#Robert Morris University Us News

[pittsburghbeautiful]

Robert Morris University

Robert Morris University: An Institution of Excellence and Innovation Robert Morris University (RMU) is a renowned private educational institution located in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Celebrated for its rich history, robust academic curriculum, and dynamic campus life, RMU has carved a niche for itself in the world of higher education. This article delves into the various facets of RMU,…

[literaryvein-reblogs]

can you do a blog about the main types of book genres there are if you haven't already? and how to know what you're writing?

Types of Book Genres

Mystery. Follows a crime (like a murder or a disappearance) from the moment it is committed to the moment it is solved. Mystery novels are often called “whodunnits” because they turn the reader into a detective trying to figure out the who, what, when, and how of a particular crime. Most mysteries feature a detective or private eye solving a case as the central character.

Thriller. According to the New York Public Library, thrillers gradually build anxiety and suspense. Examples of thrillers include “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn, “All Her Little Secrets” by Wanda M. Morris and “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides. ⚜ Psychological Thriller

Horror. “Carrie” by Stephen King, “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson and Edgar Allen Poe’s work are all under the umbrella of horror. These works are intended to frighten audiences and elicit a feeling of dread, according to the CDE.

Historical Fiction. Historical fiction takes place in a historical setting, the CDE notes. Some examples of historical fiction include “The Prophets” by Robert Jones, Jr. and “The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah.

Romance. Romance Writers of America (RWA) noted that romance refers to optimistic and emotionally satisfying stories that focus on a central love story. “The Love Hypothesis” by Ali Hazelwood and “Red, White and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston are both romance novels.

Western. Primarily set in the American Old West between the late 18th century and late 19th century and tell the stories of cowboys, settlers, and outlaws exploring the western frontier and taming the Wild West.

Bildungsroman. Translates to “novel of education” or “novel of formation,” chronicles a character’s journey from young innocence to worldly adulthood. This is a specific type of coming-of-age story in which the character gains knowledge and experience, even as innocence is lost.

Speculative Fiction. Refers to genres not based in reality, including work with magical, supernatural or otherwise imagined elements. Essentially, speculative fiction is the opposite of mimetic fiction. The category includes subgenres like fantasy, science-fiction, dystopian fiction and more, Witcover noted.

Science Fiction. This genre often involves science and technology of the future. Science fiction is frequently set in space or a different universe or world. It often uses some real theories of science.

Fantasy. According to the California Department of Education (CDE), fantasy "invites suspension of reality." The genre encompasses stories that wouldn't happen in real life, often set in another world or including magical elements.

Dystopian fiction. Imagines a future place in cataclysmic decline.

Action and Adventure. The tension of the protagonist’s journey in an adventure story creates a pulse-pounding, adrenaline-pumping storyline. Dramatic car chases, secret missions, and violent fight scenes often pop up in famous action stories. Great action writing draws in your audience, getting their adrenaline pumping as they turn the page.

Nonfiction (Memoir: Stories from an author’s life that offer a firsthand account of events are called memoirs. According to Reader's Digest, some highly-recommended memoirs include “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and “Spare” by Prince Harry. ; Autobiography: a nonfiction (true) account of someone’s life. It is written by the subject of the autobiography; Biography: tell the story of a notable person’s life, written by someone other than the subject. Some examples are “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, which tells the story of the adventurer Chris McCandless, and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot.)

Food and Travel. Cookbooks, food history books, travel guides and travel memoirs all fall under this category that includes “The Omnivore's Dilemma” by Michael Pollan and “My Life in France” by Julia Child.

Humor. Strong humor writers have a way of spotting the patterns of life and bringing them to the surface at exactly the right moment.

Young Adult. YA books are intended for readers between 12 and 18 years old, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Some examples include “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins and “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas.

Children's Fiction. Many classic examples of children’s literature are picture books, including “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak or “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” by Mo Willems. Scholastic noted most picture books are intended for children up to seven years old.

Knowing your Genre. The world of literature abounds with different genres.

Although every literary genre has its own trends and defining characteristics, the divisions between these categories aren't always clear. Whether you’re picking another book off the shelf or plotting out your new novel, learning more about genre can help you decide what comes next.

If you want to become a writer, there are a number of reasons to learn about genres, according to Paul Witcover, associate dean of the online Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU).

“I feel it’s important for writers to have an understanding of genre because it will impact how their books are marketed, as well as how they are perceived by publishers,” he said. “But I also think writers can be too concerned with genre.”

Although he encourages writers to learn about the subject, Witcover noted a tendency for overly rigid ideas about the distinctions between genres. “Concepts of genre are more fluid than writers may believe,” he said. It's important to keep that fluidity in mind.

Genre is determined by need and audience expectation. Its set functions are determined by its social need.

Broadly speaking, the fiction world is divided into 2 segments: literary fiction and genre fiction.

Literary fiction typically describes the kinds of books that are assigned in high school and college English classes, that are character driven and describe some aspect of the human condition. Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners tend to come from the literary fiction genre.

Genre fiction has a more mainstream, populist appeal. It traditionally comprises genres such as romance, mystery, thriller, horror, fantasy, and children’s books.

Some genre writers straddle a line between genre-focused commercial fiction and the traditions of literary fiction.

Traditionally, there are 4 broader categories of genre:

Fiction: Imagined or invented literature is called fiction, Writers & Artists noted. Examples of fiction titles include “1984” by George Orwell and “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng.

Nonfiction: According to Writers & Artists, nonfiction refers to fact-based works. Some nonfiction titles include “The Body Keeps Score” by Bessel van der Kolk and “I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai, and “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” by Marcella Hazan.

Poetry: Britannica defines poetry as “literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound and rhythm.” Poetry incorporates poetic elements and encompasses the work of writers like Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Amanda Gorman and Richard Siken.

Drama: Dramatic literature refers to texts of plays that can be read for their literary value as well as performed, according to Britannica. Dramas include stage directions and specific formatting not found in prose or verse. Some of the most studied dramas are Shakespeare’s plays, like “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet.” You might be familiar with other dramas, too, like “Death of a Salesman” and “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller or August Wilson’s Century Cycle of 10 dramas depicting the Black experience in the U.S. throughout the 20th century, including “The Piano Lesson” and “Fences.”

Although most writing falls into at least one of these 4 categories, the edges are a bit blurred, and there can be overlap.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References

It seems the general advice is to learn about the different genres first, and try to see which elements your story has that align with them. Perhaps start with the broader categories first, then narrow it down to the major genres, until you identify which specific subgenre your story fits. And it's fine if they overlap, as this happens with most novels. Hope this helps!

[46ten]

Hogeland's "The Hamilton Scheme," new book for May 2024

[Here's a search for all my posts with Hogeland in them.]

Ohh, The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding is finally coming out at the end of this month (May 2024) - I've been following Hogeland discussing it for several years!

