Monday, January 29, 2018
Petra
As beautiful as these photos are, they don't capture the absolute splendor of this place. It is truly spectacular.
From USA Today -
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/destinations/2018/01/26/petra-jordan-beautiful-photos-of-the-rose-city/109802270/
From USA Today -
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/destinations/2018/01/26/petra-jordan-beautiful-photos-of-the-rose-city/109802270/
Having Fun With Architecture
From CNN -
Mimetic architecture: Why does this building look like a fish?
By Cathy Adams
http://www.cnn.com/style/article/mimetic-architecture-osm/index.html
Mimetic architecture: Why does this building look like a fish?
By Cathy Adams
http://www.cnn.com/style/article/mimetic-architecture-osm/index.html
King Louie
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/animalkind/2018/01/28/cat-so-popular-he-has-over-10-owners/1070343001/
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Friday, January 26, 2018
When the Lifesaving Gadget Puts You In Jail
An excerpt from Gizmodo -
What Happens When the Computer That Keeps You Alive Can Also Put You In Jail?
By Kristen V. Brown
When Ross Compton’s Ohio home caught fire last September, the story he told police was that he grabbed a few things and rushed out of the house, hurling essentials out a bedroom window he broke open with his cane before scrambling out himself.
Police, though, were suspicious. Compton’s few things had included a computer, a suitcase packed with clothes and the charger for the external heart pump that he needed to survive. It seemed unlikely that a 59-year-old man with a pacemaker and a heart pump would have been able to gather all those things and make it out of a burning house alive. But police were stumped on how exactly to make arson charges stick.
In the end, it was his pacemaker that did him in.
After obtaining a search warrant for all the electronic data stored in Compton’s pacemaker, police determined that his device did not corroborate his story. His heart rate, pacer demand and cardiac rhythms all suggested that Compton had not in fact quickly bundled up all his most prized possessions and left in a hurry as his house went up in flames. Last month, with the help of the pacemaker data, he was indicted on charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud.
Privacy issues are moving under our skin—now the devices that keep us alive and healthy can also be used against us in the court of law.
https://gizmodo.com/what-happens-when-the-computer-that-keeps-you-alive-can-1792236550
What Happens When the Computer That Keeps You Alive Can Also Put You In Jail?
By Kristen V. Brown
When Ross Compton’s Ohio home caught fire last September, the story he told police was that he grabbed a few things and rushed out of the house, hurling essentials out a bedroom window he broke open with his cane before scrambling out himself.
Police, though, were suspicious. Compton’s few things had included a computer, a suitcase packed with clothes and the charger for the external heart pump that he needed to survive. It seemed unlikely that a 59-year-old man with a pacemaker and a heart pump would have been able to gather all those things and make it out of a burning house alive. But police were stumped on how exactly to make arson charges stick.
In the end, it was his pacemaker that did him in.
After obtaining a search warrant for all the electronic data stored in Compton’s pacemaker, police determined that his device did not corroborate his story. His heart rate, pacer demand and cardiac rhythms all suggested that Compton had not in fact quickly bundled up all his most prized possessions and left in a hurry as his house went up in flames. Last month, with the help of the pacemaker data, he was indicted on charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud.
Privacy issues are moving under our skin—now the devices that keep us alive and healthy can also be used against us in the court of law.
https://gizmodo.com/what-happens-when-the-computer-that-keeps-you-alive-can-1792236550
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Run, Don't Walk
From Business Insider -
Relationship experts say these are the 8 red flags to look out for when you start dating someone — and some are surprisingly common
By Lindsay Dodgson
http://www.businessinsider.com/relationship-red-flags-you-should-look-out-for-2018-1/#1-you-justify-their-bad-behaviour-1
Relationship experts say these are the 8 red flags to look out for when you start dating someone — and some are surprisingly common
By Lindsay Dodgson
http://www.businessinsider.com/relationship-red-flags-you-should-look-out-for-2018-1/#1-you-justify-their-bad-behaviour-1
Racing For Many
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
From Ghana to Virginia to PyeongChang: Maame Biney’s long journey on short track
By Rick Maese
Biney, 17, is the first African American woman to ever qualify for an American Olympic speedskating team, and at the PyeongChang Games she promises to be one of the most charismatic members of the U.S. Olympic team. Her journey to the Winter Games is like few others. Her father often jokes that in Ghana, ice is used solely to keep beer cold, so his daughter's chosen pursuit might draw some confused looks back in the country of her birth. Even in the United States, short-track speedskating is a niche sport that pokes its head into the mainstream every four years.
But when the PyeongChang Games begin next month in South Korea, the spotlight will find Biney. NBC will make her a focal point in the Olympics' opening week, certain her story will connect with American viewers: the youngest woman on the U.S. short-track team, a possible medal contender who can connect with youth, with African Americans, with sports fans of all backgrounds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/classic-apps/from-ghana-to-virginia-to-pyeongchang-maame-bineys-long-journey-on-short-track/2018/01/23/206aa13a-fa29-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.abb48b5f99a9
From Ghana to Virginia to PyeongChang: Maame Biney’s long journey on short track
By Rick Maese
Biney, 17, is the first African American woman to ever qualify for an American Olympic speedskating team, and at the PyeongChang Games she promises to be one of the most charismatic members of the U.S. Olympic team. Her journey to the Winter Games is like few others. Her father often jokes that in Ghana, ice is used solely to keep beer cold, so his daughter's chosen pursuit might draw some confused looks back in the country of her birth. Even in the United States, short-track speedskating is a niche sport that pokes its head into the mainstream every four years.
