An excerpt from INC -
Google Spent 2 Years Studying 180 Teams. The Most Successful Ones Shared These 5 Traits
Insights from Google's new study could forever change how teams are assembled.
By Michael Schneider
Over the years, Google has embarked on countless quests, collected endless amounts of data, and spent millions trying to better understand its people. One of the company's most interesting initiatives, Project Aristotle, gathered several of Google's best and brightest to help the organization codify the secrets to team effectiveness.
Specifically, Google wanted to know why some teams excelled while others fell behind.
Before this study, like many other organizations, Google execs believed that building the best teams meant compiling the best people. It makes sense. The best engineer plus an MBA, throw in a PhD, and there you have it. The perfect team, right? In the words of Julia Rozovsky, Google's people analytics manager, "We were dead wrong."
~~~~~~~~~~
Through Google's Re:Work website, a resource that shares Google's research, ideas, and practices on people operations, Rozovsky outlined the five key characteristics of enhanced teams.
1. Dependability.
Team members get things done on time and meet expectations.
2. Structure and clarity.
High-performing teams have clear goals, and have well-defined roles within the group.
https://www.inc.com/michael-schneider/google-thought-they-knew-how-to-create-the-perfect.html
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Friday, December 29, 2017
Flipping the Script
An excerpt from OZY -
TRAP KITCHEN LA: WHERE FORMER GANG RIVALS COOK FOR KENDRICK AND KOBE
By Jemayel Khawaja
When I first talk to Malachi “Spankihanas” Jenkins, he’s cooking up pineapples and lobster at Snoop Dogg’s compound in Inglewood, California. He and his partner, Roberto “News” Smith, are two of the unlikeliest hot (and haute) chefs in American cuisine right now. Over the past few months, Jenkins and Smith have cooked for everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Kobe Bryant, seen their business triple in revenue in 2016 alone and become local celebrities in their south Los Angeles neighborhood.
Jenkins and Smith’s upstart, Trap Kitchen LA, is a plate-by-plate catering service started in 2013 in a cramped apartment kitchen in Compton. Alongside the likes of Bronx-based culinary upstarts Ghetto Gastro, Trap Kitchen is flipping the script on not just soul food, but the whole restaurant industry. They cook for locals and celebrities alike, charging $10 a plate and selling upward of 100 meals every day, all with a staff of just two and headquarters in home kitchens.
~~~~~~~~~~
A few years ago, Jenkins and Smith were on a very different path. After moving to south LA from the west side as a kid, Jenkins learned to cook by making dinner for his younger sister while their single mom worked late. Although officially in Crips territory, he skirted gang affiliation because of his mother, who earned Malachi the name “Spanky” — she would physically drag him home if he stayed out too late. As a youth, Jenkins made acquaintances with a kid named “Bad News” Smith, a distant relative from a friendlier branch of the opposing Piru Blood faction. As young adults, the guys bounced through uninspiring jobs as cashiers, auto detailers and ice cream men, and hustled everything from jewelry to hair weaves to drugs, racking up arrests for petty crimes and narcotics possession in the process.
At the same time, Jenkins had eyes set on a different future. He enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas. But he couldn’t quite leave his ’hood. While visiting home in 2010, Malachi witnessed his friend’s murder by gunshot during a gang-related scuffle. It stuck with him. After a period of exile in Portland, he realized escaping LA wasn’t the answer — changing it was. In 2013, Jenkins reconnected with Smith, who was fresh out of jail for marijuana possession and looking for a way to turn his street hustle legitimate, even removing the “Bad” prefix from his street name as a signal of his intent. Together they formed Trap Kitchen; its name is an acronym for “Take Risks and Prosper.”
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/trap-kitchen-la-where-former-gang-rivals-cook-for-kendrick-and-kobe/72254?utm_source=weeklydose&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12292017&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
TRAP KITCHEN LA: WHERE FORMER GANG RIVALS COOK FOR KENDRICK AND KOBE
By Jemayel Khawaja
When I first talk to Malachi “Spankihanas” Jenkins, he’s cooking up pineapples and lobster at Snoop Dogg’s compound in Inglewood, California. He and his partner, Roberto “News” Smith, are two of the unlikeliest hot (and haute) chefs in American cuisine right now. Over the past few months, Jenkins and Smith have cooked for everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Kobe Bryant, seen their business triple in revenue in 2016 alone and become local celebrities in their south Los Angeles neighborhood.
Jenkins and Smith’s upstart, Trap Kitchen LA, is a plate-by-plate catering service started in 2013 in a cramped apartment kitchen in Compton. Alongside the likes of Bronx-based culinary upstarts Ghetto Gastro, Trap Kitchen is flipping the script on not just soul food, but the whole restaurant industry. They cook for locals and celebrities alike, charging $10 a plate and selling upward of 100 meals every day, all with a staff of just two and headquarters in home kitchens.
~~~~~~~~~~
A few years ago, Jenkins and Smith were on a very different path. After moving to south LA from the west side as a kid, Jenkins learned to cook by making dinner for his younger sister while their single mom worked late. Although officially in Crips territory, he skirted gang affiliation because of his mother, who earned Malachi the name “Spanky” — she would physically drag him home if he stayed out too late. As a youth, Jenkins made acquaintances with a kid named “Bad News” Smith, a distant relative from a friendlier branch of the opposing Piru Blood faction. As young adults, the guys bounced through uninspiring jobs as cashiers, auto detailers and ice cream men, and hustled everything from jewelry to hair weaves to drugs, racking up arrests for petty crimes and narcotics possession in the process.
At the same time, Jenkins had eyes set on a different future. He enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas. But he couldn’t quite leave his ’hood. While visiting home in 2010, Malachi witnessed his friend’s murder by gunshot during a gang-related scuffle. It stuck with him. After a period of exile in Portland, he realized escaping LA wasn’t the answer — changing it was. In 2013, Jenkins reconnected with Smith, who was fresh out of jail for marijuana possession and looking for a way to turn his street hustle legitimate, even removing the “Bad” prefix from his street name as a signal of his intent. Together they formed Trap Kitchen; its name is an acronym for “Take Risks and Prosper.”
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/trap-kitchen-la-where-former-gang-rivals-cook-for-kendrick-and-kobe/72254?utm_source=weeklydose&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12292017&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Unsung Hero
An excerpt from OZY -
THE FIRST BLACK FIGHTER PILOT
By Jack Doyle
You never know who you’re sharing an elevator with — and back when Rockefeller Center still had elevator operators, it was easy to ignore the elderly Black man in the corner. Neither Eugene Bullard nor his neat uniform commanded the same attention as the 1950s Manhattan elites who shared his little space every evening.
But little did they know that they were sharing a lift with an American who had been smack in the middle of the most dramatic twists and turns of the 20th century. Bullard was a boxer, World War I fighter pilot, Paris nightclub owner and World War II resistance fighter. He escaped the Gestapo and was beaten by police at a civil-rights demonstration. But even for many years after his death, his legacy remained that of an unnoticed, forgotten elevator operator.
Many details of Bullard’s life remain shrouded in myth, some of which was his own making. And who can blame him? He was born in rural Georgia to a large, poor Black family, and the odds were stacked against young Eugene. His family struggled to support themselves and, by Bullard’s recollection, faced violence with terrifying frequency. A lynch mob killed his older brother, Hector, and Eugene nearly lost his life on more than one occasion to racist attacks.
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-first-black-fighter-pilot/67003?utm_source=weeklydose&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12292017&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
THE FIRST BLACK FIGHTER PILOT
By Jack Doyle
You never know who you’re sharing an elevator with — and back when Rockefeller Center still had elevator operators, it was easy to ignore the elderly Black man in the corner. Neither Eugene Bullard nor his neat uniform commanded the same attention as the 1950s Manhattan elites who shared his little space every evening.
But little did they know that they were sharing a lift with an American who had been smack in the middle of the most dramatic twists and turns of the 20th century. Bullard was a boxer, World War I fighter pilot, Paris nightclub owner and World War II resistance fighter. He escaped the Gestapo and was beaten by police at a civil-rights demonstration. But even for many years after his death, his legacy remained that of an unnoticed, forgotten elevator operator.
Many details of Bullard’s life remain shrouded in myth, some of which was his own making. And who can blame him? He was born in rural Georgia to a large, poor Black family, and the odds were stacked against young Eugene. His family struggled to support themselves and, by Bullard’s recollection, faced violence with terrifying frequency. A lynch mob killed his older brother, Hector, and Eugene nearly lost his life on more than one occasion to racist attacks.
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-first-black-fighter-pilot/67003?utm_source=weeklydose&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12292017&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
A Jacket With Its Own Heating System
From USA Today & Reviewed -
10 helpful gadgets every runner needs in the winter
By Shelby Deering, Reviewed.com
2. A jacket with its very own heating system
Heated jackets have grown more and more prevalent in the last few years, and they’re pretty much godsends for cold-weather runners. This one has three heating areas—two in the chest and one in the back, and you can choose low, medium, or hot. Any jacket on its own can keep you fairly warm, especially once you get moving, but this is toasty right away, making it easier to get outside and move.
Get the ororo Heated Jacket for Women on Amazon starting at $154.99
Get the ororo Heated Jacket for Men on Amazon starting at $149.99
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewedcom/2017/12/28/10-helpful-gadgets-every-runner-needs-in-the-winter/108977314/
10 helpful gadgets every runner needs in the winter
By Shelby Deering, Reviewed.com
2. A jacket with its very own heating system
 |
| (Photo: ororo) |
Get the ororo Heated Jacket for Women on Amazon starting at $154.99
Get the ororo Heated Jacket for Men on Amazon starting at $149.99
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewedcom/2017/12/28/10-helpful-gadgets-every-runner-needs-in-the-winter/108977314/
Clean House in 2018
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
8 Types Of Toxic People To Leave Behind In 2018
Good riddance. 👋
By Kelsey Borresen and Brittany Wong
The new year is an opportunity to let go of the negative people in your life who are holding you back and weighing you down.
Whether they’re coworkers, friends or family members, setting boundaries with these toxic people ― or removing them from your life entirely ― can be difficult, but it’s ultimately necessary and freeing.
We asked experts to tell us which kinds of people you’re better off leaving behind as we head into 2018. Here’s what they had to say.
1. The Debbie Downer
The people in your life should build you up and celebrate your accomplishments ― not poke holes in them. But somehow, Debbie Downers manage to find the storm clouds in even the sunniest skies.
Got a raise at work? “That’s all? You really deserve so much more for the work you’re doing,” a Negative Nancy will reply.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bye-toxic-people_us_5a452515e4b0b0e5a7a547d9?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
8 Types Of Toxic People To Leave Behind In 2018
Good riddance. 👋
By Kelsey Borresen and Brittany Wong
The new year is an opportunity to let go of the negative people in your life who are holding you back and weighing you down.
Whether they’re coworkers, friends or family members, setting boundaries with these toxic people ― or removing them from your life entirely ― can be difficult, but it’s ultimately necessary and freeing.
We asked experts to tell us which kinds of people you’re better off leaving behind as we head into 2018. Here’s what they had to say.
1. The Debbie Downer
The people in your life should build you up and celebrate your accomplishments ― not poke holes in them. But somehow, Debbie Downers manage to find the storm clouds in even the sunniest skies.
