Post for January 15 2023
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Opening Picture
Russian Bear
American political cartoon, 1904
Cover of American humor magazine Puck at 20 January 1904
Udo Keppler - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsca.25814. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.
Commentary: Some thoughts to share
Use for the $15 minimum wage
and
Power of working Americans reaching out for a
redistribution of wealth
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Commentary
A $15.00 hourly wage for a new entrant into our workforce, typically fourteen to sixteen years old, never having had a job before, everything to learn, is a fair minimum.
A year later, with a good record of attendance and job efficiency, a substantial ($17.50?) raise is in order.
If not first to the mark, we in Massachusetts are among the leaders. Good for us.
Child coal miners in West Virginia, 1908
Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940) - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Records of the National Child Labor Committee, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.01052
Child coal miners - drivers and mules, Gary, W. Va., mine.
PART I: HEW (Health, Education, and Welfare)
What a terrible onslaught!
The powers, spearheaded by the Federal Reserve, are trying desperately to restrain wages from claiming their rightful place in our economy.
Their place?
Equal to the returns currently enjoyed by capital which is always shielded.
Rising wages are seeking to redress the abuses of an economic system that deprives much of its citizenry to free, open access to higher education, rational health services, and comfort and care when in need.
Until all citizens have such security, our economy will throb and ache while resisting forces distorting the natural economic order, giving undue reward to capital at the expense of working America.
Hats off to working America and its never yielding efforts to gain equality for its class.
Shame on those capitalists who constantly oppose economic gains for our workers.
Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940) - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Records of the National Child Labor Committee, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.01052
Next week: Part II: Paying for HEW.
Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940) - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Records of the National Child Labor Committee, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.01052
Child coal miners - drivers and mules, Gary, W. Va., mine.
Gen Z Corner
Energy and desire to improve our society
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Kat’s Gen Z Corner
Today I’m sharing two items: One is one of my nine favorite books of 2022:
Heartburn (Nora Ephron)
If you liked When Harry Met Sally and are in the mood to laugh at a nuanced divorce story.
And the second is a picture of Dylan and me. Dyl is a year older than I am but he is my dad’s grandson and, of course, I am Dom’s daughter so am legally Dyl’s aunt.
Dyl and I are both involved in forward-thinking politics, Dyl as agent for the Screen Writer’s union and I as Press Secretary for Brad Hoylman, NY State Senator from the 27th District in the New York State Senate, covering much of Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. He is Chairman of the New York State Senate Judiciary Committee.
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Blog Meister’s Reading
Am rereading the last book in the ‘Dragon Tattoo’ series.
Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” is waiting on my kindle.
This is the front cover art for the book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. The book cover art copyright is believed to belong to the publisher or the cover artist.
May be found at the following website: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kitchen-Confidential-Adventures-in-the-Culinary-Underbelly-By-9781582340821-/310755124112?pt=US_Fiction_Books&hash=item485a72e390
Tucker’s Screen Corner featuring my
Favorite films of 2022 Part 2
It’s the 2nd week of the new year so here are 5 more of my favorite films from 2022 to catch up on if you haven’t already! I tried to provide a healthy smattering of genres so there’s something for everyone.
You can find mini reviews for each of these films here.
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Blog Meister’s Writing
I have begun the final rewrite of the second half of my manuscript: Conflicted.
Thinking a three-month process.
Cain
Glasgow Botanic Gardens. Kibble Palace. Edwin Roscoe Mullins – Cain or My Punishment is Greater than I can Bear (Genesis 4:13), about 1899.
Daniel Naczk - Own work
Glasgow Botanic Gardens. Kibble Palace. Edwin Roscoe Mullins (1848-1907), Cain or My Punishment is Greater than I can Bear ( Genesis 4:13), marble, about 1899.
Health/Wellness
We are looking a Tripledemic into its eye. Protect ourselves.
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating the body's adaptive immunity, they help prevent sickness from an infectious disease. When a sufficiently large percentage of a population has been vaccinated, herd immunity results. Herd immunity protects those who may be immunocompromised and cannot get a vaccine because even a weakened version would harm them. The effectiveness of vaccination has been widely studied and verified. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases; widespread immunity due to vaccination is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the elimination of diseases such as polio and tetanus from much of the world. However, some diseases, such as measles outbreaks in America, have seen rising cases due to relatively low vaccination rates in the 2010s – attributed, in part, to vaccine hesitancy. According to the World Health Organization, vaccination prevents 3.5–5 million deaths per year.
For wellness sake, get vaccinated!
COVID-19 Vaccination Center of the Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland
LukaszKatlewa - Own work
COVID-19 vaccination point in the sports hall of the Sports Center of the Medical University of Gdańsk - internal view.
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Science
The Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–1843). Organized on a large scale under a joint committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), the new expedition carried out scientific research and geographical exploration in what was then largely an untouched continent. It launched the Antarctic careers of many who would become leading figures in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, including Robert Falcon Scott who led the expedition, Ernest Shackleton, Edward Wilson, Frank Wild, Tom Crean and William Lashly.
