#Mexico City schoolchildren

[beardedmrbean]

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Local police in the cartel-dominated city of Culiacan, Mexico have been pulled off the streets after the army seized their guns, officials announced Monday.

The move came just one day after about 1,500 residents of Culiacan, the capital of the northern state of Sinaloa, held a march Sunday though the city's downtown to demand peace after weeks in which cartel gunfights have killed dozens of people in and around the city.

But rather than announcing a stepped-up police presence, Ruben Rocha, the state’s governor, said Monday the entire 1,000-member municipal police force would not return to duty until they get their weapons back. Soldiers, state police and National Guard will take over patrolling until then.

Rocha said the seizure of the weapons for inspection of their permits and serial numbers was not a routine check, but rather was “exceptional,” and said “we hope it will end soon.”

Historically, the Mexican army has seized the weapons of local police forces they distrust, either because they suspect some local cops are working for drug gangs or because they suspect they are carrying unregistered, private sidearms that would make abuses harder to trace.

In 2018, the army seized the weapons from the municipal police in another state capital, Cuernavaca, to conduct a similar inspection. It said at the time the measure was aimed at ensuring “trustworthy security forces.”

Hundreds of army troops have been flown into Culiacan since fighting broke out between factions of the Sinaloa cartel after drug lords Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were apprehended in the United States after they flew there in a small plane on July 25.

Zambada later claimed he was kidnapped and forced aboard the plane by Guzmán López, causing a violent battle between Zambada's faction and the “Chapitos” group lead by the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Sunday's protest was the first such march residents have dared to hold since factional fighting broke out following the events of July 25. Gunbattles have broken out even in downtown areas and upscale neighborhoods of Culiacan, and parents have been loathe to send their children to school since early September.

Schools in Culiacan have largely turned to holding classes online to avoid the near-daily shootings. On Monday, gunmen shot to death the leader of the local cattle rancher's union, Faustino Hernández, in broad daylight on a downtown street.

The civic group “Culiacan Valiente,” or Brave Culiacan, organized residents to dress in white Sunday as they carried banners reading “Take back our streets!”

“We want a return to in-class learning, but only if the safety of the schoolchildren is guaranteed,” the march organizers wrote in statement.

Rocha acknowledged the battle is between two cartel factions — he called them the “Chapitos” and the “Mayitos" — and pledged to fight both equally.

“There are two groups that are confronting each other here,” Rocha said of his state. “The authorities are here to face them down equally, both of them without exceptions.”

The two groups have taken to leaving strange factional markers on the dead bodies of their rivals: The “Chapitos” leave pizzas (derived from their group's collective moniker in Spanish, “La ChaPIZA”), while Zambada's supporters leave their trademark cowboy hats on dead bodies. The cowboy hats reflect the belief that Zambada's faction is more old-school than the young Guzmáns.

But the situation has gotten so out of control that cartel gunmen have taken to hijacking buses and trucks and burning them to block highways leading in and out of Culiacan.

Rocha acknowledged that he himself got caught for hours in traffic Friday after one such cartel blockade, after he went to the nearby resort city of Mazatlan to meet with outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Rochas said he had to drive past the burning remains of one vehicle that had been torched.

On Monday, the governor promised to set up five “anti-blockade” squads with state police and soldiers on highways near Culiacan. But in acknowledgement that the squads wouldn't be able to stop the hijackings, he said they would at least be equipped with tanker trucks to puts out the flames and tow away the wreckage.

Even the local army commander, Gen. Francisco Leana Ojeda, acknowledged recently that “We want this to be over as soon as possible, but it doesn’t depend on us, it’s up to the warring groups to stop confronting each other.”

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 4.18 (before 1940)

796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days. 1428 – Peace of Ferrara between Republic of Venice, Duchy of Milan, Republic of Florence and House of Gonzaga: ending of the second campaign of the Wars in Lombardy fought until the Treaty of Lodi in 1454, which will then guarantee the conditions for the development of the Italian Renaissance. 1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid. 1518 – Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland. 1521 – Trial of Martin Luther begins its second day during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He refuses to recant his teachings despite the risk of excommunication. 1689 – Bostonians rise up in rebellion against Sir Edmund Andros. 1738 – Real Academia de la Historia ("Royal Academy of History") is founded in Madrid. 1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements. 1783 – Three-Fifths Compromise: The first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. This was later adopted in the 1787 Constitution. 1831 – The University of Alabama is founded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 1847 – American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico. 1857 – "The Spirits Book" by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France. 1864 – Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian-Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement. 1897 – The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire. 1899 – The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria. 1902 – The 7.5 Mw  Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800 and 2,000. 1906 – The 7.9 Mw earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California, killing more than 3,000 people, making one of the worst natural disaster in American history. 1909 – Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome. 1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City. 1915 – World War I: French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines. 1916 – World War I: During a mine warfare in high altitude on the Dolomites, the Italian troops conquer the Col di Lana held by the Austrian army. 1930 – A fire kills 118 people at a wooden church in the small Romanian town of Costești, most of them schoolchildren, after starting during Good Friday services. 1939 – Robert Menzies, who became Australia's longest-serving prime minister, is elected as leader of the United Australia Party after the death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.

[newstfionline]

After the quake: For Mexico’s children, ‘back to school’ means a chance to heal

Whitney Eulich, CS Monitor, October 2, 2017

MEXICO CITY--The 9- and 10-year-olds, all wearing matching sweater vests and cardigans, are sitting in a semicircle inside the A Favor del Niño primary school, talking. The subject is bravery.

“A lot has changed in our personal lives, and if you want to cry, that doesn’t make you any less brave,” their instructor tells them on a recent Thursday morning. “Even adults have been crying over this.”

Ten days prior, a 7.1 earthquake rocked Mexico, leveling some 40 buildings here in the capital, including one primary school, and killing more than 330 people nationwide. Most of the city’s roughly 9,000 public and private schools remain closed, and officials say it could take up to two weeks before they’re given the all clear.

Many students--and parents--are eager for schools to reopen. But there’s a catch: The quake hit at 1:14 p.m. on a Tuesday, while kids were in class. So while reopening schools represents a welcome return to routine, it also means a return to ground zero. In response, educators, principals, parents, and NGOs across Mexico City are exchanging materials on how to talk about the quake with their children, how to assuage fears--and how to get back to work.

“We knew that once kids returned [to school], their last memory here would be the quake,” says Noe Gonzalez, the co-director of A Favor del Niño primary school. Some 146 students evacuated from the 1940s-era building into a small concrete plaza on Sept. 19, then out a gate and up a hill to street level, trying to keep their balance as the ground undulated beneath their tiny feet.

“It’s important to close that emotional loop,” Mr. Gonzalez says of revisiting the quake on the first day back to school.

Therapists’ tents that have popped up in parks and at the sites where buildings collapsed speak to one way people are trying to do that, with counselors and psychologists essentially putting out their shingle and offering free services.

Ana Luisa, a domestic worker, watches her 6-year-old daughter Ana Maria coloring on large sheets of paper beside a therapist tent in Parque España, on a recent afternoon. She asked not to use her full name because she uses her employer’s address to enroll Ana Maria in a better public primary school. She ran to the school the moment the earth stopped shaking on the 19th and found her safe, but the days that followed have been tough.

“She won’t go to the bathroom by herself, she won’t go into any room by herself,” she says two days after the quake. Ana Luisa messaged her daughter’s teacher on Facebook for advice. “She told me to keep the news off when Ana Maria’s in the room and to avoid streets where buildings fell,” she says.

“Sometimes I worry the quake broke my daughter, too,” she says, wiping her forearm across her teary eyes.

