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A fine Foy story.
From REA News in 1940…. John L. Jones of Silver Hill makes chairs. His father before him made chairs and his father before him and so on back for more generations than can now be counted; on back to the pioneer days of Tennessee and on back of that to the “ould sod.” But all…
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Human centered enviro
Senator Norris, the godfather of TVA, was also a strong patron of rural electrification and cooperatives. Here’s part of a letter he wrote to an REA coop. = = = = = START NORRIS: One of the greatest things, it seems to me, that has ever been done for the happiness and welfare of the…
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Trading, not eating
Repeating the old story: There was a speculative mania in sardines. A shortage pushed up prices, and before long there was an enthusiastic trade in tinned sardines. Then one day a buyer decided to open a can and eat a sardine or two. He got food poisoning and complained to the seller. The seller responded:…
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Parallels
Vivek and Pierre are different in origin but similar in personality. Both are bringing the same level of well-prepared and clearly presented NEW politics. Housing hell: How we got here and how we get out. pic.twitter.com/vVLsXMVM35 — Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) December 2, 2023 Presentation isn’t achievement, but it’s a big part of the game in…
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Before the Fairness Doctrine
American Radio Library has added a long booklet written by WGN in Chicago, providing a deep portrait of the purposes and intentions of broadcasters in 1928. At that point most stations were still run by stores advertising their own products, or by colleges or tech schools using the broadcast for training and ‘extension’. The authors…
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TVA part 1 of 4
I did a tribute to WPA last year. The Tennessee Valley Authority was another of the New Deal’s giant perpetual improvements to America. TVA and the smaller Bonneville Power Administration continue even now as the sole illustrations of government working like a business. Both still make a profit from selling electricity. They create real value…
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TVA, part 2 of 4
I’ve been putting together some digital replicas of TVA’s model city at Norris, obviously not trying to include the whole thing! Here’s the top view of the street plan with a scattering of houses. The original was somewhat denser, but nowhere near ‘walkable’. Norris was named for Senator George Norris, who had been pushing the…
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TVA, part 3 of 4
Some of the TVA house designs were intended for mass production, not local culture. This was called the Demountable house. In modern terms it would be Modular. The basic section was made in a factory and shipped out by railcar for quick non-permanent use. The flat roof wouldn’t have lasted long in rainy and snowy…
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TVA, part 4 of 4
The book on TVA architecture featured a picture and plan of a model gas station. The building itself was photographed but I think the rest of the plan was skipped. I went ahead and tributed the whole thing. The station was in the median of a boulevard, with entrances from both lanes. Floor plan of…
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Off by a hundred years, idiot.
Useless Idiot Taibbi continues to trumpet new “leaks” generously provided to him by Deepstate so he can serve them more effectively. = = = = = START IDIOT: Now, a large trove of new documents, including strategy documents, training videos, presentations, and internal messages, reveal that, in 2019, US and UK military and intelligence contractors…
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Good sign.
In 2021 when DeSantis and Abbott were starting to fight back against Trump’s holocaust, I said that I would know things were truly back to normal when muzzles were BANNED EVERYWHERE, as they were before the “virus” “forced” the monsters to strangle everyone: = = = = = START REPRINT: Texas has joined Florida and…
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France returns to Foy
From a substack titled ‘Craftsmanship’: = = = = = START QUOTE: In 2017, an idealistic and relatively unknown French activist sued tech behemoth Apple, Inc., over its “alleged” practice of designing iPhones to fail after just a few years. She wasn’t the first environmentalist to challenge Apple—but when she won, it became big news.…
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More on short features
Related to my recent focus on SHORT features. The latest Ankler podcast includes a discussion of cadence in movies. Filmmakers haven’t yet figured out how to capture and keep audiences who aren’t trapped. For several decades people went to the theater for an entire evening, and watched whatever was on. When the audience has put…
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Granted
Amanda Achtman is watching Canada’s requirement of officially performed “suicide”, which is really official murder. Suicide is a voluntary decision. The Canadian version is not decided by the victim, it’s decided by the killer. That makes it murder. As always with psychopaths, the “cause” is blamed and framed and displaced. The killer didn’t choose to…
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Sohrab carries FDR’s spirit
Sohrab Ahmari, sane and realistic as always, suggests how the Repooflicans could get along with unions. = = = = = START QUOTE: Beginning in the 1970s, pro-business Republicans—and some like-minded Democrats—tore down a New Deal order characterized by a high-wage, manufacturing-oriented economy and high union density. Free trade, deregulation, and de-unionization went hand-in-hand to…
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