Kevin White

Back in 2012, I wrote about a website called Pigments through the Ages; a resource about the history and nature of artist’s pigments. That site is 10 years old now, and as far as I know, is no longer being actively developed.

However, one of the original authors of that site, Juraj Lipscher, has created a new, more extensive and currently active site on the same subject, titled ColourLex.

The ColourLex site can be explored through multiple paths: by pigments, paintings, artists and periods, each with sub-paths. Pigments, for example, can be explored by type, color or first date of use.

Each pigment is then broken down by properties, sources, identification and history, and a gallery is provided of important paintings in which the pigment was prominently used.

Lipscher’s background is as a PhD in physical chemistry. He brings his experience in teaching and lecturing at the college level to the presentation of his fascination with the history of artists’ pigments.

New material is being added on an ongoing basis; the most recent additions of pigments and paintings are listed on the home page.

In addition, there are resources on paintings, painters, pigments and methods of scientific investigation of pigments used in historic paintings.

ColourLex is a fascinating resource, and a terrific crossover between art and science.

Summer Streets are set to take over the...streets...again next month, with plans to close a stretch of Park Avenue off to cars for a few hours on August 1st, 8th and 15th. Participants are encouraged to enjoy in the usual car-free adventures—rollerblading, jogging, cycling, front handsprings—along with sponsored activities at various rest stops. And there's going to be a GIANT WATERSLIDE, which might help ease the queue at the zipline (but probably not). [ more › ]

Owner Michelle Dell says there's no way to pay $60K in rent and still charge $3 for PBR.

Signs of the tawdry Meatpacking District of yore have been disappearing for a while now, but next month, the neighborhood will lose one of its anchors. Biker bar — and the inspiration for Coyote Ugly — Hogs & Heifers will serve its last $3 can of PBR, add a few final bras to its collection, and shut down for good on August 23.

Owner Michelle Dell says she's being forced out by a rent hike from landlord Thor Equities, who wants to raise the rent by $14,000 a month, hitting a total of $60,000 a month or close to a quarter of a million a year. "I sell Pabst Blue Ribbon for $3. I still sell beer for $5 or $6. I am not a business that can sell a bottle of beer for $12 and margaritas for $15," Dell tells DNAinfo. When Dell and her then husband opened the bar in 1992 they paid $3,000 a month. When he passed away in 1997, she became the bar's sole proprietor.

The staff is apparently cataloging all of the bras taken off in the bar over the years and all of the taxidermy incase there's a slight chance of a reopening in a new location, but Dell tells the Daily News that she's not optimistic that she can find a reasonably priced space. At least the Vegas outpost is safe for now.

The five-second rule dictates most of the important decisions you make as a child. Drop a Cheeto in the dirt? Five second rule. Your friend’s Oreo falls to the ground? It’s totally clean if it hasn’t been there for five seconds. The same logic was applied…

The post Lil’ Angels Fan Drops Hot Dog While Taking a Bite, Picks It Up, Eats It Anyway appeared first on First We Feast.

Wanna cook, b*tch? Well, you better get your tickets for this Breaking Bad-inspired cocktail lab in London right now. The pop-up bar, called ABQ—which exists inside an actual RV trailer, where drinkers can “cook” their own cocktails—will only run until the end of October (and July and August…

The post “Cook” Your Own Cocktails Inside an RV at This Breaking Bad-Themed Bar appeared first on First We Feast.

Cabbage cores, kale stems and broccoli stalks are just a few of the "scrap" ingredients in a new salad at the popular salad joint Sweetgreen, which is tackling food waste head on—for the next two months, anyway. The chain has partnered with Chef Dan Barber—whose WastED dinner pop-ups employed a similar ethos—to create Blue Hill's "wastED"™ salad, which uses foodstuffs ordinarily tossed out during the cooking prep process. [ more › ]

This past week, I was heading to a show at Madison Square Garden when I happened to notice a building on West 31st Street that has always intrigued me…

The granite behemoth at 242 West 31st:

When you first see it, you might assume it to be just an old bank building, or perhaps a post office.

But look a little closer, and you’ll start to notice a few things that are decidedly…off.

For one, the windows, mysteriously covered in iron bars, are all blacked out.

