welttuberkulosetag

The World Health Organisation marks today as International Tuberculous Day in deference to the 1882 to the meeting of a small group of scientists and professors, including pioneering immunologist Paul Ehrlich, at the Institute of Hygiene at the University of Berlin wherein Doktor Robert Koch (*1843 – †1910)—a name now also very much in the news, astounded those assembled by announcing the elusive cause of the infectious disease to be a pathogenic bacteria.
Lucidly and convincingly, Koch was able to present his case to academics and authorities and suggest effective interventions at a time when germ theory still battled with rumour and superstition in the realm of epidemiology as TB spread through Europe and North America. While Koch did not think the there was a zoonotic connection between the human and cattle incidence of the disease (bovines being the vector) and thus delayed the identification of milk and other dairy products as one source of contamination (an oversight that colleague Louis Pasteur corrected), Koch developed a crucial screening process that could identify, isolate and treat carriers prior to symptoms manifesting. Though much diminished, TB has not been eradicated and remains the second most common cause of death (AIDS being the first) from a communicable disease with approximately eight million new cases per year.

organisation commune africane et malgache

Founded in 1961 to promote economic and political cooperation among the decolonised and newly independent francophone nations of the continent and its largest island, the African and Malagasy Union was formaly dissolved on this day in 1985 by mutual consent of its member states.
Once former Belgian-controlled territories were allowed in the group, the governing body gradually realised it was at cross-purposes to more inclusive, pan-continental institutions that were developing in parallel. One lasting legacy of the former organisation’s work, after abandoning defence pacts and a common army that caused the most strife throughout the decades, was the multinational civilian airline Air Afrique and its spinoffs.

guideposts

First unveiled on this day in 1980, the ensemble of granite monoliths outside of the city of Elberton in the US state of Georgia, astronomically aligned and shrouded in a rather mysterious, secretive commission have the Guidestones are sometimes regarded as America’s Stonehenge.

Made and placed to exacting specifications (the pillars track the sun and the moon) by a group of anonymous donors fronted by a go-between—also under an assumed identity, the local granite finishing company was approached and told that the monument would act as a compass and calendar that could withstand coming, eminent catastrophe and serve as a set of instructions, exhortations for those survivors tasked with rebuilding civilisation. The alternative commandments, inscribed in eight modern languages with transcriptions in Babylonian cuneiform, Ancient Greek, Sanskirt and Egyptian appearing boustrophedonically around the edges of the slabs. Once the money for the project materialised, the granite company executed the job gladly, dismissing the representative as an eccentric. The land and the Guidestones were given to the county afterwards and the regulations, practicable and sage as they may be, have attracted no end of speculation and conspiracy theories and advocate for population control and all manner of social engineering.

rumpus room

We really enjoyed perusing this inviting gallery of conservation pits, an architectural feature incorporating plush seating in a sunken and often shagged subfloor within a larger living area.
The design was a popular mainstay from the 1950s through the 1970s showcased and much copied in the 1958 Miller House (pictured) of Columbus, Indiana from Eero Saarinen—also centrepieces of influential homes by Alexander Girard and Bruce Goff. Do take a look at the extensive collection of images at Messy Nessy Chic at the link up top and let us know which is your favourite adult pillow-fort and how you would design your own.

daisy-cutter

On this day in 1970, under the auspices of the programme Commando Vault to develop and deploy progressively more destructive conventional explosives in the war effort, the United States Army first dropped the BLU-82 (Bomb Live Unit) on troops in North Vietnam and Laos, so nicknamed the above as it was designed not for combat but to clear helicopter landing zones in dense jungle and due to its broad but shallow explosive capabilities, it did not leave a crater. The type and stronger iterations were used up until 2008 (the last live ammunition practise pictured) in various campaigns before being replaced by the MOAB.

ffont ffamily

A commission from the Welsh government has netted a sleek, unifying typeface for its public services and signage that reflects Cymraeg and its unique orthographic characteristics (see also) with its range of diagraphs expressed in dedicated ligatures based on the textura of the country’s oldest manuscripts including the thirteenth century epic The Red Book of Hergest (Llyfr Coch Hergest) that recounts the heroic cycle of poems of Llywarch Hen and the struggle against the incursion of the Anglo-Saxons in the Mabinogion, the earliest collection of prose of the British isles, and The Black Book of Carmarthen (Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin, both distinguished by their location and the colour of their vellum bindings) that addresses various subjects including the Arthurian legend and Merlin (Myrddin).

lexus-nexus or in this corner

The always brilliant programmer behind AI Weirdness Janelle Shane’s latest foray into machine mentorship begins with a nice and reflective acknowledgement about one primary, force majure why bloggers blog in the first place: to be introduced to process and jargon outside of field of speciality and indulge in learning something new.
This latest episode (see previously) involved in rem jurisdiction—a concept in legal code that imbues an inanimate object status and agency rather than its minders or responsible parties, a type of legal fiction that has resulted in some preposterous sounding suits such as the United States v. One Book Called Ulysses or the United States v. Four Hundred Twenty-Two Casks of Wine. Given that those actual are precedential cases on the books, Shane wondered what her neural network might glean from studying millions of legal proceedings related to seizure and customs violations to create epic courtroom battles. Quite the courtroom artists, Shane has illustrated some of the less abstract ones like Texas v. One Small Dog with a Napkin Near It—quite a surreal enough judgement—but there were others that far exceeded rendering like South Dakota v. an Apparition at a Shoe Store.

socio-economics

Amid all the other tragedy and chaos happening around the world, it’s not unsurprising that the headline was buried that yesterday the US government not only curtailed the service commitments of its over seven thousand volunteers abroad in some of the most desperately poor places around the world—along with academics studying overseas as Fulbright scholars—and is repatriating them with little to none transit or logistical support, the Peace Corps (founded 1 March 1961 by the Kennedy administration to help the developing world and fight against Ugly American and neo-imperialism stereotypes) is making those displaced and uprooted (and potentially contagious) helpers redundant, dismissed without benefits and ineligible in most cases as their relationship with the agency does not rise to the level of employee and employer to apply for assistance and compensation. Not only are they being force to leave their adopted homes at a time of peril when the host communities that they serve needs them, they find themselves forcibly returned (those choosing to stay would face a field termination and have their official passport stripped from them) ahead of schedule to a country in dire crisis without a job or purpose when the prospects of securing either seems untenable.