The Peculiar World of Dental Manikins

Upcoming Science Fun in San Francisco

Sponsored by KQED -

Discovery Day at AT&T Park
24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco
Saturday, November 5, 2016
10am-4pm, KQED member early access starting at 9:30am

Join KQED Science at the sixth annual Discovery Day at AT&T Park, organized by UC San Francisco. This free event features hundreds of hands-on science activities, opportunities to meet local scientists and engineers, plus endless educational entertainment. Plus, Sid the Science Kid will be on hand for photo ops with your family.

KQED members can enter the event early by showing a valid KQED MemberCard at the Portwalk Gates starting at 9:30am.

FREE | Register

http://view.email.kqed.org/?qs=643f79ae4e0101dfcfd25ceb5d897b33d9e0e3757f9d7c4b32e323a0cfc375448c5702d9e9daefbb0c98aa9de0ca9a69ac9d9ea1f1d4c786bab69cef2c179492

Quote

“There’s a big Trump and a little Trump. The little Trump is frankly pathetic.” - Newt Gingrich

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/13/newt-gingrich-inadvertently-slams-donald-trump-theres-a-little-trump-whos-frankly-pathetic/?source=newsletter

Wow! First Lady Michelle Obama gives Epic Speech about Women

Teaching Abroad

Below is a link to the company I used to find a teaching job overseas.  They will be in San Francisco in February for interviews.

Living and working in the Middle East for those five years was an extraordinary experience!  I'm so glad I took advantage of the opportunity.  Here's hoping that others will, too.  Please pass this info to folks who might be interested.

Note - If the link doesn't work, url is www.teachaway.com.

https://www.teachaway.com/fairs?utm_source=ISS&utm_medium=Email%20follow%20up

How Common is Your Name?

From Vox -

How common is your name in movies?

https://apps.voxmedia.com/graphics/vox-movies-names/?initialWidth=726&childId=how-common-is-your-name-in-movies__graphic&parentUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fculture%2F2016%2F10%2F13%2F13222828%2Fmovie-characters-first-name%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3DSentences%2520101316%26utm_content%3DSentences%2520101316%2BCID_751255a0fef58d088093de5c0cf8b67c%26utm_source%3Dcm_email%26utm_term%3DHow%2520many%2520movies%2520feature%2520a%2520character%2520with%2520your%2520first%2520name

Tom Hanks on Donald Trump: I'm not offended as a husband or a father. ...

Seattle's Plan

College vs. Pro

Here's a question for you from Good Sports -

Can A Great College Football Team Actually Beat A Really Awful Pro Team?
by Jon Baum

The Cleveland Browns are a bad football team. The Ohio State Buckeyes are a very good one. But could one of the best college football teams really compete with one of the worst in the NFL?

Fans seem to think so.  A Public Policy Polling survey released last week reveals that 62 percent of respondents believe Ohio State would beat the Browns.

Me - What do you think?

https://sports.good.is/articles/can-ohio-state-beat-cleveland-browns?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood

Yeah Texas!

You don't see this much, but Texas is leading the way in making it easier for voters to register.

Check it out below.

Thanks to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, we’ll be seeing a lot more tacos and a lot more registered voters. In an effort to increase America’s Latino voting population, the USHCC decided to offer voter registration services at—you guessed it—taco trucks. Since the #GuacTheVote campaign went into action October 3, Texans have been able to register to vote at eight different taco trucks around Houston, Remezcla reports.

https://food.good.is/articles/taco-truck-voter-registration?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood

Quote

From Vox -

Harvard, a university with a $35.7 billion endowment, is asking for volunteers to pitch in for free while its dining hall workers strike. Do not scab for Harvard. [The Crimson / Brandon J. DIxon]

http://www.vox.com

Leading the Charge in Producing Black Engineers

An excerpt from The Undefeated -

How did North Carolina A&T become the country’s leading producer of black engineers? Care
A combination of nurturing and dedication to access has made the university an engineering powerhouse BY SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD

If you’re black and grew up in North Carolina, it’s almost a given that you know about North Carolina A&T State University. Maybe it’s because you heard of its legendary marching band. Or maybe you learned about the Greensboro Four as part of North Carolina history.

But North Carolina A&T isn’t just a gem of the state’s higher education. It’s a national one, too, thanks to its College of Engineering, which according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine is the nation’s top overall producer of black undergraduate engineering degree holders.

http://theundefeated.com/features/how-did-north-carolina-at-become-the-countrys-leading-producer-of-black-engineers-care/

Making Waves

An excerpt from the Undefeated -

Hakeem Oluseyi performs as part of the I Love F-ing Science Party at Stubbs Bar-B-Q
on March 8, 2014 in Austin, Texas. Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

If one were to tell Hakeem Oluseyi that a boy from a small, rural community in Mississippi would attend a historically black college or university (HBCU) and make it as one of the nation’s most recognizable astrophysicists, he wouldn’t have believed it.

