Thursday, November 30, 2017
Monday, November 27, 2017
Teaching Through Giving
An excerpt from the Daily Good -
These Professors Offered Students $10,000 In Real Money. The Catch? They Had To Give It Away.
by Lindsey McDougle, David Campbell & Jodi Benenson
If someone asked you to picture a philanthropist, chances are a billionaire like Bill Gates or John D. Rockefeller Sr. would come to mind. But not all philanthropists are billionaires — or even millionaires for that matter. People who make modest gifts of time or money can make a big difference in their communities.
We are professors who teach and do research about philanthropy, the practice of expressing generosity by giving away money and, in some cases, time. We see our job as motivating and preparing college and graduate students to become future leaders of nonprofit organizations or donors with good ideas about how to make a difference, starting right now.
Teaching about giving
One approach, known as “experiential philanthropy,” teaches about charitable giving through hands-on experiences. Students get real money, typically about $10,000 per class, to give away to local nonprofits. One of us (David) has determined that these courses are being taught on more than 80 different campuses.
https://education.good.is/articles/teaching-college-students-to-give-back?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood
These Professors Offered Students $10,000 In Real Money. The Catch? They Had To Give It Away.
by Lindsey McDougle, David Campbell & Jodi Benenson
If someone asked you to picture a philanthropist, chances are a billionaire like Bill Gates or John D. Rockefeller Sr. would come to mind. But not all philanthropists are billionaires — or even millionaires for that matter. People who make modest gifts of time or money can make a big difference in their communities.
We are professors who teach and do research about philanthropy, the practice of expressing generosity by giving away money and, in some cases, time. We see our job as motivating and preparing college and graduate students to become future leaders of nonprofit organizations or donors with good ideas about how to make a difference, starting right now.
Teaching about giving
One approach, known as “experiential philanthropy,” teaches about charitable giving through hands-on experiences. Students get real money, typically about $10,000 per class, to give away to local nonprofits. One of us (David) has determined that these courses are being taught on more than 80 different campuses.
https://education.good.is/articles/teaching-college-students-to-give-back?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood
This is an Apple
“Some people might try to tell you that it’s a banana.” #FactsFirst pic.twitter.com/LbmRKiGJe9— CNN (@CNN) October 23, 2017
The Clink - Prison Restaurant
From the Daily Mail -
Prison restaurants with bars on the windows and a panic button for diners beat celebrity chefs' eateries to the top of the TripAdvisor charts
The Clink restaurant is a chain that operates at four secure prisons in England
The restaurant chain is currently beating establishments by celebrity chefs
TripAdvisor says that three of the four restaurants are rated No 1 in their areas
Inmates with 6 to 18 months left of their sentence can apply for the restaurant
By Ian Drury
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5119799/Prison-restaurants-beat-celebrity-chefs-eateries.html#ixzz4zdpr6Rej
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Prison restaurants with bars on the windows and a panic button for diners beat celebrity chefs' eateries to the top of the TripAdvisor charts
The Clink restaurant is a chain that operates at four secure prisons in England
The restaurant chain is currently beating establishments by celebrity chefs
TripAdvisor says that three of the four restaurants are rated No 1 in their areas
Inmates with 6 to 18 months left of their sentence can apply for the restaurant
By Ian Drury
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5119799/Prison-restaurants-beat-celebrity-chefs-eateries.html#ixzz4zdpr6Rej
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
My Thoughts Exactly
An excerpt from Vox -
Why can’t This Is Us tell good stories about characters other than Randall?
A Kate-centric episode only underlines how much the show’s structure has shortchanged its characters.
by Todd VanDerWerff
Shortly after the blockbuster debut of This Is Us in 2016, I had lunch with a TV writer friend whose previous credits made me think he’d be a fan of the show. And, indeed, he had generally liked the pilot. But then he said something that stuck with me, when he explained why he wasn’t as enthusiastic about the overall series as I had expected he would be: “They only have enough story for Randall.”
Over the course of This Is Us’s now one and a half seasons, my friend’s prophecy has more or less come true. Randall and his family occupy one of the best shows on television, a beautiful story about a black adopted child who grew up in a white family, anchored by an Emmy-winning performance from Sterling K. Brown and no less exceptional work from Susan Kelechi Watson as Randall’s wife, Beth. Randall’s side of the show is everything family dramas can and should be.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/26/16688404/this-is-us-episode-9-recap-number-two-kate-miscarriage
Why can’t This Is Us tell good stories about characters other than Randall?
A Kate-centric episode only underlines how much the show’s structure has shortchanged its characters.
by Todd VanDerWerff
Shortly after the blockbuster debut of This Is Us in 2016, I had lunch with a TV writer friend whose previous credits made me think he’d be a fan of the show. And, indeed, he had generally liked the pilot. But then he said something that stuck with me, when he explained why he wasn’t as enthusiastic about the overall series as I had expected he would be: “They only have enough story for Randall.”
