#photos for educational purposes and not for commercial reproduction

[monkeyssalad-blog]

[Real Photo Postcard] Suffragette. Who? Me? by Special Collections at Johns Hopkins University Via Flickr: Produced by J Bauman. Ca. 1911. [MS-0857] Johns Hopkins University Women's Suffrage Collection aspace.library.jhu.edu/repositories/3/resources/1433 The digital copies found on the Sheridan Libraries website, digital repositories, and social media are intended for personal, educational, research, and/or non-commercial purposes, unless otherwise noted. They may be used freely for private study, educational presentations, and non-commercial websites, blogs, and social media. Please visit our Rights and Reproductions page for complete terms and details: www.library.jhu.edu/policies/rights-and-reproductions/

[lexdmca]

How to Avoid Copyright Infringement in the Age of Social Media

In the digital era, social media platforms have revolutionized the way we communicate and share content. While these platforms offer immense opportunities for self-expression and creativity, they also come with the responsibility to respect copyright laws. Copyright infringement can lead to serious legal consequences, including costly fines and damage to your online reputation. In this article, we will explore effective strategies to avoid copyright infringement in the age of social media.

Understanding Copyright Basics

Before delving into the strategies to prevent copyright infringement, it is crucial to have a solid understanding of copyright law. Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection that grants exclusive rights to the original creators of various types of works, including text, images, videos, and music. These rights include reproduction, distribution, adaptation, and public display or performance. Unauthorized use of copyrighted material without the owner's permission can lead to legal consequences.

Create Original Content

The most effective way to prevent copyright infringement is to create your own original content. By producing unique and creative work, you can maintain control over its usage and avoid any potential infringement issues. This applies to all types of content, whether it's writing, photography, artwork, or music.

Seek Permission for User-Generated Content

To avoid copyright infringement, it is best to seek permission or obtain licenses before using copyrighted material. If you wish to use someone else's work, reach out to the copyright owner and ask for explicit permission. This applies to photographs, illustrations, music, videos, and any other form of copyrighted content. Keep a record of the permission granted, as it may serve as evidence if any disputes arise.

Alternatively, consider using content that is licensed under Creative Commons (CC) or other similar licenses. These licenses offer varying levels of permissions, ranging from free use with attribution to non-commercial or derivative works restrictions. LexDMCA can provide valuable guidance and resources on understanding different types of licenses and finding content that aligns with your intended use.

Obtain Proper Licenses and Permissions

If you intend to use someone else's copyrighted material, always seek proper licenses and permissions. Many creators offer licenses or provide guidance on how to obtain them. For example, stock photo websites offer a wide range of images for commercial use through licensing agreements. Ensure you read and adhere to the terms and conditions stipulated in the license agreements to avoid any legal issues.

Familiarize Yourself with Fair Use

The concept of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission, mainly for purposes such as criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, or research. However, determining whether a particular use falls under fair use is complex and requires careful consideration of several factors, including the purpose, nature, amount, and effect on the potential market of the copyrighted work. Familiarize yourself with fair use guidelines and consult legal experts if you have any doubts.

Attribute and Give Credit

When sharing content on social media platforms, always provide proper attribution to the original creator. Giving credit demonstrates respect for the work and acknowledges the rights of the copyright holder. Include the creator's name, the title of the work, and a link to the original source whenever possible.

Educate Yourself and Your Team

Stay updated with copyright laws and guidelines to ensure compliance. Educate yourself, your team, or anyone involved in content creation or sharing within your organization about copyright infringement risks and prevention strategies. By fostering a culture of awareness and respect for intellectual property rights, you can minimize the chances of inadvertently infringing copyrights.

Conclusion

In the age of social media, where sharing and disseminating content has become the norm, it is crucial to understand and respect copyright laws. By creating original content, obtaining proper licenses and permissions, familiarizing yourself with fair use guidelines, giving proper attribution, seeking permission for user-generated content, monitoring copyrighted content, and staying informed about copyright laws, you can significantly reduce the risk of copyright infringement. Remember, respecting intellectual property rights not only protects the rights of creators but also upholds the integrity and sustainability of the creative ecosystem on social media platforms.

[samoceanwarrior]

Marilyn Monroe Nudibranch

Picture of a Goniobranchus geminus

We are a Marine Life Conservation Organization. All income goes towards our Marine conservation and Protection Projects. To get more information please visit our Homepage.

Edition: 1/1 License: The primary NFT owner may use it in advertising, display privately and in groups, including virtual galleries, documentaries and essays as long as attribution is credited. The creator grants no rights to create commercial goods, commercial distribution or derivative works. The copyright remains with the creator Daniel Sasse.

The Marilyn Monroe under the Nudibranches. I guess you can see why?! ;) Some Species of nudibranchs show 'mantle-flapping' in which the whole of the mantle edge rises simultaneously and then falls simultaneously. At this stage we have no idea what the 'purpose' is, if any, for this type of behavior.

Did you know?

Nudibranchs are hermaphroditic, thus having a set of reproductive organs for both sexes, but they cannot fertilize themselves.

Goniobranchus geminus, also known as the gem sea slug, is a species of very colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc. It can reach a maximum size of 5cm.

G. geminus has large purple or purple-brown spots or marks, usually ringed with white, and often reticulate yellow background, and a purple border. Chromodoris geminus having four colour bands around the mantle edge, an outermost white, then translucent greyish purple, then white, then yellow.

Rescue the Ocean with your Purchase!

All income goes towards our Marine Life Conservation Projects!

You can now Donate in Cryptocurrency to support our Marine Life Conservation Projects.

To give you a brief idea of the diversity of our work, I would like to introduce you to a few of our environmental protection projects we have implemented,

We conduct Fish and invertebrate count and surveys, identifying and documentation of fish diversity, monitoring water quality changes, dissection of deceased fish for plastic detection in tissues and digestive organs.

I was able to achieve great success with our project of coral propagation (restoration and reconstruction of coral reefs). I have been an instructor for CP since 2014 and so over time 2000 new corals have been planted. For this I received an award from the organization “Ocean Quest” and “Sea Shepherd Dive”. Newly planted corals the size of a pinhead are monitored with underwater photography. Success rate of 93%.

Numerous implementations of underwater clean-up dives and their organization. Every month we collect over 500 kg of garbage from the sea floor. The future vision is to specifically recycle the plastic waste and use it to produce anchor buoys. To document this, both photos and videos are used.

Construction and setting of permanent anchor buoys so that boats no longer throw their own anchors into the reef and thereby destroy corals.

We train our volunteers to become scientific scuba divers, I teach marine biology, shark protection, coral propagation and underwater clean-up courses.

Our latest Project is our shark protection project. Due to habitat loss and bad media, we systematically educate the population, counting as well as taking pictures and videos are needed for the identification and to create Databases, to protect biodiversity.

Thank you very much and with your purchase you are protecting a piece of our fragile oceans!

[erolawerance]

Ok! Some more social and cultural psychology and copyright things. So as examples how the grown up xxx rated movies get away whit out lawsuits when making parody of pop culture, and we only making fanfiction of our popular characters shiping them as an ADULTS! Yes by al standards its valid and substantial only to a people subjective opinions! Here is the example of fair usage: Fanart and Fanfiction fall under fair use. Fair use is the defense against copyright infringement. However, to determine whether something is fair use is not easy.

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:

[6]

the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

the nature of the copyrighted work;

the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Pop culture is prevalent today in modern times. There are conventions for almost everything movies, books, tv shows, anime, etc. At these conventions artists gather and do sell their work which can be in the form of posters, drawings, fan art, statues, etc. All of this has been happening for years. This all falls under fair use or does it? The answer is that it depends. The only way to objectively answer this is to look at similar cases in the past and see how the court ruled.

The case of Kienitz v Sconnie Nation LLC, 766 F.3d 756 (7th Cir. 2014) gives us an example scenario. In this case, a photo of a Wisconsim mayor was put on a T-shirt and sold to raise money for an event opposed by the mayor. The US Court of Appeals (only below the Supreme Court), ruled that the photo on the T-shirt was altered or “transformed” sufficiently that the background was removed, text was added, and only a green outline of the mayor’s smile remained similar to the smile of a Cheshire cat. Therefore, this fell under fair use. This case is probably the best reference for lawyers and defendants to defend fair use of fan art.

📷

How much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement? Hint: Cheshire Cat

Let’s look at another case, a more popular one where a photograph of ex-President Obama was taken and used to make a poster - Fairey vs Garcia. In this case, Shepard Fairey, a graphic artist, used Photoshop to modify the picture of Obama on the internet, to create a poster, sell it, and distribute it for free as well. Garcia was the original photographer who took a snapshot of Obama at a briefing. This was a Supreme Court case with the conclusion that neither party surrendered. However, Fairey did have to obtain a license from Garcia for future works.

📷

https://cyber.harvard.edu/people/tfisher/IP/Hope_Poster_Case_Study.pdf

Note that in both of the above cases, the work was commercialized and hence, the fair use defense was weaker. When it’s commercialized, one has to prove that the work is “transformative” to a significant degree from the original. Contrary to popular belief, copyright infringement occurs whether or not a product is free or not. The question then is - why doesn’t the copyright holder just start suing everything - including youtube, magazines, search engines, etc.?

The decision of whether to exercise the right of copyright is a cost/benefit analysis. It’s up to the copyright holder to determine whether it is more beneficial to allow others to talk about their product and gain free advertisement or whether the cost of losing profits is higher. If someone did go after fan art, it would ultimately lead to the fair use defense and they would lose if the fan art was deemed transformative enough. So that’s more cost than benefit.

[courtneyrobinson97]

IXD301

Where does content come from?

This week was all about where content comes from and also who owns that content. We looked at sources of content, for example:

Client Supplied

Self Generated

User Generated Content

APIs

Etc.

We also identified different sources of imagery, etc., for example Illustration, Icons, Photography… from places like:

Illustration

iStockPhoto

Shutterstock

Getty

Copyright

What is copyright?

Copyright (or author’s right) is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture, and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps, and technical drawings.

Copyright touches our lives on a daily basis. Whether you read a book, watch a film, transfer music, or take a photo, copyright issues are ever-present.

Copyright law aims to balance the interests of those who create content, with the public interest in having the widest possible access to that content. WIPO administers several international treaties in the area of copyright and related rights.

There are two types of rights under copyright:

economic rights, which allow the rights owner to derive financial reward from the use of their works by others; and

moral rights, which protect the non-economic interests of the author.

Most copyright laws state that the rights owner has the economic right to authorise or prevent certain uses in relation to a work or, in some cases, to receive remuneration for the use of their work (such as through collective management). The economic rights owner of a work can prohibit or authorise:

its reproduction in various forms, such as printed publication or sound recording;

its public performance, such as in a play or musical work;

its recording, for example, in the form of compact discs or DVDs;

its broadcasting, by radio, cable or satellite;

its translation into other languages; and

its adaptation, such as a novel into a film screenplay.

Examples of widely recognised moral rights include the right to claim authorship of a work and the right to oppose changes to a work that could harm the creator's reputation.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organisation devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organisation has released several copyright-licenses, known as Creative Commons licenses, free of charge to the public. 

These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. An easy-to-understand one-page explanation of rights, with associated visual symbols, explains the specifics of each Creative Commons license. 

Creative Commons licenses do not replace copyright but are based upon it. They replace individual negotiations for specific rights between copyright owner (licensor) and licensee, which are necessary under an "all rights reserved" copyright management, with a "some rights reserved" management employing standardised licenses for re-use cases where no commercial compensation is sought by the copyright owner. The result is an agile, low-overhead and low-cost copyright-management regime, benefiting both copyright owners and licensees.

Portfolio Website Content - So Far...

<!-- HOME SECTION -->

<h1>HOME PAGE</h1>

<div>

<img src="images/background.png" alt="Me" /> 

<h1>HEY, I'M COURTNEY.</h1>

<p><i>METAL GIRL WITH TATTOOS.</i></p> <p><i>ANIMAL & COFFEE ENTHUSIAST.</i></p> <p><i>UI DESIGNER & FRONT-END DEVELOPER.</i></p>

<button>VIEW MORE ABOUT ME</button>

</div>

<!-- END OF HOME SECTION -->

<!-- START OF PORTFOLIO SECTION -->

<h1>PORTFOLIO PAGE</h1> <div>

  <div> <img src="images/dogapp.png" alt="Who's That Good Boy?" />

<h2>WHO'S THAT GOOD BOY?</h2> <h3><i>SKILL : APP DESIGN / PROTOTYPING</i></h3>

<p>The educational app for all ages, encouraging users to travel and discover the many varieties of doggos we have in this beautiful world even right on our own doorstep.</p>

<p>Who’s That Good Boy? allows users to have a fun, interactive experience as well as sharing the experience with family or friends.</p>

</div>

<div> <img src="images/mybranding.png" alt="Self Branding" />

<h2>SELF BRANDING</h2> <h3><i>SKILL : CORPORATE IDENTITY - BRANDING</i></h3>

<p>My brand vision is to create unique and exciting solutions within the design industry which adhere and relate to my selected style and approach to design.</p>

<p>In this section you will see my start to finish process of making my Monogram, Wordmark and Visual Marque.</p>

</div>

<div>

<img src="images/infographic.png" alt="Dementia in the UK" />

<h2>DEMENTIA IN THE UK</h2> <h3><i>SKILL : DATA VISUALISATION - INFOGRAPHIC</i></h3>

<p>During my first year of university, my Nannie suffered from and passed due to the affects of Dementia.</p>

<p>I decided to base my infographic on the topic of Dementia in the UK as it's a disease that, unless witnessed first hand, not everyone understands the full extent and issues it raises.</p>

<p>I wanted to make something that would provide people with the relevant information in an interesting but informative way.</p>

