Thursday, June 30, 2016
Wedding Music?
From the Huffington Post -
The 21 Most Requested Wedding Songs, According To DJs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-21-most-requested-wedding-songs-according-to-djs_us_577405c9e4b0bd4b0b133fe3?section=
The 21 Most Requested Wedding Songs, According To DJs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-21-most-requested-wedding-songs-according-to-djs_us_577405c9e4b0bd4b0b133fe3?section=
Medical Testing at Home
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Inexpensive Paper Strips Can Test For Malaria, Cancer At Home
They’re particularly useful for people who live in remote areas and struggle to get access to medical care.
Chemists at The Ohio State University are in the process of developing paper strips that can detect life-threatening diseases, including some cancers and malaria. Users can apply a drop of blood to the strip and then send it to a lab to be tested, according to a news release from the university.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paper-strips-will-test-for-malaria-cancer-at-home_us_57743ec1e4b042fba1cf1260?section=
Inexpensive Paper Strips Can Test For Malaria, Cancer At Home
They’re particularly useful for people who live in remote areas and struggle to get access to medical care.
 |
| PAM FROST GORDER/COURTESY OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Abraham Badu-Tawiah, a chemist at The Ohio State University, has invented an inexpensive, paper-based test for diseases including cancer and malaria. |
Chemists at The Ohio State University are in the process of developing paper strips that can detect life-threatening diseases, including some cancers and malaria. Users can apply a drop of blood to the strip and then send it to a lab to be tested, according to a news release from the university.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paper-strips-will-test-for-malaria-cancer-at-home_us_57743ec1e4b042fba1cf1260?section=
Save the Date?
An excerpt from News 360 -
Amazon's Prime Day clearout returns on July 12th
Amazon's going to try and make Prime Day a thing in perpetuity.
In order to build hype for July 12th, Prime members will be teased with a series of countdown deals leading up to the big day. Between July 5th and 11th, users will be offered bargain bundles such as a 32-inch TV and a bundled Fire TV stick for $119.99. They'll also get the chance to win a "Prime Music Experience," that involves hanging out with artists such as Pentatonic, Flo Rida or Blink 182. All you have to do to enter is listen to a song from a "select Prime Music playlist," each one associated with a prize.
http://news360.com/digestarticle/XDkLrKD_RUOc0V-Ajf-mVg
Amazon's Prime Day clearout returns on July 12th
Amazon's going to try and make Prime Day a thing in perpetuity.
By Daniel Cooper
In order to build hype for July 12th, Prime members will be teased with a series of countdown deals leading up to the big day. Between July 5th and 11th, users will be offered bargain bundles such as a 32-inch TV and a bundled Fire TV stick for $119.99. They'll also get the chance to win a "Prime Music Experience," that involves hanging out with artists such as Pentatonic, Flo Rida or Blink 182. All you have to do to enter is listen to a song from a "select Prime Music playlist," each one associated with a prize.
http://news360.com/digestarticle/XDkLrKD_RUOc0V-Ajf-mVg
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
The Subtle and Not So Subtle Messages
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
‘Super racist’ pool safety poster prompts Red Cross apology
By Peter Holley
 |
| (Courtesy Margaret Sawyer) |
The poster — titled “Be Cool, Follow The Rules” — depicts various children playing at the pool. But white children are labeled as behaving in a “cool” way while children of color who are depicted defying pool rules are labeled “not cool.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/27/super-racist-pool-safety-poster-prompts-red-cross-apology/?tid=pm_national_pop_b
You Could Help
An excerpt from The Huffington Post -
You Could Help Save A Trafficking Victim’s Life With Your Hotel Room Pic
Hotel rooms are optimal locations for traffickers because they can pay in cash and switch locations on a nightly basis.
By Eleanor Goldberg
Just snapping a photo of your hotel room the next time you go on vacation could help save a trafficking victim.
Human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing crime, and victims who are exploited for sex aren’t just getting victimized in unsuspecting homes and closed off backrooms.
Hotels are optimal spots for traffickers to exploit their victims because they can pay for the rooms in cash and change locations on a nightly basis without being detected.
From 2007 to last year, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and Polaris’s BeFree texting helpline received 1,434 reports of human trafficking in hotels and motels.
That’s why TraffickCam, a new app, is urging vacationers to upload pictures of their hotel rooms. The goal is to create a database of hotel rooms to match up against photos that pimps post online.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taking-a-photo-of-your-hotel-room-could-help-save-a-trafficking-victims-life_us_57714091e4b0f168323a1ed7?section=
You Could Help Save A Trafficking Victim’s Life With Your Hotel Room Pic
Hotel rooms are optimal locations for traffickers because they can pay in cash and switch locations on a nightly basis.
By Eleanor Goldberg
Just snapping a photo of your hotel room the next time you go on vacation could help save a trafficking victim.
Human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing crime, and victims who are exploited for sex aren’t just getting victimized in unsuspecting homes and closed off backrooms.
Hotels are optimal spots for traffickers to exploit their victims because they can pay for the rooms in cash and change locations on a nightly basis without being detected.
From 2007 to last year, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and Polaris’s BeFree texting helpline received 1,434 reports of human trafficking in hotels and motels.
That’s why TraffickCam, a new app, is urging vacationers to upload pictures of their hotel rooms. The goal is to create a database of hotel rooms to match up against photos that pimps post online.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taking-a-photo-of-your-hotel-room-could-help-save-a-trafficking-victims-life_us_57714091e4b0f168323a1ed7?section=
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
A Needed Road Map
An excerpt from Now I Know -
The Negro Motorist Green Book
Every year, Zagat publishes a series of guides to the restaurants in virtually every major city in the United States. The guides feature short, curated descriptions of each eatery, touching upon the must-have (or must-avoid) dishes, the service, the decor, and of course, the price. But it what Zagat doesn’t tell you is if they’ll serve you if you’re black.
Hopefully, there’s good reason for that -- for more than fifty years, it’s been illegal for a restaurant in the United States to refuse service to a diner on the basis of his or her race, and culturally, doing so is simply unacceptable. But again, that wasn’t true a half-century or so ago. For an African-American family, traveling through certain parts of the country was difficult, as finding a place to eat or sleep which wanted your business could be hard to come by.
And before the law could catch up to the problem, a postal worker did.
The result: the Negro Motorist Green Book
http://nowiknow.com/the-negro-motorist-green-book/
The Negro Motorist Green Book
Every year, Zagat publishes a series of guides to the restaurants in virtually every major city in the United States. The guides feature short, curated descriptions of each eatery, touching upon the must-have (or must-avoid) dishes, the service, the decor, and of course, the price. But it what Zagat doesn’t tell you is if they’ll serve you if you’re black.
Hopefully, there’s good reason for that -- for more than fifty years, it’s been illegal for a restaurant in the United States to refuse service to a diner on the basis of his or her race, and culturally, doing so is simply unacceptable. But again, that wasn’t true a half-century or so ago. For an African-American family, traveling through certain parts of the country was difficult, as finding a place to eat or sleep which wanted your business could be hard to come by.
And before the law could catch up to the problem, a postal worker did.
The result: the Negro Motorist Green Book
http://nowiknow.com/the-negro-motorist-green-book/
He Chose Us
There has been lots of chatter about Jesse Williams' spectacular speech last night as the recipient of the 2016 BET Humanitarian Award. This young man was oozing with enlightenment and encouragement, all for the world to see.
The thing that resonated with me was his acknowledgement of, and appreciation for, black women and the fact that too often we're at the forefront of struggles to make changes, and yet while we're taking care of everyone else, few people are taking care of us.
In acknowledging that this award is to be shared with others, he said, “Now, this is also in particular for the black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.”
How many times have we heard this?
Right.
Not many.
One of the articles I read about the speech compared Jesse to President Obama, a biracial man who chose a sho' nuff, no doubt about it, black woman as his wife. So too, has this young man.
Should this make a difference?
Should it matter?
You decide.
Whichever way the wind blows for you, this I can say with confidence.
I can't help but be filled with pride when I see someone - young, gifted, and talented (and truth be told could have any woman he wanted) - who makes a choice to chose someone who looks like me.
Does this invalidate those who choose otherwise?
No.
But from my side of the fence, I appreciate the validation.
And this was just one of many truths he spoke.
He was on fire!
Cultural appropriation anyone?
If you haven't seen his speech, check it out in the previous post, or google Jesse Williams BET.
The thing that resonated with me was his acknowledgement of, and appreciation for, black women and the fact that too often we're at the forefront of struggles to make changes, and yet while we're taking care of everyone else, few people are taking care of us.
In acknowledging that this award is to be shared with others, he said, “Now, this is also in particular for the black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.”
How many times have we heard this?
Right.
Not many.
One of the articles I read about the speech compared Jesse to President Obama, a biracial man who chose a sho' nuff, no doubt about it, black woman as his wife. So too, has this young man.
Should this make a difference?
Should it matter?
You decide.
Whichever way the wind blows for you, this I can say with confidence.
I can't help but be filled with pride when I see someone - young, gifted, and talented (and truth be told could have any woman he wanted) - who makes a choice to chose someone who looks like me.
Does this invalidate those who choose otherwise?
No.
But from my side of the fence, I appreciate the validation.
And this was just one of many truths he spoke.
He was on fire!
Cultural appropriation anyone?
If you haven't seen his speech, check it out in the previous post, or google Jesse Williams BET.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Buried in Boxes
As quickly as it began, my time here in the Middle East is coming to an end.
I'll be heading back to the US in mid-July.
As I've said many times before, this has been an amazing journey, one that I'll treasure forever.
It has been a time of extraordinary growth and reflection, and I'm confident in saying I'm a better person because of it.
So, as I pack up my world once again, please understand as I go dark for a few days while everything gets sorted.
It has been a blast.
As always, thanks for coming along with me.
Friday, June 24, 2016
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Tennessee fireflies: A summertime light show
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fireflies-of-the-great-smoky-mountains
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
How Will I Be Remembered?
The older I get, the more precious I recognize time is.
I wonder, how will I be remembered?
Will I be remembered as a hothead, quick to anger and quick to pounce?
Will I be remembered as close-minded and stubborn?
