Monday, July 31, 2017
Will He Listen?
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Sage Advice From the ‘Gold Standard’ of White House Chiefs of Staff
By PETER BAKER
When a new White House chief of staff takes over, the smart ones check in with James A. Baker III, the only man to have occupied the office two different times for two different presidents and who is widely considered to be the gold standard.
Mr. Baker has plenty of advice from running the White House during Ronald Reagan’s first term and again at the end of George Bush’s presidency, but it usually boils down to this: “You can focus on the ‘chief,’ or you can focus on the ‘of staff.’ Those who have focused on the ‘of staff’ have done pretty well.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/us/politics/john-kelly-james-baker-white-house.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories&_r=0
Sage Advice From the ‘Gold Standard’ of White House Chiefs of Staff
By PETER BAKER
When a new White House chief of staff takes over, the smart ones check in with James A. Baker III, the only man to have occupied the office two different times for two different presidents and who is widely considered to be the gold standard.
Mr. Baker has plenty of advice from running the White House during Ronald Reagan’s first term and again at the end of George Bush’s presidency, but it usually boils down to this: “You can focus on the ‘chief,’ or you can focus on the ‘of staff.’ Those who have focused on the ‘of staff’ have done pretty well.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/us/politics/john-kelly-james-baker-white-house.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories&_r=0
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Let's Count the Ways
An excerpt from Business Insider -
Trump may have just had his 'worst week' yet
By Natasha Bertrand
The Boy Scouts were forced to apologize. the Pentagon was caught flat-footed. The GOP failed to pass a crucial healthcare vote.
The president openly undercut his attorney general. The White House communications director publicly attacked the White House chief of staff. The White House chief of staff was then ousted.
Congress backed the president into a corner on Russia, and the police department that hosted the president's speech on gang violence quickly denounced his remarks.
And that was just last week.
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-scaramucci-reince-priebus-health-care-2017-7?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories
Trump may have just had his 'worst week' yet
By Natasha Bertrand
The Boy Scouts were forced to apologize. the Pentagon was caught flat-footed. The GOP failed to pass a crucial healthcare vote.
The president openly undercut his attorney general. The White House communications director publicly attacked the White House chief of staff. The White House chief of staff was then ousted.
Congress backed the president into a corner on Russia, and the police department that hosted the president's speech on gang violence quickly denounced his remarks.
And that was just last week.
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-scaramucci-reince-priebus-health-care-2017-7?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories
An Idiot and a Fool
An excerpt from NY Magazine - (Italics is mine)
Reince Priebus: Requiem for a Minion
By Jonathan Chait
Priebus’s replacement, John Kelly, is more appealing to the president because he is a general and is untainted by having recorded any doubts about the viability of a candidate who grabs women by their genitals. Another article (link below) notes approvingly, “He won’t suffer idiots and fools,” which might be a problem, since the president is both.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/reince-priebus-requiem-for-a-minion.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/07/29/john-kelly-trumps-new-chief-of-staff-wont-suffer-idiots-and-fools/?utm_term=.d733ae1f3237
Reince Priebus: Requiem for a Minion
By Jonathan Chait
Priebus’s replacement, John Kelly, is more appealing to the president because he is a general and is untainted by having recorded any doubts about the viability of a candidate who grabs women by their genitals. Another article (link below) notes approvingly, “He won’t suffer idiots and fools,” which might be a problem, since the president is both.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/reince-priebus-requiem-for-a-minion.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/07/29/john-kelly-trumps-new-chief-of-staff-wont-suffer-idiots-and-fools/?utm_term=.d733ae1f3237
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Obamacare
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Obamacare Is Alive Because It Has Made Life Better For Millions
Republicans could never admit this — and it came back to haunt them.
By Jonathan Cohn
The Affordable Care Act has survived yet another effort to snuff it out. And one reason is a simple reality that Republicans have rarely been willing to admit ― to their supporters, to the general public, and perhaps even to themselves.
It turns out “Obamacare” has made life better for a great many people.
Millions of Americans now have health insurance because the law has put it within financial reach. They are enrolling in Medicaid, or buying private insurance with the help of tax credits ― and taking advantage of laws that prohibit insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Millions more have insurance that is cheaper, better, or more comprehensive than what they could get before. They are more financially secure, they have better access to care, and they are probably getting healthier, too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-obamacare-survived_us_597ae374e4b02a8434b5774f?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Obamacare Is Alive Because It Has Made Life Better For Millions
Republicans could never admit this — and it came back to haunt them.
