Saturday, April 7, 2018
Friday, April 6, 2018
HBCU vs PWI
An excerpt from VerySmartBrothas -
Black-ish Explores the Decision Between Attending an HBCU or a PWI That So Many of Us Had to Make
By Panama Jackson
Now, back then, despite wanting to go to Michigan, I didn’t realize that by deciding to go to Morehouse, I was making the best and probably most significant decision of my life. But since graduating, I absolutely feel that way.
While I suppose I don’t really know what I missed, I can’t imagine that my college experience could have been any better than it was at an HBCU, Morehouse in particular. While life lessons and lasting friendships are probably common to most college experiences, the celebration of and validation of blackness is something I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have gotten at Michigan—a fine school, no doubt, but totally different.
I walked out of Morehouse more confident in who I was than I ever had been, with an unshakable pride and belief in myself and the awesomeness that comes along with blackness. I’m glad I chose Morehouse over any “better” school, even the ones that are ranked higher and deemed better by black and nonblack people alike.
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/black-ish-explores-the-decision-between-attending-an-hb-1824991042?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-05
Black-ish Explores the Decision Between Attending an HBCU or a PWI That So Many of Us Had to Make
By Panama Jackson
Now, back then, despite wanting to go to Michigan, I didn’t realize that by deciding to go to Morehouse, I was making the best and probably most significant decision of my life. But since graduating, I absolutely feel that way.
While I suppose I don’t really know what I missed, I can’t imagine that my college experience could have been any better than it was at an HBCU, Morehouse in particular. While life lessons and lasting friendships are probably common to most college experiences, the celebration of and validation of blackness is something I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have gotten at Michigan—a fine school, no doubt, but totally different.
I walked out of Morehouse more confident in who I was than I ever had been, with an unshakable pride and belief in myself and the awesomeness that comes along with blackness. I’m glad I chose Morehouse over any “better” school, even the ones that are ranked higher and deemed better by black and nonblack people alike.
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/black-ish-explores-the-decision-between-attending-an-hb-1824991042?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-05
Thursday, April 5, 2018
There Must Be Blood
An excerpt from the Root -
The Whitewashing of Martin Luther King Jr.
By Michael Harriot
Abraham Lincoln was disliked by many Americans when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. John F. Kennedy only had a 58 percent approval rating when he was killed in 1963. People even lined the streets to hurl insults at the man called Jesus of Nazareth as he carried the cross on which he would eventually be crucified—which brings us to the most important ingredient in the making of a martyr:
There must be blood.
This week, America will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the most famous and beloved civil rights leader in the nation’s history. Lost in the remembrance of the death of our nation’s most heralded warrior for social justice is the fact that—at the time of his death—King was a man in exile.
Contrary to popular belief, when King died, he was not an icon of freedom and equality. In fact, most of the country disliked him. Sadly, on April 4, 1968, a bullet splattered bits of Martin Luther King Jr.’s brains and blood across the balcony of Memphis, Tenn.’s Lorraine Motel.
Then, and only then, was white America ready to make him a hero.
https://www.theroot.com/from-most-hated-to-american-hero-the-whitewashing-of-m-1824258876?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-04
The Whitewashing of Martin Luther King Jr.
By Michael Harriot
Abraham Lincoln was disliked by many Americans when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. John F. Kennedy only had a 58 percent approval rating when he was killed in 1963. People even lined the streets to hurl insults at the man called Jesus of Nazareth as he carried the cross on which he would eventually be crucified—which brings us to the most important ingredient in the making of a martyr:
There must be blood.
This week, America will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the most famous and beloved civil rights leader in the nation’s history. Lost in the remembrance of the death of our nation’s most heralded warrior for social justice is the fact that—at the time of his death—King was a man in exile.
Contrary to popular belief, when King died, he was not an icon of freedom and equality. In fact, most of the country disliked him. Sadly, on April 4, 1968, a bullet splattered bits of Martin Luther King Jr.’s brains and blood across the balcony of Memphis, Tenn.’s Lorraine Motel.
Then, and only then, was white America ready to make him a hero.
https://www.theroot.com/from-most-hated-to-american-hero-the-whitewashing-of-m-1824258876?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-04
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Standing Tall
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
The reign of Lew Alcindor in the age of revolt
When black collegians debated boycotting the Olympics in 1968, he emerged as the most prominent face on campus
BY JOHNNY SMITH
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is known as one of the greatest basketball players in history. During his 20-year professional career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, he appeared in 19 All-Star Games, won six championships and collected six MVP awards. In retirement, he has become a prominent cultural commentator and writer, a leading voice on the intersection between sports and politics. Recently, he published a memoir about his collegiate career at UCLA, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court.
Fifty years ago he was the most dominant college basketball player America had ever seen. Between 1967 and 1969, he led UCLA to three consecutive national titles and an 88-2 record. Yet, his legacy transcends the game; in the age of Black Power, he redefined the political role of black college athletes. In 1968, when black collegians debated boycotting the Olympics, Lew Alcindor, as he was then still known, emerged as the most prominent face in the revolt on campus.