Some are cracked…

…and one in particular has a DANGER – HIGH VOLTAGE sign affixed to it:

Meanwhile, the main doorway is clearly industrial, with several warning signs.

Finally, this strange metal box extends from its eastern side:

I decided to finally look into it, and was amazed to learn that this is the last remaining structure from the original Pennsylvania Station.

Known as the Penn Station Service Building, it actually predates old Penn Station by two years. Built in 1908 and designed by Charles McKim and William Symmes Richardson, it provided coal-generated electricity for trains, along with heat, refrigeration and a variety of other functions.

When Penn Station was finally torn down in 1963, the Service Building was still in use, and no consideration was given to its demise.

As time passed, much of its functionality was transferred off-site, and as of 2008, the building was largely vacant save for an operations control room, according to this article by the Municipal Art Society of New York.

These pictures were taking in recent years (no date listed) as part of an Historic American Buildings Survey, and reveal much of the now abandoned portions of the Service Building…

…including equipment that hasn’t been used for decades…

…delving deep into the bowels of Manhattan:

While I was looking around, I noticed numerous workmen entering and exiting the building. According to the MASNY article, the station is on track to be renovated for use in the new Moynihan Station project.

While the loss of Penn Station will always remain New York City’s greatest architectural tragedy…

…I guess it’s nice to know that at least one ghost of the past continues to haunt midtown.

-SCOUT

PS – According to this NY Times Streetscapes article on the building, you can actually see the structure in photographs of Penn Station’s construction. I couldn’t find any – if you’re able to, please let me know!

"Tart Words make no Friends: a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than Gallon of Vinegar," Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard's Almanack. But what if your flies refuse to fix a leak in your ceiling and only drink money? Here are a few tips for negotiating that inevitable rent increase from your landlord. [ more › ]

by Jim Benton

For the fine dining naysayers of Manhattan's gilded aughts, the pre-crash years that brought us $1,000 meals at Masa and Per Se, the 2005 debut of Danny Meyer's The Modern represented a welcome counterpoint. Located on the ground floor of MoMA in Midtown, The Modern was where one could enjoy a cocktail or a small plate for less than the twenty bucks it cost to visit the museum. Even if a longer tasting could run hundreds, there was something refreshing about an entry-level culinary experience being more accessible than an entry-level art experience – in the same building, no less. The Modern wasn't a captive audience institution designed to shake down gallery-goers with overpriced panini; it was an independent establishment, with no entry fee, designed to bring in guests who might not have visited a museum in the first place. And now, eleven years later, as the city's gastronomic and artistic centers of gravity have shifted downtown, Meyer has scored with another affordable museum eatery, this one in the Meatpacking District. Welcome to Untitled at the newly-relocated Whitney.

The folks to thank here are Michael Anthony, who also runs Meyer's Gramercy Tavern, and chef de cuisine Suzanne Cupps. Together, they're serving some of the city's most accomplished vegetable-forward fare at very reasonable prices. A snack for two – a glass of muscadet, a beer, a pickle plate (with stunning curried cauliflower ribs), and a lemony lobster toast – will cost less, after tax, but before tip, than two $22 tickets to the museum. Call it a boon for those who'd rather take in one of the city's newest pieces of celebrity architecture – Renzo Piano is the designer – while sitting down and eating, instead of while schlepping around the exhibits without booze.

Meyer, the hospitality guru behind Shake Shack, and Anthony, who once led the kitchen at Stone Barns, are doing important things here with food, wine prices, and even reservations. It's the kind of restaurant whose merits and quirks you'll be pressed to debate with your colleagues – just as you might after seeing Carroll Dunham's NSFW nude on the Whitney's fifth floor. So here are your talking points for Untitled, as well as for Meyer's more casual Studio Cafe on the 8th floor.

Untitled Is Danny Meyer's Second Best Looking Restaurant

The Modern still ranks No.1 in the looks department; it's where diners relax in Arne Jacobsen chairs (which individually cost more than a MacBook Pro) while overlooking the museum's serene sculpture garden. But the Piano-designed Untitled, with its sloping ceilings and never-ending glass walls, is a close second. Guests sit in plush Eero Saarinen chairs (about $1,500 retail) while overlooking a down-the-block line of people waiting to get into the museum; it's as if Piano is saying that in the Meatpacking District, the well-heeled street denizens are the real sculptures worthy of observation. The room and the vistas, incidentally, are a heck of a lot prettier than the Whitney itself, which looks like a well-polished 1980s Xerox machine.