By Jonathan Cohn
The Affordable Care Act has survived yet another effort to snuff it out. And one reason is a simple reality that Republicans have rarely been willing to admit ― to their supporters, to the general public, and perhaps even to themselves.
It turns out “Obamacare” has made life better for a great many people.
Millions of Americans now have health insurance because the law has put it within financial reach. They are enrolling in Medicaid, or buying private insurance with the help of tax credits ― and taking advantage of laws that prohibit insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Millions more have insurance that is cheaper, better, or more comprehensive than what they could get before. They are more financially secure, they have better access to care, and they are probably getting healthier, too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-obamacare-survived_us_597ae374e4b02a8434b5774f?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Irresponsible & Unprofessional
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
NYPD Calls Unreasonable Use Of Force ‘Irresponsible’ After Trump’s Speech
The department said suggestions for using another standard for use of force “sends the wrong message.”
By Carla Herreria
The New York Police Department released a statement on Saturday reiterating their use of force policies after President Donald Trump suggested police officers be more rough with their suspects during a Friday speech to invited law enforcement officers.
In a statement emailed to HuffPost, the NYPD called suggestions for police officers to use alternative standards for use of force “irresponsible” and “unprofessional.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nypd-responds-to-trump-speech-use-of-force_us_597cf58be4b02a8434b6d20e?9oa&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
NYPD Calls Unreasonable Use Of Force ‘Irresponsible’ After Trump’s Speech
The department said suggestions for using another standard for use of force “sends the wrong message.”
By Carla Herreria
The New York Police Department released a statement on Saturday reiterating their use of force policies after President Donald Trump suggested police officers be more rough with their suspects during a Friday speech to invited law enforcement officers.
In a statement emailed to HuffPost, the NYPD called suggestions for police officers to use alternative standards for use of force “irresponsible” and “unprofessional.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nypd-responds-to-trump-speech-use-of-force_us_597cf58be4b02a8434b6d20e?9oa&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Black Beauty
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| FAMU Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters gathered in Costa Rica for an induction anniversary and did what they're calling a #MelaninIllustrated photo shoot. | (Photo: Courtesy of Amanda Byrd. Photo by Javier A. Mereb - Bidrop Images.) |
A Biodegradable Urn
From Wired -
TURN YOUR DEAD GRANDMA INTO A TREE WITH THIS SMART PLANTER
By Elizabeth Stinson
AFTER JAY JUNKER’S father passed away from cancer in 2014, the 33-year-old took his cremated remains and planted them in a field outside the family’s farm house in Vermont. His father, who Junker recalls as outgoing and nature loving, is now a white oak sapling that’s grown from 5 inches to just over 5 feet tall in the last two years. On nice days, Junker likes to take a stroll out to the meadow where his father is planted and spend some time reminiscing about how they used to ski and hike in the rolling green hills. “To me, this just seemed like the best way to keep in touch," Junker says. "The best way to keep someone in your life.”
Ashes by themselves don’t grow into trees, of course, but Junker had some help. He used a Bios Urn—a biodegradable urn that turns human ash remains into growth material for trees.
https://www.wired.com/story/turn-your-dead-grandma-into-a-tree-with-this-smart-planter/?mbid=nl_72917_p8&CNDID=
TURN YOUR DEAD GRANDMA INTO A TREE WITH THIS SMART PLANTER
By Elizabeth Stinson
AFTER JAY JUNKER’S father passed away from cancer in 2014, the 33-year-old took his cremated remains and planted them in a field outside the family’s farm house in Vermont. His father, who Junker recalls as outgoing and nature loving, is now a white oak sapling that’s grown from 5 inches to just over 5 feet tall in the last two years. On nice days, Junker likes to take a stroll out to the meadow where his father is planted and spend some time reminiscing about how they used to ski and hike in the rolling green hills. “To me, this just seemed like the best way to keep in touch," Junker says. "The best way to keep someone in your life.”
Ashes by themselves don’t grow into trees, of course, but Junker had some help. He used a Bios Urn—a biodegradable urn that turns human ash remains into growth material for trees.
https://www.wired.com/story/turn-your-dead-grandma-into-a-tree-with-this-smart-planter/?mbid=nl_72917_p8&CNDID=
Friday, July 28, 2017
This is it, right?