Got a raise at work? “That’s all? You really deserve so much more for the work you’re doing,” a Negative Nancy will reply.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bye-toxic-people_us_5a452515e4b0b0e5a7a547d9?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Clever Road Signs
From USA Today -
Delaware agency's 'clever' traffic messages grab motorists' attention
USA TODAY NETWORKJerry Smith, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
One message that has garnered a lot of attention has been geared toward distracted driving: "Don't text and drive. Get your head out of your apps."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/nation-now/2017/12/28/delaware-traffic-messages-grab-motorists-attention/987619001/
Delaware agency's 'clever' traffic messages grab motorists' attention
USA TODAY NETWORKJerry Smith, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
 | ||
| (Photo: Jason Minto, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal) |
 | ||
| (Photo: Jason Minto, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal) |
One message that has garnered a lot of attention has been geared toward distracted driving: "Don't text and drive. Get your head out of your apps."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/nation-now/2017/12/28/delaware-traffic-messages-grab-motorists-attention/987619001/
Best Films
From the Washinton Post -
Cal Ripken’s favorite baseball movie, and 24 others on the best film about their profession
By Monica Hesse, Ben Terris and Dan Zak
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/cal-ripkens-favorite-baseball-movie-and-21-others-on-the-best-film-about-their-profession/2017/12/25/223c8fb8-e5d0-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html?utm_term=.df48a983d1dd&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Cal Ripken’s favorite baseball movie, and 24 others on the best film about their profession
By Monica Hesse, Ben Terris and Dan Zak
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/cal-ripkens-favorite-baseball-movie-and-21-others-on-the-best-film-about-their-profession/2017/12/25/223c8fb8-e5d0-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html?utm_term=.df48a983d1dd&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Wishful Thinking
An excerpt from the Washinton Post Editorial Board -
What a presidential president would have said about his first year
From time to time this year, we have offered alternative (read: imaginary) White House statements. We haven’t so much expected that Mr. Trump would take our rhetorical advice, though that would be welcome. Rather, we think it’s useful for all of us to remind ourselves that it doesn’t have to be this way: that presidential leadership, even if strongly partisan, can be civil, tolerant and inclusive.
The issue is substance, not form. With that in mind, we herewith offer some end-of-year presidential thoughts in chunks of 280 characters or fewer. Call it a more presidential tweetstorm:
“We got a lot done this year, I’m proud of that. Justice Gorsuch. Rolling back regulations. The corporate tax cut — it will jump-start investment and jobs. I know the economists disagree, but you know what? They’ve been wrong before, and I think they’ll be wrong this time too.”
“But as I look back, I realize I’ve fallen short. The night I won, I promised you: ‘It is time for us to come together as one united people . . . I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.’ That’s what I said!”
“Well, all Americans means all, right? Transgender people, including in the armed services. Muslims, from no matter which country. People who came as refugees. Children of immigrants. NFL players, of any race.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-a-presidential-president-would-have-said-about-his-first-year/2017/12/27/b8417f06-eb10-11e7-8a6a-80acf0774e64_story.html?utm_term=.41698be5002c
What a presidential president would have said about his first year
From time to time this year, we have offered alternative (read: imaginary) White House statements. We haven’t so much expected that Mr. Trump would take our rhetorical advice, though that would be welcome. Rather, we think it’s useful for all of us to remind ourselves that it doesn’t have to be this way: that presidential leadership, even if strongly partisan, can be civil, tolerant and inclusive.
The issue is substance, not form. With that in mind, we herewith offer some end-of-year presidential thoughts in chunks of 280 characters or fewer. Call it a more presidential tweetstorm:
“We got a lot done this year, I’m proud of that. Justice Gorsuch. Rolling back regulations. The corporate tax cut — it will jump-start investment and jobs. I know the economists disagree, but you know what? They’ve been wrong before, and I think they’ll be wrong this time too.”
“But as I look back, I realize I’ve fallen short. The night I won, I promised you: ‘It is time for us to come together as one united people . . . I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.’ That’s what I said!”
“Well, all Americans means all, right? Transgender people, including in the armed services. Muslims, from no matter which country. People who came as refugees. Children of immigrants. NFL players, of any race.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-a-presidential-president-would-have-said-about-his-first-year/2017/12/27/b8417f06-eb10-11e7-8a6a-80acf0774e64_story.html?utm_term=.41698be5002c
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
He's Blacker Than Tiger Will Ever Be
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
Tiger Woods’ former coach is white, woke and went to an HBCU
Sean Foley’s experience molded his views on race, diversity and golf
By Tony Starks
Sean Foley is woke. It’s a characteristic that’s unique among golf instructors, who most commonly cater to the wealthy and teach a game that is by its very nature exclusive. That’s why a conversation with Foley is intriguing, perplexing, thought-provoking and inspiring all at the same time.
Most people know he coached Tiger Woods as his swing instructor from 2010-14. What people don’t know is that he attended Tennessee State University, a historically black institution in Nashville. Or that he credits the works of W.E.B Du Bois, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Nas for influencing the way he views the world.
His “awakening” came during his experience as a white Canadian at a historically black college or university (HBCU). It helped shape his philosophical love of hip-hop music and began to mold his perspective on race, equality and social justice.
https://theundefeated.com/features/tiger-woods-former-coach-sean-foley-is-white-woke-and-went-to-an-hbcu/
Tiger Woods’ former coach is white, woke and went to an HBCU
Sean Foley’s experience molded his views on race, diversity and golf
By Tony Starks
Sean Foley is woke. It’s a characteristic that’s unique among golf instructors, who most commonly cater to the wealthy and teach a game that is by its very nature exclusive. That’s why a conversation with Foley is intriguing, perplexing, thought-provoking and inspiring all at the same time.
Most people know he coached Tiger Woods as his swing instructor from 2010-14. What people don’t know is that he attended Tennessee State University, a historically black institution in Nashville. Or that he credits the works of W.E.B Du Bois, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Nas for influencing the way he views the world.
His “awakening” came during his experience as a white Canadian at a historically black college or university (HBCU). It helped shape his philosophical love of hip-hop music and began to mold his perspective on race, equality and social justice.
https://theundefeated.com/features/tiger-woods-former-coach-sean-foley-is-white-woke-and-went-to-an-hbcu/
An Update on a Tortured Genius
An excerpt from the LA Times -
For all his setbacks, he still finds hope and sanity in the music
By Steve Lopez
have been a transporter and caretaker of various musical instruments for nearly 13 years. A clarinet and an electric keyboard sit in corners of my office. There’s a cello in my garage at the moment, waiting for a ride to the repair shop.
Nathaniel Ayers asked for an inventory update on Christmas morning, after I picked him up at the South Bay mental health rehabilitation center where he lives.
He brought his string bass and trumpet with him. Like I’ve said before, he’s a one-man band, and he never travels light.
It’s been this way since I met the Juilliard-trained musician in 2005, when he lived on skid row with nothing but a two-string violin and a shopping cart containing his clothes and bedding.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-ayers-20171227-story.html
For all his setbacks, he still finds hope and sanity in the music
By Steve Lopez
have been a transporter and caretaker of various musical instruments for nearly 13 years. A clarinet and an electric keyboard sit in corners of my office. There’s a cello in my garage at the moment, waiting for a ride to the repair shop.
Nathaniel Ayers asked for an inventory update on Christmas morning, after I picked him up at the South Bay mental health rehabilitation center where he lives.
He brought his string bass and trumpet with him. Like I’ve said before, he’s a one-man band, and he never travels light.
It’s been this way since I met the Juilliard-trained musician in 2005, when he lived on skid row with nothing but a two-string violin and a shopping cart containing his clothes and bedding.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-ayers-20171227-story.html
Folsom Prison Music
An excerpt from the LA Times -
Music rolls on at Folsom Prison 50 years after Johnny Cash made history
The 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash's historic live album recorded at Folsom Prison afforded a new look inside the gates of the institution, and at the men who serve time there. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
By Randy Lewis
Irony isn’t something the residents of Folsom State Prison spend much time contemplating. But it’s not lost on Roy McNeese Jr. exactly where he spends every Tuesday. That’s when he leads music theory classes for fellow inmates looking to turn their lives around.
McNeese’s classroom is a compact space adjacent to Folsom’s expansive, echo-heavy dining hall. Prisoners wishing to hone their instrumental or vocal chops while serving time, or to learn from McNeese how to write music and better understand songwriting techniques, enter the room each week through a heavily fortified metal door — a door with two words on it:
“Condemned Row.”
Nowadays, however, stark gray cells that long ago housed Death Row inmates — before San Quentin took over housing them in 1937 — are used to store electronic keyboards, drum kits, guitar amplifiers and other gear for the prison’s music program, one of several rehabilitation programs Folsom offers.
The equipment is used by about 40 inmates who play in one or more bands at Folsom, which gained worldwide fame thanks to Johnny Cash’s career-defining 1956 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Cash’s song featured a chilling confession that’s central to the song’s stark portrait of life in prison: “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-johnny-cash-folsom-prison-50-anniversary-20171226-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Music rolls on at Folsom Prison 50 years after Johnny Cash made history
The 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash's historic live album recorded at Folsom Prison afforded a new look inside the gates of the institution, and at the men who serve time there. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
By Randy Lewis
Irony isn’t something the residents of Folsom State Prison spend much time contemplating. But it’s not lost on Roy McNeese Jr. exactly where he spends every Tuesday. That’s when he leads music theory classes for fellow inmates looking to turn their lives around.
McNeese’s classroom is a compact space adjacent to Folsom’s expansive, echo-heavy dining hall. Prisoners wishing to hone their instrumental or vocal chops while serving time, or to learn from McNeese how to write music and better understand songwriting techniques, enter the room each week through a heavily fortified metal door — a door with two words on it:
“Condemned Row.”
Nowadays, however, stark gray cells that long ago housed Death Row inmates — before San Quentin took over housing them in 1937 — are used to store electronic keyboards, drum kits, guitar amplifiers and other gear for the prison’s music program, one of several rehabilitation programs Folsom offers.
The equipment is used by about 40 inmates who play in one or more bands at Folsom, which gained worldwide fame thanks to Johnny Cash’s career-defining 1956 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Cash’s song featured a chilling confession that’s central to the song’s stark portrait of life in prison: “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-johnny-cash-folsom-prison-50-anniversary-20171226-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Parents Love You Netflix
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Netflix Will Once Again Help Parents Get Kids To Bed On New Year’s Eve
No one has to know it isn’t really midnight.
By Taylor Pittman
For the fourth year in a row, Netflix will have parents’ backs on New Year’s Eve.
The streaming platform started offering its New Year’s Eve countdowns ― which can make any time, even bedtime, seem like midnight ― on Tuesday. The clips feature beloved characters from nine different shows celebrating the last 10 seconds of the year.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/netflix-new-years-eve_us_5a3aa024e4b025f99e140479
Netflix Will Once Again Help Parents Get Kids To Bed On New Year’s Eve
No one has to know it isn’t really midnight.
By Taylor Pittman
For the fourth year in a row, Netflix will have parents’ backs on New Year’s Eve.
The streaming platform started offering its New Year’s Eve countdowns ― which can make any time, even bedtime, seem like midnight ― on Tuesday. The clips feature beloved characters from nine different shows celebrating the last 10 seconds of the year.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/netflix-new-years-eve_us_5a3aa024e4b025f99e140479
Smelling Parkinson?
An excerpt from Upworthy -
This woman's nose could be the key to spotting Parkinson's early.
by James Gaines
A woman's incredible nose might help scientists detect Parkinson's earlier than ever.
Joy Milne says she was living in Perth, Scotland, with her husband Les, when she noticed that he smelled different. Milne would later describe to the BBC as a kind of heavy, musky smell. The change was subtle, but it was there none-the-less. Milne says that at the time, she nagged Les a bit about missing showers, but didn't think much more of it.
Six years later, Les was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disease that attacks brain cells, causing tremors and other mobility issues. In the United States, about one million Americans live with the disease. There are therapies that can help with the symptoms, but no cure.
Her husband's diagnosis would inspire Milne to join the charity Parkinson's UK, where she was able to meet other Parkinson's patients. But something weird happened. The smell was back. And it wasn't unique to Les. She could detect it on other Parkinson's patients as well.
Milne realized she could, in essence, smell Parkinson's disease.
This is amazing, because there is currently no definitive early test for Parkinson's. The only way is to watch for symptoms, and by the time that happens, the disease has already started to impact the brain.
Milne got in touch with scientists to let them know what she was experiencing. Now, Milne's amazing nose might lead to a brand new early-detection test for the disease.
http://www.upworthy.com/this-woman-s-nose-could-be-the-key-to-spotting-parkinson-s-early?c=upw1
This woman's nose could be the key to spotting Parkinson's early.
by James Gaines
A woman's incredible nose might help scientists detect Parkinson's earlier than ever.
