A Classic Retold

From Slate - 

If You Give a Judge a Meeting

A children’s tale by Sen. Chuck Grassley.

If you give a judge a meeting,
he’s going to ask for a glass of milk,
because he is probably very thirsty from that one time you compared him to Idi Amin.

When you give him the meeting,
he’ll probably ask you for a confirmation hearing.
He may also ask for a bendy straw,
because it’s entirely possible that having attempted to take guns away from the American electorate,
he now feels the need to defend himself and his family with blunt plastic.

When he’s finished, he’ll ask for a napkin,
to clean up the “toxic environment” that your colleagues say is keeping you from considering his nomination.  

After all that toxicity gets cleaned up,
he’ll ask you for a vote in the Judiciary Committee, and you will have no principled reason to say no.

When he’s done with his Judiciary Committee vote,
he will probably ask you for an up-or-down vote in the full Senate.

Natalie Matthews-Ramo

He may also remember the time your friend Orrin Hatch called him “a fine nominee,”
and said, “I know him personally, I know of his integrity, I know of his legal ability, I know of his honesty, I know of his acumen, and he belongs on the court.”
And he’ll wonder, “What changed?”

So then he’ll ask you for a mirror,
because he may want to look in a mirror,
to make sure that he’s still himself,
and not that vicious Ugandan dictator you mentioned.

Once he sees that he’s not a dictator,
he will probably ask to be confirmed.
Then he’ll be pretty tired,
and ask to take a nap.
You’ll have to fix up a little napping spot for him with a blanket and a pillow.
He’ll crawl in, make himself comfortable, and fluff the pillow a few times.
He’ll probably ask you to read him an amicus brief.

And, instead, you can read to him from one of those confusing interviews,
where you said it wouldn’t be intellectually honest to confirm him before November,
and that it will be intellectually honest to confirm him after November.

If you do hold that vote and he is confirmed,
he might notice his hair needs a trim.
So he’ll probably ask for a pair of nail scissors. Because it will turn out that this former prosecutor and centrist jurist
is in fact a wild-eyed, long-haired hippie Che Guevara character,
just as you suspected all along.

And once he’s on the court,
he will be on there for 12 million years.
And he will likely ask for a broom
to sweep up liberty and life and happiness as we know it.
He’ll also want to ensure that liberty is imperiled long into the future,
probably even after Obama is no longer president.
And the prospect of sweeping long into the future will lead him to ask for a glass of milk.
Because.
Well, you know.
Milk.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/low_concept/2016/03/_if_you_give_a_judge_a_meeting_by_chuck_grassley.html?sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d&wpsrc=newsletter_tis

That's Not Good

From Wired - 


Radio Attack Lets Hackers Steal 24 Different Car Models

FOR YEARS, CAR owners with keyless entry systems have reported thieves approaching their vehicles with mysterious devices and effortlessly opening them in seconds. After having his Prius burgled repeatedly outside his Los Angeles home, the New York Times‘ former tech columnist Nick Bilton came to the conclusion that the thieves must be amplifying the signal from the key fob in the house to trick his car’s keyless entry system into thinking the key was in the thieves’ hand. He eventually resorted to keeping his keys in the freezer.

http://www.wired.com/2016/03/study-finds-24-car-models-open-unlocking-ignition-hack/?mbid=nl_32116

Carnival is Sailing to Cuba!

From USA Today -

It's official: Cruise giant Carnival Corp. (CCL) will launch its first voyages from the USA to Cuba in May.

The parent company of Carnival, Princess and eight other cruise brands on Monday said the Cuban government had approved its previously announced plans to begin sailings to the island nation out of Miami.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2016/03/21/cuba-cruise-carnival-fathom/82087618/?csp=breakingnews

Castro in Harlem

Excerpts from The New Republic -

When Castro Came to Harlem

The Cuban leader’s last visit to the U.S. before the 1961 diplomatic fallout can tell us a lot about our present historic moment.

