Jilly_in_VA
Jilly_in_VA's JournalVikings had windows, another shift away from their image as barbaric Norsemen, Danish museum says
Vikings had windows — usually only associated with medieval churches and castles — meaning Norsemen dignitaries sat in rooms lit up by apertures with glass, Danish researchers said Thursday. The glass panes can be dated from long before the churches and castles of the Middle Ages with which glazed windows are associated, they said.
“This is yet another shift away from the image of unsophisticated barbaric Vikings swinging their swords around,” said Mads Dengsø Jessen, a senior researcher with the National Museum in Copenhagen.
Over the past 25 years, archeologists have found glass fragments in six excavations in southern Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany.
In Copenhagen, 61 fragments of glass panes have been analyzed and researchers concluded that the pieces of glass can be dated from long before the churches and castles of the Middle Ages and that Vikings had windows with glass panes between 800 and 1100. The Viking Age is considered to be from 793 to 1066.
“We only associated early window glass with the Middle Ages, therefore assuming that the glass could not originate from the Viking Age,” the National Museum said in a statement. The glass fragments “can be dated to the Vikings Age and most likely must have been in use in that time period as well,” said Torben Sode, a conservator with the museum who first connected the dots.
https://apnews.com/article/viking-windows-glass-norsemen-danish-researchers-72b53296dd3c0786340f5ac59c240dfc
Barbarians, my sainted Aunt Matilda!
New Mexico footprints are oldest sign of humans in Americas, research shows
New research confirms that fossil human footprints in New Mexico are probably the oldest direct evidence of human presence in the Americas, a finding that upends what many archaeologists thought they knew.
The footprints were discovered at the edge of an ancient lakebed in White Sands national park and date back to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, according to research published on Thursday in the journal Science.
The estimated age of the footprints was first reported in Science in 2021, but some researchers raised concerns about the dates. Questions focused on whether seeds of aquatic plants used for the original dating may have absorbed ancient carbon from the lake – which could, in theory, throw off radiocarbon dating by thousands of years.
The new study presents two additional lines of evidence for the older date range. It uses two entirely different materials found at the site, ancient conifer pollen and quartz grains.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/oct/06/footprints-humans-americas-oldest-sign-new-mexico
Most likely did not come via "Siberian land bridge"...so where?
Congress Is a Middle School Operating In a Retirement Home
Have you been watching America’s messiest reality show? The latest episodes have featured backstabbing, power struggles, post-divorce histrionics, salacious gossip, cattiness, and bitchy, self-righteous to-camera monologues. No, I’m not talking about the new season of The Real Housewives of New York. I’m talking about Congress.
In the words of an erstwhile Hill denizen, “Congress has always been a little stupid.”
Not long ago, former Rep. Steve King (R-IA) was fond of bringing a model of his proposed border wall to the floor and displaying it like he’d just done his fifth grade school project on Minecraft.
There was a 2001 congressional hearing where a Louisiana Republican alleged that Popeye cartoons incited his son to violence.
Or the time that then-House Speaker (and future convicted child molester) Dennis Hastert delivered a press conference—in front of a graveyard—where he defended his mishandling of allegations of sexual misconduct between then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-MA) and congressional pages.
There have been cane fights and brawls, like the 1858 all-out melee over a proposed pro-slavery constitution for the prospective state of Kansas, which involved two anti-slavery Republicans from Wisconsin ripping the hairpiece off of a pro-slavery Democrat from Mississippi.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/congress-is-a-middle-school-operating-in-a-retirement-home
Read all the way through. This might be the funniest (ant truest) thing I've read all day
Maren Morris elaborates on decision to distance herself from country music
Maren Morris is further explaining -- and clarifying -- her relationship with the country music genre.
In a new interview with The New York Times' "Popcast" podcast, the 33-year-old singer said the takeaway from her interview last month with the Los Angeles Times appeared to be that she was leaving country music -- something she called "a little bit hyperbolic" and "ridiculous."
Still, Morris clarified that she "certainly can't participate in a lot of it," referring to country music, and said she is "just going and doing my own thing," telling fans to follow her where "everyone's welcome."
The Grammy winner, who recently put out a new two-track EP titled "The Bridge," told the podcast hosts she'll continue to write with songwriters in Nashville but revealed she has pulled her work from being submitted for awards consideration within the genre.
"I don't want to say goodbye, but I really cannot participate in the really toxic arms of this institution anymore," she said, adding that she doesn't know "if it's forever or it's just how I'm feeling in this current state."
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/maren-morris-elaborates-decision-distance-country-music/story?id=103757042
I understand. I hate that "white male grievance" stuff myself. Johnny Cash would kick their asses if he were still here.
Bidens' dog Commander gone from White House
Commander Biden, the first family's German shepherd, is no longer at the White House as they evaluate "next steps" following a string of biting incidents.
"The President and First Lady care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day," Elizabeth Alexander, the communications director for first lady Jill Biden, said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
"They remain grateful for the patience and support of the U.S. Secret Service and all involved, as they continue to work through solutions," Alexander said. "Commander is not presently on the White House campus while next steps are evaluated."
The statement came just hours after the Daily Mail reported Commander had bitten the longtime White House groundskeeper Dale Haney on Sept. 13. The Daily Mail published what they called exclusive photos of the incident taken by a tourist.
Asked about the photos during the daily briefing for reporters on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre deferred questions to Secret Service or the first lady's office.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bidens-dog-commander-white-house-string-biting-incidents/story?id=103751246
Srprised no one's said anything about this. Oh well, at least Willow doesn't bite. And Karine says Commander never bit her.
What's behind a surge of deaths at one Ohio jail?
