Periodical Ramblings (9)

Arizona Highways

   I post occasionally about magazines and journals and the last one was about a genre of periodicals devoted to individuals (see Single Author Journals). That I would now choose to write about what would seem to be such a pedestrian publication may seem odd, but I am sure you are familiar with Arizona Highways. Although I grew up on the East Coast, I recall seeing a copy in the last century, probably in the office of my dentist or some other waiting room. It circulated widely and still does in this century. 

   There is no need for me to write much about it since so many others have. Plus, the publication is perhaps best known for the paintings, photographs and other illustrations contained within it and it will be more useful to simply direct you to them. The one above is of Monument Valley, which you probably remember well from the many Westerns filmed there. Who knew that it snowed there? When John Wayne first visited he supposedly said, "So this is where God put the West!"

(Although John Wayne is now persona non grata, I chose not to erase his quote).

   To see more photographs go to the Arizona Highways website. You will find a blog there as well and you can do some shopping. The Grand Canyon calendars look beautiful and you can get some postcards and pretend you have been there. 

 The Bonus Information:

   Although it is not obvious from the Arizona Highways website, you can access most of the beautiful issues through the Arizona Memory Project which contains  the Collections pictured above. Among them you will find digitized issues of Arizona Highways. I will give no further directions since you really should subscribe to the magazine.

   The Arizona Memory Project (AMP)

provides access to the wealth of primary sources in Arizona archives, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. Visitors to the site will find some of the best examples of government documents, photographs, maps, and multimedia that chronicle Arizona's past and present.

   I wish Ontario had such an archival project in place.

Sources:

  There have been anniversary issues in the publication which provide the information you need. I picked up the "Special 90th Anniversary Issue: A Look Back at Our First Nine Decades" while in Arizona.  It is the April 2015 issue and you can find the digitized version on the AMP. 

For the 95th anniversary see this ADOT article: "Arizona Highways Magazine Celebrates 95 Years With Special Issue" which looks at the landscape photography over the years. 

There is even an article in the Globe and Mail. See: "Arizona Magazine Published 60 Years," Edwin McDowell, Sept. 28, 1985. 

A more recent piece is found here: "Praising Arizona," by Kyle Paoletta, Columbia Journalism Review, June 20, 2020.

Today, Highways is the most beloved publication in Arizona. It has become an institution in a state too young to have many, as likely to be cited by historians and policymakers as any newspaper. For residents, the magazine is a talisman of their state’s particular allure. I’ve seen bundles of meticulously maintained back issues at a library sale in Flagstaff and vintage covers framed on the walls of an Airbnb in Phoenix. The reverence Arizonans have for the magazine is rooted in its upward trajectory over the course of the twentieth century, one that matches the rise in stature of the state itself from an obscure wasteland to a place of universally acknowledged natural splendor and cultural vibrancy. Robert Stieve, the current editor of Highways, calls it an “anomaly.” No other state-operated tourism magazine has reached the same heights of national influence, nor spawned as many imitators.

 

   

The Cannonball Run

During COVID

  The rain continues so I will continue posting. Some people do far more adventurous things. Like get a highly modified vehicle and hop in it in New York and see how fast they can get to California. Realizing that traffic is down considerably during this time of Covid, a few fellows decided to go for the record recently and did break it. The former record holders can surely argue that an asterisk needs to be placed next to the new one since the holders of the current one had an unfair advantage. 

   The new record is contained in the image above. It took the racers less than 26 hours to travel across the continent since their average speed was 108(MPH)/ 174(KPH).

   I recently posted about the earlier, pre-covid record which is noted above and was taken from the GPS device on the dashboard of the car. It took those fellows over 27 hours, even though they only stopped for 22 minutes.

Sources:

   See my earlier post which also provides information about the cross-continental record by bicycle - Racing Across America. 

   There are many articles about the very illegal race, but start with the Wikipedia entry for 

Cannonball Run Challenge. 

