Culture Watch

'It wasn't just a testing problem: if almost everyone in the U.S. wore masks in public, it could save about 66,000 lives by the beginning of December, according to projections from the University of Washington School of Medicine. Such a strategy would hurt no one. It would close no business. It would cost next to nothing. But Trump and his vice president flouted local mask rules, making it a point not to wear masks themselves in public appearances. Trump has openly supported people who ignored governors in Michigan and California and elsewhere as they tried to impose social distancing and restrict public activities to control the virus. He encouraged governors in Florida, Arizona and Texas who resisted these public health measures, saying in April — again, falsely — that “the worst days of the pandemic are behind us” and ignoring infectious disease experts who warned at the time of a dangerous rebound if safety measures were loosened." more »

If you happen to dig up an ancient ceramic cooking pot, don’t clean it. Chances are, it contains the culinary secrets of the past. A research team led by UC Berkeley archaeologists has discovered that unglazed ceramic cookware can retain the residue of not just the last supper cooked, but, potentially, earlier dishes cooked across a pot’s lifetime, opening a window onto the past. The findings, reported in the journal Scientific Reports, suggest that gastronomic practices going back millennia — say, to cook Aztec turkey, hominy pozole or the bean stew likely served at the Last Supper — can be reconstructed by analyzing the chemical compounds adhering to and absorbed by the earthenware in which they were prepared.  more »

Do you talk to your dog? Apparently that’s fairly common, especially with human contact reduced during the Covid 19 pandemic; and there’s no need to be concerned — unless your dog talks back. Just yesterday I had a heated (no pun intended) argument with my air conditioner. “Are you kidding me? You picked the hottest day of the year to quit?! Then, of course, there’s Alexa. She’s great, and always available to answer my questions, serenade me with my favorite music, play games, or just chat. I also talk to my blood pressure monitor (“That can’t be right!”); my check book register (“Wait a minute! I’m sure my balance is way higher than that!”); and my smart phone and smart watch, which are too smart for me.                               more »

In 1938, with the outbreak of World War II looking more and more likely, the Home Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare decided to establish a women's voluntary organisation to assist in the event of possible future air attacks. On 16 May, the Women's Voluntary Service for Air Raid Precautions (WVS) was founded. When war broke out in September 1939, the WVS already had 165,000 members. Their work quickly diversified into helping in all areas of the Home Front, and their name was soon changed to the WVS for Civil Defence. Women could also volunteer to work for the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, known as the NAAFI. This had been founded in 1921 to sell goods to servicemen and their families, and to run recreational establishments for the armed forces. The NAAFI grew quickly during World War Two, at its largest running 10,000 outlets, including 900 mobile shops. more »