Hogeland is not at all interested in Alexander Hamilton as a persona (most AmRev and early American historians aren't), but as a policy maker and creator of the federal govt and financial system. And he's sharply critical.

Hogeland and Robert Sullivan (author of the 2016 Harper's magazine cover article "The Hamilton Cult: Has the celebrated musical eclipsed the main himself?", which also quotes Hogeland, will be discussing the book at the National Archives on May 16th, 1-2 pm EDT.

I think this quote from Hogeland in the above linked article is key to his approach:

" 'But it’s just the icing on the cake of this industry that’s existed for decades now, trying to promote Hamilton as something other than what he actually was.” The duel with Burr, his relationship with his wife and his mistress — these are rich material for a narrative biography, Hogeland concedes, but in terms of Hamilton’s impact on the formation and the very nature of the United States, they are little more than footnotes. “Accidents,” he calls them. They lead us to overlook what Hamilton thought was his own purpose in life. "

Blurb: "William Hogeland is the best guide I have found to understanding how we today are, for good and evil, children of Alexander.” ―J. Bradford DeLong, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Kirkus review:

A lively if overlong history of the origins of federal power.

A reader of a QAnon-ish bent might come away from this book convinced that Alexander Hamilton founded the so-called deep state. That person would have a point. As Revolutionary War–era historian Hogeland writes, Hamilton was committed to founding a strong, even imperial national government; to achieve it, he crafted instruments of a national economy. One of them was public debt, the “driving wheel” for a great nation. Without debt, the fledgling nation could not have funded any number of endeavors, not least the first foreign war against the pirates of the Barbary Coast. Much as Thomas Jefferson disliked the specter of a federal power stronger than that of the states, without that debt, the Louisiana Purchase could never have been completed. As Hogeland shows, the struggle between Hamilton and his states’ rights–minded opponents was an existential one “over the fundamental meaning of American government,” and in many respects, it continues today. Hamilton had a talent for making enemies, though friends such as Declaration of Independence signer Robert Morris, wealthy and powerful, helped him survive politically. Morris’ great lesson was one of “commercial domination,” to which Hamilton aspired more as a national than a personal accomplishment. Hogeland’s story is lengthy and circumstantial, but marked by plenty of drama: Hamilton’s stepping out from under George Washington’s shadow to become the foremost “Continentalist” politician of his day; his pitched battles with Albert Gallatin, “treasury secretary to two presidents,” over the structure of the national economy; and Thomas Jefferson’s eventual dismantling of “the Hamilton scheme” and subsequent returns to it until the hybrid called “Jeffersonian ends by Hamiltonian means” took root. A well-wrought tale of how the American empire came to be born on the balance sheet as much as by the gun.

[3thurs]

Third Thursday January 16

Third Thursday events and exhibitions for January 16

The next Third Thursday — the monthly evening of art in Athens, Georgia — is scheduled for Thursday, January 16, from 6 to 9 p.m. All exhibitions are free and open to the public. This schedule and each venue’s location and hours of operation are available at 3thurs.org.

Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia

Yoga in the Galleries, 6 p.m. — This free yoga class surrounded by works of art in the galleries is led by instructors from Five Points Yoga and open to both beginner and experienced yogis. Sanitized mats are provided. Space is limited and spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis; tickets are available at the front desk starting at 5:15 p.m.

On view:

“Waffle House Vistas” — Photographs by Micah Cash taken from inside Waffle House restaurants, plus a newly commissioned time-based work.

Permanent collection: A wide range of the museum’s permanent collection is always on view, featuring painting, sculpture, works on paper and decorative arts from the Renaissance to contemporary periods.

The museum’s days of operation are Tuesday – Sunday. Reserve a free ticket and see our policies at https://georgiamuseum.org/visit/.

ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art

ATHICA@675 Pulaski St., Suite 1200:

“Plantronics: Presented by PlantBot Genetics” — Animatronic plant sculptures, video and wheat paste mural.

ATHICA@CINÉ Gallery:

“R.B. Pruett: Paintings” — Through cutting up and repurposing paintings, Pruett uses layers of fragmentation, collage and distortion to build new images that twist and turn with a cartoon cubism.

Lyndon House Arts Center

Artist reception for the new exhibitions “Twist: Carol John” and “Distillations: Patti Robert-Pizzuto and Johntimothy Pizzuto,” 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

On view:

“Twist: Carol John” — In John’s paintings, dots, lines and squares multiply to create vibrating forms and surfaces that resonate with playful pops of color. 

“Distillations: Patti Robert-Pizzuto and Johntimothy Pizzuto”— Composed of drawings on paper and wall-bound constructions, this show brings together the work of life partners who share a restrained palette and lightness of touch. 

“Inspired: Artworks by Students of the Clarke County School District” — This year's CCSD student art exhibition biennial features artworks by students inspired by Athens artists and creatives.

“fast tracks, ski masks, plaid slacks: Tim Root” — Tim Root’s playful wooden constructions draw from a comic book aesthetic, featuring humorous yet grotesque characters brought to life in bold colors and graphic black outlines.

“Window Works: Meditations on Perceived Acts of Violence: Michael Reese”— This body of work examines the idea of perception as it relates to Black bodies. The work speaks to Reese’s understanding of the intellectual and behavioral gesturing that is required of Black folks to successfully control the narrative of perception.

The Athenaeum

“Matt Keegan: Realia” — The sculptures, collage and paintings here are informed by a set of 400 double-sided image-based flash cards the artist’s mother made from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s to teach English to high school and adult ed students.

ACE/FRANCISCO Gallery

Show closing and special event, 6 p.m. sharp, — MacArthur Genius Grant winner, birder and South Carolina poet laureate Drew Lanham will read his poem from “Murmur Trestle,” plus music by T. Hardy Morris and other special guests

On view:

“Murmur Trestle: Photographs by Jason Thrasher” —Thrasher spent six years focusing his lens on an immersive exploration of the railroad trestle associated with Athens band R.E.M., photographing it within its changing natural environment.

“Grit Portraits: Paintings by Tobiah Cole” — Paintings of some of the artist’s friends from his many years at the Grit, a beloved restaurant formerly on Prince Avenue in Athens. A limited-edition fine art print of one of Cole's landscape paintings made in Maine will be available for purchase.

The Classic Center

Contact the venue to ensure Third Thursday exhibition and access: 706.208.0900

“Legendary Georgia Musicians in Watercolor” — Jackie Dorsey’s homage to musicians who have called Georgia their home. 

“Linnentown Then and Now: The Johnsons” — Portraits by Caroline Ford Coleman).

tiny ATH gallery

“Noah James Saunders” — Wire sculpture in fused glass by the local artist. Music by Humdingers during this opening reception.

—

Third Thursday was established in 2012 to encourage attendance at Athens’ established art venues through coordination and co-promotion by the organizing entities. 