Will I be remembered as selfish and self-centered?
Will I be remembered as a woman who could put any man to shame in a cussing battle?
I wonder because I've been all of those things.
My life has been littered with ugly periods.
Periods of self-pity and self-doubt.
Periods of lashing out instead of looking in.
But as I approach 60 years old, I appreciate life so much more, and I am better equipped to understand that I have choices.
I know now that I've always had choices.
I can choose to be miserable, or I can choose to be happy.
I can choose to be a b*tch, or I can choose to be a blessing.
I can choose to see the good in others, or I can nitpick and magnify every perceived fault.
I can choose to see life as a glass half full, or I can choose to see it half empty.
Quoting Oprah, here's what I know for sure.
I know that if I dropped dead today (heaven forbid), I have lived a magnificent life.
Not just because of this marvelous adventure I've been on for the past five years that has taken me around the world, but because of the people I've met along the way, and the family I was blessed to be born in, and the one I was even more bless to have.
I thank God for the little country town of China, Texas where I first learned to live alone in peace.
I thank God for my mother for the wisdom and understanding she imparted, and the wherewithal to finally "get" all of the things she was trying to teach us.
I thank God for my brothers who wrapped me in love and protection, especially Forrest, who has been more of a father to me than our father ever was.
I thank God for the segregated environment where I learned my worth when I was knee-high to a duck so that we when did integrate, it was rooted in my being.
I thank God for the experience of attending an HBCU, where there were thousands of black folks with one goal in mind, to be better so that we could do better.
I thank God for my ex-husband (believe me when I say I never thought I'd be writing these words) for the good times and bad because it was through these experiences that I was forced to grow up.
I thank God for my boys who are now men with families of their own, men that I'm so very proud of.
I thank God for my grandchildren. What a blessing they are!
I thank God for this time of living and working in a foreign land and how it has opened my eyes and broadened my perspective in unimaginable and extraordinary ways.
So, here's how I hope to be remembered.
I hope that I'll be remembered as someone who loved to learn.
As someone who learned from her mistakes.
As someone who learned to be brave enough to speak her mind, not in anger and retribution, but in love and understanding (I'm still working on this one).
As someone who had faith in God and the goodness of humanity.
As someone who strived to be a blessing, and never a burden.
As someone who appreciated life and the many lessons it teaches us.
I hope that I'll be remembered as the flawed human being I am, always striving to be better.
I wonder, how will I be remembered?
Will I be remembered as a hothead, quick to anger and quick to pounce?
Will I be remembered as close-minded and stubborn?
Will I be remembered as selfish and self-centered?
Will I be remembered as a woman who could put any man to shame in a cussing battle?
I wonder because I've been all of those things.
My life has been littered with ugly periods.
Periods of self-pity and self-doubt.
Periods of lashing out instead of looking in.
But as I approach 60 years old, I appreciate life so much more, and I am better equipped to understand that I have choices.
I know now that I've always had choices.
I can choose to be miserable, or I can choose to be happy.
I can choose to be a b*tch, or I can choose to be a blessing.
I can choose to see the good in others, or I can nitpick and magnify every perceived fault.
I can choose to see life as a glass half full, or I can choose to see it half empty.
Quoting Oprah, here's what I know for sure.
I know that if I dropped dead today (heaven forbid), I have lived a magnificent life.
Not just because of this marvelous adventure I've been on for the past five years that has taken me around the world, but because of the people I've met along the way, and the family I was blessed to be born in, and the one I was even more bless to have.
I thank God for the little country town of China, Texas where I first learned to live alone in peace.
I thank God for my mother for the wisdom and understanding she imparted, and the wherewithal to finally "get" all of the things she was trying to teach us.
I thank God for my brothers who wrapped me in love and protection, especially Forrest, who has been more of a father to me than our father ever was.
I thank God for the segregated environment where I learned my worth when I was knee-high to a duck so that we when did integrate, it was rooted in my being.
I thank God for the experience of attending an HBCU, where there were thousands of black folks with one goal in mind, to be better so that we could do better.
I thank God for my ex-husband (believe me when I say I never thought I'd be writing these words) for the good times and bad because it was through these experiences that I was forced to grow up.
I thank God for my boys who are now men with families of their own, men that I'm so very proud of.
I thank God for my grandchildren. What a blessing they are!
I thank God for this time of living and working in a foreign land and how it has opened my eyes and broadened my perspective in unimaginable and extraordinary ways.
So, here's how I hope to be remembered.
I hope that I'll be remembered as someone who loved to learn.
As someone who learned from her mistakes.
As someone who learned to be brave enough to speak her mind, not in anger and retribution, but in love and understanding (I'm still working on this one).
As someone who had faith in God and the goodness of humanity.
As someone who strived to be a blessing, and never a burden.
As someone who appreciated life and the many lessons it teaches us.
I hope that I'll be remembered as the flawed human being I am, always striving to be better.
Say What?
An excerpt from LifeHack -
Science Explains How Camping For A Week Can Largely Change Your Productivity
When someone starts talking about productivity, and how to be more productive our mind often drifts off. We may think that to become more productive we need to undertake some difficult model of behavior or to adopt habits that we feel will be hard to stick to. However, recent scientific findings have indicated a week of camping can effectively change our sleeping patterns, which in turn can lead to greater alertness and productivity, because early risers are found to be more productive than night owls.
http://www.lifehack.org/405674/science-explains-how-camping-for-a-week-can-largely-change-your-productivity
Science Explains How Camping For A Week Can Largely Change Your Productivity
When someone starts talking about productivity, and how to be more productive our mind often drifts off. We may think that to become more productive we need to undertake some difficult model of behavior or to adopt habits that we feel will be hard to stick to. However, recent scientific findings have indicated a week of camping can effectively change our sleeping patterns, which in turn can lead to greater alertness and productivity, because early risers are found to be more productive than night owls.
http://www.lifehack.org/405674/science-explains-how-camping-for-a-week-can-largely-change-your-productivity
Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran & Gary Clark Jr. Tribute Stevie Wonder
From BlackAmerciaWeb -
Top 10 Best Musical Tributes Ever
http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/06/22/top-10-best-musical-tributes-ever/
Top 10 Best Musical Tributes Ever
http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/06/22/top-10-best-musical-tributes-ever/
Portable Showers
An excerpt from Upworthy -
He turned a $5,000 truck into a mobile shower that's making a big difference.
JUNE 21, 2016
That's why Austin wants to make it easier for people in his city to get clean using an incredible mobile shower truck.
It's like a food truck, but for showers! Photo by Shower to the People, used with permission.
The brilliant name for his new nonprofit? Shower to the People.
Jake bought an old truck off Craigslist for $5,000, and after a successful GoFundMe campaign and help from a bunch of really smart people, he retrofitted it to house two private shower stalls with sinks and mirrors.
The unit hooks up to fire hydrants and heats the water using an external generator, meaning the truck can travel and provide free, warm showers pretty much anywhere in the city.
According to Austin, St. Louis has plenty of homeless shelters, but the showers are usually only open to official residents.
"Folks will save up what money they can find and try to get a gym membership. Beyond that they'll use public sinks, libraries, the river. Or they'll go into people's backyards to use the hose," he says.
The Shower to the People truck is an awesome, low-cost solution that offers more privacy, more convenience, better-kept facilities, and shower services for 60 people every day.
http://www.upworthy.com/he-turned-a-5000-truck-into-a-mobile-shower-thats-making-a-big-difference?c=upw1
He turned a $5,000 truck into a mobile shower that's making a big difference.
JUNE 21, 2016
That's why Austin wants to make it easier for people in his city to get clean using an incredible mobile shower truck.
 |
The brilliant name for his new nonprofit? Shower to the People.
Jake bought an old truck off Craigslist for $5,000, and after a successful GoFundMe campaign and help from a bunch of really smart people, he retrofitted it to house two private shower stalls with sinks and mirrors.
The unit hooks up to fire hydrants and heats the water using an external generator, meaning the truck can travel and provide free, warm showers pretty much anywhere in the city.
According to Austin, St. Louis has plenty of homeless shelters, but the showers are usually only open to official residents.
"Folks will save up what money they can find and try to get a gym membership. Beyond that they'll use public sinks, libraries, the river. Or they'll go into people's backyards to use the hose," he says.
The Shower to the People truck is an awesome, low-cost solution that offers more privacy, more convenience, better-kept facilities, and shower services for 60 people every day.
http://www.upworthy.com/he-turned-a-5000-truck-into-a-mobile-shower-thats-making-a-big-difference?c=upw1
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
My. My. My.
ESPN. The Body Issue.
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/body/espn-magazine-body-issue?ex_cid=espntw
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/body/espn-magazine-body-issue?ex_cid=espntw
Broadway for Orlando - What The World Needs Now is Love - Music Video
http://www.broadwayrecords.com/shop/broadway-for-orlando-what-the-world-needs-now-is-love-mp3
Does It Matter?
Excerpts from Atlas Obscura -
In Indonesia, Non-Binary Gender is a Centuries-Old Idea
Modern Western culture is slowly acknowledging gender fluidity, but "third genders" and other classifications have existed throughout history.
By Jessie Guy-Ryan
This week, an Oregon judge ruled to allow Jamie Shupe, a 52-year-old former Army mechanic, to list themselves as non-binary—that is, neither male nor female on their driver’s license. The ruling is likely the first time that an individual has been allowed to legally identify as non-binary in the United States, and represents part of a growing effort around the world to extend legal recognition to those whose identities fall outside the masculine/feminine gender binary.
~~~~~~~~~
The Bugis are the largest ethnic group in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and are unique in their conception of five distinct gender identities. (Bold is mine). Aside from the cisgender masculinity and femininity that Westerners are broadly familiar with, the Bugis interpretation of gender includes calabai (feminine men), calalai (masculine women) and bissu, which anthropologist Sharyn Graham describes as a “meta-gender” considered to be “a combination of all genders.” In a 2002 article for the International Institute of Asian Studies’ Newsletter, Graham explains the key role bissu play in Bugis culture.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-indonesia-nonbinary-gender-is-a-centuriesold-idea
In Indonesia, Non-Binary Gender is a Centuries-Old Idea
Modern Western culture is slowly acknowledging gender fluidity, but "third genders" and other classifications have existed throughout history.
