Pottery Backstamps

Those mysterious combinations of letters, numerals, pictograms, incised marks and assorted other identifying symbols found on pottery are called “backstamps.” Like every other specialized language, their meaning is beyond the comprehension of a layperson. But if you’ve ever watched a specialist on say, Antiques Roadshow divine detailed information about the who-what-where-when of manufacture from these cryptic marks, you’ve seen how laden with nuance they are to those in the know.

Graphics from the Deep: Submarine Insignia by Ray Young

U.S.S. Loggerhead
Believe me, I wasn’t looking for submarine insignia, when I came across this torpedo-toting loggerhead turtle. But when I saw him in his teeny tiny sailor hat at the University of Wisconsin (Wisconsin Maritime Museum) digital archive, I knew I was meant to post it. Not only is it Memorial Day weekend, it is also Fleet Week in New York and there are sailors everywhere.

The menacing loggerhead was one of 14 submarine insignia designed by Ray Young, a product designer at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company. Manitowoc built 28 submarines during WWII, the last 10 of which had emblems designed by Young. Due to the stealth nature of submarines, a logo is not displayed on the vessel itself, but it is printed on stationery, made into jacket patches, mess hall items, and home-port flags.

Young’s illustration talents were discovered during an in-house “bake-off,” to design the emblem for U.S.S. Kete. His piece, a fish blowing a torpedo from its mouth, was a huge hit and once other commanders saw it, he was flooded with logo requests. “I knocked out an insignia every month,” Young said in an interview with the Herald Times Reporter.

Young also designed four insignia for subs from the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut.


U.S.S. Kete


U.S.S. Kraken
This insignia for the U.S.S. Kraken earned the
distinction of “most outstanding sub insignia in World War II.”


U.S.S. Macbai


U.S.S. Menhaden


U.S.S. Lagarto commissioning party invitation


U.S.S. Corsair


U.S.S. Halfbeak

Scenes from the National Conference for Media Reform

Earlier this month, with the government shutdown narrowly averted, Nancy Pelosi dropped in on the National Conference for Media Reform, to address the crowd of some 2,500 activists, scholars, and journalists.

Free Press, the advocacy group for a diverse and independent media, sponsored the event, which was held at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.

The weekend was jam-packed with panels, lectures, and workshops on everything from Wikileaks to comics to the FCC. Videos of the sessions and talks can be viewed here.

Assorted tidbits …
Bernie Sanders addressed the crowd remotely, and Craig Newmark
appeared on a panel.

A session about the astroturfing exploits of
the Koch family was standing room only.

At a panel about the failure of the financial press, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz identified the inherent problem in relying on business people as sources: “There’s no incentive for good information. There’s much incentive for distorted information.” Watch the panel here.

“The “S” Word, A Short History of An American Tradition … Socialism” by John Nichols of The Nation. I continue to find the image of raising a red flag at Iwo Jima extremely puzzling.

The Seaport World Trade Center
(What says “conference center” better than a lonely faux ficus tree?)


Lawrence Lessig
Law professor and political activist, Lawrence Lessig, has a unique presentation style, and with a little help from Sony Bono, David Byrne, and Mickey Mouse, he keeps the audience riveted.
Yes, he was preaching to the choir, but there really is no overstating the distorting effect of big money on the legislative process.
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You can watch his presentation here.


Amy Goodman, who has been at every NCMR, broadcast ‘Democracy Now’ live from the conference. She is a passionate crusader for independent media, which she defines very clearly as:

Media that’s not brought to us by the weapons manufacturers when we deal with war, not brought to us by insurance companies and big pharma when we cover the health care debate, not brought to us by the oil, gas, coal, or nuclear industries when we’re dealing with global warming.

I liked the way Malkia Cyril, of the Center for Media Justice, framed what’s at stake:

This is about who gets to tell the story of how we live and how we die. And I submit to you, that the revolution will be televised, the only question is by who-- AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, or you?

Some sites to visit
Free Press
Common Cause
BanksterUSA
Rootstrikers.org
Think Progress
Global Post
Global Voices
Color of Change
Naked Capitalism
Personal Democracy Forum
SourceWatch
(By the way, SourceWatch has a serious logo problem.)