Tuesday, September 15, 2015

He Stepped In It

Not smart Matt.

Not smart.

http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2015/09/matt_damon_probably_doesn_t_have_any_more_black_fans_after_arguing_with.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26

Monday, September 14, 2015

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Xavier University, one of the Historical Black Colleges and Universities located in New Orleans, sends more African-Americans to medical school than any other college in America.

An excerpt for the New York Times article -

Today, Xavier’s campus is mostly wedged between a canal and the Pontchartrain Expressway in Gert Town, a neighborhood in the western part of New Orleans. It has some 3,000 students and consistently produces more black students who apply to and then graduate from medical school than any other institution in the country. More than big state schools like Michigan or Florida. More than elite Ivies like Harvard and Yale. Xavier is also first in the nation in graduating black students with bachelor’s degrees in biology and physics. It is among the top four institutions graduating black pharmacists. It is third in the nation in black graduates who go on to earn doctorates in science and engineering.

Follow the link below to read this remarkable story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/magazine/a-prescription-for-more-black-doctors.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-middle-span-region&region=c-column-middle-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-middle-span-region&_r=0

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Shout

Kudos to These Guys!

From The Huffington Post -

'Meathead Movers' Helps Domestic Violence Victims Move For Free

The company helps families in need begin a new life.

Cameron KeadyAssociate Editor, Good News, The Huffington Post

Posted: 09/08/2015 12:41 PM EDT | Edited: 09/08/2015 02:12 PM EDT

Safety and support are handled with care by this moving company.

Meathead Movers, a California-based moving company, has partnered with nonprofit Good Shepherd Shelter to help families affected by domestic violence move out of dangerous situations for free, LA Weekly reported.

Read the full story at -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/meathead-movers-domestic-violence-victims-free_55eefcc1e4b093be51bc226d?cps=gravity_5035_2109188437957686349

What a Smile!

Distracted by his smile - guilty as charged.

Of course, I could be his Momma, but a great smile is a great smile.

Right?

Oh yeah, the topics of discussion are interesting, too.

Calling All Cooks!

The Master Pan Non-Stick Divider Meal Skillet 15" Grill Fry Oven Camping

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Brush & Floss

Like forgiveness, brushing and flossing has been a repeated refrain in this space.

I'm reaching the end of a long, (sometimes) painful, expensive process of corrective dental care.

Oh how I wish way back when that I knew what I know now . . .

Dental health is vital and it begins with daily care.

Yes, genetics plays a part in the dental game of the Russian Roulette as to what kind of teeth you begin with.

But . . .

Taking care of the pearly whites you've been blessed with is what really counts.

Yesterday, I had what I hope will be the last oral surgery.

Today, I'm recovering from it.

I spend more time, effort and energy on my teeth than ever.

I have to believe it's never too late to start doing the right thing.

This One Works

An excerpt from Buzz Bizzinger's article

"If it wasn't for Harlem Lacrosse, I would have been on the streets," said Jordany. "I probably would have been in a gang."

Ever since I wrote the book Friday Night Lights twenty-five years ago, I have immersed myself in the culture of sports in schools.

I have witnessed many programs and written about many more. I have been publicly outspoken about the winning-at-all cost mentality in which lip service is paid to academics and personal growth when it should be the other way around. I have become concerned about the professionalism of sports at younger and younger ages in which the lifelong lessons that sports uniquely provides-discipline, dedication, advancement through the competition and teamwork-take a back seat to the temporary won-lost record.

Then I spent a recent week in July observing the non-profit organization Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership in action. The concern I had about sports in schools, not the sports programs themselves but the misplaced emphasis, turned to excitement. To say I was blown away is an understatement.

Before we go any further full disclosure:

I was approached by the Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation to do a piece on Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership. I did research on the program as well as speak to individuals intimately familiar with it before saying yes. Every expectation was exceeded. Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership is one of the programs being funded by the foundation's multi-year $25 million commitment to supporting youth sports programs around the country. The foundation should be applauded.

Harlem Lacrosse is the single best school-based co-curricular program I have ever seen.

And note that I have left out the word "sports" before "program." Because it is not a sports program. Program Director Joel Censer calls Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership an "intervention" program in which lacrosse is used as the carrot to get kids to stay in school and become motivated far beyond the playing field. It is using the power of sports to unleash the potential of kids, many of whom, like Jordany, live in single parent households, some of who come from lower middle class backgrounds and some of whom live in shelters. It causes them to see a world they never knew existed but also to become a part of it. "If they don't like lacrosse and don't like coming to practice, then how are you going to have the intervention?" Censer notes.

- See more at: http://www.sportsmatter.org/article.html#sthash.hEtc3iQ5.dpuf

Ouch!

Queen Elizabeth Marks Longest-Ever U.K. Reign by “Doing Her Job,” Which Is Nothing

By Ben Mathis-Lilley

gettyimages487366194 — Queen Elizabeth II at Tweedbank Station in Tweedbank, Scotland, on Wednesday. Tweedbank!

Queen Elizabeth is now the all-time longest-reigning United Kingdom monarch, having surpassed Queen Victoria's record 63 years and seven months. She marked the occasion by appearing at a railway station. Here's USA Today's headline on the subject:

Screen shot/USA Today

Her job? What job? Queen Elizabeth was born into a net worth of some $500 million because someone she is vaguely and distantly connected to seized control of England by killing people in 1688. She doesn't have a "job."

Technology Working

(NEWSER) – A couple who has one home in Ontario, Canada, and one in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, was at the Canada home when they noticed someone breaking in ... to the Florida home, 2,300 miles away. They were checking out the home via webcam Saturday night and saw a strange man inside on the surveillance video, the News-Press reports. They contacted Florida authorities, describing the guy and reporting that they watched him enter the home twice—once to take some personal items including their daughter's purse, and again an hour or so later to remove the TV, NBC 2 reports.

