Archive for March, 2021
March 31, 2021 at 8:55 am · Filed under Health/Nursing
This interactive feature from The Washington Post allows one to see what the vaccine rates are in individual counties, and how they compare both to the overall state and national figures for each age group examined. The accompanying text is well worth the read. For example, Hudson County lags significantly behind both state and national averages while Bergen County is mostly ahead in all indices. (This disparity gives credence to the Kaiser Family Foundation report that states: “As observed in prior weeks, there is a consistent pattern across states of Black and Hispanic people receiving smaller shares of vaccinations compared to their shares of cases and deaths and compared to their shares of the total population”. Other county-level statistics can be found at this CDC site.
Updated figures can be found here.
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March 29, 2021 at 7:09 am · Filed under Art
A massive, years-long project to digitise the Louvre’s multiple collections has resulted in this site that allows searching via multiple filters. Explore the various departments that comprise this museum and wonder at its scope and depth. I have fond memories of this institution from the 1970s and 1980s; I hope to get back some time soon.
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March 23, 2021 at 9:42 am · Filed under Research Tips, Women
There are innumerable entry points into the vast field of women’s studies; this blog will point out some of those of great value.
Discovering American Women’s History Online contains links to over 700 sites that feature online primary sources. Culled from universities, non-profits, governmental sites, this overarching site allows access to a wide variety of primary sources from letters to images. Well worth a look.
The Library of Congress has hundreds of research guides; a goodly number deal with women – look under “Gender and Women’s Studies” for a complete list of the fifty-four guides that lead to a wealth of resources stored at the Library of Congress and at external resources as well.
Internet Women’s History Sourcebook presents excerpts and full text from primary sources ranging from ancient times through the 19th century.
Independent Voices features thousands of issue of the alternative press; here are the feminist titles.
Women Working, 1800-1930 from Harvard University examines women and economic life during these years.
Bibliographies in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin offers over 90 subject-specific titles that include pointers toward online resources and primary sources.
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March 22, 2021 at 5:43 am · Filed under Science, Uncategorized
The National Geographic Resource Library is a vast cornucopia of encycloedia entries, infographics, collections, maps, photographs, etc that can be filtered by grade level. By limiting your choice to “articles”, one calls up encyclopedia entries on a vast number of scientific topics; each entry has links to explain terminology/definitions and most end with linked further reading, whether from newspaper article, government site, or verified websites.
Easy to navigate and pleasing on the eye, this site offers a wealth of information distilled into very understandable presentations. A lot of work was done to put this resource together; one should take advantage of it.
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March 18, 2021 at 9:49 am · Filed under Security
Here is another assessment summary from the ODNI, this one detailing how foreign government/operators sought to disrupt our elections this past year.
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March 18, 2021 at 6:48 am · Filed under Reports, Security
This succinct summary report indicates that domestic terrorism poses a heightened risk this year, especially from white supremacists. Definitions of the various types of DVEs (domestic violence extermists) round out this document.
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March 17, 2021 at 4:02 am · Filed under Online Primary Sources
Or the Great Famine, or The Famine as it is known in Ireland, lasted from 1845 to 1850/52 depending on the sources consulted, but what all the sources can agree upon is the devastating effect this calamity had on this nation of eight million people – more than one million died from hunger or related diseases while another three million emigrated over the succeeding years, mainly to the United States. The depopulation of the land is still present today as many of the western counties of Ireland look deserted.
Some original material, both texts and illustrations, can be found at these sites: Eyewitness Accounts of the Famine (I include this even though it violates my dictate that sources should be fully cited); Views of the Famine (consisting of various newspaper reports along with accompanying illustrations); Ireland’s Great Hunger by Years (consisting of 1449 full-text entries); Eye-witness Accounts of the Famine in Co. Wicklow (multiple, diverse sources); and The Great Irish famine of 1845-1846: A collection of leading articles, letters, and parliamentary and other public statements, reprinted from The Times
An essential resource is DIPPAM (Documenting Ireland: Parliament, People and Migration). It covers three centuries of Irish history and contains thousands of primary source documents on all aspects of Irish life. As you can filter results by years, you can retrieve pertinent results on the Great Hunger.
Here is an address by Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States concerning those troubled times.
“Clay is the word and clay is the flesh
Where the potato-gatherers like mechanised scarecrows move
Along the side-fall of the hill – Maguire and his men.
If we watch them an hour is there anything we can prove
Of life as it is broken-backed over the Book
Of Death? “
(Opening lines of The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanaugh)
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March 12, 2021 at 6:54 am · Filed under Science, Women
This collection, hosted by the Biodiversity Heritage Library, “…includes selected works created by women who made direct contributions to the study of Botany and Zoology either by way of authoring or editing works on the subject or by providing critical illustrations to support the works authored by someone else.” Almost 1300 works have been selected for inclusion, and as the site states, this is not a comprehensive collection but rather an indication of the wide range of scientific interests to which women applied themselves.
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March 11, 2021 at 5:18 am · Filed under Science fiction
The Moon blasted out of its orbit by a massive nuclear explosion, shape-shifters, galactic intrigue, Eagle Transporters, and the like are all part of the two-season series Space:1999 that still has its adherents in the 21st century. For those who enjoyed the series (I barely recall it, but since I hardly remember last week’s weather I am no gauge of its worthiness, and besides, I had other stuff to do in the 70s.), the entire run is available in HD format.
The Science Fiction Encyclopedia has an entry on the series; IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes also have reviews.
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March 10, 2021 at 7:25 am · Filed under History, Online Primary Sources, Women
The Census Bureau has released its “Facts for Features” entry for Women’s History Month 2021; it is replete with statistical information and links examining the progress, or lack thereof, of women in this country.
Another informative source, again with numerous links, is from FRASER ( Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research) –Women’s Firsts in FRASER – detailing the contributions of women to our economy; it also hosts Women in the Economy, a collection of historical documents.
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March 10, 2021 at 5:50 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The Archive has now issued two installments in its ongoing project of bringing forward videos, flash messages, communications among various law enforcement agencies, etc. These releases are to form a “…documentary record of what the government knew and when, and what the government did and didn’t do and when, about the mob attack on the Capitol.” (Introduction)
Additional relevant links enhance the usefulness of this site.
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March 9, 2021 at 6:15 am · Filed under Government, Security
In light of the riot/insurrection of January 6, 2021, House Speaker Pelosi requested that a review of security measures be undertaken to recommend what additional steps could be taken to prevent a repeat of that heinous event. The Capitol Security Review was just published and it includes the following: the use of mobile fencing around the Capitol, increase the size of the Capitol police force, establish a quick response team, revise the Capitol Police Board, and formulate an integrated security system. In fifteen pages, this report confronts an inadequate security structure and proposes some commonsense solutions.
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March 9, 2021 at 4:21 am · Filed under Foreign Relations, Government, Speeches
While the Biden administration works on its National Security Strategy, this interim document signals the return of the United States to the world stage. The opening words convey how President Biden envisages the next years:
In my inaugural address, I committed to engage with the world once again, not to meet
yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s.
Our world is at an inflection point. Global dynamics have shifted. New crises demand our
attention. And in this moment of accelerating global challenges — from the pandemic to the
climate crisis to nuclear proliferation to the fourth industrial revolution — one thing is certain:
we will only succeed in advancing American interests and upholding our universal values
by working in common cause with our closest allies and partners, and by renewing our own
enduring sources of national strength.
Read “A Foreign Policy for the American People” by Secretary of State Blinken and watch the video.
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Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 