hoedown

Via Super Punch, our attention is shifted to the profoundly strange and fraught development of square dancing in the US. Though rooted originally in European folk dance, the American version of it is a big departure that saw a revival in the 1940s and 50s as a romancing of cowboy pastiche and not having the historical context and provenance that I thought.
Make of this what you will and do explore the thread at the link above for more dance-conspiracy, industrialist Henry Ford and educator Dr Lloyd “Pappy” Shaw strongly prompted the wholesome activity as a counterbalance to the deleterious influence of jazz and pushed to make modern Western square dance (as distinct from New England quadrilles and that of Appalachia whose dances are a direct descendant of Scots traditions) a national dance. While it certainly does not seem as provocative and divisive as American Confederate monuments erected decades later and only to intimidate and I don’t know how nefarious the above characterisation is, it is a little shocking to learn and I wonder if our Cosplay Nazis might not adopt and champion the return of this trend. Then I am confident that the forces of good would prevail in when challenged to settle their differences with a dance-off.

unboxing

Via My Modern Met, we are introduced to the Japanese craft and cloth called furoshiki (風呂敷), a traditional wrapping medium and technique that seems like an appealing alternative to the customary pile of crumpled papers that is the detritus of the holidays.
Originating during the early Edo period, the practice was first devised as a way for bathers to bundle their clothes after disrobing at public spas and avoid a wardrobe mix up and eventually extended its meaning to include packaging wares for transport or to present and decorate a gift. Furoshiki has seen a decline—remaining all along the preferred way, however, to pack bento boxes as the cloth insulates and doubles as a place-mat—but is now enjoying a resurgence thanks to growing attention to our impact on the environment.

raison d’être

There is a concept in Japanese culture—especially enshrined among the population of Okinawa—similar to the French philosophical invocation above called ikigai (生き甲斐), which is generally translated as “a reason for being.”
Finding one’s true calling and intrinsic worth is not an easy task and not one that’s admitting to short-cuts (I think that one of the most important lessons that’s at least a glancing acquaintance if not something learnt and taken to heart, is that prayer—in whatever form you give it to include mediation and mindfulness—is not supposed to be petitionary but the chance to reflect and to assemble and articulate what’s missing or what’s falling short plus garner solidarity and that affecting change takes work) but the search and discovery (it’s hard but not elusive or impossible as deriving meaning and satisfactory from life is far from being unattainable) is character-building and gives searchers a reason to persevere.

erbe fondamentali

Fascinatingly, as the Washington Post reports, the Italian government has charged its military with the production and distribution not only of medical marijuana but also with the responsibility for supplying so called “orphaned drugs” that treat rare diseases which don’t court much attention from pharmaceutical companies due to the extremely limited market.
With oversight from growth to harvesting (and sterilising it with gamma rays, which I didn’t realise was a done thing) to the logistics of getting it to pharmacies around the country, the task fell to the military once it was realised that private firms were unwilling to try to navigate the complex system of prerequisites in order to receive the necessary licenses and permits. Access to healthcare and therapeutic drugs was nonetheless a governmental mandate and sought an alternate route to cover its population. What do you think about that? Poised to expand capacity, there are some detractors that decry the efficiency and potency of the army’s product (here and here are a few counter-examples of unhealthy relationships with cannabis) but they are able to undercut imported cannabis at least than a tenth of the cost and seem very dedicated and sincere in their mission.

soldier of fortune

In order to fight the firmly entrenched agents of the “deep state,” conventional, bureaucratic government and further undermine the intelligence services of the US, apparently the Trump regime has approached the founder of a controversial mercenary outfit to explore subverting established protocols and procedures with a private spy network.
Those deemed not sufficiently loyal to the administration would be summarily outed and deposed. Though CIA spokespeople (under the leadership of another antithetical figure) vehemently deny the veracity of the claim, the company’s founder is already under investigation (after a fashion) for his willingness to be the architect behind a back-channel line of communication between the White House and Moscow and has been a go-between for foreign business deals. Familial connections to the regime, being the brother of the Secretary of Education and Ponzi-Scheme Heiress Betsy DeVos, probably also has its benefits—and liabilities.

week-by-week

As we are rapidly propelled to the end of another year and the time comes for annual superlatives, we are treated again by Kottke to fifty-two things that consultant Tom Whitwell has gleaned over the past year personally and professionally.
The index is a fascinating revue of not only contemporary times but also many are contextualised as historical development, like the bit of trivia that the first Automated Teller Machine cards were mildly radioactive paper vouchers that were machine readable or that phosphorus-rich dust from the Sahara carried aloft is crucial for the sustainment of the Amazon rainforest. What are some of the facts that you’ve learnt this year? Be sure to check out the whole list and you might come across a few items you first heard of at PRfC.