Still, says Dora Giusti, the chief of protection with UNICEF in Mexico, children are particularly resilient and adults can help children tap that inherent capacity for recovery when processing the events of that day. The organization has been working with teachers in the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, where an 8.1 quake hit Sept. 7, to prepare them for the return of students. They’re also sharing materials on social media and with the government to help teachers and kids to deal with the disaster.

At Al Favor del Niño, the courtyard is filled with laughter and happy screams during recess on the first day back. Kids kick rubber balls, gather around board games, and a few are busy tying their sweaters together in what appears to be an elaborate game of make-believe.

“I’m so happy to be back,” says 10-year-old Carolina Garcia Guerrero. “I think that, even though my house isn’t in a bad state, I feel safer here at school,” she says. It’s “because my friends are here.”

The quake hit on the 32nd anniversary of Mexico’s 1985 temblor, which left thousands dead and flattened hundreds of buildings. “In some ways, it was a good day for an earthquake,” says Susana Vargas, a fifth-grade teacher. The entire school went through an earthquake drill earlier that morning.

“Yes, there were some students crying and panicking, but I was so proud to see that they knew exactly what to do,” she says, describing how they had their hands on their heads, protecting their necks, and were calm as they marched up the hill to their final evacuation point.

Before reopening the school, the staff here came together to talk about their own experiences with the quake. “Some teachers cried, they expressed their fears. Then we started sharing material,” says Gonzalez, one of the school’s co-directors.

That included a book, adapted from Chile, where quakes are also a regular occurrence. Some classrooms showed videos about the science behind temblors and Mexico’s susceptibility to them. The fifth-graders listened to a song about disasters and hope, and picked out their favorite lines to share with the group.

“And you will see how this world changes, when without fear you open your door at last, and keep your light on, however small,” one popular lyric read.

A group of third-graders gathered after recess to receive letters of support and encouragement sent by children from across South America, also part of the Teach for All education network of which the school is part.

One student is overjoyed as she unscrolls a rolled-up letter, revealing a flag and the words “Fuerza Mexico,” or Stay Strong, Mexico. “Ohh, que lindo, [how beautiful],” a little boy cries out while unfurling his note.

Angela, whose face is framed by hot pink glasses and missing front teeth that reveal her age, says that the cards were written “so that we won’t feel sad or scared.” Asked if it’s helped, she says yes.

“Don’t worry, everything will be OK,” says 9-year-old Emiliano Garcia Barrera, sharing his advice for other kids who might experience something similar. “Sooner or later, your fear will pass,” he says, noting that he was very scared, but didn’t cry.

“It won’t last all your life. And if you can make jokes and laugh, it will help you a lot.”

[fiefgoldenlake]

Book Rec II

It’s been some time since my last book rec post, and here I am with some more (unrequested but hopefully not unwanted!) offerings! Each title contains a link to the storygraph page where you can learn more (they have a warning page for each entry), and each book is heartily recommended.  I’ve marked the two I would consider YA. Also, only two of the series are complete (Winternight and Montague Siblings), and only one of the books is a standalone - apologies! I do recommend supporting your local library.

Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1 - YA) Tracy Deonn 16 year old Bree starts a college programme, grieving the fresh loss of her mother. College marks a new beginning for Bree, not least because of the demons she discovers on her first day, but there are age old prejudices in the magical new world. This is based on Arthurian legend and inspired (in the author's own words) by African American history and spiritual traditions, yet it is thoroughly rooted in North Carolina. Delightfully queer secondary characters, and Bree is a force as a main character (funny, warm, sharp, raw with grief, and ready to challenge the status quo).

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor #1) Shelley Parker-Chan This is a wonderful, brutal, brilliant book. Styled by publishers as a queer, fantasy reimagining of Mulan, delivering on everything that I could have wished for, with a driven protagonist. Explores gender, desire, identity, all in the midst of war. Plus, there’s a pun in the title, what more could you want?

The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) Katherine Arden This is a Russian fairytale - and we open with a story which the pages inevitably follow. Vasya has her mother's gifts to see the household spirits, but her fearful and religious stepmother forbids her from communicating with them. Vasya defies her stepmother but there are other forces at work, roping in hearts and minds, and the Moscow priest also sees Vasya as a problem. This whole series is glorious, Vasya grows throughout, and examines what it means to be female and independent in a world where she is expected to be meek, demure, and subservient to a husband.

A Deadly Education (The Scholomance Trilogy #1) Naomi Novik Magical children from all over the world are packed off to a sentinent school, with no teachers, and no holidays... and monsters known as mals trying to feed on the schoolchildren. The best hope of survival is to be born into an enclave, a power-sharing body found in most major cities, but of course main character El has no such luck. This reminded me of Percy Jackson, and El is a wonderful protagonist - cynical, smart, warm-hearted under a very prickly exterior.

Gods of Jade and Shadow Silvia Moreno-Garcia Welcome to Jazz Age Mexico, where we go on a road trip with a girl called Casiopeia, and the Mayan god of death. Casiopeia feels trapped in her family life and expectations, and though there is danger, there is also freedom, exploration, joy, and a love story.

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings #2 - YA) Mackenzi Lee @melodypowers65 told me that I’d like this one better than the first in the trilogy, and I thought she was wrong because I love boys being silly and in love, but turns out what I love better than that is their fiercely independent, clever sisters on their own lively adventures.

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1) Rebecca Roanhorse This book is a Nebula/Hugo nominee for best novel of 2020/2021, and it’s masterclass in how to subvert euro-centric epic fantasy. Set in a fantasy world rooted in pre-Columbian South American culture, it’s a study of people who are dealing with generational trauma and feelings of not belonging. It centers around the solstice – a time for celebration and renewal. But this year there’s also a solar eclipse, which is said to be the unbalancing of the world, and people intent on fulfilling a potentially disastrous prophecy.  It steps outside of the gender binary and heteronormative spaces that fantasy has dwelled for too long and creates a world where people can simply be. It’s also a lush and descriptive piece of fiction. Be wary of a somewhat cliff-hanger ending; it’s the first in a trilogy and is the only one published as of yet.

--

I hope you manage to find something you love in all this! Let me know if you have any recommendations in turn. Stay tuned for my next book rec post, where there be dragons (yes, I’ve read enough dragon-themed books to warrant a whole other post). Thanks to @lisafer​ for her assistance, again!

[xtruss]

Generations of Mexican schoolchildren were taught the story of the Tree of the Sad Night, where Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés wept after being routed by Aztec forces at Tenochtitlan (modern downtown Mexico City). New signage also designates the tree (which nearly burned down in 1980 in a fireworks mishap) the “Tree of the Victorious Night” and “Tree of the Happy Night, here he cried.”

— By Andrés Reséndez | Photographs By Eunice Adorno | August 12, 2021

The remains of a massive cypress tree sits inside a small plaza in Mexico City, surrounded by fencing and illuminated by four spotlights at night. An old sign explains its significance: “This is the tree where Hernán Cortés wept after being defeated by the Aztec defenders.”

We Mexicans call it El Árbol de la Noche Triste, or The Tree of the Sad Night, and learn about it since grade school from government-issued history textbooks. The story goes something like this: In March 1519, a couple of hundred Spaniards, led by a stubborn but resourceful man with some legal training named Hernán Cortés, appeared on the Gulf of Mexico coast. They established contact with the mighty Aztecs of central Mexico and, after exchanging messages and gifts, made their way to the Valley of Mexico and the Aztec stronghold of Tenochtitlan (downtown Mexico City).

