An excerpt form he Washington Post -
Her #OscarsSoWhite campaign changed how Hollywood deals with race. Now she’s taking on HBO.
By Sonia Rao
When April Reign joined Twitter back in 2010, she was met with the familiar frustration of a taken username. But instead of tacking random numbers onto the end, she opted for a simple play on words: @ReignOfApril.
“I decided I was royalty,” she said.
Reign has lived up to her commanding name. Since she cheekily tweeted “#OscarsSoWhite they asked to touch my hair” in response to an all-white slate of Academy Award acting nominees in 2015, Reign, 47, has been at the epicenter of the online conversation about representation in Hollywood. Her viral hashtag transformed the way we talk about entertainment, and she’s now using another to try to take down the “Game of Thrones” creators’ next TV show — all from her home office in Ellicott City, Md.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/her-oscarssowhite-campaign-changed-how-hollywood-deals-with-race-now-shes-taking-on-hbo/2017/08/16/50cf5606-8100-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html?utm_term=.130c0a720166&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Friday, August 18, 2017
Using Math to Fight Gerrymandering
An excerpt from the Associated Press -
Math experts join brainpower to help address gerrymandering
By COLLIN BINKLEY
MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Some of the brightest minds in math arrived at Tufts University last week to tackle an issue lawyers and political scientists have been struggling with for decades.
They came from colleges across the country for a weeklong conference on gerrymandering, the practice of crafting voting districts in a way that favors voters from a certain political party or demographic. It’s a topic of growing interest among many math and data experts who say their scholarly fields can provide new tools to help courts identify voting maps that are drawn unfairly.
Among those working to bridge the classroom and the courtroom is Moon Duchin, a math professor at Tufts who orchestrated the gathering at her Boston-area campus. The workshop was the first in a series being organized at campuses nationwide to unite academics and to harness cutting-edge mathematics to address gerrymandering.
https://apnews.com/5f1defde7bf74d0ea8c9688d8d3ab51b
Math experts join brainpower to help address gerrymandering
By COLLIN BINKLEY
MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Some of the brightest minds in math arrived at Tufts University last week to tackle an issue lawyers and political scientists have been struggling with for decades.
They came from colleges across the country for a weeklong conference on gerrymandering, the practice of crafting voting districts in a way that favors voters from a certain political party or demographic. It’s a topic of growing interest among many math and data experts who say their scholarly fields can provide new tools to help courts identify voting maps that are drawn unfairly.
Among those working to bridge the classroom and the courtroom is Moon Duchin, a math professor at Tufts who orchestrated the gathering at her Boston-area campus. The workshop was the first in a series being organized at campuses nationwide to unite academics and to harness cutting-edge mathematics to address gerrymandering.
https://apnews.com/5f1defde7bf74d0ea8c9688d8d3ab51b
Better Late Than Never?
Excerpts from the Huffington Post -
Why Your ‘Apology’ For Defending Trump’s Racism Isn’t Enough
Listen up.
By Zeba Blay
“American Idol” alumnus Clay Aiken tweeted an apology Tuesday that was, frankly, too little and too late.
“Remember all those times I defended [Donald Trump] and believed he was not actually racist?” Aiken wrote. “Well ... I am a f*****g dumbass.”
~~~~~~~~~~
It’s convenient to ignore racism when you are not affected by it. It’s presumptuous to declare that something or someone is not racist when you have not experienced racism yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~
For the people of color who are directly affected by Trump’s actions and Trump’s rhetoric, who recognized all along that Trump has stoked dangerous ideological fires among white supremacists in America, the fact that some white people like Aiken are now just acknowledging this is incredibly frustrating.
It is, obviously, a good thing that Aiken has recognized he was wrong about Trump, and is willing to admit this in a public space. Few people are. But hopefully Aiken, and other white people who either supported, defended or voted for Trump in spite of his racist track record, will do more than just say they’re sorry ― they’ll make up for it by actively working to dismantle white supremacy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-your-apology-for-defending-trumps-racism-isnt-enough_us_5995ac68e4b0d0d2cc84ebbd
Why Your ‘Apology’ For Defending Trump’s Racism Isn’t Enough
Listen up.
By Zeba Blay
“American Idol” alumnus Clay Aiken tweeted an apology Tuesday that was, frankly, too little and too late.
“Remember all those times I defended [Donald Trump] and believed he was not actually racist?” Aiken wrote. “Well ... I am a f*****g dumbass.”
~~~~~~~~~~
It’s convenient to ignore racism when you are not affected by it. It’s presumptuous to declare that something or someone is not racist when you have not experienced racism yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~
For the people of color who are directly affected by Trump’s actions and Trump’s rhetoric, who recognized all along that Trump has stoked dangerous ideological fires among white supremacists in America, the fact that some white people like Aiken are now just acknowledging this is incredibly frustrating.
It is, obviously, a good thing that Aiken has recognized he was wrong about Trump, and is willing to admit this in a public space. Few people are. But hopefully Aiken, and other white people who either supported, defended or voted for Trump in spite of his racist track record, will do more than just say they’re sorry ― they’ll make up for it by actively working to dismantle white supremacy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-your-apology-for-defending-trumps-racism-isnt-enough_us_5995ac68e4b0d0d2cc84ebbd
Terminate Hate
.@Schwarzenegger has a blunt message for Nazis. pic.twitter.com/HAbnejahtl— ATTN: (@attn) August 17, 2017
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Six Words
Check out Six Word Memoirs at the links below.
https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com
http://ew.com/books/2017/08/17/mila-kunis-aziz-ansari-fresh-off-boat-six-word-memoirs/
https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com
http://ew.com/books/2017/08/17/mila-kunis-aziz-ansari-fresh-off-boat-six-word-memoirs/
New at ALCU
An excerpt from the Wall Street Journal -
ACLU Will No Longer Defend Hate Groups Protesting with Firearms
Executive director says violence and guns at Charlottesville rally spurred new stance
By Joe Palazzolo
The American Civil Liberties Union, taking a tougher stance on armed protests, will no longer defend hate groups seeking to march with firearms, the group’s executive director said.
Following clashes over the weekend in Charlottesville, Va., the civil-rights group also will screen clients more closely for the potential of violence at their rallies, said Anthony Romero, who has been the ACLU’s executive director since 2001.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/aclu-changes-policy-on-defending-hate-groups-protesting-with-firearms-1503010167
ACLU Will No Longer Defend Hate Groups Protesting with Firearms
Executive director says violence and guns at Charlottesville rally spurred new stance
By Joe Palazzolo
The American Civil Liberties Union, taking a tougher stance on armed protests, will no longer defend hate groups seeking to march with firearms, the group’s executive director said.
Following clashes over the weekend in Charlottesville, Va., the civil-rights group also will screen clients more closely for the potential of violence at their rallies, said Anthony Romero, who has been the ACLU’s executive director since 2001.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/aclu-changes-policy-on-defending-hate-groups-protesting-with-firearms-1503010167
Pro-Choice Victory
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Oregon approves sweeping bill expanding abortion access
By Sandhya Somashekhar
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) on Tuesday signed into law what advocates called the nation’s most progressive reproductive health policy, expanding access to abortion and birth control at a time when the Trump administration and other states are trying to restrict them.
Called the Reproductive Health Equity Act, the measure requires health insurers to provide birth control and abortion without charging a co-pay. It also dedicates state funds to provide reproductive health care to noncitizens excluded from Medicaid.
Antiabortion groups swiftly condemned the new law, saying it will force taxpayers to foot the bill for a procedure many consider to be a form of murder, and that it cements Oregon’s status as the most liberal state when it comes to abortion.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Pro-Choice Coalition of Oregon, which helped write the law, said it will benefit hundreds of thousands of Oregonians, not only by increasing access to abortion but also birth control and postpartum care for low-income women.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/15/oregon-approves-sweeping-bill-expanding-abortion-access/?utm_term=.55a56b371de9
Oregon approves sweeping bill expanding abortion access
By Sandhya Somashekhar
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) on Tuesday signed into law what advocates called the nation’s most progressive reproductive health policy, expanding access to abortion and birth control at a time when the Trump administration and other states are trying to restrict them.
Called the Reproductive Health Equity Act, the measure requires health insurers to provide birth control and abortion without charging a co-pay. It also dedicates state funds to provide reproductive health care to noncitizens excluded from Medicaid.
Antiabortion groups swiftly condemned the new law, saying it will force taxpayers to foot the bill for a procedure many consider to be a form of murder, and that it cements Oregon’s status as the most liberal state when it comes to abortion.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Pro-Choice Coalition of Oregon, which helped write the law, said it will benefit hundreds of thousands of Oregonians, not only by increasing access to abortion but also birth control and postpartum care for low-income women.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/15/oregon-approves-sweeping-bill-expanding-abortion-access/?utm_term=.55a56b371de9
Why We Sleep Under Blankets?
An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -
Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights?
There’s great comfort in being covered.
BY DAN NOSOWITZ
The other element that might explain our need for blankets is what Hoagland refers to as “pure conditioning.” “Chances are you were raised to always have a blanket on you when you went to sleep,” she says. “So that’s a version of a transitional object, in sort of Pavlovian way.” Basically, our parents always gave us blankets to sleep with—babies are a bit worse than adults at thermoregulation, meaning they get cold easily, meaning well-meaning adults put blankets on them—and so getting under a sheet or blanket is associated with the process of falling asleep. Instead of Pavlov’s dogs drooling at the sound of a bell, we get sleepy when covered with a sheet.