</div> </div> <!-- END OF PORTFOLIO SECTION -->

<!-- ABOUT SECTION -->

<h1>ABOUT PAGE</h1>

  <div>

<div> <h3>Hey, I'm Courtney.</h3>

<p>I’m a young, enthusiastic UI designer based in Belfast currently seeking placement opportunities for 2020-2021.</p>

</div>

<div> <p>I'm currently a second year student at Ulster University, Belfast, studying a Bachelors in Interaction Design.</p>

<p>My key areas of interest include:</p>

<ul> <li>Front-End Development</li> <li>Branding</li> <li>UI Design</li> <li>App Design</li> <li>Data Visualisation</li> <li>Illustration</li> </ul>

</div> <div>

<p>Before coming to Ulster University, I achieved a Level 5 HND in Graphic Design at Belfast Metropolitan College. It was here that I discovered my passion for digital design whilst building and designing projects for set briefs.</p>

</div> </div> <!-- END OF ABOUT SECTION -->

<!--CASE STUDY SECTION -->

<h1>CASE STUDY PAGE</h1>

<div> <img src="images/appheader.png" alt="Who's That Good Boy'" />

<h2>The Challenge</h2>

<p>Create an illustrative travel app considering elements such as mobile design principles, colour and thumb.</p>

<h2>The Process</h2>

<img src="images/travelapp-mindmap.png" alt="Mind-map" />

<p>For this project, I began by exploring the potential answers to the problem given by drawing a mind-map of ideas after hearing the topic “Travel”. From this, I was able to branch the ideas out further to see which ideas held the most potential in regards to fulfilling the set brief of creating an app using illustration but also considering the potential needs of the intended users.</p>

<p>After discussing my list of ideas in class, my next stage was to begin market research. I had to gain a sound knowledge and understanding of all the elements that need to be considered when building and designing an app before I could begin developing my own concept. Looking at how existing apps use illustration in regards to travel as well as their navigation layout approach, icon sets and branding were all helpful as it made me consider what was needed for my own app in order for it to be successful.</p>

<img src="images/masterapprentice.png" alt="Master Apprentice" />

<p>As I’d never created an icon set before, I used the design technique of master apprenticing to recreate a set of travel icons so that I would have a better approach to designing using just simple shapes. I enjoyed completing this exercise and it encouraged me to research the history of icons to see how they have varied in design approach from the 1900’s to present day.</p>

<img src="images/travelapp-mindmap2.png" alt="Mind-Map" />

<p>Now that I had a better knowledge on what needed to be included in an app, I then went back to my initial mind-map of ideas. From this I decided to create a dog themed app as I felt it held strong visual stimulation for creating illustrations. My inspiration behind the functioning of the app stemmed from looking at Pokemon Go. I wanted to design an app that encourages the user to travel in real life to collect as many dog breeds as they could, gaining a stamp for each breed as a reward.</p>

<p>The idea for the app is that the user would photograph a dog they find whilst out exploring, the app would then transform the dog into an illustrative id card which would then be stored. Each dog discovered gains the user more ranking and also unlocks mini challenges like a treasure hunt as they have to answer questions and follow clues to end up at a final destination.</p>

<img src="images/travelapp-wireframes.png" alt="Wireframes" />

<p>Turning to my sketchbook was the next stage of my process so that I could start developing visuals for my app design. I created many rough sketches in regards to icons, illustrations and wireframes so that I could move on to digitising the app using Sketch to develop them into clean, finished design elements which would piece together to finalise the overall app design.</p>

<img src="images/presentation.png" alt="App Presentation" />

<p>I produced a high-level mock-up of my app to present in front of my classmates in order to receive constructive feedback that would then help guide me to a finalised app design. Once I made the recommended changes to my designs, I created a functioning prototype using InVision to best show how my app design answers the problem set in the original brief.</p>

<h2>Some Obstacles</h2>

<p>The main challenge I encountered was when I was digitising the dog illustrations as at this point I had limited experiences using Sketch for these purposes. The illustrations therefore took quite a bit of time to create however I feel that this experience helped strengthen my skill set in regards to using this software.</p>

<h2>My Reflection</h2>

<p>Throughout the process of this project, I feel like I was able to strengthen my existing skill set for developing and designing concepts from start to finish, however, I also got to experiment and learn some new techniques I hadn't tried out before such as prototyping and considering the rule of thumb.</p>

<p>To read further notes and my reflections on this brief, click the link below to my Tumblr page!</p>

<button>VISIT MY TUMBLR</button>

</div> <!-- END OF CASE STUDY SECTION -->

<!-- CONTACT SECTION -->

<h1>CONTACT PAGE</h1>

<img src="images/background.png" alt="Me" />

<div> <h1>Let's Chat!</h1>

<p>Check out the ‘Hire Me’ page for my CV or fire me an email using the link provided below whether it be for job opportunities, an invite to groups/events or perhaps even for a killer collaboration project.</p>

<p>I’m currently seeking placement opportunities for 2020-2021.</p>

<button>GET IN TOUCH</button>

</div> <!-- END OF CONTACT SECTION -->

<!-- HIRE PAGE SECTION -->

<h1>HIRE PAGE</h1>

<div> <img class="center" src="images/visual1.png" alt="Visual Marque" />

<h1>Courtney Robinson</h1> <h2>UI DESIGNER & FRONT-END DEVELOPER</h2>

</div> <div>

<h3>Design Experience</h3> <h4>Content Marketing Manager</h4> <h5>Robinson Financial Services</h5> <h5><i>Oct 19 to Present (Part Time)</i></h5>

<p>Roles & responsibilities:</p>

<ul> <li>To expand the company’s digital footprint and brand awareness</li> <li>To take full responsibility of the companies digital marketing strategies including use of social media, email campaigns, blogs, SEO (to name a few) to increase digital lead generation</li> <li>To provide administrative support to the Company Director</li> <li>To perform other incidental and related duties as required and assigned</li> <li>Responding promptly to customer enquiries in person or via telephone & email</li> <li>Working to tight deadlines</li> </ul>

<h4>Freelance Designer</h4> <h5>Courtney Robinson Designs</h5> <h5><i>June 17 to Present (Part Time)</i></h5>

<p>Roles & responsibilities:</p>

<ul> <li>Responding promptly to customer enquiries in person or via telephone & email</li> <li>Create visuals based on customer requests (print or digital)</li> <li>Strong use of Adobe Creative Suite and Sketch Software</li> <li>Daily reports on the status of pending work</li> <li>Good general IT skills</li> <li>An ability to communicate design ideas clearly</li> <li>Working to tight deadlines</li> </ul>

</div> <div>

<h3>Education</h3>

<h4>Interaction Design (BDes)</h4>      

                                                                <p>Ulster University, Belfast</p>

<p>Sep 18 - May 22</p> <p>Result: Pending</p>

<h4>Graphic Design (QCF)</h4>

<p>(EDEXCEL BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma)</p> <p>Belfast Metropolitan College, Belfast</p> <p>Sep 15 - May 17</p> <p>Result: Pass</p>

<h4>OCN NI Level 2 Award in Social Media (QCF)</h4>

<p>Belfast Metropolitan College, Belfast</p> <p>Sep 15 - May 17</p> <p>Result: Achieved</p>

</div>

<div> <h3>Design Skills</h3>

<ul> <li>Sketch</li> <li>Adobe Creative Suite</li> <li>HTML/CSS</li> <li>InVision</li> <li>Branding</li> <li>Digital Marketing</li> <li>Web & App Design</li> <li>Data Visualisation</li> </ul>

</div>

<div> <button>DOWNLOAD PDF</button> </div> <!-- END OF HIRE PAGE SECTION -->

Sources:

https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/

https://creativecommons.org/

[2251bluewhales]

Week 6

Apologies for the delay! My Friday was a roller coaster, but I’ve made it out alive.

Week six has been a wonderful one! Not only has my whale-matching been particularly on point this week, but I’ve also been on some great adventures with my fellow interns outside of work! It’s almost comical how similar we are in our senses of humor and our interests and habits. It’s been gratifying to know that there are others just like me out there, and we’ve all gotten close.Turns out I’m not as strange as I once thought! (Debatable)

Additionally, this week has been thought provoking in a very critical way (at least for me personally now that whale watch season is in full swing). Every week we participate in a seminar activity; we submit scientific papers that interest us to a pool, vote on the most compelling, read it over, and then discuss it together during an hour-long session at work. This week we chose a literature review that discussed how to model and asses the potential impacts of whale watching on cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises, for those just tuning in).

This paper discussed some interesting topics regarding the sustainability of whale watching. Before I go into it further, let me explain why this is important.

Ever since the rise of the Blackfish movement (that is, the advocacy for keeping marine mammals out of captivity [for commercial purpose] i.e. marine parks, public aquaria, etc.) there’s been much discussion on the alternatives for people who desire to see these animals up close. Captivity, as shown by empirical evidence and supported by marine mammal biologists, is incredibly maladaptive for whales and dolphins which have very specific habitat, social, and dietary requirements, many of which are financially or logistically difficult, if not downright impossible, to fulfill in an artificial environment. This results in increased and sustained stress, immune system compromise and increased disease suceptibility, abnormal cases of hyperaggression among animals kept together, reproductive complications, neurotic/self-mutilating behavior, the list goes on ( x , x , x , x , x ). It also brings up an important question of ethics when it comes to keeping marine mammals in captivity, the sustainability of removing animals from the wild for aquaria, as well as how some facilities deliberately misuse science as a marketing tactic.

That being said, I’ve always been an advocate for whale-watching as an alternative to seeing marine mammals in captivity. When done responsibly (that is, complying with regulations and giving the animals necessary space and respect when viewing them on the water), it can be a rewarding experience! In my time, I’ve kayaked with orcas, chased humpbacks from shore as they swim down the coast, seen Dall’s porpoises surf in the bow waves of a boat, been approached by harbor porpoises and harbor seals while swimming, among other magical encounters with these wild animals, and nothing compares to being able to witness them in their natural environments.

However, when it comes to viewing whales specifically from boats, there are numerous factors to consider that could potentially make this form of ecotourism unsustainable and damaging. Obviously there are two sides to this story, and the situation is nuanced depending on the region and vessel operators. Let’s discuss some pros and cons to whale watching (here, specifically referring to whale-watching through the use of motorized vessels).

Pros

Viewing wild animals in the wild. Captivity can result in some damaging short term and long term effects on whales and dolphins, and has been the subject of criticism since the industry took off in the 1960′s. In the wild, you can witness their natural behavior, and see whales and dolphins for what they truly are as a species.

Economic stimulation, especially in developing regions. In some areas, like Tonga, whale watching is a primary source of income for these communities, and is vital to the success of these areas.

More economic than a trip to a marine park or aquarium facility (sometimes). If you plan accordingly, whale watch tours can be much cheaper than a trip to an aquarium, especially if you pack your own lunch, take advantage of discount opportunities, etc.

Education and the promotion of conservation. Viewing animals in the wild and educating the public via trained naturalists and biologists can instill a cultural value in the public inspiring us to protect our natural ecosystems and local wildlife while viewing it in its majesty in person.

Improved opportunities for research. Scientists often tag along with or work in conjunction with whale watch operators to gain insightful information on the movements, behaviors, and general presence of the animals that use a given ecosystem. Photo-identification, tagging, and other forms of data sampling can be obtained through whale watch tours, and this is critical to our bettered understanding of wild populations of marine mammals.

Cons

Crowding from too many boats, which can result in...

Disruption of natural behaviors. This includes feeding, migration or otherwise general travel patterns, reproductive behavior, nursing, etc.  Vessel presence can sometimes result in observable stress responses and behavioral changes, and this can be detrimental both short term and long term.

Hormonal (non-observable) stress responses, which can compromise immune systems and reproductive health for example.

Accustomation to stress or vessel presence, making them less likely to respond to predators and causing them to lose their natural and healthy fear of people and vessels. This can increase the risk of...

Collisions with boats, which results in injury or death of the animals.

Vessel noise or pollution disrupts sonar and communication abilities, and puts the animals at risk of oil or gas leaks, litter from passengers, carbon emissions from exhaust, etc.

Range shift as a result from constant pursuit from vessels. Perhaps some animals may avoid their critical habitats (hunting or breeding grounds) where whale watchers tend to congregate, and opt for quieter habitats with reduced resources but less disturbance.

Marine patrol/Coast Guard can’t be everywhere at once, making enforcement of wildlife viewing regulations difficult. Sometimes violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act or other regulations take lower priority as well, if not, go completely unpunished in some cases.

This only scratches the surface, however, this paper completely changed the way I consider whale watching to impact wild animals. It’s important to note that as of currently, it’s difficult to standardize models to represent what kind of impacts whale watching truly has, and there are a number of factors to consider and control for when assessing the impacts, such as the behavior and abundance of certain species, and even disturbance from researchers. Observation of the animals either remotely via drones or directly from boats, as well as the use of historical knowledge and data, citizen observations, photo-ID, DNA sampling, etc. becomes critical for understanding how sustainable whale watching really is. As of now, results seem to be fairly inconclusive. It could be that whale watching is an ecological disaster that demands more intense supervision and regulation. Or, it could be an incredibly low priority, and it could be that vessel traffic from whale watchers isn’t nearly as big of a threat as global climate change, pollution, or ocean acidification.

What do I think?

There’s no doubt that we need to take into consideration how we approach and interact with marine mammals in the wild, and we have to understand that the regulations in place were enacted for a reason. I think generally, depending on the operator, whale watching can be a rewarding and overall low-impact form of ecotourism that is sustainable in the long run, given the organization in question is complying with regulations and guidelines aimed to protect our whales and dolphins. Doing your research on individual whale watch companies is important to ensure responsible marine mammal viewing. But I think a better option is kayaking with whales and dolphins! Although more physically intensive, kayaks are quieter than motorized vessels and do not release carbon emissions or harmful pollutants into the water. This can encourage whales and dolphins to continue with their natural behavior, and can greatly reduce stress responses from human presence.

