• In the 1970s, Ohio University President Claude Sowle decided to hold public meetings at which college deans would argue for money for their departments. Of course, these were spectacular events at which college deans wore caps and gowns and argued passionately for money. At one such public meeting, Dr. Henry Lin, Dean of Fine Arts, began his remarks by saying, "Ni hao, Dr. Sowle." Of course, he was speaking flawless Mandarin Chinese, and he continued to speak flawless Mandarin Chinese - which Dr. Sowle did NOT understand - for the rest of his remarks, occasionally using a Chinese abacus to emphasize a financial point. At the end of Dr. Lin's remarks, President Sowle told him, "Henry, you know I don't understand Chinese, but I've never understood you more clearly than right now - you need big bucks!" (By the way, the late Dr. Lin is the father of Maya Lin, the genius who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.)
• As a child, Oliver W. Harrington, an African American, put out a six-page newspaper, written and drawn by hand, which was eagerly awaited each month by his South Bronx classmates. In one issue, young Oliver wrote about "Jewtown," a term that was commonly used to denote a part of the Bronx. One of his teachers, Mrs. Linsky, read the issue, then privately explained to him about the evil that lay behind such terms as "Jewtown" and "N*ggertown." He learned quickly and was hurt when he learned what he had done; after all, his mother was a Hungarian Jew. When he grew up, he became a famous political cartoonist who used his talents to fight for social justice.
• Children's book illustrator Victoria Chess grew up speaking languages other than English. She didn't understand English until she was three years old, and she didn't let anyone know she could understand English until she was four. Why not? People say interesting things in English if they think you don't know that language.
Lighting
• Light is very important in art museums. Lots of light can reveal details in a painting, but too much light can damage other works of art, so lighting is carefully controlled in art museums. Because too much light can damage light-sensitive art, sometimes employees of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., cover the skylights to keep light out of certain rooms. When Henri Matisse's wall-size paper cutouts were displayed, the room was very dark because of the fragility of the paper he used. Also, they were lit for only half of the day. At 1 p.m. the lights went off and the doors to the exhibit closed. By the way, the National Gallery has glaziers - people who replace broken glass panes - on its payroll. After all, the National Gallery has many skylights, the glass panes of which are sometimes broken by stones dropped by seagulls. In addition, the National Gallery makes sure that lots of light is present where visitors enter the museum. It doesn't want visitors to trip and fall because they are blinded after coming into the museum from the brightly lit outdoors.
• In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Jacob A. Riis became famous for his photographs of poor people in New York City tenements. His photographs showed How the Other Half Lives - the title of one of his books. In the early days of photography, getting enough light to photograph indoors could be a problem. He used to make a fire in a frying pan and use it to light his flash powder. If that didn't work well enough, he would shoot a revolver and use the light of its flash to take his photographs. Occasionally, Mr. Riis' lighting techniques started fires. He once caught his own clothes on fire, and he twice accidentally set fire to buildings. In addition, when a flash went off too close to his eyes, he almost blinded himself. However, his muckraking photographs, articles, and books led to social reforms to help poor people.
The Turkish Straits create a series of international passages that connect the Aegean and the Mediterranean seas to the Black Sea. The straits are on opposite ends of another sea. What is the name of this sea?
The Turkish Straits (Turkish: Türk Bogazlari) are two internationally significant waterways in northwestern Turkey. The straits create a series of international passages that connect the Aegean and Mediterranean seas to the Black Sea. They consist of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. The straits are on opposite ends of the Sea of Marmara. The straits and the Sea of Marmara are part of the sovereign sea territory of Turkey and subject to the regime of internal waters.
Located in the western part of the landmass of Eurasia, the Turkish Straits are conventionally considered the boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia, as well as the dividing line between European Turkey and Asian Turkey. Owing to their strategic importance in international commerce, politics, and warfare, the Turkish Straits have played a significant role in European and world history. Since 1936, they have been governed in accordance with the Montreux Convention.
Source
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
The Marmara Sea.
Randall wrote:
Sea of Marmara
mj said:
One of the best places
To find well preserved wrecks (because of low oxygen content): The Black
Sea.
Alan J answered:
The Sea of Marmara.
Cal in Vermont responded:
The Marmara Sea. Also known as The Marble Sea.
Leo in Boise replied:
Sea of Marmara
Dave wrote:
The Sea of Marmara. The strait from the Aegean and Marmara is the Dardanelles. The strait to the Black Sea is the Bosphorus.