If you Google around for this question, you’ll end up with a bunch of theories about blankets simulating the warm, enclosed feeling we had in the womb. There could be some element of theoretical protection or security imbued by the blanket, which might be another bit of conditioning, but Hoagland thinks the womb comparison is pretty unlikely. “I’m very suspicious of anyone who implies that this goes back to the feeling of being in the womb,” she says. “I think that’s very far-fetched.”
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/blankets-summer-hot
Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights?
There’s great comfort in being covered.
BY DAN NOSOWITZ
The other element that might explain our need for blankets is what Hoagland refers to as “pure conditioning.” “Chances are you were raised to always have a blanket on you when you went to sleep,” she says. “So that’s a version of a transitional object, in sort of Pavlovian way.” Basically, our parents always gave us blankets to sleep with—babies are a bit worse than adults at thermoregulation, meaning they get cold easily, meaning well-meaning adults put blankets on them—and so getting under a sheet or blanket is associated with the process of falling asleep. Instead of Pavlov’s dogs drooling at the sound of a bell, we get sleepy when covered with a sheet.
If you Google around for this question, you’ll end up with a bunch of theories about blankets simulating the warm, enclosed feeling we had in the womb. There could be some element of theoretical protection or security imbued by the blanket, which might be another bit of conditioning, but Hoagland thinks the womb comparison is pretty unlikely. “I’m very suspicious of anyone who implies that this goes back to the feeling of being in the womb,” she says. “I think that’s very far-fetched.”
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/blankets-summer-hot
Looking Sharp
An excerpt from the LA Times -
Tijuana's big growth industry? Barbershops, with 100 opening in three years
By Phillip Molnar, Alejandro Tamayo
Tijuana had roughly 50 to 80 barbershops in 2013 but now has more than 150, said the city’s economic development office.
Retail experts say going to a barbershop is a way of projecting masculinity, but there are other factors that attract clients: nostalgia, bargain prices, access to beard products and increased amenities offered by barbers.
Ruben Chavarria, 40, a machinist in San Diego who lives in Tijuana, used to get his haircut in San Diego now but goes to Don Edgar Barberia once a week.
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-tijuana-barbers-20170817-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Tijuana's big growth industry? Barbershops, with 100 opening in three years
By Phillip Molnar, Alejandro Tamayo
Tijuana had roughly 50 to 80 barbershops in 2013 but now has more than 150, said the city’s economic development office.
Retail experts say going to a barbershop is a way of projecting masculinity, but there are other factors that attract clients: nostalgia, bargain prices, access to beard products and increased amenities offered by barbers.
Ruben Chavarria, 40, a machinist in San Diego who lives in Tijuana, used to get his haircut in San Diego now but goes to Don Edgar Barberia once a week.
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-tijuana-barbers-20170817-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Amazon's Convenience Stores
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
What it’s like to shop in Amazon’s version of the convenience store
By Hayley Tsukayama
BERKELEY, Calif. — Amazon has been aggressively courting students as part of its experiment to bring its enormous online shopping operation into the brick-and-mortar world. Now, the company is launching Amazon Instant Pickup, a service that allows customers to order certain items from their smartphones for pickup within minutes of purchase.
Essentially, Amazon has launched its own version of the convenience store.
Five college campus locations will introduce Instant Pickup this week, including the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Maryland at College Park. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/08/16/what-its-like-to-shop-in-amazons-version-of-the-convenience-store/?utm_term=.73ec9def8e95&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
What it’s like to shop in Amazon’s version of the convenience store
By Hayley Tsukayama
BERKELEY, Calif. — Amazon has been aggressively courting students as part of its experiment to bring its enormous online shopping operation into the brick-and-mortar world. Now, the company is launching Amazon Instant Pickup, a service that allows customers to order certain items from their smartphones for pickup within minutes of purchase.
Essentially, Amazon has launched its own version of the convenience store.
Five college campus locations will introduce Instant Pickup this week, including the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Maryland at College Park. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/08/16/what-its-like-to-shop-in-amazons-version-of-the-convenience-store/?utm_term=.73ec9def8e95&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Shown No Mercy
An excerpt from Salon -
White privilege turned deadly in Charlottesville: How would police have reacted if a mob of angry black people had gathered there?
Imagine this thought experiment: Hundreds of armed, angry black protesters descend on a small Southern city
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Imagine this: What if the white right-wing thugs in Charlottesville had instead been African-American or Hispanic?
The police would not have shown restraint. They would have been joined by the National Guard and other forces. A bloodbath might well have ensued. The events in Ferguson, Missouri after the shooting of Mike Brown, demonstrate how America’s police respond to unarmed black and brown American who dare to engage in civil disobedience and protest. People of color with guns or other weapons would be shown no mercy.
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/16/white-privilege-turned-deadly-in-charlottesville-how-would-police-have-reacted-if-a-mob-of-angry-black-people-had-gathered-there/
White privilege turned deadly in Charlottesville: How would police have reacted if a mob of angry black people had gathered there?
Imagine this thought experiment: Hundreds of armed, angry black protesters descend on a small Southern city
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Imagine this: What if the white right-wing thugs in Charlottesville had instead been African-American or Hispanic?
The police would not have shown restraint. They would have been joined by the National Guard and other forces. A bloodbath might well have ensued. The events in Ferguson, Missouri after the shooting of Mike Brown, demonstrate how America’s police respond to unarmed black and brown American who dare to engage in civil disobedience and protest. People of color with guns or other weapons would be shown no mercy.
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/16/white-privilege-turned-deadly-in-charlottesville-how-would-police-have-reacted-if-a-mob-of-angry-black-people-had-gathered-there/
A New Kind of School
An excerpt from the NY Times -
A New Kind of Classroom: No Grades, No Failing, No Hurry
By KYLE SPENCER
Few middle schoolers are as clued in to their mathematical strengths and weakness as Moheeb Kaied. Now a seventh grader at Brooklyn’s Middle School 442, he can easily rattle off his computational profile.
“Let’s see,” he said one morning this spring. “I can find the area and perimeter of a polygon. I can solve mathematical and real-world problems using a coordinate plane. I still need to get better at dividing multiple-digit numbers, which means I should probably practice that more.”
Moheeb is part of a new program that is challenging the way teachers and students think about academic accomplishments, and his school is one of hundreds that have done away with traditional letter grades inside their classrooms. At M.S. 442, students are encouraged to focus instead on mastering a set of grade-level skills, like writing a scientific hypothesis or identifying themes in a story, moving to the next set of skills when they have demonstrated that they are ready. In these schools, there is no such thing as a C or a D for a lazily written term paper. There is no failing. The only goal is to learn the material, sooner or later.
For struggling students, there is ample time to practice until they get it. For those who grasp concepts quickly, there is the opportunity to swiftly move ahead. The strategy looks different from classroom to classroom, as does the material that students must master. But in general, students work at their own pace through worksheets, online lessons and in small group discussions with teachers. They get frequent updates on skills they have learned and those they need to acquire.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/nyregion/mastery-based-learning-no-grades.html
A New Kind of Classroom: No Grades, No Failing, No Hurry
By KYLE SPENCER
Few middle schoolers are as clued in to their mathematical strengths and weakness as Moheeb Kaied. Now a seventh grader at Brooklyn’s Middle School 442, he can easily rattle off his computational profile.
“Let’s see,” he said one morning this spring. “I can find the area and perimeter of a polygon. I can solve mathematical and real-world problems using a coordinate plane. I still need to get better at dividing multiple-digit numbers, which means I should probably practice that more.”
Moheeb is part of a new program that is challenging the way teachers and students think about academic accomplishments, and his school is one of hundreds that have done away with traditional letter grades inside their classrooms. At M.S. 442, students are encouraged to focus instead on mastering a set of grade-level skills, like writing a scientific hypothesis or identifying themes in a story, moving to the next set of skills when they have demonstrated that they are ready. In these schools, there is no such thing as a C or a D for a lazily written term paper. There is no failing. The only goal is to learn the material, sooner or later.
For struggling students, there is ample time to practice until they get it. For those who grasp concepts quickly, there is the opportunity to swiftly move ahead. The strategy looks different from classroom to classroom, as does the material that students must master. But in general, students work at their own pace through worksheets, online lessons and in small group discussions with teachers. They get frequent updates on skills they have learned and those they need to acquire.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/nyregion/mastery-based-learning-no-grades.html
Books For Kids
From the NY Times -
How to Talk to Your Kids About Charlottesville
By MARIA RUSSO
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/books/review/children-violence-racism-charlottesville.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_rr_20170816&nl=race-related&nl_art=6&nlid=38867499&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
How to Talk to Your Kids About Charlottesville
By MARIA RUSSO
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/books/review/children-violence-racism-charlottesville.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_rr_20170816&nl=race-related&nl_art=6&nlid=38867499&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
History Lesson
From EW -
Stan Lee shares 1968 column against bigotry after Charlottesville violence
‘As it true today as it was in 1968,’ the writer tweeted
By CHRISTIAN HOLUB
Stan Lee shares 1968 column against bigotry after Charlottesville violence
‘As it true today as it was in 1968,’ the writer tweeted
By CHRISTIAN HOLUB
As true today as it was in 1968. Pax et Justitia - Stan pic.twitter.com/VbBtiZzUch— stan lee (@TheRealStanLee) August 15, 2017
Quote
"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."-Wiesel— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) August 15, 2017
Prelude to a Coup?