Left: This collage map, made by photographer Eunice Adorno, features archival photographs of important ancient routes and monuments in Tenochtitlan, as well moments from the city's history. The base of the map is a blue plastic widely used by modern merchants in Mexico City, and represents the water on which Tenochtitlan was established some 700 years ago. College By Eunice Adorno Right: A 1556 woodcut plan of the island city of Tenochtitlan. Via North Wind Picture Archive, Alamy

A view of the borough of Iztapalapa in Mexico City. Cortés' troops marched through this landscape 500 years ago to reach the Aztec stronghold of Tenochtitlan.

Remarkably, the Aztec tlatoani (emperor) Moctezuma initially welcomed the strangers. The Europeans were thus able to wander freely, according to our textbooks, marveling at the lavish buildings and floating gardens of a city built on top of an island in the middle of five interconnected lakes. From the top of Tenochtitlan’s grandest temple, the Templo Mayor, the visitors gazed out at dozens of city-states spreading all around the surrounding lakeshores. Some of these city-states had once been rivals of the Aztecs, but Tenochtitlan had become the dominant power by the 1500s.

Yet the newcomers outlasted their welcome. Prompted by mistrust and lack of understanding, on May 22, 1520 the Spanish launched an unprovoked attack on a group of unarmed Aztecs during a ceremony at the Templo Mayor. The formidable Aztec warriors fought back, driving the intruders from their island city and inflicting heavy casualties along the way. More than half of the Spanish contingent may have perished during the chaotic retreat. At some distance from Tenochtitlan, Cortés and his followers finally paused in a cypress grove to catch their breath, where the defeated Spanish leader sat at the base of a tree—perhaps the famous Árbol—and wept, as our textbooks and history classes would have it.

This Aztec victory proved temporary, however. The following year, Cortés returned with an army of Spanish soldiers and tens of thousands of Indigenous allies. After a long siege that cut the fresh water supply to the island, and following a multi-pronged attack that included ships assembled on the lakeshores and equipped with artillery pieces, Tenochtitlan finally surrendered to the Spanish and their allies on August 13, 1521, exactly 500 years ago today.

Left: A painting in the British Embassy collection in Mexico City depicts Cortés' retreat from Tenochtitlan in May 1520. According to tradition, on the evening of his defeat, Cortés sat beneath a cypress tree and wept. Photograph of Painting By Ann Ronan Pictures, Via Hulton Archive/Getty Right: "The Capture of Tenochtitlan", by an unknown painter, is one of eight panels in the Library of Congress that depict the events of 1521. Created 150 years later, they also reveal late 16th-century attitudes on the Spanish colonization of Mexico. Photograph Via Smith Archive, Alamy

This summer, I visited the Tree of the Sad Night and found city workers preparing for the fateful anniversary. At the plaza, I ran into a working crew anchoring a gleaming new sign that identified the famous tree as the Árbol de la Noche Victoriosa or “Tree of the Victorious Night.” It was a stark change in point of view.

Below this novel Spanish designation, the sign offered an even more contrasting rendition in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs that is still spoken by more than a million Indigenous people in central and southern Mexico: “Quautli in Yohualli Paquiliztli, nican ochoca” or “Tree of the Happy Night, here he cried.”

Finding the Right Words

The usual textbook portrayal of a band of brave Europeans toppling the most powerful Indigenous empire in the Americas may have some cinematic qualities but has always been suspect, particularly to professional historians like myself. Scholars very seldom speak with one voice, but there is broad consensus that understanding the events of 500 years ago as a binary clash between “Spaniards” and “Natives” is simply wrong.

Instead, the war that unfolded in 1519-1521 involved multiple and fiercely independent Mesoamerican city-states such as Cempoala, Tlaxcala, and Texcoco, organized in ever-shifting coalitions, one of which included a handful of Spaniards. Cortés and his conquistadors may have represented at the most one or two percent of the total forces on the field.

Insights such as this one are making present-day politicians and the public at large cast about for new ways to understand and refer to what happened that summer of 1521. Was it the Conquest of Mexico? A Mesoamerican war? An encounter of two worlds? A genocide?

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Mexico hard, forcing the closure of museums and exhibits that in other circumstances would have been natural venues for the quincentennial. Still, federal and city authorities have organized commemorative events, especially on the zocalo, or main plaza, of Mexico City where a 45-foot model of the Templo Mayor complete with state-of-the art illumination will be unveiled, just a couple of hundred yards away from the ruins of the original.

A large model of the main Aztec temple, the Templo Mayor, rises in Mexico City's central square ahead of the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan. The ruins of the ancient Templo Mayor are located just off the square.

Left: A dancer dressed in feathers stands in front of the 16th-century Metropolitan Cathedral on the zocalo, or main square, of Mexico City. Dancers commemorate the founding of Tenochtitlan each year. Right: Jaime and Valeria pose on Mexico City's historic Corregidora Street. The couple enjoy participating in traditional dances in downtown Mexico City.

In the meantime, ordinary Mexicans have chosen to remember the anniversary in their own ways. Whether at the Árbol, the Templo Mayor, or elsewhere in Mexico City, I ran into men and women decked out in pre-Columbian paraphernalia, dancing and performing limpias, spiritual cleanses. Some of these performers were there merely to make a living, asking for donations after their dances and charging fees for the limpias. But many of them were also committed to a greater or lesser extent to keeping Mesoamerican—and particularly Aztec—traditions alive. Some of them study Nahuatl, read history, and try to make sense of those long-ago events.

One morning, at the Templo Mayor, men and women were gathering in front of the ruins after having spent the night outdoors, in defiance of a stubborn rain, to honor Cuitláhuac, Moctezuma’s younger brother and a reputed warrior who had ruled Tenochtitlan briefly after Moctezuma’s death. As the rain continued through the morning, they set up a canopy and underneath it laid out candles, copal, food offerings, and flowers. A few Xoloitzcuintli—hairless dogs descended from pre-Columbian breeds that were nearly wiped out by the Europeans—sniffed around the area. To one side, there were banners with Cuitláhuac’s image and yet more flowers. The dancing started around noon, driven by relentless drumming and attracting spectators. During a brief pause, an elderly man walked toward the onlookers and announced, “He never lost a battle to the Spanish.”

Spaniards in the Story

Cortés died in Spain in 1547, but his mortal remains were returned to Mexico as he had stipulated in his last will and testament. After various moves, they came to rest at a hospital in downtown Mexico City, merely three blocks from the Templo Mayor. Some historical traditions affirm that it was around these grounds where Cortés and Moctezuma met for the first time.

Cortés himself had founded the Hospital de Jesús as early as 1524 and, remarkably, it remains in operation. This year, however, the building is off limits in spite of its historical significance. “Only patients can come inside because of the pandemic,” a receptionist tersely replied when I asked if I could go inside to see a bust of Cortés that lays discreetly in an interior courtyard.

Left: A corner of the Old Palace of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya, today the Museum of Mexico City, features a snake carving that once graced an Aztec pyramid. Right: Visitors rest on a monument to Cortés in the Cortés Pass in Amecameca, some 35 miles east of Mexico City. His troops crossed the pass, 11,800 feet above sea level, to reach Tenochtitlan. Bottom: A shrine to Ehecatl, a Mesoamerican god of air and winds, is showcased that the Pino Suarez metro station in Mexico City where it was discovered. Vendors around the metro station sell clothing and other products.

It is possibly the only public bust of the conquistador in all of Mexico. Ever since Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Cortés has become notable for his absence, although he still manages to cast a long historical shadow. Very few streets or places are named after him. About 40 years ago, a statue of Cortés was erected in the neighborhood of Coyoacán, but the local residents complained and threw painting on it. The statue did not last long.