But when the PyeongChang Games begin next month in South Korea, the spotlight will find Biney. NBC will make her a focal point in the Olympics' opening week, certain her story will connect with American viewers: the youngest woman on the U.S. short-track team, a possible medal contender who can connect with youth, with African Americans, with sports fans of all backgrounds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/classic-apps/from-ghana-to-virginia-to-pyeongchang-maame-bineys-long-journey-on-short-track/2018/01/23/206aa13a-fa29-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.abb48b5f99a9
Sharing Kindness
From Buzzfeed -
People Are Sharing The Kindest Things Strangers Have Ever Done For Them And The Stories Will Warm Your Heart
You never know what a big difference a little kindness can make.
By Julie Gerstein
https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliegerstein/people-are-sharing-the-kindest-things-strangers-have-ever?utm_term=.xgZN2Eyx3#.byZNb7ZqB
People Are Sharing The Kindest Things Strangers Have Ever Done For Them And The Stories Will Warm Your Heart
You never know what a big difference a little kindness can make.
By Julie Gerstein
https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliegerstein/people-are-sharing-the-kindest-things-strangers-have-ever?utm_term=.xgZN2Eyx3#.byZNb7ZqB
No Sh*t Sherlock
An excerpt from the Slatest -
Report: Tourism to the U.S. Down 4 Percent Since Trump Took Office
By MOLLY OLMSTEAD
Travel to the U.S. has been declining since Donald Trump took office, leading to a cost of $4.6 billion in spending and 40,000 jobs, according to NBC News.
A report by the National Travel and Tourism Office found that last year saw 4 percent less travel into the U.S., translating into 3.3 percent less spending, NBC reported. As a result, Spain has overtaken the U.S. as the second-most visited country in the world after France.
This “Trump Slump” in part stems from the president’s anti-immigration language. More intense security and a weaker dollar likely also played a role.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/donald-trump-hurting-us-tourism-according-to-report.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=traffic&utm_source=TheSlatest_newsletter&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d
Report: Tourism to the U.S. Down 4 Percent Since Trump Took Office
By MOLLY OLMSTEAD
Travel to the U.S. has been declining since Donald Trump took office, leading to a cost of $4.6 billion in spending and 40,000 jobs, according to NBC News.
A report by the National Travel and Tourism Office found that last year saw 4 percent less travel into the U.S., translating into 3.3 percent less spending, NBC reported. As a result, Spain has overtaken the U.S. as the second-most visited country in the world after France.
This “Trump Slump” in part stems from the president’s anti-immigration language. More intense security and a weaker dollar likely also played a role.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/donald-trump-hurting-us-tourism-according-to-report.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=traffic&utm_source=TheSlatest_newsletter&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d
New Oral HIV Test
An excerpt from 2Paragraphs -
Stanford Scientists Develop New Oral HIV Test for Early Detection
by 2Paragraphs in Daily Edition
Getting blood from a potentially infected person is not as easy as getting saliva. Let’s start there. Many people and cultures resist syringes — and drawing blood, even for those who don’t resist on principle, is a more cumbersome process than collecting spit in a cup. Problem is: it’s a lot easier to detect early stage HIV in blood than in saliva. While the antibodies that develop to fight the virus are hard to miss in a blood sample, in a saliva sample it’s less easy to detect HIV antibodies. (Fewer HIV antibodies are present in saliva, especially near the beginning of the infection.) Enter Stanford University chemists, working with the Alameda County Public Health Laboratory. The chemists, led by Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi, developed a way to get those HIV antibodies in saliva to act in a way that made them detectable.
https://2paragraphs.com/2018/01/stanford-scientists-develop-new-oral-hiv-test-for-early-detection/
Stanford Scientists Develop New Oral HIV Test for Early Detection
by 2Paragraphs in Daily Edition
 |
| Oraquick, an oral HIV test on the market today (photo by Marcello Casal JR/ABr via Wikimedia Commons) |
Getting blood from a potentially infected person is not as easy as getting saliva. Let’s start there. Many people and cultures resist syringes — and drawing blood, even for those who don’t resist on principle, is a more cumbersome process than collecting spit in a cup. Problem is: it’s a lot easier to detect early stage HIV in blood than in saliva. While the antibodies that develop to fight the virus are hard to miss in a blood sample, in a saliva sample it’s less easy to detect HIV antibodies. (Fewer HIV antibodies are present in saliva, especially near the beginning of the infection.) Enter Stanford University chemists, working with the Alameda County Public Health Laboratory. The chemists, led by Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi, developed a way to get those HIV antibodies in saliva to act in a way that made them detectable.
https://2paragraphs.com/2018/01/stanford-scientists-develop-new-oral-hiv-test-for-early-detection/
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Monday, January 22, 2018
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Magnificent Rocks
From National Geographic -
Magnificent Ancient Buildings Hewn From Living Rock
From towering temples to artistic tombs, humans have been carving structures from cliff faces and mountainsides for thousands of years.
