As I read this article, which is a about a french Ponzi scheme based, ostensibly, on investing in rare books,
I coukldnâ't help but be reminded of this
which I had only recently seen (though the videos date from four years ago)
âThis is not the tomb of Romulus, but is a place of memory where the cult of Romulus was celebrated, a cenotaph,â Alfonsina Russo, director of Romeâs Colosseum Archaeological Park, said.
Frustrating article. I wish it had more substance and less legendary speculation.
Part 2
I canât decide if this is an early example of a woman saying âfuck youâ to the male gaze, or if it is instead a demonstration of someone oppressed by the fear of patriarchal beauty standards.
Or possibly she just really enjoyed botany.
Regardless, I found it interesting.
Or, possibly, she just didnât want to have her portrait painted, but other people insisted on it / bullied her into it. And the artist helped her out as best he could while still performing his commission.
I donât like having my picture taken. Every time I say ânoâ, somebody tells me to change my mind or I am not being fair. If I give in to keep the peace, I usually do something like this.
I finally got a chance to watch these. Very interesting both technologically and geologically.
And, may I say, it is a great representation of the âdigital dark ageâ concept. Here they have a unique, vast database of information all on 8-inch floppy disks and no easy way to read them.
At the time the painting was made (1787), Giulio Romelli was alive, but Lucia Ballardini had been dead for decades. (source, through google translate)
The lemon might have been used as a signifier of wealth, rather than botanical interests.
I didnât read this particular article, but Iâve read a couple of others on the subject, and it doesnât seem theyâre trying to argue that the PAINTER had botanical interests, itâs more that the current researcher sees art as a way to view what produce used to look like before modern technology changed everything.
one hundred years laterâŠ
As for the portrait, Iâd be interested in learning whether any elements of the painting date from an earlier period.
hereâs a scenario-- Ballardini was having her portrait painted, and comes down with some horrible, possibly disfiguring disease. She, sends away the artist, dies, and the portrait is left uncompleted. In old age, Romelli decides that he wants something to remember her by, and compromises her wish to be left alone.
Economics in fiction and August Wilsonâs plays.
The mathematician Alfred North Whitehead once wrote: âThe tool required for philosophy is language.â Because economics is first and foremost a branch of moral philosophy, its required tool is also language. You can send a human to the moon with mathematics. But you can understand the reality of being a black working-class human in the Hill District of Pittsburgh only with wordsâespecially the beautiful words of the economist August Wilson.
I just read an article that argued that economists werenât up to the challenge of welding moral authority.
Lacking clear guidance from voters, legislators, regulators, and judges turned to economists, who resolved the uncertainty by claiming to have found an empirical answer to the normative question at hand. In effect, by taking on the responsibility to determine for everyone the amount that society should spend to save a life, economists had agreed to play the role of the philosopher-king.
Econ is something the rich know they must own, like journalism and law.
Gotta love the truncation habits of the onebox-- itâs about âChoose your own Adventure booksâ
Enlightening interview.
Iâm not going to read that. Iâm a kid from the 80s who had a lot of fun with Chose You Own Adventure books, and I donât fear socialism.
Something something about Ayn Rand and Tolkien, a made-up morality tale based on completely fantastical premises, and a story with dragons and elves.