Yes We Can . . . Code

Van Jones is aiming to teach 100,000 kids of color how to write code.

Money quote form the attached article:

"Every time you see a black kid wearing a hoodie, you say: there's a thug. If you see a white kid wearing hoodie, you say: there's Mark Zuckerberg," Jones said. "I said, 'that's because of racism. And Prince said, 'maybe so, or maybe you civil rights guys haven't created enough Mark Zuckerbergs.'"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/01/19/van-jones-yes-we-code-diversity-technology/21889543/

Poor Tiger

Can't catch a break.

A cameraman accidentally knocked his tooth out.

Not that I'm sympathetic to him or anything . . . but still.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/tiger-woods-tooth-lindsey-vonn

Our Weather

It was freezing . . . literally, in some parts of the UAE yesterday.

That was followed by strong winds, heavy rain, sleet and hail - all novelties for this area, for sure.

I pulled out my heavy coat and was so glad I did.  It really was cold as a booger bear.

Click the link below to see some pictures.

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/hail-rain-and-floods-uae-wintry-weather-in-pictures#1

Fascinating Read

I read this book when it was first published years ago.

It is the parallel stories of two young men, with the same name, from the same poor neighborhood.  One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, the other an inmate serving a life sentence.

The author, the Rhodes Scholar, delves into why their fate turned out so drastically different, when they were on the same path for many of the years.

It is well worth your time to check it out.

http://theotherwesmoore.com

UC Berkely Scientist vs. Big Corporation

His story is being told about his discovery that a common herbicide might be causing gender and reproductive deformities in animals.

The big corporation that makes the product says, "No way."

Who do you believe?

From the New Yorker -

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/02/10/a-valuable-reputation

From Mother Jones -

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2011/11/tyrone-hayes-atrazine-syngenta-feud-frog-endangered

From Salon -

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/18/“dude_why_didn’t_you_just_sue_these_people”_portrait_of_an_environmental_whistleblower/

Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off)

This is my favorite policeman . . . HANDS DOWN!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/01/17/dash-cam-taylor-swift-police-shake-it-off/21921527/

Mean Til the End

Mean girls don't grow up, they just grow old.

Sigh . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/opinion/sunday/mean-girls-in-the-retirement-home.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region

A History Lesson for the NYPD

A strike in 1919 by the Boston Police lead to a hardline approach by President Coolidge.

It's the same one President Reagan used on the striking air traffic controllers.

Do you think this is the right approach for the folks in NY to use with the police department?

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/17/nypds_needed_history_lesson_what_it_can_learn_from_the_boston_police_strike_of_1919/?source=newsletter

Alternative Modes of Transportation

Bicycle cars?

Check these out.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2015/01/16/future_cycles_from_the_future_people_are_human_powered_car_bike_hybrid_vehicles.html

A Nice Gesture . . . Bungled

Duke University tried to extend a kindness to their Muslim students and staff by having the call to prayer played in the campus tower, but the execution, and then the retraction, was not pretty.

Here's one guy's take on it.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/01/duke_reverses_decision_on_muslim_call_to_prayer_in_campus_chapel_the_university.html

"Be My Eyes" App

Through video technology, you can help a blind person "see" with this really cool app.

Check it out below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/16/be-my-eyes-app_n_6488230.html

The Blacademy Awards

Truth in comedy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trey-ellis/white-actors-shutout-at-b_b_6483476.html?utm_hp_ref=tv

National Fig Newton Day

January 16.

Remember that for future reference.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/fig-newtons-name-change_n_6472072.html?cps=gravity_2439_-1121463061675170852

In celebration of this tasty treat, here's a recipe so you can make them at home.

Of course, I'm not, but maybe you will.

So, here's to a baking good day.

http://food52.com/blog/9405-fig-newtons-made-at-home

And the Winner Is . . .

A six old race car driver from my neck of the woods.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/sports/autoracing/rashid-al-dhaheri-a-precocious-driver-at-6-builds-a-following-in-the-united-arab-emirates.html?mabReward=R4&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine

Peeking Behind the Curtain

Students at Stanford have figured out a way to gain access to their records.

What you wanna bet other kids at other schools will follow suit.

And why not?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/17/us/students-gain-access-to-files-on-admission-to-stanford.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Prisoners Response to Current Events

This is a really interesting article about an inmate at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York, and how he came to write about current events as seen through the eyes of his fellow prisoners.  He's writing for Rolling Stone Magazine.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/sing-sing-reacts-to-police-shootings-20150114

How to Save a Choking Baby

This is worth sharing.

Please pass it on.

From Upworthy.

Students Learn A Powerful Lesson About Privilege

From Upworthy.

A high school teacher wanted share an important life lesson with his students. 

But a dull lecture just wouldn't do. So he planned a simple interactive exercise. All he needed was some scrap paper for each student and a recycling bin at the front of the room.

He set up the exercise by telling the class that they represent the country's population and everyone has a chance to get rich. But there was a catch:

"To move into the upper class, all you must do is throw your wadded-up paper into the bin while sitting in your seat."

The results were about what you'd expect. Most of the students in the front made it into the bin, and most of the students in the back didn't.

The teacher explained: "The closer you were to the recycling bin, the better your odds. This is what privilege looks like."

Understandably, the only students who complained about fairness were those in the back of the room.

Students in the front of the room, however, focused only on the task at hand with little consideration for their advantage — their privilege.

That's how privilege works. It can give us clearer insight into both our present and future. But it can also distract us from the challenges people behind us face in pursuit of the same goals.

In that sense, people with privilege can themselves be an obstacle to social mobility for the underprivileged.

The teacher concluded with a statement that gets to the heart of the matter:

"Your job as students who are receiving an education is to be aware of your privilege and use this particular privilege called 'education' to do your best to achieve great things, all the while advocating for those in the rows behind you."

Watch the full video:

Really Oscar?

There was quick and spirited backlash to the whitewashing of the Oscars.  Talent wasn't lacking in the movies and performances of people of color, but they are certainly missing in the lineup of Oscar nominees.

There are two images that have been making the rounds in reference to this.

Both speak volumes.

This is progress, right?

Common Sense

Ben forwarded a couple of great articles on the Charlie Hebdo controversy and the response to this incident.

Money quote in the first article:

. . . “free speech,” in the hands of many westerners, actually means: it is vital that the ideas I like be protected, and the right to offend groups I dislike be cherished; anything else is fair game.

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/14/days-hosting-massive-free-speech-march-france-arrests-comedian-facebook-comments/

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/they-are-not-exactly-charlie-20150115?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=011515_16&utm_medium=email&ea=YnNoYXJwZThAZ21haWwuY29t

Let me be clear:  The murders were an atrocity.

But . . .

With the freedom of speech comes a responsibility to use that speech with some common sense.

Poking fun at Muslims and Islam is thinly veiled racism, I don't care how you slice it.

And . . .

It is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY DISRESPECTFUL.

I live in a Muslim country where everything is steeped in the teaching of Islam. Certainly I don't agree with everything that is said or done, but I didn't agree with much of the religious discourse in the US either.

One of the things I love about the UAE is the freedom they have graciously allowed for other religions to prosper and flourish here.  There is no stifling of other ideas as long as you don't use those ideas to proselytize.

They don't care who I pray to or what I believe, as long as I don't bother them, they don't bother me.

That's a lesson we could all learn.