text:
Say you, like me, went to bed a little early last night. And when you woke up this morning, you decided to catch the episode of the Daily Show that you missed. So you pointed your browser over to thedailyshow.com, and there, as you expected, is John Oliver. But there's something else there too, at least if you're me: flashing deals for hotels in Annapolis, which just so happens to be where I've been planning a weekend away.
We all are familiar at this point with the targeted ads that follow us around the web, linked to our browsing history. In this case, Google (who served me this ad) only got it half right: I had already booked a place.
And yet, I am planning a trip to Annapolis, and Google "knows" this, and is using this information to try to sell me stuff, a practice commonly criticized as "creepy." But as philosopher Evan Selinger asserted in Slate last year, the word "creepy" isn't particularly illuminating. What, really, is wrong with ad tracking? Why does it bother us? What is the problem?
A new paper by professor Ryan Calo at the University of Washington goes the furthest I have seen in elucidating the potential harms of digital-ad targeting. And his argument basically boils down to this: This isn't about the sanctity of the individual or even, strictly speaking, about privacy. This is about protecting consumers from profit-seeking corporations, who are gaining an insurmountable edge in their efforts to get people to part with their money.
But those are my words. Here are Calo's:
The digitization of commerce dramatically alters the capacity of firms to influence consumers at a personal level. A specific set of emerging technologies and techniques will empower corporations to discover and exploit the limits of each, individual consumer's ability to pursue his or her own self-interest. Firms will increasingly be able to trigger irrationality or vulnerability in consumers—leading to actual and perceived harms that challenge the limits of consumer protection law, but which regulators can scarcely ignore.
Calo is taking the long view here. Digital marketing techniques haven't quite gotten sophisticated enough to take advantage of a consumer's idiosyncratic irrationalities. Right now, he writes, digital advertising's main strategy is relevance: putting the relevant ad in front of the right person. But Calo foresees a much more personalized approach down the road—not just the right good, but a customized pitch, delivered late at night, when the company knows you, particularly, have a tendency to make impulse purchases.
This, of course, is not all bad. Calo describes many potential upsides to a marketplace in which companies have much, much more information about their customers. "Firms," he writes, "have incentives to look for ways to exploit consumers, but they also have powerful incentives to look for ways to help and delight them." So perhaps website will appear in color palettes that are highly appealing to you, or a hotel you book at will know about your allergies and prepares your room with a hypoallergenic pillow, or, most obviously, Google will serve you an ad for just the right hotel, at just the right price, before you've already booked elsewhere. And consumers too are getting more information about the products they are considering buying: There's Amazon reviews, apps that scan bar codes for price comparisons, and sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp that will help you avoid rip-offs of all kinds.
But that said, Calo still sees an imbalance in how this will play out, and that's because consumers are not perfectly rational, as the field of behavioral economics has demonstrated over and over. This leaves them vulnerable to persuasion to make decisions that are counter to their own self-interest. Oftentimes, this has negative but ultimately small consequences: "Maybe a consumer pays a little extra for a product, for instance, or purchases an item on impulse," Calo writes.
But the possibilities for exploiting those vulnerabilities are amplified dramatically when bolstered by the kinds of data Google and other firms have access to. Marketing has always been about getting consumers to spend money, but Calo argues that data tracking enables a level of sophistication that is different in kind, not just degree. "Digital market manipulation combines, for the first time, a certain kind of personalization with the intense systemization made possible by mediated consumption," he explains.
This is not a problem when the interests of firms and consumers align, as in the above examples, but, as Calo writes, "it would be highly surprising were every use to which a company placed intimate knowledge of its consumer in fact a win-win." It's where interests diverge, and actual harms are incurred, that the trouble lies.
So where does that trouble lie? What are those actual harms? Calo outlines three distinct types of damages. The first are economic: market failures, not unlike others that the government has decided merit corrective regulatory measures in the past, such as the regulation of cigarette ads. But in the case of digital marketing, Calo says, the inefficiencies aren't going to be such clear cases. Rather, the failures will come in the form of consumers being systematically charged more than they would have been had less information about that particular consumer.
Sometimes, that will mean exploiting people who are not of a particular class, say upcharging men for flowers if a computer recognizes that that he's looking for flowers the day after his anniversary. But other times there could be troubling equity concerns. For example, Calo points to the work of NYU professor Oren Bar-Gill who has shown how companies can use complexity in credit-card contracts, mortgages, and cell-phone contracts to "hinder or distort competition and impose outsized burden on the least sophisticated consumers." Calo says such price-discrimination tactics, applied en masse online, could "lead to regressive distribution effects," also known as preying on the vulnerable.
But perhaps you think those inefficiencies will be balanced out at the level of the aggregate market. Calo says there is still reason to be concerned at the level of the individual. He writes, "Even if we do not believe the economic harm story at the level of the market, the mechanism of harm at the level of the consumer is rather clear: The consumer is shedding information that, without her knowledge or against her wishes, will be used to charge her as much as possible, to sell her a product or service she does not need or needs less of, or to convince her in a way that she would find objectionable were she aware of the practice." There may be nothing particularly embarrassing or personal about my vulnerabilities as a consumer, but I do not especially want to share them with companies so that I can be manipulated for their financial gain. For Calo, that discomfort, the feeling I experience knowing that my vulnerabilities are being tracked in order to be used, is a violation of my privacy, the second area of harm Calo sees.
This is closely related to Calo's third area of concern: autonomy, which in the context of the consumer means, he says, "the absence of vulnerability, i.e., the capacity to act upon the market in our self-interest." When corporations purposely seek out a consumer's vulnerabilities and use them to direct her dollars back to them, that is a violation of that person's autonomy.
(It should be clear that Calo here is only looking at corporate data tracking techniques for the purpose of selling goods and services. This, while troubling for the reasons detailed above, is "not tantamount to massive surveillance by the government. Firms do not have a monopoly on coercion and their motive—profit—is discernible, stable, and relatively acceptable when compared with the dangers that attend tyranny.")
The practices Calo describes may be unprecedented, but the harms are familiar, and consumer protection is something courts and legislatures have had to deal with before. They've had to "decide what makes a contract term 'unconscionable,' what kinds of enrichments are 'unjust,' when influence is 'undue,' what constitutes 'fair' dealing, where strategic behavior becomes 'bad faith,' when interest rates becomes 'usury' or higher prices 'gouging,' and on and on," Calo writes. "Such line drawing is endemic to consumer protection and other areas of the law concerned with basic notions of fair play."
That line drawing will undoubtedly be complicated and uneven. How can we know what someone's autonomous consumption desires are? When does consumption slip from autonomously directed to manipulated? (I for one am not even convinced people have ex-ante consumption desires that are identifiable beyond what marketers somewhere have shaped, though Calo's point is specifically about certain big-data-enabled strategies, not kludgy, old-fashioned marketing.) But despite the complexities, regulation is one route, and, if done well, will not suppress the online ad industry in general—only the predatory practices at its margins.
But Calo also offers another option: "Imagine," he writes, "if major platforms such as Facebook and Google were obligated, as a matter of law or best practice, to offer a paid version of their service." Web companies do need revenue, after all. Fees may be the best way to both protect consumers and fund the tools we all use online. There may be other hazards with such an approach (e.g. will this systematically relegate poorer people to lesser version of these services?), but Calo says that there would be ways to address them.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. There will be time and processes for sorting out how to protect consumers in such a landscape. The value of Calo's paper is not in laying out where we should go from here but in disentangling the mess of problems related to identity and privacy online, and extracting from that mess a set of issues that are recognizable: consumer protection. In doing so, he gives, finally, a shape and a texture to that creepiness we know so well, but have understand so poorly.
Rebecca J. Rosen is a senior associate editor at The Atlantic.
This originally appeared at The Atlantic. More from our sister site:
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Mushy, extra sweet apples come thanks to climate change
How technology and globalization have crushed middle class workers


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Every year, nearly seventy million people, or 200,000 a day, move from rural areas to urban cities. In South Africa alone, more than 2.2 million homes are currently needed, and an additional 180,000 homes will be needed every year to keep pace with rapid urbanization. The Plastic Formwork System is a method of building cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures, in which the walls of a house can be built in as little as a day by unskilled laborers with locally sourced materials and little waste. The system is comprised of square plastic components that join together to form wall panels from which the house is assembled. The house's infrastructure—steel-reinforcement bars, conduits, window and door frames, pipes and other fittings—is positioned on the wall; once in place, these elements are sandwiched between a second layer of panels, forming a cavity into which a lightweight concrete mortar is poured. After the mortar dries overnight, the Plastic Formwork panels are removed and reassembled for use at the next housing site, minimizing waste and transportation needs.
Bạn đang xem: PLASTIC FORMWORK SYSTEM Updated 09/2023
The plastic formwork kits can each be reused to cast fifty homes, after which the plastic is recycled into household consumer products such as toilet seats. The result is a house that can both withstand natural disasters and provide thermal insulation and moisture resistance. Moreover, it leads to local job creation without compromising quality or integrity. The Plastic Formwork System has been used in housing projects throughout South Africa, and the company has established branches in thirteen countries, including Namibia, Mozambique, and Mexico.
