From the Huffington Post -
Trevor Noah: Trump Ignores ‘Hard-Working White American Terrorists’
“I guess the forgotten man has been forgotten after all."
By David Moye
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/83b3tv/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-team-trump-lists--underreported--terror-attacks
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
This Headline Speaks Volumes
An excerpt form the Root -
Breaking News: Donald Trump Tells the Truth
By Michael Harriot
We interrupt your Facebook scrolling, Candy Crush game, tweets or whatever you were doing (although we can’t imagine what you’d be doing on the internet besides reading The Root) to bring you this important announcement:
News agencies across the country are reporting the collective, nationwide shock at the unthinkable incident that happened on Fox News on Sunday night when President Donald Trump briefly—and perhaps accidentally—said something that was actually true.
That is not a misprint. You read it correctly. Although there is some speculation that it might have been a mistake or a glitch in the matrix, a guest on a Fake News—I mean, Fox News—show uttered a nonfiction statement that was based in reality.
http://www.theroot.com/breaking-news-donald-trump-tells-the-truth-1792047768
Breaking News: Donald Trump Tells the Truth
By Michael Harriot
We interrupt your Facebook scrolling, Candy Crush game, tweets or whatever you were doing (although we can’t imagine what you’d be doing on the internet besides reading The Root) to bring you this important announcement:
News agencies across the country are reporting the collective, nationwide shock at the unthinkable incident that happened on Fox News on Sunday night when President Donald Trump briefly—and perhaps accidentally—said something that was actually true.
That is not a misprint. You read it correctly. Although there is some speculation that it might have been a mistake or a glitch in the matrix, a guest on a Fake News—I mean, Fox News—show uttered a nonfiction statement that was based in reality.
http://www.theroot.com/breaking-news-donald-trump-tells-the-truth-1792047768
Monday, February 6, 2017
Black Innovators
From the Huffington Post -
7 Black Innovators Who Are Creating A Better Tomorrow
Their impact is undeniable.
By Taryn Finley
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-innovators-creating-a-better-tomorrow_us_588fc553e4b02772c4e8b346?section=us_black-voices
7 Black Innovators Who Are Creating A Better Tomorrow
Their impact is undeniable.
By Taryn Finley
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-innovators-creating-a-better-tomorrow_us_588fc553e4b02772c4e8b346?section=us_black-voices
Judge Was a Refugee
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Like Many Americans, A Judge On The Court Weighing Trump’s Refugee Ban Was A Refugee
Judge Alex Kozinski’s family fled communism when he was a child.
By Matt Ferner
A federal judge who sits on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is set to rule on a block of President Donald Trump’s refugee ban, came to the United States as a refugee when he was a boy.
All of the judges on the panel descended from immigrants, but Judge Alex Kozinski is likely the only one who specifically entered the country as a refugee.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-immigration-ban-federal-judge-alex-kozinski_us_58993830e4b0c1284f27d7e9?
Like Many Americans, A Judge On The Court Weighing Trump’s Refugee Ban Was A Refugee
Judge Alex Kozinski’s family fled communism when he was a child.
By Matt Ferner
A federal judge who sits on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is set to rule on a block of President Donald Trump’s refugee ban, came to the United States as a refugee when he was a boy.
All of the judges on the panel descended from immigrants, but Judge Alex Kozinski is likely the only one who specifically entered the country as a refugee.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-immigration-ban-federal-judge-alex-kozinski_us_58993830e4b0c1284f27d7e9?
Scary!
An excerpt from the Washington Post - (Bold is mine)
The ‘best fortnight in a decade’ for conservatives? Uh-oh.
By Michael Gerson
Stepping back, cooling off a bit, displaying some strategic patience, taking the long view: The first two weeks of the Trump administration have been the most abso-friggin-lutely frightening of the modern presidency.
President Trump has managed to taunt and alienate some of our closest allies — Mexico and Australia (!) — while continuing an NC-17-rated love fest with Russia. He has engaged in moral equivalence that places America on the level of Vladimir Putin’s bloody dictatorship. “Well, you think our country’s so innocent?” he said — a statement of such obscenity that it would haunt any liberal to the grave. He has issued an immigration executive order of unparalleled incompetence and cruelty, further victimizing refugees who are already fate’s punching bag. He has lied about things large (election fraud) and small (inaugural crowd size), refused to allow facts to modify his claims, and attempted to create his own reality through the repetition of deception. He has abused his standing as president to attack individuals, from a respected judge to the movie star who took over his God-awful reality-TV show. He has demonstrated a limitless appetite for organizational chaos and selected a staff that leaks like a salad spinner. He has become a massively polarizing figure within the United States and a risible figure on the global stage.
All in a fortnight.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-best-fortnight-in-a-decade-for-conservatives-uh-oh/2017/02/06/93e2f1aa-ec9a-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-d%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.7d52a3167f47
The ‘best fortnight in a decade’ for conservatives? Uh-oh.
By Michael Gerson
Stepping back, cooling off a bit, displaying some strategic patience, taking the long view: The first two weeks of the Trump administration have been the most abso-friggin-lutely frightening of the modern presidency.
President Trump has managed to taunt and alienate some of our closest allies — Mexico and Australia (!) — while continuing an NC-17-rated love fest with Russia. He has engaged in moral equivalence that places America on the level of Vladimir Putin’s bloody dictatorship. “Well, you think our country’s so innocent?” he said — a statement of such obscenity that it would haunt any liberal to the grave. He has issued an immigration executive order of unparalleled incompetence and cruelty, further victimizing refugees who are already fate’s punching bag. He has lied about things large (election fraud) and small (inaugural crowd size), refused to allow facts to modify his claims, and attempted to create his own reality through the repetition of deception. He has abused his standing as president to attack individuals, from a respected judge to the movie star who took over his God-awful reality-TV show. He has demonstrated a limitless appetite for organizational chaos and selected a staff that leaks like a salad spinner. He has become a massively polarizing figure within the United States and a risible figure on the global stage.
All in a fortnight.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-best-fortnight-in-a-decade-for-conservatives-uh-oh/2017/02/06/93e2f1aa-ec9a-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-d%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.7d52a3167f47
Saving Lives
An excerpt from BBC News -
Flight attendant shares story of saving trafficking victim
When Shelia Fedrick saw a dishevelled girl sitting beside an older, well-dressed man on her flight, she was concerned.
The teenager "looked like she had been through pure hell", the flight attendant told NBC, and the man would not let her speak to the girl.
Ms Fedrick left a note for the girl in the plane's toilet - enabling the girl to explain that she needed help.
It turned out the girl was a human trafficking victim - and Ms Fedrick's instincts had helped to save her.
The pilot was able to inform the police, who were waiting when the plane landed.
The 2011 incident on Alaska Airlines was reported in US media this week, as charity Airline Ambassadors seeks to train airline staff in ways to combat human trafficking.
Airline Ambassadors' website says a trafficking victim may appear afraid of uniformed security, unsure of their destination and nervous. They may also provide scripted answers, and be wearing clothing unsuitable for their destination.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38880612
Flight attendant shares story of saving trafficking victim
 |
| Shelia Fedrick has been sharing her story with US media |
When Shelia Fedrick saw a dishevelled girl sitting beside an older, well-dressed man on her flight, she was concerned.