Why did Alcindor refuse to play in the Olympics? To answer that question we have to return to Harlem, New York, in July 1964, the first of many long, hot summers.
https://theundefeated.com/features/lew-alcindor-kareem-abdul-jabbar-ucla-boycot-1968-olympics/
The reign of Lew Alcindor in the age of revolt
When black collegians debated boycotting the Olympics in 1968, he emerged as the most prominent face on campus
BY JOHNNY SMITH
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is known as one of the greatest basketball players in history. During his 20-year professional career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, he appeared in 19 All-Star Games, won six championships and collected six MVP awards. In retirement, he has become a prominent cultural commentator and writer, a leading voice on the intersection between sports and politics. Recently, he published a memoir about his collegiate career at UCLA, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court.
Fifty years ago he was the most dominant college basketball player America had ever seen. Between 1967 and 1969, he led UCLA to three consecutive national titles and an 88-2 record. Yet, his legacy transcends the game; in the age of Black Power, he redefined the political role of black college athletes. In 1968, when black collegians debated boycotting the Olympics, Lew Alcindor, as he was then still known, emerged as the most prominent face in the revolt on campus.
Why did Alcindor refuse to play in the Olympics? To answer that question we have to return to Harlem, New York, in July 1964, the first of many long, hot summers.
https://theundefeated.com/features/lew-alcindor-kareem-abdul-jabbar-ucla-boycot-1968-olympics/
Imagine If He Was Black
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Ethan Couch, ‘Affluenza Teen’ Who Killed 4 While Driving Drunk, Is Freed
By DANIEL VICTOR
Ethan Couch, whose trial for killing four people while driving drunk sparked widespread conversations about the privilege of being raised wealthy, was released from a Texas jail on Monday after nearly two years.
Mr. Couch, 20, became known as the “affluenza teen” after a psychologist suggested during his trial that growing up with money might have left him with psychological afflictions, too rich to tell right from wrong. He attracted further attention when he and his mother, Tonya Couch, fled to Mexico in an effort to evade possible jail time.
He served his 720-day sentence in a jail in Tarrant County, and was freed about a week before his 21st birthday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/us/ethan-couch-affluenza-jail.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Ethan Couch, ‘Affluenza Teen’ Who Killed 4 While Driving Drunk, Is Freed
By DANIEL VICTOR
Ethan Couch, whose trial for killing four people while driving drunk sparked widespread conversations about the privilege of being raised wealthy, was released from a Texas jail on Monday after nearly two years.
Mr. Couch, 20, became known as the “affluenza teen” after a psychologist suggested during his trial that growing up with money might have left him with psychological afflictions, too rich to tell right from wrong. He attracted further attention when he and his mother, Tonya Couch, fled to Mexico in an effort to evade possible jail time.
He served his 720-day sentence in a jail in Tarrant County, and was freed about a week before his 21st birthday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/us/ethan-couch-affluenza-jail.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Monday, April 2, 2018
Killing His Character
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Killing Him While He’s Dead, A Eulogy For Stephon Clark
By Imam Omar Suleiman
The victim is somehow always made out to be the aggressor. Because if you cast enough aspersions on his character, create enough doubt about the circumstances of his murder and maintain an omnipresence of criminal identity, then maybe Stephon was asking for it. Maybe he’s not worth fighting for.
Many will, in fact, say that, though he didn’t deserve to be shot at 20 times, we also shouldn’t feel too bad.
Because if you distort his reputation enough, then you can discredit his status as a victim, and disregard his status as a human being.
The same media that humanizes domestic white terrorists like Dylann Roof and Mark Anthony Conditt deliberately vilifies black victims like Alton and Stephon.
And I, for one, don’t think it’s unreasonable to demand that black victims be treated with at least the same amount of dignity as white terrorists.
It’s not Stephon’s record or reputation that needs to be brought into question, it’s the way we police in this country that needs to be on trial.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-suleiman-stephon-clark_us_5abf90f1e4b055e50acdf47c
Killing Him While He’s Dead, A Eulogy For Stephon Clark
By Imam Omar Suleiman
The victim is somehow always made out to be the aggressor. Because if you cast enough aspersions on his character, create enough doubt about the circumstances of his murder and maintain an omnipresence of criminal identity, then maybe Stephon was asking for it. Maybe he’s not worth fighting for.
Many will, in fact, say that, though he didn’t deserve to be shot at 20 times, we also shouldn’t feel too bad.
Because if you distort his reputation enough, then you can discredit his status as a victim, and disregard his status as a human being.
The same media that humanizes domestic white terrorists like Dylann Roof and Mark Anthony Conditt deliberately vilifies black victims like Alton and Stephon.
And I, for one, don’t think it’s unreasonable to demand that black victims be treated with at least the same amount of dignity as white terrorists.
