An interesting article on who should pick up the check on a first date between a man and a woman.
An excerpt from Salon -
The man should pay on the first date, always. It’s meant to set the tone—that this is and was a date, not a networking opportunity or a new friendship,” founder of online dating concierge service eFlirt and author of “Love @ First Click,” told Salon. “It speaks to a man’s values and shows that he is a gentleman. Most first dates are just a few cocktails, so this shouldn’t be a burden for men. Beyond a first date, the rules change a bit though and it depends on what you do together. For example, if it’s dinner and an after-dinner cocktail for a second date, it’s great for the woman to pay for the cocktails at the second destination. Or, she could plan and pay for the third date. Ultimately, paying the bill on a date shows appreciation. It’s a gesture to let someone know you’re interested in them and appreciate them. That’s why I never suggest splitting the bill. A date should feel like a treat and it doesn’t when it becomes an accounting transaction.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/28/attention_straight_men_dating_women_heres_why_they_still_yes_still_expect_you_to_pick_up_the_check/?source=newsletter
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Friday, August 28, 2015
Accompanied by an Orchestra
This app allows musicians to play their music with an orchestra that listens and follows them.
Pretty darn cool.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cadenza-orchestra-that-listens/id791155298?mt=8
Pretty darn cool.
 |
| From the link |
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cadenza-orchestra-that-listens/id791155298?mt=8
A Digital Companion
From The Daily Good -
Now Your Friends Can Keep You Safe by Digitally Walking You Home at Night
image via (cc) flickr user drewleavy
For many of us, the phrase “cell phone tracking” calls to mind images of police surveillance, or NSA snooping. There is, however, another side to our smartphone’s ability to pinpoint our every move. It’s one which, rather than compromise a user’s privacy, is ultimately intended to keep them safe, and secure.
It’s this sense of security which the makers of Companion, a new app for both iPhone and Android, hope to accomplish.
image via companion
It’s a fairly simple concept: People who are uncomfortable walking home alone at night can use the app to designate friends and family from their phone’s contact list as “companions”. Those companions monitor that user’s progress as they stumble home from a bar, walk through an unfamiliar neighborhood, or set out on any other potentially unsafe journey. When the person makes it home safely, their companion is notified, allowing everyone to sleep easy. The app also allows users to easily contact the police in case of an emergency, as well as checks in on the user if they determine something is amiss.
Per Companion’s app store description:
All you have to do is enter your destination and select some contacts to be your Companion. They don't even need the app installed. These Companions see a live map of your progress and get updates as you make it from Point A to Point B. If you start running, don't make it to your destination on time, have your headphones yanked out or your phone falls to the ground, we will check in on you to make sure everything is okay. If you don't respond in 15 seconds, we will automatically alert your Companions.
You can also report areas on your campus that make you uneasy. Simply tap the "I Feel Nervous" button and we'll pass this information on to your campus police department. Don't worry, everything is anonymous. They won't respond with sirens or flashing lights, but they will work to make this area safer in the future.
If there's an emergency, you can call 9-1-1 from our app with just two taps. We will connect you to the closest dispatcher and provide them with your location.
In some ways, Companion can be seen as an extension of the same principal behind Apple’s popular “Find my iPhone” app: Using our smartphone’s GPS service to remotely track movement from a distance. Here, though, the service doesn’t simply help connect you to a lost item. Instead, it affords users the sense of comfort that comes with being among friends.
Admittedly, there are likely some people who will find any type of location tracking, no matter how benevolent the intent, to be an uncomfortable invasion of privacy. Still, for those who worry about traveling by themselves, Companion may be a simple way to both feel secure, and get home safe.
http://magazine.good.is/articles/companion-app-never-walk-home-alone
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Brown Gingers
I was reminded of a red-headed Arab fellow I met while reading this article.
From The Huffington Post -
Photographer Explores The Beautiful Diversity Of Redheads Of Color
Michelle Marshall captures the more unusual manifestations of the MC1R gene.
Priscilla Frank
Arts Writer, The Huffington Post
Red hair is usually the result of a mutation in a gene called MC1R, also known as a melanocortin 1 receptor. Normally, when activated by a certain hormone, MC1R sparks a series of signals that leads to the production of brown or black pigment. Yet, in cases when both parents are carriers of the recessive MC1R gene and said receptor is mutated or antagonized, it fails to turn hair darker, resulting instead in a beautifully fiery buildup of red pigment.