P.S.

   Clearly this is one of those "Don't Try This At Home" events. For the answer to the question you likely want to ask me, see: "Why Are We Glorifying Cannonball Runs, the Illegal Pastime of Thrill-Seeking Drivers?", Petrina Gentile, The Globe and Mail, July 21, 2020.

Slavery

  It is still raining and I will move from the safe subject of cycling to the much more controversial one of slavery. This post, should not be controversial, however, since I will state clearly that, I am against it. 

   There have been many articles about slavery recently, generally in relation to statues. I will not talk about statue removal, yet again, but I will point you to two articles which suggest that the number of problematic statues is likely much larger than you would think and not all of them are carved in white marble. The point is, that not all slavers were white Americans or Englishmen. 

   The first article is a syndicated one by Gwynne Dyer which appeared in many papers on July 30, 2020. Here is how it begins and in it he is attempting to make the point that slavery was not restricted to the American south:

“Assessing the people of America’s past by today’s standards would compel us to cast the majority of our heroes as villains.”

That might seem to be the line taken by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas last week in his opinion piece for the New York Times. It caused great outrage, the opinion editor had to resign, and Cotton was roundly abused for “defending slavery.....”

The point is that I [Dyer] changed one word in that quote, and it wasn’t Cotton who said it. It was Nigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, and what she actually said, in an opinion piece for the BBC, was this: “Assessing the people of Africa’s past by today’s standards would compel us to cast the majority of our heroes as villains.”

"She was talking specifically about her great-grandfather, Nwaubani Ogogo Oriaku, who was a widely respected trader in tobacco, palm oil, and slaves in southeastern Nigeria in the early 20th century. The Atlantic slave trade had been banned by the European empires a century before, but slavery was still a flourishing domestic business in Nigeria and many other African countries.

Her great-grandfather became famous by defying the British colonial authorities, who were trying to stamp out slavery in Nigeria. They had confiscated some of his slaves, and he marched right up and demanded them back, waving a trading licence that dated back to the previous century.

The British were taken aback, apologized and returned his slaves. Indeed, they were so impressed by his boldness and self-confidence that they subsequently appointed him paramount chief of his region. So he became a local hero in his own day, and is still a hero to the Nwaubani family.

Slavery was normal in most pre-modern societies, including almost all the kingdoms and ethnic groups of sub-Saharan Africa. Africans had sold slaves north to various Islamic empires in the Middle East for centuries before Europeans showed up on the coast in ships. They were just another set of customers buying in the same market.

Most enslaved Africans didn’t travel more than a few hundred kilometres from home. It is estimated that in the 18th century one-third of the people in what is now Senegal were slaves who belonged to other Senegalese. But the ones who were sold to foreigners probably suffered more.

Historians believe around one-fifth of the 10 million Africans transported to the Americas over more than three centuries died on board ship. The fatalities among the estimated 17 million African slaves sold to Arab traders and forced to walk across the Sahara or carried around the India Ocean in ships during 10 centuries were probably just as high. What awaited the survivors when they arrived was pretty appalling, too."

   The second article was reprinted recently in The New York Review of Books. It had originally appeared in TNYRB in 1994 and was written as a letter rebutting the notion that large numbers of Jews were involved in the slave trade. The point again, is that many different peoples and religions participated in slavery, even some ex-slaves.

   The participants in the Atlantic slave system included Arabs, Berbers, scores of African ethnic groups, Italians, Portuguese, Spaniards, Dutch, Jews, Germans, Swedes, French, English, Danes, white Americans, Native Americans, and even thousands of New World blacks who had been emancipated or were descended from freed slaves but who then became slaveholding farmers or planters themselves. Responsibility, in short, radiated outward to peoples of every sort who had access to the immense profits generated from the world’s first system of multinational production for a mass market.

