Popular shared stories on NewsBlur.
2776 stories
·
62320 followers

Sara Persico ~ Sphaîra

2 Shares

Sometimes an artist introduces us to a sound we haven’t heard before, and sometimes to a place we haven’t visited.  On SphaîraSara Persico does both.  The album honors the aptly named Experimental Theatre, one of eighteen concrete buildings designed to showcase the Rachid Karami International Fair in Tripoli.  Unfortunately, when civil war broke out, the project was halted, the buildings left to the mercy of the sea.  A UNESCO Heritage site, the domed theatre continues to beguile, though entry is guarded, which makes Persico’s access all the more precious.  If we cannot see the dome, we can experience it through her artistic vision. Sphaîra is not only a reflection of the present, but a tribute to history and a sonic story of what might have been.

“The Center Cannot Hold” is a perfect title for the opener, which serves as an overture.  Birds sing unimpeded while electronic shuffles imitate the approach of the sea.  The building, planned as one thing, has become another.  One wonders if the ghostly echoes are part of the “whispering effect” or spectral entities caught on tape.  On “Brutal Threshold,” metal tools scrape against concrete as Persico’s voice loops, mirroring the hum of the dome.  While it appears on Subtext, one recalls the Cold Meat Industries label, as this is dark ambience indeed: not only in timbre, but in background.  A voice appears and is cut off before it can be comprehended.  The birds continue to sing.

As the album progresses, one senses a tug between the holy and the unholy, an abandoned vision of the future and the present reality.  The choral elements tug the heart upward, while industrial distortions weigh it down.  Persico attempts to appease the cries of her ghostly companions while adding cries of her own, expressing sympathy with their plight.  The building – even in its present state – remains a miracle of modern construction.  Persico’s pilgrimage exposes facets that even the original architect, Brazil’s Oscar Niemeyer, would never have imagined.  Perhaps the album’s most telling sound is the split second that ends the elusive “Domescape,” as soft static is beheaded by a sudden hit.  The civil war severed the trajectory of populace and exhibition center; the expected two million visitors never arrived, the buildings left to weep bitter tears into the sea.

Yet life remains within the rubble and what is not yet rubble.  “Kairos” (the word meaning “a propitious moment”) contains an ongoing pulse that beats through the static and distortion.  The penultimate track embeds a call to prayer.  In “Dust,” even though mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned, there remains some semblance of hope; embers crackle and glow, refusing to fade. (Richard Allen)



Read the whole story
sirshannon
37 minutes ago
reply
Share this story
Delete

Inside the Murdochs’ Succession Drama - The New York Times

1 Share
Read the whole story
acdha
4 hours ago
reply
Washington, DC
Share this story
Delete

After delay, CDC releases data signaling bird flu spread undetected in cows and people

1 Comment and 2 Shares
In this photo provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a lactating dairy cow stands in a pen after inoculation against bird flu at the National Animal Disease Center research facility in Ames, Iowa, on Monday, July 29, 2024.

After going quiet on bird flu, CDC scientists have published a report on its spread among veterinarians. The findings suggest a need for better surveillance.

(Image credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Read the whole story
acdha
4 hours ago
reply
Washington, DC
Share this story
Delete
1 public comment
sarcozona
7 hours ago
reply
I guess it's reassuring that none of the vets with antibodies have died!
Epiphyte City

DOJ in disarray: Bove's bluster to blame? Resignations ripple after Adams case order.

1 Share
Emil Bove’s February 13, 2025 letter to Danielle Sassoon.

The efforts to undermine the rule of law in America hit a new low point (for now) in the 25th day of the new Trump administration, as the leaders of the Justice Department publicly fought with their own employees to dismiss charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams dismissed on plainly political grounds.

That effort, though, was met with multiples resignations, including from some of the Trump administration’s hand-picked “acting” heads of multiple departments — a stark sign of principled pushback and of the limits of the new administration’s power.

“I cannot fulfill my obligations, effectively lead my office in carrying out the Department's priorities, or credibly represent the Government before the courts, if I seek to dismiss the Adams case on this record,” Danielle Sassoon, who had been the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York until Thursday, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday. The eight-page letter was published by The New York Times.

Sassoon’s actions stood in contrast to Senate Republicans, who — to give just one example — on Thursday confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. (Except for Sen. Mitch McConnell, that is, who voted no.)