Vegetable-Heavy Share Plates Push the Boundaries of Museum Fare

Here's a quick list of dishes that wouldn't be out of place at even an upscale museum restaurant: burgers, sandwiches, fries, or steaks. And yet Anthony doesn't serve any of the above, not even at lunch. Instead, he sends out the type of edgy, small-to-mid-sized plates that one might encounter at a boundary-pushing restaurant in Brooklyn or the Lower East Side. He gives us chamomile-infused peas with favas, a whisper of summertime sugar, or matzoh-thin flatbread anointed with bacon and creamed corn, a heavier dose of vegetable-based sweetness. He takes beets with yogurt, a fairly run-of-the-mill pairing, and turns the ingredients into an epic cold borscht of sorts; the addition of pickled cherries, sweet cherries, currants and tarragon evoke a fragrant summer evening in the Russian taiga.

This is a kitchen that knows how to indulge. Island Creek oysters are fried so delicately that the texture is akin to an oceanic water balloon, ready to burst with brine. Anthony pairs creamy pole beans and soft calamari in a grilled riff on fritto misto, with an incendiary guajillo salsa for dredging and dunking. And he coats Tokyo turnips with aioli, pecorino, and guanciale, creating a hot, porky, cheesy, root vegetable carbonara.

Beverage Director Eduardo Porto Carreiro Is a Man of the People.

When a sommelier tells you about an off-the-menu pour, it's often code for "this glass of wine costs more than your steak." That's not the case here, where the so-called "Untitled" pour, designed to showcase up-and-coming regions and new wine-makers, is among the cheapest by-the-glass selections, at $11. Note to other beverage directors around the city: If you want to encourage novice oenophiles to drink more off-the-beaten track wines, this is how to do it. And here it's worth mentioning that while good restaurants rarely sell more than a bottle or two of Champagne at $100 or less, Untitled, taking a cue from sister spot Marta, offers eleven in that range, including a lean, mean, 100 percent pinot meunier (Christophe Mignon) for $69.

Main Courses Are Traditionally Portioned

Unlike the rest of the menu, the main courses are more traditionally portioned in the American-style, acting as de facto one-plate meals. So $25 gets you enough over-sauced fettuccine for two, sitting in a virtual soup of tomatoes, while $27 results in a steakhouse-sized portion of lamb chops – the lone red meat entree. Better are the cubes of swordfish over roasted eggplant; take away the delectably oily flesh and the dish would still boast a breathtaking degree of complexity, with a tomato saffron vinaigrette lending a floral counterpoint to the smoky nightshade. And the chicken – Anthony uses an insanely flavorful Green Circle breed – is the game-changing protein here; the breast is roasted on the rotisserie, imparting the skin with a funky, pliable softness, while the soy-and-garlic marinated thighs are fried, evoking a masterful, Japanese-style karaage.

Desserts Taste As If They're Coming Out of an Entirely Different Restaurant

Vegetable-centric restaurants don't need to push squash pudding or tomato soufflé for dessert, but like at any good culinary establishment, the sweet and savory kitchens should at least be speaking the same language, and that's not necessarily the case at Untitled. The postprandial treats of Miro Uskokovic, unlike the innovative fare of chef Anthony, can feel as generic as a pair of khakis at Georgetown University. Cake, be it the peanut butter blueberry variety or chocolate fudge, wouldn't be out of place at any airport restaurant, anywhere in America. And poundcake with strawberries is no better than the supermarket version you could make at home. Panna cotta, bland and overgelatined, is rescued by a tart berry compote, while a coconut and apricot tart packs such a dense shell it flips on its side when you try to cut it. Even the chocolate chunk cookie, while technically brilliant (and delicious), feels out of place on such an ambitious menu.

