90 Miles From Tyranny

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Acosta And Intern Battle For The Mic!

Acosta/Intern Mic Check remix in the House..... 🎤 hahahhhah! pic.twitter.com/akZjQEwacR
— Mindy Robinson 🇺🇸 (@iheartmindy) November 10, 2018

Archeologist Spends Over 35 Years Building Enormous Scale Model of Ancient Rome

Tucked in the residential Roman neighborhood of EUR, a sprawling 1:250 scale model displays the glory of ancient Rome. Known as the Plastico di Roma Imperiale, the plaster model was commissioned by Mussolini in 1933 and depicts Rome in the 4th century AD at the time of Constantine I. It now sits in the Museum of Roman Civilization, a museum opened in the 1930s to demonstrate the history of ancient Rome.

The plaster model is a masterpiece created by archaeologist Italo Gismondi, who worked on the piece throughout his life. The initial core of the scale model, which was partially based on Rodolfo Lanciani‘s 1901 map Forma Urbis, was completed for a large exhibition celebrating the 2,000th anniversary of the death of Augustus. In the 1950s, it was installed permanently in the Museum of Roman Civilization, with Gismondi continuing to expand the model up until 1971.

Now considered one of the most important references for how ancient Rome looked, Gismondi used precise maps for known monuments like the Pantheon and Colosseum. The residential housing, as well as other sites without archeological remains, were created using models that were representative of ancient construction. Ironically, though Mussolini commissioned the model, the lack of references was actually his fault, as he ordered that many of Rome’s ancient houses be razed to make way for large thoroughfares such as the via dei Fori Imperiali, which leads to the Colosseum.

“The model gave Fascist modernism a seeming imperial origin,” writes Victor Plahte Tschudi, a professor of architectural history at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. “It also legitimized, even inspired, the regime’s town planning policy and brutal overhaul to redeem Rome’s ancient monuments.”

Whatever its initial purpose as propaganda, the Plastico continues to draw school children and tourists who now use it as an educational tool for envisioning how the ancient ruins they see today once fit into the larger urban landscape. The immense scope and detail of the Plastico, which measures 55 feet by 55 feet, has also been useful for filmmakers, including Ridley Scott, who included a few shots in his 2000 film, The Gladiator.

Disgraced Snipes, Head of Broward Elections, Mixed Illegal Ballots with Valid Ones

A major scandal is brewing in Florida, and it could impact who holds power in the state for years to come.

Two key races from the November 6th election are still up in the air in the Sunshine State, with both the governor and senate races too close to call. It may come down to manually recounting ballots … but the person responsible for overseeing Broward County elections was just caught doing something shocking.

That county, which includes the city of Fort Lauderdale, makes its population of nearly 2 million a significant part of every election. But a Broward County official is now accused of throwing a wrench in the recount by mixing ineligible, rejected ballots into valid vote counts.

According to The Miami Herald, Broward County Election Supervisor Brenda Snipes placed around 200 provisional ballots that shouldn’t be counted into the mix with real votes. Whether this was a mistake or intentional is unclear, but many Republicans are charging that she’s incompetent and politically biased.

The key thing to remember is that a ballot isn’t automatically a valid vote. If it is discovered that a person voted twice or doesn’t live in the state, for example, this is obviously illegal and would render their ballots unacceptable.

“On Election Day, Broward County collected more than 600 provisional ballots. The vast majority were declared invalid by the county’s canvassing board judges for reasons ranging from registering to vote too late to previously voting to voting at the wrong precinct,” continued The Herald.

When concerned observers started asking questions about those hundreds of previously-rejected ballots, they found some alarming facts.

“After presenting for inspection 205 provisional ballots to the Broward County canvassing board, it was discovered that 20 ballots with mismatched signatures that had already been deemed invalid and were illegal votes were mixed in with valid ballots,” explained The Blaze.

“They were integrated into a stack of legal ballots awaiting being added to the vote totals in the tight race,” the outlet said. In order words, Brenda Snipes apparently either incompetently or maliciously added invalid ballots to the pile while hoping that nobody would notice.

Here’s the major problem: Nobody knows for sure how many invalid ballots are now mixed in with the real votes, because it was done in a way that cannot be reversed.

“The ballots cannot be identified,” Snipes told Republican attorneys when they...

11 Quotes On Courage.. For Veterans Day...

Remember: Memorial Day is the day to remember those men and women who died while serving in our nation’s armed forces, whereas Veterans Day is a day to celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans.

Today we celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans.