Still here. Looking forward to going to Vermont in two days. Worrying a tiny bit about bringing the disease with us - we're being as careful as we can, and have no reason to think we have it, but the stakes seem high - but we're taking every reasonable precaution (of course, "reasonable" is vague) and we still feel like we need my parents' help with the kid while working from home. It'll be weird.
Just don't drink from the communal maple syrup bowl.
The habit of acquiescence that politicians share, until they get hold of the whip, is repulsive even to a contemptuous cynic who has two thumbs and is this guy.
Traveling for a week tomorrow to visit my LDR. I feel a little irresponsible about the masked train ride, but I'll be staying isolated with him once I'm there. And I've been really good about not seeing people since March -- unmasked proximity to four people total in that time.
Just applied for a job in the Great White North. Wish me luck, reprobates!
Good luck, Barry!
I just filled out a HR survey at work which asked how I was feeling about the state of the world overall: 1-10 scale plus additional "very pessimistic/optimistic" endpoints. I thought for about 15 seconds, then selected "very pessimistic." Now, if they had thought to ask the separate question "are you bullish on our firm's outlook in the near term?" I would have said honestly that yes, I think all them small-r raiders will do fine, and let them deal with the cognitive dissonance.
Incidentally, ajay, the word for rhea in Spanish is "ñandú," and I had forgotten until yesterday just how much of my time in grad school involved lourdes warbling "Why don't you do right... like the other ñandú...?"
5: Very good luck Barry!
A little gloomy here; my wife is weathering her first scare. One of her employees attended a birthday meal with a friend 3 days ago, that friend got positive Covid test results back yesterday. The employee is self-isolating, with some work from home to fill out some of the time he'll miss working in the store. The exposed employee managed to get tested yesterday, but who knows when he'll get results.
She sent the two people who were on schedule with her yesterday home immediately, since they'd had close contact with the exposed employee -- so she handled the day solo instead of well supported and was tired by the end. Now to find tests for my wife and the employees he worked with during those two days between the party and his notification... and to prepare for a closure if the employee's results come back positive.
Somehow, adding the burdens of getting testing and healthcare scheduling to a business that's already suffering revenues crippled by our failure to curb Covid's spread makes it even harder to run a business. The Washington Post's article about the "temporary become permanent" closures getting over 50% in many places makes a lot of sense, but is going to be terrible for our cities; if trends continue, only deep pocketed big boxes will remain.
Oh yikes! That's quite scary. Best wishes for a good outcome.
My neighbors are having their second children's party of the month. It's a fourplex owned by a second generation Mexican-American guy and rented to short- and long-term immigrant families. On the one hand, it really freaks me out that none of them ever, ever wear masks and there's always people, but on the other hand, I assume every adult in the building is an essential worker in a high-exposure job so they probably figure that if they're exposed all day every day there's no point in not seeing friends. I don't think this is literally true - I mean, reduced risk is reduced risk - but it's certainly emotionally true.
Good luck Barry! And hoping for the best for you, Mooseking.
4: I had to Google that. Have a fun visit.
We're trying to buy a house before September. The new town has few rentals (a lot of summer rentals for much money) and very low quality houses. We're okay with some repairs but have drawn the line at houses with no furnace (would have to cut hole in floor to install), no insulation in part of the house (main bedroom and only full bathroom), no lawn (only gravel, rocks and then the sea), a suspicious smelly sinkhole in the backyard (septic issue?) and one in which my husband can not stand up in parts (small Acadian houses).
Of the 3 houses we considered - 1 was removed from the market, 1 had no room to negotiate price before or after inspection, and 1 is perfect (maybe? Haven't seen it in person but we're desperate) but already has an offer. Should I just go for the house I dislike for no reason (split level, looks like a Airbnb) that's at the top of our (quite reasonable) budget?
I might have found childcare but the woman won't text me back.
I'm really looking forward to going back to work because that will mean these issues are solved (right?)
Cases in the Atlantic provinces are in single digits although mask wearing is up. Alberta is increasing in a very US fashion. Schools are set to open normally in NS (might be okay for a bit) and ON (probably won't be okay). Other provinces are waiting I think.
Also thanks to whoever recommended the blog series on Sparta! Great reading.
Still doing fine here. Cases continue to increase locally, with seafood industry outbreaks definitely a factor due in part to the small number of people who work at canneries but live in the local communities rather than onsite. It's not clear which way the transmission vector points in those cases, though.
Canneries cause outbreaks of seafood industries.
1: you have to quarantine like crazy for 7 days until you can get a test or 14 days otherwise. I wanted to go to VT for a few days, but I have to cancel, because I can't promise that we can both quarantine for 14 days or 7 plus test. We are supposed to have rapid testing times.