Studio Cafe Does The Hip Toast Right

The Studio Cafe, a separate restaurant on the 8th floor, requires a ticket to the Whitney, and therefore qualifies as more of a traditional captive audience venue – an institution that faces little competition because this is inevitably where museum guests will come to refuel without leaving the building. And yet Anthony's mostly-toast menu (cue eye rolling) is as awesome and affordable as anything one might encounter at a cool East Village establishment. Everything's an essay in balance. Cucumbers inject a dose of watery freshness into buttery avocado toast. Green tomato jam imparts acidity to rich cheddar toast. Spicy Thai pickles cut the sweet density of honeyed peanut butter toast. And summery tomatoes, in a more traditional preparation, take the edge off the tartness of goat cheese. They're all $12 each and you enjoy them on the elevated outdoor deck, with its stunning vistas of One World Trade, the Hudson, and The Empire State Building. It's the type of food, and the type of view, that'll alone justify the museum's $85 yearly membership. And it's all enough to make us wonder whether Meyer, the new king of captive audience dining, will find a way to make us want to have dinner at the local DMV or the nearest hospital in the coming years.

The MTA is confirming today that the $2.4 billion 7 Line Extension, which will bring the 7 train beyond its current terminus at Times Square 42nd Street to a new station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue, will be open by September 13, 2015. Now seems like an good time to reminisce about all the times the MTA got our hopes up on this matter. [ more › ]

If there was ever a weekend to stay indoors penning a #hottake on the Taylor Swift/Nicki Minaj/Katy Perry Twitterpocalypse, this is it—17 lines are subject to service changes. Note that Magnum P.I. will be leaving Netflix on July 30th, so if you haven't started bingeing it yet, that's another good reason to skip brunch and stay off the N train. [ more › ]

[Photo yesterday by George Cohen]

Via the Facebook invite:

Protest the NYPD "sniper tower" in Tompkins Square Park 1988 with a weekend long campout to celebrate the 27 years since the bloody NYPD riot that injured hundreds of innocent and unawares local citizens in our neighborhood. The arrogance of the NYPD was never greater since the recent erection of the "sniper" tower outfitted with cameras and recording equipment.

A clear and blatant violation to first and fourth amendments rights to public assembly, free speech and privacy. Bring a tent, some water and noise makers. Support the right of homeless people to enjoy a public park. It's real estate maggots like Jared Kushner who are destroying our community. Let's show him it won't come easy.

The sleepover is planned Aug. 7-9.

The patrol tower arrived on Tuesday, and has already inspired a Twitter parody account. There's also an online petition asking Mayor de Blasio to remove the tower.

Updated 2:44 p.m.

Some clarification in the comments from John Penley:

I was asked to come back to help with this so I am. First of all the camp will be called Camp New York Post and people will not be sleeping inside the park and being arrested we will sleep on 7th street outside the park and there will be no fires just free food and cold non-alcoholic drinks. We also will not block the sidewalk. The point I want to make is that the reason for doing this is not just the tower it is because we believe the NY Post used the sad plight of homeless people to create a return to Giuliani style policing in relation to the poor and those suffering from poverty, mental illness and gentrification and we do not want that to continue

Previously on EV Grieve:
NYPD installs patrol tower in the middle of Tompkins Square Park (147 comments)

The Post reports Tompkins Square Park 'has become a homeless haven' (113 comments)

Observer editors write, 'it's time to take back Tompkins Square Park' (49 comments)

Parts of Avenue C and D now with a SkyWatch tower, additional NYPD lights

[Updated] NYPD patrol tower arrives on Avenue D

If you're gonna be That Guy and order Chipotle's "secret" Quesarito, get ready to shell out extra dough for your extra tortilla. The company has made an official policy on the Frankenfood, whereby customers are charged an additional $3.50 to get their already hearty burritos wrapped inside a quesadilla. [ more › ]

It looks like Governors Island is the next serene space to be overdeveloped, just like the adjacent Brooklyn Bridge Park. Last night the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted yes to develop buildings 111, 112, and 114, along with the surrounding land. The goal? To build a 78,000-square-foot QC Terme European hydro therapy day spa, which will include three outdoor pools. This proposal has been bouncing around for years, but it looks like it's finally moving forward. [ more › ]

Spotted in the window at Moishe's Bake Shop on Second Avenue today.

Photo by Elizabeth Janovsky‎

Ever feel like you could eat Chipotle for every meal and never get sick of it? Now is the perfect opportunity to test that theory. Starting July 21st, the Mexican grill is hosting a competition where you can win free Chipotle for…

The post Here’s How You Can Score Free Chipotle Every Day For a Year appeared first on First We Feast.

