May 7, 2020  With soup and vegetables flying off supermarket shelves to feed a shut-in nation, canneries are bustling—and they really need metal containers.  The restaurants in downtown Hannibal, Mo., have been closed for weeks because of the coronavirus, but on the town’s western outskirts, its largest employer is buzzing.  The big General Mills plant that turns out cans of Progresso soup is still operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, just as it was before the virus hit.  It employs 1,000 people and is hiring to fill 50 openings.  “I drove by the other day and the parking lot was full of cars, trucks coming and going,” said James Hark, a manager of an auto-body shop and the mayor of Hannibal, the boyhood home of Mark Twain.  Acquiring the metal hasn’t been a problem.  Despite the tariffs the Trump administration placed on imported steel and other metals, steel prices have eased this year.  Moreover, recycling provides can producers with a reliable source—about 71 percent of steel food containers are recycled, according to the Can Manufacturers Institute, a trade group.  Neal E. Boudette   https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/business/coronavirus-cans-food.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage 

Whataboutism (also known as Whataboutery) is a red herring version of the classic tu quoque logical fallacy--sometimes implementing the balance fallacy as well--which is employed as a propaganda technique.  It is used as a diversionary tactic to shift the focus off of an issue and avoid having to directly address it.  https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Whataboutism

John Krasinski—who gave us the all-purpose incredulous stare as Jim Halpert on “The Office” and who currently plays the C.I.A. analyst Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime’s political thriller by the same name—could be considered an unlikely YouTube star.  As the actor says, smiling, on an episode of his new show, “Some Good News,” “for someone who only just got off dial-up this week, this whole internet thing continues to be a constant source of surprise and living nightmares.”  It’s precisely this truth that led him to create “Some Good News,” a weekly roundup of genuinely inspiring content culled from the hellscape that is social media.  Seated in front of a colorful sign made by his young daughters bearing the letters S-G-N, Mr. Krasinski presents heartening scenes, such as an I.C.U. team forming a conga line to celebrate a patient being taken off a ventilator or an elderly couple singing together, separated by a closed window; special correspondents like the actors Steve Carell and Brad Pitt discuss entertainment and the weather.  And, importantly these days, Mr. Krasinski also uses his celebrity power for good.  For example, he, along with the former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, sent members of the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Covid-19 Unit in Boston to revel in an empty Fenway Park.  Most recently, Mr. Krasinski threw a live-streamed prom for the class of 2020—a recap of which was included on “SGN”—featuring performances by the Jonas Brothers and Billie Eilish.  “Some Good News” is worth watching to find out what happens next, and a balm for these screen-filled times.  Hilary Moss  https://dnyuz.com/2020/04/29/watch-this-john-krasinskis-feel-good-take-on-the-news/

The Oyster Club  This weekly dining club for scientists and philosophers met regularly throughout the 1770s.  It had been established by the great economist and political philosopher Adam Smith, the chemist Joseph Black and the geologist James Hutton.  The club was attended by a veritable constellation of Edinburgh’s most brilliant thinkers, including John Playfair, Adam Ferguson, David Hume and Sir James Hall.  It also played host to a wide variety of visiting international scientists, including the French geologist Barthélémy Faujas de Saint Fond, James Watt the engineer and inventor from Glasgow, and Benjamin Franklin the American scientist and inventor.  Now a private venue--no free public access.  http://curiousedinburgh.org/2016/04/17/the-oyster-club/

This recipe for Italian Sausage & White Bean Braise from The Plan Buy Cook Book  by Jen Petrovic and Gaby Chapman makes great use of grocery store staples.  Chunks of Italian Sausage are browned with aromatics, then sauced with tomatoes and white beans.  Don’t be afraid to add any seasoning you might have on hand, rosemary, more fennel, fresh mint, we can imagine any number of variations.  Serve it with a big green salad and some bread to sop up the juice and you are good to go.  The key is to buy good-quality pork and fennel sausages, either at your local butcher or the supermarket.   https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/italian-sausage-white-bean-braise

serves 4  10 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking

The venerable U.S. retailer Lord & Taylor plans to liquidate inventory in its 38 department stores once restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus are lifted as it braces for a bankruptcy process from which it does not expect to emerge, people familiar with the matter said on May 5, 2020.  Lord & Taylor’s preparations to liquidate its inventory as soon as its stores reopen offer a window into the grim future of a high-profile retailer--a storied department store chain founded in 1826 and billed as the oldest in the United States--that does not expect to survive the pandemic’s economic fallout.  https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/05/lord-taylor-to-liquidate-its-stores-as-soon-as-they-reopen-sources-say.html