18: we quarantined as carefully as we could for the past week, and we're in line to get tested right now. The state's Web site also makes that an option. We have plans to quarantine until we get the test results. Risks we felt we could live with include the rest area we'll stop at while driving. A sign of the crazy times we live in is Googling "cleanest rest area in New Jersey."
I got a porch haircut from my across the street neighbor today. I went from looking like a crazy old hippie to looking like a cop or maybe retired Marine.
I organized and moderated a panel discussion with a city director, a council staffer, and a walk/bike advocacy org, that's now on YouTube! It was pretty fun. And a friend perceived on seeing it that I had cut my hair.
19: For me it was 7 days quarantine with test.
20: I got an indoor haircut last Saturday. They had fancy plexiglass dividers and the stylists and shampoo people were wearing fashionable goggles in addition to their masks. The guy who shampooed my hair had declined the goggles in favor of a face shield.
I kinda wish my neighbors would stop hollering F-bombs. Its been going on for weeks.
I've been growing my hair way out, though I am thinking of cutting my bangs so I can have that respectable "business up front" look.
LB, had you already mentioned this LDR on-blog? Anyway, congrats!
19: On the Turnpike, the men's rooms in rest stops with woman's names ares said to be less used and therefore cleaner, because male truckers consider pissing on a woman unchivalrous or emasculating.
That's Clara Barton, Molly Pitcher, and Joyce Kilmer. We all know that Kilmer was a male badass soldier killed in combat, but truckers allegedly don't.
[seriously, the rest stops' hideousness is correlated to proximity to New York City, since they get the most business. No one wants to hunt for parking in Manhattan with a full bladder. Vince Lombardi and Alexander Hamilton are the worst.)
27: Heh, thanks. We had been planning on Woodrow Wilson, based on reviews, but Molly Pitcher is the one following that if we can make it that far. I don't know, maybe we shouldn't be going, we can still call it off if we develop symptoms tomorrow or there's a freak accident that results in a stranger sneezing on one of us, but we're essentially parenting by letting the 5-year-old watch TV for 6 hours a day at this point.
No one wants to hunt for parking in Manhattan with a full bladder.
People didn't climb Everest because it was so comfortable to stand up there.
Going for a short walk with Pola at the marina, it's just past 3 am and already 91F and 69% humidity. Nice.
Our school district is offering families either hybrid or virtual school for the start, so we're a fully virtual family. Luckily Lee was okay with this, although she says she wishes I would find more ways for the girls to socialize with others. Sigh. She's certainly doing that with Selah, but the other two get to have their online Girls Rock camp next week, which should be fun. I feel like I'm slowly getting things under control, which may mean everything is about to fall apart but may finally be true.
We're up with Jammies' family in Montana. The sister that is the covid-minimizer doesn't arrive until Sunday, and everyone else is either vocally sensible or stays quiet about it. So it's relaxing and nice.
We made the drive in two 15 hour days, back to back. I was told there'd be a medal?
Safe travels to LB, Cyrus, and all others traveling. Heebie, two 15 hour days is rough. Way back in my mid 20s, I did two days of two roundtrips from Boston to DC (via the NJTP) to move. That was tiring. Speaking of NJTP rest areas, years ago a cousin and I decided that NJ, with all the through traffic on its highways and its numerous rest areas, must be the most pissed on state in the union.
33: I was up there a couple weeks ago. I'm jealous. West side of the park has been busy as hell. We got some great glassing time at the goat lick overlook east of West Glacier. Your kids capable of a couple miles of relatively easy hiking as a group? Stanton Lake is between West Glacier and the goat lick overlook and there's also some river access points like Paola as well that weren't crowded.
What is glassing time in Montana? In Glasgow it means something different.
Well, I'm all better. I am no longer receiving any medical treatment, my blood tests look good, and I am back to eating.
My one concern is that they still don't know what caused it, and have given up trying to figure it out, so it's hard for me to not think it's somehow under my control. I'm trying a low-fat diet.
15. We Daves are indistinguishable, I guess.
In other news, MA has tightened travel restrictions (two weeks quarantine or a negative test) except for states that meet cases/day metrics. Those are the New England states plus New York, New Jersey and ... Hawaii.
And in Glasgow, Montana, home of the Scotties?
I'm at the airport, on my way to Florida. It's pretty empty, and almost all of the stores are closed. The gate attendants just announced that the flight is pretty full, which is less than ideal. Trying to decide if I should bother wearing my safety glasses.
Are you going to use the in-flight drill press?