It’s not Stephon’s record or reputation that needs to be brought into question, it’s the way we police in this country that needs to be on trial.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-suleiman-stephon-clark_us_5abf90f1e4b055e50acdf47c
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Rethinking Car Rentals
From Apple -
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/turo-better-than-car-rental/id555063314?mt=8&uo=4&at=10l6UR
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/turo-better-than-car-rental/id555063314?mt=8&uo=4&at=10l6UR
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Will They Get Away With Murder Too?
An excerpt from the Sacramento Bee -
Here's another result of the Stephon Clark autopsy – cops can't investigate cops
BY MARCOS BRETÓN
An independent autopsy commissioned by a lawyer may seem like a publicity stunt to those who seemingly have no problem with an unarmed man being gunned down by Sacramento Police. The autopsy, revealed Friday, found that Stephon Clark was shot repeatedly in the back on March 18. Beyond that is this undeniable truth:
The Coroner of Sacramento County, the District Attorney of Sacramento County, Sacramento Police, Sacramento Sheriffs – the entire local law enforcement community – had it coming. Here was a lawyer for one family who refused to wait six months, eight months, a year, 14 months or longer until they, the local authorities, released "official" findings after a fatal police shooting.
Putting aside technical debates over the methodology of Clark's autopsy, performed by Bennet Omalu, the former chief medical examiner for San Joaquin County, the explosive findings made public at a Friday news conference conveyed a clear statement to local law enforcement authorities: We don't trust you.
If Sacramento is a microcosm of a national dispute over whether law enforcement officials essentially can investigate their own, then officials here give weight to the conclusion, no, they can't. They have truly earned the heat they are catching right now.
For years, fatal shootings committed by local law enforcement followed a familiar pattern: An African American man is killed, there is public outrage, the official investigations drag on for months if not longer, everybody waits for everybody else's report to be completed, and the findings become public long after the original incident.
Some people think, not unreasonably, that this is deliberate. They speculate: The length of time in releasing official reports is so all the players can get their stories straight. At least, that's how it looks to a skeptical public.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/marcos-breton/article207513614.html#emlnl=Afternoon_Newsletter#storylink=cpy
Here's another result of the Stephon Clark autopsy – cops can't investigate cops
BY MARCOS BRETÓN
An independent autopsy commissioned by a lawyer may seem like a publicity stunt to those who seemingly have no problem with an unarmed man being gunned down by Sacramento Police. The autopsy, revealed Friday, found that Stephon Clark was shot repeatedly in the back on March 18. Beyond that is this undeniable truth:
The Coroner of Sacramento County, the District Attorney of Sacramento County, Sacramento Police, Sacramento Sheriffs – the entire local law enforcement community – had it coming. Here was a lawyer for one family who refused to wait six months, eight months, a year, 14 months or longer until they, the local authorities, released "official" findings after a fatal police shooting.
Putting aside technical debates over the methodology of Clark's autopsy, performed by Bennet Omalu, the former chief medical examiner for San Joaquin County, the explosive findings made public at a Friday news conference conveyed a clear statement to local law enforcement authorities: We don't trust you.
If Sacramento is a microcosm of a national dispute over whether law enforcement officials essentially can investigate their own, then officials here give weight to the conclusion, no, they can't. They have truly earned the heat they are catching right now.
For years, fatal shootings committed by local law enforcement followed a familiar pattern: An African American man is killed, there is public outrage, the official investigations drag on for months if not longer, everybody waits for everybody else's report to be completed, and the findings become public long after the original incident.
Some people think, not unreasonably, that this is deliberate. They speculate: The length of time in releasing official reports is so all the players can get their stories straight. At least, that's how it looks to a skeptical public.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/marcos-breton/article207513614.html#emlnl=Afternoon_Newsletter#storylink=cpy
Too Good to Cherry Pick
From VerySmartBrothas -
Is It a Coincidence That Today’s Most Outspoken Black Male Athletes Are Married to Black Women? (Hint: Nah)
By Damon Young
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/is-it-a-coincidence-that-todays-most-outspoken-black-ma-1824084782
Is It a Coincidence That Today’s Most Outspoken Black Male Athletes Are Married to Black Women? (Hint: Nah)
By Damon Young
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/is-it-a-coincidence-that-todays-most-outspoken-black-ma-1824084782
UnFair Housing
An excerpt from the Atlantic -
The Unfulfilled Promise of Fair Housing
Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of an integrated America was about creating a more equal society, but to many white homeowners, it was a threat.
By ABDALLAH FAYYAD
“Kill him,” a white mob chanted as Martin Luther King Jr. marched across Marquette Park in the late summer of 1966. King had recently moved to Chicago, and on that August afternoon, he joined a Chicago Freedom Movement march to demand that realtors not discriminate against black residents seeking to live in white neighborhoods. But a group of white counter-protesters grew violent and started hurling rocks, bottles, and bricks at the demonstrators, eventually striking King in the head. “I’ve been in many demonstrations all across the South, but I can say that I have never seen—even in Mississippi and Alabama—mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as I’ve seen here in Chicago,” he said, shining light on a problem that white Northern liberals had ignored and let fester for far too long: de facto segregation.