Over the course of This Is Us’s now one and a half seasons, my friend’s prophecy has more or less come true. Randall and his family occupy one of the best shows on television, a beautiful story about a black adopted child who grew up in a white family, anchored by an Emmy-winning performance from Sterling K. Brown and no less exceptional work from Susan Kelechi Watson as Randall’s wife, Beth. Randall’s side of the show is everything family dramas can and should be.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/26/16688404/this-is-us-episode-9-recap-number-two-kate-miscarriage
Eco-Friendly Fabric
http://mashable.com/2017/11/26/ably-liquid-and-odor-repelent-clothing/#LePoiNGA7sqZ
He Didn't Have to Beg
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Flowers From Her Deceased Dad
My dad passed away when I was 16 from cancer and before he died he pre payed flowers so i could receive them every year on my birthday. Well this is my 21st birthday flowers and the last. Miss you so much daddy. 💜 pic.twitter.com/vSafKyB2uO— Bailey Sellers (@SellersBailey) November 24, 2017
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/11/26/students-simple-homage-deceased-dad-lights-up-twitter/895964001/
60 Years in the Skies
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Meet the woman who’s spent 60 years making the skies a little friendlier
By Lori Aratani
It’s early on a Thursday morning and flight attendant Bette Nash has just strolled up to Gate 19 at Reagan National Airport, where American Airlines Flight 2160 bound for Boston is parked and preparing for boarding.
As she pauses at the counter to adjust her scarf, a 20-something guy looks up. He lets out a gasp.
“Oh, my God,” he says excitedly. “Are you Bette Nash? Can I have your picture?”
This is what life is like when you are Nash, 81, who has been flying since Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House and a ticket for a flight cost $12.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/meet-the-woman-whos-spent-60-years-making-the-skies-a-little-friendlier/2017/11/25/04cf6054-c8ac-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.0b94c8e0d6a3&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1
Meet the woman who’s spent 60 years making the skies a little friendlier
By Lori Aratani
It’s early on a Thursday morning and flight attendant Bette Nash has just strolled up to Gate 19 at Reagan National Airport, where American Airlines Flight 2160 bound for Boston is parked and preparing for boarding.
As she pauses at the counter to adjust her scarf, a 20-something guy looks up. He lets out a gasp.
“Oh, my God,” he says excitedly. “Are you Bette Nash? Can I have your picture?”
This is what life is like when you are Nash, 81, who has been flying since Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House and a ticket for a flight cost $12.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/meet-the-woman-whos-spent-60-years-making-the-skies-a-little-friendlier/2017/11/25/04cf6054-c8ac-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.0b94c8e0d6a3&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1
A Catch 22
An excerpt from the Boston Globe -
For black students, a college degree means long-term debt
By Deirdre Fernandes
Jasmine Reyes’s college degree landed her a stable post-graduation job and opened up a wealth of learning opportunities, from an internship in Los Angeles to study abroad in the Netherlands.
But for Reyes, 23, that Emerson College degree came at a sapping financial and emotional cost: a near-constant worry each semester about being able to afford the tuition, guilt over her grandmother’s decision to apply early for Social Security to help pay for her education, and ultimately, the burden of $40,000 in student loans.
“There are a lot of people who think that because I’m African-American I got to go to college for free,” said Reyes, who graduated in 2016. “But I am in so much debt. I would still do it again. But it was extremely stressful.”
Recent research and data from the US Department of Education indicate that African-American students, like Reyes, are taking a greater financial risk than other groups in going to college, even as a degree has grown increasingly vital for workers hoping to survive in the modern economy. They typically start with a smaller economic cushion, are more likely to borrow, and, on average, earn less upon graduation.
As a result, instead of bridging the racial equity gap by opening the prospect of well-paying jobs, getting a degree can actually widen the gulf in wealth between black and white adults.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/25/for-black-students-college-degree-means-long-term-debt/Hw8lOO4637pZY80QcIxDZM/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
For black students, a college degree means long-term debt
By Deirdre Fernandes
Jasmine Reyes’s college degree landed her a stable post-graduation job and opened up a wealth of learning opportunities, from an internship in Los Angeles to study abroad in the Netherlands.
But for Reyes, 23, that Emerson College degree came at a sapping financial and emotional cost: a near-constant worry each semester about being able to afford the tuition, guilt over her grandmother’s decision to apply early for Social Security to help pay for her education, and ultimately, the burden of $40,000 in student loans.
“There are a lot of people who think that because I’m African-American I got to go to college for free,” said Reyes, who graduated in 2016. “But I am in so much debt. I would still do it again. But it was extremely stressful.”