“In the American South, in 1830, there were only 120 Jews among the 45,000 slaveholders owning twenty or more slaves and only twenty Jews among the 12,000 slaveholders owning fifty or more slaves.” David Brion Davis noted in 1994, on the question of Jewish involvement in the slave trade. “No one should defend the small number of Jews who bought and sold slaves,” he writes. “No one should defend the infinitely larger number of Catholics and Protestants who built the Atlantic slave system, or defend the Muslims who initiated the process of shipping black African slaves to distant markets, or defend the Africans who captured and enslaved perhaps twenty million other Africans in order to sell them to European traders for valuable and empowering goods. But while posterity has the right and even duty to judge the past, we must emphatically renounce the dangerous though often seductive belief in a collective guilt that descends through time to every present and future generation.”

(David Brion Davis, "The Slave Trade and the Jews," NYRB, Dec. 22, 1994)

The Bonus:

Peonage on the PGA Tour

   It is still raining and I will likely watch some golf.  Whenever I do, I am often irritated when I see the golfer holding his club out behind him, without looking behind him, fully expecting the caddy to be there to grab and clean it. When I went looking for a picture to illustrate all of this, I didn't find one, but I did find the one above that leads us back to the subject of slavery.

   The kind of behaviour that irritates me also upset the caddy of a famous golfer.  The caddy, who is white, said that the famous golfer, who is black, treated him like a "slave." Given that the caddy was white and had been made very wealthy by his black  'master', he was subjected to considerable criticism.

  Here is how the word was used by Steve Williams (the caddy) in his biography -Out of the Rough. 

"One thing that really pissed me off," he writes, "was how he would flippantly toss a club in the general direction of the bag, expecting me to go over and pick it up. I felt uneasy about bending down to pick up his discarded club - it was like I was his slave."

If you don't believe me see, for example: "Caddie Steve Williams Defends Using 'Slave' to Describe Working for Tiger," The Hamilton Spectator, Nov. 11, 2015. Also: "Caddie's Slave Comment Provokes Widespread Ridicule," Dominion Post, Nov. 5, 2015.

P.S. I suppose this last part could provoke some ridicule and controversy given that discussing slavery in relation to the PGA, which is the whitest sport on the planet, does not seem appropriate.

Cycling

The Dirty Kanza

   It is still raining. Before I did the last post on Inbreeding, which is also about cycling, I was reading a major U.S. newspaper when the image above popped up. I realize that the sudden appearance of such things is usually related to searches one has done when shopping. But, not having requested a tourist brochure from Kansas, I was curious about events in Emporia and had a look. I suppose now I will be getting more ads from that state.  One does have to acknowledge the Jayhawks for their marketing creativity.

   The adventure has to do with cycling and I guess I should have thought of that since I recently did do some online shopping for a bike. I really can't travel there at this time and you probably can't either, but if you can, here is what is going on in the Gravel City. 

Cycling

Emporia, Kansas is home to an avid cycling community, and the surrounding Flint Hills offer some of the best and most challenging gravel cycling opportunities in the nation. We’re nicknamed Gravel City for a reason! Emporia also hosts the Dirty Kanza, known as the “World’s Premier Gravel Grinder” each year on the Saturday after Memorial Day. More than 2,000 riders come from all over the United States and many foreign countries to race through 200 miles in the beautiful Flint Hills.

Ride the Flint Hills

Whether you’re training for a gravel cycling competition like the Dirty Kanza 200, or you want to take a leisure ride and just enjoy the outdoors, the beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas is the place to be. While traveling through the Flint Hills you can enjoy 40 grass species, native stone fences, hundreds of wildflowers, 150 species of birds, barns, bridges, historic towns, breathtaking views, and quiet serenity.

Inbreeding

   It is a rainy day and I just read these sentences: 

"With a bicycle, the world would have expanded dramatically for fin-de-siecle Victorians, particularly as bikes became increasingly affordable, bringing new experiences and opportunities, and perhaps even new romantic liaisons. Sociologists now credit the bicycle with a decrease in genetic faults associated with inbreeding in the U.K. , and as early as 1900, the U.S. Census Office identified the invention as a game-changer: 'Few articles ever used by man have created so great a revolution in social conditions as the bicycle."

