Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
An excerpt from Wired -
INSIDE CUBA’S D.I.Y. INTERNET REVOLUTION
by Antonio García Martínez
Every week, more than a terabyte of data is packaged into external hard drives known as el paquete semanal (“the weekly package”). It is the internet distilled down to its purest, most consumable, and least interactive form: its content. This collection of video, song, photo, and text files from the outside world is cobbled together by various media smugglers known as paqueteros, and it travels around the island from person to person, percolating quickly from Havana to the furthest reaches in less than a day and constituting what would be known in techie lingo as a sneakernet: a network that transmits data via shoe rubber, bus, horseback, or anything else.
https://www.wired.com/2017/07/inside-cubas-diy-internet-revolution/?mbid=nl_72617_EIC_p1&CNDID=
INSIDE CUBA’S D.I.Y. INTERNET REVOLUTION
by Antonio García Martínez
Every week, more than a terabyte of data is packaged into external hard drives known as el paquete semanal (“the weekly package”). It is the internet distilled down to its purest, most consumable, and least interactive form: its content. This collection of video, song, photo, and text files from the outside world is cobbled together by various media smugglers known as paqueteros, and it travels around the island from person to person, percolating quickly from Havana to the furthest reaches in less than a day and constituting what would be known in techie lingo as a sneakernet: a network that transmits data via shoe rubber, bus, horseback, or anything else.
https://www.wired.com/2017/07/inside-cubas-diy-internet-revolution/?mbid=nl_72617_EIC_p1&CNDID=
A Guitar Made of Trees
From Atlas Obscura -
Pedro Martín Ureta's Forest Guitar
Guitar made of trees, dedicated to a man's lost love.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/guitar-forest
Pedro Martín Ureta's Forest Guitar
Guitar made of trees, dedicated to a man's lost love.
 |
| GENERAL LEVALLE, ARGENTINA |
Brown Sugar Waffle Recipe
From the LA Times -
http://www.latimes.com/food/recipes/la-fo-sos-waffles-brown-sugar-kitchen-20170719-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
http://www.latimes.com/food/recipes/la-fo-sos-waffles-brown-sugar-kitchen-20170719-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Cap and Trade - Explained in 90 Sec
From the LA Times -
http://www.latimes.com/politics/94177818-132.html
http://www.latimes.com/politics/94177818-132.html
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Brain Damage
From the NY Times -
110 N.F.L. Brains
A neuropathologist has examined the brains of 111 N.F.L. players — and 110 were found to have C.T.E., the degenerative disease linked to repeated blows to the head.
By The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/25/sports/football/nfl-cte.html?action=click&contentCollection=Television&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
110 N.F.L. Brains
A neuropathologist has examined the brains of 111 N.F.L. players — and 110 were found to have C.T.E., the degenerative disease linked to repeated blows to the head.
By The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/25/sports/football/nfl-cte.html?action=click&contentCollection=Television&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
Monday, July 24, 2017
The Problem Isn't His Mouthpiece
Excerpts from the Washington Post -
Why Anthony Scaramucci won’t make a dent in Trump’s problems
By Michael Gerson
The Trump administration’s reality problem is a historically unpopular president, pushing historically unpopular legislation (at least on health care), in a historically divided party, to a historically polarized country. Hiring a new head of communications will not fundamentally alter this state of affairs.
~~~~~~~~~~
Trump’s greatest need is not someone who will defend him on cable television. It is an administration capable of even the baby steps of governing — defining a positive, realistic agenda and selling it to Congress, starting with one’s own party. Trump does not have a communications problem; he has a leadership problem.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-anthony-scaramucci-wont-make-a-dent-in-trumps-problems/2017/07/24/5db1d3b0-708b-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html?utm_term=.7a1e65a74c3b
Why Anthony Scaramucci won’t make a dent in Trump’s problems
By Michael Gerson
The Trump administration’s reality problem is a historically unpopular president, pushing historically unpopular legislation (at least on health care), in a historically divided party, to a historically polarized country. Hiring a new head of communications will not fundamentally alter this state of affairs.
~~~~~~~~~~
Trump’s greatest need is not someone who will defend him on cable television. It is an administration capable of even the baby steps of governing — defining a positive, realistic agenda and selling it to Congress, starting with one’s own party. Trump does not have a communications problem; he has a leadership problem.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-anthony-scaramucci-wont-make-a-dent-in-trumps-problems/2017/07/24/5db1d3b0-708b-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html?utm_term=.7a1e65a74c3b
The Future is Now
An excerpt from the Verge -
A Wisconsin company will let employees use microchip implants to buy snacks and open doors
by Adi Robertson
A Wisconsin company called Three Square Market is going to offer employees implantable chips to open doors, buy snacks, log in to computers, and use office equipment like copy machines. Participating employees will have the chips, which use near field communication (NFC) technology, implanted between their thumb and forefinger. It’s an extension of the long-running implantable RFID chip business, based on a partnership with Swedish company Biohax International. The vending kiosk company, also known as 32M, will “chip” employees at a party on August 1st. (According to an email to The Verge, chips and salsa will be served as snacks.) Around 50 people are supposedly getting the optional implants.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/24/16019530/three-sqaure-market-implant-office-keycard-biohacking-wisconsin
A Wisconsin company will let employees use microchip implants to buy snacks and open doors
by Adi Robertson
A Wisconsin company called Three Square Market is going to offer employees implantable chips to open doors, buy snacks, log in to computers, and use office equipment like copy machines. Participating employees will have the chips, which use near field communication (NFC) technology, implanted between their thumb and forefinger. It’s an extension of the long-running implantable RFID chip business, based on a partnership with Swedish company Biohax International. The vending kiosk company, also known as 32M, will “chip” employees at a party on August 1st. (According to an email to The Verge, chips and salsa will be served as snacks.) Around 50 people are supposedly getting the optional implants.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/24/16019530/three-sqaure-market-implant-office-keycard-biohacking-wisconsin
Is Curiosity Nurtured in Schools?