On September 18, 1960, four months before the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Cuba and 56 years before Barack Obama would become the first sitting American president in almost a century to step foot on Cuban soil, Fidel Castro arrived in New York City for the 15th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

~~~~~~~~~~

The reception that awaited him the following fall wasn’t nearly so warm. Castro and his bohemian entourage got off to a bad start with management at the elite Shelbourne Hotel, which allegedly demanded an exorbitant advance ahead of the Cuban delegation’s stay. Soon, New York tabloids were circulating reports that these “uncouth primitives” had “killed, plucked, and cooked chickens in their rooms at the Shelbourne and extinguished cigars on expensive carpets.” One subsequent Cuban defector later claimed that Castro had staged the drama. In any case, the Cubans left the Shelbourne, checking in instead at the Hotel Theresa, up past 124th Street in Harlem.

Castro’s decision to relocate his contingent to the heart of black New York quickened the falling out to come and presaged key pillars of Cuban foreign policy over the course of the next half-century: the explicit conflation of Cuban sovereignty with worldwide liberation struggles, particularly in Africa, and the strategic leveraging of U.S. moral hypocrisy in service of revolutionary ideology. Ploy or not, writes historian Brenda Gayle Plummer, the move “constituted a watershed” in U.S.-Cuban diplomacy, “not only because it coincided with a critical juncture in the history of U.S. race relations, but also because it marked a departure in conventional ways of perceiving, and prosecuting, the Cold War.”


