2024年4月12日星期五

veneer, striation, plating, strip away. beneath the veneer of unity. National Sciences Academy Asks Court to Strip Sackler Name From Endowment

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National Sciences Academy Asks Court to Strip Sackler Name From Endowment

Israel’s War Cabinet Reflects the National Consensus, for Now
A team of rivals joined together to lead Israel’s war effort. But beneath the veneer of unity, there are political differences and old resentments.

NPR Morning Edition

"In the U.S. you have a class system that operates every bit as ruthlessly as the British class system, but under the veneer of classless meritocracy. There isn't even a self-awareness.

Top 20 Percent Of Americans 'Hoard The American Dream'

Steve Inskeep speaks with Richard V. Reeves, author of the book Dream Hoarders, which argues that the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans unfairly…

NPR.ORG

Everyman's Library

"The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on."
―from "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Arguably the best novel to come out of World War II, in which Heller strips away the veneer of martial glory to expose its insanity, and gives our language a new paradoxical phrase to describe mankind at the mercy of its own institutions.

Make Room, Cynics; MTV Wants to Do Some Good
By TIM ARANGO
After years of celebrating the excesses of youth, MTV is adding shows with a veneer of positive social messages.

Plating, or mekki in Japanese, is the word used to describe the method of depositing a thin layer of precious metal on the surface of an object made of base metal. It is a time-honored technique used to coat with gold the large statue of Buddha at Todaiji temple in Nara that was completed in 752.
Over time, however, the word came to be associated with shoddiness. It is used today, for instance, to denote a veneer of respectability or pleasantness that hides something that is actually not desirable at all.

RAMY GAFNI, a makeup artist in Manhattan, used to have snow white, straight veneers.
He hated them. “They were too perfect,” Mr. Gafni said. “My nickname in college was Lite-Brite.” As a child, Lite-Brite’s natural teeth had grown in with gray striations, a result of antibiotics he had taken. So when he turned 21, he covered the offending teeth with veneers — wafer-thin pieces of porcelain that are bonded atop filed-down teeth.

The Peeling Project showroom was first of nine commercial buildings designed for the BEST Products Company of Richmond, Virginia - a retail merchandiser of hard goods in the USA. Portions of the brick veneer of the facade are peeled away precariously into space, revealing the beyond.

Peeling Project (1971)

這” 購物中心--立面屋皮薄板剝捲開式”，

For all their folksy or counter-cultural veneer, superstars, like ticket-sellers, have an incentive to be as big as possible and to earn the highest rewards. Read more: https://econ.st/3VNjoRi

Illustration: Brett Ryder

veneer
noun
1 [C or U] a thin layer of decorative wood or plastic used to cover a cheaper material:
The wardrobe is made of chipboard with a pine veneer.

2 [S] something which hides something unpleasant or unwanted:
She managed to hide her corrupt dealings under a veneer of respectability.

veneered
adjective
a veneered bookcase/surface/table