Up until the civil-rights era, segregation was largely reinforced, if not promoted, by federal and local governments. In the 1930s, for example, the Federal Housing Administration incentivized developers to build suburbs for whites only, and the Public Works Administration built separate and unequal housing projects. After a series of Supreme Court cases deemed segregation unconstitutional in the 1940s and ‘50s, American neighborhoods continued to segregate without legal recognition, in a system known as “de facto.” And like de jure segregation—when the government legally engineered ghettos into existence—de facto segregation continues to exacerbate wealth and racial inequality today.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/the-unfulfilled-promise-of-fair-housing/557009/
The Unfulfilled Promise of Fair Housing
Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of an integrated America was about creating a more equal society, but to many white homeowners, it was a threat.
By ABDALLAH FAYYAD
“Kill him,” a white mob chanted as Martin Luther King Jr. marched across Marquette Park in the late summer of 1966. King had recently moved to Chicago, and on that August afternoon, he joined a Chicago Freedom Movement march to demand that realtors not discriminate against black residents seeking to live in white neighborhoods. But a group of white counter-protesters grew violent and started hurling rocks, bottles, and bricks at the demonstrators, eventually striking King in the head. “I’ve been in many demonstrations all across the South, but I can say that I have never seen—even in Mississippi and Alabama—mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as I’ve seen here in Chicago,” he said, shining light on a problem that white Northern liberals had ignored and let fester for far too long: de facto segregation.
Up until the civil-rights era, segregation was largely reinforced, if not promoted, by federal and local governments. In the 1930s, for example, the Federal Housing Administration incentivized developers to build suburbs for whites only, and the Public Works Administration built separate and unequal housing projects. After a series of Supreme Court cases deemed segregation unconstitutional in the 1940s and ‘50s, American neighborhoods continued to segregate without legal recognition, in a system known as “de facto.” And like de jure segregation—when the government legally engineered ghettos into existence—de facto segregation continues to exacerbate wealth and racial inequality today.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/the-unfulfilled-promise-of-fair-housing/557009/
20 of 20 Said Yes
An excerpt from CNN -
He applied to 20 of the best colleges and got a full ride to all of them
By Isabella Gomez and Christina Zdanowicz
Micheal Brown stared at the acceptance letter in front of him: It said yes.
So did the next one. And the one after that.
The 17-year-old from Houston applied to 20 of the best universities in the US. He was admitted to every single one with a full ride and $260,000 in additional scholarship offers.
"It's something I'm proud of because I see my hard work paying off, determination paying off, sacrifices paying off," the student told CNN.
Of those 20, he listed his top eight choices as: Harvard, Princeton, Northwestern, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, Georgetown and Vanderbilt.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/30/health/teen-college-20-acceptances-trnd/index.html
He applied to 20 of the best colleges and got a full ride to all of them
By Isabella Gomez and Christina Zdanowicz
Micheal Brown stared at the acceptance letter in front of him: It said yes.
So did the next one. And the one after that.
The 17-year-old from Houston applied to 20 of the best universities in the US. He was admitted to every single one with a full ride and $260,000 in additional scholarship offers.
"It's something I'm proud of because I see my hard work paying off, determination paying off, sacrifices paying off," the student told CNN.
Of those 20, he listed his top eight choices as: Harvard, Princeton, Northwestern, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, Georgetown and Vanderbilt.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/30/health/teen-college-20-acceptances-trnd/index.html
Friday, March 30, 2018
Words Matter
An excerpt form the Sacramento Bee -
Stephon Clark 'deserved it,' nurse wrote on Facebook. Now she's no longer working for Kaiser.
BY CATHIE ANDERSON
Kaiser Permanente has parted ways with a nurse whose Facebook comments about Stephon Clark, the unarmed black man killed by Sacramento police on March 18, incited a social media firestorm after an activist put them in the spotlight.
The comment: “Yeah but he was running from the police jumping over fences and breaking in peoples houses… why run??!!! He deserved it for being stupid.”
Activist Christina Arechiga told The Sacramento Bee earlier this week that she was so disgusted by the statement from a woman named Faith Linthicum that she went to her Facebook profile to learn more about her. Many such comments come from people outside the region, Arechiga said, and she wanted to know whether this one did as well.
She said she was shocked to discover that not only did Linthicum live in the Sacramento region but she also worked as a nurse in labor and delivery at Kaiser Permanente’s Roseville Medical Center. People of color were unwittingly entrusting their infants to this woman, Arechiga said, and their insurance dollars were paying her salary.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article207364464.html#emlnl=Breaking_Newsletter#storylink=cpy
Stephon Clark 'deserved it,' nurse wrote on Facebook. Now she's no longer working for Kaiser.