The teenager "looked like she had been through pure hell", the flight attendant told NBC, and the man would not let her speak to the girl.
Ms Fedrick left a note for the girl in the plane's toilet - enabling the girl to explain that she needed help.
It turned out the girl was a human trafficking victim - and Ms Fedrick's instincts had helped to save her.
The pilot was able to inform the police, who were waiting when the plane landed.
The 2011 incident on Alaska Airlines was reported in US media this week, as charity Airline Ambassadors seeks to train airline staff in ways to combat human trafficking.
Airline Ambassadors' website says a trafficking victim may appear afraid of uniformed security, unsure of their destination and nervous. They may also provide scripted answers, and be wearing clothing unsuitable for their destination.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38880612
Not Welome
From the Huffington Post -
Donald Trump Is Not Welcome To Address Parliament, U.K. Speaker Declares
The chance to address Parliament is “an earned honor,” John Bercow said.
By Matt Ferner
A top-ranking British lawmaker vowed on Monday to block President Donald Trump from speaking before the U.K. Parliament in the historic Westminster Hall, citing that body’s opposition to racism and sexism and its support for equality and an independent judiciary.
Check out the video at the link below.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-parliament-address-speaker_us_5898b426e4b09bd304bc967a?
Donald Trump Is Not Welcome To Address Parliament, U.K. Speaker Declares
The chance to address Parliament is “an earned honor,” John Bercow said.
By Matt Ferner
A top-ranking British lawmaker vowed on Monday to block President Donald Trump from speaking before the U.K. Parliament in the historic Westminster Hall, citing that body’s opposition to racism and sexism and its support for equality and an independent judiciary.
Check out the video at the link below.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-parliament-address-speaker_us_5898b426e4b09bd304bc967a?
Quote
As seen on Vox -
His chief strategist ran a viciously anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim news site with a section devoted to "black crime." His senior adviser worked with Richard Spencer at Duke. At what point do we just start describing the Trump administration as white nationalist?
[Slate / Jamelle Bouie]
His chief strategist ran a viciously anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim news site with a section devoted to "black crime." His senior adviser worked with Richard Spencer at Duke. At what point do we just start describing the Trump administration as white nationalist?
[Slate / Jamelle Bouie]
Honest Car Salesman
An excerpt from Newser -
Car buyers who fear getting fooled into purchasing a lemon, take solace: There is at least one honest car salesman out there. An ad posted on Facebook Wednesday for a 2002 Oldsmobile Alero has gone viral, and the first line gives a taste as to why: "Nothing special or pretty about this car." The car, available for sale at Journee Autos in Largo, Fla., has racked up 200,000+ miles and is being offered for $900, and "You're getting 900 dollars worth of car," reads the post by Shelmar Pierre Roseman. The side is rusted, and the photos zoom in on that, so "don't bring your a-- down here saying it looks different in the pics or you didn't know it had that much rust. I'm telling you right now. This b-tch rusty."
http://www.newser.com/story/237900/ad-for-2002-oldsmobile-is-delightfully-honest.html
Car buyers who fear getting fooled into purchasing a lemon, take solace: There is at least one honest car salesman out there. An ad posted on Facebook Wednesday for a 2002 Oldsmobile Alero has gone viral, and the first line gives a taste as to why: "Nothing special or pretty about this car." The car, available for sale at Journee Autos in Largo, Fla., has racked up 200,000+ miles and is being offered for $900, and "You're getting 900 dollars worth of car," reads the post by Shelmar Pierre Roseman. The side is rusted, and the photos zoom in on that, so "don't bring your a-- down here saying it looks different in the pics or you didn't know it had that much rust. I'm telling you right now. This b-tch rusty."
http://www.newser.com/story/237900/ad-for-2002-oldsmobile-is-delightfully-honest.html
Smart Thinking
From Thrillist -
37 QUESTIONS YOU MUST ASK SOMEONE BEFORE YOU GET MARRIED
By GIGI ENGLE
1. What makes you happy?
2. Do you want children?
3. What is your financial situation? How much student loan debt do you have?
4. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What are your long-term goals?
5. Do you have a close relationship with your parents?
https://www.thrillist.com/sex-dating/nation/relationship-questions-to-ask-before-you-get-married
37 QUESTIONS YOU MUST ASK SOMEONE BEFORE YOU GET MARRIED
By GIGI ENGLE
1. What makes you happy?
2. Do you want children?
3. What is your financial situation? How much student loan debt do you have?
4. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What are your long-term goals?
5. Do you have a close relationship with your parents?
https://www.thrillist.com/sex-dating/nation/relationship-questions-to-ask-before-you-get-married
She Nailed It
An excerpt from Salon -
Notes from a trailing spouse: the hot sauce is great but grocery shopping can feel like a roller derby and Abu Dhabi is no place for a barfly
There are high high-end bars and low high-end bars; both are enough to make a deeply committed social drinker weep
By Bex B
No matter where I am in the world or for how long, the first order of business is to go to a local market and do what I call buy and spy. You’d be amazed what you can learn about a culture by checking out what people have in their shopping baskets. So on our first morning, while still reeling with jet lag and that particular horror of meeting 104-degree heat married with 100 percent humidity, I set out to find my market.
My early expeditions had me rolling up to a couple of the French outfits, Géant and Carrefour. Great for butter and the odd black chicken, but they didn’t have the array of hot sauces that I needed to fill the gaping hole left by not having jerk.
Then I found Lulu’s. Aptly named, it’s a lulu. Hypermarkets, as they are called here, which now that I think of it, must be an anglicized version of the French word hypermarché. Which brings up another point: Why all the French-owned markets? In every other aspect, Britain has its fingerprints all over this place.
Lulu’s is not for the faint-hearted, especially if you go there on a Friday night after evening prayer. All at once every guest worker, whether they are from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines, America, Britain, or Australia, along with large Emirati families with squads of children careening up and down the aisles, descends on the store.
~~~~~~~~~~
As you can imagine, this state of affairs has me drinking at home more often than not. Buying liquor, as the Brits like to say, is jolly good fun. There are designated stores; all tucked away with blacked-out windows. The one we like to go to is accessed through a basement door in the garage of the St. Regis. The cloak-and-dagger feel is amplified by the fact that the garage floor is coated with the squeakiest paint so that when driving any turn of the wheel makes you feel like you’re in one of those squealing car-chase scenes in the movies. Once upstairs it’s all pretty pro forma, that is, until they put your purchase in the thickest, blackest plastic bag I’ve ever seen — body bags have nothing on these suckers — all to ensure that your offending vodka is kept well out of sight. Once home, I have the strangest urge to whisper as I unsheath my bottle, “It’s all right, you’re safe.”
http://www.salon.com/2017/02/05/notes-from-a-trailing-spouse-madwoman-in-the-desert2-eating-and-drinking/?source=newsletter
Notes from a trailing spouse: the hot sauce is great but grocery shopping can feel like a roller derby and Abu Dhabi is no place for a barfly
There are high high-end bars and low high-end bars; both are enough to make a deeply committed social drinker weep
By Bex B
No matter where I am in the world or for how long, the first order of business is to go to a local market and do what I call buy and spy. You’d be amazed what you can learn about a culture by checking out what people have in their shopping baskets. So on our first morning, while still reeling with jet lag and that particular horror of meeting 104-degree heat married with 100 percent humidity, I set out to find my market.