In WWI, France and Great Britain declared war on the Ottoman Empire and seeing how the Turks weren't respected by the European powers, a scheme was conceived to use obsolete British and French battleships to easily force the Dardanelles, stream into the Sea of Marmara and convince the Turks to quit the war or face naval shelling of Istanbul. A byproduct would be a secure ice free sea lane to supply their ally Russia. This seemingly brilliant plan of Winston Churchill's ended in disaster, and was escalated into an even more botched up land invasion/withdraw. Winston got most of the blame, a charge he ably (if unconvincingly) defended himself against in the House and in print for decades. Considering Winston's lamentable future military disasters, whenever he interfered as WWII PM, it is hard to not blame him for the Dardanelles.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
Turkish Straits
Billy in Cypress U$A replied:
Sea of Marmara
Deborah, the Master Gardener, wrote:
That's the Sea of Marmara, which looks really tiny on a map but is probably a pretty good size IRL. Good question, btw.
Beer tastes so good after a 50+ mile bike ride on a warm summer day. In fact, I might have 2. Happy Saturday, people!
Joe ( -- Vote Blue, No Matter Who -- ) replied:
The Sea of Marmara? I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
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~~~~~
CBS starts the night, as usual, with '60 Minutes', followed by a RERUN'Tough As Nails', then a RERUN'NCIS: The Expendable One', followed by a RERUN'NCIS: The 3rd One'.
NBC opens the night with a FRESH'Cannonball', followed by a RERUN'Titan Games', then a RERUN'America's Got Talent'.
ABC fills the night with LIVE'NBA Basketball', then pads the left coast with local crap.
The CW offers a FRESH'Fridge Wars', followed by a FRESH'Task Master'.
Faux has a RERUN'Last Man Standing', followed by a RERUN'Duncanville', then a RERUN'The Simpsons', followed by a RERUN'Bless The Harts', then a RERUN'Bob's Burgers', followed by a RERUN'Family Guy'.
MY recycles an old 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by another old 'How I Met Your Mother', then an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park', followed by the movie 'Jurassic Park III', then a FRESH'NOS4A2'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] PLANET EARTH: SOUTH PACIFIC - Strange Islands
[7:00AM] THE MATRIX
[10:00AM] THE MATRIX RELOADED
[1:00PM] THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
[4:00PM] FACE/OFF
[7:00PM] THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
[10:00PM] NOS4A2 - Cripple Creek
[11:09PM] MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
[1:09AM] FACE/OFF
[4:10AM] MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS - The All-England Summarize Proust Competition
[4:45AM] MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS - Spam
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - Rules of Acquisition (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Potomac', another 'Real Housewives Of Potomac', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Potomac', then a FRESH'Watch What Happens: Live'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Get Hard', followed by the movie 'Step Brothers', then the movie 'Get Hard'.
FX has the movie 'xXx: Return Of Xander Cage', followed by the movie 'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado'.
History has 'American Pickers', another 'American Pickers', followed by the FRESH'Hiroshima: 75 Years Later'.
IFC -
[6:00A] Days of Thunder
[8:30A] The Godfather, Part II
[1:00P] Blow
[4:00P] GoodFellas
[7:15P] The Godfather, Part II
[11:45P] GoodFellas (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am] rambo iii
[8:30am] marauders
[11:00am] the bank job
[1:30pm] days of thunder
[4:00pm] the sons of katie elder
[7:00pm] high plains drifter
[9:30pm] rambo iii
[12:00am] days of thunder
[2:30am] marauders
[5:00am] monk - Mr. Monk Takes A Punch (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Beetlejuice', followed by the movie 'Twister', then a FRESH'Wynonna Earp'.
Six weeks after the bus popularized by Into the Wild was airlifted out of the Alaskan wilderness, the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced plans to relocate the vehicle to a Fairbanks, Alaska museum.
In June, the abandoned bus - a popular but dangerous pilgrimage for adventure seekers due to author Jon Krakauer's book and the Sean Penn-directed movie - was removed by helicopter and moved to a secure site, with the hope that officials would find a permanent (and safe) destination for the "Magic Bus."
At least two hikers died and over a dozen more rescued while in pursuit of the 1940s-era bus where Christopher McCandless, the subject of Into the Wild, died of starvation in 1992; McCandless - who took shelter in the bus 250 miles north of Anchorage - kept a journal of his plight after the nearby Teklanika River swelled, making it unable to hike out of the area
"Of the many expressions of interest in the bus, the proposal from the UA Museum of the North best met the conditions we at DNR had established to ensure this historical and cultural object will be preserved in a safe location where the public could experience it fully, yet safely and respectfully, and without the specter of profiteering," Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige said in a statement.
More than three years after the highly publicized Fyre Festival famously fizzled out in the Bahamas, merchandise and other "minor assets" are up for sale - courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service.