~~~~~~~~~~

Harlem was a more gracious host to Castro than high-society Midtown had been. Crowds gathered outside the Hotel Theresa, as the honored guest held court in his room. He received official visits from foreign leaders—like Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru—as well as American civil rights figures, such as Malcolm X, New York NAACP President Joseph Overton, and, according to some reports, Jackie Robinson. Juan Almeida Bosque, the Afro-Cuban army commandante, became an instant icon, with throngs of people trailing behind him on the street.

~~~~~~~~~~

But to the extent Castro’s visit was a calculated, self-serving production, that didn’t negate its deeper political significance. As Plummer, the historian, explains, “Attentions from foreign dignitaries affirmed Harlem’s positive identity at a time when only a few scholars and black nationalists appreciated its history.” Writing for the local Amsterdam News at the time, James L. Hicks commented that, “Though many Harlemites are far too smart to admit it publicly, Castro’s move to the Theresa and Khrushchev’s decision to visit him gave the Negroes of Harlem one of the biggest ‘lifts’ they have had in the cold racial war with the white man.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/131793/castro-came-harlem?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term=TNR%20Daily%20Newsletter

One Man's Trash

From Atlas Obscura -

Fascinating Photos from the Secret Trash Collection in a New York Sanitation Garage

Garbage can be beautiful, if sorted correctly.

By Dylan Thuras

 

On the second floor of a nondescript warehouse owned by New York City's Sanitation Department in East Harlem is a treasure trove—filled with other people's trash.

Most of the building is used as a depot for garbage trucks, but there's a secret collection that takes over an entire floor. The space is populated by a mind-bogglingly wide array of items: a bestiary of Tamagotchis, Furbies; dozens of Pez dispensers; female weight lifting trophies; 8-track tapes; plates, paintings, sporting equipment and much more.

This is the Treasures in the Trash collection, created entirely out of objects found by Nelson Molina, a now-retired sanitation worker, who began by decorating his locker. Collected over 30 years, it is a visual explosion, organized by type, color, and size. Recently, Atlas Obscura had the chance to visit the collection with the New York Adventure Club, take some photos, and revel in the vast creative possibilities of trash.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/fascinating-photos-from-the-secret-trash-collection-in-a-new-york-sanitation-garage?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura&utm_campaign=71529a08ea-Newsletter_3_21_20163_18_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_62ba9246c0-71529a08ea-59905913&ct=t(Newsletter_3_21_20163_18_2016)&mc_cid=71529a08ea&mc_eid=866176a63f

She Believed in Him

From Upworthy - 

Matthew Tejeda has big plans for how he'll help others who started off like he did — with the odds stacked against them. 

Having bounced around from home to home as a kid, relying on the help of friends and without the guidance of parents, Matthew had a rough transition into adulthood.

When school ended and he had no place to call home and no schoolmates' couches to crash on, Matthew was finally homeless.

According to Forbes magazine, a friend of Matthew's arranged an interview for him with a Starbucks manager, Debbie Dooknah. Debbie knew about Matthew's situation when she met him, and decided he was qualified and could do well if given a chance.

She trained him and kept his personal life between the two of them — she was the only one he worked with who knew he was sleeping in a shelter when he'd leave his work shift.

He had his work uniform stolen out of the laundry at the shelter, and he was unable to sleep at the shelter on the nights when it was loud.

He says a tenacious mindset is what helped him hang on.

"I just kept reminding myself that if I put one step after the other I could make it happen. My good friend Liz is an author of the NYTimes Best Seller 'Homeless to Harvard' and in one of her speeches she said 'What transforms a life? One empowered choice after the next over time.' I think that accurately described my thought process at the time. I knew what failure felt like and that absolutely wasn't an option."

Matthew also carried a key in his pocket every day. It was a talisman to remind him what he was striving toward — a home to call his own.

He eventually got his own apartment by saving his paychecks, along with a little help from a brilliant Starbucks program. 

Starbucks partners (employees) who want to chip in to help other partners in need are able to do so through their "CUP Fund" (Caring Unites Partners). With that and his savings, Matthew was able to cover the deposit and first month's rent to move into his first home of his own. 