By Jessie Guy-Ryan
This week, an Oregon judge ruled to allow Jamie Shupe, a 52-year-old former Army mechanic, to list themselves as non-binary—that is, neither male nor female on their driver’s license. The ruling is likely the first time that an individual has been allowed to legally identify as non-binary in the United States, and represents part of a growing effort around the world to extend legal recognition to those whose identities fall outside the masculine/feminine gender binary.
~~~~~~~~~
The Bugis are the largest ethnic group in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and are unique in their conception of five distinct gender identities. (Bold is mine). Aside from the cisgender masculinity and femininity that Westerners are broadly familiar with, the Bugis interpretation of gender includes calabai (feminine men), calalai (masculine women) and bissu, which anthropologist Sharyn Graham describes as a “meta-gender” considered to be “a combination of all genders.” In a 2002 article for the International Institute of Asian Studies’ Newsletter, Graham explains the key role bissu play in Bugis culture.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-indonesia-nonbinary-gender-is-a-centuriesold-idea
Sacrifices Made in the Name of Science
From Atlas Obscura -
Ranking the Pain of Stinging Insects, From ‘Caustic’ to ‘Blinding'
One passionate entomologist poetically describes and ranks over 70 species' painful stings.
By Lauren Young
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-colorful-pain-index-of-the-stinging-ants-bees-and-wasps-around-the-world
Ranking the Pain of Stinging Insects, From ‘Caustic’ to ‘Blinding'
One passionate entomologist poetically describes and ranks over 70 species' painful stings.
By Lauren Young
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-colorful-pain-index-of-the-stinging-ants-bees-and-wasps-around-the-world
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Only in Houston
An excerpt from the New York Times -
50,000 Cans of Beer on the Wall
By MANNY FERNANDEZ
Zoning is an easy subject to grasp in Houston: It doesn’t exist here. Houston is the largest city in the country without zoning laws. The significance of this didn’t sink in until last year, when my son was in kindergarten and he came up with the idea of turning our house into a public library. I’m not quite sure what he envisioned, and whether he wanted bookcases in all our bedrooms or just his, and whether we would be open on Saturdays or just on weekdays.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/insider/50000-cans-of-beer-on-the-wall.html?hpw&rref=times-insider&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
50,000 Cans of Beer on the Wall
By MANNY FERNANDEZ
Zoning is an easy subject to grasp in Houston: It doesn’t exist here. Houston is the largest city in the country without zoning laws. The significance of this didn’t sink in until last year, when my son was in kindergarten and he came up with the idea of turning our house into a public library. I’m not quite sure what he envisioned, and whether he wanted bookcases in all our bedrooms or just his, and whether we would be open on Saturdays or just on weekdays.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/insider/50000-cans-of-beer-on-the-wall.html?hpw&rref=times-insider&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Happy Father's Day
To all you dads, young and old.
To all you who are absolutely clueless, and know it, and to the seasoned veterans who have figured it out.
I think fathers have it harder.
Somehow, so much about being a mom is instinctive.
Fatherhood, not so much.
How else do you explain how a man can walk out on his kids, seeing them every blue moon, if then, and be OK with that.
Although it happens with women who walk away from their offspring, but it's rare.
So, for all of you dads who have stuck it out, kudos.
We don't need you to be perfect, we just need you to be there.
Even if you're separated or divorced, you can and should, still be there for your kids.
They need you.
They need to know that no matter what, you've got them.
They need to know they can depend on you.
You see, as much as we moms fill in the blanks and pull up the slack when you're gone, by choice or otherwise, it's no substitute for the real thing.
For those of you who would argue that some people are better off with their fathers out of their lives (those who are abusive, for example), I agree. Many a mom has run away to escape the horrors in their home, but I'd like to think that this is rare, too.
I choose to believe that most people want to do the right thing.
Most fathers want to be there.
They want to be better.
So for those of you fathers who are there, trying, doing your best to make it work,
Happy Father's Day!
And for those of you who are not . . .
Come on guys, you got this.
To all you who are absolutely clueless, and know it, and to the seasoned veterans who have figured it out.
I think fathers have it harder.
Somehow, so much about being a mom is instinctive.
Fatherhood, not so much.
How else do you explain how a man can walk out on his kids, seeing them every blue moon, if then, and be OK with that.
Although it happens with women who walk away from their offspring, but it's rare.
So, for all of you dads who have stuck it out, kudos.
We don't need you to be perfect, we just need you to be there.
Even if you're separated or divorced, you can and should, still be there for your kids.
They need you.
They need to know that no matter what, you've got them.
They need to know they can depend on you.
You see, as much as we moms fill in the blanks and pull up the slack when you're gone, by choice or otherwise, it's no substitute for the real thing.
For those of you who would argue that some people are better off with their fathers out of their lives (those who are abusive, for example), I agree. Many a mom has run away to escape the horrors in their home, but I'd like to think that this is rare, too.
I choose to believe that most people want to do the right thing.
Most fathers want to be there.
They want to be better.
So for those of you fathers who are there, trying, doing your best to make it work,
Happy Father's Day!
And for those of you who are not . . .
Come on guys, you got this.
Lessons Learned
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
I watched my dad work, and I learned about life
By Ted Gup
I had much to learn. Once I forgot to lower the beam into the steel brace securing the back door, leaving it vulnerable to thieves. Father was not pleased. He explained to me that our “livelihood” depended upon the store and that it was my duty to safeguard it. I had let him down.
But I also remember the Sunday when, on our way to the Stark County Fair, we stopped by the store and discovered that it had been broken into. The drawer to the cash register was emptied and smashed in pieces on the floor, and a rack of suits was gone. Instead of fuming, Father calmly phoned the alarm company and off we went to the fair. We cheered the tractor pulls, sized up the prize bulls and marveled at gargantuan pumpkins — but not another word was spoken of the break-in. A few days later my father took out an ad in the local paper, The Repository, offering the robbers free alterations for anything that didn’t fit and a standing invitation to return as paying customers. From that I learned that what really counted lay beyond the reach of thieves. And, yes, that humor could be found in unexpected places.
I liked working in the back of the store. My father made sure the bathroom detail fell to me. It was a message intended not only for me but also for everyone in the store who watched to see how the boss’s son would be treated. With brush and Comet, I proudly scrubbed away the stains until the bowl and sink gleamed. I broke up boxes and piled them high in the back alley for removal. I wielded a wide broom around and under the tailor’s shop and steam press, sweeping up fallen razor blades, bits of chalk, bobbins, severed cuffs, orphaned threads and discarded plastic coffee cups. It was also my chance to talk with the tailor, Remo, an Italian who always drove a new Riviera, and to steal a glimpse of his wall calendar that featured pin-ups. My father respected him and the hours he put in. Remo, my father explained, was an “immigrant,” a word he uttered as if it were a title of nobility and a synonym for sacrifice.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-i-learned-from-watching-my-dad-at-work/2016/06/17/455c2dcc-3308-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_bz-gup454pm_1-duplicate%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
I watched my dad work, and I learned about life
By Ted Gup
I had much to learn. Once I forgot to lower the beam into the steel brace securing the back door, leaving it vulnerable to thieves. Father was not pleased. He explained to me that our “livelihood” depended upon the store and that it was my duty to safeguard it. I had let him down.
But I also remember the Sunday when, on our way to the Stark County Fair, we stopped by the store and discovered that it had been broken into. The drawer to the cash register was emptied and smashed in pieces on the floor, and a rack of suits was gone. Instead of fuming, Father calmly phoned the alarm company and off we went to the fair. We cheered the tractor pulls, sized up the prize bulls and marveled at gargantuan pumpkins — but not another word was spoken of the break-in. A few days later my father took out an ad in the local paper, The Repository, offering the robbers free alterations for anything that didn’t fit and a standing invitation to return as paying customers. From that I learned that what really counted lay beyond the reach of thieves. And, yes, that humor could be found in unexpected places.
I liked working in the back of the store. My father made sure the bathroom detail fell to me. It was a message intended not only for me but also for everyone in the store who watched to see how the boss’s son would be treated. With brush and Comet, I proudly scrubbed away the stains until the bowl and sink gleamed. I broke up boxes and piled them high in the back alley for removal. I wielded a wide broom around and under the tailor’s shop and steam press, sweeping up fallen razor blades, bits of chalk, bobbins, severed cuffs, orphaned threads and discarded plastic coffee cups. It was also my chance to talk with the tailor, Remo, an Italian who always drove a new Riviera, and to steal a glimpse of his wall calendar that featured pin-ups. My father respected him and the hours he put in. Remo, my father explained, was an “immigrant,” a word he uttered as if it were a title of nobility and a synonym for sacrifice.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-i-learned-from-watching-my-dad-at-work/2016/06/17/455c2dcc-3308-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_bz-gup454pm_1-duplicate%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
This is Why
Excerpts from The Undefeated - H/T Ben
O.J. was the lesser of two evils
‘I was rooting much more against the LAPD than for Simpson.’ By Michael Wilbon
Now, as then, white friends and colleagues reacted with horror when they perceived we were “rooting for O.J.”
Why are you rooting for him to escape the police?
Why are you cheering his acquittal when there was so much evidence against him?
Why? Because there has been overwhelming evidence against white murderers and rapists for 400 years. and when black victims got no justice, there was usually zero national outrage. To quote Malcolm X, perhaps the chickens had come home to roost. Turnabout brought some teeny-tiny measure of a sense of universal justice, if not justice in our legal system. For every O.J. Simpson (and there seemed to be only one) there were thousands of Byron De La Beckwiths littering American history, as if the evidence against him wasn’t overwhelming after he murdered Medgar Evers and nonetheless walked for three decades.