I've been seeing stories about infection via eyes. On the other hand, these really fog up, so maybe not.
I have no idea. I think I'd like to try the face shield, but for me the biggest problem with my eyes is that I cannot stop rubbing them. Safety glasses would probably fix that.
43: when we went to California, we saw two open stores in the airport in DC. The Dunkin Donuts outside security was open but its line moved slower than the security line. Inside security the only store we saw was Hudson News. Getting our morning coffee was a problem.
Both seats next to me our filled, so I'm going to try wearing the glasses. The dude sitting next to me is doused in cologne, which is not something I'm used to any more.
50: I just saw that! And yes, I'm sure it's not neb.
The funny thing is that the safety glasses are from that one time I did woodworking 8 years ago.
I think we have a small one that Lowe's gave my son when he was like five.
Apparently, all the face shields that are cheap say "Face Shield" over your forehead.
To be clear, I want something to wear with a mask, not instead of it. I think if I could find one that said "Face Sheild" I'd buy it over one that said nothing on the headband.
46 and 47: Iowa pushed face shields because they had a mask shortage. I went to the dentist last week. My hgienist had a mask and face shield, and they gave me goggles. Obviously, I had to take off my mask.
I saw a doctor recommend a face shield to somebody who had PTSD from someone trying to strangle her that was triggered by the masks.
Just landed. I ended up wearing the glasses the whole flight.
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
I feel bad that I've been so estranged from my family, but I just couldn't see any other way to get through the broken ankle & the quarantine without shutting down big chunks of my emotional life. My innate fatalism is a big help of course, but even with that, I just can't see a way to be actually concerned about things without flipping out. How bizarre is it that the uprising I've been counting on for 30 years finally happens and I have to sit it out?I don't see any reason for optimism about anything right now. So what's the point of worrying? "It could always be worse" is finally upon us. Life was pretty lousy before all this nonsense. It's time to just let go, pretend that we're dead. Are you gettin' it? Yes, armageddon it.
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
As I have mentioned elsewhere,I am in hospital with a multiply broken ankle,. which is as much fun as it sounds. Not likely to be around here much as it's physically awkward to type semi lying down, but may write something extensive when released.
Great news, Walt. Good luck, Barry
[I should get double-bonus points for pwning a duplicated broken ankle comment though, right?]
Soixante-neuf comment érotique!
I wish everybody healing for their ankles.
Thanks Chris Y, best wishes to you on a speedy recovery and stay safe. And you too Natilo.
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NMM to John Saxon
When I was a kid my dad was the spitting image of him. Now he looks more like Clint Eastwood.
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All good here. New job has been great so far, and county schools have decided all classes will be remote only for at least the first 9 weeks. The kids mostly spend their days online with their friends playing video games and chatting, and are doing Spanish classes three days a week via Skype with a teacher in Mexico. Keegan's 23 now, living in Denver and making (what was already) surprisingly good money doing private tutoring and test prep. Also, I'm closing in on 175,000 Pokemon caught.
Apparently, they are going to raise the level cap to 50, but not allow xp from before to count to the new levels. So level 40 is level 40 with 50 million or twenty million.
Anyway, that's three times as many Pokemon a I have caught. Very impressive.
And now NMM to Olivia de Havilland, dead at 104.
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So a few days ago my back went out and I was basically immobile for about 40 minutes. Since then I've been doing everything slowly and carefully as my usual range of motion steadily returns.
But I've been waking up in the morning very stiff and in pain and things improve over the nest 1-2 hours. Does anyone know the secret to sleeping without aggravating lower back pain? Or any other tips for speeding up recovery?
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What is glassing time in Montana?
Hunter term, not sure if they use it where you're at. Basically scanning for game with binos or a spotting scope. I spent some overtime pay on a Nikon spotting scope this year and first use was on that natural salt lick area that attracts mountain goats. Pretty great initial outing. 8 or 9 goats total, several kids, lot of playing on the slopes and such.
78.2: I've never had it that bad, but sleeping on the floor (on a rug or something else with very thin padding) flat on my back has helped. I can't stay that way for more than an hour or so, but it feels good until then. Best of luck.
78: Are you putting a bolster or a firm pillow under your knees? That can help the small of your back straighten out, instead of being curved/sagging/unsupported.
What 78 said, or with the pillow between your knees if sleeping on your side.
77: I'm impressed that she lasted seven years of dancing on Joan Fontaine's grave.
Only Chris Y congratulated me on my news enough times. Now I really want some Dunkin Donuts. They had a Dunkin Donuts pop up store here in one of the supermarkets six months ago, but it's gone now.