An excerpt from the Atlantic -
Schools Are Missing What Matters About Learning
Curiosity is underemphasized in the classroom, but research shows that it is one of the strongest markers of academic success.
By SCOTT BARRY KAUFMAN
The power of curiosity to contribute not only to high achievement, but also to a fulfilling existence, cannot be emphasized enough. Curiosity can be defined as “the recognition, pursuit, and intense desire to explore, novel, challenging, and uncertain events”. In recent years, curiosity has been linked to happiness, creativity, satisfying intimate relationships, increased personal growth after traumatic experiences, and increased meaning in life. In the school context, conceptualized as a “character strength,” curiosity has also received heightened research attention. Having a “hungry mind” has been shown to be a core determinant of academic achievement, rivaling the prediction power of IQ.
Yet in actual schools, curiosity is drastically underappreciated. As Susan Engel has documented in her book, The Hungry Mind, amidst the country’s standardized testing mania, schools are missing what really matters about learning: The desire to learn in the first place. As she notes, teachers rarely encourage curiosity in the classroom—even though we are all born with an abundance of curiosity, and this innate drive for exploration could be built upon in all students.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/the-underrated-gift-of-curiosity/534573/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-072417
Schools Are Missing What Matters About Learning
Curiosity is underemphasized in the classroom, but research shows that it is one of the strongest markers of academic success.
By SCOTT BARRY KAUFMAN
The power of curiosity to contribute not only to high achievement, but also to a fulfilling existence, cannot be emphasized enough. Curiosity can be defined as “the recognition, pursuit, and intense desire to explore, novel, challenging, and uncertain events”. In recent years, curiosity has been linked to happiness, creativity, satisfying intimate relationships, increased personal growth after traumatic experiences, and increased meaning in life. In the school context, conceptualized as a “character strength,” curiosity has also received heightened research attention. Having a “hungry mind” has been shown to be a core determinant of academic achievement, rivaling the prediction power of IQ.
Yet in actual schools, curiosity is drastically underappreciated. As Susan Engel has documented in her book, The Hungry Mind, amidst the country’s standardized testing mania, schools are missing what really matters about learning: The desire to learn in the first place. As she notes, teachers rarely encourage curiosity in the classroom—even though we are all born with an abundance of curiosity, and this innate drive for exploration could be built upon in all students.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/the-underrated-gift-of-curiosity/534573/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-072417
Unusual Musical Instruments From Around the World
From Atlas Obscura -
A Global Tour of Remarkable Musical Instruments
These 19 sonic contraptions are well worth experiencing in person.
BY MICHAEL INSCOE, PLACES FELLOW
http://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/19-of-the-worlds-most-unique-musical-instruments?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ca1068a9ef-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_07_24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-ca1068a9ef-63562045&ct=t(Newsletter_7_24_2017)&mc_cid=ca1068a9ef&mc_eid=866176a63f
A Global Tour of Remarkable Musical Instruments
These 19 sonic contraptions are well worth experiencing in person.
BY MICHAEL INSCOE, PLACES FELLOW
http://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/19-of-the-worlds-most-unique-musical-instruments?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ca1068a9ef-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_07_24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-ca1068a9ef-63562045&ct=t(Newsletter_7_24_2017)&mc_cid=ca1068a9ef&mc_eid=866176a63f
Will Junior Ever Leave the Couch Now?
An excerpt from the LA Times -
E-sports isn't just a kids game anymore. There's big money for the best
By David Wharton
His father used to tell him that sitting in front of the computer, playing video games for hour after hour, was a waste of time.
So Cody Altman didn’t quite know what to think when a college from halfway across the country called to offer him a scholarship — for playing video games.
“Honestly,” he said, “I was skeptical.”
The young man from Anaheim changed his mind when he learned that Maryville University in St. Louis had an e-sports team with a coach, daily practices and league matches against other schools.
Two years later, Altman — who goes by “Walrus” in competition — found himself back in Southern California, seated with his teammates at a row of monitors on a high-tech stage, ready to do battle in the “League of Legends” college championship.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-e-sports-20170721-htmlstory.html#nws=mcnewsletter
E-sports isn't just a kids game anymore. There's big money for the best
By David Wharton
His father used to tell him that sitting in front of the computer, playing video games for hour after hour, was a waste of time.
So Cody Altman didn’t quite know what to think when a college from halfway across the country called to offer him a scholarship — for playing video games.
“Honestly,” he said, “I was skeptical.”
The young man from Anaheim changed his mind when he learned that Maryville University in St. Louis had an e-sports team with a coach, daily practices and league matches against other schools.
Two years later, Altman — who goes by “Walrus” in competition — found himself back in Southern California, seated with his teammates at a row of monitors on a high-tech stage, ready to do battle in the “League of Legends” college championship.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-e-sports-20170721-htmlstory.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Asian American Lawyers
An excerpt from the LA Times Op Ed -
There are more Asian American lawyers than ever — but not in the top ranks
By Goodwin Liu
Two years ago, an unusual matter came before my court: a petition for posthumous bar admission brought by the descendants of Hong Yen Chang, a native of China. Chang came to America in 1872 at age 13. He graduated from the Phillips Academy, Yale College and Columbia Law School, and passed the bar exam. But in 1890 my court denied him a law license because the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited him from becoming a citizen, then a prerequisite for bar membership. In 2015, my court admitted Chang to the bar, calling his exclusion “a grievous wrong” that denied our society “the important benefits of a diverse legal profession.”