Joy Milne says she was living in Perth, Scotland, with her husband Les, when she noticed that he smelled different. Milne would later describe to the BBC as a kind of heavy, musky smell. The change was subtle, but it was there none-the-less. Milne says that at the time, she nagged Les a bit about missing showers, but didn't think much more of it.
Six years later, Les was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disease that attacks brain cells, causing tremors and other mobility issues. In the United States, about one million Americans live with the disease. There are therapies that can help with the symptoms, but no cure.
Her husband's diagnosis would inspire Milne to join the charity Parkinson's UK, where she was able to meet other Parkinson's patients. But something weird happened. The smell was back. And it wasn't unique to Les. She could detect it on other Parkinson's patients as well.
Milne realized she could, in essence, smell Parkinson's disease.
This is amazing, because there is currently no definitive early test for Parkinson's. The only way is to watch for symptoms, and by the time that happens, the disease has already started to impact the brain.
Milne got in touch with scientists to let them know what she was experiencing. Now, Milne's amazing nose might lead to a brand new early-detection test for the disease.
http://www.upworthy.com/this-woman-s-nose-could-be-the-key-to-spotting-parkinson-s-early?c=upw1
Black Gun Owners
An excerpt from the Huffington post -
Why Black People Own Guns
HuffPost spoke with 11 black gun owners to figure out what gun ownership means in a country determined to keep its black populace unarmed.
By Julia Craven
As much as America loves her guns, she has never liked the idea of seeing them in black hands.
Before the Revolutionary War, colonial Virginia passed a law barring black people from owning firearms — an exercise in gun control as racial control. In 1857, in his notorious Dred Scott decision, Chief Justice Roger Taney summoned the specter of black people freely enjoying the right to “keep and carry arms wherever they went.” Surely, he argued, the founders were not “so forgetful or regardless of their own safety” to permit such a thing. When black people armed themselves against white supremacist attacks following the Civil War, Southern state governments passed “black codes” barring them from owning guns. After the Black Panthers open carried to signal to California police officers that they would defend themselves against racial attacks in the late ’60s, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a state ban on open carry into law.
In 2016, legal gun owner Philando Castile was shot after informing a Minnesota police officer that he was armed. Two years prior, Tamir Rice was killed by Cleveland police while holding a toy gun. John Crawford suffered the same fate in a Beavercreek, Ohio, Walmart.
So what does black gun ownership mean in a country so determined to keep its black populace unarmed? Since the 2016 election, interest in firearms has supposedly ticked upward in the black community. Gun shops and clubs link the interest to a desire for self-protection against the white supremacists emboldened by President Donald Trump’s election.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-gun-ownership_us_5a33fc38e4b040881bea2f37?9ae
Why Black People Own Guns
HuffPost spoke with 11 black gun owners to figure out what gun ownership means in a country determined to keep its black populace unarmed.
By Julia Craven
As much as America loves her guns, she has never liked the idea of seeing them in black hands.
Before the Revolutionary War, colonial Virginia passed a law barring black people from owning firearms — an exercise in gun control as racial control. In 1857, in his notorious Dred Scott decision, Chief Justice Roger Taney summoned the specter of black people freely enjoying the right to “keep and carry arms wherever they went.” Surely, he argued, the founders were not “so forgetful or regardless of their own safety” to permit such a thing. When black people armed themselves against white supremacist attacks following the Civil War, Southern state governments passed “black codes” barring them from owning guns. After the Black Panthers open carried to signal to California police officers that they would defend themselves against racial attacks in the late ’60s, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a state ban on open carry into law.
In 2016, legal gun owner Philando Castile was shot after informing a Minnesota police officer that he was armed. Two years prior, Tamir Rice was killed by Cleveland police while holding a toy gun. John Crawford suffered the same fate in a Beavercreek, Ohio, Walmart.
So what does black gun ownership mean in a country so determined to keep its black populace unarmed? Since the 2016 election, interest in firearms has supposedly ticked upward in the black community. Gun shops and clubs link the interest to a desire for self-protection against the white supremacists emboldened by President Donald Trump’s election.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-gun-ownership_us_5a33fc38e4b040881bea2f37?9ae
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Sleep Deprivation Can Be Deadly
An excerpt from USA Today -
Here's why sleep deprivation is toxic and will eventually kill you
Jeff Stibel
You can live for about three minutes without air, three days without water and about 21 days without food. But in between food and water, there is something else critically essential: sleep.
It turns out you can only live about 11 days without sleep. You can give it a try if you don’t believe me, but, just like the other essentials, after day 11 you will probably die.
Sleep is one of the most important things we overlook, because most of us don’t consider it vital. The problem isn’t you — it’s your brain. Brain scientists really don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to sleep. For far too long, we have known too little about why we sleep. Instead of acknowledging that fact, scientists have made up fairy tales to explain our need for sleep. They have guessed that sleep is necessary for creativity, rest, rejuvenation and recovery.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2017/12/22/heres
Here's why sleep deprivation is toxic and will eventually kill you
Jeff Stibel
You can live for about three minutes without air, three days without water and about 21 days without food. But in between food and water, there is something else critically essential: sleep.
It turns out you can only live about 11 days without sleep. You can give it a try if you don’t believe me, but, just like the other essentials, after day 11 you will probably die.
Sleep is one of the most important things we overlook, because most of us don’t consider it vital. The problem isn’t you — it’s your brain. Brain scientists really don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to sleep. For far too long, we have known too little about why we sleep. Instead of acknowledging that fact, scientists have made up fairy tales to explain our need for sleep. They have guessed that sleep is necessary for creativity, rest, rejuvenation and recovery.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2017/12/22/heres
Google Maps vs. All Others
Hands down, Google Maps is best and in this article you can see why.
https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat
https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat
Monday, December 25, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
The Instant Pot Guy
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Inside the Home of Instant Pot, the Kitchen Gadget That Spawned a Religion
The electric multicooker is a true viral phenomenon. We went to the company’s Canadian headquarters to learn why.
By KEVIN ROOSE
I went to Kanata to get a peek behind the scenes of the Instant Pot phenomenon and meet its creator: Robert Wang, who invented the device and serves as chief executive of Double Insight, its parent company. What I found was a remarkable example of a new breed of 21st-century start-up — a homegrown hardware business with only around 50 employees that raised no venture capital funding, spent almost nothing on advertising, and achieved enormous size primarily through online word-of-mouth. It is also a testament to the enormous power of Amazon, and its ability to turn small businesses into major empires nearly overnight.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/business/instant-pot.html?_r=0
Inside the Home of Instant Pot, the Kitchen Gadget That Spawned a Religion
The electric multicooker is a true viral phenomenon. We went to the company’s Canadian headquarters to learn why.
By KEVIN ROOSE
I went to Kanata to get a peek behind the scenes of the Instant Pot phenomenon and meet its creator: Robert Wang, who invented the device and serves as chief executive of Double Insight, its parent company. What I found was a remarkable example of a new breed of 21st-century start-up — a homegrown hardware business with only around 50 employees that raised no venture capital funding, spent almost nothing on advertising, and achieved enormous size primarily through online word-of-mouth. It is also a testament to the enormous power of Amazon, and its ability to turn small businesses into major empires nearly overnight.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/business/instant-pot.html?_r=0
Great Reads
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
24 Of The Most Thought-Provoking Pieces Of Writing By People Of Color In 2017
Read these before the year is over.
By Zeba Blay
This was a year of consistent bad news, a year that (for better or worse) was rife for poignant, thought-provoking and conversation-starting commentary from writers of all backgrounds. And so, for the third year, we’ve curated a list of essays and articles that defined conversations about race, pop culture, politics and identity in 2017.
These essays and articles cover a wide array of topics, from the fascinating delusion of Rachel Dolezal to the horrors of fraternity hazing to the complexities of Donald Trump’s presidency.
As always, the criteria for this list is simple: All pieces must have been written by a person of color and been published online within the last year.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/24-of-the-most-thought-provoking-pieces-of-writing-by-people-of-color-in-2017_us_5a303859e4b01bdd7657e96a
24 Of The Most Thought-Provoking Pieces Of Writing By People Of Color In 2017
Read these before the year is over.
By Zeba Blay
This was a year of consistent bad news, a year that (for better or worse) was rife for poignant, thought-provoking and conversation-starting commentary from writers of all backgrounds. And so, for the third year, we’ve curated a list of essays and articles that defined conversations about race, pop culture, politics and identity in 2017.
These essays and articles cover a wide array of topics, from the fascinating delusion of Rachel Dolezal to the horrors of fraternity hazing to the complexities of Donald Trump’s presidency.
As always, the criteria for this list is simple: All pieces must have been written by a person of color and been published online within the last year.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/24-of-the-most-thought-provoking-pieces-of-writing-by-people-of-color-in-2017_us_5a303859e4b01bdd7657e96a
Friday, December 22, 2017
Quote II
From the NY Times -
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/us/past-debates-echo-in-split-between-cornel-west-and-ta-nehisi-coates.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_rr_20171222&nl=race-related&nlid=38867499&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
What We Read in 2017
From Chartbeat -
2017: The 100 Most Engaging Stories of the Year
http://2017.chartbeat.com/intro
2017: The 100 Most Engaging Stories of the Year
http://2017.chartbeat.com/intro
Yes!!! - College Acceptance Letters
From Essence -
https://www.essence.com/culture/black-teens-college-acceptance-reaction-videos#1
https://www.essence.com/culture/black-teens-college-acceptance-reaction-videos#1
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Black Excellence in Science
An excerpt from OZY -
THE SEGREGATED BLACK SCHOOLS THAT DOMINATED IN SCIENCE
By Daniel Malloy
The segregation that built Sumner also fueled its excellence. The best-educated white minds of the time could become lawyers and doctors and business leaders. The cream of the African-American intellectual crop was blocked from many such opportunities, so they often became educators. In the 1930s, at a time when many white high school teachers did not have bachelor’s degrees, 44 percent of Sumner’s teachers had master’s degrees, according to research by Frank Manheim of George Mason University and Eckhard Hellmuth of the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
A history of Sumner written by its students in 1935 quotes an unnamed African-American educator: “Sumner is a child not of our own volition but rather an offspring of the race antipathy of a bygone period. It was a veritable blessing in disguise — a flower of which we may proudly say, ‘The bud had a bitter taste, but sweet indeed is the flower.’”
In 1952, the school systems on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri state line joined the International Science Fair movement. The Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair went on to become one of America’s biggest. The prizes it handed out in the 1950s, according to Manheim and Hellmuth, went largely to Sumner students. Then the baton was picked up by Lincoln High, a Black school in Kansas City, Missouri, which dominated the competition into the 1960s. In 1963, Lincoln’s Vernice Marie Murray won a national first place in physics with a project called “Experimental Methods of Verifying Force.”
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-segregated-black-schools-that-dominated-in-science/79621
~~~~~~~~~~
Malcolm Gladwell does a podcast entitled "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment" - number 8 on the list below - that does a masterful job of explaining the error in thinking that is associated with the Brown vs the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. Having been raised in segregated schools, it supports what I already knew to be true.
THE SEGREGATED BLACK SCHOOLS THAT DOMINATED IN SCIENCE
By Daniel Malloy
The segregation that built Sumner also fueled its excellence. The best-educated white minds of the time could become lawyers and doctors and business leaders. The cream of the African-American intellectual crop was blocked from many such opportunities, so they often became educators. In the 1930s, at a time when many white high school teachers did not have bachelor’s degrees, 44 percent of Sumner’s teachers had master’s degrees, according to research by Frank Manheim of George Mason University and Eckhard Hellmuth of the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
A history of Sumner written by its students in 1935 quotes an unnamed African-American educator: “Sumner is a child not of our own volition but rather an offspring of the race antipathy of a bygone period. It was a veritable blessing in disguise — a flower of which we may proudly say, ‘The bud had a bitter taste, but sweet indeed is the flower.’”