The only reason he believes it now is, well, because he’s living it.

Oluseyi, 49, is one of the most popular scientists in a field that deals with the otherworldly. From his position as a distinguished professor of physics and space sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology to hosting programs such as Discovery’s Outrageous Acts of Science and How the Universe Works, Oluseyi is inspiring generations — both younger and older — with his exciting approach to subject matter that can be quite complex.

http://theundefeated.com/features/astrophysicist-and-hbcu-grad-hakeem-oluseyi-is-making-waves/

Your Body is Still Useful After Death

From CNN -

Ten uses for your body after you die
By Elizabeth Cohen

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/10/health/body-use-after-death/index.html

Cheap Eats

An excerpt from the Huffington Post - (Note - App not available yet.  Go to http://www.buffet-go.com/collections/frontpage)

Now You Can Buy Leftover Buffet Food For Next To Nothing
The service saves food from being thrown out and donates a portion of the profits to charity.
By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman

Now you can get extremely cheap grub and prevent delicious food from being thrown in the trash.

The BuffetGo app lets users buy leftover food from restaurant buffets ― at up to 90 percent off the original price.

Simply enter a zip code to find participating restaurants nearby. Once you order a meal ― for as little as $1 in some cases ― you go pick it up at a designated time, which is usually around closing. After showing your email receipt, you can fill a to-go container with buffet food and find a place to devour it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/buffetgo-app-buy-buffet-leftovers-discount-cheap-food_us_57fbe86be4b0e655eab6b6d9

http://www.buffet-go.com/collections/frontpage

Opera singer defies odds to become promising star

Crowdsourcing a Kidney

Is this the answer to organ donation?

http://www.poynter.org/2016/how-2-journalists-whove-never-met-in-real-life-became-a-kidney-donor-and-recipient/433484/

A Folding Globe

Dymaxion Folding Globe by Brendan Ravenhill and the Buckminster Fuller Institute for Areaware from AREAWARE on Vimeo.

http://www.areaware.com/products/dymaxion-folding-globe

Quote

From the Chicago Sun Times Editorial -

Donald Trump should drop out of the race for president. That should go without saying. And every Republican Party leader or elected official who has a shred of self-respect should drop him cold. We question the moral fiber of anyone who does not. There should be no more temporizing, no more denying that Trump’s election would be a shame on our country.

Trump has behaved horribly throughout this presidential race, forcing his apologists to go through contortions to defend him. But after Friday’s revelation of what he said about women 11 years ago — describing sexual assault as a benefit of being a “star” — there can be no more pretending or looking away. If Trump’s campaign is not dead in the water now, there is something wrong not only with him, but with our country.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/editorial-dump-trump-and-redeem-the-republican-party/

Last Week Tonight 10/10/2016: John Oliver Blast Trump on Sexual Assault ...

All Aboard America's Only Floating ZIP Code

Too Cute

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/21oGSR/:x4txl3Lr:jr2G2_8./kindnessblog.com/2014/06/23/a-little-girl-wrote-google-a-letter-asking-to-give-her-dad-a-day-off-and-google-responded

Quote

I rarely consume milk products because of lactose intolerance, but I have vowed to purchase Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream every week.

I will support those folks who support us.

Here's their statement in reference to Black Lives Matter.  (Bold is mine).

We believe that saying Black lives matter is not to say that the lives of those who serve in the law enforcement community don’t. We respect and value the commitment to our communities that those in law enforcement make, and we respect the value of every one of their lives. But we do believe that—whether Black, brown, white, or blue—our nation and our very way of life is dependent on the principle of all people being served equal justice under the law. And it’s clear, the effects of the criminal justice system are not color blind. All lives do matter. But all lives will not matter until black lives matter. 

http://www.theroot.com/blog/the-grapevine/ben-jerrys-releases-statement-on-why-black-lives-matter/

So Smooth!

This guy responds to a complaint from his neighbors.

Another article too good to cherry pick.

I want this guy on my team!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-mans-letter-to-his-passive-aggressive-white_us_57f7a462e4b090dec0e70f5b?section=&section=us_black-voices

de niro on trump 2016

Tupac Talks Donald Trump & Greed in America in 1992 Interview | MTV News

The formula for selling a million-dollar work of art

In Support of HBCUs

As a proud graduate of Florida A & M Univeristy, I wholeheartedly agree.