By Kristin Romey
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2018/01/structures-carved-from-rock/
Magnificent Ancient Buildings Hewn From Living Rock
From towering temples to artistic tombs, humans have been carving structures from cliff faces and mountainsides for thousands of years.
By Kristin Romey
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2018/01/structures-carved-from-rock/
An Aussie Winner
"I feel really happy but kind of sorry, because I know all of you wanted Ash to win!"— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2018
A very classy interview after a very classy performance. On @Naomi_Osaka_ goes! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/U5XOs7OefK
https://www.essence.com/celebrity/tennis-haitian-japanese-naomi-osaka
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Black Appalachians
Affrilachians: The FSA Photography of Ben Shahn & Marion Post Wolcott
http://johnedwinmason.typepad.com/john_edwin_mason_photogra/2014/02/shahn-wolcott-affrilachian.html
http://johnedwinmason.typepad.com/john_edwin_mason_photogra/2014/02/shahn-wolcott-affrilachian.html
Friday, January 19, 2018
U.S.A. For Africa - We Are the World
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/we-are-the-world-a-minute-by-minute-breakdown-30th-anniversary-20150306
Racist-in-Chief
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Racist-In-Chief Or Commander-In-Chief? You Can’t Be Both, Mr. Trump.
By Jamil Smith
Can a person perform these kinds of racist acts and still function as president of the United States in today’s day and age? How much does trying to bring about a white ethno-state get in the way of doing the actual job? Can you be the birther-in-chief and still be effective as the commander-in-chief? No.
Governing as an open racist certainly isn’t as easy for Trump as it may have been for his hero, Andrew Jackson. Two things stand in his way: the pragmatic functions of the job, and the reality of the country he governs.
These are questions about effectiveness, not sentiment. It’s important that we have a president who functions well, no matter the party, and being a leader who acts like Trump does has proven consequences. He gets in his own way: Courts have blocked his orders, including his efforts to cancel DACA and enact his beloved Muslim ban, thanks to his biased statements. Eleven inmates at Guantanamo are making a similar argument now, since Trump has said he never wants anyone to be released. But even in a systemically racist nation, does racist behavior make the job harder?
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-smith-trump-racist_us_5a59099fe4b03c4189657024
Racist-In-Chief Or Commander-In-Chief? You Can’t Be Both, Mr. Trump.
By Jamil Smith
Can a person perform these kinds of racist acts and still function as president of the United States in today’s day and age? How much does trying to bring about a white ethno-state get in the way of doing the actual job? Can you be the birther-in-chief and still be effective as the commander-in-chief? No.
Governing as an open racist certainly isn’t as easy for Trump as it may have been for his hero, Andrew Jackson. Two things stand in his way: the pragmatic functions of the job, and the reality of the country he governs.
These are questions about effectiveness, not sentiment. It’s important that we have a president who functions well, no matter the party, and being a leader who acts like Trump does has proven consequences. He gets in his own way: Courts have blocked his orders, including his efforts to cancel DACA and enact his beloved Muslim ban, thanks to his biased statements. Eleven inmates at Guantanamo are making a similar argument now, since Trump has said he never wants anyone to be released. But even in a systemically racist nation, does racist behavior make the job harder?
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-smith-trump-racist_us_5a59099fe4b03c4189657024
Sniffing Out Diseases
An excerpt from National Geographic -
You Can Smell When Someone's Sick—Here's How
The curious case of a woman who can smell Parkinson’s reminds us our noses are our first defense against illness.
By Erika Engelhaupt
Recently, the case of the woman who can smell Parkinson’s brought attention to the idea of sniffing for disease. Parkinson’s is notoriously tricky to diagnose; by the time most people learn they have it, they’ve already lost half of the dopamine-producing brain cells the disease attacks. But about six years before her husband Les was diagnosed, Joy Milne noticed that he smelled odd.
Les had a “sort of woody, musky odor,” Milne told the Telegraph. Years later, in a room full of Parkinson’s patients, she realized the smell wasn’t unique to Les. All the people with Parkinson’s smelled that way.
She mentioned it to a Parkinson’s researcher in Edinburgh named Tilo Kunath, who mentioned it to his colleague, analytical chemist Perdita Barran. They decided the well-meaning Mrs. Milne may have just noticed the characteristic smell of old people; “We talked ourselves out of it,” Barran says.
That could have been the end of it. But another biochemist encouraged the pair to track Milne down and try a blind T-shirt test: She sniffed six sweaty tees from people diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and six from healthy controls. Milne correctly identified which six had Parkinson’s, but she also tagged one of the control subjects as having the disease.
Despite that error, Barran was intrigued—all the more so eight months later, when the same supposedly healthy control subject Milne had identified was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/smell-sickness-parkinsons-disease-health-science/
You Can Smell When Someone's Sick—Here's How
The curious case of a woman who can smell Parkinson’s reminds us our noses are our first defense against illness.