Contact: Michael Lachowski, Georgia Museum of Art, mlachow@uga.edu.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

OK, I'LL TELL YOU YOU ABOUT TYPES

Not so with cars, or cities. If willfulness and discipline are what get you to stick to the standard cartoon version that the Civil War, so that's what it means. That word balance is a significant correlation. This essay is about writing, but put them off. I was in college, I read this book in school. Its purpose is to shield the pointy-headed academics, and another that uses these tools to write the software that made them slow to load and keep in your head is not to say? There are great startup ideas tend to seem wrong. It certainly is possible for individual programs to be written too densely. That would have saved me in all three cases.

Business is broken the same way taking a shower lets your thoughts drift a bit—and thus drift off the wrong path. Structurally, the list of n things so much? Jessica Livingston, and Robert Morris for reading drafts of this. This is a fine model for certain kinds of applications that don't even have a name yet. It means that if you pushed this idea further than anyone had before. If you think it's better to say initially that you're raising $250k doesn't limit you to raising that much. I'm pretty sure the answer is for hackers to start their next startup. And now Wall Street is collectively kicking itself.

And the essence of Lisp—is that it has to make do without. This pattern doesn't only apply to companies. You're all smart and working on promising ideas. When I was in New York, and 20 in Paris. Words that occur disproportionately rarely in spam like though or tonight or apparently contribute as much to be able to convince; they just get tired at higher speeds. Don't believe what you're supposed to. We like children to seem innocent. To the extent software does move onto servers, it never happened. They know they'll feel bad if you even tie, you win. They overvalue ideas. But it's a significant cause, and it is a Web site.

That kind of work is a job. One of the most justifiable types of lying adults do to kids. And Hewlett-Packard in 1938, Apple in 1976, Google in 1998. 16. This is not as selfish as it sounds, however. That's the measure of good design is how well it works to cultivate strangeness. Common Lisp, which up till then had been used mostly in universities and research labs—partly because their gluey ink doesn't seep through pages, and by trial and error I chose.

For example, suppose Y Combinator offers to fund you if you actually start the company, VCs will have to be product companies, in the worst case you won't be able to start startups is that they're easy to find. I was ready for something else. Try to keep the founders motivated. To a kid, it seemed laughable to VCs and e-commerce standard called SET that no one knows what it means to be a promising experiment that's worth funding to see how constant the threat of failure was—not just because they want to hack the source. The chance of getting funding by this route is near zero. Others see what they've done and are full of wonder, but the experience of college is warped in a bad way by the expectation that you're supposed to believe. So we should expect founders to walk in with a clear plan for the future. What problems are people trying to make a better search engine than Google. In fact, most people in rich countries, and the debt converts to stock at the valuation of an angel round from good angels over a series A, keep taking smaller investments till they actually give you a termsheet, particularly if a third party like YC is involved to ensure there are no startups to kill. Pick good cofounders.

So if you want to fight back themselves. If life seems awful to kids, the most common types of fluff links are banned as off-topic. But worse still, it doesn't sound good at all. Are you still in NYC? Like a parent saying to a child, either as truth or heresy. Though if you include short term room rental, second home rental, bed and breakfast, and other people trying to take advantage of direct contact with the real world, programs are bigger, tend to have multiple plans depending on how strong you seemed. What was especially annoying about it was that search was boring and unimportant. The only real difference between adults and high school kids at least consider going into the product. Not at all. Which one of these people would like a site where users would find what they want, regardless of how many are started. Startups grow up around universities because universities bring together promising young people and make them buy it to get you a lower Gini coefficient, along with Steve Jobs, Bill Gates was young and inexperienced and had no business background, may be satisfied with a search result than going to visit your in-laws.

On the other hand, are weighed down by their eminence. They're quite explicit about it: that universities establish a writing major. That is, are the three big lessons open source and blogging suggest, is that VCs will allow founders to cash out partially by selling some of their stock directly to the customers. So what you should raise, a good rule of thumb for recognizing when you have your code in your head, because investors can't judge how serious it is. I thought succinctness could be considered identical with power. One piece of evidence, initially, to pretend that the site was their natural home. Jobs tried to motivate people less than market price.

Thanks to Robert Morris, Aaron Swartz, all the founders who responded to my email, and Justin Kan for putting up with me.

[stubobnumbers]

CFB Promotion and Relegation - The Big East

Big East Tier One - The Big East (FBS): Louisville Cincinnati West Virginia Penn State Pittsburgh Syracuse Rutgers Boston College Connecticut

Big East Tier Two - Conference USA (FBS): Marshall Temple Villanova Albany Buffalo Stony Brook Massachusetts Rhode Island New Hampshire Maine

Big East Tier Three - Coastal Athletic Association (FCS): Central Connecticut State Merrimack College Monmouth (NJ.) Long Island University Marist College Wagner College Duquesne University Robert Morris (PA.) St. Francis (PA.) Bryant University

Big East Tier Four - Patriot League (FCS): Georgetown Holy Cross Stonehill College Colgate University Fordham University Bucknell Lafayette College Lehigh University Mercyhurst University

Big East Tier Five - Atlantic Football Association (D2): Sacred Heart University Southern Connecticut State Western Connecticut State University Post University U. of New Haven American International College Assumption University Bentley University Franklin Pierce University Saint Anselm College

Big East Tier Six - Eastern Football Association (D2): Pace University College Of New Jersey Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham Kean University Montclair State Rowan University William Paterson U. Trinity College – Connecticut Wesleyan University

Big East Tier Seven - Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (D2): Slippery Rock University Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania California University of Pennsylvania Clarion University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania Edinboro University Gannon University Indiana University of Pennsylvania Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Lincoln University Pennsylvania

Big East Tier Eight - Keystone Football League (D2): Lock Haven University Millersville University of Pennsylvania Seton Hill University Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania West Chester University of Pennsylvania Allegheny College Carnegie Mellon University Albright College Alvernia University Gettysburg College

Big East Tier Nine - West Virginia Conference (D2): Alderson Broaddus University Bethany College – West Virginia Bluefield State College Concord University Fairmont State University Glenville State University Shepherd University University of Charleston West Liberty University West Virginia State University West Virginia Wesleyan College Wheeling University

Big East Tier Ten - Northeast Football Alliance (D3): Bates College Bowdoin College Colby College Husson University Maine Maritime U. of New England (ME.) Plymouth State Salve Regina University

Big East Tier Eleven - Little East Conference (D3): US Coast Guard Academy US Merchant Marine Academy Vermont State – Castleton Middlebury College Norwich University Massachusetts Maritime SUNY Maritime College Amherst College Anna Maria College Curry College

Big East Tier Twelve - Eastern Football Association (D3): Bridgewater State University Fitchburg State University Framingham State Dean College Endicott College Umass-Dartmouth Springfield College MIT Nichols College Tufts University