An excerpt from Slate -
Chain of Confusion
Military commanders’ rebuke of Trump after Charlottesville points to a crisis for civilian control of the military.
By Fred Kaplan
n a stunning bit of news, the chiefs of all four U.S. military services—Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines—have issued statements this week condemning racism in all its forms. This can only be seen as a rebuke to President Trump’s equivocating statements on last weekend’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia—i.e., as a rebuke to their commander in chief.
If we lived in a different sort of country, this could fairly be seen as the prelude to a military coup—and a coup that many might welcome.
The United States is not that sort of country. The principles of civilian control and an apolitical military are hammered into every officer’s sensibility in every forum of education and training. Yet, at the same time, so are principles of equality and nondiscrimination—enshrined in the Uniform Code of Military Justice and bolstered by the military’s heritage as a spearhead of racial integration shortly after World War II, long before other segments of American society followed along.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2017/08/trump_s_generals_rebuke_him_after_charlottesville.html?wpsrc=newsletter_tis&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d
Chain of Confusion
Military commanders’ rebuke of Trump after Charlottesville points to a crisis for civilian control of the military.
By Fred Kaplan
n a stunning bit of news, the chiefs of all four U.S. military services—Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines—have issued statements this week condemning racism in all its forms. This can only be seen as a rebuke to President Trump’s equivocating statements on last weekend’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia—i.e., as a rebuke to their commander in chief.
If we lived in a different sort of country, this could fairly be seen as the prelude to a military coup—and a coup that many might welcome.
The United States is not that sort of country. The principles of civilian control and an apolitical military are hammered into every officer’s sensibility in every forum of education and training. Yet, at the same time, so are principles of equality and nondiscrimination—enshrined in the Uniform Code of Military Justice and bolstered by the military’s heritage as a spearhead of racial integration shortly after World War II, long before other segments of American society followed along.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2017/08/trump_s_generals_rebuke_him_after_charlottesville.html?wpsrc=newsletter_tis&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Are You There Yet?
An excerpt from the Boston Globe -
If you work for Donald Trump, what’s your red line?
By JOAN VENNOCHI
If you work for President Trump, what’s your red line? When do his words and actions become so chilling and outrageous that you have no choice but to walk away?
Trump went rogue during Tuesday’s press conference, but not rogue enough for any administration official or White House staffer to resign in protest. A half-dozen business leaders have stepped down from presidential advisory councils in the wake of the president’s alarming comments about the murder and mayhem in Charlottesville, Va. But no one in Trump’s inner circle has yet abandoned ship — and maybe that’s a good thing for the rest of us.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/08/16/you-work-for-donald-trump-what-your-red-line/ksPuHKEoRfszr7jg00p1zI/story.html
If you work for Donald Trump, what’s your red line?
By JOAN VENNOCHI
If you work for President Trump, what’s your red line? When do his words and actions become so chilling and outrageous that you have no choice but to walk away?
Trump went rogue during Tuesday’s press conference, but not rogue enough for any administration official or White House staffer to resign in protest. A half-dozen business leaders have stepped down from presidential advisory councils in the wake of the president’s alarming comments about the murder and mayhem in Charlottesville, Va. But no one in Trump’s inner circle has yet abandoned ship — and maybe that’s a good thing for the rest of us.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/08/16/you-work-for-donald-trump-what-your-red-line/ksPuHKEoRfszr7jg00p1zI/story.html
Paid to Stand in Line
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
See the cool kids lined up outside that new restaurant? This app pays them to stand there.
By Peter Holley
Pretend for a moment that you’re walking through your neighborhood and notice a line of people wrapped around the block outside a newly opened restaurant.
Local food bloggers haven’t written about the venue, so you assume the trendy-looking crowd must be the result of contagious, word-of-mouth buzz.
There was a time when that may have been undoubtedly true — when you could trust that a crowd of people was, in fact, a naturally occurring mass of individuals.
But that time may be passing thanks to Surkus, an emerging app that allowed the restaurant to quickly manufacture its ideal crowd and pay the people to stand in place like extras on a movie set. They’ve even been hand-picked by a casting agent of sorts, an algorithmic one that selects each person according to age, location, style and Facebook “likes.”
They may look excited, but that could also be part of the production. Acting disengaged while they idle in line could tarnish their “reputation score,” an identifier that influences whether they’ll be “cast” again. Nobody is forcing the participants to stay, of course, but if they leave, they won’t be paid — their movements are being tracked with geolocation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/08/16/see-the-hipsters-lined-up-outside-that-new-restaurant-this-app-pays-them-to-stand-there/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_surkus-110pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.1c5a42e841a7
See the cool kids lined up outside that new restaurant? This app pays them to stand there.
By Peter Holley
Pretend for a moment that you’re walking through your neighborhood and notice a line of people wrapped around the block outside a newly opened restaurant.
Local food bloggers haven’t written about the venue, so you assume the trendy-looking crowd must be the result of contagious, word-of-mouth buzz.
There was a time when that may have been undoubtedly true — when you could trust that a crowd of people was, in fact, a naturally occurring mass of individuals.
But that time may be passing thanks to Surkus, an emerging app that allowed the restaurant to quickly manufacture its ideal crowd and pay the people to stand in place like extras on a movie set. They’ve even been hand-picked by a casting agent of sorts, an algorithmic one that selects each person according to age, location, style and Facebook “likes.”
They may look excited, but that could also be part of the production. Acting disengaged while they idle in line could tarnish their “reputation score,” an identifier that influences whether they’ll be “cast” again. Nobody is forcing the participants to stay, of course, but if they leave, they won’t be paid — their movements are being tracked with geolocation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/08/16/see-the-hipsters-lined-up-outside-that-new-restaurant-this-app-pays-them-to-stand-there/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_surkus-110pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.1c5a42e841a7
Quote
One good thing about that abomination of a speech: it's now impossible for any Trump supporter to pretend they don't know what he is.— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 15, 2017
Not Us?
An excerpt from the New Yorker - (Italics is mine)
Charlottesville and the Trouble with Civil War Hypotheticals
By Jelani Cobb
Even before the insipid forces of radical whiteness had withdrawn from Charlottesville, Virginia, one heard the beseeching protestation “This is not us.” That sentiment blossomed into a hashtag, exculpating our society after some of its citizens had seemingly forgotten our standing position against fascism. The truth, though, is that there has never been a time when what we saw in Charlottesville has not been us. The present is bequeathed to us by the past, and seldom was that relationship more apparent than it was at the base of the Robert E. Lee statue that was at the center of the violent clashes in Charlottesville. Last month, HBO inspired an avalanche of criticism when it announced that it would produce a series called “Confederate,” which would explore a hypothetical world in which the South had won the Civil War. The events in Charlottesville illustrated a problem with that idea: only by the most specific, immediate definition can we consider the Confederacy to have lost the Civil War, and its legacy has defined a great deal of our history since then.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/charlottesville-and-the-trouble-with-civil-war-hypotheticals
Charlottesville and the Trouble with Civil War Hypotheticals
By Jelani Cobb
Even before the insipid forces of radical whiteness had withdrawn from Charlottesville, Virginia, one heard the beseeching protestation “This is not us.” That sentiment blossomed into a hashtag, exculpating our society after some of its citizens had seemingly forgotten our standing position against fascism. The truth, though, is that there has never been a time when what we saw in Charlottesville has not been us. The present is bequeathed to us by the past, and seldom was that relationship more apparent than it was at the base of the Robert E. Lee statue that was at the center of the violent clashes in Charlottesville. Last month, HBO inspired an avalanche of criticism when it announced that it would produce a series called “Confederate,” which would explore a hypothetical world in which the South had won the Civil War. The events in Charlottesville illustrated a problem with that idea: only by the most specific, immediate definition can we consider the Confederacy to have lost the Civil War, and its legacy has defined a great deal of our history since then.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/charlottesville-and-the-trouble-with-civil-war-hypotheticals
Hidden Figures - $5
Amazon has the digital version of the movie "Hidden Figures" on sale today for $5. The same as the rental price.
America's Bigot in Chief
An excerpt from the Chicago Sun Times -
EDITORIAL: Donald Trump, America’s bigot in chief
Children, cover your ears.
Decent people, speak out.
Fellow Americans, do you share our sense of shame?
Just when we thought President Donald Trump could embarrass our nation no worse, after he declined for two full days to denounce the white supremacists who brought deadly violence to Charlottesville, Virginia — and after doing so only with pouting reluctance, reading from a script — he revealed his true self again on Tuesday, and it was ugly.
~~~~~~~~~~
Trump was so eager to spread the rumor Barack Obama was not a legal American. He is determined to slam the door on desperate refugees who, God forbid, are Muslims. He so wants to build that stupid “wall.”
