tingilinde

the importance of public health to the unification of america

Smallpox vaccinations required public trust and buy-in.

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In The Contagion of Liberty, historian Andrew Wehrman traces the path of the smallpox-inoculation movement, and its generally overlooked impact on politics around the American War of Independence. He argues that smallpox influenced the journey towards independence from British rule, and how Americans conceived of their new, hard-won liberties.

It is a tale of startling contemporary relevance.

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 a tip of the hat to Sukie

 

 

vintage recipe books

A large number are available on the Internet Archive.

One of the best things about many old recipes is the realization that you're not using them.

 

 

countering the lost cause's impact on the military

Demoting traitors.

 

a sacred etruscan pool

A major archeological find.

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Over a period of a few weeks in September and October, a team of archaeologists unearthed two dozen bronze statues of human figures, more than 2,000 years old and perfectly preserved in the hot mud and waters of an ancient, sacred pool.

The site is the hot springs of the Tuscan town of San Casciano dei Bagni — San Casciano of the Baths, one of many picturesque hilltop towns towering over lush green valleys dotted with majestic cypress trees.

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a tip of the hat to Sukie

 

a paper trail

For environmental lawsuits against oil companies.

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It became a years-long quest, and as he pressed on, Muffett noticed one report kept coming up in the footnotes of the memos and papers he was poring through — a 1968 paper commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute, the powerful fossil fuel trade group, and written by Elmer Robinson and Bob Robbins, scientists at the Stanford Research Institute, known as SRI. Muffett wasn’t sure what it said, but it was cited so often he knew there must be something big in it. Then part of Stanford University, SRI wasn’t an ordinary department, but a contract research outfit that had been intertwined from its founding with oil and gas interests. The paper had been delivered privately to the petroleum institute, not published like typical academic work, and only a few copies had spilled into the public realm. Long since forgotten, they had been gathering dust in a handful of university libraries. Eventually, through an interlibrary loan, Muffett managed to get a hold of one.

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speech that incites violence

Susan Benesch studies hateful speech - what it does and how to deal with it.  David points to a recent piece by her.

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We have found that dangerous speech is uncannily similar from case to case, across cultures and languages: it often features particular rhetorical devices like dehumanization, claiming that others pose a threat to vulnerable people (especially women and children), and questioning the loyalty of group members who dissent. American far-right discourse is full of all this: see for example QAnon and anti-LGBTQ activists’ allegations about child abuse and pedophilia, and the harsh repudiation of Republicans who question former President Donald Trump. American history is also full of such language and images, demonizing Black people for example, especially Black men. This kind of communication calls for violence clearly enough so that the intended audience understands, and indirectly enough so that the speaker can later deny responsibility for attacks. Trump is an expert at it, as are many of his admirers.

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america first

Woodie Guthrie's song on the American Christofascist 'America First' movement.  Rachel Maddow used it to end Ultra - her eight part series on the subject.  The similarities between then and today are chilling.  One bottom line is you can't move on.

are we prisoners of geography

Greg notes an interesting piece. Just how much has the world changed and how fast is it changing?

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Russia’s war in Ukraine has involved many surprises. The largest, however, is that it happened at all. Last year, Russia was at peace and enmeshed in a complex global economy. Would it really sever trade ties – and threaten nuclear war – just to expand its already vast territory? Despite the many warnings, including from Vladimir Putin himself, the invasion still came as a shock.

But it wasn’t a shock to the journalist Tim Marshall. On the first page of his 2015 blockbuster book, Prisoners of Geography, Marshall invited readers to contemplate Russia’s topography. A ring of mountains and ice surrounds it. Its border with China is protected by mountain ranges, and it is separated from Iran and Turkey by the Caucusus. Between Russia and western Europe stand the Balkans, Carpathians and Alps, which form another wall. Or, they nearly do. To the north of those mountains, a flat corridor – the Great European Plain – connects Russia to its well-armed western neighbours via Ukraine and Poland. On it, you can ride a bicycle from Paris to Moscow.

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1881 isochron centered on london

 

 

another odd history of europe