As previously estimated by BBC News, between one and two percent of the world's population -- or 70 to 140 million people -- are redheads. In Scotland and Ireland, around 35 percent of the population carry the recessive gene that yields crimson locks, and the redhead count is around 10 percent. As such, the word ginger often calls to mind visions of Celtic-Germanic attributes -- namely, pale, white skin.
White skin and red hair may constitute the stereotypical image of a redhead, but it's by no means a comprehensive one. French-born, London-based photographer Michelle Marshall is documenting the stunningly diverse manifestations of the MC1R gene, particularly in people of color.
"I am currently interested in documenting the incidents of the MC1R gene variant responsible for red hair and freckles, particularly amongst black and mixed raced individuals of all ages," Marshall wrote in an email to The Huffington Post.
"I want to stir the perception that most of us have of a ‘ginger' as a white caucasian individual, potentially of Celtic descent ... As we struggle with issues of immigration, discrimination and racial prejudice, Mother Nature, meanwhile, follows its own course, embracing society’s plurality and, in the process, shaking up our perceptions about origins, ethnicity and identity."
Marshall originally devised the project, which she referred to as a "visual census," to document different manifestations of freckles. Eventually, she refined the project, embarking on a mission to document as many Afro-Caribbean redheads as possible. All of Marshall's subjects thus far have been complete strangers who she has discovered through social media, word of mouth or running into each other on the streets.
The close-up portraits document every freckle and stray hair, with every image, expanding the dominant, narrow understanding of what redheads can and should look like.
The photographs and their subjects are undeniably stunning. However, the enchanting appeal of the images has its drawbacks. "A beautiful picture doesn't always relate what it's like to be different," Marshall said in an interview with Vice. "There's a flipside to being different: it's not always accepted. Beautiful photography serves one purpose, but in the context of daily life people may not have that reaction."
Model Natasha Culzac, who covered Marshall's project in Vice and posed for the photograph above, shared her personal experience growing up with red hair and dark skin.
"For me, growing up tall, mixed-raced, with thick, frizzy ginger hair, in a predominantly white, working-class seaside town was not the ticket. At 13 years old I was buying skin whitening cream from Boots to pulverize the freckles and at 14, during my Slipknot phase at the turn of the millennium, was violently straightening my newly-dyed black hair. Now, though, I couldn't care less and relish being unique."
Categorizations fall short. Stereotypes disappoint. Difference is beautiful. There is a lot to learn from Marshall's striking portraits, if we could only stop staring at them.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/photographs-redheads-of-color_55db9929e4b0a40aa3abf017?kvcommref=mostpopular
From The Huffington Post -
Photographer Explores The Beautiful Diversity Of Redheads Of Color
Michelle Marshall captures the more unusual manifestations of the MC1R gene.
Priscilla Frank
Arts Writer, The Huffington Post
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
Red hair is usually the result of a mutation in a gene called MC1R, also known as a melanocortin 1 receptor. Normally, when activated by a certain hormone, MC1R sparks a series of signals that leads to the production of brown or black pigment. Yet, in cases when both parents are carriers of the recessive MC1R gene and said receptor is mutated or antagonized, it fails to turn hair darker, resulting instead in a beautifully fiery buildup of red pigment.
As previously estimated by BBC News, between one and two percent of the world's population -- or 70 to 140 million people -- are redheads. In Scotland and Ireland, around 35 percent of the population carry the recessive gene that yields crimson locks, and the redhead count is around 10 percent. As such, the word ginger often calls to mind visions of Celtic-Germanic attributes -- namely, pale, white skin.
White skin and red hair may constitute the stereotypical image of a redhead, but it's by no means a comprehensive one. French-born, London-based photographer Michelle Marshall is documenting the stunningly diverse manifestations of the MC1R gene, particularly in people of color.
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
"I am currently interested in documenting the incidents of the MC1R gene variant responsible for red hair and freckles, particularly amongst black and mixed raced individuals of all ages," Marshall wrote in an email to The Huffington Post.
"I want to stir the perception that most of us have of a ‘ginger' as a white caucasian individual, potentially of Celtic descent ... As we struggle with issues of immigration, discrimination and racial prejudice, Mother Nature, meanwhile, follows its own course, embracing society’s plurality and, in the process, shaking up our perceptions about origins, ethnicity and identity."
Marshall originally devised the project, which she referred to as a "visual census," to document different manifestations of freckles. Eventually, she refined the project, embarking on a mission to document as many Afro-Caribbean redheads as possible. All of Marshall's subjects thus far have been complete strangers who she has discovered through social media, word of mouth or running into each other on the streets.