From Essence -

At PWIs, you may have an African-American professor or advisor whom all the Black kids love and leverage as a resource. At an HBCU, you’re surrounded by a community who makes you feel like you’re smart, talented and valuable every day. That type of genuine love – even if save for four years in your lifetime – creates a sense of self-worth and confidence that you can’t get anywhere else.

http://www.essence.com/culture/hbcu-black-experience-pwi?xid=100516

PWIs = Predominantly White Institutions
HBCUs = Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Trust This Guy?

From The Root -

Criming While White: Why Would Trump Change a Tax System That Made Him Rich?

The Republican presidential candidate ran up almost a billion dollars in losses and debts in 1995, but the likelihood that Donald Trump hasn’t paid any federal taxes in almost 20 years isn’t the problem. What is the problem is that Trump is running on the promise of ending the very system that made him rich, and nobody in his or her right mind can believe him after this revelation.
By Jason Johnson

~~~~~~~~~~

His whole campaign is the equivalent of a guy breaking into your house and stealing all your stuff and then coming back a week later and offering his services for your home security. In theory he clearly knows what he’s doing. In practice, why should you trust a guy who broke into your house?

http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2016/10/criming-while-white-why-would-trump-change-a-tax-system-that-made-him-rich/

On Sale!

For two days only Southwest Airlines is having a pretty amazing sale.  Check it out.

https://www.southwest.com/html/promotions/nationwide-sale-161004.html?clk=HOMEHERO_WOW161004

Student Travel Opportunities

The New York Times is launching an initiative called Student Journeys.  See the blurb below.

Small Group Journeys for High School Students

We are excited to announce New York Times Student Journeys, an educational travel program designed for motivated and curious high school students. These Journeys visit destinations The Times has covered, where students can benefit from our special understanding and insider’s view as they explore themes and topics associated with Times coverage of local issues. Each trip is joined by a New York Times expert who brings a perspective students cannot acquire elsewhere.  

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=10ed9615db1b66974cce5340c&id=26f6a704cf&e=657cb243fc

Not a Fan, But . . .

The following is an excerpt from the New York Magazine from a journal Lil' Wayne kept while he was in jail.  There's more to this kid than meets the eye.  The tats and grill are a complete turnoff, but his writing was reflective and thoughtful.  A surprise.

‘Damn, I Really Don’t Deserve This’
In 2010, Lil Wayne spent an eight-month jail sentence at Rikers Island, where he prayed, worked out, and kept a journal. Here’s an excerpt from Gone ’Til November, which is out this week.

As soon as I heard the cell door lock behind me, I just sat on the back wall and the tears began to flow as I took my first glimpse at my new digs: three buckets, one bed, one toilet that was surprisingly kind of clean (emphasis on kind of), a rusty-ass sink with a mirror the size of a small notepad, a desk, and a window. A clothesline was left hanging in the cell. I decided to leave it because I figured it would come in handy.

I got in just in time for chow, which is the overall term used for what they call breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I only ate the veggies because I wasn't too sure what the other stuff was.

I wasn't in the mood to do much socializing, so I kept the first-day meet and greet short. I guess not everybody on staff got the captain's memo because two C.O.’s were suspended for trying to come up and see me ... females of course. Maybe there will be some female groupies in the bitch after all.


Fuck ... one down!

http://www.vulture.com/2016/09/lil-wayne-rikers-island-journal.html

Trevor Noah Trashes Trump’s Plan to Fix Tax Laws: Criminals Only Catch C...

Chocolate-Covered Country

Police Accountability: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Liberal Redneck - Talkin Bout Drugs

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/02/is-the-dea-high-the-agencys-emergency-ban-on-kratom-has-to-make-you-wonder-what-theyre-smoking/?source=newsletter

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

From BlackAmericaWeb -

You’ll Never Guess Where Shawty Lo’s Casket Went After His Funeral
By Kiera A. Manison

We guarantee you’ve never been to a funeral procession quite like this before.

Hundreds of loved ones and fans gathered to pay their respects to rapper Carlos “Shawty Lo” Walker on Friday, September 30. Following the heartfelt ceremony, Shawty Lo’s hearse took a stop at the fallen rapper’s most frequented hangout – the strip club.

http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/10/03/youll-never-guess-where-shawty-los-casket-went-after-his-funeral/

Willie Velasquez Screening

Stanford?

An excerpt from 2 Paragraphs -

If you're from the Midwest and you don't mind returning there after securing your Stanford University MBA, then Stanford may just pay for your degree -- to the tune of $160,000. Students from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin are all eligible. Stanford groups these states together as an "underserved region." (Don't tell the University of Chicago, or Michigan, or Wisconsin, or....)