Designer and manufacturer: moladi. Diepsloot, Tsakane, Blikkiesdorp, Pacaltsdorp, Shayamoya, Hammanskraal, Kwanokuthula, Mitchells Plein, Pomeroy, Despatch and Dukathole informal settlements, South Africa, 1986–present. Formwork: plastic polymer blend, reinforcing steel bars; mortar: granite or river sand, ordinary Portland cement, moladiCHEM
Nguồn: https://designother90.org
Danh mục: Decorating Ideas

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I bless thee that the issue of the battle
has never been uncertain,
and will end in victory.
Calvary broke the dragon's head,
and I contend with a vanquished foe,
who with all his subtlety and strength
has already been overcome.
When I feel the serpent at my heel
may I remember him whose heel was bruised,
but who, when bruised, broke the devil's head.
My soul with inward joy extols
the mighty conqueror.
Heal me of any wounds received
in the great conflict;
if I have gathered defilement,
if my faith has suffered damage,
if my hope is less than bright,
if my love is not fervent,
if some creature-comfort occupies my heart,
if my soul sinks under pressure of the fight.
O thou whose every promise is balm,
every touch life,
draw near to thy weary warrior,
refresh me, that I may rise again to wage the strife,
and never tire until my enemy is trodden down.
Give me such fellowship with thee that I may defy Satan,
unbelief, the flesh, the world,
with delight that comes not from a creature,
and which a creature cannot mar.
Give me a draught of the eternal fountain
that lieth in thy immutable, everlasting love and decree.
Then shall my hand never weaken,
my feet never stumble,
my sword never rest,
my shield never rust,
my helmet never shatter,
my breastplate never fall,
as my strength rests in the power
of thy might."
~'The Valley of Vision' {A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions}
{Words for Wisdom for the Weekend: These are words that I have been challenged or encouraged by that I have read throughout my week that I kept pondering; words that I couldn't get off my mind and heart throughout my week.
For other Words of Wisdom for the Weekend posts see here.}


text:
I was at a parent's night at my kid's school a couple of years ago—one of those things where you go to the school at night to meet the kid's teacher and eat a cookie and listen as the teacher tells you all the shit they do in class every day, and then you nod your head in approval. "Ah, yes. MUSIC TIME. That will be good for them." Anyway, I'm standing there like the average awkward dad. I was too shy to talk to other parents, so I just walked around the classroom, picking up shit and putting it back down. I was particularly enthralled by the tambourine. When it came time to talk to the teacher, we gathered in a circle and listened to her informal presentation. One of the dads became very animated.
DAD: I would like to know what you're doing to help make the children competitive.
TEACHER: Competitive?
DAD: We want him to be competitive.
TEACHER: Well, all the students are two years old, so mostly this is just structured playtime.
DAD: But I want to make sure that he will be competitive.
TEACHER: (floundering) Oh, well he'll be very competitive.
DAD: OK, good.
There was a moment of awkward silence, and we moved on to the subject of crafts.
I never won anything as a kid. Contrary to the modern cliché, they've ALWAYS handed out participant ribbons at swim meets. I know because the doorknob to my childhood bedroom was festooned with many, many swim-meet ribbons, none of which connoted any sort of meaningful victory. There were seventh-place ribbons and eighth-place ribbons and some that just said FREESTYLE HEAT on them. I think the highest I placed was fourth. Maybe. If so, it was probably only because the event had four kids in it. And trust me: I knew exactly how meaningless those ribbons were. No child has ever been hoodwinked by phony accolades. They know when they suck.
I never won any prizes at the science fair, or any sort of talent competition. I never won an athletic honor or an academic prize. I got into a fancy prep school, but only because my dad went there, and my dad only got in because his stepdad was a teacher there. Once I got in, I was straight B-minuses all the way through (better than my old man though; he was all C's). Sometimes they would hold an awards assembly at the end of the year, and I would shut my eyes and hope my name got called for an award even though I knew damn well I had done exactly nothing to distinguish myself.
This was right at the tail end of the American era where you could get into a decent college so long as you attended some fancy dipshit school and did nothing else. These days, if your folks have enough money, they can still probably pull this trick off with their croquet buddy in the Harvard admissions office. But otherwise, in modern America, you better have destroyed THE COMPETITION at something in order to gain a foothold into some big college that will offer you a fighting chance at paying off the eventual, crushing debt that same college will heap onto your back. You better have won some academic prizes, or won some kind of prestigious tuba scholarship, or invented a synthetic cell membrane as part of a competition staged by Pfizer so that they could get new product ideas for free. If not, you will be left for dead.
We are a nation awash in competition. Want to work at Amazon? There are thousands of applicants hoping for the same thing. Want to go to the Hollywood stages of American Idol? Well then you'll have to get past the throng of wannabes crowding the audition lines at the Twin Pines Mall, shown on TV with a tasteful crane shot. Wanna get into Harvard? HAHAHAHA NO ONE ACTUALLY GETS INTO HARVARD THEY JUST SAY 5.9 PERCENT OF APPLICANTS GET IN TO GIVE YOU FALSE HOPE. Wanna be president? You better be strong enough to withstand a million mobilized opposition-party workers laboring day and night to let the country know your mom is a whore. There are reminders everywhere that you and your kids won't amount to anything unless you can beat a nameless, faceless legion of competitors. There is always competition out there, waiting and hungry and formidable. The whole damn country is a single-elimination bracket.
This is why we've developed entire microeconomies to help people defeat the competition. From nursery-school parents hiring tutors for 2-year-olds, to the $4 billion spent every year on standardized-test preparation, we are paying top dollar to ensure our exceptionalism, even if making everyone exceptional is an impossibility. We sort our kids. We rate them. We chart them, and we measure their progress against the rest of the country and pray that they come out on the high end of the curve.
And frankly, it's all horseshit. Every last bit of it. The competition industry is crushing us all.
Over the past three years, six students at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, Va., have committed suicide. One of the students, Jack Chen, left a suicide note saying, "There is too much stress in my life from school and the environment it creates, expectations for sports, expectations from my friends and expectations from my family." Chen was a sophomore with a 4.3 GPA. He killed himself by stepping in front of a train.
Woodson is a great school. COMPETITIVE. It's ranked 128th nationally by U.S. News and gets a Gold rating. I was way impressed when I saw the gold badge. GOLD! Eighty-three percent of the kids there take AP courses, which means that within this competitive school is another ring of competition. And it's a public school, so it's free. I would be happy to send my kids there. Or would I? It's a tricky balance. Impossible, really. I want my kids to go to good schools, but I don't want those schools to destroy them. I want them to be competitive, but not in a sociopathic manner. Is there a school that's competitive but not asshole competitive, and doesn't cost anything? No? Shit.
The school system is set up now to reward only the most bloodless of junior quizbowl studs: children who test well and are self-disciplined enough to study for hours at a time. It is a system designed for those who can handle pressure, for exactly one type of competitive personality. I asked some parent about a nearby high school that got similar high ratings from U.S. News and GreatSchools, and he told me that parents at the school hired off-hour tutors to pump their kids up and keep them ahead of the other students. That seemed like lunacy to me, but this is what many parents now feel they MUST do in order to secure some kind of bright future for their offspring. Either you let the kid slip into a life of fry cooking, or you apply pressure. Lots of pressure. Unbearable amounts of pressure. A "good" school offers such Tiger Mom-levels of pressure.
I have a 5-year-old son who hates losing. I don't mean this as a compliment. He BLOWS at losing. He rigs pretty much any game in the backyard in his favor, and if you call him out on him, he gives you a red card (he's also the ref). And if you beat him (and, as it stands now, I can totally beat him at everything), he cries and cries and cries until you let him win the next game so he stops crying. I took him to a bar to watch Mexico play Holland in the World Cup and he arbitrarily cheered on Mexico. When they blew the game, he acted like a wailing widow throwing herself on a coffin.
And so I've had to spend a great amount of energy teaching my son to lose, to explain to him that you can play hard and play well and still have the misfortune of losing. I need to get him to accept the value of losing, which is frankly counter to how losing is portrayed in the American mainstream. Losers are shunned. Losers are ridiculed. "Loser" is Donald Trump's favorite insult, which is just so telling. Jürgen Klinsmann publicly stated that the U.S. men's soccer team couldn't win the World Cup, and for that obvious assessment, he was scorned by Michael Wilbon and other assorted members of the Hot Take Collective. For Wilbon, even acknowledging the reality of losing is itself a way of losing. In his eyes, real competitors don't anticipate loss. They delude themselves into the possibility of winning even when that's stupid. This is why he told Klinsmann to get out of America. Americans do not think this way. Americans compete.
And that's not a unique line of thinking. I mean, how many times have you heard an analyst praise a guy for being a "competitor," even though, by definition, literally everyone on the field is a competitor? And how many times have you heard athletes scorned for being unable to handle pressure? Tony Romo can't handle pressure. Michael Jordan LIVED on pressure. The sentiment is always there: If you cannot handle pressure, you are a pussy. In sports, you are judged almost exclusively on your response to pressure, even though in real life, pressure is something best avoided. Stress causes headaches, depression, heart problems, addiction, you name it. Pressure will kill you. Doctors do not prescribe pressure for your ailments. You aren't supposed to live life like it's a car accident.