In a release Thursday, the U.S. Marshals announced that 126 items from the festival will be auctioned off, with proceeds going toward the victims of Billy McFarland.
McFarland acknowledged defrauding investors of $26 million in the 2017 Fyre Festival and over $100,000 in a fraudulent ticket-selling scheme after his arrest in the scam. He was sentenced to six years in prison in October 2018. Now 28, he's serving his sentence at a low-security prison in Ohio, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
Customers who paid $1,200 to over $100,000 hoping to see Blink-182 and the hip-hop act Migos arrived to learn musical acts were canceled. Their luxury accommodations and gourmet food consisted of leaky white tents and packaged food, prompting attendees to lash out on social media with the hashtag #fyrefraud.
Among the mementos of that festival are sweatpants, shirts and tokens emblazoned with "a conspiracy to change the entertainment world." As of Saturday, the lots ranged from $10 - the minimum bid for sets of two wristbands - to $300 for a baseball cap bearing the festival logo that had received 20 bids since the auction opened Thursday. At 36 bids, the most popular lot was an aqua blue hoodie featuring the flag of the Bahamas on the back and sleeves patterned with the logo.
The Trump administration is hiking the fees for a range of immigration benefits, including an 83% increase for petitions from green card holders seeking to become U.S. citizens and the first ever charge for asylum requests.
Set to be published in the federal government's journal of regulations on Monday, the new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fees will take effect on October 2. Roughly 97% of USCIS' budget is funded by application fees, unlike most other federal agencies, whose funds are appropriated by Congress.
The final rule includes a more than $500 increase in the fee for the form filed by immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship - which among other benefits, allows them to vote. Fees for other forms, including for family members of victims of crimes who assisted law enforcement and for those seeking genealogy records, will also go up.
Some fee exceptions and waivers will be eliminated through the rule, which will also make the U.S. one of only a few countries in the world to charge a fee to apply for asylum, a humanitarian protection for those fleeing persecution based on race, political opinion, religion, nationality or membership in a "particular social group." By imposing a $50 charge for asylum petitions, the U.S. joins Fiji, Iran and Australia as the only countries requiring immigrants to pay a fee to seek legal refuge.
Applications for works permits, including for asylum-seekers, will also go up by 34%.
St. Kits and Nevis, like many of its Caribbean peers, is highly dependent on tourism revenue.
But with its borders still closed to foreigners, the small country's pioneering "citizenship by investment" program could prove even more important than it has been in the past three decades.
Usually, revenue from wealthy foreigners shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a second passport from the island accounts for 30% of the GDP gap in the government's budget, according to the CBI program head Les Khan. This year, he says, that could be much higher.
Around the world, secondary passports and alternative citizenships have been in high demand from geo-political unrest and the coronavirus, experts tell Business Insider. As more programs come online, Khan is feeling vindicated that the program he's led for three years now is being replicated so far and wide.
Earlier this year, the country dropped its prices, offering a family of four passports for a $150,000 donation, down from $195,000. There are also other more expensive options to make a real-estate purchase that must be held for a set amount of years.
President Donald Trump (R-Philistine)'s reelection campaign is courting religious voters in part by seeking to portray Democrats as a threat to religious freedom - a pitch amplified by disputes over the issue during the coronavirus pandemic.
During an event last week outside Atlanta hosted by the campaign's evangelical outreach effort, Christian surrogates touted the president's record on advancing devout conservatives' priorities while casting Democrats as captive to an anti-religious agenda. Two speakers singled out restrictions on singing in church imposed by California's Democratic governor to help stem the spread of the virus, limits that prompted lawsuits from some pastors.
White House faith adviser Paula White-Cain appealed to Christians to trust the president over "a very deceptive media." White-Cain, a fixture in Trump's circle of religious conservative advisers, asserted that Democratic presidential hopeful and lifelong Roman Catholic Joe Biden was helping liberals to silence people of faith.
White-Cain's appearance last week was her third in four days on behalf of Trump, after an online meeting with evangelical backers and a food distribution visit with presidential daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump as part of an administration pandemic aid program. The pastor's presence comes as the campaign steps up its already-active faith outreach with a stark message: Support the president or lose ground on religious freedom.
In addition to reshaping the federal judiciary with scores of conservative appointments, Trump this year became the first president to speak at the anti-abortion March for Life event. Trump's administration also has set up an office at the Department of Health and Human Services to aid providers with religious or moral qualms about procedures such as abortion, for example, and spotlighted prayer in schools.
The Arctic archipelago of Svalbard - home to 3,000 humans, a few hundred polar bears, and a couple of "Doomsday vaults" - has experienced its highest ever temperature over the weekend.