By Erika Engelhaupt
Recently, the case of the woman who can smell Parkinson’s brought attention to the idea of sniffing for disease. Parkinson’s is notoriously tricky to diagnose; by the time most people learn they have it, they’ve already lost half of the dopamine-producing brain cells the disease attacks. But about six years before her husband Les was diagnosed, Joy Milne noticed that he smelled odd.
Les had a “sort of woody, musky odor,” Milne told the Telegraph. Years later, in a room full of Parkinson’s patients, she realized the smell wasn’t unique to Les. All the people with Parkinson’s smelled that way.
She mentioned it to a Parkinson’s researcher in Edinburgh named Tilo Kunath, who mentioned it to his colleague, analytical chemist Perdita Barran. They decided the well-meaning Mrs. Milne may have just noticed the characteristic smell of old people; “We talked ourselves out of it,” Barran says.
That could have been the end of it. But another biochemist encouraged the pair to track Milne down and try a blind T-shirt test: She sniffed six sweaty tees from people diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and six from healthy controls. Milne correctly identified which six had Parkinson’s, but she also tagged one of the control subjects as having the disease.
Despite that error, Barran was intrigued—all the more so eight months later, when the same supposedly healthy control subject Milne had identified was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/smell-sickness-parkinsons-disease-health-science/
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Repurposing Roadkill
Excerpts from the Atlas Obscura -
How Alaska’s Roadkill Gets a Second Life as Dinner
A unique system turns moose killed in collisions into meals.
BY MARK HAY
But in the ‘70s, Alaska developed a clever system to turn this burden into a boon: The state created a roadkill salvage program. In this system, the state contacts citizens and charities every time a trooper finds or is alerted to a big animal dead on the road. Soon thereafter, these groups and individuals swoop in, spirit the corpses away, and turn them into hundreds of thousands of pounds of edible meat every year. In theory, this lean red flesh is as versatile as beef, but it’s typically hacked into stew chuck or ground down for use in burgers and sausages. Game meats, which are wiry to start with and ever tougher with age, benefit from being being broken up and mixed with their own fat.
~~~~~~~~~~
Salvaging roadside moose probably wasn’t a radical or challenging idea in 1970s Alaska. People familiar with game meats, as many in the state were and are, know how to tell when an animal is diseased or when meat’s been corrupted by heat, time, or damage to internal organs. With that knowledge, roadkill isn’t disgusting or dangerous. It is, as Buck Peterson, a longtime writer on American “cuisine de asphalt,” puts it, “a gift.”
That’s especially true for moose. Though it’s not sold in supermarkets, moose is widely coveted and consumed in Alaska, with local hunters harvesting and divvying up millions of pounds of flesh every year. And even one good animal can feed one man for about a year. “Everybody sees the value in 200 to 400 pounds of high-quality, edible meat,” says Del Frate. Especially in a state with high (and rising) food insecurity, no one wants to waste that resource.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/moose-salvage-network-alaska
How Alaska’s Roadkill Gets a Second Life as Dinner
A unique system turns moose killed in collisions into meals.
BY MARK HAY
But in the ‘70s, Alaska developed a clever system to turn this burden into a boon: The state created a roadkill salvage program. In this system, the state contacts citizens and charities every time a trooper finds or is alerted to a big animal dead on the road. Soon thereafter, these groups and individuals swoop in, spirit the corpses away, and turn them into hundreds of thousands of pounds of edible meat every year. In theory, this lean red flesh is as versatile as beef, but it’s typically hacked into stew chuck or ground down for use in burgers and sausages. Game meats, which are wiry to start with and ever tougher with age, benefit from being being broken up and mixed with their own fat.
~~~~~~~~~~
Salvaging roadside moose probably wasn’t a radical or challenging idea in 1970s Alaska. People familiar with game meats, as many in the state were and are, know how to tell when an animal is diseased or when meat’s been corrupted by heat, time, or damage to internal organs. With that knowledge, roadkill isn’t disgusting or dangerous. It is, as Buck Peterson, a longtime writer on American “cuisine de asphalt,” puts it, “a gift.”
That’s especially true for moose. Though it’s not sold in supermarkets, moose is widely coveted and consumed in Alaska, with local hunters harvesting and divvying up millions of pounds of flesh every year. And even one good animal can feed one man for about a year. “Everybody sees the value in 200 to 400 pounds of high-quality, edible meat,” says Del Frate. Especially in a state with high (and rising) food insecurity, no one wants to waste that resource.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/moose-salvage-network-alaska
History Lesson
An excerpt from the Atlas Obscura -
Who Really Designed the American Dime?
The controversy that has long roiled the coin world.
BY CHRISTINA DJOSSA
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you looked—really looked—at a dime? It is the smallest coin in U.S. circulation, so it takes a keen eye to see the very subtle “JS” just beneath Franklin D. Roosevelt’s truncated neck. These are the initials of John Sinnock, the U.S. Mint’s Chief Engraver from 1925 to 1947, who is credited with sculpting the profile of the 32nd president. However, institutions such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum—and even Roosevelt’s son—credit another sculptor with inspiring the design: Selma Burke, the illustrious Harlem Renaissance sculptor. So where is credit due? The answer is … complicated.