In 1952, the school systems on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri state line joined the International Science Fair movement. The Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair went on to become one of America’s biggest. The prizes it handed out in the 1950s, according to Manheim and Hellmuth, went largely to Sumner students. Then the baton was picked up by Lincoln High, a Black school in Kansas City, Missouri, which dominated the competition into the 1960s. In 1963, Lincoln’s Vernice Marie Murray won a national first place in physics with a project called “Experimental Methods of Verifying Force.”
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-segregated-black-schools-that-dominated-in-science/79621
~~~~~~~~~~
Malcolm Gladwell does a podcast entitled "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment" - number 8 on the list below - that does a masterful job of explaining the error in thinking that is associated with the Brown vs the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. Having been raised in segregated schools, it supports what I already knew to be true.
YouTube - The World's Best Film School?
An excerpt from Wired -
THE WORLD'S BEST FILM SCHOOL IS FREE ON YOUTUBE
By AUTHOR: DAVID PIERCE
Lessons from the Screenplay launched on June 8, 2016, with a video called "Gone Girl—Don't Underestimate the Screenwriter." In it, Tucker explains why screenplays matter more than you think, and dissects the techniques Gillian Flynn used in adapting her novel for the film. As Tucker narrates over clips from the movie, the corresponding lines and notes from the original screenplay appear underneath. The video blew up immediately, climbing the r/movies Subreddit and eventually landing on Reddit's front page. Lessons from the Screenplay had 8,000 subscribers after just one day, and the Gone Girl video racked up 200,000 views in a week.
With that, Tucker had found himself part of a rich, growing corner of YouTube. You could call it YouTube Film School, staffed by creators all over the platform who spend their time helping viewers understand how film and TV work. YouTube is rich with movie reviews, hilariously re-cut trailers, and haphazardly uploaded clips of dubious quality and legality. But the best channels are the ones that teach film as an art form, that help you understand why a particular cut or camera move makes you feel the way it does.
https://www.wired.com/story/youtube-film-school/
THE WORLD'S BEST FILM SCHOOL IS FREE ON YOUTUBE
By AUTHOR: DAVID PIERCE
Lessons from the Screenplay launched on June 8, 2016, with a video called "Gone Girl—Don't Underestimate the Screenwriter." In it, Tucker explains why screenplays matter more than you think, and dissects the techniques Gillian Flynn used in adapting her novel for the film. As Tucker narrates over clips from the movie, the corresponding lines and notes from the original screenplay appear underneath. The video blew up immediately, climbing the r/movies Subreddit and eventually landing on Reddit's front page. Lessons from the Screenplay had 8,000 subscribers after just one day, and the Gone Girl video racked up 200,000 views in a week.
With that, Tucker had found himself part of a rich, growing corner of YouTube. You could call it YouTube Film School, staffed by creators all over the platform who spend their time helping viewers understand how film and TV work. YouTube is rich with movie reviews, hilariously re-cut trailers, and haphazardly uploaded clips of dubious quality and legality. But the best channels are the ones that teach film as an art form, that help you understand why a particular cut or camera move makes you feel the way it does.
https://www.wired.com/story/youtube-film-school/
2017 Photos
From the Atlantic -
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/12/the-most-2017-photos-ever/548789/
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/12/the-most-2017-photos-ever/548789/
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Boy Calls 911 on the Grinch
From USA Today -
To save Christmas, boy calls 911 on the Grinch and then helps cops nab him
By Therese Apel, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion Ledger
JACKSON, Miss. — It's actually a story of saving Christmas from the Grinch.
TyLon Pittman, a 5-year-old Mississippi boy, knew he was too little to take on the Grinch all by himself, so having identified the threat, he took action. TyLon called 911 to report that he did not want the Grinch to come steal his Christmas.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/12/18/boy-calls-911-report-grinch/960746001/
To save Christmas, boy calls 911 on the Grinch and then helps cops nab him
By Therese Apel, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion Ledger
TyLon Pittman, a 5-year-old Mississippi boy, knew he was too little to take on the Grinch all by himself, so having identified the threat, he took action. TyLon called 911 to report that he did not want the Grinch to come steal his Christmas.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/12/18/boy-calls-911-report-grinch/960746001/
Monday, December 18, 2017
Backpacks From Around the World
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/12/the-things-kids-carried/548105/
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Quote
Asked how did a tainted supplement get in his system Jeremy Kerley said, "I don’t know, a lot of ghosts around here. Ghost put it in. You know the ghost of Christmas past."— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) December 13, 2017
Friday, December 15, 2017
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Thanking Black Women
An excerpt from Upworthy -
15 real ways to thank black women for carrying the country on their backs.
by Erin Canty
Here are 15 ways to spend your money, power, time, and resources to thank black women for carrying the political load.
1. Support black women running for office.
Yard signs. Phone banks. Field work. And, most importantly, monetary donations. No black women running for office near you? No excuses. Consider contributing to Stacey Abrams, a black Democrat running for governor of Georgia.
2. Get serious about closing the wage gap.
You've likely heard the statistic that women earn 78 cents for dollar a man makes doing the same job. That's white women. Black women earn about 64 cents for every dollar. Connect with and contribute to groups like the 78 Cents Project and the National Women's Law Center, who work tirelessly to bring about change in this arena.
http://www.upworthy.com/15-real-ways-to-thank-black-women-for-carrying-the-country-on-their-backs?c=upw1
15 real ways to thank black women for carrying the country on their backs.
by Erin Canty
Here are 15 ways to spend your money, power, time, and resources to thank black women for carrying the political load.
1. Support black women running for office.
Yard signs. Phone banks. Field work. And, most importantly, monetary donations. No black women running for office near you? No excuses. Consider contributing to Stacey Abrams, a black Democrat running for governor of Georgia.
2. Get serious about closing the wage gap.
You've likely heard the statistic that women earn 78 cents for dollar a man makes doing the same job. That's white women. Black women earn about 64 cents for every dollar. Connect with and contribute to groups like the 78 Cents Project and the National Women's Law Center, who work tirelessly to bring about change in this arena.
http://www.upworthy.com/15-real-ways-to-thank-black-women-for-carrying-the-country-on-their-backs?c=upw1
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Quote
From USA Today Editorial -
A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/12/12/trump-lows-ever-hit-rock-bottom-editorials-debates/945947001/
A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/12/12/trump-lows-ever-hit-rock-bottom-editorials-debates/945947001/
Monday, December 11, 2017
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Fighting Mass Incarceration With An App
An excerpt from Salon -
Want to fight America’s racist mass-incarceration system? There’s an app for that
The app Appolition automatically collects your spare change to help bail disadvantaged black people out of jail
By Rachel Leah
As a social engineer, Kortney Ziegler is always thinking of new ideas and posting them to his Twitter.
"An app that converts your daily change into bail money to free black people," he tweeted in July.
Like many of his brainstorms, it was a one-off gesture thrown into the digital ether. But something was different about this one. It quickly got hundreds of retweets and affirmations. "I'd sign up!" many users wrote back.
Impressed and inspired by the response, Ziegler decided to make the app a reality.
The result is the web-based service "Appolition," which officially came to life on Nov. 14. Ziegler, along with his co-founders in Atlanta, hoped to reach 200 users by mid-December. As of today, Appolition has close to 6,000. And its current, web-based form is just the beginning. Ziegler says mobile apps for iPhone and Android users are on the way.
Here's how it works: Appolition connects to your bank account and rounds up each purchase you make to the nearest dollar. The spare change is then donated automatically once it accrues to at least 50 cents. By signing in to the website, it takes you to a personal secure dashboard where you can track your contributions to bail relief as you spend. It's both passive — you don't even notice you're using it — and effective.
https://www.salon.com/2017/12/09/want-to-fight-americas-racist-mass-incarceration-system-theres-an-app-for-that/
https://appolition.us
Want to fight America’s racist mass-incarceration system? There’s an app for that
The app Appolition automatically collects your spare change to help bail disadvantaged black people out of jail
By Rachel Leah
As a social engineer, Kortney Ziegler is always thinking of new ideas and posting them to his Twitter.
"An app that converts your daily change into bail money to free black people," he tweeted in July.
Like many of his brainstorms, it was a one-off gesture thrown into the digital ether. But something was different about this one. It quickly got hundreds of retweets and affirmations. "I'd sign up!" many users wrote back.
Impressed and inspired by the response, Ziegler decided to make the app a reality.
The result is the web-based service "Appolition," which officially came to life on Nov. 14. Ziegler, along with his co-founders in Atlanta, hoped to reach 200 users by mid-December. As of today, Appolition has close to 6,000. And its current, web-based form is just the beginning. Ziegler says mobile apps for iPhone and Android users are on the way.
Here's how it works: Appolition connects to your bank account and rounds up each purchase you make to the nearest dollar. The spare change is then donated automatically once it accrues to at least 50 cents. By signing in to the website, it takes you to a personal secure dashboard where you can track your contributions to bail relief as you spend. It's both passive — you don't even notice you're using it — and effective.
https://www.salon.com/2017/12/09/want-to-fight-americas-racist-mass-incarceration-system-theres-an-app-for-that/
https://appolition.us
Saturday, December 9, 2017
It Shouldn't Be This Hard
An excerpt from Salon -
NYC’s high school wars: Helicopter parenting hits a new peak
“School choice” in New York has birthed a bizarre system that rewards parental madness and reinforces inequality
By ANDREW O'HEHIR
I spent eight hours trapped with hundreds of other parents in the prison-like cafeteria at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School — that’s the performing arts school from “Fame” — while my daughter auditioned for a spot in their drama program. (Hey, she got a call-back.) We waited in a four-block-long line for 90 minutes to get into a brief presentation at a former groovy-lefty alternative school that is now — this is not so much ironic as inevitable — intensely competitive and desirable. My son and I tried to visit a tiny math-and-science target school in Harlem (which features, I kid you not, mandatory German) and found ourselves in a mob scene perhaps five times the size of the school’s entire student population. But there was one small moment, in itself neither controversial nor alarming, that summed up this whole strange experience.
https://www.salon.com/2017/12/09/nycs-high-school-wars-helicopter-parenting-hits-a-new-peak/?source=newsletter
NYC’s high school wars: Helicopter parenting hits a new peak
“School choice” in New York has birthed a bizarre system that rewards parental madness and reinforces inequality
By ANDREW O'HEHIR
I spent eight hours trapped with hundreds of other parents in the prison-like cafeteria at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School — that’s the performing arts school from “Fame” — while my daughter auditioned for a spot in their drama program. (Hey, she got a call-back.) We waited in a four-block-long line for 90 minutes to get into a brief presentation at a former groovy-lefty alternative school that is now — this is not so much ironic as inevitable — intensely competitive and desirable. My son and I tried to visit a tiny math-and-science target school in Harlem (which features, I kid you not, mandatory German) and found ourselves in a mob scene perhaps five times the size of the school’s entire student population. But there was one small moment, in itself neither controversial nor alarming, that summed up this whole strange experience.
https://www.salon.com/2017/12/09/nycs-high-school-wars-helicopter-parenting-hits-a-new-peak/?source=newsletter
It Says It All
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
This Book’s Title Says What We’re All Thinking About Donald Trump
“The windows are dark in D.C./ Your staff huddles down to silently weep/ I’ll read you one last story from InfoWars/ If you promise you’ll then go to sleep.”
By David Moye
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stop-tweeting-donald-trump-book_us_5a27127de4b0c2117626883e?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
This Book’s Title Says What We’re All Thinking About Donald Trump
“The windows are dark in D.C./ Your staff huddles down to silently weep/ I’ll read you one last story from InfoWars/ If you promise you’ll then go to sleep.”
By David Moye
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stop-tweeting-donald-trump-book_us_5a27127de4b0c2117626883e?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
Black Superpower of Detection
An excerpt from Very Smart Brothas -
Is It Safe Yet to Admit How Shocked I Am That There Are Actual Black People Who Had No Idea Meghan Markle Is (Partially) Black?