There are only a few people who genuinely enjoy pressure—mostly assholes—and the sporting culture and education culture is basically built to accommodate just them. No one else. From Stuart Scott marveling at Tiger Woods saying "second place sucks" to Skippy Bayless counting LeBron's rings and yammering about his legacy, the message is clear: You need to be able to handle pressure. You'll never win the big prize if you flinch, you loser.
My oldest kid came back from a basketball game a few months ago and when she walked in, I asked her the first question that popped into my brain: "Did you guys win?" I didn't have any expectations in the question. It was just something I was curious about. You played a game. What was the outcome of that game?
But my wife gave me a stern look. "That doesn't matter," she said.
"Well, I mean, it kinda matters," I said. "It's all right to play the game and want to win it. Only natural."
"I guess, but it really doesn't matter."
"Of course not."
"We lost," said my kid.
"Oh well then it REALLY doesn't matter," I said.
I was trapped in a parenting netherworld. I have a hard time striking the middle ground between zealous overparenting and hippy-dippy crunchy vegan artisanal parenting. But this is a polarized culture, so it's hard to avoid being painted one way or the other. Ask your kids if they won and suddenly you're Marv Marinovich. Say it doesn't matter and you might as well live on a commune. There's not much in between, and it's the principal goal of the competitiveness industry to ensure there isn't. You're either extraordinary or you're useless. And once you're into that sort of mentality—trying to pile up excellence on top of excellence—it's hard to pull yourself out of that slipstream.
There needs to be a way to opt out of this. The best way to succeed in life is usually to not process any sort of competition. If you don't know or care that 50,000 people are competing for some job you like, you're probably going to do better. You're probably going to have a clearer focus on your presentation and on phrasing your cover letter just so, instead of lying awake at night terrified that the Prince of Wales also threw his hat in the ring.
Winning shit is nice. I'm never gonna discount how awesome winning feels, even when it involves me crushing my kid at foosball. But winning is best viewed not as a goal, but as the fortunate byproduct of chasing another, more realistic goal—the satisfaction of hard work done well. Enslaving yourself to the almighty W makes you stupid; it deforms you, robs you of your creativity, as you pursue some agreed-upon idea of excellence instead of doing the worthwhile job of defining it for yourself. No one ever thought of a good idea in the middle of cramming for the SAT.
When Louis CK took to Twitter to decry the Common Core curriculum that is now standard in many schools, his chief complaint was that his kids didn't like learning anymore. Rather than exploring new thoughts and ideas, they were basically forced to learn how to be competitive at a bunch of tests, many of them clumsily written. They weren't learning for themselves anymore; they were learning for some faceless exam that would sort them and then tell them if they were competitive or not, and if their school was competitive enough to earn the federal funding needed to remain competitive.
This is competition as an institution, feeding itself at the expense of your kid's enthusiasm. Sure, the kid will learn to hate everything, but at least she'll be fucking competitive. National education policy only enshrines into law the secular religion of competition. Just look at the names: No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Both were premised on the notion of rewarding only those schools that attain certain benchmarks on standardized tests, of rewarding the winners and punishing the losers. (Obama's Race to the Top is notable mainly for spreading the ethic of competition to teachers, whose effectiveness is now evaluated in large part by their students' performance on those standardized tests.) In fact, it's hard to think of a time when education wasn't framed melodramatically as a competitive arena—a place where American children did symbolic battle with the children of our rivals, whether in Sputnik-launching Russia or upstart Japan or monolithic China. The title of one influential report, published in 1983, was A Nation at Risk. Winning was a matter of national security.
Though the report's dark visions of an America brought low by its own stupidity have not yet come to pass—test scores have never been higher, despite what you may have heard—the trickle-down effects of our national policy of "competition now, competition tomorrow, competition forever" are all around us.
My senior year, I applied to a bunch of colleges and was rejected by all of them, save for one (congrats to Michigan for having low standards). When I got my rejection letters, I was told by my parents and friends and what not that college is always what you make of it. You can go to Harvard and be a slouch. You can go to Banana Boat Suntanning Institute and kick major ass. All of that is within your control.
And so the other day I was sitting there, looking at all these public high school ratings on the U.S. News website and what not, and I felt like no one ever, ever tells kids that high school is what you make of it. Or middle school. Or nursery school. No one ever says the obvious, which is that competition is irrelevant once you decide on your own ambitions and the best way of pursuing them—once you've defined your own parameters for success. Being satisfied with the process of learning, or playing, or participating, is what matters. If one of 5,000 other people beat you out for that chili cook-off prize, who gives a shit? You should never rely on overwhelmingly poor odds to define your happiness. Otherwise you'll never be happy. One competitive gauntlet will just give way to the next.
I took my oldest kid to a swim meet last week. She was swimming the backstroke, which is a real bitch because swimming backstroke means you can't see where you're going. I took a video of my kid in the race. She drifted into the lane line a few times. She fell into last place. By the end of the race, she was foundering. I think she came in last. I purposely tried to not look at the other lanes.
The girl got out of the pool.
"What was my place?" she asked.
"Oh gee," I said. "I think you placed second or third." These were likely falsehoods.
"Did you get a video?"
"Uh, you know what? The camera got all weird during the race, so no." That was an outright lie.
"But you swam your heart out. Well done, girl. Did you think you swam well?"
"It was hard to see where I was going."
"Yeah, that can be frustrating. You'll get better the more you race."
We went home and I gave her some cheese puffs. I never did show her the video. But the next day, they were gonna post her times on the wall for all to see. All the kids would crowd around that sheet, to see how they stacked up, to see if they were competitive or not. The race itself would be forgotten, and a time—a cold, hard number—would take its place. A time that would mean everything to them that day but, in the long run, would mean nothing at all.
Image by Tara Jacoby.


text:
For Damone Roberts, beauty and brows go hand in hand. Recognized by ESSENCE, Vogue, In Style, Glamour and Elle magazines as a leading eye brow expert, Roberts's coveted skills are known to give the face a lift within minutes. When Hollywood's A-list need a perfect arch they turn to Roberts, who has been dubbed the "Eyebrow King" by Angela Bassett, Tyra Banks, Kelly Rowland, Brandy, Beyoncé and more. The Beverly Hills-based brow guru started off as a makeup artist and says that he "very soon realized that eyebrows are the single most important, underestimated feature on the face." Roberts chatted with ESSENCE.com about overplucking, common brow mistakes and obtaining a perfect brow shape.
ESSENCE.COM: What tips do you have for women who overpluck?
DAMONE ROBERTS: The old classic rule of thumb "less is more"applies to eyebrow [plucking] as well. My biggest-selling product is "Brow Gain." This is a topical serum applied nightly to the brows to expedite the growth process, by stimulating the hair follicle.
ESSENCE.COM: How does one determine the perfect brow shape for their face?
ROBERTS: A rounder face should have a higher arch to add length to facial structure. A square-shaped face should have rounder brows to soften facial features. An oval face can carry an eyebrow that is not too defined and not too round but right in between. Lastly, a heart-shaped face should have a straighter brow to lessen the length of the face. The most important thing you should gain from your eyebrows is balance and structure, which add a frame to the face. This is why my eyebrows have been dubbed the "five-minute facelift."
ESSENCE.COM: Is it practical to update and change your brow shape often or should a woman stick to a signature brow shape?
ROBERTS: I believe women should find the brow shape that works best for them and make that their personal, signature brow shape.
ESSENCE.COM: What brow shapes are the most common and why?
ROBERTS: Thicker, fuller, sexy arches seem to be the most common shape currently.
ESSENCE.COM: What types of tweezers should every woman own and why? ROBERTS: Every woman AND man should own a pair of my precision angle/slant tip tweezers. ($28, www.damoneroberts.com)
ESSENCE.COM: You have worked with many celebrities. Who has the best brows and why? ROBERTS: I work with so many beautiful celebrities, it's hard to pick one, but I am really loving the look I created on Beyoncé for the cover of November's [2008] ESSENCE magazine.
ESSENCE.COM: What is the most common brow mistake and how can it be avoided? ROBERTS: The most common mistake I've encountered is the over-tweezing of the area between the eyebrows. Doing this creates the appearance of a rounder face and smaller eyes. To prevent from over-tweezing, always keep in mind that the width between your eyebrows should be between 1 inch and 1½ inches.
ESSENCE.COM: What projects do you currently have in the works?
ROBERTS: I just opened my second brow salon in New York and I am currently working on my cosmetics line, which will debut sometime in 2009.


text:
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Pistachios may offer diabetics a drop in blood sugar and insulin levels.
By Kathryn Doyle
Reuters Health
For people who may be headed for type 2 diabetes, regularly eating pistachios might help turn the tide, according to a new trial from Spain.
People with so-called prediabetes have blood sugar levels higher than normal but not yet in the diabetes range. If they do nothing, 15 to 30 percent will develop diabetes within five years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the new Spanish study, people with prediabetes who ate about two ounces of pistachios daily showed significant drops in blood sugar and insulin levels and improvements in insulin and glucose processing. Some signs of inflammation also dropped dramatically.