~~~~~~~~~~
What Made in America has done, in my case, is hardened my original positions. It has nothing to do with whether I believe Simpson committed the murders (I do). But the fact that Clark arrogantly presumed that she would connect with black female jurors – as if she was Oprah – only to find out the black female jurors hated her. The fact that she and Bill Hodgman are still essentially lamenting on camera that they were unable to rig an all-or mostly-white jury enables anybody who looks closely to see their true colors. Clark isn’t as loathsome as Fuhrman, who is nearly as dangerous now as he was then. He proclaims on camera “They found a flaw in me,” as if his racist policing was merely a flaw.
http://theundefeated.com/features/o-j-was-the-lesser-of-two-evils/
O.J. was the lesser of two evils
‘I was rooting much more against the LAPD than for Simpson.’ By Michael Wilbon
Now, as then, white friends and colleagues reacted with horror when they perceived we were “rooting for O.J.”
Why are you rooting for him to escape the police?
Why are you cheering his acquittal when there was so much evidence against him?
Why? Because there has been overwhelming evidence against white murderers and rapists for 400 years. and when black victims got no justice, there was usually zero national outrage. To quote Malcolm X, perhaps the chickens had come home to roost. Turnabout brought some teeny-tiny measure of a sense of universal justice, if not justice in our legal system. For every O.J. Simpson (and there seemed to be only one) there were thousands of Byron De La Beckwiths littering American history, as if the evidence against him wasn’t overwhelming after he murdered Medgar Evers and nonetheless walked for three decades.
~~~~~~~~~~
What Made in America has done, in my case, is hardened my original positions. It has nothing to do with whether I believe Simpson committed the murders (I do). But the fact that Clark arrogantly presumed that she would connect with black female jurors – as if she was Oprah – only to find out the black female jurors hated her. The fact that she and Bill Hodgman are still essentially lamenting on camera that they were unable to rig an all-or mostly-white jury enables anybody who looks closely to see their true colors. Clark isn’t as loathsome as Fuhrman, who is nearly as dangerous now as he was then. He proclaims on camera “They found a flaw in me,” as if his racist policing was merely a flaw.
http://theundefeated.com/features/o-j-was-the-lesser-of-two-evils/
I've Learned, Part 2
On most days, I choose not to give unsolicited advice, always remembering my Mom's words, "The folks who give you advice don't pay for your mistakes."
Having said that, I'm going to add to a previous post and share more things I've learned along the way.
Here goes.
I've learned . . .
To love myself.
I can choose to hate myself or embrace myself. I choose to embrace me. Love me. Not in a narcissistic way, but in a way that validates me, reminding me that I matter, just the way I am.
I've learned . . .
You're never too old for adventure.
I've learned . . .
It's never wrong to do right.
I've learned . . .
To listen to the dissenting voices, then make a decision.
I've learned . . .
That being happy for others doesn't diminish my happiness, but adds to it.
I've learned . . .
That the easiest thing in the world is just being me. The struggle came when I tried to be someone else.
I've learned . . .
To bloom where I'm planted. No matter how rich or how barren the land.
I've learned . . .
The value of reflection. What worked? What didn't? What could I do differently? How could I have helped more?
I've learned . . .
The value of learning. Of surrounding myself with people who are smarter than me.
I've learned . . .
That food tastes better when it's shared with others.
I've learned . . .
That before you can love someone else, you have to love yourself.
I've learned . . .
Not to make someone a priority in your life, when you're only an option in their's.
I've learned . . .
That some people are destined to be in your life forever, and some are just passing through, and either way, it's OK.
I've learned . . .
To own my mistakes. To learn from them and move on.
I've learned . . .
How little I know.
Having said that, I'm going to add to a previous post and share more things I've learned along the way.
Here goes.
I've learned . . .
To love myself.
I can choose to hate myself or embrace myself. I choose to embrace me. Love me. Not in a narcissistic way, but in a way that validates me, reminding me that I matter, just the way I am.
I've learned . . .
You're never too old for adventure.
I've learned . . .
It's never wrong to do right.
I've learned . . .
To listen to the dissenting voices, then make a decision.
I've learned . . .
That being happy for others doesn't diminish my happiness, but adds to it.
I've learned . . .
That the easiest thing in the world is just being me. The struggle came when I tried to be someone else.
I've learned . . .
To bloom where I'm planted. No matter how rich or how barren the land.
I've learned . . .
The value of reflection. What worked? What didn't? What could I do differently? How could I have helped more?
I've learned . . .
The value of learning. Of surrounding myself with people who are smarter than me.
I've learned . . .
That food tastes better when it's shared with others.
I've learned . . .
That before you can love someone else, you have to love yourself.
I've learned . . .
Not to make someone a priority in your life, when you're only an option in their's.
I've learned . . .
That some people are destined to be in your life forever, and some are just passing through, and either way, it's OK.
I've learned . . .
To own my mistakes. To learn from them and move on.
I've learned . . .
How little I know.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Flippin' Good Time
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Donnell Whittenburg closes in on stardom, one vault at a time
By Dave Sheinin
Brown, a single mother of three, was desperate to find the boy an outlet, so one day she scraped together some money and drove him out to the suburbs north of town. He was 7 years old. And on the third day of the beginners’ gymnastics class, someone tapped her on the shoulder: A woman said the coach of the elite boys’ team wanted to talk to her. He had seen Donnell. He wanted to coach him.
That’s how it all started — how Donnell Whittenburg found his way to the sport that would eventually become his calling, and that, some 14 years later, would bring him to the cusp of stardom — closing in on a berth on the U.S. Olympic men’s gymnastics team, with plenty of people saying his extreme power and daring vaults make him a legitimate medal threat at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/donnell-whittenburg-closes-in-on-stardom-one-vault-at-a-time/2016/06/17/fb5a0f1a-2811-11e6-b989-4e5479715b54_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Donnell Whittenburg closes in on stardom, one vault at a time
By Dave Sheinin
 |
| Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore will try to nail down a spot on the five-man Olympic team at next weekend’s men’s gymnastics trials in St. Louis. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) |
Brown, a single mother of three, was desperate to find the boy an outlet, so one day she scraped together some money and drove him out to the suburbs north of town. He was 7 years old. And on the third day of the beginners’ gymnastics class, someone tapped her on the shoulder: A woman said the coach of the elite boys’ team wanted to talk to her. He had seen Donnell. He wanted to coach him.
That’s how it all started — how Donnell Whittenburg found his way to the sport that would eventually become his calling, and that, some 14 years later, would bring him to the cusp of stardom — closing in on a berth on the U.S. Olympic men’s gymnastics team, with plenty of people saying his extreme power and daring vaults make him a legitimate medal threat at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/donnell-whittenburg-closes-in-on-stardom-one-vault-at-a-time/2016/06/17/fb5a0f1a-2811-11e6-b989-4e5479715b54_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Black Girl Magic in Tech
An excerpt from the Good -
Tech’s Best Investment
Black women entrepreneurs generate over $44 billion in revenue annually in the U.S., yet fewer than 1 percent get funded. What gives?
by Demetria Irwin
Black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the country, generating over $44 billion a year in revenue. So why do fewer than one percent of their startup ideas get funded? When a startup earns $1 billion in venture capital, people like to call it a “unicorn.” But we’d like to introduce you to a few true rarities: black women making it work in tech.
https://www.good.is/features/issue-37-techs-best-investment?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood
Tech’s Best Investment
Black women entrepreneurs generate over $44 billion in revenue annually in the U.S., yet fewer than 1 percent get funded. What gives?
by Demetria Irwin
Black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the country, generating over $44 billion a year in revenue. So why do fewer than one percent of their startup ideas get funded? When a startup earns $1 billion in venture capital, people like to call it a “unicorn.” But we’d like to introduce you to a few true rarities: black women making it work in tech.
https://www.good.is/features/issue-37-techs-best-investment?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood
He Nails It
Starting at 18:00, he nails them to the cross. Go to that point to see him eviscerate Congress and their ineptitude on gun control.
Black Blood Donors Banned
An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -
In the Early 1940s, the Red Cross Banned Black Blood Donors
Sometimes, the politics of who can give blood has less to do with medical limitations than cultural ones. By Cara Giaimo
Due to FDA guidelines, many queer men—specifically, men who have had sex with another man sometime in the past year—are not allowed to donate blood. Despite blowback from medical experts, who called prior versions of the ban "antiquated" and "discriminatory," it has remained in place, in one form or another, since it was first instated in 1983. On this particular week, the ban seems like an additional assault. "I want to be able to help my brothers and sisters that are out there, that are suffering right now," one gay man, Garrett Jurss, told NBC Orlando. "But I can't, and I feel helpless."
But this isn't the first time blood donation has mixed with discrimination. Right when the U.S. entered World War II—just as blood donation was becoming a way for people to express their patriotism, dedication, and pride—black Americans nationwide were banned from giving blood. A look back at this ban highlights how decisions regarding who gets to donate blood are driven as much by cultural questions as by medical ones.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-the-early-1940s-the-red-cross-banned-black-blood-donors?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20160617&bt_email=fayesharpe@gmail.com&bt_ts=1466174723567
In the Early 1940s, the Red Cross Banned Black Blood Donors
Sometimes, the politics of who can give blood has less to do with medical limitations than cultural ones. By Cara Giaimo
Due to FDA guidelines, many queer men—specifically, men who have had sex with another man sometime in the past year—are not allowed to donate blood. Despite blowback from medical experts, who called prior versions of the ban "antiquated" and "discriminatory," it has remained in place, in one form or another, since it was first instated in 1983. On this particular week, the ban seems like an additional assault. "I want to be able to help my brothers and sisters that are out there, that are suffering right now," one gay man, Garrett Jurss, told NBC Orlando. "But I can't, and I feel helpless."
But this isn't the first time blood donation has mixed with discrimination. Right when the U.S. entered World War II—just as blood donation was becoming a way for people to express their patriotism, dedication, and pride—black Americans nationwide were banned from giving blood. A look back at this ban highlights how decisions regarding who gets to donate blood are driven as much by cultural questions as by medical ones.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-the-early-1940s-the-red-cross-banned-black-blood-donors?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20160617&bt_email=fayesharpe@gmail.com&bt_ts=1466174723567
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Blinded by His Charm
Excerpts from the Huffington Post -
My Regrets About How I Asked O.J. Simpson About Domestic Abuse
by Roy Firestone
Given the horrible events to come, I wish I had known more, questioned more, and I fault myself for that. I still do to this day. The clip which appears in the documentary makes it appear that I was chummy with Simpson. It makes it appear, even two years BEFORE the murders, that I was dismissing the seriousness of the issue of domestic violence.
