Mascot cat “Spark Plug” [on plane] (LOC) by The Library of Congress

Bain News Service,, publisher.

Mascot cat "Spark Plug" [on plane]

[between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920]

1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.

Notes:
Title from unverified data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

Format: Glass negatives.

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, http://1.usa.gov/1D9d3AE

General information about the Bain Collection is available at http://1.usa.gov/1HWc8Jc

Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): http://1.usa.gov/1TY2hbv

Call Number: LC-B2- 4475-2

via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/E4jZZp

Yarrow allotting relief to Armenian orphans (LOC) by The Library of Congress

Bain News Service,, publisher.

Yarrow allotting relief to Armenian orphans

[between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920

1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.

Notes:
Title from data provided by the Bain News Service on the negative.
Photograph shows Ernest Alfred Yarrow (1876-1939), who served as head of the Near East Relief in Armenia with Armenian women and children. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2012)
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

Format: Glass negatives.

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, http://1.usa.gov/1D9d3AE

General information about the Bain Collection is available at http://1.usa.gov/1HWc8Jc

Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): http://1.usa.gov/1PsRXVS

Call Number: LC-B2- 4479-4

via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/D6BeHj

Katya Kazbek: Discourse in Danger – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

By Katya KazbekIt’s hard to imagine a time when Russia was not in a state of political tempest. And it’s even harder to imagine a time when the tumult was not creating exquisite lite

Source: Katya Kazbek: Discourse in Danger – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

When asked about his attempts at publishing books that would not be welcome by the nomenclature, Ilya Danishevsky only managed to give an example of an upcoming work: a book on Petr Pavlensky, the Russian artist who gained prominence by nailing his scrotum to the ground in the Red Square. Pavlensky is currently detained at a criminal psychiatric ward after he set fire to a door leading to the FSB (formerly KGB) headquarters. This publication is an admirable pursuit. The main problem in Russian publishing, however, is not the impossibility of putting out more books that challenge this paradigm. It’s more likely the fact that there are not many of such books at all. And with all due respect to the panelists who do their best to create the new Russian avant-garde, it may be up to the new generation of millennials, born with Putin already in power, to actually change the literary dialogue on a larger scale.

School-age vaccine waivers drop 39 percent in Michigan

Recent preliminary data suggests that there has been a 39 percent decline in school-age vaccine waivers in the state, which experts attribute to a non-medical vaccination waiver rule change from January 2015.

Two years ago, Michigan had the sixth-highest vaccination waiver rate within the U.S. Over 5 percent of kindergarten students did not receive vaccinations and still had their waivers.

To change this, state officials mandated parents use a non-medical waiver if their child did not have vaccinations. The parents also needed to speak with local health department staff before they could have the waiver – earlier, the waiver could be found at the school.

“By ensuring that parents have the opportunity to address and discuss concerns with their local health department, we’re providing parents with knowledge they can use when making a decision about vaccinating their child,” Nick Lyon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), said. “Michigan’s local health departments have been instrumental in working with and educating parents who have had concerns about vaccines and I applaud them for their understanding, assistance and dedication.”

As of today, there are approximately 8,000 fewer vaccination waivers for Michigan’s children.

“This improvement in our vaccination coverage rates means that more kids are protected from outbreaks and serious vaccine-preventable diseases,” Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive for the MDHHS, said. “Unfortunately we have not eradicated some very serious diseases that affect children and adults alike. We continue to see outbreaks of pertussis, (whooping cough) and chickenpox in areas of Michigan as well as nationwide.”