Recent research and data from the US Department of Education indicate that African-American students, like Reyes, are taking a greater financial risk than other groups in going to college, even as a degree has grown increasingly vital for workers hoping to survive in the modern economy. They typically start with a smaller economic cushion, are more likely to borrow, and, on average, earn less upon graduation.
As a result, instead of bridging the racial equity gap by opening the prospect of well-paying jobs, getting a degree can actually widen the gulf in wealth between black and white adults.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/25/for-black-students-college-degree-means-long-term-debt/Hw8lOO4637pZY80QcIxDZM/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
Colby College Honors a Former Slave
An excerpt from the Boston Globe -
At Colby College, an honor for a former slave
By Laura Krantz
WATERVILLE, Maine — At the elite college perched on a hill overlooking this former mill town, the buildings are named as you might expect.
The library honors the parents of a graduate. The theater is named for the 17th president. The tennis pavilion for generous donors to the school.
But now Colby College will have a building named after another sort of person entirely: a former slave who was the school janitor for 37 years starting right after the Civil War — a figure both beloved and disrespected by the college in his day.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/25/colby-college-honor-for-former-slave/BzFoklN3Gpw9flJvOnZtnJ/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
At Colby College, an honor for a former slave
By Laura Krantz
WATERVILLE, Maine — At the elite college perched on a hill overlooking this former mill town, the buildings are named as you might expect.
The library honors the parents of a graduate. The theater is named for the 17th president. The tennis pavilion for generous donors to the school.
But now Colby College will have a building named after another sort of person entirely: a former slave who was the school janitor for 37 years starting right after the Civil War — a figure both beloved and disrespected by the college in his day.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/25/colby-college-honor-for-former-slave/BzFoklN3Gpw9flJvOnZtnJ/story.html?et_rid=606374700&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Black in Trump Country
An excerpt from Very Smart Brothas -
How to Survive in America When You’re Black and Your Hometown Is Donald Trump’s Base
By Raymar Hampshire
I grew up in Allen County, Ohio. I lived in the county seat of Lima and attended school in the village of Elida. The show Glee takes place in my hometown, and I have never watched a single episode of Glee, but I often use this fact to help orient people to where I grew up. I rarely visit my hometown outside of traveling there to spend time with my family during major holidays.
It feels honest and yet really vulnerable to admit this publicly. Facebook has become a window into the souls of so many people I grew up with, so much so that I often find myself unfriending them. The truth is that I have become a remarkably different person—and the place where I grew up feels like it has become a remarkably different place.
Today it seems as if the only time I bring up my hometown is when I’m having a conversation with someone about Donald Trump and we’re both shockingly/unshockingly lamenting his latest evil shenanigans. We might shake our heads thinking of his delusional supporters who are somehow able to look past it all.
These conversations happen almost daily. It’s in these conversations that I “rep” my hometown—mostly to prove that because I’m from a town of overwhelmingly white Trump supporters, I understand their delusions better than most.
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/how-to-survive-in-america-when-you-re-black-and-your-ho-1819882549
How to Survive in America When You’re Black and Your Hometown Is Donald Trump’s Base
By Raymar Hampshire
I grew up in Allen County, Ohio. I lived in the county seat of Lima and attended school in the village of Elida. The show Glee takes place in my hometown, and I have never watched a single episode of Glee, but I often use this fact to help orient people to where I grew up. I rarely visit my hometown outside of traveling there to spend time with my family during major holidays.
It feels honest and yet really vulnerable to admit this publicly. Facebook has become a window into the souls of so many people I grew up with, so much so that I often find myself unfriending them. The truth is that I have become a remarkably different person—and the place where I grew up feels like it has become a remarkably different place.
Today it seems as if the only time I bring up my hometown is when I’m having a conversation with someone about Donald Trump and we’re both shockingly/unshockingly lamenting his latest evil shenanigans. We might shake our heads thinking of his delusional supporters who are somehow able to look past it all.
These conversations happen almost daily. It’s in these conversations that I “rep” my hometown—mostly to prove that because I’m from a town of overwhelmingly white Trump supporters, I understand their delusions better than most.
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/how-to-survive-in-america-when-you-re-black-and-your-ho-1819882549
25 Blackest Sports Moments of 2017
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
The top 25 blackest sports moments of 2017
If you don’t understand why these moments are important, you might need more black friends
By Clifton Yates
Black Friday. The day when people decide that the only way they can make themselves feel better about whatever they just went through with their families on Thanksgiving is with a whole lot of retail therapy. It’s the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season, and according to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend an average of $967.13 each before the end of the year. That adds up to a cool $682 billion.