~~~~~~~~~~
To be in any way seen as lighthearted, chummy or even mildly enabling some monstrous issue like that still haunts me 22 years later. The Simpson interview is one of the most tragic examples of how the media (including me) and the public trusted and accommodated their heroes, believing their mythology and perpetuating their deification. Even Marcia Clark told me that the LAPD was more interested in getting O.J.’s autograph at his home than investigating the warning signs of domestic violence. They weren’t doing their job.
Neither was he. My two cents.
My Regrets About How I Asked O.J. Simpson About Domestic Abuse
by Roy Firestone
Given the horrible events to come, I wish I had known more, questioned more, and I fault myself for that. I still do to this day. The clip which appears in the documentary makes it appear that I was chummy with Simpson. It makes it appear, even two years BEFORE the murders, that I was dismissing the seriousness of the issue of domestic violence.
~~~~~~~~~~
To be in any way seen as lighthearted, chummy or even mildly enabling some monstrous issue like that still haunts me 22 years later. The Simpson interview is one of the most tragic examples of how the media (including me) and the public trusted and accommodated their heroes, believing their mythology and perpetuating their deification. Even Marcia Clark told me that the LAPD was more interested in getting O.J.’s autograph at his home than investigating the warning signs of domestic violence. They weren’t doing their job.
Neither was he. My two cents.
Quote
"When you encourage rage you cannot then feign surprise when people become enraged."
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/06/a-day-of-infamy/
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/06/a-day-of-infamy/
Perception
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
The Disturbingly Different Responses To The Disney And Cincinnati Zoo Tragedies
by Ranier Maningding
This week, at the Disney World Resort in Florida, a 2-year-old white boy was killed by an alligator. Last month, a 3-year-old Black child fell into a Gorilla exhibit.
Two similar tragedies, two DISTURBINGLY different responses from the public.
But this isn’t about gorillas and alligators. Nor is it about news media describing Matt Graves, the father of the white child, as an employee of a “tech company and a board member of the Chamber of Commerce” while depicting Deonne Dickerson, the father of the Black child, as an absent father with a lengthy criminal record.
Nah.
This is about our country’s OBSESSION with invalidating, patronizing and racializing Black parents. ALL BLACK PARENTS.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ranier-maningding/ranier_b_10511692.html
The Disturbingly Different Responses To The Disney And Cincinnati Zoo Tragedies
by Ranier Maningding
This week, at the Disney World Resort in Florida, a 2-year-old white boy was killed by an alligator. Last month, a 3-year-old Black child fell into a Gorilla exhibit.
Two similar tragedies, two DISTURBINGLY different responses from the public.
But this isn’t about gorillas and alligators. Nor is it about news media describing Matt Graves, the father of the white child, as an employee of a “tech company and a board member of the Chamber of Commerce” while depicting Deonne Dickerson, the father of the Black child, as an absent father with a lengthy criminal record.
Nah.
This is about our country’s OBSESSION with invalidating, patronizing and racializing Black parents. ALL BLACK PARENTS.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ranier-maningding/ranier_b_10511692.html
A Crying Shame, Sanctioned by the Government
An excerpt from the New York Magazine: Science of Us as seen on Vox -
The Tuskegee Experiment Kept Killing Black People Decades After It Ended
As Science of Us has noted before, trust in the medical establishment is really, really important. It’s important both because the medical Establishment (usually) makes a good-faith effort to provide people with solid, empirically supported health information in a manner that hucksters don’t, but also for a simpler reason: If people don’t trust doctors, they won’t go in for checkups or for care when they need it.
For a particularly grim example, take the Tuskegee experiment. That’s the subject of a recently published National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Marcella Alsan, a public-health researcher at Stanford, and Marianne Wanamaker, a University of Tennessee economist. They summarize this “unethical and deadly experiment,” which they call “one of the most egregious examples of medical exploitation in U.S. history,”thusly:
For 40 years, between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) followed hundreds of poor, black men in Tuskegee Alabama, the majority of whom had syphilis, for the stated purpose of understanding the natural history of the disease. The men were denied highly effective treatment for their condition (most egregiously, penicillin, which became standard of care by the mid-1940s) and were actively discouraged from seeking medical advice from practitioners outside the study. Participants were subjected to blood draws, spinal taps, and, eventually, autopsies, by the study’s primarily white medical staff. Survivors later reported that study doctors diagnosed them with “bad blood” for which they believed they were being treated. Compensation for participation included hot meals, the guise of treatment, and burial payments. News of the Tuskegee study became public in 1972 in an exposé by Jean Heller of the Associated Press, and detailed narratives of the deception and its relationship to the medical establishment were widespread. By that point, the majority of the study’s victims were deceased, many from syphilis-related causes. [citations removed, but you can find them in the text itself]
Since the experiment, the authors point out, various public-health researchers have noticed that when they interview African-Americans about their views on the health system, they will often bring up Tuskegee unprompted — it left a deep scar on the country, yes, but on this population in particular. Why should you trust doctors, and particularly white doctors, when the government can allow something this awful to happen?
My People
These ladies are the Western staff at my school. We were having an end-of-the-year dinner at a local restaurant. They are from Britain, South Africa, Ireland, and America and are a marvelous group. I'm so fortunate to know and work with them.
 |
| Al Selaa School EMTs - Ruwais Mall - June 15, 2016 |
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Instructions for Papa
How to Be a Father
These instructions are for me. Your mileage may vary.
by Ernio Hernandez
In some particular order:
You are officially no longer priority #1 or even #2. First rule about fatherhood is you never come first anymore. Thems the breaks, breeder.
Baby first. Mommy second. You third? Hahaha. No. You: last. Dead last.
Snacks. Always have snacks. Never in the entirety of my adult life (calculation pending) have I even used the word as much as I have in the past two years.
Breathe. Take a second, you only have one, but take it. Use it to breathe.
Allow for traffic. Getting out of the house takes at minimum (it’s never minimum) 10 minutes. Begin 5 minutes ago.
Hugs. Stop everything for hugs. Pee yourself, burn the toast, you’ll find the cat later. Don’t be the first to let go. Enjoy that moment. Savor the love now.
Go to bed. You can stay up and watch TV or write if it helps you feel person-like again, just know there will be consequences in the morning.
Your body is a wonderland. Swinging your child, doing airplanes, silly dances, horsey-rides, leg-hug walking, silly faces, the fake walking-down-the-stairs, row-your-boats, leg slide and, of course, the daddy shimmy.
~~~~~~~~~~
There's more.
https://medium.com/the-lighthouse/how-to-be-a-father-a15bcd6a2f69#.jcaiak3nr
These instructions are for me. Your mileage may vary.
by Ernio Hernandez
In some particular order:
You are officially no longer priority #1 or even #2. First rule about fatherhood is you never come first anymore. Thems the breaks, breeder.
Baby first. Mommy second. You third? Hahaha. No. You: last. Dead last.
Snacks. Always have snacks. Never in the entirety of my adult life (calculation pending) have I even used the word as much as I have in the past two years.
Breathe. Take a second, you only have one, but take it. Use it to breathe.
Allow for traffic. Getting out of the house takes at minimum (it’s never minimum) 10 minutes. Begin 5 minutes ago.
Hugs. Stop everything for hugs. Pee yourself, burn the toast, you’ll find the cat later. Don’t be the first to let go. Enjoy that moment. Savor the love now.
Go to bed. You can stay up and watch TV or write if it helps you feel person-like again, just know there will be consequences in the morning.
Your body is a wonderland. Swinging your child, doing airplanes, silly dances, horsey-rides, leg-hug walking, silly faces, the fake walking-down-the-stairs, row-your-boats, leg slide and, of course, the daddy shimmy.
~~~~~~~~~~
There's more.
https://medium.com/the-lighthouse/how-to-be-a-father-a15bcd6a2f69#.jcaiak3nr
Follow the Money
An excerpt from Mother Jones -
Fully Loaded: Inside the Shadowy World of America's 10 Biggest Gunmakers
By Josh Harkinson
They are all white, all middle-aged, and all men. A few live openly lavish lifestyles, but the majority fly under the radar. Rarely is there news about them in the mainstream media or even the trade press. Their obscurity would seem unremarkable if we were talking about the biggest manufacturers of auto accessories or heating systems. But these are America's top gunmakers—leaders of the nation's most controversial industry. They have kept their heads down and their fingerprints off regulations designed to protect their businesses—foremost a law that shields gun companies from liability for crimes committed with their products.
With this investigation, Mother Jones set out to break through the opacity surrounding the $8 billion firearms industry and the men who control it. While the three largest companies disclose some financials, the rest are privately held. Some are further shrouded by private-equity funds or shell corporations based in overseas tax havens. We mined manufacturing data and import statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). We also examined obscure press clippings, court documents, private industry reports, and tax records from the Treasury Department. Together, the 10 companies we investigated produce more than 8 million firearms per year for buyers in the United States, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total market. (None of the companies responded to our requests for further information.)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/fully-loaded-ten-biggest-gun-manufacturers-america
Fully Loaded: Inside the Shadowy World of America's 10 Biggest Gunmakers
By Josh Harkinson
They are all white, all middle-aged, and all men. A few live openly lavish lifestyles, but the majority fly under the radar. Rarely is there news about them in the mainstream media or even the trade press. Their obscurity would seem unremarkable if we were talking about the biggest manufacturers of auto accessories or heating systems. But these are America's top gunmakers—leaders of the nation's most controversial industry. They have kept their heads down and their fingerprints off regulations designed to protect their businesses—foremost a law that shields gun companies from liability for crimes committed with their products.
