Monthly Archives: January 2018

“We were frozen out,” said Knowles.

The Washington Post: Nearly all members of National Park Service advisory panel resign in frustration.

“More than three-quarters of the members of a federally chartered board advising the National Park Service have quit out of frustration that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had refused to meet with them or convene a single meeting last year.

The resignation of 10 out of 12 National Park System Advisory Board members leaves the federal government without a functioning body to designate national historic or natural landmarks. It also underscores the extent to which federal advisory bodies have become marginalized under the Trump administration.”

Update:
NPR: Majority Of National Park Service Board Resigns, Citing Administration Indifference.

“”The President still hasn’t nominated a director for the National Park Service and Secretary Zinke has proposed tripling entrance fees at our most popular national parks,” [Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell] said. “His disregard of the advisory board is just another example of why he has earned an ‘F’ in stewardship.”

“To not have any meetings, to not have their phone calls returned, to not have any opportunity to have an audience with the officials at the interior department is really a slap in the face and I think sometimes you have to make a statement,” Sally Jewell, the secretary of the interior during President Obama’s second term, told NPR’s Here and Now on Wednesday.

“They were being ignored, and I have to believe that’s consistent with what this administration has done with other advisory boards and councils in other agencies, as well,” she said.

Since taking office, President Trump has sought to roll back protections of national parks and public lands under the auspices of the Department of the Interior. The administration has ordered a dramatic downsizing of two massive national monuments in Utah and has announced plans to open up oil drilling in protected areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic.

“If we lose the people with the knowledge and the ability to educate the next generation of young people, to appreciate our history, our culture, our natural world,” Jewell said, “then we lose the value of the national parks.””

“I realise now that life isn’t about money, fame. Actually, all that crap. It’s simply love that’s important.”

The Telegraph: Dolores O’Riordan, singer with The Cranberries, has died aged 46.

NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert: The Cranberries. “After a long hiatus, the best-selling Irish pop-rock band is about to return with a new album called Roses. But if this performance at the NPR Music offices is any indication, the group isn’t afraid to dip into its arsenal of early hits.” (March 2, 2012)

Belfast Telegraph: Dolores O’Riordan: The demons that linger in her life. “Barry Egan tells the turbulent and tragic story of rock star Dolores O’Riordan. It involves four years of rape as a child, suicidal thoughts, depression and her arrest for an alleged assault on a plane.” (November 22, 2014)

Links via MetaFilter.

Deutsche Welle: Cranberries-Sängerin Dolores O’Riordan ist tot. “Die Frontfrau der irischen Rockband The Cranberries ist überraschend im Alter von 46 Jahren gestorben. Sie hielt sich für Studioaufnahmen in London auf. Ihre charismatische Stimme ließ niemanden kalt.”

“It was built in 170 AD.”

Deutsche Welle: Largest Roman city gate north of the Alps finally dated. “Archaeologists have determined the exact date of construction of the Porta Nigra in Trier — it was built 1,848 years ago. It’s the oldest monument of its kind in Germany.”

Deutsche Welle: Trierer Porta Nigra ist exakt 1848 Jahre alt. “Nicht nur der Schmutz der Jahrhunderte hat das Stadttor Porta Nigra in Trier tiefschwarz werden lassen. Jetzt wurde anhand von Holzfunden das wahre Alter des von den Römern errichteten Monuments festgestellt.”

GroKo

Deutsche Welle:

Merkel’s conservatives, Social Democrats agree on blueprint for formal coalition talks. “Chancellor Angela Merkel says exploratory talks in Berlin between her conservatives and rival Social Democrats are to go on to formal coalition negotiations. The SPD’s Martin Schulz says he’ll ask his party to proceed.”

German coalition talks reach breakthrough: A look at what comes next. “Angela Merkel’s CDU and the SPD have agreed on a blueprint for formal grand coalition negotiations. The left wing of the Social Democrats appears to have been forced into the most concessions.”

Critics weigh in on Germany’s coalition talks ‘breakthrough’. “Germany’s prospective deal for Chancellor Angela Merkel to head another grand coalition has been slammed by industry leaders as “expensive.” Asylum advocates say it hands hard-liners a “triumph” over human rights.”

Another Angela Merkel-led grand coalition in Germany: What you need to know. “After a mammoth last round of meetings, it seems the leaders of the conservatives and Social Democrats have achieved a breakthrough to enter into coalition talks. So what happens next?”

Home improvement

We recently got a new coatrack for our vestibule, and since it is the first thing you see when you enter the house I thought it could use a colorful table runner. I finally used some of my prized stack of Barcelona by Zen Chic aka Brigitte Heitland that I’ve been saving for years. Not the fat quarters I talked about last year when I met the designer herself at a fair, but a charm pack.

Th project was inspired by the easy charm pack baby quilt.