But it’s likely that the best option is watching whales from shore. Binoculars and telephoto lenses on cameras offer great views, and the whales can go about their business almost completely undisturbed. Depending on your region, shoreline whale watching opportunities can be an incredible experience. Here in Washington state, the orcas can often be seen from shore as they hunt and mill about in the inland waters, especially during the summer months, and even in urban areas like Seattle and Tacoma! I’ve had whales pass by within 100 yards of the beach at high tide, and have seen humpbacks and grey whales migrating along the coast at close range. Sometimes it requires a bit of luck, but that’s the magic of viewing them in the wild on their terms.

If you’re unable to view whales in the wild and feel conflicted about viewing them in captivity with all we now know about their biology, remember that the internet and popular media are beautiful resources! Field guides, documentaries, TV specials, books, video footage, podcasts, it’s all available at our fingertips. One need not hold marine mammals in captivity, or disturb them in the wild to appreciate them! That’s how my love for animals like great white sharks and other endangered and elusive species has been able to flourish despite never seeing them in person. 

It’s really a privilege to see marine mammals in the wild, and it’s one I wish everybody had the chance to do. I’d be lying if I said my love for whales and dolphins didn’t begin at an aquarium where an orca was kept on display, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t initially want to be a dolphin trainer. But in this age of information, we know better. To this day I still advocate for aquarium facilities to evolve and move away from keeping these animals in captivity. We have made incredible technological advances that allow us to construct virtual reality experiences, life-like animatronics, and educational and interactive exhibits that don’t require confining these large and nomadic animals to less than a fraction of their natural space. It’s foolish and rather selfish not to use these resources.

Coastal citizens should take responsible approaches to viewing their local wildlife. Take pride in knowing what you have in your backyard, and have humility and the utmost respect when embracing and sharing it.

In these times of environmental destruction, watching us lose species after species, it’s so important to ground ourselves and remember what we have to lose. Whales and dolphins are a vital piece of the puzzle that is balance in our global ecosystem. Without them, our oceans fail. Without healthy oceans, we all perish.

Some of the topics brought up today are somewhat controversial, and I invite you to engage in a discussion about whale watching, the impacts of human disturbance on wild animals, and the practice of keeping these majestic creatures in captivity. Or simply share with me your favorite experiences viewing marine mammals in the wild!

Though I do not foresee any issues, I feel that it’s worth noting that my personal opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Cascadia Research Collective, and I strive to represent this organization with the utmost pride and professionalism. My ultimate goal as an aspiring biologist and an advocate for our oceans is to educate. Something, something, something, “knowledge is power”.

Cheers everybody!

[adazhang-221257]

Week 7 - Part 1

Library Workshop tasks

Popular culture definition

Culture is based on the tastes of ordinary people rather than an educated elite.

Expand on the research

Examples of popular culture come from a wide array of genres, including popular music, print, cyber culture, sports, entertainment, leisure, fads, advertising and television.

Popular culture (or "pop culture") refers in general to the traditions and material culture of a particular society. In the modern West, pop culture refers to cultural products such as music, art, literature, fashion, dance, film, cyberculture, television, and radio that are consumed by the majority of a society's population. Popular culture is those types of media that have mass accessibility and appeal.

The term "popular culture" was coined in the mid-19th century, and it referred to the cultural traditions of the people.

Popular culture is simply a culture that is widely favoured or well-liked by many people: it has no negative connotations.

Pop culture in food is driven by the Food Network and includes Hamburger Helper and Rice-A-Roni, which enables family and friends to dine together.

Impacts on food culture

Popular Culture, Food

http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Ome-Pop/Popular-Culture-Food-and.html

Current trends: increasing trend in the United States toward consumerism, a trend that is reflected in more people eating away from home,  ethnic diversity in diets.

Eating away from home.

Ethnic Foods: foods that come from other cultures. An increased incorporation of ethnic cuisines.

Building Language

Academic reading resources 

Food and Media: Practices, Distinctions and Heterotopias

Edited ByJonatan Leer, Karen Klitgaard Povlsen

https://www-taylorfranciscom.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/books/e/9781315582603

Brief description: This volume argues that contemporary food studies need to pay more attention to the significance of media in relation to how we 'do' food. We need to understand that food media is particularly central to the diverse contemporary social and cultural practices of food.

The importance of media in various spaces of food culture, as well as the importance of food in media products and media use.

Media and food practices

Already in 2004, Couldry suggested that a new paradigm was emerging in media studies, 'it treats media as the open set of practices relating to, or oriented around, media.' This would free media studies from the insoluble problem of how to prove media effects, and at the same time make non-media-centric investigations possible. In this case, it is between food and media.

Thus every historical period realises the interrelation between media and cultural fields such as food in specific ways that are to be explored empirically.

The article argues that what people actually do with media in relation to food in differing contexts and situations needs further investigation.

Food is connected to culture.

Media practices need to be researched in different contexts, home or institutions.

Medialization is embedded in communication, the routines and habits of everyday life, also in material and technological and societal structures.

Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography

Author Susan Bright 

Exhibition: Feast for the Eyes – The Story of Food in Photography

https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibition/feast-eyes-story-food-photography

Intention of the exhibition and the book

This exhibition includes different types of arts, such as fine art and vernacular photography, commercial and scientific images, photojournalism and fashion.

In this exhibition, it shows that food has always been a much-photographed and consumed subject. Food as the subject matter is rich in symbolic meaning and across the history of art, has operated as a vessel for artists to explore a particular emotion, viewpoint or theme and express a range of aspirations and social constructs.

Media enables the way of photographing food to be part of people' s habits.

What Feast for the Eyes focuses is how food is represented and used in photographic practices by looking at a broad range of artists. This exhibition allows lots of different levels of problems for people to consider.

Feast for the Eyes traces the history and effect of food in photography.

Interview with Feast for the Eyes curators Susan Bright and Denise Wolff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nVmWn4t9AA

“It is always there. Food is easy to be controlled, moved and arranged. We are all related to food, as we feel something in the tastes and senses.” —— Bright and Wolff

The exhibition is divided into three sections, the first and the blue section is Still life. Sharon Core, a great contemporary example. Her work is complex, it is a reproduction of photos of the still life painting on the internet. She photographs how we consumed images and fine art.

The second and the yellow section is Around the Table. This section focuses on culture and identity, it is about how people gather around for food. Stephen Shore, in one of his photos of the McDonald's hamburger, We would know it's taken in America immediately. This section shows the idea of custom and identity really well. It is about a certain lifestyle.

The third and the red section is called Playing With the Food. This section deals with senses, like the taste, smell.  

This exhibition is not just general food photography, it is more about how food functions in photography. The meaning of the work is worthy for us to consider over and over again.

I am very interested in section 2 of the exhibition and its meaning. In my opinion, food photography, as Bright mentioned, is not only to show what the food looks like (the beauty is also important) but more importantly, the meaning behind the photos. Food represents the appearance of an era and the customs of a country or region. It is the reflection of people's thoughts and certain lifestyles of a specific period, and a symbol of identity. I think this is the main purpose of my study of food popular culture, to explore the customs and culture contained in food, and at the same time to grasp its beauty.  

Stunning photos show how American food consumption has changed in the past 100 years    

https://www.businessinsider.com/15-stunning-photos-that-show-how-food-consumption-has-changed-2017-6

General information:

The same as the change in food consumption, the way societies plate, present, and document food also changed.

"Food can signify a lifestyle or a nation, hope or despair, hunger or excess" Susan Bright writes

Colour photographs began appearing in the early 1900s, and photographer Wladimir Schohin explored the complex process of autochrome, which used potato starch to help create the colour.

As colour photography became more popular and technically easier to create, photographers such as Nickolas Muray helped set the tone for 1940s food photography.

Photographer Stephen Shore is known for his photos of American culture. This photo, of his breakfast at Trail's End Restaurant in Kanab, Utah in 1973, has been celebrated by various photography critics.

Today, some photographers are creating completely new concoctions. Lorenzo Vitturi was inspired by the mix of cultures and foods found at his local market in the East End of London.

Thoughts:

This article describes the changes in food from past to present. People's thoughts and aesthetics are also changing according to different times they live in, and the changes can be visually reflected in the look of food. Viewers can explore the culture and people’s perspective on food in these different photos. This article also clearly describes how food can deliver the differences in each period and its related cultural effects on the expression of food.  

===========================================================================

Researched photographers

Nickolas Muray

He was a Hungarian-born American photographer and Olympic saber fencer.

While Muray is best known for his work as a celebrity portraitist, his magazine and fashion pictures from the 1930s and 1940s are superb examples of both colour photography and the post-war American advertising aesthetic of excess.

Thoughts:

The colours in the photos generally look bright and beautiful. I feel like it was shot in natural lighting as well as using a flashlight. The bright colours will make the audience feel appetizing. The colour and style of the picture made me think it was an oil painting at first sight, as it looks so beautiful that it feels a bit unreal.

This photo gives the audience a sense that it was generated in the old days at first glance, and it clearly describes the traditions of that era, such as people's eating habits, culture, and the way of doing food photography.

Stephen Shore

Thoughts:

Shore's photos are different from common food photography. Instead of fixing the photos to perfection, he keeps some of the flaws and it is more like a documentary way of photographing food.

The photos seem more realistic about the eating habits, breakfast and dinner choices of the time Shore was in. 

These two photos show the culture and habits of a certain time and place, as well as people's identity.

Romulo Yanes

Romulo Yanes is a New York-based photographer who specializes in editorial, food, and travel.

Biography

Romulo Yanes

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1033723/bio

Romulo Yanes has defined the way we see food.

His passion for good food began with his childhood in Cuba and evolved into his career as a professional photographer.

Yanes photographed restaurant and home-style dishes, street scenes, chefs, entertaining features, ingredients, and food markets.

Emily Schramm Represents 

https://emilyschrammrepresents.com/artist-portfolio/romulo-yanes-food-photographer/

Series ——Raw

His work is prominently featured and discussed in Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food In Photography (Aperture) by Susan Bright. She lauds Yanes as an image-maker whose style and work have made significant contributions to food photography and to our food culture at large.

Series ——New

Thoughts

Compared with the work of the first two artists, Yanes' works are obviously different. Yanes' photos tend to be aesthetic and have a strong sense of modernity. He shows contemporary eating habits and people's aesthetic thoughts of plating.

Danielle Wood 

Production Paradise

https://www.productionparadise.com/member/london/danielle-wood.html

Danielle Wood is a London-based photographer specialising in food. Working with a small team of experts Danielle creates beautiful, fresh and vibrant images for a wide range of clients.

Danielle’s clients include Marks & Spencer, McDonald's, EDEKA, 4Creative, Warburtons, Compass, Slimming World, Octopus Publishing, Penguin, Harper Collins and many more.

Zifeng Qiu

Profoto    

https://profoto.com/cn/local-stories/qiuzi-b10-michelin-star-shoot 

The idea for this creation: to incorporate Chinese style into the artistic dishes of Michelin.

The two dishes created are Dongpo pork and beef stew with red wine. Dongpo pork is a traditional Chinese dish. He hopes that by using the help from Michelin's thinking to enhance the style to be more traditional. This is a good example of photographing food with different cultural styles.

For the table arrangement, the grey-black ceramic tile is used for the plate. The dark black background to enhance the texture of the food and to create a more advanced feeling.

To make the whole thing look more artistic and traditional, some smoke is added to the photo.

The food in Zifeng Qiu's photographs has both temperature and taste 

https://new.qq.com/omn/20200213/20200213A0AF9R00.html 

The food under his lens is full of healing functions. Looking at his photos, it feels like every cell in the body can feel the happiness and satisfaction brought by Qiu's food photography. Even though we might have not seen the real food, the taste of it is exposed already.

“Generally, commercial photographers have no style of their own, they need to meet the request of their clients.” But Qiu pays more attention to the control of the atmosphere: food photography is not only to make the food look good, but also to translate the taste of food into a visual experience. Incorporate emotion into food photography to resonate with the audience.

He thinks that we need to create a different atmosphere, see whether it is Chinese, Japanese, or Italian, then we will make our own decisions on combining different sets and props. Instead of putting wood in this project, using cement would look better. This is not certain as it depends on the food.

"I hope that I can always create more beautiful things based on my own emotions. I am willing to share and infect others, and pass on the beauty," said Qiu.

I like when texts are added to the photo, as they speak more information about the food. This is also a good example to show how Chinese people do nowadays for advertising, it is one of their typical ways of introducing their food on the menu. People in other countries or with different culture might do things differently.

Cherry Li

Interview with Cherry Li, Food Photographer

Dominique Musorrafiti | January 28, 2020 | China Magazine, China Views, Featured, Taste of China: Chinese Food & Cuisine

https://china-underground.com/2020/01/28/interview-with-cherry-li-food-photographer/

Introduction

Cherry Li is a food photographer and food video director.

In 2012, Cherry’s passion for experiencing the depth of every Chinese cuisine propelled her to move to Beijing. She divides her time between her studios in Beijing and Hong Kong and travelling through mostly Asia on assignment.

Question: How did you develop your style as a food photographer?

"Style is not something I deliberately cultivate; I trust it comes along with living life and adapting to personal and professional challenges."

Question: What are the main difficulties for a food photographer in enhancing dishes and ingredients?

Timing—cooking time, freezing time, defrosting time, resting time, the prime time for shooting is always a shorter window than for eating.

陈燕飞 Yanfei Chen

Chinese Food Photography 潮州美食摄影    

Food&Drinks Photographer 美食摄影师陈燕飞 YanFei Chen  

https://www.behance.net/gallery/69457709/Chinese-Food-Photography-

Chen uses cold artificial lighting in this photo series, making the texture beautifully show on the black background clearly.

Set the food on a dark background can enhance its advanced look.

I like the plate presentation in the first one, the way of arranging the food makes me feel like looking at a piece of Chinese drawing. 