BY CATHIE ANDERSON
Kaiser Permanente has parted ways with a nurse whose Facebook comments about Stephon Clark, the unarmed black man killed by Sacramento police on March 18, incited a social media firestorm after an activist put them in the spotlight.
The comment: “Yeah but he was running from the police jumping over fences and breaking in peoples houses… why run??!!! He deserved it for being stupid.”
Activist Christina Arechiga told The Sacramento Bee earlier this week that she was so disgusted by the statement from a woman named Faith Linthicum that she went to her Facebook profile to learn more about her. Many such comments come from people outside the region, Arechiga said, and she wanted to know whether this one did as well.
She said she was shocked to discover that not only did Linthicum live in the Sacramento region but she also worked as a nurse in labor and delivery at Kaiser Permanente’s Roseville Medical Center. People of color were unwittingly entrusting their infants to this woman, Arechiga said, and their insurance dollars were paying her salary.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article207364464.html#emlnl=Breaking_Newsletter#storylink=cpy
Police Killed 264 in 2018
From the Washington Post -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/police-shootings-2018/?stream=top-stories&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiospm&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=.680c5b490545
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/police-shootings-2018/?stream=top-stories&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiospm&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=.680c5b490545
Catholic Colleges Excel at Basketball
From the NY Times -
Why Catholic Colleges Excel at Basketball
By MARC TRACYMARCH 30, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/sports/catholic-basketball-final-four.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
Why Catholic Colleges Excel at Basketball
By MARC TRACYMARCH 30, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/sports/catholic-basketball-final-four.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
The History of Tattoos
From OZY -
https://www.ozy.com/good-sht/this-museum-gives-you-the-long-curious-history-of-tattoos/83002?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=03292018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
https://www.ozy.com/good-sht/this-museum-gives-you-the-long-curious-history-of-tattoos/83002?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=03292018&variable=e3bf1057d4e3c0988a79ae4bce515610
Ask Siri to Take a Picture
From CNET -
How to take iPhone photos with just your voice
Siri can be a helpful camera assistant.
By MATT ELLIOTT
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-take-iphone-photos-with-your-voice/#ftag=CAD-09-10aai5b
Good luck. This didn't work for me. Faye
How to take iPhone photos with just your voice
Siri can be a helpful camera assistant.
By MATT ELLIOTT
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-take-iphone-photos-with-your-voice/#ftag=CAD-09-10aai5b
Good luck. This didn't work for me. Faye
When Pigs Help Others Fly
From Now I Know -
The Therapeutic Value of a Not-Quite-Flying Pig
Pigs can’t fly. That’s why the saying “when pigs fly” exists — some things will never happen. The image above isn’t an exception, either, but it’s close. That’s a picture of LiLou, a pig. She’s wearing an airplane captain’s hat because she’s at work, and the hat is part of her uniform. In the picture above, she’s at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), her principal place of business.
Her job? To make anxious flyers feel a bit better about boarding that plane.
http://nowiknow.com/the-therapeutic-value-of-a-not-quite-flying-pig/
The Therapeutic Value of a Not-Quite-Flying Pig
Pigs can’t fly. That’s why the saying “when pigs fly” exists — some things will never happen. The image above isn’t an exception, either, but it’s close. That’s a picture of LiLou, a pig. She’s wearing an airplane captain’s hat because she’s at work, and the hat is part of her uniform. In the picture above, she’s at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), her principal place of business.
Her job? To make anxious flyers feel a bit better about boarding that plane.
http://nowiknow.com/the-therapeutic-value-of-a-not-quite-flying-pig/
Zadie at the March for Our Lives
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| Zadie Faye marching at 7 years old! (My oldest granddaughter) |
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| Zadie Faye making us all so proud! |
This is Why Parents Love Target
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
There Are Psychological Reasons Parents Are So Obsessed With Target
Marketing experts, therapists and parents weigh in.
By Caroline Bologna
In the face of the chaos and confusion that come with raising a family today, parents across America turn to a very specific place for sanctuary and relief. While it may not be fancy or private, it’s got an air of sophistication and serenity.
What is this magical place? Well... Target, apparently.
It’s no secret that parents, particularly moms, love to love Target. They write rhapsodizing blog posts, create fan Instagram accounts, draw comics and tweet endlessly about their Target obsessions. At least one mom chose to take her maternity photos at a Target store, and another even gave birth to her child in one (albeit unintentionally).
But what exactly is it that makes Target so appealing to moms and dads?
We spoke to marketing experts, therapists and parents themselves to find out.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/parents-target-psychology_us_5aa7fba3e4b0e872b4bf5244
There Are Psychological Reasons Parents Are So Obsessed With Target
Marketing experts, therapists and parents weigh in.
By Caroline Bologna
In the face of the chaos and confusion that come with raising a family today, parents across America turn to a very specific place for sanctuary and relief. While it may not be fancy or private, it’s got an air of sophistication and serenity.