An excerpt from NY Magazine -
A Week of Reckoning
By Andrew Sullivan
We have become, at this point, inured to having an irrational president in an increasingly post-rational America. We’ve also come to tell ourselves that somehow (a) this isn’t really happening, (b) by some miracle, it will be over soon, or (c) at some point the Republican Party will have to acknowledge what they are abetting, and cut their losses. And yet with each particular breach of decency, stability, and constitutionality, no breaking point seems to have arrived, even as the tribalism has deepened, the president’s madness has metastasized, and the norms of liberal democracy are hanging on by a thread.
But surely this week must mark some kind of moment in this vertiginous descent, some point at which the manifest unfitness of this president to continue in office becomes impossible to deny.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/a-week-of-reckoning.html
A Week of Reckoning
By Andrew Sullivan
We have become, at this point, inured to having an irrational president in an increasingly post-rational America. We’ve also come to tell ourselves that somehow (a) this isn’t really happening, (b) by some miracle, it will be over soon, or (c) at some point the Republican Party will have to acknowledge what they are abetting, and cut their losses. And yet with each particular breach of decency, stability, and constitutionality, no breaking point seems to have arrived, even as the tribalism has deepened, the president’s madness has metastasized, and the norms of liberal democracy are hanging on by a thread.
But surely this week must mark some kind of moment in this vertiginous descent, some point at which the manifest unfitness of this president to continue in office becomes impossible to deny.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/a-week-of-reckoning.html
From His Mouth to God's Ears
An excerpt from Rolling Stone -
The Anthony Scaramucci Era Will Be Freakish, Embarrassing and All Too Short
Glad-handing hedge-funder turned White House press chief has reignited the comic potential of Trump presidency. It's too bad he won't last past the end of this sentence
By Matt Taibbi
It's hard to believe that it was barely a week ago, on July 21st, that Scaramucci was given Trump's top press job. It feels like it was millions of years in the past, back when Africa was still connected to Brazil, and Sean Spicer was still our idea of a national embarrassment. This is the way time works in the Trump era. Days seem like centuries, and weeks seem like millennia.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/taibbi-anthony-scaramucci-era-will-be-freakish-embarrassing-short-w494718?utm_source=rsnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=072817_10
The Anthony Scaramucci Era Will Be Freakish, Embarrassing and All Too Short
Glad-handing hedge-funder turned White House press chief has reignited the comic potential of Trump presidency. It's too bad he won't last past the end of this sentence
By Matt Taibbi
It's hard to believe that it was barely a week ago, on July 21st, that Scaramucci was given Trump's top press job. It feels like it was millions of years in the past, back when Africa was still connected to Brazil, and Sean Spicer was still our idea of a national embarrassment. This is the way time works in the Trump era. Days seem like centuries, and weeks seem like millennia.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/taibbi-anthony-scaramucci-era-will-be-freakish-embarrassing-short-w494718?utm_source=rsnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=072817_10
Retiring at 98
An excerpt from Poynter -
He’s spent nearly 7 decades at The San Francisco Chronicle. This year, at 98, he’s retiring.
By Daniel Funke
David Perlman was born in 1918 — a decade before the discovery of penicillin and the Big Bang Theory.
And, for the majority of his career, he covered scientific progress in the 20th century and beyond, writing thousands of articles about everything from the beginning of the space age to the computer age.
Until now.
The 98-year-old science editor is retiring from The San Francisco Chronicle after nearly seven decades at the newspaper, a decision he said had been coming for a while.
http://www.poynter.org/2017/hes-spent-nearly-seven-decades-at-the-san-francisco-chronicle-this-year-at-98-hes-retiring/468149/
He’s spent nearly 7 decades at The San Francisco Chronicle. This year, at 98, he’s retiring.
By Daniel Funke
David Perlman was born in 1918 — a decade before the discovery of penicillin and the Big Bang Theory.
And, for the majority of his career, he covered scientific progress in the 20th century and beyond, writing thousands of articles about everything from the beginning of the space age to the computer age.
Until now.
The 98-year-old science editor is retiring from The San Francisco Chronicle after nearly seven decades at the newspaper, a decision he said had been coming for a while.
http://www.poynter.org/2017/hes-spent-nearly-seven-decades-at-the-san-francisco-chronicle-this-year-at-98-hes-retiring/468149/
San Francisco Via Drone Part 1
Music is obnoxious. You might consider muting it. Otherwise great views.
Slow & Painful
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
The Trump administration: Where your pride goes to die
By Aaron Blake
Getting close to President Trump, it seems, means checking your pride at the door and taking some very public abuse.