Thoughts:

This group of works is done by Chen, a Chinese photographer who generates Chinese culture within the food. Just like the similar effects of Shore’s photo, when the audience looks at Chen's works, they will quickly acknowledge the culture represented by food. Chen succeeds in combining culture and food perfectly, portraying Chinese culture and eating habits. This is what I want to focus on in my following project, as I hope my work can also let the audience see the cultural context behind the food.

Test photos of my project

These photos are taken at the fruit store and a restaurant. I think documentary photography is one of my ways to take my project forward. However, I think this is not the style I want to go for. I prefer doing food photography to capture the beauty of food presented in a moment, as well as the cultural contexts behind it.

I try with plating the food in IMG 7688, 7694,7705,7762 and 7763. The food in the rest of the photos is left as they are after they came out from the pot. Then I photograph them from different angles and distances to either zoom in and focus on the details of the food or zoom out to capture the whole scene of the plate.

This series gives me the idea of what I want to focus on next. I am fascinated at food, especially enjoying the aesthetic plating presentation. I think food not only shows its own characteristics and beauty, but also expresses more than that. By watching food, you can get the different cultures of places or countries, and you can even discover the thoughts of the people who made it. 

I hope that the photos of my food can not only show its beauty, but telling the story, culture, and my emotions. I would like to make it more than just a still life.

[sciencespies]

Time ticks away at wild bison genetic diversity

https://sciencespies.com/biology/time-ticks-away-at-wild-bison-genetic-diversity/

Time ticks away at wild bison genetic diversity

In this Oct. 26, 2019, file photo, riders herd bison during the annual bison roundup on Antelope Island in Utah. Evidence is mounting that wild North American bison are gradually shedding their genetic diversity across many of the isolated herds overseen by the U.S. government, weakening future resilience against disease and climate events in the shadow of human encroachment. Advances in genetics are bringing the concern in to sharper focus. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

More

Evidence is mounting that wild North American bison are gradually shedding their genetic diversity across many of the isolated herds overseen by the U.S. government, weakening future resilience against disease and climate events in the shadow of human encroachment.

The extent of the creeping threat to herds overseen by the Department of Interior—the backbone of wild bison conservation efforts for North America—is coming into sharper focus amid advances in genetic studies.

Preliminary results of a genetic population analysis commissioned by the National Park Service show three small federal herds would almost certainly die off—extinguishing their DNA lineage—within 200 years under current management practices that limit transfers for interbreeding among distant herds.

The study is awaiting peer review by other scientists. It does not include Yellowstone National Park’s herd of some 5,000 unfenced bison, the largest federal conservation herd that’s seen by millions of people who visit the park annually.

“Some of these herds that lost the most genetic diversity do have a high probability of going extinct, due to the accumulation of inbreeding,” explained Cynthia Hartway, a conservation scientist at the bison program with Wildlife Conservation Society who led the analysis.

The preliminary findings were presented at a workshop of the American Bison Society in the buffalo-raising Native American community of Pojoaque, amid impassioned discussions about ensuring the iconic mammal’s lasting place in the wild.

Bison squeezed through a perilously small genetic bottleneck in the late 1800s with the hunting and extermination of the massive animals that had numbered in the tens of millions. At one point, fewer than a 1,000 survived.

Federal wildlife authorities now support about 11,000 genetically pure bison with only the slightest traces of cattle interbreeding. The herds represent one third of all bison maintained for conservation purposes across North America.

Many of the conservation herds overseen directly by the Interior Department have 400 or fewer animals—leaving them prone to problems of inbreeding and genetic drift that reduce environmental adaptability.

The new analysis suggests the problem, left unchecked, would likely spell doom for small herds wandering the immense Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska, the hemmed-in bison at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma that descended from a group of six animals, and a tiny educational display herd at Sullys Hill National Game Preserve in North Dakota.

At the same time, strategically exchanging as few as two bison between herds every 10 years would forestall the genetic deterioration of small herds, the research found.

In this Oct. 26, 2019, file photo, a bison looks through the grass on Antelope Island in Utah. Evidence is mounting that wild North American bison are gradually shedding their genetic diversity across many of the isolated herds overseen by the U.S. government, weakening future resilience against disease and climate events in the shadow of human encroachment. Advances in genetics are bringing the concern in to sharper focus. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

More

Hartway said transfers alone don’t stop that slow ebb of genetic diversity from the combined “meta-population���—the collective DNA profile of scattered federal conservation herds—and that more large herds may be needed in the long run.

“We’re kind of putting a band-aid on the problem. The problem is we have small, isolated herds.”

Others see modern reproductive technology as a solution.

Frozen bison embryos and in vitro fertilization hold out promise for easing genetic isolation among herds without the risks of transferring hulking mammals or spreading diseases such as brucellosis that leads to aborted calves, said Gregg Adams, a professor of veterinary biomedical sciences at the University of Saskatchewan who has pioneered the reproductive technologies on bison.

But federal wildlife managers and some indigenous communities are loath to adopt such techniques that move away from natural selection in mating.

Peter Dratch, a senior biologist in Colorado for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s wildlife inventory and monitoring program, cautioned against even more subtle human interference in managing wild herds, such as inoculations or rescuing ailing bison for treatable diseases. He believes domestic versions of bison will emerge from commercial herds, where bison number 400,000 or more.

“You don’t want to go overboard, to play God,” he said.

Wild bison DNA is typically sampled from tail-hair gathered at cattle-style roundups, or with small flesh-biting darts, and even blood samples from animals killed by hunters in remote locations.

In its cooperative effort with federal and state agencies, the Wildlife Conservation Society assembled DNA information from more than 1,800 bison among 16 federal herds, with additional sampling from two publicly managed Canadian herds.

Brendan Moynahan, chairman of the Interior Department’s Bison Work Group, said genetic-diversity concerns could add momentum to initiatives already afoot for larger conservation herds where enough open space can be found, potentially in collaboration with Native American communities that revere the buffalo.

At the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, tribal leaders who re-established wild bison in 2016 have described their vision for herds that roam freely into neighboring Glacier National Park, the Badger-Two Medicine wilderness and Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park—an area spanning several thousand square miles.

Despite concerns, Moynahan insisted the plains bison and larger northern wood bison are on a better genetic footing than other wild North American mammals such as the black-footed ferret that have had close brushes with extinction.

Explore further

Judge: US must reconsider Yellowstone bison protections

© 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Citation: Time ticks away at wild bison genetic diversity (2019, November 3) retrieved 3 November 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-11-wild-bison-genetic-diversity.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

#Biology

[wyrmguardsecrets]

A rundown on copyrights

I'm going to have to do this again, aren't I?

First off, I'm not a lawyer, but I worked as a copyright agent for an OSP (basically a web hosting service) for half a decade.

If you are posting someone else's intellectual property saying "no copyright intended" you're making yourself look line a moron who doesn't understand what a copyright is, stop doing that. 

Copyrights are the exclusive rights of a content creator to their own work. These rights include the right to translate, adapt, present to public, and create reproductions in any manner or form. It also includes the right to sell and the right to sell the copyrights. If you are posting someone else's work without permission, you are violating their copyrights. Period. 

Yes. Fair use is a thing. It's an affirmative defense for intellectual property lawsuits and is determined by the court. An affirmative defense is, "Yes, I'm violating the copyright but I believe the violation is acceptable because ___." Is using someone else's work on your blog fair use? Based on the general definitions of fair use, are you critiquing, reviewing, reporting news, using a brief excerpt, making drastic transformative changes to the original, parodying, or using it for educational purposes. No? Then it isn't fair use, and if you get hauled to court, the fair use defense probably won't work.

(Chances are you won't get hauled to court, your web host will get slapped with a DMCA take down notice and the copyrighted work and/or your blog will get deleted. Web Hosts have something called "Safe Harbor" from copyright lawsuits if they accept DMCA take downs, the idea is that a host cannot possibly monitor everything uploaded to their service, and thus, provided they accept take down notices and take corrective action in a timely manner, they are not liable. 17 U.S. Code § 512)

If you think some amateur posting artwork or photos or stories on tumblr or deviantart or wherever is not protected because they aren't filing for a copyright, you're dead wrong. According to The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886, a massive multi-country treaty, anything that can be copyrighted is copyrighted upon creation, no filing required. If you think using artwork of international artists, like Russians, Koreans, Japanese, or Chinese artists is okay, you're also wrong, as Russia, Korea, Japan, and China have also all signed the Berne Convention treaty. So stop ripping off international artists while you're at it.

So when is it okay to use someone else's work?

If you paid for it - If you commissioned a piece of work from an artist, you have purchased the right to display and use the work for non-commercial purposes. Most commissions don't include buying the full copyright. You should probably credit your source and link back to the creator so if other people like their work they can get some of their own.

If the work was made for you as a gift - If someone made the thing for you, then, you have the right to display the work for non-commercial purposes. You should probably credit your source and link back to the creator so if other people like their work they can get some of their own.

If the copyright holder has granted a license of use - Blizzard has a fan-site policy that allows people subscribing to their services to display Blizzard game art and screenshots on their websites/blogs/etc for non-commercial uses. You should check for similar policies from other sources.

"Fuck you, I'm going to do it anyway."

Know that there's a chance the copyright holder may file a DMCA take down notice and the work can be removed by whoever is hosting your internet presence. Know that the web host might choose to discontinue service to you, ie: Deleting your blog account. If that's a risk you're willing to take, so be it. 

If you're making a small reference to something, like a single line from a movie/play/book in your RP, then you're probably safe. A bronze dragon making a Dr. Who reference isn't going to make the BBC divide by zero at you.

Big media things like movies/tv shows probably don't care. You're probably safe using shit from Game of Thrones, though know that even some big names are intolerant of fan-uses for their work. J.K. Rowling and Anne Rice, for example, are notorious for take downs.

Small time creators who make their money via commissions or paywalls are going to care quite a bit, so don't. 

You should cite and link back to your source, that way if someone likes the work displayed, they can go find the creator and commission some work themselves. Yes, even if you've taken the source and done some extreme transformative alterations, it's still a common courtesy to link back to the original. 

If you're reblogging something on tumblr that violates someone else's copyrights, but you didn't upload it, and are just appreciating the art, then the copyrighted might get deleted but your blog isn't going to get nuked from orbit or anything, there's no way you could have known.

As for the lingerie guild (???) using images? I'm not sure what that's about but it couldn't hurt to link back to the stores where the images come from, someone might actually want to buy that sexy sexy hosiery or something.  

TL:DR: If you didn't pay for it, if it wasn't made for you, or if you don't have permission, don't use it. At the very lease, leave the signature intact, credit the creator, or link back to the source always. Do this regardless of if you've got the rights to use it or not, so if people want to give that creator money, they can. Don't be a dick, y'all. 

[englishchinesetranslations]

by Revilo P. Oliver

Editor’s Note: Dr. Revilo P. Oliver was a distinguished Classics professor at the University of Illinois for 32 years, was a founder of both the John Birch Society and National Review magazine, and was a leading partisan of our race in the latter half of the 20th century. This review of Lawrence Brown’s Might of the West is one of Oliver’s best essays. Originally published in Instaurationmagazine in slightly edited form, it appears here for the first time as originally written by Dr. Oliver, based on a new transcription of Dr. Oliver’s typescript. — Kevin Alfred Strom.

LAWRENCE R. BROWN’s The Might of the West is one of the fundamental books of our century. It was published by Obolensky in 1963, just at the time at which that publishing house passed into the hands of new owners, who virtually suppressed the book. It has only now become generally available, thanks to the enlightened generosity of a young architectural designer in Wisconsin, who provided the money for a photo-offset reproduction of the original printing, necessarily but unfortunately including its rare typographical errors, a few deplorable misstatements, and a conjectural number of passages that the author would doubtless have wished to revise, since it is most unlikely that a vigorous mind would have learned nothing from study and meditation in seventeen years. These, however, are but minor blemishes in a great work, and we should be grateful for what has been given us.

Inquiry into the causes of the rise and fall of nations and civilizations is at least as old as Herodotus, but study of the problem in the form in which it presents itself so acutely and so urgently to us may be said to begin with Théodore Funck-Brentano’s La Civilisation et ses lois (1876), which was followed by such notable works as Brooks Adams’ The Law of Civilization and Decay (1896) and Correa Moylan Walsh’s The Climax of Civilisation (1917). All earlier works, however, were so eclipsed by Oswald Spengler’s magisterial and celebrated Untergang des Abendlandes (1918–22) that all subsequent writing on the subject must be defined by reference to Spengler, although the course of history since 1922 has shown that he failed to take into account some forces that have powerfully distorted the development of our civilization, if not of others.

Although Mr. Brown’s purpose is to illuminate the true nature and vital force of our culture rather than to formulate general laws of historical change, he follows Spengler in regarding our Western civilization as unique and discrete, having no organic relation to any other civilization: it began around 900 and has brought us to our catastrophic present. He has dropped, however, Spengler’s conception of a civilization as a quasi-biological organism with a fixed life-span, whence it follows that the West is now senile and, like an old man, has no future but the ineluctable decay of vitality that precedes an unescapable death. In this respect, therefore, Mr. Brown’s philosophy, as he formulated it in 1963, is basically optimistic: Far from being doomed by some inherent or external destiny, we of the West, if only we come to our senses and understand who we really are, may be just beginning the great age of our civilization.

Like Spengler, Mr. Brown identifies the Egyptian, Babylonian, Hindu, and Chinese civilizations as discrete from our own. He concisely surveys their political development and their accomplishments in mechanics, architecture, and the arts, with the notable exception of literature, for which he evidently feels indifference, if not disdain. He also recognizes Spengler’s “Magian” culture but uses the term ‘Levantine’ to designate it, devoting special attention to its dominant superstitions and the mentality that produced them. These other cultures, and even the Classical, are described for purposes of contrast, for Mr. Brown, who doubts the possibility of establishing an historical causality, writes to enable us “to discover our lost identity.”

