Sunday, February 12, 2017
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Who Says?
From the Undefeated -
White immigrants weren’t always considered white — and acceptable
Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Slavs and other European groups had to overcome prejudice over many years
BY BRANDO SIMEO STARKEY
Who, exactly, is white?
The answer sounds obvious — we know a white person when we see one, we think. But when Italians poured into America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they were not considered white upon arrival. A century later, though, when Teresa Giudice of The Real Housewives of New Jersey maniacally hoisted a table on national television, she did not do so as a member of a supposedly inferior people. No, she was a crazy white lady throwing furniture.
The story of how European immigrants during that era became white enlightens us on our current political realities. Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Slavs and other European groups, at the time called “new immigrants,” sought to overcome their subordination by showing, through their behavior, to be deserving of being considered white.
In 1911, Henry Pratt Fairchild, an influential American sociologist, said about new immigrants, “If he proves himself a man, and … acquires wealth and cleans himself up — very well, we might receive him in a generation or two. But at present he is far beneath us, and the burden of proof rests with him.” They ultimately met that burden and crucial to their success was that they were not black and they actively helped in maintaining a racist society.
https://theundefeated.com/features/white-immigrants-werent-always-considered-white-and-acceptable/
White immigrants weren’t always considered white — and acceptable
Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Slavs and other European groups had to overcome prejudice over many years
BY BRANDO SIMEO STARKEY
Who, exactly, is white?
The answer sounds obvious — we know a white person when we see one, we think. But when Italians poured into America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they were not considered white upon arrival. A century later, though, when Teresa Giudice of The Real Housewives of New Jersey maniacally hoisted a table on national television, she did not do so as a member of a supposedly inferior people. No, she was a crazy white lady throwing furniture.
The story of how European immigrants during that era became white enlightens us on our current political realities. Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Slavs and other European groups, at the time called “new immigrants,” sought to overcome their subordination by showing, through their behavior, to be deserving of being considered white.
In 1911, Henry Pratt Fairchild, an influential American sociologist, said about new immigrants, “If he proves himself a man, and … acquires wealth and cleans himself up — very well, we might receive him in a generation or two. But at present he is far beneath us, and the burden of proof rests with him.” They ultimately met that burden and crucial to their success was that they were not black and they actively helped in maintaining a racist society.
https://theundefeated.com/features/white-immigrants-werent-always-considered-white-and-acceptable/
A Viable Alternative
An excerpt from OZY -
WHY DETENTION SUCKS ... AND MANUAL LABOR IS BETTER
By James Watkins
When OZY’s Sean Culligan, then 16, hurled a water balloon that hit a car passing outside his high school, the effect was not quite what he’d hoped. Caught in the act by a teacher, who viewed the “prank” as a serious misdemeanor, young Culligan was given a one-way ticket to detention for the rest of the week. But his punishment wasn’t to sit in silence or write “I must not throw things at cars” 100 times. Instead, detention involved janitorial work — picking up litter, carrying supplies, even cleaning the bathrooms. That was par for the course at a Catholic school back then.
Too severe? We might not see eye to eye with young Culligan’s tormentors, but something might be said for making detention a bit more … physical. When detention in the majority of schools across the world is spent in silence, reading or writing lines of penance, couldn’t it be made more productive? How about using the time to teach misbehaving children the value of hard work and community service, and respect for the environment and teamwork, rather than trying to bore them into obedience? Whether working alongside the janitor to tidy classrooms or tending to a community garden, schools should ditch detention and replace it with manual labor.
http://www.ozy.com/immodest-proposal/why-detention-sucks-and-manual-labor-is-better/74515
WHY DETENTION SUCKS ... AND MANUAL LABOR IS BETTER
By James Watkins
When OZY’s Sean Culligan, then 16, hurled a water balloon that hit a car passing outside his high school, the effect was not quite what he’d hoped. Caught in the act by a teacher, who viewed the “prank” as a serious misdemeanor, young Culligan was given a one-way ticket to detention for the rest of the week. But his punishment wasn’t to sit in silence or write “I must not throw things at cars” 100 times. Instead, detention involved janitorial work — picking up litter, carrying supplies, even cleaning the bathrooms. That was par for the course at a Catholic school back then.