The manager, Debbie, who took a chance on him, is now his best friend.

http://www.upworthy.com/a-homeless-kids-path-crossed-with-a-kind-starbucks-manager-the-rest-is-history?c=upw1

The Future of Medicine

From BioStamp - 

BioStampRC™ is the first research system designed for the human body. The BioStampRC system features the groundbreaking technology of the BioStamp® Sensor, a body-worn sensor so flexible and soft that it naturally conforms to the contours of the human body. BioStampRC Sensors are discreet, allowing study subjects to move from lab to home, through exercise and sleep, remaining unaffected by the tightly-coupled Sensors capturing a wealth of data.

BioStampRC™ Sensors: state of the art wearable sensors that can be placed on numerous body locations for targeted data collection

The BioStampRC system is seamlessly integrated into the researcher workflow through easily accessible tablet and web applications. Simple online study setup and on-demand pricing save valuable time and resources, enabling researchers to spend more time on finding insights.

Sensor Placement

http://www.mc10inc.com/our-products/biostamprc

A Solo Trip With a Toddler

From Upworthy -

A dad took his daughter on a trip, just the two of them, and wrote down what he learned.

http://www.upworthy.com/a-dad-took-his-daughter-on-a-trip-just-the-2-of-them-and-wrote-down-what-he-learned?c=upw1

Lessons Learned

An excerpt from The New York Times -

Learning Lessons From Outrage

There is so much we have learned from this painful election season and the rise of a demagogic real estate developer.

We have learned that a human branding machine who grew up in the shadows and spotlight of New York City’s cutthroat media knows intuitively how to exploit that media.

We have learned that too many in the media are ever so willing to be exploited if the exploitation is mutual and money is to be made.

We have learned what conditions make the prime environment for the rise of a demagogue: disaffection, demographic change, the demise of hope and opportunity and the dislocation of traditional power and privilege from automatic inheritance of prosperity.

We have seen that divisive, dangerous leaders don’t necessarily rise because of stirring oration or a clear and compelling vision. They can be quirky, disarming and idiosyncratic, with a vague, hollow message that says little even as it promises much.

We have learned the dangers of doubting the depravity and desperation of some who would follow such a man despite, or possibly even because of, his offensive rhetoric and outrageous policies.

We have learned just how much ugliness exists in this country, and what it looks like when it finds a voice, a leader and a reason to gather and unite.

We have learned that the Republican establishment has no clue who the Republican base is anymore, or if they do, they thought wrongly that they could control them by feeding them crumbs of obstruction and vague aspirationalism from their table of excess. In fact, that base has been gorging itself on fear and anger, vileness and the possibility of violence.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/21/opinion/learning-lessons-from-outrage.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0

That's a Lot of Mac N Cheese!

From Now I Know -

Thankfully, They Left the Expensive Ketchups at Home

The Barenaked Ladies are eclectic, all-male singing group from Canada. Their most well-known song, "One Week," topped the Billboard Hot 100 list in the fall of 1998. But you may be familiar with another of their songs, titled "If I Had One Million Dollars." The song, which was an early staple of the band's live shows, is a somewhat-silly discussion of the types of things bandmates would buy for their would-be loves if they were only rich enough to do so. You can read all the lyrics here and you'll see what I mean -- the group imagines purchasing a tree fort outfitted with a tiny fridge; a Picasso; a chesterfield (that's a couch, for non-Canadians); a monkey; and, relevant to our purposes, Kraft Dinner, pictured above. You can listen to that section of the lyrics here, and to get a real feel for that part of the song, you really should. But here's the relevant text, just in case.

If I had a million dollars
We wouldn't have to eat Kraft dinner

But we would eat Kraft dinner.
Of course we would, we'd just eat more. And buy really expensive ketchups with it.
That's right, all the fanciest ket--Dijon ketchup.
Mmmm!
Mmmm!

Kind of silly, yes, but it's not as crazy as you'd think, especially if you're a non-Canadian. Kraft Dinner -- which is what Americans call Kraft Macaroni and Cheese -- is a big, big deal in Canada. Wikipedia explains:

