From the New York Times obituaries; Justo Gallego, Who Built a Cathedral, Brick by Brick, Dies at 96 A former monk, he spent decades constructing a grand edifice as an act of faith and devotion, and did so almost single-handedly.
‘He touched a nerve’: how the first piece of AI music was born in 1956 Long before Auto-Tune and deepfake compositions, university professor Lejaren Hiller premiered a concert recital composed by a computer and became an overnight celebrity The Guardian Electronic music Jeff Gage Tue 7 Dec 2021 Illiac Suite
San Francisco Call, 21 January 1919 SAN DIEGO, Jan. 21.— Lieutenant James McCullough of Ream aviation field is declared to be the gunner who slew the whale that washed ashore at Imperial beach last week. According to reports from Ream field the whale rose two miles off shore and spouted defiance at lieutenant McCullough, who … [Read more…]
In the 11/25/2021 Guardian “Long Read” is Jill Lepore on post covid society, a summary of the modern social fabric, with her usual historical detail. “Other scholars see more continuity, an unbroken tradition of liberal and social democracy on the left, from early 20th-century progressivism down to the 21st-century version. But no one disputes that … [Read more…]
San Francisco Call, 8 January 1919 By Associated Press. WASHINGTON, Jan. 8.—Road building on an extensive scale is expected by government officials this year. Estimates by the Bureau of Public Roads and Rural Engineering indicate a minimum expenditure on highways of $300,000,000. Deferred construction and the improvement of existing roads so that greater use may … [Read more…]
On Ars Technica, there is an article Dubious $56,000 Alzheimer’s drug spurs largest Medicare price hike ever. I wrote this comment after reading the article and a lot of the comments which followed it: Auguste_Fivaz Ars Centurion et Subscriptor Nov 15, 2021 9:05 PM I’m on medicare part B with a gap policy. I also … [Read more…]
In the 1918 flu epidemic, one symptom of surviving the flu was severe depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and actions, often termed ‘delirium’ in the papers of the day. Until it proves to be a futile battle, I want to start to track newspaper articles on the abuse endured by workers from the public. I’m … [Read more…]
In the Guardian today (10/08/21) is an article Could the global Covid death toll be millions higher than thought? A data scientist and economics student joined forces in search of the real pandemic death toll – and the results are startling. Excess mortality, defined as the increase in deaths from all causes over the level … [Read more…]
An obit in the NYT today concerning this “political analyst” who died in a car wreck last week. As a coincidence, this week I’m reading “The Free World, Art and Thought in the Cold War” by Louis Menand and am at the chapter on Hannah Arendt’s “Origins of Totalitarianism.” There she describes this, that during … [Read more…]
From the Guardian/Observer Sept. 26, 2021: Unsung hero: how ‘Mr Radio Philips’ helped thousands flee the Nazis In June 1940, a Dutch salesman, acting as a consul in Lithuania, issued Jewish refugees with pseudo visas to escape Europe. His remarkable story is only now being told.