In 1943, 43-year-old Selma Burke won a Commission of Fine Arts competition and a rare opportunity to sculpt the president’s likeness for the new Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington, D.C. Burke, renowned for her Booker T. Washington bust, ran into some problems, since she didn’t feel that photographs captured Roosevelt’s stature. So the sculptor wrote to the White House to request a live-sketch session. The administration, to her utter shock, agreed.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/who-designed-american-dime-selma-burke-franklin-roosevelt
Who Really Designed the American Dime?
The controversy that has long roiled the coin world.
BY CHRISTINA DJOSSA
 |
| Selma Burke won a competition to create a relief sculpture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1943. JOHN W. MOSLEY PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION, CHARLES L. BLOCKSON AFRO-AMERICAN COLLECTION, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, PHILADELPHIA, PA |
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you looked—really looked—at a dime? It is the smallest coin in U.S. circulation, so it takes a keen eye to see the very subtle “JS” just beneath Franklin D. Roosevelt’s truncated neck. These are the initials of John Sinnock, the U.S. Mint’s Chief Engraver from 1925 to 1947, who is credited with sculpting the profile of the 32nd president. However, institutions such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum—and even Roosevelt’s son—credit another sculptor with inspiring the design: Selma Burke, the illustrious Harlem Renaissance sculptor. So where is credit due? The answer is … complicated.
In 1943, 43-year-old Selma Burke won a Commission of Fine Arts competition and a rare opportunity to sculpt the president’s likeness for the new Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington, D.C. Burke, renowned for her Booker T. Washington bust, ran into some problems, since she didn’t feel that photographs captured Roosevelt’s stature. So the sculptor wrote to the White House to request a live-sketch session. The administration, to her utter shock, agreed.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/who-designed-american-dime-selma-burke-franklin-roosevelt
A Knitted Village
From Atlas Obscura -
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/entire-northern-ireland-village-knitted-wool-crochet-cloughmills-county-antrim
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/entire-northern-ireland-village-knitted-wool-crochet-cloughmills-county-antrim
A Guide to Buying Appliances
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Buying an appliance? Here’s how to get the best bargain.
By Kevin Brasler
Fortunately, Checkbook has identified some area stores that usually serve their customers well, and by using our simple shopping tips you’ll pay the lowest prices.
To help you separate the good stores from the not-so-good ones, through a special arrangement, Washington Post readers can access Checkbook’s ratings of local appliance stores free through Feb. 16 by visiting checkbook.org/WashingtonPost/Appliances.
Start by deciding on the models you wish to buy. There are a few excellent sources that provide independent buying advice. Consumer Reports regularly evaluates appliances on quality issues, including reliability, and offers advice on the pros and cons of configurations, designs, features and options. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Star program provides lists and energy-usage data on certified appliances.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2018/01/16/buying-an-appliance-heres-how-to-get-the-best-bargain/?utm_term=.af7f2be60bb1
Buying an appliance? Here’s how to get the best bargain.
By Kevin Brasler
Fortunately, Checkbook has identified some area stores that usually serve their customers well, and by using our simple shopping tips you’ll pay the lowest prices.
To help you separate the good stores from the not-so-good ones, through a special arrangement, Washington Post readers can access Checkbook’s ratings of local appliance stores free through Feb. 16 by visiting checkbook.org/WashingtonPost/Appliances.
Start by deciding on the models you wish to buy. There are a few excellent sources that provide independent buying advice. Consumer Reports regularly evaluates appliances on quality issues, including reliability, and offers advice on the pros and cons of configurations, designs, features and options. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Star program provides lists and energy-usage data on certified appliances.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2018/01/16/buying-an-appliance-heres-how-to-get-the-best-bargain/?utm_term=.af7f2be60bb1
Calculating the Cost of College
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
These 31 colleges — including Yale — are now using a fast and easy financial aid calculator
By Nick Anderson
When his two sons were growing up, a college professor named Phillip Levine found himself 10 years ago asking a question on the minds of parents perennially worried about the price of higher education: Would they qualify for financial aid?
Levine, a Wellesley College economist, was frustrated to learn there were no easy answers beyond the scary sticker prices and pledges from certain colleges that they would meet the need of students they admit.
“How can you expect people to make educated decisions about the right thing to do when they have absolutely no idea what the cost is?” Levine said. “It’s crazy.”
So Levine set out to build a tool that would provide some quick and reliable answers. On Wednesday, Yale University and 15 other schools announced that they would use a version of his calculator now known as MyinTuition. (Get it?) That brought the total involved in his nonprofit initiative to 31, including Wellesley, which in 2013 became the first to use Levine’s calculator.
https://myintuition.org
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/01/17/these-31-colleges-including-yale-are-now-using-a-fast-and-easy-financial-aid-calculator/?utm_term=.ef099048b5b5
These 31 colleges — including Yale — are now using a fast and easy financial aid calculator
By Nick Anderson
When his two sons were growing up, a college professor named Phillip Levine found himself 10 years ago asking a question on the minds of parents perennially worried about the price of higher education: Would they qualify for financial aid?
Levine, a Wellesley College economist, was frustrated to learn there were no easy answers beyond the scary sticker prices and pledges from certain colleges that they would meet the need of students they admit.