Its scientific results covered extensive ground in biology, zoology, geology, meteorology and magnetism. The expedition discovered the existence of the only snow-free Antarctic valleys, which contains the longest river of Antarctica. Further achievements included the discoveries of the Cape Crozier emperor penguin colony, King Edward VII Land, and the Polar Plateau (via the western mountains route) on which the South Pole is located. The expedition tried to reach the South Pole travelling as far as the Farthest South mark at a reported 82°17′S.
As a trailbreaker for later ventures, the Discovery Expedition was a landmark in British Antarctic exploration history.
Angling for Health
Chris Capossela, on vacay.
Hey folks – 27 hours after leaving Seattle I safely checked into a fishing lodge in San Martin de los Andes in Argentina.
Two guides offered to take me fishing for a few hours before dinner even though tomorrow is really day 1 of my scheduled fishing.
The above picture shows the largest brown trout I’ve ever caught. The guide said it was “20-fat inches long” which is what they call fish that are north of 20 inches and nice and bulky. Not only was this fish big, but I caught him because he ate a small rainbow trout that I had just caught. He swallowed the rainbow whole and somehow got the fly caught in his mouth. Lucky me!
The pic below captures the beauty of the Lanin volcano that towers over the Malleo River. The side of the volcano you see in the picture is Argentina and the other side of the volcano is Chile.
Chris
The expedition ship RRS Discovery in the Antarctic alongside the Great Ice Barrier, now known as the Ross Ice Shelf
Cropped from image published in H.R. Mill: The Siege of the South Pole, Alston Rivers, London 1905)
Antarctic expedition ship Discovery anchored to the ice
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Architecture
The great square in Arezzo, Italy
Arezzo Piazza Grande
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Dinner/Food/Recipe
I will state categorically that the most delicious chicken available in the city of Boston is found at Wings Live Poultry at 48 Beach St, Boston’s Chinatown.
(617) 426-5960
Closes 4 PM
For taste and texture, their product cannot be beaten.
Don’t be put off by the façade and the entryway.
Just walk in and say “One chicken, please.”
The saleswoman will disappear into the back room and return with a chicken that weighs 4 pounds and costs $25.00.
Cook it according to the slow-roast method I’ve been touting for years.
I relished every juicy, flavor-packed bite of this bird.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“I bought Windows 2.0, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1415926, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows RSVP, The Best of Windows, Windows Strikes Back, Windows Does Dallas, and Windows Let’s All Buy Bill Gates a House the Size of Vermont.”
~ Dave Barry
Harlaxton Manor, England, a 19th-century meeting of Renaissance, Tudor and Gothic architecture produced Jacobethan – a popular form of historicist mansion architecture.
LaurynasNev - Own work
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Understanding Ageing
We struggle against nature.
When it comes to ageing, it’s a losing battle.
We are pre-determined to lose.
But we can do a lot to be in the best possible shape as we play out our lives.
I am happy to report that after losing control of my weight when the pandemic struck, I seem to be back on track.
It took a lot of effort.
A lot of sifting through diets that worked for a bit and then didn’t.
But the 16/8 diet, really, a modified version of it, seems to be working for me.
The 16/8 diet, remember, is where one confines her eating to an 8-hour period, and fasts for 16 hours. Not such a difficult thing when the dieter includes the hours she sleeps into the 16-hour stint.
Keep plugging. Go with our sincere hopes for your success.
Diet meister William_Banting
popularized one of the first weight loss diets in the 19th century.
Unknown author - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9022610
Depicted person: William Banting – English undertaker and populariser of a weight loss diet
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Social Life
Immediately after the holidays, I hosted three dinners.
The first was with Marissa and Chloe, my fellow-travelers to Japan. A steak dinner. Great company.
Then Mei Liu came for Roast Duck. Also great company.
And in several days, my friend Jack who designed my apartment will arrive for the first of two semi-annual dinners.
As a group, as a start to the new year, three dinners with friends bode well.
Of course, there are dinner dates and dinner dates.
Jean Harlow as Kitty Packard in Dinner at Eight
Time Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer photograph by Harvey White - Time Magazine cover, 19 August 1935, Time magazine archive
Photograph of Jean Harlow from the cover of Time magazine, Volume 26 Issue 8. Time failed to renew the copyrights of many early issues; see wikisource:Time (magazine).
Photograph is a promotional still for Dinner at Eight (1933). An alternate pose from the same session appears here, identifying the photographer and subject.
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Local Bits
01 01 2023 Busy Boston Common on New Year’s Day
Dom Reorganizing apartment
The refrigerator into bins.
So many jars. And
The chicken house chicken drying before the roast.
01 02 2023 Last unfinished corner finished
After many years, Boston City Hall Plaza is finished.