Although the trial specifically involved pistachios, many previous studies have found encouraging evidence that eating nuts may be linked to a lower risk of heart disease and lower cholesterol, the authors write in Diabetes Care.
The study team divided 54 prediabetic adults into two groups. Both groups were instructed to keep to a calorie-regulated diet with 50 percent of energy from carbohydrates, 35 percent from fat and 15 percent from protein, using provided menus and seasonal recipes.
One group was given 57 grams of pistachios, about two ounces, daily to add to their diets. To match those calories, the comparison group added olive oil and other fats for the four months of the study.
By the end of the study, fasting blood sugar levels, insulin and hormonal markers of insulin resistance had decreased in the pistachio group while they rose in the comparison group.
Participants' weight did not significantly change by the end of the study in either group. But glucose-use by immune cells involved in inflammation, as well as circulating inflammatory signaling molecules both dropped in the pistachio group, the authors note.
"Although pistachios were examined in this work, I believe that any beneficial effects on glucose metabolism are shared by all nuts, as they have a general composition with lots of bioactive compounds liable to beneficially affect biological pathways leading to insulin resistance and diabetes," said Dr. Emilio Ros, director of the Lipid Clinic of theEndocrinology and Nutrition Service at Hospital Clínic in Barcelona. He was not part of the new study.
Researchers from the Universitari Hospital of Sant Joan de Reus, in Reus, and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III inMadrid collaborated on the trial, which was funded by American Pistachio Growers and Paramount Farms.
"The nut industry always supports clinical or experimental studies with their nuts, otherwise no such studies would be carried out," Ros told Reuters Health by email.
He believes the evidence is strong enough for people with prediabetes to add pistachios, or other nuts like peanuts, to their diet, and recommends about "a handful" per day, or around one serving.
"This particular study builds on previous research on pistachios," said Dr. Joan Sabate, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University in California.
Sabate has also researched nuts, principally walnuts, but was not involved in the new study.
"There are some indications that eating pistachios on a regular basis lowers fasting glucose and lowers insulin and hormone ratio, which is particularly relevant in prediabetic subjects because unless they do a change in lifestyle they will end up being diabetic," he told Reuters Health by phone.
"So the fact that eating nuts on a regular basis seems to improve some of the critical parameters is very relevant."
Results with almonds and walnuts have been similar, he said.
Pistachio allergies are rare, but nut allergies generally would be the only deterrent to adding them to the diet, Ros said.
Typically people with prediabetes are adults so they already know if they have a nut allergy, Sabate said.
Pistachios are very rich in energy, he noted, so it would be better to incorporate the nuts into the diet without increasing your total calorie intake.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/VGHqyU Diabetes Care, online August 14, 2014.


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Associated Press//June 6, 2013
//June 6, 2013
WASHINGTON — The average U.S. rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage rose above 3 percent this week for the first time in a year, while the rate on the 30-year fixed loan approached 4 percent.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan jumped to 3.91 percent from 3.81 percent last week. That's the highest since March 2012.
The rate on the 15-year loan rose to 3.03 percent from 2.98 percent. That's the highest since last May.
Concerns that the Federal Reserve may scale back its bond purchases have pushed rates higher over the last month. Still, mortgage rates remain low by historical standards. The 30-year loan hit a record 3.31 percent rate in November. The 15-year loan fell to its low of 2.56 percent a month ago.
Mortgage rates are rising because they tend to follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The yield on the 10-year note climbed as high as 2.2 percent last week, its highest level in more than two years. It has since slipped to 2.1 percent in early trading Thursday. That compares with 1.63 percent at the beginning of May.
The Fed's $85-billion-a-month in Treasury and mortgage bond purchases have pushed down long-term interest rates. As speculation has grown that the Fed will slow those purchases, investors have driven rates up. That has decreased the value of bonds with lower yields.
The rise in mortgage rates has slowed mortgages applications. They dropped 11.5 percent in the week ended May 31 from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.
Still, cheaper mortgages have helped boost home sales and prices this year, strengthening a housing recovery that began in 2012.
Both home prices and sales increased throughout the country from April through late May, according to a Fed survey released Wednesday, and several regional districts noted that sellers were receiving multiple offers.
Data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday that home prices soared 12.1 percent in April from a year earlier, the biggest gain since February 2006.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for 30-year mortgages dipped to 0.7 point from 0.8 point last week. The fee for 15-year loans was unchanged at 0.7 point.
The average rate on a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 2.58 percent from 2.54 percent. The fee for one-year adjustable-rate loans declined to 0.4 point from 0.5.
The average rate on a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage jumped to 2.74 percent from 2.66 percent. The fee held steady at 0.5.g


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Why Women Need Extra Dental Healthcare
Women, when compared with men, convey more unique needs. Each lady recognizes that in a specific duration of her existence, she needs more extensive healthcare. Fundamental essentials so-known as transitional occasions once they mature as well as their physical aspects significantly change. Illustration of that are adolescence and menopausal stage, the the monthly period after which there's pregnancy. Fundamental essentials occasions when women require extra medical assistance, as well as, a careful eye on their own dental health. Remarkably, though, women tend to be more diligent with regards to taking proper care of their dental health when compared with men. However, this doesn't imply a woman's dental health is preferable to those of the boys. This is due to the prevalent hormonal fluctuations occurring inside a woman's existence cycle, her body tissues, like this from the gums and bones, may take a hit.
Situation studies says a minimum of 23 percent of ladies varying in the day of 30 to 54 have installments of periodontitis. This advanced gum issue is characterised by an energetic disintegration or destruction from the periodontal tissues. The remainder, which comprises 44 % of ladies aging from 55 to 90, have severe installments of periodontitis. Case a good example why women have to pay extra focus on their dental health. Lots of women don't be aware that of periodontitis, frequently known as the "silent" disease, and can only later discover they have one if this reaches within an advanced condition already. Nonetheless, women have left measures to avoid and treat this periodontal disease in almost any particular stage of the existence.
What Goes On During Adolescence. In teenage where women are recognized to undergo an elevated discharge of sex hormones in your body, like progesterone and oestrogen. Simultaneously, the hormonal change may cause rapid increase bloodstream circulation even to the gums. Consequently, the gum tissues be sensitive and therefore are now very reactive to the smallest irritation introduced along by food or plaque. The gums, in this stage, would seem redder and can feel soft or tender.
As the gums sensitivity will ultimately recede like a youthful lady grows past beyond adolescence it's still vital that you follow and exercise a proper dental hygiene regimen over these initial phases. This might include regular brushing, flossing and regular dental check-ups. For many who want to invest more within their dental health, they are able to really consult the opinion of the periodontal professional for just about any tips about periodontal therapy like stopping any harm to the tissues and also the bones which offer the teeth.
Once The First Period Takes Hold, More Risks Are Available In. You will possibly not learn about this but you will find cases among ladies are known as "menstruation gum disease." Women, who've this problem frequently experience swelling and bleeding within the gums. There also appear vibrant red sores within the oral cavity. The monthly period gum disease frequently occurs before a lady has her period and can just recede when the the monthly period began.
Exactly Why Is Pregnancy A Much More Delicate Phase. Gum disease is really prevalent in females throughout the second or third month of the pregnancy and may rise in severity upon reaching the eighth month. Apparently, pregnancy gum disease can also be seen with bleeding, swelling and tenderness from the gums. Gum swellings, if finding yourself in constant reaction with irritants, can build large protuberances. These protuberances are known as pregnancy tumors. Though these aren't entirely cancerous and therefore are painless, still it necessitates the attention of the periodontist in which a removal operation will be performed.
Medical studies frequently explain the connection of periodontal disease to that particular of pre-term, underweight babies being born. It is because the problem in the periodontitis can impact considerably towards the pregnancy from the mother. Surveys have proven that ladies who've periodontal disease throughout their pregnancy may have the higher inclination to provide birth early in the expected term and also the babies are significantly not big enough and lightweight. A great key to prevent this really is to incorporate an intensive periodontal examination inside your prenatal care when you plan for pregnancy.
Will The Dental Problems Disappear During Menopausal Stage? Sadly, it doesn't. Over these later procedures in a woman's existence, alterations in the mouth area will also be experienced. Once they hit the menopausal stage, warning signs of dental health issues include general discomfort within the mouth: xerostomia, burning sensation the gums and altered taste. There's also installments of menopausal gingivostomatitis. These the weather is frequently seen with dry or shiny gums that frequently bleed easily when inflammed. Most menopausal ladies who have these cases are encouraged to take oestrogen supplements for relief from the signs and symptoms.


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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The state's education commissioner says possible policy changes will make next year one of the busiest years in a decade for Kansas educators.
Commissioner Diane DeBacker told the State Board of Education Tuesday that 2013 could be the busiest year since the No Child Left Behind law was enacted in 2001.
DeBacker said the board will consider changes such as adopting new science standards, new history and government standards and deciding how to tie teacher evaluations to student achievement. Educators also will be implementing Common Core State Standards and deciding what type of assessments will be used.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports at least four of the 10 state board members will be newly elected, and they'll be working with a Legislature where several members will also be new.