What is this magical place? Well... Target, apparently.
It’s no secret that parents, particularly moms, love to love Target. They write rhapsodizing blog posts, create fan Instagram accounts, draw comics and tweet endlessly about their Target obsessions. At least one mom chose to take her maternity photos at a Target store, and another even gave birth to her child in one (albeit unintentionally).
But what exactly is it that makes Target so appealing to moms and dads?
We spoke to marketing experts, therapists and parents themselves to find out.
Parenting Tips
From Buzzfeed -
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/21-hilarious-tweets-that-are-also-genius-parenting-ideas?utm_term=.pboqPEzMa#.rsQxy4BWg
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/21-hilarious-tweets-that-are-also-genius-parenting-ideas?utm_term=.pboqPEzMa#.rsQxy4BWg
A Night With Girlfriends & Michelle
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| Michelle Obama at the Oracle, Oakland, CA - March 28, 2018 |
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| Faye and friends at the Oracle |
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Will They Come?
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Why a white town paid for a class called ‘Hispanics 101’
By Danielle Paquette
BRANSON, Mo. — In a ballroom with antlers on the wall and hoof prints on the carpet, diversity coach Miguel Joey Aviles asked whether anyone knew how to merengue.
“Lord have mercy,” he said, counting hands. “Only two?”
This is “Hispanics 101,” a class meant to teach employers in the Ozarks resort town of 11,400 how to lure workers from Puerto Rico and persuade them to stay.
The economy depends on it. As tourism season kicks off this month, the remote getaway known for dinner theaters, country music concerts and a museum of dinosaur replicas has 2,050 vacancies — and a lack of locals applying.
So, like other areas with tight labor markets, Branson finds itself getting creative to fill jobs — in this case by recruiting people from a part of the United States with much higher unemployment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/why-a-white-town-paid-for-a-class-called-hispanics-101/2018/03/07/ca37a44a-1cd1-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html?utm_term=.fcce5345500a&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Why a white town paid for a class called ‘Hispanics 101’
By Danielle Paquette
BRANSON, Mo. — In a ballroom with antlers on the wall and hoof prints on the carpet, diversity coach Miguel Joey Aviles asked whether anyone knew how to merengue.
“Lord have mercy,” he said, counting hands. “Only two?”
This is “Hispanics 101,” a class meant to teach employers in the Ozarks resort town of 11,400 how to lure workers from Puerto Rico and persuade them to stay.
The economy depends on it. As tourism season kicks off this month, the remote getaway known for dinner theaters, country music concerts and a museum of dinosaur replicas has 2,050 vacancies — and a lack of locals applying.
So, like other areas with tight labor markets, Branson finds itself getting creative to fill jobs — in this case by recruiting people from a part of the United States with much higher unemployment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/why-a-white-town-paid-for-a-class-called-hispanics-101/2018/03/07/ca37a44a-1cd1-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html?utm_term=.fcce5345500a&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
US Brain Drain
An excerpt from Axios -
Canada's "reverse brain drain" in the age of Trump
By Shane Savitsky
Numerous startups in the tech hub of Toronto say they have had steady, double-digit increases in job applications from the United States since last year's presidential election. This is among the first concrete evidence that President Trump's hard line on immigration may be impacting the global race to attract the best minds.
What they're saying: "I've been in tech for over 20 years in Canada and in Silicon Valley, too. I've never seen candidates from the U.S. apply for Canadian positions from places like Silicon Valley," Roy Pereira, the CEO of Zoom.ai, told Axios. "That's never happened."
Why it matters: Since Trump's election, with his attacks on immigration and threats to cut back on visas, France, China and Canada, among other countries, have openly sought to poach American technologists and scientists (as we have written). The reports from Toronto suggest a threat to the United States' long edge as the preeminent magnet for the world's brightest scientific talent.
https://www.axios.com/canadas-reverse-brain-drain-in-the-age-of-trump-1513305608-a54c55f2-dcc1-4a27-8416-3e5e0bf701db.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories
Canada's "reverse brain drain" in the age of Trump
By Shane Savitsky
Numerous startups in the tech hub of Toronto say they have had steady, double-digit increases in job applications from the United States since last year's presidential election. This is among the first concrete evidence that President Trump's hard line on immigration may be impacting the global race to attract the best minds.
What they're saying: "I've been in tech for over 20 years in Canada and in Silicon Valley, too. I've never seen candidates from the U.S. apply for Canadian positions from places like Silicon Valley," Roy Pereira, the CEO of Zoom.ai, told Axios. "That's never happened."