The haters who marched in Charlottesville carried photos of Trump.
A better president — a better man — would have cried at the sight.
This is how Donald Trump will go down in American history, as our bigot in chief.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/editorial-donald-trump-americas-bigot-in-chief/
EDITORIAL: Donald Trump, America’s bigot in chief
Children, cover your ears.
Decent people, speak out.
Fellow Americans, do you share our sense of shame?
Just when we thought President Donald Trump could embarrass our nation no worse, after he declined for two full days to denounce the white supremacists who brought deadly violence to Charlottesville, Virginia — and after doing so only with pouting reluctance, reading from a script — he revealed his true self again on Tuesday, and it was ugly.
~~~~~~~~~~
Trump was so eager to spread the rumor Barack Obama was not a legal American. He is determined to slam the door on desperate refugees who, God forbid, are Muslims. He so wants to build that stupid “wall.”
The haters who marched in Charlottesville carried photos of Trump.
A better president — a better man — would have cried at the sight.
This is how Donald Trump will go down in American history, as our bigot in chief.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/editorial-donald-trump-americas-bigot-in-chief/
Secrets and Sorrow
An excerpt form the Boston Globe -
Children of Catholic priests live with secrets and sorrow
By Michael Rezendes
HE CARRIED HIS DOUBTS and disappointment across miles and decades, from childhood to adulthood, and finally at the age of 48 to the kitchen table of a modest house outside of Buffalo. There, he would ask an elderly aunt and uncle to help him answer the question that had troubled him all his life: Why had his father always seemed to dislike him so much?
With his parents already dead, Jim Graham pleaded with his Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Otto to tell him the truth about his family. Finally, Kathryn unfolded a newsletter published by a Catholic religious order and slid it across the table. She jabbed a finger at a picture of a sad, balding figure wearing a priest’s clerical collar.
“Only the principals know for sure,” she said, “but this may be your father.”
Jim Graham studied the picture. Those were his eyes, his nose, his mouth. Then he skimmed the obituary of the priest, the Rev. Thomas Sullivan, a cleric who had graduated from Boston College and trained for the priesthood in Tewksbury.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jim Graham couldn’t know in that moment that the stunning secret which had seemed his alone was not that unusual. By any reasonable measure, there are thousands of others who have strong evidence that they are the sons and daughters of Catholic priests, though most are unaware that they have so much company in their pain. In Ireland, Mexico, Poland, Paraguay, and other countries, in American cities big and small — indeed, virtually anywhere the church has a presence — the children of priests form an invisible legion of secrecy and neglect, a Spotlight Team review has found.
Their exact number can’t be known, but with more than 400,000 priests worldwide, many of them inconstant in their promise of celibacy, the potential for unplanned children is vast. And this also comes through loud and plain: The sons and daughters of priests often grow up without the love and support of their fathers, and are often pressured or shamed into keeping the existence of the relationship a secret. They are the unfortunate victims of a church that has, for nearly 900 years, forbidden priests to marry or have sex, but has never set rules for what priests or bishops must do when a clergyman fathers a child.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/16/father-father-children-catholic-priests-live-with-secrets-and-sorrow/mvYO5SOxAxZYJBi8XxiaqN/story.html?event=event12
Children of Catholic priests live with secrets and sorrow
By Michael Rezendes
HE CARRIED HIS DOUBTS and disappointment across miles and decades, from childhood to adulthood, and finally at the age of 48 to the kitchen table of a modest house outside of Buffalo. There, he would ask an elderly aunt and uncle to help him answer the question that had troubled him all his life: Why had his father always seemed to dislike him so much?
With his parents already dead, Jim Graham pleaded with his Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Otto to tell him the truth about his family. Finally, Kathryn unfolded a newsletter published by a Catholic religious order and slid it across the table. She jabbed a finger at a picture of a sad, balding figure wearing a priest’s clerical collar.
“Only the principals know for sure,” she said, “but this may be your father.”
Jim Graham studied the picture. Those were his eyes, his nose, his mouth. Then he skimmed the obituary of the priest, the Rev. Thomas Sullivan, a cleric who had graduated from Boston College and trained for the priesthood in Tewksbury.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jim Graham couldn’t know in that moment that the stunning secret which had seemed his alone was not that unusual. By any reasonable measure, there are thousands of others who have strong evidence that they are the sons and daughters of Catholic priests, though most are unaware that they have so much company in their pain. In Ireland, Mexico, Poland, Paraguay, and other countries, in American cities big and small — indeed, virtually anywhere the church has a presence — the children of priests form an invisible legion of secrecy and neglect, a Spotlight Team review has found.
Their exact number can’t be known, but with more than 400,000 priests worldwide, many of them inconstant in their promise of celibacy, the potential for unplanned children is vast. And this also comes through loud and plain: The sons and daughters of priests often grow up without the love and support of their fathers, and are often pressured or shamed into keeping the existence of the relationship a secret. They are the unfortunate victims of a church that has, for nearly 900 years, forbidden priests to marry or have sex, but has never set rules for what priests or bishops must do when a clergyman fathers a child.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/16/father-father-children-catholic-priests-live-with-secrets-and-sorrow/mvYO5SOxAxZYJBi8XxiaqN/story.html?event=event12
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
When a Computer System Screwed Up
From the Sydney Morning Herald -
The untold story of QF72: What happens when 'psycho' automation leaves pilots powerless?
For the first time, the captain of the imperilled Qantas Flight 72 reveals his horrific experience of automation's dark side: when one computer "went psycho" and put more than 300 passengers at risk.
By Matt O'Sullivan
http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/the-untold-story-of-qf72-what-happens-when-psycho-automation-leaves-pilots-powerless-20170510-gw26ae.html
The untold story of QF72: What happens when 'psycho' automation leaves pilots powerless?
For the first time, the captain of the imperilled Qantas Flight 72 reveals his horrific experience of automation's dark side: when one computer "went psycho" and put more than 300 passengers at risk.
By Matt O'Sullivan
http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/the-untold-story-of-qf72-what-happens-when-psycho-automation-leaves-pilots-powerless-20170510-gw26ae.html
The Writing on the Wall
An excerpt from Salon -
From “All Lives Matter” to the terror in Charlottesville: How the media’s phony fairness got us here
Too many journalists were complicit in the rise of Trump and refuse to call the terror in Virginia by its name
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
The white supremacists who ran amok in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend do not wear white robes. Nor do they cover their faces. Instead, this new generation of white supremacists wears a uniform that consists of khaki pants, white shirts and red “Make America Great Again” hats in emulation of their idol, the current president of the United States.
Their regalia may differ from that of the white supremacist terrorists who killed at least 50,000 black Americans in the decades following the Civil War, but the threats and intimidation are very much the same.
The neo-Nazis, Kluxers, members of the so-called alt-right and the other white supremacists who descended upon Charlottesville to “Unite the Right” attacked anti-racist counter-protesters with bats, clubs, poles and sticks.
They threatened people with assault rifles and pistols. They threatened to burn down a black church. They assaulted members of the clergy. This was no minor donnybrook or fracas. It was a rampage. And the police did little to stop the attacks.
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/14/from-all-lives-matter-to-the-terror-in-charlottesville-how-the-medias-phony-fairness-got-us-here/
From “All Lives Matter” to the terror in Charlottesville: How the media’s phony fairness got us here
Too many journalists were complicit in the rise of Trump and refuse to call the terror in Virginia by its name
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
The white supremacists who ran amok in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend do not wear white robes. Nor do they cover their faces. Instead, this new generation of white supremacists wears a uniform that consists of khaki pants, white shirts and red “Make America Great Again” hats in emulation of their idol, the current president of the United States.
Their regalia may differ from that of the white supremacist terrorists who killed at least 50,000 black Americans in the decades following the Civil War, but the threats and intimidation are very much the same.
The neo-Nazis, Kluxers, members of the so-called alt-right and the other white supremacists who descended upon Charlottesville to “Unite the Right” attacked anti-racist counter-protesters with bats, clubs, poles and sticks.
They threatened people with assault rifles and pistols. They threatened to burn down a black church. They assaulted members of the clergy. This was no minor donnybrook or fracas. It was a rampage. And the police did little to stop the attacks.
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/14/from-all-lives-matter-to-the-terror-in-charlottesville-how-the-medias-phony-fairness-got-us-here/
Monday, August 14, 2017
Hate Map
From the Huffington Post - (Me: For a better view, please click the first link below)
Here’s A Reminder That The Hatred We Saw In Charlottesville Is Everywhere
There are 917 hate groups currently operating across the U.S., according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
By Hayley Miller
https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/charlottesville-hate-groups_us_5991b97ee4b0909642989772?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Here’s A Reminder That The Hatred We Saw In Charlottesville Is Everywhere
There are 917 hate groups currently operating across the U.S., according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
By Hayley Miller
https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/charlottesville-hate-groups_us_5991b97ee4b0909642989772?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Sunday, August 13, 2017
More Reaction to Charlottesville
From Buzzfeed -
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/here-are-what-celebrities-are-tweeting-about-charlottesville?utm_term=.udVEPJYq7#.gdPX6A2qJ
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/here-are-what-celebrities-are-tweeting-about-charlottesville?utm_term=.udVEPJYq7#.gdPX6A2qJ
From the 13th Film
"The truth is: we are living at this time. And we are tolerating it." #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/U4qBQl93qV— Ava DuVernay (@ava) August 12, 2017
Hmmmmmm.
🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️ I. Need some answers https://t.co/AL52LlcyWV pic.twitter.com/yACKsDxKaw— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) August 12, 2017
You First
An excerpt from CNN -
Pilotless planes could save airlines billions. But would anyone fly?
Taking pilots out of the cockpit could save airlines billions. But would anyone buy a ticket?
by Ivana Kottasová
The aviation industry could save $35 billion a year by moving to pilotless planes, according to a new report from UBS. Just one problem: The same report warns that only 17% of travelers are willing to fly without a pilot.
UBS said that the technology required to operate remote-controlled planes could appear by 2025. Further advances beyond 2030 might result in automated business jets and helicopters, and finally commercial aircraft without pilots.
"The technologies in development today will enable the aircraft to assist and back up the pilot in all the flight phases, removing the pilot from manual control and systems operations in all types of situations," the report said.
Commercial flights already land with the assistance of on-board computers, and pilots manually fly the aircraft for only a few minutes on average.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/07/technology/business/pilotless-planes-passengers/index.html
Pilotless planes could save airlines billions. But would anyone fly?
Taking pilots out of the cockpit could save airlines billions. But would anyone buy a ticket?
by Ivana Kottasová
The aviation industry could save $35 billion a year by moving to pilotless planes, according to a new report from UBS. Just one problem: The same report warns that only 17% of travelers are willing to fly without a pilot.
UBS said that the technology required to operate remote-controlled planes could appear by 2025. Further advances beyond 2030 might result in automated business jets and helicopters, and finally commercial aircraft without pilots.
"The technologies in development today will enable the aircraft to assist and back up the pilot in all the flight phases, removing the pilot from manual control and systems operations in all types of situations," the report said.
Commercial flights already land with the assistance of on-board computers, and pilots manually fly the aircraft for only a few minutes on average.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/07/technology/business/pilotless-planes-passengers/index.html
Saturday, August 12, 2017
A Reignited Civil War
Excerpts from the Boston Globe -
In Charlottesville, a reignited Civil War
OPINION | RENÉE GRAHAM
Remember this day, August 12, 2017. This is Fort Sumter in our modern, reignited Civil War.
While President Trump cravenly condemned violence “on many sides,” it appears there was only one side plowing a car at a high rate of speed into peaceful anti-racism protesters at a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va. There was only one side standing up for the values that America loves to espouse. Then there was that other side, boiling in hate, locked and loaded with fire and fury, who want to reclaim as theirs alone rights they have never been denied.
~~~~~~~~~~
Trump has never denounced this homegrown terrorism with the crazed fervor he reserves for Islamic terrorism. For a man who has so much so say about so many things, he’s downright tongue-tied when it comes to calling out this supremacist hatred. Of course, no politician condemns his most loyal base, and these are people sustaining this sinkhole of a presidency. Hatred has always been part of this nation, but Trump flipped over the rock and out slithered racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, bigotry, and misogyny in doses that might have made Jefferson Davis cringe.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is not America’s most clear and present danger. Nor is ISIS our biggest terrorist threat. It’s a savage mob of white supremacists so validated by this president that they see no need to hide their faces or conceal their identities. They marched with Confederate flags and swastikas, guns slung from their shoulders and strapped to their waists, believing their champion occupies this nation’s highest office. Trump not only understands their discontent — his exploitation of it propelled him into the White House — he won’t even condemn by name a barbarism that has taken a life and threatens to consume this nation.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2017/08/12/charlottesville-reignited-civil-war/gsqTeWwpxOeMSQgraA9acJ/story.html?event=event12
In Charlottesville, a reignited Civil War
OPINION | RENÉE GRAHAM
Remember this day, August 12, 2017. This is Fort Sumter in our modern, reignited Civil War.
While President Trump cravenly condemned violence “on many sides,” it appears there was only one side plowing a car at a high rate of speed into peaceful anti-racism protesters at a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va. There was only one side standing up for the values that America loves to espouse. Then there was that other side, boiling in hate, locked and loaded with fire and fury, who want to reclaim as theirs alone rights they have never been denied.
~~~~~~~~~~
Trump has never denounced this homegrown terrorism with the crazed fervor he reserves for Islamic terrorism. For a man who has so much so say about so many things, he’s downright tongue-tied when it comes to calling out this supremacist hatred. Of course, no politician condemns his most loyal base, and these are people sustaining this sinkhole of a presidency. Hatred has always been part of this nation, but Trump flipped over the rock and out slithered racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, bigotry, and misogyny in doses that might have made Jefferson Davis cringe.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is not America’s most clear and present danger. Nor is ISIS our biggest terrorist threat. It’s a savage mob of white supremacists so validated by this president that they see no need to hide their faces or conceal their identities. They marched with Confederate flags and swastikas, guns slung from their shoulders and strapped to their waists, believing their champion occupies this nation’s highest office. Trump not only understands their discontent — his exploitation of it propelled him into the White House — he won’t even condemn by name a barbarism that has taken a life and threatens to consume this nation.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2017/08/12/charlottesville-reignited-civil-war/gsqTeWwpxOeMSQgraA9acJ/story.html?event=event12
History Lesson
An excerpt from the Atlantic -
The Lost History of an American Coup D’État
Republicans and Democrats in North Carolina are locked in a battle over which party inherits the shame of Jim Crow.
By ADRIENNE LAFRANCE AND VANN R. NEWKIRK II
By the time the fire started, Alexander Manly had vanished. That didn’t stop the mob of 400 people who’d reached his newsroom from making good on their promise. The crowd, led by a former congressman, had given the editor-in-chief an ultimatum: Destroy your newspaper and leave town forever, or we will wreck it for you.
They burned The Daily Record to the ground.
It was the morning of November 10, 1898, in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the fire was the beginning of an assault that took place seven blocks east of the Cape Fear River, about 10 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. By sundown, Manly’s newspaper had been torched, as many as 60 people had been murdered, and the local government that was elected two days prior had been overthrown and replaced by white supremacists.
For all the violent moments in United States history, the mob’s gruesome attack was unique: It was the only coup d’état ever to take place on American soil.
What happened that day was nearly lost to history. For decades, the perpetrators were cast as heroes in American history textbooks. The black victims were wrongly described as instigators. It took nearly a century for the truth of what had really happened to begin to creep back into public awareness. Today, the old site of The Daily Record is a nondescript church parking lot—an ordinary-looking square of matted grass on a tree-lined street in historic Wilmington. The Wilmington Journal, a successor of sorts to the old Daily Record, stands in a white clapboard house across the street. But there’s no evidence of what happened there in 1898.
Conservatives in North Carolina don’t often bring up the Wilmington Massacre. Even many of those North Carolinians who are now aware of it are still reluctant to talk about it. Those who do sometimes stumble over words like “insurrection” and “riot”—loaded terms, and imprecise ones.
Not only was it a coup, though, the massacre was arguably the nadir of post-slavery racial politics.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/wilmington-massacre/536457/
The Lost History of an American Coup D’État
Republicans and Democrats in North Carolina are locked in a battle over which party inherits the shame of Jim Crow.
By ADRIENNE LAFRANCE AND VANN R. NEWKIRK II
By the time the fire started, Alexander Manly had vanished. That didn’t stop the mob of 400 people who’d reached his newsroom from making good on their promise. The crowd, led by a former congressman, had given the editor-in-chief an ultimatum: Destroy your newspaper and leave town forever, or we will wreck it for you.
They burned The Daily Record to the ground.
It was the morning of November 10, 1898, in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the fire was the beginning of an assault that took place seven blocks east of the Cape Fear River, about 10 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. By sundown, Manly’s newspaper had been torched, as many as 60 people had been murdered, and the local government that was elected two days prior had been overthrown and replaced by white supremacists.
For all the violent moments in United States history, the mob’s gruesome attack was unique: It was the only coup d’état ever to take place on American soil.
What happened that day was nearly lost to history. For decades, the perpetrators were cast as heroes in American history textbooks. The black victims were wrongly described as instigators. It took nearly a century for the truth of what had really happened to begin to creep back into public awareness. Today, the old site of The Daily Record is a nondescript church parking lot—an ordinary-looking square of matted grass on a tree-lined street in historic Wilmington. The Wilmington Journal, a successor of sorts to the old Daily Record, stands in a white clapboard house across the street. But there’s no evidence of what happened there in 1898.
Conservatives in North Carolina don’t often bring up the Wilmington Massacre. Even many of those North Carolinians who are now aware of it are still reluctant to talk about it. Those who do sometimes stumble over words like “insurrection” and “riot”—loaded terms, and imprecise ones.
Not only was it a coup, though, the massacre was arguably the nadir of post-slavery racial politics.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/wilmington-massacre/536457/
This is Making America Great Again?