Thursday also, and by his own signature, highlighted the depths to which Emil Bove, President Donald Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer who is now in a non-Senate-confirmed senior role at the Justice Department, will gladly go. After authoring the initial letter on February 10 ordering the case against Adams to be dismissed, Bove also authored the unhinged letter on Thursday responding to Sassoon.

Accepting the resignation of Sassoon, a former clerk to then-Justice Antonin Scalia, Bove told her, “You lost sight of the oath that you took when you started at the Department of Justice by suggesting that you retain discretion to interpret the Constitution in a manner inconsistent with the policies of a democratically elected President and a Senate-confirmed Attorney General.”

First, your resignation is accepted. This decision is based on your choice to continue pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite an express instruction to dismiss the case. Youlostsight ofthe oath that you took when you started at the Department ofJustice by suggesting that you retain discretion to interpret the Constitution in a manner inconsistent with the policies of a democratically elected President and a Senate-confirmed Attorney General.

He went on to write like a madman, announcing that all of “the AUSAs principally responsible for this case” were being put on administrative leave and would be placed under investigation — under the auspices of Trump’s executive order “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government“ and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s memorandum “Restoring the Integrity and Credibility of the Department ofJustice.

Second, you indicated that the prosecution team is aware of your communications with the Justice Department, is supportive of your approach, and is unwilling to comply with the order to dismiss the case. Accordingly, the AUSAs principally responsible for this case are being placed on off-duty, administrative leave¹ pending investigations by the Office ofthe Attorney General² and the Office of Professional Responsibility, both of which will also evaluate your conduct. At 1 This leave status will remain in effect until further notice. This is not a disciplinary or adverse action, and the AUSAs will continue to receive full salary and benefits during administrative leave. While the AUSAs are in an off-duty status, they are not to use their government-issued laptop, phone, and ID badge/PIV card to access duty stations or any other Federal facility unless explicitly directed to do so. While on administrative leave, if contacted by management, the AUSAs must respond by phone or email no later than the close of business the following business day. 2 The investigation by the Office ofthe Attorney General will be conducted pursuant to, inter alia, Executive Order 14147, entitled Ending the Weaponization ofthe Federal Government, and on the basis ofthe Attorney General's February 5, 2025 memorandum regardingRestoring the Integrity andCredibility ofthe Department ofJustice.

In short, Bove is weaponizing government to investigate those employees of the Department of Justice showing any integrity.

He also, for now, is Bondi’s No. 2 at DOJ.

That wasn’t all. As Ryan Reilly reported at NBC News, efforts to get someone at Main Justice to do Bove’s dirty work were no more successful.

John Keller, the acting head of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section and a longtime DOJ employee, resigned rather than dismiss the case.

“Three other members of the section also resigned,“ Reilly added.

Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the department's Criminal Division and another longtime employee, resigned as well.

No documents were filed on the docket in Eric Adams’s case on Thursday, as of this publication.

Law Dork brings you independent, in-depth legal and political journalism that seeks to hold government and other public officials accountable. Support Chris Geidner’s reporting by becoming a paid or free subscriber today.


Part of anti-trans care EO blocked

Parts of two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting transgender people were put on hold Thursday, the latest loss for the virulently anti-trans Trump administration in court.

Following a hearing on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson temporarily blocked the Trump administration from “conditioning or withholding federal funding based on the fact that a healthcare entity or health professional provides gender affirming medical care to a patient under the age of nineteen“ under either parts of two executive orders that sought to block funding.

The PFLAG-led lawsuit was brought in federal court in Maryland a few days into February.

The first covered provision was a part of Trump’s January 20 executive order defining “sex” to exclude transgender people. The provision purports to block funds that “promote gender ideology,” which is just the Trump administration’s scare phrase to attack transgender, nonbinary, and other queer people by claiming, in effect, that they are being defined out of existence:

(g)  Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology.  Each agency shall assess grant conditions and grantee preferences and ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology.

The second executive order in question was Trump’s order purporting to require agencies to take actions that would restrict availability of gender-affirming medical care for those people younger than 19. Among the provisions was this one, with more scare language, challenged here:

Sec. 4.  Defunding Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.  The head of each executive department or agency (agency) that provides research or education grants to medical institutions, including medical schools and hospitals, shall, consistent with applicable law and in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving Federal research or education grants end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.