But forget all that. We black. So we’ll take this opportunity to reclaim our time and get back to using ham-handed puns for the culture. A point of clarification: There are a variety of items on this list. Some are groundbreaking accomplishments. Others are moments that made us laugh. A few are things that we might actually regret.
By the by, we’re doing this bad boy college football style. If you don’t understand why these moments are important, you might need more black friends.
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-top-25-blackest-sports-moments-of-2017/
The top 25 blackest sports moments of 2017
If you don’t understand why these moments are important, you might need more black friends
By Clifton Yates
Black Friday. The day when people decide that the only way they can make themselves feel better about whatever they just went through with their families on Thanksgiving is with a whole lot of retail therapy. It’s the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season, and according to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend an average of $967.13 each before the end of the year. That adds up to a cool $682 billion.
But forget all that. We black. So we’ll take this opportunity to reclaim our time and get back to using ham-handed puns for the culture. A point of clarification: There are a variety of items on this list. Some are groundbreaking accomplishments. Others are moments that made us laugh. A few are things that we might actually regret.
By the by, we’re doing this bad boy college football style. If you don’t understand why these moments are important, you might need more black friends.
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-top-25-blackest-sports-moments-of-2017/
Friday, November 24, 2017
Thursday, November 23, 2017
The Guest List
An excerpt from the Root -
The Caucasian’s Guide to Black Thanksgiving, Part 1: The Guest List
By Michael Harriot
Aunts
The first thing you must know about the black family tradition is that the nomenclature assigned to relatives has nothing to do with the traditional definitions assigned by white people to their family members. For white people, an “aunt” refers to a woman who is the sister of their mother or father. This does not hold true in the black community.
In the black community, an aunt is any woman more than 15 years older than you who has been around the family for more than 10 years. Every lady on the street where you grew up is an aunt. All women on the usher board at your place of worship are aunts. And it is pronounced “aww-went,” not “ant.”
https://www.theroot.com/the-caucasians-guide-to-black-thanksgiving-part-1-the-1820643386?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-11-23
The Caucasian’s Guide to Black Thanksgiving, Part 1: The Guest List
By Michael Harriot
Aunts
The first thing you must know about the black family tradition is that the nomenclature assigned to relatives has nothing to do with the traditional definitions assigned by white people to their family members. For white people, an “aunt” refers to a woman who is the sister of their mother or father. This does not hold true in the black community.
In the black community, an aunt is any woman more than 15 years older than you who has been around the family for more than 10 years. Every lady on the street where you grew up is an aunt. All women on the usher board at your place of worship are aunts. And it is pronounced “aww-went,” not “ant.”
https://www.theroot.com/the-caucasians-guide-to-black-thanksgiving-part-1-the-1820643386?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-11-23
He's Using the Same Old Playbook
Excerpts from the Huffington Post -
There’s A Reason Powerful Americans Love To Attack Black Sports Figures
Donald Trump is just keeping with a long tradition in this country.
By Travis Waldron
Powerful white Americans have been scoring political points off black athletes for as long as there have been organized sports in America. In this respect, at least, Donald Trump is a traditionalist.
~~~~~~~~~~
If this has become a familiar routine for Trump, it is because it is a familiar one for America. The country has never been comfortable with assertive black sports figures. Despite all the caterwauling about athletes who refuse to “stick to sports,” powerful Americans have always understood the mere presence of black athletes to be fundamentally political, a threat to the larger project of black subordination. And if black athletes themselves could no longer be kept out of sports, the culture at large would have to circumscribe their behavior, crush any outward assertiveness, segregate their blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~
The point of all of this was easy to see: if black athletes could assert themselves in the ring or on the baseball field, black people could assert themselves everywhere else, too. If black athletes weren’t forced to stay in their place, black people wouldn’t be compelled, either. And so laws were passed, and policies were implemented, to ensure the absence of black athletes who could give voice to black people.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-white-america-black-athletes_us_5a15db6ce4b064948072a8c4?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
There’s A Reason Powerful Americans Love To Attack Black Sports Figures
Donald Trump is just keeping with a long tradition in this country.
By Travis Waldron
Powerful white Americans have been scoring political points off black athletes for as long as there have been organized sports in America. In this respect, at least, Donald Trump is a traditionalist.
~~~~~~~~~~
If this has become a familiar routine for Trump, it is because it is a familiar one for America. The country has never been comfortable with assertive black sports figures. Despite all the caterwauling about athletes who refuse to “stick to sports,” powerful Americans have always understood the mere presence of black athletes to be fundamentally political, a threat to the larger project of black subordination. And if black athletes themselves could no longer be kept out of sports, the culture at large would have to circumscribe their behavior, crush any outward assertiveness, segregate their blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~
The point of all of this was easy to see: if black athletes could assert themselves in the ring or on the baseball field, black people could assert themselves everywhere else, too. If black athletes weren’t forced to stay in their place, black people wouldn’t be compelled, either. And so laws were passed, and policies were implemented, to ensure the absence of black athletes who could give voice to black people.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-white-america-black-athletes_us_5a15db6ce4b064948072a8c4?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Apology Generator
An excerpt from Upworthy -
The Celebrity Perv Apology Generator is hilariously, depressingly accurate.