My early expeditions had me rolling up to a couple of the French outfits, Géant and Carrefour. Great for butter and the odd black chicken, but they didn’t have the array of hot sauces that I needed to fill the gaping hole left by not having jerk.
Then I found Lulu’s. Aptly named, it’s a lulu. Hypermarkets, as they are called here, which now that I think of it, must be an anglicized version of the French word hypermarché. Which brings up another point: Why all the French-owned markets? In every other aspect, Britain has its fingerprints all over this place.
Lulu’s is not for the faint-hearted, especially if you go there on a Friday night after evening prayer. All at once every guest worker, whether they are from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines, America, Britain, or Australia, along with large Emirati families with squads of children careening up and down the aisles, descends on the store.
~~~~~~~~~~
As you can imagine, this state of affairs has me drinking at home more often than not. Buying liquor, as the Brits like to say, is jolly good fun. There are designated stores; all tucked away with blacked-out windows. The one we like to go to is accessed through a basement door in the garage of the St. Regis. The cloak-and-dagger feel is amplified by the fact that the garage floor is coated with the squeakiest paint so that when driving any turn of the wheel makes you feel like you’re in one of those squealing car-chase scenes in the movies. Once upstairs it’s all pretty pro forma, that is, until they put your purchase in the thickest, blackest plastic bag I’ve ever seen — body bags have nothing on these suckers — all to ensure that your offending vodka is kept well out of sight. Once home, I have the strangest urge to whisper as I unsheath my bottle, “It’s all right, you’re safe.”
http://www.salon.com/2017/02/05/notes-from-a-trailing-spouse-madwoman-in-the-desert2-eating-and-drinking/?source=newsletter
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Love, Peace, & Soul
From the Huffington Post -
A Look Back At 28 Memorable ‘Soul Train’ Performances
Celebrating “Love, Peace, Soul!”
By Brennan Williams
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/28-memorable-soul-train-performances_us_5890f1d3e4b02772c4e9d24f?section=us_black-voices
A Look Back At 28 Memorable ‘Soul Train’ Performances
Celebrating “Love, Peace, Soul!”
By Brennan Williams
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/28-memorable-soul-train-performances_us_5890f1d3e4b02772c4e9d24f?section=us_black-voices
Young, Gifted, & Black
From the Huffington Post -
This 22-Year-Old Is Already An Engineer At NASA
And she’s yet to graduate from MIT... with a 5.0. Yah.
By Zahara Hill
Tiera Guinn is just 22 years old and she’s already working for NASA.
As a Rocket Structural Design and Analysis Engineer for the Space Launch System that aerospace company Boeing is building for NASA, Guinn designs and analyzes parts of a rocket that she said will be one of the biggest and most powerful in history.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-22-year-old-is-already-an-engineer-at-nasa_us_5894c59be4b0c1284f25c913?section=us_black-voices
This 22-Year-Old Is Already An Engineer At NASA
And she’s yet to graduate from MIT... with a 5.0. Yah.
By Zahara Hill
Tiera Guinn is just 22 years old and she’s already working for NASA.
As a Rocket Structural Design and Analysis Engineer for the Space Launch System that aerospace company Boeing is building for NASA, Guinn designs and analyzes parts of a rocket that she said will be one of the biggest and most powerful in history.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-22-year-old-is-already-an-engineer-at-nasa_us_5894c59be4b0c1284f25c913?section=us_black-voices
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Visit the Tina Turner Museum
From Atlas Obscura -
Tina Turner Museum
A restored one-room African American schoolhouse in the diva's hometown now preserves the legacy of its most famous student.
While driving from Nashville to Memphis there is a bit of musical history that’s not to be missed. In Brownsville, Tennessee an old blacks-only schoolhouse has been restored and turned into a museum honoring the legacy of its student-turned-superstar, Anna Mae Bullock, better known as Tina Turner.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tina-turner-museum
Tina Turner Museum
A restored one-room African American schoolhouse in the diva's hometown now preserves the legacy of its most famous student.
While driving from Nashville to Memphis there is a bit of musical history that’s not to be missed. In Brownsville, Tennessee an old blacks-only schoolhouse has been restored and turned into a museum honoring the legacy of its student-turned-superstar, Anna Mae Bullock, better known as Tina Turner.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tina-turner-museum
How Not to Run a Complex Organization
An excerpt from the New York Times -
Case Study in Chaos: How Management Experts Grade a Trump White House
By JAMES B. STEWART
The unanimous verdict: Thus far, the Trump administration is a textbook case of how not to run a complex organization like the executive branch.
“This is so basic, it’s covered in the introduction to the M.B.A. program that all our students take,” said Lindred Greer, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. By all outward indications, Mr. Trump “desperately needs to take the course,” she said.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at Stanford and the author of “Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t,” said Mr. Trump’s executive actions as president “are so far from any responsible management approach” that they all but defy analysis.
“Of course, this isn’t new,” he told me. “His campaign also violated every prudent management principle. Everyone including our friends on Wall Street somehow believed that once he was president he’d change. I don’t understand that logic.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/business/donald-trump-management-style.html
Case Study in Chaos: How Management Experts Grade a Trump White House
By JAMES B. STEWART
The unanimous verdict: Thus far, the Trump administration is a textbook case of how not to run a complex organization like the executive branch.
“This is so basic, it’s covered in the introduction to the M.B.A. program that all our students take,” said Lindred Greer, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. By all outward indications, Mr. Trump “desperately needs to take the course,” she said.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at Stanford and the author of “Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t,” said Mr. Trump’s executive actions as president “are so far from any responsible management approach” that they all but defy analysis.
“Of course, this isn’t new,” he told me. “His campaign also violated every prudent management principle. Everyone including our friends on Wall Street somehow believed that once he was president he’d change. I don’t understand that logic.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/business/donald-trump-management-style.html
Friday, February 3, 2017
We've Been Here Before
From Salon -
“We’ve been here before”: Black Panther Jamal Joseph discusses present day political climate and offers words of wisdom
By D. WATKINS
http://www.salon.com/?post_type=post&p=14696142
“We’ve been here before”: Black Panther Jamal Joseph discusses present day political climate and offers words of wisdom
By D. WATKINS
http://www.salon.com/?post_type=post&p=14696142
Quote
From the LA Times -
|
|---|
|
|---|
Thursday, February 2, 2017
A Powerful Message
From the Huffington Post -
The Moving Story Behind This Viral Photo Of A Doctor’s Powerful Sign
A union reacts after a doctor in Brooklyn is stranded in Sudan due to Trump’s travel ban.
By Elyse Wanshel
When a fellow doctor was detained in Sudan, his colleagues at a Brooklyn hospital got on it. Stat. Their outraged reaction became a viral photo.