Natilo, you sound clinically depressed. Things are bad now, but there are more grounds for optimism that the future will be better than there have been for a long time. People always joke that Trump ruins everything he touches, but that's more true than we know. Trump ruined racism for suburban voters. That's like ruining quarter-acre yachts and SUVs.
80,81,82: Thanks.
Has anyone noted NMM to John Saxon yet?
Not sleep-specific, but have you considered intro Tai Chi forms? My back used to go out a few times a year, and the gentle twisting and stretching of Tai Chi basics I thought helped me get back to normal faster....
86:
But Regis never co-starred in a movie with Bruce Lee.
I'm on a Zoom meeting for phone banking. I keep forgetting about how young people can be cheerful if they are trying.
So, somebody is paying to circulate petitions for Kayne in West Virginia. Does that even help Trump?
93:
I'd assume it's an anti-Trump move. I feel reasonably confidant in claiming that the overlap between potential Trump/Kanye voters is a lot bigger than Biden/Kanye.
It also makes no sense for the candidate ahead in the national polls to try boost a third-party candidate in a state that if they win under any circumstances, they must have won a huge landslide overall.
It makes perfect sense for a person running for President to try to get on as many state ballots as possible. Kanye has plenty of money, and probably just enough sense to figure that out
I just had a run in with a canvasser claiming to be collecting signatures to keep West off the ballot. His actual petitions, of course, were to put him on.
West's name had been sloppily marked with a pen in a way that could be interpreted either as underlining or scratching out. He had some story about how that meant the petitions were for other unspecified candidates so we could vote for them instead. Or something.
This was in front of a predominantly African American grocery store.
Congrats on being able to eat, Walt! I can't imagine what a relief that must be. Good wishes for your continued healing, and for everybody's various ankles.
Natilo, I'm sorry you're feeling so down, and I encourage you to do what has worked best for you in the past to get a shift in perspective. I've had a rough couple of months on the personal front, but am grateful for the tools that work for me (zoom with my sobrinos, exercise, ranting to friends, writing group).
And apparently I'm a runner now, because I have official shoes and everything. I can make it about 1.6 miles. I still do not enjoy it. However, I have found The West Wing Thing to be a pleasantly distracting podcast to listen to. Anyone who is interested in a ruthless critique of TWW from the left should check it out. For two white guys they're reasonably good on sexism and at least on the right side in racism.
It's really hard to enjoy running, but I found the feeling after running to make up for it.
Godammit, please remove the email from 103. Sorry.
I'm assuming "MO" is short for "moo" and is thus a Columbus Mad Cows reference. But if it's Missouri, that was mentioned in the tweet stream.
Chris, multiple commiserations on your ankle. And to Natilo: the darkest hour, and all that.
I set off yesterday to ride from Cambridge to friends in north London, about 60 miles. Maybe ten miles short of my destination I found myself sheltering from a cloudburst under a scraggly tree by the side of a dual carriageway in a suburban industrial estate. Then the front wheel punctured and I couldn't even get the tyre levers in to fix it. So I had to call for a lift for the last little bit of the journey. But it was something to have managed even that much.
In British English, "glassing" is from the time before knives were invented. It is performing impromptu facial surgery with the broken off end of a beer glass.
AcademicLurker, taking bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapples, has worked really well for me in quelling inflammation. I found it several years ago when I was desperate to stop a crippling bout of tendonitis in my feet and then used it when I began to feel arthritis in my fingers. I haven't experienced pain from either malady in several years now. If you do take it, it's important to take it between meals or it won't work in this capacity (its other use is to aid digestion when taken with meals). I've heard that bromelain is routinely given to surgery outpatients here in Europe.
107: "Albion" comes from an old pre-Celtic word meaning "glasscrime island."
107: And glassing time is about 11pm on a Friday.
81:
Good call. I put a cushion from the sofa under my knees and slept better than I have in days, and my back wasn't notably stiff/sore when I woke up.
Just got news my wife is going to be my WFH with me for the next year. Setting aside the implications of why her employer would be doing this, I'm pretty happy about it.
Lutes, zithers, and mouth organs were placed on chariots to form an orchestra. When they stopped, drums and wind instruments alternated with them. Then everybody composed a poem to express his innermost feelings.
How did you get on my office Zoom call?
112: Yeah, I gotta say, this work-from-home thing is working out well for me. Plus, I have more hair than I've had in decades. Is it any wonder old white men support Trump?
I just learned that I'll be WFH (or at least I'll have the option to do so) until next July. Maybe it is time to get a better chair.
I keep thinking about that too. We just got word that we can go into the office only if nobody else has been there for 24 hours.