He makes a strong case — stronger, I should say, than Spengler’s — for the independence of European civilization, and he is eminently right in making the principal criterion the great technology and the scientific method that are the true glory and the unique creation of our culture.

Our civilization, on his showing, was born in the time of Charlemagne, and it went through the process that Spengler calls pseudo-morphosis, by which a young people, emerging from barbarism, takes over some of the outward forms and the learning of a more advanced civilization. We took over very little from the Classical and much from the Levantine world, which was represented by both Byzantium and Islam. But we failed — at the time and ever since — to eliminate the alien elements after they had served their purpose, and that is why it has been the West’s dolorous fate to be “a society whose inward convictions have been at hopeless variance with its outward professions.”

Mr. Brown proves that the characteristic tendency of our dominant mentality appears in Anselm; he rightly emphasizes the great intellectual activity of the Scholastics; and his disquisition on the emergence of real scientific inquiry among them will astonish, I dare say, all but the very few of our contemporaries who take the trouble to read the most uninviting of all the uninviting texts in Mediaeval Latin.

European civilization was developing the great power for which its unique mentality destined it, and it was gradually expelling the alien elements it had absorbed at its origin, when its progress was checked by a disastrous recrudescence of those alien elements, which thus came to dominate and pervert it for centuries. The two fatal poisons were Christianity and Humanism, which Mr. Brown regards as concurrent and complementary infections of the mass mind, and not as essentially antithetical forces. He accordingly sees “the Renaissance and the Reformation as two manifestations of the same retreat from the exacting moral and intellectual responsibilities of Western civilization.”

Of the two forces of pseudo-morphosis thus identified, one is obvious, but the other will startle most of our educated contemporaries. Both require some consideration, since the thesis of The Might of the West depends upon them.

Mr. Brown has the courage to state explicitly an indubitable fact that most historians timidly evade or leave to be inferred from hints and ambiguities, lest they expose themselves to fanatical reprisals. In the decaying Roman Empire, Christianity was devised by the Jews who had long before infiltrated all the prosperous parts of it to exploit the inhabitants. Most of those Jews, as is common in Jewish colonies, knew only one language, the one required by their business. They spoke and read the Greek koine, which was the language of international commerce and industry at that time, known throughout the Roman Empire and in a large part of Asia outside its boundaries. The koine, furthermore, was the only language generally known throughout the populous regions of the Empire that lay east of Italy; and in some of the larger cities of the west it was the language habitually spoken by large sections of the lower classes. Where Latin was the language of the common people or useful for penetrating higher circles, Jews naturally learned Latin, and it may be that where Latin was the common tongue, low-grade Jews, engaged in petty retail trade, knew only Latin, but the Greek koine, not any Semitic dialect, was the language of the international Jews.

These enterprising Jews knew their own pseudo-historical myths only in the text of the Septuagint, which, finally assembled early in the first century B.C., is the oldest form of the so-called Old Testament and does not show the excisions and revisions made in the much later text in Hebrew and Aramaic that Christians now strangely consider more “authoritative.” And the Jewish merchants, slave-dealers, and financiers in the great cities of the Empire can have had little interest in, and perhaps little knowledge of, the numerous goëtae who agitated the squalid peasants of Palestine with their futile claims to be christs.

What the prosperous and superficially civilized Jews of the Empire may have privately believed cannot, of course, be ascertained: it is likely that they differed among themselves and changed their opinions over the years. They must have seen the obvious profit to be derived from peddling a religion that emphasized their great racial superiority as the Chosen People while enabling them to convert and control a large population that would have refused to submit to the barbarous sexual mutilation and absurd taboos enjoined by “orthodox” Judaism. The new cult, ostensibly based on a special message from Yahweh transmitted through a christ in a remote and little-known region of the Empire, was an ideal instrument of proselytism: it appealed to the malice and resentments of the mongrel proletariat, while enjoining on them conduct that inhibited resentment of the Jews’ commercial practices. And it served as a cover for Bolshevik agitation that could not be identified as exclusively Jewish and would keep the consciousness of the masses permanently focused on exciting illusions and fanatical controversies.

This explains what would be otherwise mysterious. When one Christian sect prudently modified its revolutionary activity sufficiently to convince despots that it could be a useful support of their power, their first concern was to extirpate the large and, it seems, politically passive Christian sects that rejected the Jewish Septuagint. As Mr. Brown observes, the largest of these sects, the Marcionists, were the really “gentile” Christians, and their suppression would be a paradox, if one believed that the so-called New Testament, which was put together to provide an “authority” for denouncing them, had actually been intended to show a new dispensation by an omniscient god who had changed his mind about his former pets. And this explains why it was only later, after the “orthodox” sect had acquired governmental power, that the Christian mobs, described, e.g., by Libanius, surged through the predominantly Greek cities of the Empire, pillaging and looting the property of their betters and murdering “pagans.” The non-Jewish Christian sects had to be disposed of first.

Mr. Brown devotes a large section of his book to his reconstruction of the obscure history of early Christianity, but we need not follow him through that dismal swamp of fiction, forgery, and fraud. It was the “orthodox” version which, with slight variations, was imposed on the Germanic tribes who took over the European parts of the dying Empire. In their ignorance, they believed the Bible to be an historical record of events that had actually taken place at specified times in known parts of the world, and they therefore accepted it as proof of the intentions and power of a god to whose will and caprices men had to conform, however immoral or unreasonable the divine edicts might appear to mortals.

The Might of the West gives us the clearest and most cogent summary I have seen of the intellectual development of our civilization in the Middle Ages. As seeds sprout beneath a layer of fertilizing compost and send their shoots up through it, so the native rationality of our race grew up through the protective mantle of its religion. The Scholastics labored to make the cult logically intelligible, and at the same time they virtually founded modern mathematics. The better minds saw through the veil of Christian ignorance and rediscovered such fundamental facts of the real world as the sphericity of the earth. Technology, the source of our unique power, began more and more to harness the forces of nature by, for example, building windmills and watermills, breeding sturdy draft horses, inventing an efficient harness for them, and so nicely computing stresses that the audaciously soaring architecture of the Gothic became possible. The feudal rulers, furthermore, gave formal assent to the religion, but conducted their affairs with worldly prudence, while good society insisted on standards of personal honor, honesty, valor, and chivalry for which there was no sanction in the supposed revelations of their deity. Christianity was being gradually but surely civilized.

Our contemporaries generally accept as a truism the view that men’s minds were fettered by superstitions about the supernatural until they were emancipated by the Humanism of the Renaissance, but thoughtful students will at least admit that the proposition is open to doubt. Egon Friedell may not greatly exaggerate when, in the first volume of his Kulturgeschichte der Neuzeit, he claims that Nominalism, which was the final and greatest triumph of the Scholastics and antedated even the earliest symptoms of the Renaissance, was more decisive in its effect on our history than the invention of gunpowder or of printing. Nominalism illuminated the impassable gulf between our racially instinctive standards of morality and the tales in the Bible. It did not question the historicity of those stories or expressly repudiate the religion, but it did make it incontestable that the god who was an accomplice of the Jews when they swindled the Egyptians and stole their property obviously offended our concept of justice. The only escape from that dilemma was to regard as just whatever that capricious and ferocious god did, however repugnant his conduct was to us. Could the Catholic unity of Christendom have been indefinitely preserved after that demonstration?

Mr. Brown does not ignore that question, although he does not press the point as far as he might in support of his contention that Humanism was a bane, rather than a benefit, to our civilization. He admits that “It is, of course, a fair question whether the Western Catholic Church could ever have been Westernized sufficiently to keep within it scientific thought and still retain enough of the sacred tradition to be considered Christian.” The crux here lies, perhaps, in the fact that Nominalists invariably affirm their unquestioning belief in the prevailing religion. When such affirmations are made in the Renaissance by such highly intelligent men as Laurentius Valla or Pomponatius, we naturally scent protective hypocrisy, although they may have sincerely been unwilling to disturb the social order, and would have made the same asseverations, had they been able to do so with impunity. We do not like to think of Mediaeval men in the same terms, and when we do, we must remain undecided. The great Nominalists were all ecclesiastics, and we can never know whether William of Occam, for example, was personally so devout that he never questioned his faith or had an understandable desire not to be incinerated—or an equally understandable desire to continue untroubled enjoyment of his sacred perquisites—or had a prudent prevision of the catastrophes that afflicted Europe when the empire of the Church and the unity of Christendom was shattered. The important point, perhaps, is that if there was scepticism or disbelief, it was not expressed in any form that could agitate the masses.

To any unprejudiced mind, the Protestant Reformation was a catastrophe. Europe was fragmented by irreconcilable hatreds which endure to the present day. Endless and almost innumerable wars were waged, not rationally for political or economic ends, but insanely to enforce obscure and paradoxical doctrines that the various Christian sects today have discarded as nugatory or illusory. For more than two centuries, the best blood of Europe continually drenched battlefields and washed city streets as men, inflamed with pious blood-lust, butchered their kinsmen in frantic efforts to deliver their omnipotent god from the clutches of the Antichrist. The genetic loss, which fell heaviest upon the northern countries, was great beyond calculation. Historians estimate that in just one of the many Wars of Religion, two-thirds of the population of Germany perished; and while that is an extreme example of the power of Faith, no country in Europe failed to sacrifice a part of its population to please Yahweh.

The intellectual and moral disasters matched the genetic. For more than two centuries, most of the intellectual energies of Europe, which could have been devoted to science and useful scholarship, were diverted from the tasks of civilization and squandered on interminable argumentation about holy ghosts, goblins, and witches. In their efforts to solve God’s puzzles, the clergy on both sides had to learn God’s own language, Hebrew, and cognate dialects; and Jewish influence became ascendent, sometimes paramount, through both the Old Testament and the theosophical rodomontade of the Kabbalah. And on the Protestant side, the fragmentation continued until any crack-brained tailor, disgruntled wife, or clever con man could have a revelation of what the Scriptural conundrums really meant and set up in business as an heresiarch.

During the Middle Ages, it is true, there were some outbreaks of religious hysteria, but the Church kept them under control. With the Reformation, the brain fever became epidemic. What was novel about it was that Biblical texts were used to incite revolutionary agitation among the masses, and civil wars. Whether or not the initiators foresaw the consequences of their arson, the blaze, once kindled, became a conflagration that swept over all Europe and mentally stultified it for centuries and even to the present day, especially now in such basically Christian heresies as Marxism and “Liberalism,” which claim to be atheistic but obviously must believe in the Devil, whose malevolent disciples, particularly “Fascists” and “racists,” they righteously long to exterminate.

What is startling about this book is the identification of Humanism as another deadly pseudo-morphosis. The usual view is that the Renaissance was an antidote to Christianity, and some scholars, such as Émile Callot, not only recognize the Reformation as (I translate) “a violent regression to the Middle Ages, by which the limpid stream of ancient wisdom would be contaminated for two centuries,” but argue that, strictly speaking, the Reformation was the effective end of the Renaissance. Mr. Brown sees matters quite differently. For him, the Renaissance was a second and simultaneous disaster. It was a pseudo-morphosis, an attempt to revive the Classical civilization, which had no legitimate connection with ours, thus imposing a pernicious illusion that long distorted our culture and, like the Reformation, prevented us from becoming aware of our true identity. He has thus neatly offended both the credulous and the educated among our contemporaries.

I shall not attempt to refute Mr. Brown. I can understand and sympathize with his position. It is quite true that the supreme question of elegance in Latin style, the Humanists’ absolute criterion, was not only a potent weapon against the churchmen, but also obfuscated intellectual issues. That tendency was inherent in the movement from the first. After the Reformation set Europe ablaze, we naturally make great allowances for scholars deficient in philoparaptesism (as they sardonically termed a willingness to be roasted for the glory of God), and we wonder what was inwardly believed by men who outwardly conformed to the official cult of the region in which they lived and even found gainful employment in employing their learning in its service. Before that catastrophe, however, there is less uncertainty. We are saddened, for example, when we see Petrarch, who is generally accounted the first of the Humanists, in violent controversy with the Averroists, who represented in their way the rational tendency of our civilization, because their Latin was barbarous, and it is with compassion that we see him dote on the ravings of Augustine and also carry our instinctive veneration for womanhood to the point of a mystical and more than romantic gynaeolatry. When we read Attilio Nulli’s study of Erasmus, we agree that the great scholar ought not to have been a Christian, even while we have to admit that the evidence shows that he, however inconsistently, probably had a genuine faith in doctrines taken from the New Testament, even though he deplored the irreversible error that had saddled the Church with such embarrassing and compromising baggage as the Old. And we are saddened to see him launch diatribes against his fellow scholars who used the literary convention of a strict Ciceronianism as a mask for their own irreligion—as, indeed, some scholarly churchmen continued to do until the middle of the Eighteenth Century.

It is true that, as R. R. Bolgar has said and Mr. Brown would not deny, the Humanists and their disciples turned to the great classics of Graeco-Roman antiquity not only as masters of literature but “above all as masters in the art of living,” and they saw in the society of the great ages of Greece and Rome a model to be imitated, so far as possible, in the modern world. One consequence of this, which may be cardinal in Mr. Brown’s thinking, will be noticed below.

Whether or not Mr. Brown is right, it must be observed that he writes with a polemic animus against Graeco-Roman culture, often underestimates or misrepresents the facts, and is sometimes led by his polemical ardor into ludicrous statements, of which the very worst is to be found in his comparison of the Hindu and Classical cultures on page 121. Mr. Brown knows very well that the Parthenon is not built of wood; that Athens was a thalassocracy and that Rome was a great naval power after 260 B.C.; that the poems of Homer were not first written down in the time of Marcus Aurelius; that the Greek alphabet was in use nine centuries before that time; and that Greek was written (in a syllabic script) and records kept as early as the thirteenth century B.C. Mr. Brown knew all that, of course, but his temper momentarily got the better of him, and a judicious reader, even if not charitable, will overlook this and other lapses, which are really irrelevant to the main argument.