[Macbeth photo by Jonathan Slaff]

After nearly 20 years of free performances in the municipal lot on Ludlow and Broome, the folks behind Shakespeare in the Parking Lot were left at the end of last summer without a home thanks to the incoming Essex Crossing mega-project.

Tonight, the Drilling Company begins anew behind The Clemente at 114 Norfolk St. between Rivington and Delancey. The season kicks off with a rendition of "As You Like It" and running through July 26. A production of "Macbeth" begins on July 30, presented through Aug. 15.

Find all the details here. The performances are Thursday-Saturday starting at 8 p.m.

The leader of the free world has great taste in restaurants.

President Barack Obama is hitting up all the hot spots during his stay in New York. Last night he took Sasha and Malia to Carbone, and now he's dining at Upland, the acclaimed East 26th Street restaurant from Stephen Starr and Justin Smillie. A reader inside the restaurant sends word: "President Obama strolled in with his daughters. Shook hands and smiled and headed to the downstairs PDR." And, indeed, a few other people also saw Obama entering the restaurant.

No word yet on what they're ordering for brunch, but the chicken liver pasta and nduja pizza are excellent here.  POTUS probably got both for the table.  Eater's own Ryan Sutton gave Upland two stars earlier this year.

Update: A rep sends word that POTUS actually ate in the dining room, not the PDR today.

Just about a year ago the American Museum of Natural History started to invite adults over to spend the night at the hotel, an opportunity that had previously only been made available to children. Since adults will get drunk and do dumb things near priceless dinosaur bones. We attended the inaugural sleepover for adults, and nothing went wrong, so the Museum added more. Currently, they have three scheduled through the end of the year, and tickets are still available. [ more › ]

Now this is some frat-boy tomfoolery right here: Two friends bros in Boston joined forces to launch Mighty Squirrel, the first-ever high-protein craft beer. We can just picture dudes pumping iron then chugging the protein-packed brew out of a red solo cup.…

The post New Protein Beer is Perfect for Frat Boys Who Want to Get Ripped appeared first on First We Feast.

Perfect Ride

Photograph by Massimo Rumi, National Geographic Your Shot

Your Shot member Massimo Rumi spent a month photographing on Sydney, Australias Bondi, Tamarama, and Bronte beaches, where some of the best surfers can be seen when the conditions are right, he says. He captured this perfect ride on the beach at Tamarama. My goal was to freeze the subject [while] capturing the essence of motion.

This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now

Presenting your chance to be the proud owner of the only dinosaur skeleton that has been reanimated through the mysteries of science and technology. She is a beautiful fosillized juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex who now consents for me to harness and ride her in parades and other special events. She's a bit difficult to handle, but she's never attacked anyone in the crowds that form whenever I take her out of the warehouse where she lives. (unlike her cousin from Jurassic Park) I labored for many months on this act of creation but now find that I'm not the right rider for this beautiful creature.

This wonderful rideable dinosaur, this fulfilment of my childhood dreams, needs to go to someone who likes being the center of attention, likes making the news whenever they're out in public, and likes inspiring joy and wonder in the faces of children. I'm just a quiet engineer and bicycle fabricator and am not interested in celebrity.

Specs:
-12ft long from head to tail, 5.5ft wide stance, 8.5ft tall (size of a 12 year old young-adult T-Rex)
-90lb recumbent tricycle made from chromoly steel, foam, and textured paint (200lb rider weight limit)
-9-speed wide-range drivetrain with a top speed of about 15mph (comfortable cruising speed of about 7mph)
-Seat is ~5ft off the ground so use a step ladder, or if you have good balance, use foot and hand holds hidden along the left side of her body.
-Head is a marionette that turns side to side and opens her jaw; controlled by wire from handlebars
-Arms are attached to pedals and can be controlled in combination with head to create believable performances (Sue can answer questions, wave at audience, snap her jaws in excitement, disgust, hunger, etc.)
-Disassembles using basic tools into multiple pieces to fit within a pick-up truck bed for easy(er) transport to events

Caveats:
-Sue requires frequent touch-ups to her paint and foam. There are always bits of the sculpture rubbing against one another because she is a moving, kinetic, scultpure. I will include a bucket of textured paint with her.
-Sue has handling quirks because of the geometry tricks and illusions I had to pull to make a vehicle that seemed to have the proportions of a real dinosaur. She is not a daily-driver dinosaur but is perfect for parades or the playa. She has good brakes and is stable enough if you know her limits. I'd be happy to offer dino riding lessons to prospective buyers. Please don't call just for joy-rides...