They did not adopt my proposal that we be allowed to pee in a bottle and empty the bottle into the office sink in order to avoid the restroom.
I was asked last week if I wanted the company to open our London office again. Not with a view to us all going back full time, but more so that there's a potential space there for those of us who need to work away from home now and again. I don't think they are in any rush, though. It's not open at the moment.
We're forbidden from going in to our office for the forseeable future. My policy had been benign neglect -- allowing people to go in, as long as they had the good sense not to tell me about it. Turns out that the facilities folks could monitor key cards, and there was one guy going in every day. Oops.
He's clearly keeping a pet in the office.
> They did not adopt my proposal that we be allowed to pee in a bottle and empty the bottle into the office sink in order to avoid the restroom.
Once again, its easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
Well, I submitted an expense for ten pee bottles so it couldn't stay hidden.
In British English, "glassing" is from the time before knives were invented.
They truly were the Dark Ages.
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I've been intrigued by this tweet referring to research on "extractive settler colonialism and the tech industry" and am disappointed that there isn't a reading list attached, because I love my fascinating job and am very focused on my work and don't want to do anything else during the workday. I'm not hungry for conspiracy theories about Elon Musk and Bolivia per se, but what's the best thing you all have read lately about dirty deeds and the electronics supply chain? Or about extractive industries and geopolitics in general? Wide open call here. Links to Unfogged archives welcome.
(2017 is apparently the last time Greenpeace published its Guide to Greener Electronics.)
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I don't actually know anything about it.
A few non-crank links dropped out of the Twitter kerfuffle over EM and Bolivia... one was a mainstream press account of how this org has apparently filed suit against a bunch of tech companies, including Tesla, for "knowingly benefiting from and aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC") to mine cobalt, a key component of every rechargeable lithium-ion battery used in the electronic devices these companies manufacture." I'm skeptical that this particular lawsuit will go anywhere, but consumer awareness of the issues in the US seems pretty damn low.
The quixotic Fairphone has been around for a few years -- I learned of its existence last time I was researching these issues (as well as shopping for phones). Solutions like that never scale and it's hard to see the positive ripple effects, but it's not literally nothing either, and they document what they do very extensively on the site.
Just to be clear, the text of the lawsuit is pretty cranky and, you know, may well be harming the people it purports to represent. This is part of the reason why I wanted more links that didn't come from cranks.
My guess is that the US Supreme Court shuts this kind of thing down: we'll see next year.
research on "extractive settler colonialism and the tech industry"
This is a bit confused because the normal distinction to make is between "extractive colonies" where you go to make money in rubber or gold or whatever, and "settler colonies" where you go to start a new life as a farmer on (possibly stolen) land, and both were pretty much over (except for in the Chinese and Soviet empires) before the tech industry got started.
132: While agreeing with your general point, I think the relevant distinction isn't extraction versus farming but permanence versus transience of the metropolitan population. Permanent settlement generally started with farming, but didn't stay that way. By the late 19C many if not most European migrants were moving to wage labor, not farming. Such migration to the white (ex-) Dominions (and the Americas, for some value of "colony") continued well into the era of the tech industry (taking that as starting during WWII; the point would hold though even if one pushed the start date well into the 1950s).
And anyone who thinks the tech industry can solve the problems of the DRC seriously underestimates the Congolese.
125:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-22/china-fishing-boats-may-breach-north-korea-sanctions-group-says
https://www.tm-tracking.org/post/illegal-fishing-hotspot-identified-in-northwest-indian-ocean
https://warontherocks.com/2020/01/hydrocarbon-diplomacy-turkeys-gambit-might-yet-pay-a-peace-dividend/
https://in.reuters.com/article/kenya-environment-lake-turkana/kenya-fishermen-say-they-are-squeezed-by-ethiopian-mega-dam-idINKCN24L26F
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-05/africa-s-biggest-investment-takes-shape-under-islamist-threat
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-mine-pickers/sacrificed-on-the-altar-myanmar-jade-mine-disaster-fed-by-covid-era-desperation-idUSKBN24B1SS
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48987901
132: I don't think they mean it quite that literally... I think it's an academic shorthand for a critical position that would probably take a paragraph to write out coherently, about the persistence of colonial social structures and ideology and legal frameworks and so on in nominally postcolonial societies.
anyone who thinks the tech industry can solve the problems of the DRC
No, I think it's the other way around! (Kidding. mostly, but people are driven to soak tech billionaires in a way that doesn't involve a whole lot of sober pragmatism about global power relations. Also, that lawsuit cited as references both the Daily Mail and Heart of Darkness [historical context].)
Thank you as always for the links, which should keep me busy idle for a while.