Mr. Brown’s disparagement of the Classical civilization and his certainty that it was foreign to our own are based on its failure to develop a comparable technology. He was, perhaps, less than generous when he failed to mention that the epistemology of the New Academy, known to everyone through Cicero’s Academica, is precisely what is taken for granted in the methodology of modern science, but the problem is a real one, and I do not profess to know the answer. We should not try to evade it by observing that modern respect for ancient technology has greatly increased since the discovery of a machine, hyperbolically called a computer, for astronomical calculations, nor should we speculate about the possible prevalence in ancient society of the sentiment that led Vespasian to reject labor-saving machinery because it would deprive workmen of a livelihood. (See Suetonius, Vesp. 18.) There is no escaping the fact that the Greeks and Romans never had steamships, railways, or cannon. But our author could profit, I think, from reconsideration of some points in his argument.

He mentions, for example, the development of cannon. As everyone knows (and has recently been demonstrated by such developments as radar, atomic fusion, and guided missiles) the necessities of war are the mother of invention, and the major technical advances are the direct or indirect results of military need. The need to cast bigger and better cannon created the metallurgical skill without which most subsequent machines of any kind, to say nothing of steamships and railways, would have been impossible. Now one reason why the modern world developed cannon and the ancient world did not may be the fact that the Western world had lost the art of constructing the great torsion-artillery of Hellenistic times, which was superior in both hitting power and rate of fire to any cannon that Europe was able to produce for two centuries after cannon were first introduced. (See Erwin Schramm, Die antiken Geschütze der Saalburg, Berlin, 1918; cf. E. W. Marsden, Greek and Roman Artillery, Oxford, 1969).

Is technology the sole criterion? And is there not a radical difference between Mr. Brown’s two instances of pseudo-morphosis? The religious one was injected into our culture at its very inception, was enforced by fear of a terrible god whose existence and power was not doubted, and became the basis of all social organization from the very first. If Humanism was also a pseudo-morphosis, it was spontaneously and voluntarily adopted by Europe when our civilization was, on Mr. Brown’s own showing, in a quite advanced stage. It corresponded to no political, social, or economic imperative; it was fostered by no organization or class in its own interest; and it so appealed to the minds of our race that it triumphed over the determined and vigorous opposition of a large part of the Christian clergy, who rightly foresaw in it a threat to their business. In fact, I learn from the Jewish Chronicle (London) that even today an active admiration of Classical culture is a “fight against the Judaeo-Christian tradition” and that something so horribly “anti-Semitic” ought to be suppressed as “Fascism.”

The Classical world of antiquity must have captivated the modern mind through some charm, beauty, or world-view inherent in its surviving literature. From the end of the Fifteenth Century to the beginning of the Twentieth, our civilization voluntarily so identified itself with the Graeco-Roman that it devoted the greater part of the youth of every educated man to the extremely difficult and even painful task of so mastering the modalities of Classical thought that he could think directly in Latin and Greek and thus compose both prose and verse in those languages in conformity with the purest models and the most exacting standards. For that vast expenditure of intellectual energy there is no analogy in recorded history. And if that was pseudo-morphosis, what accounts for so great, so spontaneous, and so continuous an hallucination? One, moreover, that, as Mr. Brown complains, probably did impede the progress of science, technology, and the prosperity they create, since Humanism did divert so much mental energy of superior minds into its own channels.

Why the West turned in admiration to Antiquity is clear, even if we follow Mr. Brown in refusing to see any significance in the fact that the Classical and the Western are the only two civilizations that were created by Aryans—and flourished so long as Aryans remained dominant in their own countries. Apart from the beauty of an unsurpassed literature, and apart from the historical realism that one learns from Thucydides and Tacitus, the modern world sought in the ancient a system of civil ethics and of political life. The great men of antiquity, as their lives are reported, for instance, in Plutarch’s biographies, obeyed standards of personal honor as well as prudence which we instinctively admire, although Christianity contemns them. Cicero, for example, was indeed admired for his eloquence, but no less for his vision of, and devotion to, the Republic. And, as Mr. Brown is well aware, it was the Graeco-Roman conception of a mixed constitution (Cicero, Polybius, Aristotle) that ultimately produced the American Constitution, which most of us regard as a noble effort, even though it failed.

And here at last we have come to the crux of the problem. When I first read Mr. Brown’s breath-taking assertion that the Greeks and Romans lacked “a sense of politics,” I thought that merely another slip of an impassioned pen. But I think he meant precisely what he said, although he refrained from developing his point. One of the characteristics that most sharply differentiate the Classical civilization from all others except our own is its idea that a highly civilized people is capable of self-government through elected officers. The Greeks and Romans, so long as they controlled their own countries, were devoted to democracy in the ancient sense of that word, that is to say, government of which the policies are determined by a limited body of responsible citizens, who must be free, economically as well as politically, and thus must necessarily be supported by a subject mass of slaves or the equivalent. (Needless to say, the current notion that every anthropoid is entitled to a vote to express his whims is a form of gibbering idiocy that was unknown in Antiquity.) All the political convulsions of Graeco-Roman history arose from either divisions within the limited body of citizens or disputes about the most expedient extension or contraction of the franchise. It is true that no ancient state ever succeeded in stabilizing a constitution by which the franchise was so nicely adjusted that it was large enough to avert rule by self-interested cabals and small enough to exclude the feckless and ignorant, but the principle that free and responsible citizens (to the exclusion of slaves, proletarians, and aliens) were sovereign was maintained even in the Roman Empire until the Romans were supplanted by the descendants of their former slaves and subjects, especially wily Levantines, to whose radically different minds the very concept of political freedom and personal self-respect was childish and repugnant.

Now if it be true that our people’s infatuation with systems of elected government sprang from an attempt to imitate the politics of a civilization whose literature we admire, then the Renaissance was, as Mr. Brown claims, a pseudo-morphosis, and practically all of our political theory since the Sixteenth Century was an alien importation that the West, through a gross misunderstanding of itself, permitted to pervert its own nature and to drive it to an endless series of calamities. The true form of Western government, therefore, must be found in a stable hierarchical system based on personal loyalties and status within a virtually closed society, preferably the feudal system at its best or an adaptation of the Mediaeval polity to present conditions. The proximate collapse of the ochlocracy to which Americans are now mindlessly devoted will lend cogency to that proposition.

Our conceptions of history have inescapable consequences, and the consequences of Lawrence Brown’s historical analysis will startle and dismay most of the readers of Instauration. The second thesis of The Might of the Westwill particularly distress everyone who has not been cowed into pretending that races do not exist and who hopes that there still is a residual instinct of self-preservation in a large part of our own race, for if the Renaissance was a vast pseudo-morphosis, we must recognize the utter folly of trying to imitate a dead and alien civilization in the mad hope that we can succeed where it so notoriously failed. We must therefore purge our minds of the very notion of majority rule and all that it implies. It is not enough to recognize the suicidal insanity that has now enslaved us to our parasites and eternal enemies, for it would be equally unnatural to vest power in a legitimate majority of responsible citizens. We must even discard aristocratic dreams of rule by a majority of a highly select minority. It is idle to inquire whether the American Constitution failed because the requirements of property that entitled men to vote were set too low, or because it did not prohibit the immigration of Jews and other unassimilable aliens. It is futile to speculate whether the principle of human freedom and republican government could have been saved, had the Confederacy defeated the fanatical invaders and vindicated its independence. It is absurd to consider, as some of our more intelligent contemporaries are now doing, the creation of a viable society by resurrecting the Servian constitution described in Cicero’s De republica, substituting for property criteria of measured intelligence or racial purity. The very concept of self-government is like the Ptolemaic astronomy, which could not be saved by positing more epicycles or modifying it, as did Tycho Brahe, to eliminate the more glaring discrepancies: it was the basic idea that the heavens revolved about the earth that had to be discarded.

If the Renaissance was a delusion, we are deluding ourselves so long as we tinker with the Graeco-Roman idea of self-government—fatally deluding ourselves about the nature of Western man. In our civilization, the natural and requisite government must not only be completely authoritarian, but must be one of which the inner structure and purposes are concealed from the majority by means of a religion or equivalent faith to which citizens and masses alike will give implicit and unquestioning obedience. Mr. Brown explicitly warns us that

We should not fool ourselves into supposing that the core and source of strength of Western civilization can ever win the conscious applause of the great bulk of Westerners. Unconsciously they live by and treasure the standards of their civilization, but the intellectual acknowledgment of these standards runs counter to so many demands of self-esteem and self-justification, of childish hopes and pathetic dreams that most men can never verbally make this acknowledgment even secretly to themselves.

It follows, therefore, that so long as our civilization endures, ours must necessarily be “an esoteric, not a popular society.” If the West is to be preserved from the death that now seems imminent, it must be brought again under the control of Western minds, who, whatever the outward professions they may deem it expedient to make, will recognize and foster, quietly and more or less secretly, the implacably objective science that has “created the unique greatness of our society.”

It will have been seen that the problem whether our civilization is in its fundamental nature linked to, or totally independent of, the Classical has immediate and drastic implications for us. I have sought to elucidate the question, not to answer it. I shall only add that although Mr. Brown admits that “a connection between biology and civilization is an obvious historical fact,” and although he perceives that the Levantine mentality is totally incompatible with, and inimical to, our own, he does not consider the possibly relevant fact that the Classical, like all the civilizations known to history, declined and perished with the deterioration, mongrelization, and supersession of the race that created it. (The biological facts have most recently been set forth by Elmer Pendell in Why Civilizations Self-Destruct, Howard Allen, 1977.) Whatever weight we accord to this fact, we may be confident, I think, that Mr. Brown understands that his own premises require racial homogeneity in at least the élite of the West, and that only a scientifically rigorous system of eugenics can produce men of the rare intellectual capacity and the rarer dedication that will make them both able and willing to bear the enormous burden of high civilization.

Every reader must decide for himself how much of Mr. Brown’s analysis he will accept, but in so doing he will have been forced to face the fact that “the greatest ethical problem of our lifetime is to keep our society alive.” The word ‘ethical’ is well-chosen, for there can be no morality higher than one which will deliver us from “the ruin we have fought two world wars to achieve.” That profound perception alone would suffice to make The Might of the West one of the great achievements of the Western mind.

(October, 1979)

Unfortunately, the book which Dr. Oliver reviews here is no longer in print. Used copies are occasionally procurable at a high price. If there are any benefactors willing to finance a reprint, with Dr. Oliver’s brilliant review included as a foreword, please contact me via the links at the top of this page. — Kevin Alfred Strom.

[thisdaynews]

How Will History Books Remember the 2010s?

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/how-will-history-books-remember-the-2010s/

How Will History Books Remember the 2010s?

Illustration by Max-o-matic; Photos: AP/Getty

We aren’t just approaching the end of a very newsy year; we’re approaching the end of a very eventful decade. To mark the occasion, Politico Magazine asked a group of historians to put all that happened over the past 10 years in its proper historical context—and literally write the paragraph that they think will describe the 2010s in American history books written a century from now.

Will the seemingly significant events we have lived through this decade be important in the grand scheme? Are there powerful historical forces playing out that we’re missing? Where will Black Lives Matter, the social media revolution, #MeToo, climate change, Barack Obama and Donald Trump fit into the history books?

Many described the 2010s, in the words of Andrew Bacevich, as an era of “venomous division,” characterized by massive racial, economic and political divisions. Some saw hope in the discord—as a catalyst for much needed reform, soon to come. Still other historians pointed out less-noticed trends—in technology and foreign policy—that will resonate far into the future.

How will the future remember the 2010s? Here’s what the experts had to say:

The innovation of white supremacy

Marcia Chatelain is a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University.

The 2010s were characterized by the seeming dissonance of the 2016 presidential election. In that election, Donald J. Trump expertly galvanized racial resentments, manipulated a bifurcated media landscape and utilized his alliances with foreign governments to become president. Although it was unremarkable for a racist to become president of the United States, the election of the former reality television star immediately after former Senator Barack Obama, the first black man elected to the office, led some observers to believe that his presidential win was a sign of racial backlash, a phenomenon repeated across American history since the end of slavery. Trump’s election was distinct in that it helped highlight the centrality of technology in the efficient reproduction and circulation of racist ideologies, and it forced the public to confront tensions between an expanding public sphere and its ability to galvanize narrow-minded and socially dangerous thinking. On the cusp of 2020, Americans alarmed by the spread of falsehoods via the Internet and the radicalization of racists through social media channels realizedthat the ideology of white supremacy—with its longstanding ability to shapeshift to meet the demands of the day—had innovated alongside the technology industry.

The end of privacy

Vanessa Walker is the Morgan assistant professor of diplomatic history at Amherst College.

At the close of the 2010s, political polarization, reactionary nationalism and escalating public conflict over systemic racism, gender inequality and climate change dominated characterizations of the decade. Less noticed, the decade marked the end of privacy. State surveillance was nothing new. The war on terror in the aughts had already ushered in new invasive profiling practices. But the pervasive, hyper-individualized, corporate-based collection and aggregation of personal data in partnership with government marked a new frontier in surveillance. The collection of personal information through individuals’ phones, computers and virtual assistants—and the social media and online platforms they utilized—informed almost every aspect of social and political interactions. Over the decade, these instruments insinuated themselves into peoples’ everyday lives for convenience, for entertainment, for basic daily information and communication in a way that made it difficult to imagine functioning without them. Like the proverbial frog being boiled alive, people became accustomed not only to trading their personal information for basic services, but also the idea that they were always being watched. Appeased by the pretense of being able to “opt out,” consumers accepted vague assertions that data collection was consensual, anonymous and secure. Yet, as the decade drew to a close, law enforcement officials, political campaigns and foreign governments increasingly used information gathered for commercial purposes in ways completely at odds with the assurances of privacy and consent. As scandals like Cambridge Analytica revealed, the data usagewas also at odds with the integrity of democratic institutions and confidence in the electoral process. Big data clearly contained potential benefits for society in terms of health innovations, service optimization and energy efficiencies. However, without meaningful transparency over what was collected, who had access and how it was used, the looming surveillance state’s threat to individual freedom and collective security dwarfed those potential benefits.