Days after Steven Blackshear was booked into Montgomery county jail in downtown Dayton, Ohio, in January, a nurse found him shaking, in a fetal position and vomiting. He complained of chest and leg pains and was taken for medical testing. Two days later, he was found dead in his cell, covered only in towels.
The 54-year-old is one of seven people to have died in a surge of deaths at the jail since the beginning of this year.
For a facility with a population of slightly more than 600 people, it’s a huge and worrying toll.
It’s more than the number of deaths at jails in the five most-populous counties in Ohio combined, more than Montgomery county’s total for all of 2021 and 2022, and just one fewer than at Rikers Island in New York City – a facility with 10 times the incarcerated population – in the same time period.
A spokesperson for Rob Streck, the Montgomery county sheriff who runs the lockup, said that “ongoing legal considerations” prevented him from speaking to the Guardian about the jail deaths. At a news conference last week, however, Streck said that “this is the most physically ill, mentally ill and addicted population we have ever dealt with”.
At the briefing, Streck refused to take questions related to the deaths at his jail.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/05/ohio-montgomery-county-jail-deaths
When I was a travel nurse in Cincinnati, we routinely got prisoners who were alcoholic or addicted from the city/county jails. Many were placed on Ativan drips, which I never saw done anywhere else, but it worked.
Construction waste clogs landfills and worsens climate change. These women salvage it
In a humble garage on Cape Cod, Ann Jarosiewicz squeezed behind a refrigerator and bathroom vanity to thumb through a stack of doors.
“I mean, that's a beautiful antique door, right?”
She and Liz Prete are founders of a building materials recycling company called “WasteNot.” And on a sunny April morning, they found themselves surrounded by all the stuff they’ve pulled out of homes slated for gutting, demolition, or major renovation.
It’s not just doors, but also “heat systems, hot water heaters,” Jarosiewicz said, pointing to each around the garage. “Kitchen cabinets – we’ve placed a lot of kitchen cabinets – a lot of dishwashers.”
“Dishwashers – that’s why we don’t have any here,” Prete agreed.
Since leaving their jobs as developers and starting WasteNot in 2017, Prete and Jarosiewicz said they’ve diverted from landfills over an acre of hardwood flooring, roughly 570 kitchen cabinets, and 500 windows.
Homeowners pay them for deconstruction and get a tax-write off for whatever the WasteNot team donates – which is nearly everything.
https://www.capeandislands.org/new-england-news-collaborative/2023-04-17/construction-waste-clogs-landfills-worsens-climate-change-two-womens-solution-salvage-it-instead
In Staunton, VA, and other places, a lot of this stuff goes to REStore, where it's sold to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
Men took over a job fair intended for women and nonbinary tech workers
An event meant to be a career-builder for women and nonbinary tech workers turned into yet another symbol of the industry's gender imbalance after self-identifying men showed up in droves.
The Grace Hopper Celebration takes the name of a pioneering computer scientist and bills itself the world's largest annual gathering of women and nonbinary tech workers.
Tickets for the four-day event, which took place in Orlando, Fla., last week, ranged in price from $649 to $1,298, and included a coveted chance to meet one-on-one with sponsors such as Apple, Amazon, Salesforce and Google.
With some 30,000 annual attendees, that career expo was already a competitive space, according to past participants. But this year, access was even more limited by what the organizers described as "an increase in participation of self-identifying males."
Videos posted to social media showed scenes of men flocking around recruiters, running into event venues and cutting in front of women to get an interview slot. Footage showed a sea of people, hundreds deep, waiting in line for a chance to enter the career expo.
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/05/1203845886/women-tech-conference-men-grace-hopper
What a bunch of wipes! Any of them cutting in line should have been summarily thrown out!
Man with handgun seeking Wisconsin governor arrested in state Capitol, posts bail and returns with a
Man with handgun seeking Wisconsin governor arrested in state Capitol, posts bail and returns with assault rifleA man illegally brought a handgun into the Wisconsin Capitol, demanding to see Gov. Tony Evers, and returned at night with an assault rifle after posting bail, a spokesperson for the state said Thursday.
The man, who was shirtless and had a holstered handgun, approached the governor’s office on the first floor of the Capitol around 2 p.m. Wednesday, state Department of Administration spokesperson Tatyana Warrick said. The man was demanding to see the governor, who was not in the building at the time, Warrick said.
A Capitol police officer sits at a desk outside of a suite of rooms that includes the governor’s office, conference room and offices for the attorney general.
The man was taken into custody for openly carrying a firearm in the Capitol, which is against the law, Warrick said. Weapons can be brought into the Capitol if they are concealed and the person has a valid permit. The man arrested did not have a concealed carry permit, Warrick said.
https://www.whsv.com/2023/10/05/man-with-handgun-seeking-wisconsin-governor-arrested-state-capitol-posts-bail-returns-with-assault-rifle/
This is why it should be a no-bail offense. Let them sit and rot in jail.
Remembering the Clinton High School bombing, 65 years later
On a Sunday morning 65 years ago, Clinton High School was destroyed by dynamite.
"It really took something out of us for somebody to do something like that," Alfred Williams, a member of the Clinton 12, told WBIR in a 2008 interview. Williams passed away in 2019.
In 1956, Williams was one of 12 Black students who walked into Clinton High School, an all-white school, to better their education. Those brave teenagers are known today as the Clinton 12.
"We had to face the hostile crowd going to school," Williams explained.
On Oct. 5, 1958, roughly 100 sticks of dynamite were set off inside Clinton High School, destroying the building.
To this day, no one has been arrested.
https://www.wbir.com/article/news/history/clinton-high-school-bomb-clinton-twelve-anderson-county-east-tennessee/51-c2de563e-ae1f-4e8e-8ac9-31373d0d1c46
I was 14, living in Wisconsin, and even then SMDH at this. I'm beginning to believe nothing has changed much, even though I thought it had.
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