Feeling blah these two days.

[conuly]

Very annoying.

*****

Study finds students learning Cherokee writing developed previously unknown, 'idiosyncratic' style

The Last Civil War Checks

Unions Did Great Things for the Working Class

The internet, but not as we know it: life online in China, Cuba, India and Russia

The myth of ‘We don’t build houses like we used to’

Is This Finally the End of Counting Calories?

Study: U.S. Newspapers Are More Than Twice As Likely to Cite Israeli Sources in Headlines Than Palestinian Ones

One Couple’s Tireless Crusade to Stop a Genetic Killer

The Stubborn Culture of Harassment in America’s Medical Schools

This Man Was Scammed By A Fake Sugar Daddy On Grindr — But He Can’t Report The Identity Theft Because Of The Government Shutdown

Comments

[workday_dreamer]

That article about modern residential buildings not being built the same way as they used to is interesting. It makes me think that when we say something is "not how it used to be" we're actually thinking about how things used to be for economic classes that we would not be a part of if we travelled back in time.

Part of it is also that only the better constructed things survive. I remember hearing someone telling a story of a friend of their's refurbishing a really old clock and the thing was just chipboard inside.

[conuly]

Well, sure, nobody's gonna see the inside, right?

[workday_dreamer]

True, until someone tries to fix it and realizes that even in the "good old days" people cheaply mass produced things.

And for good reason! Not everyone can afford products that are also finely crafted art. Especially not if those producing the items are getting a fair wage.

[cosmolinguist]

That Cherokee language one makes me so happy. I'll try to write about it when I'm not on my way to a Theory of Grammar exam!

[greghousesgf]

yeah, I found that one really interesting too.

[konsectatrix]

On one hand, Kate's arguments are reasonable, and can be summed up by "the good stuff survives," on the other, a lot of what she's saying doesn't actually support the premise?

Yes, t here are some people that are building new, functional, and aesthetically cool homes.

But the housing/real estate and labor end of things didn't survive the mob very well (anything built around the mid to late 80's is suspect), and we still have shady companies like Toll Brothers doing anything to make a buck, including 'show the inspector this house ONLY' kind of nonsense.

[tozka]

The Guardian article about internet in other countries is formatted very interestingly, but is (unfortunately) hugely annoying to try and read. D:

[redsixwing]

How very interesting, about the Cherokee language.

The Guardian article is one of the cooler interactive articles I've seen. I wish they'd spent a moment on censor-avoiding puns, because that's /really/ fun. China, naturally, promptly tried to ban punning. (It didn't work.)