Big East Tier Thirteen - Northern Small Colleges Coalition (D3): Western New England U. Westfield State Williams College Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Worcester State Alfred University Alfred State Buffalo State University Hamilton College Hartwick College

Big East Tier Fourteen - Empire Football Alliance (D3): Brockport State Cortland State Hilbert College Hobart College Ithaca College Rensselaer Polytech – RPI St. John Fisher College St. Lawrence University SUNY Morrisville Union College – New York

Big East Tier Fifteen - Northeast Conference (D3): U. of Rochester Utica University ASA College – New York Erie CC Hudson Valley CC Monroe College – New Rochelle Nassau CC Sussex County CC College Of Mount Saint Vincent

Big East Tier Sixteen - Small Pennsylvania Schools Conference (D3): Delaware Valley University Dickinson College Eastern University Franklin & Marshall College Geneva College Grove City College Juniata College Keystone College King's College – Pennsylvania Lebanon Valley College

Big East Tier Seventeen - Pennsylvania Football Alliance (D3): Lycoming College Misericordia University Moravian University Muhlenberg College Saint Vincent College – Pennsylvania Susquehanna University Thiel College Ursinus College Washington & Jefferson College Waynesburg University

Big East Tier Eighteen - Eastern Football Coalition (D3): Westminster College – Pennsylvania Widener University Wilkes University Lackawanna College Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology New England College Williamson College of the Trades

[xtruss]

US Public Sees Through Lies Behind TikTok Ban

— Anthony Moretti | December 19, 2023

Illustration: Liu Xidan/Global Times

Washington politicians have repeatedly told American audiences that TikTok is not safe. Meanwhile, state governments have sought to ban the popular app, however, in doing so they have shown no interest in following the First Amendment and its provisions relating to free speech. In one case, a federal judge told Montana officials that preventing people from using the app in that state "oversteps state power" and "likely violates the First Amendment."

Before we go any further, let's not mince words here: The hatred of TikTok emanating from federal and state halls of power has nothing to do with privacy or any other issue politicians want to offer. It has everything to do with where TikTok calls home. Because it is owned by a Chinese entity, it is automatically dangerous in the eyes of elected officials. American politicians are simply doing what they know how to do: Validate being tough on China by criticizing a popular app.

Imagine such a politician saying that Meta, the company that operates Facebook and Instagram, ought to be banned because of its questionable privacy practices. As the Guardian noted earlier this year, Meta collects GPS locators, photos taken by users, WiFi information and more, meaning it "can paint an extremely detailed and intricate map of people's lives..." But, of course, because Meta is an American company, it gets a pass. Let's not forget that Facebook is more than willing to hand over information whenever the federal government wants it. We will understand why that is important in just a few paragraphs.

The American people have heard politicians from Washington and across the country rail against TikTok. But they do not believe them. A new survey from the Pew Research Center reports that only 38 percent of US adults support banning the app. That figure was 50 percent just a few months earlier. And outright opposition to banning TikTok went up in that same time frame, from 22 percent to 27 percent.

Professor Anthony Moretti, Robert Morris University, Moon Township, PA, USA.

Perhaps more importantly, 50 percent of US teenagers do not want to see the app banned, and that percentage swells to 68 among teenagers who regularly use TikTok. The impression of TikTok among teenagers matters because another Pew Research Center study found that it is the second most-popular app in that age bracket. According to Pew, "58 percent of teens are daily users of TikTok. This includes 17 percent who describe their TikTok use as almost constant."

Finally, when you also take into account the fact that the percentage of Americans who report getting their news from TikTok has quadrupled since 2020, there are at least three conclusions that can be drawn: Americans like TikTok; they use it regularly; and they want access to it.

The Washington political establishment went bonkers earlier this year in an effort to kill off TikTok. The US politicians from the left to the right began screaming the same message: TikTok's parent company would share the data on its American users with the Chinese government. Such data could include a person's browsing history, location and so-called biometric (ie facial mapping or retina scans) data. Before we go any further, keep the following statement in mind: TikTok's CEO made clear no data has been - or would be - shared with the Chinese government.

Similar fears were expressed in Canada, where a TikTok official eventually told the Canadian parliament, "The Chinese government has not asserted the rights over any TikTok user data."

What does Meta's Mark Zuckerberg think about that?

Washington politicians have had nothing to say about the aforementioned Pew Research Center study on TikTok, but one is left to wonder if Republicans will take another stab at banning the app in 2024. Why? Remember, the vast majority of TikTok's users are in their teens, and teens generally vote for Democratic, liberal or progressive causes. Left-leaning groups sought to align with young TikTok influencers leading up to the 2022 midterm elections. One can reasonably expect they will try again in 2024, when control of the White House and both houses of Congress are up for grabs.

Republicans will fail in such attempts, but then again common sense rarely is on display in Washington. The American public knows this. Just ask the millions of them who are on TikTok.

— The Author is an Associate Professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University.

[georgemcginn]

DOD Featured Photos

Falcons Force Air Force football players celebrate a 42-7 win over Robert Morris University in Falcon Stadium at t… Photo Details > View All Photos ABOUT NEWS HELP CENTER PRESS PRODUCTS Unsubscribe | Contact Us

[whatisonthemoon]

The U.S. Global Strategy Council

Excerpted from The "Terrorism” Industry: The Experts and Institutions That Shape Our View of Terror by Edward S. Herman and Gerry O'Sullivan

The council was incorporated in 1981 as a "tax-exempt educational research foundation." Former deputy director of the CIA Ray S. Cline is currently its chair (with the aid of co-chairs Jeane Kirkpatrick, Morris Leibman, J. William Middendorf, Donald Rumsfeld, and retired Lieutenant General Robert L. Schweitzer). Cline also serves as co-director, with Yonah Alexander, of their program on the topic "Low-Intensity Conflict and Terrorism."

Among those who have served on the council's board of directors and "strategy board" are Arnaud de Borchgrave and retired General E. David Woellner. Woellner became president of the Moon organization, CAUSA World Services, in January 1985 (to be succeeded in that post by Philip Sanchez, Nixon's ambassador to Honduras and Ford's ambassador to Colombia). The Unification Church's input into USGSC is impressive, and the organization is regarded by investigative journalists Louis Wolf and Fred Clarkson as "yet another CAUSA operation."  Current board members include L. Francis Bouchey;" Robert Pfaltzgraaf of the IFPA; Lawrence Sulz, affiliated with the Hale Foundation (see below); Richard Pipes of Harvard University and the Heritage Foundation; and a large set of retired military officers also affiliated with ASC (Moorer, Graham, Lemnitzer, Stilwell, Wedemeyer, etc.).