For most of our nation’s history, Asians were excluded from the legal profession. But much has changed in recent decades. From 1985 to 2005, Asian Americans were the fastest growing minority group in the bar. Today. there are more than 50,000 Asian American lawyers, compared with 10,000 in 1990. More than 7,000 Asian Americans are now studying law, up from 2,300 in 1986.
And yet, Asian Americans have made limited progress in reaching the top ranks of the profession. Although Asian Americans are the largest minority group in big firms, they have the highest attrition rate and rank lowest in the ratio of partners to associates. Asian Americans comprise 6% of the U.S. population, but only 3% of federal judges and 2% of state judges. Three out of 94 U.S. attorneys in 2016 were Asian American; only four out of 2,437 elected district attorneys in 2014 were Asian American.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-liu-asian-american-lawyers-20170723-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
There are more Asian American lawyers than ever — but not in the top ranks
By Goodwin Liu
Two years ago, an unusual matter came before my court: a petition for posthumous bar admission brought by the descendants of Hong Yen Chang, a native of China. Chang came to America in 1872 at age 13. He graduated from the Phillips Academy, Yale College and Columbia Law School, and passed the bar exam. But in 1890 my court denied him a law license because the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited him from becoming a citizen, then a prerequisite for bar membership. In 2015, my court admitted Chang to the bar, calling his exclusion “a grievous wrong” that denied our society “the important benefits of a diverse legal profession.”
For most of our nation’s history, Asians were excluded from the legal profession. But much has changed in recent decades. From 1985 to 2005, Asian Americans were the fastest growing minority group in the bar. Today. there are more than 50,000 Asian American lawyers, compared with 10,000 in 1990. More than 7,000 Asian Americans are now studying law, up from 2,300 in 1986.
And yet, Asian Americans have made limited progress in reaching the top ranks of the profession. Although Asian Americans are the largest minority group in big firms, they have the highest attrition rate and rank lowest in the ratio of partners to associates. Asian Americans comprise 6% of the U.S. population, but only 3% of federal judges and 2% of state judges. Three out of 94 U.S. attorneys in 2016 were Asian American; only four out of 2,437 elected district attorneys in 2014 were Asian American.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-liu-asian-american-lawyers-20170723-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Apple in Hospitals
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Apple wants to change the way doctors and patients talk to each other — by giving everyone an iPad
By Hayley Tsukayama
LOS ANGELES — Awad Lsallum has been waiting for a heart for 40 days at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. One of the worst parts of a long hospital stay, he said, can be not having a clear picture of what your situation is, or even who is taking care of you as the days drag on.
But now, at least at Cedars-Sinai, there’s an app for all of that. Actually, there's a whole tablet. The hospital is offering some patients the option to check out iPads during their stay for free, to provide more insight into their health. The program offers a glimpse of how Apple is trying to further tap into the $3 trillion health-care market.
For hospitals, using these mobile devices can present patient health data in an accessible way, making it easier for patients and doctors to speak to each other. For Apple, it's a larger effort to focus more heavily on services rather than only products — a move that guarantees steady income and engagement, even if individual consumers aren't buying as many devices.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/07/19/apple-wants-to-change-the-way-doctors-and-patients-talk-to-each-other-by-giving-everyone-an-ipad/?utm_term=.edc193ac05bc&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Apple wants to change the way doctors and patients talk to each other — by giving everyone an iPad
By Hayley Tsukayama
LOS ANGELES — Awad Lsallum has been waiting for a heart for 40 days at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. One of the worst parts of a long hospital stay, he said, can be not having a clear picture of what your situation is, or even who is taking care of you as the days drag on.
But now, at least at Cedars-Sinai, there’s an app for all of that. Actually, there's a whole tablet. The hospital is offering some patients the option to check out iPads during their stay for free, to provide more insight into their health. The program offers a glimpse of how Apple is trying to further tap into the $3 trillion health-care market.
For hospitals, using these mobile devices can present patient health data in an accessible way, making it easier for patients and doctors to speak to each other. For Apple, it's a larger effort to focus more heavily on services rather than only products — a move that guarantees steady income and engagement, even if individual consumers aren't buying as many devices.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/07/19/apple-wants-to-change-the-way-doctors-and-patients-talk-to-each-other-by-giving-everyone-an-ipad/?utm_term=.edc193ac05bc&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Deja Vu
From the New York Times -
BMW Denies Colluding With Carmakers on Emissions Equipment
By JACK EWING
FRANKFURT — BMW, responding on Sunday to claims it formed a cartel with Daimler and Volkswagen to hold down the prices of crucial technology, denied that the German carmakers had agreed among themselves to install emissions equipment that was inadequate to do the job.
The statement by BMW was the first attempt at damage control by the carmakers since the European Commission said on Saturday that it was investigating accusations of illegal collusion among them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/23/business/bmw-denies-colluding-with-carmakers-on-emissions-equipment.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
BMW Denies Colluding With Carmakers on Emissions Equipment
By JACK EWING
FRANKFURT — BMW, responding on Sunday to claims it formed a cartel with Daimler and Volkswagen to hold down the prices of crucial technology, denied that the German carmakers had agreed among themselves to install emissions equipment that was inadequate to do the job.
The statement by BMW was the first attempt at damage control by the carmakers since the European Commission said on Saturday that it was investigating accusations of illegal collusion among them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/23/business/bmw-denies-colluding-with-carmakers-on-emissions-equipment.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
In Good Company
I'm a lefty, too.