Kraft Dinner has been called the de facto national dish of Canada. Packaged in Quebec with Canadian wheat and milk, and other ingredients from Canada and the US, Canadians purchase 1.7 million of the 7 million boxes sold globally each week and eat an average of 3.2 boxes of Kraft Dinner each year, 55% more than Americans. The meal is the most popular grocery item in the country,  where "Kraft Dinner" has iconic status and has become a generic trademark of sorts for macaroni and cheese. It is often simply referred to by the initials K.D. 

So yeah, if the Barenaked Ladies had a million dollars, they'd still eat KD. They'd just eat more of it, as the lyrics state. (Let's ignore the adding ketchup up stuff -- that's just gross.) After all, one can never have enough Kraft Dinner. 

http://nowiknow.com/thankfully-they-left-the-expensive-ketchups-at-home/

Cat Burglar

From The Huffington Post -

Brigit has a big problem. When it comes to her male neighbors’ underwear, the adorable kitty just can’t help herself.

Every night the 6-year-old Tonkinese prowls around the city of Hamilton on New Zealand’s North Island.

And every morning, her owner Sarah Nathan wakes up to find stolen men’s briefs and socks dumped inside her house.

Sarah Nathan - Now it's getting silly. This is Brigit's haul from the last two months.
Every morning we wake up to more. I've put notes in every letterbox in the street.
Someone must be missing this stuff.
Please share if you know someone who lives in the George St area.

“It’s an absolute obsession,” Nathan told the New Zealand Herald on Sunday. “A night does not go by without her bringing things home. I got up this morning and there were another four socks in the house.” 

Since January, Brigit’s stolen 11 pairs of underpants and more than 50 socks. At a previous home, Nathan said her thieving feline would return with “a bit of everything.” 

“She was much less discerning, now she’s decided menswear is the thing, and it’s a very specific kind of underpants that she likes,” Nathan said. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cat-underwear-new-zealand-thief_us_56ee53dce4b03a640a6aaecb

What a Job Interview!

From The Huffington Post -

A New Orleans teen landed a new job after he helped stop a robbery during his interview.

Last Saturday afternoon, Devin Washington was interviewing for a new job when a thief tried to steal cash from the register at Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken restaurant on Chef Menteur Highway, The Times-Picayune reported. 

The 18-year-old job hunter made the perfect first impression when he leapt from his seat and placed the suspected robber in a reverse bear hug. Popeyes assistant manager Dominique Griffin grabbed the suspect’s arm and manager Danyanna Metoyer — who’d been conducting the interview — blocked the door to prevent escape.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/teen-catches-robber-interview-job_us_56efac8de4b09bf44a9dbb51

Another Idiot

From USA Today -

Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore made reprehensible, sexist comments about women’s tennis before Sunday’s final at the BNP Paribas Open.

He later apologized in a statement.

Well, Serena Williams wasn’t going to look past Moore’s remarks.

She fired back at Moore following her 6-4, 6-4 defeat in the final to Victoria Azarenka.

Williams said via ESPN:

“Obviously, I don’t think any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that. I think Venus [Williams], myself, a number of players have been — if I could tell you every day how many people say they don’t watch tennis unless they’re watching myself or my sister, I couldn’t even bring up that number. So I don’t think that is a very accurate statement. I think there is a lot of women out there who are more … are very exciting to watch. I think there are a lot of men out there who are exciting to watch. I think it definitely goes both ways. I think those remarks are very much mistaken and very, very, very inaccurate.”

Williams also didn’t buy that Moore’s statements could have been taken out of context.

“Well, if you read the transcript, you can only interpret it one way. I speak very good English. I’m sure he does too. You know, there’s only one way to interpret that. Get on your knees, which is offensive enough, and thank a man, which is not — we, as women, have come a long way. We shouldn’t have to drop to our knees at any point.”

Spot on, Serena. Spot on.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/03/serena-williams-responds-indian-wells-ceo-raymond-moore

Music Gadgets

No Need For Red Lights?

http://www.itworld.com/article/3045942/car-tech/mit-hopes-to-eliminate-traffic-lights.html?google_editors_picks=true

Smart People

An excerpt from The Washington Post -

Why Smart People Are Better Off With Fewer Friends