A democracy grapples with its success

Tom Nichols is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College.

FromA Century of Change: The United States from 1945-2045:

Historians have struggled to explain the paradox of the 2010s. On the one hand, it was a decade of economic and military recovery that was by any standard peaceful and prosperous, even under two very different American presidents. And yet, it was characterized by a poisonous anger and extreme polarization that is normally the hallmark of defeated and bankrupted states on the verge of collapse. In retrospect, the 2010s represented an unexpected and politically destructive synergy between peace, affluence and technology. Despite skyrocketing income inequality, for example, an array of technological advances narrowed the daily living standards between rich and poor compared with even a few decades earlier. These advances, in turn, spurred increasingly unattainable demands from the public on both government and industry for even higher living standards and more consumer choices. Universal education produced unprecedented levels of literacy, but electronic entertainment and media undermined the ability of literacy to create informed citizens; by 2020, it was fair to say that never in modern history had a more educated people rejected science and rationalism in such numbers. Abroad, America was still supremely powerful, with interstate war nearly unheard of, and terrorism mostly contained at great distances (albeit at great cost). Yet this increased security reduced the sense of shared threat among Americans and thus dissolved any chance that foreign affairs might prove to be an arena of common interest. And the “era of social media,” as we refer to it today, not only allowed Americans to peer into heavily edited versions of each other’s lives—thus fueling huge social resentments—but encouraged them to voice their views in the most extreme manner, with each citizen offered a chance at notoriety if even for only a moment. By their end, the 2010s raised a question which remains unanswered as America heads toward completing its third century of existence: Can democracies cope with success?

Populist threats to the social order

David Greenberg, a professor of history and media studies at Rutgers, is a contributing editor at Politico Magazine.

The 2010s posed resonant rebukes to established authority the world over. The decade opened with an eruption of grassroots social movements in the U.S. and abroad—the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, the Arab Spring—and continued on through the anti-Trump marches, #MeToo and 2019’s Hong Kong, Iran and India uprisings. Though typically short-lived and sometimes unsuccessful, these movements and their underlying discontents destabilized political structures everywhere. Anti-establishment politics also fed the rise of outsider candidates and populist demagogues, left and right, and dramatically weakened venerable political parties in many countries. For many people, this upheaval offered hope for the advent of a more equal and just society—but as Donald Trump’s presidency and other right-wing nationalist regimes held fast to power, there seemed at least as great a chance that it would fatally undermine the liberal international order that had underwritten peace and prosperity for so long.

The collapse of vital infrastructures

Sarah E. Igo is a professor of history and political science at Vanderbilt.

In the 2010s, Americans reckoned with their neglect of vital infrastructures: political, technological and environmental. Their constitutional democracy was the most obvious system in disarray. Vulnerable to Russian cyberattacks during the 2016 election, U.S. political institutions suffered equally from the unchecked flouting of governing norms by the reality-TV star president, Donald Trump, who was the beneficiary of those attacks. Americans’ communications infrastructure also proved precarious. As news and exchanges of all sorts moved onto electronic platforms in that decade, they became ever-more captive to corporate profits, eroding individual privacy as well as the means for achieving verifiable facts. Finally, in common with people around the world, Americans grasped in that decade the potentially irreversible harm humans had done to the natural systems supporting life on the planet. Raging fires, hurricanes and floods; attacks on democratic processes; social media surveillance and fake news. These were the shocks that exposed the fragility of the systems Americans depended on—but that also galvanized citizens to repair them in the 2020s.

The emergence of an Obama-Trump foreign policy

William Inboden is associate professor of public policy at the LBJ School and executive director of the Clements Center for National Security, University of Texas at Austin.

During this decade, the United States elected two presidents who could not be more dissimilar in temperament, character and background: Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Yet as history unfolded, it turns out that Obama’s and Trump’s different personas and governing styles obscured what were similar policy choices and convictions in the realm of American foreign policy. Both Obama and Trump disdained the foreign policy “establishment” and its prescriptions, trusting instead in their own instincts; both expressed skepticism about American exceptionalism; neither president forged close personal relationships with other foreign leaders. Both Obama and Trump voiced vexation with America’s allies and weakened America’s alliance commitments; both sought to reduce the American presence in the troubled Middle East; both were ambivalent about free trade agreements; both downplayed the promotion of human rights and democracy; and both attempted to reorient the United States away from being the dominant global superpower to instead adopting a more restrained posture in the emerging multipolar world. The Obama-Trump era of international politics, as it came to be seen, recognized correctly the need for a recalibration in America’s international role, especially given public discontent and the upsurge in global populist movements. But in time it proved to be the wrong prescription. Malign powers such as China and Russia filled the void left by American international leadership, contributing to the increase in global conflict and instability that characterized the unhappy decade of the 2020s.

A spotlight on state-sanctioned violence

Keisha N. Blain is an associate professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh and president of the African American Intellectual History Society.

On July 13, 2015, Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old Black woman from Illinois, was found dead in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas. Only three days prior, Bland had been stopped by a white officer while driving in Prairie View, Texas. The tense exchange between the two, which was recorded on the officer’s dashboard camera and on Bland’s cellphone, circulated widely across the nation. Thousands decried the circumstances that led to Bland’s tragic death, questioning the stop, the detainment and the officer’s repeated threats. Bland’s life and untimely death cast a spotlight on one of the social issues that dominated public discourse during the 2010s: state-sanctioned violence. The public awareness around this issue can be attributed to Black Lives Matter (BLM), a nationwide and global movement to end state-sanctioned violence. What began as a hashtag on social media—launched by activists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in 2013—following the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer evolved into a protest movement that shook the nation to its core. After the 2014 police shooting of Mike Brown Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri, BLM rose to national prominence, demanding justice for Brown’s family and the thousands of unarmed Black people murdered by the police. From uprisings in cities across the nation to organized acts of resistance on college campuses, BLM compelled Americans to acknowledge the systemic problem of state-sanctioned violence and take steps to bring about necessary changes. Despite backlash and a host of internal and external challenges, the BLM movement, led by young radical activists, transformed the American political landscape, shaping national discussions on race and policing, and forcing several presidential candidates during the 2016 elections to confront the issue.

The two faces of American democracy

Peniel Joseph is a professor of history and public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

The story of the second decade of the 21st century is one marked by the Janus-faced nature of American democracy. Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, ushered in his own version of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society through passage of sweeping health care legislation. The promise of a more just and fair society proved elusive however, undercut by growing disparities between the rich and the poor; the rise of mass incarceration; racial and economic segregation in neighborhoods and public schools; and an assault on the concept of American citizenship and democracy fueled by right wing social media, white nationalism, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment. President Donald Trump’s ascension represented the literal and figurative inversion of the grand hopes of the Obama Era. Whereas Obama offered the hope of racial reconciliation based on a democracy expansive enough to embrace the historically marginalized and oppressed, Trump’s electoral coalition resounded with Americans longing for the sepia-toned past, one suffused with white supremacy. These dueling narratives of American democracy reverberated globally as well. The Obama Doctrine vowed to end international war through peace efforts (including the Iran Nuclear Deal) that at times upset allies. In contrast, the Trump Doctrine touted “America First” as a slogan that signaled the abandoning of longstanding alliances in favor of a more insular foreign policy—one that saw an American president openly courting authoritarian leaders in North Korean and Russia.

Polarization and the rise of politically active women

Heather Cox Richardson is a history professor at Boston College.

The perfect symbol of the 2010s came in February 2015, when an image of a dress went viral on social media as Americans fought over whether its pattern was #blackandblue or #whiteandgold. America was divided in this decade, with splits over economics, politics, religion and culture exacerbated by social media. A set of increasingly extreme Republicans stayed in power by convincing voters that Democrats under biracial president Barack Obama, whose signature piece of legislation was the Affordable Care Act making health care accessible, were intent on destroying America by giving tax dollars to lazy people of color and feminists who wanted to murder babies. And in 2016, Republicans leaders weaponized social media with the help of Russians to elect to the White House Donald J. Trump, who promised to end this “American carnage.”On the other side, in 2013, the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement helped galvanize those who believed the system was stacked against them. And in January 2017, the day after Trump’s inauguration, the Women’s March became the largest single-day protest in American history. By the end of that year, the #MeToo Movement took off as women shared their ubiquitous experiences with sexual harassment and demanded an end to male dominance. In 2018, when Republicans forced through the Senate the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, who had been creditably accused of sexual assault, they helped convinced voters to elect a historic number of women and racial minorities to Congress in in the 2018 midterm elections, almost entirely on the Democratic side. The story of the 2010s is of increasing American polarization, but also the rise of politically active women to defend American democracy against the growing power of a Republican oligarchy.

Globalization as uniter—and divider

George H. Nash is a historian and the author of The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945.

The 2010s were a decade in which the forces of globalization pulled the nations of the world closer together—and began to drive them apart. It was a period in which more people were on the move in the world than at any time in the history of the human race (and more and more of them made America their destination). This unprecedented intermingling not just of goods and services but of peoples and cultures was accompanied by a revolutionary transformation in the structure and velocity of mass communication. The pace of life—especially public life—accelerated. Tribalization, polarization and combative populism permeated the political systems of many lands. In America itself, the apocalyptic language of war—even civil war—increasingly marked public discourse, and serious observers began openly to question whether the United States of America would remain indivisible in the years ahead. As the decade ended, no one could say with certainty whether the worldwide ferment was a passing spasm of discontent or a harbinger of deeper upheavals.

A period of paralysis

Kevin Kruse is a history professor at Princeton University.

The 2010s were a period of paralysis. From the Tea Party protests in 2010 through the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump in 2019, the American political system staggered from one partisan showdown to another. Amplified by the growth of partisan media, both on cable and the internet, Americans increasingly lined themselves into hostile camps with all political progress stalled. The federal government shut down three times due to funding impasses, while routine matters of housekeeping like the debt ceiling became, in the words of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2011, “a hostage worth ransoming.” As the government gridlocked, little progress was made on larger social concerns. There were, to be sure, notable changes such as the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, but on other issues little progress was made. The increasing crisis in climate change, which manifested in record temperatures and alarming levels of hurricanes, flooding and wildfires, only continued to worsen. Mass shootings accelerated as well, with four of the five deadliest incidents in U.S. history taking place in the decade, with little substantial action. The optimism over race relations that had marked the election of the first African American president, meanwhile, became dashed with the revival of white nationalist extremism and divisive fights over immigration from Muslim-majority nations and a proposed border wall with Mexico. By the end of the decade, the United States seemed more deeply divided and directionless than it had been in a half century.

The backlash against elites

Geoff Kabaservice is the author of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party.

Decades rarely begin at neat decennial intervals. The 2010s, in hindsight, began with the 2007-08 financial crisis. The inability to foresee and prevent that crisis, combined with the subsequent lack of punishment for anyone behind it, served notice to much of the population that the establishment (whatever that was) was no longer doing its job (whatever that meant). As the crisis led to economic collapse in rural and formerly industrial areas, working-class and lower-middle-class citizens responded angrily to what they saw as a broader failure by elites (not just in politics but also in the media, think tanks and academia)to respond to the problems of globalization (including trade, immigration and crumbling communities) that primarily afflicted the left-behind regions. The result was a furious populist backlash—one that played out in country after country across the developed world, with movements that were more or less alike in their grievances and lack of coherent solutions. The real question of the decade was: Why did elites fail to see the reaction coming, and what would they do about it? The shape of the next decade was thus determined by whether parties of the center-left and center-right could revive anything like the post-World War II social unity and capitalism that produced steadily rising living standards for all, or whether the 2020s would look more like the 1930s.

A pathway to a new beginning

Jeremi Suri is a professor of public affairs and history at the LBJ School at the University of Texas Austin.

The decade began with the nation’s worst recession since the Great Depression and it ended with the worst political divisions since the close of the 19th century. The inherited institutions and practices of democracy in the United States took a repeated beating. In the last weeks of the decade, the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump while his supporters defended near-monarchical powers for the commander-in-chief. Nonetheless, the crises that dominated the decade were transitional. They marked the demise of a still white, post-industrial, baby-boomer society filled with men and women resisting their decline. The decade opened a new America that was more racially and ethnically diverse, more feminine, led by millennials, and organized around artificial intelligence technologies. 2020 was a powerful new beginning built on the destruction of the previous years. The United States renewed its democracy through a messy, prolonged and ultimately productive generational change in leadership at all levels— from local businesses and schools to the White House. It was an ugly time that generated bright reforms thereafter.

An era of competing populist movements

Claire Potter is a professor of history at the New School.

The partisanship, and the populisms, that came to characterize the 2010s were already coalescing as the ball dropped in Times Square on New Year’s Eve 2008. As Barack Obama, the first African American president, prepared to take office, disgruntled conservatives and libertarians began meeting in small, community groups—eventually forming the populist Tea Party movement, devoted to limiting the Obama legislative agenda to the expansion of public health care. By 2010, Tea Party-endorsed candidates were preparing to take their oaths of office in Congress as part of a new Republican House majority. By 2013, as many as 10 percent of Americans were said to identify with the movement. Fueled by similar grievances—economic despair, frustration with government, and the ability to organize and share ideas on social media—left populisms also flourished in the 2010s. By September 2011, protesters who identified as the Occupy Wall Street movement had established a self-governing encampment in Lower Manhattan, protesting economic policies that privileged the “1%” over the “99%,” forcing issues like student debt, workers’ rights and climate change to the center of political conversation and reviving the United States’ long-dormant socialist politics. In 2013, angered by the failure of a black president to stem violence against their communities, populists who were queer and of color coalesced under the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter to renew the struggle for racial civil rights. By the 2016 election, centrists in both parties suddenly found themselves besieged by new candidates who represented these competing populist movements. Socialist Bernie Sanders battered presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton, nearly costing her the nomination; on the right, real estate developer Donald Trump recast himself as a man of the people, wooing nationalists and corporate America with conspiracy theories, and the promise of a country renewed by wealth and whiteness, to defeat Clinton in the general election. The final four years of the decade would see a United States defined by the collapse of the political center, by the consequences of moving conservative populism to the center, and by the determination of left populists to remake the Democratic Party—and retake the government.

