valhalla

Strange Company’s always engaging weekend link dump directs our attention to a website called “Plodding through the Presidents” and their expertly curated gallery of unexpected commemorative statues of past administrations plus the current pretender to the office. From a nude Zeus-like George Washington, a bronze George W Bush with terrier in a fast food parking lot in South Dakota, to this 1941 shirtless, sexy Abraham Lincoln by artist James Lee Hansen, what’s more striking than the fact that some of these likenesses were created in the first place is that they’ve been given a home that’s accessible to the public—though tracking down some of these might pose more of a challenge than others.

factitious disorder imposed on another

Munchausen syndrome by proxy (previously) is a very real and dire disorder and I suspect one that probably merits greater study particularly in an age when it is arguably manifested in the form of parents endangering their children by withholding vaccinations and being vocal about it and is no laughing matter. We were however rather taken with this 1959 Madame Alexander dark, wrong-handed creation to seemingly teach young girls the art of unhealthy attention-seeking called Marybel the Doll that Gets Well. Marybel’s script includes, “I broke my arm when I stumbled and fell. Now I wear a cast to make it well.”

say hello to your boy—special guy

The son of the Supreme Court associate justice that the Trump administration is pressuring to retire sooner rather than later so Trump will be able to nominate pivotal pick for his replacement was the Deutsche Bank executive, during whose tenure extended the Trump organisation a line of credit of well over a billion dollars—at a time when most other financial institutions were wary of lending to the Trump crime family.
Republicans are urging the Reagan-appointee who has been the swing vote on the court’s many split decisions to step down before the mid-term elections this fall, fearful that the outcome could frustrate the installation of an arch-conservative figure. Perhaps given the relationship with the family that spans nearly two decades, the soon-to-be superannuated member could be persuaded that he is leaving the high court in competent hands.

twelve golden mullets, their points not touching

Though I’d venture that the symbol did not enter into common-parlance nor was readily identifiable until the early 2000s, on this day in 1985 the European Communities (now the Council of Europe) and the European Union adopted its official flag to represent the supranational organisation.
Not displacing the national flags but flown along side them, it is considered a “community logo” rather than an emblem accorded the honours and protection reserved for other symbols of state. The stars do not represent any particular member and rather a sense of unity and equal-standing. Though those who originally designed the flag and calculated its proportions deny the suggestion—at least on a conscious level, there is a golden statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the cathedral of Strasbourg depicted with a golden halo or crown of stars who is displayed in an alcove of a deep blue stained-glass window.

grain of salt

Although it’s true to argue that inauthentic product reviews and endorsements will become more and more adaptively deceptive, like the fake news problem which looms large over society as a whole which destroys relations built on trust and credibility, it’s nonetheless vital to fight against it and some of the automation tools used to amplify an item or an opinion can be used to combat it.
The always engrossing NPR Planet Money brings us the story of one frustrated consumer’s inspired effort to help counteract that particular bane of the connected world. The outcome of his investigations culminate with the site Review Meta that can help identify likely bogus ratings and evaluations, and it’s well worth the time to listen to the entire vignette (because it is clever and) to gain an understanding about the criteria that helps spot an imposter or corporate shill. Distrust will, unchecked, eventually spell the end of the online marketplace—as well as the forum—once we reach a tipping-point where all confidence is squandered.

6x6

we don’t deserve dogs: a very good boy in Madrid demonstrates his life-saving skills

heat-exchange: we’ve crossed a critical climate point-of-no-return in the Barents Sea

german engineering: a proposal for a solar power plant that’s nearly a century old plus an even older printing-press that ran on sunshine

thinking you’re impervious to the dunning-kruger effect is itself an example of the dunning-kruger effect: more on the psychological observation (previously) that helps explain why we’re all confidently incompetent

pr’s pr award: the World Architectural Festival has announced its finalists for building of the year

the pearl of great price: plans to build a Mormon utopian community of microhousing (based on the biblical Enoch’s exceptional righteous, and rapture-ready city) poses a threat to Vermont’s historic village, via Super Punch

demonstration kitchen

Laughing Squid directs our attention to the wonderfully quiet and uncluttered series of cooking videos that instructs without words. Amateur chef Connor Nelson was inspired to create Silently Cooking after finding himself overwhelmed and annoyed with the ongoing commentary that accompanies most other gastronomic channels. I like this approach (although generally not caring for this whole pivot-to-video trend) and think there would be an audience for other disciplines and communities to take vows of silence.