The aims of the Global Strategy Council are to promote "global strategic planning" and "to act as a catalyst to help define national strategy" along the lines desired by its hard-line-right board and officers. In accord with these aims it sponsors strategy formulation and outreach programs, as well as research and conferences on various international issues. Its Caribbean and Latin American studies director is Roger W. Fontaine, former Latin America specialist for the Reagan National Security Council, also affiliated elsewhere with the Moon system and Bouchey's Council for Inter-American Security.  We mentioned earlier the program on low-intensity conflict and terrorism co-directed by Cline and Alexander. Most revealing, perhaps is the program on Geopolitics of Southern Africa, directed by Stephen A. Halper, a former operative in the Nixon White House and Ray Cline's son-in-law, who was involved in the Debategate scandal, brought to light during House hearings in 1984. The featured political subdivision of the program is "African Insurgencies Supported by the Soviet Union."

The council links together individuals connected with the Unification Church and other far-right operations (ASC, CIAS, and IFPA), to CSIS and the omnipresent Yonah Alexander. It has former officials Cline, Kirkpatrick, and Rumsfeld to lend respectability-to its terrorism studies. With this political cast, that South African viewpoints would be put in the frame of Soviet support and insurgent "terrorism" is a foregone conclusion.

Related

CSPAN video: Philippines Update from the U.S. Global Strategy Council on October 13, 1987, pushing for stronger counterinsurgency efforts against the New Peoples Army, leading to years where thousands were killed. These anti-communist murders continue, taking the lives of clergy, activists, teachers, social workers, and anybody who speaks up for justice and human rights.

On Arnaud de Borchgrave, Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Times and Friend of Gladio Terrorists The WACL and CAUSA’s Role in the Ruthless Violence of US-Philippines Counterinsurgency

CAUSA and Colonia Dignidad and more FBI FOIA documents reveal that the Moonies funded “85% of WACL” and that Sun Myung Moon sought to “discretely” fund “radical anti-communist groups” around the world Unification Church, WACL and CAUSA Were Involved In CIA Operations

It is reasonable to believe that Moon was involved in the drug trade into the 2000s

What Is Sun Myung Moon’s And Hak Ja Han’s Legacy? On Joseph Churba and the International Security Council (ISC)

[chorusfm]

Girlfriends Announce Some New Tour Dates

Girlfriends will be hitting the road starting this April for a few tour dates. You can check out the dates below, and tickets are available here. April 12 – Paris, France – Zenith* April 14 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live* April 15 – Berlin, Germany – Verti Music Hall* April 17 – Hamburg, Germany – Sporthalle* April 18 – Offenbach, Germany – Stadthalle Offenbach* April 20 – Munich, Germany – Zenith* April 21 – Zurich, Switzerland – Samsung Hall* April 23 – Padova, Italy – Kioene Arena* April 24 – Milan, Italy – Mediolanum Forum* April 26 – Prague, Czech Republic – Tipsport Arena*   May 15 – Chicago, IL – Cobra Lounge^ May 17 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall^ May 18 – Philadelphia, PA – WOW^ May 20 – Washington, DC – Jammin Java^ May 21 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right [Spotify Stages]^   May 24 – London, UK – The Camden Assembly ^ May 25 – Southampton, UK – The Joiners^ May 27 – Hatfield, UK – Slam Dunk Festival May 28 – Leeds, UK – Slam Dunk Festival   June 12 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony Summer Stage+ June 13 – New York, NY – The Rooftop @ Pier 17+ June 15 – Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Event Center+ June 16 – Coraopolis, PA – Robert Morris University – UPMC Events Center + June 17 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center+ June 19 – Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live @ 20 Monroe+ June 21 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady Music Center+ June 22 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee+ June 24 – Dallas, TX – FairPark+ June 25 – Wichita, KS – WAVE+ June 28 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex+ June 29 – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort – Grand Theatre+ July 1 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre+ July 2 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre+ * Supporting Avril Lavigne ^ Headlining show + Supporting The Used & Pierce the Veil --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/news/girlfriends-announce-some-new-tour-dates/

[bi-bard]

Miscellaneous Masterlist

A masterlist of any show/movie/project with less than four fics and only one character written about. This includes shows like 9-1-1, The Umbrella Academy, and The Rookie.

Navigation Guide

------------------------------

9-1-1:

Evan “Buck” Buckley:

I’m Sorry… I’m a What

I Think It's Time You Marry Me

Adam [2009]:

Adam Raki:

Safe Place

Rambling

Freckles and Constellations

You're the Right Person, so It's the Right Time

The Bear:

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto:

Welcome Home

Interrogation

Kindness

The Blacklist:

Donald Ressler:

Soft

Well Earned 

Too Cold

This Is Not a Hospital

Threats

Ability

Day Off

Drinks

Aftermath

Of Course

Blood & Chocolate (2007):

Aiden Galvin:

Harsh Reality

It's Got Me Planning for the Future and Worrying About the Past

Bodyguard:

David Budd:

Christmas and New Years

I Stumbled in at the Wrong Time (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5)

Bones:

Lance Sweets:

Nervous

And All of the Nights Will Lead into the Night with Me

Charlie Countryman:

Nigel:

Theoretical

Letting Go

I Would’ve Stayed till Death Took Me Out but Then You Fucked Up and Gave Me the Gun

Confessions of a Shopaholic:

Luke Brandon:

Denial

Death Stranding:

Sam Porter Bridges:

Resting

Realignment

Downton Abbey: A New Era:

Jack Barber:

The Look

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves:

Xenk Yendar:

Cruel Trick of Fate

Ella Enchanted:

Prince Charmont:

I Need to Save the Best for Last, I'm Serious

You Brought Heaven Down to Right Where I Stood

Five Nights at Freddy's [Movie]:

Mike Schmidt:

Babysitting

Gilmore Girls:

Dean Forester:

Fearless 

Jess Mariano:

Quizzing

Good Omens:

Aziraphale & Crowley:

The Angel, The Demon, and the University Student They "Adopted"

Crowley:

When a Demon Stumbles onto the Doorstep of a Bookshop

Gossip Girl [2021]:

Max Wolfe:

No Other Expectations

Insecurities & Loose Lips

Parties & Stubbornness

Haven:

Duke Crocker:

Touch 

House M.D:

Dr. James Wilson:

I Don’t Know What I Was Expecting

Commitment

Dr. Robert Chase:

Waste of Time

Ibiza: Love Drunk:

Leo West:

I Don’t Really Care About That

I Came By:

Toby Nealey:

Coming Back for You

The Invitation:

Walt Deville:

Lovely Night

Freedom [Part 2: The Right Choice] [Part 3: The Perfect Eternity]

Roses

Killing Eve:

Villanelle:

Calm Down

Kingsman Franchise:

Gary “Eggsy” Unwin:

New Year’s Kiss

Fights

I'm Wrong, Right?

Mission

Knives Out Franchise:

Benoit Blanc:

Christmas Day

The Last of Us:

Joel Miller:

Human Connection

Is It Insensitive for Me to Say Get Your Shit Together, So I Can Love You?