“How can you expect people to make educated decisions about the right thing to do when they have absolutely no idea what the cost is?” Levine said. “It’s crazy.”
So Levine set out to build a tool that would provide some quick and reliable answers. On Wednesday, Yale University and 15 other schools announced that they would use a version of his calculator now known as MyinTuition. (Get it?) That brought the total involved in his nonprofit initiative to 31, including Wellesley, which in 2013 became the first to use Levine’s calculator.
https://myintuition.org
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/01/17/these-31-colleges-including-yale-are-now-using-a-fast-and-easy-financial-aid-calculator/?utm_term=.ef099048b5b5
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Pot Docs Making a Positive Impact
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
A family of doctors helps reinvent medical marijuana
By Justin Wm. Moyer
The Knoxes are a clan of four doctors living in Oregon and California who specialize in medical marijuana. They seem to be doing quite well selling something that is illegal in many states, working with those they know best.
“We’re all fighting the same fight,” said Janice Knox, the founding doctor behind American Cannabinoid Clinics in Portland, Ore. — and the mother of two fellow physicians and the wife of the other. “I think when they do see us they’re surprised at who we are,” she said of her patients. The family aims for something not always associated with medical marijuana: professionalism.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-family-of-doctors-helps-reinvent-medical-marijuana/2018/01/14/f4ea320e-eb24-11e7-b698-91d4e35920a3_story.html?utm_term=.8046c338e4f7
A family of doctors helps reinvent medical marijuana
By Justin Wm. Moyer
 |
| From left, physicians David Knox, Rachel Knox, Janice Knox and Jessica Knox are the founders of the American Cannabinoid Clinics. (Amanda Lucier/for The Washington Post) |
The Knoxes are a clan of four doctors living in Oregon and California who specialize in medical marijuana. They seem to be doing quite well selling something that is illegal in many states, working with those they know best.
“We’re all fighting the same fight,” said Janice Knox, the founding doctor behind American Cannabinoid Clinics in Portland, Ore. — and the mother of two fellow physicians and the wife of the other. “I think when they do see us they’re surprised at who we are,” she said of her patients. The family aims for something not always associated with medical marijuana: professionalism.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-family-of-doctors-helps-reinvent-medical-marijuana/2018/01/14/f4ea320e-eb24-11e7-b698-91d4e35920a3_story.html?utm_term=.8046c338e4f7
Monday, January 15, 2018
Declared Dead
An excerpt from LiveScience -
Man Declared Dead Snores to Life Right Before His Autopsy
By Rachael Rettner
A man in Spain who was declared dead by three doctors was actually still alive, which doctors discovered only when he began snoring on the autopsy table, according to news reports.
The man, 29-year-old Gonzalo Montoya Jiménez, was a prisoner at a jail in northern Spain. He was found unconscious in his cell on Sunday (Jan. 7), and was believed to be dead, according to the Spanish news outlet La Voz de Asturias. Three forensic doctors allegedly examined Jiménez and certified his death.
But 4 hours later, right before Jiménez's autopsy, he was heard making noises on the autopsy table, and was found to still be alive. This discovery was not a moment too soon — Jiménez's body even had the marks painted on it to guide the autopsy, a family member told La Voz de Asturias.
https://www.livescience.com/61385-man-declared-dead-really-alive.html?ftag=CNM-00-10aac3a
Man Declared Dead Snores to Life Right Before His Autopsy
By Rachael Rettner
A man in Spain who was declared dead by three doctors was actually still alive, which doctors discovered only when he began snoring on the autopsy table, according to news reports.
The man, 29-year-old Gonzalo Montoya Jiménez, was a prisoner at a jail in northern Spain. He was found unconscious in his cell on Sunday (Jan. 7), and was believed to be dead, according to the Spanish news outlet La Voz de Asturias. Three forensic doctors allegedly examined Jiménez and certified his death.
But 4 hours later, right before Jiménez's autopsy, he was heard making noises on the autopsy table, and was found to still be alive. This discovery was not a moment too soon — Jiménez's body even had the marks painted on it to guide the autopsy, a family member told La Voz de Asturias.
https://www.livescience.com/61385-man-declared-dead-really-alive.html?ftag=CNM-00-10aac3a
Spectacular Bridges
From USA Today -
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/destinations/10greatplaces/2018/01/11/the-worlds-most-spectacular-new-bridges/109361156/
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/destinations/10greatplaces/2018/01/11/the-worlds-most-spectacular-new-bridges/109361156/
Most Innovative Companies
From USA Today -
The world’s 50 most innovative companies
Samuel Stebbins
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2018/01/12/worlds-50-most-innovative-companies/1023095001/
The world’s 50 most innovative companies
Samuel Stebbins
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2018/01/12/worlds-50-most-innovative-companies/1023095001/
Honored for His Bravery
An excerpt from Slate -
ACLU Honors Colin Kaepernick For Bravery in “Risking and Losing His Job” for the Cause of Social Justice
By Jeremy Stahl
BEVERLY HILLS, California—Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was a surprise honoree at the ACLU of Southern California’s annual "Bill of Rights Dinner" on Sunday, receiving the Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award.
Kaepernick, whose public speaking appearances have been rare in recent months, remained unsigned this year after he spent last season protesting racial inequities in the criminal justice system by taking a knee during the national anthem.