On Jan. 31, a picture of a doctor holding a sign that reads, “I am taking care of your mom … but I can’t go see mine,” was posted to Twitter by Khaled Beydoun.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/doctor-holding-sign-mom-trump-muslim-travel-ban_us_58937a91e4b07595d05a4b3b?
The Moving Story Behind This Viral Photo Of A Doctor’s Powerful Sign
A union reacts after a doctor in Brooklyn is stranded in Sudan due to Trump’s travel ban.
By Elyse Wanshel
 |
| Dr. Mazin Khalid went to medical school with Dr. Kamal Fadlalla and is his friend. He’s holding a sign written by another doctor. |
When a fellow doctor was detained in Sudan, his colleagues at a Brooklyn hospital got on it. Stat. Their outraged reaction became a viral photo.
On Jan. 31, a picture of a doctor holding a sign that reads, “I am taking care of your mom … but I can’t go see mine,” was posted to Twitter by Khaled Beydoun.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/doctor-holding-sign-mom-trump-muslim-travel-ban_us_58937a91e4b07595d05a4b3b?
Celebrating Our Gifts
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-jaimie-milner-gifted-20160131-story.html
All Aboard
From Thrillist -
THE MOST STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL TRAIN RIDES IN AMERICA
By MATT MELTZER
https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-scenic-train-rides-us
THE MOST STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL TRAIN RIDES IN AMERICA
By MATT MELTZER
https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-scenic-train-rides-us
It's Personal
An excerpt from the NYTimes -
A Washington Correspondent’s Own Refugee Experience
By HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON — When I was 13 years old, my family fled our home for the United States.
We were refugees, even though we came here on visitor visas that we simply outstayed. The country of my birth, Liberia, had just seen a military coup, where enlisted soldiers took over the government, disemboweled the president and launched an orgy of retribution against the old guard. My father was shot. My cousin was executed on the beach by firing squad. My mom was gang-raped by soldiers in the basement of our house after she volunteered to submit to them on the condition that they leave my sisters and me, ages 8 to 16, alone.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/insider/a-washington-correspondents-own-refugee-experience.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share&_r=0
A Washington Correspondent’s Own Refugee Experience
By HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON — When I was 13 years old, my family fled our home for the United States.
We were refugees, even though we came here on visitor visas that we simply outstayed. The country of my birth, Liberia, had just seen a military coup, where enlisted soldiers took over the government, disemboweled the president and launched an orgy of retribution against the old guard. My father was shot. My cousin was executed on the beach by firing squad. My mom was gang-raped by soldiers in the basement of our house after she volunteered to submit to them on the condition that they leave my sisters and me, ages 8 to 16, alone.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/insider/a-washington-correspondents-own-refugee-experience.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share&_r=0
Playing Dress Up
From the Huffington Post -
 |
| Ambrielle-Baker Rogers, Morgan Coleman and Miah Bell-Olson dressed as Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson, the trio of black women featured in the movie “Hidden Figures” who helped NASA send astronaut John Glenn into orbit. Courtesy of Amanda Evans
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/girls-dress-up-as-hidden-figures-characters-totally-nail-it_us_5892016ce4b02772c4ea6d7d?
|
He Was the Man
From Vanity Fair -
Sidney Poitier, 1967, and One of the Most Remarkable Runs in Hollywood History
Five decades ago, at the height of the civil-rights movement, America’s most beloved movie actor was a black man whose three films that year—To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night; and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner—made him king of the Hollywood box office. How the actor’s coolly uncompromising navigation of that status helped send a pointed message to white America.
by LAURA JACOBS
It was the “long hot summer of 1967,” so called because racial unrest had reached full boil. Riots—“the language of the unheard,” in the words of Martin Luther King Jr.—were exploding in city after city, from Atlanta to Boston, Birmingham to Milwaukee, roaring in Newark and Detroit. Malcolm X had been shot dead two years earlier, and Stokely Carmichael’s Black Power, in all its incendiary eloquence, was sweeping up the young, both black and white. It was slash-and-burn civil-rights activism, and it terrified parents, enraged racists, and unsettled the White House. America the melting pot was a crucible in crisis.
But at the movies, even in the South, the crucible was cool. In 1967 the country’s biggest film star, its most loved actor, was black. He had the self-containment of a cat, the swoop of a hawk, the calm of a saint. His poise was a form of precision, and his precision, intelligence that ran deep. He was Hollywood’s first African-American matinee idol (though technically Bahamian-American) and the last of an Old Hollywood breed—the gentleman hero in the bespoke suit. His name was Sidney Poitier.
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/02/sidney-poitier-remarkable-run-in-hollywood-history
Sidney Poitier, 1967, and One of the Most Remarkable Runs in Hollywood History
Five decades ago, at the height of the civil-rights movement, America’s most beloved movie actor was a black man whose three films that year—To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night; and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner—made him king of the Hollywood box office. How the actor’s coolly uncompromising navigation of that status helped send a pointed message to white America.
by LAURA JACOBS
It was the “long hot summer of 1967,” so called because racial unrest had reached full boil. Riots—“the language of the unheard,” in the words of Martin Luther King Jr.—were exploding in city after city, from Atlanta to Boston, Birmingham to Milwaukee, roaring in Newark and Detroit. Malcolm X had been shot dead two years earlier, and Stokely Carmichael’s Black Power, in all its incendiary eloquence, was sweeping up the young, both black and white. It was slash-and-burn civil-rights activism, and it terrified parents, enraged racists, and unsettled the White House. America the melting pot was a crucible in crisis.
But at the movies, even in the South, the crucible was cool. In 1967 the country’s biggest film star, its most loved actor, was black. He had the self-containment of a cat, the swoop of a hawk, the calm of a saint. His poise was a form of precision, and his precision, intelligence that ran deep. He was Hollywood’s first African-American matinee idol (though technically Bahamian-American) and the last of an Old Hollywood breed—the gentleman hero in the bespoke suit. His name was Sidney Poitier.
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/02/sidney-poitier-remarkable-run-in-hollywood-history
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
This Dude is From Davis
An excerpt from Wired -
The Chemical Engineer Who’ll School You on Coffee
By CAIT OPPERMANN
AS A CHEMICAL engineer who studies the motion of fluids, Bill Ristenpart deals with a lot of spattered blood and aerosolized pathogenic mouse phlegm. But when it comes to teaching wary freshman the basics of mass transfer and thermodynamics, the UC Davis professor relies on a less messy (and more potable) liquid: coffee. Beans go through so many complex chemical changes that they can easily form the basis of a whole curriculum.