By Damon Young
From “The One Superpower All Black People Possess? Detecting Blackness”:
It doesn’t matter if you have one drop or a KFC bucket full of Zulu blood. We see Black down the hall. We see Black in the mall. We see Black across the street. We see Black across the tweets. Shit, we see Black before Black sees itself. And sometimes even when Black refuses to see itself.
Somewhere in America today a Black person is passing for White. And he’s been able to fool the people at his job, the people at his church, and the people in his girlfriend’s family. And that Black person is going to be in the same supermarket aisle as another Black person. And that Black person is going to take one look at him and think “Nah, bruh.”
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/is-it-safe-yet-to-admit-how-shocked-i-am-that-there-are-1821098302?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-12-08
Is It Safe Yet to Admit How Shocked I Am That There Are Actual Black People Who Had No Idea Meghan Markle Is (Partially) Black?
By Damon Young
From “The One Superpower All Black People Possess? Detecting Blackness”:
It doesn’t matter if you have one drop or a KFC bucket full of Zulu blood. We see Black down the hall. We see Black in the mall. We see Black across the street. We see Black across the tweets. Shit, we see Black before Black sees itself. And sometimes even when Black refuses to see itself.
Somewhere in America today a Black person is passing for White. And he’s been able to fool the people at his job, the people at his church, and the people in his girlfriend’s family. And that Black person is going to be in the same supermarket aisle as another Black person. And that Black person is going to take one look at him and think “Nah, bruh.”
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/is-it-safe-yet-to-admit-how-shocked-i-am-that-there-are-1821098302?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-12-08
Friday, December 8, 2017
Thieving Squirrel
An excerpt from the Boston Globe -
Fat squirrel steals pricey goods left out for delivery folks
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. — An obese squirrel was caught on video stealing gourmet chocolate and lip balm that a family leaves outside as a holiday treat for delivery people.
Michele Boudreaux, of Maplewood, N.J., said on her blog she provides candy, snacks, tissues, hand warmers, and other goodies on her doorstep every year. She’s never had any issues before, but this year, her basket was raided within hours of being set outside her home.
The thief seemed to be targeting the priciest stuff, including about 25 squares of Ghirardelli chocolate, she said.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2017/12/07/fat-squirrel-steals-pricey-goods-left-out-for-delivery-folks/D0AYhIWpj0XLoHmaupdtdL/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
Fat squirrel steals pricey goods left out for delivery folks
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. — An obese squirrel was caught on video stealing gourmet chocolate and lip balm that a family leaves outside as a holiday treat for delivery people.
Michele Boudreaux, of Maplewood, N.J., said on her blog she provides candy, snacks, tissues, hand warmers, and other goodies on her doorstep every year. She’s never had any issues before, but this year, her basket was raided within hours of being set outside her home.
The thief seemed to be targeting the priciest stuff, including about 25 squares of Ghirardelli chocolate, she said.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2017/12/07/fat-squirrel-steals-pricey-goods-left-out-for-delivery-folks/D0AYhIWpj0XLoHmaupdtdL/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Black Wall Street
An excerpt from OZY -
HISTORY HANGS HEAVILY OVER TULSA’S LONE BLACK COUNCILWOMAN
By Nick Fouriezos
To engage with Vanessa Hall-Harper is to grapple with the tragic history of race relations in Tulsa. Reckoning is the only option when sitting down with the 46-year-old, who, within minutes, is digging into what was — and what could have been.
They called the city councilor’s North Tulsa district “Black Wall Street” in the early 20th century, when African-American aristocrats paraded their automobiles down roads lined with more than 200 Black-owned businesses. But on May 31, 1921, everything changed. Resentment over Black wealth erupted, with white vigilantes taking to the streets, killing at least 300 of their neighbors of color and firebombing their businesses in what would be dubbed a “race riot” by the history books — and then promptly forgotten.
http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/history-hangs-heavily-over-tulsas-lone-black-councilwoman/82011
HISTORY HANGS HEAVILY OVER TULSA’S LONE BLACK COUNCILWOMAN
By Nick Fouriezos
To engage with Vanessa Hall-Harper is to grapple with the tragic history of race relations in Tulsa. Reckoning is the only option when sitting down with the 46-year-old, who, within minutes, is digging into what was — and what could have been.
They called the city councilor’s North Tulsa district “Black Wall Street” in the early 20th century, when African-American aristocrats paraded their automobiles down roads lined with more than 200 Black-owned businesses. But on May 31, 1921, everything changed. Resentment over Black wealth erupted, with white vigilantes taking to the streets, killing at least 300 of their neighbors of color and firebombing their businesses in what would be dubbed a “race riot” by the history books — and then promptly forgotten.
http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/history-hangs-heavily-over-tulsas-lone-black-councilwoman/82011
Rugby's Changing Face
An excerpt from OZY -
RUGBY'S CHANGING FACE: FROM THE PRIVILEGED TO THE DOWNTRODDEN
By Tal Pinchevsky
Since its birth in early 19th-century Britain, rugby has largely remained a bastion of upper-class privilege. The sport spread across the breadth of the British Empire but remained an elite activity in most countries even after the end of colonial rule, despite occasional dents to that shell of privilege. Now, an emerging breed of young rugby players is challenging that old order more decisively than ever.
A refugee from the Ivory Coast, 21-year-old Karwhin recently joined the Redcliffe Dolphins rugby club near Brisbane, Australia, a team that in the past has given the country several national players. After living in a refugee camp along the Bosnia-Croatia border as a child, Admir Cejvanovic is now a fixture on Canada’s national team for rugby sevens — a faster, seven-a-side version of the sport. Mo Mustafa, a Palestinian refugee who settled in Britain, represented England students internationally before taking up medical studies. Italian national team player Mata Maxime Mbanda’s parents came to Italy from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ohio-born Carlin Isles bounced around the foster care system before emerging as among the United States’ top rugby sevens players. In war-torn Benghazi, young Libyan men have formed a rugby union, and the city is building a stadium that will host Middle Eastern and North African teams in an international tournament next year. And the Tre Rose rugby club in the Italian province of Alessandria is made up almost entirely of Syrian refugees who have fled the civil war in their homeland.
http://www.ozy.com/the-huddle/rugbys-changing-face-from-the-privileged-to-the-downtrodden/82159
RUGBY'S CHANGING FACE: FROM THE PRIVILEGED TO THE DOWNTRODDEN
By Tal Pinchevsky
Since its birth in early 19th-century Britain, rugby has largely remained a bastion of upper-class privilege. The sport spread across the breadth of the British Empire but remained an elite activity in most countries even after the end of colonial rule, despite occasional dents to that shell of privilege. Now, an emerging breed of young rugby players is challenging that old order more decisively than ever.
A refugee from the Ivory Coast, 21-year-old Karwhin recently joined the Redcliffe Dolphins rugby club near Brisbane, Australia, a team that in the past has given the country several national players. After living in a refugee camp along the Bosnia-Croatia border as a child, Admir Cejvanovic is now a fixture on Canada’s national team for rugby sevens — a faster, seven-a-side version of the sport. Mo Mustafa, a Palestinian refugee who settled in Britain, represented England students internationally before taking up medical studies. Italian national team player Mata Maxime Mbanda’s parents came to Italy from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ohio-born Carlin Isles bounced around the foster care system before emerging as among the United States’ top rugby sevens players. In war-torn Benghazi, young Libyan men have formed a rugby union, and the city is building a stadium that will host Middle Eastern and North African teams in an international tournament next year. And the Tre Rose rugby club in the Italian province of Alessandria is made up almost entirely of Syrian refugees who have fled the civil war in their homeland.
http://www.ozy.com/the-huddle/rugbys-changing-face-from-the-privileged-to-the-downtrodden/82159
He Tried to Help
An excerpt from CNN -
Obama tried to save Trump from a colossal mistake
By Michael D'Antonio
With every revelation in the Trump-Russia controversy it's becoming clear that the most important moment in Donald Trump's transition involved the man he seems to detest the most.
Two days after the election, Barack Obama delivered a face-to-face warning to Trump about the risk of keeping retired Gen. Michael Flynn around. Trump ignored the advice and instead invested maximum trust in Flynn as he made him national security adviser.
Obama's effort to save Trump and the nation from Flynn is full of painful irony. Remember, Trump is the man who spent years promoting racist conspiracy theories suggesting Obama was foreign-born and thus not legally qualified to be president. Flynn, whom Obama dismissed because of concerns about his leadership, then mocked Obama's ally, Hillary Clinton, with chants of "lock her up" during the campaign.
Obama could have stayed mum. A lesser man would have savored the knowledge that Trump and Flynn were headed for crisis. Obama did his duty by trying to help his successor.
The judgment Obama showed was typical for a president who, prior to politics, was an expert in constitutional law and understood his responsibilities to fulfill the oath he took to "preserve, protect and defend" it.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/opinions/obama-tried-to-save-trump-from-mistake-opinion-dantonio/index.html
Obama tried to save Trump from a colossal mistake
By Michael D'Antonio
With every revelation in the Trump-Russia controversy it's becoming clear that the most important moment in Donald Trump's transition involved the man he seems to detest the most.
Two days after the election, Barack Obama delivered a face-to-face warning to Trump about the risk of keeping retired Gen. Michael Flynn around. Trump ignored the advice and instead invested maximum trust in Flynn as he made him national security adviser.
Obama's effort to save Trump and the nation from Flynn is full of painful irony. Remember, Trump is the man who spent years promoting racist conspiracy theories suggesting Obama was foreign-born and thus not legally qualified to be president. Flynn, whom Obama dismissed because of concerns about his leadership, then mocked Obama's ally, Hillary Clinton, with chants of "lock her up" during the campaign.
Obama could have stayed mum. A lesser man would have savored the knowledge that Trump and Flynn were headed for crisis. Obama did his duty by trying to help his successor.
The judgment Obama showed was typical for a president who, prior to politics, was an expert in constitutional law and understood his responsibilities to fulfill the oath he took to "preserve, protect and defend" it.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/opinions/obama-tried-to-save-trump-from-mistake-opinion-dantonio/index.html
Monday, December 4, 2017
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Friday, December 1, 2017
Trapped in Trump's World
An excerpt from New York Magazine -
America Is Trapped in Trump’s Delusional World
By Andrew Sullivan
This past week was, in some ways, the most potent distillation of the Trump era we have yet encountered. This is not because any single incident is worse than any previous one over the past year. It’s because the last few days have brought all of them together in a new, concentrated way — a super-storm, as it were, of liberal democratic destruction. We have deranged tweeting; truly surreal lies; mindless GOP tribalism; evangelicals making excuses for the molestation of minors; further assaults on the free press; an unprecedented attack on the most reliable Atlantic ally; the demonization of personal enemies; stupendous tribal hypocrisy with respect to sexual abuse; the White House’s endorsement of a foreign neo-fascist hate group; the vengeful hanging out to dry of a Cabinet member; and the attempt to pass a catastrophic omnibus piece of legislation in one mad, blind rush in order to get a “win.” And all in a few days!
At its center is mental illness. It radiates out of the center like a toxin in the blood. And this, again, is nothing new. On Trump’s first day in office, with respect to the size of his inauguration crowd, he insisted that what was demonstrably, visibly, incontrovertibly false was actually true. At that moment, we learned that all the lies and exaggerations and provocations of the previous year were not just campaign tools, designed to con and distract, but actually constitutive of his core mental health. He was not lying, as lying is usually understood. He was expressing what he believed to be true, because his ego demanded it be true. And for Trump, as we now know, there is no reality outside his own perfervidly narcissistic consciousness.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/andrew-sullivan-america-is-trapped-in-trumps-delusions.html
America Is Trapped in Trump’s Delusional World
By Andrew Sullivan
This past week was, in some ways, the most potent distillation of the Trump era we have yet encountered. This is not because any single incident is worse than any previous one over the past year. It’s because the last few days have brought all of them together in a new, concentrated way — a super-storm, as it were, of liberal democratic destruction. We have deranged tweeting; truly surreal lies; mindless GOP tribalism; evangelicals making excuses for the molestation of minors; further assaults on the free press; an unprecedented attack on the most reliable Atlantic ally; the demonization of personal enemies; stupendous tribal hypocrisy with respect to sexual abuse; the White House’s endorsement of a foreign neo-fascist hate group; the vengeful hanging out to dry of a Cabinet member; and the attempt to pass a catastrophic omnibus piece of legislation in one mad, blind rush in order to get a “win.” And all in a few days!