The close-up portraits document every freckle and stray hair, with every image, expanding the dominant, narrow understanding of what redheads can and should look like.
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
The photographs and their subjects are undeniably stunning. However, the enchanting appeal of the images has its drawbacks. "A beautiful picture doesn't always relate what it's like to be different," Marshall said in an interview with Vice. "There's a flipside to being different: it's not always accepted. Beautiful photography serves one purpose, but in the context of daily life people may not have that reaction."
Model Natasha Culzac, who covered Marshall's project in Vice and posed for the photograph above, shared her personal experience growing up with red hair and dark skin.
"For me, growing up tall, mixed-raced, with thick, frizzy ginger hair, in a predominantly white, working-class seaside town was not the ticket. At 13 years old I was buying skin whitening cream from Boots to pulverize the freckles and at 14, during my Slipknot phase at the turn of the millennium, was violently straightening my newly-dyed black hair. Now, though, I couldn't care less and relish being unique."
Categorizations fall short. Stereotypes disappoint. Difference is beautiful. There is a lot to learn from Marshall's striking portraits, if we could only stop staring at them.
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
 |
| MICHELLE MARSHALL |
Riding While Black
 |
| Napa Valley Wine Train |
(NEWSER) – Rarely has a train gone into reverse as abruptly as the Napa Valley Wine Train. After initially defending its decision to kick a mostly black women's book club off the train mid-journey for being too noisy, the company has issued a statement saying it was "100% wrong in its handling of the issue." Napa Valley Wine Train's CEO says he has offered the club 50 free passes and will give employees extra cultural sensitivity training, the AP reports. He admits it was "insensitive" to march the 11 women, the oldest of whom is 83, through several cars of the train before they got off at a station, where they were met by police. He also apologized for an "inaccurate" Facebook post that accused the women of abusing train staff, reports the Oakland Tribune.
Free passes or not, the leader of Sistahs on the Reading Edge club says she can't see the group joining another tour through California's wine country. "You can apologize, but you can't take away the experience we had," author Lisa Renee Johnson tells the Tribune. "We were still marched down the aisle of the train car to waiting police officers. I'm still traumatized by the whole experience." She believes racism was behind the ejection, and Slate reports that at least one other group had a similar experience: Nursing student Norma Ruiz says her all-Latino group was moved and told to quieten down or be kicked off the train during an April trip, even though she had seen all-white groups making just as much noise on a previous trip.
http://www.newser.com/story/211891/wine-train-sorry-for-kicking-black-women-off-tour.html?utm_source=8at8&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20150826
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
A Snapshot of Life in My World
Beach patrols stepped up to stop men taking
pictures of sunbathing women
August 24, 2015 Updated: August 25, 2015 02:45 PM
DUBAI // Police are stepping up their beach patrols to stop an increasing number of men taking pictures of sunbathing women.
Plain-clothes officers and security cameras will also be used to help maintain the privacy of women at the city’s beaches.
Beachgoers say many of the men they have approached while taking pictures with their smartphones have appeared to be unaware that it could lead to a fine, jail or deportation.
The problem is high on the agenda for Dubai Police, said the head of its maritime division, Maj Ali Al Naqbi.
“This is not our core business but we are working hard to stop this problem,” he said.
“Some men pretend they are coming to take pictures of a famous building or the beach, when in fact they are taking photos of women instead.
“We can see the men who are not there to go for a swim or enjoy the beach. We can tell from their body language. We have seen so many cases. It is getting worse.”
Tourist safety officers, accompanied by police in kanduras or other civilian attire, regularly patrol public beaches to step in if necessary.
Police also patrol the sand and shoreline in marked vehicles and have advised people against bringing valuables, to minimise the risk of thefts.
“Some people bring two or three phones, cash and wallets to the beach. That is a risk, particularly if they are left on the beach when they go for a swim,” Maj Al Naqbi said.
Security cameras trained on beach areas are also linked to the nearest police station in Dubai Marina, which will enable officers to respond to any suspicious activity within minutes.
Natalina Morotti, 35, an Italian civil engineer who lives in The Greens, said: “I know that this is happening, I see it a lot. If anyone takes my photo without my permission I will ask them to stop.
“It is not dangerous but it makes me feel uncomfortable. It is a problem for a woman, but I do feel safe here and the police are always around.”
Mary-Grape de Castro, 29, from the Philippines, goes to the beach at Jumeirah Beach Residence or Jumeirah once a week.
“We came in after work and there were some men taking photos of us,” said Ms de Castro, who lives in Motor City.