http://2paragraphs.com/2016/09/stanfords-160000-mba-fellowship-requires-just-400-word-essay/

Quote

From Sactown Magazine -

The ABCs of Merrin Dungey
by Jessica Rine

~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, switching gears, your Twitter bio says “no cuts, no buts, no coconuts.” Where does that come from?

That comes from my friend’s daughter. And I love that because it’s truly my life’s motto. There are no shortcuts, there are no excuses and there’s no insanity—you’ve just got to do it.

http://www.sactownmag.com/October-November-2016/The-ABCs-of-Merrin-Dungey/

The Wolf

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

When the Dallas Cowboys have a problem, this is the man who makes it go away
By Kent Babb

This David Wells isn’t famous, but he might be the most influential behind-the-scenes figure for the NFL’s most valuable franchise. Part crisis manager, part fixer, part therapist, he’s tasked with helping public figures, not becoming one. All teams have in-house security experts and problem-solvers, employees who untangle legal problems. But this extra layer of protection may be unique to the Cowboys. Wells brings a special set of skills, so when something or someone jeopardizes the image of pro football’s signature franchise, the Cowboys know whom to deploy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/when-the-dallas-cowboys-have-a-problem-this-is-the-man-who-makes-it-go-away/2016/09/30/a7bdeaf0-84e8-11e6-92c2-14b64f3d453f_story.html?wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1

13TH | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

A Barber Gets More Training Than a Cop

An excerpt from CNN -

States require more training time to become a barber than a police officer
Story by Holly Yan; Graphics by Alberto Mier, CNN

To earn a badge in California, you'll need at least 664 hours of academy training. (The state then requires at least 14 weeks of field training.) If you want to be a licensed cosmetologist, you'll need more than that: 1,600 hours.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/us/jobs-training-police-trnd/index.html

Truck Stop on Steroids

From Atlas Obscura -

WALCOTT, IOWA

Iowa 80 Truck Stop
The world’s largest truck stop includes a barber shop, chiropractor, and a huge museum with antique trucks.  

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/iowa-80-truck-stop

Housing Solutions

From the Huffington Post -

Sleek Apartments Made Of Shipping Containers To House Homeless Vets
Potter’s Lane will be California’s first shipping-container apartment building.
By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sleek-apartments-made-of-shipping-containers-to-house-homeless-vets_us_57eace20e4b024a52d2b2edf

Paralyzed teen inspires at-risk youth

Black Indiana Farmers

You Say Vote

Fences Teaser Trailer (2016) - Paramount Pictures

Beauty School Redemption

An excerpt from the Daily Good -

Wash, Rinse, Redeem: A Look Inside A Beauty School—In A Men’s Prison
A cosmetology program exclusively for inmates may give prison education a much needed makeover
by Stacey Leasca

“Out there cutting hair, nobody asks what your record is as long as you have a good rapport, good communication skills, and good people skills,” Jones says, his voice nearly drowned out by the whirring of hair dryers and salon chatter. All around him are his fellow inmates, many of whom are defined as “sensitive needs,” which includes convicted murderers, sex offenders, ex-gang members, as well as repeat career criminals like Jones. The individuals here are either studying to become licensed beauticians—a rigorous training process of six hours a day, five days a week—or are there to enjoy the salon’s range of services as the beauty school's practice clients.

The certificate and license that inmates receive at the end of the curriculum are the same ones given to matriculating cosmetology students on the outside. Hairdressers often rent chairs in salons as independent contractors, which means even a hairstylist with a prison record has an increased opportunity for entrepreneurship. With that comes a legitimate chance at having a career and earning a decent, middle-class living upon release.

https://www.good.is/features/prison-reform-education-cosmetology?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood

Superblocks: How Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

No Room For Error

From Vox - Another article too good to cherry pick.

The hardest part about growing up poor was knowing I couldn’t mess up. Not even once.
Updated by David Tran

http://www.vox.com/first-person/2016/9/27/13062230/poor-college-scholarship-opportunity

A Message from Grandma & Grandpa: We've Seen This Before

Built Fast

I hope this video is attached.  If not, you can find it at 

https://www.wired.com/video/how-boeing-builds-a-737-in-just-nine-days

Choose to See the Best Version

This is a tribute to a man's AA sponsor who passed away.  If time permits, read the whole thing.  It's worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~

An excerpt from Jon Carroll Prose (Blog) - "Dark Shadows"

She was a difficult woman. She was a kind, smart woman. She was the whole messy package of humanity rolled into one explosive bundle. I loved her. I didn’t speak to her for years.

~~~~~~~~~~

My reasons for writing this are twofold. One, I wanted to tell you about Dunn Miller, because there will be no obituaries, no tributes on television. I have this tiny forum to encourage others to mourn with me.