At its center is mental illness. It radiates out of the center like a toxin in the blood. And this, again, is nothing new. On Trump’s first day in office, with respect to the size of his inauguration crowd, he insisted that what was demonstrably, visibly, incontrovertibly false was actually true. At that moment, we learned that all the lies and exaggerations and provocations of the previous year were not just campaign tools, designed to con and distract, but actually constitutive of his core mental health. He was not lying, as lying is usually understood. He was expressing what he believed to be true, because his ego demanded it be true. And for Trump, as we now know, there is no reality outside his own perfervidly narcissistic consciousness.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/andrew-sullivan-america-is-trapped-in-trumps-delusions.html
Kaep Receives Ali Award
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Colin Kaepernick receives Muhammad Ali Legacy Award from Sports Illustrated
By Des Bieler
For risking a lucrative athletic career in his prime by staging protests against injustice, Colin Kaepernick has often been compared to Muhammad Ali. Thus, in giving the former 49ers quarterback an annual award named in honor of the boxing icon, Sports Illustrated declared that “no winner has been more fitting than Kaepernick.”
In an essay, Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg wrote, “In the last 16 months, Kaepernick’s truth has been twisted, distorted and used for political gain. It has cost him at least a year of his NFL career and the income that should have come with it. But still, it is his truth. He has not wavered from it. He does not regret speaking it. He has caused millions of people to examine it. And, quietly, he has donated nearly a million dollars to support it.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/11/30/colin-kaepernick-receives-muhammad-ali-legacy-award-from-sports-illustrated/?utm_term=.5cf0c25fffe8
Colin Kaepernick receives Muhammad Ali Legacy Award from Sports Illustrated
By Des Bieler
For risking a lucrative athletic career in his prime by staging protests against injustice, Colin Kaepernick has often been compared to Muhammad Ali. Thus, in giving the former 49ers quarterback an annual award named in honor of the boxing icon, Sports Illustrated declared that “no winner has been more fitting than Kaepernick.”
In an essay, Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg wrote, “In the last 16 months, Kaepernick’s truth has been twisted, distorted and used for political gain. It has cost him at least a year of his NFL career and the income that should have come with it. But still, it is his truth. He has not wavered from it. He does not regret speaking it. He has caused millions of people to examine it. And, quietly, he has donated nearly a million dollars to support it.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/11/30/colin-kaepernick-receives-muhammad-ali-legacy-award-from-sports-illustrated/?utm_term=.5cf0c25fffe8
Thursday, November 30, 2017
The Power of Howard
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
‘This Is Us’ recognizes the power of Howard University
As a senior, I know exactly how the show’s character Randall Pearson felt visiting The Mecca for the first time
BY PAUL HOLSTON
If you didn’t catch the midseason finale of the NBC series This Is Us, you missed seeing on national television the moment a young black boy full of joy arrives on the main campus of Howard University, a place where blackness is unapologetic and excellence is vivacious.
One of the most touching moments of the show’s second season is a throwback to the ’90s in which high school junior Randall Pearson (Niles Fitch) asks his adoptive father, Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia), if he could visit the historically black university after initially filling out an application for Harvard University. Randall has been trying to figure out for a while where he would like to go to college.
After Jack agrees to plan a trip to Howard with Randall, the episode soon shifts to The Yard, the symbolic heart of the campus. The environment and the Afrocentric energy that thrives throughout The Mecca immediately overwhelms Randall. Randall and Jack then walk to the Valley on campus and are greeted by Keith, a friend of Randall’s who is a Howard freshman, and Craig, another student who is a member of my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma (shout out to the MAB!). Keith offers to give Randall a tour, and to Randall’s surprise, he gets the comfort of being at an HBCU (historically black college or university). From walking the halls of Founders Library to eyeing a young woman who walks by him on The Yard to chilling in one of the dormitories with Nas and Lauryn Hill’s If I Ruled The World gliding in the background, the show does a great job of showing how many Howard students feel during their first experiences at The Mecca.
https://theundefeated.com/features/this-is-us-recognizes-the-power-of-howard-university/
‘This Is Us’ recognizes the power of Howard University
As a senior, I know exactly how the show’s character Randall Pearson felt visiting The Mecca for the first time
BY PAUL HOLSTON
If you didn’t catch the midseason finale of the NBC series This Is Us, you missed seeing on national television the moment a young black boy full of joy arrives on the main campus of Howard University, a place where blackness is unapologetic and excellence is vivacious.
One of the most touching moments of the show’s second season is a throwback to the ’90s in which high school junior Randall Pearson (Niles Fitch) asks his adoptive father, Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia), if he could visit the historically black university after initially filling out an application for Harvard University. Randall has been trying to figure out for a while where he would like to go to college.
After Jack agrees to plan a trip to Howard with Randall, the episode soon shifts to The Yard, the symbolic heart of the campus. The environment and the Afrocentric energy that thrives throughout The Mecca immediately overwhelms Randall. Randall and Jack then walk to the Valley on campus and are greeted by Keith, a friend of Randall’s who is a Howard freshman, and Craig, another student who is a member of my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma (shout out to the MAB!). Keith offers to give Randall a tour, and to Randall’s surprise, he gets the comfort of being at an HBCU (historically black college or university). From walking the halls of Founders Library to eyeing a young woman who walks by him on The Yard to chilling in one of the dormitories with Nas and Lauryn Hill’s If I Ruled The World gliding in the background, the show does a great job of showing how many Howard students feel during their first experiences at The Mecca.
https://theundefeated.com/features/this-is-us-recognizes-the-power-of-howard-university/
Black Vegans
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Black Vegans Step Out, for Their Health and Other Causes
By KIM SEVERSON
Aph Ko got tired of hearing that eating vegan was something only white people did. So in 2015, she created a list of 100 black vegans for a website. It included pioneering figures like Dick Gregory and Coretta Scott King and younger, less famous writers, filmmakers, cooks and activists.
“When you say ‘vegan,’ a lot of people tend to only think of PETA, which doesn’t reflect the massive landscape of vegan activism,” said Ms. Ko, 28, a Floridian whose favorite dish at the moment is the spinach pie in “The Vegan Stoner Cookbook.” “The black vegan movement is one of the most diverse, decolonial, complex and creative movements.”
So many other people wanted to be included on the list after it appeared, she started a website, Black Vegans Rock. That spawned a Twitter hashtag (#blackvegansrock) and a T-shirt business. In June, she published ”Aphro-ism: Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters,” a book she wrote with her older sister, Syl Ko.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/dining/black-vegan-cooking.html
Black Vegans Step Out, for Their Health and Other Causes
By KIM SEVERSON
Aph Ko got tired of hearing that eating vegan was something only white people did. So in 2015, she created a list of 100 black vegans for a website. It included pioneering figures like Dick Gregory and Coretta Scott King and younger, less famous writers, filmmakers, cooks and activists.
“When you say ‘vegan,’ a lot of people tend to only think of PETA, which doesn’t reflect the massive landscape of vegan activism,” said Ms. Ko, 28, a Floridian whose favorite dish at the moment is the spinach pie in “The Vegan Stoner Cookbook.” “The black vegan movement is one of the most diverse, decolonial, complex and creative movements.”
So many other people wanted to be included on the list after it appeared, she started a website, Black Vegans Rock. That spawned a Twitter hashtag (#blackvegansrock) and a T-shirt business. In June, she published ”Aphro-ism: Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters,” a book she wrote with her older sister, Syl Ko.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/dining/black-vegan-cooking.html
Monday, November 27, 2017
Teaching Through Giving
An excerpt from the Daily Good -
These Professors Offered Students $10,000 In Real Money. The Catch? They Had To Give It Away.
by Lindsey McDougle, David Campbell & Jodi Benenson
If someone asked you to picture a philanthropist, chances are a billionaire like Bill Gates or John D. Rockefeller Sr. would come to mind. But not all philanthropists are billionaires — or even millionaires for that matter. People who make modest gifts of time or money can make a big difference in their communities.
We are professors who teach and do research about philanthropy, the practice of expressing generosity by giving away money and, in some cases, time. We see our job as motivating and preparing college and graduate students to become future leaders of nonprofit organizations or donors with good ideas about how to make a difference, starting right now.
Teaching about giving
One approach, known as “experiential philanthropy,” teaches about charitable giving through hands-on experiences. Students get real money, typically about $10,000 per class, to give away to local nonprofits. One of us (David) has determined that these courses are being taught on more than 80 different campuses.
https://education.good.is/articles/teaching-college-students-to-give-back?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood
These Professors Offered Students $10,000 In Real Money. The Catch? They Had To Give It Away.
by Lindsey McDougle, David Campbell & Jodi Benenson
If someone asked you to picture a philanthropist, chances are a billionaire like Bill Gates or John D. Rockefeller Sr. would come to mind. But not all philanthropists are billionaires — or even millionaires for that matter. People who make modest gifts of time or money can make a big difference in their communities.
We are professors who teach and do research about philanthropy, the practice of expressing generosity by giving away money and, in some cases, time. We see our job as motivating and preparing college and graduate students to become future leaders of nonprofit organizations or donors with good ideas about how to make a difference, starting right now.
Teaching about giving
One approach, known as “experiential philanthropy,” teaches about charitable giving through hands-on experiences. Students get real money, typically about $10,000 per class, to give away to local nonprofits. One of us (David) has determined that these courses are being taught on more than 80 different campuses.
https://education.good.is/articles/teaching-college-students-to-give-back?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood
This is an Apple
“Some people might try to tell you that it’s a banana.” #FactsFirst pic.twitter.com/LbmRKiGJe9— CNN (@CNN) October 23, 2017
The Clink - Prison Restaurant
From the Daily Mail -
Prison restaurants with bars on the windows and a panic button for diners beat celebrity chefs' eateries to the top of the TripAdvisor charts
The Clink restaurant is a chain that operates at four secure prisons in England
The restaurant chain is currently beating establishments by celebrity chefs
TripAdvisor says that three of the four restaurants are rated No 1 in their areas
Inmates with 6 to 18 months left of their sentence can apply for the restaurant
By Ian Drury
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5119799/Prison-restaurants-beat-celebrity-chefs-eateries.html#ixzz4zdpr6Rej
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Prison restaurants with bars on the windows and a panic button for diners beat celebrity chefs' eateries to the top of the TripAdvisor charts
The Clink restaurant is a chain that operates at four secure prisons in England
The restaurant chain is currently beating establishments by celebrity chefs
TripAdvisor says that three of the four restaurants are rated No 1 in their areas
Inmates with 6 to 18 months left of their sentence can apply for the restaurant
By Ian Drury
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5119799/Prison-restaurants-beat-celebrity-chefs-eateries.html#ixzz4zdpr6Rej
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
My Thoughts Exactly
An excerpt from Vox -
Why can’t This Is Us tell good stories about characters other than Randall?
A Kate-centric episode only underlines how much the show’s structure has shortchanged its characters.
by Todd VanDerWerff
Shortly after the blockbuster debut of This Is Us in 2016, I had lunch with a TV writer friend whose previous credits made me think he’d be a fan of the show. And, indeed, he had generally liked the pilot. But then he said something that stuck with me, when he explained why he wasn’t as enthusiastic about the overall series as I had expected he would be: “They only have enough story for Randall.”
Over the course of This Is Us’s now one and a half seasons, my friend’s prophecy has more or less come true. Randall and his family occupy one of the best shows on television, a beautiful story about a black adopted child who grew up in a white family, anchored by an Emmy-winning performance from Sterling K. Brown and no less exceptional work from Susan Kelechi Watson as Randall’s wife, Beth. Randall’s side of the show is everything family dramas can and should be.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/26/16688404/this-is-us-episode-9-recap-number-two-kate-miscarriage
Why can’t This Is Us tell good stories about characters other than Randall?