“Our next honoree took a stand. He took a stand knowing he would risk his job. And he has lost his job, one that he loved and was supremely talented and skilled at,” executive director of the ACLU of Southern California, Hector Villagra, told a packed ballroom at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “He took a stand knowing that some would criticize him and he has been viciously and unfairly criticized.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/12/03/aclu_honors_colin_kaepernick_for_bravery_in_risking_and_losing_his_job_for.html
ACLU Honors Colin Kaepernick For Bravery in “Risking and Losing His Job” for the Cause of Social Justice
By Jeremy Stahl
BEVERLY HILLS, California—Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was a surprise honoree at the ACLU of Southern California’s annual "Bill of Rights Dinner" on Sunday, receiving the Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award.
Kaepernick, whose public speaking appearances have been rare in recent months, remained unsigned this year after he spent last season protesting racial inequities in the criminal justice system by taking a knee during the national anthem.
“Our next honoree took a stand. He took a stand knowing he would risk his job. And he has lost his job, one that he loved and was supremely talented and skilled at,” executive director of the ACLU of Southern California, Hector Villagra, told a packed ballroom at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “He took a stand knowing that some would criticize him and he has been viciously and unfairly criticized.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/12/03/aclu_honors_colin_kaepernick_for_bravery_in_risking_and_losing_his_job_for.html
Making a Difference
An excerpt from OZY -
MINORITY ENTREPRENEURS STRUGGLE TO GET BUSINESS LOANS. THIS FUND AIMS TO FIX THAT
By Laura Elizabeth
Bennett says she’s proof the EOCF works. A quick cash injection helped her say yes to the arena project, bring on workers and deliver the job. “Being able to do that one project teleported us to a whole different level,” she says now. “We are getting looked at by contractors that wouldn’t have known who we were two years ago. And we are looking at bigger and better opportunities that we would never have been able to consider before.”
The EOCF has been deemed such a success — with $4.5 million loaned to more than 40 minority entrepreneurs since it launched in 2015 — that the fund has lately attracted new investors and tripled from $6.5 million to $18 million. Based on the Detroit model, similar funds will be introduced to San Francisco and New York this year.
But the problem the fund wants to solve goes far beyond a handful of cities. A 2016 report from the Hamilton Project, which studies fiscal policy, called for better federal funding to help minority and women entrepreneurs nationwide, arguing this could help resolve major social injustices.
http://www.ozy.com/acumen/minority-entrepreneurs-struggle-to-get-business-loans-this-fund-aims-to-fix-that/83095?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01152018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
MINORITY ENTREPRENEURS STRUGGLE TO GET BUSINESS LOANS. THIS FUND AIMS TO FIX THAT
By Laura Elizabeth
Bennett says she’s proof the EOCF works. A quick cash injection helped her say yes to the arena project, bring on workers and deliver the job. “Being able to do that one project teleported us to a whole different level,” she says now. “We are getting looked at by contractors that wouldn’t have known who we were two years ago. And we are looking at bigger and better opportunities that we would never have been able to consider before.”
The EOCF has been deemed such a success — with $4.5 million loaned to more than 40 minority entrepreneurs since it launched in 2015 — that the fund has lately attracted new investors and tripled from $6.5 million to $18 million. Based on the Detroit model, similar funds will be introduced to San Francisco and New York this year.
But the problem the fund wants to solve goes far beyond a handful of cities. A 2016 report from the Hamilton Project, which studies fiscal policy, called for better federal funding to help minority and women entrepreneurs nationwide, arguing this could help resolve major social injustices.
http://www.ozy.com/acumen/minority-entrepreneurs-struggle-to-get-business-loans-this-fund-aims-to-fix-that/83095?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01152018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Yes. Of Course He Is.
Excerpts from the NY Times -
Trump Is a Racist. Period.
By Charles M. Blow
Racism is simply the belief that race is an inherent and determining factor in a person’s or a people’s character and capabilities, rendering some inferior and others superior. These beliefs are racial prejudices.
The history of America is one in which white people used racism and white supremacy to develop a racial caste system that advantaged them and disadvantaged others.
Understanding this, it is not a stretch to understand that Donald Trump’s words and deeds over the course of his life have demonstrated a pattern of expressing racial prejudices that demean people who are black and brown and that play to the racial hostilities of other white people.
~~~~~~~~~~
As the brilliant James Baldwin once put it: “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.” When I see that in poll after poll a portion of Trump’s base continues to support his behavior, including on race, I can only conclude that there is no real daylight between Trump and his base. They are part of his racism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/14/opinion/trump-racist-shithole.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Trump Is a Racist. Period.
By Charles M. Blow
Racism is simply the belief that race is an inherent and determining factor in a person’s or a people’s character and capabilities, rendering some inferior and others superior. These beliefs are racial prejudices.
The history of America is one in which white people used racism and white supremacy to develop a racial caste system that advantaged them and disadvantaged others.
Understanding this, it is not a stretch to understand that Donald Trump’s words and deeds over the course of his life have demonstrated a pattern of expressing racial prejudices that demean people who are black and brown and that play to the racial hostilities of other white people.