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Difference between revisions of "Bridge"
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File:1743.jpg|William and John Halfpenny, "A Single Truss'd Bridge in the Chinese Taste," in ''Rural architecture in the Chinese taste'' (1755), pl. 27.
File:1743.jpg|William and John Halfpenny, "A Single Truss'd Bridge in the Chinese Taste," in ''Rural architecture in the Chinese taste'' (1755), pl. 27.
Revision as of 17:55, March 6, 2017
Bridges had many applications beyond the bounds of the garden. The term bridge referred to structures that carried pedestrians, carriage, and rail traffic over obstacles such as water and ravines. In the context of the garden, however, bridges also took on ornamental roles, and their construction was dictated by aesthetics as well as load-bearing requirements.
Bridges were built by the earliest settlers along main transportation routes. It is not until the second half of the eighteenth century, a period of sharp increase in the construction of elaborate landscape gardens , that there is evidence of bridges constructed specifically for garden settings. Treatises such as William and John Halfpenny's Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste (1755) and J. C. Loudon's An Encyclopaedia of Gardening ( 1826 ) demonstrate a wide variety of designs, styles, and materials used for bridges. Most American examples of garden bridges, however, appear to have followed relatively simple designs built of wood and stone.
Garden bridges were built over waterways both natural, as with the cascade at Blithewood on the Hudson River [Fig. 1], and artificial, as at the Vale in Waltham, Mass. [Fig. 2]. At the garden of the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House in Cambridge, Mass., it was said that a pond was created "as an apology for the bridge." While water was the most common obstacle crossed, bridges were used also to span roads or depressions, such as fosses or ditches. Around 1804, Thomas Jefferson proposed a bridge to connect the park grounds of his estate, which lay on either side of a public road.
Bridges also were used as focal points and as viewing platforms. At Gray's Garden in Philadelphia and William Paca's garden in Annapolis, a bridge was used to signal movement from one part of a garden to another. In Paca's garden, the bridge has been reconstructed using a combination of archaeological findings and Charles Willson Peale's portrait of Paca [Fig. 3]. Crossing the fish-shaped pond, the bridge marks the transition between the regular geometric form of the parterres and the relative naturalism of the wilderness at the base of the garden.
The artistic convention of using a bridge to demarcate various zones in a landscape painting, a practice that can be traced back to seventeenth-century painters, explains the prominence of bridges in paintings of estate gardens. This compositional technique is particularly apparent in the work of artists who sought to model themselves after the pastoral painting traditions of Poussin, Claude, and the Carracci. A case in point is Charles B. Lawrence's painting of the Bordentown, N.J., estate Point Breeze [Fig. 4], in which the artist used a bridge to define the middle ground between the Delaware River in the foreground and the distant prospect of the house. In his painting of Canfield House [Fig. 5], in Sharon, Conn., Ralph Earl took painterly poetic license by using a bridge to frame his view of the house, echo the line of the road, and lead the viewer to examine the wider landscape. [1] Eighteenth-century treatise writer Thomas Whately, a strong advocate of modeling designed landscapes after paintings, suggested using a ruined bridge in "wild and romantic scenes" as a picturesque object that would lend "antiquity to the passage." His advice was repeated by later writers such as George William Johnson in A Dictionary of Modern Gardening (1847) who recommended bridges as a means to create the illusion that a pond was a river or lake, visually amplifying the extent of the property.
Although American garden bridges were generally simpler than many of the designs included in garden and architectural treatises, a clear change in style occurred through time. In the eighteenth century, bridges such as those described in Gray's Garden in 1790 displayed the fashion for the exotic allure of China. William and John Halfpenny (1755) and Bernard M'Mahon (1806) articulated the "romantic and pleasing effect" of Chinese-style garden elements. The Halfpennys' Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste included numerous designs for bridges, including a plan of a single-trussed timber bridge [Fig. 6] that strikingly resembles the bridge in the Paca portrait. In the nineteenth century, rustic bridges, such as those described by A. J. Downing (1847), became popular. Builders often used materials that appeared to be natural. For instance, the irregularly shaped branches with their original bark and the rugged stone used at Mr. V.'s residence in Hallowell, Maine, were described by Timothy Dwight (1796) as resulting from an "accident, rather than the effect of human labour." Such rustic bridges were in keeping with the irregular and naturalistic qualities associated with the picturesque (see Picturesque and Rustic style), and were particularly recommended for moving water and smaller streams. Johnson's passage of 1847 argued for the suitability of a bridge's scale, design, and materials to its setting. A bridge, he wrote, is "not a mere appendage to a river, but a kind of property which denotes its character."
-- Elizabeth Kryder-Reid
- Constantia [pseud.], 24 June 1790, "Description of Gray's Gardens, Pennsylvania" (Massachusetts Magazine 3: 414) [2]
- "this [[[avenue]]], as well as all the smaller avenues, alike produces us in the wilderness, into which we enter, passing over a neat chinese bridge, preparing with much pleasure to penetrate a recess so charming. It is indeed a wilderness of sweets, and the views instantly become romantically enchanting, the scene is every moment changing. Now, side long bends the path; then, pursues its winding way; now, in a straight line; then, in a pleasing labyrinth is lost, until, in every possible direction, it breaketh upon us, amid thick groves of pines, walnuts, chestnuts, mulberries, &c. &c. we seem to ramble, while at the same time, we are surprized [sic] by borders of the richest, and most highly cultivated flowers, in the greatest variety, which even from a royal parterre we might be led to expect."
- Dwight, Timothy, 1796, describing the residence of Mr. V., Hallowell, Maine (1821: 2:219) [3]
- "Behind the garden is a . . . small mill stream. . . . On either side, the banks, which are of considerable height, and sometimes steep, formed of rude forested grounds, and moss-grown rocks, are left absolutely in the state of nature. Along the brook Mr. V. has made a convenient foot-way, rather appearing to have been trodden out by the feet of wild animals, than to have been contrived by man, and winding over a succession of stone bridges, so rude and inartificial, as to seem the result of accident, rather than the effect of human labour."
- Jefferson, Thomas, c. 1804, describing the improvements of Monticello, plantation of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va. (Massachusetts Historical Society, Coolidge Collection)
- "The north side of Monticello . . . and all Montalto above the thoroughfare to be converted into park & riding grounds, connected at the thoroughfare by a bridge, open, under which the public road may be made to pass so as not to cut off the communication between the lower & upper park grounds."
- Ripley, Samuel, 1815, describing the Vale, estate of Theodore Lyman, Waltham, Mass. (p. 272) [4]
- "Through the lawn, in front of the mansion house, which is large and handsome, runs Beaver Brook, which it there formed into a serpentine canal, and over which is erected a bridge of three arches, made of the Chelmsford white stone, which is both an ornament to the place, and a specimen of correct taste and workmanship."
- Bryant, William Cullen, 25 August 1821, in a letter to his wife, Frances F. Bryant, describing the Vale, estate of Theodore Lyman, Waltham, Mass. (1975: 108) [5]
- "He took me to the seat of Mr. Lyman. . . . It is a perfect paradise. . . . In front of the house, to the south was an artificial piece of water winding about and widening into a lake, with a little island of pines in it, an elegant bridge crossing it, and swans swimming on the surface."
- Anonymous, 26 April 1826, "On Landscapes and Picturesque Gardens" (New England Farmer 4: 316) [6]
- "Mr. [Andrew] P[armentier]. by the advice of several of his friends, will furnish plans of landscape and picturesque gardens; he will communicate to gentlemen who wish to see him, a collection of his drawings of Cottages, Rustic Bridges, Dutch, Chinese, Turkish, French Pavilions, Temples, Hermitages, Rotundas, &c. For further particulars, inquiries personally, or by letter, addressed to him, post paid, will be attended to."
- Thacher, James, 3 December 1830, "An Excursion on the Hudson," describing Hyde Park, seat of Dr. David Hosack, on the Hudson River, N.Y. (New England Farmer 9: 156) [7]
- "This avenue to the mansion is over a stone bridge, crossing a rapid stream precipitated from the milldams above, and falls in a cascade below. The winding of the road, the varied surface of the ground, the bridge, and the falling of the water, continually vary the prospect and render it a never tiring scene."
- Dearborn, H.A.S., 1832, describing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass. (quoted in Harris 1832: 80) [8]
- "In the centre [of the upper garden pond] an island has been formed, having a path on the margin, which is connected with the avenue on the western side by a bridge twenty-four feet in length, neatly railed and painted; and another bridge of like form and extent thrown over the outlet, which affords a communication with the Cemetery ground by the way of the Indian Ridge Path." [Fig. 7]
- Ritchie, Anna Cora Ogden Mowatt, 1839, describing Point Breeze, estate of Joseph Bonaparte (Count de Survilliers), Bordentown, N.J. (quoted in Weber 1854: 186) [9]
- "A narrow stream winds itself gracefully through one part of the grounds, over which several rustic bridges are erected."