Ristenpart’s three year-old course, the Design of Coffee, has become the most popular chemical engineering class in the country, enrolling a quarter of Davis’ freshmen. After spending the semester deconstructing coffeemakers and determining pH levels by taste, the 500-odd students compete to engineer the tastiest brew using the least amount of energy. Which isn’t easy, Ristenpart says, because “we know very little about coffee.” Though Americans down some 400 million cups a day, US researchers don’t typically study it; there’s little incentive for agencies like the USDA to fund research on a crop grown thousands of miles away in the tropics. Nearly everything about java, from the microbial intricacies of fermentation to the molecular basis of flavor, remains a mystery.
https://www.wired.com/2017/02/study-coffee-at-uc-davis/?mbid=nl_2117_p2&CNDID=
The Chemical Engineer Who’ll School You on Coffee
By CAIT OPPERMANN
AS A CHEMICAL engineer who studies the motion of fluids, Bill Ristenpart deals with a lot of spattered blood and aerosolized pathogenic mouse phlegm. But when it comes to teaching wary freshman the basics of mass transfer and thermodynamics, the UC Davis professor relies on a less messy (and more potable) liquid: coffee. Beans go through so many complex chemical changes that they can easily form the basis of a whole curriculum.
Ristenpart’s three year-old course, the Design of Coffee, has become the most popular chemical engineering class in the country, enrolling a quarter of Davis’ freshmen. After spending the semester deconstructing coffeemakers and determining pH levels by taste, the 500-odd students compete to engineer the tastiest brew using the least amount of energy. Which isn’t easy, Ristenpart says, because “we know very little about coffee.” Though Americans down some 400 million cups a day, US researchers don’t typically study it; there’s little incentive for agencies like the USDA to fund research on a crop grown thousands of miles away in the tropics. Nearly everything about java, from the microbial intricacies of fermentation to the molecular basis of flavor, remains a mystery.
https://www.wired.com/2017/02/study-coffee-at-uc-davis/?mbid=nl_2117_p2&CNDID=
Gentrification Warning Signs
From Salon -
5 warning signs that your neighborhood is gentrifying
Know what to look for before your rent goes up
By D. WATKINS
http://www.salon.com/?post_type=post&p=14693925
5 warning signs that your neighborhood is gentrifying
Know what to look for before your rent goes up
By D. WATKINS
http://www.salon.com/?post_type=post&p=14693925
Good vs. Evil
From the Washington Post - (Bold is mine)
20 reasons why Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl is a classic Good vs. Evil matchup
By Bill Plaschke
It’s cheating Brady against wide-eyed Matty.
It’s an owner who stalks against one who dances.
It’s a coach wearing a hoodie against one who dresses in Navy SEAL mottos.
The Super Bowl pitting the New England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons features competing auras as clear as the rumple in Bill Belichick’s sweatshirt or the curl of Tom Brady’s upper lip.
According to Public Policy Polling, the Patriots are the most disliked team in pro football for a second consecutive season. By comparison, the relatively blah Falcons are beloved.
Even with this week’s revelations about the Falcons’ past concerns over their players’ use of pain medication, this truly feels like a Super Bowl of not just David vs. Goliath, but that old favorite, Good vs. Evil, and here are 20 reasons why:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-patriots-falcons-plaschke-20170131-story.html?utm_source=Today%27s+Headlines&utm_campaign=f598d81244-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b04355194f-f598d81244-80034853
20 reasons why Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl is a classic Good vs. Evil matchup
By Bill Plaschke
It’s cheating Brady against wide-eyed Matty.
It’s an owner who stalks against one who dances.
It’s a coach wearing a hoodie against one who dresses in Navy SEAL mottos.
The Super Bowl pitting the New England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons features competing auras as clear as the rumple in Bill Belichick’s sweatshirt or the curl of Tom Brady’s upper lip.
According to Public Policy Polling, the Patriots are the most disliked team in pro football for a second consecutive season. By comparison, the relatively blah Falcons are beloved.
Even with this week’s revelations about the Falcons’ past concerns over their players’ use of pain medication, this truly feels like a Super Bowl of not just David vs. Goliath, but that old favorite, Good vs. Evil, and here are 20 reasons why:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-patriots-falcons-plaschke-20170131-story.html?utm_source=Today%27s+Headlines&utm_campaign=f598d81244-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b04355194f-f598d81244-80034853
Orangutans Find Love on Tinder
From the Washington Post -
An orangutan will have a chance to find her mate — through Tinder
By Amy B Wang
The first indication Samboja was being nudged to find a partner came last year, when her home zoo — the Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands — took to Facebook to casually point out that the female orangutan was approaching the age where she could start having kids.
A year later, the Dutch zoo has announced how exactly they’re hoping the primate will meet someone: through “Tinder for orangutans.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/01/31/an-orangutan-will-have-a-chance-to-find-her-mate-through-tinder/?utm_term=.9b99b471da45
An orangutan will have a chance to find her mate — through Tinder
By Amy B Wang
 |
| Female orangutans Conny and Sinta watch videos of potential mates at the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2016. (Courtesy Wilhelma Zoo) |
The first indication Samboja was being nudged to find a partner came last year, when her home zoo — the Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands — took to Facebook to casually point out that the female orangutan was approaching the age where she could start having kids.
A year later, the Dutch zoo has announced how exactly they’re hoping the primate will meet someone: through “Tinder for orangutans.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/01/31/an-orangutan-will-have-a-chance-to-find-her-mate-through-tinder/?utm_term=.9b99b471da45
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
A Place to Stay
From Atlas Obscura -
United Record Pressing
When Motown musicians came to Nashville in the 1960s they stayed at this historic record press, because hotels wouldn't host them.
In 1959, a 30-year-old songwriter from Detroit had a few hit tunes from recordings he had written with his sister, so with $800 borrowed from his parents, Berry Gordy began what was to become one of the most successful African-American owned businesses in history. But in the 1960s, even as Motown dominated the charts, in southern cities like Nashville, racial segregation kept Gordy and his artists out of most hotels.
Left with few options in one of the most important music towns in the country, the manufacturer of Motown’s records, United Record Pressing (which was known as Southern Plastics in the early years), built a suite of rooms for Gordy and his recording artists who needed a place to stay when they came through Nashville.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/united-record-pressing
United Record Pressing
When Motown musicians came to Nashville in the 1960s they stayed at this historic record press, because hotels wouldn't host them.
In 1959, a 30-year-old songwriter from Detroit had a few hit tunes from recordings he had written with his sister, so with $800 borrowed from his parents, Berry Gordy began what was to become one of the most successful African-American owned businesses in history. But in the 1960s, even as Motown dominated the charts, in southern cities like Nashville, racial segregation kept Gordy and his artists out of most hotels.
Left with few options in one of the most important music towns in the country, the manufacturer of Motown’s records, United Record Pressing (which was known as Southern Plastics in the early years), built a suite of rooms for Gordy and his recording artists who needed a place to stay when they came through Nashville.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/united-record-pressing
Forced Out
From Atlas Obscura -
District Six Museum
An excellent and sobering account of the vibrant multicultural neighborhood destroyed under apartheid.
District Six, or “Distrik Ses” in Afrikaans, was a bohemian, mixed neighborhood in every sense of the word. It was crowded with a multiracial blend of working class people, Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike, many of whom were descended from freed slaves and immigrants. In the mid–20th century, a population of roughly 60,000 lived there. Unfortunately, District Six was also at the epicenter of apartheid in Cape Town, and still bears its scars.