~~~~~~~~~~
As the brilliant James Baldwin once put it: “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.” When I see that in poll after poll a portion of Trump’s base continues to support his behavior, including on race, I can only conclude that there is no real daylight between Trump and his base. They are part of his racism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/14/opinion/trump-racist-shithole.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Martin & Malcolm
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Martin Luther King Jr. met Malcolm X just once. The photo still haunts us with what was lost.
By DeNeen L. Brown
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X met only once. On March 26, 1964, the two black leaders were on Capitol Hill, attending Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
King was stepping out of a news conference, when Malcolm X, dressed in an elegant black overcoat and wearing his signature horn-rimmed glasses, greeted him.
“Well, Malcolm, good to see you,” King said.
“Good to see you,” Malcolm X replied.
Cameras clicked as the two men walked down the Senate hall together.
“I’m throwing myself into the heart of the civil rights struggle,” Malcolm X told King.
King would say later: “He is very articulate, but I totally disagree with many of his political and philosophical views — at least insofar as I understand where he now stands.”
The exchange would last only a minute, but the photo remains a haunting reminder of what was lost. They would never meet again before each was assassinated, first Malcolm X and then King.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/14/martin-luther-king-jr-met-malcolm-x-just-once-the-photo-still-haunts-us-with-what-was-lost/?utm_term=.cf7036b7132f&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Martin Luther King Jr. met Malcolm X just once. The photo still haunts us with what was lost.
By DeNeen L. Brown
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X met only once. On March 26, 1964, the two black leaders were on Capitol Hill, attending Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
King was stepping out of a news conference, when Malcolm X, dressed in an elegant black overcoat and wearing his signature horn-rimmed glasses, greeted him.
“Well, Malcolm, good to see you,” King said.
“Good to see you,” Malcolm X replied.
Cameras clicked as the two men walked down the Senate hall together.
“I’m throwing myself into the heart of the civil rights struggle,” Malcolm X told King.
King would say later: “He is very articulate, but I totally disagree with many of his political and philosophical views — at least insofar as I understand where he now stands.”
The exchange would last only a minute, but the photo remains a haunting reminder of what was lost. They would never meet again before each was assassinated, first Malcolm X and then King.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/14/martin-luther-king-jr-met-malcolm-x-just-once-the-photo-still-haunts-us-with-what-was-lost/?utm_term=.cf7036b7132f&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Franklin's Debut
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Guess Who’s Coming to ‘Peanuts’
By DAVID KAMP
“Is this your beach ball?” These were the first words spoken by Franklin, addressing Charlie Brown as the latter stared glumly out to sea. And this is how Charles M. Schulz integrated his comic strip, “Peanuts,” on July 31, 1968. Franklin’s initial three-strip arc unfolded quietly and gently, with the boys building a sand castle together while chatting.
Franklin stayed quiet and gentle, taking his place in the “Peanuts” gang as a steady but low-key presence over the next three decades — sometimes to the chagrin of African-Americans who found him to be anodyne at best and a token at worst. In a 1992 “Saturday Night Live” routine, Chris Rock complained, comically but pointedly, that Mr. Schulz had deprived Franklin of the kind of signature traits he had assigned the other “Peanuts” kids.
“Linus got the blanket, Lucy’s a bitch, Schroeder plays the piano, Peppermint Patty’s a lesbian,” Mr. Rock said. “Everybody got their thing except Franklin! Give him something! Damn, give him a Jamaican accent!”
Yet Franklin’s careful rollout and nice-guy equanimity were very much by design, as “50 Years of Franklin,” a new exhibition at the Charles M. Schulz Museum, in Santa Rosa, Calif., reveals. The exhibition opens this weekend in conjunction with the observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday on Monday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/opinion/sunday/peanuts-franklin-charlie-brown.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share&_r=0
Guess Who’s Coming to ‘Peanuts’
By DAVID KAMP
“Is this your beach ball?” These were the first words spoken by Franklin, addressing Charlie Brown as the latter stared glumly out to sea. And this is how Charles M. Schulz integrated his comic strip, “Peanuts,” on July 31, 1968. Franklin’s initial three-strip arc unfolded quietly and gently, with the boys building a sand castle together while chatting.
Franklin stayed quiet and gentle, taking his place in the “Peanuts” gang as a steady but low-key presence over the next three decades — sometimes to the chagrin of African-Americans who found him to be anodyne at best and a token at worst. In a 1992 “Saturday Night Live” routine, Chris Rock complained, comically but pointedly, that Mr. Schulz had deprived Franklin of the kind of signature traits he had assigned the other “Peanuts” kids.
“Linus got the blanket, Lucy’s a bitch, Schroeder plays the piano, Peppermint Patty’s a lesbian,” Mr. Rock said. “Everybody got their thing except Franklin! Give him something! Damn, give him a Jamaican accent!”
Yet Franklin’s careful rollout and nice-guy equanimity were very much by design, as “50 Years of Franklin,” a new exhibition at the Charles M. Schulz Museum, in Santa Rosa, Calif., reveals. The exhibition opens this weekend in conjunction with the observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday on Monday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/opinion/sunday/peanuts-franklin-charlie-brown.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share&_r=0
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