With this investigation, Mother Jones set out to break through the opacity surrounding the $8 billion firearms industry and the men who control it. While the three largest companies disclose some financials, the rest are privately held. Some are further shrouded by private-equity funds or shell corporations based in overseas tax havens. We mined manufacturing data and import statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). We also examined obscure press clippings, court documents, private industry reports, and tax records from the Treasury Department. Together, the 10 companies we investigated produce more than 8 million firearms per year for buyers in the United States, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total market. (None of the companies responded to our requests for further information.)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/fully-loaded-ten-biggest-gun-manufacturers-america
A Jailhouse Lawyer Changed the System
From The New Yorker -
HOME FREE
How a New York State prisoner became a jailhouse lawyer, and changed the system.
By Jennifer Gonnerman
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/20/derrick-hamilton-jailhouse-lawyer?mbid=nl_160614_daily&CNDID=27124505&spMailingID=9057107&spUserID=MTE0MzE0NDEyNDUyS0&spJobID=941371076&spReportId=OTQxMzcxMDc2S0
HOME FREE
How a New York State prisoner became a jailhouse lawyer, and changed the system.
By Jennifer Gonnerman
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/20/derrick-hamilton-jailhouse-lawyer?mbid=nl_160614_daily&CNDID=27124505&spMailingID=9057107&spUserID=MTE0MzE0NDEyNDUyS0&spJobID=941371076&spReportId=OTQxMzcxMDc2S0
Bozoma!
 |
| Bozoma Saint John speaking at WWDC 2016 about Apple Music's redesign on June 13, 2016. JUSTIN KANEPS FOR WIRED |
Fast forward to 1:10:23 to see this sho' nuff sista strut her stuff. Love her!
Excerpts from Wired -
FOR THE FIRST hour or so, Apple’s annual WWDC conference was every bit as exciting as you’d expect. Which is to say, not very. A-list execs like Kevin Lynch, Craig Federighi and Eddy Cue droned on and on about updates to this, improvements to that. Then Bozoma Saint John took the stage.
It was amazing.
It’s not just that Saint John, head of marketing for Apple Music, was a black female executive appearing onstage at WWDC. It was the way she commanded the room—and the show—that blew everyone away. Moments after Cue introduced her, Saint John cued up The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” a song that is the antithesis of Apple’s tendency toward the milder fare of bands OneRepublic and U2. “We’re gonna make this whole auditorium rock,” she told the crowd. “One, two, three, rock!”
~~~~~~~~~~
Bozoma Saint John—”Boz” to her friends—is every bit as boss as her masterful performance suggests. She’s led Apple Music’s marketing division since April, 2014, a short three months after she joined Beats Music and it was acquired by Apple. But she’s no stranger to the music industry. Before joining Apple, she ran the music and entertainment marketing group at Pepsi-Cola’s North America division, where, according to the website XO Necole, she landed deals with the likes of Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, and Eminem. Oh, she also reportedly convinced Beyoncé to agree to perform at half-time during the Super Bowl in 2013. No big deal.
http://www.wired.com/2016/06/bozoma-saint-john-badass-long-apple/?mbid=nl_61416
A Mother's Sorrow Shared
An excerpt from Vox -
My 6-year-old daughter died at Sandy Hook. You never move on.
Updated by Nelba Márquez-Greene
I am waiting for the church to be as outraged about gun violence as much as we seem to be about who pees where in a Target bathroom.
"I am sorry that our tragedy here in Sandy Hook wasn't enough to save your loved ones."
Here is my message to those families in Florida:
I am sorry. I am so, so sorry. I am sorry that our tragedy here in Sandy Hook wasn't enough to save your loved ones. I tried, and I won't stop trying.
Don't you dare even listen to even one person who may insinuate that somehow this is your loved one’s fault because they were gay or any other reason. Nor is it God's wrath. They did that to us in Sandy Hook, too. And it broke my heart. You will receive love from a million places. Embrace it. Take good care of yourself. This will be a forever journey.
Some ugly will come your way too. When you speak up about gun violence in America, you get death threats. You get made fun of. You get people telling you your child's death isn't even real. You have to close down your personal Facebook account because you get tired of harassing messages. You block enough people on Twitter to fill a football stadium. You have to hire security at fundraising events because you don't know who will show up. Delete. Ignore. Let it go.
Your loss on Sunday will bring out the worst and the best in all of us. May we commit to being our best selves in honor of what you now bear.
http://www.vox.com/2016/6/14/11931484/orlando-shooting-sandy-hook
My 6-year-old daughter died at Sandy Hook. You never move on.
Updated by Nelba Márquez-Greene
I am waiting for the church to be as outraged about gun violence as much as we seem to be about who pees where in a Target bathroom.
"I am sorry that our tragedy here in Sandy Hook wasn't enough to save your loved ones."
Here is my message to those families in Florida:
I am sorry. I am so, so sorry. I am sorry that our tragedy here in Sandy Hook wasn't enough to save your loved ones. I tried, and I won't stop trying.
Don't you dare even listen to even one person who may insinuate that somehow this is your loved one’s fault because they were gay or any other reason. Nor is it God's wrath. They did that to us in Sandy Hook, too. And it broke my heart. You will receive love from a million places. Embrace it. Take good care of yourself. This will be a forever journey.
Some ugly will come your way too. When you speak up about gun violence in America, you get death threats. You get made fun of. You get people telling you your child's death isn't even real. You have to close down your personal Facebook account because you get tired of harassing messages. You block enough people on Twitter to fill a football stadium. You have to hire security at fundraising events because you don't know who will show up. Delete. Ignore. Let it go.
Your loss on Sunday will bring out the worst and the best in all of us. May we commit to being our best selves in honor of what you now bear.
http://www.vox.com/2016/6/14/11931484/orlando-shooting-sandy-hook
Mama Said
Today, June 15th, is my Mom's birthday. She would have been 97.
This day, like all others, I'm reminded of the many pearls of wisdom she shared with my brothers and I while we were growing up.
Like . . .
---Tell me who you follow and I'll tell you who you are.
---Birds of a feather flock together.
---Where there's smoke, there's fire.
---No matter where you are or what you're doing, somebody's watching. What do they see?
---Always do more than expected, and you'll always have a job.
---It's your responsibility to greet people, what they do in response matters little.
---The folks that give you advice don't pay for your mistakes.
---It takes two people to fight. You have a choice on whether or not to engage.
And my favorite . . .
In response to my going away to college, which was unheard of in those days, Mom would say to those who questioned that decision,
"The same God who took care of her here, will take care of her wherever she goes."
It is this last one that stays with me the most and gives me peace.
This day, like all others, I'm reminded of the many pearls of wisdom she shared with my brothers and I while we were growing up.
Like . . .
---Tell me who you follow and I'll tell you who you are.
---Birds of a feather flock together.
---Where there's smoke, there's fire.
---No matter where you are or what you're doing, somebody's watching. What do they see?
---Always do more than expected, and you'll always have a job.
---It's your responsibility to greet people, what they do in response matters little.
---The folks that give you advice don't pay for your mistakes.
---It takes two people to fight. You have a choice on whether or not to engage.
And my favorite . . .
In response to my going away to college, which was unheard of in those days, Mom would say to those who questioned that decision,
"The same God who took care of her here, will take care of her wherever she goes."
It is this last one that stays with me the most and gives me peace.
Why Read?
Excerpts from Medium -
The Reading Habits of Ultra-Successful People
Want to know one habit ultra-successful people have in common?
They read. A lot.
In fact, when Warren Buffett was once asked about the key to success, he pointed to a stack of nearby books and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”
Buffett takes this habit to the extreme — he read between 600 and 1000 pages per day when he was beginning his investing career, and still devotes about 80% of each day to reading.
~~~~~~~~~~
And these aren’t just isolated examples. A study of 1200 wealthy people found that they all have reading as a pastime in common.
But successful people don’t just read anything. They are highly selective about what they read, opting to be educated over being entertained. They believe that books are a gateway to learning and knowledge.
~~~~~~~~~~
There are many examples of successful people dropping out of school or foregoing a formal education, but it is clear that they never stop learning. And reading is a key part of their success.
https://medium.com/life-learning/the-reading-habits-of-ultra-successful-people-d565b26f15f5#.mnzkgoplg
The Reading Habits of Ultra-Successful People
Want to know one habit ultra-successful people have in common?
They read. A lot.
In fact, when Warren Buffett was once asked about the key to success, he pointed to a stack of nearby books and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”
Buffett takes this habit to the extreme — he read between 600 and 1000 pages per day when he was beginning his investing career, and still devotes about 80% of each day to reading.
~~~~~~~~~~
And these aren’t just isolated examples. A study of 1200 wealthy people found that they all have reading as a pastime in common.
But successful people don’t just read anything. They are highly selective about what they read, opting to be educated over being entertained. They believe that books are a gateway to learning and knowledge.
~~~~~~~~~~
There are many examples of successful people dropping out of school or foregoing a formal education, but it is clear that they never stop learning. And reading is a key part of their success.
https://medium.com/life-learning/the-reading-habits-of-ultra-successful-people-d565b26f15f5#.mnzkgoplg
Quote
From Vox -
"If there are 300 million guns in the United States, and we impose a tax of $3,600 per gun on the current stock, we would eliminate the federal government deficit. But $3,600 is coming nowhere close to the potential damage that a single weapon could cause." [Stephen Williamson]
"If there are 300 million guns in the United States, and we impose a tax of $3,600 per gun on the current stock, we would eliminate the federal government deficit. But $3,600 is coming nowhere close to the potential damage that a single weapon could cause." [Stephen Williamson]
Monday, June 13, 2016
People Powered Tesla
http://www.wired.com/2016/06/best-new-gren-energy-tech-right-underfoot/?mbid=nl_61316
A Victory Lap in Their Blood
An excerpt from The Atlantic -
A Victory Lap in Blood
Forty-nine people die in Orlando, Florida, and Donald Trump wants a pat on the back.
By RON FOURNIER
Obama shouldn’t resign, but you should consider a different line of work after suggesting today that the president might somehow be involved in the Orlando massacre. A baseless, disgraceful lie.
You could argue that it’s important to give the enemy a name. OK, let’s do that:
Islamic extremism. Islamic extremism. Islamic extremism.
Radical Islam. Radical Islam. Radical Islam.
Wait for it… No, ISIS didn’t crumble.
You’re wrong, Donald Trump. Words don’t win wars.