It's sad what's going on in Charlottesville. Is this the direction our country is heading? Make America Great Again huh?! He said that🤦🏾♂️— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 12, 2017
Oh How I Miss President Obama!
http://deadline.com/2017/08/barack-obama-nelson-mandela-quote-donald-trump-potus-charlottesville-twitter-alt-right-racist-1202147755/"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
The United States of Amnesia
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Charlottesville and the Bigotocracy
By Michael Eric Dyson
The late, great Gore Vidal said that we live in “The United States of Amnesia.” Our fatal forgetfulness flares when white bigots come out of their closets, emboldened by the tacit cover they’re given by our president. We cannot pretend that the ugly bigotry unleashed in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., this weekend has nothing to do with the election of Donald Trump.
In attendance was white separatist David Duke, who declared that the alt-right unity fiasco “fulfills the promises of Donald Trump.” In the meantime, Mr. Trump responded by offering false equivalencies between white bigots and their protesters. His soft denunciations of hate ring hollow when he has white nationalist advisers like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller whispering in his ear.
Such an ungainly assembly of white supremacists rides herd on political memory. Their resentment of the removal of public symbols of the Confederate past — the genesis of this weekend’s rally — is fueled by revisionist history. They fancy themselves the victims of the so-called politically correct assault on American democracy, a false narrative that helped propel Mr. Trump to victory. Each feeds on the same demented lies about race and justice that corrupt true democracy and erode real liberty. Together they constitute the repulsive resurgence of a virulent bigotocracy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/opinion/charlottesville-and-the-bigotocracy.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
Charlottesville and the Bigotocracy
By Michael Eric Dyson
The late, great Gore Vidal said that we live in “The United States of Amnesia.” Our fatal forgetfulness flares when white bigots come out of their closets, emboldened by the tacit cover they’re given by our president. We cannot pretend that the ugly bigotry unleashed in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., this weekend has nothing to do with the election of Donald Trump.
In attendance was white separatist David Duke, who declared that the alt-right unity fiasco “fulfills the promises of Donald Trump.” In the meantime, Mr. Trump responded by offering false equivalencies between white bigots and their protesters. His soft denunciations of hate ring hollow when he has white nationalist advisers like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller whispering in his ear.
Such an ungainly assembly of white supremacists rides herd on political memory. Their resentment of the removal of public symbols of the Confederate past — the genesis of this weekend’s rally — is fueled by revisionist history. They fancy themselves the victims of the so-called politically correct assault on American democracy, a false narrative that helped propel Mr. Trump to victory. Each feeds on the same demented lies about race and justice that corrupt true democracy and erode real liberty. Together they constitute the repulsive resurgence of a virulent bigotocracy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/opinion/charlottesville-and-the-bigotocracy.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
What He Should Have Said
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
What a presidential president would have said about Charlottesville
By the Editorial Board
HERE IS what President Trump said Saturday about the violence in Charlottesville sparked by a demonstration of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members:
We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. On many sides.
Here is what a presidential president would have said:
“The violence Friday and Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., is a tragedy and an unacceptable, impermissible assault on American values. It is an assault, specifically, on the ideals we cherish most in a pluralistic democracy — tolerance, peaceable coexistence and diversity.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-a-presidential-president-would-have-said-about-charlottesville/2017/08/12/9f1ffec6-7fa4-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-c%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.cf3802db612c
What a presidential president would have said about Charlottesville
By the Editorial Board
HERE IS what President Trump said Saturday about the violence in Charlottesville sparked by a demonstration of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members:
We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. On many sides.
Here is what a presidential president would have said:
“The violence Friday and Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., is a tragedy and an unacceptable, impermissible assault on American values. It is an assault, specifically, on the ideals we cherish most in a pluralistic democracy — tolerance, peaceable coexistence and diversity.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-a-presidential-president-would-have-said-about-charlottesville/2017/08/12/9f1ffec6-7fa4-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-c%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.cf3802db612c
Combustion Engine - RIP
An excerpt form the Economist -
The death of the internal combustion engine
It had a good run. But the end is in sight for the machine that changed the world
The shift from fuel and pistons to batteries and electric motors is unlikely to take that long. The first death rattles of the internal combustion engine are already reverberating around the world—and many of the consequences will be welcome.
To gauge what lies ahead, think how the internal combustion engine has shaped modern life. The rich world was rebuilt for motor vehicles, with huge investments in road networks and the invention of suburbia, along with shopping malls and drive-through restaurants. Roughly 85% of American workers commute by car. Carmaking was also a generator of economic development and the expansion of the middle class, in post-war America and elsewhere. There are now about 1bn cars on the road, almost all powered by fossil fuels. Though most of them sit idle, America’s car and lorry engines can produce ten times as much energy as its power stations. The internal combustion engine is the mightiest motor in history.
https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21726071-it-had-good-run-end-sight-machine-changed-world-death?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories
The death of the internal combustion engine
It had a good run. But the end is in sight for the machine that changed the world
The shift from fuel and pistons to batteries and electric motors is unlikely to take that long. The first death rattles of the internal combustion engine are already reverberating around the world—and many of the consequences will be welcome.
To gauge what lies ahead, think how the internal combustion engine has shaped modern life. The rich world was rebuilt for motor vehicles, with huge investments in road networks and the invention of suburbia, along with shopping malls and drive-through restaurants. Roughly 85% of American workers commute by car. Carmaking was also a generator of economic development and the expansion of the middle class, in post-war America and elsewhere. There are now about 1bn cars on the road, almost all powered by fossil fuels. Though most of them sit idle, America’s car and lorry engines can produce ten times as much energy as its power stations. The internal combustion engine is the mightiest motor in history.
https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21726071-it-had-good-run-end-sight-machine-changed-world-death?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories
Monk Life
An excerpt from the LA Times -
For the monks of Big Sur, the bonds of brotherhood grow after Highway 1 closure
By Elijah Hurwitz
Life for the monks at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur is by definition an exercise in isolation, but recent months forced that isolation to new levels. In February the monastery was effectively cut off from its normal stream of visitors and guests after winter rain storms dubbed "atmospheric rivers" pounded the California coastline, damaging Highway 1 and nearby access roads. Several monks and staff decided to ride out the isolation, enduring multiple health crises and two deaths as they persisted in their devoted, austere lifestyles in this remote mountain community. After six months, the Hermitage began accepting guests again this month.
http://www.latimes.com/visuals/framework/la-me-fw-big-sur-monks-unfurled-20170811-htmlstory.html#nws=mcnewsletter
For the monks of Big Sur, the bonds of brotherhood grow after Highway 1 closure
By Elijah Hurwitz
Life for the monks at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur is by definition an exercise in isolation, but recent months forced that isolation to new levels. In February the monastery was effectively cut off from its normal stream of visitors and guests after winter rain storms dubbed "atmospheric rivers" pounded the California coastline, damaging Highway 1 and nearby access roads. Several monks and staff decided to ride out the isolation, enduring multiple health crises and two deaths as they persisted in their devoted, austere lifestyles in this remote mountain community. After six months, the Hermitage began accepting guests again this month.
http://www.latimes.com/visuals/framework/la-me-fw-big-sur-monks-unfurled-20170811-htmlstory.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Fascinating Traffic Data
From the Washington Post -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/escape-time/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_rush-hour-340pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.24bff068b259#nws=mcnewsletter
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/escape-time/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_rush-hour-340pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.24bff068b259#nws=mcnewsletter
Poop-Powered
An excerpt from KQED -
Poop-Powered Electric Feed Truck Debuts at Northern California Creamery
By Tiffany Camhi
One of the first things that you pass on the dirt road to Straus Family Creamery in Northern California is a pond. It has a white tarp over it, and you don’t want to get too close because the tarp is collecting methane gas — gas produced by the poop from the ranch’s nearly 300 cows.
“The cows’ waste is collected. It goes through our methane digester that produces methane gas,” says Albert Straus, founder and CEO of the creamery, located in the Marin County town of Marshall.
Then the methane is used as the fuel for a generator that produces electricity for the entire farm.
https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/08/11/poop-powered-electric-feed-truck-debuts-at-northern-california-creamery/
Poop-Powered Electric Feed Truck Debuts at Northern California Creamery
By Tiffany Camhi
One of the first things that you pass on the dirt road to Straus Family Creamery in Northern California is a pond. It has a white tarp over it, and you don’t want to get too close because the tarp is collecting methane gas — gas produced by the poop from the ranch’s nearly 300 cows.
“The cows’ waste is collected. It goes through our methane digester that produces methane gas,” says Albert Straus, founder and CEO of the creamery, located in the Marin County town of Marshall.
Then the methane is used as the fuel for a generator that produces electricity for the entire farm.
https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/08/11/poop-powered-electric-feed-truck-debuts-at-northern-california-creamery/
Friday, August 11, 2017
In Honor of the 44th Anniversary of Hip-Hop
Check out this interactive Google Doodle.
https://www.google.com
https://www.google.com
Talent Runs in This Family
An excerpt from the Hollywood Reporter -
How Donald Glover's Brother Went From Chemical Engineering to 'Atlanta's' Lead Writer
by Lacey Rose
Stephen Glover may not be as well-known as his older brother (yet!), but he's the sole credited scribe on nearly half of the FX series' Emmy-nominated first season — and he'll co-create the network's upcoming 'Deadpool' series.