From Buzzfeed -
47 Left-Handed Celebrities That Will Make You Wish You Were A Lefty
Just some extra talented lefties.
By Allison Wild
https://www.buzzfeed.com/allisonwild/youre-not-alone-were-not-alone?utm_term=.oqnvvoN7L#.dxmnnKw9k
From Buzzfeed -
47 Left-Handed Celebrities That Will Make You Wish You Were A Lefty
Just some extra talented lefties.
By Allison Wild
https://www.buzzfeed.com/allisonwild/youre-not-alone-were-not-alone?utm_term=.oqnvvoN7L#.dxmnnKw9k
Google Goes to Space
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Google Street View’s latest destination: The International Space Station
By Peter Holley
You’ve used Google Street View to check out a new apartment, map traffic before you hit the road and search for haunting slices of the everyday world.
Now, the comprehensive terrestrial mapping system has gone extraterrestrial, allowing users to peer inside the International Space Station from their computer 248 miles below with 360-degree, panoramic views.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/07/21/google-street-views-latest-destination-the-international-space-station/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-technology%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.09a7e9e2f055
Google Street View’s latest destination: The International Space Station
By Peter Holley
You’ve used Google Street View to check out a new apartment, map traffic before you hit the road and search for haunting slices of the everyday world.
Now, the comprehensive terrestrial mapping system has gone extraterrestrial, allowing users to peer inside the International Space Station from their computer 248 miles below with 360-degree, panoramic views.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/07/21/google-street-views-latest-destination-the-international-space-station/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-technology%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.09a7e9e2f055
The Kid From Nacogdoches
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Clint Dempsey, the ‘kid from Nacogdoches,’ lifts U.S. soccer team into Gold Cup final
By Steven Goff
Side note - Nacogdoches, TX is about two hours from my hometown of China, TX
Clint Dempsey, the ‘kid from Nacogdoches,’ lifts U.S. soccer team into Gold Cup final
By Steven Goff
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2017/07/23/clint-dempsey-the-kid-from-nacogdoches-lifts-u-s-soccer-team-into-gold-cup-final/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_soccer-dempsey-930am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.43c5d32c1704Don't mess with Texas!@clint_dempsey nets his historic 57th international goal as the #USMNT defeats #CRC, 2-0.https://t.co/6Q0JQ3c2rn— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) July 23, 2017
Side note - Nacogdoches, TX is about two hours from my hometown of China, TX
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Save Your Sympathy
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Don’t waste your sympathy on Sessions
By Jennifer Rubin
Sessions is the last person who deserves our sympathy. He was willing to sell his political soul to enable Trump, and he has enabled him every step of the way. Unlike Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who plays a vital role in insulating the military from Trump and literally preventing nuclear war, Sessions is not maintaining the integrity of the Justice Department. He has normalized and rationalized conduct that flies in face of the rule of law.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/07/21/save-the-sympathy-for-sessions/?utm_term=.c4fb82cdd06f
Don’t waste your sympathy on Sessions
By Jennifer Rubin
Sessions is the last person who deserves our sympathy. He was willing to sell his political soul to enable Trump, and he has enabled him every step of the way. Unlike Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who plays a vital role in insulating the military from Trump and literally preventing nuclear war, Sessions is not maintaining the integrity of the Justice Department. He has normalized and rationalized conduct that flies in face of the rule of law.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/07/21/save-the-sympathy-for-sessions/?utm_term=.c4fb82cdd06f
The Buck Stops Anywhere But Here
From the Washington Post -
‘The Buck Stops Here’ must be a phrase foreign to Trump
By Colbert I. King, Opinion Writer
“I’m not going to own it,” President Trump said about the Affordable Care Act that he and Republicans, following years of bombastic promises, have thus far failed to either repeal or replace. “Let Obamacare fail.”
That declaration provoked an angry editorial response from The Post, which asked: “Has there ever been a more cynical abdication of presidential responsibility?”
~~~~~~~~~~
Bottom line: Not a strand of President Harry S. Truman’s famous dictum, “The Buck Stops Here,” can be found in Trump.
Personal responsibility is strange fruit to him. And it is a character failing that should haunt members of Congress, regardless of party, and the country. A leader without honor and credibility is a leader not worth having.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-buck-stops-here-must-be-a-phrase-foreign-to-trump/2017/07/21/255e2cd4-6d9d-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?utm_term=.c0a7f2a6173b
‘The Buck Stops Here’ must be a phrase foreign to Trump
By Colbert I. King, Opinion Writer
“I’m not going to own it,” President Trump said about the Affordable Care Act that he and Republicans, following years of bombastic promises, have thus far failed to either repeal or replace. “Let Obamacare fail.”
That declaration provoked an angry editorial response from The Post, which asked: “Has there ever been a more cynical abdication of presidential responsibility?”
~~~~~~~~~~
Bottom line: Not a strand of President Harry S. Truman’s famous dictum, “The Buck Stops Here,” can be found in Trump.
Personal responsibility is strange fruit to him. And it is a character failing that should haunt members of Congress, regardless of party, and the country. A leader without honor and credibility is a leader not worth having.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-buck-stops-here-must-be-a-phrase-foreign-to-trump/2017/07/21/255e2cd4-6d9d-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?utm_term=.c0a7f2a6173b
Tweets From Parents
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/xx-photo-tweets-that-will-make-parents-pee-from-laughing?utm_term=.wjRVVXnYo#.jrDrrYpEP
Goats
Moving Mountain Goats
Breaking Into An Office
Growing on Trees
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/goats-animal-behavior-climbing-videos-spd/
Friday, July 21, 2017
What Did They Know & When Did They Know It?
