
Travel
Collection of 20th Century Souvenir Buildings at the National Building Museum: A Reminder of Travel and a Record of Popular Architecture
These pocket-sized buildings are at once a reminder of travel, and a record of popular architecture. Included in the collection are iconic tourist destinations, like the Tower of Pisa; Empire State Building; the Parthenon; the Space Needle; the Alamo; the Eiffel Tower; and the Temple of Heaven. Also included are more modest buildings, like dozens of suburban American banks, grain silos, and football stadiums, as well as souvenirs from places with less architectural, but nonetheless popular, pedigrees: Lincoln’s log cabin; Elvis’ Graceland; and the Disneyland Castle. After decades of display in museums and private residences, the entire collection was donated to the Museum in 2019. more »
Here’s Why This Year’s Measles Outbreaks Are So Bad: “Ninety out of one hundred non-vaccinated people exposed to an infected person will develop the disease”
“We’re facing a perfect storm of a highly contagious infection introduced into pockets of unvaccinated children,” says Melissa Stockwell, an associate professor of population and family health at Columbia Mailman and of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. While most cases of the measles are mild, one in twenty infected children in the US is hospitalized with pneumonia, and some infections can cause deafness. In 2017, the illness killed 110,000 people worldwide, nearly all young children in low-income countries. more »
Sitting Ducks ... Are Good Targets Only if They Stay in Place and Behave as Expected
Julia Sneden wrote: I had a small accident a couple of weeks ago, the third in almost 50 years of driving. It happened in my own driveway. That was probably my first experience in being a true victim. Until then I had accepted (sometimes grudgingly) a share of the blame for most of the unpleasant moments of my life. Blame is an unpleasant burden, but shouldering it acknowledges that one is, at least, an active participant in the situation, and not a passive victim. I find it much easier to deal with being held accountable than with feeling helpless in the hands of capricious Fate. more »
*GAO Reports on Testing Security Screening at US Airports: TSA Has Limited Assurance that Security Operations is Targeting the Most Likely Threats
Security Operations has not been able to ensure the quality of its covert test results, and GAO identified a number of factors that could be compromising the quality of these results. Unless TSA assesses the current practices used at airports to conduct tests, and identifies the factors that may be impacting the quality of covert testing conducted by TSA officials at airports, it will have limited assurance about the reliability of the test results it is using to address vulnerabilities. more »