A Kate-centric episode only underlines how much the show’s structure has shortchanged its characters.
by Todd VanDerWerff
Shortly after the blockbuster debut of This Is Us in 2016, I had lunch with a TV writer friend whose previous credits made me think he’d be a fan of the show. And, indeed, he had generally liked the pilot. But then he said something that stuck with me, when he explained why he wasn’t as enthusiastic about the overall series as I had expected he would be: “They only have enough story for Randall.”
Over the course of This Is Us’s now one and a half seasons, my friend’s prophecy has more or less come true. Randall and his family occupy one of the best shows on television, a beautiful story about a black adopted child who grew up in a white family, anchored by an Emmy-winning performance from Sterling K. Brown and no less exceptional work from Susan Kelechi Watson as Randall’s wife, Beth. Randall’s side of the show is everything family dramas can and should be.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/26/16688404/this-is-us-episode-9-recap-number-two-kate-miscarriage
Eco-Friendly Fabric
http://mashable.com/2017/11/26/ably-liquid-and-odor-repelent-clothing/#LePoiNGA7sqZ
He Didn't Have to Beg
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Flowers From Her Deceased Dad
My dad passed away when I was 16 from cancer and before he died he pre payed flowers so i could receive them every year on my birthday. Well this is my 21st birthday flowers and the last. Miss you so much daddy. 💜 pic.twitter.com/vSafKyB2uO— Bailey Sellers (@SellersBailey) November 24, 2017
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/11/26/students-simple-homage-deceased-dad-lights-up-twitter/895964001/
60 Years in the Skies
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Meet the woman who’s spent 60 years making the skies a little friendlier
By Lori Aratani
It’s early on a Thursday morning and flight attendant Bette Nash has just strolled up to Gate 19 at Reagan National Airport, where American Airlines Flight 2160 bound for Boston is parked and preparing for boarding.
As she pauses at the counter to adjust her scarf, a 20-something guy looks up. He lets out a gasp.
“Oh, my God,” he says excitedly. “Are you Bette Nash? Can I have your picture?”
This is what life is like when you are Nash, 81, who has been flying since Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House and a ticket for a flight cost $12.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/meet-the-woman-whos-spent-60-years-making-the-skies-a-little-friendlier/2017/11/25/04cf6054-c8ac-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.0b94c8e0d6a3&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1
Meet the woman who’s spent 60 years making the skies a little friendlier
By Lori Aratani
It’s early on a Thursday morning and flight attendant Bette Nash has just strolled up to Gate 19 at Reagan National Airport, where American Airlines Flight 2160 bound for Boston is parked and preparing for boarding.
As she pauses at the counter to adjust her scarf, a 20-something guy looks up. He lets out a gasp.
“Oh, my God,” he says excitedly. “Are you Bette Nash? Can I have your picture?”
This is what life is like when you are Nash, 81, who has been flying since Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House and a ticket for a flight cost $12.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/meet-the-woman-whos-spent-60-years-making-the-skies-a-little-friendlier/2017/11/25/04cf6054-c8ac-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.0b94c8e0d6a3&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1
A Catch 22
An excerpt from the Boston Globe -
For black students, a college degree means long-term debt
By Deirdre Fernandes
Jasmine Reyes’s college degree landed her a stable post-graduation job and opened up a wealth of learning opportunities, from an internship in Los Angeles to study abroad in the Netherlands.
But for Reyes, 23, that Emerson College degree came at a sapping financial and emotional cost: a near-constant worry each semester about being able to afford the tuition, guilt over her grandmother’s decision to apply early for Social Security to help pay for her education, and ultimately, the burden of $40,000 in student loans.
“There are a lot of people who think that because I’m African-American I got to go to college for free,” said Reyes, who graduated in 2016. “But I am in so much debt. I would still do it again. But it was extremely stressful.”
Recent research and data from the US Department of Education indicate that African-American students, like Reyes, are taking a greater financial risk than other groups in going to college, even as a degree has grown increasingly vital for workers hoping to survive in the modern economy. They typically start with a smaller economic cushion, are more likely to borrow, and, on average, earn less upon graduation.
As a result, instead of bridging the racial equity gap by opening the prospect of well-paying jobs, getting a degree can actually widen the gulf in wealth between black and white adults.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/25/for-black-students-college-degree-means-long-term-debt/Hw8lOO4637pZY80QcIxDZM/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
For black students, a college degree means long-term debt
By Deirdre Fernandes
Jasmine Reyes’s college degree landed her a stable post-graduation job and opened up a wealth of learning opportunities, from an internship in Los Angeles to study abroad in the Netherlands.
But for Reyes, 23, that Emerson College degree came at a sapping financial and emotional cost: a near-constant worry each semester about being able to afford the tuition, guilt over her grandmother’s decision to apply early for Social Security to help pay for her education, and ultimately, the burden of $40,000 in student loans.
“There are a lot of people who think that because I’m African-American I got to go to college for free,” said Reyes, who graduated in 2016. “But I am in so much debt. I would still do it again. But it was extremely stressful.”
Recent research and data from the US Department of Education indicate that African-American students, like Reyes, are taking a greater financial risk than other groups in going to college, even as a degree has grown increasingly vital for workers hoping to survive in the modern economy. They typically start with a smaller economic cushion, are more likely to borrow, and, on average, earn less upon graduation.
As a result, instead of bridging the racial equity gap by opening the prospect of well-paying jobs, getting a degree can actually widen the gulf in wealth between black and white adults.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/25/for-black-students-college-degree-means-long-term-debt/Hw8lOO4637pZY80QcIxDZM/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
Colby College Honors a Former Slave
An excerpt from the Boston Globe -
At Colby College, an honor for a former slave
By Laura Krantz
WATERVILLE, Maine — At the elite college perched on a hill overlooking this former mill town, the buildings are named as you might expect.
The library honors the parents of a graduate. The theater is named for the 17th president. The tennis pavilion for generous donors to the school.
But now Colby College will have a building named after another sort of person entirely: a former slave who was the school janitor for 37 years starting right after the Civil War — a figure both beloved and disrespected by the college in his day.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/25/colby-college-honor-for-former-slave/BzFoklN3Gpw9flJvOnZtnJ/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
At Colby College, an honor for a former slave
By Laura Krantz
WATERVILLE, Maine — At the elite college perched on a hill overlooking this former mill town, the buildings are named as you might expect.
The library honors the parents of a graduate. The theater is named for the 17th president. The tennis pavilion for generous donors to the school.
But now Colby College will have a building named after another sort of person entirely: a former slave who was the school janitor for 37 years starting right after the Civil War — a figure both beloved and disrespected by the college in his day.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/25/colby-college-honor-for-former-slave/BzFoklN3Gpw9flJvOnZtnJ/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Black in Trump Country
An excerpt from Very Smart Brothas -
How to Survive in America When You’re Black and Your Hometown Is Donald Trump’s Base
By Raymar Hampshire
I grew up in Allen County, Ohio. I lived in the county seat of Lima and attended school in the village of Elida. The show Glee takes place in my hometown, and I have never watched a single episode of Glee, but I often use this fact to help orient people to where I grew up. I rarely visit my hometown outside of traveling there to spend time with my family during major holidays.
It feels honest and yet really vulnerable to admit this publicly. Facebook has become a window into the souls of so many people I grew up with, so much so that I often find myself unfriending them. The truth is that I have become a remarkably different person—and the place where I grew up feels like it has become a remarkably different place.
Today it seems as if the only time I bring up my hometown is when I’m having a conversation with someone about Donald Trump and we’re both shockingly/unshockingly lamenting his latest evil shenanigans. We might shake our heads thinking of his delusional supporters who are somehow able to look past it all.
These conversations happen almost daily. It’s in these conversations that I “rep” my hometown—mostly to prove that because I’m from a town of overwhelmingly white Trump supporters, I understand their delusions better than most.
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/how-to-survive-in-america-when-you-re-black-and-your-ho-1819882549
How to Survive in America When You’re Black and Your Hometown Is Donald Trump’s Base
By Raymar Hampshire
I grew up in Allen County, Ohio. I lived in the county seat of Lima and attended school in the village of Elida. The show Glee takes place in my hometown, and I have never watched a single episode of Glee, but I often use this fact to help orient people to where I grew up. I rarely visit my hometown outside of traveling there to spend time with my family during major holidays.
It feels honest and yet really vulnerable to admit this publicly. Facebook has become a window into the souls of so many people I grew up with, so much so that I often find myself unfriending them. The truth is that I have become a remarkably different person—and the place where I grew up feels like it has become a remarkably different place.
Today it seems as if the only time I bring up my hometown is when I’m having a conversation with someone about Donald Trump and we’re both shockingly/unshockingly lamenting his latest evil shenanigans. We might shake our heads thinking of his delusional supporters who are somehow able to look past it all.
These conversations happen almost daily. It’s in these conversations that I “rep” my hometown—mostly to prove that because I’m from a town of overwhelmingly white Trump supporters, I understand their delusions better than most.
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/how-to-survive-in-america-when-you-re-black-and-your-ho-1819882549
25 Blackest Sports Moments of 2017
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
The top 25 blackest sports moments of 2017
If you don’t understand why these moments are important, you might need more black friends
By Clifton Yates
Black Friday. The day when people decide that the only way they can make themselves feel better about whatever they just went through with their families on Thanksgiving is with a whole lot of retail therapy. It’s the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season, and according to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend an average of $967.13 each before the end of the year. That adds up to a cool $682 billion.
But forget all that. We black. So we’ll take this opportunity to reclaim our time and get back to using ham-handed puns for the culture. A point of clarification: There are a variety of items on this list. Some are groundbreaking accomplishments. Others are moments that made us laugh. A few are things that we might actually regret.
By the by, we’re doing this bad boy college football style. If you don’t understand why these moments are important, you might need more black friends.
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-top-25-blackest-sports-moments-of-2017/
The top 25 blackest sports moments of 2017
If you don’t understand why these moments are important, you might need more black friends
By Clifton Yates
Black Friday. The day when people decide that the only way they can make themselves feel better about whatever they just went through with their families on Thanksgiving is with a whole lot of retail therapy. It’s the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season, and according to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend an average of $967.13 each before the end of the year. That adds up to a cool $682 billion.
But forget all that. We black. So we’ll take this opportunity to reclaim our time and get back to using ham-handed puns for the culture. A point of clarification: There are a variety of items on this list. Some are groundbreaking accomplishments. Others are moments that made us laugh. A few are things that we might actually regret.
By the by, we’re doing this bad boy college football style. If you don’t understand why these moments are important, you might need more black friends.
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-top-25-blackest-sports-moments-of-2017/
Friday, November 24, 2017
Thursday, November 23, 2017
The Guest List
An excerpt from the Root -
The Caucasian’s Guide to Black Thanksgiving, Part 1: The Guest List
By Michael Harriot
Aunts
The first thing you must know about the black family tradition is that the nomenclature assigned to relatives has nothing to do with the traditional definitions assigned by white people to their family members. For white people, an “aunt” refers to a woman who is the sister of their mother or father. This does not hold true in the black community.
In the black community, an aunt is any woman more than 15 years older than you who has been around the family for more than 10 years. Every lady on the street where you grew up is an aunt. All women on the usher board at your place of worship are aunts. And it is pronounced “aww-went,” not “ant.”
https://www.theroot.com/the-caucasians-guide-to-black-thanksgiving-part-1-the-1820643386?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-11-23
The Caucasian’s Guide to Black Thanksgiving, Part 1: The Guest List
By Michael Harriot
Aunts
The first thing you must know about the black family tradition is that the nomenclature assigned to relatives has nothing to do with the traditional definitions assigned by white people to their family members. For white people, an “aunt” refers to a woman who is the sister of their mother or father. This does not hold true in the black community.
