Gardening Pt. 1 | How to Make Everything: Sandwich (2/12)

This Explains How They Did It

From Vox - It's long, but well worth the read.

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How a team of prison inmates beat Harvard at a debate

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/9/9486777/bard-prison-initiative

Catchy

Message to Side Pieces

An excerpt from Vulture -

#Gladiators, before I begin discussing last night's episode, I want to make a public announcement to all the real-life side pieces who watched last week's episode and cried that Denzel-Washington-in-Glory single tear when Liv answered the question, "Are you the president's mistress?" with a resounding, "Yes." Please do not try this mess at home. It will not work out for you. Scandal is a Shondaland fantasy. In real life, if you go to the mountaintop and start shouting that you are some dude's side piece, without checking with him first, he’s gonna say what my mom did back in the day when my brother and I would act up in public: "Sit your black ass down and act like you got some sense." Even if you ain't black, he's going to say "black ass" just so you know how serious.com he is about your foolishness. So Side Pieces United, your options are to 1) Not be a side heaux (dur) or 2) If you're going to be a side heaux, keep your mouth shut like a sealed Ziploc bag full of leftover Christmas ham. Okay, with that out of the way, let's get down to "Paris Is Burning," which is another strong episode from Shonda & Co.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/10/scandal-recap-season-5-episode-3.html

He's All Business

Who's Who . . .

In the Syrian conflict?

Check out this fascinating, interactive chart linked below.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/06/syrian_conflict_relationships_explained.html

World Currencies

He's An Idiot/Coward, Too

An excerpt - 

On Thursday, Americans braced ourselves as reports trickled in about yet another mass shooting, this one at a community college in Oregon, leaving 10 people dead. 

It was a horrific scene that we’d seen too many times before. But Jeb Bush was taking it in stride, and told an interviewer on Friday that although the shooting was “very sad,” it didn’t require government action. 

“Look,” he said, “stuff happens, there’s always a crisis, and the impulse is always to do something, and it’s not necessarily the right thing to do.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-b-keegan/president-stuff-happens_b_8252862.html

Power Failure Alert App

From Apple - 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poweraid-power-failure-alarm/id631326185?mt=8

Description

PowerAid is an app that brutally awakes you in case of a power outage. If there is a storm coming, or a big freeze is on it's way, you really need this app. Even if PowerAid awakes you just once, it will probably be your wisest investment ever. 

Latinos

I couldn't copy and paste this article and maintain it's integrity.

Take a look though.  It's worth the effort.

http://testkitchen.huffingtonpost.com/latinos-break-the-mold/

Inmate Debate Team Beat Harvard

From The Huffington Post - 

This Is How A Prison's Debate Team Beat Harvard

Yes, THAT Harvard.

Philip LewisFellow, The Huffington Post

Posted: 10/06/2015 05:39 PM EDT | Edited: 1 hour ago

JARED AMES/BARD COLLEGEBard Prison Initiative's debate team won against Harvard.

Three men currently incarcerated at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility in Ulster County beat Harvard University in a recent debate.

How they did it, though, is as inspiring as it is heartbreaking. Almost everywhere in the United States, time spent in prison is at best wasted, at worst spent in a swirl of violence and humiliation. But prisoners fortunate enough to be situated near Bard College have a chance to participate in a program founded on a radical insight: Prison need not be only about punishment, but can also be a place where people grow and blossom into the educated, responsible citizens they will need to be when they're released.

The men who stomped Harvard were part of the Bard Prison Initiative. "The most important thing that our students' success symbolizes is how much better we can do in education in the U.S. for all people," BPI founder Max Kenner told The Huffington Post. "Our program is successful because we operate on a genuinely human level."  

Beating Harvard wasn't the first time the Bard team had tasted success. Their first debate victory came last year, when they defeated the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

The program aims to rehabilitate inmates and help them return to their communities productive members of society -- among the formerly incarcerated Bard students, less than 2percent have returned to prison. 

Studies show that prisoners who enroll in educational programs behind bars are much less likely to return to prison than those who don't.

In 1999, when Kenner was a Bard College student he encouraged the small, liberal arts school to provide education for prisoners. In 2001, BPI graduated from being a student organization to become a legitimate extension of the college. Today, inmates who are part of the program have the opportunity to earn a Bard College degree. 

The BPI is the largest prison education program in the U.S. Almost 300 incarcerated men and women are currently pursuing degrees in six prisons across New York State. Yet, gaining admission to the program is no small feat. Applicants are required to write an essay and go through a rigorous interview process. 

"It's a very difficult, very grueling process," Kenner noted. "But it's one that rewards student initiative. And something that we take very, very seriously." 

In July, BPI was awarded a $1 million grant from the Ford Foundation to help support its work for higher education in prisons and innovations in criminal justice reform. 

The successes, however, don't end after inmates are released from prison. Graduates of the BPI program go on to work in various fields, ranging from human service organizations to private business, and many take up managerial positions. 

Some graduates decided to further their education by working towards other academic and professional degrees, Kenner said. He pointed out that leaders in education need to be "more optimistic, more courageous and more curious."

"There is so much talent in the U.S. that has no access, no opportunity, that is completely unengaged by leaders in higher education. But we know extraordinary talent can be found in the most unconventional places."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Bard Prison Initiative students are enrolled through the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison. They are in fact enrolled through Bard College.

Are You Average?

If You Can't Wait

For the last season of Downton Abbey to premiere in January on PBS, you can catch it now on the ITV Player.

Register online at www.itv.com.

https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/downton-abbey/series-6/episode-1-1

You'll need a UK postal code.  I used 32 6QN.

Happy viewing.

You're welcome.

Fog Over Dubai

We've had unseasonably foggy weather lately.  Compounding this phenomena is the density of the fog.  In the thick of it, you can't see your hands in front of you. Treacherous driving weather, for sure.

Who Put the Kids in Charge?

From Atlas Obscura - 

Radioactive Education

Reed College in Portland, Oregon, is home to the only nuclear reactor in the world operated by undergraduate students. 

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/who-put-these-undergrads-in-charge-of-a-nuclear-reactor?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura&utm_campaign=49fa44b231-Newsletter_10_6_201510_5_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_62ba9246c0-49fa44b231-59905913&ct=t(Newsletter_10_6_201510_5_2015)&mc_cid=49fa44b231&mc_eid=866176a63f

Our Beautiful, Graceful, Poised Ballerina

Just in Case

From The Huffington Post - 

Mobile Justice CA

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/10/get_stopped_by_the_police_there_s_an_app_for_that.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26

Signs of ‘Spring Awakening’

Best Advice