   I thought the comment about inbreeding an interesting one and had never associated cycling with consanguinity, so I went looking for some of the 'sociologists' who have found a relationship between the rise in cycling and the decline in sexual activities among those who are related. The search turned out to be more difficult than I thought and the subject of inbreeding, like just about any subject these days, is not without its controversial aspects. 

   I did find some support, however, and have no reason to doubt that cycling, like the back seats of cars, may have affected sexual relationships. William Manners writes in The Guardian about how cycling changed society: 

One unexpected way it did this was in the field of genetics. For the majority of those living in rural areas, owning a bicycle dramatically increased the number of potential marriage partners, as for the first time they possessed their own means of travelling beyond their local communities. The widening of gene pools which resulted from this process means that the biologist Steve Jones ranks the invention of the bicycle as the most important event in recent human evolution.

     I did track down Professor Jones, a well-respected geneticist, and, indeed, he does write  in The Language of Genes that, There is little doubt that the most important event in recent human evolution was the invention of the bicycle.

    Although it is still raining, I decided to stop searching and write this. If you need more proof, have a look yourself.

Sources:

   The sentences which led to the search are found in: Revolutions: How Women Changed the World on Wheels, by Hannah Ross.

    The article by Mr. Manners: "The Secret History of 19th Century Cyclists: The Early Days of the Modern Bicycle Brought Not Just Joyful Escape for the Masses, But Proved a Catalyst for Wider Social Change, The Guardian, June 9, 2015.

The Bonus: 

  In The Guardian article one also finds these quotes:

Hobsbawm wrote:

If physical mobility is an essential condition of freedom, the bicycle has probably been the greatest single device for achieving what Marx has called the full realisation of being human invented since Gutenberg, and the only one without obvious drawbacks.

And H.G. Wells said:

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.

Hate Studies

  Vituperation is in vogue, everyone is angry and hatred is everywhere. A recent article bore the subtitle "To Stop Hate We Have to Understand It" and just today Paul Krugman asked "Why Such Hatred?" The question was raised in response to the Republicans' suggestion that the unemployment benefits currently in place would be extended "Over our dead bodies." I am not sure why people are so hostile and the animosity palpable. But, to answer the question "Why Such Hatred?" I can at least direct you to the places and sources where you can learn about the subject. If your children are about to go off to a university, perhaps you should suggest that they major in Hate rather than the Humanities. They are already likely to be more interested in studying feelings than thoughts.

One of the places in Ontario offering such a subject is Ontario Tech's Centre on Hate Bias and Extremism. Just today it was announced that the Centre will receive funding, ironically enough, from a major vendor of hate - Facebook. Here is the source and more are provided below.

"Facebook Partners With Ontario University on 'Global Network' to Counter Rise in Online Hate'" Elizabeth Thompson · CBC News · Posted: Jul 28, 2020 Faced with a rising tide of online hate and advertiser boycotts, Facebook Canada will announce today that it is teaming up with Ontario Tech University's Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism to create what it calls the Global Network Against Hate. The network, which is to receive $500,000 from Facebook over five years, is being tasked with spotting emerging trends in online extremism and developing strategies, policies and tools to counter them. The move comes as experts like Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism, warn that the COVID-19 pandemic and the upcoming U.S. election campaign are likely to drive a wave of online hate postings in Canada and elsewhere over the coming months — hate that could spill over to the offline world.

Places to Major in Hate

International Network for Hate Studies (INHS)

   This is the place to begin. Apart from the useful links, one can learn about "Anti-Hate Initiatives" and the "Online Library" covers subjects ranging from "Age and Hate Crime" to "Weight Bias (?).