In the black community, an aunt is any woman more than 15 years older than you who has been around the family for more than 10 years. Every lady on the street where you grew up is an aunt. All women on the usher board at your place of worship are aunts. And it is pronounced “aww-went,” not “ant.”
https://www.theroot.com/the-caucasians-guide-to-black-thanksgiving-part-1-the-1820643386?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-11-23
He's Using the Same Old Playbook
Excerpts from the Huffington Post -
There’s A Reason Powerful Americans Love To Attack Black Sports Figures
Donald Trump is just keeping with a long tradition in this country.
By Travis Waldron
Powerful white Americans have been scoring political points off black athletes for as long as there have been organized sports in America. In this respect, at least, Donald Trump is a traditionalist.
~~~~~~~~~~
If this has become a familiar routine for Trump, it is because it is a familiar one for America. The country has never been comfortable with assertive black sports figures. Despite all the caterwauling about athletes who refuse to “stick to sports,” powerful Americans have always understood the mere presence of black athletes to be fundamentally political, a threat to the larger project of black subordination. And if black athletes themselves could no longer be kept out of sports, the culture at large would have to circumscribe their behavior, crush any outward assertiveness, segregate their blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~
The point of all of this was easy to see: if black athletes could assert themselves in the ring or on the baseball field, black people could assert themselves everywhere else, too. If black athletes weren’t forced to stay in their place, black people wouldn’t be compelled, either. And so laws were passed, and policies were implemented, to ensure the absence of black athletes who could give voice to black people.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-white-america-black-athletes_us_5a15db6ce4b064948072a8c4?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
There’s A Reason Powerful Americans Love To Attack Black Sports Figures
Donald Trump is just keeping with a long tradition in this country.
By Travis Waldron
Powerful white Americans have been scoring political points off black athletes for as long as there have been organized sports in America. In this respect, at least, Donald Trump is a traditionalist.
~~~~~~~~~~
If this has become a familiar routine for Trump, it is because it is a familiar one for America. The country has never been comfortable with assertive black sports figures. Despite all the caterwauling about athletes who refuse to “stick to sports,” powerful Americans have always understood the mere presence of black athletes to be fundamentally political, a threat to the larger project of black subordination. And if black athletes themselves could no longer be kept out of sports, the culture at large would have to circumscribe their behavior, crush any outward assertiveness, segregate their blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~
The point of all of this was easy to see: if black athletes could assert themselves in the ring or on the baseball field, black people could assert themselves everywhere else, too. If black athletes weren’t forced to stay in their place, black people wouldn’t be compelled, either. And so laws were passed, and policies were implemented, to ensure the absence of black athletes who could give voice to black people.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-white-america-black-athletes_us_5a15db6ce4b064948072a8c4?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Apology Generator
An excerpt from Upworthy -
The Celebrity Perv Apology Generator is hilariously, depressingly accurate.
The results from this website could easily be real celebrity apologies.
by Parker Molloy
Author Dana Schwartz jokingly tweeted plans to start "a small business ghostwriting half-hearted apologies for celebrity pervs." Within 24 hours, it became a reality.
Teaming up with designers Rob Sheridan and Scott McCaughey, Schwartz launched the Celebrity Perv Apology Generator, where anyone can go and get their very own half-assed apology for free. It's satire at its best, reflecting non-apologies back on the celebrities who give them.
"Please consult for all your celebrity perv apology needs," Schwartz tweeted.
http://www.upworthy.com/the-celebrity-perv-apology-generator-is-hilariously-depressingly-accurate?c=upw1
The Celebrity Perv Apology Generator is hilariously, depressingly accurate.
The results from this website could easily be real celebrity apologies.
by Parker Molloy
Author Dana Schwartz jokingly tweeted plans to start "a small business ghostwriting half-hearted apologies for celebrity pervs." Within 24 hours, it became a reality.
Teaming up with designers Rob Sheridan and Scott McCaughey, Schwartz launched the Celebrity Perv Apology Generator, where anyone can go and get their very own half-assed apology for free. It's satire at its best, reflecting non-apologies back on the celebrities who give them.
"Please consult for all your celebrity perv apology needs," Schwartz tweeted.
http://www.upworthy.com/the-celebrity-perv-apology-generator-is-hilariously-depressingly-accurate?c=upw1
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
History Lesson
An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -
Meet Ann Gregory, Who Shattered Racist and Sexist Barriers in the Golf World
An unheralded sports pioneer, she was known as “The Queen of Negro Women’s Golf.”
BY NATASHA FROST
IN 1959, ON A WARM August evening in Bethesda, Maryland, Ann Moore Gregory ate a hamburger and went to bed. That night, every other player in the United States Golf Association Women’s Amateur tournament, which began the next day, was eating a traditional players’ dinner at the Congressional Country Club. But Gregory, the only African-American player in the tournament, had been barred from the clubhouse. So, she said later, she ate by herself. She was “happy as a lark. I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t. I just wanted to play golf, they were letting me play golf,” she said. “So I got me a hamburger, and went to bed.”
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ann-gregory-golf-african-american-civil-rights
Meet Ann Gregory, Who Shattered Racist and Sexist Barriers in the Golf World
An unheralded sports pioneer, she was known as “The Queen of Negro Women’s Golf.”
BY NATASHA FROST
IN 1959, ON A WARM August evening in Bethesda, Maryland, Ann Moore Gregory ate a hamburger and went to bed. That night, every other player in the United States Golf Association Women’s Amateur tournament, which began the next day, was eating a traditional players’ dinner at the Congressional Country Club. But Gregory, the only African-American player in the tournament, had been barred from the clubhouse. So, she said later, she ate by herself. She was “happy as a lark. I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t. I just wanted to play golf, they were letting me play golf,” she said. “So I got me a hamburger, and went to bed.”
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ann-gregory-golf-african-american-civil-rights
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Gift Air Travel This Holiday
An excerpt from Conde Nast Traveler -
The Skyhour App Is the Easiest Way to Gift Air Travel
by Betsy Blumenthal
We know what we’re asking for this holiday season.
Rather than receiving yet another cable-knit sweater from your great aunt this Christmas, imagine that you’re instead gifted four ‘skyhours’—at $60 each, that’s $240 toward the flight for your next vacation.
That’s the aim of Skyhour, a new app designed to simplify the process of gifting air travel. Launched on October 23 with backing (and industry guidance) from JetBlue Technology Ventures, the corporate venture arm of JetBlue Airways, the platform aspires to make gifting and receiving flights a seamless, single-site process.
~~~~~~~~~~
You don’t need to register with Skyhour to gift hours—pretty convenient when you're running to that birthday party and totally forgot to buy a present—but you do need to set up an account in order to claim them, and create a profile that contains some personal details (name, e-mail, age) and your passport information. Recipients can then apply the hours they’ve received to their selection, and, presto! They’re going to Mexico. Fortunately, for those of us who already know what we want for our birthday (hey, six months isn’t that far away), you can also request hours.
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-skyhour-app-is-the-easiest-way-to-gift-air-travel
The Skyhour App Is the Easiest Way to Gift Air Travel
by Betsy Blumenthal
We know what we’re asking for this holiday season.
Rather than receiving yet another cable-knit sweater from your great aunt this Christmas, imagine that you’re instead gifted four ‘skyhours’—at $60 each, that’s $240 toward the flight for your next vacation.
That’s the aim of Skyhour, a new app designed to simplify the process of gifting air travel. Launched on October 23 with backing (and industry guidance) from JetBlue Technology Ventures, the corporate venture arm of JetBlue Airways, the platform aspires to make gifting and receiving flights a seamless, single-site process.
~~~~~~~~~~
You don’t need to register with Skyhour to gift hours—pretty convenient when you're running to that birthday party and totally forgot to buy a present—but you do need to set up an account in order to claim them, and create a profile that contains some personal details (name, e-mail, age) and your passport information. Recipients can then apply the hours they’ve received to their selection, and, presto! They’re going to Mexico. Fortunately, for those of us who already know what we want for our birthday (hey, six months isn’t that far away), you can also request hours.
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-skyhour-app-is-the-easiest-way-to-gift-air-travel
Quote
Asked how Trump's un-presidential behaviour will influence future presidents, Biden dryly replied: “I think it will, God willing, go down as the single exception in American history.”
http://mashable.com/2017/11/14/joe-biden-donald-trump-presidency-stephen-colbert/#q9Mj3a.EgOqb
http://mashable.com/2017/11/14/joe-biden-donald-trump-presidency-stephen-colbert/#q9Mj3a.EgOqb
Another FAMU Success Story
An excerpt from IndieWire -
‘Mudbound’: Dee Rees, Faith, and the Long Path She Took to Make Her Epic Oscar Contender
With festival hit "Mudbound," Dee Rees proves what she can do with a sprawling southern drama of scale and scope. Netflix backing may prove to be an advantage.
By Anne Thompson
Dee Rees is a tall woman of fierce charisma. She’s the kind of director who talks fast, ideas coming so quickly that those less inclined can barely keep up. And yet her output has been slow: After Focus Features snapped up her breakout 2011 feature debut “Pariah” at Sundance, it was four years before HBO Film’s Emmy and DGA-award-winning 2015 biopic “Bessie.”
~~~~~~~~~~
When Rees left Nashville for college, her Methodist Church staged its annual rite of passage: Students declared their schools and accepted small scholarships from the community. “I was going to study business administration at Florida A&M, at the height of Reaganomics,” Rees said in an interview at a Netflix conference room. “This older woman, Miss Dunlap, pressed a handful of change in my hand, probably what she would have put in the communion basket. She’s giving me a fistful of coins, but I felt it was so much more. I just got how important it was. I was intending to make my parents proud and do well, but I felt the weight of those coins. There was no turning back, not having done the thing.”
Rees brought that moment into her adaptation of Hillary Jordan’s post-World War II novel. (Rees shares credit with Virgil Williams.) When Ronsel Jackson (“Straight Outta Compton” star Jason Mitchell) leaves home to join the Army, his mother Florence (Mary J. Blige) turns her back as he departs. Rees was inspired by her paternal grandmother, who thought it bad luck to watch someone going away. “I wanted to set the stakes,” said Rees. “You wouldn’t feel Ronsel’s coming home if we didn’t see him leaving. It was important to show that he was a son of the community and everybody’s investment is riding on him.”
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/dee-rees-mudbound-director-oscars-netflix-1201895509/
‘Mudbound’: Dee Rees, Faith, and the Long Path She Took to Make Her Epic Oscar Contender
With festival hit "Mudbound," Dee Rees proves what she can do with a sprawling southern drama of scale and scope. Netflix backing may prove to be an advantage.
By Anne Thompson
Dee Rees is a tall woman of fierce charisma. She’s the kind of director who talks fast, ideas coming so quickly that those less inclined can barely keep up. And yet her output has been slow: After Focus Features snapped up her breakout 2011 feature debut “Pariah” at Sundance, it was four years before HBO Film’s Emmy and DGA-award-winning 2015 biopic “Bessie.”
~~~~~~~~~~
When Rees left Nashville for college, her Methodist Church staged its annual rite of passage: Students declared their schools and accepted small scholarships from the community. “I was going to study business administration at Florida A&M, at the height of Reaganomics,” Rees said in an interview at a Netflix conference room. “This older woman, Miss Dunlap, pressed a handful of change in my hand, probably what she would have put in the communion basket. She’s giving me a fistful of coins, but I felt it was so much more. I just got how important it was. I was intending to make my parents proud and do well, but I felt the weight of those coins. There was no turning back, not having done the thing.”
Rees brought that moment into her adaptation of Hillary Jordan’s post-World War II novel. (Rees shares credit with Virgil Williams.) When Ronsel Jackson (“Straight Outta Compton” star Jason Mitchell) leaves home to join the Army, his mother Florence (Mary J. Blige) turns her back as he departs. Rees was inspired by her paternal grandmother, who thought it bad luck to watch someone going away. “I wanted to set the stakes,” said Rees. “You wouldn’t feel Ronsel’s coming home if we didn’t see him leaving. It was important to show that he was a son of the community and everybody’s investment is riding on him.”
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/dee-rees-mudbound-director-oscars-netflix-1201895509/
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