Hurson, a Biden appointee, issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of both provisions for 14 days on Thursday. (That is the normal time period for a TRO; it could and likely will be extended, if needed, as the preliminary injunction motion is considered.)

Additionally, and as is becoming more common as courts grapple with how well their orders are being followed under the new administration, Hurson ordered the Justice Department to file both a notice with all of the affected agencies about the effect of Thursday’s order …

… and a follow-up status report with the court by next week providing evidence of compliance.

That’s what happens when courts feel like they can’t take a government lawyer’s word for it — something that was certainly not helped by the actions of those at the top of the Department on Thursday.

Share

Read the whole story
acdha
4 hours ago
reply
Washington, DC
Share this story
Delete

Cheap blood test detects pancreatic cancer before it spreads

2 Shares

Nature, Published online: 12 February 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00438-z

The deadly cancer is often not found until it has spread to other parts of the body.
Read the whole story
fxer
5 hours ago
reply
Bend, Oregon
acdha
9 hours ago
reply
Washington, DC
Share this story
Delete

How Tucker Carlson’s Nicotine Pouch Became the Latest Front in the Culture War - POLITICO

1 Share

“There is a sense in which this moment is a great rethinking of what constitutes a healthy life and what leads to vigor and clarity and longevity,” Carlson acknowledged. Nicotine, he said, is not exempt from that rethinking.

The second trend fueling the buzz around ALP is the effort among right-leaning entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to build a “parallel economy” — sometimes called a “patriot economy” — that consciously caters to right-leaning consumers. Believing that Big Business and Big Tech have been captured by “woke” ideology and progressive interests, prominent conservatives are arguing that the time has come for like-minded businesspeople to create a self-sustaining network of businesses — from beer brands to banks — that eschew liberal pieties, especially around racial issues and LGBTQ+ rights, and openly embrace conservatives’ cultural values.

Carlson’s new media company has been both a chief beneficiary and primary proponent of this emergent sub-economy: In 2023, the investment firm 1789 Capital, founded by Trump mega-donor Omeed Malik, invested $15 million in the company. In December, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., announced that he would be joining Malik’s firm, signaling the central role that efforts to build a parallel economy could play in Trump’s next term.

While promoting his new pouches, though, Carlson says he is trying to avoid playing up any explicitly political angle. His goal, he claims, is to create a product for consumers who “don’t want politics in your mouth in the first place.”

“To be clear, I’m not making a political pitch on behalf of ALP,” Carlson told Forbes in December. “I’m not saying, ‘If you vote for this candidate, this is the product for you.’”

ALP’s real strength, he has argued, is that it’s better simply than Zyn.

“Try them both.”

So, naturally, I did.

Like Zyn, ALP comes in a round plastic “tin” — a somewhat misleading term borrowed from old-school chewing tobacco — with a removable plastic lid. ALP’s lid is adorned with the brand’s mascot: a cartoon drawing of a ranger wearing a wide-brimmed hat, winking slyly and holding up a single pouch in his outstretched hand. (Why the logo is a ranger rather than a mountain range is anyone’s guess.) The name’s secondary meaning, according to a spokesperson, is as an acronym for “Americans Love Pouches,” though some of its fans on the internet have taken to calling it “America’s Lip Pillow.”

The hardest part about testing out the new pouches was getting my hands on them. In October, I contacted the company via a corporate email address listed on its website, asking about getting a sampler of the pouches. An anonymous administrator responded with an upbeat note saying that they would be happy to arrange for a sample to be sent to me at my preferred shipping address.

A month later, still with no pouches in hand, I sent a follow-up email to the same address and was assured that the sample was en route, and would I like the tracking information to keep tabs on them? I would indeed — but I never did get it. Neither the tracking information or the sample pouches ever arrived, and my subsequent inquiries went unanswered. Instead, when the product went up for public sale in early December, I ordered a pack of five tins ($24.95, plus shipping).

Read the whole story
acdha
6 hours ago
reply
Washington, DC
Share this story
Delete

U.S. Park Service Strikes Transgender References From Stonewall Website - The New York Times

1 Share
Read the whole story
acdha
7 hours ago
reply
Washington, DC
Share this story
Delete
Next Page of Stories