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts, including links.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Sally C:
Dear Dom,
The street image near the bottom of your latest post confused me – A facade on Newbury St. – because it looks more like a Hopper painting than a photograph!
Happy New Year!
Sally
Blog meister responds: Got the same reaction when I stopped to look at it. Happy New Year, my dear.
Nighthawks (1942)
Edward Hopper - http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/111628
Permission details
From "Copyright Law: Publishing Art and the Public Domain" on the Art Institute of Chicago website: "These publications illustrate more artworks that are now in the public domain in the United States because the artists did not file copyright
And this from Jim P:
Dom,
Wow! I love this one. A lot to digest so I have to read over a few days.
Blog Meister responds: Thank you, my friend
And this from Mei Liu:
I saw the post! Thanks for sharing.
Blog Meister responds: A pleasure.
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Travel
This is the first email I sent to a small group planning on visiting Tuscany this coming June/July.
Dear friends of Tuscany,
I thought I’d share some thoughts and perhaps generate some questions or ideas.
Please pack to carry-on all of our luggage.
Let’s avoid the frustrating delay of retrieving luggage at the baggage claim and
avoid any misplaced luggage issues.
Remember that we will have two extended stays at nice hotels and laundry will be easy enough to accomplish.
Day 1 is tentatively scheduled for June 29.
This day is devoted to moving overnight from Boston to Italy.
Airplane being towed.
Day 2 is a busy day: we arrive in Rome, go through customs, and eat breakfast.
The idea of a van with a driver to meet us is amazingly luxurious.
It obviates the worst of the transportation issues.
Car rentals are tedious and tenuous. Directions and strange roads are tense.
It starts busy but Day 2 ends softly.
Our emotional transformation begins when we pass through customs and sit for breakfast with the van waiting for us.
Each of us will have a window and we’ll enjoy a lovely drive through lovely country.
On arrival in Assisi, we'll check into our hotel, our only one-night stand.
We'll likely have time for a great cafe and lovely walk.
We may even have time to visit the Giotto frescoes, but not if we have to squeeze it in.
(Fresco: a painting done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling, so that the colors penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries.)
Although Assisi has no Guide Michelin restaurants, we'll enjoy a lovely dinner.
The oldest surviving depiction of St. Francis is a fresco near the entrance of the Benedictine abbey of Subiaco, painted between March 1228 and March 1229. He is depicted without the stigmata, but the image is a religious image and not a portrait.
Anonymous - da web
St. Francis (Subiaco, Sacro Speco)
Permission details
sconosciuto
On Day Three, we will wake in Assisi and have a leisurely breakfast.
Then follows a leisurely 90-minute drive to Arezzo through more beautiful country.
In Arezzo, we will see another of the greatest masterpieces of Western art, the fresco series by Piero della Francesca.
Piero della Francesca vasari
Piero della Francesca by Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (Life time: N/A) - Original publication: 1568; Florence, Italy Immediate source: https://archive.org/details/levitedepiveccel01vasa/page/352
Following our visit to Arezzo, we will drive leisurely through Tuscany, stopping where and when it pleases us. Destination: Siena, the most alluring of the cities in the Tuscan countryside.
Siena, Cathedral
Jörg Bittner (Unna) - Own work
View of Siena (Tuscany) with the Duomo. Cathedral begun in the 12th century, Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture. Its main façade was completed in 1380.
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Short Essay*
Is membership in NATO that important?
Yes. It is that important.
And that’s why we can trade it to Russia for their full and complete withdrawal from Ukraine plus their pledge not to compromise Ukraine’s autonomy in any way.
Perhaps talks are going on in secret.
No one asked me my opinion.
But this is it.
Let’s assume that Russia is fearful of having a NATO-member nation across the border.
Then, we ask them to withdraw from Ukraine and we discourage Ukraine from pursuing NATO membership.
Gaza City bombed ruins
Youth play among the bombed ruins of Gaza City, 2009
Al Jazeera English - War in Gaza 018
Boys are playing in between the ruins of Gaza City
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People
Lazzaro Spallanzani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈladdzaro spallanˈtsani]; 12 January 1729 – 11 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest (for which he was nicknamed Abbé Spallanzani), biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily functions, animal reproduction, and animal echolocation.[2] His research on biogenesis paved the way for the downfall of the theory of spontaneous generation, a prevailing idea at the time that organisms develop from inanimate matters, though the final death blow to the idea was dealt by French scientist Louis Pasteur a century later.
His most important works were summed up in his book Experiencias Para Servir a La Historia de La Generación De Animales y Plantas (Experiences to Serve to the History of the Generation of Animals and Plants), published in 1786. Among his contributions were experimental demonstrations of fertilisation between ova and spermatozoa, and in vitro fertilisation.
Lazzaro Spallanzani
Spallanzani
http://home.tiscalinet.ch/biografien/biografien/spallanzani.htm
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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