From the LA Times -
USC bosses flunk the leadership test amid shocking allegations about former medical school dean
By Steve Lopez
By now you probably know the details.
Dr. Carmen Puliafito, a $1.1-million-a-year professor, doctor, dean and big-bucks rainmaker for the University of Southern California, left plenty of time in his busy schedule for extracurricular activities.
They included drug-fueled parties with a prostitute, convicted criminals and drug addicts. Los Angeles Times sleuths dug up photos of Puliafito’s exploits in hotel rooms, apartments and even the dean’s office at USC, including a shot of him using a butane torch to light a glass pipe while a female companion smoked heroin.
In Monday’s bombshell expose in The Times, reporters Paul Pringle, Harriet Ryan, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini also reported the details of a 911 call from a Pasadena hotel where a woman had overdosed before being hospitalized. She later told reporters that she and Puliafito had been partying together for two days.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-puliafito-nikias-07202017-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
USC bosses flunk the leadership test amid shocking allegations about former medical school dean
By Steve Lopez
By now you probably know the details.
Dr. Carmen Puliafito, a $1.1-million-a-year professor, doctor, dean and big-bucks rainmaker for the University of Southern California, left plenty of time in his busy schedule for extracurricular activities.
They included drug-fueled parties with a prostitute, convicted criminals and drug addicts. Los Angeles Times sleuths dug up photos of Puliafito’s exploits in hotel rooms, apartments and even the dean’s office at USC, including a shot of him using a butane torch to light a glass pipe while a female companion smoked heroin.
In Monday’s bombshell expose in The Times, reporters Paul Pringle, Harriet Ryan, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini also reported the details of a 911 call from a Pasadena hotel where a woman had overdosed before being hospitalized. She later told reporters that she and Puliafito had been partying together for two days.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-puliafito-nikias-07202017-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
California Says No Dice
From the NY Times -
Travel to Texas? Not on California’s Dime, You Don’t
By ALAN BLINDER
Phillip Jones, whose job it is to court visitors to this city, spent months warning anyone who would listen: Economic pain will follow if Texas lawmakers pass laws seen as hostile to gay and transgender people.
But after Texas approved a law that critics said might keep people, on the basis of sexual orientation, from adopting children or serving as foster parents, even Mr. Jones was surprised at part of the fallout: a ban by California on taxpayer-funded travel to Texas.
“Never in a million years,” Mr. Jones, the chief executive of VisitDallas, said, weeks after California broadened its travel restrictions to include eight states. “It was not even a factor in any of our discussions that California would ban travel to Texas.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/public-employee-travel.html?emc=edit_ca_20170720&nl=california-today&nlid=38867499&te=1&_r=0
Travel to Texas? Not on California’s Dime, You Don’t
By ALAN BLINDER
Phillip Jones, whose job it is to court visitors to this city, spent months warning anyone who would listen: Economic pain will follow if Texas lawmakers pass laws seen as hostile to gay and transgender people.
But after Texas approved a law that critics said might keep people, on the basis of sexual orientation, from adopting children or serving as foster parents, even Mr. Jones was surprised at part of the fallout: a ban by California on taxpayer-funded travel to Texas.
“Never in a million years,” Mr. Jones, the chief executive of VisitDallas, said, weeks after California broadened its travel restrictions to include eight states. “It was not even a factor in any of our discussions that California would ban travel to Texas.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/public-employee-travel.html?emc=edit_ca_20170720&nl=california-today&nlid=38867499&te=1&_r=0
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Jobs Going to Canada
From Wired -
TRUMP’S POLICIES ARE SENDING PRECIOUS STARTUP JOBS TO CANADA
By Issie Lapowsky
RAYA BIDSHAHRI’S HANDS shook as she sat in her dorm room in February, reading the email that had been sent to all Boston University students.
“It was a warning letter,” she says, about a ban the Trump administration planned to institute against travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, where Bidshahri was born and where her family still lives.
Bidshahri had moved to the United States three years earlier to study neuroscience, and was just months away from graduation, after which she wanted to launch her online education startup in the Bay Area. She planned to take advantage of something called the International Entrepreneur Rule, which would give immigrant founders who raise at least $250,000 in funding temporary legal status in the United States while they build their businesses. For Bidshahri, the rule was perfectly timed. Finalized in the last days of President Obama's tenure in office, it was set to go into effect this July, just months after she received her diploma.
But that email from Boston University about the travel ban got Bidshahri thinking the United States might not be such a welcoming place for her or her company after all. And so, in June, she did what so many other foreign founders have done over the past year: set up shop in Toronto. Now she’s relieved she did.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security delayed the International Entrepreneur Rule to next March, and it is currently accepting comments on plans to rescind it altogether.
https://www.wired.com/story/pausing-international-entrepreneur-rule-sends-jobs-to-canada?mbid=nl_71917_p1&CNDID=
TRUMP’S POLICIES ARE SENDING PRECIOUS STARTUP JOBS TO CANADA
By Issie Lapowsky
RAYA BIDSHAHRI’S HANDS shook as she sat in her dorm room in February, reading the email that had been sent to all Boston University students.
“It was a warning letter,” she says, about a ban the Trump administration planned to institute against travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, where Bidshahri was born and where her family still lives.