“I asked them to stop and tell them they shouldn’t be doing this kind of thing. When I asked the man to delete the photo, he said he was just taking a picture of me from the side view. I told him it was my privacy and he should stop.”
Women who have been photographed without permission are advised to contact police with a description of the offenders.
Slovakian tourist Martina Stugiekoua, who was visiting Dubai for a week with her friends, said she was happy with the level of police protection.
“I feel safe here in Dubai and the beaches are very nice,” Ms Stugiekoua said. “There are lots of men on the beach. Some are in groups but it doesn’t seem to be a problem.
“If I see them trying to take photos of either me or my friends I will tell them to stop.”
Anyone who tries to take photos without permission will face penalties, Maj Al Naqbi said.
“We have the authority by law to stop anyone from taking photos and check their cameras. Nobody can run away from the police.”
http://www.thenational.ae/uae/beach-patrols-stepped-up-to-stop-men-taking-pictures-of-sunbathing-women?utm_source=Communicator&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=Hundreds%20flee%20as%20clashes%20kill%203%20at%20Lebanese%20Palestinian%20camp
Another Village Idiot
From Slate -
ESPN Analyst Curt Schilling Compares Muslims to Nazi-Era Germans
Hunter Martin/Getty
Update, 4:40 p.m.: ESPN has suspended Schilling, who says he accepts the network's decision. ESPN did not announce how long the suspension will last.
Original post, 2:19 p.m.: Former star major league pitcher Curt Schilling is, as they say, no stranger to controversy. He famously endorsed George W. Bush while playing for the Boston Red Sox in 2004. (Bush's opponent that year, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, won 62 percent of the vote in his home state.) After retiring he founded a video game company that collapsed and reportedly lost $75 million in taxpayer money. He's also just generally a disputatious kind of guy. Of all Schilling's ventures into public argumentation, none was as obviously an unforced error as this tweet, which he sent out Tuesday:
(Chris Lingebach is a D.C. sportswriter.)
This was an ill-advised move on Schilling's part for multiple reasons:
- The retweeted meme image itself is nonsense. For one, the idea that there are between 80 million and 160 million "extremists" in the population of 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide seems like an arbitrary, hard-to-prove claim.* (The idea might be related to a poll that showed somewhere around 12 percent of Muslims would under some circumstances support attacks against civilians.) For another, Nazi party membership is not synonymous with support for or particpation in Nazi activities; well over 7 percent of the population served in the German army under Hitler, for example. Finally, Germans elected the Nazis to power, but Muslims in general don't take votes on how ISIS and Hamas should behave. Obviously.
- Curt Schilling is not just a civilian; he's an analyst for ESPN, which might not appreciate one of its baseball commentators flying off the handle and insulting billions of people. (Then again, maybe he'll get a raise.)
- The immediate consequence of the tweet was that observers online—most prominently Aaron Gordon of Vice—noticed that Curt Schilling owns or has owned a bunch of Nazi memorabilia, some of which Schilling himself has described as creepy.
Schilling has apologized for and deleted the tweet.
Correction, Aug. 25, 2015: This post initially evaluated the claim that 80-160 million Muslims are terrorists; the meme Schilling retweeted in fact says 80-160 million Muslims are extremists.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/08/25/curt_schilling_muslim_nazi_tweet_former_pitcher_also_had_some_nazi_memorabilia.html?sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d&wpsrc=slatest_newsletter
It's Working
An excerpt from Vox -
The biggest drop in the uninsured rate in 50 years
There's never been a decline in the uninsured like this, save the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid 50 years ago. And the last time there were only 29 million uninsured Americans was back in 1982 — when the nation's population was about 30 percent smaller.
At this point, it's clear that the Affordable Care Act's strategy to expand coverage, mostly through the Medicaid expansion and the launch of new insurance exchanges, has been a major success.
http://www.vox.com/2015/8/25/9206209/obamacare-insurance-gif
Monday, August 24, 2015
The Power of Forgiveness
It's been a while since I've mentioned forgiveness. For those of you who have been with me for a while, you know it has been a mantra of mine. I have harped on it so much because I've seen and experienced firsthand the power of forgiveness. I know what it feel like to proudly hold a grudge, and have ill-will and discontentment flood my life. And I know the joy and fulfillment I felt when I let it all go.
I think the reason we hold on to "stuff" is because we don't want the person who hurt us to be let off the hook. We want them to suffer, and truth be told, we want a hand in their suffering.