As you enter Stephen Glover's apartment, your eyes can't help but settle on a cluttered corner to the right of the door. Mixed in with several pairs of shoes, some booze, a few pieces of musical equipment, a stack of papers, a framed poster from Atlanta's first season and a slice or two of day-old pizza sits a pair of Golden Globe statues and a collection of Writers Guild awards. Somewhere else in the Hollywood apartment, which he shares with his buddy Swank, also a writer on Atlanta, is the AFI award the show earned in January. And come mid-September, an Emmy or two could join the collection.
"It's all just so crazy," says Stephen, 29, who had never written an episode of TV before Donald enlisted him to join the staff. "I'm sure people thought, 'You're bringing on your friends and your brother? This is a train wreck ready to happen.' "
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-donald-glovers-brother-went-chemical-engineering-atlantas-lead-writer-1027637
How Donald Glover's Brother Went From Chemical Engineering to 'Atlanta's' Lead Writer
by Lacey Rose
Stephen Glover may not be as well-known as his older brother (yet!), but he's the sole credited scribe on nearly half of the FX series' Emmy-nominated first season — and he'll co-create the network's upcoming 'Deadpool' series.
As you enter Stephen Glover's apartment, your eyes can't help but settle on a cluttered corner to the right of the door. Mixed in with several pairs of shoes, some booze, a few pieces of musical equipment, a stack of papers, a framed poster from Atlanta's first season and a slice or two of day-old pizza sits a pair of Golden Globe statues and a collection of Writers Guild awards. Somewhere else in the Hollywood apartment, which he shares with his buddy Swank, also a writer on Atlanta, is the AFI award the show earned in January. And come mid-September, an Emmy or two could join the collection.
"It's all just so crazy," says Stephen, 29, who had never written an episode of TV before Donald enlisted him to join the staff. "I'm sure people thought, 'You're bringing on your friends and your brother? This is a train wreck ready to happen.' "
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-donald-glovers-brother-went-chemical-engineering-atlantas-lead-writer-1027637
I Agree. Stand Up For Kaepernick.
An excerpt form Salon -
Boycott the NFL: Athletes and fans need to stand up for Colin Kaepernick now
I love football, but I won't support a hypocritical corporation that punishes peaceful protest
D. WATKINS
This is the first year that I can honestly say that I’m not excited about the upcoming NFL season. I won’t watch it, support it or pay any attention to it. It’s not that I lost interest in the sport. I love football. But the NFL has been going above and beyond to show how racist they are as an organization. As if the dearth of minority owners and small number of black coaches — not to mention having a team called the Redskins — isn’t bad enough, Colin Kaepernick still doesn’t have a job.
He didn’t murder dogs like Michael Vick, who was able to be reinstated and has also criticized Kaepernick by saying “first thing we’ve got to get Colin to do is cut his hair.” Kap’s hair doesn’t matter; he has a better rating (QBR) than 20 starting quarterbacks currently preparing for the 2017-2018 season. Kaepernick was also never involved in a murder like Ray Lewis, who also criticized him by hopping on Undisputed and saying that he disagreed with Kap’s silent, peaceful protest. Kaepernick stood up against our racist law enforcement and criminal justice systems by taking a knee during the National Anthem — along with donating a million dollars to various charities — and he’s paying the ultimate price.
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/11/boycott-the-nfl-athletes-and-fans-need-to-stand-up-for-colin-kaepernick-now/?source=newsletter
Boycott the NFL: Athletes and fans need to stand up for Colin Kaepernick now
I love football, but I won't support a hypocritical corporation that punishes peaceful protest
D. WATKINS
This is the first year that I can honestly say that I’m not excited about the upcoming NFL season. I won’t watch it, support it or pay any attention to it. It’s not that I lost interest in the sport. I love football. But the NFL has been going above and beyond to show how racist they are as an organization. As if the dearth of minority owners and small number of black coaches — not to mention having a team called the Redskins — isn’t bad enough, Colin Kaepernick still doesn’t have a job.
He didn’t murder dogs like Michael Vick, who was able to be reinstated and has also criticized Kaepernick by saying “first thing we’ve got to get Colin to do is cut his hair.” Kap’s hair doesn’t matter; he has a better rating (QBR) than 20 starting quarterbacks currently preparing for the 2017-2018 season. Kaepernick was also never involved in a murder like Ray Lewis, who also criticized him by hopping on Undisputed and saying that he disagreed with Kap’s silent, peaceful protest. Kaepernick stood up against our racist law enforcement and criminal justice systems by taking a knee during the National Anthem — along with donating a million dollars to various charities — and he’s paying the ultimate price.
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/11/boycott-the-nfl-athletes-and-fans-need-to-stand-up-for-colin-kaepernick-now/?source=newsletter
Smog-Eating Bikes
From the Daily Good -
Smog-Eating Bikes Are About To Take On Beijing
by James Gaines
If one design firm can pull it off, cyclists in Beijing may soon double as mobile air filters. Holland’s Studio Roosegaarde has developed anti-smog bicycles and the first prototype is expected to hit the Asian city’s congested streets as soon as the end of this year, according to Quartz.
~~~~~~~~~~
Here’s how the bikes work: A device installed near the handlebars of the bike sucks in smoggy air and filters out particulates like soot or dust, clearing the way for what will essentially be a bubble of clean air right in front of the rider.
The bikes are still in the planning stage, so their effectiveness has yet to be put to the test, but it’s possible that this air-filtration system could benefit more than just the cyclist who rides it. With Roosegaarde’s partner bike-sharing service Ofo providing access to over 6.5 million bikes in Asia and the U.K., a lot of air could end up running through those filters.
https://www.good.is/articles/beijing-bicycles-remove-smog-directly-from-the-air?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood
Smog-Eating Bikes Are About To Take On Beijing
by James Gaines
 | |
All images via Studio Roosegaarde.
|
If one design firm can pull it off, cyclists in Beijing may soon double as mobile air filters. Holland’s Studio Roosegaarde has developed anti-smog bicycles and the first prototype is expected to hit the Asian city’s congested streets as soon as the end of this year, according to Quartz.
~~~~~~~~~~
Here’s how the bikes work: A device installed near the handlebars of the bike sucks in smoggy air and filters out particulates like soot or dust, clearing the way for what will essentially be a bubble of clean air right in front of the rider.
The bikes are still in the planning stage, so their effectiveness has yet to be put to the test, but it’s possible that this air-filtration system could benefit more than just the cyclist who rides it. With Roosegaarde’s partner bike-sharing service Ofo providing access to over 6.5 million bikes in Asia and the U.K., a lot of air could end up running through those filters.
https://www.good.is/articles/beijing-bicycles-remove-smog-directly-from-the-air?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood
Passport Website
From the Huffington Post -
This Website Will Upend The Way You Think About Passports
Find out where you can travel without a visa thanks to your U.S. passport.
By Suzy Strutner
Having a U.S. passport comes with really big benefits, as a new website will remind you.
Passport holders from the States can visit some 174 countries without applying for a visa first. VisaDB, a handy new website in its prototype phase, allows travelers to easily browse all the available options. Just plug in the U.S. as your country of residence, and the tool will tell you which countries you can visit visa-free in a given region, along with some helpful data about expenses.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/visadb-passports-do-you-need-a-visa_us_598cd4a6e4b08a247273567d?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
This Website Will Upend The Way You Think About Passports
Find out where you can travel without a visa thanks to your U.S. passport.
By Suzy Strutner
Having a U.S. passport comes with really big benefits, as a new website will remind you.
Passport holders from the States can visit some 174 countries without applying for a visa first. VisaDB, a handy new website in its prototype phase, allows travelers to easily browse all the available options. Just plug in the U.S. as your country of residence, and the tool will tell you which countries you can visit visa-free in a given region, along with some helpful data about expenses.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/visadb-passports-do-you-need-a-visa_us_598cd4a6e4b08a247273567d?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Medical Marvels
From the NY Times -
Heart and Asthma Monitors? There’s an App for That
By CAROL POGASH
He could have been surfing in Cabo. Instead, Tyler Crouch, then a 21-year-old mechanical-engineering student, spent spring break of 2013 building a digitized stethoscope and thinking, “This better be worth it.”
Since then, he and two classmates from the University of California, Berkeley, have formed a company — Eko Devices, which is based here — raised nearly $5 million and sold 6,000 digital stethoscopes, used in 700 hospitals. The wireless stethoscopes can transfer a patient’s heart rate and other vital signs directly to Eko’s secure portal, where it can, among other things, be shared with other doctors for a second opinion.
Now they have built something with a potentially larger market: It is the Duo, a digital stethoscope for home use, which could change how heart patients are monitored, the entrepreneurs say. It is scheduled to become available by prescription in the fall.
The product, which fits in your hand, combines electrocardiogram, or E.K.G., readings and heart sounds into a device that allows patients to monitor their health at home and send data to their physicians.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/business/heart-and-asthma-monitors-theres-an-app-for-that.html?emc=edit_ca_20170811&nl=california-today&nlid=38867499&te=1
Heart and Asthma Monitors? There’s an App for That
By CAROL POGASH
He could have been surfing in Cabo. Instead, Tyler Crouch, then a 21-year-old mechanical-engineering student, spent spring break of 2013 building a digitized stethoscope and thinking, “This better be worth it.”