~~~~~~~~~~

"The effect of population density on life satisfaction was therefore more than twice as large for low-IQ individuals than for high-IQ individuals," they found. And "more intelligent individuals were actually less satisfied with life if they socialized with their friends more frequently."

Let me repeat that last one: When smart people spend more time with their friends, it makes them less happy.

~~~~~~~~~~

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/18/why-smart-people-are-better-off-with-fewer-friends/?wpisrc=nl_rainbow

Legos for Gardens

FLOTUS in Pictures

From The Root - 

Wicked smart.  Funny.  Poised.  Gracious.  Powerful.  Beautiful.

This is why we love her.

Check out the slideshow about midway down the page.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/lists/2016/03/michelle_obama_is_dope_these_pictures_explain_why.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26

"Working" Piglet

Faded Sounds

From The Museum of Endangered Sounds -

http://savethesounds.info

It opens to a retro page giving directions.  You simply have to click on the icons to listen, click again to stop them.  Click close this page and enter the museum.

Enjoy!

Medal of Freedom Winner

The 1st Fifteen

From the Root -

Last week, in response to the lynching photo found at a Joe’s Crab Shack in Minnesota, I wrote a piece explaining “post-racial racism” (which has also been referred to as “Chad Crow”—Jim Crow’s laid-back cousin):

In post-racial 21st-century America, no one actually wants to admit to being racist. They’ll do racist things, say racist words, think racist thoughts, support racist business, vote for racist politicians and even willingly benefit from racist policies and business practices, but the moment you actually bring up racism, they’re like, “Who, me? Never! I can’t be racist. Andre Iguodala is my favorite athlete, and my best friend almost had a black girlfriend in 2004!” And they do this because owning up to it and letting everyone know exactly who they are could be social suicide. ...

[Post-racial racism] is an evolved form of racism that allows people to exist ensconced within racism’s confines while never having to complete a registration form ...

I then listed 13 examples of this type of racism. But there are so many more that I decided to extend that list to 35:

1. “Racism doesn’t really exist” racism;

2. “You’re the real racist for thinking and talking about racism” racism;

3. “I don’t have a racist bone in my body” racism;

4. “It’s a class thing, not a race thing” racism;

5. “If black people want to get over racism, they need to stop segregating themselves” racism;

6. “I know what’s good for you better than you do” racism;

7. “I hate the NBA” racism;

8. “I’m not a racist; I’m a realist” racism;

9. “Look how cool and witty and ironic I am when I do this remarkably offensive thing” racism;

10. “Can you provide some evidence that the racist thing that happened was actually racist and not just happenstance?” racism;

11. “Let’s talk about diversity and have panels about diversity and invite the media to these panels about diversity but never actually make a real effort to be more diverse” racism;

12. “I know what happened was racist, but my feelings were hurt when you pointed it out, and we need to talk about my feelings instead of the racist thing now” racism;

13. “I don’t think anyone is paying attention, so let me sneak this really racist thing in real quick, like a cheat day for my no-racism diet” racism.

14. “I have a black boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife, so I can’t be racist” racism;

15. “I had sex with a black person and that sex resulted in a black child, so I can’t be racist” racism;

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/03/_35_types_of_post_racial_racism.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26

A Novel Approach

From The Atlanic - (bold is mine)

But this vision of homogenous, altruistic Nordic lands is mostly a fantasy. The choices Nordic countries have made have little to do with altruism or kinship. Rather, Nordic people have made their decisions out of self-interest. Nordic nations offer their citizens—all of their citizens, but especially the middle class—high-quality services that save people a lot of money, time, and trouble. This is what Americans fail to understand: My taxes in Finland were used to pay for top-notch services for me.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/bernie-sanders-nordic-countries/473385/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=March%2017%2C%202016&utm_term=Vox%20Newsletter%20All

Good News From Chicago

From Vox -

Chicago’s City Council voted unanimously yesterday to get rid of the sales tax on tampons and pads, becoming one of the first major US cities to do so.

The council voted to reclassify the feminine hygiene products as "medical necessities," exempting them from taxation. Right now they are subject to a 10.25 percent sales tax, a combination of city and state taxes.

http://www.vox.com/identities/2016/3/17/11253628/chicago-tampon-tax

Make Your Own App

http://www.lifehack.org/374267/10-ways-make-your-own-app?mid=20160315&ref=mail&uid=789627&feq=daily

Frederick Douglass in Pictures

From The Washington Post -

Who’s the most photographed American man of the 19th Century? HINT: It’s not Lincoln…

Born into slavery in 1818, Frederick Douglass would become one of the most well-known abolitionists, orators, and writers of his time. He understood and heralded not only the power of the written or spoken word, but also the power of the visual image — especially, his own likeness. He therefore sat for portraits wherever and whenever he could. As a result, Douglass was photographed more than any other American of his era:  160 distinct images (mostly portraits) have survived, more than Abraham Lincoln at 126. Many of these rare, historically significant images are published for the first time in “Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth Century’s Most Photographed American,” by John Stauffer, Zoe Trodd and Celeste-Marie Bernier.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2016/03/15/douglass/?hpid=hp_no-name_photo-story-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Made With Legos

From Wired - 

Exquisite Lego Versions of the World’s Most Famous Buildings

BECOMING A LEGO Certified Professional is a bit like becoming a master sommelier. To be inducted is to join the ranks of the nonpareil, to be a member of the 0.0001 percent with absolute devotion to mastery of one’s subject. But of the two, the cadre of Lego elite is the most exclusive. There are 147 people on the Court of Master Sommeliers, but there are just 14 Lego Certified Professionals in the world.

Adam Reed Tucker is one of them, and he has an exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. Brick by Brick features 13 of his creations, each a model of some of the world’s most famous architectural works. The Golden Gate Bridge, the Colosseum, and One World Trade Center are rendered in miniature. That’s something of a relative term, here: The “miniature” Lego version of the Golden Gate Bridge comprises 64,500 Lego bricks, took 260 hours to build, and is 60 feet long. That’s as big as some of the dinosaurs on display the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

http://www.wired.com/2016/03/exquisite-lego-versions-worlds-famous-buildings/?mbid=nl_31516#slide-1

Plain Hot Water

This article peaked my interest because it reminds me of my surprise when I first arrived in the UAE that folks don't drink cold water, even though it's hot as a raging furnace throughout much of the year.

Now with over four years under my belt living here, I too, shy away from cold water and reach for the room temperature bottle more often than not.

Another case of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