During the apartheid regime of the 1960s and ’70s, the segregating Group Areas Act saw all the non-white residents of District Six evicted and relocated further outside the city. It was called “slum clearing,” but the true intention was to fill the desirably located neighborhood with white residents and high rises.
Side note - I saw this are when I visited Cape Town five years ago. The history is a sad one.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/district-six-museum
District Six Museum
An excellent and sobering account of the vibrant multicultural neighborhood destroyed under apartheid.
District Six, or “Distrik Ses” in Afrikaans, was a bohemian, mixed neighborhood in every sense of the word. It was crowded with a multiracial blend of working class people, Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike, many of whom were descended from freed slaves and immigrants. In the mid–20th century, a population of roughly 60,000 lived there. Unfortunately, District Six was also at the epicenter of apartheid in Cape Town, and still bears its scars.
During the apartheid regime of the 1960s and ’70s, the segregating Group Areas Act saw all the non-white residents of District Six evicted and relocated further outside the city. It was called “slum clearing,” but the true intention was to fill the desirably located neighborhood with white residents and high rises.
Side note - I saw this are when I visited Cape Town five years ago. The history is a sad one.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/district-six-museum
Trevor's View
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/bxjc4n/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-president-trump-s-muslim-targeted-travel-ban
Lars and the Real Girl, For Real
From the Washington Post -
What life is like living with a ‘love doll’ in Japan
By Kenneth Dickerman
In 2007, Ryan Gosling played a character who has trouble making friends or even socializing with people in a movie called “Lars and the Real Girl.” In the movie, to salve his social anxieties, he turns to the company of a silicone doll he names Bianca. His friends, family and community decide to support him. Eventually, Lars learns to get past his insecurities and begins a relationship with a real woman. Although this was fiction, it is not as far-fetched as it might seem. In fact, at least one man in Japan is playing out a somewhat similar story.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2017/01/30/what-life-is-like-living-with-a-love-doll-in-japan/?utm_term=.6131c7d563cd
What life is like living with a ‘love doll’ in Japan
By Kenneth Dickerman
In 2007, Ryan Gosling played a character who has trouble making friends or even socializing with people in a movie called “Lars and the Real Girl.” In the movie, to salve his social anxieties, he turns to the company of a silicone doll he names Bianca. His friends, family and community decide to support him. Eventually, Lars learns to get past his insecurities and begins a relationship with a real woman. Although this was fiction, it is not as far-fetched as it might seem. In fact, at least one man in Japan is playing out a somewhat similar story.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2017/01/30/what-life-is-like-living-with-a-love-doll-in-japan/?utm_term=.6131c7d563cd
Hmmmmm
From the Washington Post -
A fascinating theory from the world of sports about Donald Trump’s first 7 days
By Chris Cillizza
An old sports strategy: foul so much in the 1st 5 min of the game that the refs can't call them all. From then on, a more physical game. - Sally Jenkins
A fascinating theory from the world of sports about Donald Trump’s first 7 days
By Chris Cillizza
An old sports strategy: foul so much in the 1st 5 min of the game that the refs can't call them all. From then on, a more physical game. - Sally Jenkins
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/30/a-fascinating-theory-from-the-world-of-sports-about-donald-trumps-governing-style/?utm_term=.554595250e46
Protecting His Interest
From Slate - (Bold is mine)
Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Harmful and Haphazard—but Is It Also Kleptocratic?
By Josh Voorhees
Donald Trump’s immigration ban targeting Muslims is many things: alarming, un-American, inhumane, counterproductive, and likely unconstitutional for starters. But a closer look at the specific countries Trump chose to target raises a secondary concern as well: Did the president intentionally tailor the order to protect his and his family’s financial interests abroad?
Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Harmful and Haphazard—but Is It Also Kleptocratic?
By Josh Voorhees
Donald Trump’s immigration ban targeting Muslims is many things: alarming, un-American, inhumane, counterproductive, and likely unconstitutional for starters. But a closer look at the specific countries Trump chose to target raises a secondary concern as well: Did the president intentionally tailor the order to protect his and his family’s financial interests abroad?
Act As If Your Life Depended On It
An excerpt from Deadspin -
Resist.
By Albert Burneko
Yes, wear a shirt with a slogan on it. Yes, put a bumper sticker on your car. Yes, flood your social media feed with your outrage. Fine. All of those are fine, and necessary, and good.
But also: Call your senator. Call your congressperson. Call your governor. Call your alderperson, your city councilperson; your mayor; your sheriff’s office. Really call them. On the phone. Do it right now. Whether they are Democrats or Republicans. Ask them, live or by voicemail, not only to speak out against the Trump administration’s savagery, but to oppose it, officially, to vote against it and act against it and refuse to participate in implementing it. Tell them, explicitly, that you and your friends and loved ones will vote for literally anyone who runs against them in their next campaign if they do anything less than oppose, in word and deed, every single part of the Trump administration’s agenda. All his appointments. All his executive orders. Everything.
http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/resist-1791774913
Resist.
By Albert Burneko
Yes, wear a shirt with a slogan on it. Yes, put a bumper sticker on your car. Yes, flood your social media feed with your outrage. Fine. All of those are fine, and necessary, and good.
But also: Call your senator. Call your congressperson. Call your governor. Call your alderperson, your city councilperson; your mayor; your sheriff’s office. Really call them. On the phone. Do it right now. Whether they are Democrats or Republicans. Ask them, live or by voicemail, not only to speak out against the Trump administration’s savagery, but to oppose it, officially, to vote against it and act against it and refuse to participate in implementing it. Tell them, explicitly, that you and your friends and loved ones will vote for literally anyone who runs against them in their next campaign if they do anything less than oppose, in word and deed, every single part of the Trump administration’s agenda. All his appointments. All his executive orders. Everything.
http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/resist-1791774913
Mr. Clean is Back and He's Black
From the Root -
The New Mr. Clean Is a Black Man
By Yesha Callahan
Bald head? Check. Single gold hoop? Check. A smile that would put the most expensive veneers to shame? Check. A white dude? No check. Proctor & Gamble decided to give Mr. Clean a makeover, and his name is Mike Jackson. Jackson beat out thousands of would-be hopefuls who were vying to be the new face of P&G’s cartoon character that debuted almost 60 years ago.
http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/the-new-mr-clean-is-a-black-man-1791816272
The New Mr. Clean Is a Black Man
By Yesha Callahan
Bald head? Check. Single gold hoop? Check. A smile that would put the most expensive veneers to shame? Check. A white dude? No check. Proctor & Gamble decided to give Mr. Clean a makeover, and his name is Mike Jackson. Jackson beat out thousands of would-be hopefuls who were vying to be the new face of P&G’s cartoon character that debuted almost 60 years ago.
http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/the-new-mr-clean-is-a-black-man-1791816272
Love His Response!
From the Root -
http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/kirk-franklin-has-jesus-and-his-heater-by-his-side-to-d-1791774826
http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/kirk-franklin-has-jesus-and-his-heater-by-his-side-to-d-1791774826
Black Power Statue
From Atlas Obscura -
Olympic Black Power Statue
A statue commemorating Tommie Smith and John Carlos' brave protest at the 1968 Olympics, a watershed moment for civil rights.