And the second thing I have to say is: Are there people in your life from whom you’ve become estranged? Is there some argument, some outrage, some unforgivable exchange? Forgive anyway. Go to whomever and tell them how important they were, how much you appreciated what they did.  Talk to the best version of that person. Offer grace.

https://joncarrollprose.com/2016/09/24/dark-shadows/

Must See Items

From the Washington Post -

The top 36 must-see items at the African American museum
By Philip Kennicott and Peggy McGlone

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/lifestyle/national-museum-of-african-american-history-and-culture/must-see-exhibit-items/

the daily show / Trevor Noah

Did You Know?

Sacramento Public Library offers a Library of Things for checkout that include sewing machines and musical instruments?

Check it out (pun intended) at the link below.

http://www.saclibrary.org/Services/Library-of-Things

A History of Lies & Deceit

An excerpt from the Associated Press - (Bold is mine)

As Trump appeals to black voters, Gary recalls casino deal
By SOPHIA TAREEN and MICHAEL BIESECKER

GARY, Ind. (AP) — Donald Trump swooped into Gary, Indiana, on his private jet and pledged to make the down-on-its-luck city great again.

It was 1993, and the New York mogul was wooing officials in the mostly black city to support his bid to dock a showboat casino along a Lake Michigan shoreline littered with shuttered factories. Trump and his representatives later told state gaming officials he would leverage his "incomparable experience" to build a floating Shangri-La, with enough slot machines and blackjack tables to fill city coffers and local charities with tens of millions each year, while creating scores of well-paid jobs for minority residents.

"We are looking to make this a real peach here, a real success," Trump said of the project.

Today, as the Republican presidential nominee pursues black voters with vows to fix inner-city troubles, many Gary residents say his pitch to solve the problems of crime and poverty is disturbingly familiar. Like others who have done business with Trump, they say their experience offers a cautionary tale.

Little more than a decade after investing in Gary, Trump's casino company declared bankruptcy and cashed out his stake in the boat — leaving behind lawsuits and hard feelings in a city where more than one-third of residents live in poverty. Trump's lawyers later argued in court that his pledges to the city were never legally binding. Trump told The Associated Press that his venture was good for Gary.

Local civic leaders disagree.

"What you had was a slick business dealer coming in," said Roy Pratt, a Democratic former Gary city councilman. "He got as much as he could and then he pulled up and left."

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3ab9b80ebe364b2ca5ae619492a096a2/years-after-casino-went-bust-gary-still-skeptical-trump

Their Silence is Deafening

An excerpt from USA Today -

The silence is deafening.

Trent Dilfer, Kate Upton, Tony La Russa, Drew Brees, Rodney Harrison — they and many, many others were quick to criticize Colin Kaepernick and other athletes for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and inequality. It was disrespectful to the country. Or the flag. Or the military. Or law enforcement and first responders. Or … something.

Besides, Kaepernick and Co. are ungrateful, self-absorbed millionaires. What could they possibly know? If they were that concerned, they should be doing something in the community rather than making spectacles of themselves when the country really just wants to watch football.

So where are they now, the Dilfers, the Uptons, the La Russas and all the other Kaepernick critics? Where is the outrage and the indignation for Terence Crutcher, the unarmed black man who was killed by Tulsa police late last week after he was gunned down and lay bleeding in the street for almost two minutes before anyone went to help him?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2016/09/20/colin-kaepernick-tulsa-police-shooting-jerry-rice/90752254/

An Epic Throw-down!

A Great Experience

A few days ago I purchased a car using an excellent car buying service in the Bay Area called Roadster.  For a fee of $295, they find the car you want at the price you want and deliver it to you.  No need to visit a dealership at all.  (Delivery qualifier - they don't come all the way to Sacramento, so I took a train to Fairfield and met a Roadster Rep at a Starbucks, signed the papers and voila! I was on 80 West in my new car).

I had driven the model I bought, a Nissan Rogue, for a week when I rented one when I first returned to the US.  I loved it.  It sits high off the ground and has most of the features found in larger SUVs, but in a smaller package.  It was good on gas, too.

So, I knew what I wanted.  Searched online and found the options I wanted, and from those searches had a pretty good idea of what it should cost.

I purchased my last car online as well and absolutely loved the experience.  This was in 2004.  I kept that car until 2011 when I left the country.  I sold it to CarMax and that was a painless process, too.

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, I should be in sales because when I find something I like, I want the world to know about it.

So . . .

If you or someone you know is in the market for a new car and you're in the Bay Area, I highly recommend Roadster.

Showing Gratitude

A random guy bought some Starbucks goodies for the first responders of the NY bombing.

There are good people everywhere.

https://www.facebook.com/knightnews/videos/10157392671575527/

A Million Pairs of Socks

1 Million Pairs of Bombas Socks Donated from Bombas on Vimeo.

THE AMAZING TRIPLE SPIRAL (15,000 DOMINOES)

Too Much Work?