Why it matters: Since Trump's election, with his attacks on immigration and threats to cut back on visas, France, China and Canada, among other countries, have openly sought to poach American technologists and scientists (as we have written). The reports from Toronto suggest a threat to the United States' long edge as the preeminent magnet for the world's brightest scientific talent.
https://www.axios.com/canadas-reverse-brain-drain-in-the-age-of-trump-1513305608-a54c55f2-dcc1-4a27-8416-3e5e0bf701db.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories
Well-Read Black Girl
An excerpt from Essence -
Black Girl Brilliance Project: Glory Edim On How Well-Read Black Girl Is More Than A Book Club
By BRITNI DANIELLE
It all started with a t-shirt. Three years ago, Glory Edim’s boyfriend gave her a gift that perfectly spoke to her love of books, a shirt with “well-read Black girl” emblazoned on the front. Edim loved the thoughtful present and began wearing the one-of-a-kind item all over town. Soon, people wanted one too.
“It was our inside joke, but it triggered a lot of conversations with folks when I was out in the world,” Edim tells ESSENCE. “I kept having conversations with strangers, other Black women, in public spaces about books.”
The experience inspired Edim to form a book club, and three years later Well-Read Black Girl is a bona fide movement that hosts reading with authors, a thriving online community and an annual festival.
https://www.essence.com/culture/black-girl-brilliance-glory-edim
Black Girl Brilliance Project: Glory Edim On How Well-Read Black Girl Is More Than A Book Club
By BRITNI DANIELLE
It all started with a t-shirt. Three years ago, Glory Edim’s boyfriend gave her a gift that perfectly spoke to her love of books, a shirt with “well-read Black girl” emblazoned on the front. Edim loved the thoughtful present and began wearing the one-of-a-kind item all over town. Soon, people wanted one too.
“It was our inside joke, but it triggered a lot of conversations with folks when I was out in the world,” Edim tells ESSENCE. “I kept having conversations with strangers, other Black women, in public spaces about books.”
The experience inspired Edim to form a book club, and three years later Well-Read Black Girl is a bona fide movement that hosts reading with authors, a thriving online community and an annual festival.
https://www.essence.com/culture/black-girl-brilliance-glory-edim
A Welcoming Space
An excerpt from the NY Times: California Today -
A Space for Students Who Need Something to Eat
By JENNIFER MEDINA
As you walk into the room at University of California, Irvine the first thing you notice are the fruit and vegetable baskets: apples, onions, broccoli. There’s a table of students chatting and eating, while one thumbs through a cookbook.
It’s called the Basic Needs Hub — a space for anyone on campus who needs something to eat. It looks like a miniature gourmet grocery, but it is, effectively, a food pantry.
For the last six months, the doors to the hub have been wide open, and the pantry has doled out produce, meat and granola bars, among other goods. Students are not required to show any proof of income to receive the food, though they do receive a document stating that it is meant for those who cannot afford it on their own.
“We are making it O.K. for students to say that they do need help,” said Edgar Dormitorio, the assistant vice chancellor of students affairs. “We know there are students who do without meals rather ask for assistance. We want this to be as low barrier as possible.”
https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/CA_477.html?nlid=38867499
A Space for Students Who Need Something to Eat
By JENNIFER MEDINA
 |
| The grand opening of the University of California, Irvine food pantry in September. Steve Zylius/University of California, Irvine |
It’s called the Basic Needs Hub — a space for anyone on campus who needs something to eat. It looks like a miniature gourmet grocery, but it is, effectively, a food pantry.
For the last six months, the doors to the hub have been wide open, and the pantry has doled out produce, meat and granola bars, among other goods. Students are not required to show any proof of income to receive the food, though they do receive a document stating that it is meant for those who cannot afford it on their own.
“We are making it O.K. for students to say that they do need help,” said Edgar Dormitorio, the assistant vice chancellor of students affairs. “We know there are students who do without meals rather ask for assistance. We want this to be as low barrier as possible.”
https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/CA_477.html?nlid=38867499
Lives Didn't Matter?
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
21 Times Cops Weren’t Held Accountable For The Death Of Black Victims
These are egregious reminders of repeated injustice.
By Lilly Workneh and Taryn Finley
Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Sean Bell. Tamir Rice. Alton Sterling. Aiyana Stanley-Jones.
The list goes on and on of black men, women and children who died as a result of encounters with law enforcement and receive no justice while those responsible for their deaths ― the same ones who pledge to “protect and serve” ― face little to no repercussions.
The St. Anthony, Minnesota, cop who shot Philando Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, seven times was acquitted in June 2017. Castile was in the car with his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter at the time of his death.
Castile’s mother, Valerie, expressed her outrage during a press conference after the trial.
“The system in this country continues to fail black people and will continue to fail us,” she said. “My son loved this city, and this city killed my son. And a murderer gets away.”
Sadly, the anger Castile conveyed is a familiar feeling for those who have witnessed the repeated acquittal of cops who have been involved in unjust killings of black men and women, often over prosecutors’ claims of “lack of evidence.”
Time and again, the nation has mourned the loss of black lives and taken to the streets and social media to demand both an end to these killings and accountability for those involved. Here are 20 other cases where officers have escaped prosecution and walked free.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/14-times-cops-werent-held-accountable-for-the-death-of-black-victims_us_5798d249e4b01180b53114ec
21 Times Cops Weren’t Held Accountable For The Death Of Black Victims
These are egregious reminders of repeated injustice.