Perhaps no image from the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City is more recognizable than the silent protest of Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the Olympic medalist podium. During the award ceremony, Smith and Carlos, gold and bronze medalists in the 200-meter track event, raised their black-gloved fists in a black power salute, and removed their shoes to symbolize black poverty.
The statue is located on the San Jose State University campus, next to Clark Hall and Tower Hall in Washington Square, where South 6th Street and East San Antonio Street would intersect. The nearest parking is either the parking structure near the MLK Jr. Library, or in one of the parking garages at SJSU.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/olympic-black-power-statue
Olympic Black Power Statue
A statue commemorating Tommie Smith and John Carlos' brave protest at the 1968 Olympics, a watershed moment for civil rights.
Perhaps no image from the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City is more recognizable than the silent protest of Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the Olympic medalist podium. During the award ceremony, Smith and Carlos, gold and bronze medalists in the 200-meter track event, raised their black-gloved fists in a black power salute, and removed their shoes to symbolize black poverty.
The statue is located on the San Jose State University campus, next to Clark Hall and Tower Hall in Washington Square, where South 6th Street and East San Antonio Street would intersect. The nearest parking is either the parking structure near the MLK Jr. Library, or in one of the parking garages at SJSU.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/olympic-black-power-statue
Monday, January 30, 2017
College Head Start
An excerpt from OZY -
Kentucky Gives High Schoolers a College Head Start
Watch for bluegrass brainiacs. Kentucky’s becoming a leader in dual-enrollment — where high school students get credits for college classes — with more than 42,400 students taking advantage last fall. More and more states are following the “early college” trend as the federal government starts to tailor Pell Grants to younger teens, with low-income students seeing particular gains. While there are concerns about equal access to the program and overworking adolescents, employers and parents are still chasing the prospect of better-prepared youngsters and shrinking tuition bills.
http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/the-future-of-college-enrollment-runs-through-kentucky/74725
Kentucky Gives High Schoolers a College Head Start
Watch for bluegrass brainiacs. Kentucky’s becoming a leader in dual-enrollment — where high school students get credits for college classes — with more than 42,400 students taking advantage last fall. More and more states are following the “early college” trend as the federal government starts to tailor Pell Grants to younger teens, with low-income students seeing particular gains. While there are concerns about equal access to the program and overworking adolescents, employers and parents are still chasing the prospect of better-prepared youngsters and shrinking tuition bills.
http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/the-future-of-college-enrollment-runs-through-kentucky/74725
Fair Warning
An excerpt from the Atlantic -
Advice for Those Weighing Jobs in the Trump Administration
Assessing the risks of service
Br David Frum
Some 40 people were indicted as a result of the Watergate scandal. Among those sentenced to prison: the attorney general of the United States, the White House counsel, and President Nixon’s two most senior White House aides. A dozen men were convicted or pled guilty to a range of charges after the Iran-Contra affair.
White Houses can be dangerous places under leadership that does not respect the law. When friends ask me, “Should I accept a job under President Trump?” it’s not merely a philosophical question. Answer the question wrong, and they may find themselves two or three years later facing a congressional investigation or possibly even a grand jury. Even those who never face charges—let alone conviction—can see their lives up-ended: As the saying goes, in Washington, the process is the punishment.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/trump-administration-jobs/514805/
Advice for Those Weighing Jobs in the Trump Administration
Assessing the risks of service
Br David Frum
Some 40 people were indicted as a result of the Watergate scandal. Among those sentenced to prison: the attorney general of the United States, the White House counsel, and President Nixon’s two most senior White House aides. A dozen men were convicted or pled guilty to a range of charges after the Iran-Contra affair.
White Houses can be dangerous places under leadership that does not respect the law. When friends ask me, “Should I accept a job under President Trump?” it’s not merely a philosophical question. Answer the question wrong, and they may find themselves two or three years later facing a congressional investigation or possibly even a grand jury. Even those who never face charges—let alone conviction—can see their lives up-ended: As the saying goes, in Washington, the process is the punishment.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/trump-administration-jobs/514805/
Sunday, January 29, 2017
A Love Letter to America
I love this guy and miss his daily blog. This article is long, but so worth the read.
From NY Magazine -
America Is Still the Future
A love letter to my new country.
By Andrew Sullivan
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/andrew-sullivan-becoming-american-in-age-of-trump.html
From NY Magazine -
America Is Still the Future
A love letter to my new country.
By Andrew Sullivan
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/andrew-sullivan-becoming-american-in-age-of-trump.html
Discarded Treasures
From the New York Times -
Love and Black Lives, in Pictures Found on a Brooklyn Street
A discarded photo album reveals a rich history of black lives, from the
segregated South to Harlem dance halls to a pretty block in Crown Heights.
By ANNIE CORREAL
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/nyregion/love-and-black-lives-in-pictures-found-on-a-brooklyn-street.html
Love and Black Lives, in Pictures Found on a Brooklyn Street
A discarded photo album reveals a rich history of black lives, from the
segregated South to Harlem dance halls to a pretty block in Crown Heights.
By ANNIE CORREAL
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/nyregion/love-and-black-lives-in-pictures-found-on-a-brooklyn-street.html
50 Best Jobs in the US
From Thrillist -
HERE ARE THE 50 BEST JOBS IN AMERICA FOR 2017
By TONY MEREVICK
https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/the-50-best-jobs-in-america-for-2017-according-to-glassdoor
HERE ARE THE 50 BEST JOBS IN AMERICA FOR 2017
By TONY MEREVICK
https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/the-50-best-jobs-in-america-for-2017-according-to-glassdoor
Gross Food People Love
From Thrillist -
EVERY STATE'S GROSSEST FOOD (THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY LOVE)
By WIL FULTON
https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/worst-foods-to-eat-states
EVERY STATE'S GROSSEST FOOD (THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY LOVE)
By WIL FULTON
https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/worst-foods-to-eat-states
Bessie Coleman
From the Huffington Post -
Google Honors Bessie Coleman, America’s First Black Female Pilot
January 26th marked what would have been her 125th birthday.
Google Honors Bessie Coleman, America’s First Black Female Pilot
January 26th marked what would have been her 125th birthday.
Yes, Literally
An excerpt from Slate -
OK, Now Can We Start Taking Donald Trump Literally?
Trump’s campaign was not an act. He was making promises that he’s now planning to keep.
By Jamelle Bouie
“His supporters take him seriously,” the refrain went, “but not literally.” This was the savvy line on Trump from the election: that his rhetoric—his outlandish and conspiratorial claims, his breathless attacks on racial and religious minorities—was an act. Journalists might take him literally, but his supporters (and the people who understood them) knew better. Trump wouldn’t literally ban Muslims from entering the United States. He didn’t actually believe that unemployment was 40 percent or that America was rife with voter fraud. Those were symbolic beliefs. We should take them seriously as statements of concern but not literally as guides to action.
But this was nonsense, a cynical take based off of folk wisdom about politicians: They rarely tell the truth about their intentions. That folk wisdom is wrong. The fact is that politicians are often forthright about what they plan to do in office. And indeed, the best guide to a new president’s actions is simply his campaign. What did he promise; what did he say? Presidents, in other words, keep their promises.