More recently, other Spanish conquistadors have come under similar scrutiny. Just a few blocks away from the Árbol, there is a street called “Puente de Alvarado” or “Alvarado’s Bridge,” named after Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado who, according to the early chronicles, was the one who ordered the unprovoked 1520 attack on the Aztecs celebrating at Tenochtitlan. Yet, earlier this year, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum indignantly asked, “How is it possible that we have a street named Puente de Alvarado when Alvarado was the principal perpetrator of the massacre at the Templo Mayor?” The thoroughfare is now called “Calzada México-Tenochtitlan.”

Still, 16th-century Spaniards were masters at writing themselves into the story, especially Cortés himself, a born self-promoter. His Second Letter to the Spanish King—published widely in Europe and quoted by historians—is a monument to selective storytelling, exaggeration, and shameless lying. When he wrote his letter at the end of October 1520, Cortés and his followers were still licking their wounds four months after their hasty retreat from Tenochtitlan and the “Sad Night” (now “Victorious” or “Happy”). Nonetheless, the Spanish leader had little trouble boasting about having already won a magnificent kingdom, “so Your Majesty can justly title yourself its new emperor.”

Left: Aztec emperor Moctezuma is depicted surrendering to Cortés in this 1807 engraving. Via Prisma/Universal Images Group/Getty Right: Tenochtitlan is documented in a 1524 map that accompanied the first European publication of Cortés' letters to the Spanish king. Via Art Collection 2, Alamy

A global Turning Point

In the decades and centuries that followed that pivotal summer 500 years ago, Spain did come to rule what is now Mexico, Central America, and parts of the United States; and, in the fullness of time, much of the western hemisphere. The most powerful European empire of the early modern era was able to exploit this large region in very tangible ways that ranged from the extraction of minerals and plant products to the outright enslavement of Indigenous peoples. Between 1500 and 1800, around 80 percent of all the silver produced in the world came out of New World mines. Related to this prodigious extractive activity, some 2.5 to 5 million Native Americans were enslaved in the American continent between the arrival of Columbus and the beginning of the 20th century, according to my estimates.

Beyond such terrible consequences for the Americas, the European takeover of America had dramatic repercussions for the rest of the world. Resources extracted from the continent gave Europeans just enough of an edge to lead the industrial revolution and gain ascendancy until quite recently. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, parts of China, Japan, and India enjoyed levels of technological and institutional development comparable to those of Europe. Yet the naked exploitation of the Americas—that began in earnest with the takeover of Mexico—enabled some parts of the Old World to grow its population and wealth and pull ahead from the rest of the world.

Bicycle taxis await customers in Amecameca, Mexico. The Spanish colonization of Mexico sparked a rapid phase of globalization that continues to this day.

The Spanish conquest also turned Mexico into a major bridge between East and West. Barely nine months after downfall of Tenochtitlan, Cortés himself established a beachhead on the Pacific coast. “I have started building ships and brigantines to explore all the secrets of that coast,” he wrote to the Spanish monarch in 1522, “and this will undoubtedly reveal marvelous things.” In 1527-1528, Cortés launched an expedition from Mexico to Asia. By the 1560s, annual Spanish galleons connected Asia with the Americas, finally giving rise to the global world that we now know.

National Narrative

When I got together with my family and friends in Mexico City, few seemed particularly interested talking about the quincentennial. COVID-19 has caused Mexico’s worst economic contraction since the 1930s, so the conversation naturally veered toward lost jobs, insecurity in the streets, or plans for moving out of the city to greener pastures.

Nonetheless, some of them were intrigued by the sheer proliferation of anniversaries during this fateful pandemic year. While the destruction of the magnificent city-state of the Aztecs in 1521 may not seem worth remembering, Mexicans are also celebrating the end of Mexico’s wars of independence from Spain in September 1821. Five hundred years of la conquista thus coincides with 200 years of la consumación de la independencia; the first a tragedy commemorated in August and the second a party reserved for September.

As if this were not enough, the Mexican president along with Mexico City authorities added a third major anniversary to this calendar year: 700 years since the founding of the Aztec Empire in May of 1321 (even though the date remains controversial, as early sources are vague and sometimes refer to 1325 rather than 1321).

the Mendoza Codex depicting an eagle with a serpent in its mouth. *NEW* Mendoza Codex depicting the mexican coat of arms . 16th century. Unknown CodexMendoza01. Via The Picture Art College, Alamy

Still, there is an obvious logic to this stacking up of three major commemorations in succession. In the shorthand narrative of the nation, Mexico began to take shape around seven hundred years ago, when Indigenous migrants arrived in the Valley of Mexico and spotted an eagle devouring a serpent on an island in the middle of a lake—a scene memorialized today on the Mexican flag. Five hundred years ago, however, the nation was temporarily hijacked by Spain; and 200 years ago, it was finally—and triumphantly—restored.

New Traditions and Meanings

Meanwhile, out in the streets of Mexico, men and women continue to grapple with such historical milestones in their own ways, creating new traditions and meanings. This process is perhaps most evident at the small plaza of the “Tree of the Victorious Night.” Even though a fireworks accident in 1980 reduced the cypress to a burnt stump, it continues to attract visitors and invite reinterpretation.

On a recent day of plaza festivities in late June, a community organizer named Amalia Rosas offered a workshop on pre-contact foods. In an era when Mexicans suffer from some of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in the world, Rosas exhorted attendees to give up processed meals and return to beans, squash, corn, and other healthful foods of our pre-Columbian ancestors.

A new mural was also unveiled in the plaza, depicting Spaniards fleeing the island-city of Tenochtitlan and making Indigenous porters carry heavy loads while the conquistadors themselves try to fend off attacks from Aztec warriors. “Cuitláhuac unleashed the offensive”—the accompanying text explains—as they [the Spanish] fled loaded with gold.”

Yet other Mexicans remain skeptical. During one of my visits, I watched an elderly couple milling about the tree stump. While the man took pictures of the stump with charred limbs sticking up, the woman read the new sign characterizing the site as a place of victory and happiness. Then she wistfully commented, to no one in particular: “History has been manipulated so much.”

[moonlitmoth]

A conquistador of yore stumbles out of the turbulent waves of the sea. A woman’s voice informs us that the impossible has occurred: This man is a ghost, the last of the vicious Spaniards who accompanied Hérnan Cortés on his brutal 1521 campaign against the Aztec Empire. He is now in the liminal space between the living and the dead, the past and the present, the colonizer and the colonized. But for what purpose? The nameless conquistador, played by Eduardo San Juan, stalks from the coast to Mexico City, retracing the bloody footsteps of Cortés. Simultaneously real yet intangible, his every action is suffused with magical realism. He tries to bark orders at a group of Indigenous schoolchildren, but his Catholic colonialist zeal halts as he realizes his words no longer matter. So begins 499, a surreal documentary/fiction hybrid by Mexican-American director Rodrigo Reyes.

[baja-network]

While authorities in major cities have shut their borders, announced major lockdowns and ordered curfews in an effort to stem the global spread of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of people flocked to a two-day music concert in Mexico and the country's top football leagues played to stadiums full of cheering fans over the weekend.The government of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has faced harsh criticism for its seemingly lackluster response and for downplaying the threat of the illness that has infected more than 179,000 people and killed more than 7,000 worldwide.

At least 82 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Mexico, with no deaths, the country's health ministry said on Monday. But experts say the real numbers could be much higher as testing has been limited. Health experts also warn that the country is sorely under-prepared to cope with widespread transmission of the disease amid an already severely underfunded and overstretched health system.

Following intense backlash over the events that were held over the weekend, the government took more robust action including suspending "nonessential services", such as seminars and conferences and other small-scale events that have a low economic effect. They urged people to work from home and expanded Easter break for schoolchildren from two weeks to a full month beginning on Friday.

The health ministry also unveiled the "Sana Distancia" (or "Healthy Distancing") initiative, which urges the public to avoid cheek kissing, the customary greeting in Mexico, to avoid infection.