Too severe? We might not see eye to eye with young Culligan’s tormentors, but something might be said for making detention a bit more … physical. When detention in the majority of schools across the world is spent in silence, reading or writing lines of penance, couldn’t it be made more productive? How about using the time to teach misbehaving children the value of hard work and community service, and respect for the environment and teamwork, rather than trying to bore them into obedience? Whether working alongside the janitor to tidy classrooms or tending to a community garden, schools should ditch detention and replace it with manual labor.
http://www.ozy.com/immodest-proposal/why-detention-sucks-and-manual-labor-is-better/74515
Gift Ideas
From StumbleUpon -
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1q8v12/:1Gs+Y_unE:nqF@Fcuw/mentalfloss.com/article/75376/most-popular-valentines-day-gift-searches-state
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1q8v12/:1Gs+Y_unE:nqF@Fcuw/mentalfloss.com/article/75376/most-popular-valentines-day-gift-searches-state
A Renaissance Man
From the Public Domain Review -
W. E. B. Du Bois’ Hand-Drawn Infographics of African-American Life (1900)
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/w-e-b-du-bois-hand-drawn-infographics-of-african-american-life-1900/
W. E. B. Du Bois’ Hand-Drawn Infographics of African-American Life (1900)
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/w-e-b-du-bois-hand-drawn-infographics-of-african-american-life-1900/
101 Books to Read Before Kindergarten
From Pinterest -
http://growingbookbybook.com/101-books-read-kids-kindergarten/#_a5y_p=5828592
http://growingbookbybook.com/101-books-read-kids-kindergarten/#_a5y_p=5828592
The South's First Black Millionaire
From OZY -
THE STORY OF THE SOUTH’S FIRST BLACK MILLIONAIRE
By Sean Braswell
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-story-of-the-souths-first-black-millionaire/75532
THE STORY OF THE SOUTH’S FIRST BLACK MILLIONAIRE
By Sean Braswell
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-story-of-the-souths-first-black-millionaire/75532
Friday, February 10, 2017
I Wish You Were
An excerpt from the NewYork Times -
Am I Imagining This?
By Roger Cohen
The enormity of the defiling of the White House in just three weeks is staggering. For decades the world’s security was undergirded by America’s word. The words that issued from the Oval Office were solemn. It was on America’s word, as expressed by the president, that the European continent and allies like Japan built their postwar security.
Now the words that fall from Trump’s pursed lips or, often misspelled, onto his Twitter feed are trite or false or meaningless. He’s angry with Nordstrom, for heaven’s sake, because the department store chain dropped his daughter Ivanka’s clothing line! This is the concern of the leader of the free world.
Unpresidented! (sic)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/preserving-the-sanctity-of-all-facts.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0
Am I Imagining This?
By Roger Cohen
The enormity of the defiling of the White House in just three weeks is staggering. For decades the world’s security was undergirded by America’s word. The words that issued from the Oval Office were solemn. It was on America’s word, as expressed by the president, that the European continent and allies like Japan built their postwar security.
Now the words that fall from Trump’s pursed lips or, often misspelled, onto his Twitter feed are trite or false or meaningless. He’s angry with Nordstrom, for heaven’s sake, because the department store chain dropped his daughter Ivanka’s clothing line! This is the concern of the leader of the free world.
Unpresidented! (sic)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/preserving-the-sanctity-of-all-facts.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Shaking Up the World
From the Undefeated -
The Undefeated 44: African-Americans Who Shook Up the World
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-undefeated-44-most-influential-black-americans-in-history/
The Undefeated 44: African-Americans Who Shook Up the World
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-undefeated-44-most-influential-black-americans-in-history/
His Underhanded Approach
From the Washington Post -
How Trump’s travel ban broke from the normal executive order process
President Trump differed from tradition when it came to writing, reviewing and implementing his immigration executive order, which temporarily banned people from seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees from entering the United States.
By Kim Soffen and Darla Cameron
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-travel-ban-process/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_graphic-travelban-7pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
How Trump’s travel ban broke from the normal executive order process
President Trump differed from tradition when it came to writing, reviewing and implementing his immigration executive order, which temporarily banned people from seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees from entering the United States.
By Kim Soffen and Darla Cameron
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-travel-ban-process/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_graphic-travelban-7pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Forgotten Terrorists
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
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
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 -
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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?
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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
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