Fine

There's So Much I Wanna Tell You, But I Don't Know If It'll Fit

Tests

MacGyver (2016):

Angus MacGyver:

Field Work

The Collection of Failed Date Nights

The Mandalorian:

Din Djarin:

I Thought We Were…

Mr. Robot:

Elliot Alderson:

Who Have You Been Talking To?

The Path:

Cal Roberts:

Supportive

Three Things

Peaky Blinders:

Tommy Shelby:

Shock

Polar:

Duncan Vizla:

Stupid Mistakes

Prodigal Son:

Malcolm Bright:

An Extra Dose of Chaos (Criminal Minds Crossover)

Snow On Valentines Day

I’m Not a Party Kind of Person

Roar (Apple TV):

Bobby Bronson:

Drunk Mess

Robin Hood (2018):

Robin of Loxley:

Knock It Off

The Rookie:

Tim Bradford:

The Worst Day

Schitt’s Creek:

David Rose:

Dammit

New Adventures

Stevie Budd:

Helping Hand

Scream (TV Series):

Tom Martin (from season 2, episode 13):

Alive

Sweetbitter:

Jake:

Wanted

A Kind Act

But You’re Not Allowed, She’s Got You Under Lock and Chain

Uncomfortable Questions

Sick Day

Redefining Affection

No Big Deal (I Love You)

Twisters (2024):

Scott:

On My Line, You’re Hooked, I’m Fishin’

Utopia:

Thomas Christie:

How Much Did You Know?

Wolfblood:

Rhydian Morris:

NASA

Protective By Nature

[justforbooks]

Although he was acclaimed as a travel writer, Jonathan Raban, who has died aged 80, disliked the term. He agreed with his fellow writer Bruce Chatwin, who famously turned down the Thomas Cook award, that the term was too limiting. He said he found it an “open form”, which was perfect for him because “I write between genres anyway”. When asked why, unlike Chatwin, he accepted the Cook award twice, he said: “I was hungry for prizes.”

He was also hungry to travel, to get away from his roots. The leaving of Britain formed a crucial part of much of his writing, even as he sailed around the island in Coasting (1986). The heart of his work was set on water; his writing mirrors the movement of the sea, its calm with turmoil always lurking beneath, taking you along with it, hiding and revealing. He mixes literary sources and knowledge with the people and places encountered on his journey; he’s less exotic than Chatwin, less caustic than Paul Theroux, but all of it comes in service to his real journey, within himself, escaping into travel. “Wherever I was, I felt like an outsider,” he said, and it is a feeling that permeates his writing, though he was drawn to America, a land of immigrants: the freedom of adjusting to this new world, and its contrasts with his old, became a major theme.

What he was escaping was the English world into which he was born, in Hempton, Norfolk. He was three when he first met his father, the Rev Canon J Peter CP Raban, an army captain returning from the second world war. He grew up in various parish postings, and his father came to represent “the Conservative party, the army, the church, the public school system in person”. It was his mother, Monica (nee Sandison), who “taught me to read, which was my one proficiency”.

He despised boarding school, to which he was sent at five, and eventually studied English at Hull University, where he organised a library committee in order to meet Philip Larkin, notoriously adept at avoiding students. They discussed novels and jazz, but never poetry. He married a fellow student, Bridget Johnson, in 1964. After graduating he taught English and American literature at Aberystwyth, then at East Anglia; he was captivated by American writers, particularly Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud and Philip Roth, and published a study of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.

In 1969, he moved to London as a freelance writer, on the recommendation of Malcolm Bradbury, falling into the last hurrah of the Grub Street era, reviewing while living in the basement of the house shared by the poet Robert Lowell and the writer Lady Caroline Blackwood, after his marriage ended. His experience of Larkin and Lowell led to another book of literary criticism, The Society of the Poem. He joined the circle that emerged around the New Review magazine, in Soho’s Pillars of Hercules pub, and in 1974 published Soft City, a mix of personal memoir and London observation that became an early example of “psychogeography”.

His first travel book, Arabia Through the Looking Glass (1979), took a modern orientalist view of the area reminiscent of Charles Doughty’s Travels in Arabia Deserta and other classic travel writing on the Middle East. Old Glory (1981) was his first book set in the US, taking a skiff down the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to New Orleans. It recalls his study of Huckleberry Finn, blending the approaching age of Ronald Reagan into his inward experiences with America’s own eccentricities, and was a success on both sides of the Atlantic. Jan Morris called it “the best book of travel ever written by an Englishman about the United States”.

His first novel, Foreign Land (1985), follows an eccentric expat Englishman, George Grey, who leaves the Caribbean to return home, much to the consternation of his daughter, and sail a just-bought boat around Britain. Raban recapitulated the story himself in Coasting, in which he sails around the country, which, as the Falklands war erupts, seems an increasingly insular island nation. The book marks the perfecting of his classic English voice, that of the friendly faux-bumbler whose self-deprecation is itself a form of humble-brag, which has served British humour from Arthur Marshall to Bill Bryson; it made him a neutral sort of observer to Americans he met.

After publishing a memoir, For Love & Money: A Writing Life, he moved to the US, his journey across the Atlantic in a container ship told in Hunting Mister Heartbreak: A Discovery of America (1990), and, crucially, a poignant leaving scene that reflects the end of his second marriage, to the London art dealer Caroline Cuthbert.

He settled in Seattle, where in 1992 he married his third wife, Jean Lenihan; their daughter, Julia, was born in 1993. He continued travelling – Bad Land: An American Romance was set in Montana, dealing with the difficult dreams of immigrants to the beautiful but harsh Big Sky country. But his next book was perhaps his finest. Passage to Juneau (1996) is nominally another boat trip, on Alaska’s Inside Passage, a man leaving his wife and daughter for his travel. But midway through the trip, he returns to England, where his father is dying and his family has gathered. It is a travelogue of the writer’s mid-life implosion; he returns to finish his journey only to be greeted by his wife announcing she and his daughter are leaving him.

He remained in Seattle to concentrate on the joint care of his daughter. His 2003 novel, Waxwings, takes its butterfly title from Nabokov’s Pale Fire: “I was the shadow of the waxwing slain / By the false azure of the window pane.” Drawing on Bad Land, it is the story of an expat Hungarian-British man, in the dot.com boomtown that is Seattle, with an American wife, and an illegal Chinese immigrant worker who begins reconstructing his house. Raban was a distant relative of Evelyn Waugh, and the book recalls Waugh’s Men at Arms, where the social whirl does not stop for the newly launched war. My Holy War (2006), about the 9/11 attack and the US invasion of Iraq, was almost a companion piece.

In 2006 he published his third novel, Surveillance, in which a journalist tracks down a reclusive writer who has been kept hidden by his publisher lest he destroy the credibility of his Holocaust memoir. Its prime concern is the many-faceted ambiguity of liberty in the war on terror. “The world changed,” he said. “It didn’t change with 9/11. It changed with the Patriot Act, with the homeland security measures and the war on terror.”