~~~~~~~~~~

Another great find from the New York Times What We're Reading -

China's go-to beverage? Hot water. Really.

China's annual legislative sessions are in full swing in Beijing. Thousands of delegates are convening daily at the Great Hall of the People to listen to speeches, discuss government work reports, and review economic plans for the next five years.

Essential to keeping things moving? Hot water. Brigades of young women (and a few men) are toting thermoses around the massive building all day, pouring drinks for delegates. Some use the steaming hot liquid to make tea in paper cups that read "Great Hall of the People," but many others simply drink it straight.

For many Westerners, the idea of drinking plain hot water is odd. But most Chinese (among others) think Americans' habit of chugging ice water is equally bizarre, and even unhealthy.

As the daughter of a traditional Chinese doctor, I am a devoted hot water drinker.

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-china-hot-water-20160313-story.html

Changing Lives

Some Hard Truths

An excerpt from The Atlantic -

Nina Simone's Face

The upcoming biopic about the singer proves that the world still isn’t ready to tell her story.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Simone was able to conjure glamour in spite of everything the world said about black women who looked like her. And for that she enjoyed a special place in the pantheon of resistance. That fact doesn’t just have to do with her lyrics or her musicianship, but also how she looked. Simone is something more than a female Bob Marley. It is not simply the voice: It is the world that made that voice, all the hurt and pain of denigration, forged into something otherworldly. That voice, inevitably, calls us to look at Nina Simone’s face, and for a brief moment, understand that the hate we felt, that the mockery we dispensed, was unnatural, was the fruit of conjurations and the shadow of plunder. We look at Nina Simone’s face and the lie is exposed and we are shamed. We look at Nina Simone’s face and a terrible truth comes into view—there was nothing wrong with her. But there is something deeply wrong with us.


We are being told that Nina Simone’s face bears no real import on the new eponymous movie about her life, starring Zoe Saldana. “The most important thing,” said Robert Johnson, whose studio is releasing Nina, “is that creativity or quality of performance should never be judged on the basis of color, or ethnicity, or physical likeness.” This is obviously false. Saldana could be the greatest thespian of her time, but no one would consider casting her as Marilyn Monroe. Indeed Nina’s producers have gone to great ends—tragicomic ends—to invoke Nina Simone’s face, darkening Saldana’s skin, adorning her with prosthetics. Neither the term blackface nor brownface is entirely appropriate here. We are not so much talking about deliberate mockery as something much more insidious.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/03/nina-simone-face/472107/?utm_source=atl-daily-newsletter

Punished for Wearing "Black Brilliance"

An excerpt from The Root -

If You Don’t Love Our Kids, Stay Out of Our Schools

Black children deserve to be in schools with teachers who lift up their emotional well-being, not who display their own resentment.