Bidshahri had moved to the United States three years earlier to study neuroscience, and was just months away from graduation, after which she wanted to launch her online education startup in the Bay Area. She planned to take advantage of something called the International Entrepreneur Rule, which would give immigrant founders who raise at least $250,000 in funding temporary legal status in the United States while they build their businesses. For Bidshahri, the rule was perfectly timed. Finalized in the last days of President Obama's tenure in office, it was set to go into effect this July, just months after she received her diploma.
But that email from Boston University about the travel ban got Bidshahri thinking the United States might not be such a welcoming place for her or her company after all. And so, in June, she did what so many other foreign founders have done over the past year: set up shop in Toronto. Now she’s relieved she did.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security delayed the International Entrepreneur Rule to next March, and it is currently accepting comments on plans to rescind it altogether.
https://www.wired.com/story/pausing-international-entrepreneur-rule-sends-jobs-to-canada?mbid=nl_71917_p1&CNDID=
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
What?
From the Root -
Wait, NBC Sports Announcer Mike Tirico Isn’t Black?
By Stephen A. Crockett Jr.
Wait ... hol’ up. Normally when we wade into these blackness waters, it’s because some fair-skinned pop star is refusing to accept that the back of her hair—you know, the area above the neck; the area that old folks call the “kitchen”; the area that used to make my sisters cry when my mom really dug in with the hairbrush and Posner Light Touch hair grease ... that area—is a little thicker than the rest.
But this news here is mind-boggling. Longtime ESPN broadcaster-turned-NBC Sports announcer Mike Tirico doesn’t believe himself to be black. To hear him tell it, he’s just an Italian kid who grew up in Queens, N.Y., who people keep insisting is black.
~~~~~~~~~~
Let me start by saying that I am no genealogist. I couldn’t tell you what blood runs through Mike Tirico’s veins, but I can tell you what my grandfather, who also was not a genealogist, would say about Tirico’s claim of being Italian:
“That dark-ass black boy needs to go sit his ass down somewhere in a dark-ass corner until he finds himself.”
https://www.theroot.com/wait-nbc-sports-announcer-mike-tirico-isnt-black-1796985416
Wait, NBC Sports Announcer Mike Tirico Isn’t Black?
By Stephen A. Crockett Jr.
 |
| Mike Tirico - Getty Images Staff/Getty Images |
Wait ... hol’ up. Normally when we wade into these blackness waters, it’s because some fair-skinned pop star is refusing to accept that the back of her hair—you know, the area above the neck; the area that old folks call the “kitchen”; the area that used to make my sisters cry when my mom really dug in with the hairbrush and Posner Light Touch hair grease ... that area—is a little thicker than the rest.
But this news here is mind-boggling. Longtime ESPN broadcaster-turned-NBC Sports announcer Mike Tirico doesn’t believe himself to be black. To hear him tell it, he’s just an Italian kid who grew up in Queens, N.Y., who people keep insisting is black.
~~~~~~~~~~
Let me start by saying that I am no genealogist. I couldn’t tell you what blood runs through Mike Tirico’s veins, but I can tell you what my grandfather, who also was not a genealogist, would say about Tirico’s claim of being Italian:
“That dark-ass black boy needs to go sit his ass down somewhere in a dark-ass corner until he finds himself.”
https://www.theroot.com/wait-nbc-sports-announcer-mike-tirico-isnt-black-1796985416
Arrested For Wearing a Skirt
From the Washington Post -
Saudi woman who wore skirt in viral video has been arrested, state television reports
By Adam Taylor
A young woman is at the center of a controversy about clothing in Saudi Arabia, after she posted videos of herself in one of the nation's most conservative provinces wearing a short skirt and a cropped top.
The woman has been arrested by Riyadh police for wearing “suggestive clothing,” Saudi state television station Al Ekhbariya reported Tuesday.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/07/18/a-video-of-a-woman-in-a-skirt-sparks-outrage-in-saudi-arabia/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_wv-saudi-skirt110am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.dd76c6395f80
Saudi woman who wore skirt in viral video has been arrested, state television reports
By Adam Taylor
A young woman is at the center of a controversy about clothing in Saudi Arabia, after she posted videos of herself in one of the nation's most conservative provinces wearing a short skirt and a cropped top.
The woman has been arrested by Riyadh police for wearing “suggestive clothing,” Saudi state television station Al Ekhbariya reported Tuesday.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/07/18/a-video-of-a-woman-in-a-skirt-sparks-outrage-in-saudi-arabia/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_wv-saudi-skirt110am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.dd76c6395f80
Mothers Who Have Died in Childbirth in the US
From ProPublica and NPR -
The Last Person You’d Expect to Die in Childbirth
The U.S. has the worst rate of maternal deaths in the developed world, and 60 percent are preventable. The death of Lauren Bloomstein, a neonatal nurse, in the hospital where she worked illustrates a profound disparity: The health care system focuses on babies but often ignores their mothers.
by Nina Martin, ProPublica, and Renee Montagne, NPR
https://www.propublica.org/article/die-in-childbirth-maternal-death-rate-health-care-system
https://www.propublica.org/article/lost-mothers-maternal-health-died-childbirth-pregnancy#nws=mcnewsletter
The Last Person You’d Expect to Die in Childbirth
The U.S. has the worst rate of maternal deaths in the developed world, and 60 percent are preventable. The death of Lauren Bloomstein, a neonatal nurse, in the hospital where she worked illustrates a profound disparity: The health care system focuses on babies but often ignores their mothers.