- Trego, Charles, 1843, describing Bedford, Pa. (pp. 185–86) [10]
- "Near this town are the celebrated Bedford Springs, the water of which has been found to have a beneficial effect in many complaints. . . . The buildings for the accommodation of strangers are large and commodious; the grounds about the springs are tastefully ornamented with neat bridges, railings and gravel walks; and few places of the kind present more agreeable attractions to the invalid, the citizen, or the traveller."
- Longfellow, Alexander W., January 1844, describing the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House, Cambridge, Mass. (quoted in Evans 1993: 38) [11]
- "We were very busy planning the grounds & I laid out a linden avenue for the Professor's private walk. I was often reminded of your fancy for such things. . . . The house is to be repaired but not essentially altered, the old out buildings to be removed, trees planted a pond, & rustic bridge, created the pond is an apology for the bridge."
- Downing, A. J., October 1847, describing Montgomery Place, country home of Mrs. Edward (Louise) Livingston, Dutchess County, N.Y. (quoted in Haley 1988: 49) [12]
- "He takes another path, passes by an airy looking rustic bridge, and plunging for a moment into the thicket, emerges again in full view of the first cataract."
- Notman, John, 1848, describing his designs for the Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va. (quoted in Greiff 1979: 143) [13]
- "Five bridges are necessary on the whole route. These may be readily and simply constructed of the trunks of the white oaks that have been cut down, laid on abutments of dry stone walling on each side of the runs or brooks, built without mortar; the granite on the ground might be easily quarried to serve the purpose; a simple rustic railing made of the branches of the trees cut down (with the bark on) placed on each side, will be in better keeping with the place and purpose than the most expensive railing planed and painted."
- Halfpenny, William and John, 1755, Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste (p. 7) [14]
- "Represents the Plan of a single truss'd Timber Bridge, whose Spand is 30 Feet and Width in the Clear 9 Feet. The Posts tend to the Center of the Curve, and the Floor of the Bridge, with the Rails, &c. answerable thereto; for the Length and Scantling of the Timbers see the Scale. This Bridge contains 380 Cube Feet of Timber." [Fig. 8]
- Anonymous, 1798, Encyclopaedia (7:561) [15]
- "'IV. The BRIDGE should never be seen where it is not wanted: a useless bridge is a deception; deceptions are frauds; and fraud is always hateful, unless when practised to avert some greater evil. A bridge without water is an absurdity; and half an one stuck up as an eye-trap is a paltry trick, which, though it may strike the stranger, cannot fail of disgusting when the fraud is found out. . . .
- "In the construction of bridges also, regard must be had to ornament and utility. A bridge is an artificial production, and as such it ought to appear. It ranks among the noblest of human inventions; the ship and the fortress alone excel it. Simplicity and firmness are the leading principles in its construction.' Practical Treatise on Planting and Gardening p. 593 &c."
- Repton, Humphry, 1803, Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (preface, p. 6) [16]
- "The same reasoning induced me to prefer at STOKE POGIES a bridge of more arches than one over a river which is the work of art, whilst in natural rivers a single arch is often preferable, because in the latter we wish to increase the magnitude of the bridge, whilst in the former we endeavour to give importance to the artificial river."
- M'Mahon, Bernard, 1806, The American Gardener's Calendar (pp. 61, 65) [17]
- "if it [water] should be continued to any considerable length, one or more ornamental Chinese bridges, may be carried over it at convenient places, which will have a beautiful effect, and serve for communication with the opposite divisions, on each side of the rivulet. . . .
- "Ornamental bridges over artificial rivers, or any rural piece of water in some magnificent opening, so as to admit of a prospect thereof, at some distance from the habitation, have charming effects. . . .
- "It being absolutely necessary to have the whole of the pleasure ground surrounded with a good fence of some kind, as a defence against cattle, &c. a foss being a kind of concealed fence, will answer that purpose where it can conveniently be made, without interrupting the view of such neighbouring parts as are beautified by art or nature, and at the same time affect an appearance that these are only a continuation of the pleasure-ground. Over the foss in various parts may be made Chinese and other curious and fanciful bridges, which will have a romantic and pleasing effect."
- Loudon, J. C., 1826, An Encyclopaedia of Gardening (pp. 348, 350–51) [18]
- "1769. Useful decorations are such as while they serve as ornaments, or to heighten the effect of a scene, are also applied to some real use, as in the case of cottages and bridges. They are the class of decorative buildings most general and least liable to objection. . . .
- "1782. The bridge is one of the grandest decorations of garden-scenery, where really useful. None require so little architectural elaboration, because every mind recognises the object in view, and most minds are pleased with the means employed to attain that object in proportion to their simplicity. There are an immense variety of bridges, which may be classed according to the mechanical principles of their structure; the style of architecture, or the materials used. . . .
- "1783. The fallen tree is the original form, and may sometimes be admitted in garden-scenery, with such additions as will render it safe, and somewhat commodious.
- "1784. The foot-plank is the next form, and may or may not be supported in the middle, or at different distances by posts.
- "1785. The Swiss bridge . . . is a rude composition of trees unbarked, and not hewn or polished. . . . [Figs. 9 and 10]
- "1787. A very light and strong bridge may be formed by screwing together thin boards in the form of a segment, or by screwing together a system of triangles of timber. . . .
- "1788. Bridges of common carpentry . . . admit of every variety of form, and either of rustic workmanship or with unpolished materials, or of polished timber alone, or of dressed timber and abutments of masonry.
- "1789. Bridges of masonry . . . may either have raised or flat roads; but in all cases those are the most beautiful (because most consistent with utility) in which the road on the arch rises as little above the level of the road on the shores as possible . . . .
- "1790. Cast-iron bridges are necessarily curved; but that curvature, and the lines which enter into the architecture of their rails, may be varied according to taste or local indications."
- Anonymous, 26 April 1826, "On Landscapes and Picturesque Gardens" (New England Farmer 4: 316) [19]
- "A few fabrics, rustic bridges, hermitages, a Temple, or a Chinese Kiosk or Pagoda, not expensive in their execution, would advantageously complete the embellishment of a country seat."
- Webster, Noah, 1828, An American Dictionary of the English Language (n.p.) [20]
- "BRIDGE, n. [Sax. bric, brieg, brigg, or brye, bryeg; Dan. broe; Sw. bryggia, bro; D. brug; Ger. brücke; Prus. brigge.]
- "1. Any structure of wood, stone, brick, or iron, raised over a river, pond, or lake, for the passage of men and other animals. Among rude nations, bridges are sometimes formed of other materials; and sometimes they are formed of boats, or logs of wood lying on the water, fastened together, covered with planks, and called floating bridges. A bridge over a marsh is made of logs or other materials laid upon the surface of the earth. . . . Encyc."
- Anonymous, 1 April 1837, "Landscape Gardening" (Horticultural Register 3: 129) [21]
- "Foot bridges are always pleasing where there are streams."
- Sayers, Edward, 1 November 1837, "On Laying out Gardens and Ornamental Plantations" (Horticultural Register 3: 410) [22]
- "A well-contrived bridge over a stream of water gives the same impression of improvement by a better communication from one part of the ground to the other."
- Johnson, George William, 1847, A Dictionary of Modern Gardening (p. 99) [23]
- "BRIDGES are inconsistent with the nature of a lake, but characteristic of a river; they are on that account used in landscape gardening to disguise a termination; but the deception has been so often practised, that it no longer deceives, and a bolder aim at the same effect will now be more successful. If the end can be turned just out of sight, a bridge at some distance raises a belief, while the water beyond it removes every doubt, of the continuation of the river; the supposition immediately occurs, that if a disguise had been intended, the bridge would have been placed further back, and the disregard thus shown to one deception gains credit for the other.
- "As a bridge is not a mere appendage to a river, but a kind of property which denotes its character, the connexion between them must be attended to; from the want of it, the single wooden arch once much in fashion, seemed generally misplaced; elevated without occasion so much above it, it was totally detached from the river; and often seen straddling in the air, without a glimpse of the water to account for it, and the ostentation of it as an ornamental object diverted all that train of ideas which its use as a communication might suggest. The vastness of Walton Bridge cannot without affectation be mimicked in a garden where the magnificent idea of inducting the Thames under one arch is wanting; and where the structure itself, reduced to a narrow scale, retains no pretension to greatness. Unless the situation make such a height necessary, or the point of view be greatly above it, or wood or rising ground instead of sky behind it fill up the vacancy of the arch, it seems an effort without a cause, forced and preposterous.
- "The vulgar footbridge of planks, only guarded on one hand by a common rail, and supported by a few ordinary piles, is often more proper. It is perfect as a communication, because it pretends to nothing further, it is the utmost simplicity of cultivated nature; and if the banks from which it starts be of a moderate height, its elevation preserves it from meanness.
- "No other species so effectually characterizes a river; it seems too plain for an ornament, too obscure for a disguise; it must be for use, it can be a passage only; it is therefore spoiled if adorned, it is disfigured if only painted of any other than a dusky colour. But being thus incapable of all decoration and importance, it is often too humble for a great, and too simple for an elegant scene. A stone bridge is generally more suitable to either, but in that also an extraordinary elevation compensates for the distance at which it leaves the water below.
