Why Donald Trump Needs To Go To Georgia

Politicon – Nov 29, 2022

Mary explains why it is so important for Donald Trump to go to Georgia to help get Hershel Walker over the finish line

Results of Recent Scientific Analysis of the Vinland Map – Mondays at Beinecke, November 21, 2022

Beinecke Library at Yale – Nov 29, 2022

Richard Hack, Marie-France Lemay, and Paula Zyats discuss the Vinland Map in conjunction with the current building-wide exhibition, The World in Maps, 1400-1600. (Their talk is titled, “Results of Recent Scientific Analysis of the Vinland Map: Can You Judge a Manuscript by its Ink?”

The Vinland Map was introduced to the world in 1965, as a newly discovered mid-15th century map of the world, purportedly showing both Greenland and a part of the northern coast of the North American continent known as ‘Vinland’. Some viewed this as an exciting revelation that proved the Vikings were the first to reach America, at least 50 years before Columbus. Others remained skeptical; doubt over the map’s authenticity fueled decades of cartographical, historical, and scientific research. This presentation will briefly trace the known history of the Vinland Map and its relationship with its seldom mentioned companions, a 15th century copy of the Beauvais’ Speculum Historiale, and a rare copy of a 13th century travelogue, the Hystoria Tartarorum. This will be followed by a description of new discoveries made possible through the application of spectroscopy, multi-spectral imaging, and other scientific tools for the analysis of the parchment, paper, and ink found on these pieces. Science cannot be used to prove a work of art is genuine, but it is possible to establish that an object is likely a forgery if the materials from which it is made are inconsistent with the time period and geography of its purported origin.

Hark is a conservation scientist with the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Lemay is a paper conservator with Yale University Library, and Zyats is assistant chief conservator with the library.

See related:

• The Last Word on the Vinland Map?
• The Last Word on the Vinland Map? | Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
• Richard Pflederer on Portolan Charts – Mondays at Beinecke, October 31, 2022
• Finding their Way at Sea: Richard Pflederer
• A Critical Re-examination of Portolan Charts with a Reassessment of Their Replication and Seaboard Function | Tony Campbell | Copyright © 2011-2022
• Mediterranean portolan charts: their origin in the mental maps of medieval sailors, their function and their early development (an extended essay) | by Tony Campbell | Copyright ©2021
• Crossroads Africa: African Engagement in the Making of Early Modernity. An International Conference (I Tatti | The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies)
• Early Days in African Historical Cartography ~ From the Portolan Charts to Printed Maps: Imagining and Imaging Africa in the Atlantic System – Part 1
• Early Days in African Historical Cartography ~ From the Portolan Charts to Printed Maps: Imagining and Imaging Africa in the Atlantic System – Part 2
  and, particularly:
• Portolan Charts – Beinecke, Yale University
• From Charts to Maps: The “Networks of Transmission” in Imaging Africa in the Early Years
• The Africa Map Circle – “Explorations”

Weather: More storms overnight with cold front

WWLTV – Nov 29, 2022

Chief Meteorologist Chris Franklin says while our area avoided most severe weather, there is a chance for storms late night with a cold front

Severe Weather Threat In The South Could Impact 17 Million

NBC News – Nov 29, 2022

Around 17 million people are under threat of severe weather in the South and are bracing for potentially dangerous tornadoes. NBC News’ Sam Brock has the latest updates on what the National Weather Service is calling a “particularly dangerous situation.”

Millions of people under threat from severe weather across South

CBS News – Nov 29, 2022

More than 40 million Americans live in the path of potentially severe storms in the forecast later today and through the night. CBS News weather producer David Parkinson joins anchors Lana Zak and Elaine Quijano with details on what to expect.

Nearly 17 Million People In Path Of Weather System That Could Bring Tornados, Hail

NBC News – Nov 29, 2022
A winter storm system that stretches from New England to the Deep South is expected to bring severe weather including high winds, hail and nighttime tornados. NBC News’ Bill Karins breaks down which areas are at the highest threat of tornados.