The results from this website could easily be real celebrity apologies.
by Parker Molloy
Author Dana Schwartz jokingly tweeted plans to start "a small business ghostwriting half-hearted apologies for celebrity pervs." Within 24 hours, it became a reality.
Teaming up with designers Rob Sheridan and Scott McCaughey, Schwartz launched the Celebrity Perv Apology Generator, where anyone can go and get their very own half-assed apology for free. It's satire at its best, reflecting non-apologies back on the celebrities who give them.
"Please consult for all your celebrity perv apology needs," Schwartz tweeted.
http://www.upworthy.com/the-celebrity-perv-apology-generator-is-hilariously-depressingly-accurate?c=upw1
The Celebrity Perv Apology Generator is hilariously, depressingly accurate.
The results from this website could easily be real celebrity apologies.
by Parker Molloy
Author Dana Schwartz jokingly tweeted plans to start "a small business ghostwriting half-hearted apologies for celebrity pervs." Within 24 hours, it became a reality.
Teaming up with designers Rob Sheridan and Scott McCaughey, Schwartz launched the Celebrity Perv Apology Generator, where anyone can go and get their very own half-assed apology for free. It's satire at its best, reflecting non-apologies back on the celebrities who give them.
"Please consult for all your celebrity perv apology needs," Schwartz tweeted.
http://www.upworthy.com/the-celebrity-perv-apology-generator-is-hilariously-depressingly-accurate?c=upw1
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
History Lesson
An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -
Meet Ann Gregory, Who Shattered Racist and Sexist Barriers in the Golf World
An unheralded sports pioneer, she was known as “The Queen of Negro Women’s Golf.”
BY NATASHA FROST
IN 1959, ON A WARM August evening in Bethesda, Maryland, Ann Moore Gregory ate a hamburger and went to bed. That night, every other player in the United States Golf Association Women’s Amateur tournament, which began the next day, was eating a traditional players’ dinner at the Congressional Country Club. But Gregory, the only African-American player in the tournament, had been barred from the clubhouse. So, she said later, she ate by herself. She was “happy as a lark. I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t. I just wanted to play golf, they were letting me play golf,” she said. “So I got me a hamburger, and went to bed.”
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ann-gregory-golf-african-american-civil-rights
Meet Ann Gregory, Who Shattered Racist and Sexist Barriers in the Golf World
An unheralded sports pioneer, she was known as “The Queen of Negro Women’s Golf.”
BY NATASHA FROST
IN 1959, ON A WARM August evening in Bethesda, Maryland, Ann Moore Gregory ate a hamburger and went to bed. That night, every other player in the United States Golf Association Women’s Amateur tournament, which began the next day, was eating a traditional players’ dinner at the Congressional Country Club. But Gregory, the only African-American player in the tournament, had been barred from the clubhouse. So, she said later, she ate by herself. She was “happy as a lark. I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t. I just wanted to play golf, they were letting me play golf,” she said. “So I got me a hamburger, and went to bed.”
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ann-gregory-golf-african-american-civil-rights
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Gift Air Travel This Holiday
An excerpt from Conde Nast Traveler -
The Skyhour App Is the Easiest Way to Gift Air Travel
by Betsy Blumenthal
We know what we’re asking for this holiday season.
Rather than receiving yet another cable-knit sweater from your great aunt this Christmas, imagine that you’re instead gifted four ‘skyhours’—at $60 each, that’s $240 toward the flight for your next vacation.
That’s the aim of Skyhour, a new app designed to simplify the process of gifting air travel. Launched on October 23 with backing (and industry guidance) from JetBlue Technology Ventures, the corporate venture arm of JetBlue Airways, the platform aspires to make gifting and receiving flights a seamless, single-site process.
~~~~~~~~~~
You don’t need to register with Skyhour to gift hours—pretty convenient when you're running to that birthday party and totally forgot to buy a present—but you do need to set up an account in order to claim them, and create a profile that contains some personal details (name, e-mail, age) and your passport information. Recipients can then apply the hours they’ve received to their selection, and, presto! They’re going to Mexico. Fortunately, for those of us who already know what we want for our birthday (hey, six months isn’t that far away), you can also request hours.