The Gonzaga Institute for Hate Studies

Bard Center for the Study of Hate 

Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism

Centre on Hate Bias and Extremism 

We have all witnessed the dramatic increase in hate-motivated crimes across Canada and the multiple forms of extremism on the rise globally. Now is the time to pursue a more inclusive and equitable future for all, and Ontario Tech University is leading the charge.

There are more, for example: Centre for Hate Studies, University of Leicester and the Hate and Hostility Research Group, University of Limerick.

You can also consider majoring in the related field of "Peace and Conflict Studies". For such programs see "Peace and Conflict Studies in Canada."

Sources:

   You will find plenty in the Online Library provided by INHS above. There are Wikipedia entries for Hate Studies and Hatred.

   For an article about Gonzaga see:

"Why Do We Hate? Academics Seek Answer in New Field," Nicholas K. Geranios

This is an AP article and a version is found in “In A World Plagued by Hate, New Field of Study Sets Out to Ask Why,” Nicholas K. Geranios, Globe and Mail, Nov. 19, 2009.

   For a Canadian article see:

"Is the Time Right for a Field of Hate Studies? A single interdisciplinary field would bring new insights and understanding to this very human reality, say proponents, but others aren’t sure it’s necessary," Maggie Ma, University Affairs, Aug. 17, 2011. The article is available here. 

   The question by Krugman was raised in: "The Cult of Selfishness is Killing America, New York Times, July 28, 2020.

For a book: 

In his biting new critique of partisan media, Hate Inc., he puts the progressive cable news channel[MSNBC] in the same dishonorable category as Fox News. Despite their obvious political differences, he argues, both have made the news a consumer product designed “not just to make you mad, but keep you mad, whipped up in a state of devotional anger.”

For Hate Maps see:

the Southern Poverty Law Center or 

the Anti Defamation League

For Hate Symbols: 

The ADL also produces a Hate Symbols Database where you can learn about such things as 14 Words - "14 Words is a reference to the popular white supremacist slogan: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

This is the ADL "Pyramid of Hate"

The Pyramid of Hate illustrates the prevalence of bias, hate and oppression in our society. It is organized in escalating levels of attitudes and behavior that grow in complexity from bottom to top. Like a pyramid, the upper levels are supported by the lower levels.

 

The Bright Side

   Not all the news is bad during this time of the Great Flu. As someone who specializes in the contrarian, I thought I would provide you with a few good bits.

   One does not have to read the following article since the very good news is obvious in the headline: "Corporate Insiders Pocket $1 Billion in Rush For Coronavirus Vaccine," David Gelles and Jesse Drucker, New York Times, July 25, 2020.

  Jeff Bezos also continues to do well and you don't need to be concerned about his ex-wife. This was found on Bloomberg News:

Jeff Bezos added $13 billion to his net worth on Monday, the largest single-day jump for an individual since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was created in 2012.

Bezos, Amazon’s 56-year-old founder and the world’s richest person, has seen his fortune swell $74 billion in 2020 to $189.3 billion, despite the U.S. entering its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. He’s now personally worth more than the market valuation of giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Nike Inc. and McDonald’s Corp.

and

Mackenzie Bezos, his ex-wife, gained $4.6 billion Monday and is now the 13th-richest person in the world.

   If you are among the fortunate ones and are healthy, but still worried about the coming of the fall and the prospect that we might have to remain hunkered down, there are options like these:

   The marketing folks at Hilton Head are suggesting you can rent a home there and your kids can "Go Back to School Island Style."

   If you would rather be locked down this winter somewhere really warm, consider Barbados. 

Here are some related headlines:

Out of Office: Barbardos Prime Minister Welcomes Remote Workers: Proposes 12-Month Visa.

Working From Home Can Soon Mean Working in Barbados For Up To A Year.

The Bonus:

   Additional good news: The NHL resumes play on August 1, and you can watch the Kentucky Derby on Sept.5 and view The Masters in November. [the normal dates for these events were altered due to Covid.]

   So there; things aren't so bad.