Money and Computing

The public renders a harsh judgment on the state of political discourse in this country. And for many Americans, their own conversations about politics have become stressful experiences that they prefer to avoid. 85 percent said it had become "less respectful"; 76 percent said "less fact-based"; 85 percent said it had become "less respectful"; 60 percent said "less issues-focused". More Americans get news on social media than from print newspapers, and they expect it to be largely inaccurate, the Pew Research Center found. Antibiotic-resistant infections kill more than 35,000 Americans every year. A new federal proposal would roll back the Roadless Rule, which has prevented logging and other development in Earth's largest temperate rainforest for decades. more »

Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana trained in Cremona and Bologna, Italy, respectively; two geographically close artistic centres but ones characterized by their particular artistic, social and cultural traditions. They came from different types of families and had different lives although in both cases the role of their fathers had a fundamental influence on their careers. Both were able to overcome the stereotypes that society assigned to women in relation to artistic practice and the deep-rooted scepticism regarding their creative and artistic powers. As a result, they made use of painting to achieve a significant position in the society in which they lived.  more »

Julia Sneden wrote: The strangest Christmas of all was the Christmas of the Goose. John, my husband, was born in the wrong century. His vision of Christmas is informed by a heavy dose of Dickens and merrie olde England. It’s not enough to watch every version of A Christmas Carol that is shown on television, year after year. He hangs an Advent wreath over the center of the dining table. He sings along with the Advent hymns on a CD of the Canterbury Cathedral Choir. He sings The Boar’s Head in Latin as I carry in the roast. He reads Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales aloud to the family every Christmas Eve. He puts Christmas crackers at each place at table. He has even been known to remind us about Boxing Day. more »

In Rumors of War, Wiley draws from a series of paintings he created in the early 2000s when, inspired by the history of equestrian portraiture, he replaced traditional white subjects depicted in large-format paintings with young African American men in street clothes. At that time, these works were a reaction to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly two decades later, Wiley’s public sculpture, taking its name from a biblical phrase found in Matthew 24:6, addresses the violence that continues not just in the Middle East but every day on the streets of this nation. Rumors of War also offers an exquisite example of how to imagine and develop a more complete and inclusive American story. more »