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-skyhour-app-is-the-easiest-way-to-gift-air-travel
The Skyhour App Is the Easiest Way to Gift Air Travel
by Betsy Blumenthal
We know what we’re asking for this holiday season.
Rather than receiving yet another cable-knit sweater from your great aunt this Christmas, imagine that you’re instead gifted four ‘skyhours’—at $60 each, that’s $240 toward the flight for your next vacation.
That’s the aim of Skyhour, a new app designed to simplify the process of gifting air travel. Launched on October 23 with backing (and industry guidance) from JetBlue Technology Ventures, the corporate venture arm of JetBlue Airways, the platform aspires to make gifting and receiving flights a seamless, single-site process.
~~~~~~~~~~
You don’t need to register with Skyhour to gift hours—pretty convenient when you're running to that birthday party and totally forgot to buy a present—but you do need to set up an account in order to claim them, and create a profile that contains some personal details (name, e-mail, age) and your passport information. Recipients can then apply the hours they’ve received to their selection, and, presto! They’re going to Mexico. Fortunately, for those of us who already know what we want for our birthday (hey, six months isn’t that far away), you can also request hours.
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-skyhour-app-is-the-easiest-way-to-gift-air-travel
Quote
Asked how Trump's un-presidential behaviour will influence future presidents, Biden dryly replied: “I think it will, God willing, go down as the single exception in American history.”
http://mashable.com/2017/11/14/joe-biden-donald-trump-presidency-stephen-colbert/#q9Mj3a.EgOqb
http://mashable.com/2017/11/14/joe-biden-donald-trump-presidency-stephen-colbert/#q9Mj3a.EgOqb
Another FAMU Success Story
An excerpt from IndieWire -
‘Mudbound’: Dee Rees, Faith, and the Long Path She Took to Make Her Epic Oscar Contender
With festival hit "Mudbound," Dee Rees proves what she can do with a sprawling southern drama of scale and scope. Netflix backing may prove to be an advantage.
By Anne Thompson
Dee Rees is a tall woman of fierce charisma. She’s the kind of director who talks fast, ideas coming so quickly that those less inclined can barely keep up. And yet her output has been slow: After Focus Features snapped up her breakout 2011 feature debut “Pariah” at Sundance, it was four years before HBO Film’s Emmy and DGA-award-winning 2015 biopic “Bessie.”
~~~~~~~~~~
When Rees left Nashville for college, her Methodist Church staged its annual rite of passage: Students declared their schools and accepted small scholarships from the community. “I was going to study business administration at Florida A&M, at the height of Reaganomics,” Rees said in an interview at a Netflix conference room. “This older woman, Miss Dunlap, pressed a handful of change in my hand, probably what she would have put in the communion basket. She’s giving me a fistful of coins, but I felt it was so much more. I just got how important it was. I was intending to make my parents proud and do well, but I felt the weight of those coins. There was no turning back, not having done the thing.”
Rees brought that moment into her adaptation of Hillary Jordan’s post-World War II novel. (Rees shares credit with Virgil Williams.) When Ronsel Jackson (“Straight Outta Compton” star Jason Mitchell) leaves home to join the Army, his mother Florence (Mary J. Blige) turns her back as he departs. Rees was inspired by her paternal grandmother, who thought it bad luck to watch someone going away. “I wanted to set the stakes,” said Rees. “You wouldn’t feel Ronsel’s coming home if we didn’t see him leaving. It was important to show that he was a son of the community and everybody’s investment is riding on him.”
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/dee-rees-mudbound-director-oscars-netflix-1201895509/
‘Mudbound’: Dee Rees, Faith, and the Long Path She Took to Make Her Epic Oscar Contender
With festival hit "Mudbound," Dee Rees proves what she can do with a sprawling southern drama of scale and scope. Netflix backing may prove to be an advantage.
By Anne Thompson
Dee Rees is a tall woman of fierce charisma. She’s the kind of director who talks fast, ideas coming so quickly that those less inclined can barely keep up. And yet her output has been slow: After Focus Features snapped up her breakout 2011 feature debut “Pariah” at Sundance, it was four years before HBO Film’s Emmy and DGA-award-winning 2015 biopic “Bessie.”
~~~~~~~~~~
When Rees left Nashville for college, her Methodist Church staged its annual rite of passage: Students declared their schools and accepted small scholarships from the community. “I was going to study business administration at Florida A&M, at the height of Reaganomics,” Rees said in an interview at a Netflix conference room. “This older woman, Miss Dunlap, pressed a handful of change in my hand, probably what she would have put in the communion basket. She’s giving me a fistful of coins, but I felt it was so much more. I just got how important it was. I was intending to make my parents proud and do well, but I felt the weight of those coins. There was no turning back, not having done the thing.”