By Lilly Workneh and Taryn Finley
Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Sean Bell. Tamir Rice. Alton Sterling. Aiyana Stanley-Jones.
The list goes on and on of black men, women and children who died as a result of encounters with law enforcement and receive no justice while those responsible for their deaths ― the same ones who pledge to “protect and serve” ― face little to no repercussions.
The St. Anthony, Minnesota, cop who shot Philando Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, seven times was acquitted in June 2017. Castile was in the car with his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter at the time of his death.
Castile’s mother, Valerie, expressed her outrage during a press conference after the trial.
“The system in this country continues to fail black people and will continue to fail us,” she said. “My son loved this city, and this city killed my son. And a murderer gets away.”
Sadly, the anger Castile conveyed is a familiar feeling for those who have witnessed the repeated acquittal of cops who have been involved in unjust killings of black men and women, often over prosecutors’ claims of “lack of evidence.”
Time and again, the nation has mourned the loss of black lives and taken to the streets and social media to demand both an end to these killings and accountability for those involved. Here are 20 other cases where officers have escaped prosecution and walked free.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/14-times-cops-werent-held-accountable-for-the-death-of-black-victims_us_5798d249e4b01180b53114ec
Teen Inventor
An excerpt from CNN -
Teen serial inventor returns with pollution filter to clear city skies
By Zeena Saifi, Daryl Brown and Tom Page
Angad Daryani. Remember the name.
The 19-year-old from Mumbai has already gained a reputation. He left school in the ninth grade and then self-educated while working with MIT Media Lab until the age of 17. Daryani has launched multiple startups and social initiatives, and collaborated on a string of inventions that fall squarely into the "Why hasn't someone thought of that before?" category.
There was the "eye-pad," designed to instantly convert written English and French into Braille. The Sharkbot, a $350 3-D printer. A low-cost ECG heart monitor and a vehicle controlled by hand gestures.
Now, Daryani is pushing forward with an industrial-scale air filter to rid skies of pollutants and carcinogens that plague modern cities.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/28/health/angad-daryani-tomorrows-hero/index.html
Teen serial inventor returns with pollution filter to clear city skies
By Zeena Saifi, Daryl Brown and Tom Page
Angad Daryani. Remember the name.
The 19-year-old from Mumbai has already gained a reputation. He left school in the ninth grade and then self-educated while working with MIT Media Lab until the age of 17. Daryani has launched multiple startups and social initiatives, and collaborated on a string of inventions that fall squarely into the "Why hasn't someone thought of that before?" category.
There was the "eye-pad," designed to instantly convert written English and French into Braille. The Sharkbot, a $350 3-D printer. A low-cost ECG heart monitor and a vehicle controlled by hand gestures.
Now, Daryani is pushing forward with an industrial-scale air filter to rid skies of pollutants and carcinogens that plague modern cities.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/28/health/angad-daryani-tomorrows-hero/index.html
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
The 2nd Amendment - A Relic From the 18th Century
An excerpt from the NY Times Opinion -
Repeal the Second Amendment
By John Paul Stevens (Retired Supreme Court Justice)
Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society.
That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.
Concern that a national standing army might pose a threat to the security of the separate states led to the adoption of that amendment, which provides that “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Today that concern is a relic of the 18th century.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/opinion/john-paul-stevens-repeal-second-amendment.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Repeal the Second Amendment
By John Paul Stevens (Retired Supreme Court Justice)
Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society.
That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.
Concern that a national standing army might pose a threat to the security of the separate states led to the adoption of that amendment, which provides that “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Today that concern is a relic of the 18th century.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/opinion/john-paul-stevens-repeal-second-amendment.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Not Even Close
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
The strange, unexpected public contribution of Stormy Daniels
By Michael Gerson
Americans who find this unremarkable have missed an extraordinary cultural moment. Daniels’s allegations are denied by the White House and an attorney for President Trump’s lawyer. Yet who in their right mind would trust Trump’s word over hers? In this case, the porn star has more credibility than the president of the United States. It is not even close.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-strange-unexpected-public-contribution-of-stormy-daniels/2018/03/26/2c2bce4e-312a-11e8-8abc-22a366b72f2d_story.html?utm_term=.b0fdc1b48a8c
The strange, unexpected public contribution of Stormy Daniels
By Michael Gerson
Americans who find this unremarkable have missed an extraordinary cultural moment. Daniels’s allegations are denied by the White House and an attorney for President Trump’s lawyer. Yet who in their right mind would trust Trump’s word over hers? In this case, the porn star has more credibility than the president of the United States. It is not even close.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-strange-unexpected-public-contribution-of-stormy-daniels/2018/03/26/2c2bce4e-312a-11e8-8abc-22a366b72f2d_story.html?utm_term=.b0fdc1b48a8c
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