Page 9, column 3, July 21, 1975, The Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph,Scunthorpe, England

It’s hard to believe in coincidence, but it’s even harder to believe in anything else. — John Green, Will Grayson, Will Grayson

(via miss-lazarus)

Pretty much what I say every time I watch the news. Different day, different celebrity.  How can a nation be at war, and not have it on the news every night, until our souls are sick, and we all cry enough?  

(via zenhen)

Portrait of Mme Bonnefoy and M. Puttemans painted by Lawrence Alma Tadema, 1867

When you read to a child, when you put a book in a child’s hands, you are bringing that child news of the infinitely varied nature of life. You are an awakener. — Paula Fox 

Reading the News painted by James Jacques Joseph Tissot

I read the newspapers with lively interest. It is seldom that they are absolutely, point-blank wrong. That is the popular belief, but those who are in the know can usually discern an embryo of truth, a little grit of fact, like the core of a pearl, round which have been deposited the delicate layers of ornament. — Evelyn Waugh, Scoop 

Ring Ved frokostbordet og morgenaviserne (Sitting at the Breakfast Table with the Newspaper) painted by Laurits Andersen Ring, 1898

Reading the news is making me realize: I’m an uninteresting person living in very interesting times. — Charles Yu 

(via parkstepp)

Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium designed by Ai Weiwei — one of the most strikingly successful buildings in modern China

Dissident Chinese Artist, Ai Weiwei Allowed to Visit With Wife

Chinese authorities allowed dissident artist Ai Weiwei to see his wife on Sunday, May 16, 2011.  This is the first time in since his abduction by the Chinese government six weeks ago that family or friends have had any contact with the artist.  Ai’s wife Lu Qing received a call from her local police station in Beijing and then was taken by authorities to an unfamiliar place in Beijing, where she was able to sit across a table from her husband and talk to him for 15 minutes. The visit was heavily supervised by police officials, but Ai, 53, looked healthy.  “It’s a relief to know he is physically okay, but we worry long-term how the detention will affect him mentally,” said Gao Ge, the artist’s sister.  Gao added, “He’s still being detained without any explanation.”  Chinese officials have said Ai is being investigated for economic crimes, and since his arrest, tax investigators have raided his office.

L’Eclair 1897

The advertisements in a newspaper are more full of knowledge in respect to what is going on in a state or community than the editorial columns are.

— Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs From The Plymouth Pulpit, 1887

Dragon Head by Ai Weiwei from 12 Zodiac Heads; an interpretation of 12 animal heads that originally adorned a water clock-fountain in the grounds of Yuanming Yuan, or the Garden of Perfect Brightness, in Beijing.

It has been thirty-seven days since Ai Weiwei was detained at the Beijing Capital International Airport just before boarding a flight to Hong Kong. Other than a few vague, disparate statements, including a one-line report that he was under investigation by police and a threatening warning that Ai “will pay the price”, officials have said little about his whereabouts or the exact reason for his detainment. The day Ai was detained, fifty officers came to his studio, searched the premises, and confiscated laptops and the hard drive from his main computer. Ai’s studio partner, Liu Zhenggang, and his driver, Zhang Jingsong, have been missing since April 9. His assistant, Wen Tao who was escorted with Ai by officials at the airport has been missing ever since. — Liz Sales