Pentatonix & Dolly Parton - Jolene

History Supports Him

From  the New Yorker -

COLIN KAEPERNICK AND A LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASE
By Jeffrey Toobin

Fascinating article!

Too good to cherry pick.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/colin-kaepernick-and-a-landmark-supreme-court-case

DAMN!

Trevor Noah slams Trump!

https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/776187201751134208/pl/bdIQas9PBNVgLrI1.m3u8

Products that promise “detox” are a sham. Yes, all of them.

Truth Be Told

I love that Colin Kaepernick has taken a stand against the injustices of people of color.

It takes courage to do what he has chosen to do.

It takes courage to take a stand that you know will be unpopular but is right nonetheless.

As much as I believe in what he's doing and applaud him for it, I wonder if I'd feel the same way if it was Ben or Frankie.

Would I be as supportive of them?

Or, would I remind them of the cost of standing up, even when you are right?

The answer is . . .

I would have tried to stop them, wrong though that would have been.

Here's why.

Growing up in the segregated South, my brothers and I were taught to "go along to get along."  My parents knew the real danger of pushing back in any way.

We lived with terrorism long before 9/11.

To push back against the status quo meant repercussions.

Folks losing their jobs, their livelihoods, and too often, their lives was the threat we lived under every day.  It was the fear we learned to live with.

Of course, we recognized the gains we made because of those brave folks who took a stand on our behalf, but it wasn't enough to nudge us from the sidelines.

So, I thank God for the people who had the courage to do what we wouldn't do, then and now.

A Courageous Act

An excerpt from The Intercept - H/T Ben

Barbara Lee’s Lone Vote on Sept. 14, 2001, Was as Prescient as It Was Brave and Heroic
By Glenn Greenwald


In an op-ed she published in the San Francisco Chronicle nine days later, she explained her vote by pointing out that the resolution “was a blank check to the president to attack anyone involved in the Sept. 11 events — anywhere, in any country, without regard to our nation’s long-term foreign policy, economic and national security interests, and without time limit.” She added: “A rush to launch precipitous military counterattacks runs too great a risk that more innocent men, women, children will be killed.”

For her lone stance, Lee was deluged with rancid insults and death threats to the point where she needed around-the-clock bodyguards. She was vilified as “anti-American” by numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal. The Washington Times editorialized on September 18 that “Ms. Lee is a long-practicing supporter of America’s enemies — from Fidel Castro on down” and that “while most of the left-wing Democrats spent the week praising President Bush and trying to sound as moderate as possible, Barbara Lee continued to sail under her true colors.” Since then, she has been repeatedly rejected in her bids to join the House Democratic leadership, typically losing to candidates close to Wall Street and in support of militarism. I documented numerous other ugly attacks when I wrote about her for The Guardian in 2013.

But beyond the obvious bravery needed to take the stand she took, she has been completely vindicated on the merits.

https://theintercept.com/2016/09/11/barbara-lees-lone-vote-on-sept-14-2001-was-as-prescient-as-it-was-brave-and-heroic/

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Great Question

H/T Forrest

Happy Birthday Frankie!

It's hard to believe you're 33 today!

Where does the time go?

It was 33 years ago on a Saturday morning, like today, that I started to bleed and my doctor decided that you would be born that day.

It was a tough pregnancy.

By this time I'd been in the hospital for over a month, as this pregnancy was considered high risk.  This was long before the quickie drive-by hospital stays that are the norm today.

The previous year I had Lydia, who had a litany of health issues and only lived for two weeks.  After two pregnancies in two years, we were advised to wait a while before trying for another child.  I knew that waiting wasn't an option because of fear and sadness that gripped me after losing her.  So, mere months after her death, I was pregnant with you.

With Ben, I had issues.

With Lydia, she had problems.

With you, it was my turn again.

I had placenta previa, a condition that was potentially life threatening, but I felt fine. So good in fact, I was lifting things and moving furniture, as we were setting up our new home, getting everything ready for your birth.

Well, therein was the problem.

I exasperated an already tenuous situation, and in my third trimester, I started to bleed and was hospitalized.  After a week or so, I begged to be released to go home because Ben needed me.  He was just shy of two years old.

My doctor complied.  I went home and foolishly went back to moving furniture. Again.

Color me stupid.

I had already lost one child.  You'd think I'd have the presence of mind to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening again.

What was I thinking?

I don't know where my head was.

Anyway . . .

Of course, I started to bleed again, and this time I was hospitalized for over a month, waiting for you to grow bigger and stronger to increase your chance of survival outside the womb.