Trump's first big-name supporters in 2016 were Chris Christie and Jeff Sessions. He spent the bulk of the rest of the campaign embarrassing Christie before firing him as head of the Trump transition effort. And now he's spent the bulk of the last week haranguing Sessions, his own attorney general, apparently in hopes Sessions will resign.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/28/the-trump-administration-where-your-pride-goes-to-die/?tid=pm_politics_pop&utm_term=.eee8ef039074
The Trump administration: Where your pride goes to die
By Aaron Blake
Getting close to President Trump, it seems, means checking your pride at the door and taking some very public abuse.
Trump's first big-name supporters in 2016 were Chris Christie and Jeff Sessions. He spent the bulk of the rest of the campaign embarrassing Christie before firing him as head of the Trump transition effort. And now he's spent the bulk of the last week haranguing Sessions, his own attorney general, apparently in hopes Sessions will resign.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/28/the-trump-administration-where-your-pride-goes-to-die/?tid=pm_politics_pop&utm_term=.eee8ef039074
Black Gun Owners
An excerpt from the Washinton Post -
‘It seems cool to be racist now’: The rising profile of the black gun owner
By Wesley Lowery
Mark Warner was hovering over the counter of handguns, about midway through the morning shift at Blue Ridge Arsenal, the black-owned gun store in Fairfax County where he’s worked for the past 18 years, when he spotted me.
“I heard you want to talk about black people buying guns,” Warner, himself black, declared in the matter of fact, teasing tone that has endeared him to the store’s regulars. “So what do you want to know?”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/07/27/it-seems-cool-to-be-racist-now-the-rising-profile-of-the-black-gun-owner/?utm_term=.c589dc2eff63&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
‘It seems cool to be racist now’: The rising profile of the black gun owner
By Wesley Lowery
Mark Warner was hovering over the counter of handguns, about midway through the morning shift at Blue Ridge Arsenal, the black-owned gun store in Fairfax County where he’s worked for the past 18 years, when he spotted me.
“I heard you want to talk about black people buying guns,” Warner, himself black, declared in the matter of fact, teasing tone that has endeared him to the store’s regulars. “So what do you want to know?”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/07/27/it-seems-cool-to-be-racist-now-the-rising-profile-of-the-black-gun-owner/?utm_term=.c589dc2eff63&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
He's Smart Enough to Quit
From the Daily Mail -
Ravens star, 26, who is also pursuing a PhD in math at MIT, RETIRES abruptly after shock study shows 99% of NFL players' brains are affected by degenerative disease CTE
By James Wilkinson
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4736612/Math-whiz-Ravens-star-quits-NFL-brain-damage-study.html#ixzz4o8jYykur
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Ravens star, 26, who is also pursuing a PhD in math at MIT, RETIRES abruptly after shock study shows 99% of NFL players' brains are affected by degenerative disease CTE
By James Wilkinson
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4736612/Math-whiz-Ravens-star-quits-NFL-brain-damage-study.html#ixzz4o8jYykur
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Blog Love
From http://www.freehomeschooldeals.com/free-printable-life-skills-checklist-for-kids/
comes a wonderful chart that lists life skills that kids should have at each from preschool through high school.
comes a wonderful chart that lists life skills that kids should have at each from preschool through high school.
A Very Necessary Message Delivered in a Great Little Book
One of the best books I've seen that discusses the issues of black kids dying at the hands of folks hired to protect them is Momma, Did You Hear the News by Sanya Gragg.
It is a must read for anyone raising black kids in America.
It is a must read for anyone raising black kids in America.
Pilot Shortage
An excerpt from CNN -
The U.S. has a staggering pilot shortage
by Jon Ostrower
Over the next two decades, 87 new pilots need to be trained and ready to fly a commercial airliner every day in order to meet our insatiable demand to travel by air.
That's one every 15 minutes.
Passenger and cargo airlines around the world are expected to buy 41,000 new airliners between 2017 and 2036. And they will need 637,000 new pilots to fly them, according to a forecast from Boeing released this week. That staggering figure is matched only by how many will leave the profession in the next decade -- particularly in the U.S.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/27/news/companies/pilot-shortage-figures/index.html
The U.S. has a staggering pilot shortage
by Jon Ostrower
Over the next two decades, 87 new pilots need to be trained and ready to fly a commercial airliner every day in order to meet our insatiable demand to travel by air.
That's one every 15 minutes.
