Could Make It Much Harder to Hire Foreign Workers
We dont like Breitbart, but products are speech and we are pro free speech, Lutke writes. This means protecting the right of organizations to use our platform even if they are unpopular or if we disagree with their premise, as long as they are within the law. That being said, if Breitbart calls us tomorrow and tells us that they are going to switch to another platform, we would be delighted.
Reached by email, a Shopify representative referred Fortune to Lutkes blog post and a corporate statement , which says the company is politically neutral.
Lutke, himself an immigrant, moved to Canada from Germany in 2002, and launched Shopify in 2006 with business partner Daniel Weinand. The platform hosts 325,000 merchants, and has sales volume of $24 billion.
Shopifys decision runs counter to the activity of groups that want to use commerce for political leverage. In recent months, protest group Grab Your Wallet has urged a boycott of companies either owned by the Trumps, that carry Trump-branded clothing and accessories, or that have offered financial support to President Trumps political campaign. In addition to Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, Grab Your Wallet has urged Amazon and Zappos to stop selling Trump family products.
Social media campaign Sleeping Giants has similarly targeted hundreds of companies, attempting to get them to stop advertising on Breitbart and fake news sites. We are trying to stop racist websites by stopping their ad dollars, the campaigns Twitter account says. In recent months, Sleeping Giants has gotten AT&T , Kellogg , BMW and Visa to remove ads from Breitbart.
Shopify went public in 2015, raising $131 million. Its stock was up 2.4% in early morning trading to $54.66.
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