But your words do undermine the commander-in-chief. Your words do exploit fears, stir prejudices, and divide Americans. Your words might even win you the election.
Which is the point, right? In March, you said talk about terrorist attacks “is probably why I’m number one in the polls.”
Forty-nine innocent people dead and you took a victory lap in their blood.
Congratulations.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/a-victory-lap-in-blood/486836/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-061316
A Victory Lap in Blood
Forty-nine people die in Orlando, Florida, and Donald Trump wants a pat on the back.
By RON FOURNIER
Obama shouldn’t resign, but you should consider a different line of work after suggesting today that the president might somehow be involved in the Orlando massacre. A baseless, disgraceful lie.
You could argue that it’s important to give the enemy a name. OK, let’s do that:
Islamic extremism. Islamic extremism. Islamic extremism.
Radical Islam. Radical Islam. Radical Islam.
Wait for it… No, ISIS didn’t crumble.
You’re wrong, Donald Trump. Words don’t win wars.
But your words do undermine the commander-in-chief. Your words do exploit fears, stir prejudices, and divide Americans. Your words might even win you the election.
Which is the point, right? In March, you said talk about terrorist attacks “is probably why I’m number one in the polls.”
Forty-nine innocent people dead and you took a victory lap in their blood.
Congratulations.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/a-victory-lap-in-blood/486836/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-061316
Why Daddy?
From the Science Creative Quarterly -
A DIALOGUE WITH SARAH, AGED 3: IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT IF YOUR DAD IS A CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR, ASKING “WHY” CAN BE DANGEROUS
by W. Stephen McNeil
http://www.scq.ubc.ca/quarterly011/0101mcneil.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Vox%20Sentences%206/13/16&utm_term=Vox%20Newsletter%20All
A DIALOGUE WITH SARAH, AGED 3: IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT IF YOUR DAD IS A CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR, ASKING “WHY” CAN BE DANGEROUS
by W. Stephen McNeil
http://www.scq.ubc.ca/quarterly011/0101mcneil.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Vox%20Sentences%206/13/16&utm_term=Vox%20Newsletter%20All
Stamp Collecting
An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -
“The stamp collecting community basically is synonymous with old white guys,” says Don Neal, the newsletter Editor in Chief at ESPER (Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections). ESPER, founded in 1988 and named after its creator, Esper G. Hayes, set out to change that limiting definition. Hayes, a stamp collector, met the black Olympian Jesse Owens a stamp show in the ‘70s, where she waited in line for his autograph. They were the only two black people at that show. After a solemn handshake, she pledged to Owens that she would do something to help African-Americans in the philatelic community.
In reaction to Owen’s death in 1980, Hayes made good on that promise: ESPER’s global society is now 28 years old and 300 members strong. It hosts booths at stamp conventions around the country, supports youth organizations, convenes social events and provides a network for African Americans in philately.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/want-to-make-america-more-inclusive-start-with-stamps
“The stamp collecting community basically is synonymous with old white guys,” says Don Neal, the newsletter Editor in Chief at ESPER (Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections). ESPER, founded in 1988 and named after its creator, Esper G. Hayes, set out to change that limiting definition. Hayes, a stamp collector, met the black Olympian Jesse Owens a stamp show in the ‘70s, where she waited in line for his autograph. They were the only two black people at that show. After a solemn handshake, she pledged to Owens that she would do something to help African-Americans in the philatelic community.
 | ||
| ESPER members at a 25th anniversary event in 2013. (Photo courtesy of Don Neal) |
In reaction to Owen’s death in 1980, Hayes made good on that promise: ESPER’s global society is now 28 years old and 300 members strong. It hosts booths at stamp conventions around the country, supports youth organizations, convenes social events and provides a network for African Americans in philately.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/want-to-make-america-more-inclusive-start-with-stamps
Summer Camps
An excerpt from The Root -
10 STEM Summer Camps for Students of Color
Summer camps across the country are boasting access to science, technology, engineering and math for students of color. BY:
1. Black Girls Code Summer Camp
About the curriculum and experience: Day camps provide 10 days of hands-on, project-based instruction in which girls engage in tech instruction. The camps run for six hours a day and include lunch, breaks, community building, field trips and, of course, coding. No prior coding experience is required.
Camps offer a space where girls of color can learn computer science and coding principles in the company of other girls like themselves, along with mentorship from women they can see themselves becoming.
Age requirement: 11 to 14 years
Locations and dates (to register, click the links below):
- Washington, D.C.: June 27-July 12
- Los Angeles: July 18-29
- Chicago: July 18-22
- Boston: July 25-Aug. 5
- San Francisco Bay Area: Aug. 1-12
- New York City: Aug. 15-26
Registration for other cities to be shared soon and available here.
Cost: $300 for two-week camps in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C., and $150 for one-week camp in Chicago. For all camps, a limited number of need-based scholarships will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/lists/2016/06/10-stem-summer-camps-for-students-of-color/?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26
When You Love a Sport That Doesn't Love You
From RadioLab -
At the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, one athlete pulled a move that, so far as we know, no one else had ever done in all of human history.
Surya Bonaly was not your typical figure skater. She was black. She was athletic. And she didn’t seem to care about artistry. Her performances – punctuated by triple-triple jumps and other power moves – thrilled audiences around the world. Yet, commentators claimed she couldn’t skate, and judges never gave her the high marks she felt she deserved. But Surya didn’t accept that criticism. Unlike her competitors – ice princesses who hid behind demure smiles – Surya made her feelings known. And, at her final Olympic performance, she attempted one jump that flew in the face of the establishment, and marked her for life as a rebel.
This week, we lace up our skates and tell a story about loving a sport that doesn’t love you back, and being judged in front of the world according to rules you don’t understand.
http://latifnasser.com
 |
| Surya Bonaly (Photo Credit: Getty Images/Getty) |
At the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, one athlete pulled a move that, so far as we know, no one else had ever done in all of human history.
Surya Bonaly was not your typical figure skater. She was black. She was athletic. And she didn’t seem to care about artistry. Her performances – punctuated by triple-triple jumps and other power moves – thrilled audiences around the world. Yet, commentators claimed she couldn’t skate, and judges never gave her the high marks she felt she deserved. But Surya didn’t accept that criticism. Unlike her competitors – ice princesses who hid behind demure smiles – Surya made her feelings known. And, at her final Olympic performance, she attempted one jump that flew in the face of the establishment, and marked her for life as a rebel.
This week, we lace up our skates and tell a story about loving a sport that doesn’t love you back, and being judged in front of the world according to rules you don’t understand.
http://latifnasser.com
Sunday, June 12, 2016
A Father's Tribute to His Daughter
An excerpt from Essence 2009 -
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Veteran Journalist Ed Gordon: Daddy's Little Girl
I always wanted a child. But, like many men, when I dreamed of becoming a father I dreamed of having a boy, a "little man" to follow in my footsteps. I wanted a son who would make me the proudest father in the gym after he hit the game-winning basket and then gave me a wink as he took the arm of the finest girl in the school. Yes, I fell victim to this all-too-common male fantasy. It never occurred to me that I might have a little girl.
When I found out that my wife, Karen, was pregnant, I was elated and ready to take on the task of fatherhood. There was one snag: The ultrasound showed that the blessing would be delivered in pink, not blue. I told my brother, who was already a father to a daughter, that another girl was on the way. He said, "You're about to experience a love that is unmatched, a special unconditional love." He assured me I'd get over my macho desire for a boy. I took his assurance, but I couldn't help wondering why I had never dreamed of having a daughter.
Certainly I've always thought little girls are just as important as boys. I abhorred the practice in some societies of selling or killing infant girls because they weren't considered to be as valuable as boys, who might grow up to help support their families. But I started to wonder if, unknowingly, I might have absorbed the idea of girls as second-class citizens. Well, if I did, I was about to get an education.
Taylor Nicole Gordon, now 12, has brought an immeasurable joy to my life, and no little hardheaded boy could ever take her place. Since the day she was born, I have not once lamented the fact that I didn't have the next Michael Jordan or Colin Powell. In fact, I've embraced the idea that I may have the next Serena Williams or Condoleezza Rice.
I admit I might be more interested in taking a boy to football practice than I am in dropping Taylor off at her dance class. But I am just as sure that I couldn't have been more pleased the day she nailed a dance routine she'd been having trouble with. Just hours before her recital, we'd been in the basement as she tried, frustratingly, to master the routine, and I guaranteed her she could climb this mountain. That night my pride swelled as I watched my daughter onstage hit every move. I knew that my chest wouldn't have been any higher if she had just run an 80-yard touchdown.
http://www.essence.com/2009/03/24/veteran-journalist-ed-gordon-daddys-litt
http://www.essence.com/2016/06/06/ed-gordon-essay-daddys-still-got-you?xid=20160612
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Veteran Journalist Ed Gordon: Daddy's Little Girl
I always wanted a child. But, like many men, when I dreamed of becoming a father I dreamed of having a boy, a "little man" to follow in my footsteps. I wanted a son who would make me the proudest father in the gym after he hit the game-winning basket and then gave me a wink as he took the arm of the finest girl in the school. Yes, I fell victim to this all-too-common male fantasy. It never occurred to me that I might have a little girl.
When I found out that my wife, Karen, was pregnant, I was elated and ready to take on the task of fatherhood. There was one snag: The ultrasound showed that the blessing would be delivered in pink, not blue. I told my brother, who was already a father to a daughter, that another girl was on the way. He said, "You're about to experience a love that is unmatched, a special unconditional love." He assured me I'd get over my macho desire for a boy. I took his assurance, but I couldn't help wondering why I had never dreamed of having a daughter.
Certainly I've always thought little girls are just as important as boys. I abhorred the practice in some societies of selling or killing infant girls because they weren't considered to be as valuable as boys, who might grow up to help support their families. But I started to wonder if, unknowingly, I might have absorbed the idea of girls as second-class citizens. Well, if I did, I was about to get an education.
Taylor Nicole Gordon, now 12, has brought an immeasurable joy to my life, and no little hardheaded boy could ever take her place. Since the day she was born, I have not once lamented the fact that I didn't have the next Michael Jordan or Colin Powell. In fact, I've embraced the idea that I may have the next Serena Williams or Condoleezza Rice.