The 41-year-old record was smashed on Sunday, July 26 after temperatures in the town of Longyearbyen in Svalbard reached 21.7°C (71.06°F) in the afternoon, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. It beats the previous record, set on July 16, 1979, by 0.4°C.
Found on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Longyearbyen is the northernmost permanently inhabited town with over 1,000 people in the world. In mid-November, the area is plunged into pitch darkness and doesn't see sunlight again until late-January. While this Arctic settlement is no stranger to profound seasonal changes, the new record is still fairly remarkable; average summer highs are typically just 3 to 7°C (37 to 45°F) while average winter "highs" are -11 to -13°C (12 to 9°F).
The Arctic is one of the hardest-hit corners of Earth when it comes to climate change. Recent decades have seen a considerable rise in air and water temperatures, along with sea ice loss and permafrost thawing. If current trends continue, some models say it looks likely we'll see ice-free summers in the Arctic before 2050. Arctic warming is especially worrying as it creates a nasty feedback loop: As increasingly more ice melts, less sunlight is reflected and more heat is absorbed by the darker ocean surface and land. This creates a vicious cycle whereby the temperature increases, resulting in further sea ice loss, and so on.
But Longyearbyen isn't the only part of the Arctic Circle wracking up record temperatures. On June 20, the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk reached 38°C (100.4°F), potentially the highest temperature on record in the Arctic.
The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Saturday announced the startup of its Barakah nuclear power plant, a first for the Arab world.
"UAE first nuclear reactor at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has achieved first criticality and successfully started up," tweeted Hamad Alkaabi, the country's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"This is a historic milestone for the nation with a vision set to deliver a new form of clean energy for the nation," he tweeted in English, along with a photograph of technicians raising their arms in celebration.
The plant is a regional first -- Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has said it plans to build up to 16 nuclear reactors, but the project has yet to materialise.
Donald Trump (R-Failure) prompted a familiar barrage of criticism on Saturday by visiting one of his own golf clubs as the country remains caught in numerous intensifying crises from the raging coronavirus epidemic to anti-racism protests to the failure to extend benefits to tens of millions of jobless Americans.
Trump arrived at his Virginia golf club in the morning, according to a report from the White House pool, after leaving Washington via motorcade and dressed in his usual golfing attire of a baseball cap and a polo shirt.
CNN, which tallies Trump trips to his golf clubs, reported that the visit was Trump's 283th trip to a golf course while in office and his 376th day at a Trump property.
In the 2016 campaign, and before, Trump often lambasted then president Barack Obama for his visits to the golf course and claimed that he would be too busy to play the sport if he was president. Since taking office, Trump's visits to golf courses have far outpaced Obama's.
Trump's latest visit comes as the death toll in the US from the coronavirus tops 153,000 with more than 4.5 million positive cases - by far the largest totals in the world. It also happens as Washington fails to agree on an extension to a vital $600 dollar payment to jobless Americans - who will now lose that benefit.
Around 13,000 ago, the world was escaping the last ice age. Then, quite suddenly by normal climate standards, it plunged back. This was at a time when cycles in the Earth's orbit favored continued warming. Several recent studies have attributed the sharp cooling, known as the Younger Dryas, to a collision with a comet or asteroid. However, new evidence fits better with major volcanic eruptions.
Professor Alan Brandon of the University of Houston has been studying sediments from Halls cave in central Texas. Like many other places around the world, the cave preserves evidence of a fairly swift fall of about 3ºC (5.4ºF). However, Brandon reports in Science Advances the same sediments record something else: traces of rare metals he thinks come from volcanic eruptions. This is not the first time these metals, including osmium, iridium, and platinum, have been seen in deposits from the era, but previous researchers have placed their origins to outer space.
If the Younger Dryas' cause was an asteroid, it would have been puny compared to the object that killed the non-avian dinosaurs. Nevertheless, it must still have been large enough to be very rare, not the sort of thing that would hit four times in 6,000 years.
Major volcanic eruptions, on the other hand, are like buses, you can go a long time without seeing one and then several come along together. That, together with osmium isotope ratios like those from some volcanic provinces, led Brandon and the paper's other authors to conclude volcanoes make much more sense than an asteroid or comet.
Volcanoes can have either a warming or a cooling effect on the planet's temperatures, depending on a variety of factors. Germany's Laacher See volcano erupted around the start of the Younger Dryas, although most climatologists doubt it was large enough to cause such a massive event on its own. The other rare metal spikes may be associated with eruptions in the Aleutians and Cascades. The Younger Dryas event was preceded by two shorter temperature declines as the world moved out of the last glacial period, at least one of which may coincide with one of these metal spikes.
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