Rees brought that moment into her adaptation of Hillary Jordan’s post-World War II novel. (Rees shares credit with Virgil Williams.) When Ronsel Jackson (“Straight Outta Compton” star Jason Mitchell) leaves home to join the Army, his mother Florence (Mary J. Blige) turns her back as he departs. Rees was inspired by her paternal grandmother, who thought it bad luck to watch someone going away. “I wanted to set the stakes,” said Rees. “You wouldn’t feel Ronsel’s coming home if we didn’t see him leaving. It was important to show that he was a son of the community and everybody’s investment is riding on him.”
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/dee-rees-mudbound-director-oscars-netflix-1201895509/
First African-American Woman to Graduate from Vassar
An excerpt from Variety -
Zendaya to Star in, Produce Movie About First African-American Woman to Graduate From Vassar
By Dave McNary
Zendaya will produce and star in the thriller “A White Lie,” playing the first African-American woman to graduate from Vassar College, Variety has learned.
The project is based on Karin Tanabe’s book “The Gilded Years,” which told the true story of Anita Hemmings, a light-skinned, African-American woman who was the descendant of slaves and passed as white so she could attend Vassar during the 1890s. She’s pulled into her elite world where she’s treated as a wealthy, educated white woman who finds romance with a moneyed Harvard student.
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/zendaya-a-white-lie-anita-hemmings-1202614131/
Zendaya to Star in, Produce Movie About First African-American Woman to Graduate From Vassar
By Dave McNary
Zendaya will produce and star in the thriller “A White Lie,” playing the first African-American woman to graduate from Vassar College, Variety has learned.
The project is based on Karin Tanabe’s book “The Gilded Years,” which told the true story of Anita Hemmings, a light-skinned, African-American woman who was the descendant of slaves and passed as white so she could attend Vassar during the 1890s. She’s pulled into her elite world where she’s treated as a wealthy, educated white woman who finds romance with a moneyed Harvard student.
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/zendaya-a-white-lie-anita-hemmings-1202614131/
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Hijab Barbie
From the New Yorker -
Barbie Gets a Hijab
By Christina Binkley
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/barbie-gets-a-hijab?mbid=nl_Daily%20111417%20Subs&CNDID=27124505&spMailingID=12357255&spUserID=MTMzMTgyODE2ODQxS0&spJobID=1281339144&spReportId=MTI4MTMzOTE0NAS2
Barbie Gets a Hijab
By Christina Binkley
 |
| Mattel’s Barbie modelled on the American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad has muscular legs and wears a hijab. Photograph courtesy Mattel |
History Maker
An excerpt from Salon - (Bold is mine)
This week Tiffany Haddish makes “Saturday Night Live” history. That’s not funny
The “Girls Trip” star is the first black female comic to host “Saturday Night Live.” Ever. Let that one sink in
By MELANIE MCFARLAND
“Can you believe I will be the very #first black female comedian host?!?” she asked in a Nov. 7 tweet and Instagram post.
Can I believe it? Actually yes, I can. And I submit that answer with a mixture of emotions. Haddish, the breakout star of the surprise theatrical hit “Girls Trip,” is a tremendous comedian deserving of a higher profile. What’s more, “SNL” is featuring her just as her career is taking off; following a stint on NBC’s underappreciated summer comedy “The Carmichael Show,” she’s set to co-star in Tracy Morgan’s upcoming TBS comedy “The Last O.G.” (which, along with “Girls Trip,” is probably the reason she landed this hosting gig).
Indeed, Haddish deserves applause for making history, something I’d say is increasingly difficult to do in a show that’s been on the air for 43 seasons and has had 566 hosts as of this writing.
https://www.salon.com/2017/11/11/this-week-tiffany-haddish-makes-saturday-night-live-history-thats-not-funny/
This week Tiffany Haddish makes “Saturday Night Live” history. That’s not funny
The “Girls Trip” star is the first black female comic to host “Saturday Night Live.” Ever. Let that one sink in
By MELANIE MCFARLAND
“Can you believe I will be the very #first black female comedian host?!?” she asked in a Nov. 7 tweet and Instagram post.
Can I believe it? Actually yes, I can. And I submit that answer with a mixture of emotions. Haddish, the breakout star of the surprise theatrical hit “Girls Trip,” is a tremendous comedian deserving of a higher profile. What’s more, “SNL” is featuring her just as her career is taking off; following a stint on NBC’s underappreciated summer comedy “The Carmichael Show,” she’s set to co-star in Tracy Morgan’s upcoming TBS comedy “The Last O.G.” (which, along with “Girls Trip,” is probably the reason she landed this hosting gig).