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In a rare bit of positive real estate news, it seems that the price of rent in Queens has not only dropped, it's plummeted—almost 11 percent! Break out the mid-range champagne! [ more › ]

Whos There?

Photograph by Cezary Wyszynski, National Geographic Your Shot

Who was knocking on my door? This is what Your Shot member Cezary Wyszynski imagines this mouse thinking as it pokes its head from a hole. A possible culprit? Wyszynski wryly hints at the departing rat thats slightly visible in the background.

This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now

I'd never given much thought to spaghetti's lack of portability until last night, when I was introduced to a curious new pasta delivery method: the cone. Spaghetti Incident, which began boiling up tasty plates of pasta in May, has tackled a heretofore under-appreciated problem, namely that eating many strand varieties of noodles involves finding a place on which to rest one's plate or bowl, whether that be sitting at a restaurant or hunched over your legs while perched on the curb (don't judge me). The cone makes it possible to stand (or sit) in a dignified manner while twirling a fork around some fresh bucatini; in fact, it might even make that process easier than plate deployment. [ more › ]

The right beverages can enhance any food. We asked several wine pros to pair up wines with a meal of cheap eats.

The Drinker: Jeff Taylor, Wine Director of Betony

The Bottle: J.B. Becker, Riesling Kabinett Trocken, Wallufer Walkenberg, Rheingau, Germany 1993

The Place: Prosperity Dumpling – 46 Eldridge Street, Chinatown, NYC

How it All Went Down, According to Jeff: Prosperity Dumpling has set the bar pretty high as far as a price to quality ratio goes. It is the quintessential hole in the wall joint with only four seats and an always present line that spills out onto Eldridge Street. While they have a fairly extensive menu of soups, buns, and noodles I only go for two things: fried pork & chive dumplings and sesame pancakes. You can get a huge slice of sesame pancake and four piping hot dumplings for just a dollar each. Not much can beat it. They are open from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., seven days a week. Thank god they aren't open late night, or there would be a lot of drunk people facing burnt taste bud carnage from scarfing down piping hot dumplings without breathing first.

I thought about a good bottle to bring for Dumpling Fest. When it comes to Chinese food I always think Riesling. Just recently I was in Germany and we tasted at J.B. Becker in the Rheingau. Hans-Josef Becker, the third generation and winemaker since 1971, is a Badass in the truest sense: he rocks pink eyeglasses, sports an Otto von Bismarck mustache, and generally doesn’t give a F about anything or anybody. An iconoclast in the truest sense, he was unfazed when he lost half his customer base after taking over winemaking in 1971 and focusing his production on the then unfashionable "trocken" or dry styles of Riesling. He has stayed true to his vision and it is only now that we are seeing his wines in the US.

Now with the bottle chosen, I complimented it with the perfect vessel in which to smuggle the 1993 Wallufer Walkenberg Kabinett Trocken: an empty plastic bottle of Lemon-Lime Gatorade. A clever choice I believe, as Riesling is often referred to as "Somm Gatorade" and the color of 22-year-old Riesling mimics the hue of the lemon-lime gatorade quite well, not to mention the echo in some of the same tasting notes.

Coda: All in all, things worked out pretty well. My photo taker and sommelier, Christopher, a sly dumpling thief, arrived with me about 11 a.m., before the lunch rush hit; I had already poured the wine into the Gatorade bottle at my apartment.

We scored the prime outdoor patio table; and all was prosperous and well at the dumpling house.

What the food cost: 2 orders of fried dumplings, 1 order of boiled dumplings, 2 sesame pancakes, and 2 cans of soda - all in for $8.50.

As New York City grapples with an unprecedented epidemic of New York Post reporters roaming the streets in search of homeless people to interview, Mayor Bill de Blasio has so far refused to lift a finger to address the scourge. [ more › ]