- "A gentle rise and easy sweep more closely preserve the relation; a certain degree of union should also be formed between the banks and the bridge, that it may seem to rise out of the banks, not barely to be imposed upon them; it ought not generally to swell much above their level, the parapet wall should be brought down near to the ground, or end against some swell, and the size and the uniformity of the abutments should be broken by hillocks or thickets about them; every expedient should be used to mark the connexion of the building, both with the ground from which it starts, and the water which it crosses.
- "In wild and romantic scenes may be introduced a ruined stone bridge, of which some arches may be still standing, and the loss of those which are fallen may be supplied by a few planks, with a rail thrown over the vacancy. It is a picturesque object, it suits the situation and the antiquity of the passage; the care taken to keep it still open, though the original building is decayed, the apparent necessity which thence results for a communication, give it an imposing air of reality.— Whateley."
- Elder, Walter, 1849, The Cottage Garden of America (p. 26) [24]
- "The rich gentleman may have his broad domain finely diversified with wood lots, open fields, deep ravines, creeks, cataracts, canals, rock works, fancy or rustic bridges, etc.; and the wide extended lawn, with its dark green sod, which surrounds his mansion, may be beautifully interspersed with winding walks and deciduous and evergreen trees."
Charles Varlé, Project for the Improvement of the Square and the Town of Bath [detail], 1809.
Jacques-Gerard Milbert (artist), Formentin (printer of plates), State of New-York. Mc.Comb's Bridge Avenue, c.1819.
J. C. Loudon, "The Swiss bridge," in An Encyclopaedia of Gardening (1826), p. 350, fig. 312.
J. C. Loudon, "The Swiss bridge," in An Encyclopaedia of Gardening (1826), p. 351, fig. 313.
Robert Mills, "Plan of the Mall," 1841.
A. J. Downing, Suspension bridge across the Canal [proposed], 1851
Charles Willson Peale, William Paca, 1772.
Rebecca Couch, Connecticut House, c. 1805.
William Russell Birch, "Fountain Green Pennsylv.a the Seat of M.r S. Meeker," The Country Seats of the United States (1808), pl. 8.
Joseph Jacques Ramée, Plan of Union College, 1813.
Janika de Fériet, The Hermitage, c. 1820.
Joseph Jacques Ramée (artist), J. Klein and V. Balch (engravers), "View of Union College in the City of Schenectady," c. 1820.
Alexander Jackson Davis, View in Grounds at Blithewood, Seat of Robt. Donaldson, 1840.
- 0436.jpg
c. 1843
Alexander Jackson Davis, View in Grounds at Blithewood, Seat of Robt. Donaldson, Dutchess Co. Hud.[son] riv[er]. N.Y., 1840.
- 0445.jpg
c. 1850
- ↑ Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser, Ralph Earl: The Face of the Young Republic (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1991), 208. view on Zotero.
- ↑ Constantia, 'Description of Gray's Gardens, Pennsylvania', Massachusetts Magazine, 3 (1790), 413–17, view on Zotero.
- ↑ Timothy Dwight, Travels in New England and New York, 4 vols (New Haven, Conn.: Timothy Dwight, 1821), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Samuel Ripley, 'A Topographical and Historical Description of Waltham, in the County of Middlesex, Jan. 1, 1815', Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 3 (January) (1815), 261–84, view on Zotero.
- ↑ William Cullen Bryant, The Letters of William Cullen Bryant, ed. by William Cullen II Bryant and Thomas G. Voss (New York: Fordham University Press, 1975), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Anonymous, 'On Landscape and Picturesque Gardens', The New England Farmer and Horticultural Journal, 4 (1826), 316, view on Zotero.
- ↑ James Thacher, 'An Excursion on the Hudson. Letter II', The New England Farmer and Horticultural Journal, 9 (1830), 156–57, view on Zotero.
- ↑ Thaddeus William Harris, A Discourse Delivered before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society on the Celebration of Its Fourth Anniversary, October 3, 1832 (Cambridge, Mass.: E. W. Metcalf, 1832), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Constance Weber, 'A Sketch of Joseph Bonaparte', in Godey's Lady's Book (Philadelphia: L. A. Godey, 1854), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Charles B. Trego, A Geography of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Edward C. Biddle, 1843), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Catherine Evans, Cultural Landscape Report for Longfellow National Historic Site, History and Existing Conditions (Boston: National Park Service, North Atlantic Region, 1993), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Jacquetta M. Haley, ed., Pleasure Grounds: Andrew Jackson Downing and Montgomery Place (Tarrytown, N.Y.: Sleepy Hollow Press, 1988), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Constance Greiff, John Notman, Architect, 1810-1865 (Philadelphia: Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 1979), view on Zotero.
- ↑ William Halfpenny and John Halfpenny, Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste (Bronx, N.Y. and London: Benjamin Blom, 1968), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Anonymous, Encyclopaedia, or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, 18 vols (Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1798), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Humphry Repton, Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (London: Printed by T. Bensley for J. Taylor, 1803), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Bernard M'Mahon, The American Gardener's Calendar: Adapted to the Climates and Seasons of the United States. Containing a Complete Account of All the Work Necessary to Be Done... for Every Month of the Year.... (Philadelphia: Printed by B. Graves for the author, 1806), view on Zotero.
- ↑ J. C. (John Claudius) Loudon, An Encyclopaedia of Gardening; Comprising the Theory and Practice of Horticulture, Floriculture, Arboriculture, and Landscape-Gardening, 4th edn (London: Longman et al, 1826), view on Zotero
- ↑ Anonymous, 'On Landscape and Picturesque Gardens', The New England Farmer and Horticultural Journal, 4 (1826), 316, view on Zotero.
- ↑ Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language, 2 vols (New York: S. Converse, 1828), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Anonymous, 'Landscape Gardening', The Horticultural Register and Gardener's Magazine, 3 (1837), 121–31, view on Zotero.
- ↑ Edward Sayers, 'On Laying out Gardens and Ornamental Plantations', The Horticultural Register and Gardener's Magazine, 3 (1837), 409–11, view on Zotero.
- ↑ George William Johnson, A Dictionary of Modern Gardening, ed. by David Landreth (Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1847), view on Zotero.
- ↑ Walter Elder, The Cottage Garden of America (Philadelphia: Moss, 1849), view on Zotero.


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What Can Old Menus From Hawaii Tell Us About Changing Ocean Health?
A study of vintage menus reveals the drastic decline of the state's local fish populations between 1900 and 1950
Hawaiians knew the value of locally sourced foods decades before the term locavore became a buzzword at every Brooklyn, Portland and Northern California farmer's market. Because of the 50th state's isolation, Hawaii has always relied upon its easy access to bountiful local seafood to feed the islands. Seafood-heavy restaurant menus testify to this fact.
Many tourists, it turns out, view these colorful fish-filled menus as a great souvenir of their time in Hawaii. Over the years, thousands of pinched Hawaiian menus have found their way back to the mainland in suitcases and travel bags, only to wind up sitting on an attic shelf or stuffed into a drawer for the next 80-odd years. Kyle Van Houtan, an ecologist at Duke University and leader of NOAA's Marine Turtle Assessment Program, realized the menus could serve a higher purpose than gathering dust. The stuff of breakfast, lunch and dinner plates, he realized, could potentially fill in gaps of historic records of fish populations by showing what species were around in a given year.
The basic premise is this–if a species of fish can be readily found in large enough numbers, then it's likely to make it on restaurant menus. Van Houtan and colleagues tracked down 376 such menus from 154 different restaurants in Hawaii, most of which were supplied by private menu collectors.
The team compared the menus, printed between 1928 and 1974, to market surveys of fishermen's catches in the early 20th century, and also to governmental data collected from around 1950 onward. This allowed the researchers to compare how well the menus reflected the kinds of fishes actually being pulled from the sea.
The menus, their comparative analyses revealed, did indeed closely reflect the varieties and amounts of fish that fishermen were catching during the years that data were available, indicating that the restaurants' offerings could provide a rough idea of what Hawaii's fisheries looked like between 1905 and 1950–a period that experienced no official data collection.
Prior to 1940, the researchers report in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, reef fish, jacks and bottom fish commonly turned up on menus. These include pink snapper, green snapper and amberjack. But that quickly changed after Hawaii received its statehood in 1959. By then, those once popular fishes appeared on fewer than 10 percent of menus. Some, such as Hawaiian flounder, Hawaiian grouper and Hawaiian barracuda disappeared from menus completely after 1960. In their place, large-bodied pelagic species, or those that live in deep open water such as tuna and swordfish, began to turn up served with a wedge of lemon. By 1970, these large pelagic fishes were on nearly every menu the team examined.
Diners' changing tastes and preferences may explain part of this shift away from the nearshore and out to the deep sea, but the researchers think there is more to the story than foodie trends alone. Instead, this sudden shift likely reflects a decline in nearshore fish populations. Because both the early and later menus corroborate well with known fisheries data, the 1930s and 40s menus likely represent a boom in nearshore fisheries, with the 1950s menus standing in as a canary in the coal mine signaling the decline of those increasingly gobbled-up populations. "This helps us to fill in a large gap–between 1902 and 1948–in the official fishery records," Van Houtan said in an email. "But it also shows that by the time Hawaii became a U.S. state, its inshore fish populations and reefs were in steep decline."