So, early that Saturday morning, when I notified the staff of the bleeding, surgery was prepped and you were born.  It happened fast.  So fast in fact, that your dad didn't make it as he had to find someone to watch Ben.  By the time he arrived, you were born.

You looked so much like Lydia, it was hard at first.

The resemblance was remarkable.

You were both born a month early, weighing within an ounce of each other.

After you passed the two week mark, you started to fill out and come into your own person.  Or maybe, I started to see you as you, and not so much in her image.

One of my favorite memories of your birth was Ben's reaction to you.  He was tickled pink.  So excited to have a little brother.  That excitement didn't wane until you were five months old and started to smile.  Then he was done.

It took a while, but he came around again, and now I'm thrilled that you're best buds.

We've had some wonderful times, and some tough times, but through it all, I've been so proud of you.

Here's some advice, unsolicited though it may be.

That is . . . be happy.

Find your happy place and drop anchor there.

Do what makes you happy.

Be with people who make you happy,

But . . .

Understand that your happiness should never be dependent on someone else.

You have to be happy with you, and for you.

Other people are responsible for their own happiness.

I realize this seems like a contradiction, but I promise, it's not.

It took me twenty years to figure that out.

Ok.

No more advice . . . today.

Just love.

Happy birthday Frankie!

Allen Iverson’s Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech

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Scholarship App

Scholly // Jesse Williams (2016) from Brandon E. Kamin | Filmmaker on Vimeo.

I Love This!

http://www.upworthy.com/one-man-turned-nursing-home-design-on-its-head-when-he-created-this-stunning-facility?c=upw1&u=6861cbea6edfdfe5a709ee39ad3c14b64135e61f

Even in Death

An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -

The Persistent Racism of America's Cemeteries
Not only is segregation still an issue but also America risks losing important history in its forgotten graveyards.
By Jennifer Young

Earlier this summer, the city of Waco, Texas issued an order to remove a fence in the city’s public burial ground, Greenwood Cemetery. But it wasn’t just a cosmetic change: Using a forklift and power tools, City of Waco Parks & Recreation staff cut apart the chain-link fence that had been used to divide the white section of the cemetery from the black section.

The cemetery had been racially segregated since it opened in the late 1800s. It was operated by two sets of caretakers, white and black, until the city took over the cemetery about 10 years ago.

Waco is not the only Texas community to struggle with the surprisingly robust ghost of Jim Crow: This spring, the cemetery association of Normanna, Texas, about an hour outside Corpus Christi, was sued by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund for barring a white woman from burying the ashes of her Hispanic husband there. Although the cemetery association later relented, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating. No Hispanic people are buried within the Normanna cemetery—there is one sole tombstone with a Spanish surname, located just outside the cemetery’s chain link fence.

Until the 1950s, about 90 percent of all public cemeteries in the U.S. employed a variety of racial restrictions. Until recently, to enter a cemetery was to experience, as a University of Pennsylvania geography professor put it, the “spatial segregation of the American dead.” Even when a religious cemetery was not entirely race restricted, different races were buried in separate parts of the cemetery, with whites usually getting the more attractive plots.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-persistent-racism-of-americas-cemeteries

Fun Apps For Kids

Get Hidden Pictures by Highlights Magazine - Ages 6-8

Get BrainPOP Featured Movie - Ages 9-11

I Want This Guy to Wait on Me

From Stumble Upon - I was going to cherry pick the article, but I think it needs to read in its entirety to appreciate.  Enjoy!

Guy Documents His First Week Of Work At Target, And It Couldn’t Get More Hilarious

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1TyQra/:W5WO3Mhu:qUZGdJog/www.boredpanda.com/first-work-week-target-cashier-kimpossibooty

A Creative Brotha

Nationalism vs. Patriotism

Excerpts from The Undefeated -

THE COURAGE OF COLIN KAEPERNICK
Given all that’s going on in America, he got it right
By Michael Eric Dyson