by Nina Martin, ProPublica, and Renee Montagne, NPR
https://www.propublica.org/article/die-in-childbirth-maternal-death-rate-health-care-system
https://www.propublica.org/article/lost-mothers-maternal-health-died-childbirth-pregnancy#nws=mcnewsletter
A Guide on What to Say & When to Say It
From the Washington Post -
But the latest sports apparel brand to step into the minefield of politics and consumer purchases did so by choice. On Friday afternoon, Reebok tweeted a flow chart trolling Trump's now famous comment to French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron's wife last week that quickly went viral online. During his visit to Paris, Trump was caught on camera telling Brigitte Macron, who is 25 years older than her husband, that she was "in such good shape — beautiful," a comment some viewed as an example of sexism and ageism toward Ms. Macron, who is 64.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/07/17/reeboks-trolling-tweet-is-the-most-prominent-example-of-a-trump-news-jacking-yet/?utm_term=.486087f2d26a
But the latest sports apparel brand to step into the minefield of politics and consumer purchases did so by choice. On Friday afternoon, Reebok tweeted a flow chart trolling Trump's now famous comment to French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron's wife last week that quickly went viral online. During his visit to Paris, Trump was caught on camera telling Brigitte Macron, who is 25 years older than her husband, that she was "in such good shape — beautiful," a comment some viewed as an example of sexism and ageism toward Ms. Macron, who is 64.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/07/17/reeboks-trolling-tweet-is-the-most-prominent-example-of-a-trump-news-jacking-yet/?utm_term=.486087f2d26a
In case you were wondering when it IS appropriate to say, "You're in such good shape...beautiful,"... THIS: pic.twitter.com/Z1cnnRD8Ut— Reebok (@Reebok) July 14, 2017
Monday, July 17, 2017
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Saturday, July 15, 2017
An Exhibit of Farmworkers
From the Fresno Bee -
A first at the California State Fair, an exhibit on farmworkers
BY ROBERT RODRIGUEZ
The California State Fair has long recognized the state as an agricultural powerhouse. Now, for the first time in its 164-year history, it is devoting an exhibit to the people who keep it running: farmworkers.
The state fair, which started Friday and runs through July 30, is hosting a special exhibition in the California Building focusing on the groups and people who “helped cultivate the food that feeds our state, country and world, sustaining what is today a $47 billion agriculture industry,” according to the state fair’s website.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article161429803.html#nws=mcnewsletter#storylink=cpy
A first at the California State Fair, an exhibit on farmworkers
BY ROBERT RODRIGUEZ
The California State Fair has long recognized the state as an agricultural powerhouse. Now, for the first time in its 164-year history, it is devoting an exhibit to the people who keep it running: farmworkers.
The state fair, which started Friday and runs through July 30, is hosting a special exhibition in the California Building focusing on the groups and people who “helped cultivate the food that feeds our state, country and world, sustaining what is today a $47 billion agriculture industry,” according to the state fair’s website.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article161429803.html#nws=mcnewsletter#storylink=cpy
Friday, July 14, 2017
A Really Smart Guy
A question from Quora -
If MIT "only admits people with a 4.0 unweighted gpa and 2300+ test scores", why doesn't everyone with a 4.0 get in and why do people with low GPAs get in?
Jelani Nelson, studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Answered Jun 29 · Upvoted by Sam Sinai, studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Students live in different environments, and different environments have different measurements of success and different levels of knowledge about how to play the college admissions game. Top schools I imagine recognize that top talent exists everywhere, in all communities, so then they try to figure out how to evaluate someone within the context of their environment. If a kid writes on their application that they aced a differential equations class in an elite high school that offers such a course, I’m sure that’s impressive, but if a kid aced (with maybe even a worse score?) such a course in Podunk, Iowa where no kid had even thought to take such a course at the local community college in the last 8 years, I’m sure that’s even more impressive, since it speaks to things like initiative, passion, etc., as opposed to a kid who merely inherited and executed a pre-defined strategy. Similarly, if one school pumps out more perfect SAT students than another, doesn’t that reflect more on the quality of the school’s SAT prep than the quality of an individual kid when compared with kids at some other school?
Where I’m from (St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands), no one I knew cared about their GPA. I didn’t even know what my GPA was, or what that term really meant, until senior year when a college application required me to enter it into a box, so I asked our school’s guidance counselor. I think I had a 3.8, which put my rank at 2nd (in a class of 30). No one cared, including myself. The SAT was similar — I showed up on the day of without ever having taken a practice exam. In my St. Thomian bubble, the big things people around me emphasized were contests like Quiz Bowl, Science Bowl, and Moot Court. I was also into classical piano. I wasn’t playing the college admissions game. I didn’t even know the game existed.
I then ended up applying to MIT (and only MIT) early action, despite not having heard of it until Fall senior year (I found it in some college ranking magazine). I never saw my recommendation letters, but I suspect they helped MIT understand the environment I grew up in, and they were able to then judge me based on that environment. I was admitted. I ended up double majoring in computer science and pure math at MIT, taking a grad course my junior year and 5 more senior year, losing a perfect GPA to an independent project course I blew off in my final semester of senior year. I stayed on for an MEng and PhD in computer science. I’m now a computer science professor and think I did OK.
In short, I don’t think the numbers you posted are all that important, and I suspect MIT and other top universities are right to take holistic approaches in evaluating college applications. Even ignoring issues of balancing racial/gender/other forms of diversity, a holistic approach just makes good sense even if all you’re trying to do is to identify top talent.
https://www.quora.com/profile/Jelani-Nelson
If MIT "only admits people with a 4.0 unweighted gpa and 2300+ test scores", why doesn't everyone with a 4.0 get in and why do people with low GPAs get in?