Those species that disappeared from menus more than a century ago are still present today, but their populations around Hawaii remain too low to support targeted commercial fishing. Some of them are considered ecologically extinct, meaning that their abundance is so low that they no longer play a significant role in the environment. While a few of those species have returned to Hawaiian menus recently, they are usually imported from Palau, the Marshall Islands or the Philippines, rather than being fished from Hawaiian waters.
The menu trick can't work for every animal in the sea. Populations dynamics of some species, such as shrimp and mollusks, cannot be inferred from the menus since those animals mostly came from mainland imports. On the other hand, other species, the researchers know, were fished at that time but are not reflected in the menus. Sea turtles, for example, used to be harvested commercially, but they were butchered and sold at local markets rather than at tourist trap restaurants.
Investigating past populations of turtles was in fact the motivation for this project. "Green turtles here nearly went extinct in the early 1970s, and lots of blame was put on increasing tourism and restaurant demand," Van Houtan explains. He decided to examine just how much restaurants contributed to that near-miss for the green turtles, so he started collecting menus. However, he says, "we were in for a surprise."
He and his colleagues first got ahold of 22 menus from the early 1960s, only to find that not a single listed turtle soup, turtle pie, turtle stir-fry or any other turtle-themed recipe. He found another 30, then 25 and then 40 menus. By this time, he was 100 menus deep, and had found only a single mentioning of turtle anything. "By doing much background research on the fishery, we discovered turtles were sold over-the-counter at fishmongers and meat markets in Chinatown and other open air markets in Honolulu," he says. The restaurants, in other words, were not to blame–at least not for the turtles.
Left with all of these menus, however, the team decided to take a closer look into the marine life listed there. "When I assembled those data, it became a story of its own, helping to fill a significant gap in our official government records," he says.
Collecting all of those menus, he adds, was no small task. He hustled between appointments with Hawaiiana experts, archivists, publishers, Hawaiian cooking historians, tourism historians, museums and libraries. But some of the more pedestrian venues proved most useful, including eBay collectors who would occasionally invited Van Houtan over to dig through boxes of hoarded menus. "I met a lot of interesting people along the way," he says.
Scientists often turn to historic documents, media stories, artwork, photographs or footage to infer past events or trends. And while researchers have used menus to track a seafood item's popularity over time, not many think to use dining data as a proxy for fish population abundance. The most interesting thing about the study, Van Houtan thinks, is "not that we used menus as much as that no one previously thought to."
That, he says, and a few of the more odd-ball items that turned up on some of the old menus, like magnesium nitrogen health broth. "I have no idea what that was," he says. "And pineapple fritters with mint sauce doesn't sound very yummy to me either!"


text:
Augusto Zambonato is originally from Santa Maria located in southern Brazil. He has studied illustration and graphic design at the Federal University of Santa Maria and at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design).
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text:
HWMA Drops ACRC ŌĆō February 16, 2011
Daniel Mintz
Eye Correspondent
HUMBOLDT ŌĆō The Arcata Community Recycling Center will lose all its municipal customers ŌĆō 60 percent of its business ŌĆō and its survival is uncertain.
Representatives of the governments that compose the Humboldt Waste Management Authority (HWMA) unanimously voted to pursue a contract from an out-of-town company at their Feb. 10 meeting. Once the new contract with the Willits-based Renewable Waste Systems (RWS) is established, ACRCŌĆÖs recyclables tonnage will drop from 10,000 tons to 4,000.
To the HWMA boardmembers, including Arcata Councilmember Michael Winkler, the decision was clear-cut ŌĆō ACRC responded to a request for five-year contract proposals with an offer to process recyclables at a cost of $65 a ton. Renewable Waste Systems is offering to pay the HWMA $8 a ton.
Put another way, ACRCŌĆÖs proposal would have cost the HWMA $2.2 million over the five-year contract period while RWS promises $280,000 in revenue.
Mark Loughmiller, ACRCŌĆÖs executive Director, described the impacts of the switch to HWMA boardmembers before they took the vote. ŌĆ£Loss of this tonnage will effectively shutter the operation,ŌĆØ he said, referring to the operation of the centerŌĆÖs Samoa recycling facility. ŌĆ£And so not only does it impact the employees at Samoa, it will impact every employee, it will impact the thrift store in Arcata and it will impact the drop-off.ŌĆØ
The Samoa facility was built to serve the entire county and has a 20,000 ton processing capacity. ACRC has $5 million in outstanding bond debt related to its construction and Loughmiller said if it closes, ŌĆ£It just drags everything down with it.ŌĆØ
But in an interview the next day, he said he might have overestimated the impacts. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs more fair to say weŌĆÖre assessing our options,ŌĆØ he continued.
Asked what the options are, Loughmiller declined to go into detail but downsizing is certain. ŌĆ£WeŌĆÖll have to assess how to continue operating with 4,000 tons,ŌĆØ he said, adding that it might not be until this summer before the tonnage from the county and the cities is lost.
ŌĆ£If weŌĆÖre looking at 4,000 tons, we will have to cut, cut, cut,ŌĆØ Loughmiller said.
Those cuts would severely downscale ACRCŌĆÖs workforce. There are 35 employees now and 21 of them are involved in processing. The others work in ACRCŌĆÖs vocational education program, its various drop-off sites and the Arcata-based Recyclables Depot thrift store.
Should the ACRC declare bankruptcy, it would sell its assets and then pay off its multi-million dollar debt. Loughmiller said that because ACRC is a non-profit entity, the stateŌĆÖs attorney general would investigate the cause of bankruptcy and make sure that leftover money is spent on a similar purpose.
He said bankruptcy isnŌĆÖt being planned for at this point. ŌĆ£I donŌĆÖt think itŌĆÖs fair to say that this will put us out of business.ŌĆØ
But Loughmiller suggested otherwise at last weekŌĆÖs meeting and there were already serious doubts about ACRCŌĆÖs stability.
During the public comment session, Arcata Councilmember Shane Brinton ŌĆō who was on the HWMA board before Winkler ŌĆō referred to the circumstances of his replacement, saying that ACRC boardmembers successfully lobbied Arcata City Council members to appoint Winkler because they thought heŌĆÖd be more receptive.
ŌĆ£There have been a lot of anti-competitive moves throughout this process,ŌĆØ Brinton said. ŌĆ£I think what weŌĆÖre seeing is an organization that is scared of not existing anymore.ŌĆØ
The countyŌĆÖs HWMA rep, Supervisor Virginia Bass, said itŌĆÖs difficult to sacrifice 35 jobs but continuing with ACRC is too expensive. ŌĆ£I certainly donŌĆÖt want to be responsible for putting someone out of business but at the same time, we have a responsibility to the ratepayers,ŌĆØ she said.
The ACRC has been intensely affected by interest rate hikes and market conditions. Eureka City Councilmember Linda Atkins noted the lack of pricing stability. ŌĆ£We canŌĆÖt continue with a year-to-year, pendulum-swinging of rates,ŌĆØ she said.
Loughmiller had mentioned an alternative ACRC proposal that would assess processing costs every year and not charge anything for this year.
Winkler described the so-called ŌĆ£zero proposalŌĆØ as ŌĆ£subsequent materialŌĆØ thatŌĆÖs outside of the Request for Proposals process. ŌĆ£And even though I would be very reluctant to take an action that would potentially eliminate jobs in this area, we have to evaluate these proposals on the basis of whether we can count on the numbers and stability of rates and what would be the effect on ratepayers,ŌĆØ he said.
Jim Test, the HWMAŌĆÖs executive director, has written in staff reports that ACRCŌĆÖs variable-rate interest payments could increase, triggering hikes in ratepayersŌĆÖ bills. Another ACRC handicap is its use of dual stream processing, or separation of containers and fibers.
The HWMA envisions serving the entire county and single-stream processing is the most cost-effective way to do it.
Gerry Ward, the president of RWS, called attention to TestŌĆÖs staff report, which stated the price differences between each proposal. The spread between the two proposals is highest in Arcata, where thereŌĆÖs a $28 per year difference for an average ratepayer.
Ward said his company is more stable because with an HWMA contract, it will get recyclables from both Humboldt and Mendocino counties. ŌĆ£We are confident that the price that weŌĆÖll give you will be stable for five years ŌĆō weŌĆÖve given you a floor,ŌĆØ he continued, explaining that if the commodities market improves, payments to the HWMA will also increase.
ItŌĆÖs an offer the HWMA board couldnŌĆÖt refuse. WinklerŌĆÖs motion to begin contract negotiations with RWS was unanimously approved.
In an interview, ACRC Board Chairman Milt Boyd said going out of business is a ŌĆ£strong possibility.ŌĆØ HeŌĆÖs surprised by the decision.
ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm really disappointed with having supported the representatives on that board,ŌĆØ he said. ŌĆ£Their mantra throughout was, ŌĆśJobs, jobs, jobs,ŌĆÖ and here we go, shipping those jobs out of Humboldt County.ŌĆØ