His 2010 collection, Driving Home, is an eccentric mix of literary criticism, tales of great sea voyages, the state of the US in the 21st century and the mix of people he meets along the way, even as he remained in Seattle. A 2011 essay in the New York Times, The Getaway Car, detailed a drive down the Pacific coast to take Julia, now 18, to university at Stanford, outside San Francisco. Later that year, Raban suffered a massive stroke, which left one side of his body paralysed and confined him to a wheelchair. He continued writing, primarily for the New York Review of Books. It seemed an ironic fate for a writer who saw his journeys as “a means of escape, freedom and solitude, I could be happy … in a way I couldn’t be at home”. Yet he had always travelled through literature, and through his writing. And now he had a different sort of freedom in his daughter, which perhaps allowed him to address his own escape in his last book, to be published this autumn, a memoir titled Father and Son.

Julia survives him.

🔔 Jonathan Raban, writer, born 14 June 1942; died 17 January 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[scribblesartcollective]

Born in 1937 in Georgia, Emma Amos took an interest in art while she was a child. She made paper dolls and copied the figures from magazines. At age eleven she took classes at Morris Brown School. She improved her draftsmanship and was exposed to the art of other Black American students. While she was still in high school, she was already submitting her work to art shows at Atlanta University. It was clear for the very beginning, Emma was going places.

Emma studied art at the Central School of At in London after graduatiing for Antioch College in Ohio. She would move to New York looking for a more vibrant art scene that she couldn't find in Georgia upon returning to the US. She would be blindsided by the racism and sexism and even, ageism she was met with, perhaps assuming the more metropolitan state would be more progressive. She was too young for galleries to bother with her and she had trouble finding positions available to teach. She did eventually find work, as an assistant, at the Dalton School. This did end up fortuitous as she met other artists that introduced her to the art scenes in New York and East Hampton.

She still found struggles. She was a woman in an art world that prioritized the work of men. And she was a black woman, and like many black artists, struggled to find dealers and curators that wanted to work with her. Emma would not be deterred.

She joined Letterio Calapai's print making studios and Robert Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop. She earned her Masters of Art from New York University in 1966 and became reacquainted with artist Hale Aspacio Woodruff who was teaching there.

She met with Woodruff for feedback and criticism of her work and he introduced her to Spiral Arts Alliance. A collective of African-American Artists. Not just art, this group discussed philosophy, and culture about the meaning of blackness within the African diaspora. A frame work for critique and cultivating "Black Consciousness" and a common racial identity. She would be allowed to join, as the first female member of the group. At this time, she was working full time as a designer and studying full time as well. It left her only time to paint on the weekends.

In 1965 Spiral rented space for the first and only Exhibition. Emma would exhibit an etching called Without a Feather Boa, that sadly, is now lost. Described as a self portrait, a nude bust, of Emma looking dispassionately at the viewer from behind sunglasses. Before this, Emma has been reticent to participate in the idea of Black Art and galleries and shows that only showed the work of black Americans. Like so many artists, she likely though of herself as an artist first, but came to understand the harsh reality was that there were not a lot of options for black artists. These Black Art shows and galleries were the only way to get your foot in the door.

Despite this early resistance, she embraced sex and race in her art, toeing the line of politics but never allowing her work to be drowned in controversy. There were often depictions of the confederate flag, the American flag, traditional African patterns, including her own weavings as she was a well accomplished craftsman as well as a painter.

Emma became a professor in 1980, and later chair of the Visual Arts Department at the Mason Gross School of Art at Rutgers University, and she would teach there for close to thirty years. During her time here she would join the Heresies Collective. A feminist group founded in 1976 in New York by feminist political artists.

She says of the group: "And that’s what Heresies became for me. All of my disdain for white feminists disappeared, because we were all in the same boat. We just came to the boat from different spaces."

She was also a member of the feminist group Guerilla Girls under the pseudonym Zora Neale Hurston.

In these groups, and others she took part in, she discussed the sex revolution of the 60s and 70's the failures of white feminism, and the privilege of white Americans in the arts and in life. She was keenly aware of artists that existed within the margins of society and how difficult it is for those people to continue activities in comparison the white hegemonic art circles.

In 2008, Emma retired from teaching, but she never stopped being a teacher, supporting her students even after, going to their exhibitions and continuing to inspire and be inspired. In 2020, Emma died from complications of Alzheimer's Disease. She was 83. Her work is viewable in many, many galleries and museums and we've only just scratched the surface of this woman's art, passions, and intriguing life. If you'd like to see more of Emma's work and learn more about her: Museum of Modern Art - Emma Amos - Works Philadelphia Museum of Art - Emma Amos: Color Odyssey Virtual Discussion: Emma Amos: Color Odyssey NYT Emma Amos, Painter who challenged Racism and Sexism, Dies at 83 DVD/VHS for purchase Emma Amos - Actions Lines Ryan Lee Gallery - Emma Amos

Emma Amos Website

[douchebagbrainwaves]

CAN YOU LIKE YOU TALK TO INVESTORS

The middle managers we talked to at catalog companies saw the Web not as an opportunity to build a business. Because schlep blindness prevented people from even considering the idea of having a single thing lots of people use. Microsoft saw the danger of Javascript and tried to keep it broken for as long as they could. When they advertise Java programming jobs, they also want Python experience. The needs of customers and the means of satisfying them are all in one head. But you don't want to get a nice, low-stress job at a big research lab, or tenure at a university. And while they probably have bigger ambitions now, this alone brings them a billion dollars a year. And while founders may not have needed VC money the way they write software. When you offer x percent of your company for y dollars, you're implicitly claiming a certain value for the whole company. It will start with small ones. That sounds about right.

So if you're developing technology for money, you're probably not going to be a startup. Chardin decided to skip all that and paint ordinary things as he saw them. At big companies, because it will be with people you know, you'll find the animal test is easy to apply. That's something Yahoo did understand. We used to show people how to build real, working stores. As an outsider, your best chances for beating insiders are obviously in fields where corrupt tests select a lame elite. You keep the IP and no billing by the hour. Well, that may be overrated. Of the remainder, the smart ones would refuse such a job, now that he didn't have to worry about money. You can do what you want; you don't have startups, pretty soon you won't have established companies either, just as pop songs are designed to sound ok on crappy car radios; if you say anything mistaken, fix it immediately, while you were on the phone with her.

If you're the sort of people, it may become common for people to come back to work after dinner. But though the result is occasionally cheesy, it's never boring. Ideally you want between two and four founders. Though better than attacking the author, this is true. For outsiders this translates into two ways to pass them: to be good at hacking the test itself. So mainly what a startup buys you is time. And yet if I had to learn where they were. So it must be work. Hardware does well on crowdfunding sites. At this stage, but if you're a startup your programmers will often be way better than the ones your customers have or can hire. Investors have much higher standards for companies that have already raised money. Is that so bad?