Federated Department Stores, now Macy's Inc, acquired May Department Stores on August 30, 2005.  On January 12, 2006, Federated chairman, president, and CEO Terry Lundgren announced that Lord & Taylor would be sold by the end of the year.  In a move that took advantage of valuable real estate, Federated announced on March 10, 2006, that seven conflicting Lord & Taylor locations would either close or downscale into Macy's.  The legendary Center City, Philadelphia store, former flagship of the John Wanamaker chain, opened after a one-month renovation as Macy's City Center on August 1, 2006.  On June 22, 2006, NRDC Equity Partners, LLC announced it would purchase Lord & Taylor for $1.2 billion after Federated converted and closed the seven locations that it previously announced were closing; the sale completed in October 2006.  Federated continued to service Lord & Taylor consumer credit accounts in an agreement with NRDC under the terms of its sale until mid-2007.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_%26_Taylor

The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, is the largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world.  The Wanamaker Organ is located within a spacious 7-story Grand Court at Macy's Center City (formerly Wanamaker's department store) and played twice a day Monday through Saturday.  The organ is featured at several special concerts held throughout the year, including events featuring the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ Festival Chorus and Brass Ensemble.  Music inspired by or written for the Wanamaker Organ:  Original compositions--"Symphonie-Passion" by Marcel Dupré, "Concerto Gregoriano" by Pietro Yon, "Concerto Romano" by Alfredo Casella, "Dedicace" by Louis Vierne, dedicated to Rodman Wanamaker, "Symphonie Concertante" for organ and orchestra by Joseph Jongen, "Fanfare and Procession" by Keith Chapman, "A Highland Ayre" from "Scottish Folk Tone Poems" by Richard Purvis (written for the Wanamaker Organ at the request of Keith Chapman), and "Cathedral of Commerce" by Robert Hebble.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanamaker_Organ  See also https://wanamakerorgan.com/category/restoration-overview/

American actor, comedian and musician Steve Martin’s March 21 viral Banjo Balm tweet (at the time of this writing, about 9.8 million views) followed by March 27 “Banjo Calm” (one million views) are two videos that bear witness to the ways we rely on the arts within social media to build connections and create community in times of isolation.   For years, Martin’s comedy hijinks included his banjo; the public increasingly became aware of how talented he is as a musician.  Martin’s album The Crow: New Songs For The Five-String Banjo won best Bluegrass Album at the 2009 Grammy awards; he also received awards for 2001 Best Country Instrumental Performance and the 2013 Best American Roots Song.  He is now as respected as a musician as he is as a comedian and actor.  Roberta Lamb and Robbie MacKay  https://theconversation.com/steve-martins-banjo-and-other-music-played-from-coronavirus-isolation-show-how-the-arts-connect-us-134519  Steve Martin is an expert in many fields--the Muser is currently reading his novel An Object of Beauty.

Today’s downturn is comparable in scale to that of the 1930s, but it probably won’t be as damaging or long-lasting, economists say. *  Justice Clarence Thomas once went a decade without speaking during oral argument at all, a streak he ended in 2016 when he voiced concerns about the government permanently stripping individuals of gun-ownership rights if they once had been convicted of domestic abuse.  The Wall Street Journal  May 11, 2020  Thomas has long been characterized by his silence, as his eight colleagues engage in a robust give-and-take during oral arguments.  He once went more than a decade without asking a question.  When he spoke during a 2019 hearing (the most recent instance before this week), it was the first time after a three-year gap.  https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/09/politics/clarence-thomas-moment/index.html

A THOUGHT FOR May 11  You are the sky.  Everything else--it's just the weather. - Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun and author (b. 1936)

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2266  May 11, 2020