I admit I might be more interested in taking a boy to football practice than I am in dropping Taylor off at her dance class. But I am just as sure that I couldn't have been more pleased the day she nailed a dance routine she'd been having trouble with. Just hours before her recital, we'd been in the basement as she tried, frustratingly, to master the routine, and I guaranteed her she could climb this mountain. That night my pride swelled as I watched my daughter onstage hit every move. I knew that my chest wouldn't have been any higher if she had just run an 80-yard touchdown.
http://www.essence.com/2009/03/24/veteran-journalist-ed-gordon-daddys-litt
http://www.essence.com/2016/06/06/ed-gordon-essay-daddys-still-got-you?xid=20160612
A House Divided
Excerpts from the Huffington Post -
‘A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand’: Ken Burns’ Stanford Commencement Address
A mentor of mine, the journalist Tom Brokaw, recently said to me, “What we learn is more important than what we set out to do.” It’s tough out there, but so beautiful, too. And history—memory—can prepare you.
I have a searing memory of the summer of 1962, when I was almost nine, joining our family dinner on a hot, sweltering day in a tract house in a development in Newark, Delaware, and seeing my mother crying. She had just learned, and my brother and I had just been told, that she would be dead of cancer within six months. But that’s not what was causing her tears. Our inadequate health insurance had practically bankrupted us, and our neighbors—equally struggling working people—had taken up a collection and presented my parents with six crisp twenty dollar bills—$120 in total—enough to keep us solvent for more than a month. In that moment, I understood something about community and courage, about constant struggle and little victories. That hot June evening was a victory. And I have spent my entire professional life trying to resurrect small moments within the larger sweep of American history, trying to find our better angels in the most difficult of circumstances, trying to wake the dead, to hear their stories.
~~~~~~~~~~
You know, it is terribly fashionable these days to criticize the United States government, the institution Lincoln was trying to save, to blame it for all the ills known to humankind, and, my goodness, ladies and gentlemen, it has made more than its fair share of catastrophic mistakes. But you would be hard pressed to find—in all of human history—a greater force for good. From our Declaration of Independence to our Constitution and Bill of Rights; from Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the Land Grant College and Homestead Acts; from the transcontinental railroad and our national parks to child labor laws, Social Security and the National Labor Relations Act; from the GI Bill and the interstate highway system to putting a man on the moon and the Affordable Care Act, the United States government has been the author of many of the best aspects of our public and personal lives. But if you tune in to politics, if you listen to the rhetoric of this election cycle, you are made painfully aware that everything is going to hell in a handbasket and the chief culprit is our evil government.
~~~~~~~~~~
For 216 years, our elections, though bitterly contested, have featured the philosophies and character of candidates who were clearly qualified. That is not the case this year. One is glaringly not qualified. So before you do anything with your well-earned degree, you must do everything you can to defeat the retrograde forces that have invaded our democratic process, divided our house, to fight against, no matter your political persuasion, the dictatorial tendencies of the candidate with zero experience in the much maligned but subtle art of governance; who is against lots of things, but doesn’t seem to be for anything, offering only bombastic and contradictory promises, and terrifying Orwellian statements; a person who easily lies, creating an environment where the truth doesn’t seem to matter; who has never demonstrated any interest in anyone or anything but himself and his own enrichment; who insults veterans, threatens a free press, mocks the handicapped, denigrates women, immigrants and all Muslims; a man who took more than a day to remember to disavow a supporter who advocates white supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan; an infantile, bullying man who, depending on his mood, is willing to discard old and established alliances, treaties and long-standing relationships. I feel genuine sorrow for the understandably scared and—they feel—powerless people who have flocked to his campaign in the mistaken belief that—as often happens on TV—a wand can be waved and every complicated problem can be solved with the simplest of solutions. They can’t. It is a political Ponzi scheme. And asking this man to assume the highest office in the land would be like asking a newly minted car driver to fly a 747.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ken-burns/ken-burnss-commencement_b_10430204.html
Online Legal Aid
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Legal Aid With a Digital Twist
Matthew Stubenberg was a law student at the University of Maryland in 2010 when he spent part of a day doing expungements. It was a standard law school clinic where students learn by helping clients — in this case, he helped them to fill out and file petitions to erase parts of their criminal records. (Last week I wrote about the lifelong effects of these records, even if there is no conviction, and the expungement process that makes them go away.)
Although Maryland has a public database called Case Search, using that data to fill out the forms was tedious. “We spent all this time moving data from Case Search onto our forms,” Stubenberg said. “We spent maybe 30 seconds on the legal piece. Why could this not be easier? This was a problem that could be fixed by a computer.”
Stubenberg knew how to code. After law school, he set out to build software that automatically did that tedious work. By September 2014 he had a prototype for MDExpungement, which went live in January 2015. (The website is not pretty — Stubenberg is a programmer, not a designer.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/opinion/legal-aid-with-a-digital-twist.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ffixes&action=click&contentCollection=opinion®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection&_r=0
Legal Aid With a Digital Twist
by Tina Rosenburg
Matthew Stubenberg was a law student at the University of Maryland in 2010 when he spent part of a day doing expungements. It was a standard law school clinic where students learn by helping clients — in this case, he helped them to fill out and file petitions to erase parts of their criminal records. (Last week I wrote about the lifelong effects of these records, even if there is no conviction, and the expungement process that makes them go away.)
Although Maryland has a public database called Case Search, using that data to fill out the forms was tedious. “We spent all this time moving data from Case Search onto our forms,” Stubenberg said. “We spent maybe 30 seconds on the legal piece. Why could this not be easier? This was a problem that could be fixed by a computer.”
Stubenberg knew how to code. After law school, he set out to build software that automatically did that tedious work. By September 2014 he had a prototype for MDExpungement, which went live in January 2015. (The website is not pretty — Stubenberg is a programmer, not a designer.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/opinion/legal-aid-with-a-digital-twist.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ffixes&action=click&contentCollection=opinion®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection&_r=0
Possible Solution
An excerpt from Good -
An Unexpected Solution To Our Organ Donor Crisis
by Alicia Kennedy
There are currently more than 120,000 Americans waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, and every day, another 22 will die before they receive one. Procuring organ donations is a notoriously complicated and unpredictable business (for starters, something tragic usually needs to happen to a donor first), and can’t come close to meeting demand.
Researchers have been hard at work seeking a safer, more reliable way to increase the organ supply. For awhile, one method in particular seemed to be gaining traction: Figure out how to grow a human organ in an animal, then harvest it as needed. However, late last year, the government revoked all funding for this type of research in what the Mercury News called “a startling reversal of policy, reminiscent of the Bush administration's 2001 ban on embryonic stem cell funding.”
To many, the idea of human-animal hybrids (a.k.a. chimeras) provokes an unease straight out of our darkest sci-fi landscapes. But at UC-Davis, one reproductive biologist Pablo Ross persists in his exploration of the field despite a lack of funding. For now, Ross does something called “gene editing.” The process is more than a little reminiscent of Frankenstein: First, he takes a pig embryo and deactivates the gene necessary for developing a pig pancreas. Then, a few days later, he adds in human stem cells to grow a human pancreas instead.
https://www.good.is/articles/pigs-as-organ-factories
An Unexpected Solution To Our Organ Donor Crisis
by Alicia Kennedy
There are currently more than 120,000 Americans waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, and every day, another 22 will die before they receive one. Procuring organ donations is a notoriously complicated and unpredictable business (for starters, something tragic usually needs to happen to a donor first), and can’t come close to meeting demand.
Researchers have been hard at work seeking a safer, more reliable way to increase the organ supply. For awhile, one method in particular seemed to be gaining traction: Figure out how to grow a human organ in an animal, then harvest it as needed. However, late last year, the government revoked all funding for this type of research in what the Mercury News called “a startling reversal of policy, reminiscent of the Bush administration's 2001 ban on embryonic stem cell funding.”
To many, the idea of human-animal hybrids (a.k.a. chimeras) provokes an unease straight out of our darkest sci-fi landscapes. But at UC-Davis, one reproductive biologist Pablo Ross persists in his exploration of the field despite a lack of funding. For now, Ross does something called “gene editing.” The process is more than a little reminiscent of Frankenstein: First, he takes a pig embryo and deactivates the gene necessary for developing a pig pancreas. Then, a few days later, he adds in human stem cells to grow a human pancreas instead.
https://www.good.is/articles/pigs-as-organ-factories
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Sherman for President
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Richard Sherman Wants Billionaires To Pay For Their Own Damn Stadiums
Sherman said that’d be a top priority if he ever gets a desk in the Oval Office.
By Juliet Spies-Gans
Thinking on his feet and improvising what he’d want his campaign slogan to be — he settled on “Make America the place you want to raise your kids” — Sherman put forth what he deemed to be a “pretty ingenious plan for our economy”: make the rich pay for their own toys.
“I’d get us out of this deficit,” he told Clayton. “I’d stop spending billions of taxpayer dollars on stadiums and probably get us out of debt and maybe make the billionaires who actually benefit from the stadiums pay for them. That kind of seems like a system that would work for me.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/richard-sherman-billionaires-stadium_us_57597ff6e4b0e39a28acb20f?ir=Black+Voices§ion=us_black-voices&utm_hp_ref=black-voices
Richard Sherman Wants Billionaires To Pay For Their Own Damn Stadiums
Sherman said that’d be a top priority if he ever gets a desk in the Oval Office.
By Juliet Spies-Gans
Thinking on his feet and improvising what he’d want his campaign slogan to be — he settled on “Make America the place you want to raise your kids” — Sherman put forth what he deemed to be a “pretty ingenious plan for our economy”: make the rich pay for their own toys.
“I’d get us out of this deficit,” he told Clayton. “I’d stop spending billions of taxpayer dollars on stadiums and probably get us out of debt and maybe make the billionaires who actually benefit from the stadiums pay for them. That kind of seems like a system that would work for me.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/richard-sherman-billionaires-stadium_us_57597ff6e4b0e39a28acb20f?ir=Black+Voices§ion=us_black-voices&utm_hp_ref=black-voices
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