Panel: Trump Has Become ‘Toxic’ In The Georgia Runoff Race

NBC News – Nov 29, 2022

A growing number of Republican lawmakers are condemning former President Trump’s dinner with Ye and white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Reid Wilson, Maria Teresa Kumar and Sarah Chamberlain join the Meet the Press NOW roundtable to discuss the inflection point the Republican party may be facing.

Bernie Sanders: Congress Must Act To Guarantee Paid Sick Leave For Rail Workers

MSNBC – Nov 29, 2022

Sen. Bernie Sanders: “What we are fighting for, and I think we stand a reasonable chance to succeed, is to take the agreement the president and the Labor Secretary negotiated and add seven days of paid guaranteed sick leave to that.”

The Pope’s Elephant: Silvio A. Bedini

An “utterly charming”(The Observer) look at the white Indian elephant who became the darling of Pope Leo X and Renaissance Europe.

In 1514, Rome, the Eternal City, was the center of the Chrisitian world and home and workshop to Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo. It was also the city of Pope Leo X, the pleasure-loving pontiff whose court was infamous for its excess, frivolity and impropriety, as well as for its newly-arrived white elephant Hanno. Hanno became a star feature in processions and festivals, and the subject of countless paintings, sculptures and fountains. In this fascinating glimpse at a forgotten sidenote to history, Silvio A. Bedini gives us an elephant’s-back view of early modern Europe and the inner workings of the Vatican at the height of its influence. Charmingly written with dozens of accompanying photographs and illustrations, The Pope’s Elephant will delight readers just as Hanno delighted the people of Rome five centuries ago.

“A work of extraordinary scholarship. . . . Crisply written and amply illustrated, it shines a bright light on two short lives, that of Leo and Hanno, and that of the age they embodied.”– The Literary Review

Amazon.com Review

In early 16th century Rome, at the height of the Italian Renaissance, when artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo thrived in the Holy City, the decadent court of Pope Leo X was a place where visitors could find pleasures and entertainment more exotic than anything they had previously imagined. Among the Pope’s great joys was his menagerie of exotic animals, and the prize of his collection was an Indian elephant named Hanno, presented to him by the King of Portugal. The Pope’s Elephant by Silvio A. Bedini, historian emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution, describes Hanno’s powerful effect on the Papal Court and on the Roman citizenry. This elephant–trained to kneel, dance, weep, and trumpet on command–led parades and entertained at public festivals and was commemorated in paintings, poetry, and sculpture. For Romans, Hanno became the preeminent symbol of the alluring Orient; for Pope Leo’s detractors, the elephant became a symbol of Roman corruption. Bedini’s rigorous research and eager enthusiasm for his subject and his judicious selection of whimsical illustrations make reading The Pope’s Elephant a quirky and delightful pastime. –Michael Joseph Gross

About the Author

A Vatican scholar and the author of numerous books, Silvio A. Bedini is Historian Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he has worked for many years as Deputy Director of the National Museum of History and as Keeper of the Rare Books.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; 0 edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140288627
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140288629
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.34 x 0.73 x 7.96 inches

See related:

• The Buried Mirror: Reflections on Spain and the New World: Carlos Fuentes
  

Nigerian Oil and the Disappearing Money | Start Here

Al Jazeera English – Jan 5, 2020
Nigeria has the biggest oil reserves in Africa but who’s cashing in? Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer and has its biggest economy. But it’s also coping with crushing levels of poverty. So where does all that oil money go?

See related:

• The Nigerian oil thieves desperate to be seen as legitimate | Hotspots
• Nigeria’s Escalating Oil Wars (2005)
• Daughters Of The Niger Delta | Trailer
• Oil Sabotage On The Niger Delta And Its Effects On The Community
• Why oil-rich Nigeria has trouble exploiting its wealth | DW News
• Nigeria: Oil drilling in the North would bring energy security to the country – Temilola, Ibrahim
• In Focus: Shell destroying Nigeria?
• “Extractives, Climate Change, and the Energy Transition: What the Future Holds for Africa”