Random Learnings #43
Lebensraum is often attributed to Hitler and the Nazis as a component of Germany's imperial and racist visions towards the east, and contributed to the Holocaust as killing the Jews…
Duquesne Incline
The Duquesne Incline is one of two remaining funiculars that ascend Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opening in 1877, it originally carried cargo up the hill but quickly expanded to…
Allegheny County Courthouse
My wife and I made our first trip to Pittsburgh, and our hotel was just outside the Liberty area near Steel Plaza. After one of our outings, our bus didn't…
Random Learnings #42
In an article on The Guardian, a women describes her mother's abusive boyfriend and the impact on her and her mother's life. Ultimately, her mother dies - it's unclear whether…
Old-School Advertising
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum displays era-appropriate advertising in their restored trolleys. Besides providing a real feel to what the passengers saw at the time, it also shows how society has…
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum
My wife and I recently made out first trip to Pittsburgh, but before exploring the city we rented a car and drove through the Pennsylvania countryside: my wife's goal to…
Random Learnings #40
The Carnegie Museum of Art is currently exhibiting the works of the German artist Beate Kuhn. I initially read a contemporary biography in German: despite my sehr schlecht school-boy Germany,…
Random Learnings #39
Karl Marx popularized - but did not create - the slogan From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs that is most often associated with communism.…
Costa Rica Trip
Costa Rica has been a potential destination for my wife and my travels but had never pulled the trigger. My brother and sister-in-law have made multiple trips, other friends have…
The Museum of Jade
In Spanish Museo del Jade, its more formal Museo del Jade y de la Cultura Precolombina (Museum of Jade and Pre-Columbian Culture) better describes its mission. Even my Costa Rican…