Jelani Nelson, studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 |
| Jelani Nelson |
Answered Jun 29 · Upvoted by Sam Sinai, studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Students live in different environments, and different environments have different measurements of success and different levels of knowledge about how to play the college admissions game. Top schools I imagine recognize that top talent exists everywhere, in all communities, so then they try to figure out how to evaluate someone within the context of their environment. If a kid writes on their application that they aced a differential equations class in an elite high school that offers such a course, I’m sure that’s impressive, but if a kid aced (with maybe even a worse score?) such a course in Podunk, Iowa where no kid had even thought to take such a course at the local community college in the last 8 years, I’m sure that’s even more impressive, since it speaks to things like initiative, passion, etc., as opposed to a kid who merely inherited and executed a pre-defined strategy. Similarly, if one school pumps out more perfect SAT students than another, doesn’t that reflect more on the quality of the school’s SAT prep than the quality of an individual kid when compared with kids at some other school?
Where I’m from (St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands), no one I knew cared about their GPA. I didn’t even know what my GPA was, or what that term really meant, until senior year when a college application required me to enter it into a box, so I asked our school’s guidance counselor. I think I had a 3.8, which put my rank at 2nd (in a class of 30). No one cared, including myself. The SAT was similar — I showed up on the day of without ever having taken a practice exam. In my St. Thomian bubble, the big things people around me emphasized were contests like Quiz Bowl, Science Bowl, and Moot Court. I was also into classical piano. I wasn’t playing the college admissions game. I didn’t even know the game existed.
I then ended up applying to MIT (and only MIT) early action, despite not having heard of it until Fall senior year (I found it in some college ranking magazine). I never saw my recommendation letters, but I suspect they helped MIT understand the environment I grew up in, and they were able to then judge me based on that environment. I was admitted. I ended up double majoring in computer science and pure math at MIT, taking a grad course my junior year and 5 more senior year, losing a perfect GPA to an independent project course I blew off in my final semester of senior year. I stayed on for an MEng and PhD in computer science. I’m now a computer science professor and think I did OK.
In short, I don’t think the numbers you posted are all that important, and I suspect MIT and other top universities are right to take holistic approaches in evaluating college applications. Even ignoring issues of balancing racial/gender/other forms of diversity, a holistic approach just makes good sense even if all you’re trying to do is to identify top talent.
https://www.quora.com/profile/Jelani-Nelson
Lance Canales & The Flood - Plane Wreck At Los Gatos (Deportee)
https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/07/14/immortalized-by-woody-guthrie-deportees-who-died-in-plane-crash-are-nameless-no-longer/
Florida's State Attorney Pulled Over
https://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeednewsvideo/floridas-state-attorney-pulled-over-by-police?utm_term=.bwZllwgx0#.wuOggkBOd
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Breaking All the Rules
An excerpt from the Atlantic -
Trump's Campaign Succeeded by Breaking All the Rules—and It’s Catching Up to Him Now
Recalling his victory over Hillary Clinton has been the president’s only solace for months, but his personnel and management decisions now threaten to topple his presidency.
By DAVID A. GRAHAM
Donald Trump’s campaign for president seemed to vacillate between, to borrow Hunter S. Thompson’s dichotomy, being too weird to live and too rare to die. All the smartest analysts were convinced that it was definitely too weird to live. Stocked with amateurs, retreads, and minor-league washouts suddenly promoted for a cup of coffee, and overseen by a candidate with a penchant for enormous gaffes. The Trump team was widely viewed as on the verge of collapse. The joke was on the wise analysts: The candidacy turned out to be too rare to die, and now Trump is president.
But with a few months’ extra perspective, and after several days of damaging revelations, it’s becoming clear that although Trump’s chaotic approach to the campaign did not prevent him from winning the White House, and may actually have provided him with a crucial edge, it is hobbling his presidency. The undisciplined, untutored atmosphere is on display in the meeting that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort had with a woman they believed to be a Russian government lawyer offering opposition research on behalf of the Kremlin, and there may be more damaging revelations to come.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/the-campaign-comes-back-to-haunt-trump/533397/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-071217
Trump's Campaign Succeeded by Breaking All the Rules—and It’s Catching Up to Him Now
Recalling his victory over Hillary Clinton has been the president’s only solace for months, but his personnel and management decisions now threaten to topple his presidency.
By DAVID A. GRAHAM
Donald Trump’s campaign for president seemed to vacillate between, to borrow Hunter S. Thompson’s dichotomy, being too weird to live and too rare to die. All the smartest analysts were convinced that it was definitely too weird to live. Stocked with amateurs, retreads, and minor-league washouts suddenly promoted for a cup of coffee, and overseen by a candidate with a penchant for enormous gaffes. The Trump team was widely viewed as on the verge of collapse. The joke was on the wise analysts: The candidacy turned out to be too rare to die, and now Trump is president.
But with a few months’ extra perspective, and after several days of damaging revelations, it’s becoming clear that although Trump’s chaotic approach to the campaign did not prevent him from winning the White House, and may actually have provided him with a crucial edge, it is hobbling his presidency. The undisciplined, untutored atmosphere is on display in the meeting that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort had with a woman they believed to be a Russian government lawyer offering opposition research on behalf of the Kremlin, and there may be more damaging revelations to come.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/the-campaign-comes-back-to-haunt-trump/533397/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-071217
Quote
From the New York Post Editorial -
We see one truly solid takeaway from the story of the day: Donald Trump Jr. is an idiot.
http://nypost.com/2017/07/11/donald-trump-jr-is-an-idiot/?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
We see one truly solid takeaway from the story of the day: Donald Trump Jr. is an idiot.
http://nypost.com/2017/07/11/donald-trump-jr-is-an-idiot/?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Monday, July 10, 2017
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