This is such a waste of time, energy and effort (believe me when I say I speak from way too much experience). No matter the offense. No matter how egregious it was. No matter how much it hurt. Let it go. Not for them, but for yourself, so that you can reach your full potential. I think when we choose not to forgive, we stunt our own growth. We're so busy worrying about the other person getting their "due," we waste precious time moving forward in our own lives.
Ok.
The sermon is over.
Here's wishing you the peace that surpasses all understanding that comes with the gift of forgiveness.
~~~~~~~~~~
From Salon -
The science of forgiveness: “When you don’t forgive you release all the chemicals of the stress response”
Researchers are studying how we can let go of our grievances and live a healthier life. Here's how it works
An excerpt -
Once Ewin began helping his patients forgive, he noticed even more improvement. “What you’re thinking and feeling affects your body,” he would explain to his patients, using the analogy of something embarrassing causing someone to blush. “What you’re feeling will affect the healing of your skin, and we want you to put all your energy into healing.”
Another -
Perhaps the most comprehensive body of evidence showing links between forgiveness and health focuses on mood, says Dr. Frederic Luskin, the cofounder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project, an ongoing series of workshops and research studies at Stanford University. Researchers who measure emotional and psychological health outcomes following therapy that includes forgiveness are quantifying patients’ levels of anger, anxiety, and depression, concluding in multiple studies that forgiveness elevates mood and increases optimism, while not forgiving is positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and hostility. Like Enright, Luskin has developed ways to teach forgiveness in various places and with various groups, including war-ravaged populations in countries such as Northern Ireland and Sierra Leone, and he asserts that anyone—from jilted spouses to widows who have lost husbands to terrorism—can heal.
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/23/the_science_of_forgiveness_when_you_dont_forgive_you_release_all_the_chemicals_of_the_stress_response/?source=newsletter
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Tragic Indeed
"Ben Carson is a tragic figure for black people. He has self-converted from a field slave to a plantation overseer in the hopes to make a name for himself amongst White America. Instead of being known as the first surgeon to successfully separate craniopagus twins, a pride of black America, he will forever be as the Uncle Ruckus of the Republican party."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erin-logan/ben-carson-dream-marooned_b_8022628.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erin-logan/ben-carson-dream-marooned_b_8022628.html
Friday, August 21, 2015
A Dangerous Clown
An excerpt from Rolling Stone -
Donald Trump Just Stopped Being Funny
Win or lose, Trump's campaign threatens to unleash the Great American Stupid
So two yahoos from Southie in my hometown of Boston severely beat up a Hispanic homeless guy earlier this week. While being arrested, one of the brothers reportedly told police that "Donald Trump was right, all of these illegals need to be deported."
When reporters confronted Trump, he hadn't yet heard about the incident. At first, he said, "That would be a shame." But right after, he went on:
"I will say, the people that are following me are very passionate. They love this country. They want this country to be great again. But they are very passionate. I will say that."
This is the moment when Donald Trump officially stopped being funny.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/donald-trump-just-stopped-being-funny-20150821#ixzz3jWFO878C
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
Beaucoup Bucks
I have no problem with people being well compensated for their jobs, but I do have a problem with athletes making millions of dollars to throw balls around while so many teachers are struggling to make ends meet.
There's something really wrong with this picture.
From The Root -
Guess How Much LeBron James Charges Companies Per Character to Tweet Out Endorsements?
Beaucoup bucks.
LeBron James ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
On top of receiving his NBA salary, LeBron James is pulling in the bucks when it comes to his sponsored tweets, according to the company Opendorse.
Opendorse analyzes, puts together and manages social media campaigns for athletes. Based on its analysis, two-time NBA champion LeBron James' endorsement tweets are worth approximately $140,000, ESPN reports.
That's $1,000 per character.
"We're basically saying that the value of one LeBron tweet is worth $140,000," Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence said. "And with that, you will reach 23 million people. It would cost you five times more to reach that many people with a TV ad."
James has 23.2 million followers and is the highest-paid American athlete. But Opendorse's assessments don't factor in just "reach"; they also include an athlete's cultural influence, level of engagement, and impact on and off the court. African-American athletes are solid in these areas.
In fact, the top five athletes who command the most money to tweet out endorsements are all brothers: James ($140,000), Kevin Durant ($66,553), Kobe Bryant ($42,389), Floyd Mayweather ($34,924) and Dwight Howard ($34,290).
Through all the blood, sweat and tears and becoming the most loved—and simultaneously the most hated—basketball player of modern times, James has earned every penny.
http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2015/08/guess_how_much_lebron_james_charges_companies_per_character_to_tweet_out.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)