brother what a fight it really was

Though far more grim and gallowsy than another Prohibition Era map, we found this 1931 chart of Chicago’s gangland in terms of its breadth and detail to be a rather outstanding cartographical feat. Each grid and call-out is chocked full of information on violent clashes between authorities and the syndicate, heists and turf-battles—plus well-known haunts and infamous speakeasies. Be sure to visit Atlas Obscura at the link above to see the panels in full detail and context and to learn about the composition’s antecedents.

la repubblica popolare democratica di corea

Hyperallegic directs our attention to a modest gallery owner and art broker in a small Tuscan village who is responsible for the vast majority of North Korean art—inspiration, motivation placards, ephemera, propaganda posters and fine art—that enters into Western markets. The article also discusses the thousand-strong studio that produces much of what the gallery resells and that has executed monumental consignments for various institutions and world leaders at steeply discounted prices.

hang in there, baby!

Via Kottke, we discover this cache of recently declassified US National Security Agency/Central Security Services “motivational” posters produced from the 1950s through the 1970s meant to ensure employees remained mindful of operational security and secrecy. Learn more about the freedom of information act (FOIA) filing and the work of Government Attic whose persistence unearthed this veritable trove at the link above.

privatising profits, socialising losses

Much as there is dishonesty at the root of the gangster Trump’s specious argument of “national security” to justify the tariffs on steel and aluminium on US allies and significant trade partners, Boing Boing is reporting that the Department of Energy will invoke antiquated emergency powers in order to subsidise unprofitable and polluting coal and expensive and resource-intense nuclear power and turn away from more innovative and agile sources.
Not only will delays in the scheduled retirement of facilities continue to do damage to the environment for all of us—though there’s no emissions at the end-stage of atomic reactors, mining of fissile materials is still a dirty business—and threaten to undermine innovation, US tax payers are buoying up these literal and figurative dinosaurs at a fairly high premium.