Source: Jihan Abdalla / ALJ

[pumblr-tosts-blog]

For my painting I interpreted Georgia O'Keeffe's Music, Pink and Blue No. II (above):

O’Keeffe painted Music, Pink and Blue II in 1918, when she was just starting to explore abstraction.

During this time O’Keeffe was moving from Texas to New York, where she later became a well-known artist.

As the title suggests, she found music to closely correlate with the mode of expression she had depicted.

O’Keeffe used to teach in both South Carolina and Texas.

Georgia O’Keeffe also has her own museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she died at the age of 98.

After reading up on both O’Keeffe and her piece “Music, Pink and Blue No. II”, I found that she drew most of her inspiration for the art from music, which was immediately evident in the picture itself. At first, I assumed it was a depiction of a flower; however, after further inquisition, I found it’s well-defined lines, colors, and shading are simply an abstraction meant to visually illustrate the sounds she had in mind. I also enjoyed her juxtaposition of cold and warm colors.

2) My work of art (displayed above) is a homemade mural I built with my dad. He has a friend who works for the city’s public works department. The signs were going to be discarded anyway (someone had hit and run both signposts, so the signs were laying on the ground), so we took them off his hands and hung them up in our garage. It’s mostly for decoration, but it is also a conversation piece, and many visitors think it’s humorous. I don’t know if I would think of it as a beautiful piece of art, but it holds a very personal meaning, as it is something my dad and I built together.

3) I sometimes think I am too cynical to enjoy art. I think this is a hindrance or form of baggage, because holding art to a higher standard keeps me from enjoying as much of it as I could. I am 19 years old, about to be twenty. I am a Caucasian male and a Florida native. For fun I usually play video games, practice math, do physical labor around the house, or take my friends and girlfriend out. I am one of the co-founders of a peer improvement group known as the Leaders of Today, a congregation of older peers uniting to help tutor younger schoolchildren in both scholastic and social scenarios. I work with my dad occasionally as a general contractor. One of the things that I believe makes me unique is that I know a bit about everything, and I am skillful in a variety of activities.

4) The picture above is something I feel to be symbolic of myself. I think there is the most beauty in unexpected places. I also deeply enjoy Asian-inspired art such as calligraphy and bonsai. It is a mix of media (vase paintings and donuts) that is almost jarring in their lack of similarities, yet they manage to work together to create a unique and unexpected aesthetic experience.

[srvrishabh]

The Football world cup and UEFA European Championship events- how saving along the way can benefit these football aspirations

The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.” — Michelle Obama

The UK is a largely devoted football nation passionate about the sport with every bone in its body. Sports fans often gather in the thousands at stadiums across the UK. The football game also takes place abroad, where many fans set their sights on attending these events, such as the FIFA World cup and the UEFA European Championships, which occur every four years. This means that Football fans have a four-year time span to save towards their football venture, which requires saving for flights and accommodation, food, football tickets and other expenses they might acquire, such as extracurricular activities, for instance, festivals or other attractions in the city they want to take part in while abroad.

Official statistics on the FIFA website have revealed that after the first stage of group matches had finished, the average attendance at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar was a whopping 94% overall. There were over 3 million purchases of tournament tickets for the 2022 World cup. More than 32 nations will be able to make their mark on the field. The most attended match so far has been the Brazil vs Serbia match, which occurred in Lusail stadium on the 24th of November 2022; 88,103 fans graced the stadium’s doors. Brazil achieved victory with a final score of 2-0.

The FIFA Fan Festival in Doha’s Al Bidda Park occurred on the same day as the most attended match, and attendance numbers for the event also reached record numbers, with 98,000 fans taking part throughout the day.

The UEFA European Championship, another noteworthy popular football event, will take in the Netherlands, where they will host the UEFA Nations finals as confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee.

The Royal Dutch Football Association picked the cities of Rotterdam and Enschede to hold the matches; the semi-finals are scheduled to commence next year on the 14th and 15th of June, and the third match and final will take place on the 18th of June.

The UEFA Women’s Futsal EURO 2023 will be hosted by the Hungarian Football Federation as decided by the UEFA Executive committee. The matches are expected to take place at the Fönix Arena in Debrecen from the 16 th to the 19th of March, 2023.

In addition, women’s football made waves in the UK in 2022 after the Lioness’s triumph at the Euro 2022, which helped women’s football to be more recognised and inspired many young schoolchildren to want to achieve their sporty ambitions. A study gathered data from over 2,500 children and young people aged 13-24 revealed that almost 70 per cent of girls who enjoy playing sports felt inspired to achieve high ranks, nearly equalling 75% of boys who like sports. This is an increase of 50% more girls, within the same criteria, two years prior. The women’s football games are certainly one to watch, as 2022 has demonstrated and with the increased popularity, this may be an extra football game that is added to many bucket lists of things to do and save towards.

According to a Guardian article, Jorge Aguilar, 25, is a schoolteacher from Mexico; he had always dreamed of attending a football World cup. Mr Aguiar decided to start saving his coins but sometimes found it difficult to sacrifice minor things such as treats but managed to stay strong to achieve a momentous milestone. Mr Aguiar’s football journey started on October 2020, and in two years, he managed to save £1,371, which is (32,200 pesos) equal to four months’ income. Finally, on the 22nd of November 2022, his dream came when he arrived in Qatar and based on his experience, he was not disappointed.

How to financially prepare for football events?

Set up a budget

A budget is a crucial strategy to implement when managing finances; although it can be a little time-consuming, it is a worthwhile investment of your time to get a better picture of your finances.

Setting up a budget can decrease the likelihood of ending up in debt and increase the chances of being more prepared for unexpected expenses, improving the probability of a good credit score and being approved for a mortgage or loan. You will also be able to see where you can save money and be more likely to save for holidays and a mortgage on a home

What will be needed?

Before starting a budget plan, you will need to calculate the amount you spend on household bills, other living costs, financial products such as insurance, bank charges or interest, and any money spent on family and friends such as lending money or purchase of gifts or travelling to events such as hen trips, forms of transport such as car expenses such as fuel tests, leisure, including gym membership, hobbies, cinema and other entertainment.

2. Set up automatic monthly transfers

The key to achieving a saving goal is to be consistent with saving, and the best way to do this is to set up automatic payments from your current account to your saving account on payday; that way, regardless of what other expenses may prop up, you have already paid yourself.

If you have more than one saving goal, set up a saving account for each within your financial reach and split what you can between both savings accounts.

3. Book hotel and accommodation together

Booking hotel and accommodation together may work out cheaper as the overall price will include both in the package; it will also save time and stress as you will not have to search for accommodation and flights separately. Also, it is easier to gather the documents for travel and call the company if you need assistance.

Booking separately can sometimes be more expensive because although some airlines have very low-cost tickets, accommodation can sometimes be more expensive. Also, airlines that charge less for tickets are often stricter on baggage allowance and more likely to charge you extra for baggage.

4. Watch out for extra fees the hotel may charge you

Some hotels will charge extra fees such as city tax and other fees, and some charge more than others; therefore, always read the fine print before booking to make sure you are aware of any additional charges so you can look elsewhere if you find the extra costs too costly.

5. Check the distance between the hotel and the airport

If you plan to book a shuttle or private car, check the distance from the airport to the hotel, as the further the hotel from the airport, the more expensive the transport is. The shuttle bus option is usually cheaper than the private vehicle option so remember to check if the shuttle option is available.

There are instances when only private vehicle hiring is available for specific hotels.

6. Try to book accommodation with cooking facilities

Booking accommodation with cooking facilities may work out cheaper than going out daily to buy food, as you can go to the grocery store and purchase food to cook, which could last for a couple of days or the whole trip.