Indeed, Haddish deserves applause for making history, something I’d say is increasingly difficult to do in a show that’s been on the air for 43 seasons and has had 566 hosts as of this writing.
https://www.salon.com/2017/11/11/this-week-tiffany-haddish-makes-saturday-night-live-history-thats-not-funny/
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Monday, November 13, 2017
Impressive
From Atlas Obscura -
World's Largest Beaver Dam
The half-mile long structure is so impressive, it even shows up on satellite images.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/worlds-largest-beaver-dam
World's Largest Beaver Dam
The half-mile long structure is so impressive, it even shows up on satellite images.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/worlds-largest-beaver-dam
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Surprised? Hardly.
An excerpt from the New York Times -
Jesus’ Parents and Roy Moore’s Gall
By Frank Bruni
Are you really surprised? If so, you might want to see a doctor about your amnesia, because my memory is pretty spotty and still I can recall Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker and Larry Craig and David Vitter, and with just a few minutes of Googling, I could fill the rest of this column with more names of more pastors and politicians who presented themselves as steadfast moral conservatives and were revealed to be agents of precisely the kind of behavior they so exuberantly condemned. These frauds and hypocrites are as legion now as lepers were in the days of Jesus.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/sunday/roy-moore-molestation.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
Jesus’ Parents and Roy Moore’s Gall
By Frank Bruni
Are you really surprised? If so, you might want to see a doctor about your amnesia, because my memory is pretty spotty and still I can recall Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker and Larry Craig and David Vitter, and with just a few minutes of Googling, I could fill the rest of this column with more names of more pastors and politicians who presented themselves as steadfast moral conservatives and were revealed to be agents of precisely the kind of behavior they so exuberantly condemned. These frauds and hypocrites are as legion now as lepers were in the days of Jesus.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/sunday/roy-moore-molestation.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
Trump vs. the US Constitution
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/11/opinion/editorials/President-Trump-Please-Read-the-Constitution.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
The Noise
An excerpt from the Players' Tribune -
The Noise
By Stephen Curry
I’m a person who is comfortable in his own skin. I’m 29 now. I’ve got two daughters, a wonderful wife, two amazing parents. I’ve been all over this country, from Charlotte to the Bay. And I feel confident in the fact that I’ve developed a foundation for my character that I can be proud of. I know what I believe in, and I know what I stand for.
And I know what I stand against.
But when someone tells me that my stances, or athlete stances in general, are “disrespecting the military” — which has become a popular thing to accuse peaceful protestors of — it’s something that I’m going to take very, very seriously. One of the beliefs that I hold most dear is how proud I am to be an American — and how incredibly thankful I am for our troops. I know how fortunate I am to live in this country, and to do what I do for a living, and to raise my daughters in peace and prosperity. But I also hear from plenty of people who don’t have it nearly as good as I do. Plenty of people who are genuinely struggling in this country. Especially our veterans.
And every single veteran I’ve spoken to, they’ve all said pretty much the exact same thing: That this conversation we’ve started to have in the world of sports … whether it’s been Colin kneeling, or entire NFL teams finding their own ways to show unity, or me saying that I didn’t want to go to the White House — it’s the opposite of disrespectful to them.
A lot of them have said, that even if they don’t totally agree with every position of every person, this is exactly the thing that they fought to preserve: the freedom of every American to express our struggles, our fears, our frustrations, and our dreams for a more equal society.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/stephen-curry-veterans-day/
The Noise
By Stephen Curry
I’m a person who is comfortable in his own skin. I’m 29 now. I’ve got two daughters, a wonderful wife, two amazing parents. I’ve been all over this country, from Charlotte to the Bay. And I feel confident in the fact that I’ve developed a foundation for my character that I can be proud of. I know what I believe in, and I know what I stand for.
And I know what I stand against.
But when someone tells me that my stances, or athlete stances in general, are “disrespecting the military” — which has become a popular thing to accuse peaceful protestors of — it’s something that I’m going to take very, very seriously. One of the beliefs that I hold most dear is how proud I am to be an American — and how incredibly thankful I am for our troops. I know how fortunate I am to live in this country, and to do what I do for a living, and to raise my daughters in peace and prosperity. But I also hear from plenty of people who don’t have it nearly as good as I do. Plenty of people who are genuinely struggling in this country. Especially our veterans.
And every single veteran I’ve spoken to, they’ve all said pretty much the exact same thing: That this conversation we’ve started to have in the world of sports … whether it’s been Colin kneeling, or entire NFL teams finding their own ways to show unity, or me saying that I didn’t want to go to the White House — it’s the opposite of disrespectful to them.
A lot of them have said, that even if they don’t totally agree with every position of every person, this is exactly the thing that they fought to preserve: the freedom of every American to express our struggles, our fears, our frustrations, and our dreams for a more equal society.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/stephen-curry-veterans-day/
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