Above everything else, Trump promised to bring the power of the federal state to bear against the domestic enemies of the people, defined in explicitly racial terms. From his perch in the Oval Office, Trump would “protect” the American people from Muslim refugees, “dangerous” Hispanic immigrants, and groups like Black Lives Matter. On this, Trump was consistent. This wasn’t mere rhetoric; this was a set of serious promises to deal with literal threats. And this week, the newly minted president has begun tackling them, one by one, in rapid succession.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/01/now_can_we_start_taking_donald_trump_literally.html
OK, Now Can We Start Taking Donald Trump Literally?
Trump’s campaign was not an act. He was making promises that he’s now planning to keep.
By Jamelle Bouie
“His supporters take him seriously,” the refrain went, “but not literally.” This was the savvy line on Trump from the election: that his rhetoric—his outlandish and conspiratorial claims, his breathless attacks on racial and religious minorities—was an act. Journalists might take him literally, but his supporters (and the people who understood them) knew better. Trump wouldn’t literally ban Muslims from entering the United States. He didn’t actually believe that unemployment was 40 percent or that America was rife with voter fraud. Those were symbolic beliefs. We should take them seriously as statements of concern but not literally as guides to action.
But this was nonsense, a cynical take based off of folk wisdom about politicians: They rarely tell the truth about their intentions. That folk wisdom is wrong. The fact is that politicians are often forthright about what they plan to do in office. And indeed, the best guide to a new president’s actions is simply his campaign. What did he promise; what did he say? Presidents, in other words, keep their promises.
Above everything else, Trump promised to bring the power of the federal state to bear against the domestic enemies of the people, defined in explicitly racial terms. From his perch in the Oval Office, Trump would “protect” the American people from Muslim refugees, “dangerous” Hispanic immigrants, and groups like Black Lives Matter. On this, Trump was consistent. This wasn’t mere rhetoric; this was a set of serious promises to deal with literal threats. And this week, the newly minted president has begun tackling them, one by one, in rapid succession.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/01/now_can_we_start_taking_donald_trump_literally.html
Prison Life
From the Marshall Project -
My Best Friends in Prison are Frogs, Turtles, and Raccoons
Sharing space with open-minded visitors from beyond the walls.
By JOSEPH DOLE
This article was published in collaboration with Vice.
I used to have a pet turtle in prison.
I began my bid at Menard Correctional Center in southern Illinois, where I lived from 2000 to 2002. The entire yard abuts a rocky bluff, and deer would occasionally emerge from the surrounding woods to peer down at us. In the summer, I could always find myself a pet; garter snakes, frogs, and turtles would often break onto the grounds. At night, I could look out my window and see more than a dozen raccoons hanging out on the roof of the storage building, planning their assault on the chow hall dumpsters.
Once, I smuggled a baby turtle the size of a quarter to my cell. Its shell was so dark, it was nearly black. I built a small aquarium out of Styrofoam trays and cellophane, and when guards would walk by, I would push the aquarium out of sight under the bunk. During shakedowns, I’d cuff my turtle in my hand. The confused guards would destroy the empty aquarium, and I’d have to build another.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/01/12/my-best-friends-in-prison-are-frogs-turtles-and-raccoons#.kMc1Dxkhq
My Best Friends in Prison are Frogs, Turtles, and Raccoons
Sharing space with open-minded visitors from beyond the walls.
By JOSEPH DOLE
This article was published in collaboration with Vice.
I used to have a pet turtle in prison.
I began my bid at Menard Correctional Center in southern Illinois, where I lived from 2000 to 2002. The entire yard abuts a rocky bluff, and deer would occasionally emerge from the surrounding woods to peer down at us. In the summer, I could always find myself a pet; garter snakes, frogs, and turtles would often break onto the grounds. At night, I could look out my window and see more than a dozen raccoons hanging out on the roof of the storage building, planning their assault on the chow hall dumpsters.
Once, I smuggled a baby turtle the size of a quarter to my cell. Its shell was so dark, it was nearly black. I built a small aquarium out of Styrofoam trays and cellophane, and when guards would walk by, I would push the aquarium out of sight under the bunk. During shakedowns, I’d cuff my turtle in my hand. The confused guards would destroy the empty aquarium, and I’d have to build another.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/01/12/my-best-friends-in-prison-are-frogs-turtles-and-raccoons#.kMc1Dxkhq
Facebook in Africa
An excerpt from OZY -
THE LAWYER BEHIND FACEBOOK'S TURN TO AFRICA
By Taylor Mayol
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Because Facebook is just starting to focus its energy across Africa — and she’s leading the charge.
When the Democratic Republic of Congo shut down the internet during political protests last year, Ebele Okobi flew to Kinshasa to persuade the authorities of the importance of internet access. Also, she showed them how to use Facebook.
Some describe Okobi, 42, as “the secretary of state of Facebook” for the African continent. (Her official title: public policy director for Africa.) Though based in London, Okobi spends most of her time on the road — meeting with the minister for information technology in Kigali, for instance, or showing Lesotho’s leader how to create a public Facebook page. Overall, the Nigerian-American is trying to advance her megalith company’s mission of connectedness while also, of course, gaining it more users and markets. She flies under the radar for the most part, but when Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Africa for the first time last year, it was Okobi, dressed in Nigerian-made fashion, who stood next to him and Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari.
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/the-lawyer-behind-facebooks-turn-to-africa/74650
THE LAWYER BEHIND FACEBOOK'S TURN TO AFRICA
By Taylor Mayol
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Because Facebook is just starting to focus its energy across Africa — and she’s leading the charge.
When the Democratic Republic of Congo shut down the internet during political protests last year, Ebele Okobi flew to Kinshasa to persuade the authorities of the importance of internet access. Also, she showed them how to use Facebook.
Some describe Okobi, 42, as “the secretary of state of Facebook” for the African continent. (Her official title: public policy director for Africa.) Though based in London, Okobi spends most of her time on the road — meeting with the minister for information technology in Kigali, for instance, or showing Lesotho’s leader how to create a public Facebook page. Overall, the Nigerian-American is trying to advance her megalith company’s mission of connectedness while also, of course, gaining it more users and markets. She flies under the radar for the most part, but when Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Africa for the first time last year, it was Okobi, dressed in Nigerian-made fashion, who stood next to him and Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari.
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/the-lawyer-behind-facebooks-turn-to-africa/74650
Pay For Play
From OZY -
THE DIRTIEST SECRET IN AMERICAN DIPLOMACY
By Taylor Mayol
Because what some call loyalty, others call “pay for play.”
For Donald Trump and his supporters, it’s payback time. The currency? Ambassadorships.
http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/the-dirtiest-secret-in-american-diplomacy/74193
THE DIRTIEST SECRET IN AMERICAN DIPLOMACY
By Taylor Mayol
Because what some call loyalty, others call “pay for play.”
For Donald Trump and his supporters, it’s payback time. The currency? Ambassadorships.
http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/the-dirtiest-secret-in-american-diplomacy/74193
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)