Accommodations with self-catering are advantageous because they are more budget-friendly and healthier, especially if you travel as part of a group or family.

Intellisaving

Intellisaving is an innovative saving application that can work with different users’ journeys, such as saving for retirement, starting a family or saving for a deposit on a house. Additionally, having a saving app like Intellisaving can benefit those wanting to save for interests such as football games in the UK or abroad because the platform integrates multiple ISA and saving accounts to their platform from over 70 banks and building societies, facilitating the tracking process.

 They also have features which include comparing the highest interest rates for different saving categories, such as easy access, which other banks and financial institutes have on offer so that users can see if they could make more out of their savings with a better interest rate.

The website also has numerous innovative and detailed articles with money-saving tips. The time to experience adventure and save with the future in mind is now, as we never know what might be around the corner. Saving for emergencies and personal aspirations such as attending football matches abroad with friends or family is within reach with consistent savings and smart financial choices, as many people have been able to experience once in the lifetime adventures through dedicated savings. There are many more people like Mr Aguillar who have had to save to experience certain dreams that are important to them, and his experience shows that saving and attaining a goal can be reached with persistence and a few

[hell-yeahfilm]

THE MYSTERY OF THE MONARCHS

“By the time he was eight, Fred Urquhart was a bug man.” Though Urquhart’s work has been well documented for young audiences, most recently in Meeg Pincus’ Winged Wonders (2020, illustrated by Yas Imamura), this brisk and lively account of his decadeslong search focuses on the role played by thousands of “amateur scientists,” particularly schoolchildren, of three countries in finally tracking the butterflies to their winter quarters in mountains west of Mexico City. Rosenstock fills in details about the monarch’s life cycle over several appendixes, noting both the worrisome fact that migratory populations have declined in numbers some 80% over the past 20 years and that we still don’t know just how the insects find their way over such a distance. Along with butterfly-strewn representations of Urquhart and his wife, Norah, both White, and groups of volunteers that are diverse in both race and age, Meza, who was born in Michoacán, Mexico, where the monarchs have special significance, especially to the Purépecha and Mazahua people, adds an afterword in which she describes visiting Michoacán and meeting the community that is collectively caring for butterflies through sanctuaries. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

from Kirkus Reviews https://ift.tt/ogsauPR

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.17

887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt. His nephew Arnulf of Carinthia is elected as king of the East Frankish Kingdom. 1183 – Genpei War: The Battle of Mizushima takes place off the Japanese coast, where Minamoto no Yoshinaka's invasion force is intercepted and defeated by the Taira clan. 1292 – John Balliol becomes King of Scotland. 1405 – Sharif ul-Hāshim establishes the Sultanate of Sulu. 1511 – Henry VIII of England concludes the Treaty of Westminster, a pledge of mutual aid against the French, with Ferdinand II of Aragon. 1558 – Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England. 1603 – English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason. 1777 – Articles of Confederation (United States) are submitted to the states for ratification. 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Bridge of Arcole: French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy. 1800 – The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C. 1810 – Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place. 1811 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile. 1820 – Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica. (The Palmer Peninsula is later named after him.) 1831 – Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia. 1837 – An earthquake in Valdivia, south-central Chile, causes a tsunami that leads to significant destruction along Japan's coast. 1856 – American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase. 1858 – Modified Julian Day zero. 1858 – The city of Denver, Colorado is founded. 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins: Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee, under siege. 1869 – In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated. 1878 – First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante, who was armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in an arm. Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury in a leg. 1885 – Serbo-Bulgarian War: The decisive Battle of Slivnitsa begins. 1894 – H. H. Holmes, one of the first modern serial killers, is arrested in Boston, Massachusetts. 1896 – The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino. 1903 – The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: The Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority"). 1939 – Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal. All Czech universities are shut down and more than 1,200 students sent to concentration camps. Since this event, International Students' Day is celebrated in many countries, especially in the Czech Republic. 1947 – The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath. 1947 – American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century. 1950 – Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama. 1950 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 89 relating to the Palestine Question is adopted. 1953 – The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland, are evacuated to the mainland. 1957 – Vickers Viscount G-AOHP of British European Airways crashes at Ballerup after the failure of three engines on approach to Copenhagen Airport. The cause is a malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft. There are no fatalities. 1962 – President John F. Kennedy dedicates Washington Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C., region. 1967 – Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress." 1968 – British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service. 1968 – Viewers of the Raiders–Jets football game in the eastern United States are denied the opportunity to watch its exciting finish when NBC broadcasts Heidi instead, prompting changes to sports broadcasting in the U.S. 1969 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, Finland to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides. 1970 – Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre. 1970 – Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft. 1973 – Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook." 1973 – The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital. 1983 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico. 1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29). 1990 – Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, becomes active again and erupts. 1993 – United States House of Representatives passes a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement. 1993 – In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup. 1997 – In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by six Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre. 2000 – A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills seven, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years. 2000 – Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru. 2012 – At least 50 schoolchildren are killed in an accident at a railway crossing near Manfalut, Egypt. 2013 – Fifty people are killed when Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashes at Kazan Airport, Russia. 2013 – A rare late-season tornado outbreak strikes the Midwest. Illinois and Indiana are most affected with tornado reports as far north as lower Michigan. In all around six dozen tornadoes touch down in approximately an 11-hour time period, including seven EF3 and two EF4 tornadoes. 2019 – The first known case of COVID-19 is traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

[newstfionline]

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Louisiana braces for ‘life-altering’ Hurricane Ida (AP) Residents across Louisiana’s coast Saturday were taking one last day to prepare for what is being described as a “life-altering” Hurricane Ida which is expected to bring winds as high as 140 mph (225 kph) when it slams ashore. A combination of voluntary and mandatory evacuations have been called for cities and communities across the region including New Orleans, where the mayor ordered a mandatory evacuation for areas outside the city’s levee system and a voluntary evacuation for residents inside the levee system. The storm is expected to make landfall on the exact date Hurricane Katrina devastated a large swath of the Gulf Coast 16 years earlier. But whereas Katrina was a Category 3 when it made landfall southwest of New Orleans, Ida is expected to reach an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, with top winds of 140 mph (225 kph) before making landfall likely west of New Orleans late Sunday. “This will be a life-altering storm for those who aren’t prepared,” National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Schott said during a Friday news conference with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.

White House More Than Doubles Its Inflation Forecast in New Update (WSJ) The White House more than doubled its forecast for annual inflation in new projections released Friday, as supply-chain disruptions stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic continue to put upward pressure on prices. The Office of Management and Budget said it expected consumer prices would rise 4.8% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, up sharply from the 2% rise that the Biden administration forecast in May. Officials see those price pressures quickly abating next year, with the consumer-price index rising 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2022, more than the 2.1% they expected in May, and reaching 2.3% in 2023.

Hurricane Nora on track to skirt along Mexico’s coast (AP) Hurricane Nora formed Saturday in the eastern Pacific on a forecast track that would bring it near the Puerto Vallarta area and then head toward a close encounter with resorts at the tip of Baja California Peninsula. Nora had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) Saturday morning, with tropical storm force winds extending out 175 miles (280 kilometers) from the center in some places. The storm’s large wind field and heavy rains mean much of Mexico’s central and northern Pacific Coast could see floods, mudslides and perilous surf even if it misses the very heart of the hurricane.