Since then, he and two classmates from the University of California, Berkeley, have formed a company — Eko Devices, which is based here — raised nearly $5 million and sold 6,000 digital stethoscopes, used in 700 hospitals. The wireless stethoscopes can transfer a patient’s heart rate and other vital signs directly to Eko’s secure portal, where it can, among other things, be shared with other doctors for a second opinion.
Now they have built something with a potentially larger market: It is the Duo, a digital stethoscope for home use, which could change how heart patients are monitored, the entrepreneurs say. It is scheduled to become available by prescription in the fall.
The product, which fits in your hand, combines electrocardiogram, or E.K.G., readings and heart sounds into a device that allows patients to monitor their health at home and send data to their physicians.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/business/heart-and-asthma-monitors-theres-an-app-for-that.html?emc=edit_ca_20170811&nl=california-today&nlid=38867499&te=1
So Hard to Watch
I went to see the movie "Detroit" this week. It was horrific. Not because it wasn't well made. It was. Not because it wasn't well cast. It was. Not because it was brought to life by a white director. A problem, but one I could overlook. No, the issue was the pain it evoked. The torment and physical agony of seeing black folks tortured and killed simply for being black, was too much to bear. Seeing the cops who did it get off, was soul-crushing. Knowing this happened 40 years ago and knowing that it is still happening today, is horrifying. Heartbreaking.
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
‘Detroit’ and the question of cultural gatekeeping
By Ann Hornaday
The groan, when it came, was swift, the pain behind it palpable. At a curators’ roundtable at the BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia last weekend, the subject was gatekeeping. Who decides what stories get told? Who decides who gets to tell them? When it comes to stories rooted in the African diaspora — the focus of BlackStar, now in its sixth year — how have moving images in mainstream culture contributed to external bias and internalized self-loathing? Why is a particular story that transpired during the 1967 riots being called “Detroit,” as if one specific, if admittedly monstrous, episode can fairly represent the far more complex events during which it took place?
It was at this question, posed by scholar and curator Dessane Cassell, that the collective groan went up in the packed conference room at the Institute of Contemporary Art. “Detroit,” in which director Kathryn Bigelow dramatizes the murder of three black teenagers at the hands of white policemen during the titular city’s 1967 uprising, has been hailed by many critics (including this one) for plunging viewers into an event that crystallizes white supremacy and impunity at their most pathological. But for many others — including those among the filmmakers, programmers and viewers who attended BlackStar — “Detroit” presents yet another dispiriting example of a white filmmaker undertaking self-examination and catharsis using the spectacle of anguish, suffering and desecration of the black body.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/detroit-and-the-question-of-cultural-gatekeeping/2017/08/10/0bdff1a2-7dce-11e7-83c7-5bd5460f0d7e_story.html?utm_term=.11590ba19b41&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
‘Detroit’ and the question of cultural gatekeeping
By Ann Hornaday
The groan, when it came, was swift, the pain behind it palpable. At a curators’ roundtable at the BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia last weekend, the subject was gatekeeping. Who decides what stories get told? Who decides who gets to tell them? When it comes to stories rooted in the African diaspora — the focus of BlackStar, now in its sixth year — how have moving images in mainstream culture contributed to external bias and internalized self-loathing? Why is a particular story that transpired during the 1967 riots being called “Detroit,” as if one specific, if admittedly monstrous, episode can fairly represent the far more complex events during which it took place?
It was at this question, posed by scholar and curator Dessane Cassell, that the collective groan went up in the packed conference room at the Institute of Contemporary Art. “Detroit,” in which director Kathryn Bigelow dramatizes the murder of three black teenagers at the hands of white policemen during the titular city’s 1967 uprising, has been hailed by many critics (including this one) for plunging viewers into an event that crystallizes white supremacy and impunity at their most pathological. But for many others — including those among the filmmakers, programmers and viewers who attended BlackStar — “Detroit” presents yet another dispiriting example of a white filmmaker undertaking self-examination and catharsis using the spectacle of anguish, suffering and desecration of the black body.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/detroit-and-the-question-of-cultural-gatekeeping/2017/08/10/0bdff1a2-7dce-11e7-83c7-5bd5460f0d7e_story.html?utm_term=.11590ba19b41&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Smart Hires
From Axios -
Jim (Axios CEO Jim VandeHei) told me the one management super-power he would wish for all is this: the self-confidence and judgment to hire people, with killer talent and awesome values, who want your job and can do it better. Do this and the next person they hire will do the same and your company will crush it. Don't do this, and you will have a hot mess of mediocrity. This is the Roy Schwartz Rule — and it's damn good one!
https://www.axios.com/axios-am-2471665645.html
Jim (Axios CEO Jim VandeHei) told me the one management super-power he would wish for all is this: the self-confidence and judgment to hire people, with killer talent and awesome values, who want your job and can do it better. Do this and the next person they hire will do the same and your company will crush it. Don't do this, and you will have a hot mess of mediocrity. This is the Roy Schwartz Rule — and it's damn good one!
https://www.axios.com/axios-am-2471665645.html
Thursday, August 10, 2017
A Better Bus?
From the Washington Post -
Can a better night’s sleep in a ‘hipster’ bus replace flying?
By Peter Holley
For many people, moving between major hubs that are just far enough away to create complications — think Los Angeles to San Francisco, for instance — is a regular travel headache.
Tom Currier calls it the “500-mile problem” and now, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur and his partner, Gaetano Crupi, say they have a solution. It’s called “Cabin” — a double-decker, luxury bus line with WiFi, a comfy lounge and sleeping pods that offer the same pressed sheets you’ll find at the Ritz Carlton.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/08/10/can-a-better-nights-sleep-in-a-hipster-bus-replace-flying/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_bus-1120pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.94fcf5e78559
Can a better night’s sleep in a ‘hipster’ bus replace flying?
By Peter Holley
For many people, moving between major hubs that are just far enough away to create complications — think Los Angeles to San Francisco, for instance — is a regular travel headache.
Tom Currier calls it the “500-mile problem” and now, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur and his partner, Gaetano Crupi, say they have a solution. It’s called “Cabin” — a double-decker, luxury bus line with WiFi, a comfy lounge and sleeping pods that offer the same pressed sheets you’ll find at the Ritz Carlton.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/08/10/can-a-better-nights-sleep-in-a-hipster-bus-replace-flying/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_bus-1120pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.94fcf5e78559
History Lesson
An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -
The Best Trick U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves Ever Pulled on a Criminal
A particularly glorious example of “fake it ‘til you make it.”
BY ERIC GRUNDHAUSER
THE AMERICAN OLD WEST WAS a fertile cauldron for myth and legend, producing such fantastical figures as Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. But while many folk heroes of the era may have been embellished-unto-fable, or completely dreamt up, the legendary Wild West figure Bass Reeves was absolutely real, even if his exploits sound like tall tales.
Reeves was one of the most remarkable figures of the Old West, serving as a deputy U.S. Marshal from 1875 to 1907, mostly in and around the regrettable Indian Territory, which once made up much of what is now Oklahoma.
Born into slavery, Reeves escaped from the slave owner George Reeves at some point during the Civil War, supposedly knocking out his so-called “master” in a dispute over cards. Bass then fled into Indian Territory where, despite never having had the opportunity to learn to read, he learned the land and languages of the Cherokee, Seminole, and major tribes that had been forced to relocate to the region. After the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, abolishing slavery, Reeves was finally able to settle down at an Arkansas farm and start a family. He and his wife Nellie would have almost a dozen kids while working their peaceful homestead, but for Bass, the legend was just beginning.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bass-reeves-wild-west-letter-trick?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=eeb0bfdbad-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-eeb0bfdbad-63562045&ct=t(Newsletter_8_10_2017)&mc_cid=eeb0bfdbad&mc_eid=866176a63f
The Best Trick U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves Ever Pulled on a Criminal
A particularly glorious example of “fake it ‘til you make it.”
BY ERIC GRUNDHAUSER
 | |
| Bass Reeves, wearing his iconic push broom mustache. JUNKYARDSPARKLE/PUBLIC DOMAIN |
THE AMERICAN OLD WEST WAS a fertile cauldron for myth and legend, producing such fantastical figures as Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. But while many folk heroes of the era may have been embellished-unto-fable, or completely dreamt up, the legendary Wild West figure Bass Reeves was absolutely real, even if his exploits sound like tall tales.
Reeves was one of the most remarkable figures of the Old West, serving as a deputy U.S. Marshal from 1875 to 1907, mostly in and around the regrettable Indian Territory, which once made up much of what is now Oklahoma.
Born into slavery, Reeves escaped from the slave owner George Reeves at some point during the Civil War, supposedly knocking out his so-called “master” in a dispute over cards. Bass then fled into Indian Territory where, despite never having had the opportunity to learn to read, he learned the land and languages of the Cherokee, Seminole, and major tribes that had been forced to relocate to the region. After the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, abolishing slavery, Reeves was finally able to settle down at an Arkansas farm and start a family. He and his wife Nellie would have almost a dozen kids while working their peaceful homestead, but for Bass, the legend was just beginning.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bass-reeves-wild-west-letter-trick?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=eeb0bfdbad-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-eeb0bfdbad-63562045&ct=t(Newsletter_8_10_2017)&mc_cid=eeb0bfdbad&mc_eid=866176a63f
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