"He rang the door bell six times, he tried to break in the front door, couldn't get in the front door so he went around to the back door to the sliding glass door and pried it open," says the owner of a home-watch company who had checked on the house just hours earlier. The man was gone by the time deputies arrived, but they found pry marks on two doors. The following day, a deputy pulled over a man who failed to stop at an intersection and recognized him from the copy of the surveillance video the couple provided to authorities. Thomas Hinton, 45, was arrested and charged with burglary and grand theft; he's also suspected in a number of other local burglaries.

http://www.newser.com/story/212589/couple-catches-burglar-2k-miles-away-via-webcam.html?utm_source=category&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20150909

Not Recommended

Genius College Kid Gets Drunk, Designs an Entire Airplane, and Can’t Remember Any of It

by Rafi Schwartz

1233

September 8, 2015 at 11:05

image via twitter / spacepeople

The fact that college students tend to go out, get drunk, and do stupid things isn’t, in and of itself, all that remarkable. What would be remarkable is if, in the midst of a drunken episode, a college student were to put their expensive education to good use, and–perhaps bolstered by lowered inhibitions–design something genuinely creative, and of potential benefit to the general public.

That, as it happens, is exactly what occurred this past weekend at Michigan Technological University. There, after a night of booze-soaked revelry, one mechanical engineering student stumbled back to his dorm room, and proceeded to design an entire airplane, nose to tail, complete with complex aerodynamic calculations, and rough model sketches. Upon sobering up, however, this boozy brainiac had absolutely no recollection of ever having created his own model of flying machine.

Keith Fraley, roommate to the designer-in-question documented the alcohol-fueled design session on Twitter:

image via twitter / spasepeople

It’s worth noting that the vehicle in question technically isn’t an airplane at all. It’s actually an “ekranoplan,” a plane-like structure which skims over the surface of a body of water, rather than lifts off to become fully airborn.

Tens of thousands of retweets later, and the Michigan Tech roommates have become bona fide mini-celebs, attracting the attention of aeronautics and alcohol enthusiasts, alike. Speaking with The Guardian, the drunken designer (using the pseudonym “Mark”) and Fraley offered a few insights into how a night of drinking could lead to an entirely new ekranoplan design. Explains Fraley :

It all started around 11.30pm. Mark burst into the room in a drunken sway, asking where his textbooks were and after greeting me he rushed back out of the room. From what the person who brought him up [to the shared accommodation] was saying, Mark had a ton of rum and vodka-mixed drinks.

He then came stumbling back two minutes later to grab his giant whiteboard. I just laughed as I sat on the computer listening to his murmurs. Around 1.30am, he came back and he sat on the couch with a worn look on his face.

My friend Cody and I both looked at Mark as he then began to spew information about his whiteboard designed craft and the calculations behind it. Cody and I were in tears from laughter because the aerospace mathematics he tried telling us about sounded like a slurred robot. I did no encouraging towards the creation of this, but I did encourage him to continue talking because it was hilarious.

While a graph paper sketch and whiteboard full of calculations is, indeed, impressive, it’s important to note that they are not, in and of themselves, a foolproof design. But, says Fraley, there are plans to test the creation as a “remote-control model” with other mechanical engineering students.

The designer himself has reportedly chosen to remain anonymous, for fear that his drunken escapade could negatively impact future job prospects. Still, that hasn’t stopped him from landing on the radar of some interested parties, dutifully impressed at his mechanical engineering skills. Tweeted Fraley two days after his initial pictures went viral:

http://magazine.good.is/articles/drunk-college-student-designs-airplane?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Attention: NY Family & Friends

Below you'll find a fascinating video on your antiquated subway system. Old or not, it provides invaluable service to a whole bunch of folks, including me when I visit the city.

Is it better to know how antiquated it is, or is it better to ride blissfully along?

What Will They Think of Next?

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Love This Momma!

From The Root - (Bold is mine)

Shonda Rhimes' Epic Story On How Her Mom Shut Down Anyone Who Doubted Her

"This lady says I’m not made for Ivy League schools

In anticipation of the fall premieres of Shonda Rhimes’ three hit ABC shows “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “How To Get Away With Murder” on September 24, Time Inc. will feature the casts as part of a special cross-title editorial package this month with Entertainment Weekly, Essence and People magazine.

The 45-year-old writer/director/showrunning/all-around-badass has faced casual discrimination as one of the most successful people in entertainment. In a recent conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Rhimes recalled earlier experiences with discrimination when she was in high school.

“When I encountered something that felt like racism -- like my high school guidance counselor saying to me, ‘Honey, I don’t think you were made for Ivy League schools’ -- I called my mom at work and said, ‘Mom, this lady says I’m not made for Ivy League schools,’ she explained. “And my mother said, ‘Hold on, I’ll be there in five minutes.’ My mom drove up to the school, walked into the guidance counselor’s office, came out, and said, ‘Everything’s fine now.’”

Rhimes went on to attend Dartmouth College, where she majored in English and Film studies and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1991.

In the issue, Shondaland's leading ladies speak highly of their boss. According to Kerry Washington, working with Rhimes during her 2014 pregnancy made her notice a difference between female and male showrunners.

“I was talking to an actress who’s pregnant and really worried about telling her bosses, and I said, ‘Yeah, when I told my boss I was pregnant, she literally jumped up and down in my trailer,’” Washington told Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t know if there’s a male showrunner who would do that.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/school-counselor-doubted-shonda-rhimes-and-her-mom-was-not-having-it_55e9c485e4b093be51bb5379?utm_hp_ref=black-voices

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