Brazil water survey heightens alarm over extreme drought (AP) The Brazilian scientists were skeptical. They ran different models to check calculations, but all returned the same startling result. The country with the most freshwater resources on the planet steadily lost 15% of its surface water since 1991. Gradual retreat in the Brazilian share of the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, left water covering just one-quarter the area it did 30 years ago. And the data only went through 2020—before this year’s drought that is Brazil’s worst in nine decades. The ongoing drought has already boosted energy costs and food prices, withered crops, rendered vast swaths of forest more susceptible to wildfire and prompted specialists to warn of possible electricity shortages. President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said hydroelectric dam reservoirs are “at the limit of the limit.” Brazil’s energy minister Bento Albuquerque on Aug. 25 called a press conference to deny the possibility of rationing, while at the same time calling on companies and people to reduce power consumption.

UN team: Unclear if Fukushima cleanup can finish by 2051 (AP) Too little is known about melted fuel inside damaged reactors at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, even a decade after the disaster, to be able to tell if its decommissioning can be finished by 2051 as planned, a U.N. nuclear agency official said Friday. “Honestly speaking, I don’t know, and I don’t know if anybody knows,” said Christophe Xerri, head of an International Atomic Energy Agency team reviewing progress in the plant’s cleanup. A massive earthquake and a tsunami in March 2011 destroyed cooling systems at the Fukushima plant in northeastern Japan, triggering meltdowns in three reactors in the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl accident. Japanese government and utility officials say they hope to finish its decommissioning within 30 years, though some experts say that’s overly optimistic, even if a full decommissioning is possible at all.

As China-Taiwan Tensions Rise, Japan Begins Preparing for Possible Conflict (WSJ) China’s growing assertiveness toward Taiwan has triggered a public push by Japanese leaders to plan for a possible conflict. Tokyo officials, normally wary of upsetting Beijing, are speaking openly about preparing for a crisis and supporting Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China, despite Japan’s pacifist constitution. Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said recently in a speech to supporters that Japan and the U.S. should plan together to defend the island in the event of hostilities. In its annual regional security review, Japan said there a “greater sense of crisis than ever before” regarding Taiwan, after China stepped up maneuvers by its ships and aircraft nearby. Major Japanese military drills starting in September are expected to further help Tokyo prepare for any trouble in areas including Taiwan, current and former Japanese officials say.

American forces keep up airlift under high threat warnings (AP) American forces working under heightened security and threats of another attack pressed ahead in the closing days of the U.S.-led evacuation from Afghanistan after a devastating suicide bombing, and U.S. officials said they had killed two members of the extremist group that the United States believes responsible for it. Thursday’s bombing marked one of the most lethal attacks the country has seen. The U.S. said it was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011. Around the world, newly arriving Afghan evacuees, many clutching babies and bare handfuls of belongings in plastic bags, stepped off evacuation flights in the United States, in Albania, in Belgium and beyond. More than 110,000 people have been safely evacuated through the Kabul airport, according to the U.S., but thousands more are struggling to leave.

U.S. military begins withdrawal from Kabul airport (Reuters) U.S. troops have begun their withdrawal from Kabul airport, the Pentagon said on Saturday, as the evacuation efforts from the Afghan capital entered their final stages. President Joe Biden sent thousands of troops to the airport as the Taliban swept through Afghanistan earlier this month to help evacuate American citizens, at-risk Afghans and other foreigners desperate to flee. At the peak of the deployment there were 5,800 U.S. troops securing Hamid Karzai International Airport, where an unprecedented airlift operation is set to end by Tuesday.

From garbage to garden, Nairobi resident helps slum bloom (Reuters) A decade ago, a patch of land in Nairobi’s Dandora district was a dumping ground for the trash of the city’s wealthier residents with scarcely a plant to be seen. Now, children play on the grass and locals relax among avocado trees as birds sing in the branches above. The lush community garden has even become the backdrop for rappers and other creatives to shoot their videos. This transformation is thanks to Charles Gachanga, 45, who grew up in the neighbourhood back when it reeked of garbage. “We came and cleaned ... We did not even have a penny,” said Gachanga, who started working in 2013 on the garden space, called Mustard Seed, with three friends. “We just had that focus, we had that passion to see how we could transform our neighbourhood.” Their project has inspired a network of similar community-built green spaces, 20 alone in Dandora, he said. Maintenance costs are covered by community contributions. Residents living near Gachanga’s green space pay 100 shillings a month, less than $1, for maintenance. People without the funds often volunteer, planting trees or cleaning, Gachanga said.

15 more students freed in Nigeria after release of 90 others (AP) Overjoyed parents awaited the return of 90 young schoolchildren who had spent three months held by gunmen as authorities elsewhere in northern Nigeria announced a second group of 15 students also had been released. The news was celebrated across Nigeria, where more than 1,000 students have been kidnapped from schools since December. The abductions have stepped up pressure on the Nigerian government to do more to secure educational facilities in remote areas.

How water shortages are brewing wars (BBC Future) As much as a quarter of the world's population now faces severe water scarcity at least one month out of the year and it is leading many to seek a more secure life in other countries. "If there is no water, people will start to move," says Kitty van der Heijden, chief of international cooperation at the Netherlands' foreign ministry and an expert in hydropolitics. Water scarcity affects roughly 40% of the world's population and, according to predictions by the United Nations and the World Bank, drought could put up to 700 million people at risk of displacement by 2030. People like van der Heijden are concerned about what that could lead to. "If there is no water, politicians are going to try and get their hands on it and they might start to fight over it," she says. Over the course of the 20th Century, global water use grew at more than twice the rate of population increase. Today, this dissonance is leading many cities—from Rome to Cape Town, Chennai to Lima—to ration water. Water crises have been ranked in the top five of the World Economic Forum's Global Risks by Impact list nearly every year since 2012. In 2017, severe droughts contributed to the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two, when 20 million people across Africa and the Middle East were forced to leave their homes due to the accompanying food shortages and conflicts that erupted. Peter Gleick, head of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, has spent the last three decades studying the link between water scarcity, conflict and migration and believes that water conflict is on the rise. "With very rare exceptions, no one dies of literal thirst," he says. "But more and more people are dying from contaminated water or conflicts over access to water."

The year of COVID burnout (The Week) “September was supposed to mark the beginning of a new normal,” said Katherine Bindley at The Wall Street Journal. Instead, for many workers, the spread of the Delta variant is déjà vu all over again. Companies of all sizes are delaying plans to return to the office, and outbreaks have already forced some schools to shut down. It’s left many workers “in an anxiety-producing state of limbo.” As the pandemic drags on, more people are struggling with exhaustion, loss, and isolation, and “employees’ mental health is quickly becoming a top concern,” said Erica Pandey at Axios. In addition to seeing more employees quit, “a whopping 52 percent of U.S. employers say they are ‘experiencing significant workplace issues’ with substance misuse or addiction by employees,” according to a new survey. Forty-four percent of workers now say they feel fatigued on the job, up from 34 percent in 2020. Some companies are going to great lengths to boost worker morale, said Jenny Gross at The New York Times. LinkedIn, Bumble, and Intuit recently “introduced weeklong companywide shutdowns so employees can fully disconnect.” PricewaterhouseCoopers is even “offering workers $250 each time they take 40 consecutive hours off.” Recognizing that extended vacations might not benefit workers hesitant about travel, Adobe began giving the entire company a day off one Friday per month. Before the pandemic, “I had a solid division between my work and home life,” said Cody Barbo at Fast Company. “Now everything has sort of blended together.” My company has added a monthly flex day that employees can take off for their “mental health.” We’ve also added guest speakers, virtual happy hours, and stipends for work-from-home costs.

[architectnews]

Gio Ponti's towering Denver Art Museum is updated and expanded

A rounded, glazed welcome centre is among the enhancements made by US firms Machado Silvetti Architects and Fentress Architects to the Gio Ponti-designed Denver Art Museum, which opened in 1971.

The museum sits within the heart of Denver, in a district known as the Golden Triangle. After being partly closed for years, the museum will fully reopen to the public on 24 October 2021.