Nationalism is a harmful belief that can lead a country down a dangerous spiral of arrogance, or off the precipice of political narcissism. Nationalism harbors the belief that no matter what one’s country does, it must be supported. If a nation practices racism, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia or the like, it must be celebrated and accepted at all costs. Patriotism is a bigger, more uplifting virtue. Patriotism is the belief in the best values of one’s country, and the pursuit of the best means to realize those values. If the nation strays, then it must be corrected. The patriot is the person who, spotting the need for change, says so clearly and loudly, without hate or rancor. The nationalist is the person who spurns such correction and would rather take refuge in bigotry than fight it. It is the nationalists who wrap themselves in a flag and loudly proclaim themselves as patriots. That is dangerous, as glimpsed in Trump’s amplification of the worst racist and xenophobic sentiments in a generation. In the end, Trump is a nationalist, and Kaepernick is a patriot.
~~~~~~~~~~
What the controversy has also revealed is that, for the most part, the world of sports, especially football, despite all of the black bodies that make it go, is still a deeply and profoundly white enterprise that cherishes its own viewpoints and recoils at true difference. That’s why only the gridiron is integrated, with nearly 70 percent of the players black. The league’s front offices teem with white men whose outdated viewpoints, and narrow understandings of race – and sometimes, whether intending to be or not, their bigoted perspectives – hamper true progress. The players in football and basketball may be overwhelmingly black – and in the case of baseball, increasingly Latino – but the front offices of major sports are a white man’s game.

Thus when we hear statements by anonymous NFL executives that they don’t want Kaepernick near their teams because he’s a traitor, that he has no respect for our country, and “[expletive] that guy,” and that “I have never seen a guy so hated by front office guys as Kaepernick,” they betray the tolerance for fatally narrow views of black life. As long as black athletes keep their mouths shut and play the game, they’re fine. Once they range beyond deference and obedience, they’re out of bounds, and huge penalty flags are thrown.

Kaepernick’s courage has also thrown a harsh light on just how painfully inadequate are the memories, historical consciousness, and learning of some of our leading, black former football players, who now offer commentary in the media. They clearly don’t understand that without some brave soul in the past like Jim Brown within their guild speaking up at the “wrong” time, they wouldn’t today enjoy the perks of fame and wealth. Without protest and social pressure, the major sports leagues would not have been integrated. Rodney Harrison, Hines Ward and Jerry Rice were incredible athletes who offer insightful commentary about football. However, criticism of Kaepernick reveals their atrocious ignorance. Harrison argued that Kaepernick’s heart is in the right place, but that he’s “going about it in the wrong way.”

http://theundefeated.com/features/the-courage-of-colin-kaepernick/

Upstanders—Scholarships for Every Student

Bodybuilding with One Arm and No Legs

Spot On!

I ran into technical difficulties trying to embed this video, so here's the link instead.  It's Trevor Noah on Comedy Central discussing Trump's effort to get the black vote.

Hilarious!

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/4vdhn2/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-donald-trump-tries-to-woo-black-voters

In This Class You Eat Ice Cream

Sign me up!

Unlimited Greatness ft. Serena Williams

How Instant Ramen Became an Overnight Success

Apologies if this is a repeat.

Saroo Brierley: Homeward Bound

Code of Conduct

An excerpt from the Root -

White America’s Definitive Code of Conduct for Black Athletes
And if you don’t follow these rules, you’ll get Kaepernicked.
BY: MICHAEL HARRIOT

Recently, black athletes have faced an enormous amount of scrutiny for their untoward behavior. They have continually sullied the regard and expectations of the virtuous masses of the noble, patriotic public by showing contempt for the spectators, fans and America itself. As such, we have assembled one of the whitest teams since (insert hockey team name here) to create this definitive code of conduct as both an instruction guide and a manual for how black professional athletes should represent themselves, their individual sports and their country.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/09/white-americas-definitive-code-of-conduct-for-black-athletes/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=theroot&utm_campaign=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26

Just in Case You're Interested

An excerpt from Vox -

Donald Trump volunteers are signing a lifelong contract never to criticize him
By Jeff Stein

Sign up to volunteer for Donald Trump’s campaign, and you might be giving up more than you bargained for.

Earlier this week, reporters began poring over the 2,271-word nondisclosure agreement that Trump’s campaign requires its volunteers sign. The forms are extraordinarily broad, virtually prohibiting any volunteers from criticizing Trump or his family for the rest of their lifetimes, according to Rachel Sklar, a lawyer and CNN contributor.

http://www.vox.com/2016/9/2/12769084/donald-trump-volunteers

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You don't see this everyday.

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Game Day Matter

From Rolling Stone - (Bold is mine)

Racism is much more complex than we like to imagine. It's more than a word; it's a system that is backed up money, politics and the criminal justice system. We live in a country where when media pundits called U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte, a 32-year-old man, a "kid," for lying about his brotastic experience at the Rio Olympics, but a Cleveland police officer can kill Tamir Race for doing just that – being a kid. A country where Kaepernick is deemed as being unpatriotic, for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech, but Dylann Roof can burn the American flag and walk into an A.M.E. church and murder people. A country where a presidential candidate whose slogan is "Make America Great Again," wants to criticize a black man who just wants justice is the epitome of not just hypocrisy, but it's also downright fucking absurd. Black lives seem to matter on game day when America needs to be entertained. The rest of the week, not so much.

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/what-white-fans-dont-understand-about-black-athletes-w437292?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=083116_12