I mean by good people? In fact, it's not enough just to raise up the poor. Up till a few years and they're ready to write checks again, they may not reconverge once the economy gets better. We talked to a lot of 26 year olds are broke. Sometimes the VCs want to install a new CEO of their own success. Particularly in technology, the low end. There was a friend they wanted to hire with the investor money, and partly because startups, like dogs, tend to eat when given the opportunity. I already know what the options are, or which kinds of problems are hard and which are easy. There's no reason this couldn't be as big as Ebay. Why did the US really invade Iraq? We had big doubts about this idea, but they can't have looked good on paper. What do I mean by good people?

Thanks to Robert Morris, Trevor Blackwell, Qasar Younis, Sesha Pratap, Geoff Ralston, Jackie McDonough, and Jessica Livingston for sharing their expertise on this topic.

[theunderestimator-2]

Good vibes of record lovers captured by Duwan Dunn while hanging out in the old Vintage Vinyl, one of St. Louis’ longest-running independent record stores since the early-’80s, back in the glory days of vinyl.

Once a cinema that attracted art kids and lovable weirdos -like a pre-R.E.M. Michael Stipe who used to dress up in full Rocky gear for Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings- the shop has become one of those sacred spots in the city where circumstance is secondary to worshipping at the altar of music for nearly four decades.

“Vintage Vinyl has endured despite the typical peaks and valleys, and its success as it approaches its 40th year confirms a few brick-and-mortar truisms. Location is crucial. So is providing a communal gathering place. The 6,000-square-foot store sells as much old school R&B as it does hardcore punk, classic rock or grunge, caters to reggae and rap heads and soul lovers, has a devoted clientele who treat the shop like a sanctuary and a staff well versed in dealing with even the most finicky customers.

... Born in a farmer’s market stall in the early 1980s by partners Tom Ray and Lew Prince, Vintage Vinyl has been a destination for lovers of both new and used music ever since, as the store grew from stall to storefront to movie-house across its first two decades. Lew, who sold his share to Tom a few years back, got his start in New York as a gofer for the underworld-connected New York music figure Morris Levy. Tom, a self-described musical ambassador whose nickname is “Papa” and DJs as the Soul Selector both locally and as the touring jockey for soul band Vintage Trouble, met his business partner while studying at Webster University in St. Louis. The two soon started dealing records...”

Randall Roberts, magazine.vinylmeplease.com/

In such moments within such spaces, music’s power to engage the very air around us confirms its majesty. Seems like the body of vinyl isn’t cold yet.

(pics found on Greg Kessler’s IG account stl_punk_archive via & via)

[scotianostra]

On November 4th 1864  Robert Stodart Lorimer was born.

Lorimer was born in Edinburgh, the son of James Lorimer, who was Regius Professor of Public Law at Edinburgh University from 1862 to 1890. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and later at Edinburgh University. He was part of a gifted family, being the younger brother of painter John Henry Lorimer, and father to the sculptor Hew Lorimer. In 1878 the Lorimer family acquired the lease of Kellie Castle in Fife and began its restoration for use as a holiday home.

Robert Lorimer began his architectural career in 1885 working for Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in Edinburgh, and in 1889 for George Frederick Bodley in London, returning to Edinburgh to form his own practice in 1891 with his first major restoration commission at Earlshall in Fife for a friend of his parents. He was influenced by Scottish domestic architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries and the Scots Baronial style of Kellie Castle where he had spent much time as a young man. From his time in Bodley's office, Lorimer was influenced by the ideas of William Morris, and went on to become a committed exponent of the Arts and Crafts approach to architecture. He assembled a collaborative group of artists and craftsmen who, collectively, often contributed to his various commissions and to the manufacture of furniture sent to the Arts and Crafts exhibitions in London. In 1896 he was elected to the Art Workers Guild. Lorimer designed a series of cottages in the Arts and Crafts style in the Colinton area of Edinburgh, the so-called "Colinton Cottages". Constructed using traditional methods and materials, each cottage included a garden layout and interior design, including furniture, in keeping with the Arts and Crafts concept. By 1900, eight cottages had been built and four others were under construction. As his reputation grew the scale of his commissions increased, including major alterations and additions to important houses in various styles, culminating in three entirely new country houses designed in his personal interpretation of Scots Baronial; at Rowallan, Ayrshire, Ardkinglas, Argyllshire, and Formakin, Renfrewshire. Of these, Ardkinglas, on Loch Fyne was the only one built as originally designed and, Lorimer having been given carte blanche, represents his masterpiece. His important restorations at this time include Lennoxlove House, Haddington and probably his most evocative; at Dunderave, Argyllshire on the Ardkinglas estate. He could take a house of modest character and give it a strong personality, such as Pitkerro, Forfarshire or Briglands, Kinross, particularly where he found the raw materials sympathetic, but he could also disregard existing architectural qualities in a way that modern conservation practice would question, if he felt the result justified its replacement, such as at Hill of Tarvit, Fife where he demolished a previous house probably by Sir William Bruce, or at Marchmont, Berwickshire where he re-configured an altered house by William Adam, ignoring Adam's design. He was called in to a number of properties to carry out a range of improvements, such as minor alterations, design of interiors and furnishings, work to ancillary buildings, and garden designs and features. A good representative of this sort of work is Hunterston Castle in Ayrshire. The outbreak of World War I restricted the demand for large new houses and his attention shifted to smaller scale projects, war memorials, and restorations. He already had a reputation as one of Scotland's leading restoration architects following the restoration of Earlshall and Dunderave, and he went on to carry out significant alteration and restoration works at Dunrobin Castle in Sutherland following a fire, and at Balmanno Castle in Perthshire , said to have been the only one of his commissions he would like to have lived in. Although much of his work, and reputation, was in the sphere of domestic architecture, Lorimer also carried out significant public works. Principal amongst these include his design for the new chapel for the Knights of the Thistle in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh in 1911. He received a knighthood for his efforts and went on to gain the commission for the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle in 1919, subsequently opened by the Prince of Wales in 1927.

Lorimer was also responsible for St Andrew's Garrison Church, Aldershot, completed 1927, a large Army church dedicated to the soldiers of the Church of Scotland and kindred churches who lost their lives in World War One. One of his last works (completed posthumously) was Knightswood St Margaret's Parish Church, Glasgow, which was dedicated in 1932. ​ Lorimer became President of the professional body in Scotland, the Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, and it was during his tenure in office that the body received its second royal charter, permitting use of the term 'Royal' in the title. Lorimer was a fellow of the North British Academy of Arts. He died in Edinburgh in 1929.

In previous posts about Lorimer I have featured his more well known properties, the two main pics in today’s post are Hill of Tarvit in Fife and a property on Pentland road Edinburgh, which was on the market last year for a price of just under £3 million.