A rounded welcome centre is among the updates to the Denver Art Museum

The modifications include a new welcome centre, outdoor areas and reconfigured galleries, along with additional space for education, events and dining. The project was designed by Boston-based Machado Silvetti Architects and local firm Fentress Architects.

The art museum unveiled the renovation and expansion plan in 2016, citing the need to expand its offerings while unifying its buildings and bringing them up to date. The project was mostly completed last year, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed the unveiling until this fall.

The original entrance features an oval-shaped steel tube

The original museum – a seven-storey, asymmetrical tower clad in shimmering tiles – was designed by the Italian architect Gio Ponti and opened in 1971. It has 24 different sides and has been referred to as "castle-like" in appearance.

"More than one million reflective tiles cover the building's exterior, and its two-towered facade has long been an iconic city feature," the team said.

The Martin Building is clad in tiles

The building was one of the first high-rise art museums, in addition to being Ponti's only completed building in North America. The architect – known for such works as the 1958 Pirelli Tower in Milan, along with a range of furniture, household items and art objects – died in 1979 at the age of 87.

Long called the North Building, the facility has been renamed the J Landis and Sharon Martin Building.

A rooftop terrace on the Martin Building

The Martin Building is not the only structure the architects had to consider while conceiving the overhaul. A spiky, standalone addition to the museum, called the Hamilton Building, opened in 2006 with a design by American architect Daniel Libeskind.

Next to the museum is another notable work of architecture: the postmodern-style Denver Central Public Library, which was largely created by Michael Graves.

The Sie Welcome Center is elliptically-shaped

The team has said its goal was to respect the context and to honor Ponti's original vision as best as possible.

"To create the new Sie Welcome Center in the architecturally rich context of Denver's Golden Triangle Creative District, it was critical for us to design a structure that was simultaneously in dialogue with the vibrant visual language of Ponti and Studio Libeskind's designs, while also providing connection to the museum," said Jorge Silvetti, principal at Machado Silvetti.

The most visible aspect of the renovation project is the new Sie Welcome Center, which adjoins the Ponti tower.

Rounded in plan, the building rises two levels and totals 50,000 square feet (4,645 square metres). Its shape was inspired by an elliptical auditorium that Ponti had originally intended for the museum.

A view from the Welcome Center

The upper level is clad in curved, structural glass panels, with each panel measuring 25 feet tall and eight feet wide (7.6 by 2.4 metres). The team described the glazed facade as "an unprecedented feat of engineering and the first building to use curved glass panels in this way".

"With its elliptical shape that is approachable from all angles, and transparent glass facade, the Sie Welcome Center is an inviting and glowing beacon to greet all visitors," said Silvetti.

A conservation laboratory

Inside, the new centre holds guest services, a fine dining restaurant, a casual cafe, educational and event space, and a conservation laboratory.

Within the Ponti tower, two new elevators were installed. All galleries have been upgraded, and a new design gallery was created.

Interiors in the Ponti tower

Moreover, a gallery dedicated to Western American art on the seventh floor has been expanded by 9,000 square feet (836 square metres). Also on the seventh level are two new patios, where visitors can take in views of the city and Rocky Mountains.

On the Ponti tower facades, the team swapped out many of the original tiles with replicas, and it replaced windows with energy-efficient versions.

Duncan Hall features a new grand staircase

The building's exterior lighting has been replaced with an LED system, one of the many elements that helped the project earn LEED Silver certification from the US Green Building Council.

The tower's original entrance, which features an oval-shaped steel tube, has been restored and will be used for large groups, such as schoolchildren.

Lights inside Duncan Hall

Several additional firms were involved in the project.

OMA New York was responsible for exhibitions for the museum's design gallery, and IKD of Boston and San Francisco has designed a special exhibition on the building's main floor. A new learning and engagement centre features "playful, creative and inspired flexible spaces" created by Mexico City's Esrawe + Cadena.

Tiles shimmer on the Martin Building

To mark the building's reopening, the museum will present an exhibition titled Gio Ponti: Designer of a Thousand Talents. Designed by OMA and organised by the museum's architecture curator, Darrin Alfred, the show will present objects from the museum's collection. The show opens 24 October 2021 and runs indefinitely.

Located at the base of the Rocky Mountains, Denver has experienced significant growth and development in the past decade. Other recent projects there include a hotel by Dynia Architects that has an off-kilter appearance, and a multi-use complex by Tres Birds that encompasses a full city block.

The photography is by James Florio.

Project credits: 

Architects: Machado Silvetti and Fentress Architects Owner's representative: Grundy Construction Management & Consulting General contractor: Saunders Construction

The post Gio Ponti's towering Denver Art Museum is updated and expanded appeared first on Dezeen.

[broodsys]

ok so this is literally a paragraph from my assignment but idc, this is? really fucking cool? apps be out here saving cities

“ This article (link) explores five apps in different parts of the world that all foster civic engagement. First is an app called Traffic Agent in Oslo, the capital of Norway. The app allows schoolchildren to report damage or safety hazards in the city, and it uses GPS so the city will have an exact location. Next, in Mexico City, an app, Mapatón, mapped the city’s buses through crowdsourced information, and a partnership with the city allowed for money and rewards for reporting different neighborhood routes, and in just over a week had mapped 2,600 rides or 30,000 miles worth. Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia, has a map called PetaJakarta (Map Jakarta) which allows for citizen reporting on seasonal flooding. Through this app, 1,000 flood sites have provided a flood map that both citizens and emergency services use. In New Orleans, an app called Big Easy Budget Game places citizens in the role of ‘mayor for a day,’ having them play through a ten-minute game that has them budget the city, and the app itself provides guidelines and instructions for users on the different departments, costs, and potential issues with under-funding. Notably, the final data will be compiled into the People’s Budget, which will be released with the City’s proposed budget. Finally, San Jose has an app, CitySourced, which is similar to Oslo’s Traffic Agent, allowing citizens to report city issues directly and easily to officials. They send a geo-tagged, time-stamped photo directly to city servers, allowing the data to be easily utilized. “

[letsjanukhan]

Mexico says 5.2 million dropped out of school amid pandemic

Mexico says 5.2 million dropped out of school amid pandemic

MEXICO CITY —  Mexico’s president is on a drive to persuade people to send their kids back to school in September, and on Friday the government released some frightening figures on what the effects of the pandemic have been on schoolchildren. The Interior Department says a total of 5.2 million students under 18 did not register for classes last year, and that domestic violence increased 24% in…

[yahoonewsphotos]

7.1 magnitude earthquake rocks Mexico City

More than 200 people, including 21 schoolchildren, are dead after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked central Mexico on Tuesday afternoon, hitting on the 32nd anniversary of the biggest quake to strike the country's capital.

Yesterday's earthquake was centered about 75 miles southeast of Mexico City and caused extensive damage, leveling at least 44 buildings, including homes, schools and office buildings, according to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who did a flyover of the city Tuesday afternoon.

Among the dead are at least 25 people — 21 students and four teachers — at a collapsed primary school in the south of the capital. So far, 11 people have been rescued, but two students and one teacher remain missing, according to Education Minister Aurelio Nuno.

Rescuers continued to comb through the wreckage, looking for survivors Wednesday, pausing to listen for voices. Relatives told The Associated Press they received WhatsApp messages from two girls inside.

"Children are often the most vulnerable in emergencies such as this, and we are particularly concerned because schools across the region were in session and filled with students," said Jorge Vidal, the director of operations at Save the Children in Mexico. (GMA)

Photo credits: Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images, Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images (2), Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images (3), Hector Vivas/Getty Images (2), Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images, Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

See more photos of 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocks Mexico City and our other slideshows on Yahoo News.