Nine-year-old Kaedyn G. goes to a private school in New Jersey. Last week at school, Kaedyn wore a hooded sweatshirt with the words “black brilliance” plainly displayed on the front of her hoodie. She was not in violation of the school’s dress code and had not broken any of the school’s rules regarding appearance. Yet as she walked down the hall, a white teacher instructed Kaedyn to turn her hoodie inside out. The teacher told Kaedyn that her hoodie was “causing problems” and questioned the 9-year-old, asking, “How would you feel if I wore a shirt that said ‘white brilliance’ on it?”

What happened to Kaedyn illustrates a critical disconnect on both a cultural and emotional level between educators and many of the young people they are charged to instruct, support and protect. All children have individual needs, but black and Latino learners have a not-so-nuanced experience in educational environments that can often leave them feeling shut out, shunned or not as good as their white peers. Navigating this journey requires a sincere commitment from school administrators to invest in the creation and maintenance of culturally competent school environments.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/03/if_you_don_t_love_our_kids_stay_out_of_our_schools.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26

A Graphic Look at Friendships

From Upworthy -

http://www.upworthy.com/10-awkward-friendships-you-probably-have-we-all-have-a-9?c=upw1

Freestylin' Frenzy

Let's all Pull Together: Team of µTug Microrobots Pulls a Car

Go Stanford!

Little Big Shots - This Kid Will Nunchuk Your Brain! (Sneak Peek)

A Safety Net

An excerpt from  the New York Times -

For Vulnerable Teenagers, a Web of Support

By DAVID BORNSTEIN

 

Recently, I learned about an organization that stopped me in my tracks and has forced me to re-evaluate my assumptions about what’s possible. It’s called Thread. It rallies volunteer community support around underperforming students in Baltimore public high schools and gets results that defy all expectations.

Thread identifies students in ninth grade who are facing major life challenges: poverty, homelessness, family breakdown or single parents who are overwhelmed by work, illness or other problems. The students are in the bottom 25 percent of their classes academically and are often chronically absent. Thread connects them with a team of up to five volunteers who commit to support them in any way necessary, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for 10 years.

The assistance may include wake-up calls or rides to school, food and clothing, child care or legal help, connection to community service opportunities, help finding jobs, tutoring, SAT preparation or college admission guidance. The philosophy is to do whatever it takes to help the teenager develop into an adult who can pursue a fulfilling life. “A volunteer may literally go at 7 a.m. and try to pick the kid up for school, a second person may go at 10 a.m., another person at noon,” explains Sarah Hemminger, a Thread co-founder and the chief executive. Volunteers take students to restaurants and movies; they hang out and talk about life; they go camping; they sometimes provide homes to students.

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http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/for-struggling-kids-unconditional-support/?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region&_r=0

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http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/how-a-tapestry-of-care-helps-teens-succeed/?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

A Race Against Time: Cuba's Fast and Furious

Has a Black President Changed America?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/us/politics/proud-of-obamas-presidency-blacks-are-sad-to-see-him-go.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Vox%20Sentences%203/14/16%20Trump&utm_term=Vox%20Newsletter%20All&_r=0

How?

Excerpts from Slate - 

How Trump Happened

It’s not just anger over jobs and immigration. White voters hope Trump will restore the racial hierarchy upended by Barack Obama.

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All of which is to say that we’ve been missing the most important catalyst in Trump’s rise. What caused this fire to burn out of control? The answer, I think, is Barack Obama.

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For millions of white Americans who weren’t attuned to growing diversity and cosmopolitanism, however, Obama was a shock, a figure who appeared out of nowhere to dominate the country’s political life. And with talk of an “emerging Democratic majority,” he presaged a time when their votes—which had elected George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan—would no longer matter. More than simply “change,” Obama’s election felt like an inversion. When coupled with the broad decline in incomes and living standards caused by the Great Recession, it seemed to signal the end of a hierarchy that had always placed white Americans at the top, delivering status even when it couldn’t give material benefits.

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You can draw a direct line to the rise of Trump from the racial hysteria of talk radio.

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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/03/how_donald_trump_happened_racism_against_barack_obama.html