Passenger and cargo airlines around the world are expected to buy 41,000 new airliners between 2017 and 2036. And they will need 637,000 new pilots to fly them, according to a forecast from Boeing released this week. That staggering figure is matched only by how many will leave the profession in the next decade -- particularly in the U.S.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/27/news/companies/pilot-shortage-figures/index.html
Thursday, July 27, 2017
School Segregation
An excerpt from Vox -
School segregation didn’t go away. It just evolved.
How parents are gerrymandering school borders and fencing out poor kids.
Updated by Alvin Chang
Their idea was simple: to create their own school district.
Their stated reason was simple: Schools do better when they’re part of smaller, city-based districts where they can make hyperlocal decisions.
So five years ago, organizers in Gardendale, Alabama, decided it was time to secede from the Jefferson County School District — because of the changing “dynamics.”
But this simple idea has historically caused a contentious debate about race, class, and education in America. And when the courts ruled on this issue, it resulted in the biggest setback to school integration since Brown v. Board of Education: a legal decision that allows parents to use borders to segregate their kids away from their less desirable peers.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/27/16004084/school-segregation-evolution
School segregation didn’t go away. It just evolved.
How parents are gerrymandering school borders and fencing out poor kids.
Updated by Alvin Chang
Their idea was simple: to create their own school district.
Their stated reason was simple: Schools do better when they’re part of smaller, city-based districts where they can make hyperlocal decisions.
So five years ago, organizers in Gardendale, Alabama, decided it was time to secede from the Jefferson County School District — because of the changing “dynamics.”
But this simple idea has historically caused a contentious debate about race, class, and education in America. And when the courts ruled on this issue, it resulted in the biggest setback to school integration since Brown v. Board of Education: a legal decision that allows parents to use borders to segregate their kids away from their less desirable peers.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/27/16004084/school-segregation-evolution
Falling Sperm Count
An excerpt from New Scientist -
Sperm count has fallen by nearly 60 per cent in richer countries
By New Scientist staff and Press Association
An analysis of research into male fertility suggests that there has been a steep decline in sperm counts for men living in richer nations.
The review pooled data from 185 different studies, and found a 59.3 per cent drop between 1973 and 2011 in the average amount of sperm produced by men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. No similar pattern was seen in South America, Asia and Africa, although fewer studies had been conducted in these countries.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2141784-sperm-count-has-fallen-by-nearly-60-per-cent-in-richer-countries/#link_time=1501018098
Sperm count has fallen by nearly 60 per cent in richer countries
By New Scientist staff and Press Association
An analysis of research into male fertility suggests that there has been a steep decline in sperm counts for men living in richer nations.
The review pooled data from 185 different studies, and found a 59.3 per cent drop between 1973 and 2011 in the average amount of sperm produced by men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. No similar pattern was seen in South America, Asia and Africa, although fewer studies had been conducted in these countries.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2141784-sperm-count-has-fallen-by-nearly-60-per-cent-in-richer-countries/#link_time=1501018098
The Next Time You Have A Slice of Birthday Cake
An excerpt from the Atlantic -
Blowing Out Birthday Candles Increases Cake Bacteria by 1,400 Percent
But it’s okay, really!
By SARAH ZHANG
I can identify the exact moment when my relationship with birthday cake changed forever, and it was last week, when I read a study titled “Bacterial Transfer Associated with Blowing Out Candles on a Birthday Cake.”
Of course, the more cautious (aka germophobic) among us have already thought about it in gruesome detail. One colleague said she scrapes off the top layer of frosting, a habit that suddenly made perfect sense but which I for some reason had never before considered. I had been living in ignorant, saliva-splattered bliss.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/07/birthday-candle-bacteria/534987/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-072717
Blowing Out Birthday Candles Increases Cake Bacteria by 1,400 Percent
But it’s okay, really!
By SARAH ZHANG
I can identify the exact moment when my relationship with birthday cake changed forever, and it was last week, when I read a study titled “Bacterial Transfer Associated with Blowing Out Candles on a Birthday Cake.”
Of course, the more cautious (aka germophobic) among us have already thought about it in gruesome detail. One colleague said she scrapes off the top layer of frosting, a habit that suddenly made perfect sense but which I for some reason had never before considered. I had been living in ignorant, saliva-splattered bliss.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/07/birthday-candle-bacteria/534987/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-072717
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
An excerpt from Wired -
INSIDE CUBA’S D.I.Y. INTERNET REVOLUTION
by Antonio GarcÃa MartÃnez
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 GarcÃa MartÃnez
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 MartÃn Ureta's Forest Guitar
Guitar made of trees, dedicated to a man's lost love.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/guitar-forest
Pedro MartÃn 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=
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