The privileged strike back

Judy Tzu-Chun Wu is a professor of Asian-American studies at the University of California, Irvine.

The 2010s, a decade that concluded the three-part movie trilogy of Star Wars, could be understood as an epic battle between good and evil, the small and seemingly insignificant against the dark forces and the imperial. There was the rise in protest movements for social justice: Occupy, #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, Standing Rock, Mauna Kea, youth against gun violence and Greta Thunberg. Standing in opposition were those with privilege and power, who continued to consider themselves the victims and the marginalized. Their fears about having to share their society and the possible loss of authority generated hate violence, mass incarceration, the detainment and abuse of refugee children, and self-righteous anger. As the U.S. approached 2020, the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment, the nation had elected its first African American/multi-racial president but had yet to elect a female president. In fact, the backlash against President Barack Obama and what he represented led to conspiracy theories about his birthplace, a new visibility and escalation of racialized police brutality, voter suppression laws and the confirmation of questionable nominees at all levels of the political system. The 2010s was a decade of civil war in the United States. How did this battle end? Was it possible to resolve the conflicts, given the historical depths of these divisions? Might a sense of compassion and a belief in justice lead to a renewed society, one that built bridges and not walls? The 2020 brought the possibility of a faint, new hope.

An era of venomous division

Andrew Bacevich is professor emeritus of international relations and history at Boston University.

By the second year of Barack Obama’s tenure in the White House, it had become apparent that his presidency would fall well short of transformational. While Obama’s two terms were not devoid of accomplishments, they tended to be incremental, for example his healthcare reforms, or short-lived, such as his efforts to stem the further proliferation of nuclear arms. Events quickly dashed expectations of the nation’s first black president ushering in a new forward-looking era of American politics. Instead, racial and cultural cleavages deepened, egregious inequality persisted and futile wars dragged on. Obama managed to prolong the life of the political consensus that had formed in the wake of the Cold War. Yet with the race to choose his successor in 2016, that consensus collapsed, the political novice Donald Trump prevailing over the far more seasoned Hillary Clinton. Former Secretary of State Clinton stood for unchecked individual autonomy, globalized neoliberalism and militarized U.S. “global leadership.” Although himself utterly devoid of principle, Trump presented himself as intent on repudiating all of these things. His election thereby brought to the fore divisions related to class, race and ethnicity that had been latent or ignored. A very considerable portion of the electorate wasted no time in dismissing his presidency as illegitimate. The signature of the ensuing Age of Trump was venomous division. In terms of policy, the theme of the 2010s became drift, with issues such as climate change treated as an afterthought, if at all.

The consequences of deregulation

David A. Hollinger is the Preston Hotchkis professor emeritus at UC Berkeley.

The deregulation approved by many Democrats as well as Republicans in previous decades resulted in a series of seismic transformations of the life of the United States in the 2010s. The deregulation of the communications industry led to the tribalization of the news media, most prominently in the creation of Fox News as a semi-official propaganda organ of the wealthy, extremely conservative Republicans who rallied around President Donald Trump in 2016. Fox News and its smaller counterparts cemented the loyalties of millions of voters by disseminating a steady stream of deeply misleading and often downright false accounts of virtually every issue being contested in public life. The deregulation of the financial, fossil fuel and other industries had similarly transformative consequences, facilitating economic inequality on a scale unknown for many decades and contributing to global warming on a scale scientists found apocalyptic. President Barack Obama tried to reverse these developments when he first came into office, but it was late in the day, and too many of the leading Democrats refused to support the policies Obama tried to advance. Ultimately, it was the Democratic Party’s failure to use the political and cultural resources available to it to enact and maintain an appropriate regulatory structure as late as the mid-1990s—during the neo-liberal administration of Bill Clinton—that did more than any other single factor to determine the course of American history in the 2010s. Rarely in the history of industrialized societies had a political leadership equipped with such magnificent opportunities squandered them so spectacularly, and thus betrayed the nation of which they were entrusted to be the stewards.

Democracy under siege

Nicole Hemmer is author of Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics.

Bookended on one end byCitizens Unitedand on the other by a president impeached for inviting foreign interference in U.S. elections, the 2010s were the decade of democracy under siege. Red states instituted strict voter ID laws and purged their voter rolls, while the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. Super PACs fueled dark-money politics. State-house Republicans stripped power from their rivals, and congressional Republicans broke every institutional norm in an attempt to thwart a popular Democratic president. And social media, which techno-optimists hailed as a force of democratization at the start of the decade, ended the 2010s as a dystopian hellscape crawling with wannabe Nazis and disinformation campaigns. It was also a decade of grassroots pro-democracy movements, from Occupy Wall Street to Moral Mondays to Black Lives Matter to the Women’s March to March for Our Lives, reminders that some Americans were resisting democratic decline.

Groundwork for a Constitutional revision

Jack Rakove is a professor of history and political science, emeritus, at Stanford University.The decade of the 2010s placed the American constitutional system under the greatest stress it had known since the New Deal crisis of the 1930s. President Donald Trump demonstrated that he felt none of the “veneration” (to quote James Madison’s 49thFederalistpaper) required to sustain the norms of constitutional governance. Worse still, however, was the behavior of the Senate and the Supreme Court. Under Republican control, the Senate blithely ignored the well-documented charges under which the House of Representatives had impeached Trump. For its part, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court fulfilled its long-frustrated agenda: In two leading decisions in June 2020, it gutted the Affordable Care Act and authorized individual states to impose severe limits on the right to choice secured in the 1974 decision inRoe v. Wade.

The events of the 2010s thus set the stage for the Great Constitutional Revision of 2024. Although Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, Republicans held on to the Senate and the Supreme Court retained its conservative majority. With the national government in a state of near paralysis, a coalition of blue states coalesced to demand a constitutional convention. A phalanx of 18 solidly red states, representing less than a fifth of the nation’s population, quickly rejected this proposal, keeping it two states shy of the two-thirds margin that Article V of the Constitution required. Invoking the precedent set in 1787, when the first Constitutional Convention threw out the amendment rules laid down in the Articles of Confederation, the blue states insisted that the meeting must be held. Rather than side with the smaller bloc of solidly red states, the now hotly contested states of Texas and Florida sent delegations to the Chicago convention.The dominant theme of the Convention was to make constitutional decision-making directly responsive to the one person, one vote standard. That was also how votes were allocated in the Convention itself. The resulting deliberations led to a radically revised Constitution. Among other changes, the president would now be elected by a single nation-wide popular vote. The House of Representatives was enlarged to 600 members, with all its districts designed by an AI process to be as competitive as possible. The Senate became an advisory body that could no longer vote down legislation enacted by the House, and senators were now elected on a regional basis, rather than by individual states. The Supreme Court was enlarged to 15 justices, who would serve 18-year terms on a staggered basis. When the bloc of small red states balked at ratifying the results, they were told they could form their own separate confederacy. A few months of considering how costly it would be to sustain their states government without the financial support of the far more economically productive blue states quickly led them to abandon their position.

Trump’s one inadvertent contribution to American history was to make these changes possible.

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Best Surrogacy Center In India|ElaWoman

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Medieval Manuscripts Assigment week 1

1

Name: Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands)

Location: The Hague, the Netherlands

Type of library: National Library

Link to page: https://www.kb.nl/en/resources-research-guides/kb-collections/medieval-manuscripts

Quality of digitations: Varies, but in general good. Most images are in full color and at least decent resolution.

Earliest manuscripts: ca. 800

Latest manuscripts: ca 1550

Legal status of digitations:

“Terms and conditions for reuse & credits

·      The Koninklijke Bibliotheek and Museum Meermanno | Huis van het Boek have waived their copyright on the metadata **for both sets, which, therefore, have a **CC0 licence (link is external).

·      There is a Public Domain Mark (link is external) for the objects (illustrations) in the ByvanckB set, which means that there are no copyright restrictions on reproducing, publishing, processing or sharing these illustrations.

Although there is no requirement to credit the source when using the set, the KB and Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum would be grateful for this. Please use the following text: Museum Meermanno | Huis van het Boek &National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague. Source:manuscripts.kb.nl(link is external)– [link to object].��

(https://www.kb.nl/en/resources-research-guides/data-services-apis/medieval-illuminated-manuscripts-data-set)

User friendliness of search options: Good.

Digitized illuminated manuscripts have their own catalogue, apart from the general one. (http://manuscripts.kb.nl/ )

The illuminated manuscripts catalogue offers highlights, a search and a browse by subject option.

Search and browse can be done in English, German, French or Italian (not in Dutch, which I think is pretty weird for the Dutch national Library).  The browse function uses the iconoclass system. Search options include title, author, miniaturist, time period/date, language and place of origin.

Languages: Search options in English, German, French, Italian. Explanations in Dutch and English.

Notes: There is also a ‘modern manuscripts’ collection for documents from ca. 1550-present, at https://www.kb.nl/en/resources-research-guides/kb-collections/modern-manuscripts-from-c-1550.

2

Name: British Library

Location: London, United Kingdom

Type of library: National Library

Link to page: https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/introduction.asp

Quality of digitations: Varies, most are very good (in color and high definition).

Earliest manuscript: 1st quarter of 9th century

Latest manuscript: 1817

Legal status of digitations: “The Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts content is now available for download and reuse. Although still technically in copyright in the UK (and a number of other common law territories) the images are being made available under a Public Domain Mark* which indicates that there are no copyright restrictions on reproduction, adaptation, republication or sharing of the content available from the site. The catalogue information is made available under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.” (https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/reuse.asp)

User friendliness of search options: Good. The ‘advanced search’ or ‘browse’ options let you select books on basis of time period, location of origin, artist, language and such. In ‘simple search’ you can use keywords, so you can look for books/pictures by subject. ‘Manuscript search’ only works with MS number, so it’s pretty useless unless you’re looking for a specific book you already know.

Languages: English

Notes:  -

3

Name: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg

Location: Heidelberg, Germany

Type of library: University library

Link to page: http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/allg/benutzung/bereiche/handschrift.html

Quality of digitations: Varies. Most are good, but some older entries are in black and white and/or low resolution.

Earliest manuscripts: 1st century (papyrus fragments)

Latest manuscripts: 18th century

Legal status of digitations: Mentioned separately for each book. All books that I checked  were published with a ‘Creative Commons: attribution and share alike’ license.  More information on what that means can be found here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

User friendliness of search options: Horrible. There is a quick search that helps a bit if you tell it to search ‘this site’ for the right keywords. There’s also a search on the page Heidelberg historic literature – digitized , but it couldn’t find its own arse if someone else pointed it out to them.

Your best option is to search by clicking links. However, there is an abundance of links, and the difference between what all of them have to offer isn’t clear.  Digitized manuscripts can be found on several of them. Some links are dead. Not all pages have an English version, and some that have are only partly translated. The link above is the best starting point I could find.

On the other hand, I am happy with the option to display thumbnails to all the pages of a manuscript on one page, once you have found a manuscript you like.

Languages: German, English.

Notes: I’ve included this library because it contains one of my favorite manuscripts; the Codex Manesse : https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/cpg848/0001/thumbs

4

Name/Institute: Bodleian Lybrary

Location: Oxford, England

Type of library: Research Library of University

Link to page:

https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/inquire/Discover/Search/#/?p=c+,t+,rsrs+0,rsps+10,fa+ox%3Acollection%5EWestern%20Manuscripts,so+ox%3Asort%5Easc,scids+,pid+,vi+

Quality of digitations: Good. All images I saw were in color and in high resolution.

Earliest manuscript: 500-599

Latest manuscripts: 1700 - 1713

Legal status of digitations: “You may print off or download any content only for non-commercial purposes, including but not limited to private study, research, or teaching and instruction within an educational establishment, under the following terms:

·         If the permitted use of the content involves any distribution, dissemination or communication of the content (by any means or process) to another person, you must (wherever possible) acknowledge the source of the content in the following form: “[title], [author], [date content created], [Shelfmark or other identifier], Photo: Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford [year]”, linking where possible to the Digital.Bodleian site as the source of the content.

·         You may not remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notices including attribution metadata, credits and notices, that are placed in or near the text, images or data.”

(https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/terms.html)

User friendliness of search options: Fair. The page offers  a simple search function.  On the left you can click to select books from a certain language or collection. You can also sort the results by date, relevance or shelfmark. However, sorting by date doesn’t work for 100% because the software reads –for example-  0700 and 700 as two different  years.

Languages: English

Notes:  There is also another webpage with images from the Bodleian at http://bodley30.bodley.ox.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet/allCollections . It seems to be from an older project (this one , I guess: http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/medievalimages ), but offers much better search options.

5

Name: Library Ets Haim/Livraria Montezinos

Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Type of library: Library of the educational and research institute of the Portuguese-Jewish Seminary.

Link to page: http://etshaimmanuscripts.nl/manuscripts/

Quality of digitations: Good. In color, high definition.

Earliest manuscript: 1282

Latest manuscript: 20th century

Legal status of digitations: Ets Haim owns the copyright for the digitations. (© 2018 Ets Haim Manuscripts)

User friendliness of search options: Mediocre. The search function is very simple. You can only enter keywords. There is no way to select on creation date. Besides that, all documents have been tagged with one or more broad categories to which they belong, and  you can view documents per category too.

Languages: Search in English, explanations in English and Hebrew.

Notes:  These manuscripts contain relatively few illuminations. The majority dates from after the middle ages.

[filmcarsspain]

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